Risotto with Porcini Caramelized Onion and Sage

The Big Show
On Monday, I spent hours walking up and down the aisles of this year’s Fancy Food Show at the Moscone Center. I love this show. It’s so motivating! And while there may not always be a huge number of new producers or revolutionary products, every time you get that many food people in a room I can’t help but come away feeling energized and excited about the world of food. (By the time we left the show I was totally ready to buy a goat farm and make my own cheese and/or caramels. And don’t get me started on grinding my own wheat for bread, or foraging for mushrooms).

As always there numerous interesting products to try. I found an amazing mushroom product company called Wineforest Wild Foods. They are based in Napa and have some of the most beautiful mushroom products. We will be bringing some of their products in soon but you can check out their website. I’m looking forward to the Porcini Polenta and the Forest Farro.

Food-wise it seems that lately there are a lot of great things coming out of Portland—and the Pacific Northwest in general. One of my personal favorites was a company called Unbound Pickling. All of their produce and herbs are sourced locally, and each jar is hand packed. They’re gorgeous. My two favorites were the Bacon Pickles (anything with bacon!), and the Pickled Walla Walla Sweets. So tasty. Look for those on our shelves soon.

Tea is always a big category but this year it wasn’t just your usual cuppa. A company called Owl’s Brew introduced their line of Tea Mixers crafted for cocktails. They were outstanding, and very refreshing. Perfect for the coming Spring and Summer seasons. With three different flavors meant to be mixed with a variety of your favorite spirits, there’s something to please everyone. My favorite was the Pink & Black with Whiskey. (This was one of the first things I tasted when the show opened at 10 AM! Nothing like a shot first thing in the morning.)

The one big takeaway that I had from the show, and I think everyone noticed, was a big shift across all the categories to real food. By real food, I mean that producers are making things simply and with actual food—not chemicals or engineered food-like substances. Ingredient lists no longer require a Ph.D. to decipher. Sodas are being made with cane sugar. Bye-bye corn syrup and artificial sweeteners. Agave is king if you don’t want regular sugar, and it was an ingredient in a huge number of “healthier alternative” products, and some of the not-so-healthy foods and drinks as well. And yes, there was, of course, plenty of kale and chia.

This change in thinking was to me by far the best thing about the show this year. (Well, that and the fact that the crazy water fad appears to have exceeded it’s 15 minutes of fame. Finally.) It was all about the food and nothing but the food, put together by people with a passion who know what they are doing. And it is good. Read more…

Cream of Wild Mushroom Soup with Cheesy-Garlic Croutons

The Ghost Of Christmas Past

Have you ever reflected back on things you’ve done in the past and cringed? I have. Unfortunately I have done that often, and it usually involved me and my potential for food snobbery.

The first time I hosted Christmas Eve I went a little overboard. I was on a mission, and out to prove that I was the Queen of Christmas. This would be no run of the mill jello salad Christmas Eve, baby! There would be smoked salmon, ham, various chutneys and mustards, deviled eggs, rolls, fresh baked cookies and the piece de resistance, a Bouche de Noel. (‘Cause doesn’t everyone have one of those?)

In reality I was just young and stupid. I have since learned that less is more when it comes to making a feast for 14 after working at the store all day. However one of the items I made that year was a Cream of Wild Mushroom Soup that was really, really good. (I served it in little demi tasse cups as soup shots. Go ahead. Roll your eyes.)

This soup is definitely not for everyday. It is a special occasion soup. It is decadent, and has enough heavy cream and butter in it to make having your cardiologist on speed dial a good idea. It is also a nice and elegant addition to your holiday dinner no matter what you serve it in. Read more…

Holiday Cocktails

Thanks for the Giving

This week is the busiest week of the year for us here at the store. It is also my favorite. This is the week, despite the craziness and stress, neighbors stop to greet each other in front of the stuffing mix to ask them how their family is doing and to wish them Happy Thanksgiving. This is the week where long-time customers and even a few new ones reach across or around the counter to hug our employees and wish them a Happy Thanksgiving. And of course, the sentiment is returned.

This is the week that while we are preparing for our meals with our family, we all take a minute to give thanks for the extended family we meet in our daily lives. It is the very definition of neighborhood and community, and it is a really great thing.

To all our friends, customers, employees and neighbors, we would like to wish you all a safe and Happy Thanksgiving and a very merry holiday season!

To help with the merry, try one of these tasty concoctions guaranteed to keep you warm when it’s cold outside, baby… Read more…

Mincemeat Pie

Making Mincemeat of ‘Em

I love Thanksgiving. It is fast becoming my favorite holiday. In the past, if you had asked me what my favorite holiday was I would have quickly answered that it was Christmas. As I get older I seem to like Thanksgiving more and more.

Possibly it is because I love the Over The River And Through The Woods feel of the drive through the back roads of Central California to my mother-in-law’s house. It’s gorgeous. The leaves on the trees are all different colors. The persimmons hang on bare limbs of enormous trees. You can smell the wood fire smoke in the chilly morning air. Norman Rockwell perfect, I tell ya.

It is also possible that I like Thanksgiving because I don’t do all of the cooking. In fact I do very little if any at all. (Strange, I know but it is nice to just show up and be fed from time to time). This year, though, I am adding a little Larson flare to the Thanksgiving table.

Growing up, Gam, my mother’s mother, would always make a mince pie. Mince pie is a throwback to an older generation and is frankly very misunderstood. Since traditionally it was made using suet, a.k.a. beef fat, people assumed that mince pie would taste like, well, beef fat. It does not. It is actually made of dried fruits and nuts and is quite good. However, the only people of my childhood who would risk their taste buds and eat the Thanksgiving mince pies were Grandpa Larson (my Dad’s Dad), Pa (my Mother’s Step Father), and my dad because he never saw a pie he didn’t like. The rest of us treated mince pie like poison and stuck with the pumpkin.

I had the opportunity to try legit mince pie when I was traveling in Scotland, and I have been hooked ever since. I do admit I make it without the suet. In all fairness, I don’t even make the mincemeat. I use the jarred Robertson’s Classic Mincemeat that we carry in our gourmet department. It’s just as good as what I could make, and so much easier. I do add a splash of brandy. I can’t help myself. I just gotta mess with it a little.) And here’s another tip, the frozen Upper Crust ready made pie shells are by far the best frozen shells I have tasted, and they have a gluten-free version too. Just buy two shells, and roll out one for the top crust.

For those who are interested in trying a mince pie but don’t want to make it, or even just bake it, we have them available in our pastry case during the holidays and, frankly, we are one of the few markets who do, so grab your forks!