Yummr

Yummr's Main Dish

Archives for Jun 2008

Fun Summer Food Events

It's official. Summer has finally hit and the heat is turning up. My grill has already been fired up several times and will be in good use for a couple of more months ahead. I love being able to eat outdoors while soaking in the sun and slapping away those pesky mosquitoes. The mix of smokey BBQ and citronella candles burning is appealing, no?

Well, despite nature's attempt at luring me away from the great outdoors I can't resist enjoying my food outside. I even go searching for other people's food outside. Ok, I don't really mean that I scour the streets looking into dumpsters but I mean I love looking into little summer food festivals and events. Last year, I went to the Taste of Rhode Island to soak up the gorgeous scenery as well as taste some yummy local restaurant dishes.

I'm beginning to look into these fun little getaways again and have come across a few that I thought I'd share with you:

New Amsterdam Market (NYC - 6/29 10am - 4pm):
This event is unique in that it has garnered interest in over 50 farmers, food producers, purveyors, distributors, bread bakers, caterers, and chefs, as well as photographers, filmmakers, food systems advocates and other pioneers of a regional, sustainable food economy. You can expect to see vendors with specialties ranging from honey, fruits, to pastured meats.

2nd Annual UnFancy Food Show (Brooklyn, NY – 6/29 12pm – 6pm)
Don’t fancy any foi grois or know how to detect the “grassy” flavors in your cheese? Even if you do, the 2nd Annual UnFancy Food Show seems like a fun event to leave your delicate wine glass at home and wander around with a nice Brooklyn brewsky in hand while checking out the local goods.

New York Summer Restaurant Week (NYC – 7/21 -7/25 | 7/28 – 8/1):
Various restaurants in the big apple are participating in this three course prix-fixe dining. I see some returning participants from the winter week on the so if you missed something you wanted to go to last time, you get another chance at the fixed rate. I still want to check out Alfama Portuguese dining one day. It sounds like it would be a great experience.

Boston Summer Restaurant Week (Boston, MA 8/10 – 8/15 | 8/17 – 8/22):
Boston is celebrating their restaurants throughout Boston, Cambridge, the suburbs and beyond with three course prix-fixe meals. Their list of participating restaurants won’t be ready until late July. I might have to plan a Boston trip around this time to see what the goods are.

Baltimore Summer Restaurant Week (Baltimore, MD 7/26 – 8/3)
Baltimore has over 90 restaurants participating in their restaurant week for the season. I’ve never been to Baltimore before but from a quick glance at the list, I’d definitely look into the Afghan cuisines and see what the menus have in store.

13th Annual Bluesapalooza & Festival of Beers (Mammoth Lakes, CA 8/1 – 8/2)
West coasters will have a chance to revel in mircrobrew taste-testing fun while tapping their feet to the beat of the blues. Check out this event with more than 50 mircobreweries from around the country.

Slow Food (San Francisco, CA 8/29 – 9/1)
The topic of slow food has been on the rise for quite some time now with consumers becoming more aware and conscious about where the products they’re consuming are coming from and what means were used to produce and/or raise them. A member began a topic about this a while back and it’s nice to stumble upon an event that will help further educate and spread the word about this movement.

---

These are just a few notable ones that look fun and interesting to check out in my opinion but there are tons more going on this summer. Feel free to add to this list of past or future summer food events and festivals that you enjoyed or look forward to – we’d love to hear more about it!

Posted Jun 25, 2008 by SuDoughName | 1 Comment | Share It

Filed under: summer events

MUST Try Places In Your Neck of the Woods

I'm sure you've got friends and family who have come back from vacation trips or have visited other places who say to you, "Oh, if you're ever up in so-and-so you MUST try out the food at..." If you don't have friends and/or family who do this then you are most likely that friend or family member. Well, I am one of those foodie explorers who is still trying to catch up on the famous ones. I'm not quite in the budget range where I can saunter into Per Se and order what I please but I did finally saunter into my own borough of Brooklyn's famed Junior's Cheesecake and Desserts to try a piece of their cheesecake. I ordered a piece of their blueberry cheesecake to enjoy outside. Though the cheesecake was fabulous and had a very creamy consistency, it's not exactly mind-blowing. Wonderful, yes, spectacular, not so much. It was yummy but not the best I've had but you know what? I probably would direct you to Junior's and say you MUST try this because it's just one of those worthy Brooklyn foodie stops.

What's another one of those MUST stop bakeries that I recently revisited? Magnolia. And do you know what happened when I was standing online with my friend visiting from Florida about to head in? A lovely car drives by and shouts, "Idiots!" at everyone standing on line. I thought about how perfect the timing was before I headed into the stuffy bakery. The rude outburst was also a premonition of what was to come.

I heard about the Magnolia hype years ago when my aunt used to work around the corner and stopped in to get one. I haven't gone back since then but because a visiting friend wanted to go see what the hype was all about, we went. I have to say, the red velvet buttercream cupcake was delicious. It was worth the 15 minute wait in line. It was so worth the 15 minute wait in line that I just wanted to wait in line again for another one. Ok, so I lied about the wanting to wait again but like an idiot, I had forgotten that it was also my friend's birthday and failed to get one the first time around. I wish the car drove by again and saw me in line again. I know the cashier was very amused by my second visit within 30 minutes. So is Magnolia's all it's hyped up to be like in Sex and the City? Yes, I think so. I also like the cupcakes at Baby Cakes so if you're in the city, you MUST stop by those places for a cupcake or five.

I could ramble on about other places that I think you should eat at but I'm only making myself hungry now. Let me know what YOUR MUST try places are in your area or from your travels and I will keep it in mind for a must try stop.

Posted Jun 16, 2008 by SuDoughName | 3 Comments | Share It

Filed under: Baby Cakes cupcakes Junior's cheesecake Magnolia Bakery

Congratulations to All the Cookbook Winners!

May was such a fun month on Yummr with some really great conversations from all of our new members! We'd like to thank everyone for coming by and saying hello and making us drool with all your great foodie stories, recommendations, recipes, and photos! It's always great to see so many new faces sharing their foodie adventures to those of us who are hungry to devour all this new found, glorious information.

Not only was it a fun month because of all the great new foodie faces but also because many of you got on here and showed us what you and your food are made of and won some wonderful cookbooks courtesy of Houghton-Mifflin Books! Congratulations to all the "Cookbook a Day in the Month of May" giveaway winners! If your cookbooks haven't already arrived, they will be getting to your doorsteps any day now and we all look forward to all the yummy dishes you'll be cooking and baking up. If you missed out on all the fun cookbook winnings that we were having everyday, here is a recap of all our lucky winners:

Cookbook A Day for the Month of May Giveaway Winners!
Giveaway Day	Winner	Book
May 1st	kafuela	Baking: From My Home to Yours
May 2nd	nanefish	The Perfect Recipe for Losing Weight & Eating Great
May 3rd	daneen	Desserts by the Yard
May 4th	gezellig_girl	A Great American Cook
May 5th	easterlily49	Hello, Cupcake!
May 6th	haggisman	Baking: From My Home to Yours
May 7th	MappyB	The Perfect Recipe for Losing Weight & Eating Great
May 8th	Stampingonit	Desserts by the Yard
May 9th	Monkeyfoot	A Great American Cook
May 10th	shanshea	Baking: From My Home to Yours
May 11th	mkkristen	The Perfect Recipe for Losing Weight & Eating Great
May 12th	Amicus-Cupcake	A Great American Cook
May 13th	puppylovernorris	Desserts by the Yard
May 14th	mshah	Baking: From My Home to Yours
May 15th	Ldylvbgr	Hello, Cupcake!
May 16th	nikki57	The Perfect Recipe for Losing Weight & Eating Great
May 17th	Cupcakenerd	Desserts by the Yard
May 18th	Bakergirl1022	The Perfect Recipe for Losing Weight & Eating Great
May 19th	iheartcuppycakes	Baking: From My Home to Yours
May 20th	allknames	A Great American Cook
May 21st	BakingBeauties	Desserts by the Yard
May 22nd	Pinky	Hello, Cupcake!
May 23rd	ashley884	Baking: From My Home to Yours
May 24th	misschef	The Perfect Recipe for Losing Weight & Eating Great
May 25th	HowToEatACupcake	Hello, Cupcake!
May 26th	TeaLady	Baking: From My Home to Yours
May 27th	HKFanatic	A Great American Cook
May 28th	Fullmetaljester	The Perfect Recipe for Losing Weight & Eating Great
May 29th	misschef	A Great American Cook
May 30th	shanshea	Desserts by the Yard
May 31st	Amicus-Cupcake	Desserts by the Yard

Not only did we have winners from Yummr, but we also made some wonderful, amazing new friends from How to Eat a Cupcake, Bakerella, Cakespy, and The Baking Beauties! They are all such wonderful blogs with such talented bakers and cooks.

Did you miss this month's cookbook giveaway? No worries, there will be more ways for you to get involved, participate and be rewarded for spreading the love very soon so keep your eyes open and keep sharing the love of food! 

Posted Jun 4, 2008 by SuDoughName | 1 Comment | Share It

Filed under: Houghton-Mifflin