The Triumphant Return of Who Let You Cook?!

Lynnafred here.

I've been doing a lot of cooking lately. I've been making dinners, coming up with creative new lunches, and generally been spending a lot more time than should be normal in the kitchen. (Dave even told you all about my most recent baking rampage which resulted in two full batches of cookies, and two half batches of cookies, for well over 100 cookies total.)

So it should come as no surprise that when my friend and partner writer over at Lynnafred's Fashion Disasters, Nannerkins, stayed overnight because of the recent tornado, the first thing we did in the morning was look for something to eat. And what happens when the only things in the fridge are cheese, meat, eggs, and a green pepper? If you said omelet, you're close. But we were far too lazy for the whole "omelet" thing, so we went for dirty scrambled eggs instead.

"Dirty" scrambled eggs are one of our favorite morning snacks where we just take whatever we have in the fridge and throw it into our eggs. They're not pretty, but they taste delicious.

This one's got kielbasa, green peppers and cheese in it. The one below has ham, cheese, and green peppers in it.

They're a really easy thing to make in the morning (especially if you're omelet impaired, like Yours Truly over here.) I usually chuck the meat and veggies in the pan first to saute in the butter, then pour the eggs over the entire lot, and as they're cooking, add the cheese and mix it all up until the eggs are set and the cheese is melty. DELICIOUS!!

Rainforest Cola

The beverage aisle in Ocean State Job Lot is often an occasion for adventure. Although some items are always available (San Pellegrino sparkling water and Polar soft drinks, for example) other stock rotates in and out according, I guess, to whatever kind of odd lot deals they come across.

And that's how I found Rainforest Cola in slender and unique 12 ounce cans.  The ingredients looked interesting, and includes:

• A small amount of sugar, with the rest of the sweetness provided by stevia leaf extract
• Acai juice
• Ginseng
• Guarana
• Green tea extract
• Kola nut extract

Rainforest Cola has quite an interesting taste profile.  The first sip is pure cola flavor with a hint of tartness, which Lynnafred compared to Haribo Gummi Cola Bottles. But other flavors soon come out as well, such as a hint of cinnamon and a strong dried stone fruit flavor. I'm not really sure where that comes from - it could be a acai juice, or it could be under the non-specific "natural flavors" on the label.

I've found it to be a pretty decent summer morning drink; although iced coffee is still my favorite, there is plenty of caffeine in Rainforest Cola to open my eyes as I sit at my desk at work. And even though I do like it quite a bit, I have to say that I think the company might be going a little heavy on the stevia because I'm getting that "non-sugar sweetener aftertaste" at the end. I use stevia in my coffee and occasionally on my cereal, and even though stevia is completely natural, I still get that aftertaste if there's too much of it.  Still and all, I would buy it again...if it becomes widely available by me.

Rainforest Cola is a product of Rainforest Beverages, a company that started up in 2009 to make 100% natural antioxidant soft drinks. As of right now, the cola seems to be their sole product, and it has kind of limited distribution (you can check out the locations selling it by clicking here.)

Vecchitto's Italian Ice, Middletown CT

Dekoven Drive in Middletown is a quiet two-lane road on the edge of the town. It runs parallel to Route 9, and as you travel 9 past the city, you can look at Dekoven and see a few billboards, a couple apartment buildings, some former industrial buildings, and a business or two as you go by.  One particular building stands out in a quietly unobtrusive way; a single-story red brick storefront nestled between two larger white structures. There's a sign over the door - Vecchitto's Italian Ice - and a couple of neon signs in the window. It's easy to drive past, but if you're paying attention you can take Exit 15 off of Route 9 (the sign says "66 West, Middletown, Marlboro,") hook a quick right after you get off of 9, and wind up right there at the door of Vecchitto's.  Do this, and you will find frozen happiness in a small paper cup.  Do this not, and you will be poorer for what you have missed.

The Vecchitto family have made and sold Italian Ices in the summer since 1930, here in Middletown and at another location at Sound View. (The shops are only open between Memorial Day and Labor Day.) At one time the family drove a vending truck through the streets, summoning children to the curb with a bell announcing that ices had arrived, but these days the customers come to the shop.  The Vecchittos are old friends to many of their customers, some of whom had enjoyed ices as children and are now bringing their own children and grandchildren there.

The store is a humble place. Behind the counter is a long freezer chest with doors in the top, and there's a cash register at one end.  On the right is another long freezer chest.  By the front window is a single small table and a few chairs. Most customers don't sit inside, though, they bring their ices outside to enjoy with the breeze from the Connecticut River as they slurp their frozen treats and watch the cars whiz by on Route 9.  There's a sign listing the flavors currently available, but if you have a special flavor in mind, just ask - sometimes they have a variety or two that hasn't made it to the board.

I took the family to Vecchitto's on opening day - this year, it was Saturday the 28th.  We got there about 1:30 in the afternoon and there was a steady stream of customers, though no lines or long waits.  As the summers deepens, it gets crazier near the shop with lines of people waiting for their ice fix and cars parked up and down the shoulders of Dekoven.  We ordered a variety of different flavors to sample across the boards and every one of them was completely awesome. Chocolate, rich and impossibly fudgy, almost like a slushy Tootsie Roll; Coconut, clean and smooth and fantastic; Blue Raspberry, fragrant with berry flavor and vanilla; Watermelon (one of Vecchitto's most popular flavors,) like a scoop of frozen fresh fruit; and Grape - remember the full-bodied Concord grape flavor of Welch's juice or Mountain Dew's Pitch Black? Yeah, like that.

Really, there is no Italian Ice anywhere that can compare to Vecchitto's. You would totally make your own day if you took a few minutes to stop by on your way through Middletown, but it is equally worthwhile to drive to Middletown just to get a scoop at Vecchitto's. 

You can even make it an awesome day trip if you want.  We made the ride special by driving to Middletown "the back way" - rather than taking I-91 south to Route 9, we got off 91 in Hartford and picked up Route 2, then traveled up scenic Route 17 to 17A (Main Street in Portland) and over the Arrigoni Bridge into Middletown.  On the way home, we detoured off of 17 in Glastonbury to Route 160, and took the ferry across the river to Rocky Hill, where we caught 91 North and came home again.

That ferry is the oldest continually-operated ferry crossing in the US. It started as a private enterprise in 1655 and was taken over by the State of Connecticut in 1915. Today, the Department of Transportation will bring your carload of people across the river on a ferry platform powered by a small tugboat, and all it will cost you is a drive through some of the prettiest scenery in the state and $3.00 for the fare (which is a bargain.)

Lynnafred's Cookie Base

It was too damn hot in the kitchen for me, but Lynnafred got a jones for cookies, and when that happens she becomes a baking demon, unstoppable until several batches of cookies spill from the oven and the dining room table becomes covered with racks of cooling cookies.

She's come up with a very good "cookie base" - an all-purpose mixture that is highly adaptable to the type of cookie she want to produce.

Lynnafred's Cookies
Makes about 6 dozen

 Basic Mix:

1 cup butter, softened
¾ cup brown sugar, packed
½ cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2½ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
2 cups of "mix-ins" (chips, nuts, dried fruits, etc.)

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Cream butter and sugars together and beat eggs in one at a time.  Add vanilla extract and mix until smooth. Whisk dry ingredients together in a bowl until well-combined. Add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture and beat until a batter forms. Fold in the "mix ins." Drop by spoonfuls onto a parchment-covered cookie sheet and bake 8 to 10 minutes.  Remove with a spatula to racks to cool. Cookies will be soft when they come out of the oven and will firm up somewhat as they cool.

Variations:

• For chocolate cookies, substitute 1 cup of cocoa powder and 1¾ cups of flour for the 2½ cups of flour.
• Try "mix in" combos that work well together, using any proportion you like that adds up to the two cups required.  Some of Lynnafred's favorites are cinnamon chips + chocolate chips, white chocolate chips + dried blueberries, and dark chocolate chunks + butterscotch chips.
• Use different kinds of brown sugar for variations in flavor. The darker the brown sugar, the more intense the molasses flavor will be in the sugar.
• Try interesting "mix-ins" that you wouldn't normally associate with cookies.  Chocolate-covered dried cranberries are awesome in cookies.

Cinnamon cookies are one of Lynnafred's faves.  Unfortunately, we were running a little low on cinnamon chips tonight, so she made these combo chocolate chip-cinnamon chip cookies.

These cookies feature dried blueberries and white chocolate chips.  They're totally more-ish.

Rita's Ice, Vernon CT

When you live in the Northern Connecticut / Western Massachusetts area, there are plenty of Italian-Americans, and this means that there are plenty of places to get Italian Ice.  Really AWESOME Italian Ice, in fact, like at Vecchitto's in Middletown CT or Albano's Grocery Store in Springfield MA, or Smyth's Soft Serve in Enfield. Each of these places have top-notch ice and they are my Italian Ice Destinations.  

But there are other places that also sell pretty decent Italian Ice as well and they deserve a shot, too. Places like Rita's Water Ice, a franchised ice/frozen custard store which has several Connecticut locations. We recently stopped in at the Vernon store, which is tucked in off to the side of the former Vernon Circle at 378 Kelly Road in Vernon. It's a seasonal location, only open from the end of March to the end of October.

Along with traditional flavors of ice, Rita's makes "special" flavors as well, often with a nod to pop culture. Lynnafred went for one of those flavors, ordering Swedish Fish ice, while I decided on the blue option and got a cup of Cotton Candy flavor.

Lynnafred's Swedish Fish flavor was perfectly authentic and just like eating Swedish Fish candies in frozen water ice form, right down to the slightly waxy flavor of the confection. I found it a little too agressively sweet for me, but that didn't surprise me because over the past few years my taste for sweets has somewhat diminished as I've been weaning myself away from sweet treats.  My Cotton Candy flavor was similarly excellent with it's vanilla/burnt sugar flavor and bright blue color; it was also less powerfully sweet though believe me, more than sweet enough.  Lynnafred had a taste and said she'd wished she'd gotten the cotton candy.  And though Maryanne passed on the ice in favor of a soft-serve vanilla frozen custard, she too was quite satisfied with her selection (a soft-serve fan since childhood, she's selective about ice creams and not hesitant to say when one doesn't meet with her approval.)

Now that the weather is getting hotter and a quick stop for an Italian Ice is blessed temporary respite from the oppressive weather, it's great to have a few places in mind when one is on the road.  Share your favorite Italian Ice shop in the comments.

Memorial Day Weekend Cupcakes

Spotted at Stop & Shop.  And yes, the frosting on the cupcakes are camouflage color.

Barf's, LOL

Mooyah Burgers And Fries

Mooyah Burgers and Fries, a relatively new burger franchise that is kind of a weak imitation of Five Guys, just opened in Hartford, in the Food Court at State House Square.  Lynnafred and I checked them out for lunch today.  

We got there a little after noon and the line was about 25 people deep.  It took us about half an hour to move through the line. This was not the fault of the people taking orders - Mooyah had two registers going and the friendly folks ringing up orders were moving customers through as quickly as they could.

If you've ever been to Five Guys, you'll find Mooyah quite familiar.  Mooyah isn't even subtle about aping practically everything about that other red-shirted hamburger joint, so for me to point out every little detail would get tiresome.  Let's skip right to the food.

Left to right: Mooyah Burger, regular fries, "shake", another Mooyah Burger in front of a large Coke Zero.

The first thing Lynnafred and I noticed was that the burgers are actually smaller than other "premium" fast food burgers.  They look huge - like Five Guys or Red Robin huge - but they're not.  Mooyah uses smaller buns than the other guys, so their generously-sized burgers look more massive than they really are.  Clever, eh?  Until you go to pick up that sloppy-ass pile of grease and melted cheese and the whole thing slides around inside the bun as you try to grip and bite it,  and it plops into your lap.

Mooyah's fries are completely unremarkable.  Have you had  unpeeled potatoes cut into strips and fried before? Yeah me too. Most of the time they haven't been as soggy at the ones at Mooyah, though. And even Wendy's has mostly long, intact fries dusted with sea salt.  We got a cup of little fragments that were seasoned with disappointment and broken dreams.

Lynnafred liked her Oreo shake, though it was in fact soft-serve ice cream over a mound of crushed cookies and hit with the stick blender until still not soft enough to drink. She ended up eating it with a spoon since the straws provided were so small in diameter that they proved impossible to use.

If I were a "ratings" kinda guy, I'd give Mooyah about a five out of ten.  But I'm not, so I'll just say that I might eat there again if I got a flat tire right in front of them, at lunch time, and had to wait an hour for the tow truck, and Burger King were more than a fifteen minute walk away.

USDA Announces New Pork Cooking Guidelines

The USDA has finally updated their guidelines for cooking pork, announcing that an internal temperature of 145 degrees F is quite sufficient for cooking pork.

It's well known that Trichinella is killed at 137 degrees F; I and many others have been saying for years that it is unnecessary to cook the living hell out of pork.  Old cookbooks often advised people to cook pork to a temperature of 180 F, which makes it inedibly dry.

For me the issue with doneness of pork is a matter of texture.  When I make a pork roast, I generally cook it to an internal temp of about 155 F or so.  I find pork that is too rare to be uncomfortably "slimy" in mouthfeel.  (That particular quality disgusts me; it's why I hate gumbo and many types of sashimi.)

So, Huzzah! to the FDA for this sensible new guideline!

Sample This New Blog

It's called Eat And Feel Great and it's written by Chef Kit.  The blog is just a few months old, but Chef Kit has published some great recipes and cooking info, and I have a feeling Eat And Feel Great is going to continue to develop into a great resource.  Give it a peek and see what you think (click here or follow the link from my blogroll on the right hand side of the screen.)