Fancy Food Show, NYC and then Mendocino

I have had many travels so far this year. I am now happy to be at home for a while.

After my sojourn to Vegetarian Summerfest I went directly to the Fancy Food Show in New York City with my mother. Good thing that I had bulked up on all kinds of fresh food because the Fancy Food Show is all about cheese, chocolate, salt, vinegar, salsa and other tasty items. One of the most intriguing was a fruit (vegetable) called Peppadew. It looks like a small red pickling pepper and it has a spicy and addictive kick to it. I also perused the specialty salts and ought to have them in stock by September. I viewed some wonderful looking spices from Spain that come in grinders but are not yet available here. (Maybe a trip is in order.). And I got to stop by the Dr. Kracker both and see the great new crackers and small packages that are available. George promised me at tie-dyed Dr. Kracker t-shirt and he delivered. Yippee.

At Family Camp in Mendocino, I got my cookng fix, helping to prepare vegan food for a small contingent of vegetarians and many other campers. I made meatless meatballs from a recipe straight from my head, and helped devise a decadent and delicious version of mango mousse as a way to use very ripe mangoes. My mushroom gravy quickly vanished. And I had a chance to be creative with vegan cobbler because someone at camp had some interesting "allergies". As always I had a great time in the kitchen. But a few days is all I can take of that. Somehow, though, because most of my other meals were prepared for me, and we had dishwashers, it seems like less work than making 3 meals a day at home.

I am actually thrilled, though, to be in the midst of summer produce and have been eating real tomatoes, including the first two ripe Green Zebra tomatoes from my garden. Oh, time to go water it now.