Epic display of jack-o-lanterns on Java Street. Photo by Megan Penmann
Farewell, Halloween—time to finish off the candy corn before it goes stale, sweep up the cobwebs and deflate your giant spiders. If you or your neighbor still have a slowly decomposing jack-o-lantern or two sitting outside, by now they’re probably getting a little worse for wear (but hopefully not as bad as the Hawkins pumpkins in Stranger Things). If you don’t have a compost bin—the entire zone that makes up Community Board 1 should have one, though we’ve heard some residents or landlords have avoided using them—you can drop your pumpkin and its guts off at the McCarren Park Greenmarket on Saturday from 8am-2pm. Alternatively, if you’re into an old fashioned pumpkin smashing, you can head down to the Carroll Gardens Greenmarket for Pumpkin Smash 2017 from 9am-12pm on Sunday, November 5th. Do your part to help NYC become a Zero Waste city!
“Our farm is in West Pawlet, in southern Vermont. We sell a variety of raw cow’s milk and goat’s milk cheeses, also maple syrup!” – Yvette of Consider Bardwell Farm
Orange Souchong, Black Sesame and Raspberry, Honeydew Lemongrass, Salted Caramel. These are just some of the flavors that Greenpoint’s local popsicle company, Mom & Pospsicles, has been sharing in their Instagram feed (and at Sunday’s McGolrick Farmer’s Market) lately. As a self-proclaimed popsicle aficionado, I needed to know more about the person behind this pop-up, so I hunted down the little company’s founder, Eli Kaplan, and asked him to share a little about his relationship to Greenpoint and his experience owning a real mom-and-POP shop. Continue reading →
Brooklyn Cured is this week’s featured vendor at Greenpoint’s McGolrick Park Down-to-Earth Market, (open Sundays, 11 am- 4pm). This week, I caught up with BK Cured’s top dog, Scott Bridi, to learn more about his local roots and culinary experience in some of the city’s most notable food spots, and to hear his perspective on being a small-scale food producer. My advice is get over to McGolrick this Sunday to stock up on dogs for Fourth of July grilling! Brooklyn Cured’s products include sausages, hot dogs, bacon, smoked meats, classic charcuterie and more, using meat raised with no antibiotics from farms within the region. Continue reading →
Rainy days and Mondays…sigh… Let us consider today’s weather as an answer to yesterday’s summer-y heat and a reminder that it’s still spring, friends. I only wish I liked my raincoat more. In other news, Recipes Gone Wild is about to go on summer vacation! But in case you still want a little cooking inspiration, worry not. We at Greenpointers will still be putting up lots of recipes in the coming months! So anyway… I attended my first BBQ of the year the other weekend, where I ran into my neighbor and friend Dan. He’s been promising for weeks to send me his risotto recipe, and surprise, surprise– he came through! Loaded with fresh green veg (I’ve been watching Jamie Oliver lately and that’s what he calls vegetables), this recipe is insanely delicious and will knock the socks off of you and whoever is lucky enough to dine with you! And if you run into Dan (perhaps at one of the local beer shops), I’m sure he can give you some great ideas on what beverage to pair with this dish. Continue reading →
Today marks the start of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, and what better to celebrate the opening ceremony than with a big bowl of borscht? I’ll admit that I until recently I never really thought too much of this blood-red soup. But a trip to the McCarren Park Greenmarket last fall changed all that. They were hosting their own Borscht Olympics of sorts, and in the lineup were Greenpoint strongholds such as Karczma and Lomzynianka, but there was also a submission from Eat, that gorgeous little vegetarian restaurant on Meserole. From one spoonful to the next, each soup was so unique and delicious—some more vinegar-y, some more vegetal and garlicky—but it was Eva Schmidt (of Eat) whose beautiful borscht I wanted to give the gold medal to. I asked her if she would share the recipe for it with us, and she graciously sent it over– a party-sized recipe at that! Continue reading →
Clams have feelings too, you know…maybe? Disturb them and they’re liable to spit right in your eye. Such an action, so uncouth, so impulsive, warrants a long vacation in the soup pot, if you get my drift. What I’m saying is Ahoy! It’s time to make chowdah. And I’m not talking about that silly Manhattan version that some people have to mention when the word “chowder” comes up. You don’t live on that island across the river, do you? So why would you make a stew that bears its name? The choice is clear (actually the choice is opaque, but whatever). This week’s recipe, New Amsterdam Clam Chowder, will keep you pleasantly fortified, as you brave the cool and craggy Brooklyn coast line. It has all of the traditional New England version’s flavor, but less of the cream—using more broth and potatoes to attain that silky-smooth texture. And while your simmering, maybe you can make some of these too, for dunking. Otherwise, a nice, hearty slice of Balthazar multigrain boule works perfectly as an accompaniment. Continue reading →
Nothing is easy. Especially not figuring out what to make for dinner, which can actually feel like sort of a chore if you cook a lot. Having said that, I’ll admit that few things make me as happy as cooking…so I ought to stop complaining and celebrate the fact that last week I received a gift of somewhere around 30 bulbs of fresh garlic from the Hudson Valley Garlic Festival! Weehoo! What to do with such a generous harvest? Well, there is one thing in cooking that IS easy AND satisfying. Two words: roasted garlic. I learned how to roast these lovely alliums over a decade ago and still it’s totally magic to me how a little heat and a drizzle of olive oil can turn something so pungent and crisp as raw garlic into something this mellow, sweet, and smooth. Continue reading →
Stopping at a gas station upstate the other weekend, I had my first taste of this fall’s apple crop. A lady had set up a fruit stand just outside the food court, and there was no way I could pass up the little pint of slightly waxy Macouns she was selling. After months of resigning myself to the mealy leftovers of last year’s harvest, I couldn’t shut up about how much I was enjoying this freshly harvested apple– its bright, snappy crunch, it’s still-slightly-green astringency, it’s sweet-tart flavor. Continue reading →
Growing up, I lived a stone’s throw from Lake Michigan. Nearly every day during the summer I’d go to the beach, but on the hottest afternoons, I stayed indoors. On these lazy days, I’d grab a fistful of freshly peeled carrots (this was before the ubiquity of packaged “baby carrots”) and a stack of picture books, and disappear for a while to my hiding spot— above a floor vent, under a sunny window, behind a big, blue chair.
