Bea's Beans

If I was to create a cookbook that represents my mom, one of the standouts would surely be Bea's Beans. These beans are legendary.


If there's a potluck, it's assumed that Bea will bring beans. And if Bea decides to bring something else? People have been known to pout.


"Oh, I was really looking forward to Aunt Bea's beans."


"What? No beans from Bea? Darn."


So here they are. 


Step One
Pull out your trusty recipe card. The one you've had for forty years or more. Fondly remember the times you've made this recipe, and the adjustments made. Each time they're a little bit different. If you have to, squint to read the distinctive writing while lamenting the decline of cursive writing.

Recipe Card Front

Recipe Card Back

Step Two
Measure and sort the beans. 

Drag a good amount from the pile.

Quickly scan to see if there are any small stones. Also admire the beautiful rings.

Pull the clean beans into a waiting dish.

Step Three 
Soak the beans and rinse well. 

Rinse until water is clear.

Step Four
Boil the beans until soft. Just before adding the baking soda, mom leans over and quietly reveals a story about a family friend who claims that baking soda "Take the farts out." Later I learned that indeed, baking soda does help lower flatulence associated with beans. 

Beans before boiling.

Beans after boiling.

Step Five
Mix the beans with other ingredients. Taste to be sure they're tasty. Feel free to taste repeatedly. The beans are certainly edible at this point, but they're not baked. So hold yourself back from consuming too many beans at this stage because seriously, they're even better fresh from the oven.

Beans mixed and ready for baking.

Step Six
Bake. The beans come out of the oven bubbly. If you've gotten the recipe right, the baking pan will be blackened in some areas. And each time you make these, your family will fall in love all over again.

BEA'S BEANS 


2 pounds dry beans (4 cups)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup catsup
1 1/2 sticks butter
3 cups brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup vinegar




Sort and wash beans in cold water. Cover with cold water, and soak overnight. Drain.
Place in large sauce pan. Cover with warm water and boil gently about one hour. After coming to first boil, add 1 teaspoon soda. Skim foam to remove any specks. Then boil gently until soft (not mushy.) Remove from heat. Drain off liquid and reserve. Put beans in dish used for oven baking. Stir and add reserved liquid to cover beans. Bake at 350 for an hour and a half. Reduce heat to 325. Bake 1/2 hour. 


Variations: Microwave bacon strips 4-6 until crisp. Crumble and mix into beans. Return to oven at 325. Mom has also used homemade catsup in place of the store bought. Feel free to vary the amounts to suit the tastes of your family.


Suggestions: This recipe makes a lot of beans - easily enough to share at a potluck or family gathering. I imagine you could halve the recipe. And I can guarantee that, if you put them in the fridge overnight, they'll taste just as good tomorrow.

Peanut Butter & Chocolate Heaven, Bar Cookie Style

You know I have a thing for bar cookies, right?

This is an old recipe, found in a cookbook when I was a teenager. I've been making it ever since then. And, despite the fact that my younger sister gets grouchy when she doesn't get carded, it's been a very long time since I was a teenager, so I've made these for years. And I giggle a little if and when I do get carded.

Anyway, I had a craving for the combination of peanut butter and chocolate. I tried some chocolate brownies with peanut butter frosting last week, but the brownie part wasn't satisfying. The frosting was.  Even peanut butter M & M's didn't satisfy my craving.

It's also too early to beg for holiday Buckeye's from mom, so I decided to make the Peanut Butter Fingers. I mixed up the base ingredients of butter, sugar, egg, peanut butter, flour, oatmeal and baking soda.

And I used all white sugar, instead of a mixture of white and brown sugar; this changed the texture and taste slightly. I tasted several times to be sure it was acceptably peanut buttery, then patted into a 13x9 pan. And realized I'd forgotten the vanilla. Oh well, the base was still yummy.

As that was baking, I measured layer #2: dark chocolate chips. I tasted a few to be sure they were OK.

Layer #3 with these cookies is a peanut butter glaze made from powdered sugar, peanut butter, and milk. I didn't have milk, so substituted whipping cream (which I bought for a recipe I never made.) This made the mixture thicker, more like a frosting - it's usually a more runny glaze consistency.

While waiting for the cookie base to come out of the oven, I tasted the frosting repeatedly to ensure complete peanut buttery satisfaction.

The cookie base came out of the oven and I poured on the chocolate chips. And applied quality control standards to the frosting.

I spread the chocolate chips all over the cookie base. And tasted the frosting.

Then, I tasted the frosting and spread the frosting over the melted chocolate chips. I also licked the spatula as needed  to ensure quality control.

I had a little frosting left over, so made sure was still delicious. These are easy to make because you can get away with mixing the base in one bowl, and turn around and make the frosting in the same bowl a little later.

Just be sure that you test repeatedly throughout the baking process to ensure they're as good as I think they are!

Peanut Butter Fingers

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg, beaten
1/3 cup peanut butter
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup flour
1 cup oatmeal
1 1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup peanut butter
2-4 tablespoons milk

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 9x13 pan and set aside; I have also made these cookies successfully in a jelly roll pan. The 13x9 pan makes the base thicker, while with the jelly roll pan the base will be thinner.

Cream together the butter and sugars, along with the egg, peanut butter, and baking soda. Then mix in the flour and oatmeal. The mixture should be fairly stiff. Pat into prepared pan and bake for 20 minutes.

While the base is baking, make and repeatedly taste test the frosting by combining the powdered sugar, 1/4 cup peanut butter, and milk until smooth.

When the base comes out of the oven, pour chocolate chips over. Let stand until the chips are melted and spread over the base. Wait just a bit longer and drizzle with peanut butter glaze. Devour.

I Miss It So!

There's a book out about Jacobson's. You say that to anyone from the lower peninsula of Michigan, and they're bound to get misty-eyed. I'm definitely in that crowd.

Jacobson's (affectionately referred to as "Jake's" by clientele) was a retailer of the first order for much of the last 100 years in this state and closed their doors in 2002. At the end of it, there were about thirty stores in the chain spreading throughout Michigan, Ohio, Florida and beyond. For me, though, none of those stores bring on my sad puppy-dog face as much as the Saginaw store.  

Filling an entire block in downtown Saginaw, Jacobson's was the premier department store in the region. If you needed a dress for a special occasion, you could always find it at Jacobson's. Heck, if you needed anything to beautify yourself or your home, they probably had it or could order it.

Sure, there were other department stores in the area. Almost weekly mom and I trekked through Seitner's, Weichman's, and Heavenrich's. But Jacobson's stood out from the crowd. Way, way out in front of the crowd.

And for a birthday or Christmas, nothing was better than seeing a large silver box embossed with a pattern of the letter "J" and tied with a red ribbon. It didn't matter that I usually knew what was in the box, it was the fact that the clothing came from Jacobson's.

• That red terry-cloth robe I can't let go of because it's still in decent shape? Jacobson's. 
• That red wool dress that made me feel great every time I wore it? Jacobson's.
• The 1970s cool plaid bell-bottom pants & matching bomber jacket? Jacobson's.
• Most of my best clothing throughout high school? Totally Jacobson's and the Miss J Shop.

I was on the Miss J Board for a year in high school, and then, following college graduation, worked in the office on the second floor. Several times each day it was my job (and that of my co-worker) to walk through the store and collect tickets from sales. It meant that I knew the store backwards and forwards, and always knew where the best items were on sale. It also meant that a good deal of my paycheck went to those best items.

Did I say "tickets?"

I sure did.

It took Jacobson's a very, very long time to adapt to using registers and computers in the store. So when I was working in the 80s, the people on the sales floor were hand writing sales slips. And, from each item sold, they removed a ticket that included stock number, size, and price. I returned the tickets and sales slips to the office, where they were batched and totaled by a small, dedicated staff. Just imagine what it was like at Christmas time to collect and process all of that. By hand.

Jacobson's I Miss It So - The Story of a Michigan Fashion Institution by Bruce Allen Kopytek delves into the history and mystery of the stores. He reveals the humble origins of the store and the reign of Nathan Rosenfeld. He also explores many of the individual stores, including Saginaw. Thought there are interviews with some people who worked in Detroit area stores, I was sad to see there weren't any interviews with people who worked in the 207,000 square foot store. The handful of pictures of the store, though, are something special.

Still, this is a food blog, and focuses on cookbooks. So what does a book about ancient department stores in Michigan have to do with food or cookbooks?

As the stores were mostly free-standing, they often had gourmet sweets and restaurants. The new book has many beloved recipes from Jacobson's. And though I can't say I recognize a single recipe, it warms my heart to be cooking some chicken salad that -at one time- was indeed offered in a Jake's store.

Well, it kind of warms my heart. It's salad, so nothing warm. But it's tasty and beautiful. Like Jake's.

Jacobson's Cashew Chicken Salad
(adapted from Jacobson's...I Miss It So.)

4 cups or so chicken, cooked and diced
1/4 cup scallion, chopped
2 tablespoons Craisins (those dried cranberry raisin-like things)
1/4 cup cashew pieces, chopped
2 tablespoons mango jam (with chunks of Mango if you can find it)
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 teaspoon curry powder

The original recipe calls for a little celery and mango chutney, but I wasn't going to buy celery for just 1/4 cup. And there's no way I would buy mango chutney when I have a perfectly good jar of mango jam from World Market in the fridge. Mix it all together, chill for at least two hours, and savor. Preferably while dressed in your finest outfit and sipping wine from a crystal goblet.

P.S. Someone was going to get this book for Christmas, but then I read it, cooked from it, and posted about it here. So much for surprise gifts. Unless that someone might still have a Jacobson's box lurking in a closet?

Bar Cookie Discrimination - And Soup With Salad

I'll confess that I'm not a person who gets excited about the holidays.

You know the type of person I'm talking about? I'm picturing an over-the-top co-worker who decorates their oatmeal cubicle for every holiday and also dresses for the holiday right down to a a sparkly sweater, holiday-themed turtleneck,  matching socks, and -especially for Christmas- a Santa hat with jingle bell.

I'm equally not celebrating the fact that one of the local radio stations decided to begin broadcasting Christmas music 24/7 - in early November. Please! Halloween had just ended.

Christmas cookies, on the other hand, I can relate to. So on a recent business trip I picked up a copy of  The Christmas Cookie Club by Ann Pearlman. But, uh, I have two small cookie-related issues with the book:  

1. I like bar cookies. In fact, I like bar cookies so much that I started a tumblr feed for them. 
2. Individual cookies are too much work - too much standing, too much stirring. I know this because I have made large quantities of them on my own many years ago, and have refused to make them ever since then.  

So perhaps you can understand why I was rather appalled that the hard-working bar cookie was written off immediately in the opening salvo of The Christmas Cookie Club: "No bars. They stick to each other and crumble."

No bar cookies allowed? Bah humbug.

Nevertheless, I still enjoyed the book. It was a light-hearted, gossipy, chick-flicky romp through an annual Christmas cookie club event, accompanied by cookie recipes and ingredient history lessons. I don't really know what the history lessons were doing in the book, but they were informative and brief.

The characters are stereotypical, but lovable: there's Marnie, the party hostess (aka, head cookie bitch,) who's widowed with children and learning to love again; then there's Vera, the former cocaine addicted stripper who turned her life around, and there's Sissy representing for all women of color replete with sassy attitude and talented (yet troubled) children.

The premise of the novel is equally simple: there this Christmas Cookie party every year. There are rules you must follow. If you don't follow the rules, you're out of the club. One of the club rules is that you have to share the story of why you chose these cookies this year - which becomes a metaphor for everything that's happened to you in the last twelve months because apparently the characters rarely see each other except on this mandatory first Monday in December. Still, as a Christmas Cookie Club participant, you get some eating, some drinking, some dancing, and twelve dozen cookies out of the event, plus all of the recipes.

In fact, there are more than twenty recipes in the book - and not only for cookies. Being a bar cookie snob, I snubbed the hand-rolled, fastidiously decorated cookies throughout the book. I am not going to take the time to hand-write fortunes, then hand-turn the little fortune cookies even though I have all of the time in the world to do so. And truth be told, not all of the cookies are that fussy.

I went for the Roasted Carrot Ginger Soup on page 327 and the Mandarin Orange Salad on page 328, and wasn't disappointed one iota. I chopped and combined the carrot, parsnip, onion, and brown sugar.

Chopped Vegetables with Brown Sugar

I poured in chicken stock, covered with aluminum foil, and placed into the oven for a couple of hours. Once removed from the oven, I carefully spooned all into a large stock pot, and added additional chicken stock. Then I let it boil for awhile, and finally pureed.

Making the salad was even more of a breeze. That involved macerating mandarin oranges in a combination of honey and cinnamon, and mixing with olive oil, salt, and pepper. That was added to fresh spinach and topped with toasted walnuts.

Mandarin Oranges, Honey, Cinnamon

The result? One fabulous late autumn lunch for me and more soup in the freezer for later. Delightful - just like The Christmas Cookie Club by Ann Pearlman (even without bar cookies.)

Soup and Salad

Roasted Carrot Ginger Soup
1 1/2 pounds carrots, peeled and halved lengthwise
1 pound parsnips, peeled and quartered lengthwise
1 large onion, sliced
3-inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 tablespoons packed dark brown sugar
8 cups rich chicken broth, more if needed
Salt to taste
Pinch of cayenne pepper
1/4 cup creme fraiche for garnish
Snipped fresh chives for garnish

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Combine the carrots, parsnip, onion, and ginger in a shallow roasting pan. Dot with butter and sprinkle with brown sugar. Pour two cups of the broth into the pan. Cover well and bake until the vegetables are very tender, about 2 hours. Transfer the vegetables and broth to a large soup pot. Add the remaining six cups of broth. Season with salt and cayenne pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer partially covered for 10 minutes. (I completely forgot the butter, cayenne, creme fraiche, or chives. Still delicious!)

Mandarin Orange Salad
11-ounce can mandarin orange segments, drained
1 tablespoon honey
cinnamon
Handful of walnuts (broken into large pieces)
Lettuce (romaine, red or green leaf or mixed)
Extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper, to taste

Place the mandarin oranges in a small bowl. Add honey and sprinkle with cinnamon. Set aside for several hours (or longer). Toast walnuts at 350 for 3 minutes, and let them cool. Wash and tear lettuce into bite-size pieces. Add oranges. Add enough olive oil to wet greens and toss well. Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper and sprinkle with walnuts. Note: If taking to a potluck, wait to toss with olive oil and keep walnuts in a small bag until ready to serve. (I used spinach instead of lettuce and toasted my walnuts in a dry pan on the stove top until nearly smoking and slightly burnt.)

P.S. CBS picked up rights to the book, so don't be surprised if The Christmas Cookie Club becomes another one of those oft-repeated holiday specials.

Food, Friendship & Math

In addition to enjoying cooking, I also love to read - hence my ever-expanding collection of cookbooks. But how do you "collect" an e-book? 

I recently did some traveling for business, and took along a paperback and an e-book. I liked reading from both. The paperback was Perdido Street Station, and -let me tell you- you don't want to cook anything from the steampunk book unless it's for Halloween. (It's a good read, certainly, but not a cookbook.)

The e-book was The Recipe Club: A Tale of Food and Friendship by Andrea Israel and Nancy Garfinkel with recipes by Melissa Clark, and was published in 2009.

It's a breezy read, mostly composed of a series of emails (current times) and letters (from childhood) written between two "friendemies" who were once best of friends. 

Recipes were created specifically for the book and reflect story lines a la "Breakup with Boyfriend Wine and Dine;" that's not an actual recipe title from the book, but you get the idea. 

The Recipe Club is clever, but not pithy: I read from e-cover to cover in less than a day. I didn't care for the stereotypical good girl/bad girl contrast, nor the way everything works out perfect (too perfect) in the end. 

Regardless, this is the kind of marshmallow fluff of a book I like to snack on, a sort of literary comfort food. 

My favorite recipe title has to be the "Mighty Math Muffins." I'm math-challenged, but after reading this recipe, I'm wondering if it's simply an aversion to math class versus recipe calculations? Here's hoping you can solve the story problems in the recipe; the book gives answers.

Mighty Math Muffins

What's 3/4 cup of sugar times 2?

What's 1/2 of 1/2 cup of butter?
What's 1/6 of a dozen eggs?
What's 1/2 of 32 ounces of all purpose flour?
If a tablespoon has 3 teaspoons and you need 2 tablespoons minues 4 teaspoons, what do you need?
What's a teaspoon of salt minus 3/4?
Waht's 1/4 teaspoon of lemon zest times 4?
What's 1/4 of 16 ounces of milk?
How many cups of chopped cranberries do you need if you need 16 ounces?


Grease muffin tins. Then, when you have the math solutions, mix up the mysterious ingredients. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 25-30 minutes.

Chef Bill Walz: A Risk Worth Experiencing Part 2 of 2

Continued from Part 1 – featuring Chef Bill Walz of Risk Restaurant

Like most of us, Chef Bill is as likely to turn to Google to find interesting recipes as he is to turn to his sizable cookbook collection. Once a week he pulls together a multi-course international menu that demands considerable research. 

Chef Bill at work in the small kitchen.

If the international night features food of Brazil, for example, Chef Bill looks at Brazilian-flavored restaurants in New York to see what they're cooking, and try to bring a little of that flavor and style to Risk for the evening. He stressed that keeping true to the feel of the food, rather than sourcing the complicated and authentic ingredients, works well for mid-Michigan clientele.

“It's not so much about using authentic ingredients as it is about capturing the essence of the cuisine, ” said Bill. “Authentic recipes can have long, detailed lists of ingredients. If you run into a recipe that requires several kinds of chile peppers – where would you actually find those different chile peppers in mid-Michigan? And you couldn't find them in 1990, so I learned to improvise.”

Risk Restaurant embraces the food-to-plate ethic, and uses local suppliers whenever possible. “The hardest part about this is the time it takes to go out and source it locally,” said Bill. “Then it takes time to ensure the items get delivered when they're needed.” He likes Monroe Organics for vegetables, and McConnell's and Smith Brothers for meats; all are located in the central Michigan area.

Bread warming in the kitchen.

Without a doubt, Bill loves cookbooks, and prefers good quality. “I like firm pages, good photos. And I look at that before looking at the recipes.” And he's not above trying several recipes to ensure the cookbook is worthy.

“I remember bringing home cookbook many years ago,” said Chef Bill. “I was very excited about trying out the pastry recipes.” Unfortunately, he quickly discovered that the measurements were completely off. “Every recipe I tried failed.”

Cookbooks from favorite restaurants, on the other hand, are reliable though often daunting for the average home cook as the two styles of cooking are so different.

“In a restaurant,” says Chef Bill, “you have mise en place – ingredients prepared ahead of time and at your fingertips. But at home, so often you don't – or you're not taught to have these things in order. But when you have your ingredients in front of you, in separate bowls or containers, you can cook several items quickly. The average home cook doesn't do that.”

Spices at your fingertips, too.

Bill's wife Cindy (an experienced chef in her own right) had mentioned to me in passing that they've always wanted to write their own cookbook. After all, with twenty years experience in the restaurant business, they have plenty of intriguing restaurant-ready recipes. Bill confessed that he had worked on some recipes while in-between the closing of one restaurant and the opening of another.

Do I sense a new cookbook being created to add to my shelves? 

If it's from Chef Bill Walz, it's a risk I'll be happy to take. In the meantime, I'll be eating wherever Bill is cooking.

Risk Restaurant

437 South Mission Street, Mount Pleasant, Michigan

PHONE: 989-317-0844

Wednesday-Saturday 11am-2pm for lunch, 5pm-9pm for dinner

Price Range from $10-30

Casual dining, cash only, reservations recommended

Catering available

Chef Bill Walz: A Risk Worth Experiencing Part 1 of 2

Not long ago, I ate at Risk Restaurant's weekly international night. The five course German-inspired meal consisted of:

• a creamy and crunchy amuse-bouche,
• a potato pancake with applesauce and horseradish cream,
• a cup of chicken vegetable soup with spaetzel,
• a cold plate of pickled beets, carrot and parsnip, and fresh cherry tomato salad,
• pork schnitzel, mashed root vegetables, sauteed red cabbage, and
• spice cake garnished with pastry cream, whipped cream, and fruit preserves.

As I left the restaurant, I knew I had to talk with Chef Bill Walz. He's been around town for years, and has an admirable reputation.

The entrance at Risk Restaurant on Mission Street in Mount Pleasant, Michigan

I've never interviewed a chef before. Heck, the last time I spoke with a working chef was in my 20's, fresh out of college, attempting to work the garde manger station for a restaurant at the Cedar Point amusement park. I was clueless about culinary life and more concerned about the atrocious green polyester dress I was required to wear than the quality of the food. I didn't understand the testosterone-driven kitchen culture, and hated being called “salad girl.” You can bet I didn't last long.

So it was with the tiniest bit of trepidation that I knocked on the kitchen door at Risk.

The first thing I noticed was the drone of ever-present exhaust fans. Then I looked around and realized how much equipment was squeezed into the miniscule kitchen: there was a six-burner stove, griddle top, plate warming oven, deep fryer, bread racks, three stainless sinks, flat surfaces for chopping, storage shelves, and more.

Lunch service had just ended, and Chef Bill was working on chocolate pate. He had heavy cream heating in a pan on a gas-fired burner, then added chocolate chips and a dash of brandy. The mixture was stirred and set aside to cool; eventually it became chocolate truffles. We talked as he worked.

Chef Bill works on chocolate pate.

Chef Bill has an easy-going manner that belies his passion for good food. He grew up in Illinois in a large family that ate plenty of casseroles typical of the 1950s and early 60s.

But when an aunt married a man from France, young Bill's eyes were opened to the sophistication of French cuisine. “A meal at my aunt's house meant a white tablecloth and a three or four course meal. I'd never seen anything like it,” said Chef Bill.

At about the same time, Julia Child's “The French Chef” was on TV, and Bill got a copy of Mastering theArt of French Cooking Vol I and II. He learned many of the techniques by working with his siblings at home through trial and error.

“I learned that the important thing in cooking is technique,” said Bill. “When you know the techniques, you can cook almost anything. If you can poach salmon, you just need to come up with something to accompany it. Or if you know how to broil salmon, you have time to prepare a quick sauce of lemon, dill, and butter.”

Mushroom Gravy

And though “Mastering” is still a treasured cookbook, he doesn't recommend it for a beginning cook. “It's intimidating because the recipes are really long. Now I prefer the Mediterranean-style of cooking – combining fresh, local items with minimal cooking time.”

As a young man, however, Chef Bill wanted to learn cook in the French style and eventually landed a position in a sophisticated Florida restaurant. A few years later, and a lot more experienced in French cooking, he met wife Cindy, and they relocated to Cindy's hometown. Since then Bill and Cindy have raised a family and owned and operated several restaurants.

“In the 80s, people who came to the restaurant had never seen mesclun mix before and didn't know how to eat it or even what it was.” At the time, iceberg lettuce was preferred to the now ubiquitous and every-changing mix of radicchio, escarole, arugula, baby beet greens, dress, mache, and mizuna.

“Over the years, said Bill, “the tastes have expanded and people have become more adventurous, partially because of the expansion of the Food Network, and other celebrity chefs.”

*End Part One*

Coming in Part Two: creating international recipes, cookbook talk, more!

Risk Restaurant

437 South Mission Street, Mount Pleasant, Michigan

PHONE: 989-317-0844

Wednesday-Saturday 11am-2pm for lunch, 5pm-9pm for dinner

Price Range from $10-30

Casual dining, cash only; reservations recommended

Catering available

What's Cooking?

Intriguing things going on here at Cookbook Fetish this season.

I've just completed an interview with Chef Bill Walz of Risk Restaurant in Mount Pleasant, Michigan; the first of two posts will be appearing this weekend. I'm also finishing up a review of the Cooking Light iPhone app.

The local library's annual book sale was last weekend and - you know me - I couldn't help but pick up some cookbooks. Here are a few:

• The Chef's Secret Cookbook by Louis Szathmaey
• The Houses Cookbook by Ruth Lambert - architectural styles and recipes in one book!
• Wheeler Farm Fare: A Collection of Turn of the Century Recipes
• The Silver Palate Cookbook - a classic of New American Cuisine
• Classic French Cooking from the Time/Life Foods of the World Series
• Gourmets Guide to New Orleans: Creole Cookbook

So with the weather cooling and this year's CSA season winding down, you can bet I'm back in the kitchen.

Glad Rags For Diners - Part Two

My companions and I had just spent more than an hour meticulously investigating (and buying) delightful finds from Glad Rags Resale on Columbus Avenue in Bay City, and boy - we were hungry.

Old City Hall Restaurant at 814 Saginaw Street won the dinner debate, and it was an excellent (if a bit pricey) choice. After reading the menu, here's what we ate:

Gumbo Soup.  Cajun-styled spices, okra. Nearly too hot for me!

Sometimes when splitting items with a group, there can be a negative attitude from the waiter or waitress. That was not the case at the Old City Hall Restaurant, as we each received a small cup of soup to taste.

I also had to take pictures as fast as possible as hunger also makes people impatient. And the food all smelled so good!

Grilled Chicken Nachos

The chicken nachos were tasty, but nothing special. The corn tortillas were extra hard to chew and I wish there had been a fresh tomato salsa or or guacamole included on the side.

Artichoke Chicken in Creamy Lemon Butter Sauce

Served with seasonal vegetables the artichoke chicken was disappointing, yet certainly satisfying. I did enjoy the creamy lemon butter sauce and the crisp green beans.

Lobster Hush Puppies with Honey Chili sauce

I'd come back to Old City Hall Restaurant just to be able to eat the Lobster Hush Puppies again. I wish the sauce wasn't so hot (err, that's my issue for sure.) The little bit of the sauce I tasted had great promise:

Think honey,

and then think Thai Chili.

Add a bite of lobster,

fried crunchiness,

and feel your taste buds dance in delight!

Saginaw Street Shops in Bay City, Michigan

We finished dinner by splitting a piece of red velvet cake. No picture, sorry - the cake was pummeled by three fast-moving forks.

The Old City Hall Restaurant is located in the building that was the first city hall in Bay City. It's said that there are ghosts in the building, though I didn't see or feel any during our visit. We arrived at just after 5pm, and the restaurant was practically empty. Over the course of the next hour, the place really filled up. Despite the rather lackluster food, I would definitely return to this casual restaurant. Plus there are shops and other eateries to explore nearby.

The menu at Old City Hall Restaurant changes seasonally. I wonder what they're cooking up for autumn?

Old City Hall Restaurant
814 Saginaw Street, Bay City, MI 48708
(On Saginaw Street between 5th and Center.)
989-892-4140
M-F Dinner 5p-10p
Tues-Fri Lunch 11:30-5p
Saturday Happy Hour 3p, Dinner 4p-10p

Glad Rags For Diners - Part One

There's nothing like spending the day with friends browsing stores and eating great food. Recently, I went to Bay City, Michigan with a couple of friends to visit a store that doesn't sell food, but is surely a feast for the eyes. And then we had dinner.

The day started with a quick trip into Espresso Milano to pick up refreshments. This indie, one-location only coffee house in downtown Midland, Michigan opened in 1993 and has been going strong ever since. They're located at 137 Ashman, and are open from very early to very late. I had the summer special Ginger-Mango Spritzer, and loved it. I also loved the courteous service, but didn't like that back entry door. While conveniently located next to parking, there's a step down, and I wish it had been better marked...nearly twisted my ankle.

The half hour drive to Bay City passed quickly as we talked about our lives, and in no time at all we parked in front of Glad Rags 814 Columbus Avenue. Owned and operated by super-stylish Mary Bush, the store has had many permutations and locations over the years. If you're looking for a vertible explosion of color, fabric, and style, this is a store you want to visit.

Glad Rags specializes in Resale clothing, so expect the unexpected, and plan to spend a good hour or longer looking through the two floors of mostly women's clothing. Be on the lookout for designer duds, too. I spotted (and nearly fainted) at the sight of a Christian Dior black wool dress and coat set from the 1950's; the dress still had original petticoats.

A peek at the ground floor of Glad Rags.

Hats, Scarves, Purses, Jewelry - Accessories of All Kinds (but nothing edible.)

A small portion of the shoe selection at Glad Rags.

I ended up walking away with an original Jean Paul Gaultier alpaca and silk turtleneck sweater for under $100 (plus a few other things as well.)

One of the most delightful things about Glad Rags is owner Mary Bush. Don't hesitate to ask her for fashion advice as she has a knack for finding just the right accessory or helping you find the styles that work best for you. Be sure to bring plenty of cash or a local check as credit cards are not accepted.

And then we had dinner (See Part Two.)

Glad Rags Resale (no website)
814 Columbus Avenue, Bay City, Michigan 48706
989-892-5859
Wednesday through Saturday 12p-6p

Food Lover's Note: Glad Rags is located just down the street from the Bay County Market where area farmers offer produce to the retail and wholesale markets.

Captivated by Cappelini Caprese

Caprese salads are typically composed of fresh tomato, buffalo mozzarella, julienned basil, olive oil, salt, and pepper. This recipe adds pasta into the mix, and is great for the lazy, hazy days of summer that we're in now.

This recipe comes from a magazine. I have no idea what magazine, though I'm sure I found the recipe sometime in the mid-90s, and have been preparing it every summer since then. It's so simple, and so celebrates the season that you'll add it to your summer repetoire in a heartbeat, too.

The pictures show a recent version of this salad that uses the last bits of cooked and cooled macaroni, red onion, and leftover chicken breast. The recipe is easily adapted in that way. Don't have parsley? Don't worry about it. I'm sure the salad will be delicious anyway you make it today. And - if there are any leftovers - it will be even better tomorrow.

Cappelini With Tomato

CAPPELINI WITH TOMATO
Serves four or more

12 oz cappelini, cooked, tossed with 2 T olive oil, and cooled to room temperature

4 large tomatoes, diced
1/2 cup scallion, chopped
1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 oz mozzarella, shredded - be sure to use FRESH mozzarella.
Salt and Pepper to taste
Walnuts (optional) for garnish

Combine the tomatoes, scallion, basil, galric, mozzarella, salt, and pepper in a large bowl and let stand, at room temperature, for at least thirty minutes. Toss with pasta and walnuts and serve.

This recipe is great for potlucks and picnics. On top of my worn out recipe card I wrote "A summer classic" - indeed.

Dining In Denver - Part 1

Occasionally I get out of the office and travel for business. Recently I was at the Grand Hyatt in downtown Denver for a couple of days. I can't say enough about the breathtaking views from the 38th floor Pinnacle Club. And while it was non-stop business during the day, after working hours ended, I found some beautiful architecture and excellent eats.

Smashing Salad
A few hours after arriving in Denver, I wondered the 16th Street Pedestrian Mall in a sleep-deprived and hungry state, then found MAD Greens, and was in salad heaven. MAD Greens specializes in custom-made salads, soups, panini's and wraps - most named after famous dead people: Dionysos, Ty Cobb, Edgar Allan Poe, and so on. Founders Marley Hodgson and Dan Long purport the salads were invented by the celebrities. I selected the MAD Molly Brown - a salad of spinach, green onions, mozzarella, tomatoes and grilled sweet onions with Citrus Grilled Chicken.

MAD Molly Brown Salad 

After a day of travel, I was refreshed and reinvigorated not only from the fresh food, but also from the pleasant atmosphere. You can also build your own salad by combining lettuce, protein and host of other ingredients: apples, black beans, jalapenos, sugar snap peas, toasted almonds, and so on. I was delighted to find a little bit of sanity amongst the mix of fast-food and stereotypical casual dining in the area. Can't wait to see a MAD Greens at my local mall.

Panzon-wow!
Panzano is an award-winning Northern Italian restaurant and lounge on the corner of 17th and Champa Streets. There's an open air kitchen and pizza area. The motto of the restaurant is Chi mangia bene, viva bene - those who eat well, live well. I was definitely living a good life eating at Panzano.

Dinner started with an olive and sun-dried tomato tapenade and selection of breads. My entree was Cappaletti pasta filled with sweet pea, ricotta, parmesan, walnuts, and speck finished wtih chicken broth and chives. My dining companion had the Cabonara a la Panzano: tagliatelle with house-cured pancetta, Granda Padano, and cracked black pepper topped with a fried egg. We split creme brulee for dessert. The service was outstanding, atmosphere engaging, and food wonderful. Had we not eaten at Rioja the night before, this would have been the highlight of the trip.

Rioja Mania
Looking for a restaurant to titillate my taste buds online, Rioja in Larimer Square was the standout recommendation. I dare you to read the menu aloud and not drool.

Larimer Square street scene

Though my dining companions and I had to wait for an hour for a table, it was worth it. Between the three of us we had:

• Goat Cheese Trio: Avalanche fresh chevre, goat gouda, Bleu de Bocage, red wine gelee, strawberry rhubarb jam, and almond granola crackers. 
• Roasted Candy Striped Beet Salad: cucumber mint vinaigrette, snow drop goat cheese, crispy beet chips, pickled red onion, micro beets, mint syrup.
• Rioja House Salad: baby arugula, Medjool dates, Gorgonzola, toasted almond vinaigrette.
• Artichoke Tortelloni: goat cheese and artichoke mousse stuffed pasta, artichoke broth, truffle essence, queso de mano cheese, chervil.
• Vegetarian Four Squares: a tasting of four seasonal dishes -
• Sweet Corn Fritter
• Spinach Goat Cheese Crepe
• Artichoke Hearts stuffed with Artichoke Mousse
• Zucchini-Radicchio Salad

The restaurant was dark, so getting a good picture without being obnoxious was a challenge. This is a blurry picture of the Artichoke Hearts stuffed with Artichoke Mouse. Just enough for a handful of bites and delectable taste!

Just typing the descriptions makes me hungry all over again - and makes me remember and savor the meal. Lively conversation, spectacular food...I've got the Rioja cookbook, too, and can't wait to dive in.
I would suspect that sister restaurants Bistro Vendome and Euclid Hall Bar and Kitchen offer similar experiences. And do not miss the lavender sourdough. If the roasted beet salad sounds intriguing to you, I'm pretty sure my next post will satisfy your curiosity.