October treat!

Here's one of my favorite treats that I only get to enjoy in October: Roasted pumpkin seeds. These are so good to snack on when carving a masterful jack-o-lantern face.

Immediately after emptying out the contents of your pumpkin, seperate the seeds from the pulp and rinse all the slime off. Blot dry with a towel and spread evenly on a cookie sheet (no need to add oil). Bake at 375 for 12-15 minutes, or until golden and crisp. Check often after about 10 minutes to avoid burning.

These are perfect right out of the oven with a little popcorn salt (it's extra fine and sticks well). Equally good with some cinnamon-sugar (let them cool before adding), or even a little grated parmesean cheese.

Yummy!

good-bye summer/hello autumn

good-bye, summer.
good-bye, grilled tomatillo salsa.
good-bye, everything grilled (including the dilled pickled garlic...good call, jeremy).
good-bye, fresh mozzarella, fresh basil from my garden, fresh tomatoes from someone else's garden.
good-bye, picnics.
good-bye, mojitos and g&t's.










hello, autumn.
hello, apple crisp.
hello, pumpkins.
hello, rosemary and chickpea soup.
hello, butternut squash.
hello, baked mac and cheese.
hello, irish coffee and hot scotch.

Spam and Lobster Mushroom Grits with Braised Chard

So, the spam bots have finally found our humble blog. I have changed the settings so that only members of the blog can post comments. So, if you are a lurker who wants to comment, send me an email (jason. palmeri at gmail.com) and I will sign you up.

I'll also post an exciting recipe by the end of the day! (It won't involve spam, though....sorry.)

A Visit to Two Casual But Nice-ish Restaurants

The first is the Happy Greek on High Street in the Short North. I went there for the first time last week. Gourmet food and lots of vegetarian options, and I enjoyed the yummy classic Greek trio of spanikopita, dolma, and baklava. The wait staff is soooo sexy, dressed all in black and ferociously friendly. The second restaurant is LuLu's on 5th Ave in Grandview. I went there for the first time tonight. The leopard print carpet matched the leopard print skirt of the hostess (who is the chef's wife). And, in a delightful coincidence, I was wearing leopard print shoes. We ate fried green tomatoes, peppers stuffed with goat cheese, and mudbugs. I'm not sure what mudbugs are but they come from the ocean and they tasted pretty good. I want to spend more time at Lulu's because I saw lots of middle-aged women dressed in loose-fitting clothes, and that makes me feel comfortable, although I myself do not wear loose-fitting clothes.

Conspicuous Consumption

Hi. Ben and I spent the weekend at the Oktober/Italian fests...Here's a rundown of the INSANE AMOUNT and variety of foods we consumed over the past 24 hours...all tasty and well worth the festival admission/inflated prices/severe indigestion/extra 3.2 pounds gained (each):
In chronological order,

• Sauerkraut balls (really)
• Bratwurst
• Cream puff
• Soft pretzel
• Pizza
• Spumoni
• Italian sausage
• Cannoli
• Lasagna
• Ravioli
  
• Gnocchi

I blacked out at this point and can't remember anything except stumbling around Warren St. complaining that I couldn't find the damn vomitorium...

All this and we were still able to pull off the Chicken Dance and the Tarantella, natch.