Jazz for Foodies

Did you know that April is Jazz Appreciation Month? Well, with the month coming to a close, I thought it would be appropriate to celebrate with a couple of my favorite jazz tunes about food. There is something really wonderful about how vocalists like Diana Krall or Nancy Wilson can make food sound incredibly delicious, romantic and even a little sensual. Below are three of my favorite food-related tunes.

Do you have any favorite food related songs that you love? It doesn't have to be from the jazz genre. Would love to hear what you're listening to!

"Peel Me A Grape"- Diana Krall

"Frim Fram Sauce"- Nat King Cole

"Days of Wine and Roses"- Nancy Wilson

(just as a disclaimer, this is probably not the most interesting video clip, but at least you can listen to the song)

Mary, Mary quite contrary, How does your garden grow?

So as a side project, my boyfriend, Phill and I are going to be planting a garden! I have to give him a big chunk of the credit for this idea, because he has been very enthusiastic about this since February, when it was still really blustery outside and the ground was completely frozen.

My previous experience with growing produce haven't been the most positive and have mostly consisted of bug-ridden strawberry plants and shriveled up tomato stems. You would think this would make me apprehensive about trying to grow fruits and veggies again, but if anything, I'm convinced that I will be able to fully redeem myself if we can just make our first garden together a success!

Where are we planting our little fruit and veggie patch, you ask?

My parents house. We asked them if we could use just a small section of grass on either the side of the house or behind it. After some negotiating (Dad was concerned the chicken wire/ screening we we'd have to use to deer and bunny-proof the garden would be an eye sore), they agreed to let us use an area of the yard located on the back right-side of their property.

Needless to say, I have never been this excited about top soil and seeds before! Yesterday evening Phill and I started planting a bunch of the seeds in tiny cups. We'll wait for these guys to sprout and then once they're big enough, we'll transplant them into the garden.

Tomorrow we're going to till the soil in the garden area- the first of many steps towards what will hopefully be a cornucopia of herbs, fruits and veg throughout the summer and fall.

Will keep you posted on how our little seedlings do! In the meantime, check out the photos below for a visual of the progress we've been making. Are you planting anything this Spring? Fruits, veggies, flowers? Let us know what and where!

Our seed babies- pictured here are zucchini, green pea and summer squash.

Some of the organic seed packets we've been using.

The site for our future garden- as demarcated by the white string!

Ideas for New Products or Flavors?

Finally- it's Spring in Pittsburgh! Those of you living in warmer climates have no idea how wonderful it is not to have to wake up an hour earlier to shovel a driveway covered in a blanket of snow.

The trees are green again and the flowers are blooming- pretty inspirational weather, if you ask me. On that note, we're always thinking of new flavor combinations or product ideas for Cupoladua Oven. In the past, a couple of them have been:

-Green Tea Cupola Cookies

-Vanilla Cupola Cookies

-Chocolate Chip Cupola Cookies

-Cheddar Cupola Clouds

-Blue Cheese Cupola Clouds

So far, our best sellers right now are Chocolate Cashew Cupola Cookies and Parmesan Pink Peppercorn Cupola Clouds. My theory is that the Chocolate flavor is popular because just about everyone loves chocolate. I think the Parmesan Clouds are more popular because this cheese is more commonly known, compared to Smoked Gouda.

Which brings me to the question of the day- Do you have a new flavor for our Cupola Cookies or Clouds that you'd like to share with us? If you have any suggestions or think any of the potential flavors above sound scrumptious to you, let us know by posting your thoughts!

Baby It's Cold Outside.....

I saw these lovely berries on a tree in my neighborhood and they reminded me of little ornaments. Festive, no?



Wow. Has it really been 4 months since my last post? How time flies!

I can't believe it's already December. It's officially winter here in Western Pennsylvania. We actually had some snow yesterday- the first we've had all year, I think. It didn't accumulate, so it was festive without being too much of a nuisance.

We've been so busy these past couple months. To give you an idea, I actually just threw out the pumpkin that was sitting in front of our house for the past two months. I have a feeling a Christmas tree purchase may still be weeks away.

In the meantime, enjoy this clip from one of my all-time favorite holiday movies:




One year when I was in college, my mom purchased a small artificial pine tree and trimmed a bunch of the branches off so there were only about 6 or 7 left. She decorated it with a bunch or really colorful ornaments. When I came home for the holiday break, it was waiting for me in my room! She told me it was my very own Charlie Brown-style Christmas tree. One of my fondest holiday memories!

Heating things up in the kitchen

Summer daisies are in full bloom here in PA.

It actually hit 90 degrees in Pittsburgh today! It's funny because everyone up here feels like today was sweltering, especially since we've had such a mild summer and virtually no humidity. (Sorry people down south- I'm not trying to make you jealous, I swear!)

But when I was growing up in Virginia, we thought we were incredibly lucky if we had 90 degree weather in August. I remember breaking a sweat just walking from the mall to the car. I also don't miss the mosquitos- lots and lots of mosquitos that yielded lots and lots of bug bites as a I recall.

When the weather outside is just a bit warmer and you're in a commercial kitchen with multiple ovens on at over 300 degrees, you can definitely feel the difference though. We started baking extra early this morning and luckily, we finished just before noon, which was great, since noon is one of the hottest times of the day.

I stumbled on a charming little piece on CHOW called "Julia Says: Wise words from the great sage of American cooking". It definitely made me smile.

Julie & Julia

I'm sure you've all seen or heard the hype surrounding the new film "Julie & Julia," starring Meryl Streep and Amy Adams. As a self-admitted Nora Ephron junkie (Who couldn't love the neuroticism of Meg Ryan's character in When Harry Met Sally or that precocious kid in Sleepless in Seattle?), I gravitated towards this movie when I first saw the trailer.

I've always admired Julia Child from afar but have not really had much of an experience with her recipes or her show. I know it sounds a little silly, but I think I'm going to hold off on watching the film until I have a more first hand experience of Julia Child in general. My reasoning is that I don't want my impression of who she is as a chef and person to be affected by the characterization of her in the film. Call me a purist, but this woman is a culinary legend and I feel like it would be a little unjust for my first real encounter with her and her cooking to be based on a movie. And on that note, as anyone out there seen the film yet? I'd be curious to hear what you thought of it.

What I do love about the film already is that it has brought Julia Child to an audience that perhaps would have been content with being entertained and educated about cooking by the celebrity chefs of today. Case in point- I was at Target yesterday and next to each other on a shelf were the books "Julie & Julia" by Julie Powell and "Mastering The Art of French Cooking," by Julia Child.

It has made those who have only heard the name Julia Child in passing, curious about the woman behind the name and has provoked discussion about the way we used to cook and eat and what has or has not changed. One example is this stirring (no pun intended!) article that Michael Pollan wrote for The Times Magazine, entitled "Out of Kitchen, Onto the Couch". It's a long one, but if you get a chance, check it out- I think you'll find it thought provoking. It will definitely give you something to chew on.

I did find some clips of Julia Child on YouTube though! See her make an omelette on her show, The French Chef, below.

Summer Fancy Food Show- Richard Avedon Style. . . .

... just kidding. No Richard Avedon photos here, but here are some shots we took while we were in New York for the Summer Fancy Food Show.

enjoy!

A side view of our booth

Long view of our booth- colorful and spacious, no?

Jean (one of my best friends from college) came up to help us work the show and staff our booth. Thanks Jeannie!

Staffin' our booth....

Speaking of photographers, did you hear that Annie Leibovitz is in financial trouble and is at risk of losing her homes and the rights to her work? I love her photography and saw a wonderful exhibit of her work at the Corcoran Gallery several years back. I hope she can work her finances out- she's worked so hard over the course of her career and I can't imagine what it must feel like as an artist, to be in jeopardy of losing it all.