Another Community Garden

06 Tuesday Jul 2010

Posted by Bob and Robin in Alley Gardens, Photos, Photos By: Bob Young, What's For Dinner?

Before we look at Another Community Garden, lets look at another Alley Garden. Here on Madison Ave we have an ingenious garden setup. They even have a greenhouse. This garden is constructed in the parking lot of a business in one of the islands within the lot. Really looks nice!

Here from Facebook and Behind The Menu, we have –

Looking to support a good cause AND have a good time tomorrow? How about making the grand opening of Common Ground Farm in SE Boise’s Surprise Valley. Here are the details from the CG folks. See you there!

Who: YOU!

What: A Grand Opening Party to Thank YOU all and to announce that the “CG farm stand is open to the public” and we…’ve got loads of great produce (and great people).
Live Reggae Music from Candread & RiZing ReZistance (above), food, fun – bring your families and some food or a picnic. Or taste food here from a few refugee vendors cooking some of their specialties. Bring some, taste some, will be great. Nigmat will have fried rice and kebabs for sale. Devi may make momos. And our bakers may make some pastries….bring something you love and share.

When: Wednesday, July 7th from 4pm – 8pm.
Why: Because we like you (most of you) and we think it will be great fun. AND, we want to send a huge shout out to all of those who have helped give Common Ground the wings to fly.

Where: 4750 S. Surprise Way in Surprise Valley (SE Boise) – next to Eastwind Community Church on the lawn / at the Common Ground farm.
This event is open to the public, anyone is welcome!

Thank you all for all that you do to make this community a far better place to live.
Bike over, walk over, drive over or stroller over if you’re one of the smaller CG family members – stay for a bit or hang the whole time – we hope you all feel welcome and as excited as we do – going to be a blast!

Maybe we’ll see you there. Who knows. But if we do show up, look for the guy carrying the camera. Cheers!

"the Buzz" Bistro Opens

06 Tuesday Jul 2010

Posted by Bob and Robin in Appetizers, Bistro, Party Time, Photos, Photos By: Bob Young, Things To Do, What's For Dinner?, Wine and Food

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On July 5, 2010 the Buzz started their new menu and style. Monday through Saturday after 4:00pm they will be serving Bistro Style dinners. Monday – Thursday: 4pm – 9pm; Friday and Saturday: 4pm – 10pm. Closed Sunday. Their menu is displayed below. Along with the bistro, they are also serving a wide variety of affordable wines. Here are some photos of the first night. Cheers!

Here is the menu for the bistro. (Left Click to see a larger picture) You can see that the prices are great and there is a wide variety of choices. Robin and I spent $32 which also included a very good $12 bottle of Rosé.

Robin is enjoying the relaxing atmosphere of the Buzz. On the weekends (Friday and Saturday), they usually have live music from 7 – 9.

Cristi suggested this fine bottle of French Rosé. She was right. The wine went very well with the food selections we made. Light and fruity and not expensive.

Crab Nachos. A delightful change from your standard nachos. These come with tortilla chips topped with crab, blend of cheeses and black olives. Big enough for two!

Flat Iron Steak Salad with Thai Dressing. I really liked this. (Robin and I shared each others selections) The steak was done just perfect – slightly pink as you can see. This is served with chopped romaine, red onion, cucumber and tomato tossed in a Thai dressing. This is an excellent salad.

Tuna Salad with Fennel. Again, not your everyday style of tuna salad. The fennel gives it an extra boost. Served on romaine leaves and the tuna has been blended with fennel and cucumber and seasoned with tarragon. Wonderful!

Unusual Lemon Meringue Pie. Yes … yes … yes! The pie was made with puff pastry. Cristi – You have a winner here!

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If you want a relaxing and fun evening out, the Buzz Coffee and Wine and Bistro is a good place to go. Take your friends. Hope to see you there sometime. And don’t forget their 2nd Tueaday and Wednesday wine dinners. Awesome!

Mac’s Leafy Green Soup

04 Sunday Jul 2010

Posted by Bob and Robin in Recipes, Things To Do, Vegetables, What's For Dinner?

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Really now, you have to try this before you say “YUK!” It really is very good!

Mac’s Leafy Green Soup

Adapted by Bob and Robin Young
Original Recipe by Mac McNeil

Ingredients:
4 Small Potatoes sliced
2 Small Carrots sliced
3-4 c Water enough to cover potatoes and carrots plus ½” water
1 Chicken bullion cube dissolved in 1 c water
2 c Chicken Stock
“fistful” of young and tender Swiss Chard
2 c Kale
2 T Butter

Directions:
In the water, cook the vegetables until the potatoes and the carrots are just fork tender. Add the Swiss Chard with the Kale to boiling vegetables. Cover and cook chard will turn bright green. To long and it turns brown.

Blend all vegetables and water in food processor with about 2 tablespoons butter, add salt and pepper to taste. Sometimes it pays to hold a little of the water used to boil the vegetables to get the desired thickness that you like.

July Events For "the Buzz"

02 Friday Jul 2010

Posted by Bob and Robin in Things To Do, What's For Dinner?, Wine and Food, Wine Tasting

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I think July will prove to be an inventive month for Tom and Cristi at the Buzz. Here is their latest bulletin. Enjoy and see you at the Buzz! Notice and Bistro below!

…from Buzz Coffee and Wine (and Bistro)

Well, we have made it into the summer and now the fun truly begins. We hope that everyone who is heading out of town this weekend is safe and sane (or at least safe).

But if you are hanging out in Boise do we have a great month planned for everyone. At the Buzz on July 2 and July 3rd we will enjoy the music of Wendy Mattson and the Dynamite Wines of California. We will also be starting with some of our new dinner menu items, as the weekend passes we will be introducing more and more of our new menu. The big opening night for our new menu is July 5th at 4PM. For our regular customers and their friends see the attached coupon for an extra added value these first few days of the new and improved Buzz Bistro.

Also, do not forget the wine club this month is July 13 or 14 at 6:30 P.M. Reservations required. July will focus on Semillion and Grenache.

We are continuing to “work” our way through the clues in the Murder by Malbec mystery series, it is not too late to join, call or stop in with any questions.

Last but not least Forgeron Cellars will be joining us at the Buzz on July 25th for a BBQ and Wine Dinner. Further information will be coming next week regarding the Forgeron dinner. For reservations or questions contact us at 344-4321 or buzzwine@cableone.net.
Again we wish everyone a safe and happy Fourth of July. Thanks for everything

Sincerely,
Cristi and Tom Takeda
Buzz Coffee and Wine
2999 N Lakeharbor Lane
Boise, Idaho 83703

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See you at the Buzz – Coffee and Wine and Bistro!

First Thursday In Boise – July 1

02 Friday Jul 2010

Posted by Bob and Robin in Boise Adventures, Photos, Photos By: Bob Young, Things To Do, What's For Dinner?

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During the summer, there are just so many things to do in Boise. The First Thursday celebrations are no exception. We were looking for a specific art exhibit, but were really disappointed when we found it. So, we had to find a place to eat. We ate at the Cazba, a Mediterranean restaurant – Greek, Egyptian, Lebanon style food. That is where we met Lynette Berriochoa from Cypress Tours, tours of food and wine in Italy.

Here are photos of what we had for dinner.

A huge Greek Salad that Robin and I shared.

Some really great Greek wine. Light and fruity that went very well with our dinners.

A dinner of Moussaka that was big enough for two!

A good evening! Cheers.

"the Buzz" – New Menu Preview!

28 Monday Jun 2010

Posted by Bob and Robin in Appetizers, Food, Photos, Photos By: Bob Young, What's For Dinner?

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On 27 June, Robin and I went to try the new Buzz menu along with about 20 others. Such a great time! Such good food. Cristi asked for comments. She got them. Most were positive suggestions, constructive critiques, like cut the portion size down or the spices need to be increased a little. Starting July 7, 2010, the Buzz will have their new menu and it really looks good! Here are some photos of the evening. Cheers! Thanks Cristi and Tom for including us in the preview!

Click to play this Smilebox slideshow: Buzz Menu Tasting

Make a free slideshow

A Wildly Varietal Day

26 Saturday Jun 2010

Posted by Bob and Robin in Anthropology of Food, Oriental Food, Photos, Photos By: Bob Young, Special Dinners, Things To Do, What's For Dinner?

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We are very lucky in Boise to have so much cultural diversity. We have, and we usually attend, the Greek Food Festival, the Russian Food Festival, Basque Festivals, an awesome wine region, the Snake River AVA, and this weekend many of the wineries had an open house, and the Obon Festival – the Japanese festival on Ontario, OR. And I know I have missed some. But we started at the Williamson Orchards, Vineyard and Winery celebrating the family’s 100 years in Sunnyslope. Cherries are ready and super sweet.

Here is Robin tasting Petite Sirah and Port from the barrell and discussing the art of blending varietals in wines with Roger Williamson.

Can’t have wine without cheese, so we made a stop at Rollingstone Chèvre farm in Parma, ID. Below is a photo of one of the products.

We are going back next week with some friends.

Ah, yes, the Japanese Obon Festival in Ontario, OR.

Here is a Bento Box that Robin and I had. Delicious!!

A very different rice dish.

The counter where one could purchase almost anything they wanted.

All of this delicious Japanese food and no sake!

But wait! We can see a place from our table where we are told they have some very good sake. They were right! We had a really interesting sake tasting.

So there you have our “day trip”. It was fun. It was interesting. It was exciting. Cheers!

Happenings At The Buzz

25 Friday Jun 2010

Posted by Bob and Robin in Special Dinners, Things To Do, What's For Dinner?, Wine and Food, Wine Dinners

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Just in from the Buzz! Cristi and Tom are changing their menu!!

Upcoming Events at The Buzz….

Dear Bob and Robin,

Buzz Coffee and Wine will be hosting Blaze and Kelly for two fantastic music filled evenings. We will feature some exciting summertime wines to accompany the music. Don’t forget that we will have dinner specials both Friday and Saturday night as we gear up for our new menu to begin on July 5th. Beginning July 5, 2010 we will have a full menu each night and have specials everyday. So as we gear up for the beginning of our new phase we will be posting specials on our Buzz facebook page, if you are not a fan yet please join and pass the word around, so that we may be able to keep you informed on a daily basis of the enticing specials we will be offering.

Reservations are being accepted for our July wine club meeting on July 13 and 14 at 6:30 each night. In July we will feature Semillion and Grenache. Also, don’t forget to get signed up for Murder by Malbec. the dinner for this event will be August 7. For reservations or questions call us at 344-4321 or email at buzzwine@cableone.net.

Thanks for your continued support and friendship.

Sincerely,
Cristi and Tom Takeda
Buzz Coffee and Wine

Here’s your chance to partake in an exciting evening and exciting Wine Dinners! See you there. Cheers!

Grilled Baby Back Pork Ribs

28 Friday May 2010

Posted by Bob and Robin in Food, Food Prep, Grillin' and Chillin', Pork, Recipe By: Bob Young, Recipes, What's For Dinner?

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Here is a recipe for Grilled Baby Back Pork Ribs that is just in time for the Memorial Day Holiday! Do enjoy and have a great weekend.

Grilled Baby Back Pork Ribs

Adapted From: BONNIE Q, All Recipes (dot) Com

Prep Time: 20 Min
Cook Time: 1 Hr 5 Min
Ready In: 1 Hr 25 Min

Ingredients:
½ T ground Cumin
¾ T Garlic Powder
½ T Onion Powder
1 T Brown Sugar
½ T Chili powder
1 T Paprika
Salt and Pepper to taste
3 lbs Baby Back Pork Ribs
1 c Barbeque sauce

Directions:
Preheat grill for high heat.

In a small jar, combine cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, brown sugar, chili powder, paprika, salt, and pepper. Close the lid, and shake to mix.

Trim the membrane sheath from the back of each rack. Run a small, sharp knife between the membrane and each rib, and snip off the membrane as much as possible. Sprinkle as much of the rub onto both sides of the ribs as desired. To prevent the ribs from becoming too dark and spicy, do not thoroughly rub the spices into the ribs. Store the unused portion of the spice mix for future use.

Place aluminum foil on lower rack to capture drippings and prevent flare-ups. Lightly oil grate, and lay ribs on top rack of grill. Reduce heat to low, close lid, and leave undisturbed for 1 hour. Do not lift lid at all.

Brush ribs with barbecue sauce, and grill an additional 5 minutes. Serve ribs as whole rack, or cut between each rib bone and pile individually on a platter.

Hatchling Party Preliminary

28 Friday May 2010

Posted by Bob and Robin in Food, Things To Do, What's For Dinner?

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On Friday, 28 May we are having a gathering of the Falcon Watch Team at Berryhill and Co in Boise. Here are some photos of the restaurant and the selections. You have a varied menu to choose from and can spend what you wish. This photo of the hack box was taken as we were leaving the restaurant.

We will be at Berryhill and Co from 4:00pm until about 6:00pm MDT. We can stay later. Hopefully, we will have access to the 4th Floor veranda. Bring your laptop if you have one – we will have ours. Bring cameras, binoculars and/or spotting scopes. The restaurant is located on 9th Street between Idaho and Main.