Last Day For 2013 For the Boise Farmers Market

21 Saturday Dec 2013

Posted by Bob and Robin in Acme Bake Shop, Beef, Boise Farmers Market, Eggs, Local Farmers Markets, Local Harvests, Local Markets, Locavore, Party Time, Photos By: Bob Young, Special Events, Special Information, What's For Dinner?

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Buy Local, New Boise Farmers Market, Think Local - Buy Local

Can’t say that we have not been expecting this – All good things must come to an end. The New Boise Farmers Market closed today. But don’t weep! They will be back in 2014. To be exact – The market will open again on April 5, 2014 at the 10th Street and Grove location. Yea! We look forward to this date! It can not come quick enough. We thank some of the vendors that we frequented: Acme Bake Shop, Meadow Lark Farms, Homestead Farms, Purple Sage Farms, Rollingstone Chevre and I know there are some that I have missed. You gave us such great products. We did pick up fresh eggs, an awesome Rib-Eye roast for 10 people for Christmas and a goose that we will make tomorrow in the 5-hour fashion and our weekly supply of Acme Bake Shop Sourdough bread. We are set! The photo above was taken at the market earlier this year. Today, we have 3″ of snow on the ground and it is 33 degrees right now.
But do enjoy the photos and remember:

The Boise Farmers Market re-opens on April 5, 2014
at
10th Street and Grove
in
downtown Boise!

Mark your calendars. Cheers.

Boise snowfall this morning.

Boise Farmers Market Last Day

19 Thursday Dec 2013

Posted by Bob and Robin in Boise Farmers Market, Food, Local Farmers Markets, Local Harvests, Local Markets, Organic Foods, Special Events, Things To Do, Thought For The Day, What's For Dinner?

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eat local, indoor venue, local farmers market

I just received this information. And it has been a great saeson. I am so glad that they found an indoor venue for the market these past several weeks. We look forward to their return next Spring and maybe, just maybe, they will be able to continue year around. Hope so! Please do support them this last Saturday. Thanks.

Boise Wine Meet-Up Groups Party Hearty!

19 Thursday Dec 2013

Posted by Bob and Robin in 13th Street Pub and Grill, Appetizers, Crab Cakes, Idaho Chefs, Party Time, Photos By: Bob Young, Photos By: Robin Young, Pizza, Special Events, Tastings Wine Bar, Things To Do, What's For Dinner?, Whats For Lunch?, Wine and Food, Wine Tasting

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13th Street Pub and Grill, Boise WIne Meet Up Groups, Tastings Wine Bar, Trey Busch

Two of the Boise Wine Meet-up Groups met this past Wednesday. The first group met at Tastings Wine Bar in Boise with Trey Busch, pictured here, of Slight of Hand Winery from Walla Robin and I took these with her phone. Walla, Washington doing the presentation of his wines. As I did not have my camera with me, Robin and I took these photos with her phone. Left-Click any of these photos to see enlarged. There should be no small photos – except for the one above of Trey – so you may need to “Refresh” your screen. Cheers!

Tasting wine menu.

Pizza Crab Cakes Awesome pizza! Ham, pineapple, cheese, Chipotle sauce, Raspberry Sauce on Flatbread

Pizza
Ham, pineapple, cheese, Chipotle sauce, Raspberry Sauce on Flatbread
Crab Cakes

Awesome pizza!

Then after this tasting, we went to the 13th Street Pub and Grill for the second tasting and some substantial food.

They had the interior of the pub all decorated out for the Holiday Season. It was nice sitting around the fire that was situated in the center of the room and seating on all four sides. Definitely warm! In order to keep the wine cool, we placed a glass of ice water between the wine and the fire. The two glasses were touching. Yes, it does work! Enjoy these photos, even though some of them are a little “artsy”. Cheers!

Slight of Hand and a Tempranillo de Mancha on the right.

The fire situated in the center of the room. We sat around this awesome and warm fireplace.

Some of the people having a good time.

Claire, the Coordinator of the event and Robin are discussing the finer things in life – Wine!

Joe, Cindi and Jan are enjoying the company and the party.

Robin had a BLT. I guess one must now ask for a golden brown toast. This toast was not.

Bob had a Pub Burger.

Old Folks Meals at “The Home”

15 Sunday Dec 2013

Posted by Bob and Robin in Acme Bake Shop Breads, Bacon, Bread, Buy Idaho, Captain's Shack, Chicken, Comfort Food, Eggs, Local Harvests, Local Markets, Main Dish, Photos By: Bob Young, Sourdough Bread, Spinach, What's For Dinner?

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bsu, eat local, ESPN, local farmers market

Actually, pretty good meals today. Found out too, that BSU is a 2.5 point underdog in the Hawaii Bowl on December 24 (6:00pm Mountain Time on ESPN) when they play Oregon State. We’ll see! Anyway, here’s what we had for breakfast and then dinner. Enjoy! And, I just thought of this, here are the products for these two meals that were local: Eggs, spinach, sourdough bread, jam, bacon, chicken, potatoes and the wine for dinner was a 2010 Cold Springs L’attraction White Table Wine, a Gold Medal winner in the 2013 Idaho Wine Competition.

Eggs Florentine Bacon Acme Bake Shop Sourdough Toast with Housemade Idaho Hucklenberry Jam Strawberry Fan

Eggs Florentine
Bacon
Acme Bake Shop Sourdough Toast
with
Housemade Idaho Huckleberry Jam
Strawberry Fan

Fried Chicken, Housemade Cornbread, Peas, Mashed Potatoes Chicken Gravy

Fried Chicken
with
Housemade Breadcrumbs
Housemade Cornbread
Peas
Mashed Potatoes
Housemade Chicken Gravy

Holiday Wines At The Buzz

12 Thursday Dec 2013

Posted by Bob and Robin in Bistro, Local Markets, Main Dish, Party Time, Photos By: Bob Young, Special Dinners, Special Events, Spinach, Things To Do, What's For Dinner?, Wine and Food, Wine Dinners, Wine Tasting

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Amalia Malbec, monthly dinners, the Buzz, Wine Dinners

Silverware, A Menu and A Glass of Wine

Such a good wine dinner tonight. Somewhat different. A good change. Comparing Old World wines with New World wines. Just to let everyone know, the monthly coupons are now on sale at the Buzz. These are prepaid coupons so you pay for 5 dinners and get one free. Robin and I always get some. And, Cristi told us all that she must raise the price starting in January. It will go from $15 a plate, to $20 a plate. Wine amounts and dinner courses will be the same. And in January? Asian food and wines that go with that style of cooking and food. Who is the Chef? Why our very own Chef Tommy Takeda! Yea! Let’s all get out and support Tommy in this endeavor, but I know he will do a great job. Here is what we had at this dinner. Enjoy!

American Salad Willamette Valley Pinot Grigio Altanuta Pinot Grigio

American Salad
2012 Willamette Valley Pinot Grigio [14]
2012 Altanuta Pinot Grigio [14]

Split Pea and Ham Soup
2010 Vina Amalia Malbec [15]
2011 Purple Malbec [17]

Shepard's Pie 2007 Snake River Tempranillo [17] 2009 LAN Rioja Crianza [19]

Shepard’s Pie with Wilted Spinach
2007 Snake River Tempranillo [17]
2009 LAN Rioja Crianza [19]

Apple Pie and Pecan Tart
2012 Revelry Riesling [15]
2012 At Urbans-Hof Riesling [19]

I guess you can see that I do favor the Old World wines. They are the second wines listed below each entree item. Hope to see you at the next Wine Dinner. Cheers!!

New Boise Farmers Market

30 Saturday Nov 2013

Posted by Bob and Robin in Boise Farmers Market, Buy Idaho, Coffee, Comfort Food, Food Photos, Idaho, Idaho's Bounty, Italian foods, Local Farmers Markets, Local Harvests, Local Markets, Party Time, Photos By: Robin Young, Pizza, What's For Dinner?, Whats For Lunch?

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Colombian coffee, free range pizza, lunch, neckar coffee, New Boise Farmers Market

The end of the Farmers Market is in sight. So sad! It has been a good season so far as we are concerned. Great indoor venues for these cold Boise, winter days. The new location for the summer months at 10th and Grove is also great.
We visited two new vendors today, Free Range Pizza (pictured here) and Neckar Coffee. Both were very good. Enjoyed the pizza – thin crust. Slightly crispy, but also a chewy interior. Good flavors and flavor combinations. Went very well with the coffee we had, a fresh ground, full bodied Guatemalan coffee. Great job to both vendors. If you are at the market or you see them at a function, be sure to get some of their product, either coffee or pizza or both. You will be pleased as were we. Cheers!

Free Range Pizza

Really an excellent pizza as described above. We did like this one.

Great, fresh brewed coffee!

Great Ham and Cheese on an Acme Bake Shop Ciabatta Roll.

Looking for a parking space. Yup! Downtown Boise. No telling what you will see.

The Drink Bar and Waterfront Grill Visit

26 Tuesday Nov 2013

Posted by Bob and Robin in Beef, Bisque, Boise Adventures, Chowder, Dinner With Friends, Lobster, Main Dish, Photos By: Bob Young, Pubs, Sandwiches, Seafood, Shell Fish, Soup, Things To Do, What's For Dinner?

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Drink Bar and Waterfront Grill, Idaho humanists

The Boise Humanist group met at Drink Bar and Waterfront Grill on November 25. The restaurant is a nice setting right on the lake. But just a little cold on the Cabana when the temperature is in the high 20’s, even if the sides are shielded by plastic. They probably could have turned the heaters on an hour or so earlier so that the room would warm up a little more. People were cold. Here is their Cabana/Tiki Bar Page and menus.

The food was OK, but not much more. The clam chowder was tasty as was the lobster bisque. It would have been nice to have fries or something come with the burgers. They could probably do with better hamburger buns, too. These were “gummy”. I will rate this as a 3-Star ( out of 5-Stars) restaurant based on what we had. Here are some photos from the evening. Left-Click any of the photos to see enlarged. Cheers!

The Cabana

View out over the lake.

Some of the people who were there.

Lobster Bisque

Clam Chowder

The Haole Burger

The Big Wave Burger

Happy Fish Sushi and Martini Bar

25 Monday Nov 2013

Posted by Bob and Robin in Asian - Happy Fish Sushi, Asian - Shige, Asian - Sushi Joy, Asian Food, Brunch, Cooking Styles, Photos By: Bob Young, Seafood, Special Events, Sushi, What's For Dinner?, Whats For Lunch?

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asian food, Happy Fish Sushi and Martini Bar, saki, seafood, sushi, Sushi Joy

The Idaho Foodie Meet-Up group met at the Happy Fish Sushi and Martini Bar in downtown Boise today for lunch. Not bad, but my benchmarks are still Sushi Joy and Shige. That’s not to say that we would not return here. No way. Probably rated at 4 1/4 – Stars out of 5. It’s just not “as good” as our benchmarks. But that’s very subjective and I realize that. Here is what we had. Robin, myself and Bernadette were the only ones there. The ladies each had a bowl of Miso. It smelled good. You missed a good adventure. Enjoy!

Poki Combination
Cubed cuts of fresh salmon and ahi served in our own spicy sesame soy sauce

Escolar (Hirame)
Some call this fish white tuna, but it is actually snake mackerel. A buttery white fish that melts in your mouth!

Eel (Unagi)

Jackie B
Spicy Tuna and Yellowtail wrapped in Avocado and seared Ahi, topped with Sriracha

Sakitini

15 Turkey Fryer Safety Tips

25 Monday Nov 2013

Posted by Bob and Robin in Captain's Shack, Cooking Safety, Cooking Styles, Deep Fry Turkey, Food Prep, Holiday Gatherings, Party Time, Special Dinners, Special Events, Special Information, Thanksgiving, Turkey, What's For Dinner?

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deep fry turkey, fryer safety, Jay Stevenor, National Fire Protection Association, Statefarm, StateFarm insurance, StateFarm Learning Center, Thanksgiving, turkey fryers, Underwriters Laboratories

I want to thank our StateFarm insurance agent, who we have had for many years, Jay Stevenor, BUS: (208) 344-6900, for sending us this article on frying turkeys this Thanksgiving. Jay Stevenor Agency. As the TV program said, “Let’s be careful out there!”
The article from the StateFarm Learning Center, starts out by saying, “It’s hard to beat the speed of deep-frying a turkey—or the irresistible flavor and juiciness that result. But turkey fryers have the potential to cause fire and serious injury, which is why organizations like Underwriters Laboratories and the National Fire Protection Association advise against using them.” There are some really simple, yet totally necessary safety rules that one must follow while deep frying a turkey. One suggestion is that you don’t use the deep fryer on a back porch, in a garage or in the kitchen. Keep listening to your local news and I bet you will hear where some one was severely burned or where a house burned down because someone did not follow these rules. You can read the rest of the article at 15 Turkey Fryer Safety Tips from the StateFarm Learning Center. Have a safe and happy Thanksgiving. Gobble gobble!!

Two Great Meals!

24 Sunday Nov 2013

Posted by Bob and Robin in 5 Hour Duck, Bronco Nation, Captain's Shack, Chilies Rellenos, Comfort Food, Dinner With Friends, Duck, Ethnic Foods, Main Dish, Mexican Food, Party Time, Photos By: Bob Young, Recipes, Special Events, Things To Do, What's For Dinner?

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5 hour roasted duck, Acme Bake Shop ciabatta, Chile Rellenos Casserole

On Saturday night, we went to a BSU game party. BSU lost 34-31 to San Diego State. Yuk! But to save the day, Robin’s brother Brian sent us a recipe for Chile Rellenos Casserole. We used it as a dip and the people loved it!! It really was good and Thank-You Brian!! We just altered the recipe slightly.

Chile Rellenos Casserole

Chile Rellenos Casserole

Serves 8

Ingredients:
2 pound lean ground beef, 95% or Kobe
2 t Cumin
1 T Oregano
1/2 onion chopped, lightly caramelized
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 10 oz can diced fire roasted green chilies
1 lg Jalapeno pepper, seeds and ribs removed and diced
1 15oz can Black Beans, rinsed
1 15oz can whole kernal corn
1 10oz can Ro-Tel
1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese or Mexican blend of cheeses
3/4 cup milk
1/8 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
dash pepper
2 eggs

Preparation:
In a heavy skillet over medium heat, brown ground beef, diced jalapeno and onion; drain off excess fat. Place in a bowl and sprinkle beef with the first 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, cumin and oregano. Stir with a spoon to mix all the herbs.

Rinse the black beans and drain the liquid from the corn. Mix the beans, corn and Ro-Tel. Spread the mixture evenly in the bottom of a casserole dish.

Spread the meat mixture evenly on top of the bean mixture.

Combine milk, flour, salt, pepper and eggs. Whisk until smooth. Pour over meat and chili mixture. Sprinkle the cheese evenly over the top of the casserole. Bake at 350° for 45 to 50 minutes, or until bubbly and the cheese is melted. Let the casserole cool for 5 minutes before serving. Serve with corn chips or with the chip of your choice. Enjoy!

Then we had our neighbors, Kelley and Scott and their daughter, over for a Five Hour Roasted Duck dinner. There is a recipe for this roasted duck in the recipe section of this blog.

Five Hour Roasted Duck

Orange Infused Wild Rice

Green Salad

Acme Bake Shop Ciabatta Pull-Apart Rolls

Gravy

Peach Melba with Housemade Oatmeal Cookie

A variety of wine and sherry. It was a good foodie weekend with good friends. Thank-You everyone. Cheers!