But Holland also has good beer and spirits; they invented gin after all. Though here, gin and tonics are considered antiquated, they are into mixed drinks, beer and vodka. Though my drink of choice tends to be red wine, I am in the land of beer, and consider it my duty to indulge.

Holland’s cafes showcase their loyalties with outdoor signage—you will see what beer they serve before you even know the name of the cafe. Signs jetting out from outside walls, in piazzas and along canals are primarily Amstel, Grolsch or Heineken. Oh, and the occasional Illy (great Italian coffee). The signs are great markers for finding a quick outdoor table or place to relax while the boys kick around the soccer ball on a nearby cobblestone street.

The signage promotes their main beer, but many are offered. Consequently, I have tried Leffe Blond, Wieckse Witt, and Palm (amber). And Hoegarden and Wieckse have Rose beer that is a little too easy to drink. But my new favorite is a Belgian beer: Duval. Full yet smooth, meaty yet polite. If your store stocks the single bottles of Belgian beers, pick one up and try it. It will be money well spent (ehem, it is a lot less expensive for me to drink it while here, than it is for you to buy it there. No doubt a bank-breaker when I return home and long for my favorite Belgium beer(s)).

For more about my family’s [current] adventures in Holland, Belgium, France, England, Italy… visit www.familyfrolics.com

We made a point of eating Dutch Pancakes at a nearby cafe in Amsterdam. They were essentially crepes, sometimes plain and often with thinly sliced ham or cheese or apples baked right into the batter. Frequently, they come with a topping be it raspberry or cream, honey, powdered sugar or chocolate. Shockingly, maple syrup is not always on the list.

Which reminds me. We ran into a kindly Dutch gentleman when we were renting a small canal boat. He had visited the U.S.A. and had much to say [with a large dose of disdain] about American pancakes: all thick and drenched in syrup. He was appalled and could hardly stomach 2 bites.

And while the Dutch very-large crepes were magnificent, we were perhaps even more enthralled with the mini-me’s that appear at festivals. Little carts shoot up with a sign saying ‘Poffertjes’ which means ‘come running.’ Not really, but that is our response. It too, means Dutch pancakes but little ones, of the bite-sized variety. And you buy them with toppings like butter plus powdered sugar (pictured here, barely in time, before we inhaled them), liquor such as rum or cointreau, or whip cream (slagroom in Dutch) and strawberries.

No doubt we will have to try each variety; we are here after all, and it is our duty.

For more stories and tales, food tips and travel hiccups visit my other blog, family frolics.

I had a few lovely cookbooks that I kept stacked on my kitchen counter, with great intention to inhale and absorb them from cover to cover. But in the end—the day before the movers came—they went into a box marked ‘cookbooks.’ I am still sad that there are beautiful photos and fantastic recipes tucked away in library fashion, beyond my half-a-globe-away reach.

I did manage to sneak a hearty peek at the book on knives. I had seen it on store shelves, but put it out of my mind, figuring I didn’t want to read about the history of knives. But was so glad when the offer came to me to review it, because it forced me to take a closer look. It is so much more than a historical account of the evolution and use of knives. (Which, by the way, really is fascinating).

The book informs the reader re: knife care, proper sharpening and honing, various ways to hold knives and clean them, and progresses through all sorts of knife cuts. It shows pictures of cutting vegetables like carrots and onions, sifts through the quagmire of how-to slice mangoes and avocados, and shows you step by step how to butterfly a chicken.

I love this because one of the reasons I went to culinary school was to learn about cuts. I learned how to fabricate a chicken, julienne vegetables, flute mushrooms, and how to finely dice an onion without sacrificing my fingers. It offers a play by play that I spent big bucks on; but you can take the lessons from this book and learn just as easily. My chef at school used to say: practice. Know the proper cuts, go buy a bag of onions or a bag of potatoes and practice.

And the book convincingly emphasizes that knives are a tool we use so frequently, why wouldn’t we want to know how to hold it, use it, wield it and come to love it?

So yes, I do recommend this book. It may appear to be a book of the coffee table genre, but in fact you can use it as a resource and tool that will offer much more than a historical account of the culinarian’s most common tool. You will learn a thing or two, and upping your knife skills, in my opinion, ups your good sense and good feeling in the kitchen. And I am all for that!

We (family of four) packed up our lives and [when you read this] are cycling across the Netherlands, parts of Belgium, a smidgen of Germany and into Paris. We made the big decision to go for a year abroad, to check out of our American lives to interject a year of adventure with our two [junior high] sons.

After a summer of cycling, a visit to London, and a week-long soccer camp, we will fly to Florence, Italy, and take up residence for the school year. Officially I will have an ex-pat blog! Notes from me to you will be parlo di pomodori (aka ‘talk of tomatoes’).

My blogging may be a little inconsistent for the next two months, because I will be writing in multiple venues. First and foremost, we have launched a family blog to capture our adventures. You are welcome to stop by or follow our frenzy at www.familyfrolics.com. And [hopefully] along the way there will be chunks of time that I can spend working on a book. Something I have always meant to do.

And much like this blog, culinary school, and our trip abroad, writing a book falls under my ever-widening umbrella that reads “things I want to do in my life” AND “seize the day” AND “I only have one chance at this life and want to make it count.”

Much of our trip is about capturing moments, stalling time and soaking up our rapidly growing boys (ages 12, 13). In that vein let me leave you this quote to ponder (passed along from someone wise):

“The days are long but the years are short.”

Stay tuned, talk of tomatoes will include tales from the road and will turn even juicier when we land in Florence come end of August. In the meantime, feel free to stop by our already bursting family blog: Family Frolics. As for now, I hope you are enjoying your summer, that it is filled with fabulous food and cooking, friends and sun on your faces. More soon…

I never owned one; but in culinary school used them and I learned a thing or two. And a few weeks ago, KaTom Restaurant Supplies offered to send me a cast iron skillet to use and review and I said I would love to. Because I really do want to add a cast iron skillet to my kitchen repertoire. They are infinitely useful for cooking crepes and eggs, the key is to care for them properly.

Things to know:

1. it is HEAVY
2. it is slow to conduct heat but once hot distributes heat evenly and steadily; perfect when you are cooking foods that need temperature maintained (pan frying, searing, baking, braising)
3. don’t wash in the dishwasher
4. it transfers easily from stove to to the oven (and broiler)
5. the handle will get hot, too.
6. it is great for making eggs, omelets, crepes, corn bread, etc.
7. it is essential that you season it properly and as needed. Or it will rust.
8. it is essential that you clean it and store it properly. Or it will rust.
9. don’t mix acidic foods with your cast iron skillet, as it will create an off flavor. Acidic foods: citrus, tomatoes, vinegar, wine.
10. cast iron responds slowly to heat change—keep this in mind if you need to quickly adjust temps for meats, sauces, etc.

TO SEASON:

Option 1: With paper towel or clean cloth, rub entire skillet (handle included) with thin film of vegetable oil. Place upside down in 350 oven for an hour (place rack below with foil to catch any oil). Turn off oven and let cool. Repeat as needed.

Option 2: Place a large amount of course salt (1 cup or more, depending on size of pan) plus enough vegetable oil to almost form a paste. Heat over burner until is smokes, remove from burner, shift salt around inside of pan and discard. Repeat as needed (aka if your skillet is no longer ‘nonstick’ you should repeat this process. The salt fills in the ‘cracks’ to create a smooth surface).

TO CLEAN:

Option 1: wipe with lightly oiled paper towel, store with dry paper towel lining skillet.

Option 2: sprinkle with coarse salt and rub with dry paper towel. If you HAVE to use mild soapy water to clean, re-season it right away (set over heat to fully dry skillet, while warm, rub with tiny amount of vegetable oil and paper towel.

Your skillet, properly loved, will last a lifetime. AND if you really get the hang of using it: perfect eggs every time. Makes me go weak in the knees just thinking about it. You can find an overwhelming number of cast iron recipes just by searching on Google…

This region is the main source of food crops for the US. Beyond grains, you will find dairy farming and cheese making, an abundance of game, poultry and freshwater fish.

In American Cuisine—one of my culinary classes—we are learning about cuisines of varying regions across the country. [According to my text] the Central Plains region consists of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.

Early on, French fur traders (aka ‘mountain men’) went through this region and set up outposts. But it wasn’t until after the Louisiana Purchase in 1803—which included 800,000 square miles of territory west of the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains and North to Canada—that the Central Plains gained attention, and eventually inhabitants. The plains were first explored by Lewis and Clark, then Zebulon Pike and Stephen Long.

The Homestead Act of 1862 encouraged agricultural expansion, offering 160 acres virtually free to citizens willing to help settle the land. Farming families started to settle the Central Plains. Farming methods, equipment and research picked up after the Civil War; the federal government created the Department of Agriculture (DOA) and endowed agricultural colleges (including many of today’s Big Ten schools like Ohio State, Iowa State and Michigan State).

In 1838 John Deere [a blacksmith living in Illinois] invented a new steel plow; the central plains’ farmers benefited exponentially from the industrial revolution, with its many inventions and innovations in machinery.

In the mid 1800’s the Central Plains become home to a few million Scandinavians: the Norwegians settled in what is today Minnesota and Wisconsin—Swedish and Denmark immigrants followed. Native Americans taught them how to fish and hunt the abundant wild game. They made traditional stews, breads and root vegetables. The Scandinavians also brought food traditions such as cheese and sausage making, and smoking fish and meat.

Eastern Europeans—Germans, Poles, Austrians—settled in Illinois and Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin. They farmed the land and raised dairy cattle. Wisconsin was a popular destination for German and Swedish immigrants, and they brought with them their cheese making, beer-brewing and charcuterie (sausage making, smokehouses). Today there are over 200 cheese making plants in Wisconsin. America’s first breweries were in the Central Plains, as the plains were perfect for growing wheat, oats, barley, rye and corn  (grains used to make beer).

Soon, railroads connected east to west, and boosted ranching in the Central Plains. Rail cars provided a means to transport food and livestock all over the country. My textbook reflects these influences, and menus include but are not limited to Wisconsin Beer and Cheddar Soup, Planked Whitefish with Green Onion Butter, Barley Beef Soup, Roast Chicken with Wild Rice, Walnuts and Dried Fruit Stuffing, Kansas City BBQ Ribs, Bratwurst with German Potato Salad and Chicago’s Deep Dish Pizza.

Chicago is likely the urban heart of the plains region. It is a culinary tower amidst the prairies. Famous Chefs you may recognize include Charlie Trotter, Rick Bayless, and more.

When you think Pacific Northwest cuisine (PNW), what comes to mind? Perhaps stone fruit, nuts, berries, fish, shellfish… maybe mushrooms or lettuce greens such as nettle, dandelion and sorrel. Here is a quick list of ‘typical’ PNW foods, as relayed by my American Regional textbook:

Alaskan Halibut
Apples
Asparagus
Berries: blueberries, blackberries, cranberries, lingonberries, raspberries, salmonberries, strawberries
Cherry
Farmstead Cheese: cougar gold, tillamook
Clams: Geoduck, Manila Clam, Razor Clam
Crabs: Dungeness, King, Snow
Hazelnut
Mussels
Nettle
Oysters: Pacific, Kunamoto, Olympia, European Flat
Pears: Bartlett, Red Bartlett, Comice, Anjou, Bosc, Seckel
Plums
Rockfish
Salmon: Chum, King, Pink, Silver, Sockeye
Sturgeon
Walla Walla Onions
Wild Mushrooms: chanterelle, chicken of the woods, matsutaki, meadow, morel, oyster , puffball, porcini, truffles

My brother wondered out loud: what is Pacific Northwest cuisine? He had called a restaurant to make reservations, where they touted their Pacific Northwest cuisine. He asked what it was, and the line fell silent. People use the phrase, boast of greatness of this cuisine, but often have only a vague notion of what defines Pacific Northwest Cuisine. Brother, this is for you (and all of those restaurant employees who should have a well-versed answer!):

Moist weather and volcanic soil in Oregon and Washington help create amazingly fertile soil. This soil boasts grapes for wines, the watermelon capital of the world, famous Walla Walla sweet onions, countless mushrooms, stone fruits, a plethora of berries and apples and pears. The Pacific coastline offers scads of fish and seafood. This region is a pioneer not only in spirit but in practice, setting a high bar for sustainable farming, lending voice and monetary support for local farming.

Alaska is included in this regional cuisine, and offers vegetables from their floodplains, as well as vast amounts of fish and seafood from its waters. Alaska is home to nearly all the wild salmon brought to market. (Note: Canada’s British Columbia and Idaho can also be included in the PNW cuisine, but are not covered in my text).

…And that is just the tip of the iceberg. That just scrapes the surface of what foods are indigenous to the Pacific Northwest. The diversity of the land contributes exponentially; the mountains carving out fertile valleys, the ocean providing piles of seafood, the forests harboring mushrooms and heat to grow grapes and orchards. Here are a few highlights:

• Alaska’s Matanuska Valley: produces the largest fruits and vegetables due to 3 months of 24 hour sun.
• Palouse (Eastern Washington, Idaho border): best in the world for growing lentils, peas, chickpeas.
• Yakima Valley (Central/Eastern Washington): fruit bowl of the nation. From apple orchards to vineyards. One of the PNW’s finest wine appellations.
• Hood River Valley (Oregon’s Columbia River Gorge): pears, peaches, plums, cherries, apricots, apples.
• The Willamette Valley (between Cascade Mountains & Coastal Ranges, South Oregon; Willamette River): berries, dairy, vegetables, hops, hazelnuts, one of the PNW’s finest wine appellations producing famous Pinots, Reislings.
• The Coastal Ranges: precipitation, forests and truffles. Corvallis, OR is the headquarters for the North American Truffling Society. In this region under Douglis Fir trees, white and black truffles are found.
• The Pacific Coastline: Many rivers flow into the Pacific Ocean, the fish and shellfish are abundant. Pacific Oysters (Willapa Bay), Penn Cove Mussels (Whidbey Island), Dungeness Crab (Olympic Penninsula). Shrimp, scallops, geoducks, clams and crabs, as are 5 varieties of wild salmon, river smelt, white sturgeon, Pacific cod, ling cod, black cod, halibut, sole…

The Pike Place Market has made a name for itself; downtown Seattle, sitting at the water’s edge, this market was founded in 1907. The first Starbucks opened in Pike Place Market in 1971—an icon that displays Seattle’s passion for coffee.

Upon reviewing what is indigenous to this area—and noting the attitude and culinary culture of the Pacific Northwest—I now realize for me, it feels like ‘normal fare.’ It is what I grew up with. It reminds me: my dad took us fishing on the ocean and we caught salmon and cod, we fished for trout in lakes and ate it sauteed, for breakfast. I can still taste it.

My dad hunted and brought home elk and venison. I worked on berry farms (picking strawberries and raspberries) and in canneries, along with countless teenagers in the area. For awhile my dad owned a small blueberry farm; and he, like many others, made basement wine with local grapes. We owned crab traps and picked crab meat as a family; salmon was a regular item on our menu. My mom made ’special sauce’ for salmon—the same sauce HER mother made for salmon.

We canned strawberry jam from northwest strawberries and picked apples to make our own applesauce every year. I grew up eating venison ribs and meatballs. My father grew up on a dairy farm. HIS father helped lay original log roads in northern Washington. They were the Dutch farmers that helped settle northern Washington, who lived off the land, hunted and fished, canned goods for winter and shared their culinary traditions with their offspring. Which includes me: a humble little blogger sitting at a desk in Seattle… asking her husband to grab halibut from the freezer… sharing homemade jam with friends and making batches of applesauce yearly, with grandma.

They are tasty because they add layers of flavor to any number of proteins. Or you can toss a teaspoon or two of a spice rub into some olive oil to make a quick marinade or baste.

And they are absolutely efficient—perhaps my biggest gravitational pull toward rubs. You can make a big batch of rub and use it multiple times, for a large number of dinners. In other words: a one time effort gives you results many times over. But it doesn’t end there. Once you make your rub, you can use it to make dinners in advance, like my recipe for easy as steak 1-2-3.

Instead of sending a thank you card, I like to deliver gifts from my kitchen, like a jar of homemade jam. Instead of emailing a get-well, pass along a blend of Latin Spice or Coffee Cardamom Rub. On other occasions, I have brought chocolate covered spoons for a holiday lunch, my Italian herb blend to my mom ‘just because’ and bags of granola for each family at a big ‘ole reunion.

Great flavor, good smarts and a pile of giving. I think that is what I love to knead together in my kitchen. It isn’t just about the good food or making it look easy (both of which I love)—it is most importantly about sharing. Sharing a meal, a good moment, just being together [insert cheesy 80's song: these are the times to remember, the times we hold onto]. Kitchen gifts extend the gratitude, elongate the care, and/or grant a much needed gesture.

Life has hardship, frustration, circumstance. Bad things happen to good people. Bad people happen to good things. I am finding more and more that a very good way to say I care, to offer comfort, to extend appreciation or TO GIVE A GOOD RUB is through food. I love taking something made with my hands—and placing them in yours.

…this is a simple rub, and any white fish will be happy for the embellishment. It makes for great tacos:

Whitefish Taco RUB
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp dried oregano
pinch each garlic powder, black pepper, cayenne
2/3 pounds mahi mahi

Multiply it by a bunch if making more. And if going for tacos, consider adding the cabbage slaw:

Red Cabbage Slaw
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1 T sugar
2 T veg oil
1/4 head red cabbage
1/4 cup cilantro
1 large carrot, shredded
coarse Salt & Black Pepper

The kicker? I didn’t have time to make them (because I am busy here: family frolics). So I really don’t know if they are the best… which is why there is a pretty picture of boxed chocolates, instead of potentially amazing cookies. But I couldn’t resist having the recipe here, online, at my disposal. For future reference… some things are like that. So if you make them, will you tell me? Is my search for the best chocolate chip cookies over? I mean after all, they were in the New York Times:

Best Chocolate Chip Cookies
Time: 45 minutes, plus at least 24 hours’ chilling

2 cups minus 2 tablespoons (8 1/2 ounces) cake flour
1 2/3 cups (8 1/2 ounces) bread flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
2 1/2 sticks (1 1/4 cups) unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups (10 ounces) light brown sugar
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (8 ounces) granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons natural vanilla extract
1 1/4 pounds bittersweet chocolate disks or fèves, at least 60 percent cacao content (see note)
Sea salt

1. Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Set aside.

2. Using a mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars together until very light, about 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla. Reduce speed to low, add dry ingredients and mix until just combined, 5 to 10 seconds. Drop chocolate pieces in and incorporate them without breaking them. Press plastic wrap against dough and refrigerate for 24 to 36 hours. Dough may be used in batches, and can be refrigerated for up to 72 hours.

3. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat. Set aside.

4. Scoop 6 3 1/2-ounce mounds of dough (the size of generous golf balls) onto baking sheet, making sure to turn horizontally any chocolate pieces that are poking up; it will make for a more attractive cookie. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt and bake until golden brown but still soft, 18 to 20 minutes. Transfer sheet to a wire rack for 10 minutes, then slip cookies onto another rack to cool a bit more. Repeat with remaining dough, or reserve dough, refrigerated, for baking remaining batches the next day. Eat warm, with a big napkin.

Yield: 1 1/2 dozen 5-inch cookies.

Note: Disks are sold at Jacques Torres Chocolate; Valrhona fèves, oval-shaped chocolate pieces, are at Whole Foods.

“All I really need is love, but a little chocolate now and then doesn’t hurt.” —Charles Schultz

“Small cheer and great welcome makes a merry feast.” —William Shakespeare

“Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you who you are.” —Jean Anthelme

“Man does not live by bread alone.” —Moses

“Ask not what you can do for your country. Ask what’s for lunch.” —Orson Wells

“There is a difference between dining and eating. Dining is an art.” —Yuan Mei

“Life itself is the proper binge.” —Julia Child

“One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.” —Virginia Woolf

“I eat merely to put food out of my mind.” —N.F. Simpson

“He was a bold man who first swallowed an oyster.” —James I

Red meat and gin—Julia Child’s recipe for longevity.

“The pleasant hours of our life are all connected by a more or less tangible link, with some memory of the table.” —Charles Pierre Monselet

“Dining is and always was a great and artistic opportunity.” —Frank Lloyd Wright

My advice to you is not to inquire why or whither, but to enjoy your ice cream while it is on your plate.” —Thornton Wilder

“Everyone eats and drinks, yet only few appreciate the taste of food.” —Confucious