Busy October Random Bites & a Giveaway!


When it rains it pours.

October has been a busy food month with so many fun events.

To start off the month, I was invited to lunch with some of my favorite readers from Washington, DC and Albany at ABC Kitchen in NYC.


It's always fun meeting readers and making new friends. I feel like I know most of them already from their comments and facebook posts over the last 7 years!

Thanks Marty and Bobby for a great day.



The NYCWFF events kicked off (NYC Wine & Food Festival to profit the NYC Food Bank) was a great, sold out success.

Great chefs and great food for a great cause.


Of course, we went to the Ottolenghi dinner. His new vegetarian book PLENTY MORE was just released.
(Click here for last year's Ottolenghi's dinner).

He is one of my favorite chefs/restaurateurs.
He is such a warm, funny person, very approachable and friendly. I look forward to this dinner all year. He mingled with the guests all evening and we had a delicious dinner and a great time.




Next stop, dinner prepared by April Bloomfield (Spotted Pig & The Breslin) and Nancy Silverton (La Brea Bakery & Mozza in L.A.).


The food was AMAZING.


We had pig trotter on lentils (everyone loved it but me..... not my cup of tea, it's a texture thing); an oozy stracciatella with a celery leaf pesto (recipe in the Mozza cookbook); and amazing passed hors d'oevres with fantastic wines to match.


The dessert was probably the BEST dessert I have ever eaten.

It was a Torta della Nonna (Grandmother's Cake), made by Nancy Silverton, with a Tuscan honeycomb on each plate. I went to her cookbook Mozza and found the exact recipe to try and recreate it at home.

This is not your usual grandmother's cake.
Forget all the butter in the crust and egg yolks....the filling was Philadelphia cream cheese, goat cheese and mascarpone! No wonder it was so damn good.


Needless to say, I will NOT be recreating this at home.




A Monday night brought us to Jersey City (move over Brooklyn) to a Madame Claude Wine dinner for a Pinot Noir tasting and French meal, hosted by the lovely sommelier LouLou.


We were transported to Paris for the evening and tried an array of Pinot Noirs from France & Oregon just in time for turkey dinner (Pinot Noir is the #1 wine sold during Thanksgiving.....it is the most food friendly wine).




Next stop, a book launch party for author, Laura Zinn Fromm, a clever Huffington Post writer, for the release of her new book Sweet Survival, Tales of Cooking and Coping.


We were treated to a lovely luncheon and a book reading.
(I only took a pic of the beautiful fruit salad in front of the Chinese soldier, sorry).


Laura writes about family, mental illness, food, cooking and life in the suburbs (isn't that about your life and mine?).
It's a great, funny read, with lots of great recipes to go along with the stories (and I am mentioned on page 224, and it's not about mental illness!).

And because I love you, I am giving away 2 copies of Laura's new book, Sweet Survival, Tales of Cooking and Coping.

Please leave a pleasant comment about anything you feel like (no anonymous comments please, unless you leave your name), and I will announce a winner on a rare Saturday post.




You mean there's more? I promise to do nothing in November (because I can't eat anymore!!!).


I haven't talked about pizza in a while, so I was due.

A solo lunch at Arturo's Osteria & Pizzeria in Maplewood, NJ was just what the pizza doctor ordered.


A seasonal farm pie w/ cauliflower, garlic, fresh mozzarella and capers and a local kale caesar salad.
Yes, I ate it alone, yes I took some home.

To die for.



Next stop, a very special Fiorano Wine Dinner at L'Artusi in Greenwich Village, hosted by Alessia Antinori (daughter of Marchese Piero Antinori of the Antinori wine legacy), and one of Italy's oldest noble families.


Alessia is a 26th generation Italian winemaker (over 600 years of wine making), considered one of the 5th oldest family businesses in the world (there is a Japanese sake family that is the oldest!).

In 2005 she inherited her grandfather Alberico Boncompagni Ludovisi's (Prince of Venosa) fallen Fiorano vineyard that had been abandoned and almost barren since 1995, when the vines were cut down and the last vintage was produced.

She has committed herself to restoring the property back to it's original beautiful productive farm that it once was and creating a beautiful wine once again. It's in her blood!

The property is back to growing olive trees for olive oil, raising sheep for cheese; growing wheat for farro and beehives for honey; and she has started producing Fiorano wine once again, under her label Fioranello, for now, only selling to collectors and old customers of Fiorano mostly in Lazio and around Rome (she oversees all of the sales and export as there are a very limited amount of bottles produced so far).

Read about the Fiorano estate here, interesting and fascinating stuff.

This dinner was off the charts (it's one of my favorite restaurants in NYC), and the wines were spectacular.
I think knowing the long sorted past and history of these vines and learning about the families made the evening even more special for us.

We had the great pleasure of trying Alessia's grandfather's hard to find wines from the 1990's (only 1 store in the US sells them, Italian Wine Imports), and boy what a treat.


The food was the perfect match to the wines, starting out with beets and burrata......then on to a risotto w/ shaved truffles, ending w/ an amazing osso buco on polenta. A cheese course and dessert followed with a wine to match each dish.


Each sip of wine got better as the evening went on.


If you ever have the opportunity to visit Lazio outside of Rome, do visit Fattoria di Fiorano.



Last stop: Canal House Cooks for the holidays at Kings Cooking Studio in Short Hills, NJ.

I finally got to meet Melissa Hamilton and Christopher Hirsheimer. I have all of their books, and they are cult figures here in NJ.

They have a beautiful cooking studio in Lambertville, NJ and have a great daily blog called Canal House Cooks Lunch

The menu was a carb fest.

They made 3 types of stuffing (cornbread with sausage; chestnuts in Port; and sourdough w/ tons of celery & butter); cheese straws; a pecan pie w/ lard crust; and a pumpkin chiffon pie w/ gingersnap crust.


It was a great kickoff to the holidays and the feasts that are coming up.

Ok, I'm done. Really.

Stay tuned for only recipes this month (and I will try and make them healthy).

On an ending note, PLEASE don't invite me to any food related events in November.
I am definitely on a diet!

:)

Comments

Ciao Chow Linda said…
Oh wow Stacey. You have really been on the go to some wonderful events. I was sent that book by the publisher so don't include me in the drawing. I haven't yet started reading it but now that you're mentioned in it, I have extra reason to get going.
Nathalie Ben said…
Hi Stacey,

Thank you fare sharing your wonderful recipes day after day..i almost try them all ...and now I love Brussels sprouts and cauliflower ..Yeaah thanks to you..
Nathalie Ben
Cynthia said…
OMG, I love Ottolenghi, how lucky that you met him and tasted his delicious food. He is our favorite chef here in the UK.

Love your blog and all the fun stuff you do.
Thanks!

Cynthia
Viv Larson said…
Stacy,
It was a treat meeting you at the wine tasting, I hope our paths cross again.
You are so vivacious and fun and I love your recipes! I am now a daily reader.

Viv Larson
Natalia said…
I am so glad I started following your blog about 2 years ago. I love all your recipes and successfully duplicate (most) of them at home.

You are really living the (foodie) life. My husband and I often venture somewhere new & recently we've tried a few restaurants you've mentioned as well - & love them! I grew up in Maplewood, so Arturo's has always been a go-to place for me, but adding Razza, and a few others has been a real treat.

I purchased several books recommended by you in your blog, such as Ottolenghi's vegetable cookbook, 66 Square Feet, and several Jamie Oliver books, and I have a separate folder on my computer of your recipes.

Looking forward to your November recipes. Keep up the great work Stacey!
Hi Stacey, you sure do get around! I really enjoy reading your Random Bites posts. I get inspired by the foods you try at all these different places, and love your witty (and short!) descriptions of your experiences. It's just enough, you know? Laura's book sounds fascinating!
Katie C. said…
Hi Stacey - I agree you sure do get around to some fancy events. I'm going to attempt your pork tenderloin with apples and fennel tonight. Please count me in for the book drawing.
Bebe said…
Cripes Suzette led me to you several years ago and I have been grateful ever since. She posted at the time that she had never had a bad experience using your recipes.

So here I am, with your link in the toolbar at the top of the browser page, visiting every morning whether I have anything interesting to post or not.

Recuperating from a dumb injury and a couple of eye surgeries, I shall soon be ready to go again and begin baking. Thank you for the inspirational photos, recipes, and lovely conversation. And the vicarious living...
Leslie Rowe said…
Wow. I love Antinori wines.....that's like dining with Italian royalty.

Fun month you had! Looking forward to more adventures cooking and eating with Ms. Snacks
Karen Majoris said…
Better you than me with all of the marathon eating...I can only do that for a short period of time. But I did take the family to Hershey Park last weekend and we walked 8.2 miles...get your sneakers on Stacey!
Emily Barrett said…
Wow, Stacey! What a cool experience. Thank you for sharing it with us! Mmmm, granma cake!!!
Patsy said…
It's a good thing October only comes once a year. But honestly, you must have a hollow leg. Your picture from the end of the month shows you looking as svelte as ever. Good genes I'd guess!
Sherry Klusman said…
Great, another chance to win a book--from the title this one sounds full of wit and charm. How many of us could write a novel of our cooking adventures. Love your blog Stacey and hope I'm fortunate enough to win a copy.

Sherry from Arizona
Lisa Faley said…
Hi Stacey! Your posts always make me hungry! This one included! That triple cream cheese cake had me drooling, but it was the Italian dinner with fab select wines that had my stomach respond! (not sure how to type a tummy noise! lol)
The book sounds great! Mental Illness and food? Who can't relate!??
G said…
Thank You so much for the wonderful recap of such a great trip - Gail
Diane H said…
What a month of great, unique food and wine experiences. Definitely envious. Thanks for letting us join in vicariously. I like that your recipes and some experiences are "easy" for others to experience themselves. I hope to have an opportunity to replicate some of Laura's recipes too.
Anonymous said…
Hi Stacey
Your posts stopped coming to me for several busy months, and a new computer. I could not remember the name of your blog, for the life of me, but I really missed it.
I kept googling various things and I couldn't find it. I was so frustrated and then....One day I googled NewJersey, antiques, blog and up came Stacey Snacks online. Boy was I glad to see that! I really enjoy your writing and thoroughly enjoy preparing a number of your recipes. I am so glad to see you in the mornings. Nana
How can you eat this stuff and look the way you do? I envy you! What a fun month you had, you have nothing to worry about for November, Mangia!
Martina said…
I love your blog/posts. Inspiring and fun.
Unknown said…
What a great event you attended, AMAZING food and I was reading the post hungry.Must eat something ASAP! Cool giveaway. Thanks.
Rebecca said…
Thanks for your wonderful recipes and food-related commentary! Yours is the first page I open after signing in.
Rebecca
Alicia said…
I read you every morning and you make want to pack up and move to New Jersey.The food there sounds so good!
I'm born and raised in Boston!