Photo: ketrin1407/Flickr
LOCAL BITES
Tea, Anyone?
Well, not just anyone. Your mom, perhaps, in honor of Mother’s Day? Show you’re thinking ahead: Thursday, June 7, a proper Afternoon Tea will be served on vintage china at the Commander’s Mansion, Watertown, complete with imported clotted cream and jam. Tea will be followed by a book reading/ signing with local author Katrina Avila Munichiello, author of A Tea Reader: Living Life One Cup at a Time. Hats are encouraged, but not required. Guests to be welcomed by the Gilded Harps. Tickets $24/pp.
New Couple in Town
On May 15, Finale Desserts will host a Craft Beer Tasting at the Park Plaza Hotel, featuring a selection of beers paired with seasonal desserts. Bryan Green, representative from the Great Brewers Guild, will discuss the variety of beers and how they pair with each dessert created by Executive Pastry Chef Nicole Coady. Here’s one pairing, to whet your appetite: Duvel Golden Ale with Fresh Fruit Tart. Tickets: $19.99/pp. To make a reservation, call 617.623.3233.
A Watershed Moment
Whole Foods continues with “Do Something Reel,” a monthly series of provocative documentaries about food and environmental issues. “The Apple Pushers” inaugurated the series in April. This month’s film is Watershed: Exploring a New Water Ethic for the New West, directed by Mark Decena, narrated by Robert Redford and produced by his son, James Redford. Watershed is available for viewing at the festival’s website and on Whole Foods’ Facebook page. $5.99/viewing through the end of May.
Reminders:
A Mother’s Day Tea
Starting with a selection of recipes from Barre, MA, dating from the turn of the last century, the ONCE kitchen kids are going to recreate a classic afternoon tea. This means cakes, cookies, sherbet, tisanes and finger sandwiches — of course! — all served on Mother’s Day, May 13, 4-6pm at Naga in Cambridge. Tickets are $45/person for treats, beverages and a hand letter-pressed card on which to create your personal culinary heirloom to share with a loved one far away.
Brunch+Kids=Quiet
Aura Restaurant at the Seaport Hotel, which specializes in elegant “family style” dining for moms and dads, has ‘quiet’ in spades this Mother’s Day if a civilized brunch (with kids in tow!) is what you’re after. Tickets are $55/adult; kids under 12 eat for free. To reserve call 617.385.4300, or go to OpenTable.com. Read the details and menu here.
NATIONAL TREATS
Wash Your Reusable Grocery Bags!!
We have two words of warning for you: noro-virus. Apparently, this nasty virus can indeed be spread through contact with inanimate objects, including grocery bags. Here’s the report from Huff Post Food, plus an earlier, related report from CNN Health worth a read for the tips on washing reusable bags and a word on the behind-the-scenes involvement of the plastics industry.
Counting Calories
Even 150 calories a day can make a difference in the obesity equation. This is the ultimate takeaway from a report by Allison Aubrey of NPR’s The Salt, citing the fewer calories consumed by Californian teens, on average, compared to the rest of the country. That translates into 15 pounds, plus or minus, a year. (Boston’s 2004 ban against sugary drinks on public school property bodes well, then, as current evidence seems to suggest.)
Beer To the Rescue
This provocative title and brief report via Salon, Can Craft Beer Save America’s Economy?, dovetails with Here & Now‘s spotlight of last week on the rising popularity of craft beers in America. Hail, artisanal drink entrepreneurs!
Food Stamps To the Rescue, too
In the ridiculously tough economy of the last several years, even folks with Ph.Ds have turned to food stamps for relief, in ever greater numbers, as Huff Post Business reports. Americans with Masters degrees were not far behind — yet another indication of the widespread dependence on SNAP (food stamps), and the need to pay close attention to the details of the 2012 Farm Bill.
Banning the Bake Sale
Some are for it, some are against. It’s a surprisingly contentious, emotional issue, for bake sales are as American as, well, apple pie. Plus, they lie at the intersection of the goodness behind homemade gestures, kids’ health and the prospect of profits for school initiatives.
GLOBAL TASTINGS
The World’s “Best” Oysters
I’m thinking our local friends at East Dennis Oysters and Island Creek Oysters might object, but the Limfjords-oysters from Denmark are considered some of the best in the world. This fascinating read from the “Honest Cooking” column at Huff Post Food explains why the Danish bi-valve is so prized, and why it’s endangered. (What do you think of that coined phrase “oystertecture”?)