Pick a Peck of Samosas.

Kohli's looks like a bodega or drugstore, but there's a prize inside.



To-go samosas are served at the register.  90 cents each.



We got a bag-full.



We could have eaten more.

Kohli's Indian Imports
319 S Craig St
Pittsburgh, PA 15213

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Photo Essay: Peace, Love, and Little Donuts.

The building.


In line.


Before too long, we were entering.


The menu.


The machine.


The shop.


Ready-to-eat.


Depending on how soon you're going to eat them, they package them differently.  We bought some to eat right away and some to take home for the rest of our crew.  The "now" doughnuts were the best doughnuts.  These were ginger sugar and...lemon, I think?


My first Little Donut. Subtle ginger.  Warm and soft.





Donuts "To Go."  Cinnamon, Ginger, Raspberry, Chocolate.  Easily eaten.

Strip District
2018 Smallman Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15222

p.s. The Pittsburgh Slow Food lady was really disappointed that I was going to blog about these because, "Their doughnuts come from a mix!"  Yes, but I ate them (and they were good).  There are probably better doughnuts out there, but this was a fun experience.  And this is not a slow foods blog (though I hope it is, sometimes, slow foods friendly).

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Photo Essay: Peruvian Picnic at the Canoe Club

Outstanding food from:

Chicken Latino, Pittsburgh (PA)


Bonus Shot: Someone spotted this bee snacking on a mayfly and I managed to get a photo.



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Two for dinner; one for breakfast.

In Pittsburgh, PA?  Need cupcakes?  I have to recommend Graham's Bakery on Mt. Lebanon Blvd..



This shop makes the perfect chocolate frosting, as far as I'm concerned -- and that's hard to achieve.  The box had assorted vanilla and chocolate cupcakes, with both vanilla and chocolate frosting.  Of course, chocolate + chocolate was my favorite, but I liked the vanilla, too. 

To make sure they were as good as I thought they were, I ate three. 

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I am the United Nations of Snacking.

 We watched the World Cup quarter-final match between Brazil and The Netherlands at Piper's Pub, a British Isles-themed sports bar and restaurant in Pittsburgh, PA.  While there, naturally, I had to try my first Scotch Egg.



A Scotch Egg is a hard-boiled egg that is somehow encased in a sort of bread-and-sausage batter and then fried.  Yow!  I was not expecting my eggs (which were cut in half and served to me with hot sauce) to  be so thick and large.  But, however overwhelming, they were quite good -- especially dipped in the hot sauce.  It took four of us to eat my serving, though.  This is a snack to share.  And eat it hot!

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Pittsburgh Farmers Market

I want to write a few more posts about my most recent trip to Pittsburgh, PA.  My trips there always include great food, no matter how long I'm there, and my stay over this past Fourth of July holiday weekend was no different.

One morning, Anna and Jim and I ended up at the Pittsburgh Farmers Market in the Strip District.  Though small, it had a lot to offer.



A visit to one farm's table proved especially inspiring.  Fresh goat chevre being served on graham crackers with fruit jam inspired Anna and me to buy some of the cheese and make our own open-faced jam and cracker sandwiches back at the house.  The feta from this farm was also top-notch.



Naturally, I picked up two giant bags of kale so that I could make a batch of kale chips.



Though we had a general plan of acquisition, we enjoyed wandering and checking out what everyone had to offer.





We had a chance to chat with several of the women at the "Slow Food Pittsburgh" table. I sampled a delicious, fresh applesauce and appreciated that they were set up to do on-site cooking demos.







With so much in season, how could we not eat well?

Farmers at the Firehouse Farmers Market
Saturdays 9:30 am - 1:30 pm (May - November)
Strip District - 2216 Penn Avenue 

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C is for...

Cheese farm -- September Cheese Farm in Honey Brook, PA, to be exact, where the staff is pleasant and the samples are many.  Try the spring onion cheese (alas, sold out when we were there)!  Try the bacon cheese spread on an almond cracker!






Cheese Curds -- These have been a favorite of mine since childhood.  We bought plain (unflavored) and roasted garlic cheese curds.  They should squeak when you chew them.  That's how you know they're good.  Also, my parents say if you leave them in the fridge a little too long and they start to lose savor, just zap them in the microwave for a few seconds.




Cute Cat with three paws who lives at the Cheese farm:


shoes by Marais

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Apple Dumpling Gang of One

Before leaving The Green Dragon, I considered buying an apple dumpling.  I'd tried to get one at Reading Terminal Market on our last trip to Philadelphia, but the booth selling them had closed early that day.  I didn't buy a Green Dragon dumpling, though (pictured above), because it looked so juicy I was worried it wouldn't travel well (and I wasn't hungry enough to eat it on the spot).

Later in the day, though, we visited the Farmer's Market in Bird-in-Hand, PA.  It's quite a place, with plenty of good eats displayed wall to wall in the market's permanent building.  There, I found a "drier-looking" dumpling and made it mine.



I ate my dumpling the next day, warmed in the microwave and topped with vanilla ice cream.  I expected the dough to be a bit more delicate and/or flavorful, but the sweet, baked apple was very nice.

I'd like to find a good recipe and try making some apple dumplings myself at home.

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That's a "Yes!" to yard sale snacks.

This yard sale in Pennsylvania had a table off to one side at which 3 Amish women (a mother and her daughters?) were selling baked goods.



I bought a large peanut butter cookie.  It had a nice flavor but was slightly dry.  I had to eat it in one sitting, as the chocolate on top was melting in the heat of the day.  Not bad as fuel to get me to the next bargain-hunting spot.

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The Green Dragon: Even More Edibles

Pickles. So many pickles.  I bought pickled garlic, and was disappointed to find the brine was sweet.




Peanut brittle.  This stuff was special. 




Peanut-butter filled pretzels.  Subtle in a swell way.



[What is The Green Dragon?] 

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Homemade Root Beer

Another new find for me on this trip to Pennsylvania was homemade root beer.  We bought several bottles from an Amish Farmer at The Green Dragon.  It tasted yeasty and sweet but wasn't at all fizzy.  Was it supposed to be carbonated?  I'm not sure.

I keep having positive root beer experiences in PA.  This state does the stuff right.

p.s. The same farmer was also selling the best strawberries I can recall ever having tasted.  We'd already bought strawberries at another booth (big mistake), but he offered us free samples.  So sweet and soft and juicy -- and red to the core.  Wow.

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This is how much a pie should cost.

Now, look.  I live in New York City, but I'm a midwesterner by heritage (and a west-coaster by birth!).  When it comes to my taste buds, I like to imagine I'm eating through life with an eye toward both down-to-earth sanity and aspirational luxury.  I don't need everything I eat to be beautiful, trendy, or perfect.  Still, I can appreciate good food, I have enough income to pay a fair-to-inflated price for dishes made by others every so often, and I know how much work it can be to create an amazing mouthful.

This established, I am horrified at the price of whole pies around here.  Pie-men (I mean this as a genderless term) in NYC ask a lot for their creations, and I think it's gotten out of control.  For example, I have a lot of affection for a Brooklyn establishment known as Pies 'n' Thighs.  I treasure their "chicken box" dinner close to my heart.  But their whole pies cost $30.  Yeek, I say.  Yeek!  That's expensive. 

I've bought, eaten, and made a lot of pie in my lifetime.  I'm willing to pay a fair price for a good one, too, but frequently the $30 pies of the world (and I'm not talking about pies from Pies 'n' Thighs specifically because I can't afford them) do not measure up to the down-home simplicity and pleasing flavors of, say, an Amish creation retailing for $4.25 (as advertised in the photo at the top of this post).

I took the picture up top at The Green Dragon to remind all of us that a delicious pie need not break the bank.   I mean, I'd pay more than $5 -- I don't want to rip off any pie-bakers -- but I doubt the Amish women selling these pies were doing so at a loss.  I know people selling homemade pies will have to charge more than that per pie if they don't grow their own fruit, but there's a lot of room for fair pricing between $5 and $30.

I'm taking a daring, political stance: Accessible pie prices for every man, woman, child, and person who does not identify as male or female!

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