L ast year around this time I came into a zillion pounds of fresh quince (above), which I turned into .5 zillion pounds of quince paste. Which actually was a good thing. I like quince paste—also known as membrillo—a lot and it's great to put out with cheese when people come over. Here's how to make it.
This sounds like a great field trip for Saturday: You can help harvest grapes at the beautiful Vivac Winery in Embudo, then Rocky Durham will make you lunch and you'll go home with a bottle of wine. It's $55 per person. RSVP to Michele@VivacWinery.com.
On Sunday at 11 am there's a hard cider-making workshop at Liquid Light Glass Studio (next to Counter Culture on Baca Street). You can get the $35 tickets here.
Hey, Old Windmill Dairy in Estancia is offering a cheese-making class next Saturday, Oct. 15. You'll learn how to make chevre, cheddar, mozzarella and more. Call 505-384-0033 or email info@towdairy.com for more info. Look at these goats!!
Here's a profile of the Food Network chef Alton Brown that gets really dark before it gets light again. You will learn many things you did not know about Brown, whose new book, EveryDayCook, is described as the product of a midlife crisis. He is weirder and more square and yet also cooler than you thought.
Also, it's Canadian Thanksgiving! Ha! Serious. It happens every second Monday in October. Pete Wells got the editor of Cooking Light to admit he'd never heard of it. I found out about this from my Canadian aunt and uncle, who, truth be told, are really just Americans who have lived in Canada for 40 years. (They still vote here.) Long story short: They eat all the same stuff we do, they just don't get so fussy about it. Canadian Thanksgiving is kind of like that second Thanksgiving dinner you have at your dad's house when your parents are divorced and you live with your mom. It's a thing that happens but it's kind of perfunctory and not as good as the real one.
What's weirder: the fact that Patagonia is selling beer made with a grain you've never heard of—or the fact that I read about this in Playboy? (Probably the former. Did you know Playboy's not doing the naked girls thing anymore? It's true.) Patagonia's "Provisions" line now includes Long Root Ale, made in partnership with Hopworks out of Portland, Oregon. The recipe is 15 percent a perennial grain called Kernza, which is environmentally friendly, supposedly tastes good and has really, really long roots.
Ladies: Is it that week? That week where you find yourself thinking, "Hmm… What can I eat for dinner that involves potato chips and chocolate syrup and peanut m&m's but also has something deep-fried?" You know what I'm talking about. Well here is the PMS menu of your dreams: General Tso's chicken and waffles. I KNOW, RIGHT?! It's sweet and salty and fatty and everything. Check out the recipe here.
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