Taste buds happy at Taste Budd’s

Jackie Gordon Singing Chef - Taste buds happy at Taste Budd’s

In the land before time the diva was a surly old hash slinger at the River Cafe in Brooklyn. To document my attitude at the time, I recall at my interview being offered a job as a cocktail waitress on the outside deck, since the manager claimed he did not have room for me in the dining room. I looked him straight in the eye and said, “Thank you, but the day I have to rely on the weather to make tips or not is the day I throw myself in that mother-*$#%!*@ river!

Somehow I got the job anyway and at that time Dan Budd was the extremely talented and very hard working pastry chef. I think he left to be a pastry instructor at CIA right around the time I quit before I got fired (long story). I could barely look at CIA in the distant views yesterday during my harrowing (vertigo induced) stroll across the Hudson, but after we were back on terra firma and I calmed down, we zipped up route 9G to Dan’s cafe, Taste Budd’s Chocolate and Coffee Cafe, in Red Hook, New York for some medicinal pastries.

The view to the ‘cue

Jackie Gordon Singing Chef - The view to the ‘cue

“Glorious!” is a very apt description of the scenery yesterday as we went on a wee road trip to forage for BBQ in upstate New York. Mother Nature pulled out all the stops with her fall foliage extravaganza as we made the two hour trek to Big W Roadside BBQ in Wingdale, New York. “Delicious”, “Abundant” and “Extremely Friendly” is how I’d describe the fare and the folks there.

Spotted: Deer in Boerum Hill

Jackie Gordon Singing Chef - Spotted: Deer in Boerum Hill

When I happened upon these deer in the Hoyt Street Garden on the corner of Atlantic Avenue and Hoyt Street, I laughed with delight and was grateful that they were not real. Real deer are cute and lovely to see, until they eat your garden. The statues, made by local artist Julie Ann Mann, are surreal and stunning and I love how they contrast with the shady garden.

Brooklyn Purple’s in da house: Concord Grape Chutney

Since there is nothing more interminable than slip skinning Concord grapes, every year I swear that it’s the last time I am harvesting any more than a bunch of them for munching from my garden. Yet every year the fruit lures me back with promises of chutney and maybe some ketchup or jelly and I fight the mosquitoes, spiders, birds and bees for them and set aside a day for making chutney.

Recipe: Heart of palm salad

Jackie Gordon Singing Chef - Recipe: Heart of palm salad

I whipped this up yesterday from things I found in the fridge and it was awesome and beautiful to look at. I didn’t think to take a pic of it until I’d nearly nibbled it out of existence, but I restrained myself and got a wee shot. The proportions of the ingredients are very flexible. I had it with some jerk chicken and garlic bread.

The diva meets the warty sea squirts

The BF and I had the most bizarre meal in years at a new Korean restaurant in Palisades Park, New Jersey. The name of the place I believe is Girodi, but I lost the card. Don’t fret about it since I wouldn’t actually recommend it. It is a good one for your places to avoid list.

Jackie Gordon Singing Chef @ Culture Catch Midsummer Salon ’09

Divalicious did double-time at the Culture Catch’s Midsummer Salon. I did a Divalicious eatertainment show pairing our tasty treats with songs and created our Divalicious Chocolate! Kid in a Chocolate Shop smorgasbord and make-your-own-goodie-bag spread, featuring dipped Oreos, grahams, fortune cookies, Nutter Butters, malted-milk balls, chocolate espresso beans, 72% dark chocolate hazelnuts, tiramisu almonds, cinnamon pecans, dark chocolate caramels,
milk & dark chocolate raisins, s’mores balls, hazelnut bark, s’mores bark, Oreo cookies & cream bark, caramel pecan bark, ginger bark, almond bark, honey-roasted peanut bark, strawberries & cream bark, “Kung Fu Fighting” Rockin’ Rocky Road, and “Paradise by the Dashboard Light” Rockin’ Rocky Road.