Oh Wow! (Again)



Nice hairdo.  Of course, it doesn't matter if you have a cone
of Fudge-Walnut Swirl.

Jake and I treated ourselves to a bit of ice cream at Owowcow Creamery.  So yummy.  At least we went to Lake Nockamixon and worked it off--Jake rode his bike while I followed on foot.

My delicious cup of Chocolate Mint topped with
Blood Orange-Raspberry.

Musings

Some food stuff from the weekend...

Jake, my parents and I went to Owowcow Creamery last week (MB went out to eat with some friends, so we needed a treat, too!).  Really, I think this is the best ice cream I've ever tasted.  So good.  I know you want to know, so I'll tell you what we got.  Jake got half Chocolate-Covered Pretzel and half Mango Sorbet.  Mom got Blueberry-Lemon and Dad went with Blood Orange-Raspberry (excellent!).  I got Chocolate-Fudge-Walnut (really dark chocolate) and Chai (incredibly yummy).  If you haven't been there, go!  Now!

Greater Shiloh Church Choir at Joyful Noise IV.

On Saturday, Joyful Noise IV, our church's charity music festival benefiting the Quakertown Food Pantry, went off with flying colors.  Beautiful weather, incredible music, great food (those Blooming Glen Pork sandwiches are soooooo good).  Final numbers aren't in yet, but I'll let you know how much we made for the pantry.  The Quakertown Food Pantry served well over 15,000 individuals in 2010, so lots of people will reap the benefits of our festival.

Ceili Rain rockin' the tent.

How does your garden grow?  We've gotten a lot of nice, sweet peas and a few green beans.  It won't be long before we'll have squash and tomatoes.  Can't wait!

Make Me a Match

Yesterday I was watching the Phillies game (ugh--but I still say they win in 6) and, as is usual while watching baseball, I got the munchies.  So I got some nice salty pretzels and some fresh apple cider from Penn Vermont Fruit Farm in Bedminster (really tasty).  What a pairing!  The salt from the pretzels brought out the incredible flavors of the apples.  Yum!

In an article in The Atlantic, innkeeper and author, Regina Charboneau writes about some of her favorite food duos.  And while some of them--salt and pepper, peanut butter and jelly, chocolate and orange--are on my list of favorites, some of them are just a little more "fancy" than I have in mind (oysters and caviar, anyone?). 

So I started thinking about some of my favorite things to eat together.  Some of them are, admittedly, weird.  But I like them anyway.

• Bacon and maple syrup.  Charboneau lists bacon and brown sugar as one of her favorites, but I don't think there's much better than some good bacon and real maple syrup.  Some really good pork sausage and maple syrup (or "dip" as Jake used to call it) aren't bad either.
• Cheetos and peanut butter.  OK.  This gets a little messy, but I love it.  Nice crunchy Cheetos (not the puffed kind) dipped in PB.  Hey, you eat those little cheese crackers with the PB in the middle, right? 
• PB&J sandwich and potato chips.  While we're on the PB subject, there's just something great about a PB&J and plain old potato chips.  My sister used to put the chips IN her sandwich (maybe she still does).
• Gorgonzola cheese and pears.  This is a classic pairing, but man, it's so good.  I love the Mountain Gorgonzola from Pasqualina's Italian Market and Deli here in Blooming Glen.  Creamy, tangy and a little sweet matched with the sweetness of the pear.  Apples are good, too.
• Chocolate and hot pepper.  I do agree with Charboneau about the chocolate/orange combo, but I love chocolate and spice.  It's becoming more of a common thing to find these days.  Try it sometime.  The creaminess of the chocolate tames the heat.  Chocolate with chipotle is great (adds some smokiness).  Or try the incredible Chocolate-Jalapeno ice cream at oWowCow Creamery in Ottsville.  Deep, dark chocolate ice cream with a nice amount of heat.  Sooooo goooood.
• Pretzels and chocolate ice cream.  Big salty pretzel dipped in really good chocolate ice cream.  Oh yeah.  It's that salty/sweet combo again.
• Melon and Prosciutto.  Another classic, but one of my all-time favorites.  Sweet melon wrapped in salty prosciutto.  Ahhhh...drizzle a little balsamic reduction over it and you have an appetizer that can't be beat.
• Tomato and salt.  It's depressing that tomato season is gone.  But it was wonderful while it lasted--when I could just bite into a fresh tomato, sprinkle a little sea salt and dig in. 

Did I miss anything?  I'm sure I did.  Let me know what some of your favorite pairings are.  Don't worry, I won't pass judgement. 

Oh Wow!

After a long day of planting our garden on Saturday (more in another post), we decided to be lazy and go out for some food. 

We headed over to Tabora Farm & Orchard (1104 Uppers Stump Rd, Chalfont, PA, 18914) for some dinner.  If you haven't been to Tabora (or haven't been there in a while), you're in for a treat when you do get there.  Besides veggies, fruits and other food items for sale, they have a huge prepared food/deli section.  Be wary--it takes a long time to decide on all the great offerings!  Sandwiches, salads, soups...loads to choose from.  I got a great chicken salad sandwich (with grapes and apples on homemade bread), MB got some chili and Jake got some tasty chicken fingers.  MB & I split a Portobello Stacker--grilled portobello mushroom, tomato slice, grilled chicken breast, garlic spinach and goat cheese all stacked up (thus the name).  Really tasty. 

Tabora also boast loads of freshly baked goods--from sweet things (cookies, danish, etc) to savory items (stuffed rolls, etc).  It smells so good in there.  They also have ice cream made in-house.  Some interesting flavors like rosemary and lemon thyme.

But we were getting dessert later.  So we headed over to Lake Nockamixon to eat and my parents came to meet us because we were headed to Owowcow Creamery for ice cream!

Simply said, Owowcow (4105 Durham Rd, Ottsville, PA, 18942) has the best ice cream I've ever had.  They make everything in small batches and from local or organic ingredients.  The flavors change all the time--you'll want to taste every one of them.  They have 3 different kinds of vanilla!  I had chocolate-raspberry (with real raspberries) and blueberry-lemon (also with real fruit).  MB got some coffee-chocolate flavor.  Jake got his favorite--mint-chocolate chip (with fresh mint).  My mom got almond-coconut-chocolate chip and Dad got strawberry-rhubarb (again, with real fruit).  Man, it's just incredible stuff.  You have to at least try the chocolate-jalapeno if they have it when you go.  Delicious!  Intense dark chocolate followed by the heat.  Awesome! 

It's so great having places like this all around us.  We were talking on the way home how it's funny how it's so in vogue to eat like everyone did 100 years ago--fresh ingredients, local food.  That's a trend I can deal with!

Off subject--Don't forget to stop in at the Upper Bucks Chamber of Commerce's Business EXPO tomorrow from noon-6PM at Quakertown High School.  Be sure to find my booth for some sample and to sign up for a chance to win a $25 Dinner's Done gift certificate!