FRESH DIRECT IS GETTING STALE

Due to a disabling situation I have been getting my groceries delivered. It puts me in the situation that I am depending upon the store or company to do my shopping.  I had high hopes for Fresh Direct until lately. Yes, they do take off the cost if you have issues with the items.   However, what’s the point if most of the items have issues and I still need my groceries.

The first time I ordered artichokes, they came out perfect.  Totally closed, no brown spots, no pointy leaves to stab you, meaty stem, and when cooked, the “hair” on the top of the heart didn’t even have to be removed.  Not so now.  They are already brown, bitter near the stem which you can’t even use.  I don’t know if all artichokes that you buy everywhere are coming from this same company out in California.  Perhaps they need to change the company or they just don’t care.   Then again, is the person “shopping” choosing the best there is?

My last order had a bunch of bananas…Dole.  It came not just in the plastic bag, but was engulfed in some kind of rubbery paper.  As usual, I put the whole thing on my counter to ripen.  A few days later, I tested to see if they were ripe.  Opening the cushy thing I noticed one loose banana.  I thought that perhaps an extra banana was added due to there not being enough in the bunch.  I put that one in the fridge to eat.  Later, I took the rest and threw it in the fridge vegetable bin.  The next day, wanting another banana, I was about to open the plastic bag but there was a hole already in it.  Inside, one the bananas was separated from the bunch.  I tasted it and it was mushy, not like soft due to being overripe.

I thought I’d save a bit on fish by getting the small chunks of fresh fish.  “Whatever is in the catch” as they say.  It’s supposed to be mixed according to the website and photo.  I did it a few times and concluded that I’m getting the sort of leftovers from when the fish are trimmed, like the part of the salmon closest to the skin.   I can taste this when I cook it up. 

I tried an avocado that wasn’t a Hass.  It didn’t ripen until 6 days later, was already brown on the outside and tasted awful.  

Ready- made food. Oy!  They have a kitchen and access to fresh foods.  Yet, it is obvious that they use canned or jarred vegetables.   One salad had a hard- boiled egg.  They used eggs that are pre-hard boiled and containing some solution.  Deli meats.  Pre-cooked bacon.  Enough with the additives!!  What’s “fresh” about that?

I did a comparison on dates with Ronnybrook Farms milk.  Sell by date was less than two weeks whereas getting it at the Green Market in Forest Hills had a longer date.   Hmm…they are coming today to replace pork chops that had a “best if used date” 3 days away from the evening it was delivered.  Package is weighing 1.37 lbs. vs the package being picked up weighing 1.78 lbs.  Not getting charged for the switch but price is higher due to their raising the price. Not my fault.  Customer service must be getting tired of my voice.   

I had been ordering ground beef with the Pat LaFrieda name on it.  Now I find out that the meat you find in your supermarket that is sealed is injected was gases to make it look fresh.  No law saying that it has to be labeled.  I think it’s time to go to the butcher and do my own cooking.   More problems with store bought beef. Tune in next week.

GOT MOVIES?

We have a special preview screening coming up at MOMI. It’s Queen of Earth

With Elisabeth Moss and Director Alex Ross Perry in person on Tuesday, August 25, 7:30 p.m. Starring  Elisabeth Moss, Patrick Fugit, Katherine Waterson. Catherine (played in what Variety calls “an utterly fearless central performance by Elisabeth Moss”) has entered a particularly dark period in her life. Following her father’s death and a bad breakup with her longtime boyfriend, she decides to spend a week recuperating in the lake house of her best friend, Virginia. However, fissures between the two women begin to appear, sending Catherine into a downward spiral of delusion and madness. Tickets: $25 public/$15 Museum members at the Film Lover level or above/Free for Silver Screen members and above.

In fact MOMI is presenting an Alex Perry series August 22-25.  Screenings take place in either the Sumner M. Redstone Theater or the Celeste and Armand Bartos Screening Room . Unless otherwise noted, tickets for MOMI screenings are $12 adults ($9 seniors and students / $6 children 3–12) and free for Museum members at the Film Lover level and above. Advance tickets are available online at http://movingimage.us . Ticket purchase includes same-day admission to the Museum’s galleries.

Impolex
Saturday, August  22, 4:30 P.M.
With Riley O'Bryan, Kate Lyn Sheil, Bruno Meyrick Jones. In his feature debut, Perry was loosely inspired by Thomas Pynchon’s Gravity’s Rainbow. Taking place just after World War II, the film follows the shambling young soldier Tyrone S. as he wanders through the forest looking for German V2 rockets and encounters a number of inexplicably figures, including an eyepatch-wearing Englishman, a garrulous octopus, and the girlfriend he left behind to join the army.

The Color Wheel
Sunday, August  23, 3:00 P.M.
With Carlen Altman, Alex Ross Perry. Having recently broken up with her boyfriend and former professor, aspiring TV weathergirl JR calls on her estranged younger brother Colin to help retrieve her possessions at her ex’s apartment. What follows is one of the most uncomfortable road movies ever, as the two equally despicable characters incessantly pick on, undercut, and attack one another.

Listen Up Philip
 

Sunday August 23, 5:30 P.M.
With Jason Schwartzman, Elisabeth Moss, Jonathan Pryce. Feeling alienated by the pressures of the New York literary world and the girlfriend who financially supports him, the narcissistic and self-involved author Philip Lewis Friedman seeks refuge in the country home of his equally self-obsessed idol, the older, more established writer Ike Zimmerman.

GOT ALMOND MILK?

Although I am not an avid coffee drinker, I do love the aroma of fresh ground coffee as well as the taste.  Caffeine is not my style as it kind of makes me shake.  Forget a morning cup and evening keeps me up.   I can deal with it during the afternoon having eaten.  Cold brewed coffee is the best.  There is less acidity.   Better than instant coffee is a cold brewed concentrate from Califia Farms.   A 32 oz container yields 8 standing cups.  I happen to love coffee milk, if you know what I mean. 

Ronnybrook Farms has coffee milk, but I like to prepare it myself.   Therefore the 32 oz. container yields at least 12 cups.  With Ronnybrook Creamline that is not homogenized, I find it unnecessary to add sugar. 

Califia Farms have other products, much of which is about almond milk.  I decided to do a test with their Barista Blend.  I find that milk made from anything other than coming from a cow, has the taste and consistency of skim milk.   I can handle a reduced fat, but that is where I draw the line.   The challenge is Califia Farms Barista Blend of pure almond milk.  I shook up the container and poured a small amount into a glass.  Much to my surprise it had the consistency of close to whole milk and sweet.   I would actually have no problem simply having a glass.  They say that you can use almond milk as a substitute for cow’s milk in regards to cooking. 

Here’s an idea.  Combined the Barista Blend with cardamom (use a spice grinder to crush or powdered cardamom), and vanilla extract in a pot.  Cook until almost a boil and add a combination of corn starch mixed with cold water.  Add and stir to thicken and you will get a yummy tasting pudding!

I did a test of sweetened coffee with the Ronnybrook and  Califia with unsweetened coffee. I found both to be excellent but just a bit difference in taste.  Their almond milk is a great substitute.   I have yet to try their creamers or flavored almond milk.  I did sample two of their juice drinks called Agua Fresca and OMG. Watermelon Ginger-Lime and Strawberry Basil.  The Citrus Juice line had Tart Cherry Lemonade (Meyer lemons are used). 

Here is what they say about the juices.  “The fruit from our family farm is squeezed at our juice plant and directly bottled there, too – it is pure squeezed and made with only all natural, premium ingredients. Our California Orange Juice is made with mostly not from concentrate orange juice with some orange juice from concentrate mixed in to add balance to the seasonal taste variance of the orange crop. Our Lemonade is not made with juice from concentrate, and our Limeade has some lime juice from concentrate added to it for flavor consistency.” www.califiafarms.com 

Qi Shu Fang Brings Chinese History to America

On August 31, 2001 George W. Bush sent a congratulatory letter to Ms. Qi Shu Fang of Woodhaven saying, “Artists who draw on the traditions of their ancestors help to ensure the continued vitality of the arts in America”.   Another letter was sent by Hillary Rodham Clinton congratulating her for being selected as a recipient of a 2001 National Fellowship of the National Endowment for the Arts.

Qi Shu Fang is the President of and performer in the Peking Opera Company of which the company’s mission is to “foster a deeper cultural understanding between East and West”.  Performances have taken place in all parts of the country making history by staging a critically acclaimed complete performance of The Women Generals of the Yang Family at the New Victory Theatre on Broadway.  Just last year, the Peking Opera Festival took place at Flushing Town Hall where Ms. Qi had the leading role.

“I have been performing Peking Opera all of my life,” said Ms. Qi . “Having studied martial arts I created a stir in Beijing when I acted the lead role in ‘Three Battles with Zhang Yue’e.’  In Japan I am known as one of that country’s most beloved Peking Opera star.”

It was in 1988 that she and her husband moved to New York City and established the Qi Shu Fang Peking Opera Company.  Her husband, Ding Meikui is the Vice President and Managing Director who was born to a family with four generations’ experience in Peking Opera. He has traveled throughout the United States promoting Chinese culture and the arts to the American public.

This year the Qi Shu Fang Peking Opera Company will be hosting the Peking Arts Festival which will take place at NYU’s Skirball Center for the Performing Arts on Sunday, September 20^th.  Of the large cast, 80 will be coming from China.  “It will be composed of three shows,” Ms. Qi said. “The first will be martial arts.  That will be followed by a love story about a princess falling for a younger man giving him a gift of a special sword.”  The third show, “The Three Inch Lotus” points toward history with the subject of feet binding to make women’s feet small in order to marry into an upper class family. 

Wanting to keep introducing Chinese culture to the United States and this show will be free to the public. The performance will be in Chinese with English subtitles.  Tickets are purchased through the Skirball Center. 

“Next year,” said Ms Qi, “I will be having the lead role in the Peking Opera Festival.”  

NEW YORK POPS POPPED IN FOREST HILLS

Boston has their “Pops” and so does New York.  It’s probably not advertised enough as being the largest independent pops orchestra in the United States and the only one in NYC specializing in popular music.  On August 6^th they made a musical dent to Forest Hills with their inaugural season at Forest Hills Stadium. Broadway star Sutton Foster graced the stage along with Collin Donnell and Megan McGinnis. 

Steven Reineke, is the orchestra’s Conductor and Musical Director where Carnegie Hall is the home territory.  The debut concert was part of the New York Pops Summer Series that continued the next evening featuring genre-defying “little orchestra” Pink Martini. 

Foster delighted the audience singing John Denver’s “Sunshine on my Shoulders”, (a favorite of her mother), Cole Porter’s “I Get a Kick Out of You”, “Anything Goes”, “Down with Love” and “Singing in the Rain”.  Then she told the audience about Mabel, her rescue dog.  Foster brought Mabel on the stage and serenaded her with a takeoff on “Maybe This Time”….Mabel, This Time.  

Joining the stage were two other Broadway stars, Colin Donnell and Megan McGinnis.  Each sang a solo and duet with Foster.  It was “Fit as a Fiddle and Ready for Love that showed off the song and dance with Donnell.  McGinnis and Foster were in the Broadway musical Little Women as they sang a duet called, “Flight”.  

In between the singing the New York Pops provided some great music.  One medley was all about theme songs from both old and new television shows as the crowd mumbled out loud when they recognized the name of the show.