Heights Eats

Sorry we haven’t been posting lately. This can be attributed to the following:

(1) Sarah and I have been swamped with school work (2) We’ve been eating at home a lot, but we couldn’t find the camera for a while (3) I can’t seem to convince Sarah to go to places we’ve never eaten before (4) I feel lame repeatedly blogging on the same book (Vegan with a Vengeance) (5) I’ve been spending too much of my free time on Facebook

More posts (probably at least one involving Vegan with a Vengeance) are forthcoming…… continue reading

Sarah and I attended the Bread Communion at the Unitarian Universalist Church a few weeks ago. The idea of the service is that people bring bread that has familial or cultural significance and share both the bread and a few words with the congregation.

I brought whole grain challah from Peter Reinhart’s Whole Grain Breads. Here’s the bread before baking:

And this is afterwards:

It was 50% whole wheat, but it was as soft and satisfying as any challah I’ve had. I mentioned that challah always reminded me of my grandmother on my dad’s side, who served challah with most meals she made us.

Other breads included beignets from someone who was from New Orleans and skillet cornbread. The woman who brought it admitted that she usually used mixes but made this one from scratch as her mother always made it that way. Other yummy breads included pumpkin bread, chocolate spice bread and a couple … continue reading

Here are some things food-related (and one not) that I’ve enjoyed lately:

Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron — This is probably the best Dogfish beer I’ve had, and I’ve tried a lot of them. The flavor is complex, with plenty of sweetness, roasted malt flavor, hardwood (Palo Santo refers to the barrels), hops and carbonation. But, with all this going on, the beer is extremely well-balanced. Ratebeer.com gave it 98/100. I was a bit sad I’d bought only one of these.

Lilly Handmade Chocolates — I found the Palo Santo at Lilly, along with plenty of other interesting and hard-to-find beers and wines. The Vietnamese cinnamon and apple truffle I had for dessert was so intense that I’m glad I gave it more than one bite. And it went perfectly with the beer.

An Obsessed Chef — This blog is filled with philosophical musings and well-written stories of life “from behind the stove.” Chef Eric’s recent post, … continue reading

Sarah and I were recently tagged in a blog game by Simone of World Eatz and Past The Line.

Here are the rules:

1. Link to the person who tagged you.2. Post the rules on your blog.3. Write six random things about yourself.4. Tag six people at the end of your post and link to them.5. Let each person know they’ve been tagged and leave a comment on their blog.6. Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

Here are our six random things:

(1) Sarah’s great grandfather built Belvoir Rd.(2) Jonathan gets excited about finding rhyming words.(3) Ben bartended in England after college on a work exchange.(4) Sarah and Ben met on Yahoo personals.(5) Jonathan loves retro cartoons, i.e. Boomerang network.(6) Sarah’s nickname for Ben is Benny Crocker.

And here are the six bloggers we’ve tagged:

Benjacat Dine O Mite!Life, Liberty & Pursuit of Your Boyfriend Fun Playing With Food Ka-Ka-Ka-Katy TimMcNulty.com

In … continue reading

I was listening to The Hives this morning and noticed how appropriate they seemed for my mood after drinking a lot of black coffee and started to think about food / beverage and music pairings.

Black Flag would be another good coffee band, but Jack Johnson would be better with breakfast.

Killdozer (don’t click if kids or employers are in earshot) and Morphine would go well with a burger and fries, and Cleveland’s own Death of Samantha describes a good pick me up in the afternoon.

A beer before dinner would pair well with The Jesus Lizard, but Sam Beam or The Replacements would be better for wine.

Kimya Dawson would be good with some locally grown produce for dinner, with some fruit salad on the side.

Grinderman seems appropriate for after dinner drinks (specifically “a liter of cognac”).

If you feel hungry but don’t really want to eat, P.J. Harvey would be a good … continue reading

I finished reading Michael Pollan’s In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto a few weeks ago. I definitely planned to blog on it but had no idea where to begin. The subtitle is “Eat Food. Not Too Much. Mostly Plants.” These directives are much trickier than they initially sound, hence most of the book being devoted to them.

“Eat Food” is perhaps most central, because Pollan does not consider much of what we consume today to be food. His first directive is “Don’t Eat Anything Your Great Grandmother Wouldn’t Recognize as Food,” which eliminates a huge portion of what’s in the middle of any supermarket. One’s great grandmother, he points out, might look at Go-Gurt and ask “Is it a food or toothpaste”? (148)

Another useful adage is “Shake the hand that feeds you” (160) i.e. buy from farmer’s markets or CSAs. The low quality of America’s soil (due to a focus on maximizing short-range yields) … continue reading

We recently were asked for suggestions for great cheese in Cleveland, below is our list (not in any particular order).Where do you like to buy your cheese?

Whole Foods — University Heights — There is always at least one person manning the cheese counter and they seem pretty knowledgeable. They also have a decent variety both at the cheese counter and in the nearby cheese cooler. They have Manchego cheese as well as some higher priced and hard to find cheeses.

West Side Market — there are a number of cheese stands with varying degrees of variety.

Shaker Heights Farmer’s market — Goat cheese (Mackenzie Creamery) and non-pasteurized cow milk cheese — sounds sort of weird, but tastes delicious.

Trader Joes — great prices, moderate selection. if you like brie this is the place to be!

Heinen’s & Zagara’s — depending on the location they have a generous selection in their cheese island. Zagara’s … continue reading

Dry Spell

Bread Communion

Good Things

We’ve Been Tagged!

Food Music

In Defense of Food

Best Cheese in Cleveland?