With a baby on the way, I'm certainly feeling the effects of family and friends being so far away. Bradd and I cannot just jump in the car to meet close friends for dinner, drive to Mom's house for an afternoon, meet the parents for breakfast, visit our friends new babies (we've already missed 3 in April!) or do any family holiday gatherings. The time difference even limits our ability to talk on the phone easily. I know it will just get harder still without the normal parade of people that would come to visit us once home from the hospital with our new little guy. I sort of feel bad that the baby won't get that kind of attention and that everyone at home will have to suffice with photos, short videos, and this blog.
We may have gone from Winter straight to 11o degree Summer, but Spring is progressing everywhere else and my email has been bombarded with seasonal newsletters from my CSA (farm delivery), Saveur Magazine and others tempting me with unattainable delights. Farm deliveries we won't get, recipes with ingredients we'll never find, and flowers I can only reminisce of their lovely smells. Alas. My "seasonal disorder" and general food sadness was further increased by my finally putting together a list of food resources and restaurants for my cousin, Katti, who is currently living in house in Pittsburgh. After compiling the list in an email, I had to scroll back up to the top to add something and realized I had listed about 20 places! The first step is admitting I have a problem.
Fresh asparagus, peas, strawberries (ok, we can get these but they're always covered in ants and not that great), baby salad greens, parsley, sage, rosemary and yes, thyme. Oh- and avocados.
Goat cheese, cheddar, blue-veined cheeses, Swiss, sage derby, Manchego....oh god -ALL CHEESE! That is a whole other issue entirely...they only make one type of cheese in India: paneer. Honestly. One kind. Let's take a look at the equation below:
Plethora of goats, cows, and water buffalo + ancient culture = multiple types of cheese
Right? WRONG.
Our favorite eateries; Coca's (everything brunch!), Mad Mex (awesome salsa & beer), Kaya , Tram's (I have written poems of their fresh rolls and #17), D's 6 Pack & Dogs, La Filipiana, Graziano's Pizza (thin, crispy, gooey, greasy, and yummy), Pamela's P & G Diner, Willow (crabcakes), Kasab's (perfect falafals), Dozen, etc.
French bread, croissants, brioche, quiche (all from Jean Marc), Italian bread from Enrico's, biscuits, scones, banana bread, bagels, English muffins, old-fashioned cake donuts from that place in the West End (thanks for getting us hooked, Diane!), homemade tortillas, cupcakes from Vanilla, pastries, really anything baked in an oven and not skimping on eggs or butter in the recipe.
Plus, the places we would buy all these wonderful items and the people that owned or worked there, especially Enrico's, the organic farmers market, Stamoli's, Penn Mac, Presto George Coffee (the Strip in general), Whole Foods, and Reyna's. I'm sure there are plenty I have forgotten.
People, the morale of the story is, do not take these things for granted! Bradd said it the other day, that Pittsburgh may not be considered a foodie kind of city but we have a great variety of things available to us for a relatively small city. When the things we know and love are out of reach you realize how lucky you, your taste buds, and belly were.
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