Phoodie.info: The New Food And Drink Blog For Philadelphia » Holidays

Whipped Bakeshop’s Ridiculously Cute Valentine’s Day Cookies

kwinks — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 18:16:36 +0000

Valentine’s day is quickly approaching and Philly’s own Whipped Bakeshop has created some amazing goodies, perfect for gifts. They were just featured on Huffington Post’s recent article on V-day gifts for parents and kids, etsy-style. Super cute stuff! You can check out Whipped’s Etsy site, also on their Facebook page. Our favorite are these Custom Mix Tape Cookies. This bakeshop’s got it goin on… we’re envious. Can we just open a bakery now, please?

P.S. They’re also offering special “Date Night” edition Valentine’s Day Cake Decorating Workshops. They’re $55 per couple and space is limited. Sessions are:

Thursday, February 9th, 7-9pm
Saturday, February 11th, 7-9pm
Tuesday, February 14th, 7-9pm

Hey Everybody, It’s National Cheese Lover’s Day!

Jim Adair — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 21:05:43 +0000

When it comes to made up food holidays, few encapsulate our feelings more than National Cheese Lover’s Day (to the lactose-intolerant, we feel for you). To celebrate this beautiful day, DiBruno Bros. is offering 25% off all cheese and cheese plates. That’s right, we said all. So this is your chance to grab your favorite gourmet cheese, or try that one you’ve always had your eye on.

You can get all of your favorite cheeses here.

Join Zahav For “A Very Jewish Christmas”

Jim Adair — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 20:42:57 +0000

Philebrity Award nominee Michael Solomonov‘s Zahav (237 Saint James Place) is celebrating Christmas a little bit differently than most of us: with Chinese food and a movie.

In addition, Zahav will be holding celebrations for Chanukah and New Year’s Eve. Event details are below.

Chanukah at Zahav
From Tuesday, December 20 until Wednesday, December 28, Chef Solomonov will offer a Chanukah Menu for $45 per person, plus tax and gratuity. The menu will not be served on Thursday, December 22 or Sunday, December 25. Dishes will include: Hummus with Glazed Brisket, served with house-made laffa and a selection of salatim; Celery Root and Green Apple Soup with smoked salmon burmuelos; a selection of Latkes, including Potato with labaneh, caviar and chive, Rutabega with smoked lamb belly and horseradish and Yam with English cheddar and apple; Young Chicken Al Ha’esh with eggplant salad and sweet bulgur; and Sufganiyot with dates and orange.
“A Very Jewish Christmas”
On Thursday, December 22, Zahav will celebrate its second-annual “A Very Jewish Christmas” with Israeli-inflected Chinese food, movies shown on a big screen and, of course, hot buttered popcorn. Screenings will be at 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. and Zahav is accepting movie requests via twitter @zahavrestaurant, but like last year, guests won’t know what movies they are going to watch until the lights go down and the opening credits begin to roll. For $50 per person, plus tax and gratuity, guests will enjoy: Shrimp Salad with green papaya, cashews, tahina and nigella; Szechuan-Style Pork Belly with shifka peppers and carrots; Veal Dumplings with harissa oil and cucumbers; Salt & Pepper Sweetbreads with lo mein; Chinese Broccoli with smoked mackerel; Moo Shu Duck with walnuts, black garlic and carob; and White Chocolate Cake with mandarin orange sorbet and star anise.
Zahav will also offer a selection of creative Chinese inspired cocktails, each $9, and will include: General Solo’s Dynasty, cognac, Mandarin orange, lemongrass; Crouching Tiger, gin, honey, green tea; Ancient Chinese Medicine, vodka, saffron, ginger; and Shaolin Shadow Boxer, rum, almond and lime. For $100, movie goers can purchase a bottle of Johnnie Walker Black for the table.
Celebrate New Year’s Eve at Zahav
On New Year’s Eve, Saturday, December 31, the restaurant will serve a spectacular four-course dinner for $65 per person, plus tax and gratuity, or with drink pairings for $100 per person. The menu will include: Hummus with Spicy Beef Cheeks, served with pickled artichokes, porcini salad and olives, paired with Sparkling Wine with fresh-pressed pomegranate juice; Fluke Crudo with labaneh and caviar and Squab Breast Al Ha’esh with squab leg kibbe, blood orange and black harissa, paired with Golan Heights Chardonnay, Katzrin Vineyard, Galilee, 2008; Glazed Veal Shanks with saffron, apples and cinnamon, paired with Clos de Gat Syrah “Har’el,” Judean Hills, 2008; and Chocolate-Hazelnut Babka with orange-vanilla ice cream, paired with Cafe Sylvester, a Turkish-coffee based cocktail.

Menus for all three events can be found here.

Phoodie Holiday Gift Idea #2: Chocolate Scrapple

Jim Adair — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 21:08:57 +0000

There are many foods that people quickly associate with Philadelphia, but perhaps the one with the most amount of resistance from the population is Scrapple.

More infamous than famous, the “what is even in that” quality of scrapple often sends out-of-towners and locals alike in a bit of a tizzy. Fortunately for everyone, Chocolate Scrapple includes none of the ingredients of the non-chocolatey version (at least we hope so). The Chocolate Scrapple pictured on the right is a, “combination of milk chocolate, popcorn, caramel, marshmallow and nuts.” A one pound tin of Chocolate Scrapple, a great gift for the sweet-toothed Philadelphian, is available here, or at the PA General Store in the Reading Terminal Market.

In the weeks leading up to the holidays, we will be looking around for gifts that are great, weird, funny, or anything in-between for you to give your loved ones this holiday season. Keep an eye out here for more gift ideas, and if you have any to share, send it to phoodieinfo [at] gmail [dot] com with the header “Phoodie Holiday Gift Idea.”

Thanksgiving Is Coming! Share Your Tips For Cooking, Entertaining, Dealing With Family

Jim Adair — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 22:24:02 +0000

Turkey Day is just around the corner, and with it, a whole bunch of cooking, preparing, entertaining, and dealing with family members. Some of us may be better at the above things than others, so we figured we could all help each other out. And what is the internet for other than sharing knowledge (and pictures of cats)?

Send your time-tested tips for perfectly cooking the turkey, making sure everyone is able to bring some food, dealing with your weird uncles, or anything in between. We’ll compile your tips with some of our own for a Phoodie Thanksgiving Survival Guide closer to the day itself. Send your tips to phoodieinfo [at] gmail [dot] com. We look forward to hearing from you, and no matter what happens on Thanksgiving, we can all get through it together.

[Photo via igourmet.com]

Not Your Grandmother’s Passover Beer Dinner at Belgian Cafe.

kwinks — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 19:35:36 +0000

On Wednesday April 13th at The Belgian Cafe, there’s a fun take on Passover classics including a Sedar Plate that Moses would part the Schuylkill River for! The menu is still being tweaked by chef Evan Seplow, but they’ll be featuring the beers of He’Brew – The Chosen Beer. He’Brew is produced by Schmaltz Brewing in Brooklyn, and one of the owners and label designers will be there to celebrate with you. 4 courses $40.00 – quite a deal. Call 215-235-3500 to reserve your spot.

Image via A Nod To Nothing

The Belgian Cafe – 21st and Green St.

New Year’s Eve Guides To Good Cheer

kwinks — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 15:04:35 +0000

Our New Year’s Eve is booked, with one fine party at one fine establishment: The New Year’s Eve Snowflake Ball at JB’s Party Mansion, with festive libations of Jameson Winter Warmer punch and hot toddies. We were gonna round up a few of our fave places that are sporting open bars and fancy-pants cocktail parties, but it seems like Foobooz has got that covered for ya! Whether you’re a vegetarian, you’re poor and looking for free booze, whether you’d like to stay within stumbling distance of your home, or you’d like a dance party to accompany you in those final hours, they’ve got you covered with their comprehensive New Year’s Eve Guide.

But here’s a few we recommend:

Standard Tap – The Golden Monkey, Mad Elf dance party. No cover. High octane beers are on special.

Time – Downstairs live music, upstairs absinthe lounge DJ. A $45, 5-course menu in addition to the a la carte menu. $10 cover after 9pm.

Silk City Diner – $25 cover, drink deals all night.

Pub & Kitchen Official Site – Regular menu plus specials. $3 Sixpoint Pils after 10pm and Bulleit Bourbon shots at midnight.

P.Y.T. - DJ Deejay spins. $25 gets you an hour of open bar and butlered food all night.

Noble American Cookery – Two seatings and optional swing dancing. Early seating features a four-course $50 tasting menu with beverage pairing for $25. Second seating includes six-courses for $85 and live jazz. Enjoy cocktails and live music for a $10 cover.

JG Domestic Official Site – Guests can choose from $65, $75 and $95 four-course Tasting Menus created by Chef Garces and Chef de Cuisine Dave Conn.

Garces Trading Co. – Guests can choose from $45, $55 and $65 four-course Tasting Menus created by Chef Garces and Chef de Cuisine Adam DeLosso.

Cantina Dos Segundos – Open bar for any two hour period of your choosing. $25.

Cantina Los Caballitos – You pick the two hours for a $25, 2-hour open bar. Budget A la carte available Vegetarian options available Beer Geek Compatible .

Continental - Serving regular a la carte menu with additional specials; Bar open until 2:00am; complimentary Champagne toast at midnight, live DJ; taking reservations for parties of eight or more.

Khyber Pass Pub – Convenient to the fireworks the Khyber is offering all drafts for $3 from 9 to 11pm and a Duvel toast at midnight.

Monk’s Cafe – 6:30 seating consists of four courses and four beers for $55. Late seating is six courses paired with rarities from Tom Peters’ cellar. $125 per person and includes a midnight toast of Mahluer Brut.

As for New Year’s Day, check out Grubstreet’s Where to Thaw Out and Get Gassed Up at the Mummer’s Parade.

SNAPPY HOLIDAYS From Art In The Age!

kwinks — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 19:44:13 +0000

Speaking of Prohibition, Root is a recreation of a root tea made famous by Charles Hires at the Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition of 1876. Root beer, which became a popular non-alcoholic beverage during the Temperance movement, has been reinvigorated by advertising executive Steven Grasse into this wondrous drink now famous in Philadelphia and spreading to other parts of the country. ROOT and SNAP are ON SALE for the entire month of December, and make for a tasty and affordable 80 proof gift for your best buds. We hope that some of our friends read this…
Also check out all of the Bars and Restaurants in Philly that are adding these two specialties to their drink repertoire.

1,000 Turkeys Donated to N. Jersey CFA. That’s A Lot Of Freakin Turkeys!

kwinks — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 21:27:48 +0000

1,000 turkeys were anonymously donated to North Jersey’s Center for Food Action, helping them reach their goal to supply 3,800 needy families in Bergen and Passaic counties with Thanksgiving dinner. They were running short for all of the families who applied, and director Patricia Espy received a late call on Thursday from the anonymous donor while they were busy getting packages together for shipment. He contacted the food pantry through someone involved in the Community Baptist Church in Englewood. “The donor saw the articles about the fact that we were running way behind and contacted us through an intermediary with the church,” Espy said. “I got a phone call from him and he asked, ‘How many are you still short?’ With the help of Lawrence Inserra, CEO of the company that owns a chain of ShopRite supermarkets, Espy added, “They found 1,000 turkeys. That’s about $13,000 worth of turkeys.” That person is definitely not getting coal in their stocking this year! Good Karma fo’ life!

P.S. Even with the help, they’re still short on items such as canned potatoes and vegetables.

Read full article here.

Where Does Philly Do Thanksgiving?

Elizabeth Malleus — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 21:08:06 +0000

The thought of Thanksgiving dinner usually conjures up images of a home-cooked feast, complete with a perfectly roasted turkey. However, if you are traveling for the holiday or just challenged in the kitchen, taking the family out for dinner may be the better option. Here are our suggestions for the best places to gather round this year:

City Tavern: City Tavern gets our vote for most traditional Thanksgiving dinner. The menu includes classic dishes like Roasted Free-Range Turkey, Country Ham, and Sweet Potatoes with Apples, Creamed Green Beans & Cranberry Relish.The meal is served family-style, which gives you that at-home feel, without the dishes. [City Tavern: 138 South 2nd Street. (215) 413-1443]

Supper: Chef Mitch Prensky will be cooking up a traditional Thanksgiving dinner in Supper’s New American fashion. Three different courses are offered, as well side dishes for the table. Roasted Farm Raised Turkey, Smoked BE Farm Sweet Potato Soup (with cinnamon marshmallow and sage), and House Baked Pumpkin Pie (with vanilla bean ice cream) are all on the special Thanksgiving Menu. [Supper: 926 South Street. (215)592-8180]

London Grill: If you are looking for a buffet instead of a meal served family style, London Grill offers an All You Can Eat Thanksgiving Buffet. The buffet is composed mostly of traditional turkey day fare, but also has suprises like Stoneground Grits and Seafood Shepard’s Pie. [London Grill: 2301 Fairmount Ave. (215)978-4545]

Bridget Foy’s: Bridget Foy’s wins our vote for the best place to take the kids. Aside from the Roast Turkey with Sausage and Fennel Stuffing, and Cranberry Compote, their will also be options from their fall menu available. So even if you have picky eaters as children (which on Thanksgiving is probably just to spite parents) there will be something to please everyone. Briget Foy’s also starts seating for dinner at Noon, earlier then most places. [Bridget Foy's : 200 South Street (215)922-1813]

Percy Street Barbecue: For those of you who refuse to cook, but would still rather eat in the comfort of your own home, we suggest ordering Thanksgiving dinner to-go from Percy Street Barbecue. You have the option to order just a turkey, or to order the bird with all the fixin’s. The sides include Cornbread & Sausage Stuffing, Mashed Sweet Potatoes with Toasted Marshmallows, Collards Greens, Baked Apples, and Pecan Pie. According to Percy Street, the meal will feed “6 to 8 hungry Pilgrims.” [Percy Street Barbecue: 600 South 9th Street (215)65-8510]