Barbecue Promotes Togetherness!

I love barbeque. Vinegary NC style, mustardy SC style, thick tomatoey Texas style, St. Louis style, pork, chicken, beef--I adore it all. Hell, I'm even a fan of the McRib. I blame it on my teenage Southern phase. Maybe you had a goth phase; having few friends and going to a prep school, I had a Southern phase. Yeah, I know. My dream vacation is a fall or winter driving trip through the South hitting all the bbq joints we can find.

Phoenix is big on barbeque for a lot of obvious reasons: the migration factor, the heat, the fact that people really like to live and eat outside.

There's two places I've been that are good in different ways: Stacy's Smokehouse BBQ on 16th & Indian School and Joe's Real BBQ in Gilbert on Country Club & Gilbert.

Joe's Real BBQ: We went here on December 28th, which was a mistake because the next day was my birthday and Joe's gives you a free meal on your birthday. Free barbeque on my birthday--seriously, what more could I ask for?

Dusie likes any place that has monster baked potatoes available at 11am, and also said their homemade root beer was very good. I had the chopped brisket and the coleslaw. It's very good coleslaw--homemade, shredded, a good mix of cabbage and carrots and not too much dressing. The pit ham is next on my list to try. Aces and my mom had the pork ribs and shared around and they were good, meaty and spicy.

It's a big hall designed to look like a classic barn conversion with fans on the ceiling, a mural, some retro items and wood paneling. It also has a tractor parked in one corner. It's a bit Disneyfied, but a nice looking place.

Stacy's is much more authentic. Aces calls it "seriously, the best barbeque I've had outside NC." She went to college in NC and still laments that she can't get a plate with ribs, a side and a roll for $5 out here.

It's a squat little purple cinderblock building and you can smell the smoked meat as you pass, at least a block in each direction. You walk in and place your order at the counter, go take a seat and wait for them to bring it out to you. It can get very crowded--they only have seats for maybe 15 people. They also have the weirdest little bathroom--it's all modern and marble, but you have to turn the light on outside. There's an arrow and a sign with directions. It's a funny bit of poshness in a modest little place.

I keep having the ribs. I don't know why when there's so much else on the menu, but it's so good. And the coleslaw is the best--shredded red and green cabbage, very little creamy dressing, and a bit of spice on top. I've also had the fries and those are perfectly crispy thick steak fries. Aces says the sweet tea is absolutely right on; I'm not a fan so I have a coke.

Oh, I should not have written this post while hungry...

I Am Bi. Bi-Caffeinated, That Is.

In my past I was a learned connoisseur of the "Cup of Brown Joy". It turns out there are lots of places in the valley to get your tea fix. A good tea high is better than a coffee high--coffee's all business and sit down and get things done, but tea makes you more creative and flirty. But it's just as effective as a mental stimulant. I like my tea smokey and not floral, so yes to the Assam and Irish Breakfast, and "ick!" to Earl Grey. Genevieve and I are fond of Eastern Shore Tea Company's offerings, but City Roast at the West Side Market had a fine selection.

I am really having a hard time restraining myself from getting the plain scone mix at the Fresh & Easy and going to town.

September 2008 Bon Appetit--The Issue Of Kerry Enterprises

Feel free to grab the September issue of Bon Appetit and turn to page 28 for the R.S.V.P. recipe request letters. That first letter is mine--I wrote it 5 years ago. You now have the ammo to stalk and defame as you wish!

There is a funny twist to that story: the wonderfully talented and much loved Genevieve whom we were feting was graduating from the Cleveland Institute of Art with a degree in digital design. Within 3 years she and Patrick had decamped to New York where the folks at CondeNet were lucky enough to hire her. And in 2008 she spearheaded the redesign of the Bon Appetit website!

There are other very funny intersections with my life in this issue--the featured cocktail recipe is The Widow's Touch, which calls for Laird's Applejack, a Monmouth County, NJ-based company. I grew up 15 miles away from their homestead headquarters. By the way, applejack rocks. Despite that I doubt we'll be making The Widow's Touch--it calls for too many expensive ingredients.

Plus, Sweet Pea Bakery and Catering has their recipe for Brownie-Chunk Cookies featured in the article "Best of the Bakeshops." I knew Dusie and Aces were big fans of Danielle's goods (and they are excellent), but I didn't know that she's also got NJ ties.

Sisterly Bonding. And Pizza.

Last week Aces asked me over for dinner and a sleepover, an invitation I gladly accepted. She said she wanted to go to Pizzeria Bianco, but she warned me--it's the famous gourmet Phoenix pizza place, the one that's gotten national attention, and is famous for the 3 hour wait in the hot sun. I was undaunted. She picked me up after work and we dropped our stuff off at her cute single girl apartment downtown and walked over.

Aces said she wanted my opinion, that she's been a couple of times alone and sat at the bar. In her opinion, it was really good pizza, but she was uncertain how much a factor the heat, the pre-dinner drinks, and sheer hunger after the wait had affected her opinion. Oh, and the bar server made her feel bad for wanting 2 pizzas, which she sure as hell could put away, even if she is thin.

Pizzeria Bianco has a great location and a remarkably efficient setup for dealing with the crowd. They are right next to the AZ Science Center, the Arizona Doll & Toy Museum and across from an English tearoom and an English pub. It's also downtown, so there's other cool stuff close by. Bar Bianco is next door. You check in at the restaurant and they estimate your wait (ours was 3 hours, and we got seated right on schedule) and if you go to the bar they will track you down when it's your turn. The bar is in a beautiful converted bungalow from the turn of the century and serves beer and wine and some appetizers. There's plenty of seats on the porch and around the bar and restaurant. Inside has a/c (and a magazine rack--they need to refresh it a bit though) and comfy if low seats. The music is really good too.

It's set up to be an experience, a long period of socialization topped with food. And that's what we were looking for. Aces and I are experimenting a bit with building a relationship--we haven't lived together in 15 years, since I was 18 and she 13, so we don't know each other. I don't know if it comes across how much I admire and adore my sisters in my writing, how I regard them as having the best bits of our parents, and how I envy their beauty and brains and good sense. Wanting to be closer to them is why I came out here.

And socialize we did, talking about family stuff, and opinions, her work, and other topics. Two beers (for her) and two Mexican Cokes (for me) later, we got word that we had seats. Hurray!

So what did we get? We went for the Margherita, the Rosa, and the Biancoverde. We were both tempted by the Wiseguy, but our waiter said he could put three pizzas on the table and give us one for takeout and we decided to hold that over for another visit on the grounds it might not reheat well.

Yeah, I don't get the pizza rationing thing either. Definitely points off for that. He was a sweetheart of a server otherwise.

The verdict? It is really good pizza. Superior crust of the thin and crispy variety. The mozzarella is handmade. However, we're from NJ, land of pizza. I love it, but I'm not necessarily wowed by fancy pizza. The Margherita was really good, very simple but a higher quality version of the neighborhood pie. I don't care for white pizza, but I could taste how the ricotta smoothed out the bite of the arugula.

However, the Rosa was the best damn thing we had eaten this year. Just tasty and creative--chewy crust, the creamy cheese with a slight sourness, the onions soft and sweet but also with a slight tang (almost like they'd been pickled), and the meaty nuttiness of the pistachios topping the whole thing off with a hearty crunch and tying it together. It knocked me out. I could have eaten a whole one myself, just to keep puzzling on how the elements worked together.

We finished the whole pie and most of the other two.

My mom has said that she'd like to go to Pizzeria Bianco, and with 6 people in a party you can make a reservation, so we are planning to do this for my birthday in December when she is here.

It was a great night. Aces is a wonderful hostess, and we're planning to do more stuff together.

Things To Eat

A short list of awesome:

Social Tea Biscuits--Only available on the East Coast, these are great cookies. They're low-fat, are so plain they seem low-sugar, and so simple they go with everything. Tea, coffee, milk. Great for kids and old people. Simple doesn't mean gustatory boredom.

Pennsylvania Dutch Homestyle Egg Noodles--I've previously discussed the sad state of egg noodles out here. These are the best. Fluffy, excellent, nice flavor. Works well in cabbage & noodles and as the accompaniment to pot roast.

Lundberg Brown Rice Organic Rice Cakes--Much tastier than white rice cakes. I am on a crunchy salty kick and these really suit.

Epicurious.com's Ultimate Guide To Corned Beef and Cabbage is a great resource if you're planning a boiled dinner for tomorrow.

Generally, I don't have anyone to cook corned beef and cabbage for, so I sometimes go to the evil hated Joe's for a corned beef sandwich and coleslaw. Or a Rueben, which so nicely mashes the Irish and the Eastern European into one hot, fat-filled mess. Aces likes corned beef for St. Patrick's Day. I go for the coleslaw because I dislike boiled cabbage. My mom would save out raw cabbage for me when I was young. Now I am such a fan of raw cabbage and cabbage salad that I make my own coleslaw, which is delicious and great and messy and ultimately wasteful because I am always the only one who likes coleslaw. The Don also loved coleslaw. I didn't know that for a long time.

St. Patrick's Day is our traditional holiday when we're together. Can we make a Christmas dinner or figure out Thanksgiving or get off our asses for the New Year's buffet at the dog track? NNNOOOOO!!! But corned beef brings us together. Even without the vegetables cooked with the beef, which seems inspired but has never been done before.

Good Stuff Cleveland

Two business that I've patronized lately that deserve some attention:

Paper Trails (Rocky River)--As some of you know, my aunt is pretty sick and somewhat housebound. When I was visiting last week, I asked what I could do to brighten the days--daily email, books, phone call? She and MFA Jane demurred on all but the suggestion of a daily letter (oh, and sign up and pay for online dating already, Kerry! Amuse us with tales of the mens of Cleveland and Arizona!) was received with some enthusiasm. Lacking writing materials, I trotted over to Paper Trails. It is a neat little store. Most of it is high quality cards and cute writing accouterments. They did not have what I wanted on the shelf, which was plain 8 x 11 writing paper. But don't fret! They were able to get me what I really wanted--white stationery with my initials in red at the top with matching envelopes! It was special order printing and they did it within 3 days. (I asked for this for Christmas, but no one thought I was actually serious about wanting this.) Go over and check it out and say hi to Katie! She'll set you up nicely.

So--anybody want a letter?

Cakes Plus (Fairview Park)--A long time ago, I had the world's best cake, made by a woman who make crepes in the Arcade downtown. She moved to one of the other arcades and started selling brownies and cakes only, and they are seriously the best brownies, ever. They have the textural consistency of butter with real chocolate and sugar and a little flour to make the concept of eating soft chocolate butter appetizing. Cakes Plus is open Thursday-Saturday for walk-in brownies, but she also sends them by mail. It's expensive, but Aunt Marry Jane and MFA Jane agreed--best ever. Delicious. Seriously, you can eat them every day for a week and still not be tired. Okay, I realize that me and mine are not people who could ever not eat something rich and delicious for days and get tired of it, but still.

Don't Give This To The Kidlets

Swiss Miss Pick-Me-Up Hot Cocoa.

Cocoa with as much caffeine as a cup of coffee.

Oh, yum! I haven't bought it yet, but I think it is a masterful concept.

Yum, Yum, Christmas Tum!

Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate Stars are awesome. That is it.

Not too much chocolate (I know, you're saying how can there be too much chocolate?), crispy neutral cookie, and cute white sprinkles. Delicious.