Rhode Island Food Blog

Although it is the littlest state, Rhode Island has a huge cuisine – quite literally in the form of its grand eating halls, as well as in the astonishing diversity of different things to eat and drink, many of them unique to the Ocean State. New York System Wieners, as pictured at Sam’s previous location (thanks, Wanderingjew), above, are just one well-known example. For more, browse the Rhode Island listings here at Roadfood.com or visit a new blog called Small Bites that came about when the Johnson & Wales Culinary Arts Museum teamed up with the Public Humanities Program at Brown University to create an exhibit called Food on the Move. The exhibit will open April 15, and it sounds like a Roadfood must!

Roadfood on Rick Steeves

We are going to be on Travel With Rick Steeves on public radio this weekend talking about Roadfood. To see what stations near you carry it, go to his website. If there isn’t a station you get, Rick’s producer tells me that the show becomes available as a podcast from I-tones on the website.

On the Road with Steinbeck

In her The Reader Travels blog (“dedicated to traveling in our minds through books, music and movies”), Ann M.S. Nation’s most recent post parallels Jane and my Two for the Road with John Steinbeck’s Travels with Charley. A rather flattering comparison! Ms. Curry writes, “As I start down this new food journey, I find myself looking for friendly recommendations” of books or movies in which food plays an important role. Perhaps some of us have suggestions.

Swamp Cabbage Festival

This celebration of the Florida state tree began in LaBelle in 1966 (and yes, swamp cabbage comes from the core of a tree, the Sabal palm).  LaBelle puts on a major shindig, which begins this year on Friday, 2/26/10 at 8 p.m. with the famous LaBelle Swamp Cabbage Festival Rodeo & Pro Bull Riding.  The rodeo will continue with shows Saturday afternoon and evening, and Sunday afternoon.  Saturday’s swamp cabbage parade begins at 10 a.m., which will be preceded by the Swamp Stomp at 8:30 a.m. (this is a 5K run/walk).  Even earlier than that, the annual bass tournament will start at dawn, with a $2000 first prize.

There’s a Super Cruise for car enthusiasts, a motorcycle show, mower racing, and the legendary armadillo races.  An hour-and-a-half cruise of the Caloosahatchee River will be available for $20.  And there will be lots of music and dancing all day Saturday and Sunday, featuring Bobby Bare at 4:30 p.m. Saturday.  There will, of course, be plenty of swamp cabbage to enjoy, too, in the form of stews and fritters, along with such local edibles as alligator and boiled peanuts.  See the festival website for all the details.

The Smelt Derby

45 years of smelt!  This coming Saturday, February 27, 2010, La Conner, WA holds their 45th annual Smelt Derby.  What does one do at a smelt derby?  For starters, you can witness smelt jigging duels between the area’s mayors and county commissioners.  Enjoy a pancake and egg breakfast from 8 a.m. until 10 a.m.  Participate in a 5K or 10K run.  Kids can win $100 in a fishing contest.  There’s fish printing, where kids can print the image of a fish on a shirt using a dead fish.  Take a schooner tour, or take a chance in a raffle.   Lots of hot dogs too.  See the local Rotary website for more info.

Love is a Many-Layered Cake

Many ultra-thin layers of yellow cake alternating with chocolate fudge icing: that’s the obscure Smith Island cake as invented by the ladies of Smith Island, Maryland, an inhabited island in the Chesapeake reachable only by boat.  Smith Island’s economy is based on the blue crab, but the cake is beginning to make a name for itself, too.  Hear about this cake, and how you can sample it on the mainland, by catching Jane and Michael Stern’s appearance on this weekend’s episode of Lynne Rossetto Kasper’s The Splendid Table.  The Cove, in Crisfield, MD imports genuine Smith Island cake by ferry.  If you miss the show on radio you can listen the the Sterns’ segment, or the whole show, online.

Sonny Bryan’s Plans to Franchise and Go National

Sonny Bryan’s, the longtime Dallas barbecue mecca, plans to begin franchising outlets across the country this year, with the help of Beautiful Brands International.  According to a story in the Kansas City Business Journal, there might be half a dozen Sonny Bryan’s restaurants in the KC area alone, and 35 outlets open around the U.S. by the end of next year.  There are currently nine Sonny Bryan’s in the Dallas region, and they are all company owned.  See the Roadfood.com review of Sonny Bryan’s here.

NoLIta Resistance to Planned Shake Shack

A group of NoLIta residents is fighting plans for the fourth Shake Shake to open at the corner of Mulberry and Prince streets, across from St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral.  Most of the objection seems to center on the potential for crowds, trash, noise, and strolling alcoholic beverages.  Plans for the new Shake Shack include an open-air rooftop deck.  Rebecca Marx writes about the struggle in The Village Voice’s food blog.  Pictured above is the original Shake Shack in Madison Square Park.  Check out Roadfood.com’s review of that Shake Shack here.  FYI: NoLIta is a neighborhood in New York City, meaning North of Little Italy.

International Pancake Day

Who wouldn’t want to see women running down the street flipping pancakes?  The tradition began in 1445 in Olney, England when a woman who was making pancakes to use up cooking fat before Lent rushed to church, pancake pan in hand, apron on, for Shrove Tuesday services.  505 years later the town of Liberal, KS got into the act, and a competition developed between the two towns.

The 2010 events began this past Saturday with pancake eating and flipping contests, a cooking contest, and a high tea.  Yesterday they held a scholarship pageant and an artist showcase.  There’s a talent show today.  But the big stuff kicks off tomorrow morning with a pancake breakfast and reception.  Youth races begin at 10 a.m. and the big Liberal-Olney race starts at 11:55 a.m.  Note that all entrants must wear “usual housewives attire”!  The skillet and pancake will be provided by the race committee.  The course runs 415 yards and contestants must flip their pancakes both at the start and the end of the race.  Only Liberal (not necessarily liberal) women may participate.  The race will be followed by a shriving service and a parade.

For more info on International Pancake Day, see their website.

Florida State Fair

Tomorrow’s the final day of the 2010 Florida State Fair, America’s first state fair each year.  For Monday’s finale they’re running an unlimited ride special for $30.  Monday will also see Canadian fiddlers, dog shows, wood carving demonstrations, wrestling, arts and crafts, and the opportunity to interact with dairy farmers.  Cracker Country, where visitors can participate in things like flax processing and open fire cooking, will be open until 6 p.m.

There’s plenty of new fair food this year.  Deep fried butter (ugh!) seems to be a coming trend.  There are also those notorious burgers sandwiched between Krispy Kreme donuts.  Another strange edible is spaghetti ice cream, where they put the stuff through a pasta extruder and top it with pureed strawberries (marinara) and shaved white chocolate (Parmesan).  Doesn’t sound half-bad, actually.  There will be Pittsburgh-style cheesesteaks, where a regular Philly cheesesteak is given the Pittsburgh treatment: fries and slaw in the sandwich.  On the classic side of things, there are boiled peanuts to be enjoyed, and jambalaya makes its way from nearby Louisiana.

The fair takes place in Tampa.  Admission is $10 for adults/$5 for children.