Archive: April, 2009

POSTED: Thursday, April 2, 2009, 2:00 PM
Filed Under: Where'd We Eat?


Art
Posted 2009-04-02 11:07:58
Pub & Kitchen! And it looks like you finished with the beignets!

Brian Howard
Posted 2009-04-02 11:19:18
Man. that was perhaps too easy.

felcia
Posted 2009-04-02 12:49:02
I know those doughnuts.  Gimme.
Posted by Brian Howard @ 2:00 PM  Permalink | Post a comment
POSTED: Wednesday, April 1, 2009, 9:04 PM
Filed Under: Booze | Food News
Mary Mary Quite Contrary

Beer, pasta and cheese are possibly the best feel-good foods of all time. Tonight, in a move that makes us nostalgic for Philly Beer Week already, local breweries are getting together to serve up a combination of those three gems: boozy mac �n� cheese. Nodding Head, Victory, Dock St, Sly Fox, Dogfish Head and Yards will all be there, with their brews on tap as well. (A little birdie told us that Left Hand and Lion's Head may attend too.) Not only that, the In Pursuit of Ale ladies � this city's women's beer club � will be making an appearance. And I may be asking them for an application.


Wed., April 1, 6-8 p.m., free, P.O.P.E., 1501 E. Passyunk Ave., 215-755-5125?, myspace.com/pubonpassyunkeast

Posted by Holly Otterbein @ 9:04 PM  Permalink | Post a comment
POSTED: Wednesday, April 1, 2009, 5:30 PM
Jan & Mar�sa Boshoff
Merenda Zug in Strasburg, PA

Driving through Strasburg on the way to Lancaster one pretty spring day, my sister begged me to stop at a small coffee shop, Merenda Zug. Our grandparents had often treated us to a homemade ice cream at the Strasburg Creamery down the street in our younger days, but I had never been inside this particular storefront.

Once inside, my sister ordered a Lebanon bologna sandwich from the Mennonite girl behind the counter. "Ew," I whispered to her. "I thought you hated bologna."

"This is different," she said firmly. "You're going to like it. A lot." As the counter girl removed mustard, white American cheese and deli-sliced meat from a 1970s avocado-colored refrigerator, I wondered what could transform the slimy, mystery meat of childhood into a sandwich worth stopping for.

The young woman paused from carefully layering wheat bread with cheese and slices of the dark red Lebanon bologna. "Potato chips, ya?" she inquired. "Yes, please," my sister quickly responded.� On went thickly cut potato chips, and the sandwich was topped with another slice of bread and wrapped in wax paper.

Kiefer's Meats

Kiefer's Lancaster-made
Lebanon bologna

Outside, we divvied up our halves and sat on a bench to eat. The first bite through the layer of familiar American cheese, spicy mustard and sweet, smoky meat all topped with a salty layer of potato chips was a seriously satisfying moment. Oscar Mayer made no unwelcome appearances.

Lebanon bologna is a regional specialty native to the Lebanon Valley of Lebanon County, Pennsylvania. It is an all-beef, cured, smoked, fermented, semi-dry sausage that is much closer in style to salami than bologna. Slow-curing gives the sausage a strong smoky flavor, while fermentation provides a distinct tang.

If a trip to Strasburg isn't in your immediate future, several vendors in the Reading Terminal Market sell Lebanon bologna, including Hatville Deli in the Pennsylvania Dutch section. Fair Food Farmstand is offering packages of Gap's Green Meadow Farm grass-fed, nitrite-free, all natural beef Lebanon Bologna that has a round, smoky flavor and pleasant sweetness.

Merenda Zug, 11 E. Main St., Strasburg, 17579; 717-687-8027

Hatville Deli, Reading Terminal Market, 12th and Arch streets, 215-925-5065

Fair Food Farmstand, Reading Terminal Market, 12th and Arch streets, 215-627-2029


Yuppie Eats Philly
Posted 2009-04-01 12:45:45
My husband and I stumbled upon this cute cafe back in the fall.  Great sandwiches, pastries, and best of all....they brew LaColombe Coffee!

Felicia D'Ambrosio
Posted 2009-04-01 13:31:06
YEP:  It is kind of amazing how far La Colombe's reach is.  There is no excuse not to have great coffee anywhere anymore.

Mike Lawrece
Posted 2009-04-01 16:09:29
lebanon bologna can be found elsewhere, too.

I grew up in Williamsport, Pa, being from Lancaster, and moved to Miami, Fl. in '65.  Our local grocery store, Publix also carries Lebanon Bologna, MOST of the time.

very good.

My grown kids like it too.

Brian Howard
Posted 2009-04-01 23:29:52
So strange. I recently rediscovered lebanon bologna, too. hard to track down in these parts, but so worth it.

Menno roundup: Where have all the social advocacy groups gone?
Posted 2009-04-06 00:12:30
[...] Another Lebanon bologna convert. [...] 

Jason Bateman
Posted 2009-05-28 02:21:48
Hello there, fellow blogger! Just wanted to leave a quick comment after finding your blog through a Google search about waxing and beauty salons for the gf.



Great site you have here! As Arnie said... I'LL BE BACK!! :)



-Jason

My Colon Cleanse Reviews
Posted by Felicia D'Ambrosio @ 5:30 PM  Permalink | Post a comment
POSTED: Wednesday, April 1, 2009, 4:43 PM
Filed Under: Snack Time

Drawing for Food
Kris Chau is pretending it's summer.

Every Wednesday, Meal Ticket pokes around the food blog world to see what's simmering.

- Drawing for Food reveals Korea's greatest export. Hint: It's colder than a Hyundai and greener than kimchi.

- Blogalicious outlines a master plan for enjoying the elegant menu at James, including chef Jim Burke's signature roast chicken, without breaking the bank. Oh, and say "congratulations" when you see Kristina Burke.

- If you've got a jones that only cheesy ooze can satisfy, stop by the P.O.P.E tonight for their smackdown-style Macaroni Madness competition.� While you're there, take a moment to introduce yourself to Beer Lass Suzanne Woods and members of her women's beer club, In Pursuit of Ale.

- Today marks the re-opening of the Plaza Caf� at the Comcast Center, though the menu is missing a certain famous sandwich from last year. The Illadelph also notes The Inky's Rick Nichols' reporting Chris Scarduzio and George Perrier's Table 31 is pulling their fat out of the fire with a re-concepted menu.

- Unbreaded talks cheesesteak with Benjamin Franklin-channeler Ralph Archbold, who tells one of the greatest Ed-Rendell-loves-to -eat anecdotes, ever.

Posted by Felicia D'Ambrosio @ 4:43 PM  Permalink | Post a comment
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Founded in October 2008, Meal Ticket is a City Paper blog about food, drink and assorted other things that make you go mmm. We do recipes, interviews, restaurant news, commentary and much more. We don't do restaurant reviews herethose are handled in print, mostly by our critic (and Meal Ticket contributor) Adam Erace. Got a tip, question, thought or concern? Just want to say hello? Please shoot a note to caroline@citypaper.net.

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