The Manchester International Festival (July 4-21, 2013) offerings range from Martha Argerich to Urban Farming.

I wish I could witness Mogwai playing soundtrack live while Zidane, A 21st Century Portrait (a film directed by Douglas Gordon and Philippe Parreno) rolls off the screen.

There are 2 performances on Friday, July 19 (currently sold out) and July 20 at 8 pm at Albert Hall.

(* Zidane image from Manchester International Festival program pages)

Lobster is optional with this Sweet Broiled Lemon Maragarita from Tony Conigliaro’s The Cocktail Lab (Ten Speed Press, July 2013).

Tony Conigliaro is "the award-winning bartender behind London’s 69 Colebrooke Row and the co-founder of The Drink Factory, a London-based experimental drink collective."

Sweet Broiled Lemon Margarita

— 
50 ml (11/2 oz) reposado tequila
— 
25 ml (3/4 oz) broiled lemon juice (page 164)
— 
20 ml (2/3 oz) triple sec
— 
Sugar, for the rim

1. Combine all the ingredients except the sugar in a cocktail tin and shake over cubed ice. 

2. Fine strain and pour into a chilled coupette with a half sugar rim.

(* Reprinted with permission from The Cocktail Lab by Tony Conigliaro, copyright © 2013. Published by Ten Speed Press, a division of Random House, Inc.  Photography: Addie Chinn © 2013

Woke up to an excessive heat advisory that calls for Summer Babe Sorbets from Lust for Leaf (Da Capo Press-Lifelong Books, June 2013) by Hot Knives Alex Brown and Evan George, a beer and fun loving vegetarian cookbook.

Summer Babe Sorbets

T_H_E_ _P_H_R_A_S_E_ _“E_A_S_Y_ _A_S_ _P_I_E_” _S_H_O_U_L_D_ _B_E_ _T_R_A_N_S_M_O_G_R_I_F_I_E_D_ _T_O_ _“simple as sorbet.” Compare the steps, ingredients, and brainpower for the following recipes to the litany of laminated dough a few pages down. And you barely have to turn on your stove to make these ripping desserts. Heads up vegans: you ought never again be burned by base imitations of Ben & Jerry’s. Call a spade a spade: frozen coconut milk is still sorbet (and these are better than all of them phonies).

Persian Cuke

Makes 1 quart

4 cups water
4 cups white sugar
6 Persian cucumbers

1. Make a simple syrup. Combine sugar and water in a medium-sized pot. Crank the heat and bring to a boil, whisking to dissolve the sugar. After it hits a boil, turn it off.

2. Wash and roughly chop your cukes. Add half of them to a blender or food processor. Add just enough syrup to make the mixture move, and then puree till kingdom come. Repeat with the rest, then combine and mix the syrup with the puree in a container with a lid. Chill the mix down overnight (or until cold).

3. To use, pour the chilled mix over a fine mesh strainer and into a bowl, using a ladle or spatula
to press the liquid through. Process the strained mix in an ice cream maker of your choice.
Garnish with a sprinkle of salt and a squeeze of lemon.

Strawberry Hibiscus

Makes 1 quart

4 cups of water
4 cups of white sugar
2 tablespoons dried hibiscus
2 baskets of strawberries

1. Make a simple syrup. Combine sugar and water in a medium-sized pot. Crank the heat and bring to a boil, whisking to dissolve the sugar. After it hits a boil, turn it off.

2. Add the hibiscus to simple syrup and stir to incorporate, letting it steep while you prep your berries.

3. De-stem and wash those berries. Halve them. Add half of them to a blender or food processor.
Add just enough syrup to make the mixture move, and then puree till kingdom come. Repeat with the rest, combine and mix the syrup with the puree in a container with a lid. Chill the mix down overnight (or until cold).

4. To use, pour the chilled mix over a fine mesh strainer and into a bowl, using a ladle or spatula to press the liquid through. Process the strained mix in an ice cream maker of your choice. Garnish with saba or a drizzle of olive oil.

Icey Hot

Makes 1 quart

6 poblano chiles
6 Anaheim chiles
4 cups water
4 cups white sugar

1. Burn the shit out of your chiles over an open flame. A grill is best, but your stove top works. Cook them until every inch of skin is black, rotating them often to evenly disperse the heat. As they finish blackening, toss them in a paper bag to cool.

2. Make a simple syrup. Combine sugar and water in a medium-sized pot. Crank the heat and bring to a boil, whisking to dissolve the sugar. After it hits a boil, turn it off.

3. When the chiles are cool enough to handle, rub off the charred skins. Make a vertical incision on
each pepper and remove all the seeds and connective membranes (skip this if you want a spicier
sorbet). Add half of them to a blender or food processor with just enough syrup to make the mixture move, and then puree till kingdom come. Repeat with the rest, combine and mix the syrup with the puree in a container with a lid. Chill the mix down overnight (or until cold).

4. To use, pour the chilled mix over a fine mesh strainer and into a bowl, using a ladle or spatula to press the liquid through. Process the strained mix in an ice cream maker of your choice. Garnish with a shot of tequila or mezcal.

(* Recipes from 'Lust for Leaf Veggie Crowd-Pleasers to Fuel your Picnics, Potlucks and Ragers by Alex Brown and Evan George- Da Capo Press Lifelong Books, June 2013- all rights reserved)

To give credit where it is due, PingMag was one of the main things that inspired me to write about Japan on a regular basis and then led to Tokyo Thursdays, a weekly feature.

To my chagrin and that of many others, they suspended publication at the end of 2008.

I just found out today that they are back online.

Their most recent story is Riding the Yamanote Line Railway Stamp Rally or how you can keep a passport like collection of your visits to train stations.

They bought a My Trip Stamp Notebook from Kotsu Shimbunsha shop to collect these stamps along the way.

These station stamps are also known as eki stamps according to The Eki Stamp (Densha de Japan, May 2011).

'Densha de Japan' piece informs us that there were no less than 9161 train stations at the time, each with their own stamp that reflects its location from temple to aquarium to tower.

Amongst many illustrations from their piece, I chose 'Wakkanai' stamp for 'northern most station in Japan in Hokkaido.

Taking a train ride for Tokyo Thursdays # 258

Previously: Bold and Beautiful Tasting, Celebrating Junmai Sakes at Sakamai, NY, June 20

Toast the 4th with this Strawberry Lime Rickey from Tipsy Texan: Spirits and Cocktails from the Lone Star State (Andrews McMeel Publishing, June 2013) by David Alan of Tipsy Texan and Tipsy Tech fame.

A few words of clarification from the author first:

"A traditional Rickey is made with gin and lime juice—not to be confused with a Gimlet, which is made with preserved lime cordial. Here is a sweet Rickey variation that marries Texas gin with fresh strawberries." 

Strawberry Lime Rickey:

Ingredients:

2 ounces Waterloo Gin (or other gin)
3 large, ripe strawberries
½ lime, cut into quarters
¼ to ½ simple syrup
Lime wheel, for garnish
Strawberry Slice, for garnish

In the bottom of a mixing glass, muddle the strawberries, lime wedges and simple syrup.

Adjust the amount of syrup depending on the sweetness of your strawberries.

Add the gin and shake vigorously with ice to chill.

Strain into an Old Fashioned glass over fresh ice.

Garnish with the lime wheel and strawberry slice.

Happy 4th of July!

(* Recipe from Tipsy Texan: Spirits and Cocktails from the Lone Star State by David Alan- Andrews McMeel Publishing, June 2013- reproduced with permission of publisher)

When weather is hot and humid as it's been lately on the East Coast, last thing you want to do is turn the oven no.

With that in mind, here's an oven free cake recipe from The New Persian Kitchen (Ten Speed Press, Spring 2013) by Louisa Shafia 

No-Bake Persimmon and Goat Cheese Cheesecake

Whenever I bring home persimmons, I always imagine that I’ll work them into an artful, sophisticated dish. But their coral color and honeysuckle flavor are so alluring that as soon as they ripen, I invariably tear into one raw, scooping out the flesh in sheer, uninhibited delight. Perhaps that’s why I’ve created a dessert that leaves the pure flavor of persimmons intact. This airy cheesecake requires no cooking, and the sauce is simply pureed persimmons.

Make the cheesecake at least 4 hours before serving, or even the day before, so it’s firm and easy to slice. Try substituting ripe mangoes or peaches for the persimmons; because both of these fruits hold their shape, you can puree enough to go inside the cake and dice the rest to use as a topping.

Makes one 10-inch cake

1/2 cup heavy cream
11/2 cups pistachios, toasted
1 cup crushed graham crackers
3/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons unrefined coconut oil, melted and cooled
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
11/2 teaspoons ground cardamom
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons organic cane sugar
Sea salt
5 very ripe hachiya persimmons
1 pound fresh goat cheese, at room temperature, crumbled
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice

Lightly oil a 10-inch springform pan with coconut oil.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the cream into stiff peaks. Transfer to a small bowl and set aside in the refrigerator. Replace the mixer bowl without washing.

In a food processor, combine the pistachios and graham crackers with 3 tablespoons of the coconut oil, the cinnamon, the cardamom, and 2 tablespoons of the sugar. Add a pinch of salt and pulse until the mixture clumps easily. Transfer to the springform pan and spread evenly over the bottom. Press down with the bottom of a juice glass to pack it down evenly.

Scoop the flesh from the persimmons and puree in a blender until smooth. Set aside 1/2 cup of the puree, and store the rest in the refrigerator.

Combine the goat cheese, the remaining 3/4 cup coconut oil, and the remaining 1 cup sugar in the mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and beat for 2 to 3 minutes, until smooth. Fold in the 1/2 cup persimmon puree, the lime juice, and a pinch of salt. Fold in the whipped cream. Pour the mixture into the springform pan and smooth the top. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours, until firm.

To serve, remove the pan sides and cut the cheesecake into wedges. Garnish each serving with a generous spoonful of the persimmon puree. The cheesecake will keep in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.

(* Excerpted from 'The New Persian Kitchen' by Louisa Shafia-published by Ten Speed Press, Spring 2013- Photography by Sara Remington)

Eat the Eiffel tower.

The creative minds at Comptoir du Cacao offer an assortment of white, dark and milk chocolate renditions of the iconic site.

Discovered at Summer Fancy Food Show 2013.

Bastille day on July 4th!

After learning that Ekobo is showing its bamboo made biodegradable Biobu Line of bowls and dishes at Playtime Paris (July 6-8, 2013), I found out that Playtime, a salon dedicated to all things for kids, is following its Paris edition with Playtime New York (August 3-5, 2013) and Playtime Tokyo (August 27-29, 2013).

One of the New York exhibitors is Fournier, an environmentally and socially responsible business offering baby clothing and toys handmade in Bolivia by women. This gives local women a chance to earn an income.

Some of the profits earned go "to provide medical services, pre and post-natal attention to knitters, and education to their children".

Not just kids play for Green Day #252

(* Photo from Fournier Facebook page)

With 5000 plus stands, the Summer Fancy Food Show offers a world of flavors.

To get people to stop by your stand, you have to catch their attention.

Here's one approach.

For your Eyes only, Pin Ups of Baking, Selezione Casillo Flour Girls and their generous nature.

One of the snapshots from my 3 hours spent walking the aisles of the Summer Fancy Food Show 2013 in New York on July 1st.