Spring at FTHQ means firing up the grill and picking shishito peppers straight off the plant to toss on those sizzling cast-iron grates. That scent becomes the envy of our Queens neighborhood and we bask in it. Before we can wear that urban farming crown we need to get dirty in some soil. If all that trouble isn’t your style and black specs under your freshly primp and polished gel manicure makes you throw side-eyes, Back to the Roots has a solution that is as easy as opening a can of beans. That’s mostly because it is opening a can just not beans. Pre-canned seeds sit dormant waiting for you to crack open and pour in sunshine and some H2O. Besides ingenious, the clean design looks perfect amidst your $300 toaster and fair trade coffee display. BTW, save those grinds for healthy soil, ohh wait, dirty nail issue again. Never-mind Now you just need to choose what to grow. From herbs and flowers to tomatoes and peppers they have a DIY kit that’s even easier than your second-grade avocado pit science project. Remember that? In terms of timing, plant now so you are ready to show off during your Memorial Day party even if that will be over zoom this year.
More Food Stuff
Sir Kensington’s Fabanaise
The equivalent to a mic drop, Sir Kensington’s has just perfected an eggless mayonnaise using aquafaba. “Say whaaaat?” you ask. Yep. They not only perfected an eggless, mayo without using soy but they are using by products from a hummus company to do it. We love bi-product reclaimed goods and process. In short, when you cook chic peas in water the liquid that remains in aquafaba. It has very similar properties to eggs so they thought, “Who’s dumping tons of this aquafaba down the drain daily?” Hummus companies were the obvious, and low cost, answer. Now part of their avocado oil mayo, organic mayo made with sunflower oil and their classic, Sir Kensington’s Fabanaise rounds out the Mayo department not only with a smart recipe but with an innovation waste management solution. It tastes great too.
Wilder Horseradish Mustard
I was drawn in by their packaging and hooked by Isabel Freed’s California vibes. I didn’t even need to taste the mustard selection but I’m glad I did. Horseradish has the tendency to blow out your mouth. Most of the condiments containing this potent root are strong enough to make your sandwich all spread, overshadowing everything else except maybe the bread. The difference with Wilder Horseradish Mustard is that it’s as mellow as a california drive up the coast. In food speak, that’s referred to as balanced. Which makes a huge difference when you want to taste all those carefully chosen layers of your Saturday afternoon hoagie. If the sting of horseradish isn’t your game they also produce a classic mustard and a honey jalapeño version. Both of of them complete with the same California vibes mixed through each jar.
Raye’s Horseradish Mustard
Last year I explored Maine for the first time ever on a four day road trip. As I pecked around Portland to Belfast to the LL BEAN HQ, I found lots of great bites. One of my favorites was the very publicly applauded, yet new to me, Raye’s Mustard. With 100 years of history and what seems like as many flavor concoctions, there’s a version for everyones taste. Boasting small batch crafted, high in antioxidants, gluten-free, low sodium and no GMOs, makes you love it even more. Founded in the family smokehouse to produce mustard for Maine’s burgeoning sardine industry, the origins story only adds to the quintessential American dream story. We dig the Raye’s Horseradish Mustard on a roast beef sando, in fact, we knocked back one of those today.
Preservation Society Members Club
We couldn’t decide between the bread and butter beets and the Mostarda as our favorites. Preservation Society Members Club allows you to not have to choose. Unfortunately we don’t have a Montreal address so this club wasn’t an option for us. Luckily we have friends willing to pick up (and probably eat) our club benefits. What we love most, besides the quality, unique ingredients and perfectly ripened tastes, is that theirs not secrets or pretension to the small batch brand. Camilla Wynne ♥’s canning and wants to bring that knowledge to as many people as possible. This club is one way she does that. Workshops, events and a tell all book are three others. Talk about approachable. Of course our approach requires a JFK to YUL flight path.