Finally

http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/

First trip to the new whole foods this weekend! Hope Stephanie is up for wandering aimlessly through a grocery store for an hour or so. I might have to leave my wallet in the car. Any new recipes I should try and buy ingredients for while I am in the store? I will post an update!

"Czech" Bakery in Fredericksburg!

I stumbled across a hidden gem last week! We were early for an appointment and were looking for a place to get a cup of coffee and prepare for our meeting. What we came across was

http://www.kolachehousebakery.com/

What is Kolache you ask?

Well the story or folklore explains it like this.

"Kolache Folklore The origin of the kolache is a part of the folklore of the Czechs. The story is told that in the early eighteenth century, a mother was baking the weekly family bread. Her small daughter was helping. The mother sweetened a small amount of the dough and gave it to her daughter, Libuse, to keep her busy. Libuse made her dough into small flat cakes. Then she added some sweetened plum jelly into the center where she had made an indentation with her little fingers. These cakes went into the oven along with the mother’s bread. They had just come out of the oven when the father came in from the field. He immediately snatched one of Libuse’s cakes. The hot pastry burned his mouth. He danced around and around as he tried to cool his burned tongue. While he was jumping around and around, Libuse clapped her hands thinking her father was entertaining her. She sang “Tatinek, do kola, do kola” which translates “Daddy go around, go around.” The following week the father asked Libuse to make him some more of those little cakes. She said they were “kolas” because they made daddy go around. So every week Libuse made her “kolas.” The family began to call them "kolache," meaning “go around things.” Friends and neighbors learned about Libuse’s kolaches and they began to make them. Over the next century, they spread over Europe, then were brought to the United Sates by Czech immigrants"

For those of you that know me I am not into sweets so I went for the

spicy sausage surrounded by a light cheese bread! I could have eaten a dozen of these!

For those who want to try the sweeter side

I would highly recommend stopping in when traveling up 95 through Fredericksburg. Tuesday through Friday they are open 7:00-1:00, Saturday and Sunday 8:00 to 3:00, and Monday is a well deserved rest day as Janet Holm explained they are up at 2:30 am to get the day started making this tasty "Czech Pastry".

Empty fridge in Alaska?

Nah! That bag middle left is full of Dungeness crab caught the day we arrived in Alaska! Call this a retro pic from Summer!

Where have I been....Eating of course!

The highlight believe it or not! Fresh bread smoked tomato spread and serano ham. Wow!

Market update!

Not the stock market....

China town market. Live frogs $3.39 a pound!

Ribbitt!

Chinatown........

It is amazing what starts out wet and ends up dry.......

Flat Iron Steak...............

Well I admit if I am grilling a steak the last thing I want is a flat steak! Give me a 2" NY Strip rare with some good salt and fresh crushed pepper and I am set! Well on this day I had to give the Flat Iron Steak a try. This cut is also known as Top blade steak and it gets it's name "Flat Iron" because the cut looks like an old flat iron. My "Foodies in Training helped with the rub......................2T- Chili Powder, 2T brown sugar, 1T ground cumin, 2T minced garlic, 2t cider vinegar, 1t Worcestershire, 1/4 t ground red pepper

I have to admit this flavorful and very tender cut of beef to my surprise was well worth the affordable price it carried. This piece cost $7:80 and fed 3 hungry carnivores with some left over! No wonder the butcher (so the story goes) kept this cut a secret and always brought this cut home to feed the family!