All photos by Jennifer Hess
The phrase “Last Night’s Dinner” might not at first glance evoke anything appetizing, but grow up, huh? — it’s just what Bushwick local Jennifer Hess calls her blog about what she made for dinner the night before. What’s impressive, besides the gorgeous photos of her food, is that it’s updated every weekday. But which came first: Is it because she makes amazing dishes every night that she can feature them, or does the spotlight force her to make such stunning grub?
Sharing her creations with the world seems to be a passion: she sometimes pauses in her preparations to (presumably) wash her hands and take a photo of her progress. And it’s not all dry ingredient lists — we’re treated to lush descriptions of the cooking process as well as how the final product tastes. We’re sometimes taken on what Jen calls a “food safari“: a weekend trip to hunt for the next week’s meal ingredients.
I’m particularly fond of a post from last week: on el Dia de los Muertos (a holiday her Mexican relatives never observed anyway) she chose to honor her still-very-much-alive grandmother, instead of the customary dead.
Mike Dietsch is a guy. His blog, A Dash of Bitters, is white with black text. He talks about booze. Despite the aesthetic starkness, he’s got a way with words and makes his posts about this liquor or that — it’s not the most exciting subject in the world — truly engaging and even charming.
The blog is suffused, like Jen’s, with personal details — note the post mentioning Bushwick’s own delightful liquor stores, snug and secure behind a layer of bulletproof glass. I also recommend a review of a book on moonshine, complete with a tale from his father about being chased out of a Kentucky town at the point of a shotgun for suspected involvement with the homegrown terrorist organization, IRS.
As someone who has supped upon and imbibed the products of this food power couple, I can vouch that they’re not all talk. Reading their blogs and visiting their home makes me a little envious of the life they lead together — wine with dinner, a gourmet meal every night. Food safaris! I need to get my act together. And you need to add their blogs to your list.
jenblossom November 13th, 2007 at 12:23 pm
Well, this is a nice surprise – thanks for the props!
A couple of comments: as I’ve talked about here and elsewhere, we’ve found our neighborhood lacking as far as access to many of the ingredients we like to cook with. Our local grocery is great for pantry basics and ethnic ingredients, and the produce department and selection of organic ingredients there are slowly improving, but we must still venture out of Bushwick to the Greenmarkets and elsewhere for most of our ingredients. Our particular corner of SoBu does get FreshDirect delivery, and we take advantage of that a couple of times a month, but that wasn’t the case when we first moved here so we got into the habit of planning our meals ahead – which is when “food safari” was born.
Similarly, cooking dinner every night (and I do cook dinner just about every night most weeks) is as much about the love as it is about necessity. We just don’t have a lot of dining options nearby that serve the kinds of things we like to eat. We don’t eat fast food, and we like to eat local, sustainably-raised and produced foods as often as possible. (I’m sure I’m going to get called out as an elitist snob for saying that, so I’ll reserve further explanation of what we eat and why for later.)
At any rate, thanks again. We’ll have to get together for dinner soon.
Jimmy Legs November 13th, 2007 at 2:47 pm
imagine how many joy turned to horror when i realized i was gonna miss their cocktail party as i would be out of town! maybe i’ll have them cater my next mid-afternoon snack.
EJCohen November 13th, 2007 at 3:03 pm
This is great!
Both blogs are exceptional. I forwarded the link to Jen’s blogs to a few of my friends. We’re all food fans (refuse to use the word “foodie” ’cause, well, it irks me). I do a lot of my produce/meat shopping at Whole Foods on the Bowery. It’s really convenient as the J train is just a few blocks south on Canal. Get the rest of my items at Food Dimension.
Annnnnnnd… I forwarded the link to Mike’s amazing blog to a friend of mine bartending in London (he’s the head barkeep at Cafe Pacifico, the legendary tex-mex restaurant over there). Dude, reading that blog was like hanging out with my friend Jon: total educational experience and an utter blast at the same time. I wouldn’t be surprised if Jon tried to contact Mike eventually.
Michael Dietsch November 13th, 2007 at 3:12 pm
Hey, thanks Jeremy!
The Changeling November 13th, 2007 at 10:44 pm
Oh the food and drink at Jen and Mike’s is to die for. The pics on Last Night’s Dinner are enough to make your stomach growl!
Hey Mike, I was thinking about you a few days ago when I was reading a New York Times article on absinthe. You gave us a real nice talk on this spirit at your September dinner party. I had only had about 2 of your rum drinks at that point, so I can clearly remember your 5 minute primer on absinthe. Cool stuff.
Jen K November 14th, 2007 at 9:51 am
Jen & Mike are also the consummate hosts… and really the ONLY reason why I eat goat cheese today. :D
Matt November 14th, 2007 at 11:21 am
Agreed on the blog kudos.
Now to the pimping for ideas…how should i cook my turkey this year?? I’ve got an old favorite but I’m sick of it. Herb butter roasted with carmelized onion/balsamic gravy lalala. Gooood shit but can’t do it a fourth year in a row.
I know I’m stuffin’ it to the hilt with herbs from the garden, but can’t decide what else to do. I could go the brining route, but where do i get a pot big enough to brine a largeassed turkey??
Any recipe suggestions oh goddess of foodings and tastiness?
jenblossom November 14th, 2007 at 2:55 pm
Thanks again, all!
Matt, I am actually not cooking Thanksgiving dinner this year, but here’s what I did with the bird last year. I’ve never brined a bird – we tend to order heritage turkeys and I think they have enough flavor to stand on their own.
Before we decided to dine out I was toying with the idea of doing turkey in mole for Thanksgiving this year, or a mole-inspired dry rub. That could be a fun way to mix things up a bit?
Matt November 15th, 2007 at 12:23 pm
Tasty looking burd, Jen.
And yeah, i think I’m overstepping with the brining idea. Who really needs it when you’re getting a pricey organic/free range tastetacular burd anyway?
I know I’m doing an herbed orgy with the fresh sage, thyme and rosemary in my garden. And I might try a pancetta sage gravy. Mmmm pancetta. That’ll make a nice connection to the spiral cut ham. Mmmm, ham.
Jeremy November 16th, 2007 at 11:22 am
I never go wrong with lemon, butter, garlic, and rosemary. One Thanksgiving — the only one I ever made myself at home — I made the best turkey I had ever had and that record has stuck. I DO brine all my birds though. It salts them perfectly all the way through and keeps them moist, and you just do it in a garbage bag.
Jimmy Legs November 16th, 2007 at 2:55 pm
ooh ooh, before i stopped eating meat, i made a couple of turkeys using a recipe form chile pepper magazine (might still be on their site), it amounted to coating the bird with an ancho-based chile paste and roasting it. muy caliente!