While perusing the selection one Thursday afternoon at the Great Valley Farmers Market, I was drawn towards a booth that was covered in pretty little cakes. (Somehow I leave the Farm Market with just as many baked goods as produce these days.) Not only did the cakes look tasty, they had a tasty name as well: MacDougall’s Irish Victory Cakes. The story behind these cakes is actually quite fascinating, yet I think owner Deborah Streeter Davitt does it better justice than I could (on their website):

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I recently had the opportunity to take “The Wine Foundation” course at The Wine School of Philadelphia, which is described by the school as “the only certificate program of its kind in the United States.” The course description goes on to say that “students will learn the techniques and knowledge to become extraordinary wine tasters. Graduates are able to identity major wine varietals in a blind tasting: a skill many seasoned sommeliers cannot accomplish.”

Though I was an experienced wine taster before taking the class, and thought I knew quite a bit about wine, it turns out I still had a lot to learn. This program opened my eyes to a deeper level of appreciation and understanding of the wines that I drink, and it truly did establish a foundation for lifelong learning. Though it is difficult to explain or detail what we learned in the class without sharing a few glasses of wine, here are 9 tidbits that I can share:

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New feature here at MLD, where we share a recipe from a cookbook with local ties. Have a cookbook we should consider? Let us know.

Today we’re celebrating the end of summer with The Grassfed Gourmet Fires it Up by Rita Calvert and Michael Heller (which was released in April 2011). Although the authors are based out of Maryland, the Grassfed Gourmet series (which contains one other book, by a different author) is published by Eating Fresh Publications of Haverford, PA.

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I was walking through the East Goshen Farmers Market, trying to figure out what to make for dinner, when I came across a small stand selling pastries that looked a bit too serious to be displayed in such a casual setting. After ascertaining that they were canelé (ca-neuh-lay), a French pastry from Bordeaux, I recalled reading a short article in PhillyMag that gushed over the treats. At the time, I had made a note to get my hands on some, but I guess the mental post-it fell to the floor. Still, here I was, staring them in the face. Were they the same ones lauded by PhillyMag, or some imposter? I wanted my first canelé experience to be the real deal, but had no time to research. I took the plunge.

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The headline-catching addition to Whole Foods Devon, post-renovation, is the Milepost Pub, a new place for wine, beer & snacks, including a great selection of to-go beer. The entire store was remodeled as well, and includes some other interesting additions, including a new “pasta bar” serving fresh pasta and sauces from Severino in South Jersey.

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If you’ll allow us a detour from the usual Main Line news, we’ve tried a few spots downtown recently and thought we’d try to answer the question: are they worth the (increasingly difficult) drive to the city?

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Weinrich Bakery's Butter Cake

My family is not originally from this area, so although we have lived here for more than 20 years, we are often less familiar with local traditions that have been passed down from generation to generation, especially those that have begun to fade away. One such specialty is Philadelphia Butter Cake (a.k.a. German Butter Cake, but not to be confused with St. Louis Butter Cake), a dessert known for its sweet, decadent, butter-based frosting. We’d actually never heard of this until recently, but once informed, I was quickly determined to find out more and seek some out in the local area.

Though butter cake is not exactly a hot topic online, quite a few posts can be found on message boards, blogs and review sites, written by people who grew up in this area (Northeast Philly especially), that reference it as something that was one of their favorite treats as a kid. It appears this pastry was quite popular through the 60′s and into the early 70s (and surely before that), but started to lose its luster in the late 70s, perhaps early 80s. While there are some bakeries that still make it today, it is a lost art, handcrafted only by those establishments that still remain from the heyday.

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Lizbeth Lane Gourmet Cuisine, a small company that has cropped up recently in Malvern, is on a mission to transform weeknight dinners with their line of “simmer sauces”. These all-natural, gluten free sauces — including Lemon Piccata, Roasted Red Pepper, Mediterranean Tomato and Marsala & Tarragon, can be mixed with sauteed meat and/or veggies for a quick, healthy, interesting meal. (There’s actually no such person as Lizbeth Lane. But co-founders Rid Francisco and Michael Dernoga, who self-describe themselves as “two 50-something bald guys”, probably felt the need to create an alter ego to better portray their vision.)

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There’s certainly no shortage of quality Italian food in this area; aside from all the great restaurants, we’ve got stores like Carlino’s, Martini’s Italian Market, and Sassano’s to provide quality ingredients when we need them. But sometimes, you find yourself in ACME. Thankfully, however, frozen pasta from Talluto’s, a local, family-run pasta maker since 1967, is available at most local ACME Markets, as well as Shop Rite in West Chester & East Norriton.

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Luigi's Porchetta Abruzzese

Welcome to Round 2 of Philly vs. Main Line, where we take a highly-regarded food experience in Philadelphia and compare it to a similar offering out here in the burbs. Will it be worth the trip to the city, or are you better off staying close to home?

Much like the cheesesteak, the Roast Pork Italian is a revered sandwich in the Philadelphia area; just hearing the name conjures images of thinly sliced, juicy pork sidled next to piquant provolone cheese and mounds of garlicky, wilted greens, served at hallowed counters Tony Lukes, John’s and DiNics. But we’re not talking about any of the classics today. Instead, we’re going to look at a newcomer on the block: Jake’s Sandwich Board, and put them up against our local favorite Luigi & Giovanni’s.

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