Foodies, Can you Please help me out by voting for me?

I am competing in the Best of Western Washington contest that KING5 TV puts on.  I am currently in 3rd place.  The two stores ahead of me each have over 5 mega locations.  Can you help me out? here is the link to vote   Salty Seattle is also in the contest in the Best Local Blog catagory You can vote for Salty Seattle Here! Thanks so much for your vote!

Marina Market Specialty Foods in Poulsbo WA on KING5's Best of Western Washington


Vote here for Marina Market home of the Licorice Shrine

Vote for Marina Market Specialty Foods! We're thrilled to be nominated for the Best Gourmet Grocery! Make us #1 in Western Washington.  I think the links will be active now- thanks Chocolate Priestess

From Holland, Black Sweet Chewy Licorice Beagles

This is a sweet favorite at the Licorice Shrine.  This sweet black licorice Beagle Dog is chewy in my favorite way, with a soft chew after you break through surface of the drop.

These little beagles are cute too!

These are not to be confused with the Sweet Black licorice Scottie Dogs which are super soft with a bit more of an Anise taste than the Beagles.

Scaldis Noel (Bush de Noel)

Aroma of booze, molasses, with a touch of wood and malt. Very active carbonation, nice tan head that goes away quick, and quite a bit of honey with a slight bitter finish. Very warming as you would expect from a Holiday beer, but the "spices" are very subtle. Great color and some serious chunks in the bottom. Nice medium body. This is a very pleasing ale for sure.

COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTION:
This is a sweet beer with a pleasant flavor of hops. Indeed, for Bush de Noel, the brewer uses a traditional process which consists in placing hops flowers in the vats where the beer rests for four to six weeks by which time it will have reached full maturity, giving it a very distinctive taste. In the U.S. the label generally reads Scaldis Noel.

A product made exclusively from malt, hops, candy sugar and water, Bush de Noel is a high fermentation, filtered beer and has an alcohol volume of 12%.The substantial use of caramel malt gives it a coppery red colour and an exceptional roundness. Particularly carefully studied hopping gives Bush de Noel a consistent, fruity flavour with a delicately hopped aroma.A limited edition beverage, Bush de Noel is an indispensable reference among the end-of-year beers.

Park Slope, Brooklyn, NY Tornado- hit my baby sisters street!!

Reply-To: 168sterling@googlegroups.com


Hello friends and neighbors,

Thursday evening's storm was a memorable event for those of us who experienced it's fury from Park Slope, Brooklyn to Bayside, Queens with horizontal sheets of rain, hail, and powerful winds downing trees on every block.

The rumor that tornadoes had landed was finally confirmed yesterday:

"The National Weather Service confirmed Friday that two tornadoes and a microburst struck the New York City area on Thursday evening.The weaker of the two, with gusts up to 80 miles per hour, was in Park Slope, Brooklyn. The other tornado touched down about two miles south of Flushing, Queens, north of Bayside with winds of 100 miles per hour."

(See attached report from the NWS.)

Given that these two tornadoes and one "microburst" occurred between 5:30-6:00pm at peak rush hour, it's a miracle that only one person was killed (when a tree fell on her car parked on the shoulder of the Grand Central Parkway) and very few were injured. The plant population was not so fortunate as large trees were uprooted and limbs were snapped off like twigs.

After taking care of the flooding in our basement from the torrential downpour, I ventured out to assess the damage. A huge tree was down on our block crushing two parked cars. Our car was just one car away from a huge branch that landed on two other vehicles.

Fortunately the neighborhood seemed to take it all in stride. I encountered one guy whose car was trapped under a giant limb, easing his worries with a scotch on the rocks. Volunteers appeared here and there clearing up whatever mess they could, as the overwhelmed Parks Services began their massive clean-up operation.

By morning, most of the roads had been cleared for passage, but trees and branches covered many sidewalks, and Prospect Park seemed like a triage encampment for wounded trees.

After viewing more than a hundred downed and truncated trees, the enormity of the damage finally sank in. It's a sad sight seeing a once majestic living entity (many more than 100 years old) being readied for the chain saw and wood-chipper. It will take quite some time for the park's landscape to heal from this onslaught.

I have attached a few small pictures below. For those of you who get pleasure viewing tree carnage (or should I say "woodage"?), I have uploaded many more photos to an online gallery at the following link:

http://gallery.me.com/fnegri#100352&bgcolor=black&view=grid

I hope you are all well.

Cheers,

Fed

Remia Curry Sauce and Sierra Nevada Stout Mustard what do they have in common?

We will be eating them at our Beer tasting tonight!  Did you know that Remia Curry Gewurz ketchup contains Licorice Extract!  It is a sweet curry ketchup that ends with a soft lingering kick.  We will be eating it with Frybe Wieners.  So good!

We will also be tasting
Sierra Nevada Stout and Stoneground Mustard. Made in California, USA. Ingredients: distilled vinegar, water, mustard seed, salt, stout, citric acid, spices. Smooth, strong flavor. Great on sausage!

Dutch Cheeses we love- Beemster with Mustard Seeds

Buy Beemster with Mustard Seed

In Holland, cheese is often taken with mustard; sometimes the Dutch dip pieces of cheese into the condiment; other times, they spread it directly onto the cheese. Beemster, a producer of premium gourmet Dutch cheeses, decided to simplify the process and put the mustard right into the cheese. The result is an eye-catching “kaas” with a smooth, light yellow paste speckled with the highest quality mustard seeds. Beemster Mustard really packs a punch. As the cheese is eaten, the seeds release an invigorating flavor to the taste buds.

We will be tasting this cheese tonight at our Beer Tasting!

Here is what Hershey's has to say about Black Licorice Candy also a link to which Hershey's Products are Kosher

There is one licorice in this bag

HAPPY NEW YEAR! or L'shanah tovah!
Significance: New Year

Observances: Sounding the shofar (ram's horn trumpet)
Length: 2 Days (Some: 1 Day)
Customs: Dipping apples in honey; Casting off "sins" into a river
Greeting: L'shanah tovah! (For a good year!) Licorice and Glycyrrhizic Acid

Now, on to Licorice...

Licorice - the Plant
The licorice plant, known scientifically as Glycyrrhiza, grows wild in the southern central Europe and Asia. The underground stems (also called rhizomes) and root of the licorice plant have been used since ancient times to flavor and sweeten candies, teas, throat and cough lozenges, pharmaceuticals, and other products. Much of the sweetness comes from a substance called glycyrrhizic acid (also known as glycyrrhizin) found in the licorice plant.

Licorice - the Candy
Traditionally, "licorice candy" referred to a chewy candy with a distinctive flavor which came from licorice root extract. Today, consumers recognize licorice more as a general description of candy that may be available in a variety of flavors.

Not all of today's licorice-type candies are flavored with licorice root extract. Some licorice-flavored candies may be flavored with anise oil instead of licorice extract. Other fruit-flavored candies may be commonly referred to as licorice candy, but do not contain any licorice extract. For example, while people may consider all TWIZZLERS Candy to be licorice candy, the strawberry, chocolate, and cherry-flavored TWIZZLERS Candy do not contain licorice extract. TWIZZLERS black licorice candy is flavored with both licorice extract and anise oil.

Those licorice candies which contain licorice root extract will typically declare either "licorice extract" or "licorice root extract" as an ingredient on the package.

Licorice - Glycyrrhizic Acid
Glycyrrhizic acid is a substance which occurs naturally in the licorice root and is about fifty times as sweet as sugar. In excessive amounts, glycyrrhizic acid has been associated with undesirable side-effects including headache, sodium and water retention, loss of potassium, high blood pressure, and heart irregularities.

Are Hershey's Chocolates and Candy Kosher?

Young mild and Springy, Dutch Graskaas Beemster Spring Limited Edition

Buy Dutch Graskaas Beemster Spring Limited Edition Retail Cuts here

In April, the Beemster barn doors open and the cows race out to feast on the fresh, lush, untouched spring spring pastures of the Beemster polder. The cows are so excited over the new growth, they literally leap into the air and “dance.” The milk that is procured from the cows during the first week of open grazing is the most coveted of the year because it allows for the creamiest cheese of the year to be produced. Consumers in Holland anxiously await the arrival of Graskaas every spring. The first wheels to be released from the 1 month of aging are celebrated at the Spring Cheese Festival. Graskaas is an extremely youthful cheese with a semi-soft, creamy texture and mild flavor with floral notes. Beloved by adults and children alike, this cheese can be melted in place of Cheddar or served as a snack. Tasty and light-hearted, Graskaas is the “Nouveau Beaujolais” of the cheese world.