THE 5 DAYS OF DRINKMAS

Hey! Long time no see! I still exist doing the whole working/baking/eating/drinking/thinking thing. Mostly working/baking/sleping as of late.
With so little time left between now and THE BIG DAY, I decided to latch onto the holiday frivolity the best way I know how- COCKTAILS! In the next days leading up to Christmas, I will drink at least 5, if not more cocktails around town and picture them here and on my twitter.
After a long day working/baking Marty and I decided to pop into Pasture, where the cocktail list has recently been revealed. I really appreciate how Pasture is blending modern and sleek with traditional and the bar is gorgeous.
Marty went with a Roanoke Rail lager and I decided on The SURRY: smoked ginger syrup, bourbon, lemon juice and peel, and a splash of ginger ale. The drink is listed on ice, but I requested it NEAT and do not regret it. I also asked for Old Overholt, a straight Rye Whiskey.
This is a complex little drink. The smokiness, while not for everyone I imagine, completely made the drink for me. Those other ingredients, (obviously no strangers to Whiskey) gained depth from that muskiness and made for a subtle but different treatment.
I highly recommend it.
CHEER FACTOR: 4 out of 5

The SURRY at Pasture

Stay tuned for more drinks from around town and elsewhere!

THANKS SO MUCH RICHMOND AND BEYOND!

It’s been one crazy week.
The Pimento Cheese, Please! screening at The Hippodrome was a great success. I was so honored to have it there. I was proud that tickets, in part, benefited the Historic Jackson Ward Association. I know that Jackson Ward, aka the “Harlem of the South” has recently been lauded in the NYT, but we need to take pride in that neighborhood all the time, and in it’s rich history. It’s so easy to forget the amazing histories in our city. I hope the Hipp continues to grow with the community and bring J Ward back to it’s former glory. It should be noted that we have some wonderful present day history makers here in town. I cannot thank Richmond Magazine enough, not only for it’s help in pulling off this event but for taking a real interest in all of the people, events and organizations here in RVA. For not only supporting and reporting on this city and it’s growth but more importantly being genuinely excited about them. Thanks also to the food fanatics who bought tickets, the judges, Duke’s….
I of course, was BLOWN AWAY by all of the wonderful food our great restaurants donated. Their time, talents and cheese were really the highlight of the night. We want to thank everyone who helped to make our movie and to all of those who made it’s RVA premiere one of the best nights in my life.
Thank You!
Nicole Lang and Christophile Konstas

GET THEE TO THE HIPPODROME ON WED NOV 9TH 7:30PM

Pimento Cheese, Please! premieres here in Richmond, VA on Wednesday. Christophile and I are needless to say, tremendously excited. Don’t you love this poster!! Our good pal Nikki Price made it! Hire her to make stuff for you!! The event is sponsored by the fabulous Richmond Magazine and benefits The Historic Jackson Ward Association, the neighborhood that houses the Hippodrome theater, and The Southern Foodways Alliance, who gave me a Grant to help with funding to make the film. The film will be screened at The Hipprodrome, which could be the subject of a documentary itself.Richmond magazine will show a brief film on Richmond Southern chefs, we will screen Pimento Cheese, Please and then there will be a reception to follow. We will have some fantastic Richmond restaurants presenting samples of their Pimento Cheeses. The Roosevelt, Comfort, The Black Sheep, Lemaire, Citizen, Parkside, Mosaic and The Hippodrome’s Mansion 526. YOU CAN GET TICKETS

FUN, WANTS US TO HAVE IT!

So said the poet Michael McFee at the Southern Foodways Alliance’s 14th Annual Symposium.
Guests to Oxford, MS immediately made it the weekends slogan. I myself perhaps had a little too much fun as I am suffering from laryngitis and remain under the covers since returning. (It was worth it).

Upon seeing this table loaded with Pimento Cheese sandwhiches, I knew I had come to the right place.

Instead of attempting a recap I will instead just say that if you care anything for Southern food, drink, art, culture, music, film, literature, justice, the land we are tied to, poetry and of course FUN, you must try to attend in the coming years. It is one of those life changing weekends that people talk about (without all the new age and with far more bourbon and whiskey).
The reason I was there was to premiere Pimento Cheese, Please!. It was shown quite early in the am but a lot of folks came out, more than I would have imagined. It was observed that I may have not been fully awake.

To be able to show our movie at that event, made up of folks who care deeply about such things as Pimento Cheese and Collard Greens is not something that I will ever forget. Nor will I forget the opera (penned by a young student at Ole Miss) on the subject of… COLLARDS. It was beautiful. Or the trip to Taylor Grocery- a place I had only read about, a place that seemed could not possibly exist. Oh, but it did!

Here are some pics:

Biscuits and Preserves from Farmers Daughter. Oh and HAM!

This lady is my new favorite person

The food was mystical, the people magical and I left with new friends, a full belly and an inspired mind.

OCTOBER IS MY POWER MONTH “OOH OOOH OOH EW”

There is much going on in the FoodPunk realm. I am still unemployed, but busier than I have ever been! RVA is crazy like that!
First thing’s first, the Pimento Cheese Documentary is done. It will be screened the last weekend of the month in MS. There will be a screening in November here in RVA at The Hippodrome in Jackson Ward! How awesome is that. (Pretttttty awesome.)
Tickets can be purchased here . Tickets will not be available for sale at the door.
Very excited about that. It was a long time coming!
The event here in Richmond is sponsored by Richmond Magazine and benefits the Southern Foodways Alliance and the Historic Jackson Ward Association, There will be restaurants serving up Pimento Cheese samples and a cash bar as well as another short movie on Richmond’s Southern food scene.

The other thing keeping me from posting lately is the birth of my dessert business, Dollop! I hope to be at area Farmer’s markets soon and maybe some local shops. I am currently raising finds to help me get this plan in motion. You can learn more about that here. It’s been going great and I really feel so lucky to be in this fantastic supportive community!!

Usually this month I am busy trying to fully embrace the creepy and Halloweenie. Cutting bats out of construction paper, making paper mache shark heads, you know, normal Ocotber activities. Watching weird movies and drinking hot cider, and yet here it is the 19th and October is half behind us! To remedy this, I will have a rainy, macabre morning moment listening to this wild Spanish version of the Misfits “Return of The Fly” which I am really getting a kick out of. Especially the “Oooh oooh ooh ews”

FOOD PUNK FOR HIRE

Hello there !
I’m Nicole Lang. I have over 15 years combined administration and management experience in office as well as retail environments. Most recently I have helped women start new businesses at a Non Profit.
In the past I have opened stores from the ground up. I have worked in and managed high end small business, luxury corporate and Mom and Pop. I have both Executive Assisted and Managed Operations at an Industrial Film Production Company -often at the same time! I have also worked in restaurants as a baker and food prep cook. I have produced and directed a documentary about Pimento Cheese. I have also started my own dessert company. I have been known to talk and write about food and create occasions by which to celebrate it.

I am looking for part time work. I am great with people at all levels, friendly and fun. I can get things done. Give me a chance and you won’t be disappointed.
For a more traditional resume, drop me a line, at the link to the upper right, or click here.

Thank you!

WHEN I DIP YOU DIP WE DIP!

Here in Hurriquake land, it’s hard to find time to make food, photograph it and then write about it, so I decided to do some spelunking on my flickr account and uncover some pics that I can yammer about, lest Food Punk slip into the land of the lost food blogs..(I am already there, I know)

What we are looking at here is an old flame of mine. This summer I revisited my love of Onion Dip but I took it back to the old house, if you will. I went out and I bought Lipton Onion Soup mix and sour cream and Greek yogurt and I made straight up 70′s style Onion Dip. Usually when I make onion dip, (Thanksgiving, BBQs, Easter, breakfast…) I lop off the bottom and top of a giant Vidalia or yellow onion and roast the thing for a good 30-40 mins. Then chop it up and further caramelize it awhile with some herbs and olive oil. The rest is what you would expect, add dairy and refrigeration while you decide how best to get the stuff into your mouth. Veggies? Chips? Crackers? A spoon? So the return to a packaged mix was sort of like dating the wild, bad boy older brother of your straight laced high school sweetheart. (I’m hypothesizing here)

I don’t recall why I strayed from this recipe these past few months but I think it had something to do with the shining sun, a pitcher of something cold and boozy and these new ultra thin “Ode to the Potato Chip” chips I saw at Trader Joes. I prefer my dipping chips on the razor blade thin side, no ridged chips for me, thanks.

So suddenly, I was trolling the market, looking for that bright blue box filled with MSG, dehydrated onion and other “spices”. To be honest, I did taste test a natural one, but it was so sharp, and had way too much powdered garlic. I was trying to recreate a childhood taste and high brow ingredients would not do!

Of course I do not want to subject everyone to my wanton ways, so if you are a guest in my home chances are you will be served homemade onion dip ala these pictures or if I am short on time a hybrid dip with both the packaged mix and some caramelized bits thrown in. Lucky you!