Peace, Love, Cupcakes

UPDATE: The random number generator spit out #7, so congratulations to Andrew Ruiz, winner of a pair of general admission tickets to the 2nd Annual Cupcake Love-In. Thank all of you who took the time to enter. If you didn’t win, we hope you still will buy a ticket to the event (general admission is $20, proceeds go to CASS).

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Sunday, October 30, 33 professional bakers and chefs will compete in the 2nd Annual Cupcake Love-In at the Hotel Valley Ho.

Last year’s family-friendly charity event sold out, so this year the hotel is giving the event a bigger venue to accommodate more cupcake lovers. Co-founders Kelly Garcia and Tracy Dempsey expect this year to sell out, too.

Pen & Fork bought a pair of tickets to giveaway, so if you want to stuff your face with unlimited cupcakes and support Central Arizona Shelter Services (CASS), leave a comment below, telling us your favorite cupcake flavor.

We’ll randomly pick a commenter who will win two general admission tickets (because really, it’s more fun to have someone along to help you stuff your face with gobs of cupcakes).

Taste cupcakes from Urban Cookies (winner of Food Network’s Cupcake Wars) and from Tammie Coe Cakes, Posh Restaurant, Barb’s Bakery and dozens of others. Don’t worry, there will be vegan cupcakes, too, from 24 Carrots and gluten-free cupcakes as well.

Judges include local celebrity Chef Aaron May, New York Times best selling author Jenn McKinlay, author of the Cupcake Bakery Mystery series, Rachel Kramer Bussel, Founding Editor of Cupcakes Take The Cake Blog and Wynter Holden, former Phoenix New Times Night & Day Editor (who has no idea what she’s gotten herself into).

Come out and support CASS and our local bakers and chefs. Bring the whole family because there is nothing as magical as seeing a room full of kids with pink frosting smeared on their faces.

Read the fine print and enter to win a pair of tickets:

Fine print:

One entry per person, on this post only.

Barring natural disasters, broken bones, virus-infections, etc., you agree to attend the event if you win.

Deadline to enter (via a comment) is midnight (PST) Wednesday, 10-26-11.

One winner will be selected at random to receive both general admission tickets, and will be announced on Thursday, 10-27-11.

Tickets will be left for the winner at “will call” at the Hotel Valley Ho the day of the event (10-30-11).

Event Details:

Cupcake Love-In
Hotel Valley Ho
Sunday, October 30 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Visit Cupcake Love-in for more information

*** To enter the ticket giveaway, just leave a comment with your favorite cupcake flavor. Good luck!

Tags: charity, Cupcake Love-In, cupcakes, giveaway, Heather Gill, Hotel Valley Ho, Kelly Garcia, Tracy Dempsey
Posted in News & Nibbles | 15 Comments »

It’s easy to lose count of how many new restaurants in the Phoenix area have opened this year — easily a dozen or more.

One flew under the radar until just a few weeks ago, and now The House at Secret Garden, set in a 1929 historical mansion near South Mountain Park, is one of the most anticipated openings of the year.

The House has an old, Spanish colonial feel but the menu is decidedly up to date with a fresh, local slant — not surprising given the restaurant owners’ backgrounds.

Pat Christofolo (Santa Barbara Catering and The Farm Kitchen at South Mountain) and her son Dustin are behind the restaurant, which will open for lunch and dinner Monday through Saturday beginning this Wednesday.

Happy Hour runs 5:00 to 6:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, and the restaurant also features al fresco dining on the patio.

The barn on the property is getting an interior make-over, too, and will be called The Urban Bar.

It’s just for special events at the moment, but plans are to turn it into a lounge, serving cocktails and appetizers.

The modern American menu reads like a who’s who of local farmers and ranchers, with McClendon’s Select, Power Ranches, Fossil Creek Creamery and Black Mesa Ranch making appearances on the farm-to-fork menu.

For starters, there is a fresh take on “scampi” that seems more bread salad-like to me, with grilled focaccia, seasonal vegetables and crumbled goat cheese ($9).

Find entrees like jumbo shrimp and grits with bacon, and sweet corn and serrano sauces ($15), and lemon grilled chicken with rosemary, mint, feta and mashed potatoes ($15).

There is a seasonal, handmade pasta, (first up is parpadelle with local sausages, cherry tomatoes, basil and shaved Pecorino, $15), and an “Americana Style” pasta carbonara ($13) with crisped pancetta and smoked cheddar.

Saving room for dessert could be challenging, but then again, maybe not — desserts are designed and baked by longtime valley pastry chef Tracy Dempsey of Tracy Dempsey Originals.

Tracy worked for Pat at Santa Barbara Catering 15 years ago in between her teaching stints at ASU, and she says it was Pat who encouraged her to attend culinary school.

“It’s still a bit shocking to remember making sugar cookies with Dustin when he was just a kid, and to think now he’s going to be running his own kitchen and restaurant,” Tracy says.

She’s crafted an American contemporary dessert menu to compliment the modern fare at The House, including a chocolate cloud cake with fleur de sel caramel sauce.

“I’m keeping the desserts simple and familiar with a few of my twists,” she says.

“You won’t see the numerous accompaniments that I’ve been known to put on a plate. I want to keep it clean and simple. I think this will best reflect Dustin’s style of cooking, too. I really try to create desserts that reflect my chef’s style.”

Puddin’ and pie seems to illustrate her point.  A miniature pecan pie is accompanied by sweet potato pudding topped with Tracy’s signature toasted coconut house made marshmallows.

So do the simple ricotta fritters with Queen Creek Olive Mill fig and balsamic syrup, and a small selection of Tracy’s original ice creams and cookies.

The secret is out: doors open Wednesday, October 27.

photos: The House at Secret Garden

The House at Secret Garden (website under construction)
2501 East Baseline Road, Phoenix
602-243-8539

Tags: Dustin Christofolo, House at Secret Garden, Phoenix New Restaurant, Tracy Dempsey
Posted in Restaurant Journal | 6 Comments »

UPDATE 10-4-10: We have a winner!

Congratulations to Katrina M! A big, sweet thank you to all who entered. If you didn’t win, I hope that you’ll still come to the event. The entire ticket price goes directly to the two charities. Hope to see you there!

Did you read my last post about the fun-tastic charity cupcake event happening on 10.10.10 at Hotel Valley Ho here in Phoenix?

No? Well, go read it (here)….I’ll wait.

Meanwhile, I might shop for one of these Tees.

Back? Good.

Now you know that the Cupcake Love-In, co-founded by pastry chefs Tracy Dempsey and Kelly Garcia, is a charity event to raise money for Singleton Moms and Safe Haven for Animals, and you know that 33 Valley bakers are competing for best cupcake bragging rights. And there’s a cupcake eating contest and a cupcake decorating station for the little ones. And it’s all for charity.

In the spirit of giving, I’ve bought 2 tickets to the event.

To win both tickets, all you have to do is leave a comment, telling me your favorite cupcake flavor. That, and you need to be able to go to the event on Sunday, 10.10.10, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., at the Hotel Valley Ho in Phoenix.

Fine print:

• 1 entry per person

• Barring natural disasters, broken bones, virus-infections, etc., you agree to attend the event if you win.

• Deadline is midnight (PST) Sunday, 10-3-10.

• 1 winner will be selected at random to receive both tickets, and will be announced on Monday, 10-4-10.

• Tickets will be left for the winner at “will call” at the Hotel Valley Ho the day of the event (10.10.10)

So, go ahead. Tell me your favorite cupcake flavor.

Tags: Cupcake Love-In, giveaway, Hotel Valley Ho, Kelly Garcia, Tracy Dempsey
Posted in News & Nibbles | 27 Comments »

I grew up thinking a cantaloupe was a cantaloupe.

In West Texas, July brought a windfall of Pecos cantaloupes, surely the sweetest melons I’ve ever tasted.

Until now.

Shopping at the Scottsdale farmers market, I stopped at Seacat Gardens, and Carl Seacat asked me if I’d ever tasted a true cantaloupe.

Seacat, who farms an acre on the west side of Phoenix, says the netted melons we grew up with, and see in all the grocery stores this time of year, are really muskmelons — not true cantaloupes.

Front and center of his display, a bunch of orbs — some barely bigger than a softball — looked rather dwarfish, certainly nothing like the melons I thought of as cantaloupes.

Some were grayish green and others were marked with swaths of yellow streaks. The skins were smooth, unlike the webbed muskmelon-formerly-known-as-the-cantaloupe.

“These are Charentais,” he said, “a true cantaloupe — also called a French melon.”

And then he told me about the aroma, the taste, and before you know it, I’m handing over my wallet.

Seacat says Charentais (pronounced sha-rhan-tay, or in my best West Texas accent: Sharon-taze) emit heady floral fragrances and show pronounced yellowing when ripe. He told me to leave green ones on the counter a few days.

Back home, I sliced open the ripest one and immediately caught a whiff of honeysuckle — or was it jasmine or some blurred zephyr of the two?

The French wrap prosciutto around slices of Charentais. Seems rather Italian, doesn’t it?

My first inclination was to stand over the cutting board, which I did, biting into juicy slice after slice, sweet nectar dripping down my chin.

In my brain, the taste registered as cantaloupe, yet there was something marginally different about this melon.

The taste of honey filled my mouth. I swallowed and what lingered was sweet and floral.

At $3.75 a pound, perhaps it’s best to enjoy this melon alone, unadorned.

But I couldn’t help think of all the things I wanted to make with it.

Charentais salsa, with bits of red onion, jalapeno, mint and a spritz of lime.

Or a chilled Charentais soup, like the cantaloupe soup I submitted to Food 52.

Seacat told me that local pastry chef Tracy Dempsey was busy whipping up a Charantais sorbet as we spoke.

In the end, I decided to make a frothy Charentais frappé.

Still, I’m not sure anything beats eating Charentais straight from the cutting board.

Charentais Frappé

(printable recipe)

Look for Charentais melons at farmers markets. In the Phoenix area, Seacat Garden’s will have Charentais at the Scottsdale Stadium Farmers Market through the end of the summer. You can substitute 2-1/4 cups of cubed cantaloupe or honeydew for the Charentais. And by “cantaloupe” I mean muskmelon — which I swear I thought was a cantaloupe until I met the Charentais.

Serves 2

Ingredients
1 (1-1/4 pound) Charentais melon
1 cup lowfat vanilla yogurt
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom*

Method
1. Peel and seed melon. Chop into large chunks. Place in the freezer for 10-15 minutes (don’t freeze completely).

2. Place the yogurt in a blender. Place the chilled melon chunks on top of the yogurt. Add lemon juice and cardamom.

3. Blend until frothy. Chill until ready to serve.

*Cardamom adds an exotic note, but you can use cinnamon, or a dash of nutmeg instead.

Tags: cantaloupe, Charentais, farmers markets, frappe, French Melon, Seacat Gardens, Tracy Dempsey
Posted in Beverages, Recipes | 10 Comments »

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