Month: October 2015

{You Pick Six} An Interview with News Reporter: Susan Tran

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News Reporter Susan TranMost of us in the Boston area have probably watched Susan Tran reporting with 7News on WHDH. Now she reports news at NBC10Boston.

She also was the emcee for All Aboard The Arc! this past May and helped spread the word about disability acceptance and inclusion.

But did you know that she’s a serious foodie too? If you follow her on Twitter and Instagram, in addition to the news, you’ll often catch a glimpse of what she’s eating.

Just recently, she was shopping at Boston Public Market for some fresh fish and pastrami. Not only did she share pictures of the food, but she ran into our very own Senator Warren and got a selfie! How cool is that?

So now, let’s turn the tables for the sixth part of the interview series, You Pick Six.

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What is a favorite snack?
I love Cape Cod Chips with Heluva Good dip. I would eat an entire bag of chips if you let me so I only have it on vacation.

What brings you peace every day?
When my husband brings me my first cup of coffee and I get to say good morning to my pup Margaret. Those two moments remind me of what’s good in my life.

What inspires you?
I’m inspired by all the good in the world. For every awful person I encounter in the world through work or life there are always dozens more who are kind, thoughtful and generous.

What is a favorite cookbook?
Cook’s Illustrated – Best Recipes.

How did food become an important part of your life?
Food always meant family and friends to me. My parents worked 7 days a week but we always had dinner together. My husband is Italian-Irish-German, food is how he shows his affection. Some of my fondest memories with family and friends have happened around a dinner table.

Tell me about your book.
I wrote a long format story while I was in between jobs to occupy myself. It was good at the time. I tried to get it published but I didn’t have any takers. When I read it now, 6 years later, I think it’s crap and I’m glad nothing ever came of it. Some day I’ll look upon it as a failure I will glean lessons from.

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Thank you so much for participating Susan!

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Photo credit: Trung Dang

Apples 2 Apples: Spencer + Mutsu

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applesNot only do I love the board game, but over the past few years, I’ve found my love for apples increasing.

Back in 2009, I blogged an apple taste test, Macoun v. Braebern. They were both good, but I chose the Braebern and it was my apple of choice for several years, even though I ate, cooked and baked with other apples too.

A couple of years later, I attended TECHmunch in Boston and heard Amy Traverso speaking as part of a panel discussion. This may have been the first time that I learned about her book,The Apple Lover’s Cookbook. I planned to get it right away, but didn’t and now find myself thinking that this book is becoming a necessity.

There are so many different types of apples and this is supposed to be a very good season here in New England. I want to learn more about apples and of course eat them too. Chronicle, a local lifestyle television program, recently had a wonderful show all about apples.

They mentioned some urban orchards that allow apple picking and talked about the Roxbury Russett, which originated in the Roxbury section of Boston, where I was born. My parents, who grew up in Roxbury, talk about how when they were young, they could just randomly pick apples and other fruits on trees that were around the city.

When my brother and I were little, my parents would take us apple picking in the fall. By then we had moved out of the city to the suburbs. My father loved taking us on long drives and we’d go all over New England. We’d get fresh apple cider and my mom would make apple sauce, apple pie and buckwheat pancakes with apples. Just the memory of the scent of apples cooking, usually with cinnamon, makes me smile.

When I was at the farmers market at Dewey Square last week, I saw so many new to me varieties of apples. I decided to try the Spencer and Mutsu. Below are descriptions of both from the New England Apple Association’s blog.

Ripening in mid- to late September, Spencer is a conical apple, nearly solid red-pink in color, with green highlights. Its flesh is crisp, juicy, and more sweet than tart, though less sweet than its Golden Delicious parent (Spencer’s other parent — surprise! — is McIntosh). Spencer is an all-purpose apple, especially good in pies and sauce. It does not have a lengthy storage life.

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They make outstanding sauce and cider. Also known as Crispin, Mutsus have a sweet, light flavor when cooked, and hold their shape well. An excellent dessert apple, they are also especially good in salads.

Mutsus are a late-season apple ranging in color from greenish to yellow, with an orange blush. Their firm, juicy flesh is creamy white to pale yellow. They can grow quite large (a pie made with Mutsus may require as few as three apples).

Mutsu has its origins in Japan, from a Golden Delicious crossed with an Indo, a Japanese seedling, in 1930. It was introduced in the United States in 1948.

I ate these apples raw and loved them both. There was no side-by-side comparison, so I can’t describe them that way, but they were sweet enough for me and super juicy.

The plan is to make Apples 2 Apples a continuing series of posts about apples, so we’ll see how it plays out. Plus, there may be a surprise announcement to come!