I love dining with Tabitha. As a food editor and enthusiast, Tabitha is always talking up the latest recipe she’s made, vegetables she’s grown or restaurants she’s tried. She knows the ins and outs of food — how to grow it, cook it, pair it and eat it — and it’s always a treat to munch on something the woman herself has put together, because it’s always done with the utmost love and detail.
When I visited her during a trip to New York last winter (catch up with my NYC posts here, here, here, here and here), she took me up to her humble Harlem apartment and fed me a plate of cheese before we hit a late-night comedy show. But this wasn’t just any cheese; it was cheese from an amazing creamery in Vermont that she was researching for an upcoming article she was putting together.
{It wasn't too difficult to polish off this platter before a night out on the town.}
Bottom Left: Landaff Creamery Landaff
Bottom Middle: Cabot Clothbound Cheddar
Bottom Right: Ploughgate Creamery Hartwell
Top Left: Von Trapp Farmstead Oma
Top Right: Jasper Hill Farm Bayley Hazen Blue
All of the cheeses were aged in Jasper Hill’s cheese caves in Vermont; I’d love to take a trip with the cheese queen herself to do further research!
In addition to the tasty cheeses Tab shared with me, she also paired them finely with some great snacks — including some delicious pickles she made herself!
Top Left: Tabitha’s Quick and Easy Nonstop Pickles
Top Middle: La Panzanella and Carr’s Crackers
Fresh Blackberries
Prickly Pear Cactus Jelly
In addition to all this goodness, she also made me the cutest, most “Tabitha” drink ever, a “Pink Peppercorn and Thyme Champagne Cocktail,” which I happily sipped and slurped until we had to leave to make it to our midnight show.
{A bit of bubbly, herbs and peppers makes for a fun evening cocktail.}
You can try out Tabitha’s concoction with the ingredients and recipe below:
Pink Peppercorn and Thyme Champagne Cocktail
Sugar cube
Few dashes of orange bitters
5 or so pink peppercorns
Sprig fresh thyme
Half-jigger (or more for sweeter flavor) of pink peppercorn thyme simple syrup (directions below)
Cava or other dry sparkling beverage
Combine all ingredients except sparkling beverage in a glass or pitcher. Pour in cava (or other dry sparkly beverage) at the end, stir and serve.
Pink Peppercorn Thyme Simple Syrup
Boil 1 cup raw sugar in one cup water with several sprigs of fresh thyme and a small handful of peppercorns. Strain after syrup cools.
What do you like to eat with your foodie friends? Any fun summer appetizer or drink recipes? Share them in the comments section!
