K.R.A.K. is in the current issue of BUST Magazine! Check it out at a newstand near you! (page 27)

Three Dinners in Milwaukee

There will be three K.R.A.K. meals in Milwaukee this Fall! Check them out! All will be "Pay what you WANT", BYOB, and RSVP at yummyaskrak@gmail.com.

Hello Milwaukee

My best bud Davey drove out to Milwaukee with me. Here he is at the Bayview Farmer's Market overseeing flower arrangements being made for my Mom and Grandma.

I live in Riverwest. My favorite part of the neighborhood has always been the Riverwest Film and Video Co-op. Not only do they rent out some awesome movies, but they rent filmmaking equipment, sell 16mm and 8mm film, as well as fake blood and break-away bottles for making your own movies. On any given night, there might be a man wearing black and a dark moustache playing Scott Joplin on the piano while Charlie Chaplin slaughters a rabbit on the big screen as a very large yellow toothbrush watches.

Goodbye Garden, Goodbye Brooklyn

Well, this image will always be my favorite memory of Brooklyn. Mr. Tascha in the Garden. I can't tell you how much I miss being able to walk across the street to pick kale whenever I wanted some.

And below was my last goodbye before I got in the truck and drove away-- Miz Hazel Haines. She was burning hair off of pig's feet with her gas stove when I paid her a visit. I just lost it. I cried the whole way out of New York.

Dinner Saturday August 23

Limequat-ginger caipirinhas with sage-infused cachaca

Raw spinach bisque w/ yellow-pepper-avocado cream and garlicy sunflower seeds

Braised slivered collards, roasted beets, goat cheese, vidalia onion rings, buckwheat honey, and black pepper

Stuffed poblanos with chana dal, sweet corn bread, smoked tempeh, ancho-chile-basil sauce, salsa fresca

Mexican chocolate brownies with homemade rum-raison icecream

7:3o at the KRAK den, $40

Email yummyaskrak@gmail.com if you want to come

--who's coming with you (max three guests)

--dietary needs/restrictions

--why do you want to come get KRAK?

--if you had a garden, what would you grow in it?

Summer in Pictures (The best news? It's not over yet!)

Summer rolls made exclusively with veggies from the garden and rice products from Chinatown.

We lit meringue on fire in Matt and Jess' garden, among doing other delicous things....

A large and gorgeous crowd came out for a stunning evening on the roof of Adelaide House.

It was all part of the scheme, "Best Summer Ever". It wasn't just the moonshine that put the rosy glow in people cheeks and the stars in their eyes....

It was a collective effort: Adelaide House made home-distilled moonshine with rhubarb-gooseberry juice, Erika made scrumptuous pickles, Alec made mulberry wine ("Lomax Nouveau"), from the mulberry tree that also presided over the dinner, and Kate brought the rest of the grub.

We watched the sunset, and after dinner "A Bout de Souffle" on the big screen.

Dinner for one: The beauty of a small harvest, baby red onions and beets

Garden-infused cocktails have been a big hit: Here is Lila Dobbs with her blood-orange basil infused vodka cosmo.

Summer started right with a face-off: Brandon Hinman of the traveling supper series Wink visits Kate Strassman's KRAK table. Together they decide to buy eachother five ingredients plus one wild card. B bought K lambs quarters-- it's a weed, not an animal part--, ouray raw cow's cheese, shitake mushrooms, juniper-berry kraut, kohlrabi, wild card: garlic scapes. K bout B Georgia sweet corn, maitake mushrooms, watercress, golden beets, thai young coconuts, wild card: fresh curry leaves. They each made three small plates, enjoyed tapas style. Long story short, it was an epic night to remember that ended in the wee hours of the morning at Maximillian Bell's on Nostrand drinking chardonnay on ice with a cocktail straw and rocking out to early Whitney Houston. For real. Brandon was thrown for a loop with ingredients like young coconut meat and curry leaves but came out triumphant and strong, and Kate learned a lesson or two on elegance and simplicity.... Here are some favorites from the menu:

Juniper berry kraut with tempeh bacon-avocado tea sandwiches

Mitake mushrooms and cold chickpea miso 

Marinated golden beets layered w/ ginger, curry leaf, beet puree, and young coconut sauce

Kohlrabi salad w/ sauteed shitakes, omlette slivers, thai-basil-chili-garlic sauce, and cashews.

Dinner Tuesday August 5

It is easier for me to update my blog than my website, given how unpredictable my garden is. If you would like to come to this dinner, please email me at yummyaskrak@gmail.com. This dinner will be at the KRAK DEN, $40, 7:30. *'d means it is home grown...

Rosemary-lavender* infused sake with lychees

Homemade summer rolls with tomatos*, green beans*, mint*, carrot, and Kate's peanut sauce

Marinated kohlrabi salad with smoky portabellos, curry leaf spicy mustard, curried fried cashews

Spicy thai basil* eggplant, lacinato kale* Kate's Magic tofu, sprouted wild rice

Three plum tart with chestnut honey