There were a lot of reasons I fell in love with Ann Arbor Thanksgiving break, 1974, when I came to visit my brother in grad school here.

First was the food, of course—so many choices!  My hometown had less than 10 places to eat out–total.  Ann Arbor had (and still does) a plethora of choices from all parts of the world, and I was smitten with all of them.  It wasn’t overwhelming like New York—just enough.  Plenty to choose from and most within walking distance.  It’s even better today!  And some of those places my brother first introduced me to are still thriving, like Blimpy Burgers.

Number two—it’s easy to blend in here.  You don’t really stand out unless you want to.  No matter how crazy you can get over something—from organic potatoes to reducing waste—there’s 50 people crazier than you are!  It’s a town filled with causes and passion and innovation and an energy that still feels exciting and comforting at the same time.

Three—you can’t get bored because you never run out of things to do.  Many of them free!

And the biggest reason I love Ann Arbor–corny as it is—-people are genuinely nice and friendly.  They smile at you and say hello even if they don’t know you.  That happened my first day here in 1974 and again on the day I finally moved back to town a few years ago.

I was leading a tour of a group of travel journalists from Hong Kong last week who commented on how friendly and smiling the people are.  Nobody huffed at us as we blocked the sidewalk to look at a fairy door—they just walked around us and smiled.

And people will stop and push a perfect stranger’s car out of the snow, which I saw a lot on that first weekend I fell in love with Ann Arbor.  It felt like a place I could call home.

Still does.  Tell me what you love about Ann Arbor?

Zingerman’s isn’t always the first stop on my Kerrytown and Farmer’s Market Tour, but that’s the way I arranged it last Wednesday for 13 great women from the Detroit suburbs.

The tour started at 11, a good time to avoid lines and crowds at the deli and to share  two of my favorites — lukschen (noodle) kugel and Stewart’s Farmer’s Hash—both warm, sweet and spicy and great tastes to start the tour.

Zingerman’s noodle kugel is made with Al Dente pasta, my favorite, and made just up the street in Whitmore Lake by an Ann Arbor family.  They have such great flavors, it cooks in only 4 minutes and tastes like fresh pasta you made at home.  And it makes a delicious noodle kugel.  It must if Zingerman’s uses it.  I use Al Dente’s wild mushroom pasta in a savory butternut squash and parsnip kugel.

The farmer’s hash luscious combination of sweet potatoes, new potatoes, piquillo peppers, sauteed spinach and crispy onions (served with buttered rye toast and sour cream) melts in your mouth.  The women started to moan as they passed around the hash and caught their first whiff.

There are tons of recipes for kugels.  Most Jewish families have at least one dairy version of a noodle kugel, usually made with cottage cheese and sour cream, and one without dairy, with cinnamon and raisins (although my mother and husband kindly hold the raisins from half the kugel for me).

I prefer potato kugels, especially now that I am gluten-free, and I promised the women on the tour that I would post my recipe for potato and sweet potato kugel.  Both kugels are made with produce currently available at your local farmer’s market.

Let me know how you like them.  Both kugels can be made a day or two ahead and re-heated.  Some think they’re better that way.

They are both gluten and dairy free.

Potato Kugel – Gluten and Dairy Free

About 6 medium-large russet potatoes, peeled

1 medium-large onion (we like a lot of onion, but use how much you want or none)

3 eggs, slightly beaten

2 T plain cooking oil (canola, grapeseed, safflower, etc.)

salt (kosher or sea salt) and pepper to taste

apple sauce to go with it (or not)

9 X 13 glass (my preference) baking dish

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

You can either hand grate your potatoes and onions or grate them in the food processor, which is what I do.  We like ours coarse ground and slightly chunky.  You can pulse the machine to the texture you like, but don’t just turn on the processor and let it go because you’ll have mush that will be too runny to be good.  Watch it carefully and just use the “pulse” option.

I pulse the onions first and put them in a large bowl, then add the eggs and combine them.  This step keeps the potatoes from turning brown as you add them to the bowl.

When pulsing the potatoes, cut them in chunks, and only process an inch or so of chunks at a time to be sure all the potatoes get processed.  Don’t put too many potatoes in the processor bowl or you’ll miss some.

Add salt and pepper to taste–and remember you’re seasoning the potatoes, onions and eggs, so use a good, healthy salt and be generous.

This next step is my Grandmother/Mother’s trick for a crispy kugel, our family’s desired outcome.  Put the 2 tablespoons of oil in a 9 X13 glass baking dish (If you don’t have glass, don’t sweat it.  I like it so I can monitor the browning of the bottom of the kugel—-very important!) and put the dish in the oven for about 5 minutes to heat up the oil.  Using an oven mit, take the hot dish out of the oven and mix about one (1) tablespoon of the oil into the potato mixture, then quickly pour it all back into the glass dish and put it back into the oven.

You’re going for a nice sizzle when the batter hits the baking dish, but don’t worry if you don’t get one.  It’ll still get crispy and taste great.

Bake the potato kugel for 45-75 minutes, checking often after 45 until it’s as brown as you want it.  Bake it as long as you can until it almost burns.  I like it with apple sauce.

Sweet Potato, Carrot and Apple Kugel – Gluten and Dairy Free

2 large sweet potatoes, peeled

4 apples—whatever kind you like–peeled and cored/seeded

8 carrots, peeled (or just washed well if organic)

1/2 cup ground almonds, your favorite gluten-free flour (like garbanzo bean or coconut), potato starch (1/3 cup) or, if you can tolerate wheat, white or whole wheat flour or matzo meal

1/2 cup of your favorite cooking oil—I use coconut or grapeseed

1/2 cup brown sugar

4 eggs, slightly beaten

1 teaspoon cinnamon (or more to taste)

freshly grated nutmeg to taste

salt (kosher or sea salt) and pepper to taste

9 X 13 glass (my preference) baking dish

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

You can either hand grate your sweet potatoes, carrots and apples or grate them in the food processor, which is what I do.  We like ours coarse ground and slightly chunky.  You can pulse the machine to the texture you like, but don’t just turn on the processor and let it go because you’ll have mush that will be too runny to be good.  Watch it carefully and just use “pulse.”

When pulsing, cut the veggies and fruit in chunks, and only process an inch or so of chunks at a time to be sure all of them get processed evenly.  Don’t put too much in the processor bowl at once or you’ll miss some.

Put all the veggies in a large bowl as they are processed, then add the rest of the ingredients (except for 2 Tablespoons of oil–see trick below) and blend well.

This next stop is my Grandmother/Mother’s trick for a crispy kugel, our family’s desired outcome.  Put 2 tablespoons of the oil in a 9 X13 glass baking dish (If you don’t have glass, don’t sweat it.  I like it so I can monitor the browning of the bottom of the kugel—-very important!) and put the dish in the oven for about 5 minutes to heat up the oil.  Using an oven mit, take the hot dish out of the oven and mix it into the potato mixture, then quickly pour it all back into the glass dish and put it back into the oven.

You’re going for a nice sizzle when the batter hits the baking dish, but don’t worry if you don’t get one.  It’ll still get crispy and taste great.

Bake the kugel for 45-75 minutes, checking often after 45 until it’s as brown as you want it.  Bake it as long as you can until it almost burns, or at least until it’s cooked through and a toothpick comes out clean.

I never thought I’d be writing about this topic—ever.

I was a very allergic child.  I was told I was allergic to chocolate the week my family was going to Hershey Park.  You can smell chocolate for miles before getting here.  I had  kind parents who figured I could scratch a few more days, and let me eat what I wanted for the rest of the weekend.

By the time I was a teenager, my allergies were mostly gone.  And they stayed away until about 6 years ago when, all of a sudden, I was allergic to most of the foods I loved—-bread, pasta, barley, cheese, pizza!  I resisted giving them all up until I just couldn’t stand scratching any more.

It’s really hard being a foodie with allergies.  I decided to focus on what I can eat instead of what I can’t and refused to stop eating out.  Luckily, many of my favorite places in Ann Arbor have become allergy-friendly.  So, if there aren’t clear mentions of gluten-free options on the menu, at least the staff has been trained to pleasantly try and help you have a great meal without feeling embarrassed or worrying about suffering later.

I’ll start with one of my favorites—before and after allergies–Pilar’s Tamales Shop or Cart.

You can always find Sylvia’s tamale cart at the Ann Arbor Farmer’s Market, and lucky for us, she recently opened an eat-in, permanent shop on Liberty just west of Stadium.  It’s a homey, bright place where you can order homemade delicious (and many of them gluten and dairy free) tamales and papusas, healthy casamiento (black beans and rice) and creamy plantains lovingly made by Sylvia and her family using local, seasonal ingredients (ok, maybe not the plantains) and gluten-free seasonings (e.g., no soy sauce).  Pilar’s also has the most interesting daytime drinks in town, including homemade hibiscus tea and their tasty version of  horchata, the Latin rice drink.

Pilar’s tamales are made with home-made free, all natural chicken, pork or fresh vegetable stocks.  They’re only $3.50, including a side of yummy pickled salad and house red salsa.  You can get a hearty, complete meal, which is enough for dinner and a snack later (and sometimes part of lunch the next day) for under $10.

Her sweet tamales are almost always gluten and dairy free.  My favorite (when I could eat it) is the black bean and cheese, which is the most beautiful chocolate shade of black-bean-laced masa filled with corn and just the right, light amount of melty cheese.

Some days I get to the market too late for tamales, but I happily “settle” for a generous side of casamiento and plantains, along with some fresh watermelon juice.

The first taste of the couple I toured last Saturday was plantains and watermelon juice and they happily sipped the cool juice for almost the whole tour.

Go to Pilar’s website for great descriptions of all the menu items, catering and lots more of information.

I’m so thankful for places like Pilar’s for helping me continue to be an inspired foodie.

Are our a foodie with food allergies?  Tell me about your favorite places to eat.  I’ll write about more of my favorites soon.

I’ve lived in Michigan long enough to know not to get too excited about a Spring thaw, but I can’t help myself.  Chirping birds woke me, the snow is melting and the sky is blue.  I couldn’t wait to get to Kerrytown to see what was happening at  the farmer’s market.

I’ve been using the same strategy at the market for 25 years.  I spend no more than10 minutes looking for a free parking space—yes, there is still free parking in Ann Arbor!  But, twice, maybe three times around the block and then I gladly pull out my quarters.   It’s not that I mind contributing to the city’s economy—showing off my city and hopefully stimulating the local economy is the primary mission of my company, Savor Ann Arbor.

I’m just thrilled to find a free spot in town.

Part of my parking success is that I go after noon to avoid the crowds.  I want to savor each stall, smell the herbs, talk with the vendors—and I don’t want anybody in my way.  I’ve been to farmer’s markets around the world, and around the area, but this one is my favorite.

It’s the perfect size for me, like Ann Arbor itself.  There are lots of choices and people who are passionate and proud of their products.  But, it’s small enough to cruise through in 10 minutes.  It gives me the opportunity to feed my family the way my parents fed us in small town Pennsylvania—-with wholesome food mostly grown by people within driving distance of our home.

I changed my cooking strategies in the last few years to focus on the abundance of local ingredients.  My meals for the week depend on my finds at the market.  I shop with a list at regular grocery stores for staples, but I go to the farmer’s market excited to create meals from what’s available and tasty looking.

My starting point at the market depends on my parking space.  No matter where I enter, though, my strategy is the same—-scope out the whole place first, then devise my purchase plan.  Sometimes I’ll go to a particular vendor first to secure a yearning or special ingredient for a recipe that weekend.  But, usually, I cover the whole market before I buy anything.

Today, I bought some eggs, talked to Mary Wessel Walker from Harvest Kitchen about her new venture and had some lunch.  I was excited to see the colorful bottles of Unity Vibration Kombucha at a table and noticed a new person (at least to me) selling home made sauces.  The bread corner was alive and dangerous for me in my current, gluten-free state, so I savored it from afar.  If I could, I’d try one new bread and/or pastry each week and then start all over again.   It always looks so good.

I’d like to hear about your farmer’s market strategies, rituals and experiences on this blog, the Inspired Foodie.

And I can’t wait for April to start my regular market tours on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

Join me for a two-hour stroll through the market, with a few stops while we’re there, through the rest of Kerrytown and the Main Street area.  We’ll learn a little, share a little and savor a lot.

I also create custom tours around your interests and schedule.

Contact me for more info at savorannarbor.com.