Wednesday, May 31, 2006

Manhattan's Own!

Thanks to Dr. Dooowm for his way out diet - remember, gang, if you practice cooking for an hour a day and put a lot of thought and energy into your food choices, in five or so years, you will still not be as good as he is at eating, but you'll be a lot better, and it will be pretty awesome, and in the meanwhile, if you're ever in the middle of the desert, make him cook you dinner, it will be awesome.

We welcome this week (we're playing fast and loose with the concept of week from now on) another Manhattan local celebrity, beloved raconteur Murbles. The dapper diner will be dishing up reports of what he eats, and, if we can coax him into it, a little drink or two. Will I be able to ply him with viognier by week's end? Stay tuned to find out that the answer is yes!

We are also rolling out a slightly augmented FQ, so regard the answers hungrily and the questions critically. The questions, like a good sauce recipe, are being slowly refined with time and testing, and your question-related taste buds are needed to keep it perfect.

Bon appetit! Mangia, mangia!

5/30

OJ
Banana
Coffee from Black Dog

Lunch:
Crab and avocado quesadilla
Chips 'n salsa
Fiesta Salad
several Le Petit Escolier cookies
3 Coronas with lime

Gentlemen's Art Tour:
1/2 bottle of viognier, forget what kind but from Santa Ynez.
The viognier craze has hit LA!

Dinner:
Penne with Trader Joe's tomato basil sauce, plus a green pepper and a sausage.
2 glasses of chardonnay.

Saturday through Tuesday, ZK Style

5/27

Lunch @ Grendel's Den outside, w/ Mom, Dad, and Xtina
Grilled chicken sandwich w/ bbq sauce. OJ. Chips and salsa.

Some crostini and a peppermint patty at my house.

Dinner @ The Chatham Squire
Filet, cooked medium, w/ french fries. 1 bass.

Emack & Bolio's cookies n' cream ice cream w/ hot fudge.

2/3 bottle of Firestone Sauvignon Blanc on the beach. It was too fruity.

Some challah.

5/28

I went for a run and on the way two little girls tried to sell me lemonade. Here's how it went down:

Girl 1: Do you want some lemonade?
Me: (shrus while running) Nope.
Girl 2: Good, because you can't have any!
Girl 1: He's like, 'okay...'

On the way back, running home, I passed them again, this time there were four girls.

Girl 1: Do you want some kool-aid? It's free because you're a runner.
Me: No.
Girl 2: You look like you could use it!
Me: Is there whiskey in it?
Girl 1: No.
Me: Then no.

I don't know why I did that.

Melt-a-way from Bonatt's Bakery. If you are not familiar w/ a melt-a-way, it is like a big piece of sugared bread glazed in sugar.
Toasted challah, turkey, cheez-its, OJ.
White chocolate M&Ms.

@ Spiritus Pizza in Provincetown
1/2 Emack & Bolio's oreo frappe.
1/2 slice of cheese pizza.

1 Sam Adams Black Lager
Chips and salsa.
Chicken sandwich, and one chicken finger from Brax Landing in Harwichport.

Ice cream post "Crash" watching. I was very unsettled after watching Crash, so I needed more ice cream.

5/22

Pancakes and Panceckos. OJ.
Cheez-its. White chocolate M&Ms. Chocolate milk. Turkey.

1 Gala Apple

@ Home in Newton
Chips and salsa.
Grilled chicken.
Broccoli.
Baby carrots.
OJ.
White Rice.
2 chocolate chip cookies.

1 more 1/2 of a cookie.

5/23
On the train to New York.
1 brioche roll.
1 chocolate chip cookie.

Grilled chicken sandwich w/bacon and lettuce. OJ, cookie, oyster crackers, chocolate milk, hot chocolate.

1 gala apple.

Saltines, ice cream.
Chicken kabob sandwich (I don't think I want to go to this place anymore). OJ
Last cookie from home.

2006 May 30

Breakfast time

Iced coffee with milk and sugar

Lunch time

Poseidon - Tiropita - (Feta, ricotta, cream cheese, and "a hint of mint" in fyllo dough)
Banana
17oz Muscle Milk Mocha Joe
BLT with cheese
Most of 16oz baby carrots

Let's get a snack!

Four Hershey's Kisses
Iced coffee with milk and sugar

Dinner time

Crocodile Lounge
Guinness
Cheese pizza

Boy, I'm hungry! Let's go get more dinner!

Popeye's
Thigh and leg
Cole slaw
Biscuit
Orange soda

What a good boy!

I wasn't going to do this, but the guilt was overwhelming. 5/19-5/26 ZK

This will sort of be an interesting review of Mattpod's week last week also.

FRIDAY, one and one half weeks ago.

Internless Lunch w/Mattpod
One bbq chicken drumstick, two pieces of beef, white roll w/olive oil, lettuce, broccoli, chocolate chip cookie, OJ, chocolate milk, and oyster crackers.

I believe I forgot my apple at work. I did this a bunch of days in a row.

Chicken kabob sandwich @ Oasis Falafel.

2 Heinekens and 1 Brooklyn Lager @ The Lucky Cat.

Party @ Sty-town.
Mattpod and I brought over a sweet assortment of different sized beers. I think I had 1 very tall Sapporo followed by a less tall crazy beer? Unclear.

1 bass @ Bua

Some Stellas, maybe a shot, maybe some Pabsts, some of a pitcher @ Blue and Gold

SATURDAY, one week and a half ago.

A few saltines.

Gatorade orange and some of Mattpod's Gatorade Rain.

Chardonnay, Chicken Parmesan, Asparagus, Penne by Mattpod. Some baguette, OJ, and chocolate milk.

3 Miller High Lifes, 2 Brooklyn Lagers, 1 Budweiser @ 30 Rockefeller Center
1 Bass @ The Cutting Room

SUNDAY, a week and a half ago.

Some saltines.

Toasted plain bagel w/ butter from David's Bagels. Bite-size milky way, really gross, from same.

Chocolate chip cookie from green bakery on 1st Ave.

Gatorade orange.

Two smoked turkey on white bread sandwiches from the bodega downstairs. Some Olberto's BBQ beef jerky, some saltines, some haagen dazs cookies 'n cream and cookie dough ice cream. For some reason I became very nervous I would get hungry later so I got two sandwiches.

MONDAY, one week and two days ago.

Smoked turkey, lettuce, pesto, and ketchup on toasted ciabatta bread. Maybe. Chocolate chip cookie, OJ. There were no oyster crackers this week.

I forgot my apple again.

Two slices of Gruppo cheese pizza. I can usually only eat one slice of pizza, but I ordered two because I was afraid of getting hungry again.

TUESDAY, one week and one day ago.

Grilled chicken sandwich, w/ bacon and lettuce. Chocolate chip cookie, OJ.

1 red delicious apple on the way home from work.

Chicken kabob sandwich.
Ice cream.

WEDNESDAY, one week ago today.

Grilled chicken, lettuce, broccoli, OJ, cookie, some candy.

On LIRR on way to Shea Stadium Mets vs. Phillies
1 16 oz bud light.
1/2 turkey and bacon sandwich from Alpine Gourmet Deli.

@ Shea Stadium Tailgate (Conrad, Josty-pie, and Me)
1 16 oz bud light.

@ Shea Stadium
2 bud lights
1 red hook

THURSDAY

Smoked turkey, pesto, ketchup, lettuce on toasted ciabatta bread. OJ, chocolate chip cookie.

Gatorade orange.

3 slices of Luzzo's margherite pizza. This was great!

FRIDAY, 5/26

Cafeteria was closed.

I went to an allergist (who happened to have a huge rash all over his head) and I got tested for food allergies. I thought this was important for everyone to know: I don't have any food allergies. Also the allergist went to high school with Woody Allen, but he (the allergist) doesn't get paid for being so funny. He told me this twice.

Gourmet Food provider on 41st between 5th and 6th:
Smoked turkey on Portueguese roll. Very big chocolate chip cookie. Gala apple. OJ.

1 thin mint.

@ the Lampoon
Senior Dinner was corporate sponsored or something by Magic Hat maybe? Anyway, the only beers were Magic Hat beers and were served in the bizzy by different bartenders than the liquor bartenders. So...
10 Hocus Pocus beers. I felt like a moron every time I asked for a "Hocus Pocus."
Some shots of SoCo, etc.

I am Learning New Languages

Hungarian, spelled phonetically, by me, Mattpod:

"kirsanum" = thank you
"egon" = yes

German:

"kebap" = kebab

I think most people would probably tell you that "egon" is actually "egan," but I prefer to think of a language where you have to say "egon" constantly throughout the day. This is what you talk about when you don't know Hungarian and she barely knows English:

...
Girl: So, when do you have exams?
Me: I am not in school right now, so I don't have exams.
Girl: Yes, but when do you have exams?
Me: Well, I am going back to school next year, so next year.
Girl: Yes, but when do you have exams?
Me: Are you asking when Americans take tests?
Girl: Yes.
Me: Most Americans take their tests in December and May.
...

Finally, instead of a thousand more croissants and pieces of bacon, I just ate a bowl of Chocos for breakast. According to the box, the main ingredient of Chocos is "crunchy chocolate flavoured wheat cereal."

Tuesday, May 30, 2006

Greetings From the Corporate Lounge @ The Intercontinental

Hi Friends, me here, blogging live in Budapest!

Just a quick note and then I will get off and give this computer back to the guy who is currently dealing with a lawsuit (he is now on the phone dealing with some ants or something).

I just got back from the flat of some people I am told are related to me. Supposedly they are second or third or fourth or fifth cousins. I am guessing that a blood test would reveal no more genetic similarities between these people and me than between me and the general populace. Anyway, they served some homemade cake which was chocolate cake baked in pie dough. My brother and I ate this while some people spoke loudly at each other in Hungarian, a language for crazy people. Keep in mind that the room we were in had over a dozen rugs in it (some were on the walls).

Well, that's about it for now. In general, the Swiss and Austrians love their meat ground up and shoved in some intestines and they like their beef young and pink (veal-y). On the plane ride to Zurich I had chicken marsala, rice, carrots, green beans and a brownie all while watching "Last Holiday" -- a movie about Queen Latifah being a chef. Full synopsis to come. For now, a man with a sweater over his shoulders really wants to use this computer.

"Good bye" from Budapest (I don't know how to say this in Hungarian).

Marinade for Fish or Shark

Here is a marinade I stitched together from the internet and experiment that seemed to work well:
Take almost all of a Negro Modelo, a ping-pong ball sized amount of cilantro, a bunch of salt and pepper, about a 1/2 cup of chopped red onion, just a dab of minced garlic. Put these things in a ziplock bag. Squeeze a lime in there, and then toss in the lime remnants. Then throw in a pound of fish, zip it up, toss it about, and let it sit for a while and you will impress all.

5/29/06

TJ's vegetarian breakfast patty

Rice cake

Baguette
Roasted garlic hummus
Diet Dr. Pepper

Glass of white wine

SC takes us on a phenomenal eating tour of the Southwest:
Chips
Fiesta salad
Crab and avocado quesadilla with salsa and homemade guacamole
2 shark tacos (An important element of this part of the meal was that we took a moment to thoughtfully consider man's dominance over shark.)
Some flan
2.5 fancy chocolates
Some chocolate covered espresso beans
Strawberry daquiri
Part of a mojito
Corona
Strawberry margarita
Corona
3-4 shots of ice wine

2006 May 29

I was very angry at food today for not being cold enough and rotting too quickly and so displayed little interest in food.

Golden cola champagne
Two marmite toasts

Kosher dill
Chicken chimichanga

(I had some more soda)

Toast (honey)
Toast (marmite)

In food's defense, I did heat the chimichanga in the oven rather than the 'crowave, and was glad for it. Glad for the comically long amount of time it took to get my pre-cooked food ready. Anyways, screw you, food! You better have made yourself cold by the time I get home, you bunch of bums!

Monday, May 29, 2006

5/28/06

2 slices wheat toast

Farmers' Market:
4 pints Hefeweizen
White bean tomato dip from The Village (I should have written down the name. I think it's called something like Piraki but not quite that.)
Pita
A bite of peanut butter fudge

Club 331:
1 greyhound
1 glass white wine
1 Corona light
1 glass white wine
Baguette and roasted garlic hummus

I can't imagine I didn't eat some Animalitos at some point.

2006 May 28

Orange juice
Woongjin Morning Rice
Two slices Marmite toast
Home fries

Corn chips and guacamole
Bacon sandwich
Orange juice
Two vodkas and soda

Cloister Cafe - Gin & tonic

Corn chips and guacamole
Artichoke tortelloni with parmesan and garlic, oil, pepper and basil sauce
Orange juice

Hanger - Four Pabst Blue Ribbon

Zum Schneider - Jever with "lemonade"

Little Branch
Gin and tonic
Campari and soda

I found comfort seeing another patron at Hanger share my frustrations that his companions declined to dance to the Violent Femmes' "Add It Up." I also discovered the awful secret truth behind Zum Schneider's radleren and russen (?) - for lemonade, they use Sierra Mist. With no disrespect to FoodFriend Murbles's fondness for this soda, I cannot in good conscience call it lemonade. Please advise Lorelei to be grateful for my increased patronage in the future. Still, this is only a small hurt that Zum Schneider has done me, and I do not believe that it should be closed in punishment. My refrigerator has indeed stopped working again. I do not think that I can reasonably shut my fridge down every two weeks to defrost it. So I guess to elaborate on my kitchen wish list mentioned recently, I would like a refrigerator. Maybe even more than I would like a wooden cutting board.

5/28

SK's Donuts:
2 chocolate frosted donuts
Coffee
The charming girl who works there was absent. Also, the coffee did not taste minty as it usually does. This place is the exact perfect distance to walk for donuts.

Farmer's Market:
1/3 Hefeweizen pitcher
Some pita and tomato-based Mediterranean dip
(Strach, specifics?)

Club 331:
2 Greyhounds

Sopranos - Cheebo delivery:
Lasagna
Garlic bread
Red wine

Sunday, May 28, 2006

5/27

Breakfast:
Banana
OJ
Coffee
Croissant

Magnolia:
1 Greyhound

Roscoe's:
Country Boy - 3 wings and a waffle
1 biscuit with gravy
7-Up

2 glasses Pacific Rim riesling

Village Pizza:
2 slices pepperoni pizza
2 glasses chardonnay
1 Red Stripe

Karaoke:
5 small glasses, yogurt soju

5/27/06

Egg whites on wheat toast

Diet Dr. Pepper

Leftover tofu shirataki with tomato sauce and peas

Farmers' Market:
Zucchini ikra from Moishe's
2 glasses pinot grigio

Later:
1 glass white wine
Animalitos

I dreamed I was at a cocktail party:
Thinly sliced fish topped with cheese and a slice of avocado on a cracker
Bread dipped in guacamole
Apple slice dipped in peanut sauce*

*This food was all prepared by my 3rd grade best friend, a Mormon girl named Bridget.

2006 May 27

Vanilla Silk
Bacon
Oatmeal with honey
Orange juice
Two slices of toast with marmite

Nachos with refried black beans, jalapeños, cheddar and jack cheese, diced tomatoes, and black olives.
Grapefruit soda
Tangerine
Golden cola champagne
Edy's peach bar

Some honeydew
Gorgonzola
Vodka and soda

Vodka and grapefruit soda
Two slices of toast with marmite
Corn chips and guacamole
Kosher dill pickle
Two dark chocolates
Two vodkas and grapefruit soda

My refrigerator appears to have broken again last night after have been filled, by me, with many groceries, all of which cost me money. Please await the results of my investigation into whether it has resumed normal function over night, which may or may not be nothing but swears.

Saturday, May 27, 2006

5/26/06

Trader Joe's vegetarian breakfast patty
Coffee from CB&TL, black

Rice cake

Leftover tilapia en papillote
Diet Dr. Pepper

Tofu shirataki* with homemade tomato sauce and peas
4 glasses white wine

At SC's:
1 greyhound
A taste of peanut sauce
Some cookies
A peanut butter cup

*Tofu shirataki was a Whole Foods impulse buy. It is tofu and yam flour made into noodles. This time I got the fettuccini shape; Next time I think I will try the Asian noodles shape.

2006 May 26

McDonald's #9 - Bacon, egg, and cheese McGriddle with a hash brown and coffee

A slice of plain old awful pepperoni pizza
Small Diet Mountain Dew
Sprite

Banana
Arizona Green Tea Energy Drink
Carr's rosemary crackers with port wine cheddar cheese spread

X3 - Medium Hi-C Flashin Fruit Punch

Two slices Marmite toast
Edy's peach bar

I felt that enough time had passed since the launch of the McGriddle that I could judge one free of the mess of confused emotion stirred up by the release of and initial response to a new food. It was pretty crappy. A grumpy feeling inside my stomach meant I did not have to sweat the quality of the day's food too much.

Farewell and a Taste of Things to Come

Well foodfriends, we may not be speaking for a little while as I take some time away from New York City. I will be traveling to Zurich, Vienna, Budapest and Berlin over the next week and half. I will try to make some reports from abroad, and I will make sure to keep notes and fill everyone in on all things gustatory when possible. I will also try to find some time to post notes about the tasting menu I had last night to celebrate my brother's 21st. Until then, take care and eat well.

5-26

Kraft Easy Mac
Orange Juice

Evolution Defense Up juice

Some chips and salsa

5 Greyhounds
Sweet and Sour chicken from Sunset Thai

5/25/06

Egg whites and wheat toast
Grapefruit juice

Diet Coke

Cooking with CB, test bites of:
Refried beans with cilantro and cumin
Mexican rice
Guacamole
Banana bread
We also made chicken enchiladas for the grown ups and chicken tacos for CB Jrs. CB cooked the corn tortillas in oil for the tacos. I guess my mom did not make this up.

Farmers' Market:
2 glasses pinot grigio

Home:
Tilapia en papillote with herbs and tomatoes
Hummus and chips
Animalitos
3 glasses white wine

Comments

I know they can be tough to follow, but do let's try and look alive on the comments. Many FRs consider that their favorite element.

Friday, May 26, 2006

yesterday

yesterday I ate decently

Bellagio Buffet
2 sausages
lots of pineapple
lots of watermelon
coffee
some bacon
some O'Brien potatoes
some of a blueberry muffin

Airplane:
Club soda with lemon

Monsieur Marcel's, Farmers Market
5 glasses of Veuvray white
Croque Monsieur with fries
some bites of cheese

She-hubbs, I found the Bellagio breakfast buffet a little lacking - I think the key is to go to a buffet in between breakfast and lunch, so you get more things. But there were no huge ticket items where I felt I could earn my money back. L got an omelette, so that helped I suppose.

2006 May 25

Woongjin Morning Rice

Cheese croissant
Banana
Iced coffee with milk and sugar
Bolthouse Farms Perfectly Protein Mocha Cappuccino with Whey Protein

Arizona Crazy Cocktail
Subway - BMT
Four Hershey's Kisses

Amy's - Focaccia with goat cheese, eggplant, and tapenade

7 Eleven - 3.5 oz "Big Gulp" brand generic milk chocolate bar

Art
Three okay white wines
One pretty bad red
Most of 16oz Grolsch - (I was drinking this on the walk home and realized that I was walking up to a police station so I ditched it)

Home
Four viognier spritzers
16oz PBR
Smirnoff Ice
Maybe another Smirnoff Ice?
Possibly another beer or two?
I don't really know.
This was the point in the evening where I shed my daytime masque of civility and propriety and turn into a beast, a hilarious gamboling beast shouting and drinking.

Thursday, May 25, 2006

2006 May 24

Orange juice

Subway - Turkey Breast (herbs & cheese, chipotle southwest, American)
Mountain Dew Slurpee (with funny kung-fu "frawg" straw)
Black Pepper Jack Doritos
Four Hershey's Kisses

Amy's
Iced coffee with milk and sugar syrup
Rosemary roll

Pane Peppe
Verona - fried eggplant, mozzarella, and roasted peppers on seeded submarine roll
Salt bagel with cream cheese, toasted
330 mL San Pellegrino Limonata

Orange juice

5/24/06

1 glass grapefruit juice*
Hummus and French bread

1 Strachiccino (This is the adorable name I have given the homemade Frappuccino I made on this day.)

Diet Dr. Pepper

1 bowl oatmeal with cinnamon

Farmers' Market:
French bread from Bread Basket (Not as good as Monsieur Marcel)
2 glasses pinot grigio

Home:
French bread and pita with hummus
Animalitos
3 glasses white wine

*This was the titty-tini grapefruit juice SC left over at our place. The brand is Evolution Organic and it is the best grapefruit juice I have ever had. It tastes exactly like a grapefruit. Where did you get it SC? Whole Foods? TJ's?

5.24.06

Apple crisp instant oatmeal

Key lime yogurt
Baby carrots
Chocolate snack pack

Shea Stadium
2 beers
1 PREMO Italian sausage w peppers/onions
Some popcorn

Wednesday, May 24, 2006

6th Street Dining Club and Magnificence Consortium

An excellent meeting of the SSDC&MC took place this past monday. Much club business was taken care of and it was reported that club financials continue to be strong despite the recent market downturn. In attendeance were foodfriends Strach, SC, myself and food associate L.

The theme of the meal was "Many Things I Have Recently Eaten and One Thing That It's Been A While Since I Ate." The menu was as follows:

APERITIF:
*Queen Victoria's Titty-tini (courtesy of SC)

FIRST COURSE:
*Raw oysters with following choice of fixin's - cucumber mignonette sauce, cocktail cause, jalapeno tabaso sauce, tobasco sauce, prepared horseradish.
*2005 Honey Moon Viognier to drink

SECOND COURSE:
*Mussels Saganaki (mussels simmered with tomatoes and feta)
*Lamb Gyros
*Tzatziki
*Grilled zuchinni
*Pita bread
*2001 Renato Ratti Marcenasco to drink

DESSERT:
*Strawberries and mascarpone
*2000 San Michele A Torri Vinsanto to drink
*Hazelnut coffee with a dash of some mint liquor leftover from the Conrad days of 331.

POST-DINNER DRINKS:
*Martinis
*2002 Carmenet Chardonnay (courtesy of Strach's wine cellar)

Over the course of the night, four bottles of wine and one bottle of gin were consumed by the four diners present. My own tasting flight continued after all others retired for the evening when at ~4am I had a slice of Damiano's cheese pizza followed immediately by the #11 meal at Carl's Jr. (bacon cheeseburger, fries, and a large soda). I believe it was my first trip ever to a Carl's Jr. Not bad.

I have no time to waste on moderation.

5/23/06

Kashi cereal with milk

Pad thai
(CB and I didn't cook today, but we did reheat her leftover pad thai)

Diet Dr. Pepper

Some animalitos

Farmers' Market:
2 glasses pinot grigio
Some French bread from Monsieur Marcel

Home:
More of the French bread
Roasted garlic hummus from Whole Foods (great)
Red lentil hummus from same (not great)
Leftover curried lentils and mussels saganaki
2 glasses chardonnay

At Boardner's:
2 glasses white wine

Then while everyone hung out in the bar I went to take a nap in DC's car.

Guest log 5/23

Lunch: at Baja Fresh
1/2 Burrito Mexicano (with pinto beans, mild salsa, and cheese)
chips, pico de gallo, guacamole
Diet Pepsi

Snack: Large plastic bag of chopped, chilled fresh things (watermelon, cucumber, jicama) sprinkled with chili powder, salt, and lime juice -- bought from a roadside vendor in Echo Park
I can't convey to you quite how awesome this was. The jicama was whatever, the cucumber was great, but the sweet, juicy watermelon -- combined with the saltiness and the strong-but-not-overwhelmingly-spicy chili powder -- was a brand new taste sensation that I just cannot get over.

Cocktail hour: at Lowenbrau Keller
2 mugs of Spaten (combo of dark and light)

*Dinner: at Mexico City
chips with red salsa and green salsa
chicken enchiladas with verde sauce
beans and rice

Later: at Boardner's
2 Bud Lights

* this meal was coupled with a Giovanni Ribisi sighting.

That's it for me. Thanks for having me, guys!

2006 May 23

Orange juice
Two Marmite toast

Iced coffee with milk and sugar
Diet Coke - Most of the other writers had left the room and left this bottle of Diet Coke behind for me to steal. I don't even like Diet Coke! Sorry, friend.

Smiler - BLT with cheese on toasted wheat with mayo
Arizona Performance Extreme Energy Shot
Bag of baby carrots
Ponzo - Mocha cake
Hershey's Kiss
Bite of Ponzo fruit tart
20oz Arizona black tea with ginseng and honey

Popeye's - Breast, thigh, biscuit, cole slaw, cherry coke

Home
16oz PBR
BLT with cheese on toasted wheat with mayo - watercress for lettuce - yes after I ate a BLT with cheese for lunch I padded out an already full dinner with a BLT with cheese

Bowery Bar - Two gins and tonic
Fish - Tanqueray and tonic
Typhoon - a generous half of a 10oz bottle of Suichi sake
Heathers - Pint of Stella Artois
Home - Three Pabst Blue Ribbon

Tuesday, May 23, 2006

1000 Words on the Topic of My Kitchen

5/22/06

Kashi cereal with milk

Rice cake

Egg white and soy bacon sandwich, foreman-ed
Carrot sticks
Diet Dr. Pepper

1 glass white wine

v.Danger made dinner:
Oysters in the half shell (I ate one with v.Danger's special dressing, one with cocktail sauce, one with cocktail sauce and tabasco)
Grilled zucchini
Mussels saganaki (top notch food, this)
Tzatziki
Tomatoes
Strawberries dipped in chocolate sauce
Animalitos (knock-off animal crackers. Totally unnecessary addition to the gourmet feast I had just eaten.)
Most of a Queen Victoria's Tittytini
2 glasses viognier (you were all right)
1 glass red wine
Some coffee with thin mint liqueur
2 glasses dessert wine
2 glasses white wine
Most of a martini

This is where the night ended for me. But I think it would be to everyone's benefit if former food correspondent v.Danger reported his eating from 5/22/06.

In Step With: Strach

When was the last time you ate an entire, full-size candy bar? What kind of candy bar was it?
Too long ago to remember. I am currently working my way through a king-sized Hershey's Special Dark, and I've eaten boxes of Good & Plenty and bags of M&Ms, but that's not the same thing.

What is a food you ate all the time as a kid, but which now disgusts you?
My favorite food was and probably still is tacos. When I was little and my mom would make them she would cook the ground beef and then cook the corn tortilla in the beef fat. I thought this was totally normal. It was unbelievably delicious, but I would never eat it now.

A quirk of fate leaves you in each of the following cities for long enough to have only one meal. What/where do you eat? Portland, Cambridge, New York, LA.
Portland: This place Montage that's under a bridge and all the waiters wear funny white chef-like jackets and if anyone orders oysters they yell "OYSTERS!"
Cambridge: I'd like to think I would go to Darwin's, but I'd probably end up going to Felipe's.
New York: This is hard; I ate at a ton of good restaurants in NYC. I would probably choose Miracle Grill which is high-end Mexican. It seems weird to go to NYC for Mexican, but this food was great.
LA: For a variety of reasons I have not really explored the LA restaurant scene. I have yet to have a great restaurant meal here. So...Baja Fresh?

What is a recent food impulse buy which you regretted? Which you were delighted by?
Regretted: Granola bars from the 99cents store. They were gross and greasy. This is one of the few times I have been let down by the 99cents store.
Delighted: Ralph's brand animal crackers.
To be perfectly frank, though, most of the food I buy is on impulse.

What was the most satisfying meal you ever prepared for yourself and ate while totally drunk?
Not a meal, but I did my St. Patrick's Day baking totally drunk. The upside was that it meant my soda bread was very energetically kneaded and delicious. The downside was that it meant I thought it would be a good idea to triple the amount of Scotch in the icing of my stout cake.

If you had to have one of the FoodFriends design your diet for a week, whom would you select?
MMW for food. But I would have Jack design my alcohol diet for the week. Beyond quantity, I am impressed with the variety of alcohols Jack drinks. I feel like my own drinking lately has gotten pretty one-note.

What are the shows you watch the most on Food Network? What are your thoughts on: Rachael Rae, Alton Brown, Nigella Lawson?
I don't watch the FN much, so instead I'm going to talk about the food blogs I read every day. Slashfood is a great general blog for both news and recipes. Vegan Lunch Box, which I've mentioned before, is a blog I love. Bakingsheet probably has highest incidence of recipes I would actually consider making. Simply Recipes is good, too. Accidental Hedonist has news and recipes and I like the author's tone. I think Fresh Approach Cooking might be moving up my list of faves. The Spirit World is where I go for booze news; it's only so-so; I'm sure there are better blogs out there. The LA-specific food blogs I read ( la.foodblogging, Rate a Restaurant, and Eating L.A.) have not proved that helpful. Is My Blog Burning? is a blog about food blogging; I like to know what the insiders are talking about. There are a few others in my bloglines, but these are the ones I have a sense of.

What food staple would it be most difficult for you remove from your diet?
I would be angriest to lose lentils, which I consider the perfect food. Although, I have tried a few times to quit saltines, and found that to be an exercise in futility.

Also, do you prefer plastic wrap or aluminum foil?
I use plastic wrap more, but obviously I like aluminum foil better.

Name a fruit, meat, soda, and candy you despise.
Fruit: I will eat any fruit.
Meat: Despite what you might assume, meat doesn't gross me out. Although, once CB and I tried to cook pho, which involves boiling beef bones for several hours. You have skim grey-brown foam from the top of the pot, and the meat particles start falling off. This grossed me out pretty bad.
Soda: I don't like vanilla flavored sodas.
Candy: I won't eat chewy chocolate (Charleston Chews, Tootsie rolls)

I have a teleporter, and can send you anywhere in the world for dinner. Where will you go, what will you have?
I would go to India and eat whatever was cooking.

Do you have any well-loved or detested cookbooks?
I get most recipes from the internet. I have a basic vegetarian cookbook that I use. In NYC I had subscriptions to Vegetarian Times and Everyday Food, which I liked, and I cut recipes out to create my own make-shift cookbook. I have to say that while Bittman might be boring, his How to Cook Everything is a great utility cookbook.

Name a food that evokes a strong memory of a particular time and place in your life.
There was a period of time sophomore year of high school when I was playing a lot of Mario 2 and eating a lot of red licorice (I was really awesome in high school.).

What is your relationship to caffeine?
I didn't really get into it until college, but I think it's amazing. I think modern American industrial and financial and intellectual success is built on it.

What is the best burger you've ever had?
I really liked Better Burger's veggie burger with sauteed mushrooms.

Describe a work of art that inspired or affected your eating.
In one of the Nine Stories (Uncle Wiggly?) people are eating cucumber sandwiches and it made me wish I liked cucumber sandwiches. F. Scott Fitzgerald short stories make me wish I drank high balls all the time.

In my family we often took to calling Ramen Noodles "Trash Noodles." Do you have any cute food nicknames?
My grandma used to make me and my cousins a thing called a dog house. She would scramble an egg and that was the dog, and over it she would stack srips of heavily buttered toast (the brand of toast was Russian Village and it was sort of like English muffin toast, really absorbed the butter), and that was the dog house. It was my favorite thing. Another thing she makes for the little ones is sliced up hot dogs sauteed in butter and she calls them weenie pennies. She is a pretty spectacular lady.

Based on what you've read of the diets of each food reporter, which food reporter would you eat?
MMW. He is like the beautifully reared Kobe beef cows, or whichever ones they feed gourmet food and beer and massage so that the meat is perfect.

Along the lines of "Salt," "Cod," and "History of the World In Six Glasses," what foodstuff would you most like to read a book about?
I have a soft spot in my heart for foods like Root Beer and Graham crackers and other offspring of American Temperance. I would like to know more about what crazy foods crazy religious people created that they thought would counteract feelings of lust and cultivate moral character.

Is there any food you are embarrassed about how much you like it?
I am pretty embarrassed about the quantity of saltines I eat. Recently I was up to two boxes a week (that's eight columns). Sometimes I try to go for awhile without buying them, but I'm only human. I'll stop buying them when perfection stops existing.

What was your favorite meal in the Harvard dining halls? How much would you pay to eat this meal tonight?
I loved taco/nacho bar days. I would pay 5 bucks to have access to a nacho bar.

Guest log 5/22: the most typical food day for me

Lunch: at "Ace's"
1 crispy chicken sandwich with lettuce, tomato and mayo
curly fries with "horsey sauce"
unsweetened iced tea

Dinner: angel hair pasta with butter and parmesan/romano
1 glass Black Swan shiraz
a few red seedless grapes

Later: at the Roost
1 whiskey and soda
lots of very salty popcorn

5.22.06

Oxford Cafe
2 slice cheese pizza + diet coke lunch deal
1 sesame pretzel from coworker

Omelette w/ tomato, scallion, mozzarella -- I learned that Associated Supermarket does not carry fresh terragon which, for whatever reason, I really wanted in my omelette last night. It was still fine. Also, I consulted dictionary.com and omelette can also be omelet. I went with the feminine I guess.
Chocolate chip cookie

A Full Table

When you love food as much as we do (a lot), you start to take a pretty "hakuna matata" approach to trifles like scheduling. Because of one of our hilarious scheduling snafus (or should I say "sna-foods"?), we have the pleasure of overlapping guests at our table. From the great metropolis of New York, Mr. danooowms joins us. We look forward to his delightful food diarism and the pleasant feelings of jealousy his standard of eating will raise in us. Hooray!

2006 May 22

Woongjin Morning Rice
Orange Juice
Two slices of Marmite toast

Sobe Elixir
Grand Sichuan - Chicken with black bean sauce, veggie fried rice, and hot and sour soup
Five Hershey's Kisses

Banana
16oz Orangina
Five more Hershey's Kisses

Orange Juice
Spinach
Pork gyoza with soy sauce

Jason brought me some delicious Chili cheese fries from Ray's
Two slices of Marmite toast
Mug of Horlicks

Why no drinky, Jack? A: I fell asleep watching SpongeBob on my couch.

Monday, May 22, 2006

5/21/06

Trader Joe's breakfast patty
Coffee, black

Rice cake

Leftover Ethiopian
Diet Dr. Pepper

A bowl of Kashi with milk

Egg white sandwich with spinach and feta on wheat, foremaned

3-4 glasses white wine
Leftover lentils as a dip on Trader Joe's whole wheat tortilla chips

Guest Reporter: Jane Goodall

Breakfast: Half a slice of whole wheat toast with Seville orange marmalade or marmite and a cup of coffee (shade grown and organic and fair trade, when possible)

Lunch: Broccoli or sprouts or some other vegetable, a small boiled potato--or half a jacket potato with cheese. Just occasionally this is varied by a homemade and very cheese-y macaroni and cheese or quiche. Then another cup of coffee and a couple squares of chocolate or something sweet.

Supper: Scrambled egg on the other half of my breakfast toast and a glass of red wine.

Source, linked by douthat

Pittsburgh, cont.

Pamela's:
Bacon, 2 scrambled eggs, buttermilk pancakes
Coffee with lots of cream and sugar

MMW's:
1 Wolaver
Bite of Schrafen Berger chocolate

Kuhn's:
1 Li'l Debbie Nutty Bar
Some sips of Vault (do not drink this)

The W family:
2 large tumblers, Apleton rum with lime and sugar. A marvelous aid to conversation.
Cowboy chicken, ala Emeril.
White wine
Brownie with coffee ice cream
The Ws have a tremendously healthy and jovial attitude towards food and drink.

Guest log 5/21

Breakfast: 1 bowl Post raisin brain with plain Silk

Lunch?: raw baby spinach dipped in hummus

Dinner: at Dino's Pizza, in Burbank
Jeff and I really love this place. The food can't be beat. Also, it's in the heart of Burbank, so they have dozens of really awesome signed celebrity pictures on the wall, including one of the cast of "Three's Company." My favorite one is of actor Doug Savant. It says, "To my friends at Dino's Pizza: thank you for the years of support! -Doug Savant." Do you think they were lending him money?
1 slice cheese pizza
Many "cheese dippers" (these are basically like white pizza cut into long rectangles, and you dip them in marinara)
Diet Lemonade

During "Sopranos": 1 Jameson and soda
2 glasses Black Swan shiraz

Weekend In Review 3, 5.21.06 -- Sunday

Le Pain Quotidien
Cup of cold gazpacho w/ bread
Chicken curry salad sandwich w/ cranberry chutney
Bite of chicken sandwich w/ arugula pesto, some other stuff

Gatorade rain, berry flavor

Peter Cooper Village
Sierra Nevada Wheat Ale
Newcastle
Biscuit w/ honey butter
Caesar salad
Homemade mac & cheese by Kim & Caitlin
Yellow cake w/ chocolate frosting
Milk

This was a good meal and I would say probably had enough carbs and saturated fat to last me a few weeks. Luckily I was able to watch the beginning of The Skulls again. Anyway, good work Kim & Caitlin, that was actually probably the first time I've ever had homemade baked mac & cheese. Oh, and with reference to a debate during dinner, I was not able to figure out what, if any, European lineage there is for macaroni & cheese, but legend has it that it was invented by Thomas Jefferson.

Weekend In Review 2, 5.20.06 -- Saturday

"Banana bread" instant oatmeal -- I guess the lesson is that banana flavorings are just not very good in instant oatmeals.

Gatorade Rain, tangerine flavor

Chardonnay
Asparagus -- I took Mark Bittman's recent advice in the Times and peeled my thick asparagus below the floret before cooking (I sauteed w/ garlic, shallots, and some lemon zest at the end). I was pretty glad I did, they came out well and looked really nice.
Penne
Chicken Parmesan -- I didn't make my own sauce. I used Paesano pomodoro marsala, which is a little pricier than most bottled sauces, but I really like it because it has the sweet marsala wine flavor in it.

30 Rockefeller Center
Miller High Lifes
Budweisers
Cocktail hotdogs
1 bitesize brownie
1 bitesize blondie (I think)
1 bocconcini

The Cutting Room
Guinness

Weekend In Review 1, 5.19.06 -- Friday

Internless Lunch @ The New Yorker
Grilled chicken w/ citrus vinaigrette
Couscous w/ strawberry, fennel?
Curry tofu
Creamed corn
Chocolate chip cookie

Intern Julie Yang resigned. Now Zach and I just eat awkwardly with really halting conversation. It's a pretty unnerving and sad way to spend a lunch hour. You probably should have this entry really slowly and thoughtfully.

Oasis Falafel
Falafel

The Lucky Cat
Whiskey/cokes

Stuyvesant Town Party
Murphy stouts -- This, as it turned out, was not a party but was Conrad and Karnofsky watching Dog Whisperer.

Bua
Guinness

Blue and Gold
Guinness -- Not necessary.

2006 May 21 - I bought a toaster today - see if you can spot the difference

Woongjin Morning Rice
Two slices Marmite toast (Stroehmann's Xtreme Wheat)
Orange juice
BLT with mayo on toasted Xtreme Wheat
Coffee with milk and sugar
One slice of Marmite toast
One slice of honeyed toast
Golden cola champagne
Edy's Whole Fruit Peach bar

Macaroni and cheese with Italian sausage
The final, prostate milking products of my tube of Dtour
Chardonnay spritzer
Small chardonnay
Tecate

Update:
I forgot to write that I also had right before beddy-bye
Delicious mug of warm Horlicks
Two slices of marmite toast
Hooray!

Sunday, May 21, 2006

5/20/06 - Saturday

At the party house:
Jeff's oatmeal

At the Jet Propulsion Laboratory Open House:
Diet Coke

At the DOM'99 BBQ:
EAP touched on this, but I guess DOM's GF is known to be a very good cook. This turned out to be completely true.
1 Corona with lime
2 eggplant mozzarella pinenut bruschetta things (This apparently contained chocolate and brown sugar, but it was savory. It was delicious.)
Spinach and artichoke dip on chips
Homemade mac & cheese
Potato salad
A biscuit
Half of BFD's veggieburger (w/ cheese, ketchup, mustard, tomato)
3 or so glasses red wine

Pan popcorn
A frozen banana with chocolate syrup (I have always wanted to try this. I wasn't that into it.)
3-4 glasses white wine

5/19/06 - Friday

Egg whites on wheat toast

Diet Dr. Pepper

Half a loaf of fresh French bread from the Farmer's Market
1 glass white zinfandel from the bar at the Farmer's Market
1 glass of Pinot Grigio from same

Diet Dr. Pepper

Hummus and French bread

At Nyala Ethiopian restaurant in Little Ethiopia:
Some sort of green pea appetizer with pita
The vegetarian combination: yemiser wot (red lentils), kik alecha (yellow split peas), defen yemiser wot (brown lentils), yatakilt wot (mixed vegetables), yabesha gommen (collard greens), injera (spongey bread)
1 glass Ethiopian white wine

At the party house:
Hummus on crackers
4-5 glasses white wine

2006 May 20

Vanilla Silk
The last of the Societé roquefort on Carr's Rosemary
Golden Cola Champagne

Rickshaw Dumpling - Six peking duck dumplings with hoisin sauce

Woongjin Morning Rice brown rice drink

Golden Cola Champagne
Gorgonzola & Carr's rosemary
Woodpecker
Barilla elbows, parmesan, parsley, and garlic sauce

Art interlude
2005 Falling Star Sauvignon Blanc
2005 Falling Star Merlot
Pabst Blue Ribbon
I ran into Sally at the Phatory on the way home and she gave me a bit of Chocolate soy ice cream

Two Woodpecker

Party
Blue Moon

Home
Two 16oz Pabst Blue Ribbon
Most of two 16oz Bud Lights, both left mostly full by guests in my home

Guest log 5/20

Breakfast: 1 bowl Post raisin bran with Silk

At NASA/Jet Propulsion Labs Open House:
1 can Diet Coke
About 1 packet (shared) freeze-dried Astronaut Ice Cream

At the Dan Medina Legal Defense Fund barbecue:
1 fried chicken drumstick (KFC)
macaroni and cheese
beans, pinto and white (cooked in crockpot with bacon and carrots)
creamed spinach
1 hot dog with mustard, ketchup, and relish
2 cans Pabst Blue Ribbon
The food at this event was really awesome.

Later, at home:
1 bowl of raw baby spinach, sort of dipped in hummus (leftover from Zankou chicken)
This was kind of weird thing to eat -- not really a salad; not that reasonable a way to eat hummus -- but it tasted good. Tasted strongly of hummus.

At Karaoke, Warbs and Jones's:
Many handfuls of Lay's salt and vinegar potato chips
some more freeze-dried Astronaut Ice Cream
4-5 Red Label and sodas




Saturday, May 20, 2006

Tittsburgh - The Gentleman's Tour

Pamela's:
MMW: breakfast special (3 hotcakes, 2 eggs over easy - touch of hot sauce, bacon), coffee
SC: breakfast special (same but scrambled - lots of ketchup, sausage), coffee

Strip District:
Both: samples of salsa
SC: chocolate cannoli

Gandy Dancer:
MMW: Ketel One martini, rocks, twist
SC: whiskey sour

Redbeards:
MMW: buffalo chicken tenders, German potato salad, Absolut rocks, Yuengling, Dewar's and soda
SC: buffalo chicken tenders, 2 Dewar's rocks, 1 Dewar's and soda

Beehive Coffee:
MMW: Coffee w/ cream and sugar
SC: Cafe Mocha

Piper's Pub:
MMW: Bodington's
SC: Dewar's

PAA:
MMW: Ketel One rocks
SC: Rob Roy

Carnegie Mellon Graduation:
MMW: small strawberry cupcake, 2 pecan tassies.
SC: small coffee cupcake, small coffee

William Penn Tavern:
MMW: 2 20oz. Red Hooks, cheesesteak, some fries
SC: Yuengling, cheesesteak, some fries
MMW reports this a lot, and I for one pictured a Shay's type wood-paneled English pub. It's actually a trashy, very un-MMW sports bar. Tatesome waitresses, d-bag clientele. "I like the cheesesteaks," he claims.

Harris Grill:
MMW: 2 Penn Pilsners
SC: 2 "Aunt Pat's Lemonade"

Guest log 5/19

Breakfast: 1 bowl raisin bran* with plain Silk

Coffee Break: at Starbuck's
1 grande coffee with 2 packets Splenda and a generous splash of half and half

Dunch/Linner: 1 bowl angel hair pasta with butter and parmesan/romano
Handful of seedless red grapes

Around 10 pm, after the harrowing experience of seeing Chan-wook Park's "Sympathy for Lady Vengeance": at In N' Out
1 cheeseburger, animal style

Later, at home/in tub: 4 longneck bottles Bud Light
Jeff brought back 4 insulating beer "coozies" from a recent trip to South Padre Island. If you do not use these on a regular basis for your at-home beer consumption, you are doing yourself a great disservice. They have changed the meaning of beer for me. They make the final third of a can or bottle of beer an icy-cold pleasure rather than a lukewarm chore. Also your hand doesn't get all cold and wet.

*a combination of Kellogg's and Post, as the box of Kellogg's was ending and the Post was on sale. I find I really prefer the Post. The Post flakes are generally more substantial and less mushy.

2006 May 19 - Happy 29th Anniversary of the theatrical release of Star Wars

Iced coffee with milk and sugar

Two slices of pepperoni pizza - absolutely awful
Slice of cheese
Sprite
Diet Coke

Four Hershey's Kisses

Four more Hershey's Kisses

Coldstone Creamery - Love It waffle cone of Cookie Mintster

Friday, May 19, 2006

5/19

Odessa Cafe:
Challah french toast
Bacon
OJ
Coffee (the solids were dreadful, the liquids wondrous)

Newark Airport Pizzeria Uno's:
Spaghetti and meatballs combo
It goes without saying this was terrible. I knew it would be terrible. I don't know why I ordered it. Sometimes people do things that are irrational. That's what you economists will never understand.
Some bites of Schrafen Berger pure dark chocolate

Tessaro's, Pittsburgh:

Barbeque cheeseburger
home fries
Pepsi

Andy Warhol Museum:

Big Apple-tini

Jitters:
Cookies and cream milkshake

Investigation: MMW's Fridge!

FFs, I journeyed to the City of Three Rivers to eat with MMW for a weekend. Here's a peek into his fridge:

1 half-eaten bag, bismati rice
quarter bag, arboria rice
7 bottles, Deer Park water
half a lemon
blueberries
Stonyfield Yogurt
Creme fraiche
parmesan cheese
parsley
spinach
broccoli
zuchini
baby carrots
eggs (a plenty!)
a lot of onions
Royal Gala apples
salted and unsalted butter
mole sauce
citron pickle
strawberry jelly
ketchup
Frank's Red Hot
Whole Foods hot sauce
orange juice
cranberry juice
8 bottles of Wolaver's IPA
LEFTOVER: pasta with red sauce
LEFTOVER: black beans and rice
LEFTOVER: strawberry rhubarb pie

A Lot of Food and a 6 Mile Walk

Thursday, 5/18

4 mini milky way and milky way dark
Chicken in some kind of coconut milk curry thing. Green beans, broccoli, lettuce, white roll w/ butter, chocolate chip cookie, OJ.

Chocolate chip cookie, 3 sips of EdenSoy chocolate milk. Someone told me soy chocolate milk is better than regular skim milk if you have high cholesterol and that it tastes great. It tastes terrible. Also, I only got it because there was no regular chocolate milk.

My boss made me go up to 100th and B'way so that I could watch him play some women's table tennis world champion. She beat him 3 games to 2, but she was using her left hand (her weak hand). Anyway, the point is that then it was raining so my boss took me to dinner at the Metro Diner across the street.

1 Heineken.
Steak Frites, w/ green beans and carrots.

Then I walked home from 100th and B'way, in dress shoes. The park was nice, but this proved to be a wretched mistake.

1/2 glass chocolate milk.
1 Hefeweisen at Radio Perfecto.
4 Stella Artois at Blue and Gold.

Guest log 5/18

Breakfast: 1 bowl Kellogg's raisin bran, with plain Silk

Lunch: at Gaucho Grill, Studio City
"Manager's Special" salad (lettuce, chopped tomato, shredded mozzarella, rice, white beans, honey mustard dressing)
2 pieces French bread

Dinner: at Zankou Chicken (Sunset & Normandie location)
Tarna sandwich (pita, chicken shawerma, chopped tomato, garlic sauce)
hummus with pita
"pickles" (bright pink pickled...radishes? rutabegas? Whatever, I love them)
Small diet pepsi

"The Wire" viewing and hot tub: 2 vodka-and-soda-waters

5/18/06

2 bowls of Kashi, milk

Diet Pepsi from a mall in Sherman Oaks
(Next to the place where I got my soda, there was a place that sold Dippin' Dots. I really wrestled with myself on this one. I wanted to taste the future, but I was also in hurry running errands for my boss. I skipped it. I wish I could have written "Dippin' Dots" here.)

2 apple slice samples from Ralph's

Cooking with CB:
Some pieces of asparagus
We made fish en papillote with a garlic butter sauce, chives, fresh thyme, asparagus, and prosciutto. I have been waiting to make fish en papillote (baked in parchment paper) since before I started eating fish again. I am excited to hear how it turned out.

Curried lentils with spinach and carrots
Roasted garlic hummus
Saltines
Finished off my box of Good & Plenty
2 glasses chardonnay

Whole grain tortilla chips
Salsa
3 glasses chardonnay

5.18.06

Baby carrots
Blueberry yogurt
Chocolate snack pack
Fuji apple

Artie's
2 Potato pancakes
Brisket sandwich, cole slaw
No Dr. Brown's -- The waitress never brought me the Dr. Brown's I ordered but did attempt to charge me for two of them. You picked the wrong rube this time, lady. We gave her a good tip.

Levain Bakery
Nothing -- I heard that this place has pretty special cookies, but it closes at 7 so I couldn't buy any. I thought you would like this little picture of my life.

Blue and Gold
4 Guinness -- I've been drinking so many Jim/Cokes for financial/dietary reasons that I almost forgot that what I really like to drink is Guinness. These made me happy.

This is the website that my browser took me to when I tried to read FoodReporter this morning.

2006 May 18

Breakfast

Mountain Dew Slurpee - This time I got the Magneto medallion - scary!
Zinger
Banana

Lunch

Amy's - Vegetarian White Bean Puree - with "roasted garlic, avocado, tomato, lettuce & a drizzle of lemon oil, on organic whole wheat 5-grain bread"
Arizona Extreme Energy Shot
Zinger
King Size Nestle Crunch Vanilla Ice Cream Bar
Fudge Reese's Bar

The world of art with special guest SC

Heineken
Ensoleil Cuvée blanc de blancs, two cups
A quite poor chardonnay
Half a cupcake with a peace sign piped onto the top

Evening's entertainment

Chumley's - Bud Light

Max
Two glasses Al Verdi pinot grigio
Spaghetti alla luganico
2003 Lyricus rosso piceno

Home
16oz Bud Light
Servings of roquefort and limburger on Dangold water crackers and Carr's rosemary crackers

Thursday, May 18, 2006

5/18

Breakfast:
Banana
OJ
Dunkin' Donuts coffee

Logan Airport Legal Seafoods:
Roll with butter
Bowl of clam chowder with oyster crackers
Coke
Cup of coffee (I know this was too much caffeine, but I had time, and I wanted to continue listening to a conversation at a table near me where a pilot was explaining to a flight attendant how DVDs work)

Newark Airport:
Some chicken tenders with BBQ and Honey Mustard sauce from Miami Subs

The very scenario described in the Questionnaire occured - a quirk of fate, a flight postponement, left me in New York for one mealslength. Let's see how I did.

NYC - Gallery Tour:
Can of Heineken.
2 cups of Ensoleil Cuvee blanc de blancs wine
St. Francis chardonnay (this was nast, as even the pourer agreed. It tasted like butter popcorn Jelly Belly. Jack, please confirm this improbable taste. Most of mine I poured in the gutter.)
1/2 peace cupcake
1 cup undetermined white wine

NYC - Chumley's:

1 beer, undetermined.

NYC - Max:
2 glasses, Al Verdi pinot grigio
1 glass, Lyricus
1 glass, San Gionovese
Lasagna

NYC - Jack's Courtyard:
1 Roquefort cracker
1 Woodchuck cider

Tuesday and Wednesday, ZK

5/16
Grilled chicken sandwich w/bacon, lettuce, pepper, pepper sauce, and ketchup. Chocolate chip cookie, OJ, chocolate milk. White roll w/ pesto. Gala apple.

Chicken kabob sandwich and two spoonfuls of Edy's C'n'C ice cream. I'm buying the next round, MPod.

5/17
Grilled chicken, pepper, pepper sauce, ketchup, broccoli, lettuce, white roll w/ olive oil, choco chip cook, OJ, some mini-milky-ways and some chocolates someone left on a desk that made me feel sick from so much sugar.

1 gala apple.

Grilled chicken sandwich from Odessa w/ fries, OJ. Some chocolate milk, some saltines.

@Jack's
2 Dtour spritzers and 5 crackers

Guest log 5/17

Breakfast: 1 bowl Kellogg's raisin bran, with plain Silk

Lunch: at "Ace's"*
Crispy chicken sandwich with tomato, lettuce and mayo
Curly fries, dipped in "Horsey Sauce"
Unsweetened iced tea

Snack: 1 grapefruit

Dinner: Trader Joe's chicken masala microwave meal

Later: at 101 Cafe
1 side order of potato salad and some mooched sweet potato fries

"Lost" club: 2 vodka-and-soda-waters
Some bites of delicious Trader Joe's guacamole, with tortilla chips (thanks, BFD!)

* "Ace's" is a nickname for a certain fast food chain. A favorite of Jeff's. Can you guess which one?

What I Imagine: JEH Fan Fic

Those of you who work with him might have a better idea, but I assume I have rendered an accurate description of how JEH eats and lives.

Breakfast:
1 Bowl of Cheerios
Sausage and eggs
2 roasted chickens
2 glasses milk

Snack:
Pear from a pear tree at the top of a mountain which I scaled with no harness.

Lunch:
Bear meat sandwich (bear came at me, initially tried resolve things nonviolently, ultimately had to wrestle it to death)
Gatorade

Snack:
Took three local kids out to ice cream after I rescued them from a burning building, no fire suit.

Happy Hour:
Whiskey with the Mayor, who took me out to thank me for the time I caught a bunch of terrorists.

Dinner with Family:
Mom's pot roast
Mashed potatoes with gravy
Green beans
Apple pie a la mode

Out with buds:
50 beers, no hangover

5.17.06

"Cinnamon bun" instant oatmeal

Baby carrots
French vanilla yogurt
Vanilla pudding -- oops! A lot of vanilla.
Fuji Apple

Momofuku
Nigori Sho Chiku Bai sake -- This is unfiltered sake, so it looks sort of milky. It's tasty and sweet. I liked it but probably prefer a good dry sake.
Sip of Caitlin's Hitachino White Ale
Pork bun -- This was a little different than your typical pork bun. The wrapping wasn't in dumpling form, but more like a little sandwich, filled with slices of braised pork belly, pickled cucumber, scallions, hoisin sauce
Momofuku Ramen -- Ramen noodles in broth with shredded pork, braised pork belly, pickled root or vegetable (we decided it was probably bamboo shoot), scallions, fish cake, nori, topped with poached egg
Bite of Kim's ginger scallion ramen
Bite of Caitlin's chicken Ramen

I finally made it to Momofuku. Everything was incredibly good with the exception of the noodles, which were fine but not exceptional. I hope I don't make anyone on the internet mad when I say that I think the noodles themselves are better at Menchanko Tei in midtown -- they are toothier (in a good way) and more flavorful. Everything else was terrific, and even being a novice pork eater, I think I can say the pork (Berkshire) was really great. The pork belly was especially good and tender. In the pork bun, it had a distinctly bacon taste without being fried. So, I guess my opinion is that this place is good and I would/will probably go again, but it maybe isn't quite up to the crazy hype (3 write-ups in the Times 3 weeks in a row). Oh, the portions are also big, I could have shared my bowl of Ramen with someone and saved a bunch of money. Also, they have an attractive hostess.

Jack's Courtyard
Some of Jack's Own DTour spritzers.

5/17/06

Cereal Mix!: Bran buds and fiber flakes
Milk

Saltines

Tilapia sandwich (Leftover Cajun tilapia with mustard and spinach, forman-ed)

Samples at Trader Joes:
Stir-fry
Chocolate chunk cookie

Curried lentils with carrots and spinach
A few Trader Joe's Whole Grain Tortilla Chips (In addition to corn, these contain apple fiber, oat bran, brown rice, and flaxseed, and are apparently a "Good Source of Fiber." They tasted good/normal.)
1 glass chardonnay

Saltines
Trader Joe's roasted garlic hummus
3 glasses chardonnay

Half a king-sized box of Good & Plenty (This is candy I weirdly love, and I like being reminded of a time when people didn't worry themselves about coming up with good names for things.)

2006 May 17

Iced coffee
Banana

Amy's Country Breakfast with wild blueberry preserves
(16oz coffee with milk and sugar, two biscuits, butter, and your choice of Bonne Maman jam, jelly, preserves, and marmalade)

Grand Sichuan
Chicken with garlic sauce
Veggie fried rice
Wonton soup

Sobe Green Tea

Vanilla Silk
Chunky strawberry FrozFruit
Small Pommes Frites poutine
Dtour spritzers - probably about 7 or 8, which you can translate into however many real drinks
A small cheese course, I ate mainly the roquefort which is totally awesome. I also revisited some of the limburger and found it much more to my liking this time.
Tecate
Two Pabst Blue Ribbon

Wednesday, May 17, 2006

5/17

Breakfast:
OJ
Irish soda bread

Lunch:
2 grilled ham and Cabot Seriously Sharp Cheddar sandwiches
The other half of my Cape Cod potato chips
Homemade Dunkin' Donuts coffee

Dinner:
Chicken pot pie
Sam Adams Hefeweizen

This Thing

Hi everyone!

It's LizPhang. Thanks for having me.

Quick note: I feel like I was invited to be a Guestreporter at least partly because of the adventurous Monterey Park luncheon Foodreporter She-Hubbs (and He-Hubbs) and I went on the other day, which, I'm sorry to say, was quite an anomaly and WAY more adventurous than the crap I usually eat. But oh well, here I am. Hopefully this exercise will lead to further adventuring. Anyway, on to the questionnaire.

When was the last time you ate an entire, full-size candy bar? What kind of candy bar was it?
I can't say I remember. I have found that my teeth have become terribly sensitive in the last 6 or 7 years -- so sugar hurts, as does cold stuff. Even the wind blowing into my half-open mouth kind of hurts. Even a warm sort of wind. So I avoid real candy. But sometimes I will buy one of those Ghiradelli baking bars (semisweet) and eat the whole thing. Great to pair with some Yellowtail shiraz. I am also sure I have managed half a Twix sometime in the past year. Mmmmm, Twix.

What is a food you ate all the time as a kid, but which now disgusts you?
As a half-Chinese, my family had a bunch of weird items around the house that were very normal and delicious to me until I figured out what they were. Foremost among them would be something called Pork Sung. I Googled it and came up with this glorious image:

http://www.kibo.com/kibofood/sung.html

Looks like the clipped dreadlocks of an honest-to-God “ginger”, doesn’t it? The same website has an excellent description: “Pork sung is a Chinese breakfast food which has the texture of cotton candy (some say steel wool) and flavor of bacon.” Yes. Exactly. These attributes made it great fun to eat when I was little. Like, to just drop big pinches of it into my mouth. My family had it around to put on top of “Jook”, which is like Chinese oatmeal made of rice. “Jook” is another thing that I used to like but am not that crazy about anymore. I’d rather just have cereal.

A quirk of fate leaves you in each of the following cities for long enough to have only one meal. What/where do you eat? Boston, Cambridge, New York, LA.
Boston: The Cuban Scramble, at Centre Street Café, in Jamaica Plain. It’s really complicated and delicious. Has plantains.
Cambridge: This is lame, but I would probably go to Bertucci’s for a margherita pizza and too many buttered rolls. I really miss Bertucci’s.
New York: Am I paying for these meals? If not, I’d go to Aureole. I went there once, years ago, when I was young and flush with Blue Mountain money. I don’t remember what I ate, but it was awesome.
LA: Gnocchi with marinara, a cappuccino (with a dollop of thick whipped cream), and lots of bread at Al Gelato in Beverly Hills.

What is a recent food impulse buy which you regretted? Which you were delighted by?
The other day I was at Target on an unsuccessful search for a new bathing suit, and I thought I would cheer myself up with a burrito from the adjacent Baja Fresh. I usually like Baja Fresh, but I regretted this particular burrito from the very first bite. I just didn’t want it enough. An impulse buy that delighted me was some little cans of Spicy-Hot V8 that I bought a couple months ago. For a while after that my at-home drink of choice became Spicy-Hot V8 mixed with vodka, though lately I’ve been less jazzed about it. And I get a little sad every time I have to look at the three-quarters-empty (more economical) large-size bottle of V8 sitting in the fridge, with its sides coated with its own contents. Does V8 ever go bad?

What was the most satisfying meal you ever prepared for yourself and ate while totally drunk?
I hardly ever cook stuff when I’m drunk, but the other day I came home from some carousing and cooked up some Thai noodles prepackaged thing that Foodreporter Strach left at our house from when she was staying with us. (Thanks, Strach!) Very satisfying. Light yet filling at the same time.

If you had to have one of the FoodFriends design your diet for a week, whom would you select?
Strach or MMW.

What are the shows you watch the most on Food Network? What are your thoughts on: Rachael Rae, Alton Brown, Nigella Lawson?
I don’t watch a ton of the Food Network. I probably watch “Unwrapped” more often than any of the cooking shows. I like watching machines making food. Chocolate being squired into molds and all that. I like Rachel Ray. I was enchanted by the one Nigella Lawson program I saw. I think she was making trifle, and also (or perhaps it was a separate show?) some grilled pineapple “lollies” dipped in chocolate. I definitely wanted to eat those.

What food staple would it be most difficult for you remove from your diet?
Pasta, definitely. Lately, in my unemployed poverty, I have been eating A LOT of angel hair pasta with butter and parmesan. It has essentially no nutritional value, and it’s delicious. (Also, I add a totally unhealthy amount of salt.)

If I told you that you could only eat one of the following for the rest of your life, but you could always get whatever you chose as fresh and as good as possible, which would you choose? Also, assume that whichever you chose would be seedless: (1) Oranges (2) Clementines (3) Tangerines
Oranges.

Also, do you prefer plastic wrap or aluminum foil?
I use plastic wrap much more often but I PREFER aluminum foil.

Name a fruit, meat, soda, and candy you despise.
Fruit: I don’t think I despise any fruits. I am allergic to mangos, so I’ll say that, since they’re dangerous to me.
Meat: chicken feet (I was brave and actually tried these once, during a family dim sum outing. The soft, bloated texture of the skin is really hard to take).
Soda: I associate both Sprite and Ginger Ale with being sick as a kid, and I have never been able to enjoy them.
Candy: anything licorice. Also, since I’m allergic to peanuts, I kind of despise peanut-related candies for tempting me so cruelly.

I have a teleporter, and can send you anywhere in the world for dinner. Where will you go, what will you have?
Right now I would go to this seafood place in Maine called Tidal Falls for lobsters and steamed mussels dipped in garlic butter. I haven’t been to this place since I was like 11 and I’m pretty sure it doesn’t exist anymore, but this teleporter is also a time machine, right?

Do you have any well-loved or detested cookbooks?
I have definitely not stepped up to the plate in my adulthood with regard to cooking. A few years ago my oldest sister compiled a notebook of beloved family recipes and gave a copy to my other sister and me, so I will have to say that is by far my most well-loved cookbook because it’s full of nostalgic recipes. Even though I never actually make them.

Name a food that evokes a strong memory of a particular time and place in your life.
“Light” hostess twinkies = the beginning of high school. They would be a lunch-time or after-school snack, bought in the little cellophane two-pack from the CVS right by my high school. They totally encompass the misery and anxiety of high school for me.

What is your relationship to caffeine?
I don’t think I’m totally dependent but I definitely feel better on days when I have coffee. On days when I am too lazy to go out and get coffee I’ll have some English Breakfast tea.

What is the best burger you've ever had?
In n’ out animal style cheeseburger is by far my favorite. I think my family cooked pretty good burgers when I was a kid but they always insisted on using English muffins as buns, and I HATED that. I still kind of hate it. A hamburger bun should be pillowy soft.

Are there any foods that would receive an f- grade from you?
I had to taste this thing when I was in Russia that was the grossest thing I’ve ever had in my life. It was like a molded sort of pie, with cabbage and mayonnaise, I think, and an overpowering fishy element. F-.

Describe a work of art that inspired or affected your eating.
“Like Water for Chocolate” got me excited about trying mole sauce. Reading that recent article about pig farms in Harper’s made me want to try to stop eating pork, though I doubt I ever actually will. Do either of these things count as works of art?

In my family we often took to calling Ramen Noodles "Trash Noodles." Do you have any cute food nicknames?
My family actually called Ramen noodles “Topperamen” (like, TopperRAYmen, not TopperRAHmen). Not sure why. Part of the reason was that the brand of ramen we usually bought was “Top Ramen”, but I don’t know how the words got blended together, or why no one knew how to pronounce “Ramen” correctly. Also Kraft American cheese was called “Lizzie cheese” for a very long time, because I, Lizzie, really enjoyed eating it.

Based on what you've read of the diets of each food reporter, which food reporter would you eat?
Strach.

Along the lines of "Salt," "Cod," and "History of the World In Six Glasses," what foodstuff would you most like to read a book about?
I have still never read “Fast Food Nation.” I really want to read that. I suppose I would also read a book about Pork Sung. But it would mostly consist of fan fiction about Pork Sung.

Is there any food you are embarrassed about how much you like it?
Kraft macaroni and cheese. String cheese. Pickles.

What was your favorite meal in the Harvard dining halls? How much would you pay to eat this meal tonight? If this meal were available in Staten Island, would you be willing to travel there to eat it?
I was a big fan of Sunday brunch, with the chicken-and-broccoli things. I would usually eat two of those and then one of those cinnamon twist pastries. I would pay 6 dollars for this meal. I would not travel to Staten Island for it.

Whew! Look at that! It’s almost time for “Lost” club.

5/16/06

2 slices wheat toast

Mocha Frappuccino

Spicy stir fried string beans from Something Wok in Studio City

Cooking with CB:
1 Bowl of risotto with mushrooms, carrots, zucchini, and asparagus
Some vegetables from a chicken-vegetable stir fry
(The food we made this day was v good)

2 glasses white wine

DiGuestion!

We welcome another young lady reporter this week - LizAnn will be joining, offering her unique "take" on putting stuff in your tummy.

5.16.06

"Lotsa lemon" yogurt
Baby Carrots
Chocolate snack pack
Fuji apple

Professor Thom's
Chicken club w/ house made potato chips (these were potato chips)
2 Harpoon IPA -- Prof. Thom's is overpriced but it is the closest Red Sox bar to me and the Harpoons (which I don't particularly like) are $3 during games.

Blue and Gold
2 Jim/Coke

May 16

Breakfast:
Banana
OJ

Lunch:
Two grilled ham and swiss sandwiches with Old Cape Cod honey mustard (this mustard is great)
Half of the larger size small bag of Cape Cod Potato Chips
homemade Dunkin' Donuts coffee

Snack:
Two brownies
Barq's root beer

Joy Luck, Needham:
Hot & sour soup
Chicken with cashews
Scallion pancakes
Chicken lo mein
Mai Tai
2 glasses Rosemount Chardonnay

2006 May 16

Orange juice
Banana
Iced coffee

H&H
Salt bagel
Everything bagel
Chives cream cheese
Nantucket Nectars pineapple orange banana - "Nantucket's Whaling Museum first opened in the summer of 1930."

Orange juice
Vanilla Silk
Taylor Fladgate fine ruby port
Fillet mignon heavily seasoned with sea salt and pepper, fried in peanut oil and unsalted butter, served in its own juices deglazed with port and several "coins" of roquefort butter (chilled roquefort pressed into butter with a modest dash of tabasco)
Watercress
Barilla elbows with Classico Mushrooms and Ripe Olives, garlic, and parmesan
Another glass of Fladgate

Blue & Gold - Tanqueray and tonic

Home - Dtour spritzer

I was a bit disappointed with my steak - I expected a steak with that much associated cachet attached to it to be better than the average steak I prepare for myself. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't awesome, either. I think I prefer roquefort off my steak to on. Watercress, though, is a great thing to eat. It's fun and easy, and according to Wikipedia, "...it acts as a mild stimulant..." and "...an expectorant." After finishing the steak and watercress dinner (which, by the way, cost me about twenty dollars in raw materials) I was still pretty hungry so I had a bowl of pasta which, one must confess, was at least as good as the steak. In conclusion, I suck.

The bagels at H&H are good.

Tuesday, May 16, 2006

A Few Days

3/15
Toast with strawberry jelly
Bran buds with milk

Rice cake

Pita and hummus
A peppermint "Freddo" (This is what a frappuccino is called at Peet's Coffee)

The Hoop is in town for a night:
Saltines
3 glasses white wine

Some Thai place in Culver City
(We all shared. This is all I can remember:)
Spring rolls
Coconut fish stew
A bunch of tofu, some vegetables
Something with shrimp and kidney beans
A green curry
Rice
1 Bud Light

At some bar in Culver City:
3(?) pints Bud Light
Chips and salsa

Why was I in Culver City?


3/14
Oatmeal with banana and cinnamon
Coffee

Rice cake

Peanut butter and banana cinnamon sandwich
Carrot sticks
Animal crackers

Piece of dark chocolate

Filet of tilapia, which I marinated in some kind of "Cajun" spice sauce
Wilted spinach and tomatoes

2 glasses white wine
Saltines

5/13

Grapefruit juice
Grapes
Toast

Tuna sandwich (thyme, rosemary, tomatoes, spinach, nayonaise), formaned.
Diet Hansen's Creamy Root Beer soda

Saltines
Animal Crackers
Grapefruit juice

Diet. Dr. Pepper

Toast

Curried lentils, spinach, tomato

Saltines
1 cup of coffee

She-Hubbs

more or less by acclamation I think we can add She-Hubbs to our ranks.

Four Day Tour of New York, ZK

Friday, 5/12
Internless Lunch w/ Mattpod and Xtina
Smoked turkey, lettuce, pesto, ketchup on toasted ciabatta bread. Chocolate chip cookie, chocolate milk, oyster crackers, gala apple. 5 mini kit kats.

1 slice of Cheese pizza from Pizza Gruppo.
Scoop of Cookies 'n Cream Ice Cream from Mary's Dairy.
1 Bass at Mona's
2 Pabst at Blue and Gold
Some Blue and Gold Lager?

Saturday, 5/13
Conrad told me there would be a carnival in Thompkins Square Park, so we went there to get breakfast. The carnival turned out to be some hippies jamming about public gardens. No food, OBVIOUSLY.

1 toasted plain bagel w/ butter.
OJ
Tiny cookie on tiny painted chinaware.

Enormous chocolate chip cookie from the Green Bakery on 1st.
Some orange gatorade.

Chicken Parmigiana w/ penne pasta at Luzzo's. I believe the wine that we ordered was an "Val Alpaca" wine. Sound right Mattpod?
2 Labatt Blues, 2 budweisers courtesy of Reisig.

Sunday, 5/14
Some saltines. OJ. 2 pieces of Mandelbrot. 2 chocolate munchkins from Dunkin' Donuts.

@ Schoboats'
Tortilla chips and salsa.
Grilled baguette from Whole Foods.
Grilled Ribeye w/ chimichurri sauce.
Grilled Asparagus.
1 Krispy Kreme donut.
1 chewy chips ahoy.
1 of those cookies with the dark chocolate imprint of a soldier on it.

1 pabst at Floyd's. I couldn't drink any more because I was too full.

Monday, 5/15
Smoked turkey, lettuce, pesto, ketchup on toasted ciabatta bread. Chocolate chip cookie, OJ, 5 mini kit kats.

Mushy, warm, gross gala apple.

1 1/2 slices cheese pizza from Pizza Gruppo.
Leftover Cookies 'n Cream Ice Cream from Mary's Dairy, supplemented w/ same flavor of Ice Cream courtesty of Mattpod.

5-15

Breakfast:
OJ
Banana
Dunkin' Donuts coffee

Lunch:
2 slices leftover Bertucci's sausage pizza
Another cup of coffee

Flat Patties:
Cheeseburger, no special sauce, lots of mustard and ketchup

Days of Heaven at the Brattle:
Small popcorn
Small Toscanini's coffee with cream and sugar

Bow Street:
3 cups from Natural Light Ice keg

5.15.06

Oxford Cafe
2 slices cheese pizza / diet coke lunch deal

Some mandelbrot

Sea (Delivery)
Black noodles w/ chicken -- It was good last week, so I got it again.

Edy's cookies 'n cream ice cream.

2006 May 15

Banana
Iced coffee with milk and sugar

Mountain Dew Slurpee (I got the Professor X medallion)
Free sample of P'eaZZa
6" Turkey breast and ham on Italian herbs and cheese with sweet onion sauce, American cheese, salt and pepper, tomatoes, lettuce, onion, cukes, and green pepper (readers may assume in the future that I always get these vegetables with my Subway orders)

Odwalla Summertime Lime limeade
A badly misguided visit to the steam trays at Smiler - pasta primavera, macaroni and cheese, and a fried chicken thigh that I was unable to finish

Auntie Anne's pretzel with cheese sauce
Free sample of brown sugar and cinnamon pretzel

Orange juice
Stroehmann's Xtreme wheat with Uruguay fontina
Chunky Strawberry FrozFruit
Small cup of Little Penguin

Monday, May 15, 2006

2006 May 14

Orange juice
Vanilla Silk

Stroehmann's Xtreme wheat toast
-two with olivio and marmite
-one with mascarpone and honey
Strawberry FrozFruit

Little Penguin spritzer

Probably like six or so Woodbridge chardonnay spritzers maybe a bit more
Some Dirty Lighly Salted with clam dip
Some corn chips with guac
Some orzo salad
About two, let's say, dark and stormies
Budweiser
Lamb burger on a grilled Krispy Kreme with a bit of some sauce - look, folks, I got pretty tipsy, frigging mPod or someone knows what the sauce is called, I'm a real busy man and stuff, anyways, it was good sauce
One andouille

Floyd
Stroh's
Two PBR

A day for mom

Breakfast:
OJ
homemade Dunkin' Donuts coffee with cream and sugar
Trader Joe's cornbread

Lunch:
I forgot you!

Snack:
Chipitos
Old El Paso medium salsa

Dinner:
Chicken cooked with lemon and capers
Oven roasted potatoes
Corn
Some species of Trader Joe's German wine
Brownie with chocolate chip ice cream

Weekend in Review 3, 5.14.06 -- Sunday

Ciao For Now
1 Blueberry muffin
1 Corn muffin -- Don't worry! These were small muffins.

New Dumpling Place on 14th
1 chive and pork dumpling
2 cabbage and something dumplings -- I actually just wanted 2 chive and pork dumplings, but she gave me an extra cabbage and something dumpling for free, and then it turned out that she had accidently given me 1 chive and pork and 2 cabbage and somethings. I wasn't mad though, since she had been nice enough to give me a mini order of dumplings (they are supposed to be in 5s) for $.81. Also, I got these because I watched WLG eat them and it made me want one, but I soon regretted it because it made me too full to get anything at the street fair we walked through where I could have had: grilled corn with jalapeno butter, any kind of fried thing you could think of, or some Dominican things I had never heard of. I guess I really only would have had the corn.

Some mandelbrot -- This is a kind of Jewish cookie that is similar to biscotti and that my grandmother in Detroit sometimes bakes and sends to me. She spells in mandelbrot I think but it is pronounced mandelbright. I don't know, seems weird.

Brooklyn BBQ
Grilled asparagus
Grilled onions
Grilled ribeye w/ chimichurri sauce -- I used the recipe in this month's Gourmet. It was easy: chopped parsley, garlic, shallot, with olive oil, lemon juice, red pepper flakes and salt.
Lamb burger courtesy of Sze-Wan -- This was delicious.
Some Dark and Stormies -- I'm not a fan of ginger beer, but it turns out that I really like these.

Floyd
3 Schmidts -- Floyd's shtick, in addition to Bocce, is to sell buckets of beer with 5 cheep beer cans which include a Pabst, a Schlitz, and 3 you probably haven't heard of. I stuck to the Schmidts because it had a nice panoramic picture of a deer (elk?) on it and because I am pretty sure these all taste the same.

Weekend in Review 2, 5.13.06 -- Saturday

Cafe Pick Me Up
Bagel toasted w/ butter
Fizzy Lizzy pomegranate and black currant drink

Orange Gatorade

Chocolate chip cookie -- This was from the bakery on 1st and 13th (12th?). It is called something like Green Street Bakery and is all organic/sustainable and all that junk. For some reason this means their floor has to be made out of cork. Anyway, the cookies are great.

Luzzo's
Red wine (I can't remember the name right now, sorry, it was Italian)
Chicken marsala w/ linguine

It should be noted that FoodAssociate Reisig consumed an entire 16" pizza just so that our team would win (this day was multi-event competition of Reisig and me vs. Zachkay and Xristina. There were really only 2 events: paddle tennis and Reisig eating a whole pizza).

Peter Cooper's
3 Newcastle. Thanks Reisig!

Weekend In Review 1, 5.12.06 -- Friday

Internless Lunch @ The New Yorker
Grilled chicken w/ sweet chili sauce
Roasted beets w/ dill and goat cheese
Roasted zucchini
Vermicelli rice noodles
chocolate chip cookie

Cafe Sabarsky
Bite of Joel's sauteed sausage with Riesling sauerkraut and roasted potatoes
Spaetzle with wild mushrooms, peas, sweet corn, tarragon
Bite of Rhoda's boiled beef
Bite of Joel's wienerschnitzel
Bites of: Sachertorte (chocolate cake with apricot confiture), klimttorte (hazelnut cake with layers of chocolate ganache), mozarttorte (this had some layers of chocolate and pistachio, maybe not called mozarttorte)

Joel and Rhoda are my second cousings or something (they are a little younger than my grandparents, not my age). I barely know them at all, but they came to New York and heard I was here and invited me for dinner. Picture Joel as a Borscht Belt comedian. He makes a lot of jokes.

Cafe Sabarsky is the cafe/restaurant in the Neue Galerie and the idea is that it is a Viennese cafe with all sort of Viennese and German pastries and cakes. Our waitress was very nice and gave us each an extra dessert (who could possibly eat that much?). At one point I realized that I was sitting in a Central European style cafe with a guy playing classical music on the piano while a bunch of old folks told me stories about New York in the 40s. Since moving to New York, I've discovered that a part of my family feels very German/Austrian.


Home
Jim Beam

Mona's
Whiskey/coke

Blue and Gold
Jim Beam/coke

Sunday, May 14, 2006

2006 May 13

Fuji juice
Orangina
Artichoke tortellini, sausage, parsley, parmesan, garlic and pepper flakes in oil

Orange juice
Vanilla silk
Strawberry FrozFruit

Mascarpone and honey on Dangold water crackers
Strawberry FrozFruit

Heather
Gin and tonic
Beer

Aspen
Two Stellas Artoises

Saturday, May 13, 2006

2006 May 12

I had not had a crippling headache from hangover in a while. So I had the following day.

Banana
Diet Pepsi with cherry flavor infusion - several cups over the course of the work day

Lunch catered by Papa John's
One slice - The Works
One slice - The Meats
One slice - Chicken alfredo with spinach
One and a half tubs of garlic sauce were consumed with these
Four chicken strips - served with honey mustard and ranch
Half a pepperoncini dipped in barbecue sauce
Eight pieces of cinammon pizza

Jenny Holzer at Cheim & Reid - a somewhat nutty white wine

Home - pay close attention to the recipe I used for my dinner, here
Two glasses of Dtour

En route to a party
Gorgonzola
Gala apple
This is actually a pretty good snack for the gentleman on the go

Party on Fifth Street - there was a whole big table full of food that I could have eaten
Two glasses of 2005 Charles Shaw Chardonnay
Bacardi and Coke
One more large cup of Charles

Blue & Gold
Some Pomme Frites fries with rosemary garlic mayo, sweet mango chutney, smoked eggplant, and frites sauce especial
Three or more glasses of Blue & Gold lager

Coyote Ugly
A shot of unknown whiskey courtesy FoodFriend/FoodReporterNemesis Gardner. We stayed at CU for about two minutes while I visited the boys' roomand finished our shots. Then we noticed that Coyote Ugly is still the worst most bullshit bar on the planet and we also got angry that Gardner had to pay so much for two shots and we left.

If I had it all to do over again, I would have eaten dinner and not gone to Coyote Ugly. I also would have had more water. I would not have had that rum and coke believing that we were out of wine. I guess that's all I would change, except I would also concede to Harvey that he probably could eat more cinammon pizza than I rather than insisting on "winning." I also would not have had so much garlic sauce. And that's it. And I would have gone to bed earlier and gotten a full breakfast and no diet soda, and that's it.

5/12/06

Grapefruit juice (Thanks, SC)
Oatmeal with cinnamon and brown sugar

Grapes

Peet's coffee, black

Rice cake

Tuna sandwich (tuna, thyme, rosemary, nayonaise, spinach) on toasted wheat
Spinach salad with feta and honey-dijon vinnaigrette
Grapes
Diet Dr. Pepper

Piece of dark chocolate

Carrot sticks

Smoked Gouda (Thanks, SC)
Kavli 5-grain crackers

Oatmeal with honey and cinnamon

1.5 glasses Chardonnay
2 glasses Sauvignon Blanc
A bunch of saltines
A bunch of animal crackers

A day of meatballs

Breakfast:
OJ
Dunkin' Donuts coffee (homemade)
Banana

Nicholas' Pizza, Needham:
1/2 a meatball sub
Bag of Cape Cod potato chips
Mug root beer
I didn't want to eat too much, because Mama SC likes when I eat lots of her food

Home:
Mama SC's meatball casserole
Green beans

Some Jameson over ice. Thank heavens Sis left behind some Jameson!

Friday, May 12, 2006

Beyond Beat Reporting

Fontana Investigates!: SC's Fridge
By Strach Fontana, Investigative Journalist

SC went on vacation and kindly offered up some of his perishables for the taking. I saw this not only as an opportunity for free food, but for the kind of hard line journalism that made me famous. (This list is not exhaustive, but what I could remember after I got home.)

Liquids:
Orange juice
Grapefruit juice (which I took)
Some mango/passion/something juice
Riesling
A bunch of beers

Meat:
2 different packages of sausage

Dairy:
Shredded cheeses
Smoked Gouda (which I took)

Fruits and vegetables:
None (can this be true?)

Breads:
Wheat bread

Condiments and spreads:
Salsa
Taco sauce
Tangy seafood sauce
Preserves
Hummus (which I took)

Some stuff in Tupperware

Something indistinguishable (salmon?) wrapped in saran and very moldy

Chocolate covered espresso beans
Enormous bag, Reese's Pieces
A chocolate bar

So, SC, it's time for answers: Are delicious chocolate candies overrepresented in your fridge, or underrepresented in your reporting?