On Top of the Food Chain
June 2010
22 posts
The Summer Project
Clearly I’ve been in a funk. Ever since graduation, I haven’t had time to post anything food related in a while. I need ideas, a project to keep my sanity while I hermit at home (hopefully not for life). So far I have:
- salads
- breads
- guilt-free recipes
- cheesecake
- smoothies
- & cookies (simple, but needs to be perfected)
I should look into a cake decorating class. Something that’s not related to my degree and can keep my head straight for a while. I could always pull a Julie Powell and cook every recipe from a single book. My choice wouldn’t be Julia Child, though bless her salted and buttered heart. I have a soft spot for Gordon Ramsey and I’ve been a fan of Clotilde Dusoulier. She is super cute and shares a lot of recipes. I like that she also has book reviews and pictures you could just drool over.
If anyone has any suggestions, I’ll be happy to hear you out!
"Mom! What are you doing?"
I just watched my mom smother her burrito with butter before she grilled it. Say what?? I know. I’m a little disgusted myself. At least she quit drinking coffee…
"Eating in the car increases risk of food poisoning" →
autoblog.com
“Scientists swabbed the door handles, steering wheel, shift knob, radio and seats and found bacteria ranging from Staphylococcus to Bacillus Cereus. Those names just sound unhealthy, and in reality they are the germs that cause food poisoning, impetigo severe nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.”
This is just as bad as finding the same bacteria in soda machines.
Food Holidays →
google.com
Sarah Gim from The Delicious tweeted about the food holidays she’s kept track on her Google Calendar. Today is Strawberry Rhubarb pie day. I haven’t even tasted rhubarb.
I love/hate grease
Anything that involves fat, oil, butter, lard, shortening, and globules are now a new best enemy to me. You love the taste of it, how it glistens in meats and sometimes pastries, but you hate how there are way too many ways to prepare it. Fry it. Pan fry it. Deep fry it. Mix it with sugar. Pat it on a piece of starch. You get the idea. After eating anything with butter or oil like this, I start to lose energy, I’m tired and ready to sleep. I don’t want to think about running around or playing on the swings.
It’s like having a new puppy. He looks at you with those big brown eyes, daring you to play with him or rub his belly. Once you spoil him and turn your back, he’s going to chew up your shoes and soil your carpet.
The list of foods I’ve consumed the past two weeks is horrendous, some were twice a day. Even if the main topic here is butter and oils, I think my sugar intake increased as well. So here goes my list of unhealthy foods and shameless plugs:
- Veggie pesto pizza from Steelhead Brewery
- Pasta from pasta bar on campus 2x (yeah you’ve seen how much oil they’ve used there!)
- Sugar cookies
- Chocolate vegan cake
- Ramen
- Sprinkle’s red velvet cupcakes
- Turkey burger 2x
- Mag’s donuts (way too many)
- Pinkberry frozen yogurt (marginal)
- Fried tilapia with nuoc mam
- Slightly fried rice
- Corner Bakery soup & sandwich combo
- Chicken Katsu curry
- Chocolate forest cake
- BBQ Chicken’s fried chicken
- Lucille’s BBQ (this is where it started, the gluttony, fatty consumption of sugar and grease)
- In N Out cheeseburger & fries (what’s wrong with me?)
I think it’s also because I’ve stopped keeping track of my calorie intake and all the stress of graduation sort of encouraged me to let loose. I need to get back on track and eat stuff that won’t cause my gums to recede. I actually feel like a bag of trash and let me warn you, this stuff can kill you if you decide to eat like this on a daily basis. No more bullcrackers.
"Did you remember to use the foil trick?"
Last night I decided to have a baking frenzy as a goodbye present to the students and teachers that I’ve worked with for the past few months at the child center on campus. It wasn’t too sad of a parting but it was worth seeing the 24 smiles that greeted me today, before and after I presented them with the sugar cookies and pie.
I worked hard on perfecting my second attempt at apple pie and sadly, everything was fine except for the edges! The filling gave staff a thumbs up so at least I know I got that part right. Most of the crust was okay too, but the poor lining was so dark.
Lessons learned
- Use a strip of aluminum foil and cover the edges of the pie to prevent quick browning
- Don’t go too crazy when brushing milk or an egg wash over the top of your pie
- If you’re going to poke holes to prevent the pie from exploding, prick a few spots and leave it alone—my pie ended up so lumpy and not so dome like
- Make a thicker crust and for Pete’s sake, don’t do what I did and press the crush down on the edges of the pan and just slice the excess dough
- You want that thick scrumptious crust like the Betty Crocker photo.
Food Niche
If you type in “Vietnamese food”, the only foods that show up are pho, banh mi, and egg rolls. The blogger sphere needs to realize we have a larger array of Northern, Central, and Southern Vietnamese food. Those three foods don’t even make a dent with how our foods are prepared. This will be fun. New research project ahead!
Berries are in season!
Albertsons is having a buy one, get one free deal on berries. I’d be dumb not to get some! My baking projects this week to give away as goodbye presents:
- Apple pie
- Sugar cookies or peanut butter jelly bars
- Blueberry lemon bread
- Strawberries n’ cream cake
- Creme brulee (yes Lewis, I will make them!)
I need to use up all the ingredients in my pantry. There’s still a lot of sugar, flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg left. I’m done with finals on Tuesday so I can do this instead of packing.
Salade De Fruits
Lisa Ono
Lewis introduced me to Lisa Ono’s music. She is a wonderful Japanese-Brazilian singer. She sings mostly in French and this song caught my ear. The roughly translated lyrics are below:
Your mother gave you a first name
Fruit salad
Oh what a pretty name
On behalf of your ancestors Hawaiian
We must recognize that you wear well
Fruit salad pretty, pretty, pretty
You please my father
You like to my mother
Fruit salad pretty, pretty, pretty
One day or another it will though we married!
Hanging in my straw hut at the edge of the water
There’s pineapple, there are nuts coconut
I have already tasted I want it
The fruit of your mouth would be welcome
I dive naked into the ocean
To bring you silver fish
With bright shells
Yes, but in exchange you know what I want!
We gave each of his whole heart
What was the best in us
At the bottom of my straw hut at the edge of the water
This basket is moving a little cradle
Fruit salad pretty, pretty, pretty
You like to your father
You like to your mother
Fruit salad pretty, pretty, pretty
You are the fruit of our love
Happy eating!
“Chocolate nib. “The center of the cocoa bean, and the base of all chocolate. After the outer shells of the individual beans have been removed, the nibs are roasted and ground. Chocolate/Cocoa liquor is what all chocolates and chocolate products are made from.”
— The Chocolate Fetish
Writer's Block
What do I do when I’m stuck on a paper? I bake. If I can’t bake I’ll clean. I did both about 10 minutes ago. I baked a vegan chocolate cake and cleaned the kitchen. Man I wish I could mop and vacuum! Ugh. Back to this horrendous assignment.
