Lunch:
1 banana, 1 apple, handful of nuts
Dinner:
Shaved Steak with Chimichurri and Jus on the side
English Peas
There is a confusing briskness in the air. Its almost like the false resolution in the plot of a well-crafted film. The descent from the extreme, though all-too-brief, heat of the summer, to lows of 50 degrees should not occur practically overnight. But we humans love to be fooled by easy plot reversals. We can't wait to be shocked SHOCKED I TELL YOU when the temps return to their late summer funky sweaty norms. And we will call it 'New England' and shake our heads, flinging the sweat in all directions. Right before the coffee in our cup freezes right before our disbelieving eyes...
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Tuesday
Lunch:
1 apple, 1 banana, many peanuts
Dinner:
Burnt End KC BBQ Sandwich (courtesy Blue Ribbon BBQ)
Collards
Cole Slaw
It has been almost a month since my last post. Much has happened, food-wise and otherwise. Most importantly, my oven broke. I have been without the ability to bake for nearly four weeks. The only other time this has happened was during the ice storm, when I was also reduced to eating what could be boiled, braised or fried on a stove top. It was a good lesson then, and it is a good lesson now (although surely I've learned my lesson and can return to the cultivated art of the gently directed heat).
I've spoken before about how soothing and stabilizing the integrated process of baking bread can be once the rhythm is developed. Every once in a while, one has to step outside that rhythm to appreciate it. Life, since the failure of a single circuit block in my Kenmore range, has swung back and forth like a drunken pendulum. Like a grandfather clock's anchor escapement trying to maintain regularity during an earthquake or an Allied bombing in Dresden. Its inefficient, it barely gets the job done and it wears itself out in the process. Its powerful mojo when you create or break a pattern. But you'll never even notice till you are ripped from that pattern out of the blue. We are as dependent on our patterns as cats, only not quite as clever.
What's a guy to do? Get that part and get back to the method and madness.
1 apple, 1 banana, many peanuts
Dinner:
Burnt End KC BBQ Sandwich (courtesy Blue Ribbon BBQ)
Collards
Cole Slaw
It has been almost a month since my last post. Much has happened, food-wise and otherwise. Most importantly, my oven broke. I have been without the ability to bake for nearly four weeks. The only other time this has happened was during the ice storm, when I was also reduced to eating what could be boiled, braised or fried on a stove top. It was a good lesson then, and it is a good lesson now (although surely I've learned my lesson and can return to the cultivated art of the gently directed heat).
I've spoken before about how soothing and stabilizing the integrated process of baking bread can be once the rhythm is developed. Every once in a while, one has to step outside that rhythm to appreciate it. Life, since the failure of a single circuit block in my Kenmore range, has swung back and forth like a drunken pendulum. Like a grandfather clock's anchor escapement trying to maintain regularity during an earthquake or an Allied bombing in Dresden. Its inefficient, it barely gets the job done and it wears itself out in the process. Its powerful mojo when you create or break a pattern. But you'll never even notice till you are ripped from that pattern out of the blue. We are as dependent on our patterns as cats, only not quite as clever.
What's a guy to do? Get that part and get back to the method and madness.
Monday, August 3, 2009
Monday
Lunch:
French Omelet with fried salt pork cubes and gorgonzola
Dinner:
braised pork ribs with BBQ sauce built from the jus and tomato and hot sauce
Tomorrow will be the beginning of nearly a week spent in New Orleans, or really, the French Quarter, since my accommodations are on Canal Street and I won't have a car. Yes, its a for a conference for my job, but there is no travel money in the department budget this year, so its all coming out of Daddy's pocket. And when travel to a place like Noo OR Lins (or 'Noo Or LEENS', but never 'Nawlins' despite everything you've ever seen in a bad hollywood film), Daddy's pockets will justify only so much work and so little pay. Daddy's pockets want a ROI.
So there will be gumbo (and booze) and muffuletta or po'boy (and beer) and oysters (and white wine) and etouffe and on and on and on. There will clean sheets and a fantastic view of the river. There will be sweating and gnashing of the teeth and mosquitoes and a sad feeling that the quarter isn't what it used to be, for good and ill. We shall see indeed, and if we succeed in attaining wifi, we might even write a word or two about it for those not able to venure into the miasma that is 98% humidity...
French Omelet with fried salt pork cubes and gorgonzola
Dinner:
braised pork ribs with BBQ sauce built from the jus and tomato and hot sauce
Tomorrow will be the beginning of nearly a week spent in New Orleans, or really, the French Quarter, since my accommodations are on Canal Street and I won't have a car. Yes, its a for a conference for my job, but there is no travel money in the department budget this year, so its all coming out of Daddy's pocket. And when travel to a place like Noo OR Lins (or 'Noo Or LEENS', but never 'Nawlins' despite everything you've ever seen in a bad hollywood film), Daddy's pockets will justify only so much work and so little pay. Daddy's pockets want a ROI.
So there will be gumbo (and booze) and muffuletta or po'boy (and beer) and oysters (and white wine) and etouffe and on and on and on. There will clean sheets and a fantastic view of the river. There will be sweating and gnashing of the teeth and mosquitoes and a sad feeling that the quarter isn't what it used to be, for good and ill. We shall see indeed, and if we succeed in attaining wifi, we might even write a word or two about it for those not able to venure into the miasma that is 98% humidity...
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Sunday
Lunch:
Shaved steak with gorgonzola
Crackers
Dinner:
Ragu with ground lamb on Rotini
Sauteed Snow Peas
Chocolate Mint Ice Cream
Its been a while. Life has been a little crazy. Sometimes that's a good thing. Sometimes that's a great thing. Sometimes you're on the wrong end of the billy club. Sometimes, in the chain of events, something you take for granted that you re-visit nearly every day is suddenly gone and you are left looking on the shelf in askance. Patterns allow us to work safely on autopilot. And I guess the worst part of autopilot is that its easy to lose sight of that fact that important parts of your life can end up in autopilot, whether you like it or not. I bake bread every other day, but my oven broke a few days ago, and I am just now realizing how important that ritual was for me. Not just the bennie of fresh sourdough every day, but the process subconsciously kept me moving forward. Always producing the next loaf. Always finishing off the last one as I'm working on the next one. Never really cogitating on it, but always relying on it. Bedrock, tasty tangy bedrock.
Well, now I am.
I'll probably not be posting for the next week, while I'm in New Orleans eating and drinking my way from one side of the quarter to the other (blasted iPod Touch and Blogger still don't work together). Beignet, Po'boys, gumbo, oysters, Zapp's and missing the ability drink a sixer of Dixie on the street corner without getting a second glance.
Shaved steak with gorgonzola
Crackers
Dinner:
Ragu with ground lamb on Rotini
Sauteed Snow Peas
Chocolate Mint Ice Cream
Its been a while. Life has been a little crazy. Sometimes that's a good thing. Sometimes that's a great thing. Sometimes you're on the wrong end of the billy club. Sometimes, in the chain of events, something you take for granted that you re-visit nearly every day is suddenly gone and you are left looking on the shelf in askance. Patterns allow us to work safely on autopilot. And I guess the worst part of autopilot is that its easy to lose sight of that fact that important parts of your life can end up in autopilot, whether you like it or not. I bake bread every other day, but my oven broke a few days ago, and I am just now realizing how important that ritual was for me. Not just the bennie of fresh sourdough every day, but the process subconsciously kept me moving forward. Always producing the next loaf. Always finishing off the last one as I'm working on the next one. Never really cogitating on it, but always relying on it. Bedrock, tasty tangy bedrock.
Well, now I am.
I'll probably not be posting for the next week, while I'm in New Orleans eating and drinking my way from one side of the quarter to the other (blasted iPod Touch and Blogger still don't work together). Beignet, Po'boys, gumbo, oysters, Zapp's and missing the ability drink a sixer of Dixie on the street corner without getting a second glance.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Tuesday
Lunch:
Two Egg Sandwich on sourdough
Dinner:
Hickory Grilled Honey Glazed Shrimp
Hickory Grilled Lemon Thyme Tuna (with a Soy Ginger Parsley Dipping sauce)
Chocolate Dipped Strawberries
Two Egg Sandwich on sourdough
Dinner:
Hickory Grilled Honey Glazed Shrimp
Hickory Grilled Lemon Thyme Tuna (with a Soy Ginger Parsley Dipping sauce)
Chocolate Dipped Strawberries
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Monday
Lunch:
Quick Stuffed Shells with leftover lamb ragu and cheddar
Dinner:
Skipped it, while attending the Pink Martini show in Portland
Quick Stuffed Shells with leftover lamb ragu and cheddar
Dinner:
Skipped it, while attending the Pink Martini show in Portland
Monday, June 15, 2009
Sunday
Lunch:
hearty bowl of ramen and vegetables
Dinner:
Linguine (not mine) with lamb ragu
Steamed corn
sourdough
I heard a photographer last night speak about tension and flow in a composition, and, as I am wont to do, I immediately associated this with flavors in a a perfect dish. A single flavor doesn't make for food; even Jello has a complex flavor, no matter how unrefined. True taste artistry requires a principled blending of tones, very similar to chord structures in a musical arrangement. Think of salt (and crushed black pepper) as a bass note, an anchor. Think of citrus or vinegar acidity as timber or reverb or the highlights in an image. Think of the Maillard caramelization reactions as gamma values that temper the blandness of individual raw proteins and sugars in the target food. Think of texture as musical timing, allowing you the ability to listen to the Beer Barrel Polka OR Take Five by Dave Brubeck. This is what separates dining from eating and cooking from microwaving. This is where the secrets of the universe are kept. Be good to your taste buds. Live through them. Don't limit them.
hearty bowl of ramen and vegetables
Dinner:
Linguine (not mine) with lamb ragu
Steamed corn
sourdough
I heard a photographer last night speak about tension and flow in a composition, and, as I am wont to do, I immediately associated this with flavors in a a perfect dish. A single flavor doesn't make for food; even Jello has a complex flavor, no matter how unrefined. True taste artistry requires a principled blending of tones, very similar to chord structures in a musical arrangement. Think of salt (and crushed black pepper) as a bass note, an anchor. Think of citrus or vinegar acidity as timber or reverb or the highlights in an image. Think of the Maillard caramelization reactions as gamma values that temper the blandness of individual raw proteins and sugars in the target food. Think of texture as musical timing, allowing you the ability to listen to the Beer Barrel Polka OR Take Five by Dave Brubeck. This is what separates dining from eating and cooking from microwaving. This is where the secrets of the universe are kept. Be good to your taste buds. Live through them. Don't limit them.
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