Doesn't have a point of view
9.04.2007
los angeles tour
Sometimes, I miss home. Especially when I'm thinking about food. I was tipped off to this website from the food blog Eating L.A. This company runs bus tours through interesting los angeles history. One coming up is called Blood and Dumplings, which takes people through the sgv to see phil spector's home and other crime scenes. The tour ends with a dumpling picnic in, what the website calls, a garden of concrete sea monsters. Vincent Lugo? I wouldn't doubt it. Unfortunately most of these tours are $55-60 for the day. There are some walking tours and some sponsored by Vroman's bookstore which maybe cheaper, so everyone at home, take advantage of these for me.
I just ran into a food blog all about zucchini. Okay, I understand a blog dedicated to soup or baking or vegetables, but just zucchini? I think recipe blogs might be getting a little out of hand. I have been thinking of making a bean blog soon though, so I shouldn't say much.
I haven't listened to good food for 5 weeks. Oh, my. They just mentioned grilled peaches filled with ricotta mousse. These things make my bowl of lentils and eggplant seem much less tasty.
8.19.2007
moscas in la casa
There are two flies in my room. Yesterday, I woke up because they kept landing on my face. Maybe this is a sign that my life has become somewhat like that Shakira song. My days are in excess and filled with nothing or at least that's how they feel.
My roommate took the peaches that my mom sent from California and made them into jam. I can't say anything though because she is super generous and I owe her lots of money.
bean frustrations
There are a million blogs out there now. Google blog search makes finding them even easier. Lately, I have been in search of a recipe blog dedicated exactly to someone like me. Here is my situation: I am not a vegetarian, but I poor. I am poor, but I do not want to eat instant ramen everyday even though I could eat instant pho with poached eggs, Safeway gyoza, and spinach almost everyday. Basically, I would rather spend my money on vegetables than on meat. For this reason and many others, beans and eggs have become my favorite sources of protein. This summer, I have been trying all sorts of new bean recipes. Maybe I will make a blog about it one day. There seems to be no one out there like me. Most people who eat bean dishes that are not baked, refried, or chili are vegetarians or vegans. I don't want all sorts of crazy vegan things in my recipes. Okay, that was a little harsh. I am not completely against veganism, I just can't deal with baking without eggs and butter or cooking with things like tempeh or seitan or soyrizo. Those things are not much cheaper than meat, as far as I know. I basically need to turn to meatless diet blogger for help because I expect that ideas for eating cheaply will eliminate my love of seasonal vegetable and fruits and replace them with things like cream of mushroom soup.
This is the best blog that I have found so far. Rebecca Blood is a vegetarian, I believe, but documents all of her recipes for each day and then calculates how much she spent over the week. She constantly cooks with great vegetables and other ingredients and even seems to enjoy the occasional beer within the budget. This site is great, but I have tried a lot of the recipes and she doesn't seem to be updating very often anymore. The other good site that I have found is What's in Your Pantry. This blogger is the most like me in that she is not vegetarian, eats cheaply, but does not cut out quality ingredients like fresh herbs. She has a post just on beans which is what lead me to this blog. If anyone out there can point me to a favorite recipe blog of their own, please do so. I am in constant need of new inspiration.
wish list
There are times when I hate wanting to acquire more material objects. There are other times when I just feel like buying things. Recently, I have felt like buying new things. Actually, I have just been thinking of all the things I hope to someday own. Here is my list:
1. I went back to school shopping last week. I love school supplies and shopping for them. This is not part of my wish list really because I already own it, but I am so excited that I had to say that I purchased a box of 64 Crayola crayons. I have not had a new box that large since I was in first grade. I remember arguing with Brad constantly about who had the better colors in their box. Now, Crayola writes the color names in 3 languages, English, Spanish, and French. I am so excited to learn how to say burnt sienna in Spanish and French.
2. I start graduate school tomorrow. I am slightly excited to learn new things, but I am not too excited about being a TA for general chemistry. Lillian said that I am going to be TA Troyer. Hehe. In order to manage all of my new responsibilities, I think that I need a good planner. Google calendar is wonderful, but I cannot carry it around with me everywhere. I would like to own either of these planners.
a) An illustrated redwood planner from Jill Bliss of Blissen.
b) An illustrated planner from Little Otsu. This one comes in two sizes. I think the mini one might be perfect.
3. I own this cute, empire waist, black dress from H&M. Unfortunately, I have had it for several months and only worn it once or twice. To really be in style, I decided that I need some leggings to go with it. I did not appreciate H&M enough while I still had it nearby. Black leggings at American Apparel are $26.00. That seems like too much to me, so I'm scoping out some at Target instead.
4. While looking for leggings, I came across this dress at American Apparel. Apparently, you can wear this dress 30 different ways. You can supposedly even wear it as a skirt or a shirt. I figure that a simple solid color dress that is this versatile will never completely go out of style. I haven't decided which color I like best. Probably raspberry, which is not an option.
5. To go with a new dress, I would definitely need new shoes I've been wanting to join the crocs trend as soon as I decided I would be moving to Colorado, and as soon as I saw this new design. I think that I could pull off these shoes with both jeans and casual dresses, plus they are super cheap and likely comfortable. This is another item where I am held up on color. Black would be the wisest choice, but how can I pass up something like Celery or Sea Foam.
6. Now for the larger items, these are more or less objects which I hope to own before I own my own house. Although, it would be nice to wait and have a kitchen aid mixer which exactly matched the color of my kitchen. Because of how much I enjoy baking, I am sure that I would find a use for a KitchenAid mixer. If I owned one, I might even force myself to learn to make bread. Until I am out of grad school, I will be happy with my handheld mixer that I got at a thrift store in Walla Walla.
7. The other big item that I would love to own, but I cannot afford is a sewing machine. I did some research and picked out the Viking Huskeystar 224. Unfortunately this model is no longer being produced. Fortunately, this may increase my chances of obtaining one used. There are endless projects that I cannot quite finish without a sewing machine. Often, I just sew by hand, but it takes a million times longer and does not look nearly as nice. Without a sewing machine, I will never be able to make my oilcloth belt to match my oilcloth wallet.
8. I would also like to own a food processor. This one looks about right for my needs. I doubt that I will need a 7 cup processor anytime soon. These are actually cheaper than I expected, so I might invest money in one sooner than I thought. With this, I would be able to make my own pesto and I would actually puree some of my soup recipes.
9. My housemate's boyfriend owns one of these ice cream makers. I also see that it is recommended by Baking Bites. Using this model is easy and making ice cream is fun. With the price of milk currently so high, I should probably wait until I have enough money to make ice cream regularly.
10. Once I own an ice cream maker, I would love to own this book by David Lebovitz. The Perfect Scoop sounds like the perfect ice cream book, full of a variety of interesting recipes for ice creams as well as sorbets and granitas.
11. Another book which I would like to own is Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone. I already own Madhur Jaffery's World Vegetarian and I think that I need both of these to be ready to make healthy, cheap meals.
12. One of my last items is a solar radio. I came across two different models on Treehugger (a) (b). Both are only sold in Europe which means that shipping would cost too much. Right now I do not own a radio at all. I figured with so many days of sun in Fort Collins, that I could recharge a radio during while I am at school and then come home and listen to Democracy Now while I cook dinner. Fort Collins had a great local radio station, KRFC. The University also has a radio station which I hope is as promising as it looks.
13. Okay, okay. That was a long list. I will end with my last wish. You have heard it before but, I would still love nothing more than to own a pair of Pendleton Wool vans. I waited so long that they are not even sold off the Pendleton website anymore. By the greatest miracle ever, there is a slightly used pair on sale right now on ebay which are exactly my size. I placed a high maximum bid, so I had better win them, but I might ask a friend to check on the auction for me while I am in class. Any volunteers? I will come up with something wonderful to send you. :)
7.28.2007
photo thread
I realized that my blog has not had a photo thread for a while. I have to go back in time a little to show some.
This was our mini San Gabriel high reunion with me, Wilton, and Lillian. It was great to see him again and to be overwelmed by all the things he had to fill us in on. Unfortunately this did not take place until the night before I left for Colorado. At least I got to see him.
When Eric came to visit, Karina, Lillian, Duke and I went hiking with him at Eaton Canyon after some good dim sum at Top Island Seafood. This is a good photo of me and Lillian.
This is probably my favorite photo of the year. Karina finally got to meet Eric and they seemed to both get along very well. :)
I am going to wait another hour to make my post about eating beans so that I don't look so lame for having posted 10 times in one day. See you soon!
john lennon, i don't like your girlfriend
My friend Valerie, who I worked with at PNNL and lived with for a summer, let me know about this John Lennon tribute CD put out to raise money for Amnesty International.
I looked it up to see the artists on it. I was appalled for find out that Avril Lavigne was allowed to sing Imagine. Imagine is probably his most famous song and the one they always play when they talk about his death, meaning one of the few things like this in life which has almost brought me to tears. Luckily, I scrolled down enough to see that Jack Johnson also did a version which makes things slightly better. I have to admit that, from the clip on amazon, I actually really like Christina Aguilera's version of Mother. The emotion of that song shows through with her far-reaching voice. I also surprisingly like the Black Eyed Peas version of Power to the People. These are probably my two favorite tracks from the short clips I have heard. As much as I like some of the artists, I am not a big fan of covers as many of you know. It takes a really spectacular one to justify its creation. The postal service one is good, I guess, but I think it's funny that they appropriately picked one of the most romantic of John Lennon songs to do. I wonder what Yoko Ono has to say about this.
In conclusion, I will not be going out to buy this right away like I did with the "I am Sam" soundtrack or the "Love" soundtrack. I would buy "come together" before this which is called a soul/jazz tribute to the Beatles.
In other Beatles news, this possibly intriguing movie called "Across the Universe" will be out sometime soon. It is a musical set to Beatles songs. The main characters are named Jude and Lucy which is a bit cheesy. I'll have to see. I am also excited about the Hairspray movie coming out. I'll have to force myself out of the house to spend the money to see it.
In other music news, I am addicted to the ridiculous music quiz facebook application. Basically, I am addicted because Xi challenged me and I can never let him beat me at anything. I am the best of the two of us. For sure.
Plus, I feel good when I can correctly identify a song within one second. It feels almost good enough to balance out the fact that facebook is sucking away my soul.
to eat when I get home
I updated google reader to let me know when all of my favorite blogs update. This makes my days much more exciting, especially since my whitman e-mail address was recently taken away. This means that I also have a lot of links to tell you about. The first of these is my list of things to eat when I get home. I have decided that the selection of food in Fort Collins is much better than I expected. Still, the restaurants do not have the character of each Los Angeles/SG eatery that I long for.
1. Dim sum at the Elite, formerly New Concept
I had heard a lot of about New Concept's dim sum. I have tried Mission 261 but never went there. After reading this post, I would love to try it as soon as I get home. Those almond shrimp balls look delicious and would easily convince my mom.
Also, VERY FEW people here seem to know what dim sum even is. Apparently there are some places in Denver, thank goodness. Imagining a life without dim sum and the clank of steamers and carts and pointing furiously and green chopsticks makes me very sad. I think it's time right now to give up on Eric's good idea of being dim sum servers for Halloween because no one here would get it.
2. Pie 'n Burger
Really, I just have a craving for pie right now. Yum. Pie. It is pretty close to being my favorite dessert. I heard about their banana cream pie on good food. If I have been to this Pasadena restaurant at all, it has not been for a long time and I cannot remember it. I recently read something saying that they have the best burgers in LA too. Why haven't I been getting rhubarb pie and a chocolate shake every week?
3. 101 Noodle Express
Jonathan Gold's description of this beef roll made my mouth water. This place is walking distance from my house. I think I picked soymilk and green onion pancakes over this beef roll right before I left town, maybe regrettably. Pumpkin shrimp pork dumplings!??!? Just another way to sell a restaurant to my mom, I hope.
4. Guelaguetza Palms Restaurant
This place is far away so it is very unlikely that I will ever end up there. But, horchata topped with cantelope, red cactus fruit puree, and walnuts. I will go to great lengths to put something that unique and delicious sounding into my stomach. The mole spewing, banana leaf wrapped tamale and the corn fungus could also draw me there soon. The tamale makes me miss the Salvadoran one I had with Lillian in Culver City which seemed to use a plantain in place of masa. Yum.
5. Banh Mi and Che Cali
I love che and have been meaning to make it with mung beans and coconut milk. I'm always worried that I will get the proportions wrong and am afraid to ask Huyen who made it all the time. This place is in alhambra and according to the post, you can get 3 kinds for $2. Another thing that I should have been eating weekly.
6. Ramen
I don't really care where, but I love ramen and have a craving for that too. I can actually get that here at a place called Gohan Time. I love their name and that's why I mentioned them. Still, there is this place in Rosemead which I have heard is not as good as the one in Gardena and I just heard Jonathan Gold talk about some spicy ramen in Little Tokyo. I could also get some ideas from the rameniac, I'm sure.
I know and you know that there are more, but I feel better sharing those for now.
Also, I mentioned Calvin Trillen in my last post. I have to credit him and his book American Fried for changing and expanding my idea of eating. I never so much appreciated simply delicious, completely inelegant food until I read his book. For example, I still remember his description of the best barbecue pork sandwich that he has ever had and still wish to someday eat it. Recently I found this website, which is apparently by America's road food authorities. Having traveled so much in my life, it is unfortunate that I am just finding out about their book. Their photo of blueberry sour cream pie makes me want to drive all the way to Salina, UT. My parents are in Cape Cod right now and I remembered seeing an episode of the annoying $40 a day where Rachael Ray ate a lobster sandwich, which I guess is called a lobster roll, from a stand. Luckily, my mom was able to eat one yesterday and reported back today that it was delicious. I am very happy for her.
millions of posts
Yes, there are more coming. There have been quite a few post ideas swirling around in my head for a while, but I have not been motivated to do anything about them.
This is the personal one.
Fort Collins is pretty great so far. The town is pretty great, but i have seen very little of its greatness. At this point, I don't know many people and I am not outgoing enough to ask them to participate in activities with me. Fort Collins is also very well-oriented for young people, by which I mean that their social activities circle around drinking. There seem to be fewer family events going on than there were in Washington.
Somehow, when I lived by myself in Richland, I was never this bored or unmotivated. I never sat for hours alone in my room wondering what I was missing out on outside of its boundaries. I would even occasionally go for walks along the river or go shopping at Target or to the library or on a run for a black raspberry shake at Zip's drive-through. I even went to a few concerts by myself.
Here, I have tried looking on the internet for things to do, which always works in LA. I have tried looking for reviews of places to eat which also ALWAYS works in LA. Here, I have found very few things that I am willing to try on my own and it is pretty much unlike me not to make the effort.
But Fort Collins is great. There is a bike path on almost every street. There are places to go hiking just 5 minutes away. There are about 20 public parks including an ever expanding community garden. The downtown has all sort of cute shops. There is an independent movie theater which also serves food. There's also a $2 theater and a drive-in. There are lots of vegetarian restaurants and earth-conscious businesses. There's a pretty good grocery store which is a little like a Whole Foods but cheaper and less fancy. There are also supposedly the best donuts in America, even praised by Calvin Trillen, my forever favorite food writer. I am going to try very hard to force myself to leave my house tomorrow morning to buy an apple fritter from them because I have to see what all the praise is about. Just yesterday, I went out for boba with my group, inspired by the other girl from California, and found a restaurant whose second story is a boba stand featuring lollicup products. There is even a local radio station which features good bluegrass, americana, world, and even rockabilly music.
I can't believe that I only have one more weekend before I start graduate school things. I can't believe that so many of my weekends have gone to waste.
My new housemate just got here yesterday. She has a dog that is rather large and pants a lot. I am afraid to open my door and look at him.
asian
The other thing that I was not ready to deal with upon moving was being asian all over again. I forgot after spending a year at home how it feels to be the asian person and no longer the mostly white person or the no one really cares person. I liked not having to think about it, really, at all. I don't think I've very often at home gotten the question of how many japanese or ohio/michigan traditions I commonly practice with my family other than whether or not I speak Japanese.
The other day one of my coworkers finally found out that I am half Japanese. The grad student who is sort of training me over the summer is also half Japanese. She, with much sincerity, came to the conclusion that this similarity between the two of us was the reason for us "hanging out." First of all, this guy and I have never hung out without a few of our other group members. Those less than 4 times were only short meals. It is not like we suddenly became best friends because we could relate to one another sooo well. He likes things like baseball, fly fishing, and country music which I know next to nothing about. I know that I shouldn't be so mad about this tiny comment, but it reminded me that there are likely more to come. I very much hope not.
los angeles, I'm yours
I remember reading a magazine article about the Decemberists a few years ago. They remarked that their song, "los angeles, i'm yours" is a very critical view of Los Angeles but how its residents do not seem to pick up on this. They do not seem insulted, but sing loudly along whenever the band plays LA shows.
I don't think that people from Los Angeles realize how much the rest of America hates it. I don't think I ever realized until I left. Actually, I would hardly have considered myself to be of Los Angeles until I had to stand up for it. It was not until I left my home that I had to understand it and make it my own.
I wouldn't mind so much if people just said, "oh, i've been there once and it wasn't so great," but instead most people seem passionate about the subject.
This is my ode to Los Angeles. This is my attempt to tell people one more time how wonderful it really is.
The two things that make Los Angeles wonderful for me are its diversity and its food. I know that those hardly count as two separate things, but I don't just mean ethnic diversity. The people who make Los Angeles their home are diverse in many ways. Places like west hollywood are very different from east los angeles and from neighborhoods like silver lake. Los Angeles has a thai town, little tokyo, china town, little armenia, filipino town, korea town, little ethiopia, and probably a few others that I am forgetting. Even better, there are organizations like this that give tours of these places to help Los Angeles residents discover how great their city is. Although I have yet to find a gordita much like the ones in Walla Walla, Los Angeles has almost every type of food imaginable. From what I've been hearing on Good Food, Los Angeles' many markets also sell almost every vegetable and fruit that exists within the United States. Los Angeles has not only wonderful fine dining, but some of the best cheap meals like the many hot dog and hamburger stands, taquerias, and, my favorite, noodle soup from almost every country in east Asia for about $5. Those are just to name a few. Even though I cannot say this is truth, I also like to believe that people in Los Angeles are pretty adventurous. Because of the diversity of LA, it is hard not to have been around all sorts of people and to have learned from their stories and experiences. My additional reason for LA being great is all of the things to do. By default of it being a big city, there are some great bands that come through and some great venues to house them. There are all sorts of museums and art galleries, both big and small. There are things like felt club and things like fallen fruit. There are all sorts of amazing people and projects all around, all the time.
I don't think that finding the beauty of Los Angeles is easy. It took me 18 years to even realize that I lived right next to it. There are so many places that I am still eager to visit and explore.
I also point out that I am not trying to say that Los Angeles is better than your city. I have to agree that if I was comparing, Los Angeles would not be the best because, again, it takes a long time to appreciate. Even so I felt good reading this entry on Eating LA. The last line of the third comment down especially echoes my feelings. My personal complaint is about the transportation in LA. The difficulty in traveling from east la to west la, even with a car, probably makes it harder for visitors to explore and understand, promoting people's hatred. I also think that Los Angeles could do a lot to make its neighborhoods more friendly for bicyclers. All I wish for is that everyone who visits LA would try a little harder to enjoy it.
When I moved away from Los Angeles for the second time in my life, I wasn't prepared to defend it all over again. This is my last attempt to vocalize my feelings because actually speaking to people has produced little result in my experience. These experiences have left me feeling disappointing, sad, and, at this point, even angry. I have tried hard to pretend not to care, but I am not very good at it.
From now on, I am going to start proudly wearing my shirt that says "I like NY, but not as much as Los Angeles," every chance that I get.
6.21.2007
belated
Yea, yea, yea. I know. I have been in Colorado for over a week now and I have not made any announcement on my blog. Well, I am here and most of you know that already anyway.
I have been feeling either sad or extremely sleepy most nights that I have been here. I don't like writing angry/sad/sleepy entries. Despite this, I often think in blog terms during the day. That means, that I think in my head like I am writing a blog entry so this is long overdue.
Mainly, I have been wanting to write about food. I have been apathetic about eating lately because I haven't felt like cooking. I have decided to cook mostly eggs, beans, and tofu. I am excited for all my egg and bean adventures. My first adventure was an attempt at channa masala. At least that was what the recipe called it, but I still need some help on sorting out the difference between many Indian dishes. It did not turn out too well and I think now I am going to avoid cooking Indian food. Instead, I am going to next try a chickpea soup containing beet greens and spinach.
I also want to make my own wontons and freeze them for quick meals. These will contain meat like ground pork or chicken. But first, I must obtain this shiny looking steamer. Without knowing until July 6th how much I am currently being paid, I am hesitant to spend any needless money so my wonton project will have to wait a while.
I have been curious lately about miracle health foods, but I have been lazy to read more about them. Madhur Jaffery tells me that miso soup is very good for women and that she eats a bowl of it every day. That made me excited because I think that my little instant miso packets make the most wonderful snack or light meal. I assumed that making the soup wouldn't be too tough since she makes it daily, but she uses a strainer and takes some other steps that I will probably be unwilling to do. I would like to make it with instant dashi rather than opening cans of broth all the time, but I have still not made it to the asian market in town and doubt that they carry it.
It's tough starting over in a new home without all the food essentials like flour, salt, sugar, oil, and pickles. Every day I think of something new that I am missing. I am still missing the pickles, but they are high on the list. My mango pickle and my umeboshi is still in my home refrigerator. Tragic!
Maybe this weekend I will go out and buy all the baking ingredients and, if limes are still on sale, I will make this pudding cake.
I was inspired to post this entry because of an annoying thing that I discovered. I was checking out the great found paper products on lovely design and it led me to these salt and pepper shakers. At first I was pretty excited about the website, because I like shops with well-designed objects even if they cost more than I can afford. But then I came across these little hugging salt and pepper shakers that were sold everywhere in the streets of Thailand. I wanted to buy one when I was there, but I sort of forgot before I returned home and was worried that they might break. If I had purchased one, I doubt it would have cost me more than $4. This designer is trying to make these salt and pepper shakers sound all fancy and artsy by saying that the black and white colors "suggest that we are all brothers and sisters on this planet and we need to treat each other with kindness, compassion and respect." Well, in Thailand many of them were blue and yellow for the queen and king colors. I wonder what kind of worldly respect the Thai people were suggesting. The site also touts their storage benefits. I doubt that most people have trouble finding storage space for their salt and pepper shakers.
On the note of design, I pass by the ugliest scientific poster EVER whenever I go into my lab. I hope that whoever made it does not stumble upon my blog, but I'm sure it is unlikely. It could have been the decision of a phd professor. Anyway, the entire poster is in the windows font named "papyrus." Every single word. It is so awful that I have to shield my eyes whenever I walk down the hall. I recently came across this website about banning the font "comic sans." I really think that the banning of both "papyrus" and "tempus sans" is higher priority.
I found this blog that is a little like the best blog ever, not martha. How about orange has posts about good design, good fonts, and links to fun crafty projects. I found them from paper forest, with which I am obsessed. I have almost used up all of my sheets of white card stock making fun paper toys. Today I made a spiky baby to sit on my desk at work. He is a country western baby named Johnny and he matches the spirit of the lab. Country western music is often on the radio in the lab. So far, it doesn't bother me much, but it definitely makes me miss dancing to things like Madonna or Suburban Kids with Biblical Names during late lab nights with Elizabeth. Check out this photo I found on the Whitman site showing Rishi working with our tubes of Cadmium.
One last thing. Being in a new place, I am again getting that question about my hobbies. I do not know how to tell people that my main hobby is being kind of snobby about things. I have decided that I am a snob about food, music, tea, and definitely design, as I just demonstrated. When they asked about my music, I said that I like all kinds of music but especially some crazy weird stuff which was actually like saying, I like music that you have never heard. This t-shirt pretty much explains it. Those really are my hobbies other than staring at the internet, devising some master plan to bring eric closer to me, and occasionally dreaming about or actually working on some crafty project.
If you made it through this whole entry and clicked on all the links, I thank you and hope you are well because you must be a good friend. Expect more about my actual day to day life in my new Colorado home to follow soon.
5.09.2007
treehugger
I have already mentioned treehugger, but I have to mention it again. Their site contains too much good information. This one entry makes me wonder. A search engine called Blackle has been recently developed because apparently google could save 7500 megawatt hours a year by making their background black. Because of my love of good design, this sounds like a ridculous thing to change. On the other hand, if that much energy really could be saved, it is not at all ridiculous. This makes me wonder about all of the world's websites. Should all web designers be encouraged to eliminate the white space on their pages? This makes me glad that okay noodle does not have an all white background.
Speaking of design, check this out. Yes, martha stewart has come up with another brilliant way to make us give her our money. My mom held out the weekly Michael's ad to me so that I could take a look at the center section which featured a photo of their new martha stewart aisle. It was beautiful.
I caught the very beginning of the movie "East of Eden" the other night. I didn't stick around long because I am currently nearing the end of the book and I didn't want to ruin it for myself. The shocking thing to me was that the movie began with Cal and Aron Trask as teenagers. They are not teenagers until about 3/4 of the way through the book. I'm curious as to whether or not the movie flashes back to the previous 3/4 of the book or if they skip the growing up of their father and the birth of the boys. Some day I'll have to rent it and see.
5.01.2007
good food again
First, I must say that the worst thing to ever happen in television occurred last night. America's Funniest Home Videos aired on Nick at Nite.
Do I need to explain to you how awful this is?
Growing up, I watched mostly early morning cartoons and Nick and Nite programming. Some of my favorite shows ever are still shows that I know about only because of Nick at Nite. I was upset enough when they began airing Rosanne and Full House, but only because it made me feel old. Now I just feel sick. I hate how America's Funniest Home videos allowed parents to set up their young children to do stupid things. Nick at Nite is meant for classic sitcoms, not this.
Also, now that the excitement is over, I had better mention Heather Mills before it is too late. I love how the Breakfast with the Beatles news corespondent constantly complains about her actions and her appearances on Dancing with the Stars. Now she is off the show and comparing Paul's parenting to Alec Baldwin's. Isn't their child only 2 or 3 years old? I doubt that anyone would yell very much at a child that age. Mostly I just want to share with you this great line from the L.A. Times. They said (not exact quote), "not only is Heather Mills the first contestant on Dancing with Stars to have only one leg, she is the first woman with one leg to marry a beatle. Way to go Heather!" As appalled that I was that that line came from the pages of the L.A. Times, I could not stop laughing.
More praise for good food:
If you enjoy eating, you need to listen to this program NOW. After being out of town, I just finished the easter episode. Basically everything that they talk about is wonderful and entertaining. The farmer's market report from the prior week's episode featured cherimoyas, white asparagus, and fava beans. The easter episode continued on from egg health benefits, to the development of gluten-free communion wafers, to a report on homey food in China, to an artist who makes a living painting Ukrainian eggs, to an expert on peeps, to all about jelly bellies, and ending with a recipe for brioche. What better ways could your ears spend an hour?
Speaking of jelly bellies,
the woman on the show was supposedly in the 5th generation of the jelly belly family. This is not really true. I was disappointed that this fact was not better explained when I went on a tour of the factory in Fairfield, CA. Goetz candy company now manufactures jelly bellies, but they were invented by David Klein. He now sells Sandy Candy in Covina, CA. I was thrilled to see that Wikipedia has the facts correct and that one of Alhambra's few claims to fame is not lost. Fosselman's, the best homemade ice cream ever, was the first place to ever sell jelly bellies. If you are reading my blog for some reason, live in L.A., and have never been there, go there now! Try Mr. Fosselman's favorite flavor lemon custard, the memorably delicious raspberry, or the cocoa heavy dark chocolate. Yum.
This entry included a lot of commands. I'll break that up with some life news next time.
See, now good food is talking about lard and how delicious it is. See, I am not wrong. Look, they are even saying that it is not worse for you than butter. Awesome.
4.17.2007
eggs
After listening to the latest episode of my newly discovered favorite podcast, Good Food, I have decided to make eggs my official favorite food. I have always been annoyed by the favorite food question because there are so many foods that fall under so many categories. I probably have a favorite vegetable, a favorite fruit, a favorite nut, a favorite starch, and a favorite legume. But for now, I will say egg. I believe that eggs are wonderful on their own and I believe that eggs make pretty much any dish better. Some of my best meals have been topped with a egg whose runny yolk poured over the dish's other components. I should also not forget that eggs are necessary for pretty much any baking from bread to pancakes to cookies. My other favorite thing about eggs, of course, is that they are so cheap. On the radio program, Will Clower, said that eggs are the most nutrient dense of food and that the lecithin in them improves memory. He also said that there is no reason why everyone should not be eating at least one egg a day, yea!
I will leave you with this great post that I found on how to perfectly poach an egg.
