She's Back!

I missed the beginning of Top Chef! All because the American Idol finale was so shocking that it ran over its usual time slot. By the way, I am sending a huge congratulations to David Cook, the winner, and to all those who voted for him, allowing him to beat baby-faced David Archuleta.

The Quickfire Challenge tonight was working the short order egg station at one of Chicago's favorite breakfast joints, Lou Mitchell's. Antonia won, with an advantage going into the Elimination Challenge, which if you hadn't figured it our from last week's teasers, was Restaurant Wars! Antonia got to pick her team, and surprise surprise, she picked the best, Richard and Stephanie. Which left the other team with Lisa, Dale, and Spike, all three of whom really struggle on a basic human level to interact with others, and to produce good food. So really, I guess this wasn't a fair challenge, with the teams so obviously loaded. But, what can we do? Nothing!
So as you might have predicted: Stephanie, Richard, and Antonia were the WINNERS!!!
Under the guidance of executive chef Antonia, and the extra help from past cheftestant Nikki, this team came out on top. The dishes included linguine with shrimp and sausage, beet salad, trout, braised lamb/lamb loin, and a gorgonzola cheesecake with banana scallop (despite poor plating style). Stephanie came out the ULTIMATE WINNER! with a trip to Barcelona, Spain! She's back in the game with another Elimination Challenge win!
Now that leaves Dale, Lisa, and Spike, the LOSERS!!! And as shocking as this may come out to be, Never have a actually preferred Spike to others chefs and actually rooted for him in comparison.
From the atmosphere and design of the front of the house, to the composition and construction of each dish, this team just didn't have what it takes. I particularly liked how the judges (Padma, Ted Allen, Anthony Bourdain, and Jose Andres) compared some of the decor to the back of Prince's dressing room, or something insane like that. As for the food, two disasters stick out in my mind: butterscotch scallops and whatever the sticky rice dish was intended to be. The scallops just sound weird, and Bourdain thought his plate looked like a melted candy bar. Over shrimp and scallops. Tasty. Not. The sticky rice was disastrous, as one customer called it "baby food garnished with potpourri". The shot I saw of it looked like the bananas I smash before mixing them into my banana bread mixture. That is NOT how rice should look.
As far as team atmosphere goes, it was bitter, and ugly, consisting of lots of yelling, blaming, eye rolling and shaking of the head. Spike was complimented by the judges for his decision to get the hell out of the kitchen and the line of fire between Lisa and Dale. A highlight of this battle was when they both tried to outdo each other by blaming each other with cliches.
Dale: You are only as strong as your weakest link.
Lisa: Yeah? Well You are also only as good as your leader.
In the long run, neither won. Dale was told to pack his knives and go, but Lisa only managed to salvage her place in the top 5, leaving behind any favorable impressions and dignity.
It is just a shame that we didn't see any true humanity from Dale until he got kicked off. Apparently he hates saying goodbyes, and i really going to miss the people and the experience, he admitted while tearing up. Had I known he had it in him to be a human being, he might not have sunk so far down my list.

For more recap, analysis, blogs, and multimedia, check out Bravo's report.

So long Maryland Dining Services

One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well. ~Virginia Woolf

I come to you in my last post of my freshman year, the last day, the last night in the dorms, and more importantly, the last time I will have to eat at the dining hall… at least for another 3 months.

So long to dining hall food! (at least for the next 3 months). I just ate my last dinner of campus foods, and I am so glad that I can now take a break. Let me explain.

It is not that the food is horribly atrocious. It just isn’t all that good. And it really really gets old. Cafeterias seem to get bad names for horrible food. You know those horror stories. But what else can you expect when the food has to be prepared on a scale large enough to feed thousands of hungry young scholars. So in this situation, it is understandable when the quality sometimes suffers. But I still don’t think it is right to have to settle for barely tolerable food for nine months. The food we eat at school serves the same purpose as the food we eat at home, and I would argue that this requires an even greater emphasis on providing satisfying, filling, AND healthy foods.

The dining hall food on my campus sometimes seems like it doesn’t provide any of those characteristics. Now, I would like to take a moment and point out that our dining services is probably much better than many others across the country. Sometimes they offer a really great meal, and they do try to incorporate special events and community dining into their program. And I think everyone appreciates that. But every other day, when there is no special catering, and you are eating the same meal for the 3rd time in one week, you can definitely find something wrong with dining services.

To begin with, the value meal, which you might think of as a ‘blue plate special’ is a on a repeating 3 week schedule. Which means in the 9 months you spend on campus, you will have the same exact meal… well I’m not exactly sure how many times (I am NOT a math major), but let’s just say you will have it a lot. Towards the end of the semester, the dining hall seems to stop ordering food from its suppliers. Fresh fruit becomes rare, the sweets counter starts to run out, some food stations begin to close, and that good old menu starts repeating all the left over meals. Shouldn’t the end of the year deserve better food? After all, this is the time when students must deal with more stress with finals, and being well fed is essential to doing well and staying focused, at least.

Another major problem I have is with the lack of balanced healthy plates available daily. Since I am largely addressing the value meal, let’s talk about the options here. Usually, with almost every dinner meal, there is an option of some type of vegetable, mixed veggies, broccoli, cauliflower, or peas. Honestly, however, these vegetables are also usually less than desirable. A few days ago, the broccoli that landed on my plate was somehow so bleached it almost looked like cauliflower. The mixed veggies are usually so soft, watery, and overcooked that it could almost be a soup. Sometimes, there just aren’t any vegetables at all. Other times you have to go out of your way to get edible vegetables on to your plate, by visiting different food stations or the salad bar to pick out some raw broccoli, spinach or pepper slices. This can be a serious and time consuming problem when your half-hour dinner break was taken at the expense of your studying time.

So what would I (reasonably) do if I were the head of campus dining services?

1. Make better Asian noodles/ stir fry and rice dishes, because the occasional option now usually keeps everyone away in favor of burgers and fries.
2. Give a greater variety of vegetables with every meal, insuring that they don’t sit out all day in the hot plate, to prevent ‘mushiness’.
3. Bring in catering services and special events more often that every two or three months.
4. (and sushi in the dining hall doesn’t count. I will eat it, but really… just think about it. Sushi?... in the dining hall? Sounds a little sketchy to me)
5. Offer at least one new original, or special dish every week to break the monotony of the 3-week-schedule.
6. Offer a waffle-maker all day long. (Just because I really like waffles).

And just for the record, I would like to point out a few good things about Maryland dining services:

1. My last dinner was not all that bad. And the food looked kind of good on the plates. (see above pictures).
2. They made 54,000 cupcakes in the shape of the university's seal. That is pretty impressive.
3. The ice cream in fantastic, made in the University Dairy.
4. The waffles, served at weekend brunch and occasionally weekday breakfasts, have Testudo (the school mascot at the center). He's my favorite!
   

Healthy Images and Healthy Choices

Food is an important part of a balanced diet. ~Fran Lebowitz

Part of the secret of success in life is to eat what you like and let the food fight it out inside. ~Mark Twain

Pop Quiz! Name 3 ways to lose weight and get ‘healthy’ right now!

Does your list include any of the following? South Beach or Atkins’ Diet, Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig.

It seems that our society has become increasingly obsessed with weight and body image. Where did this come from, and even more importantly, where does this leave us?

I can understand the need to be healthy, and I too would love to lose some unnecessary body baggage. But how do we classify what is healthy? Does this mean stick thin, under a certain body weight, or the ability to perform some type of exercise at a certain level? And more importantly, how did food come to be the most commonly associated object to getting healthy. Sure, it plays a large role, but what about fitness and keeping your body in shape, getting enough sleep, preventing stress and mental of emotional problems, boosting immunity to sickness, and feeling confident in your own skin. This may sound very 7th grade health class, but you can’t be healthy unless you take into account this whole spectrum, and decide how you ought to measure yourself in that context.

In order to avoid sounding like an old gym/ health teacher, or a psychological counselor, I would like to focus on the eating aspect of health. (First off, I would like to say that I have tried the South Beach Diet, so I am not just speaking off of assumptions here.) As for the fad diets, the South Beach and Atkins, the all-carb, the all-juice, the take-away-your-favorite-food diet, I just don’t understand why anyone should do this. I admit that when I did the South Beach diet I also lost weight. But one morning I woke up and really wanted a bagel, essentially putting an end to my carb fasting. So why do we limit ourselves like this? Why do we take food away that we know aren’t actually hurting us, except by maybe putting and extra pound on here of there. Is there anything fundamentally unhealthy about carbs? No. Will you gain a lot of weight if you eat carbs like you drink water? Yes. So I preach moderation.

Eat what you want, love what you want, but in appropriate portions. Eat pasta for dinner if you love it, but skip the bowl of cereal and deep-dish pizza that same day. My feelings are that if you deprive yourself of something, the more you will want it, and when you get it, you lose control. You will overload on what you couldn’t have before. That’s what happened with the South-Beach-ending-bagel incident.

So now I eat what I want, just not as much. I try to balance my meals, which is extremely hard at a college cafeteria where you have little to no control over what composes your dinner. But I do my best, always trying to keep that silly food pyramid in the back of my mind. And if I indulge, I hold back later.
Why not emphasize the pleasures of eating food, rather than turning it into our enemy. We have to realize that when people, especially grown adults, show so much concern with their health, or more specifically their weight and dress size, a certain message is sent to others, most often young children, and young girls and teens in particular. Is this the kind of message we want to send? Food is dangerous in terms of keeping a perfect body image, and so it’s best to avoid possible problems by dieting, or worse, by eating. Talk about unhealthy. If we want to understand why there are so many young girls who suffer from eating disorders and the like, we ought to just take a look at how we present our own relationships to food.

Food is not our enemy. And I really think its time that we get this message out. We shouldn’t focus on how people can cheat the scale by cutting out food from the diet, or showing that it would all be easier if you had Jenny Craig prepare and ship frozen foods to your home in order to eat healthfully. Instead, we should highlight the benefits of food, show how eating can be healthy, teach all of our kids how to cook for themselves and how to recognize appropriate portions and the healthy from the non-healthy foods.

Not Enough to Feed the Need

It is not necessary to advertise food to hungry people, fuel to cold people, or houses to the homeless. ~J. K. Galbraith

I went to the bank and asked to borrow a cup of money. They said, “What for?” I said, “I'm going to buy some sugar.” ~Steven Wright

If you haven’t noticed yet, prices are going up. Prices of everything, from gas to food. It seems like an unlikely association, but it makes sense that even the food industry would be affected by changes in the national and global economy. I, in my limited view from my tiny dorm window, admit that I have not noticed these to be pronounced as those who live in the real world. I have no comparison because it seems like all the food on campus, in both the dining halls and the few convenience shops has always been overpriced. But the truth is, food prices are rising, and everyone from the American family to the hungry in third world countries are feeling the pressures of these increases.


An article in USA Today on April 28, 2008 cited changes in prices, particularly of white bread, which increased 16.3%, milk, which rose 13.3% and eggs, which rose 34.8%, all in the past twelve months. That difference in actual price may only be a few cents, but imagine if you are the parent of a large family- those cents add up. If you are at an income level close to poverty, those few cents could be more than your income could account for. And what about the children and families in third world countries, where food is not easy to come by, and certainly not easy to pay for when it does come by? These circumstances bring up more issues than just food price, confronting issues of uneven food distribution, especially based on class and wealth.

Call it inflation or the effects of a down-turning economy; nobody can really pinpoint the cause of the price increases. Some point to ordinary inflation over time, but even that must stem from another underlying source. Others suggest increases in gas and fuel prices, which affect both harvesting, production and processing, as well as transportation of foods. I think some definite possibilities stem from natural limitations of supply brought about by natural disasters, or reactions that downsized operations after slower years of production. One possible source, though it seems largely opposed by researchers and experts is the idea that increased production and distribution of grains, such as corn, to biofuels has greatly impacted the food industry as a whole. If this is true and a larger percentage of corn and grains are being focused towards ethanol production, it could explain why prices of grains (breads and cereals) are rising, as well as how other prices rise in order to match.

Around the world, food has become a precious commodity. We constantly hear about those less fortunate than us, constantly remind others that “there are starving kids in China,” and in New Orleans for that matter. But now everybody is suffering. Some grocery stores are even limiting the amount of some products that costumers can purchase. Restaurants are suffering too, both from lack of customers and from rising prices of food suppliers. And those who have always struggled to feed themselves and others? They now have at even worse.

The question, now, is what can we do to avert further problems. Sure, aid would be nice, but how can we help others if we can’t guarantee that we can provide for ourselves, particularly those that are really struggling in our own country from hunger and poverty. Another possibility would be to research other sources of energy, especially if a large portion of our grain supply is going towards the production of biofuels, and so that we are not dependent on foreign or limited energy sources for purposes of production and distribution of food supply, but this suggestion treads dangerously into political waters. But for now, it seems as if we will just have to deal with these changes. But maybe we’ll get something out of it too, perhaps learning how to stretch and make the most of every little thing we have, or to grow what we can of our own- WWII Victory Garden style.

In the meantime, if you want to help out in even the smallest way, play the Free Rice Game. It will make you feel better about helping humanity, and will also boost your vocabulary level! Check it out.

Going Green

Hey farmer farmer
Put away that DDT now
Give me spots on my apples
But leave me the birds and the bees
Please!
~Joni Mitchell

It seems that everything these days is going green, reaching towards sustainability in any possible way. This is no different in the food sphere. From the source to the disposal, food has gone green, and not just the veggies! (Get it?!)

Perhaps beginning with Rachel Carson, at least in the US, but maybe even earlier abroad, science has been raising awareness of the problems of how we produce our food. All those pesticides and herbicides that were supposed to prevent competition between our crops and those pesky weeds and pests are slowly fading into a thing of the past. All that DDT… turns out not so good for you. Now farmers and even family gardeners are turning to new methods of natural and environmentally friendly pest control. In one of my high school Environmental Science classes, we learned that one of these techniques is to use natural predators of plants and other pests. For example, some farmers use geese and other such duck-like creatures to prey on the insects that destroy their crops. Another plus? The waste (manure) fertilizes the ground… naturally.

At home, my family unfortunately lacks a gaggle of geese which will cooperate and actually eat the pests, rather than just … defecating… all over the place. Instead, my mom has come up with other alternatives, natural alternatives to pesticides. Apparently many pests dislike hot pepper, so she sprinkles hot pepper flakes throughout the vegetable garden. And to keep away the larger pests, deer in particular, we usually brush the dog near the garden. The scent of the dog’s hair keeps animals away who depend on scent to determine territory. I know there are many other methods, as I am sure my parents will remind me; and even though my high school environmental science teacher may be disappointed in my short list, I must carry on.

Here’s another way to go green with your food: BUY LOCAL. As hippie-esque and bumper sticker-y as this cliché is, it is true. One of the simplest ways to save the environment is to buy from local farms, produce stands, or at least pick the produce that is labeled with a local origin at the grocery store. When you get your resources from nearby you can count on the fact that gas emissions will be low- no driving or flying across country necessary! Of course, if you can, a home grown garden is another way to prevent those gas emissions, because when you want a green pepper or some fresh basil all you have to do is take a pair of scissors out to your backyard.

In my family, we have a belief that leftovers show love. We would never serve leftovers to a guest. No, they are only for family. But leftovers also show a love for the environment. You know how it goes, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle! Don’t throw away those scraps, the bottom of the mashed potato pot, the stale bread, or the lemon wedge. Reheat that steak and serve it with eggs for breakfast, make potato pancakes, croutons or bread pudding with the stale bread, and flush the lemon down the disposal (it’ll make the kitchen smell citrus-y fresh!). And if you really dislike the idea of leftovers, for whatever reason, cook less, fix smaller portions, make your kids eat those veggies instead of giving them the option to pass and let them go to waste (there are starving kids in New Orleans, you know).

My final recommendation: COMPOST! It is so easy, and I bet you didn’t even know all of the things you can compost. If you want a good overview of composting in general, what to expect, how to, what you need, what you should, could and definitely should not put into that pile, visit Garden Web.

While you're at it, check out my friend's related blog, and look through the GREEN lenses!

It's bizarre that the produce manager is more important to my children's health than the pediatrician. ~Meryl Streep

For those of you who missed it, this past week’s episode of Top Chef was all about healthy cooking and healthy eating. It seems like we are constantly hearing stories these days about increasing obesity rates, especially in children, not to mention other health problems that go along with eating well, or rather, not eating well.

There really doesn’t seem to be any point in denying the problem’s existence. We can no longer chalk it up to personal body image conflicts, though these certainly don’t help matters. So then, what has caused this collective weight gain?
Eating healthfully is not a one step process. Our food journeys through stages of production and harvesting, preservation and handling, buying, preparing, and lastly consuming.
Let’s start at the beginning. Now, I am no expert, but lets see if we can track one food item from beginning to end. How about an apple.
We start at the orchard. There is a seed, and skipping the birds and bees of plant growth, we will eventually have an apple tree. But wait- what about the pests? We might spray a pesticide to ward off those nasty insects. And to ward off all the weeds that might out-compete the tree itself, we add some herbicides to the mix. Nothing can prevent the apple from growing in peace- at least until it is pickin’ time.
This is where it starts to get complicated. The apple has a variety of directions to go, each of which I would like to explore a little.

1. The beautifully plump, red apple takes a short drive down the dusty sunlit lane to a roadside fruit stand. There it is bought, washed, and consumed for a light and healthy afternoon snack. Simple enough, no?
2. That same red apple gets packed into bushels of produce, placed on a truck and shipped 200 miles away. The apple arrives, a little older, and a little bruised, perhaps, but relatively little harm was done (except for the gas emissions resulting from the truck ride). That apple is bought, taken home, eaten for an afternoon snack, or perhaps baked into a pie. That pie, combined with all that butter and sugar (trust me- there’s a lot of both), tastes mighty delicious. One after-dinner slice quickly turns into 3, each decreasing in size, but 3 nonetheless. True, the fruit has vitamins that are definitely good for you, but the butter and sugar are also good for those love handles.
3. That same apple from that orchard gets shipped off to the nearest juice-making factory. They do whatever they do at those types of places, and the next time we see that apple it is in juice form. But don’t forget about the sugar, and high-fructose corn syrup that got mixed in, too. Adds to the flavor, you know- and the tummy.

Food has a variety of avenues towards becoming our enemy these days.
There is always a danger these days of unhealthy pesticides and the like, which affect our heath in different ways- not necessarily in weight gain or cholesterol, but in chemical balances.
There are health dangers in the ways we prepare our food. Often we use too much of certain ingredients, especially in places where substitution is possible. Why not cook with olive oil instead of a stick of butter or find another condiment to use instead of mayonnaise? (Even if Hellman’s claims the health benefits of its product, I am just not a fan of mayonnaise at all.) How about holding back on the amount of sauce you slather across those ribs, or on top of those Chinese noodles.
With all the processing our food goes through these days, you can never really be sure of what you are eating. High fructose corn syrup is one ingredient that I think everyone can live without.

One of the best ways to insure healthy eating is to make your food yourself. I know this is impossible in certain cases- not everybody has a garden for fresh fruits and veggies. But you can make sure that what you make with your food has healthy ingredients, is cooked in a healthy manner, and most of all, you can make sure that your meals have enough of each food group- as cliché as that sounds.

Regional Foods, cont'd!

In my exam-cramming-procrastination today, I came across another blogger's take on regional foods.
Check it out: Mango & Ginger
I've also linked to it under "Can't Get Enough?" Take a look at the other posts, too!

And while you're at it, take a look at this map of regional foods from the New York Times. Not only does the map divide the nation into food regions, it shows the unfortunate disappearance of some of these key ingredients in each food due to endangered species.

Foods of America

"Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you what you are." ~ Anthelme Brillat-Savarin

I am from Maryland, not originally, but I have lived here for most of my life- 14 years.

I don’t know if you got the message in my last post- but it’s almost summer. And summer in Maryland brings out one of the greatest and proudest features of this area: the Maryland Blue Crab. It might be early in the season now, but in a month or two, orders of bushels of crabs will pour into seafood suppliers and crab houses, and hardware stores might run out of long plywood sheets that will serve as the massive crab-picking table.

Yes, crab feast season is just around the corner. For those of you outside of the state, you might wonder, “What is this madness? Why are Marylanders obsessed with crabs?” I have been asked this question many times by some of my out-of state friends. And I have one answer.

It is a way of life. We in Maryland are proud of our state, proud of our state shellfish, proud of the Chesapeake Bay (even though it is horribly polluted) from whence the crabs come, proud of our expertise at preparing and eating crabs. In my opinion, there is nothing that can better bring a community together than sitting around a giant table with dozens of your closest friends, picking and feasting on crabs, the warm summer light bouncing off your face with the scent of Old Bay wafting through the air. It’s almost poetic!

And then there is the fact that these tasty treats are just so GOOD! Well, I guess that was more than one reason.


Doesn’t every area have a dish, a food that typifies the region, that everyone gets excited about, and outsiders just can’t seem to understand? These foods bring people together, around the table and at community picnics. The shared love of regional food bonds people together in ways that those outsiders cannot understand unless they look at their own food loves. Now, I am not an expert, so I’m probably about to make some assumptions based on stereotypes. But hey— if Marylanders are apparently obsessed with crabs, then aren’t other people obsessed with their own foods?

What about Mexican food in California and Tex-Mex in the southwest, particularly Texas? Don’t all Texans eat red meat like they drink water, and Seattle-ans have coffee for blood? Probably not, actually. But these assumptions could also be based in fact, observed fact. I think many Texans would vow a love of red meat. And if I lived in Texas, I probably would, too. (But I don’t, so I won’t). Starbucks originated in Seattle. So yes, maybe coffee is a big deal there. There is Creole food on the bayou, French infusion into New Orleans food (does anybody else slobber over the thoughts of hot beignets sprinkled with powdered sugar?).

(Check out the pictures of my family's home-made Thanksgiving beignets)

New England has its clam chowder; the Northwest has its salmon; Maine has it’s lobster; the Midwest and the Carolina’s both have their barbecue; Chicago has its pizza; St. Louis has its toasted ravioli; Wisconsin has its cheese; and Key West has Key Lime Pie. These all make sense, right?

America might have its own cuisine, its stereotype of Americana. So does each American region, each state, and each city. We love these flavors, and I know that I personally look forward to tasting a little of each specific cuisine whenever I go to its respective region.

Food once again serves as a way to identify oneself, to create a community. Peoples are joined together by a connection to their region, and a love (sometimes bordering on an obsession) of a community food.

Slice Me a Piece of Cake- We're Safe!

All the favorites are going to stick around for another week!

This week's Top Chef was a team affair- team Quick-Fire and Elimination challenges. The Quick- Fire was a team relay: knife skills, artichoke peeling, fillet cutting, and mayonaise mixing. Team Richard, Stephanie, Antonia, and Andrew came back from a slow start to win the race. Team Dale, Spike, Lisa, and Nikki lost the early lead provided by Lisa's fast knife work. Oh well....
The Elimination challenge was different this year. Where it would have been "Restaurant Wars", there was instead "Wedding Wars". That's right. Wedding. Richard's team took the bride's tastes, and Dale's took the groom's. They each designed a catering menu based on their person's tastes and desires for wedding food. And don't forget- this challenge was to cater a WEDDING. Which means CAKE. Which means pastries and baking, the one thing that every chef on the show hates!
Following the bride's southern tastes, Richard made braised brisket, Antonia made fillet mignon, Andrew made breaded chicken and creamed spinach, in addition to the group-made hors-de-vors. And the cake? Stephanie made the cake. And it was amazing apparently, in look and taste.
Following the groom's Italian roots, Nikki and the gang created a somewhat mediocre Italian menu. What should have been super easy for Nikki- was not. And she was sent home for it, for her lack of direction and poor illustration of her Italian cooking experience. Her hand-made tortellini just didn't cut it this time. It's just a shame whiny Dale didn't also have to pack his knives, arrogance, and attitude and go too. Maybe next week.

But hurrah for Richard, the winner of it all! His brisket and his direction as team leader cinched the win. Stephanie's surprise cake-baking skills also paid off, with a special prize, and a boosted level of respect! She's a fantastic chef. And this is also the second time that her baking skills have shown through. Remember the zoo challenge, with the gorilla team's banana bread- one of the team's only saving graces? So snaps for Stephanie, and super snaps for Richard, who has risen high in my esteem. I started out strongly disliking him, and though I still sometimes refer to him as 'Tweety Bird', I really do like him.
*All pictures taken from Bravo's Top Chef. *

Food as identity, comfort, inspiration

"The story of barbecue is the story of America: Settlers arrive on a great unspoiled continent, discover wondrous riches, set them on fire and eat them." ~Vince Staten

The semester is almost over. Last week I had 3 papers, including a long research paper. This past weekend I participated in a 12 hour Relay for Life to battle cancer. I have 5 days of class remaining before exams. Am I stressed? Maybe just a tad.

To take a tiny break, I went home for the night on Friday. My Dad asked what I would like for dinner and the only thing I could think about- was bratwurst. Now, let me explain. The weather was beautiful, I had left school and had no immediate academic demands, at least for the moment. The weather, the beautiful environment, and the completely relaxed atmosphere seemed to signal just one thing: summer.

And with the advent of summer also comes a specific menu. No more meatloaf, heavy pasta dishes, soups and hot chocolate. Now is the time for ice-cold lemonade, fresh fruit and berries, herbs and veggies fresh from the garden, barbecues, and ice cream. So really, there was nothing better to have than a fresh-off-the-grill Bratwurst.

For me, grilling anything outdoors is indicative of summer, of backyard barbeques and neighborhood block parties. But one of my favorite associations is with the ballpark. Nothing says summer to me more than sitting in the stands with a cold lemonade, a pack of peanuts or cracker jacks and a hot dog with the sounds of the bat hitting the baseball and “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” echoing in the back of my mind. This could only be improved by substituting the hot dog with a bratwurst or corn dog. I know that they can sometimes give off a bad impression. But where else are breaded and fried hot dogs on sticks so readily available, so accepted, and so tasty than at the ballpark?

Excuse any following generalizations, but this is America. This is where we get hot dogs and hamburgers, barbecue, fried chicken, corn on the cob, and apple pie.

Along with historical monuments and natural landmarks, America is also easily identified by cuisine. We all come from different places, bringing with us different appreciations, expectations, tastes and flavors. Even among these differences have come standards at the American table. If not as a particular dish, then perhaps associated with a national festivity or attitude. Take my previous example. I don’t think sausages, bratwurst or any other kind, can be typified into food of Americana. But sitting on the back porch or in the ballpark, munching on these foods certainly feels American to me. Maybe it’s just the game. Or maybe it’s the comfort aspect.

Comfort food, in the shape of cereal or ice cream late at night, spaghetti and meatballs in the cold winter, or hot dogs on a hot summer day, makes us feel good. And this is exactly how I felt on Friday night, with a full plate, nice weather, and the comforts of home on an almost-summer’s eve. These foods reassure us, reaffirming who we are, where we are, how we are, and what we love.

Isn’t it funny how food can create such strong associations to memory, identity and emotions? I’ve already mentioned the food that can create an American identity (at least in the kitchen). Then there is also the comfort food- and oh, how that food connects us to emotions! Why else would mashed potatoes make us so happy, cheese make us so ecstatic, and cereal late at night so content. I may just be speaking for myself here, but I am certain that everybody has a food that can alter his or her attitude and emotions in a matter of seconds. It is one positive in how easily we humans can be swayed. And as for associations to memory, I’ve heard that smell is the sense that ties most closely to memory. I won’t disagree, but rather argue that taste also ties significantly to memory. Now, scent probably plays a big part in this. But, even to this day, if I have the right kind of popsicle, I am taken back to a summer’s night 10 years ago, playing Ghost in the Graveyard with the neighbors. Sometimes at the dinning hall, with a bite of scrambled eggs I am taken back to the dining hall at camp. The food wasn’t very good, but the memory is strong- good friends, good times. Perhaps this is also the reason that I so crave a giant Sloppy Joe (the king of all camp foods) on occasion- to remind me of those times.

Food is strong. It creates an identity and ties us to it. It connects us to who we are, who we were, where we are and were, how we feel and felt. There is a power in food, not just to feed, satisfy and sustain, but also to define and connect.

Check out one of my friend's blog, all about baseball-- The International Pastime
Check out what MSNBC has to say about the 10 Foods That Make America Great"

*stay tuned to this post for updated photos in the next few days*

The Foodie Blogroll!

I made it on to the Foodie Blogroll. Just take a look to the right... see it? ( you might need to scroll down just a bit) Do you see it yet? There it is!

How exciting! I am thrilled to be a part of this Blog Roll. So take a look at it, explore the other blogs, check out the Left Over Queen, the creator of this network. There's tons to see, tons to look up, tons of recipes and pictures to make you absolutely starving!

But don't forget to come back here and celebrate my new place in the Food Blog Community! Hurrah!

Weekend Escape

I went home on Friday night to escape the high stress of the end of the semester. And, of course, to partake in some home-cooked food.

Friday night we had bratwurst fresh off the grill! So good! Talk about a summer dinner on the back porch! I had never made them on my own, but only watched my dad make them. This time I helped, and the satisfaction was even greater.

Just take a look at that plate--->

Does that look like summer or what?

Saturday morning, my dad made juevos con chorizo-- eggs, veggies, and hot chorizo, mixed with mexican cheese and wrapped in a warm tortilla. This is a family breakfast favorite.

Before going back to school, I always like to cook or bake something to take back with me. My personal favorite, to bake and to eat, is oatmeal raisin cookies. I would take an oatmeal cookie over any other kind any day of the week. Not only are the delicious, they also help trick myself into believing that I am eating a 'healthy' version of a sugar and butter packed treat. Seals the deal right there!

I also made pasta salad to share with my Relay for Life team. Relay is a 12 hour event, through the night, in which at least one person from each team must be walking at all times. (All proceeds go towards fighting cancer!) It was going to be a very long night, and we would need sustenance.

Now, I don't know why, but I think pasta salad always intimidated me just a little bit. I think maybe it has to do with summer block parties, and all of the mom's bringing giant pots of it to share. I don't know why this would intimidate me, even in theory it doesn't seem very complicated. Anyways, I made pasta salad for the first time this weekend, and it was pretty darn good. It kind of turned into an 'everything-but-the-kitchen-sink' dish because I didn't really have any idea of where to limit myself. So if something sounded tasty, I would throw it in. This could have proved disastrous, but it turned out fantastic. Although that might also be personal bias and pride speaking...

I used a pound of pasta, a mix of two previously opened boxes. Cooked and drained.
Mixed in olive oil (enough to cover all the noodles) and balsamic vinegar (to taste, which also gave the noodles a darker color).
Mixed in some cooked veggies (mushrooms, peppers, onions), quartered and uncooked cherry tomatoes, fresh basil and oregano, red pepper flakes and salt to taste.
The final touch was about a tablespoon of Old Bay. And this made all the difference! The salad seemed like it was missing something until I added this.

We did not have olives or celery in the house, so these traditional ingredients were left out. I don't know that I have ever had pasta salad with mushrooms, but I feel that it gave the dish a nice taste, as well a unique twist. And I think my Relay team agreed. They devoured it almost as soon as we had set up our campsite!