Category: food commentary

I had forgotten how much fun sixth level was. Dude, two attacks! It was pretty awesome. Unfortunately, we’re ending our time in the AU world for a while, so I won’t get to have the ceremony performed for my nifty new feat or my hawk animal companion until we pick things back up again.

We’re starting a new campaign, The Shackled City. This is an adventure that takes place in regular 3.5 D&D. It’s supposed to take us from first to twentieth level. Damn. That is going to be a LONG time. Jer’s DMing. We’re going to roll up characters next week. Rob’s pulling for us to be a party of clerics. I’m not entirely sure why, but I don’t really want to be one. I thought I’d try something new and go rogue. The hard thing about this is that rogues, with their mass of skills, are generally the ones to do a lot of actual RPing, not just “I hit it with my sword!” playing. I kind of suck at thinking in character, so hopefully this will push me to become a better player.

What’s this blog about? Food? Oh, yeah.

Um, we’re going to Fiesta del Mar Too for dinner. I haven’t been there in forever and a day. I need some adobo. And tons of their salsa. Yum.

We’ve been getting pizza and wings for D&D from Fast Pizza in Mountain View. Their wings are a little anemic, and the pizza crust is nothing to write home about, but damn, they have some nice sausage! Big chunks (not the rabbit-poo variety) and a hit of fennel. I love fennel. They’re decently priced and relatively fast, so I’d recommend them if you’re in the area.

I’ve been freaking out a little bit over the last few days. I got a letter from my new landlord (our building was sold earlier this month) that said, “We will be entering your apartment on January 30 to exhibit the rental unit to prospective mortgagees.” So I spent the entire weekend cleaning and making my place look nice. I hope they are not going to pull an Ellis Act on the building and evict everyone. I’m really worried about that. I’ve only lived here for a half year, and I really like my place. I don’t want to have to find another one.

I am guessing I’ll find out tomorrow what’s happening.

Good times.

In lighter news, I’ve been trying out a new tea. Stash Fusion Green and White Tea. It was two dollars at Trader Joe’s. I have been pleased with my (small) investment. I like having teas at work that don’t need milk and sugar.

Oh, how annoying. At our party on Thursday, I took home a bunch of jerk chicken with the intent of shredding it up for soup. I thought I took home five breasts, but it turned out to be one breast and four thighs. Argh! I don’t like using dark meat in soup. It’s too fatty. I prefer dark meat for straight eating, but I use the white meat for soup. It’s a pretty good balance, means I can use the entire chicken when I roast it.

I was so sad at the results of the white elephant gift exchange. I was really trying to get the gift that I unwrapped, a copy of The Food and Wines of Spain. But it was stolen away from me in the last round. Blast! (I’ll get you for that, Angie.) I ended up with a foam six-pack cooler filled with ginger ale.

I tried a new recipe this week, but I wasn’t really happy with it. I got it from my friend Eddie; it’s one of Mario Batali’s recipes. I’m still going to post it anyway, because I think it might just be a problem with me and my taste buds. I am not terribly keen on the combination of sweet and savory. Some people do enjoy it. For example, my mom and dad love putting raisins in their curries. To that, I say nay! (J agrees.)

But hey, you might like it. Zucca en agrodolce.

I made about a half gallon of stock last night. No, it’s not a lot, but I only had two carcasses. It’ll suit my purposes (sauce and soup) just fine. Also, it’s probably a little on the concentrated side, so I may need to thin it out with water. I fell asleep on the couch while it was simmering. The comforting aroma made me tired.

I’m mostly better. Hurray!

Okay, so we’re not getting that table, but R☆ and Jer are constructing a new gaming surface. When finished it will be awesome. I spent way too much time at Home Depot yesterday with them (and Rosy).

One good thing about getting sick: I eat the stuff I’ve frozen.

I need to make stock. I have chicken bits. I will need to stop by a grocery store on the way home to get an onion.

Sure, it’s a bit “too long; didn’t read,” but this blog post is fascinating (well, for small, Sarah-like amounts of fascinating). Last week in the East Coast food blogging community (not going to use the word blogosphere), there was apparently quite a to-do about a chef serving a blogger with a cease and desist because he took pictures of her food. This is his wife’s account of what happened. There’s also a thread on eGullet about the whole thing here.

I think the only time I’ve taken pictures in a restaurant was in a restaurant in Florence called Gustavino. The food was too damn pretty not to do so!

I made baguettes… not really. I made my normal bread recipe, then shaped it into two long skinny loaves because I wanted to use my new pan. They turned out very tasty, but totally not baguette-ish. So I went to the library and picked up Baking Illustrated and Crumb & Crust to check out their techniques, information, and recipes. Sadly, they didn’t have Artisan Baking. J and Barbara May have that book. It’s really good.

Friday night- went out to dinner at Bangkok Bay with J, Barbara May, and Barbara Jo. Kind of disappointed by their duck special, but the tilapia special was mind-blowing. The eggplant, panang beef, and lemon mushroom soup were fantastic as always.

Saturday night – went out to dinner at Clarke’s with Jer and Cass. Had a tasty burger. Then we all went to see Match Point with Liz. Scarlett Johansson’s hair is fabulous in that movie and I want it. I think I maybe could pull it off. Maybe. Then I hung out with R☆ and Jer and we watched the first five episodes of Gunslinger Girl. Not really my kind of show.

Sunday night – Zack and Lydia came over, and we went out to Left Bank. Fondue? Excellent. Mussels? Tasty. Bisque? Disappointing! We should know better than to try new things there. If we go there again, it’s fondue-mussels-frites-STOP. Also, I think I ate a bad mussel or something, because I was prodigiously sick in their bathroom while we were waiting for our check. That was unpleasant. Then we went to Ikea and bought some stuff (and got hot dogs and frozen yogurt).

I hate phyllo dough. Sure, I didn’t make it myself, but working with the pre-made stuff… ugh. My back was KILLING me after making the samosas. All the bending and leaning over the dough to brush it with butter was ridiculous. About halfway through I stopped using the butter. They still turned out okay, so I included an option to use much less butter in the recipe.

I love Barbara May’s fruitcake. That stuff is amazing.

I still have recipes to post: a plain pie crust dough and the lamb-pine nut things I made. They were supposed to be some of the mixture in small little boats of dough, but I kind of liked them better as meatballs.

I’m reducing some ginger syrup right now. I’m planning on mixing it with club soda or sparkling water to make my own ginger ale. We’ll see how that works.

Tuesday was the annual Gingerbreadfest. It was a smaller affair this year, which was perfectly fine. I actually finished my house, which I didn’t do last year. Pictures should be forthcoming. I’ve already had to pitch it because of some bug issues and the fact that it was falling apart (Twizzlers aren’t very fond of verticality).

Tonight is Barbara May’s baby shower. I’m working on a couple of new hors d’oeuvres recipes for it. I hope they turn out well.