Since Wednesday

I stayed up far too late on Friday night.  I cannot do that anymore.

So, since Wednesday, a few things have been done/have happened.  On Wednesday afternoon, I had a Very Important Appointment Where Many Things Were Decided.  After that, dinner was bought for me at the Coffee News Cafe.

We've been a bunch of times and always ordered a variety of things, and have never been too terribly disappointed.  The fries are always awesome (even if my dining partner orders them with cheese and the fries are microwaved until it's a soggy pile of garlic, cheese, and fried potatoes) and they have desserts that always look pretty.  We ordered one of the desserts, my daughter's now perpetual favorite (anywhere) Red Velvet Cake.  It was less cakey than cream-cheese-frostingy and that wasn't thought to be a really bad thing.  It was also eaten (partially) as an appetizer.

On the other hand (and here's where the terribly disappointed part comes in) I ordered the polenta cakes and tomato sauce.  Polenta was tasteless.  The sauce had the occasional nice mushroom. That's all I will say.  Morgan liked her french dip though the beef was oddly thick sliced.  She did complain about the size of the pickle it came with, though this (bad cell phone pic) makes it look deceptively large.  Perspective will do that.

Thursday night was my first time getting to babysit my nephew!  We had the best time, running around the house and playing peek-a-boo and beating on things with spatulas (he likes to cook.)  That was until he got tired and realized mom and dad were not home.  Big alligator tears.  Luckily, at 14 months, he loves to be read to and loves to be sung to even more.  I sang/read Baby Beluga to him while he flipped the pages back and forth and I tried to keep up, singing a different version of the song with each (out of order) page turn.  After that comfort no longer worked, we walked around the house until he decided that the Beatles magnet on the refrigerator was the most fascinating thing to look at.  I took it off of the fridge and we snuggled while he stared at it and I sang the chorus to "Yellow Submarine" with "do do dos" for the other parts because I couldn't remember the rest of the words.  This also lasted a half hour.  The last half hour before he finally closed his eyes was whispering The Little Blue Truck.  I found he paid close attention when I whispered and the rhyming words lulled him into that sweet relaxed baby state.  I was so happy to get that time with the little one and I can't wait until next week when I see him again!

Thursday night also brought the arrival of my newest nephew.  Mom and baby are both well.  I got to see him on Saturday afternoon.  Here's another picture in case you missed the first ones. I think he looks like one of the dolls from Kathe Kruse in this picture.

Friday night.  Out until 3am. The Current 5th Anniversary Birthday Party at First Ave.  Super fantastic show.  The Twilight Hours, POS, and Solid Gold, plus seeing (old and not-so-old) friends.  It was O'Donovan's for Stella and fish and chips beforehand and 7th Ave Mickey's (I really like the beans) afterward.  I also had my first Surly Furious.  Tastes like grapefruit.  A breakfast beer!

I'm in love!  Saturday morning found me stumbling blindly to Rustica at 8:30 in the morning with another great friend.  The beautiful latte woke my brain up.   The Pistachio Chocolate Danish woke up my tongue (I proceeded to talk non-stop after that, sorry.)  The danish was incredibly light, more like a croissant than what I now realize are poor, soggy substitutes for this confection.  Crunchy pistachios, creamy melted chocolate, heaven.  Bostock was also ordered and said to be equally as amazing.  When the description was being given, all I heard was, "brioche, dipped in (something), baked, almond paste, baked."  It sounded like some kind of ethereal french toast.  I'll be back before too long and I might stay until lunch because I want to try the confit chicken salad sandwich.


The rest of Saturday was quiet (because I was sleeping.)  The visit to the baby was wonderful and movie with the kid (Whip It) was not so wonderful.  I mean the time with the kid was great, the movie not so.  Today is more sleep, laundry, and it will be an omelet with leftovers (mmm, caramelized brassicas) and gouda for dinner.


I never thought of my self as a picky person, but I think I am becoming so.  Maybe it's my advancing age.

My Nephews

My new nephew was born this week!

Take Out Tuesday & TV

I work late on Tuesdays and usually am not in the mood to make something for dinner.  Tonight on my way home I stopped at La Fogata in Brooklyn Park (9660 Colorado Lane N.)  I think you might notice that I am always looking for a flavor I had once upon a time or perhaps I just know what my preferences are and base my judgments on my favorite of the bunch.  Remember back a few posts ago when I talked about the place in Iowa City that had the awesome (possibly plastic) queso and jalapeno dip?  At that same restaurant I would habitually order the Tacos de Carne Asada.  It came with three soft tortillas, perfectly seared asada, brothy beans, and a melt-your-face-off sauce.  I think the sauce had a base of tomatillos.  This was not a salsa verde, but a thinner sauce with peppers and cilantro and other lovely things.  I've never had it again.

La Fogata is a brightly colored space, with murals and carved wood features covering the walls and furniture.  It has a bar where several people were enjoying margaritas.  (I don't think they had those to go.)  The restaurant has an extensive menu featuring seafood, "fresh and homemade!"  I went for the Tacos de Carne Asada as you might have guessed.   It came with soft tortillas, asada that was not quite well-seared or grilled, pico de gallo, the standard rice and beans, and a sauce.  This was not like the revered sauce of the Iowa City days, but I think it runs a close second, maybe fourth.  Not quite melt-your-face-off, but still had a nice burn.  They also threw in a big bag of chips and (rather sweet) salsa.  I don't think I will be going back to La Fogata anytime soon as I was not that impressed, but if they can bottle the sauce and I can take it home, I might stop by.

SPOILER ALERT for anyone who missed CSI: Miami last night. 

(I've always wanted to say that.)

The storyline was a complete stretch, trying to prove that a farming conglomerate caused the death of two people who ate produce from the farms that the conglomerate owned.  The CSI team searched and searched, but in an hour they discovered that both Ecoli and botulism were present in the food that the two people consumed.  One bacteria was caused by cow feces in the water that sprayed the fields and the other by a genetically engineered corn that made cellulose easier to digest, but also created (on occasion) the toxins that lead to botulism.  There was also a side story provided by a small farmer that mentioned the watchword of "drift" (when seeds or pesticides, etc. move from one farmer's field to another unintentionally) and the (hmmm, oddly familiar) tale that he had been sued by the conglomerate when some of the GMOs were found in his field. In the end they got the bad guy, the CEO of the company.  If only real life more accurately mirrored TV.

It's obvious some writer for that show has been reading Food Politics.

I think this is important:  Monsanto

What Happened This Weekend

I thought I would be all better by Monday.  I was really looking forward to it.  I haven't been this sick in years.  It's come down to just a cough (a wracking cough) and a little stuffy.  I was coughing so much at work that I put my neighbor off her sandwich.  I'm sorry.

And I lost my wallet on Friday night.  Did not discover it until Saturday morning.  I watched my bank account while cleaning out everything: coat pockets, my purse, the car.  Nothing was happening on the account so I figured it had to be somewhere in the house, somewhere I wasn't looking in the car.  Found lots of interesting things under the seats, but no wallet.  I crawled around the floor in the house thinking it might have flown out of something I was carrying but no luck.  I finally canceled the cards today and tomorrow I am going for a new driver's license. 

The process did not prove entirely useless.  Car is somewhat clean (at least the gross stuff from under the seats is gone, weird what you'll find) and I discovered my favorite Two Faced lip gloss had leaked and it was incredibly sticky in the bottom of my purse.  That's taken care of now.

On Saturday I ended up in St. Paul three times playing chauffeur.  The first trip was made all the more enjoyable by a side trip to Trung Nam for a cinnamon croissant and iced coffee.   I am not necessarily a fan of the bahn mi, Saigon is far superior.  On the way back from my second trip, I stopped at 88 Oriental Foods (291 University Avenue West, St Paul, MN 55103-2089.)  I used to go there quite frequently when I lived in St. Paul.  I ordered the chicken curry with sticky rice and a stick of the bbq pork.  I have to say that I was disappointed.  The curry didn't have the savory deliciousness that I remembered and the pork was greasy and fatty.  I expect some grease and some fat, but I was picking the (tiny) pieces of meat out of the fat, instead of the other way around.

I keep hoping that one day that 88 Oriental Foods will have these um, chewy balls that I have had a few times.  I think they might be an acquired taste as they are a bit odd.  One time that I bought them, I was with someone once they refused to look at them, let alone taste them.  I would love it if someone could clue me in to what they are.  I'll describe. I thought perhaps they were made tapioca or glutinous rice (I can't find any pictures on the net that look like them) because they were clear-ish, but cloudy.  They were rather bouncy and chewy in the mouth (bit of a bizarre description) and had a bbq'd pork filling.  They had the fried garlic bits and cilantro on top of them.  Does anyone know what they are?

I won't give up on 88 Oriental entirely.  I want to find those balls again!  I'm hoping that the Laab is good, provided they could make it up for me without tripe.  Not a fan.  It's priced well and the portions are large.  Maybe I was in on an off day.  I'll give it another chance.

In the evening I watched My Life in Ruins with Morgan.  Even she, bad movie aficionado that she is, agreed that this movie is awful.  And then back to St. Paul again.

Book club was on Sunday.  We didn't discuss the book much, or at least I didn't.  I read it months ago before the club took a bit of a hiatus.  We did have an interesting trip to United Noodles.  I always get a bit overwhelmed in there.  I want so much to try cooking with so much I see.  It's time for a couple more cookbooks I think.  I walked out of United Noodles with Hello Kitty fruit candy and some dumpling sauce.  We had dinner at Quang.  Had the Bun Thit, Nem Nuong- grilled meatballs and beef salad.  I still prefer the other restaurant (see list of favorite places), but Quang is good too.  Lovely iced coffee too.  Rather amusing end to the evening.  I thought my friend got the movie from Netflix; she thought I owned it.  We broke up early.

It's leftovers for dinner.

Party Pizza

I started reading What to Eat by Marion Nestle last night.  I read the chapter on organic foods.  Mostly a discussion of the whys and hows organic food might be better for you.  She comes down on the side of the organic yes, and she does convince me.  I wandered around the organic section of Cub (it's on my way home) (wandering may be too of an expansive of a word, the section is tiny) and was overwhelmed by the prices and choices.  So I walked out of the grocery store with a party pizza and Imagine Whirled Peace (no rBGH!)

I wanted to sit on the couch and watch TV tonight.  I wanted to eat my party pizza.  I turned my oven on and a few minutes later, noticed that the oven was especially fragrant this evening.  I went into the kitchen to get an idea of how fast the temperature was rising and noticed there was smoke coming out of the vented burner.  I opened the oven and discovered a smoking patch of blackness.  I have no idea what was dumped in the oven.  I haven't used it in a long time.  I spent a good half hour fanning the alarms and encouraging the smoke to leave out the back door.  So no party pizza and I have another task added to the weekend's list:  clean the oven.  Joy.

On the other hand, the Imagine Whirled Peace is now gone.

Ninety-Seven Cent Squirrel

 

I had a really lovely evening out with friends.  Little shopping beforehand where I picked up a darling little squirrel at post-post Christmas prices at Pottery Barn.  Trip to Borders netted another Marion Nestle book (someday all this reading is going to do me some good.)  We were looking at the comedy section and about losing it over Cake Wrecks when I saw the Nestle book stuck in the middle of humor.  I thought that was a sign I should buy it.  Dinner at Granite City in Maple Grove.  Bloody Mary (passable, but it had a pickle so it earns at least one point) and calamari (tasty.)  I am beginning to think that the idea of a burger is much better than its manifestation.  I ate half of the half-pound Bleu Peppercorn and it's sitting in my stomach like a rock.  Sad.  But the company was fabulous!

I walked into the apartment and almost forgot to turn on the TV!  But then I didn't.  Background noise.


I'm feeling a bit better tonight and my thoughts are turning to the weekend.  Tomorrow is Friday!  I think that calls for a movie and ignoring the things I need to get done until Saturday.  These are the things I plan to do:


dishes
laundry
pick up a friend from the airport (will you please send me the info? :)
more dishes
cook a little soup
host book club (Neuromancer, dinner at Quang, trip to United Noodles, & Johnny Mnemomic)
clean up my space in order to host book club
take some pictures
write
email another distant cousin I've "met" because of Ancestry.com
long talk with my daughter
more laundry
read


I am so looking forward to feeling completely better.

Whine

Four hour (fitful) nap and I still can't breathe.  It's just getting worse.  I'm out of kleenex and have used up half of the toilet paper in the house.

The good news is that my home is once again filled with the dulcet tones of network television.  My dad fixed my TV (try that with a flat screen!)  I think it had been about a month without one which really was fine.  I lifted it off of my hopechest (doubling for a TV stand) without unplugging the cable from the wall.  Crack.  It's all better now.


He took my poor, sick self to Quang where I had a bowl of nice spicy pho.  I thought it would clear me out, but unfortunately the fix was only temporary and I am left with a full tummy and a stuffed head.


This is all very irritating. 

Sick, Sick, Sick

Having survived the gauntlet of fast food that is my drive home, I think I am going to have carrots and hummus for dinner.  That is, if I feel like eating.  I think I used half a box of kleenex at work.  I wish I had a portable humidifier.  Do they make such a thing?


I think I will (briefly) think about more pleasant things and then once again crawl into bed with Food Politics and the humidifier on the highest setting.


More pleasant things:  

Where I Would Like to Go in the Coming Months
OM (possibly a class) 
Saffron
Piccolo
Cooper
Tiger Sushi (again)

Can't think.  Need suggestions.

I forgot to buy more cat food.

Two Stories

The laundry is in.  In exactly an hour I will need to move it so my neighbors don't have to (we all seem to wash clothes Monday night) and I don't want any of my neighbors to have to touch my...laundry.

I had leftovers for dinner.

I've been looking forward to going to the Red Stag Supperclub for a long time now.   I was very interested in what I heard about it, being a LEED-certified building (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Green Building Rating System™) and focused on using local, organic ingredients.  The Red Stag chef participated in a demo at the Mill City Farmer's Market and those always make me want to run out and try the restaurants right away (that's how I tried Sea Change for the first time--at their soft opening.)

I love brunch, I love breakfast out.  It's probably the easiest meal to prepare (except for maybe Hell's Kitchen huevos rancheros--have you seen the list of ingredients for that dish in Damn Good Food: 157 Recipes from Hell's Kitchen?)  Sometimes I feel guilty for not making omelets at home or attempting my own hollandaise sauce for another favorite, Eggs Benedict (especially Grand Cafe's with housemade gravlax.  And it's within walking distance!)  And I can't always reproduce some of my favorite Bloody Mary recipes at home.  So it's more than worth to go out, especially with a great friend.

We had reservations for 10:30, but when we got there we discovered they weren't necessarily needed.  (I think that's more of a night thing.)  I love the building.  It's all wood and beams and an open kitchen.  So comfortable and warm.  (That sounds so seriously dorky, but it really was!)

And delicious!

I had coffee (very good) and a Bloody Mary (of course!)  It was nice and spicy and had all of the vegetables I like in my bloodies, a salad in a glass!)  I had the Green Eggs and Ham.  The finely shredded hashbrowns were buttery on the inside and perfectly crisp on the outside.  The biscuit was fresh, the poached egg perfect--no sign of an overcooked yolk, and the hollandaise with a little green herbed oil was delicious.  My friend had the Buckwheat Pancakes with Hazelnut Butter.  I'm always wary of pancake with anything but buttermilk, but these were light and fluffy with a nuttiness (is that a word?) and earthly flavor from the butter and buckwheat.

I may have made up my mind to love this place before I was ever there, but I cannot wait to go back.  Plans are in the works to go on February 6th to see Mark Wheat host karaoke with dinner beforehand.  Super excited for that too.  I think I might try the Brick Pressed Chicken.

Then I went home and took a long nap.

Late in the afternoon, I drove down to Apple Valley to try Wild Bill's Sports Saloon with Molly.  It's very similar to Buffalo Wild Wings, which incidentally is right around the corner from Wild Bill's.  A large selection of various sauces that can go on many different fried things.

A lesson learned:  don't go to a sports bar (or saloon or whatever it calls itself) on a football Sunday, especially when the Vikings football game started at noon and most of the people in the bar have been there since then.  There were girls on the tables and PDAs that I didn't want to see while I had my dinner.

I ordered a Coke (horrors!), but I thought it would be good with the meal.  We ordered the boneless wings, four with Sesame Asian and four with Wild Bill's Orange Sauce.  I'm not usually much of a fruit/meat person (horrible memories of my grandmother's crockpot porkchops and peaches) but I thought I would try it and I thought for sure I would like the Asian sauce.  The "wings" came out right away, crispy on the outside still because they hadn't sat in the sauce too long.  As it turns out, I really liked the Orange Sauce and the Sesame Asian was horrible.  Overly salty and flavorless.  No sesames.

We finished those off in short order.  We ordered a Bourbon Teriyaki Chicken sandwich and a BBQ Pork Sandwich with Bill's Homemade BBQ and Smothered Poker Chips.  And then we waited.

And we waited.
And we waited.
All the while being treated to the antics in the bar.

Literally an hour later (I don't know why we didn't leave) our sandwiches were brought to us.  The chicken was okay, not thrilling (though it came with crinkly cut fries and those are something Molly loves) and the "pulled" pork was incredibly dense and nearly BBQ-less (I could only eat half of it and how often do you hear me say that?)  The smothered potato disks were covered with "queso" (mmm, plastic cheese), bacon, and green onion.  Um, delicious.

Because of the wait, the waitress cheerfully comped our drinks.

I still won't go back there.  Molly, we have to find another place in Apple Valley.

I have an extremely sore throat (thanks Morgan) so I am cranking up the humidifier and going to bed to read more about the food industry and think about changes I need to make.

I'm tired.

I think restaurant week wore me out.  Visited a couple more places today.  Will write about them tomorrow while I am doing laundry.

Will now read Food Politics by Marion Nestle.

Rule 59

I doubt Michael Pollan meant his Rule 59 to include the meal my family indulged in this evening, but certainly none of us ate alone.

I grew up in one of those mythical families that had dinner together 99% of the time.  I won't pretend that every dinner was a cozy family experience.  Sometimes I didn't want to be there, especially when Mom made Egg Foo Young.  As is expected with young children, I don't think any of us appreciated the work my mom went through to make us (non-processed, real food) dinners and I don't know that any of us appreciated the company we were privileged to have either.  Still, I can remember meals that were delicious and meals that were hilarious and meals where everyone was happy.

From my fifth grade journal (click to enlarge):

I still like Brussels sprouts.

So tonight my family ate at Il Gatto.   The Parasole "family of restaurants" seem to be maligned by the foodies of the local community.  If you look at my list of favorite restaurants to the right, you will see Salut! listed.  I'm not sure it's always for the food.  We have celebrated many meals together at Salut and tonight at Il Gatto for the first time, we celebrated my birthday.  As we children have become adults we have come to really appreciate the time we spend together, especially over meals.

Unless we're at Dad's place, it's usually out if we want to have a big sit-down dinner.  Both Salut and Il Gatto can accommodate us.  Whatever the foodies say, it's better than Applebee's or TGI Fridays, less expensive than La Belle Vie or Heartland.  Although the din my family creates would be only part of the noise of a chain restaurant used to family diners, I doubt we would be appreciated at a fine linen and chef-driven establishment.  We save those places for smaller, quieter times and we rarely congregate at a chain.  (For some reason, there are a couple members of my family that really like Red Lobster.)

We were seated in an area just to the left of the front door, but the traffic was rarely noticeable because the area was so secluded.  At first I was a little disappointed because I hardly saw the restaurant before we were ushered in (never got to see the kitty pictures), but this turned out to be a great place for us.  It had a table large enough to seat all of us including a high chair, but still comfortable enough that we could talk and be heard and easily pass plates.

The high chair was needed for my year-old nephew who amazingly sat through the entire meal.  For a good deal of the time he also occupied most of the adults' attention.  He is hilarious and loud and hungry.  (He's also about the cutest kid I've ever seen and I cannot tell you how much I love that little boy.)  I think if he could talk he would recommend the olives, chicken wings, gnocchi, asparagus, french fries, roasted potatoes, fried egg, and lemon from the water.  (What's up with the fried eggs?  Why are they everywhere?  I'm kidding, I know...maybe.)  He would also especially recommend the spumoni sundae that was brought to me (second free dessert of the week--this one with a sparkler!)

All told, my family ordered olives and salted almonds (good, but could do at home), two orders of wings (one of the two sauces was awesome), raw oysters (ehh), fries (mmmm), grilled asparagus (that's what I get for ordering it out of season), roasted beets (were enjoyed), sausage grinder (agreed to be very good, especially by the person who ordered it), Get the Porchetta (I do think she liked it), the gnocchi (is there any other way to describe good gnocchi other than pillowy?), bistecca (cooked medium rare perfectly, but the gorgonzola "crust" was more like a bunch of cheese just thrown on top), cavatappi (good, but chicken was virtually non-existent), marlin (a very nice piece of fish, but I thought the breading was unnecessary), and two orders of scallops, one simply grilled and one seared (both very good.)   Also ordered were two dirty martinis (what's up with all the fruit in the "special" drinks?), various beers, three glasses of wine, strawberry lemonade, bomboloni (little too much cinnamon), and three chocolate bundino (loved that ice cream!)

We all had a great time and I think the only person who was bothered by us was the girl seated near the opening of the enclave that I caught shooting us dirty looks whenever the little one would squeal.  Evidently she mistook Il Gatto for some place she could have a sophisticated evening out.  It's Uptown and it's loud, a little crowded, and we were having fun.

(What's up with the tiny bathroom litter box?)

Service was great and friendly (as can be expected 95% of the time from the Parasole family.)

I got ID' again.

And my family had a great time.

(Pictures tomorrow.)

Food Rules: An Eater's Manual

Free Dessert

I am so thirsty.  I had 64 ounces of water at work today. I am still thirsty after drinking more than one pitcher of water at dinner single-handedly.  I am wondering if it's a testament to the amount of sodium I am consuming during restaurant week.  I haven't looked in the mirror to see how puffy I look.  I am afraid.

Morgan and I went out with her grandmother for a perfectly nice dinner at Chianti Grill in Roseville.  First free dessert of the week.  And I got ID' for my (awful) bloody mary! Driving home (after one bloody mary and a ton of food) I realized that all three of us ordered the exact same thing the last time we were there.

So much to do tomorrow and then Il Gatto!

Rachel Hutton really didn't like Il Gatto, which is fine because I really don't like her...review.  Maybe I am just sensitive to the snide comment she made about large groups of people celebrating birthdays at the restaurant....

I think I hear one of the cats ralphing.


Crawling into bed to read yet more Pollan.  I am on to In Defense of Food and Food Rules.

My Pants Fit Funny

On this day two of Restaurant Week (or three or four when you count Saturday's visit to The Herkimer [great time with a great friend] and Monday's visit to Cocina Latina) and my clothing is doing something funny.  Either I am smaller (doubt) or I am have stretched it so much that's falling off.  And four more restaurants to go.  Yes, four.  In addition to Red Stag for brunch on Sunday, I will be venturing to Apple Valley for a go at Wild Bill's with another awesome friend.  Next week it's all organic salads and meatless stir-frys.  

Except for Thursday when I am going out again.

Just back from Barrio a bit ago.  There's been a bit of a discussion over on Chowhound with opposing terms like "overrated" and "excellent."  After tonight's visit, I'd have to agree that both words fall into my experience.



I have the best friends in the world and tonight's dining companion is no exception.  We got to the St. Paul location during happy hour (4-6 pm), ordered a couple of drinks.  I had the Barrio happy hour marg (tiny! thankfully, but why was there salt only on one side of the glass?) and her the Mama Cita (Tequila Hibiscus punch with a splash of Cava).  It made her a bit punchy (ha!)  We gorged ourselves on another happy hour special:  chips, three salsas, and guacamole.  I liked the chips.  They were crispy, not oily or too much salt, not out of a bag.  The guac was awesome and fresh which was good because the processed stuff usually sits in my stomach like a rock.  I tried the salsa closest to me, assuming because it looked the most like a "fresh" salsa that it would be the mildest one.  My friend dipped into it before I was able to warn her it was the hot one and it took awhile to cool her off (she's not one for the hot stuff.)  I liked it of course.  The other two salsas were a tomatillo and what looked like some kind of roasted pepper.  I found both of them surpisingly sweet and not entirely to my taste.  Of course it could be that my tastebuds were totally thrown off by the first salsa.  It's interesting that this particular presentation is not on the on-line happy hour menu and I wonder how much the chips and salsa were a bow to peoples' expectations of a "Mexican" restaurant.

Happy hour progressed and we thought we would try another small plate, the Queso Fundito.  This is where things went a little south (pardon the pun.)  My standard of queso fundito may have been tuned to the expectations I formed when eating at two particular Mexican restaurants when living in Iowa City, Cancun and El Ranchero (though current reviews are quite split, they were loved back in the day.)  The queso at those two restaurants perhaps is not comparable to the queso that Barrio attempts, but it was far creamier (made with plastic cheese perhaps?) and the jalapeno chunks were discernable and had taste.  Unfortunately this was not the case with the cast-iron contained dish I had tonight.  The cheese is out of the box for the standards of "regular" queso and perhaps I should have known better than to expect anything less at a Tim McKee (name dropping!) establishment, but it didn't have the mouth feel of a well blended concoction of what is essentially a cheese dip.  (That makes it sound like I was expecting Cheese Wiz.  No, thank you.)  What I did expect, as promised, were some poblano peppers which were no where in attendance.  It also had the gritty feel of a cheese sauce that is beginning to separate.  Well, I just ripped all over that one, didn't I?  Perhaps it is that I love cheese so much and was so greatly disappointed.  No one wants to eat bad food, right?  (I admit I did anyways.  I have to stop that.)  Oh, and yeah, the tortillas that come with the queso came out with some hard edges.

Neither of us were full enough, or we told ourselves we weren't.  Happy hour was over and we decided to go for the big stuff. The have only a few "large plates" and although my friend lives only about a block away, she hadn't tried the bigger portions yet.  She ordered the SAUTÉED SHRIMP with tangerine-serrano mojo and cilantro rice.  It was excellent, an opinion shared by a few people I've read.  The shrimp were simply perfect.  It was because of the shrimp that my friend rated the dinner so high.  She let me try one when I forked over a bit of the GRILLED SKIRT STEAK with chile-lime-tequila butter and fried yucca that I ordered, which I also found to be awesome.  Really excellent flavors with that butter.  I'm liking this whole cassava/yucca thing.  They were fixed and fried like potatoes, but I felt somehow that I may have been eating something healthier than the average fried food (probably not.)  A couple downer notes.  There was entirely too much flavorless cilantro rice under the luscious shrimp and there was a really odd piece of romaine stuff in the middle of my plate that seemed to be there for nothing other than looks.  Please, don't waste good greens on plating or at least give it a nice little vinagrette that would fit with the rest of the dish.
One other problem that I hate to mention because the flavors were so excellent on the skirt steak.  Although the yucca came out right out of the fryer, the steak was at best, luke warm to downright cold.  I mentioned something to the waitress, not wanting a replacement or anything else but some feedback on a poorly timed plate and she ended up completely comping the dish.  Totally unnecessary, but indicative of the service that we recieved from her the entire time we were there.  (And the water guy kept my glass full which is half-embarrassing, half awesome.  I tend to drink about a gallon with every meal.  I've got great skin.)

Birthdays being an occasion to celebrate (all week), we had the churros with a Mexican chocolate sauce.  I wished there was more of the occasional zing of a nice hot spice in the chocolate, but it still was pretty good.

I think if you are super into tequilla, Barrio must be pretty close to nirvana.  Having to work the next day I wasn't much into them or the resulting issues that tequilla shots tend to cause in my being.  Though a nice, casual night with a couple of drinks and the chips and salsa plate might be just what's in order someday.

So, it was fun and I am glad I tried it.  Company was excellent.

Couple of notes:

It's been awhile since I've written and with these long posts, I've woken up in the middle of the night a couple of times with serious arm cramps.  Is that bizarre.

Cat food strike appears to be over.  Apparently they just got hungry enough to continue with the chicken and herring.

And thank you to my first commenter, la chinesepoblana.  Thank you for answering so many of my questions prompted by my visit to Concina Latina.  You are a super fantastic friend.

Would love some more comments, people.  I know you are out there.  Let me know if I am a self-important windbag who writes for her pleasure and her pleasure only (though your comment may be moderated, ha!), or let me know if you really like it.  And let me know if you would like to go out for dinner.

Happy Birthday to Me!

I'm just back from a very fun dinner at Fuji Ya with friends.  Super enjoyable, thank you guys so much for the great evening!

Does anyone else have the problem where they can eat and eat and eat sushi and it's way too late when you realize you are incredibly full?

A Late Night

And too much to do.  Dishes, trash (throw out take-out boxes), clean catbox (little bastards still aren't eating), chase dust bunnies, get laundry ready to do.  I think I will clean the cat boxes and crawl in bed and read.

I had a fruit cup for lunch!

As I sat there congratulating myself, I realized none of it was local and probably used a ton of petroleum on its way here.  It was probably grown with pesticides and had who knows what sprayed all over it.  It was also largely tasteless.  Depression.

With the exception of tonight, this is the week of eating out.
Tomorrow: Fuji Ya
Thursday: Barrio?
Friday: TBD
Saturday: Il Gatto
Sunday: Red Stag

A pretty picture:

(Tomorrow is my birthday.)

Chicharron & Things My Daughter Won't Eat

I've got an awful stomach ache.

I went to Cocina Latina for the second time. I wanted to take my daughter to have the arepas.  I haven't seen them anywhere else.  This particular food holds a good memory for her and she hasn't had them in many years.  (I had them just last Thursday.)  When she was little we lived in family student housing while I was finishing my degree.  A couple of doors down a Venezuelan couple lived with their two daughters, Angela and Carol, and a son Carlos.  Angela was Morgan's babysitter and Carol and Carlos were Morgan's best friends.   Morgan spent a lot of time with the Yanez family and accordingly, spent a lot of time at their table.  She'd run home and ask, "Can I stay for dinner?  The are having ardepas."  Not only did I not know what she was talking about, I didn't figure out for years that an ardepa was an arepa.  Previous to that I didn't know what I should be asking for and there seems to be few Latin restaurants at which to ask the question, "What's ardepa?" 

So back to the restaurant that is just down the street from me.  We ordered the arepas with cheese.  When I had them last Thursday, there was just enough cheese for flavor and appearance.  Tender in the middle and the crispy outside of the arepa crunched nicely. Tonight they were drowned in enough cheese to fill a quesadilla. Morgan loved them, but her final conclusion was she wished she could find a recipe to make arepas like Carol's mother.  (Taking all advice on this matter.)

I love cheese, but I didn't like the arepas as much as I liked them last Thursday.  A little mushy from the microwaving the half a block of cheese.  Which brings me what I do like about Cocina Latina and for which I am also soliciting recipes.  I love the sauce.  It is an odd orange color and nothing I would call salsa.  It has the smallest slivers of red onion and bits of cilantro. It was a nice front-of-the-mouth burn that I quite enjoyed through a half of a smallish container before I asked what it was.  "Habaneros."

I assumed that I would end up with a stomach ache and other burning parts, but I was surprised that I only ended up craving more. 

The rest of the food.  My daughter ordered the Bandeja Latina: Carne asada, chorizo, arroz, frijol, huevo, chicharron, aguacate, arepa y maduro or grilled top sirloin with sausage, crackling, fried egg, rice, beans, corn cake, avocado, and sweet plantain.  (She was really hungry and is largely a meat eater.)  I also ordered this last Thursday thinking I would get a good idea of what the restaurant's flavors were as far as the meat products were concerned.  I too found out that I don't like chicharron.  I did like the sirloin (though not a top product), the sausage, and the plantain.  Tonight my daughter wisely took half of it home, minus the plantain and the chicharron.  I wasn't half as intelligent last Thursday, but then I covered almost everything on my plate with the habaneros sauce and I wasn't thinking clearly.

Tonight I tried the Bistec a Caballo: Pan fried top sirloin in homemade sauce, with rice, beans, fried egg, red potato, cassava root, and plantain.  I found out I really like cassava root, but I didn't like the homemade sauce and frankly the sirloin was pretty tough this time around.  I was disappointed.  I so want this place to be good.  It's so close and so friendly that I feel guilty posting this.


A couple of questions because I think I am largely ignorant about Latin cuisine.  What's up with the fried eggs?  Is it normal to have pasta on a Latin menu?  They do.

We did get some pretty pictures.  Maybe I will stick with the tacos if there is a next time so I can have the sauce.

I think one of the static-y cats almost blew up my computer because she was hanging around about my feet and there was all this little crackling.  And also, I still seem to be the only one eating in this apartment.  Anyone know anything about cat food strikes?

Going to go read some more Pollan.  New York Times article today: Michael Pollan Offers 64 Ways to Eat Food.  Maybe ice cream will help with the stomach ache.

Corn

My apartment still smells like popcorn.

It was really good popcorn though.  I prefer popping it like my dad does, in a pan on the stove.  He'd make buckets of it when we were kids--just salt, no butter.  We would eat it out of the salad bowl set that my parents got for their wedding.  It was covered in daisies with a green background.  (You can actually see an example of the pattern on the ice bucket on the kitchen set of "That 70s Show.")  I still prefer to eat popcorn out of those bowls when I visit him.

We watched Angus, Thongs, and Perfect Snogging and were both pleasantly surprised.  It wasn't as bad as we thought it would be.  It was even cute with some segments just like the books.  On the other hand I was able to watch (most of the time without digital issues) The Ugly Truth today and it was as I was afraid it would be.  The movie was predictable (who's surprised) and Gerard Butler just didn't look like I wanted him too look.  No CGI.

I started reading The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan last night.  I realize I am coming a couple years late to the table (ha) with this one, but I kept asking my sister if I could borrow it and she kept saying her friend had it.  I've been looking for something to read, mostly looking for escapism in books like Sunshine by Robin McKinley (awesome), but Pollan's book has stuck me right in the middle of a reality that is almost as fantastic as vampires and magikal beings.  I've already read through the corn section.  Tonight while I sipped my decaf pumpkin spice latte at Starbucks and ate my Chipotle burrito (steak, pinto beans, no rice) in front of the TV, I wondered just how much high-fructose corn syrup I was consuming.  At my stop at the grocery store the entire section loomed threateningly, composed to my eyes entirely by stalks of corn.  I couldn't bring myself to buy any groceries (okay, I have plenty at home and didn't need anything really.)

I grew up in Iowa, though not on a farm.  The elementary school I went to was edged by corn fields.  There was a period of time when my sister started acting particularly wacky and my mom found corn kernels in her jacket pockets.  Mom decided that the wacky behavior was due to an allergy to the corn being absorbed through her skin.  My family had completed the elimination diet (do you know how bad rice crackers were in the 70s?) in the months previous and my sister had come up with that corn allergy.  To my mind I have largely outgrown the allergy as an adult, but in reading about the prevalence of corn and corn syrup in the diet of the average American, I have to wonder what those old allergies think of the junk we pour in with an increasing addiction to every drop.

Then I took a lovely, relaxing bath in Lush (60% organic) bubble bath.  I do wish my bath weren't an apartment size clawfoot, but the GIANT full-size clawfoot I bathed in as a child.  (Of course I was much smaller.)

And then I started the section of the book on grasses while in the tub.  What exactly is 60% organic?  What is organic?

I've been seriously considering trying to go 100% organic (more expensive = less food = smaller me.)  My cats went completely organic a couple of years ago because one of them almost died due to a blockage due to a build up of crystals caused by a dry and ash-filled diet.  They now eat 100% organic, human-grade chicken and herring everyday.  They are all smaller, no visible dander, and have glossy beautiful coats.  So I also reason organic for myself will also result in a smaller me with a glossy beautiful coat.  I'm not going to go District 9, but I see the benefits and I am tempted to follow the cats' lead.  And I thought shopping at Whole Foods would do it.  How disappointed am I.

Just a note on that cat food issue.  They've stopped enjoying the chicken and herring.  Time to move on to a seafood flavor.  I thought cats prefered a single flavor.  Does anyone know about cat preferences?

So I can't wait til the farmer's markets open up again when I can eat locally-sourced, hopefully really organic fresh vegetables all summer.  I plan on quizing the growers.  I miss garlic scapes.

Angus Thongs & Perfect Snogging
The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals
Sunshine

Saturday

I had an appointment in St. Paul this morning and I was tempted to do the hip thing and go to Cheeky Monkey Deli for lunch.  I was in the Como neighborhood and I went to Nelson's Cheese and Deli instead.  (Isn't it hip to go against the flow too?)  It had been awhile and I had good memories of grabbing a couple sandwiches and heading over to Como Park with my daughter.  

The set up of the deli has changed since I was there last and I find it more user friendly and more, um, deli-like.  It was busy, but had quick and friendly service.  I ordered the Como Club:  Thinly Sliced Chicken Breast, Bacon, Chive Havarti on Vienna White Bread with Lettuce, Tomato, Cucumbers and Ranch Sauce.  I love cucumbers on a sandwich, but I wish they would use the English cucumbers (Grown in Canada.)  Waxy ones don't set well with me.  The ranch sauce didn't overwhelm and really, was thankfully barely present.  The tomatoes were oddly centered in the middle, but I moved them around.  Overall, it was a good sandwich.  Not Cheeky Monkey fun or interesting, but still a good sandwich.

The deli has a nice selection of sandwiches, make your own and specialty and hot and cold.  I like the salad options, all make your own.  There is a large cooler of retro sodas, but I chose "MASH, A Water Drink."  It was a grapefruit-flavored "Citrus Zing" and was still a carbonated drink despite the name.  I'll drink it again.

A note on the cheese.  It's supposed to all be midwest sourced.  The Havarti on my sandwich was good, but I can't say much for the rest of the selection.  It was Midwest.

I rented two redbox movies for this evening.  Neither of the movies were a first choice for me.  The Ugly Truth DVD was too scratched to be watchable and I have a feeling that was a saving grace.  I'm waiting to watch Angus, Thongs, and Perfect Snogging.  The kid is coming over to see it with me.  We both liked the Georgia Nicolson books, but I don't have high hopes for this movie either as it went straight to DVD in the US after being made in England.

It will be pan-popped popcorn for dinner. 

What She Eats When She Eats Alone

I'm a somewhat middle-aged woman who is getting used to an empty apartment because her only daughter moved out a month ago.  Just me and the cats.  Yes, I know what that makes me.

We have wildly divergent tastes when it comes to food.  She inherited her father's hatred of all things green.  Spinach is one of my favorite things.  She would invariably order a hanger steak when out for dinner.  I rarely order the same things twice at the same restaurant (unless it's Hell's Kitchen huevos rancheros.) (Snob!)  I suppose we ended up eating alone anyways, her with her Annie's Mac and Cheese or ramen stir-fry, me with my leftovers from some ethnic restaurant.  (I do cook, albeit occasionally lately.)

So tonight for all my love of all things exotic and bordering on the edge of the occasionally healthy, I had store-bought brownies and chocolate chip ice cream for dinner.  (Does anyone else remember back in the 70s when chocolate chip ice cream had little bits of what I only can assume was some butter brickle substance?)

The cats are hungry...

What We Eat When We Eat Alone: Stories and 100 Recipes