Oops

Technically, I can't drive. I don't have a license at the moment, I don't have insurance, and I don't have a car whose engine will start right away. So when I had a dentist appointment at 8 am, I decided to just walk there. It was a sad 30 minute walk along the Mukilteo Speedway, made even longer by the cold heavy rain (I didn't have an umbrella) and the residual throbs of a slight hang over.  Then I came home, ate some toast and fell asleep. When I woke up, I really wanted Taco Bell. Well alright, ok, I want it a lot of the time but I generally have the good sense not to give in. And all the grimy gross ones in New York give me a great reason to not go. But the one that's around the corner from my house is so shiny and clean and they're not grumpy with you. So there I was sitting in my pajamas, thinking I should just make the 6 minute walk over there. Just do it. But then, this was the moment I decided it was ok for me to drive. It took over 6 minutes to get the engine started and it wasn't even raining outside like it was when I went to the dentist. I pulled out of my cul-de-sac, drove the quarter mile down the road, went to the drive through, honked at some high school kids that totally cut me in line, ordered my "cheesey gordita crunch" and drove my sorry ass back home. If there was ever a moment where I needed to re-evaluate my life choices, I suppose this would have been it.

Paseo

I have seen heaven and it is made out of roasted pork. I kind of want to just leave it at that, but no I won't. Yesterday Colin and I finally went to Paseo in Freemont, the Caribbean sandwich place everyone's been talking about forever. It was sooo lucky that we went yesterday because today is the last day they're open before they take a 7 week break. I would have been so devastated if I missed this before going back to New York. If I needed 5 good reasons to move back to Washington (yeah, Washington, not just Seattle), this would be #1. Well, maybe not but somewhere close to #1. Like #3.

Paseo Press : Succulent morsels of roasted pork nestled atop sweet banana peppers, draped with sheer slices of smoked ham, Swiss cheese, and caramelized onions; all melted together between a hot press

Stole that description right off of the website. 

There was also cilantro in there, which I wasn't expecting but was really happy about. It was amazing. Man, I don't even know how to describe it. It was just a sweet sticky sandwich mess all over my face and hands. You can't be afraid to eat this sandwich. The ham and pork were a little sweet made even sweeter by the onions, and held together with the right amount of melty saltiness from the cheese. Then your tastebuds get a little kick from the banana peppers and cilantro, it was perfect. Oh god, and the pork, it melts in your mouth. This is a zero-effort meat, you almost don't even have to chew.

 

Colin got the Caribbean Roast, which is their most popular sandwich. I didn't get to taste it but he seemed to enjoy it a lot. It's "pork shoulder coated in Paseo Marinade & slow roasted 'til falling into succulent morsels."

If I had ANYTHING to complain about (in a really quiet whisper) it would be that I wish they had wrapped the sandwiches better. Like burrito style so that everything stays contained in the sandwich and you can tear down the paper as you go. Those things are huge and so messy, and that's definitely part of the fun because it gives you a good reason to eat with reckless abandon and get sandwich all over your face. But my best sandwich bites where when I got a little bit of every ingredient, and that was sometimes hard to do with it all slipping and sliding around. But even without all the ingredients contained in one bite, it was still one of the best sandwiches I have ever had. I only wish that I had been hungry enough to eat the whole thing.

home again

So I'm almost a week deep into Mukilteo. Does that sound kind of weird? I don't know if this still counts as home, but calling it "my parents' house" feels strange too. Maybe I can have two homes, it's confusing I guess. Anyway, it's been rainy and cold and gray, but that's just winter over here. It can be a real downer, but it's snowing now and that looks nice. Oh, nope. It's raining again. Well, anyhow, here's some food I've been eating.

1 taco and 1 enchilada and refried beans

I think this is that generic kind of Mexican food that you see in taco shell commercials and that people on Yelp will complain about, and you know, I get it. Compared to other more authentic Mexican food I've had, it's kind of blah, where all the elements seem to be right but it all has sort of the same flavor to it.  But with that said, I enjoyed my meal but not for any of the ways it was supposed to resemble great Mexican food in my mind. I liked it because I love cheese and there was a lot of salty cheese, and I like how soupy soft the rice gets after swimming around in sauce. It's nice to just appreciate food for what it is.

Colin's chicken carintas, which was confusing because I thought "carnitas" meant pork. My 20 second skim of the Wikipedia page tells me it means "little meats" but in food language, it means braised or roasted pork. I dunno, maybe it's just how they cooked the chicken.

My mom's been making lots of soups and stews. My first night home she had made ox tail soup, which is one of my favorites and she cooked it for like over 24 hours. It's nuts, she works full time too, so I'm not really sure how that got done. But then, after we had that plain, she added fermented soy bean paste to it and um, these leafy vegetables. It's so great because after a few extra days, the broth gets richer and deeper, and then adding the soy bean paste gives it another layer of flavor.

Szechuan Gourmet

I guess it's getting cold now. Like winter cold. I kinda forgot about that because I've been spending a lot of time in my apartment watching crime TV and it's weirdly warm in my place. Or maybe it's because I'm wearing sweats and Santa socks. I don't know. Anyway, Mel and I had ice skating plans but things came up and we decided to go straight to Szechuan Gourmet, which I was secretly thrilled about because I was afraid I was going to fall and die on the ice rink. And you know, I was hungry and cold.

I think the good (and bad) thing about eating with Mel is that we are always on the same food wavelength, which mostly means we don't ever think we're ordering enough food for the two of us. Once we got our food, I thought we might have ordered too much but by the time I got home and was ready for leftovers, I knew we ordered just enough. Actually, now that I'm awake and hungry again, I'm thinking we could have ordered more...

pork dumplings in chili oil

These dumplings were less pork and more dumpling skins, but that's kinda my favorite part so I didn't mind. And the pork bit was good too. But the chili oil, ahhhhh. I wanted to eat it with a spoon.

Mapo tofu

I love mapo tofu. On it's own, the tofu doesn't taste much like anything, but once it gets sauced up with that chili oil, fermented black beans and little pork bits, it's like little silky, soft pillows of flavor. I think tofu is a good canvas for those flavors and textures, especially the spiciness. It's that slow burning kind of spicy, the kind that hits you in the back of your throat and lingers for a long time until you kind of turn numb and get used to it. I guess that's just Szechuan food.

 sauteed baby bok choy

It helped with the heat, but not the oiliness. I just drank a lot of tea instead.

I took a little browse through my posts over the past few months. What I learned is that I only eat bread, cheese, and hamburgers, which I like to eat with bread and cheese because otherwise it's just a meat patty. Occasionally I have some soup or some kind of meat that is generally covered in sauce or fried. This post is no exception. It almost makes me question if I really am lactose intolerant and "sensitive" (haha) to gluten or if I'm just being stupid. But then I'll have one beer or some cheese and later feel I ate a balloon. So I guess love just hurts.

I usually don't have this much cheese. 

 But I took two classes at Murray's the past few days and I've been saddled with all this amazing cheese I need to eat before next week. I can't remember all of the names because I can't find my course packet, it's around here somewhere. But let me tell you about my favorite cheeses. So that first cheese plate at 6 o'clock...the sort of off white one with the beige rind, to the left of the half moon shaped cheese. Ok, got it? So that one is pure decadence. It's a triple creme cheese, 75% butter fat and tastes like cheesey butter. It melts the moment it hits your tongue. On the same plate, with the orange-y rind that looks like Taleggio, that one is called Grayson and it stinks real hard. So obviously it tastes amazing, it's pretty soft, kind of sticky almost, and has this really nice tanginess to it. Then the plate on the top left, the two cheese at 3 and 9 o'clock were my other two favorites. Again, I forget their names but they were harder cheeses that are obviously pretty different from each other, but both have this really wonderful nuttiness and bite to it that I love. I wasn't a huge fan of the blue and goat cheese from these classes. The goat cheese log was pretty mild and good, but the wrapped one was too acidic for me. Same with the blue cheese. And one of them was really salty too. I thought those cheeses were better accompanied by some fruit or honey.

I also made some vegetable barley soup because I figured that it's not great if your meal is 90% dairy. The soup tasted like vegetables. I guess this kind of soup is best when you make your own stock, but I didn't. I like cheese better anyway.

2 snacks

Well, I had a lot of old bread and so I decided to make panzanella. Not the official Italian kind, which I guess is just tomatoes and onions and basil? Actually, I don't know, but that seems like a safe guess.

This kind had chickpeas, bell peppers, tomatoes, red onions, cucumbers, and feta

Alright, so the reason for this next snack is....I don't know. There really isn't one. I'm really just going to chalk all of this up to not working and my body going into hibernation mode. Well, we were GOING to get pizza but it was too late and Nikki needed to take a break and this McDonald's was the only thing open. I was just going to get fries but then one thing led to another...

#10 meal, crispy

I think the last time I had like a chicken sandwich from McDonald's I was in elementary school. Not that that doesn't mean I haven't had McDonald's since, I've just generally stuck to the potato items and occasional breakfast sandwich. Anyway, this wasn't as good as I remembered. The chicken was super crispy, but like not good, bordering on chewy, the way that processed meats get when they shouldn't be fried that much. I also realized it's all in the mayo. This sandwich would have been such a failure without that weird, off white oily mayonaise they use. It's the only thing that really tastes like anything and didn't make it desert dry. And the fries were cold! What happened?? McDonald's fries are the best because they're so hot and perfect, but not this day. So it wasn't the most successful McDonald's meal, but in the interest of being totally real about my eating, I ate it all and sort of liked it. I'm sure it would have been much less enjoyable if I was alone and not with my friends and didn't have happy fast food childhood memories.

 Oh, and Nikki got a cheeseburger without the burger. McDonald's vegetarian option. In some ways, I imagine that it tasted better than one with meat, mostly because those patties don't taste like much of anything at all.

Unemployment, Day 5

There's really not much I would have been able to do work wise in the few weeks between my job ending and going back to Seattle (so soon!). Well, I could have if I really wanted to, I guess. But I wanted to have a little break...before my next break. Hey, spending 3 weeks with your parents is wonderful but also hard work sometimes. Anyway, it's been really nice. On Friday, Julia and I spent the day doing things people who have jobs would do on the weekend but people who don't have jobs shouldn't do on a weekday. We went shopping and got coffee and took a nice aimless walk around and then decided to go to the Meatball Shop. Then I came home and took a nap. I think that's what like, uselessly rich and famous people do. Like Paris Hilton? Maybe?

Julia's meatball "smash" with mushroom sauce/gravy

Roasted brussel sprouts and apples with walnuts

This was the best! I'm pretty "whatever" about the Meatball Shop. Well, no. I like it a lot, but it's really heavy (and I always overestimate how hungry I am) so I won't go out of my way to go there. But for these brussel sprouts I totally would. Adding the apples gave it such a nice, subtle sweetness.

I got the special meatballs for the day, which was steak, bacon, and cheddar. It was a hamburger meatball, basically. I wanted tomato sauce but they gave me mushroom by mistake and I just went with it. I think it would have been better with the tomato sauce because it would have been a little sweet and tangy, but the mushroom sauce was so heavy. Can you imagine that on top of a hamburger? Yeah, it's one of those "I would definitely eat that but I already hurt thinking about it" moments. Plus the egg yolk!

bodega dining

There's something so truly crappy about bodega sandwiches that makes them taste good. Maybe it's the way that the cheap-o white bread is so squishy and soft. Or the way that the sort of warm cheese is a little creamy enough to cancel out the saltiness of the super salty turkey, especially if you ask them to add a little bit (maybe just one slather or one pump) of their mayonaise that you don't see in the fridge but they some how have. Or maybe it's the way that those pink mealy tomatoes and limp iceberg lettuce shreds hug everything in between and make you feel like you're not eating something totally bad and unappealing. Or maybe you're just really hungry and when you take that first bite you think, "God, my bodega makes the best sandwiches."

Well. Today is Monday and I just woke up. It feels kind of good because I went to sleep really late after watching Chronicle with Molly, but it also feels kind of funny because normally I would be at work right now. I actually wish I was at work, but I'm going to not feel weird about it because there's only two and a half weeks until I go to Seattle and nothing I can do except eat a lot of snacks.

And really, who better to facilitate said snack eating than Molly and Jeremy? Is there something weird about that sentence? I can't figure it out. Anyway, Molly had so much cheese left over from her Thanksgiving feast with her family (like two platters worth) and Jeremy made this great turkey soup.

See, cheese plate. I was only organized for the first plate. After that it was just a cheese and bread free for all. Also, yeah that is wine in the mug. Whatever.

This was great!!! He made his own stock n everything. I especially liked the mushrooms. There was a curry flavored soup too but I haven't had a bowl of it yet. I did get sent home with left overs to try so that's next on my list of things to do to day. Right after "get out of bed."

This weekend I saw what my unemployed future could look like. I think I'm going to lose what little muscle mass I have to fat. I mean, probably not really, I have projects and friends and things I need to do, but I have spent this holiday weekend being a complete oaf and unbelievable glutton. Not that I have a problem with that, it feels good to do that once in a while. But by tomorrow I think I'll be ready to be a functioning adult again. Or something like that.

Eating this is all that I accomplished today. Don't be fooled, it was a lot of work. I was the only person at brunch who completely cleared their plate. And it wasn't even noon yet.

It was so messy and so hard to eat, but really good. I asked for mine medium rare and they definitely overcooked it, but it was still a delicious hamburger. The runny egg yolk helped. I love how adding a fried egg and bacon makes hamburgers acceptable for breakfast.

Oh. Well ok, yesterday I made turkey pot pie with Nick's left over smoked turkey. And mac and cheese. You boil the pasta in milk! It's so easy! Then also this really good salad dressing which was as follows: 2 cloves of garlic, 1/3 cup of white wine, 1/3 cup of olive oil, 1/2 a green apple, 1 dollop of mustard all blended up. I like to think that this picture doesn't do the food any justice. 

I made 2 kinds, one that was more shallow with a doughier crust and the other which was in a deeper pan with a flakier, lighter crust. I liked the flakier one more. I cheated and used Pillsbury croissants and biscuits at the "crust" because I didn't want to make crust and I also couldn't find pre-made crust. Whatever, come on. It's Thanksgiving.

Ootoya again

Today was my last official day of work at Pace. It feels so weird, especially since it's where I've been for most of my post-college life now, but I'm also ready to try something new, whatever that happens to be (seriously, anybody got any ideas?). Plus that means that we finally finished the Arturo Herrera project! So that's something to celebrate. Anyway, since we're in the Thanksgiving spirit and everything, I have to say that I've been super lucky in more than a few ways to have ended up working there. I can't imagine having spent the past year in any other way, and I am going to miss everybody too much. And not just the people in the studio or on the 5th floor, but the cleaning lady who gives me hugs, Dick the doorman, the guys at A.I. Friedman who make the same awkward "you guys still working on that project" joke, that guy who maybe works at Adorrama and wears a blue silk shirt every time I see him, even the lady from the architects' office who talks loudly on the phone while she is on the toilet, I'm sure I'll miss her in a weird way too. Obviously I don't like saying good bye. But whatever, I'll be back there in like a week for Kathy's retirement party and I'll get sappy all over again, so I better not waste it all here.

 Kaasan Ni from the "Simmered & Hot Pot" of the menu 

I went to Ootoya on Monday with some work pals, and it was so nice. We sat in the upper area and I had a clear view of what everyone at the bar was eating. I spied two guys eating this and looking really pleased, so I ordered it. 

I have no idea what "kaasan ni" means but I'll now always assume it means heavenly, warm deliciousness. If you wanna get technical, it was deep fried chicken topped with a soft boiled egg (oh my god) and grated radish served in a soy sauce infused broth. This was a really excellent decision. If anything, it was a little too salty at the end, but only because the portions were huge and I ate almost all of it. I guess that's why there's so much grated radish, it adds a nice spicy bite to the fried chicken. The fried chicken isn't crunchy though, obviously. But since its swimming in that amazing broth, it becomes this very moist, flavorful piece of meat that falls apart in the best way that chicken meat can. And plus the egg yolk! I usually get weirded out by chicken-egg combos, but Japanese food always gets that right. The egg is so creamy and rich and adds this whole new layer of flavor and texture to the broth and chicken. I loved it.

Nom Wah Tea Parlor

Ugh, I'm sick! I always get sick around September, but then it came and went and I was totally fine, so I've just been waiting and waiting. I guess it finally was my time. I felt myself getting the chills and getting achy, and I tried to will myself to feel better, but I guess it was too much. I was in a fever-daze all night. Oh well. Now I'm just hiding under my blankets watching cartoons and looking at pictures of meals past. Like this dim sum lunch Neal and I had at Nom Wah Tea Parlor:

 Shrimp dumplings

Shrimp cheong fun (steamed rice noodles and sweet soy sauce)

This has always been my favorite thing to get when we have dim sum. My parents don't even ask me what I want anymore when we go out for dim sum, they just order this.

Ooo, this was good. Beef dumplings in broth

I can never figure out if I actually like getting these little rib things. I think I like it a lot in theory but it usually just ends up being too oily for me.

 Turnip cakes with little bits of Chinese sausage in them

Taro dumplings with mushroom and some other filling. I didn't like these very much. The dumpling skin was way too sticky and the filling was blah. 

But everything else was really good! And hot! That's a good sign, you know. Nobody wants cold dim sum but it happens all the time. Maybe because this was coming straight from the kitchen and not on a cart. I also forgot to take a picture of the BBQ pork buns, which are also another favorite dim sum item. I love how super soft and sweet the bun is and the way it hugs all the sticky, saucy pork. It's just sweet and savory enough. Now I'm going to watch another episode of Rugrats and go back to sleep.

Grand Sichuan International

So I haven't been to a Chinese restaurant in such a long time. Yeah, the food was great, like the better, restaurant version of Chinese take out with super thick sticky sauces that probably have a lot of corn starch in them. I know that sounds sarcastic, but I really did like it. I mean, I wouldn't bring my Chinese dad here, but also, I didn't order any of the Sichuan food that I was probably supposed to get, like dan dan noodles or something, so that's mostly likely not a fair assessment of the authenticity of their food. And also, like, I ordered General Tso's chicken...it was listed under "American Chinese Food" so what do I know about anything? But I couldn't help it! I REALLY wanted General Tso's chicken and I haven't had it in so long because I'm too scared of the nasty Chinese take out places in my neighborhood. So worth it.

Cold noodles in a peanut sauce

Pork soup dumplings

It's perfect soup dumpling weather now.

Family jewels or 4 jewels or something like that. It came with some sauce on the side, but I'm not sure what it was. It sort of tasted the same as the sauce on the eggplants.

Eggplant with some sauce with pork in it

Yes! General Tso's chicken. Saucy, salty and sweet fried chicken. You can't blame me for ordering this.

breakfast club

To be real, this past week sucked so hard, harder than any week has ever sucked before. And just when I thought it wouldn't suck any harder, it sucked even more. I felt like I got beat up in the head. I guess that's how it happens sometimes though, one thing goes bad and then it's just one thing on top of another until you are buried under a pile of suck and everything feels miserable and mean. But now it's Monday, which means that week is over and also that there was breakfast burrito spread. It was a good way to start a new week because it reminded me of all the things that don't suck and make my life very good and happy and nice, like my friends, they're good. You gotta look out for each other and be good to everyone you love and know. Now I feel like Jerry Springer.

Some of the many bloody marys made by Nick, like every little bit was made by him, except the vodka, none of that premixed junk and also, so much better than what you would get at a restaurant brunch. For real! I'm always afraid to order them because I think it's going to be too horseradish-y or too tomato juice-y. Definitely not an issue with these.

Well, I forgot to take a picture of the table with all the fillings. It was hot and I was hungry. But there were scrambled eggs, black beans with green chiles and lots of garlic, peppers, two kinds of sausage, cheese, obviously, and guacamole. Oh and tater tots. I have been SO into tater tots lately, they go with everything! Tater tots are the new black? 



I don't know how or why, but I was so completely full after only one burrito! I mean, I kept snacking on the tots and sausage and cheese...and everything else, so I probably had the equivalent of at least another burrito, but still, that's not a lot. But it felt like I ate 100 of them and I was so drowsy. It hit me like a bunch of frozen 2 lbs bags of tater tots (we ate 2 of these bags) and I fell asleep almost immediately after everyone left. Everyone else looked totally awake though, I don't know why I got so tired. Now it's 6 am and I've been awake for a solid hour and a half. :) 

stolen phone treats :-/ :-) ?

So, someone stole my phone today. It really sucked. And it happened as I was coming out of the subway, in my own neighborhood! I think that was the most upsetting thing about it, you know, like "hey! I live here, you can't do that to me!"Anyway, this week has already been a little bit rough on my brain so it felt extra rude. Then after a lot of snot and tears (hah gross, sorry), I was feeling pretty crummy and I had to order Domino's. I haven't had any since living in Providence. I mean, it really sucked but at the end of the day, it's just a phone, and it could be worse, right? I took this photo on my photobooth. I'm gonna go eat my pizza now. I don't even feel bad. 

P.S. took this in photobooth

cabin fever

I guess yesterday was Friday? This whole week felt like a surreal weekend. By the 3rd day of sitting around and staying within 1/2 mile of my apartment, it all started to blur together, so by yesterday my brain was close to melting and my body was a little closer to being a soggy lump. Luckily Jeremy and I were totally on the same wavelength and decided we needed to get out and do something. The "getting out" part only involved biking to the grocery store to get ingredients for buffalo chicken, but it counts.

So anyhow, this is what we made. Instead of using wings, we got drumsticks because they were cheaper. And it's just more satisfying than eating something that's not doll food size. We didn't want to deal with deep frying, so we coated the chicken with panko crumbs and baked them, and aside from the brief smoke emergency (ooops, heh) they came out super moist yet crunchy. Then we just ladled on the buffalo sauce, but there wasn't any tossing and coating of all of the drumsticks, it would have been too messy. I felt like I needed to watch sports after this.

Man, you guys. The hurricane. What a drag. I mean, I am super super lucky. I didn't lose power, I didn't get flooded, I didn't get hurt, I didn't even lose my internet connection, it's all good. I'm not trying to be a jerk because sooo many people had/have it real real bad, so the following complaint is going to be totally stupid, but don't roll your eyes (too hard): I have terrible cabin fever. I just didn't think it was going to be this bad, you guys get it, right? I wasn't prepared to not have work for the week or to not be able to leave my house or neighborhood, so I freaked out. One day I felt like my eyeballs were going to melt from staring at the computer for so long. I know that's my fault, yeah yeah. But really, it's been a cushy life, just hanging out and eating so many snacks, like so many. I don't have pictures because it was just that kind of extreme gluttony.

But today Melissa made a real dinner. It was a butternut squash risotto with spicy Italian sausage. It was the perfect post-hurricane fall meal. I love how sweet the butternut squash is once it's all roasted and soft, but I think it's only made better in combination with the sausage. But then again, what isn't?

 

 Public house burger with onion rings and cheddar cheese

I ate this last night for dinner. After I ate quesadillas for brunch. This was a monster burger and it's not really a game changer, but it's everything you look for in a bar burger. Melty and gooey cheese and a lot of juicy meat weighing down on a not-so-sturdy white bun. Can you dig it?

PB&P

 I have lots of food that I've made or like to eat but am way too embarrassed to tell anyone about them. Some things I've made out of total desperation, like that time Junior year when Neal and I ran out of food a few days before winter vacation but didn't want to buy new food so we had to "get creative." We promised never to tell anybody about the food that we made that day. Some other food combos I just tried out because I felt like it, like kimchi and mac and cheese, which used to gross people out but then everyone got all crazy over Siracha and you know what, it's totally the same idea. And then there are some things, like pizza cones, that are so totally trashy that I've only had it once (or twice...) and can't really admit how much I loved it while looking anyone in the eye at the same time.  

 

But the thing that I've gotten the most side-eyes for is one of my favorite snacks: peanut butter and pickle sandwiches. Gus from the cartoon "Recess" (which I still watch every morning, by the way) bought a PB&P sandwich to lunch in one episode, so I decided to make it, and I've been eating them forever now.  I've always been secretive about it because it seemed to weird everyone out. I maybe have even lied and pretended I thought it was gross too. I don't think any of my roommates have ever seen me eat or make one because I am so sneaky about it. But this morning, I saw this article on the NY Times about PB&P sandwiches, so today I feel brave enough to say that I love these sandwiches so hard.

My favorite way to make them (like I made this one after I got home today) is with creamy crappy peanut butter (none of that fancy grind-it-yourself goop, it is not good, I don't care what you say) and extra sour pickles. Then, this is the best part, I like to give it a little grilled cheese treatment by toasting it in some butter on the stove so that the peanut butter gets a little melty and warm and makes the crunchy-sourness stand out even more. That's the beauty of this sandwich, everything balances each other out. Creamy and crunchy, sweet and salty, sour-y and buttery, it's a dream. Don't knock it til you try it. For real.

blabbing and plans

Hmm, I don't know if you guys actually read this or just like to look at the pictures. I usually just look at the pictures on other food blogs too, so no judging, it's cool. But I do have something to blab about and also, I have a new idea!  Oh, and here is a picture of a beer can chicken Jeremy made, which I may or may not have already posted at some point.

So. I know the pictures on this blog aren't the fanciest and the food isn't always pretty in a food-porny way, but I dunno, I kind of like that. I mean, I like nice food pictures a lot; I obsess over them, I spend all my free time on the computer looking at them, and I could name you a million blogs I love that have the most beautiful, drool-worthy pictures of food. And you know, if I had the right kind of camera, I'd probably take the time to pretty my pictures up a little bit. But I don't have a fancy camera (no offense to my iPhone), which is ok though, because that's not something that's totally important to me. Obviously photo quality matters to a lot of people, which is really only a good thing because I wouldn't be half as excited about food if it weren't for all the beautiful pictures of it. I think that if I was trying to blog about recipes or something, it would probably be more important to have quality photos because who wants to cook something that doesn't look good? But I'm not trying to do that. I just want to talk about my eating/food experiences and those don't always (uh.. or ever, really) look like they walked out of Saveur or Gourmet (R.I.P). I'm a sort of regular person who eats at restaurants that are dark sometimes or makes food in a kitchen with really yellow lighting and whose food comes out kinda gloopy but totally tastes good sometimes. I guess I think of this blog as an eating diary, and I want my pictures to be a real representation of how and what I eat, you know? Anyway, that's why this website has always been my favorite site for looking at food pictures. 

Here, I threw in another food picture so you don't get bored. This is my plate (number #1) when I went to Peter Luger and had more meat than I have ever eaten at once.

BUT ALSO, like I said, I love good food photography and food presentation, and that's something I'd like to pay more attention to in my ieat19meals offshoot blog. Oh yeah, so this is the part where I talk about my idea, but really it was Justin's idea so I gotta give credit where credit is due. I have no way to link to this dude's art or beer brewing or cooking or printmaking any of the other five million things he can do, so I guess you'll just have to believe me when I say that Justin Israels knows his stuff. Now you can go google him or something.

 Anyway, so the idea is that I want to cook the alphabet!! So like, each meal has to use main ingredients all starting with the same letter, starting with A and ending with Z, obviously. I don't wanna wuss out like Sufjan Stevens did with his whole "album for every state" project, but I think it'll be trickier than it sounds.  I think I'm going to make it a separate blog so it doesn't get confusing and I'm going to try to, you know, try to make the pictures look a little nicer, a little more put together.  I still only have an iPhone though, so let's see how that goes. Good idea, right? Yeah!! This is my plan and I'm gonna do it. Hopefully I can cook my "A" meal this week or weekend. Ok that's all. I'm done now.