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.