The life of food

The recent beef recall combined with learning about the industry through books such as "Omnivore's Dilemma" make a visit to the meat counter all the more bizarre.

At any time, you'll find chicken and pork products frozen in my refrigerator. For whatever reason I rarely cook beef. That's not to say that I don't eat it. I will order beef for lunch if there are fajitas or burgers. It's certainly nice to order a plate of stir-fry beef when I eat Chinese food. Most of the time, however, I eat chicken.

I really do wonder how this recall and news footage will affect people's eating habits. Sadly, I don't think people will think about this the right way. People will think they're more safe avoiding beef products when the truth is that any meat product could be questionably raised and processed. Do people actually think the 3lb. tray of pork or chicken they buy at Costco is that much safer? Pigs probably sit in just as much filth as cows. Chickens are locked inside huge coops for the six weeks they are grown. All animals (minus truly hand-raised, organic) for consumption are injected with all sorts of antibiotics and growth or vitamin supplements. Out of sight, out of mind... . Sorry if you're eating as you read this, but it makes you think about how little we question what goes into out bodies.

I'm thinking about all this because I just spent the past few hours folding dumplings. My hands still smell of the raw pork that I mixed and dolloped into wonton and potsticker wraps. A couple times during the year, I buy a couple pounds of pork along with various ingredients, mix them together, and stock my freezer with bags of freshly made dumplings. It's more work than buying a bag from the store, but at least I know what goes into them. By having both wontons and potstickers, I can choose between soup or frying. And I love being able to come home and have something to cook up when I'm lazy or have a craving for them. They last me a couple months since I only eat them once per week. Wonton soup today was perfect with the cooler weather returning.

A Unique Experience

My weekend was happily quiet. I sat around in pjs on Saturday. In the morning I ran a couple loads of laundry and watched a few episodes from season 3 of "Gilmore Girls." I managed to finish six Xmas cards after preparing myself a yummy brunch using my leftover ratatouille as the omlette filling and pan roasting the three-colored potatoes I bought at the farmers' market.

I did finally escape the house briefly in the late afternoon to make sure my Xmas cards made the 5pm deadline at the main post office. The air was rather brisk and I found myself a bit underdressed for the weather. Being cozy inside my warm home had fooled me into thinking a sunny sky meant mild temperatures. Still, it was pleasant to walk through the streets, window shop, and watch other people walk by.

I watched "It's a Wonderful Life" in the evening, though I admit to peeking over to "Elf" during commercials. I also made sure to catch up on the Survivor episodes that I had missed. I wanted to make sure I understood every nuance of the show before watching the finale. Watching the challenge with the survivors clinging to the poles and being dragged by the opposing team was incredibly draining. I felt almost as tired as the competitors. Man, that was a brutal contest.

On Sunday morning, I got myself to exercise a little. I started the morning late after staying up late. Again, it was nice to have a quiet, sunny day with no obligations or appointments to think about. After my shower, I did some cleaning in my flannel robe, naked underneath. That's not something I'd normally think of doing this time of year. Somehow, it was fun.

Before I knew it, it was time to drive over to the bar for the Survivor finale. I'd actually misread the clock and found myself short on time. I wanted to get there before the majority of the crowd so that I could secure a seat. I didn't want to stand for three hours nor did I want to end up behind people who'd block my view (because that happens A LOT when you're only five feet tall).

Just as the invitation instructed I arrived at 4:30pm. (Even when I think I'm late to something I always managed to arrive on time - go figure.) Only a handful of true friends were there, drawing signs and finishing set up. In the center of the room were three rows of chairs, each covered with a pom-pom and various forms of champagne poppers. I was impressed they thought of everything that had crossed my mind as well.

The CBS camera crew was making final adjustments on the lighting. Looking at the projection screen, one had no choice but to be blinded by two huge flood lights on either side of the screen. Otherwise there were four blue booths on either side of the room for sitting, but most were covered with papers and supplies. The third choice was the barstools around the bar in the back.

I wasn't sure if the chairs were reserved for K's close friends. I learned from Thursday's viewing that the guy with the camera was the organizer. As he walked near, I asked him if the seats were already designated, and he encouraged me to sit wherever I wanted.

I invited one friend to join me. Also, the guy who originally invited me to the party arrived with his friends. It was nice to be around people I know. The room was bustling with people just before 5pm. There were several varieties of t-shirts being worn by various K groups:

- a sketch of K and his abs with "K's our homeboy"
- "K for U.N. Ambassador"
- a picture from Survivor with shirtless K and a tagline below "Smart = Sexy"
- "K went to Survivor Cook Islands and all I got was this lousy t-shirt"

At this point, everyone was waiting for the live East Coast feed of the show. Before we started the film crew manager gave up some instructions on taping us. At 6:30pm, he told us to cheer as if K had won. He wanted us to be as enthusiastic as possible. "If I'm jumping up and down, I want you to jump up and down. If I fall asleep, I want you to jump up and down." It was kind of disappointing to know that our celebration would not be anywhere near live to national television. So did they do this for Ozzie's friends too so as not to give away who won? I wonder... do you think the film crew knew?


It was fun watching the show with a crowd that felt it had a vested interest in the outcome. The tension during every competition was intense and we all ooooed, ahhhed, and awwed together.

During a commercial break around 6:30pm, the film guy stood up again and told us all the prepare to cheer. Everyone madly shook their pom-poms, launched their poppers and confetti and chanted "K, K, K." Then the cameraman waived us down. He signaled to one group on the floor that they had to move their white poster board to the back because it was causing too much glare. Then we shot the scene again... and a third time.

I doubted I'd appear in the clip that ended up on tv. I was likely obscured by all the people and swirling pom-poms. Plus, the cameraman failed to pan across the room showing just how many of us were there. It was unfortunate that he couldn't not set the camera up farther back. Still, it was fun and interesting to see the "behind the scenes" aspect of preparing for the Survivor final show.

The final immunity challenge was a nail bitter. Every time someone twitched, we all gasped at whether the person would fall. People were heart-broken when K fell to the water.

At the final vote, you could cut the air with a knife. After being held up in a basement bar for over two hours, it was very warm. I could swear the 150 people there stopped breathing for a moment as Jeff opened the final vote. The excitement was unbelievable!!!

After the show ended, they put up a banner and encouraged everyone to come sign it. It would be a gift waiting for K when he comes home. Though it would have been fun to sign, I decided against it for two reasons: one, I don't really know him so I felt it was better to leave it to his friends to sign, and two, it was going to be a wait before having a chance to sign it.


I'm some three degrees removed from knowing K, but it was a one of a kind experience to be part of.

P.S. If you have any interest in this, there's a great interview transcript here from after the show.

Ratatouille - the dish

I decided to forego my workout so that I could cook those fresh veggies I bought at the farmers' market. I had been thinking about this one version by Alice Waters sometime ago as there was a bookmark that led me immediately to the page.

Before I left work, I jotted down the ingredients I needed to pick up from the store. I tried double checking the recipe online. The funny thing was that the first couple listing that appeared in the search had nothing to do with food. The first few searches implied there is a movie coming out next year called "Ratatouille." It looks like Pixar's next movie is about a rat who is a foodie... not quite the French vegetable saute I was looking for. I'm not excited about the movie title, but the animation looks nice.

So after baking, sauting, and simmering, I produced this lovely looking dish. It was also a good way to break in my new 3.5 quart buffet casserole.



The thing is, this took me more than an hour - start to finish. How are two working parents supposed to feed their family a healthy dinner with everything there is to do? It makes me appreciate the fact that my mom was able to get home at a decent time and cook fresh food (almost) every night. And then there's the cleanup part!

I toasted some sweet baguette slices and cut myself a piece of soft cheese. I topped off the vegetables with chopped parsley, chopped olives, and minced garlic as the recipe instructed. Topping the bread slices with the ratatouille tasted great. The only thing I'd change is sprinkling the raw garlic - yikes that was strong! I barely managed to eat a quarter of it. Yummy leftovers tonight!

I must do more cooking like this, and with more people around next time. This is one of those simple things that are so enjoyable.

Packed weekend

My weekend felt like it lasted 72+ hours.

I attended my company holiday party on Friday night. On the way to the hotel, I passed a performance being given by school-age children. It was so cute to see them dressed as ginger bread people!


This year I went stag. My plan was to say "hello" to everyone, eat, and be gone. Going alone is fun when your co-workers are similar in age and life stage. In my case, sitting around with couple that have kids and/or are pregnant is challenging. Naturally they all want to compare notes and share stories about child rearing. What am I supposed to do?

All in all it was nice to meet my co-workers' spouses. It's important to put on a happy face and be seen. I high-tailed it out of there once the dancing started and I'd had my fill of dessert.

Saturday morning was a volunteer event. I love being able to help give underprivileged children gifts. Some of us talked about the unrealistic expectations some kids have these days. One person recalled seeing a child ask for an iPod, another wanted an XBox in other locations. When a family is not in good financial health, how can these kids think to ask for something so expensive from strangers? How does a kid learn to be humble versus demanding?

We started talking about all these examples of people who have their priorities in the wrong place. I remember a news segment fifteen years ago where they interviewed people standing in a food line in the Bronx. The reported asked each person if they owned a microwave, had a telephone, had cable tv. Many said "yes." In another example, someone shared how she was unable to reach a single mother for a charity donation meeting. The woman could not pay her phone bill, and service had been cut. Yet, she had premium cable and a family season tickets to an amusement park. One guy volunteered with a group that did repairs for low-income families. They were sent to repair a hole in the roof over the children's bedroom. He was surprised to walk through their living to see a huge projection tv and stereo system. Maybe some of these people had a good explanation, but it just doesn't look good.

In the afternoon, I was supposed to watch my friend's annual holiday performance, but I skipped it in light of the weather and traffic. Instead, I went home and took a nap before heading out for another holiday gathering.

My friend's business school friend was having a big party at a local club. Although I knew no one but her, I thought it would be good to get to know new people. Parking took forever. It's one of those neighborhood's where you know there's NEVER any parking. After 30 minutes of driving in circles, I paid $8 at a garage.

I tried my best to meet people, but it's hard when you know many are not sober and have been smoking something. Still, they were a fun group. Dancing was great because the DJ picked the best 80s songs. It was cool to seem him get into the music as much as the crowd.

On Sunday morning I slept in as long as I could. I found someone on Ebay who had been unable to sell some cookware that I had been eyeing. I asked her to consider selling it to me for less after no one matched the price she wanted.

We agreed to meet at a cafe downtown. I arrived early in hopes of writing some Xmas cards, but the cafe was packed. I decided to walk over to the Farmers' market for a bit. This is the last week for persimmons, so I wanted to buy a bagful. I marveled at all the beautiful vegetables - leeks, celery root, squash, trumpet mushrooms, radishes, etc. I wanted to buy some but realized that I have no idea how to cook some of them. Maybe it'd be fun to buy something and then look up on the Internet for ways to prepare it. This way I'd learn something new and hopefully have a tasty meal to show for it. Next time... for now, I settled on some beautiful bell peppers and Japanese eggplant that I'll saute in my new pan. :)

I had just enough time to drop off the groceries at home before running to my next event. A friend of my cousin's arranged for free makeovers by a woman launching her own line of cosmetics geared towards Asian faces - Thi Cosmetics. I'm not big into makeup, but it's always fun to see what they suggest and learn new techniques. It turned out to be rather fun, except for getting my brows plucked. The makeup felt light and highlighted my features well while looking natural. I did buy a couple items like the Soy cream and Quinn lipstick. I've been needing a new red lipcolor.

The next activity of the day would have been Jew's annual White Elephant party. I was sad that she chose a Sunday evening for it. With all my running around, I really wanted a quieter night and wasn't in the mood for driving almost 70 miles each way to be there. She was very understanding about it.

I've been meaning to bake cookies to take to work. I love making desser recipes. It's been challenging to find the time. I thought I'd start out by at least making the dough since it refrigerates well and finishing the baking another night after work. I guess I was on a roll, because I spent the entire evening baking. There was some 1.5 pounds of butter, 2.5 cups of sugar, and 5 cups of flour involved.

I ran over to the television between steps to watch "The Amazing Race." The finale was rather disappointing. The last part seemed way too simple. I wonder if they edited out some of the final challenges. The "Survivor" finale next Sunday will hopefully be much more interesting.

All in all I spent 5+ hours measuring, mixing, and baking. Towards the end I developed a pretty good system of preparing one sheet of tea cakes while the ginger cookies baked and vice versa. The only tricky part was alternating the oven temperature between 300F and 325F. The pizzelles probably are the most time consuming since only two came be made at a time and it requires constant attention. I ended up making four dozen chewy ginger cookies, two dozen chocolate pizzelles, and three dozen tea cakes. Yum!



Whatever cookies don't get eaten at work will go with me to my next volunteer event tonight. I'll be wrapping more gifts for kids. Whee!