back at it like a bad habit

Breakfast: Two eggs over easy on multi-grain toast with avocado. Coffee and water.

Mid-morning snack: Sesame seed bagel with cream cheese. Agua.

Lunch: Crackers with salami and goat cheese. Chicken salad sandwich on multi-grain toast. Big salad with mixed greens, yellow and red pepper, carrots, celery, bean sprouts, avocado, and annie's goddess dressing. And Massimo got me drunk with this. Dulce de Leche Ciao Bella gelato.

Dinner: Big-up to B-Real who inspired this meal. Shrimp tacos: Chipotle encrusted shrimp. Homemade salsa verde with avocado (roasted tomatillos, roasted garlic, poblanos, onions, cilantro, and lime juice). Pico de gallo. Gin with sugar, ice, and lime juice... not the best.

Dessert: Suffered through a hipster party but it was well worth it. On some straight Willy-Wonka shit: Bowls of fruit everywhere, custard fruit tarts, gourmet cupcakes, chocolate and coconut cakes, Blue Moon, Golden Monkey, and Patron. I did my part and tore up some fruit, some tart, some chocolate cake, and--in the spirit of Billy Klute--more Golden Monkey beers than I can remember.

Surprise-Bag Eatin'

Yestahday:

cafe da manha: the uz--yogurt, granola, honey, half a roll with farmer's cheese and persimmon spread, a whole persimmon, mate tea

mid-morning snack: chocolate chip-peanut clif bar

almoco no campo: sandwich (on what else but a crusty roll) of ham, cheese, carrots, cukes, & lettuce, water

cafe da tarde: mate tea, some kind of cornbread-like cake (wish i spoke portuguese so i could ask exactly what all of the deliciousness is!)

jantar: wet lettuce leaves with slices of raw beet (delicious!), potato-loaf with shredded chicken, chopped tomato and green beans, topped with sliced tomato and sliced hard-boiled eggs, casserole of zucchini and a cheese that resembled ricotta but was maybe something else?, baked golden brown, passion fruit, pineapple juice

post-dinner snacks: we had a "social," for which they hired a samba band and provided beer, STRONG caipirinhas, toasted, buttered bread and fresh hummus,

late-night snack: lemon-lime emergen-C, piece of a chocolate mint clif bar (we eat a lot of protein bars)

Tuhday:

cafe da manha: skipped in favor of sleeping off last night. replaced mid-morning by banana, apple, espresso-sized mate tea.

almoco: leftovers from last night, wet lettuce w/ carrot ribbons, oil, and vinegar, rice and beans sprinkled with farina, what i think was skirt steak (but maybe pork or veal? i must refine my palate), some kind of really soft green-fleshed squash served cold in a parsley (?) marinade, buttered toast, mango chunks w/ salt and lime, pineapple rounds soaked in lime juice, whole persimmon, fresh juice.

Real Men Eat Tofu: Unhealthy Meals Inspired by Chrissy Dubuncio

Breakfast (who knows how this happened at 7:30am): 1-yolk, 3-white omelet with asparagus, mushrooms, stilton. Baby Haas Avocado. Two pieces dry multigrain toast. espresso.

Lunch: Tuna (chopped parsley, sun dried tomatoes, olive oil, champagne vinegar) sandwich on flax seed bread with dijon mustard. Cup skim Milk.

Snack: Salt and Pepper Kettle Chips.

Dinner: A mushroom burger from Jeffrey's. Onion Rings. Pickles.

Dessert: Coldstone Coffee ice cream with chocolate shavings.

Ciao!

So I havah plan to accompany una amiche to the galleria to seeah some marvelosa pinturas. It is a molto bella sunny day but ah this damme no givahmenothing. I think to myself, no callaah, no text message, che cazza.. what kinda amiche is this?

Fortuna, the noche was not lost. Aftah i gettah stood-up, i go home and make a Frittata. Escuse, sono molto emotivo. Bella, lei vede? lo spinichi, la carota, i broccoli, la cipolla, l'aglio, il fungo, il formaggio & of course alotta patata.. some coriandolo, il tumeric, i pui pepe.

The best way to accompany such a meal is w Hefferwiessen. I chose 3.

Do you guys really take pics of what you eat or are those from online?

Breakfast: 2 slices sprouted flax seed bread with peanutbutter. pink lady apple. cappucino.

Post-Workout Snack: Banana Creme Muscle Milk Collegiate

Lunch: 3-white 1-yolk omelet with sauteed red pepper, onion, asparagus, and stilton. two pieces dry multigrain toast. baby haas avocado. glass of skim milk.

Snack: big piece of extra-dark ghiradelli (or, as tara would say: gardella) chocolate.

Dinner (ahh free dining hall food): rotisserie chicken. brown rice. raw carrots and cauliflower. cubed, roasted butternut squash.

Dessert: pistachio frozen yogurt with rainbow sprinkles.

La nourriture est bonne

Breakfast: Sesame seed bagel with cream cheese and some kind of wild chocolate chip bran muffin... coffee (I'm slowly but surely cutting down on the amount of sugar I put in it too).

Lunch: The #3 from Hyde Park Produce: Cracked Pepper turkey and Swiss cheese sandwich with lettuce, tomato, onion, and guacamole. Sea salt potato chips on the side. Agua.

Dinner: Carr's cracked pepper water crackers with salami and some kind of Bleu cheese Massimo must've bought over the weekend and a nice little Italian aperitif also a la Massimo. LARGE ass salad with mixed greens, tomatoes, sliced mushrooms, shaved carrot, celery, red peppers, and chicken. Honestly though, enormous.

Dessert: The squirrel does not infer by induction that it is going to need stores next winter. And no more did I need a law of induction when I was at the store earlier to justify buying some French-vanilla, butter-pecan, chocolate-deluxe Ciao Bella Dulce de Leche Latte Caramellizato Gelato as a nice little top off. Amazing.

"...and big up to my french vanillas. parlez vous francais, mi amor, merci, oui oui, bon bons, and all that good stuff..."

Utter Deliciousness

Oi gente! When V first told me that he stocks Trader Joe's frozen shrimp, I laughed. "Who eats frozen shrimp?" I asked scornfully. What an ignorant fool I was. I had never even been into a Trader Joe's, but I got curious (huge surprise, I'm sure) and as my time and funds dwindled, frozen shrimp became an increasingly intriguing prospect. Well glory be to the power above, beause those damn shrimp have saved me on many occasions. Tonight may have been their ultimate moment, yet the meal was beyond simple - I was actually worried about the paucity of ingredients, but it turned out to be just perfect. I'll go backwards:

Dinner: These black beans. Shrimp tacos - first marinated the shrimp in olive oil, salt, and chipotle powder and then sauteed it with olive oil and garlic. I heated some corn tortillas and put the shrimp, avocado, cilantro, and a squeeze of lime over it all and it was utter deliciousness. The bowl of black beans on the side was phenomenal as well... I forget a) how much i love black beans and b) how perfectly they partner with lime. Good thing I always have limes around as I was squeezing them over everything like there was no tomorrow. I tried to take pictures but they didn't come out.

Lunch: a bowl of Total Fage 2% yogurt with blueberries and honey. Meager and birdlike, I know. What can I say.

Breakfast: one egg over easy and toasted baguette with butter and jam. coffee.

C'est le dîner chez moi!

Memorial Day Weekend Eating

Memorial Day weekend should be synonymous with barbecue. Unfortunately, I was on the road. I traveled from CT to D.C. to visit my brother at Georgetown and had to settle for restaurant fare up along the way. Nonetheless, I'm happy to report that I did come across a few memorable dishes. On a side-note, it should be illegal to have as much fun as I did riding around the neighborhood on my brother's moped on a sunny day.

Hook: I loved this seafood restaurant on M street. Barton Seaver is young, energetic, and passionate and those attributes resounded in the dishes and staff.

What stood out was the Sea Urchin, three-ways (pistachio-orange, almond-black pepper, and orange-crispy orange) and the Halibut with potato-herb galette, scallion creme fraiche and chard.

The Halibut was cooked at 156 degrees in a custom "steam box" which allowed for 100% humidity. This allows the fish to not lose any moisture so it came out extraordinarily moist. I can't really figure out if cooking it sous-vide would have been much different because the principle of avoiding moisture loss is similar.

I couldn't get over the chard. It was simply just deep-fried whole! Here I was thinking about whether they had dehydrated it or added some sort of chemical, but it was just deep fried. No batter. No nothing. The chard ended up looking beautiful and crumbled into tasty powder when prodded with a fork.

The potato galette was perfect as well. It ended up being just a thick fried potato cake. Crispy on the outside and super creamy on the inside.

The wine was an excellent bargain and I recommend that people look out for it in stores because it's relatively unknown. It's an Italian white called Taburno Greco di Tufo Campania, 2006. Fruity but dry and crisp, I think it's a versatile white that's not completely boring.

In Alexandria, VA, I stopped by a Thai place called Bangkok 54.

Pretty much run-of-the-mill but their Crispy Pork Belly with Chili-Basil was outstanding. It tasted like it was braised with aromatics, cut into strips and then deep-fried. I was in heaven.

When I returned to CT, I stopped into the new Craftsteak at the MGM Grand at Foxwoods. With high expectations, I was reminded of how hard it must be to get good staff in parts of Connecticut. For the money, it was definitely not worth it. The seasoning was totally inconsistent from one dish to the next. One dish was unbelievably salty, the next had no salt at all. We should have sent back half of our meal but didn't. Next time a server prematurely asks me how everything is, I feel like saying, "Honestly, I don't know yet!" We ordered:

Pickle Point Oysters from PEI. Unlike most east coast oysters, their brinyness was tamed by a nice mellow cucumber taste.

Marinated French Sardines: cured with champagne vinegar and mirepoix, they were eaten with the skin on and were definitely memorable.

Frites: these should have been perfect. Unfortunately, they were horrible--soggy and salty.

Morels: Awesome, right? They're in season and hard to find. Too bad these were poorly seasoned and $20(!).

Ramps: braised in buerre fondue, the cook forgot to salt them. We ended up dipping our frites into the ramps to compensate.

Asparagus: perfect! Thick and simply blanched and grilled.

Fresh Ricotta Ravioli, Pickled Mushrooms & Country Ham: This would have been perfect had they not unnecessarily fried the ham which made it rock hard and too salty.

Sweetbreads: I wish these were crispy on the outside and creamy on the inside but putting a mediterranean mixture of tomato confit and olives on top made them unhappy and soggy.

We drank Hitachino Nest's White Ale which is basically just a kick-ass version of Hoegaarden. It's pricey but worth it and would have been a perfect beer to drink outdoors during the sunny Memorial Day.

All in all, I ate a lot this weekend. Nonetheless, I was truly jealous of those who were eating lovingly made barbecue with family and friends outdoors!

Quarta-Fiera Parte Dois

cafe da tarde: coffee w. milk and cane sugar, cake with chocolate frosting (all the desserts here are painfully sweet and I actually can't really handle them), an apple, and about eight pao de queijo, which are little balls of cheesy dough, crusted over from baking--delish.

dinner: wet lettuce leaves w/ oil and vinegar (a staple here), rice cooked with shaved carrots, fish baked with tomatoes, potatoes, onions, and tri-colored peppers, stewed eggplant, a crusty roll (getting kind of sick of calling them that but they're truly crusty), an orange, limonada

I do have a camera and will try to take food porn discreetly so that my classmates don't think I'm a total freeeak.

Eat, Eat, Eat, All Day Long

Zinho: I am in Nazare Paulista, Brasil, which is about an hour outside of Sao Paulo in the heart of what little is left of the southern Atlantic Forest (refer to this for detailed information).

Some context: All meals are served buffet style in a beautiful little tree-house style dining hall. Bfast, aka Cafe da manha, is the same everyday: platter of ham, platter of farm cheese, bowl of crusty rolls, yogurt, granola with raisins, an assortment of fruit, fresh juice, coffee, mate tea, water. Almoco (aka lunch) is the biggest meal and consists of a platter of whole lettuce leaves (sometimes topped with tomato or cuke slices), a few cold salads, several hot dishes, meat, and a dessert.

Late afternoon is time for Cafe da tarde, which means coffee, tea, and cake (varying in nature). Dinner, or jantar, is similar to lunch but tends to be a bit lighter, with fewer options, and does not include dessert. There is an organic garden on site, so most of the produce comes from there, and my guess is that the meat source is not too far away--this is pretty hardcore farmland. Everything is all-natural, nothing processed, right down to the sugar, which is made from cane--raw and delicious. I actually chewed on a big chunk of sugar cane on a hike the other day--one of our guides cut it down along the way. SO good, and fun.

Today's menu, so far (jantar to come but if I wait until then for the full report I will forget what I had for lunch):

cafe da manha: yogurt with granola and honey, half a crusty roll w/ farm cheese and mango spread, slice of papaya, banana, mate tea

mid-morning snack: espresso-sized mate tea, mini-sugar cookie w/ dollop of vanilla frosting

almoco: lettuce leaves w/ oil and vinegar, shredded beets topped w/ papaya chunks, marinated cauliflower, pot roast, brown rice and red beans sprinkled with farina, half a passion fruit, fresh juice (fruit undetermined but it was of a nice orange-y yellow shade)

P.S. I am writing this during class--what a rebel. Food for thought: is eating more important than learning the ins and outs of conservation biology?

Brasil = bomb.co.uk

Back in Business

Well, y'all, it was an eventful weekend foodwise. But, since 2/3 of you were there to witness it all, I'll avoid redundancy and pour my energy into reporting what I ate today. Before I begin, though, one side note: I won't record what I drink for any meal, since I drink water at meals and constantly throughout the day (I counted today, and I'm on my 7th liter at 8:21 pm). Of course, I'll let you know about any gene-status wines or bill-status beers...

Breakfast: 1 large bowl of oatmeal with raisins, cinnamon, and a dash of skim milk. cappuccino.

Lunch: 1 pink lady apple (to hold me over), followed by (leftover) cruzan rice and beans, bbq chicken, and fried plantains a la becky.

Mid-Afternoon Snack: 3 slices honeydew melon, 1 almond biscotti.

Dinner: "dense", "get-those-minerals" raw salad of local spinich, red pepper, shaved carrots, broccoli, toasted pine nuts, crumbled stilton, and golden raisins. dressed with homemade balsamic vinnaigrette.

Dessert, grimey style: cup of frosted flakes stolen from the dining hall where I work as a writing tutor.

Planes, Trains, and a Day with D

Apologies, amigos. It was a busy weekend and I stayed out of the dark and dank dungeon that is my basement as much as possible; accordingly, I stayed away from Jeannie's 1000 year old Casio laptop as well. Anyways, I'm back at it and as D rhetorically asked this past weekend, "Is this a blog where you post when you want or is it a blog where you post everyday?" The latter, of course. So step it up fellow bloggers.

N.B. 26 May 2008 was a day of non-stop traveling from 11am until 9:30pm.

Breakfast: two eggs over easy and sprouted wheat bread with melted cheddar cheese. coffee and water.

Snack: 1.5 chocolate chip cookies made by none other than Sue Bowers herself.

Lunch: 1 large piece of Sbarro pizza with broccoli, tomato, spinach, and ricotta cheese. water. chocolate chip cookie.

Snack: Cheddar cheese and crackers on the plane. Coffee and water. D, I asked for a carton of milk and the flight attendant said they didn't have any...

Dinner: I had this from Jimmy John's. #5 Vito: Genoa salami, capicola, provolone, lettuce, tomato, onions & vinaigrette. Cherry Coke...

pre-Memorial Day bbq

Brunch: A Nestle's chocolate milk and a loosie. Haa, just kidding! Two eggs over easy, sausage, rye toast, home fries, half a banana pancake, coffee, and water, pantry-style. The company was stellar. Laughter (and milk) flowed :)

Lunch bbq: T's signature guacamole, house marinated olives, a few sips of a lovely port (and an accompanying lesson in port v. sherry), spicy sausage and pepper sandwich, and a grilled portobello mushroom. V was the hyphy grill master...wOOt!

Dinner (...back home): sliced endive, radish, cilantro and feta salad (this is the new joint!) Peach and passion fruit Liberte yogurt, lots of water.

And last but not least, this girl - who appeared to have gotten lost on her way out to p-diddy's white party in the hamptons - spoiled us with her signature guacamole (see above) and a mean plate of chocolate-dipped strawberries. Holla!!

Brasil is for FATTIES. Happy, Happy Fatties.

breakfast: yogurt with granola and honey, ham and queijo de minas (Brazilian farm cheese) on crusty roll with mango spread, fresh guava juice, banana, guava

mid-hike snack: chocolate chip-peanut butter Clif bar, water throughout
lunch: lettuce leaves, cucumbers, pasta with broccoli greens, pasta with tomato sauce, baked chicken wings, passion fruit mousse

mid-afternoon snack: two layer cake with strawberry jam and vanilla frosting, fresh strawberry juice, coffee with milk and raw sugar

dinner: lettuce leaves with shaved beets and carrots, rice-cheese-carrot-tomato casserole, rice-beef-cheese casserole, few scraps of crusty roll spread with some kind of oozy cheese, parts of an orange, mango, kiwi, more strawberry juice

The Debut

Breakfast: 2 slices of challah french toast and a cup of coffee (or espresso, depending upon how you look at it).

Lunch: assorted greens from the garden with a french-style white wine vinaigrette, saint augur bleu (look up bleu cheese on wikipedia - the number of different types is amazing), shaved carrots, and sliced white mushroms. crusty sourdough toast with almond butter. mango slices (with skin).

Pre-Dinner Snack: assorted (kluytenaar) house-marinated olives. 1 slice of modern tomato/spinach pizza.

Dinner: crostata with assorted spreads. roasted new zealand rack of lamb in a soy-garlic-mustard marinade. herby oven-roasted potatoes. steamed green beans.

Dessert: lemon tart a-la Sue

thursday (or, my life is not as sweet as V's)

breakfast: ug. 8 am class is not kind ... half a sesame bagel with cream cheese and coffee.

snack: kashi chocolate & peanut butter protein bar, water.

lunch: salad with edamame, tofu, & tomatoes. red lentil & coconut milk soup. raspberry scone. water.

dinner: 2 steamed dumplings, a pakora, and a potato and pea samosa. chocolate cake with creme fraiche. water.

"this is the way i live"

wednesday, 21 may 2008

breakfast: poppy seed bagel with cream cheese and coffee (oh yeah, and a chocolate muffin)

lunch: big salad with red peppers, tomatoes, carrots, avocado and grilled chicken. mad water.

snack: green tea milkshake (wednesdays are $1 shake days!)

post-workout snack: small bowl of quinoa with black beans and a fried egg. water. couple chugs of milk.

dinner: pear with saint-andre cheese, mixed greens with cherry tomatoes and mozzarella cheese, porcini mushroom risotto, red wine.

dessert: vanilla chocolate almond ice-cream with massimo's grandmother's homemade 50 year old balsamic vinegar drizzled on top. molto buono!

top off: german after-dinner herbal digestive liqueur.

Wild Birdz

pre-breakfast: woke up to sight of what i think were two pheasants grazing on the lawn across the street [from grandparents' house in Fairfield]

breakfast: two turkey sausages, 7-grain toast with whipped butter and grandma's homemade marmalade, one of these, bite of kippered salmon, peppermint tea, water

lunch: large Quiznos sub--whole wheat bread, smoked turkey, cheddar, lettuce, tomato, pickles, honey mustard. toasted, of course, and tasting rather like two pieces of cardboard with something gooey in between (i only ate half). also: Miss Vickie's Smokehouse BBQ potato chips, Diet Pepsi

snack(s): cubed cantaloupe, red grapes, roasted peanuts, lemonade

dinner: dreamed of: pheasant. ate: homemade tomato sauce (w. capers, fennel, vinegar) over spaghetti, butter lettuce w. grape tomatoes/carrots/celery/cucumber, milk

Dances with Wolves

breakfast: two fried eggs, sunny-side up and toast with butter. mango juice.

snack: (free) sesame seed bagel with chive cream cheese and coffee.

lunch: fusilli pasta with a mushroom bechamel sauce (leftover from dinner the night before). agua.

dinner: straight cowboy dinner. quinoa with shallots, onions, ginger, and other spices. black beans with pancetta. two fried eggs and two strips of bacon. goose island honker's ale. agua.

it's only 9:30, so there's a good chance i'll have some cookies 'n cream ice cream before i hit the sack...

gracias al guillermo

breakfast: water and a handful of raspberries.

lunch: guillermo (aka dad) surprised me and took me out for a lovely lunch at a favorite local mexican establishment across the street. i had enchiladas verdes with rice and beans and horchata (which was sweet! and deliciously spiked with cinnamon and, i think, cardamom ... but dad wouldn't try it because of his white aversion). he had the flautas de pollo and a limonada, which he said was "delicious." que buena onda.

afternoon snack: earl gray tea, carr's rosemary crackers with goat brie, aged cheddar, and olives.

dinner: nigella lawson's dense chocolate loaf cake with raspberries and creme fraiche. penne al carbonara. water. in that order.

segunda-feira

breakfast: goat cheese, basil, and tomato omelet with toast and fruit salad. mango juice, agua, and espresso. all before my 9:30 class.

snack: sesame seed bagel with cream cheese and agua.

lunch: sausalito turkey and munster cheese sandwich with lettuce, tomato, mayo, and mustard. fruit salad and agua. some cookies 'n cream ice cream.

monday monday

this stuff is gold.

breakfast part 1: Liberté blackberry yogurt (fruit on the bottom, 8% milkfat), h2O. perhaps not the healthiest way to start the day, but it is calcium- and probiotic culture-rich. and tastes awesome.

breakfast part 2: half a toasted sesame bagel with cream cheese, coffee.

snack: banana

lunch: vinegar and sauteed onion omelet (eggs and vinegar are hot), 7-grain toast, h2O.

dinner: well, lunch was late and dinner was even later in happy pursuit of waffles. i can't claim nutritional value on this one but i can say i enjoyed both the meal and the company. belgian waffle with whipped cream, 1 egg over easy, sausage links, and sweet potato fries. :)

Whatcha eatin?

Come on peeps ... I want to know, and I bet you do too or you wouldn't be here! So, throw it down... a blow by blow of what you're eating - with or without visuals. The world is a curious place, but food is glorious, and "no man is lonely while eating spaghetti." (Christopher Morley)

Salud!