Prediction for 2009

Tomorrow, friends are coming over for brunch. I won't give away too many surprises, but I boiled 2 cans of sweetened condensed milk to make dulce de leche, which will be turned into a caramel ice cream. I made a small batch of hummus and a small amount of Israeli salad, two things that taste better when left to develop overnight. I also whipped a cup of heavy cream into butter -- a c-school, they warned if you walked away from a mixer while whipping cream, it would turn into butter....but never demoed it. So I put the cream in and walked away....and when I came back, the fat had separated from the liquid into pale yellow curds, and the whey left behind kind of looked like skim milk. I rolled the curds into a little tube of parchment paper.

AM SNACK: 8:30am, chug of apple cider, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

BREAKFAST: 10:30am, veggie burger, fries, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH: 3:30pm, small bowl of homemade rice & beans, half a brownie, apple cider, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 7pm, sausage onion mushroom pizza, assorted antipasto, 1/3 of a slice of chocolate cake, 1 glass prosecco, water, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Last dinner of 2008 should serve as a warning. B, a couple of friends and I went to Little Frankies for dinner on 1st Ave and 1st St. It's Italian enoteca style, with brick-oven trad style pizzas. Undercooked, overtopped, got flibbidy flobbidy within seconds of presentation, a real lack of chew OR snap. The only thing that stood out as above average was the house-made sausage. Pizza has been trendy for a while now in NYC, and sooo many gourmet pizza places have opened and are about to open. Well, it's places like this that are going to break the trend's back and shake out shitshows like these.

Evilly Delicious

I woke up at 8 to get things done around the house and try to reset my recent late-wake late-sleep habits. In the afternoon, an evilly delicious brownie made me nap and make me feel weird, so I stayed in with some felafel.

ADDENDA:
Went to a noon yoga class with an unfamiliar teacher. Was in a good mood, avoided eating before the class, felt a bit yawny but psyched to be there. Once the class started, it was straight down hill. After an annoying anecdote, the first thing that pulled me out of the zone was the WORST. MUSIC. EVER. Led Zepplin is not yoga music. King of Pain by the Police is not yoga music. F@cking BRUCE HORNSBY AND THE RANGE IS NOT F@CKING YOGA MUSIC!! Evil mid-80s top 40s light pop took me back to when I was 13, hating everyone, and plotting how I was going to rebel (ska music! shave my head! combat boots!) against the twits who actually unquestioningly listened to this piffle. Then a long stretch of poses I've never seen and could not do, and during headstand practice several people fell with frightening force. I was lying on my stomach, and once some new-wave pink-suited Eric Clapton came on, I found myself unthinkingly rolling up my mat and leaving 15 minutes before the end. I felt aurally assaulted.
BREAKFAST: 8:30am, homemade brownie, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Oh my. After refrigeration, these bad boys got yummier. The chips solidified, giving a nice textural breadth to the otherwise soft, gooey and stretchy interior. They taste so deeply chocolately and...unhealthy.

HONORARY SNICKLE SNACK: 1:30pm, spinach salad, hijiki tofu patty, cold sesame noodles, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
The HVS was supposed to join me, but life got in the way. I was thinking of her when eating this vegan meal at Dojos.

PM SNACK: 4:45pm, brownie, quart of water, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Damn, they're good.

DINNER: 9pm, felafel platter with hummus, whole wheat pita, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Ordered in.

Mario, c'mon!

B and I finally got out of the house and got ourselves to a pizzeria. We met up with her momma and brother at Otto, Mario Batalli's joint. I've eaten here several times over the years, and I must say every time I like it less and less. Maybe it's because I've become more pizza-aware over the time?

The service was unusually lousy, but I can easily forgive that for great food. But this was not great food. I started with a shrimp appetizer, which was really a small bowl of chickpeas and hot pepper, with some small blanched freezer-fresh shrimps strewn in. This is Italian cooking, man, simple recipes that live or die by the quality of the ingredients! This one was DOA.

There are basically two columns of pizza on the menu, classic and neuveau. B went for a simply pepperoni pie, and momma got the quatro stuzzini (or some such Italian name), which was basically a margarita with a different topping in each quadrant -- cooked prociutto, butternut squash, mushrooms and something else. I ordered from the funkier side of the menu -- fungi & tallegio. I learned to love the soft, wine-flavored ripe cheese in c-school. The pizza was....fneh. The crust was nicely colored, brown and spotty like a good crust should be. But it's not really baked -- it's cooked on a griddle, and it's snap-to-chew ratio is much closer to a cracker-like snap than any significant chew. (Good pizza should have a balance.) The tallegio itself was good, but there was too much of it and there were too much cooked mushrooms. Every bite was just gobs of cheese and mushrooms, overwhelming the sense of crust. It was just....unpleasant to eat.

B went out this evening to a girls-nite-out kind of thing, so I was the good house husband and stayed home and baked brownies. I used this recipe, replaced extract with the scrapings of 2 vanilla beans, doubled the salt and replaced walnuts with a cup and a half of semi-sweet chocolate chips. Makes me want to make chocolate-chocolate chip ice cream and a hot fudge sauce to pour all over the hot mess. Porno a la chocolate!

All the tallegio and hot chilis weren't too kind to me this evening, but was greatly soothed by two warm, gooey brownies.

ADDENDA:
While picking up groceries at the market, had the pleasure of running into two famous people. One was the author Sarah Vowel, of whose historical political diatribes I've read several. The other one was our very own HVS!

BREAKFAST: 10:30am, organic cheerios with the bleah milk, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH: 1:30pm, bread & olive oil, a few bread sticks, chickpeas with shrimp and chilies, tallegio & mushroom pizza, small slice of pepperoni pizza, water, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 5:30pm, swig of apple cider, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 7:45pm, 2 homemade brownies, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

A Weekend In

Weird, eating-wise I was repulsed by cooking this weekend, attracted only to carb-heavy non-vegetable matter. Hmmm.

On Saturday, B wasn't feeling well, coughy, so we stayed in all day. We made some progress in the nursery. Didn't feel like cooking, just felt like eating unhealthy food, a goal I succeeded at pretty easily. Feeling bleah because the big adventure out of town Sunday got cancelled for reasons beyond out control, thoughts of a romantical trip to New Haven to Pepes instead.

Unfortunately, they remained only thoughts. I was hoping to wake at 8 to make a 10am train, slept through until ten. When I rose, I thought I should have let the alarm get me up, but it seems B was awake since 5am, and was ready to go back to sleep. Tag-team sleeping! I vegetated in front of the boob tube and B didn't move again until near 4 in the afternoon. I watched the most horrible DVD, Guy Ritchie's "Revolver" -- I even watched all the featurettes and bonus material just to try to get a handle on why he thought this crap was actually good. Still not sure why.

SATURDAY:
AM SNACK: 10:30am, half pint of B&J's cookies and cream ice cream, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Woke me up like a cup of coffee or diet coke.

BREAKFAST: noon, banana, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Was going to pour a bowl of cereal, but the good milk turned into bad milk. The problem with the good milk is that due to it's lack of homogenization and minimal pasteurization, it tastes fantastic but it never stays fresh for more than a week or so.

LUNCH: 3:15pm, chirashi sushi, veg & shrimp tempura, oshinko, water, 2 bowl, hunger 4/5
Ordered in.

PM SNACK: 6pm, potato chips, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 8:45pm, oven baked steak fries with salsa, mint chip ice cream, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
I haven't had frozen fries in a while, they are pretty....gross. The instructions say to either bake or deep fry them, but to deep fry them is, well, a pain in the butt. But baking them results in something that is not a 'fry', but kind of like slices of baked potato with a weird slightly oily skin.

SUNDAY:
BREAKFAST: 10:45am, organic chex with industrial whole milk, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Weird how conventional whole milk has a slight bluish tinge...supposedly there is no blue food in nature, only purple.

PM SNACK: noon, mint chip ice cream, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 4pm, handful of raw cashews, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 5:15pm, half a small pizza, spaghetti and meatballs, a few pieces of bread, water, 2 bowl, hunger 4/5
B wanted pasta after waking, so we ordered in pastas. What the B (and B-ette within) wants, the B gets!

EVENING SNACK: 10:30pm, half a whole wheat bagel, hummus, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

Fried bread is where it's at. Would of.

I made the french toast batter and soaked the bread since 10 this morning. I doubled the sugar and salt, and tripled the cinnamon. Fried in the good butter till dark golden brown, flipped then the whole mess into a 400 degree oven for 5 minutes. The focaccia became surprisingly tender and pliable while still retaining its shape. I made 4 slices for each of us, but B was so happy with hers, she wolfed down one of mine -- I guess the biggest compliment you can give to a cook. I guess anything that's bathed in heavy cream and powdered sugar is going to be a crowd pleaser. Fried bread is where it's at.

At the snickle snack this afternoon, B and the HVS ganged up on me and shamed me for using 'would of', 'should of' and 'could of' of instead of the proper 'would have' or 'would've'. It's declasse, like a shmoe saying 'axe' instead of 'ask'. Or 'pencoo' instead of 'pencil'. Or naming your kid "Pyreschiuss" instead of "Precious". Or a vegetarian who eats McDonald's veggie burgers. I could go on all night. Should of. Anyway, I've been properly shamed, so I'll cut it out, but the HVS made mention of my aspirations for my writing....which is news to me! Unless, dear reader, you want to publish a blook of all this balderdash!

AM SNACK: 8:30am, slug of apple cider, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

BREAKFAST: 10:30am, toasted whole wheat bagel with cream cheese, bacon, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Baked the bacon on a rack in the oven, a la c-school. It really does make a superior product.

SNICKLESNACK: 2pm, herbal tea, a bite of choco-peanutbutter cake, hunger 2/5

PM SNACK: 4pm, bowl of potato chips, apple cider, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Was in the market with B and the HVS, not intending to get anything, but when I saw the market-brand 'classic potato chip with sea salt', something in me just said, "Yeeeeessss!" I tend not to crave this kind of stuff nearly as much as I used to, but after yoga, relaxing and the cold weather, these just hit the spot.

DINNER 1: 6:45pm, slice of pizza, mint chip ice cream, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
B wasn't ready for french toast, so I ate the last frozen slice from the restaurant.

DINNER 2: 8pm, french toast, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

Xmas Eve & Day

B and I went to her cousin's on the Upper West Side for Christmas eve with her family. I made a sheet of mac and cheese and a bunch of ginger bread cookies. The cookies came out fine, perhaps better than before due to just getting a feel for the dark tacky batter (more leavening agent and doubling the salt is a nice tweak), but the mac was a disaster.

I did two things differently, but one destroyed the dish. I shredded the cheeses instead of cubing them, since B was sleeping and I was trying to keep to a schedule. When the cheeses hit the beschamel, it melted faster because of the increased surface area. The other thing I did differently was an accident -- I made 10 tablespoons worth of roux (cooked butter and flour) for a half gallon of whole milk instead of 20 -- not enough thickening agent to turn the milk from just milk to something that looks more like cream.

Because the sauce was thin and the heat hit the cheeses really fast, the cheese curdled. Instead of having a vat of thick and creamy cheese sauce, I had a big bowl of tiny white cheese curds at the bottom of a lot of thin funky milk. Too late to start over, I moved ahead with adding the macaroni and baking. Still a lot of fat, it baked up relatively nicely. It tasted....uncreamy, withe the baked pasta surrounded by curdled bits of cheese, similar to ricotta. Surprisingly, almost the entire tray got eaten -- I suppose people thought it was supposed to be like that. Oy.

Slept over at momma-in-law's place on the Upper East Side, she went all out and cooked frozen chicken sausages for breakfast. When me and B got home, I followed the ancient Jewish tradition of Chinese food on Xmas. I did it in the style of my parents -- I called the local Chinese and placed the order, then I went over and picked it up myself. You save on delivery, and you get to see the neighborhood on this big deal holiday. I'd always take the walk with my dad, and my mom would set the table, and when we got back she would always ask if the restaurant was busy. And it always was, with other Jews doing the same thing as me and dad and mom. I didn't think much of it then, but boy do I appreciate it now.

I went on my bike, and on the short trip back stopped in at my corner kosher bakery and picked up some ruggelah to share with pregnant B, whose tummy was demanded salad, not Chinese. Maybe in a year or two, I'll have a Norbert/Norbertta Jr. to ride for Chinese and ruggelah on Xmas, that would be an amazing new tradition.

WEDNESDAY:
BREAKFAST: 10am, good yogurt with honey, vanilla, raw cashews, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH: 12:30pm, rice and beans with lemon, water, 1.75 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACKS: 4:30-6:30pm, gingerbread cookies, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 7pm, sliced ham, a small portion of mac n' cheese, salad, bagel chips, gingerbread cookies, 1 very strong whiskey & cider, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

THURSDAY:
BREAKFAST: 11am, half a bagel with salmon, chicken sausage links, water, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 2:30pm, popcorn, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 6:15pm, wonton soup, shrimp toast, beef lomein, chocolate ruglelah, lemon diet soda, water, 2 bowl, hunger 4/5

Just rollin'

Nice to get to yoga after a few days in the house, though my uneven sleep really cut down on my capacity. Just rollin' on to the new year.

BREAKFAST: 10am, toasted bagel with cream cheese, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH: 12:30pm, pint of pork fried rice, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

SNICKLESNACK: 5pm, vegan chocolate chip cookie, water, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 6:30pm, 4 falafel balls, pickle, tahini, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
From a food truck, surprisingly good and fresh

DINNER: 8:45pm, 2 slices of restaurant slices, mint chip ice cream, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

Today was toast.

I received my Culinary School diploma this morning. I officially graduated with honors, due to missing very few classes and having a high GPA. Chef R gave me a B+ for my externship, explaining that I was very slow in the beginning, but caught up, and that I was a very good cook, but quiet at times. Hrumph! Eerie how her comments echo report cards I received from 1st to 5th grade!

I weighed 223.6 this morning, it's good my weight is constant and not jumping around, particularly because I feel like I eat too sinfully sometimes, that I perhaps deserve to explode into Fatty McLardassness. Perhaps a subject better discussed with Ilsa than with you guys!

Didn't leave the house today, it was gettin' all Alaskan outside today in NYC. Made some progress in the 2nd bedroom, clearing out the detritus, getting ready for the new fella/felletta who'll be moving in late May. I wonder how much rent I'll be able to charge....

BREAKFAST: 10:30am, organic cornflakes with good milk, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH: 1:30pm, homemade rice and beans with jack cheese, small cup of homemade mint chocolate chip ice cream, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACKS: 6:30pm, handful of tortilla chips, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 7:30pm, french toast, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
Soaked slices of focaccia from the restaurant in heavy cream, whole egg, a little sugar, salt and cinnamon. Fried in butter at a low temp and finished in the oven to make the middle nice and firm. Finished with a little powdered sugar, B dug it.

EVENING SNACK: 8:30, slice of pizza, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
From the resto, straight out of the freezer. Hmmm. Freezes well, I would buy this out of a freezer case...

EVENING SINNING: 1am, handful of tortilla chips, ramekin of mint ice cream, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
I ate as much as B and tried to go to sleep around the same time as B. I really shouldn't, but I just love her so much!

The Amazing Power of Bacon Mac n' Cheese

A good weekend, I guess. Saturday woke up late, went to eat with B, caught a movie, food shopping, some cooking, vegetating in front of the TV. Made rice n' beans again, went heavier on the sofrito and added dried porcini to the pot. Used the chicken stock I made last week, much better than the packaged stuff.

Sunday morning cooked a large quantity of bacon mac n' cheese for a holiday party which we attended in the evening. The hostess kept on refilling my martini glass, but I never did get particularly drunk. The amazing power of bacon mac n' cheese! Used a simple recipe -- noodles al dente. Make a roux, add hot milk, add three kinds of cheeses. Slop all together and bake for an hour. I added a rasher of Niman Ranch bacon, sauted in battonettes, and gave a nice smokey overtone to this high-calorie dish. Fat really shouts flavor, and when you suspend bits of bacon in a souffle of high-fat cheese, it does not joke around.

SATURDAY:
BREAKFAST: 12:3opm, bagel with cream cheese and salmon, 3 slices of bacon, spoonful of potato, spoonful of Israeli salad, water, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 7:30pm, sofrito shrimp with rice and beans, topped with lime juice and jack cheese, 2 bowls, hunger 4/5

EVENING SNACK: 9pm, handful of chocolate chips, spoonful of freshly made mint chocolate chip ice cream, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

EVENING WATERING: 10pm, quart

SUNDAY:
BREAKFAST: 10:30am, organic cheerios with good milk, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH: 2:30pm, half a steak sandwich with onions and cheese, steak fries, water, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 6pm, small plate of bacon mac n' cheese, a stuffed mushroom, 2 cheesy toasts, 4 cosmopolitans, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Surprisingly, only got slightly buzzed, and it wore off by the time we left around 7:30pm.

EVENING SNACK: 8:30pm, a third of a slice of chocolate mousse cake, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

EVENING WATERING: 10pm, quart

Last Day, for now

Despite some of the worst weather seen this year, I rode my mountain bike to work through the snow, freezing rain and sleet-slicked streets. I did this partly because I like to ride, but also because if I took the subway today I would've gotten massively depressed -- today is my last day at the restaurant for the time being.

On Wednesday, Chef R told me that due to the drop in biz caused by our cratering economy, they didn't need me any more. On the other hand, she mentioned hiring someone new for a part time shift who has pizza experience, because they need someone who can run the shop both in back and front of house.

I understood what she was saying, as it was all true. What surprised me was that when my externship ended, I was clear with her that I wanted to learn more, and volunteered to do unpaid shifts on top of the paid shifts to give her the opportunity to teach me what she does -- like run both back and front of house. I'm disappointed that she didn't have enough faith in me to simply give me the chance to see if I could rock those responsibilities. I know I could have, I have management experience, and just being a prep and assistant cook felt like only part of what I could have done there.

I hoped to see Chef R this evening but it was just me and Chef C. The owner's wife took me aside and was very, very nice to me, reminding me that their decision wasn't personal, and that she'd like to stay in touch in case things change. I thanked her, and told her that I appreciated the chance to learn, but confessed that I was disappointed I wasn't given the chance to step up the game. She said she'd pass my feelings along to Chef R, but I think I'm going to send her an email in any case. I guess Chef R either didn't have the imagination to see a dude go from c-school student and prep newbie to executive chef-in-training in such a short period, OR she truly saw some inadequacy in my performance. If the latter, I really hope she's straight with me so I don't repeat my mistakes at the next cooking gig.

The night was pleasantly busy, though I did burn a couple of pies due to my mind wandering about what was happening. Still, clowning around with Chef C and the rest of the crew made me realize that I really enjoyed being there and enjoyed the work, and won't let the economy (or potential depression) slow me down from getting to a professional spot where B (and future Norbet/Norbetta Jr) will be proud of me. Plans are in the works for 2009.

BREAKFAST: 11:30am, banana, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Would have eaten more but nothing around.

PM SNACK: 2:30pm, cheesecake, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH: 5:30pm, slice with onion and sausage, soda, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 7:30pm, soda, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 9:30pm, pizza, seltzer, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
The last dinner, so to speak. Made my own pie, started with a base of fresh moz, and went forward from there, caramelized onion, mushroom, pancetta, a little parm, fresh cherry tomatoes, finished with oil and salt. I hit the ratios right on the head, very little of a lot of toppings and got a little bit of everything in each bite. It made me feel better about things -- it tasted like a truly professional pizza.


EVENING SNORTS AND SNACKS: 12:30-2am, 3 scotch and lemonades on ice (all light on the scotch), a couple of mushroom tortes, a terrible carob vegan cookie, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Went to a holiday party in Williamsburg to see a friend and blow off a little steam. Drunk chicks dig fuzzy cashmere sweaters -- I told them that pregnant wives like my own like to wear them, too!

Bleah

Feeling down, didn't leave the house except to go to the dentist to have the permanent crown put in. B came home and made me feel better!

BREAKFAST: noon, apple, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 5pm, caprese salad, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 7pm, samosa, veg dumpling, scallion pancake, half a singapore mai fun, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
B-n-me ordered in from a vegan place.

EVENING SNACK: 11pm, other half of the noodles, half a soda, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

Undercover Eggs

Today at the restaurant, we hosted a large group from a local college. Chef R made something that looked like potato kugel, and while she was in the back, I popped a bite in my mouth and really enjoyed it. When she got back, I asked her what it was, and she told me it was frittata made with leftover potatoes from the weekend brunch. Eggs! I hate eggs. So I ate another bite, one with less potato and more other stuff, and indeed, I had a hard time not spitting it out, as it tasted like a mouthful of scrambled eggs.

BREAKFAST: 1pm, good yogurt with honey, vanilla, raw cashews, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACKING: 3pm-9:30pm, 2 sodas, some caprese salad, a few bites of frittata, a few croutes with chevre, 1 bowl hunger 4/5

DINNER: 9:30pm, pizza with vegetable topping, chocolate cake, water, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

EVENING WATERING: midnight, quart

Temple of Culinary Retardation

After yesterday's warm day of exercise, today was a cold, snowy day of feeling unwell. Woke up early to make it to B's checkup, everything is good with the Norbetto/Norbetta Jr. I was going to go to yoga, but just went home and collapsed.

Went out with a friend to see Neil Young at Madison Square Garden in the evening. $7.25 for a hotdog! A not very good hotdog! All through the night, every ten seconds or so, someone would come by with a crate of bud or budlight on their heads pitching beer. Yick. Stadiums are temples built to honor culinary retardation. Well, at least this one.

AM SNACK: 7:45am, chocolate donut, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

BREAKFAST: 9:45am, brioche french toast, bacon, water, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 1pm, apple, small piece of jack cheese, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 3pm, tablespoon of peanut butter, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH: 4:30pm, 2 slices of pizza, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Straight outta the freezer, from the restaurant.

DINNER: 8:15pm, boar ragu tagliatelle, 1 small piece of bread, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

EARLY MORNING SINNING: 2am, 2 small cheeseburgers, a 'medium' fries and a 'medium' sprite, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
I guess the culinary retardation rubbed off on me, because I was in a rare mood when I got off a very long subway ride in my 'hood. Not much going on on at 2am on Wednesday, and I was in the mood for cheap, greasy, unhealthy....evil. McDonald's was considered a treat when I was a kid, and I remember going there once in a blue moon, usually when my mom took my brother and me to visit our grandmother in Peter Cooper Village. I got basically what I would of got as a kid, except it would of been one burger, not 2, and the medium fries would of been easily 1/2 the size. According to the calorie listings, I just wolfed down 1,200 calories or so. Imagine if I supersized it, or had a Big Mac or something.

It was a long, high-strung day, thinking about the future and not feeling well. I definitely will not be feeding my kid McDonald's. When they get to my point in their life, hopefully they'll reach for a fresh knish or a properly made pancake.

I Am...Norbert Fierce!

Woke up after 10am today due to the late restaurant holiday party -- was hoping to make an 8:15 am ferry to the Jersey shore to go riding due to the unseasonably warm weather. Got out and road out over the 59th St Bridge to Little Neck Bay in Queens, but ditched when I got back to Flushing Meadows due to rain. Still, got 40 miles in and felt really good, the body and the bike were both responding well despite not being used this way in a month or two, and probably won't be again until the winter passes, mid to late March. This yoga thing is doing well for me, my back was not really bothering me this morning or on the bike.

My eating was ok, kinda light on the bike, small amount of high-energy food, felt right. A brick of Chinese was a nice filling reward, rounded out with the remainder of the salad from the salad pizzas I made and broccoli in the actual dish. For a stupid-unhealthy meal, not as bad as it could of been.

BREAKFAST: 10:30am, good yogurt with honey, raw cashews, vanilla., .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

BIKE WATERING: 11am-3pm, 24 oz

BIKE LUNCH: 2pm, gatorade, small bag of corn ships, 3 small chocolate chip cookies, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 4:45pm, small green salad, Chinese food including pork egg roll, pork fried rice and shrimp with broccoli, small amount of apple cider, 2 bowl, hunger 4/5

EVENING WATERING: 7pm, quart

My B is the Best B who ever B'd a B

Isn't she lovely? I spent Sunday morning rolling, cutting and baking gingerbread while she was in the bedroom baking Norbert/Norbertetta Jr. By the time I had to go to E's house to help her get her party ready, B wanted to frost the cookies she was bringing to the party we were to meet at later. So I helped her get through a simple royal icing recipe (3 cups sifted confectioner's sugar into 2 stiff-whipped egg whites with a big dose of fresh lemon juice), getting it into a piping bag and then let her rip. She's so great! I was really under the gun for time and feeling frazzled and she just....made me happy to be there with her.

The chopped liver was a surprising hit at E's party, all of it being consumed well before the end of the party -- I thought I had made too much. It's gratifying to know that I can make something well that I don't personally care for.

In the late evening, B and I went to the restaurant for their holiday party, was a lot of fun with drinks abounding and Japanese food, but I could see B was fading fast and took her (and her baked good) home soon after midnight.

SATURDAY
BREAKFAST: 10:30am, good granola with good milk, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

AM SNACK: 11:45am, glass of apple cider, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH: 2pm, homemade scallop and chicken parsley pizza, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Had left over ingredients for another pie. Funny, took just as long as if I was making a crappy frozen pie. This was a bit crappy because I didn't have to to let the oven properly warm up, oh well.

PM SNICKLE SNACK: 5:30pm, vegan chocolate chip cookie, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 7pm, popcorn, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 9:30pm, vegan kimchi udon noodles, a few spoonfuls of peanutbutter chocolate thingy, water, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

EVENING WATERING: 11:45pm, pint of water

SUNDAY
AM SNACKING: 9am-noon, bits of gingerbread cookie, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

LATE BREAKFAST: noon, good cornflakes with good milk, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
When I finished baking, realized I didn't feel well because didn't really eat anything proper and felt like I was running on fumes.

PARTY FOOD: 1pm-11:30pm, 6 perogies, gingerbread cookies, brownies, 2 alcoholic drinks, water, bits of sushi roll, spring roll, 2 bowls, hunger 4/5
Attended three parties, including one late one at the restaurant.

Yes, I AM chopped liver!

I spent the day cooking, with an interruption to pick up a pale yellow roller blind and install it in our slowly-emerging nursery. My mood was a bit intense and down -- I spoke to Chef R at the restaurant, it seems I still have 2 shifts, but they are on more of a floating basis than a regular schedule (a change from what I was originally told). It's another element of insecurity that comes out of our recessed economy. Thinking about my next move, how to position myself in the future. Got some small plans of action, but I think I better talk to the wifey about them before I share it with you, you sexy undifferentiated internet cloud!

Cooking, like bike riding (too cold) and yoga (maybe tomorrow), is a form of meditation that makes me happy. So cook I did. My friend E is having a holiday housewarming party tomorrow, and I'll be helping to direct the food. Wifey is going to a friend's holiday party which I'll be meeting her at. (My wife just LOVES dangling prepositions, yo.) And in the evening, one of B's closest friends and her new love were coming over for a cavalcade of pizza.

So first I whipped up a big batch of gingerbread cookie dough, brown sugar, molasses, the good butter, lemon zest, fresh ginger, all sorts of spicy pie spices, baking soda and powder, real vanilla bean, organic flour -- just trying to make it as fool-proof as possible with high quality ingredients. I baked off a small batch and rolling and cutting, they came out dry and cracker-like, but in a good way.

While that was going on, I made chopped liver based on the 2nd Ave. Deli recipe. Hard-boiled a couple of eggs. A pound of chicken livers were spread on a sheet after I removed weird membranes and random bits, coated in oil then broiled until cooked. While they chilled in the fridge, I sauteed mire poix in a large pot, browned a whole chicken in there, then covered with water and simmered for 45 minutes. The 'scum' that I skimmed off I reserved -- a key ingredient in chopped liver is 'schmaltz': rendered chicken fat.

I ate a boobie and reserved the other for tonight's pizzas. 45 minutes was too long, the meat was dry despite being cooked in a liquid medium. I made parsley oil (parsley, olive oil, and salt in a blender) and sliced the chicken thinly, put it all together to marinate for the evening. I also sliced some scallops and put in the oil.

I started caramelizing onions, one batch for pizzas and one batch for the liver. As this takes a few hours, I installed the shade while this was happening. One the liver's onions were cooled, I got out the food processor, put in the livers, shmaltz, hard boiled eggs, onions, some salt and pepper, and blended until chopped liver magically appeared. This is for E's party, a good crostini topper, from a technical point of view. Still, I just don't like the gamey-ness. I do like the natural browned sweetness the onions bring, and the hardboiled egg blended in lends a lightness, but still...

By this point, it was time to prep the mise for the pizza. The dough was made last night and developing in the fridge. Here are photos of each pie; descriptions will illustrate what mise had to be made:

Salad pie: crust baked with just olive oil and salt, finished with a salad of romaine, grated carrot, diced cucumber and shallot, dressed with olive oil, balsamic and salt. The crust was snappy, but too pale.

Classic margherita, with raw tomato sauce, buffala moz, and finished with basil. Went a bit too far with the crust here, very snappy, not enough chew. Tasted good, though. Nice and thin.

Cauliflower pizza, totally ripped it off from the restaurant. Layer of fresh moz topped with cauliflower puree (cauliflower and garlic steamed in chicken stock and then blended with heavy cream), roasted cauliflower, caramelized onions, and rosemary. Got the crust right, just browned right and because I left it a little thicker, stood up to the heavy toppings. Probably the most winning pie of the night.

Two scallop and parsley pizzettes and two chicken and parsley pizzettes. Two people didn't do scallops, but one peep said it was her fave, and I think scallops work perfectly on pie from a texture point of view. So each pie got a piece of fresh moz, parsley-marinated protein, and finished with a more fresh parsley. Came out a lot better than I thought it would, thought it would need something to expand the flavor profile but simple was indeed the way to go.

The last pie was a bit of a punt, a margherita with bufala moz topped with caramelized onions, mushrooms, and pepperoni. The wifey's favorite, a crowd pleaser when everyone is trying to save room for dessert!

BREAKFAST: 10am, banana, .25 bowl, hunger 3/5

AM TASTING: 11:30am, a bit of dough, a couple of cookies, hunger 3/5
Gingerbread, not my thing.

PM SNACK: 1pm, a small braised chicken breast, .25 bowl, hunger 3/5

PM TASTING: 3pm, spoonful of chopped liver, hunger 3/5
Really not my thing, very funky, tastes just like....chopped liver.

PM SNACK: 4pm, black cherry soda, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 6pm, slice of the restaurant's pizza, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Snack on pizza before spending the night making pizza, funny. Freezes surprisingly well.

DINNER: 8pm, one quarter of a pie of all the pies described above, small bowl of vanilla ice cream and a gingerbread cookie, 2 glasses prosecco, water, 2 bowls, hunger 4/5

EVENING WATERING: 11pm, quart of water

Tested at the STD Clinic

I went to a municipal building up on 100th Street today to take the test for my Food Protection Certificate. The Department of Health mandates that a minimum of one person must be in an operational licenced kitchen with this certificate at all times, typically a supervisor. So if I hope to ever move beyond prep, it's a proforma matter that can't be overlooked. I took the online course, which was a ridiculously slow process (due to artificial roadblocks the designers put in the test-taker's way), but I wasn't quite prepared for how dumb the in-person experience would be, either.

I arrived 15 minutes to the run-down early 70s-era building. A surly rent-a-cop directed me to a room...within the STD clinic! A locked room. A random person in the hall told me the room doesn't openuntil 1pm, the time the test was scheduled for. So I sat on the row of chairs outside the room....and was told that is only for people going to the STD clinic. Ewwww. I sat on a seat reserved only for people with STDs... so I stood in the hall with 3 or 4 others. Stupid city.

Though the test was for 1, the proctor took attendance in a variety of ways, instructed us on the proper way to take a multiple choice test, and how to fill in an ID card (I also had to stand on a long line to take a picture). We didn't actually start the test close to 1:45pm. Fifty multiple choice questions, I finished at 1:57pm. I got a 90/100, passing was 70. I'm now certified to protect your food, and STD-free to boot!

BREAKFAST: 9:45am, apple pie, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
No apples, gotta go shopping today

LUNCH: 2:30pm, lamb souvlaki with greek salad, fries, fried pita, water, herbal tea, 2 bowl, hunger 4/5
Surprisingly good food at a diner on the UWS. I was expecting processed gyro 'meat', got gamey flavorful hunks of marinated lamb.

PM SNACK: 7:30pm, 1 olive oil torta, .125 bowl, hunger 4/5
Found these at the market, nice round cracker-like sweet tortas flavored with anise from Spain, had these once when I was volunteering at the James Beard house...

DINNER: 8:15pm, spaghetti with chorizo, handful of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies, water, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Was intending to make something totally different, but at the last second just didn't feel like it and just used the sausage. Boiled up some dry pasta, heated up some frozen mushroom tomato pasta sauce, sauteed the sausage in butter with shallots, then thin sliced it and dropped it in the sauce. It totally changed the sauce, made it taste all spicy and chorizoey. Really good, fun to see such a boring dish I've been cooking for myself for most of my life is totally transformed with some buttery spicy pork.

Can I change my order?

I recently rearranged the closets, and I now have a box of random 'desk stuff' that resides on a high shelf in the closet. I took it down to find a lip balm when a sight odor hit me like a canoe paddle on the side of the head -- it smelled slightly like the drawer of my father's desk in his home office when I was a kid...and that smell was a mixture of sunflower seed husks and a slight tinge of saliva.

My dad habitually ate sunflower seeds. They were in the shell, so he'd have to crack open the seed with his teeth, spit out the husk, then chew and swallow the tiny little seed. The whole seeds and the slightly wet husks would find their way into the nooks and crannys of his desk, giving the whole affair a vegetal, slightly earthy, slightly tangy smell. I tried eating his seeds a few times, but the effort and work to eat one seed seemed oversized compared to the reward of the tiny, woodsy tasting kernel.

Looking back now, clearly it was the repetition and the business of his mouth and lips that gave him satisfaction, the eating of the seed was probably just a bonus afterthought. That smell was my dad in his own private work fortress of solitude.

I'm recording hunks of TV for HVS's professional reasons. I'm watching this corny reality program, "Bringing Home Baby," about the first few weeks of bringing home a new born. Oh my. Uhhhhhh. The dude is changing the diaper for the first time, and poo is running down the kid's leg. Uhhhhhh. Think I can place an order for a non-pooping model? Or some how convince B that it's my responsibility to make everything that goes in, and hers to take care of everything that comes out? Like doin' the dishes, but stinkier. This blog is Learning to Feed after all, not Learning to Poop. Though I guess that may be applicable at some point...

Don't worry B, when we have our arancini, I won't invite a film crew into our house for the first month....

Weight this morning was 224, two pounds over last week. I feel light and other than the excess soda yesterday, my eating has been good, so I'm going to chalk it up to normal variation.

BREAKFAST: 9:30am, toasted onion bagel with good butter, water, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 12:15pm, homemade powerbar thingy, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH: 4:30pm, Caesar salad, 1/4 of a turkey club, handful of fries, 1 decadent brownie, a few spoonfuls of awful ice cream, 1.5 bowls, hunger 4/5
Late lunch with B and her momma on the upper east side. My first non-vegan Caesar since c-school, good, definitely taste the tang of the anchovies. The chocolate ice cream tasted oddly sour to me, but B kept eating it without complaint, so I didn't stop her. Should I have?

DINNER: 8pm, pork cutlet curry over rice, 1 pork dumpling, water, 1 bowl, hunger 3/5
At the place I used to eat at all the time when I worked in Times Square, just lovely. Didn't eat most of the rice that came with it, just not hungry enough.

EVENING SNACK: 11pm, homemade vanilla ice cream, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
One thing for sure, my ice cream is better than that restaurant's from this afternoon.

Learning to Top

Chef R was off doing managerial stuff, so it was Chef C and me in the kitchen. A few times during the night, Chef C took off to cut meat (because as we all know, the owner thinks I can not be trusted with his prosciutto), which allowed me to make about 6 pizzas on the main station. I've watched everyone top the pizzas, but doing it is another thing. I top it and it looks right, but when it comes out the oven I've clearly oversauced or overtopped, making a thick and potentially soggy eating experience. It's exciting, looking forward to more time topping the 'za.

Sunday is the shop's holiday party. It starts after work, meaning 10pm. Fancy dress, people have been writing songs (to pop tunes) about the people and restaurant. I believe the kitchen will be closed and the event will be catered.

ADDENDA:
Upon recounting what I at today, realized I drank 4 sugared sodas at work -- something that never would have happened if I was actually paying for them, I guess. That would explain the slight headache I had on the way home, which went away when I downed a quart of water.

Damn! Forgot to weight myself! Till tomorrow, then.

BREAKFAST: 10am, 1 apple, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
An apple a day keeps Ilsa at play. Can't think of a better rhyme.


LUNCH: 12:30pm, sauteed boneless pork chop with pan sauce, wok-seared broccoli, 2 peanut butter cookies, slice of apple pie, water, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Some free time before work, swung by the market. For about $8, I had a large pork chop, finished with a pan sauce made with diced shallots, a shot of sake and veal stock out of a tetrapack. I seasoned the wok with some hunks of garlic and ginger sauteed in a small amount of peanut oil, removed the aromatics, tossed in the broccoli, then hit it with a shot of sake. Added a little veal stock then covered to get a little steaming action going, then seasoned it with a little soy sauce and that was it, still nice and bright green and crisp. Pork was a little overdone (though my c-school chefs would of approved, as it's supposed to be served well done) and the broccoli was good but needed some jazzing up with maybe some mushroom, cabbage, pepper -- I was trying to keep it simple, but probably didn't succeed in that part.

PM SNACK: 4pm, ricotta cheese cake, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACKS: 5-8pm, 1 slice, 3 sodas, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Craving sugar.

DINNER: 9:30pm, spaghetti & meatballs, soda, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

EVENING WATERING: 11:30pm, quart of water

French toast for Wifey

I woke up early to preheat the oven and pan. Last night I brought home 9 small slices of the restaurant's focaccia. I whipped some heavy cream, beat 2 eggs into it, seasoned it generously with cinnamon, powdered sugar and salt, then placed the bread to soak in it in a plastic container over night. The liquid was kind of viscous from the whipping, but still loose enough to be soaked up.

This morning not much liquid was left in the container, sponged up by the hearty pieces of bread. A generous lump of butter browned in the pan, and all 9 pieces crowded in. After 5 minutes, I flipped it (it was nice dark brown, not burnt at all) and placed the whole mess in the oven for another 5 minutes. When I took it out, it had firmed up nicely but barely brown on the flip side so I fried it for another 3 minutes to a nice golden color. Plated with a dash of powdered sugar. Wifey claims it was the best breakfast of all time, but I think that was just her baby bump speaking (and if that were to be it speaking, not a bad thing to say!) I think I could have gone sweeter with the batter, the whipping was unnecessary and made it too viscous and maybe more salt, too.

Being that the focaccia is the pizza dough baked in a slightly different method, I guess this is the closest I'll be getting to pizza french toast...

ADDENDA:
Spent the morning finishing the closets and shifting a lot of stuff to deep storage in the hall storage room. Last time I cleaned out my closets was the week after my father passed. Now I'm cleaning them out in anticipation of his grandchild. Closets are weird metaphysical spaces that hold our stuff for the benefit of our parents and our children.

Lower back is achy. Went to yoga to work it out.

BREAKFAST: 8:15am, focaccia french toast, apple cider, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

AM SNACK: 11:30am, 2 homemade peanut butter chocolate chip cookies, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH: 1pm, left over rice & beans, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Still good, must make this again and freeze a few batches. Very filling.

SNICKLESNACK: 4pm, portobello panino, vegan ceasar salad, water, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 7pm, scallion pancake, bulgogi, a few spoonfuls of white rice, kimchi, toasted rice tea, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

EVENING SNACK: 8:30pm, slice of apple pie and vanilla ice cream, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

Professional Pizza Pie

I worked a prep shift today at the restaurant, my first as an employee rather than an extern. Didn't feel much different, except for the tiny wad of cash that was slipped to me before I left. Still, it is an important step -- I am no longer just an enthusiast. I am a pizza professional.

ADDENDA:
Went to dinner at a higher-end pizza joint in Brooklyn on Saturday night with the wifey. After spending a day there working a trail a while ago, it was interesting to check out the proceedings with my new perspective. Bottom line, there product is superior -- the crust is simply flavored exquisitely by their wood-burning oven -- light and pillowy, with nice spots of flavorful char. What I really didn't like is how they serve the pies -- on plates too small for the pie, uncut. The customer has to struggle with a steak knife while it shimmies along the lip of the plate, it's just silly.

SATURDAY:
BREAKFAST: noon, meatball sandwich on thin focaccia-like bread, string beans with preserved garlic, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Relaxed brunch out with B, woke up hungry but saved my appetite for this restaurant, Frankies, where we went the night before our wedding.

PM TASTING: 3pm, shallow spoonful of warm creme anglais
After the farmers market, baked 2 apple pies using the rest of the vodka pie crust dough in the freezer. Partially cooked mutsu apples with a bit of fresh cider, brown sugar, sea salt, cinnamon, and the scrapings of a vanilla bean. But what is apple pie but a vehicle for vanilla ice cream? So I leaned on my c-school experience and made a batch of creme anglaise, which can simply be chilled and poured over sweet baked products, but really, makes a killer french vanilla ice cream.

DINNER: 6:15pm, sausage pizza, roasted octopus, chocolate sorbet, almond cake and praline gelato, 1 glass wine, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

EVENING DRINK: 8:30pm, cup of New Castle beer, .5 bowl, hunger 3/5 At the Brooklyn Museum.

EVENING SNACK: 10:45pm, slice of apple pie, .25 bowl, hunger 3/5
Curious how it turned out.

SUNDAY:
BREAKFAST: 9:30am, good granola with good milk, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACKS: 12-3pm, 3 mini choco chip scones, water, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH: 4:30pm, 1 slice pizza with onion, mushroom, pecorino, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 8:30pm, fresh pasta with homemade tomato mushroom sauce, homemade french vanilla ice cream with 2 peanut butter chocolate chip cookies, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Funny, but this was totally a freezer-fishing meal. I made the pasta and sauce a month or so ago, zapped the sauce and boiled the pasta. The peanut butter cookies were made from a log of frozen dough from a few weeks ago, which I portioned on a scale and baked off, and the ice cream I made yesterday, and put it in the maker and placed in the freezer a few hours ago to set. Usually a freezer-fishing expedition would be a burrito or fish sticks...

Cooking with the Hungry Vegan Society

After yoga, I went to the HVS's house, who has been under the weather for a few days. We went to her local vegetable stand and got $12 worth of ingredients to make vegetable stock and blender soup. We featured sweet potato and parsnip, with a strong base of leek and ginger. We were limited, since we didn't have a real blender, and accidentally used a bit too much stock...but, overall, it came out pretty good. Instead of dairy, we used almond milk, which actually gave a nice nutty note to the proceedings; I might use it as a secret ingredient along with dairy in the future. It was nice to be able to cook with a friend, especially one who has been feeling crappy.

Went to a housewarming party c/o the new boyfriend of a close friend, a lot of young lawyerly types. My friend introduced me to a few people as a chef -- that's not quite true, as if anything I could call myself a cook -- a chef is boss of cooks, and I'm at the bottom rung. Still, everybody likes to talk about food and the fact that I cook professionally some how made me more legit in the eyes of these strangers. I think my self-perception just shifted a little.

ADDENDA:
I don't think I ate enough today, but the food was pretty limited at the party, and the only restaurants available in the slight ghetto-hood of the party was chinese and bad pizza. At home, I wasn't drunk enough to gorge on what was available.

BREAKFAST: 8:30am, good yogurt with honey, vanilla, raw cashews, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH: 1:45pm, frozen pizza, apple cider, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
The last of the pile of different frozen pies in my freezer.

PM SNICKLESNACK: 6pm, sweet potato parsnip soup, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

EVENING PARTY FEED: 8-11pm, a couple of salmon cucumber finger sandwiches, a few corn chips and guac, 6 Italian cookies, 2 beers, 1 martini, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

Pizza over Berlin, 1949

As I was housebound yesterday, I got some long-gestating reading done, in Peter Rheinhart's American Pie and especially Moveable Feasts, by Sarah Murray. This book is a series of essays about the history of food and transportation, and how the two overlay each other. Ilsa was brainstorming with me the other day about how to do something entrepreneurial with food , maybe make and deliver lunches to people in offices. In India, this has been a booming business since the 1850s of people who would pick up homemade food in metal canisters called tiffin, take the later trains into town, and deliver the homemade meals to the spouses. The trains were so crowded in the morning that anyone bringing lunch with them would be in danger of a big mess...thus, a whole industry of people taking the later trains just to deliver lunch evolved.

Most interesting was the list of staples that were delivered to the barricaded citizens of West Berlin via airdrop:

• Flour
• Cereal
• Fat
• Meat & Fish
• Dehydrated Potatoes
• Sugar
• Coffee
• Powdered Milk
• Whole Milk
• Fresh Yeast
• Dehydrated Vegetables
• Cheese
• Salt

Hmmm...flour, yeast, cheese, salt....that's almost a pizza!! The British wanted to also airlift soil so that urban farmers could grow their own stuff, as they had their own 'Dig for Victory!' campaign during WWII, but the Americans squashed it. Hrumph. They needed to grow tomatoes to finish up that pizza...

ADDENDA:
So it looks like I'll be working (for pay) at the restaurant on Sunday afternoons and Monday evening. I guess I'm now too legit, too legit to quit...

BREAKFAST: Noon, organic cheerios with good milk, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH: 1:30pm, fresh onion bagel with butter, black cherry soda, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 3:30pm, slug of apple cider, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 7pm, shrimp curry with basil fried rice, water, 3 freshly baked chocolate chip cookies, 2 bowls, hunger 4/5

Ill

Not well today. Stayed indoors, cancelled all plans. I think last night's Indian food might have done a number on me.

BREAKFAST: 10am, banana, .25 bowl, hunger 3/5

LUNCH: 1:30pm, rice and beans, organic sports drink, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 7pm, 2 slices of shop pizza, whole wheat slice of bread with chocolate hazelnut spread, water, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

The Flavor of Dentistry

I had a permanent post and a temporary crown placed in mouth today. Between the molds taken of the tooth, local anesthetic, injected anesthetic, drilled and burning tooth matter, shavings of temporary enamel and the dentist's rubbery fingers, the flavor in my mouth was overwhelmingly nasty. And the mouthwash I got to rinse with wasn't so hot, either.

The day was spent mostly recovering and running around and about. Dinner was with B and 6 of some of my best friends and their significant others, a gathering for no particular reason other than we haven't seen each other in too long. We went to one of the non-gross Indian joints on 6th Street, but I can't help but think how much more fun and cheaper it would have been if I just invited everyone over and cooked up something interesting. But I think B appreciated not having a crowd of eaters in her living space for once!

BREAKFAST: 10am, good yogurt with honey, vanilla and raw cashews, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
I've missed the good yogurt. I wish salad was in season.

PM SNACK: 1pm, half pint of organic B&J's vanilla ice cream, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Not allowed to eat anything for an hour after the dentist, and felt it wasn't wise to eat anything too solid.

LUNCH: 4pm, pork lomein, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Hungry, needed something cheap and on the fly. Not the most ideal food before seeing Ilsa.

DINNER: 8pm, onion bahji, vegetable pakora, shrimp jalfrezi with jasmine rice, 1 beer, water, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5