Food Day: I missed my own anniversary edition

Happy food day folks. If I were a better food blogger, I would have remembered that a year and two days ago Apples wrote the first post for Apples and Bananas about Eamonn's in Old Town Alexandria.

The blog has changed in some ways, and maintained a certain status quo in others. I still write about food, though the majority of my posts are shorter, and sometimes have very little serious food related content.

If you've read this over the past year, thank you. If this is your first time visiting, welcome. I'm looking forward to another great year of writing...but first, today's news:

Meet your meat: The Washington Post food section has a really interesting article about the changing nature of artificial meat, in particular just how real looking it is, giving a lot of vegans and vegetarians pause before they chow down.

A part as big as its sum: Nori, the dried seaweed that we find extensively in sushi restaurants and increasingly everywhere else these days is gaining popularity and is becoming one of the hot new food trends according to an article in the NYT food section. Once hid by inside out rolls, Nori is now featured in pastas and salads.

Now where's my IT person?: Are waiters and waitresses a thing of the past? Will a computer, not a person tell you what the daily specials are? According to a CBS report out of NYC, yes, it sure looks that way. There is an increasing trend of self-service kiosks where diners simply use a computer to order, instead of interacting with a server.

Honestly, I think this is a horrible idea. Machines break down, people will get confused, it will slow down service.

My question to you is, would you be more or less willing to go to a restaurant if you knew they had electronic ordering machines?

The results are in...

...and it was a victory for the New Hampshire Primary Pasta Party! Now of course I didn't bother to take any pictures of the food, or of the cooking process, and of course I had to rush home from work and frantically start cooking before the crew showed up, but in spite of all of that, it was a pretty successful party.

I started off making garlic bread, which I didn't have any of, but I sure did burn my hands on it, so at least I know it was hot.

I made a basic tomato sauce, and then divided it into two, and put meat (organic, locally grown grounded turkey and hot Italian sausage - both from Whole Foods) and onions into one and vegetables (Royal Trumpet Mushrooms and Spinach) into the other.

I also put a bit of store bought pesto out as well.

All of this accompanied a massive box of pasta that fed about nine of us.

Below is a picture of the family, sans Apples and myself.



A special thanks goes to Agatha who brought wine, James and Meghan who brought brownies, and Apples who, as usual kept me from falling apart (and everyone else who came).

As far as the actual results; at least Wilford Brimley is happy, because I had an apartment of unhappy people.

So, were you happy with the results of last night? If you weren't paying attention...did you at least have something interesting for dinner?

Book Report: Omnivore's Dilemma

I found reading Michael Pollan's book, The Omnivore's Dilemma, a lot like eating Five Guys. It's an incredibly interesting book, hard to put down, and by the end, you feel slightly bad about what you've done. In the book's case, not that you've read it, but about the lifetime of eating you've done. Much like a post-Five Guys meal, there is a lesson to be learned, and that lesson is that most of the way we eat today isn't the way we're designed to eat, and that needs to change.



The book goes through three sections, each of which could be a very good stand alone essay. The first is about corn, and without giving too much of the book away, will turn the stomachs of economists and eaters alike. The second is about grass, sustainability, and the importance of reestablishing a food ecobalance. Finally, the third chronicles Pollan's search of a "perfect meal" that he hunts, grows, and collects himself.

All of these sections are filtered through the question of, "What's for dinner", and through all of them you'll see how what ends up on your plate, whether you make it at home or get it at a restaurant, usually isn't as holy or pretty is we'd like it to be.

The book can get technical at times, but don't let that scare you, if you're planning on having dinner tonight, or any other night, this is an important read.

If you've read the Omnivore's Dilemma, let me know what you thought. Or if you're reading Pollan's new book, In Defense of Food, like I am, let me know what you think.

It's the right thing to do and the tasty way to do it

Well folks it's over. No use in even having the primary tomorrow. Wilford Brimley is a McCain man, no doubt bringing thousands of oatmeal eating diabetics with him.



Now if we can only set up some sort of battle between Wilford and Huckabee supporter Chuck Norris, I would actually consider getting back into politics.

*Special thanks to Agatha for the heads up on this.

We're out of our element. But it tasted so good

In the past, when Apples and I cook, it's usually something that's more our element, i.e., something that's not meat and potatoes. So that's why it was a bit of a surprise when Apples mentioned last night that steak and potatoes would be a good idea for dinner. Naturally, I couldn't argue.

Using some awesome cheese that I'll have to be reminded the name of that we got at the Dupont farmer's market, as well as some royal trumpet mushrooms that I got at the Courthouse farmer's market, we somehow came up with a meal.



The real focus was the potatoes, which were simply mashed and had milk, butter (very little), salt and the cheese added. Secondary to that was spinach with onions and the mushrooms, and finally, as more of an after thought, was a small piece of filet mignon that was seared at a high temperature and then put under the broiler to finish.



If the picture above looks a little smoky, it's probably because my oven produces more smoke than the entire state of North Carolina.

The steak turned out perfect, which is a first for me (I usually overcook my steak on accident), and the mushrooms were incredible. The potatoes turned out exactly how we wanted them to; the cheese was subtle, but added a lot to the dish.

So, anyone out there make anything exciting for dinner last night?