Iced Tea, Addiction and Real Friends

Although I would never call myself a health nut, I try to be nutritious and stay away from the addictive and/or strange substances that inhabit so much of the edible side of American culture. Corn syrup of various kinds, imitation sugar, olean (which is far too similar to my middle name), red dye no. 5 - you get the point. Yet every time I hear an advertisement or see a menu with "fresh brewed iced tea" listed, I can't help myself!



I know the physical effect caffeine has on my body. Ask anyone who has worked or lived with me and you will hear horror stories. I don't know what it is that draws me in. Despite all of the emotional ups and downs, the frequent trips to the restroom and the inevitable nausea that ensues, I still drink it!

This week I sunk to a new low. I did not realize that I had stooped to this level until my co-worker and friend Bronson (who was also generous enough to take these desperate photographs) said to me "Kristin, you have hit an all time low."




Pathetic. I don't mean to be an all about me pity party here, but really - McDonald's on the way to work for an iced tea? Images from those shows where they crane-lift people out of their bedrooms because they can't move and all you see on the floor is cans of diet coke are dancing through my little head.

And so, with one swift comment, Bronson proved his true friendship to me and I will never drive through McDonald's before 8 a.m. again.

Finer Things Club - Round Two

Inspired by The Office, my friend Robert put together our own version of The Finer Things Club. Much like its television counterpart, our Finer Things Club is very exclusive and only has 7 members. Each month one of the members hosts a minimum of a 3 course meal, along with a wine pairing and educational/enlightening experience. This is also a wonderful opportunity to dig into the back of your closet and indulge your inner preppy.





This month Mary was our host. Eager to break in her cool Asian cooking accessories and brand new Wusthof knife, Mary wowed us all with the flavorful courses she prepared. For starters we had pan fried pork potstickers, steamed vegetable and tofu stuffed into wontons, and a lovely cup of fresh brewed tea.

Our main course included salmon that was cooked so perfectly, I honestly don't know how she did it. The salmon was served alongside rice with green onion and cilantro, as well as a cucumber green onion salsa. Healthy, check. Yummy, check.



At this point in the meal we take a break and get to our theatrical reading! This was so much fun. Honestly, how often do you get to read an act of Shakespeare together and all take on different roles? If you thought it was fun in 11th grade Honors English, just wait until you try it with your twenty-something friends.

At the end of the reading (Mary chose a dramatic act from Othello) came dessert. I must say that up until this point we were all impressed with Mary's ventures, but this is when she really blew us away.



Check out that tart. Perfectly flaky crust, delicious filling, fresh fruit in all shapes and sizes, none of that gross pectin jelly stuff so often accompanying a fruit pie or tart. It was pure, refreshing, and oh so tasty.

Mary has promised us the recipes, so if you would like me to share one with you just give a holler.

Diseased

I was listening to Jeff and Jer on my way to work the other day (I know, I'm an old lady), and they mentioned something called "Amazing Disease." Sufferers of Amazing Disease fail to see that the things they are describing as 'Amazing' are in fact, not. "That is an amazing handbag. Those pancakes were simply amazing. I went to the most amazing little shop the other day. Your car is amazing!" They claim amazing things are supposed to be somewhat rare, so the word should not be used as often as it is.

The epidemic hits me most when I'm in the food sphere of my life. The problem is, I can't really figure out a way to stop! What if I really DO think that all of these fresh herbs are amazing? Or that Ina Garten's peach and blueberry crumbles taste more amazing than all the other summer fruit crisps combined? What about how Trader Joe's is amazing, as I can fill up my entire cart with produce, wine, and kosher meat and NEVER hit $100.

Maybe the world really is filled with amazing things! Or I'm just easily amazed...

Blanca in Solana Beach

It had been a while since I had gone out to a fun dinner. A while, of course, meaning about a week. I admit I'm quite spoiled in that I have a handful of friends who love to experience new places or take me to places I have yet to experience, and a husband who willingly eats his way through any city we visit.

"I'm taking you to Blanca" typed the keyboard on the other end of my g-chat conversation. I had heard a great deal about Blanca, mostly from Blair (pictured below) and Jean (Blair's mom, my food soul mate) and was anxious to try it out.




We were seated in the middle of the restaurant which provides great eavesdropping opportunities for those so inclined. My heart was pitter pattering as the waiter approached our table with menus and wine list in hand. "What should I order? Is this a one or two glasses of wine kind of night? Is the chef's tasting menu worth trying? Do they have something with goat cheese?" The excitement and anticipation of the evening floated through my head with great expectation.

And then he spoke.

Condescending rudeness dripped off of every word that left the waiter's mouth. He explained to us that he was an expert, and that this restaurant was of the highest caliber so all of the prices were an amazing value. Typing it out doesn't make it seem quite as dramatic, but believe me when I say this waiter was condescending and we all felt snubbed (even Glenn, who never feels that way!) After our initial shock at the behavior of this man, we decided we would not let him ruin our fun, so we continued paroozing the menu. (side note: after we ordered, and he realized we were not just ordering a side of fries to share, his attitude had a sudden change. hmm.) I decided on a glass of the pouilly fuisse to start and would then work my way into a cabernet or merlot. Excellent choice, according to Mr. Expert and my taste buds!

For starters we had:
1. Truffled french fries - perfectly crisp and sprinkled with fresh herbs
2. Boneless baby back ribs - not my favorite but very tender and soaked in a molasses BBQ sauce. Matt seemed to love these.
3. Dungeness crab cakes - three baby crab cakes with three different salads and aioli's - tempted me to go to Costco and buy the fresh lump crab meat to make my own.
4. Seafood sausage corn dogs - they make their own seafood sausage and then do a corn dog breading and fry them up. These things were out of this world. Served with green tomato ketchup (a little more tart than regular ketchup) and a violet mustard which was very fun.

All of the starters were tasty and unique. So far Blanca's food was delicious!

For the main entree I ordered a blackened Louisiana redfish. I had never had redfish before, but I enjoyed it. It reminded me a little bit of snapper. My redfish was accompanied by garlic and parsley risotto and butter poached crawfish. I won the entree lottery.

Glenn ordered his classic braised shortrib, although this time it was braised in merlot, adding some extra depth to the meal. The shortrib was served with a Bermuda onion marmalade which I had some questions about. I've been to Bermuda. It's a strip of land in the middle of the ocean with 4 resorts and a bunch of shacks, where do they grow onions?

Blair had the roasted free range chicken (the only way to charge more than $20 for chicken is to call it free range) and macaroni and cheese, which she kindly shared with the table. I enjoyed the macaroni, but I still think C Level's lobster mac n cheese is the best I've tried.

Matt branched out (ha!) with the filet mignon topped with foie gras. When it came he asked us what foie gras was, and we made him taste it before we told him. That was kind of fun. I couldn't figure out if he was going to turn green in the face or not, but he seemed to really enjoy it and ate the whole thing!

Now came the really fun part - dessert! We ordered the dessert sampler, which was miniature portions of four of their most popular desserts, as well as a chocolate mousse cake.





I apologize I did not write down the exact desserts or what was in them (it was the end of glass number two..), but I can tell you the chocolate cake was my personal favorite as it was served with an almond bark. I believe there was a meyer lemon cheesecake which was fresh and flavorful, along with a home made cappuccino gelato or mousse that had the perfect amount of coffee flavor in it.

All in all, Blanca was a great place and I'm glad I finally got to try it out. Blair and I have discussed this multiple times and figured out that the best way to do Blanca would be to sit in the bar and order multiple appetizers, desserts, and drinks. Although their food was very good, the outstanding portions of the menu lie in the before and after meal options.

The Beast that is Ham

"Kristin doesn't like ham." I overhear Glenn telling his parents (to me they are the in-laws, not near as scary as the in-law reputation would say they should be... maybe I should tell them to work on that). "She'll be happy to bring another meat option." They discuss for a few moments and come to the conclusion that there will be plenty of other foods for me to choose from come Easter.

Their conclusion is correct.



Ham is around me all the time; at the grocery store, in line at the deli counter, in the creepy guy's sandwich who sat next to me that time I rode the trolley home from work. It's mainly during holidays that my aversion to ham is truly realized, however. There is something about when that whole leg is brought out and the family gathers around that is worse than all the other hamstances combined. Despite my open hatred, I still can't seem to put my finger on what I don't like about it.

In my attempt to be more adventurous, try new and unique things and re-try things I didn't like in the first place, I challenge myself to come up with three valid reasons why ham should be avoided at all costs.



1. The animal it comes from is kind of gross.
Look at that pig. He's no Wilbur. Would you eat him? He doesn't even look like he would taste good. He spends his days rolling around in the mud and grunting. I might as well eat a football player.

2. To make it taste good, all sorts of flavors are smothered on it and inserted into it.
Take the world's most famous ham (no, not Mia, and besides, that's Hamm) for instance - honeybaked. Should it really need to be baked in honey to make me want to eat it? The best roast chicken has nothing more than salt and pepper on the outside!

3. It was the inspiration for spam.
Unless you were born in Honolulu, that stuff should never enter your mouth. Need I say more?

I'm not trying to be a ham-disser, I am genuinely interested in people who love ham and what it is they love about it. So tell me, hammies, what DO you love about it? See if you can win me over... I'm willing to try.

Buried in Cream

My friend Carrie and I were going to breakfast (or as they say in New York - we were brunching) and happened upon the ever amazing Park Street Eatery. I had been there once before and had ordered the porridge, as I was attempting to be low calorie. Needless to say, the porridge contains about as much butter as Paula Dean's biscuits, so that didn't help at all.

THIS time, however, I knew better. You see, the egg breakfasts at Park Street Eatery are served with their home made mashed potatoes! Creamy yet chunky, fresh ground pepper in every bite, those things are phenomenal.




I thought I had died and gone to breakfast heaven and then I realized there was more: my Mexican Hot Chocolate arrived. I don't even know how to describe this thing, but it certainly was not a beverage. It was dessert. I barely made it through the whipped cream.

Here I goooo...

I've wanted to do this for a long time, I actually even started a food blog last year but then totally flaked after 2 posts. But here we are, it's April 1st 2008, and I'm going at it again. I'm giving myself a 30 day trial period, and at the end of the month I can decide to commit or not. I feel a little bit like I'm on Splash Mountain waiting for the big drop, but I think that's ok.

Read on - I hope you enjoy my introduction to the world that is online.