BEST DAY EVER

After drinking Yuban brand coffee for a week I had my favorite Jeremiah's Pick Dark Roast Breakfast Blend back in house today. Little did I know this would be the beginning of the most awesome day ever. The first emails I read today while I was drinking my coffee were the following:

1. I was accepted to University College Dublin for the 09-10 school year.
2. I got my financial aid for next year.
3. Photos of a border collie puppy.

When I got back from the computer lab there was a notice on my door marked urgent. I thought I was being evicted on my celebration day, but it turns out that the gods are smiling down on me because...

"The City of San Jose and San Jose State University have elected to hold a Farmer's Market on all of 5th street, every Tuesday, beginning April 21st, through September 1, 2009, from 12:00 noon, to 8:00 pm."

This is directly in front of my door. I can literally walk outside on Tuesdays and have farmers there with fresh food. It's too good to be true. I will probably go twice on these days, once before class to have a good choice, and once before they close up to get deals because they don't like to bring food back to the farm from the market. I'm going to be swimming in strawberries and tomatoes and greens and melons and avocados...

What a fantastic day, this was exactly the lift I needed. This week started off terribly but the last two days have really been reinvigorating. Perfect timing! I'm going to go have an Arcade Fire dance party with myself and get ready for work, which can't deter my good mood today. From now on, at every table I wait on, I can remind myself that I will have next year to study and not work, for once.

update.

we're in the last four weeks of school so i want to crawl under a rock and emerge in june. Lots of stuff due 'til the end so the blog posts are going to be even more sporadic. there might be 3 a day...or none.

some food that caught my eye:

tripartite strawberry, apostrophe jelly bean, and yin yang almond.

Fry Bread: Simple, yet Complex

In the class that I'm writing this blog for, I had to do a cultural traditions presentation. I made a PowerPoint and did my research on a food that I've always enjoyed but had never really thought about before--fry bread. For those who've never had it, fry bread is a Native American food that is exactly what it sounds like, fried bread. Its contemporary version still has simple ingredients, some variation of flour, salt, baking powder, water, and shortening.

I learned a lot from researching fry bread, but there were two points that really made me think. This first is that fry bread is controversial to some. It's not a traditional food in the way that one would consider the products of hunting and gathering or early agriculture to be. Native Americans developed fry bread as a survival mechanism. After they were moved to reservations and had to live off of government rations because they didn't have their hunting and growing areas, they used the products given by the government to create a calorie dense food. Lard, flour, sugar, and water made fry bread, and since then this food has evolved into a source of pride, and really, is a very beloved food that tastes good. It's become a food that is sold at pow-wows, county fairs, rodeos, and the like.

It is also the only universal food among Native Americans, because it was the one thing that they all shared no matter what their traditional ways were, they were all forced into a dependent state that resulted in eating rations. In recent years, a woman named Suzan Shown Harjo of the Morning Star Institute made the point,"Just because it was a food that was forced on us, doesn't mean we have to keep eating it." Harjo believes that fry bread magnifies the poor diet and sedentary lifestyle of many Native Americans, exasperating health problems like diabetes with its 27 grams of fat and 700 calories per plate.

Although I understand Harjo's point, I don't think she will win many people over with her anti-fry bread campaign. For most people in my generation, and probably the 3 generations before me, it is the only "traditional" native food that we know. This brings me to my second point, that it is probably a waning tradition as well. I know that my siblings don't know how to make fry bread, and my mom rarely makes it. In a reflection on fry bread I had done before doing research I wrote:

"If I ever do have a meaningful conversation with my grandma, I’d like to ask her how to make Fry bread, but I think it might be one of those things that you have to learn how to do after years of helping and observation."

On frybreadlove.org, Annie Humphrey writes about how she learned how to make fry bread and sort of backed up my thoughts on how most people learn and pass it on,

"She didn't speak English to us and so I was instructed to follow gramma around the kitchen and watch her every move...from choosing the right bowl to mix up the dough to placing the finished bread into a bed of paper towels.”

So I didn't learn from my grandma (above), instead I learned the 21st century way, by researching on the internet. That's sort of a trend for me, I've learned how to cook from TV, the internet, and cookbooks. Fry bread is finicky--it's so easy to mess up, so I read a lot of suggestions before I tried it. I practiced on a Saturday before I made it for the class and I was pleased that it turned out well. It kind of freaked me out at first because I'd never fried anything before and putting dough in hot oil reminded me of how making fried chicken can scar your arms.(One of the tidbits I've picked up in reading about southern cooking.)

Anyway, we ate the fry bread with a breakfast of eggs, tomatoes, and sauteed spinach and then again ate it with a dinner of Southwestern Vegetable Soup (Bittman's recipe is one of the best vegetarian soups, in my opinion.) Fry bread also goes well with honey or "indian tacos."



If you're feeling adventurous and want to try some "native" cuisine, this is a pretty excellent recipe for newbies. Enjoy!

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Fry-Bread-I/Detail.aspx

Making Popcorn: A Jolly Time?

I was perusing the snack aisle at the grocery store recently when I came across a bag of popcorn kernels. It occurred to me that I don't know what to do with a bag of kernels because we had a popcorn maker when I was a kid and more recently I've only had microwave popcorn.

Feeling motivated by the origin of the kernels in question (Jolly Time Popcorn, Sioux City, Iowa), I bought them and have been waiting for a good night for popcorn. Tonight seemed perfect--dinner is digested, temperature is cool, and internet TV is watchable. I watched some demonstrations of popcorn making on YouTube and felt pretty confident I had it figured out. How hard can it be? It's just heat and kernels.

So I heated 3 tablespoons of oil in a pot and put in 3 test kernels that would indicate when the oil was ready, à la the YouTube example. I stood over the pot waiting for signs of life when the first kernel popped right out of the pot. I was still peering in when the second kernel shot straight at my eye with some traces of oil. My immediate reaction was "Man down! Popcorn night is off!" I was sure that I looked like Harvey Dent in The Dark Knight but it turns out I'm just a huge baby who's terrified of cooking with hot oil and projectile-inclined food. I labored on and the popcorn was done in about 2 minutes. I was much more comfortable after the lid was on the pot. I think I should get one of those glass lids so I can peer in from behind a barrier. In all seriousness, I don't think I'll ever make microwave popcorn again. This is actually really easy, it takes about the same amount of time as the microwave and it tastes better.

I only ate a couple of handfuls of popcorn and I have a giant bowl left so I'm thinking about making some popcorn balls. I found a popcorn ball recipe that calls for honey instead of corn syrup. (I will find any excuse to cook with honey- I keep a five pound container of honey at all times).

The popcorn and popcorn balls brought back a couple of memories for me. When I was in middle school the janitor used to have a little side business going where he'd sell popcorn balls in the cafeteria. I think his wife made them, I just remember that they were the only thing I'd eat for lunch sometimes because the food was terrible and the school wasn't exactly vegetarian-friendly. They would always give me the bread ends with some nasty looking peanut butter and jelly as the vegetarian option-and even then they were rude about it.

The other memory was that when we were kids, my siblings and I and various members of our posse would sell bags of popcorn at our lemonade stand. Seems like an odd choice now, it was like 100 degrees outside and we were peddling stale popcorn. Maybe it was to make people want more lemonade...

Anyway, now that I've mastered popcorn and pretzels, it looks like I'm ready to start my own carnival. The only buzzkill to my new snack skills is that it makes me feel guilty based on what I've been learning in another nutrition class. Regular popcorn is pretty healthy, providing dietary fiber, protein, and iron-but adding salt or buying it at the movie theatre is a no-no. (A small movie-theatre popcorn has as much fat as 3 Big Macs. I know of at least one friend who won't care for this fact because they stop at the movie theatre to pick up popcorn.:)

The sodium thing is also really interesting. I didn't know that ideally people should consume about a 1/2 teaspoon of salt a day and no more than 1 tsp. I put that much salt in my coffee everyday! No, that's not true, but that just seems like a very small amount of salt versus what people are actually consuming. Popcorn also has a high glycemic index, so it's one of those foods that will give you the ol' food coma feeling. Speaking of food coma...

Move Over Auntie Anne

In addition to eating too much celebratory food last weekend, I also learned how to make pretzels. They were awesome, and I've never even really liked pretzels. They are also a lot of work though. Basically, I had to make the dough, let it rise, cut it into 8 pieces and make those into 24 inch ropes. I created the pretzel shape by making a U, crossing the ends and bringing them back down. Then I boiled them in baking soda and water, brushed them with egg yolks and baked. I did not realize, however, that the maintenance man had installed a new smoke detector in the hallway next to the kitchen. I was quickly introduced to it while the egg yolk burned on the parchment paper, the detector is working well.
So the pretzel making is quite an ordeal, but it's definitely something I would make again and freeze for later. I used Alton Brown's recipe, which always makes me happy--the man is a genius.

Some interesting facts about Pretzels
Pretzels originated in medieval Europe. It is believed that the shape is supposed to look like praying hands or arms crossed over the chest. In Germany, pretzels were traditionally eaten on Good Friday by Catholics. They were a convenient food because the Catholics were forbidden from eating eggs, lard, dairy products, and meat during Lent. Children would look for hidden pretzels on Easter morning, like an egg hunt today.
Pennsylvania is the pretzel capital of America because of the large population with German heritage, the so-called "Pennsylvania Dutch" of Southeastern PA began the American pretzel tradition.

Anniversary Weekend

I feel like this title could be longer, "Anniversary Weekend for a couple who have evolved from people who didn't cook to people whose relationship is based around cooking together." Or maybe not...

John and I had our third anniversary last weekend and celebrated true to form--we ate and drank some good food. We also both got each other cookbooks as gifts. (Go figure!) I got "500 Cupcakes" which has recipes like Eggplant Caviar Muffins and Rhubarb and Ginger Cupcakes along with some more conventional ones. I got John, How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman. Bittman has never let us down with How to Cook Everything Vegetarian, so it should be good. He is a food journalist who I respect as much as any chef, you can check out his column in The New York Times and he's also in Spain: On the Road Again on PBS.org.

Saturday we tried a new downtown eatery- the Silk Road Bistro. The name is a clever reflection of the variety of food they offer, Indian, Mediterranean, and Pakistani. I had a samosa, naan, basmati rice, and some vegetable balls..that's the easiest way to describe them, they were like meatballs except they were made out of veggies, and they were excellent. They contained the best paneer I've ever had and it's worth going back just for the sauce. I'm not sure what was in it, but it was spicy and garlicky. This dish is called malai kofta on the menu, described as "mixed vegetable patties, cooked in a creamy gravy sauce." When I go back, I'd like to try their spicy chili naan and their paneer wrap.

Sunday we went back to the place where we had our first date, Trial's Pub. The beer was better than the food, but it was good beer so that's not a terrible thing. We had some Hoegaarden and Stella Artois and had a curry chips appetizer. I love these curry chips. I got the vegetable curry dinner because the Mediterranean plate isn't in season yet. John's dinner was better than mine, he got a shepherd's pie, which to me just seems like meaty gravy with mashed potatoes and cheese on top. I did a little research on shepherd's pie because I was curious about its origins. I figured it was just a peasant food that has retained popularity. That's pretty accurate, its origins are traced back to when potatoes became an affordable crop for the poor. Traditionally, the meat is leftovers that are turned into the base for the pie while the mashed potatoes become the crust.



Finally, we drank good wine all weekend. Saturday, we had some 7 Deadly Zins and Sunday we had Franciscan Cabernet. Good tip--you can get the 2005 Franciscan Cab at Target for $11.99-that's a steal for this caliber of wine. I'm going to get a couple of bottles and save them, it will be excellent through 2013. For dessert, John brought some cheesecake down from North Beach. Stella Pastry and Caffe on Columbus has the best cheesecake I've ever had. It's an event to eat this cheesecake. (It is a party in your mouth!) Saturday we split a piece of blueberry cheesecake and Sunday we had chocolate cheesecake with strawberries.
All in all, good eats and good company.

Coming of Age with Samoas

The title is for anthropology people--it doesn't really make sense but I couldn't resist. (Wiki Coming of Age in Samoa.)
Anyway, the other day I was thinking about how frustrating it is that Girl Scout cookies are only available for a limited time each year, and if you don't know a girl scout, you might miss out on the heavenly cookies completely. Sure enough, other people had the same idea- if you google "homemade girl scout cookie recipes" you'll find several options to keep the deliciousness going year round. I tried one by the woman who runs the "Baking Bites" website:

http://bakingbites.com/2009/02/homemade-girl-scout-cookies-samoas-bars/#comments

She has come up with an awesome recipe for Caramel deLites (or Samoas, depending on where you're from.) I tried the Samoa Bars recipe because they are less time consuming than the cookie recipe and they are amazing!

I still think it's a little strange that they chose to name the cookie after the Pacific island of Samoa, but I get it because Samoa exports coconut products. I guess Vettaikaranpudurs didn't have the same ring to it. (Vettaikaranpudur is the largest coconut producing region in India, which is the third largest coconut producing country after Indonesia and the Phillipines.)

(Dad, these bars are in the mail for you. Happy Birthday!)