35 posts tagged “food and eating”
Over on my Texas blog, I've been writing about the Texas State Fair, which I attended with friends last week, Butter sculptures, quilts, and fried foods. Go here to read all about it.
I also wrote about my problems with AT&T's Customer Service, a term which means something different on each end of the phone (ironically). Advice? Go here to answer my questions.
And an easy recipe for Spicy Chicken.
Last week was a busy week in North Texas. This week I am travelling to Boulder to give a paper on 19th-century actresses again, this time about the "new" ways in which men looked at them, given new "ways of looking" evolving during the period. The title is
GAZING AT A WOMAN ON THE PARIS STAGE:
THE FLÂNEUR, THE COLLECTOR, THE ARTIST, & THE CUSTOMER
Late Nineteenth Century Theatre and the Male Spectator
and I am using pictures like this one of a young Sarah Bernhardt:
I hope to see something of the city while I am there: everyone tells me how great Boulder is when they hear I am going there. I believe them!
Pearl
Recent blogposts on my "Other" blog:
Changes If you haven't noticed, I've changed the title of da blog. Since I won't be in Paris this fall, but at My U in DFW (not bitter, not bitter, not bitter), I thought that it would be appropriate... I'll keep the same name of the Vox blog--the original one--and work around the idea of "Paris" while not being there. (8.19.09)
Skirting the Bike First, I love the skort. It's shorts, it's a skirt... it's a skort. (8.18.09)
Favorite Things: Family Style This album by Jimmie and Stevie Ray Vaughan is one of my favorite's of the SRV canon. I fell in love with his music just before he died, when I was in grad school (for the last time), but didn't come across this album until much later, when I was gathering up all the studio and live work I could. (8.14.09)
David Byrne on biking If biking wasn't cool enough (environment, freedom, wind in your face, etc.) David Byrne has published The Bicycle Diaries, his personal observations on biking. (8.13.09)
Review: Split Pea Soup Cafe Tuesday night I ate at this new branch of an El Paso-based chain. I had read about it in Daily Candy Dallas, where I get a number of good tips about new places to eat. (8.13.09)
Dreams One good result of this summer is that I am dreaming again. (8.11.09)
Pearl
This is the mural on the interior room at Clark's Outpost, the barbecue place I wrote about previously. I went back there this weekend, on Saturday, with more friends who had not yet visited. We had a great time: great food, great service, and a surprisingly silent dinner table (because we were all shoving onion rings, smoked turkey, beef brisket, pork ribs, collard greens, jalapeno black-eyed peas, apple pie a la mode, chocolate meringue pie, and bread pudding doused with nutmeg-brandy sauce.... sigh!... into our mouths at a terrific rate).
Take the trip! (And do make reservations for any weekend night!). The drive up Route 377 is gorgeous this time of year: horses, cows, and cornfields galore!
Pearl
Yesterday, two friends and I took the long, long trip up to Tioga to eat barbecue at Clark's Outpost. It had been a few year since I was at Clark's, and my friends had never even heard of it, although they've lived here longer than I have.
The drive was, well, an adventure. For part of the trip we drove a county road that was graveled but unpaved (Rte 121 west): do not choose this route. Scenic, but a little unnerving. Instead, use Rte. 380 to 377, then go north.
My friends, after about 90 minutes of driving, including over 10 miles of unpaved road, were understandably hungry and crabby. Clark's storefront looks unimpressive, and pulling into the unpaved gravel parking lot, with all windows closed so the a.c. can blast against the orange pollution ozone alert and 102 degree heat, does not impress.
And then one opens the car door, steps out... and smells the barbecue cookin'.
Ahhhhhhh!
From there we floated to the front door.
I had carefully made reservations--since it was a Friday evening--but most tables were empty. A surprise to me. I recommend ALWAYS making reservations.
The three of us sat, ate, and--damn!--enjoyed.
We ordered appetizers: onion rings and fully loaded potato skins. Both were delicious, but I especially love the rings. The coating is thick, crunchy, chewy and the rings are substantial.
To order alcohol, one must join the club, a Texas tradition of dry towns, where only members can drink legally. We ordered Shiners, naturally, and one Negro Modelo.
One friend ordered the brisket beef/smoked turkey combination plate, including the collard greens and jalapeno black-eyed peas. The other ordered the brisket/sausage combo, with potato salad and fried zucchini. I ordered the beef/pork ribs combo, with red beans and cole slaw. The plates arrive fast--always--and at first glance, it doesn't look like much food. And in fact for a regular barbecue joint, it is a smaller serving... but then one starts to eat.
The beef is so tender, beautifully smoked on-site over three days, one doesn't even need a knife to cut it. It is so delicious, so tender, that it is a work of art. The ribs--ditto. Smallish, but tasty, succulent, plump. Bones do not dominate. Eaten with the dark sauce that comes bottled in old Grolsch beer bottles: be still my heart! The sausage, from a Dallas maker, are spicy, while the turkey breast--also smoked at Clark's--is mellow and, again, so tender it can be nudged into pieces with a fork.
Usually, I ignore the sides in favor of the main course, so as not to waste time or space. In this case that would be a mistake. All of our sides were superb seconds: my red beans and cole slaw were so good, I actually ate most of them.
Each plate comes with two slices of Texas toast, an onion slab (not slice), and half of a canned cling peach.
For dessert, one friend ordered the Dutch apple pie with vanilla ice cream, while I had the bread pudding with hard sauce. I recommend the pie--crunchy, complex, and overall delicious--and not the bread pudding. I am a huge fan of b.p., but this one was soaked in brandy and nutmeg. It was absolutely tasty, but so rich and overwhelmingly alcoholic, I wa afraid to be near the open candle on our tabletop. Wow! I ate about 1/3 of the total slab, which again was not over-sized or grotesque, but too much for me.
My friends, fans of Southern cooking, Tex-Mex cooking, and Texas food, were impressed. Me, too, but I was not surprised. What I love most about Clark's is that it is not out to impress: neither the decor, the wait staff (who are friendly and efficient, but not hanging over the table, thank God!), or the prices are out to stun you. It is, simply, good food that doesn't want to be the favorite baby of foodies and wanna-be gourmands. What for?
If you love it, you can order off their website, which also shows their menu and hours.
Take my advice: if you're in the area, visit. If you aren't, order something by mail. You'll be very happy.
Pearl
Having spent this week wrestling with defectives phones, new phones, return policies and the paperwork on my savings/retirement funds, I have also been considering my New Frugality, as I like to call it.
A quieter, more serene name than the "W.T.F. Am I Going To Do Now?" wail that runs through my head nearly daily. A version that suggests I have some control, some survivorship, some future that is not about living in a box.
Me and Jack, sharing cans of grilled shrimp and collected rainwater, a delightful extra-large fridge box and matching foil helmets. Sigh.
The good news is, there is a fair amount I can do, and I'm getting better at it.
For example: grocery shopping. I am a single person with a cat. I want to eat healthy food, have no food allergies, and keep my weight down. I want Jack to eat healthy food, too, for a long life; like other two-year-olds, he wants to eat Cheetos, cotton candy, and Big Macs: tasty food with empty calories. That suggests for me fruits and vegetables, lean protein, brown rice, red wine, coffee, green tea, andd dark chocolate. And for Jack, a 3:1 mix of healthy to cheesy dry food, with semi-healthy canned food he'll eat rather than let sit to dry out, $.65 at a time.
I've got a routine now of building weekly menus based on pantry and freezer holdings, meat and fish bought from Costco in two-months bulk, combined with coupon clipping for weekly specials, grocery cards for discounts (including air miles and gas discounts), organic "bulk" items (like nuts, rice, spices, and flour), and the scanning of four regular grocery papers (two national chains, one local organic store, and Target). I also occasionally receive or buy from a second organic chain, if there are specials, as there was this week, for a $5 coupon off bulk coffee by the pound.
I have a set budget per week. I buy dairy, fruit, and vegetables according to my likes and the weekly specials for my grocery cards. Some weeks, I visit all four stores; some weeks, only one--depending on specials, coupons, and pantry-fill-ins.
I am also trying to eat like the French: fresh food, made every 2-3 days. Meals full of fresh vegetables, fruits, and lean meats. A fridge that is lean and mostly bare, smaller servings (4-6 oz. of anything, rather than 8-16 oz. of everything). No packaged food, no frozen food, no microwave food: ounce for ounce, more expensive and less healthy than cooking simply for yourself. I like cooking, and constantly look for new recipes for soups, chilis, casseroles, and slow cooker options.
I eat eggs for dinner once weekly; despite cholesterol, they are still a great value and healthy as omelettes packed with vegetables and herbs. Also poached: working on finding the perfect poacher.
Jack's expensive dry food is bought with a combination of coupon and special, or through a pet chain where I also have a shopper's card and thus get a discount deeper than the grocery store. Another store to visit, but the substantial savings per can or box of food again make it worth while.
Simply put: set a budget, plan ahead, use coupons and sales brochures, cook for yourself, eat smaller portions. And build in occasional treats--like cupcakes, chocolate, and french fries (my favorites) so I don't feel deprived. And I don't have a husband or children to feed, so I can pretty much please myself--but my procedure isn't much different than most people's, I think. I am also much more conscious of not over-buying produce so that I have to throw things out, like brown bananas (I won't eat them after a certain spottiness) or mushy cucumbers.
And, yes, it is a time-consuming routine and ritual. One where my skill is improving.
My favorite grocery store in this town: Tom Thumb. Their shopper's card not only saves me money on weekly specials, but adds airmiles, gas discounts (up to $.10/gallon), and they double and triple paper coupons so that the savings equal or beat Target's on beauty and cat products, which saves me a shopping trip. There are Tom Thumb groceries all over town, so I can work them into any errand bundling I do, and they offer Starbucks kiosks and pretty much everything I buy, short of certain organic products. The produce is excellent, too, especially in certain stores, which matters a lot to me.
Second favorite: Whole Foods. If their organic produce wasn't so much more expensive, I'd shop there more. And they have no shopper's card, so no extra benefits from buying from them rather than any other organic chain.
This week: Chicken Paprikash with plain yogurt, Turkey Tacos with red onion, cabbage, tomatoes, and hot salsa, and Salmon seasoned with Old Bay and lemon juice.
Pearl
In my continued pursuit of DFW culture, I've been researching/searching blogs about my city. Here are some of the good ones.
UNFAIR PARK, a Dallas Observer blog written by Robert Wilonsky about culture and art. Out-of-the-ordinary coverage.
DALLAS PICTURE BLOG, a blog that features a new photo every day from the DFW area. The pictures here make me want to search out these spots.
EATINGINDALLAS, a blog about--oh, you get it. Food, recipes, the Dallas restaurant and grocery scene... I find it weirdly fascinating.
THE DALLAS COOK BOOK, more cooking, cook books, and fooding. Delightfully wry.
COWGIRL CHEF. How could I not love this one? A former cowgirl lives and cooks in Paris.
COTE DE TEXAS. High-end Texas architecture, decor, and stuff for living. Great pictures.
FORTWORTHOLOGY. Modern architecture and street views in the OTHER metroplex city.
THE FIRE ANT GAZETTE. Pictures and thoughts from West Texas.
GRITS FOR BREAKFAST. A blog about the criminal justice system in Texas. Not an oxymoron.
Good readin'.
Pearl
Last week I started my journey to find a good DFW café not unlike Paris cafés.
First stop: The Cultured Cup.
This shop features tea, specifically Mariage Frères tea and several of my students recommended it. I went last Friday around noon.
First, like the Starbucks café I posted about, The Cultured Cup clearly sends the message that it is first and foremost about selling tea, coffee, and related items, rather than being solely perceived as a "café." The windows are full of goods, as are the free-standing racks just inside the doorway and the shelves throughout the store.
There are only a few places to sit and enjoy the tea or coffee on sale. One is a sofa and a couple of soft chairs; when I entered, someone was sitting there and working on his laptop. Which meant that I couldn't sit in that space: too narrow and close to sit with a stranger. Plus the table in the center was piled with more goods: couldn't see how to use it. The other seating area is a bar at the rear, with four high chairs: I sat here.
I ordered a pot of tea, choosing from among many, many canisters of M.F. tea flavors. It was brewed right in from of me from loose tea. The tea was delicious, but the ambiance was hardly "café": too noisy, too goods-oriented, too few places to sit, no eats beyond Belgian chocolates--which looked delicious.
So: a café it is not. I won't go back there for an in-house cup of coffee or a pot of tea.
It is a great place to buy loose tea and any kind of tea accessories you need. You can find black tea, green tea, red tea, white tea, and infusions; you will also get great advice about the tea and accessories, which can be very helpful if you want to learn about tea but feel intimidated by the variety now available. I heard one of the in-house personnel explaining to a customer about various types of green tea, and then to another customer about good brewing habits. Fabulous!
And the Leonidas chocolates, imported from Belgium, are certainly a temptation, as are the varieties of coffee (caffeinated and decaffeinated). Even given their website, the point seems to be educating their customers about tea, coffee, and chocolate, then selling same, then the notion of a café for sitting and relaxing... actually enjoying their products in-house. too bad, because they have great products.
Pearl
The Musée Carnavalet is one of the great neglected museums of Paris. It houses a collection of objects and art that trace the history of Paris through the centuries.
Like many other good things, the Carnavalet is located in the Marais section of Paris. The building itself is made up of two aristocratic hotels, the hôtel Carnavalet and the hôtel Le Peletier de Saint-Fargeau. There is a beautiful though small formal garden that one cannot visit without visiting the museum, and even then it is difficult to get out there.
Walking along Rue des Francs Bourgeois, I walked across the south side of the garden and took this picture.
Then I looked more closely: an angel.
The museum can be a little frustrating because certain items are only "open" on certain days. One must know the schedule, or a visitor can miss Proust's cork-lined writing room, say, transported whole from his home and plunked down here. It is a fabulous sight, but only open on certain days of the week... as is most of the 19th century wing. Another installation is the marvelous jewelry boutique of George Fouquet, a spendiforous little space of Art Nouveau architecture and design intended to showcase jewelry of the Art Nouveau style.
In the courtyard, before one arrives at the ticket booth, is a statue of Louis XIV.
Behind Louis, you can see a drape of some kind: the entire 17th century wing was shut down the day I visited for some kind of construction or repair.
There are rooms of furniture, some complete installations, some simply showcasing period style. There are signs, sculpture, painting, photography, and many fascinating things. One room holds nothing but period sculptures and statues of famous French men and women of their period, some caricatures and some not.
Besides the glorious permanent collection, the Carnavalet holds short-term exhibitions, and I saw the most recent one on Victor Hugo's Les Misérables, which just closed this weekend. The exhibition followed the way in which Hugo used specific sites in Paris in the novel. Since the novel covered two different times in Paris--separated by the central portion of the story--the exhibition used maps, engravings, photographs, and all sorts of objects to demonstrate the way Hugo took his story from real life... and the parts of Paris Hugo used are still there, if one would like to walk them.
The Carnavalet is only a short walk from Hugo's own museum, housed in the Place des Vosges, but it is also close to the Musée Picasso, the Archives Nationales (which holds exhibitions focusing on the documents of French history), and multiple other museums, as well as the Rue des Rosiers, a great street to find inexpensive, delicious restaurants and take-away Jewish and Middle Eastern food.
The Carnavalet is located at 23, rue de Sévigné; Métro St. Paul or Chemin Vert. Like most other museums, it is closed Monday but open Tuesday through Sunday, 10am-6 pm. It also has a great gift/book shop; one can buy gifts for friends or browse the excellent collection of art and history books, featuring quirky as well as academic styles. The shop can be visted without paying a fee or going into the museum, but both museum and gift shop often shut down (or nearly) at lunch time.
What I am saying is that it may take several visits before you can see all of the good things the Carnavalet has to offer. Go back, often. It is rarely crowded, so go on a Sunday while you are strolling through the Marais or combine it with one or two other museums for a full day--a pleasure!--but I warn you, it is stuffy in summer.
Pearl
Something BIG was going on over at Sprinkles today... lines outside the door and around the corner.
Hmm.
I thought about wandering over, just in case they were giving out free V-Day cupcakes... but then I thought about calories and time and... just enjoyed seeing everyone else on line.
Pearl
Something has been going on in baked goods. Cupcakes are all over the 'net, especially on social network sites. Huh?
But then I came across Sprinkles, which was new to DFW last spring.
De-lish-us.
Sprinkles apparently began in Los Angeles--Beverly Hills--which doesn't surprise me since they are $3 each (not good in this time of recession).
And yet... they ARE good. My favorite is the red velvet, which is available every day. There is a schedule of flavors, some of which are available every day and some are available only a few days a week.
Banana, black and white, carrot, chai latte, chocolate coconut, chocolate marshmallow, cinnamon sugar, coconut, dark chocolate, ginger lemon, lemon, lemon coconut, milk chocolate, mocha, orange, peanut butter chip, peanut butter chocolate, pumpkin, red hot velvet (red velvet with cinnamon frosting), red velvet, strawberry, vanilla, vanilla milk chocolate...
Each cupcake is a tasty bit of cake well-made and gorgeous. Perfect for parties or hostess/host gifts.
On the other hand, I could certainly go back to making my own cakes and cupcakes, which would be smart. Mostly it is a matter of time: when did I stop having time to bake? Good question.
I love Sprinkles in part because buying there is carefree in all senses except cost: no messy clean-up, no two hours of mixing and baking, no worry about whether they will turn out delicious and beautiful. Sprinkles guarantees it.
On the other hand, there is a lot of pleasure in baking.
Frankly, it is all about the fact that I am having trouble planning ahead for something like this. This past weekend for example I bought a 12-pack of red velvet, red velvet coconut, and dark chocolate for a party Saturday night. Why? I wanted to bring something for dinner with my friends, and the presentation is always beautiful, in the box and of themselves. I also had a lot of errands and cleaning to do, and didn't plan a window of opportunity for the mixing and baking...
Yeah, despite this, I must return to baking madness. There is more pleasure in doing the baking than buying the cupcakes (for me). But that means having the ingredients in the house and planning the time and, well, doing the pre-baking work. Getting out of short-term thinking and into looking more than 24 hours in advance. Since I got back from Paris, I haven't been working too much farther ahead.
Circling from cupcakes to baking to getting back in my groove here in the States.
Pearl
