Last year I hit an all time low. I was sitting on my bedroom floor, newspapers covered the floor, I was sitting with my back to the wall, and I was drinking Coca Cola and eating a bowl of Ramen Noodles. For most college students this might have been an all time high, but for a college student who has a degree from Johnson & Wales in Baking and Pastry Arts I felt like an absolute failure. I went to a school where I learned how to cook and I was subjecting my body to overly salted chicken stock and strange noodles that kind of taste good dry.
I of course excused my way through the Ramen low by eating Ramen at least once a week. I told myself that I wasn't at JWU anymore, and real college students have less time than culinary students AND Emerson students have even less time because we are proven to be strangely over-achieving. I just didn't have time for meals, or so I thought.
This year I have decided to challenge myself a little bit more. I am going to try to go the entire first semester without resorting to Ramen as a meal. I know this doesn't sound very daring or courageous or even challenging, but this means that I am going to be making meals real home-made meals. I have no idea how this is going to work, and I am praying that I won't be longingly watching the Ramen.
Besides the Ramen I really would like to eat healthier this year. What? Aren't new years resolutions and healthier eating for after New Years? Yeah I know, but who feels like eating healthy in the middle of a New England winter. All I want to do in January is bake bread and survive on fresh bread and chicken soup all day long. I know that this summer I have been healthier and happier because my mom's been helping me by making meals every dinner. Now if only I could figure out which bag she could fit in.
My bags are packed, and soon the van will be packed. Tomorrow at 4 we will be on our way to Boston and I will be embarking on this journey. Will I actually make it or will the cheap, quick meal that is Ramen noodles lure me away from my goal. I really can't tell you right now, but stay tuned because you know that I'll be filling you in on every close moment and every fabulous meal. If you want to join me on this challenge let me know. I think college students, singles, and young adults everywhere need to just say no to Ramen and end the stereotype.
Happy Eating!!!
Emily
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Monday, September 7, 2009
The day in which we labor, or eat
As most of you know today was labor day. If you didn't know then I hope you will take the last 3.5 hours available and grab yourself a burger, because it is never too late to celebrate a holiday 75% of the citizens of the United States could not tell you the meaning of. I can honestly say that this holiday doesn't mean terribly much to me. I don't mean to anger members of labor organizations, but I just kind of like to use the day as a chance to hang out with my family and eat good food.
Thankfully good food and my family just come with the territory. As you can see we had quite a feast and that's just dessert and appetizers. Titi Stella made babaganoush and humus. I am personally a bigger fan of the baba, but I would gladly finish a whole plate of eat of them with some pita. I am not a fan of grape leaves, but Titi said that for the amount of work saved buying the can of the grape leaves made the shortcut really worth it, considering that amount of grape leaves would have taken close to a day of work for her.
The caprese salad was my mom's idea. Our beautiful freshly grown tomatoes and our basil made most of the dish. If you remember our pesto day, we actually clipped the basil down to almost nothing; it is now just as big if not bigger only about a month later. My mom bought the little mozzarella balls; she chose the kind that were already marinated in seasoning and stuff, which were a slightly more flavorful addition to the dish. We put a thing of balsamic near the dish, but the freshness of all the ingredients made the need for the balsamic pretty much nonexistent.
When I entered the dessert scene my Titi Carmen pretty much stopped making her famous(if you tasted it you'd know why I feel it's famous; no not many people know about it, but it is famous in our family and our family is fairly large) cheesecake. I don't care how much I learn at school nothing compares to eating Titi Carmen's cheesecake. She added a little bit of sugar to the raspberries and let them sit for a while till she put them on top of the cheesecake. This took away the sometimes sour bitter taste that raspberries sometimes have. Of course the cheesecake would have been completely perfect on its own. I am a sort of cheesecake purist. I prefer plain cheesecake; raspberry flavoring will never taste as good as adding some fresh raspberries to the top of the cheesecake. In my eyes there is also nothing more appealing that fresh fruit and plain cheesecake.
For dinner we had sausage sandwiches, hamburgers, red rice and beans, enchiladas and potato salad. Red rice and beans can change your life; no let me say it differently. Red rice and beans will change your life. It is quite possibly the most amazing dish known to man; yes I am slightly prejudiced being Puerto Rican, but professionals(don't ask me for names because I have no idea)have said that Puerto Rican rice and beans is the best form of rice and beans in the history of rice and beans. The enchiladas were also incredible and my dad's sausage and hamburgers were out of this world(of course they were, he is my daddy).
I hope you all enjoyed some yummy food today and if you didn't I really hope you take my advice and run out for a quick nighttime picnic as your local McDonalds. The people are making double time for working a holiday; you might as well make it worth it.
Happy Eating!!!
Emily
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Sometimes more sausage is not a good thing
Rob spent a good couple of hours tonight stuffing sausage. I think he had maybe 20 pounds of two different kinds and the sausage just kept coming. "Sausage has the potential to change your life." Rob was not in the best of mood over his sausage. Something went wrong and for the first time since I have been working at the country club, I saw a side of Rob that made me remember why I like Rob so much.
"All I want to do is to make really good sausage." Rob, who I had up until now assumed did not make the kind of mistakes that I made, had something he wished he was better at. This was refreshing and hopeful. I do not know how to make sausage, but I'm ok with buying it. It's really not my thing, but when I make creme brulee and it just never seems to come out just perfect I understand Rob and the sausage.
I actually had two Rob epiphanies this week. I had a sort of conundrum over the fact that Rob seemed to easily get frustrated at other prep cooks and he hardly ever got frustrated at me. I assumed it might because I never really messed up his work, but the prep cooks that got on his nerves never worked on his prep. As I was watching a prep cook frustrate him I knew why people said that it must be hard working with me.
I like to work. I don't like to stop working. I don't like taking breaks while working. I like to be getting stuff done and to be doing it well. Unfortunately for everyone else I kind of expect this kind of work ethic from everyone I work with. As I watched Rob picking up the extra work that this prep cook was slacking on, I knew why Rob and I got along. He understands people make mistakes, but he also(like me) knows when people aren't trying and that is by all means the most frustrating thing on the face of this earth. Maybe sometimes that comes off as expecting too much; I don't think so.
Rob is a very talented cook. He can think up a new gelato flavor for every day of the week, and every one will change your life. He takes a piece of fish and fillets it and comes up with a whole dish surrounding it and people love it. I personally think that his recent failure in sausage does not make him any less of a cook, but I know that he won't be content until he can make the best sausage you've ever tasted. That's just the way he is. Food with Rob should be life changing, not just sausage. If something does not wow him, he doesn't want anyone to taste it.
Today was my last day at the country club. I am hoping to be back in November for their gingerbread house making festival, but no one knows what time will bring. Everyone at the country club played a different character in my summer performance. There was a dishwasher who played the bad guy I just never had the chance to vanquish. Alice was the teacher, who patiently showed me every knife cut and procedure. Rob was my inspiration. I wanted to know how to make an awesome graham cracker so I could help him create the dessert he was dreaming of. I wanted to be better so when he needed my help I was right there with an answer.
There are very few people in this world who I can say inspired me. I guess I'm pretty hard to impress in the first place. At the end of the day it is the people in my life that push me harder and expect the best out of me that make me a better person. I don't know where Rob will be in 5 years, but I know if he is running a restaurant that is in need of a P.R. Betty Baker I'll be there.
Happy Eating!!!
Emily
"All I want to do is to make really good sausage." Rob, who I had up until now assumed did not make the kind of mistakes that I made, had something he wished he was better at. This was refreshing and hopeful. I do not know how to make sausage, but I'm ok with buying it. It's really not my thing, but when I make creme brulee and it just never seems to come out just perfect I understand Rob and the sausage.
I actually had two Rob epiphanies this week. I had a sort of conundrum over the fact that Rob seemed to easily get frustrated at other prep cooks and he hardly ever got frustrated at me. I assumed it might because I never really messed up his work, but the prep cooks that got on his nerves never worked on his prep. As I was watching a prep cook frustrate him I knew why people said that it must be hard working with me.
I like to work. I don't like to stop working. I don't like taking breaks while working. I like to be getting stuff done and to be doing it well. Unfortunately for everyone else I kind of expect this kind of work ethic from everyone I work with. As I watched Rob picking up the extra work that this prep cook was slacking on, I knew why Rob and I got along. He understands people make mistakes, but he also(like me) knows when people aren't trying and that is by all means the most frustrating thing on the face of this earth. Maybe sometimes that comes off as expecting too much; I don't think so.
Rob is a very talented cook. He can think up a new gelato flavor for every day of the week, and every one will change your life. He takes a piece of fish and fillets it and comes up with a whole dish surrounding it and people love it. I personally think that his recent failure in sausage does not make him any less of a cook, but I know that he won't be content until he can make the best sausage you've ever tasted. That's just the way he is. Food with Rob should be life changing, not just sausage. If something does not wow him, he doesn't want anyone to taste it.
Today was my last day at the country club. I am hoping to be back in November for their gingerbread house making festival, but no one knows what time will bring. Everyone at the country club played a different character in my summer performance. There was a dishwasher who played the bad guy I just never had the chance to vanquish. Alice was the teacher, who patiently showed me every knife cut and procedure. Rob was my inspiration. I wanted to know how to make an awesome graham cracker so I could help him create the dessert he was dreaming of. I wanted to be better so when he needed my help I was right there with an answer.
There are very few people in this world who I can say inspired me. I guess I'm pretty hard to impress in the first place. At the end of the day it is the people in my life that push me harder and expect the best out of me that make me a better person. I don't know where Rob will be in 5 years, but I know if he is running a restaurant that is in need of a P.R. Betty Baker I'll be there.
Happy Eating!!!
Emily
Can I have a little airplane dirt with that?
Yesterday Matt's sister left for Italy. Matt called me up to tell me all about the 3 course meal that she was going to get. I started laughing the second he called it a 3 course meal. He said it, as if just the phrase made it a good meal.
I have had my fair share of international flight meals. Some have been awful and other ones have been really awful. I have no idea what it is they do to the meal that makes it that awful, but it tastes like the smell of the airplane. That stale air smell and turns into a rancid air smell after about an hour in. I think the food can be best described as a bland sour taste. One you take a bite you don't get the taste out of your mouth and the fact that you're hungry and feel like you should eat forces at least one more bite which will probably be exactly the thing to throw your stomach over the edge.
My advice pack food. Thankfully all of the neurotic no liquid rules have not affected food, so my bags are packed with munchies even for a short flight. Food helps you get over that nauseous overly tired been in the air too long feeling, but the wrong food makes it worse. I normally pack the snack mix with M&Ms and peanuts; I mean who does not love that mix and when you need something sweet you can pick out the M&Ms and when you need something salty you can eat the peanuts and if you hit rock bottom and become terribly desperate you can eat the raisins.
Does anyone know why they put raisins in that mix? I mean who likes raisins anyway. I personally don't. They are all sweet and wrinkly and chewy. I am not a fan of raisins, so most of the time when I get the peanut mix all that is left is the raisins unless I am smart and pick them out before hand just so I don't get desperate enough to try one just in case I might like it this time(I never do.).
I hear that the meal up in first class are actually tasty. How one can make 200 meals taste awful and 20 taste good is beyond me. I mean if there is potential for a satisfactory meal what makes the coach meals taste so bad. I'm sticking to my plane dirt hypothesis, but who knows. If McDonalds can make a satisfactory tasting meal that can be put in a bag and eaten 40 minutes later, then I'm thinking the airline companies can start rethinking their meals.
Matt's sister has probably already had her "3 course meal" experience. Lucky for her she is going to Italy for 3 months, so I am sure the food she will be enjoying there will make her forget the tragic experience on the plane. For any of the rest of you who are planning a vacation to France, Italy, or wherever your international dream vacation may take you; pack food and if it's the M&Ms mix remember to take out the raisins(unless you like raisins).
Happy Eating!!!
Emily
I have had my fair share of international flight meals. Some have been awful and other ones have been really awful. I have no idea what it is they do to the meal that makes it that awful, but it tastes like the smell of the airplane. That stale air smell and turns into a rancid air smell after about an hour in. I think the food can be best described as a bland sour taste. One you take a bite you don't get the taste out of your mouth and the fact that you're hungry and feel like you should eat forces at least one more bite which will probably be exactly the thing to throw your stomach over the edge.
My advice pack food. Thankfully all of the neurotic no liquid rules have not affected food, so my bags are packed with munchies even for a short flight. Food helps you get over that nauseous overly tired been in the air too long feeling, but the wrong food makes it worse. I normally pack the snack mix with M&Ms and peanuts; I mean who does not love that mix and when you need something sweet you can pick out the M&Ms and when you need something salty you can eat the peanuts and if you hit rock bottom and become terribly desperate you can eat the raisins.
Does anyone know why they put raisins in that mix? I mean who likes raisins anyway. I personally don't. They are all sweet and wrinkly and chewy. I am not a fan of raisins, so most of the time when I get the peanut mix all that is left is the raisins unless I am smart and pick them out before hand just so I don't get desperate enough to try one just in case I might like it this time(I never do.).
I hear that the meal up in first class are actually tasty. How one can make 200 meals taste awful and 20 taste good is beyond me. I mean if there is potential for a satisfactory meal what makes the coach meals taste so bad. I'm sticking to my plane dirt hypothesis, but who knows. If McDonalds can make a satisfactory tasting meal that can be put in a bag and eaten 40 minutes later, then I'm thinking the airline companies can start rethinking their meals.
Matt's sister has probably already had her "3 course meal" experience. Lucky for her she is going to Italy for 3 months, so I am sure the food she will be enjoying there will make her forget the tragic experience on the plane. For any of the rest of you who are planning a vacation to France, Italy, or wherever your international dream vacation may take you; pack food and if it's the M&Ms mix remember to take out the raisins(unless you like raisins).
Happy Eating!!!
Emily
Thursday, September 3, 2009
And over here is a biscuit that lasts 2 minutes in boiling hot water
The UK's Daily Post had an article about this chef who they made out to be a hero who had come up with a top secret formula that made this biscuit strong enough to last 2 minutes in hot water. Gorilla glue wants their job back. I mean seriously why in the world would you want something that strong, and would I break my teeth on it? No it's silly to ask if I would break a tooth on it, because I feel like it would. The shocking thing is that people actually think they taste good. This is the UK so maybe they are living up to their reputation of enjoying the bland and rock hard.
I kind of remember learning American History(during 1st to 6th grade we hardly ever got past WW1 in American History so I learned a lot about the Pilgrims and their journey). We had a discussion of the food they ate and I believe something called hard tack was on the menu(or what fits in the boat). I feel like this biscuit probably is a close resemblance to that.
Maybe this biscuit isn't as hard as I am imagining, but I just can't imagine that it tastes good. The last record holder for longest time in tea without crumbling was a chocolate digestive at around 30 seconds. If you haven't been to Europe a digestive is this cookie thing that is pretty much fiber. They actually taste pretty good. I think my dad brought back at least 3 boxes when we visited Prague. They are pretty hard and compact, so I feel like a cookie should reasonably last 30 seconds or less.
If you are not a teetotaler like myself, you might not understand the significance of cookies in tea. There really is nothing quite like it. To sit with a biscotti and dunk it in till it is soft and then drink the tea with it. The only unpleasant part of this experience is the crumbs of the cookie that end up at the bottom of the cup. They really gross me out. I guess the English know their tea and the crumbs probably bother them too, but I feel like there is one thing this biscuit might be falling short of(besides my calling it tasteless and hard as a rock). For a cookie to be a good dipping cookie it has to be porous enough for the tea to soak in a little bit. With the gorilla glue cookie I feel like it is possibly impervious water which kind of defeats the point of dipping it.
All of this cookie and tea talk has given me a hankering to make biscotti and to go to England so I can actually try this biscuit. Supposedly the chef who invented the cookie didn't think that it would be at all profitable or sell(hmmm red flag?), so there was really no intention to market it until someone said it was good. I'm thinking that now that I am his biggest hater he should send me a batch. It's just a thought.
Happy Eating!!!
Emily
I kind of remember learning American History(during 1st to 6th grade we hardly ever got past WW1 in American History so I learned a lot about the Pilgrims and their journey). We had a discussion of the food they ate and I believe something called hard tack was on the menu(or what fits in the boat). I feel like this biscuit probably is a close resemblance to that.
Maybe this biscuit isn't as hard as I am imagining, but I just can't imagine that it tastes good. The last record holder for longest time in tea without crumbling was a chocolate digestive at around 30 seconds. If you haven't been to Europe a digestive is this cookie thing that is pretty much fiber. They actually taste pretty good. I think my dad brought back at least 3 boxes when we visited Prague. They are pretty hard and compact, so I feel like a cookie should reasonably last 30 seconds or less.
If you are not a teetotaler like myself, you might not understand the significance of cookies in tea. There really is nothing quite like it. To sit with a biscotti and dunk it in till it is soft and then drink the tea with it. The only unpleasant part of this experience is the crumbs of the cookie that end up at the bottom of the cup. They really gross me out. I guess the English know their tea and the crumbs probably bother them too, but I feel like there is one thing this biscuit might be falling short of(besides my calling it tasteless and hard as a rock). For a cookie to be a good dipping cookie it has to be porous enough for the tea to soak in a little bit. With the gorilla glue cookie I feel like it is possibly impervious water which kind of defeats the point of dipping it.
All of this cookie and tea talk has given me a hankering to make biscotti and to go to England so I can actually try this biscuit. Supposedly the chef who invented the cookie didn't think that it would be at all profitable or sell(hmmm red flag?), so there was really no intention to market it until someone said it was good. I'm thinking that now that I am his biggest hater he should send me a batch. It's just a thought.
Happy Eating!!!
Emily
Preeti was not so pretty
In case you are not following my very distinct instructions to cancel all plans on Wednesday night at 10 p.m and watch Top Chef, I will now inform you that Preeti(the Indian chef that was a handsome young man er woman is officially gone. Maybe with longer hair and a little more grace in the way she stood she'd kind of look like a woman, but anyway there is no more preeti; now if only the dirty looking hobbit would get eliminated so we could all watch the show without being bothered by her sweaty hair contaminating the food.
Last night I watched the episode with Rob, Alice, and Rob's fiance as a going away get together for me. I think I might just have to take a flight from Boston every Wednesday night to be able to watch it with them till the end of the season. We did what a bunch of cooks(and sous chef)do best, gossiped while being as tough as nails on the competitors and the failure of a pasta salad. Sunday is my last day at the country club and I am honestly already feeling like I am kitchen deprived. How one is deprived before they are actually away from something I don't know, but I can honestly tell you I am already feeling deprived.
This summer has been one big lesson for me. I had a lesson in home. I have called many places home since I started college, but I had never had the chance to really come back home and spend time at home. Home is priceless and you really only have one real one.
The kitchen lessons were at times more painful. Sharp knives are a lot less likely to give you bad cuts. Doubt me? Try it. Not only will the whole cutting experience be easier, but you'll also be using less force when cutting that bell pepper so the knife will be less likely to cut off the tip of your finger.
A willing learner and a hard worker can do anything she(I can't speak for men since I am not one)puts her mind to. I'm a pastry chef and I must say that I was a little worried about my lack of knife skills and culinary knowledge, but thanks to very patient teachers I am doing a lot better. I can't say I'm going miss my hands smelling like onions or salmon every time stag day comes around.
Kitchen family is like no other family. We work together, we drive each other crazy and if someone decided to mess with one of our family at work(by someone I mean one of the people that are totally left out of the family; kind of the red headed step child in the bunch)we'd all make their lives miserable. The best part of the whole deal is that normally you aren't related to one of them. I know it sounds silly that that is the best part, but quite honestly you probably wouldn't put up with as much if it were your family(it's kind of one of those life rules you never understand but follow like your life depended on it).
Every Puerto Rican needs a PR survival kit, and thanks to Rob I have my travel sized bottle of Adobo to make sure I am never without it. Rob was pretty disappointed when he found out I didn't keep it in my knife kit, so now I can be a good PR and never disappoint him again. Well I might disappoint him, but I'm going to try my hardest not to because of lack of Adobo.
You can take the girl out of the kitchen and she'll probably be sad till she gets back in. Sunday I will definitely be a not so happy Emily. I promise I won't bemoan it too much longer, but in the middle of a recession I found the job at the country club by emailing a woman in HR. I hate people in HR; they normally hate me, but this woman liked me and then the chef liked me and somehow I landed the job. So life worked out and it's been an awesome summer. I guess all summers come to an end. I'm going to try to enjoy every last bit I have.
Happy Eating!!!
Emily
Last night I watched the episode with Rob, Alice, and Rob's fiance as a going away get together for me. I think I might just have to take a flight from Boston every Wednesday night to be able to watch it with them till the end of the season. We did what a bunch of cooks(and sous chef)do best, gossiped while being as tough as nails on the competitors and the failure of a pasta salad. Sunday is my last day at the country club and I am honestly already feeling like I am kitchen deprived. How one is deprived before they are actually away from something I don't know, but I can honestly tell you I am already feeling deprived.
This summer has been one big lesson for me. I had a lesson in home. I have called many places home since I started college, but I had never had the chance to really come back home and spend time at home. Home is priceless and you really only have one real one.
The kitchen lessons were at times more painful. Sharp knives are a lot less likely to give you bad cuts. Doubt me? Try it. Not only will the whole cutting experience be easier, but you'll also be using less force when cutting that bell pepper so the knife will be less likely to cut off the tip of your finger.
A willing learner and a hard worker can do anything she(I can't speak for men since I am not one)puts her mind to. I'm a pastry chef and I must say that I was a little worried about my lack of knife skills and culinary knowledge, but thanks to very patient teachers I am doing a lot better. I can't say I'm going miss my hands smelling like onions or salmon every time stag day comes around.
Kitchen family is like no other family. We work together, we drive each other crazy and if someone decided to mess with one of our family at work(by someone I mean one of the people that are totally left out of the family; kind of the red headed step child in the bunch)we'd all make their lives miserable. The best part of the whole deal is that normally you aren't related to one of them. I know it sounds silly that that is the best part, but quite honestly you probably wouldn't put up with as much if it were your family(it's kind of one of those life rules you never understand but follow like your life depended on it).
Every Puerto Rican needs a PR survival kit, and thanks to Rob I have my travel sized bottle of Adobo to make sure I am never without it. Rob was pretty disappointed when he found out I didn't keep it in my knife kit, so now I can be a good PR and never disappoint him again. Well I might disappoint him, but I'm going to try my hardest not to because of lack of Adobo.
You can take the girl out of the kitchen and she'll probably be sad till she gets back in. Sunday I will definitely be a not so happy Emily. I promise I won't bemoan it too much longer, but in the middle of a recession I found the job at the country club by emailing a woman in HR. I hate people in HR; they normally hate me, but this woman liked me and then the chef liked me and somehow I landed the job. So life worked out and it's been an awesome summer. I guess all summers come to an end. I'm going to try to enjoy every last bit I have.
Happy Eating!!!
Emily
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Danger Food!!!
I know that I have in the past commented over and over about people becoming increasingly neurotic about the dangers of food, and I feel like it is about time I took a step back and told you that food can make you sick.
Why the sudden urge? Yesterday my family(dad,mom,and sister) and I went out to breakfast for my sisters first last day of highschool. It's just one of those silly things my mom feels makes the first day of school a little happier and makes her feel better about her baby being in 12th grade. Anyway we went down to this adorable little breakfast and lunch place in Topton. It's one of those places that only someone who lives in the town(or up the hill from the town as is our case) or someone who is driving through Topton(obviously lost, because you probably wouldn't be driving through Topton PA for any other reason) and simply starving would find. This place really has good food and it is one of my mom's favorite places to eat, so we schlepped into town at 8 am for breakfast.
Being the annoying group of people that we are it took a while for us to know what we wanted. We all ended up getting bagels and cream cheese(I know that sounds like it shouldn't take too long to decide about, but amazingly enough it did.) I got a french toast bagel(perhaps the yummiest thing ever) and plain cream cheese and a white chocolate milkshake, because contrary to most people's beliefs that milkshakes aren't for breakfast it just sounded like a good idea. Everyone else got what they got(I really don't remember) and my mom got a blueberry bagel with blueberry cream cheese.
We all ate, were happy, and left so I could get a shower for my haircut and so Mara could get started with school. By lunchtime my mom was complaining about not feeling well. She sometimes has a sensitive stomach so I assumed it was the earl grey tea she had with breakfast. The pains got worse and as I was leaving for work she was curled up on her bed in pain. She almost went to the emergency room the pain was so bad and the only thing she had that morning that the rest of us didn't have was the blueberry cream cheese. It would be unfair to say that the cream cheese was bad since it hasn't been tested since my mom's illness, but I have this funny hunch that the cream cheese was bad.
Food really can make you sick. I am always wary of discounted specials in restaurants involving fish. If the restaurant has fish on its menu daily or consistently has fish specials and you trust the integrity of the restaurant then go for it, but special (by special I mean not a daily or weekly special made to give returning customers something to look forward to, but a discounted menu item the waiter/waitress pushes as a "great deal" "fresh" from the kitchen) to me says something is being reused or about to go old. I have never worked in a kitchen like this, so I really don't know where I get the stereotype; but I have it and I am a big fan of the truth that there is hardly such a thing as truly good food cheap.
Old food, bad food, or improperly handled food is so very dangerous. In some cases people can die from food born illnesses. The shocking thing I remembered from my food safety was that cantaloupes are on the dangerous food list because they can carry salmonella(you know the reason you don't eat raw chicken). I can't say I know of one person who has contracted food poisoning who has ever forgotten the experience.
I love food. It really is quite possibly one of my favoritest things, but I guess like all favoritist things it deserves a healthy dose of r-e-s-p-e-c-t. I bet most of you are going to or are having a Labor Day picnic. Remember be careful of leaving any food out too long(not just the salads with mayo in them) and everyone will have happy memories of your picnic.
Happy Eating!!!
Emily
Why the sudden urge? Yesterday my family(dad,mom,and sister) and I went out to breakfast for my sisters first last day of highschool. It's just one of those silly things my mom feels makes the first day of school a little happier and makes her feel better about her baby being in 12th grade. Anyway we went down to this adorable little breakfast and lunch place in Topton. It's one of those places that only someone who lives in the town(or up the hill from the town as is our case) or someone who is driving through Topton(obviously lost, because you probably wouldn't be driving through Topton PA for any other reason) and simply starving would find. This place really has good food and it is one of my mom's favorite places to eat, so we schlepped into town at 8 am for breakfast.
Being the annoying group of people that we are it took a while for us to know what we wanted. We all ended up getting bagels and cream cheese(I know that sounds like it shouldn't take too long to decide about, but amazingly enough it did.) I got a french toast bagel(perhaps the yummiest thing ever) and plain cream cheese and a white chocolate milkshake, because contrary to most people's beliefs that milkshakes aren't for breakfast it just sounded like a good idea. Everyone else got what they got(I really don't remember) and my mom got a blueberry bagel with blueberry cream cheese.
We all ate, were happy, and left so I could get a shower for my haircut and so Mara could get started with school. By lunchtime my mom was complaining about not feeling well. She sometimes has a sensitive stomach so I assumed it was the earl grey tea she had with breakfast. The pains got worse and as I was leaving for work she was curled up on her bed in pain. She almost went to the emergency room the pain was so bad and the only thing she had that morning that the rest of us didn't have was the blueberry cream cheese. It would be unfair to say that the cream cheese was bad since it hasn't been tested since my mom's illness, but I have this funny hunch that the cream cheese was bad.
Food really can make you sick. I am always wary of discounted specials in restaurants involving fish. If the restaurant has fish on its menu daily or consistently has fish specials and you trust the integrity of the restaurant then go for it, but special (by special I mean not a daily or weekly special made to give returning customers something to look forward to, but a discounted menu item the waiter/waitress pushes as a "great deal" "fresh" from the kitchen) to me says something is being reused or about to go old. I have never worked in a kitchen like this, so I really don't know where I get the stereotype; but I have it and I am a big fan of the truth that there is hardly such a thing as truly good food cheap.
Old food, bad food, or improperly handled food is so very dangerous. In some cases people can die from food born illnesses. The shocking thing I remembered from my food safety was that cantaloupes are on the dangerous food list because they can carry salmonella(you know the reason you don't eat raw chicken). I can't say I know of one person who has contracted food poisoning who has ever forgotten the experience.
I love food. It really is quite possibly one of my favoritest things, but I guess like all favoritist things it deserves a healthy dose of r-e-s-p-e-c-t. I bet most of you are going to or are having a Labor Day picnic. Remember be careful of leaving any food out too long(not just the salads with mayo in them) and everyone will have happy memories of your picnic.
Happy Eating!!!
Emily
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