Archive for » September, 2009 «

Salmon – It’s What’s for Dinner
September 25th, 2009 | Author: Teresa

Yes, tonight we are having salmon for dinner.  It’s a gorgeous day and we must get in all the grilling possible before the winter comes.

I realize that salmon is one of those things that people either love or hate.  I happen to love it.   We have a fabulous little fish market here. (check out the employees page – it’s hilarious)  The Boston docks get first crack at outstanding array of fish.  The downtown market is very close to the airport making it even easier to get fresh fish from farther reaches to market quickly.  I was talking to the owner one day and he was telling me very matter of factly that he gets down there around 5-6am to buy his fish for the day.  (we are about 40 miles out!)  They also make a delicious Rimoulade sauce.

I thank him for that – and his wife who makes the sauce.  I love the selection and it’s all about as fresh as you can get without catching it yourself.  Since I don’t ever want to do that, I’m happy someone takes the trouble to get the good stuff.

The northeast coast is the place to be if you love seafood.   They do love their food and most especially their fish.  It’s a wonderful thing!

Category: US East Coast  | 3 Comments
Dining Out
September 21st, 2009 | Author: Teresa

Poor little blog.  I’ve been so busy it’s been shamefully neglected.   As I constantly lament, I need days that are about 48 hours long so I can get everything done I want to do.

We just got back from a long weekend in Chicago.  When we go there, we spend most all of our time either eating or figuring out where to eat next.  Quite amusing.

Since this is a blog about food – I’m going to throw out links to the various places in the area we hit for food and drink while we were there this time.  If you’re in the city, you might consider stopping at any of them.  I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

The kids live on the north end of the city which means we mostly stay up north for convenience sake.  There is a cafe close to the hotel that does a most excellent breakfast menu.   They also do lunch and dinner, but we’ve never been there later in the day.  I’m not much of a breakfast eater, but my husband is and he loves this place.

First night had dinner at the Four Farthings which is a great place. I’ve been there twice now, great food both times. It was nice enough to sit outside which was terrific.

Friday we  had lunch at a diner near my daughter’s place, but for the life of me I don’t remember the name.  She was happy to see they are now open 24 hours – yet another place to stop for munching in the wee hours after a night out.  That evening we had dinner at a place called Rocks Lakeview. Apparently it just opened recently.  They have another place in Lincoln Park.  It was awesome.  Terrific food!  The waitress was incredible – she did our entire order from memory, special orders and all.  What fun.  Afterwards we stopped at a little bar called Brendan’s Pub which was just a couple blocks down the street from Rocks.  Great place and  not so loud you can’t talk.

Saturday after much shopping earlier in the day, we headed to Butch McGuire’s for lunch. It’s close to the hotel and since it was around 1:30 in the afternoon, it had mostly cleared out.  They make terrific sandwiches.   That night we went Lincoln Park and Sai Cafe – a Japanese restaurant.  Sushi and all kinds of good stuff.  Excellent food once again and terrific decor too.  They had 4 sushi chefs behind the bar.  Very impressive.

Last of all we headed to Clybar – on  Clybourn just north of Fullerton.  Let’s see if I can explain this one… just opened by the brother-in-law of a girl my daughter went to college with… got that?  It’s a Purdue bar (many of the bars pick college affiliations to draw fans).   It was fun, if deafening.  I know most bars go for the loud music thing – I need to carry earplugs.  Otherwise it was a great place.

There you go.  Some eating and drinking suggestions on the north end of Chicago.  I love that area – there are so many things happening all the time.  It’s fun to head out there and spend time roaming about.

Category: US Midwest  | 4 Comments
Grocery Shopping – the Competative Sport
September 07th, 2009 | Author: Teresa

We all have to grocery shop… or at least hit the occasional grocery store even if all we do is buy food to reheat.  Unless you are one of the lucky ones who has a person to shop for you, this is a fact of life.  Personally I find it one of the more irritating facts of life.

Once a week I make a “trip” to the closest Whole Foods to buy meat.  Yes, you read that right, I go to WF to buy meat.  Mostly it’s the chicken that I like the best, but since I’m there, I buy the rest of the meat I’ll be eating for the week.  The chicken is the only kind I’ve found that doesn’t leave me feeling queasy about an hour after a meal.  I have no idea what is in the chicken sold at regular grocery stores, but I can’t eat it on a regular basis.

Since the closest WF is 20 miles away, it has become a Sunday morning trip.  I try very hard to get to the store before the churches turn their captives lose on the world.  Sometimes I’m successful, most times I’m not (I’m so not a morning person and this is one time it becomes a problem).  I have tried to shop on other days of the week, but it never seems to take. Thus, Sunday morning has become the standard and I can’t seem to shake it.

Once I get to the store I have things fairly well mapped out in my head.  I know the store, I know what I need and I have a plan to get in and out as quickly as possible.  Unfortunately, I have to also be in the store with a whole bunch of people who feel they are the only beings in existence.  It’s very annoying.

Currently this WF has plants out front for sale.  They take up half the sidewalk so there is just room enough for one person with a cart to get through.  If they stop, everyone else either has to stop or has to walk around this area in the street.  This weekend featured a guy who was apparently waiting for his wife.  He was an older guy and was pushing an empty cart – looked like he picked it up in the lot and was heading to the store when he just stopped, stepped away from the cart and stared into space (or out into the parking lot – take your pick).  This meant I had to backtrack and walk around him out in the street.  He was completely oblivious.

Of course going into the store after picking up my basket (I always use a hand basket since I can’t stand being stuck with a cart)  I do manage to get stuck behind people who want to stop directly inside the door and stare at whatever display the store has decided to use to festoon the entry way.   (I know Dogette blogged about this phenomena not too long ago, but can’t remember when) Therefore you either have to run them over or wait for them.

We won’t even talk about the people in the produce section.  It makes me want to scream…

Usually once I get to the check out line, I’m good because I know it will be over shortly.  But this week I ended up behind 2 women who were moving so slowly I wanted to either shake them to wake them up or place them out of the way and tell them that they would make great statues for people to stare at while awaiting check out.   I have one question…

How is it that people can move that slowly?  Really.  I don’t get it.  They were moving at about 1/10th normal speed.  How does one even get through the day?  I figured if they lived a mile from the store, it’s likely they started out heading in that direction at about 5am since I ended up stuck behind them at about noon.   I was afraid my meat would go bad waiting for them to get done and get the hell out of my way.  I almost asked the bagger to go get me some ice to put on my meat while I waited for them to move out.

Eventually they got done and it was my turn.  I got my groceries checked out, had them bagged, paid via credit card, signed the slip, and STILL got stuck behind them in the outgoing doorway!!!!

Yes, I know it’s essential to buy food, but I hate grocery shopping.

Category: This and That  | 4 Comments
Why Not Go Back To Cooking At School
September 03rd, 2009 | Author: Teresa

Ran across this story. It’s from Kentucky, but it’s one we see several times over the course of the year all around the country.

Local petition seeks to make Corbin schools serve healthier lunches

It always reminds me that back in the day, my grandmother cooked lunch at the local K-8 school in her town.  Every day she’d be there at 5am doing the prep work and putting together hot lunches for the kids. Of course this was many many years ago.

Doesn’t it seem as if the move to pre-cooked food being brought in to schools has paralleled the complaints of children becoming fatter?

Hmmm… could it be that simple?  Just get real food to them. Food that has been cooked that day, not just reheated.

I guess not.  Everyone is all for convenience now (no matter what the drawbacks are healthwise) and I’m betting most women or men who might work at this type of job don’t have the vaguest idea of how to cook real food.

Too bad. Kids today miss so much in the name of convenience.  And there appear to be few benefits except the facts that the “meals” are cheap and fast.

Lovely.

Category: You Mean That's BAD for me?  | Comments off