charlotteann

Quite possibly the most discussed topic in the world, the weather influences everything we do. Obviously. I had something sort of prepared to write about the weather but I’ve already bored myself, so I won’t burden you, dear readers. The idea was that the recent boon of heat had me preparing decidedly “summery” food. Temperatures exceeded 90 degrees (f) in San Francisco this week and we all complained about it. We loved it, but we complained nevertheless. We spent our unemployed days in the park instead of in cheap coffee shops, and we bared our pale skin after applying SPF 75 sunblock. We also went to the farmers’ market to purchase lemons in order to indulge a particularly intense craving for lemonade.

Since today is half over and still overcast, my enthusiasm to write about how fabulous this lemonade was on a hot summer’s day is waning quickly. But I shall do my best.

The coldest summer in 40 years came to an abrupt, record-setting end at the beginning of this week and anyone who had to go to work was probably pretty bummed out. But I don’t feel bad for them because they have jobs. Anyway, I got really sweaty and gross from the heat and just felt like a glass of lemonade. I wandered down to the farmers’ market in shorts of all things and loaded up my bag with summery things like strawberries, lemons, figs, and tomatoes. I also bought an enormous bunch of basil that had seen better days but I needed it for Super Summer Salad Event: Insalata Caprese!

Raw tomatoes are another not-favorite of mine (like eggs). I met someone recently who shares my distaste for raw tomatoes. Or rather, they shared my distaste because they had systematically forced their taste buds to reverse their opinion and start loving tomatoes. Why? Who knows. Maybe because tomatoes are like, but not as bad as, eggs when it comes to things like sandwiches: they’re all over the place and it would behoove oneself to tolerate them. Otherwise you’ll be saying “no tomatoes” for the rest of your life. What a waste of time. But with a homemade caprese salad, I discovered I can handle a thick slice of raw tomato because it’s smothered in balsamic vinegar and olive oil and topped with basil and mozzarella (in case you didn’t know). Is this the beginning of a taste bud-turning journey? Will I someday enjoy raw tomatoes on my sandwich? Only time will tell…

I love this stuff. I know I’ve said it before several times on this blog and certainly in person. I don’t think people think of me as being a fiend for ramen as much as they think of me as a nut for pizza or Chinese food, but my appetite for this stuff is becoming insatiable. So insatiable I am willing to risk indigestion by putting %80 of a bowl of ramen for dinner on top of a large, late lunch. Whether its gluttony or hedonism, I enjoy ramen at restaurants and in the comfort of my own apartment at least twice a week. And last week a friend and I finally had our second ramen dinner together at Norikonoko in Berkeley, CA.

A fellow ramen f(r)iend

I had brought this friend to my personal favorite, Tanpopo in San Francisco’s Japantown, where we enjoyed two enormous bowls of awesome before he suggested we try his favorite spot. After our dining experience at Norikonoko it looks as though we’ll be trying to one-up each other, a challenge for which I am more than excited (and think I am winning already, hah!). Norikonoko is a very cozy restaurant with a sliding door and maybe ten tables. It’s a bit beyond the hubbub of that mess of retail stores and coffee shops that exist for UC Berkeley students on Telegraph avenue inside of a dark wood grotto of restaurants and shops. Although ramen isn’t exactly a main feature on the menu (I’d say the robata dinners had that spot), there were four options available. In my experience, the fewer options you have for a particular dish the better: the restaurant isn’t trying to please everyone and (hopefully) as a result prepares those few variations very well.

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So I braved the crowds on Saturday at the Ferry Plaza Famers’ Market. Among the bridge and tunnelers, the tourists, and the other locals who slept in, were scads of fabulous looking produce. Although the Ferry Plaza market has more variety in terms of vendors and prepared foods, it’s more expensive than the Civic Center market I usually visit on Sundays. I bought carrots, onions, potatoes, fresh herbs, arugula, an eggplant, mushrooms, and wheat grass for the cat. Then I went home and tried to style them into a still life.

Unfortunately, I am no stylist. The composition is fine, I think, but the balance of the original colors is totally off. Thus, a black and white image is born! I eventually gave up trying to arrange my produce and gave in to the rumble in my tummy and made a delicious salad.

Hey gang. Times are tough and I know you’re sick of hearing about it. But there are relatively healthy solutions out there for those of us enjoying funemployment and/or trying to make it as an artist. Even if they aren’t very healthy you can at least feel comforted by them. Take for example the humble yet satisfying grilled cheese sandwich.

Grilled cheese sandwich with swiss and goat cheese

The grilled cheese is not only really easy to make, but you can also put whatever is in your fridge cheese-wise on it and it will all melt together in harmony. Some people like to put green things in their grilled cheese sandwiches (I did last May) but I am finding myself less inclined to do so. I think this is because I am actually using my salad spinner and eating actual salad! I hope my mom is reading this…

Just cheese

Then of course we have noodle soup. As much as I love it, instant ramen takes a toll on your system. I know I shouldn’t use the spice packet, but I do and love every salty, chemical-ridden bit of it. So as I as trying to pick out the least horrible of the instants today at the store, I noticed some fresh noodles in the refrigerated section.

Cheap noodles!

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This last week since I returned from Portland has been a little rough. I won’t tell you what happened as I like to keep this blog appetizing for professional purposes, but I will say that yesterday an exterminator came, turned everything I own upside down, and blasted chemicals all over my studio apartment. The cat and I had to vacate the premises for five hours, which I spent doing laundry and seeing Toy Story 3 in 3-D. I enjoyed the movie and almost cried, but not as much as I cried last week. Last week was really lame and now that everything is back to normal - the cat is snoozing peacefully at my feet right now - I am ready to get back in my kitchen.

Despite having spent a fair amount of money taking care of last week’s problem, I splurged a little on a 3lb organic fryer chicken. Being without any fresh herbs or citrus, I decided to season the bird with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and the last of my maple syrup (I never make pancakes anyway). Rubbing liquid in between a dead chicken’s skin and flesh is, in a word, creepy. But I managed and stuck it into the cast iron skillet with some fingerling potatoes, half a chopped onion, and some butter flavored with fresh ginger (removed before cooking).

I stuck it in the oven on the middle rack at 400˚ F and checked on it every 20 minutes or so. The recipe I was loosely following suggested basting the chicken with the cooking juices, but lacking a baster or any visible liquids in the pan I ignored that particular step.

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Well, hello! It’s been awhile. You know why? I do. I had school. It seems that I have difficulty blogging during classes. I recently completed a two week long intensive summer course called “Art On Paper.” I made some nifty illustrations inspired by/drawn from old photographs of mine. Click here to check ‘em out.

But now that that’s over, I have time to cook again! Or at least cook something other than instant ramen. And by “something other” I mean “instant pho.” Happy Pho*!

I know what you’re thinking: no way that could be good. Vegan pho? It’s an oxymoron, I thought, as I tossed the $4 box of instant noodle soup into my shopping basket at Whole Foods. I also thought it would be great to blog about, so here we are.

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So I went through a lot this afternoon to make a pizza. After waiting next to a marijuana dispensary for 20 minutes for some French dude to answer his phone to show me a kitchen table I might be interested in purchasing, I grew a bit fatiguée and hopped on a bus to go to Trader Joe’s and Bed Bath and Beyond. The two stores are somewhat conveniently located on 9th and Bryant and accessible to me via the 27 or 19 bus. I took the 19 today because the 27 was on vacation. And then I missed my stop on the way home because I was jammin’ to some Mirah. Sigh.

Anyway, I had a mind to make a prosciutto and arugula pizza, but I needed most of the ingredients. Trader Joe’s helped me out there, and after hearing a friend rave about his pizza stone I decided to get one, too, from Bed Bath and Beyond. But I didn’t get that giant wood pizza spatula, which was a decision that ruined my pizza.

As you can see, everything started out just fine. I put my new pizza stone in the oven and let them heat up to 450 degrees together while the dough relaxed on a lightly floured surface. (more…)

Hey everyone. Sorry I have been so totally absent. It seems all my latest posts are apologetic on this very subject. The culprit is money - I am (somewhat successfully) cutting costs by not paying for internet access in my new apartment. It’s just me and the cat these days in a small studio and I have enough to do for school, work, and el gato to keep me busy without the ever distracting internet. I miss hulu sometimes but there are enough internet cafés around here to meet any actual demand I may have for the world wide web. Like blogging.

My new kitchen is much bigger than the old one and I am very happy report that it receives glorious light all day, starting (and waking me up) around 9:00 AM. As we approach summer I will no doubt be purchasing a quality eye mask and photographing my daytime meals with increased frequency. Like this sandwich:

My new favorite grocery store is Rainbow Grocery in the Mission/SoMa grey area. Everything is vegetarian (including the instant soup mixes … what dedication!) and retailed with a conscious (organic, local, and sustainable as much as possible). Their bulk section is a wonderland of compartmentalized goods and puts any Whole Foods to shame both in terms of variety and organization. I can NEVER find a pen in Whole Foods. Ever. Plus the guys who work are Rainbow are way cuter.

‘Til next time…

Yesterday my mom and I went to the Garden of Eatin’ in Richmond, ME. Yes, I have seen that pun on many a grocery store, but I am no less amused. We bought some mushrooms, broccoli, frozen dumplings (I was pretty curious about local, organic Chinese frozen vegan potstickers being sold in Richmond), onions, and those fabulous garlic scapes. Or whips. What do you call them? I plan on buying one of their grass-fed steaks to celebrate my completion of Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma in honor of Steer 534.

We also went to a farm on the other side of the Kennebec river, which involved crossing my least favorite bridge of all time. It’s a very narrow swing bridge that makes my palms sweat every time I drive across it. Anyway. The place of agriculture in question was Goranson Farms. They grow organic stuff and have really cute bunnies. We bought some strawberries, pork sausage, and a mint plant. A bit random as far as farm purchases go (I guess?) but so far so good in terms of taste. I used the pork sausage tonight to make a spaghetti sauce. It was a tasty success.

When I lived in Oakland I would purchase the majority of my Asian foodstuffs at the EM Food Market on 14th street. It’s a Korean grocery store full of lots of interesting stuff. Not the best produce, but they have kimchi, a variety of frozen goodies, and booze. Anyway, I eat a lot of noodle soup. Noodles and water are pretty cheap these days, and I get to throw in whatever veggies I have in the fridge into the mix. It’s fun. But sometimes a girl gets lazy and buys the instant, MSG-laden ramen noodle soup. My favorite is the Shin Ramyun brand spicy gourmet flavor and it is perfect for a lazy Saturday (as most of mine are).