Since my parents are out of the house I have control of the kitchen. Of course since they are not aspiring chefs the pantry is not filled with all the things I could want. Is it asking so much for fresh garlic instead of garlic powder? Anyway. I am working with a limited set of ingredients. We shall see what comes out of it tommorow.

Guess what came on tv last night?  The orginal Iron Chef!  Ha!  I loved that show!  And it was every bit as corny as I remembered.  But I had forgotten how sort of low budget it was.  I mean, all their pans and equipment looked all battered and, well, like it had been used in cooking competitions repeatedly.  

 I need to find some food icons.

Okay, there's this grocery store called Lewis Jones.  Nana used to shop there all the time, but it closed down about twelve years ago.  What I didn't know was that they had two locations, and they only closed the one.  When I discovered this I decided I would go there next time I needed a few things, even though it's a tad out of my way, simply for nostalgia.  And when I entered the store it was like walking into, into, I don't know, someplace cool. :)  They had so many things I have been searching for forever, and a much better selection of organic products than the big name places like Publix and Winn-Dixie.  

For example, tomato paste in a tube.  It's one of things that you wonder why the hell didn't they think of that in the first place, because you only use a spoonful at a time, and then you have to find a container that's not too huge that won't stain.  It's a bitch.  This you just squeeze out as much as you need, screw the cap back on and throw it in the fridge!  And organic canned tomatoes in a glass jar with a lid!  Brilliant!   And best of all, an entire case dedicated to imported cheese!  No more domestic parmesan for me!  I am in heaven!  And they even had those little marinated mozzarella balls, what are they called?  Whatever.  And I found pancetta.  Pancetta, people; I have truly searched and searched, and asked the Hair Nets behind counters and never found it, some of them didn't even know what it was.  Why did I never know that this place was still in business?  Why?  Oh, the irony!  Now that I'm not staying here I find the perfect store; great selection, reasonable prices and locally owned!  

But that's okay, because Atlanta has Trader Joe's.  :D

X posted to foodporn

*drooling like a baby, or someone with a debilitating brain injury*

I saw an interesting program on Food Network about a barbeque joint that barbeques turkey. Turkey! I want it. But it's in Arizona, dammit.

So since I can't make barbeque (and it takes like 16 hours to make) I did the next best thing (well, probably not, but it's still good) and put on a pot roast. It's been cooking since before noon. It smells goooood.

Why is it that when I have a day off, I always wake up early, and on days I have to get up and go to work, I want desperately to smash my alarm clock with an oversized hammer?

I had no idea my cousin was going to police academy until I recevied an invitation to his graduation. The really bad part? We live on the same street. Ouch. I've been really out of touch lately. Part of it's work; technically I'm still only part time, but I've recieved six hours of overtime since I started there, to give you an idea of just how often I get called in, besides my regular days. And the opther part of it? We just aren't close anymore. We used to be; we played together all the time when we were little. But once we matured past our mutual love for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, I guess we didn't have much in common anymore.

And now it's time for another rant, this time about restaurants, specifically, chains:

I try to avoid chain restaurants whenever possible. As someone who would like to one day own my own restaurant, I want to support local entrepreneurs. But my friend wanted to go to this "Italian" place, which shall remain nameless, for her birthday. So I went. It was...uninspired, to say the least. But there was one thing that really pissed me off. They were trying to be authentic, I guess, and served us whole loaves of bread and olive oil for dipping. Now, there's a nice touch, I thought. Maybe this place isn't so bad. But I could tell as soon as I poured the oil that it was inferior. It was pale greenish yellow, instead of the rich green/gold of extra virgin. And it had herbs in it, presumably to cover up the fact that it wasn't the best quality oil. And the menu, of course, was predictable: Chicken Parmesan, Baked Lasagna, Fettucini Alfredo, Classic Spaghetti, and every other variation of pasta, sauce, and meat imaginable...and everything covered with gobs and gobs of mozzarella and parmesan. Bleh.

Imagine my delight to come home from a long day at the front desk to the smell of pizza, stale from my mom's class' party. After a liberal application of hot sauce I deemed it fit for consumption; the spiciness overcame the cardboard-like taste of the crust. Hey, at least I didn't have to cook. ;) Is it asking too much for a decent pizzaria?

I have to say though, we do have a lot of great ethnic restuarants in my area. I lovelovelove Chinese and Thai food (but I hate Thai curries--they remind me of Coppertone suntan oil--all that coconut milk). Of course, no one in my family but me does. But, I found a friend at work who has pretty similar tastes (except for books, that's where we disagree, sadly), but we still have fun.

You know, I wonder more and more these days whether I was switched at birth, or adopted. Heh, if it weren't for the fact that I look a lot like my dad, I'd seriously consider that. We get along, but there's many parts of my life that they don't share or understand. At least that hasn't been a barrier to them being supportive of me (except for the culinary school thing; I get the feeling that my dad still thinks I shouldn't go, but at least he has the courtesy to not say so, not to mention the sense to not forbid me, not like that would make any difference). I'm really looking forward to Atlanta.

//edit//

After that mini fit of meloncholy, I did a directory search just to see if there are any other people in my town who are also on lj, and lo and behold, there are eleven others besides me. Only none of them have updated for at least a year. And they all seem to be teenage girls who write about how much they love their boyfriends, or guys who are into anime. Not my thing. Figures.