As a teacher, I get to experience something on a regular basis that many people haven't experienced in many years. It's something that very important people have been thinking about a lot lately. But something that you haven't had for a long time.
School food.
Now, I'll admit it here once and for all. I like some of the food our chef gives us. At our school we are lucky enough to have a chef cooking for us, and not some grumpy person with a hairnet who hates kids. There are the chicken fajitas. Those are good. And he makes this veggie lo mien that is tasty. Oh, and the soups...yummy. But, by and large, I know that the food I eat here every day is not healthy. And, isn't that the goal of these important people who keep talking about school food? To give our kids healthy food?
In my community, many of the students are on free or reduced lunch. For some, the only good meals they get are the lunch and breakfasts that they eat here. I agree with those important people. It's beyond important that they get a good meal here. It's a moral obligation. But, their methods seem...strange.
I've been hearing about this thing called pink slime. And I've been hearing that schools can opt out of getting it. But, in what way is this healthy? Shouldn't we be giving our kids meat that is what we would like to eat at home? When you check out the National School Lunch Program guidelines...well...they sound good. But, schools have to charge particular prices for their lunches. Also, let's look at what sorts of food schools can get for free. Chicken nuggets. Riblets. Do we even know what meat that is?
I have watched the seasons of Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution. If you haven't seen it, you're missing out on a great opportunity to get angry at The Man.
I wish I knew what to say and where to go from here with this rant. But, it's lunch time (and I'm seriously not making that up) and I need to go and eat. So, I'm going to stop thinking about school food for now, and then start again in about 45 minutes.
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Hell Yeah
I made fried pickle chips last night for dinner.
Yeah, you can put in orders for the next time you're at my house.
They were awesome.
'nuff said.
I'm outie.
Yeah, you can put in orders for the next time you're at my house.
They were awesome.
'nuff said.
I'm outie.
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Maple Sap
So, I spent my morning doing math and dealing with numbers and letters in a way that made my eyes go a little crazy and made me feel like I was back in Pre-Calculus wondering when the pain would be over.
This time though, it's going to end with me having some beer. I hope.
It's maple season here, and that means K & I do our yearly figurin' of what the sugar content of the maple sap we will brew with should be. Now, we could just use sap, which would give no maple flavor unless we invite a sommelier over for dinner but would raise the OG, or we could use just a bit of maple syrup which would negligibly raise the OG, but it would give the bierre a maple flavor.
Choices choices.
Now you see the dilemma. Where is the line? How far from one edge will be right without being too far? As you can see, this idea could apply to all sorts of areas, not just my drinking habit.
My mother and I had a talk today. She wants me to trust her to use her own judgement with the little guy. But, if I give her free reign, who knows what sort of crazy she'll do (probably none, I turned out fairly normal). But, if I don't give her more autonomy, she'll not want to babysit. For free. Whenever I ask.
Where's the line?
Well, for now, it's at 10% sap. Bring on the beer.
This time though, it's going to end with me having some beer. I hope.
It's maple season here, and that means K & I do our yearly figurin' of what the sugar content of the maple sap we will brew with should be. Now, we could just use sap, which would give no maple flavor unless we invite a sommelier over for dinner but would raise the OG, or we could use just a bit of maple syrup which would negligibly raise the OG, but it would give the bierre a maple flavor.
Choices choices.
Now you see the dilemma. Where is the line? How far from one edge will be right without being too far? As you can see, this idea could apply to all sorts of areas, not just my drinking habit.
My mother and I had a talk today. She wants me to trust her to use her own judgement with the little guy. But, if I give her free reign, who knows what sort of crazy she'll do (probably none, I turned out fairly normal). But, if I don't give her more autonomy, she'll not want to babysit. For free. Whenever I ask.
Where's the line?
Well, for now, it's at 10% sap. Bring on the beer.
Monday, January 16, 2012
Cold and Lemony
When I was pregnant I became semi-obsessed with citrus. It wasn't a craving. I didn't need citrus, but when I ate something that could be lemon or orange flavored, I chose that.
This brings me to one of the things that I did want but couldn't have during pregnancy. No, I'm not going to speak today of really awesome french fries with garlic aoili. Goodness, how I wanted those... 
I'm talking about limoncello. Cold. Right out of the freezer. Little shot glass of it after dinner...
I haven't been without it since the little bugger popped out.
Friday, November 25, 2011
Thanks Giving
Here's a bit of a different purpose. I give thanks.
I am thankful for (in no particular order):
And, of course, there's more.
I am thankful for (in no particular order):
- Kevin
- Isaac
- My friends
- My home away from the road surrounded by trees and deer
- Vodka soaked with lemon rinds (more on that later!)
- Naps
- My family
- Snow
- Big Bang Theory
- My gas stove
- Baxter
- Bosley
- Vacations
- The Single Pebble
- Warm Brie
- The trail network in the back yard
- Hoops and Yoyo
And, of course, there's more.
Monday, November 21, 2011
Why I'm Disappointed
I've been eating left over Thanksgiving for two days. Every meal. I ate some cold turkey for breakfast this morning. Just picked off a little piece before I bolted out the door before the Little Guy and The Boy woke up. I'm oddly okay with this.
Typically, I'm not down with leftovers. People are always saying, "Whatever-it-is is better the next day." And I think, "Not so much". I'm usually quite happy with my food the first day. Why did I put food on the plate that could have been better? Did I forget how to season? Seriously. I don't get it.
But this week? I'm happy. I pulled all of the turkey on the carcass, and I was happy to see that there was a ton of dark meat left. The Boy is a garbage disposal for left overs--which works out really well for me, by the by. He doesn't like the dark meat though, so I knew that meant there would be more for me.
I know that sounds selfish. I am a little bit selfish, unfortunately.
I'm not sure why I'm so happy about this. Maybe it's the four bottles of wine that were left over from the party on Saturday. And yes, they were all left open, so I've been having to drink them. We wouldn't want them to go bad. That's just crazy talk.
So, why am I disappointed even though I'm wine-and-turkey-happy? I'm disappointed that I haven't figured out the Red Thai soup. And, the fact that nobody's helped me means that either:
1) Nobody is reading, so nobody wants to give me any help.
2) Nobody cares about me or my needs.
3) I will fail at my mission.
I know that left overs and a Red Thai soup recipe have very little in common. But they do have one very important thing in common.
They are what I was thinking about after that second glass of wine.
Typically, I'm not down with leftovers. People are always saying, "Whatever-it-is is better the next day." And I think, "Not so much". I'm usually quite happy with my food the first day. Why did I put food on the plate that could have been better? Did I forget how to season? Seriously. I don't get it.
But this week? I'm happy. I pulled all of the turkey on the carcass, and I was happy to see that there was a ton of dark meat left. The Boy is a garbage disposal for left overs--which works out really well for me, by the by. He doesn't like the dark meat though, so I knew that meant there would be more for me.
I know that sounds selfish. I am a little bit selfish, unfortunately.
I'm not sure why I'm so happy about this. Maybe it's the four bottles of wine that were left over from the party on Saturday. And yes, they were all left open, so I've been having to drink them. We wouldn't want them to go bad. That's just crazy talk.
So, why am I disappointed even though I'm wine-and-turkey-happy? I'm disappointed that I haven't figured out the Red Thai soup. And, the fact that nobody's helped me means that either:
1) Nobody is reading, so nobody wants to give me any help.
2) Nobody cares about me or my needs.
3) I will fail at my mission.
I know that left overs and a Red Thai soup recipe have very little in common. But they do have one very important thing in common.
They are what I was thinking about after that second glass of wine.
Gobblers
My friends and I have a tradition. It's called Friends' Thanksgiving, and it started when I was a junior in college. We were going home for the Thanksgiving holiday, and we decided that this holiday was about spending time sharing food with the people you love. So, we invited all of our friends to the apartment. My roommates made various things that I can't remember right now; I made my first turkey.
Now, fourteen years later (I think that's right) I made my fourteenth Friends' Thanksgiving turkey. I've hosted that other, more widely known Thanksgiving at my house, too, so I'm guessing I'm up to about twenty turkeys total for large groups. I think for only being 34, that's pretty good.
For the past couple of years, I've gotten the this-is-the-best-turkey-ever complements. So, I feel some pressure to produce a good bird now. I wish I could take the credit for it, but it's really the most dummy-proof recipe ever.
1) Brine the bird the night before. This is not a hard step. I put it in a 5 gallon bucket that used to have spackle in it. We washed it out, and now it's affectionatly called the Brining Bucket. I put about a cup of kosher salt, 1/2 a cup of brown sugar, and some all spice and peppercorn berries into it. Bring the salt and brown sugar together in some hot water, the add the all spice and pepper corns. After, put that in the bucket, put the turkey in, and then cover the rest of the turkey with cold water. Put it in the fridge over night.
2) Take the turkey out of the brine and rinse it off to get all the all spice and pepper corn that will inevitably be stuck to it.
3) Put it in a turkey bag.
4) Rub about two tablespoons of butter under the skin, right on top of the breast. I don't worry about if it's in a big lump. It's butter. It will melt.
5) Stuff some apples and onions and herbs in the turkey butt. It will like it.
6) Now, here's the key (I think). Use a thermometer. Get rid of that pop-up thing. We've all heard of carry-over. Well, that pop-up thing pops when the bird is done. If you wait for it to pop up, well, carry over will bring your turkey to over done. Set the thermometer to go off at 161. I'm not sure why that one degree. It's a WWAD (what would alton do?) thing that I do.
7) Close up your bag and put it in a 350 degree oven.
Then, you wait. This is the hard part, because I never know how long it's going to take.
You can decide once your timer goes off if you want to brown it up. I tend not to because I don't think people NEED to be eating more turkey skin and I'm not into the whole unvailing presentation part of it. So, my turkey's ugly, but it tastes yummy.
Once it comes out, leave the darn thing alone for a while. I'm talking like thirty minutes at least. It's fricken huge; it's not going to get cold. Heat up your other stuff. Make your gravy. But, for the love of Alton, leave it alone!
That's it. Next year, I promise to take pictures and to make this a more...funny?...story. Here's the nitty gritty. Next year, we'll get into the fun.
Now, fourteen years later (I think that's right) I made my fourteenth Friends' Thanksgiving turkey. I've hosted that other, more widely known Thanksgiving at my house, too, so I'm guessing I'm up to about twenty turkeys total for large groups. I think for only being 34, that's pretty good.
For the past couple of years, I've gotten the this-is-the-best-turkey-ever complements. So, I feel some pressure to produce a good bird now. I wish I could take the credit for it, but it's really the most dummy-proof recipe ever.
1) Brine the bird the night before. This is not a hard step. I put it in a 5 gallon bucket that used to have spackle in it. We washed it out, and now it's affectionatly called the Brining Bucket. I put about a cup of kosher salt, 1/2 a cup of brown sugar, and some all spice and peppercorn berries into it. Bring the salt and brown sugar together in some hot water, the add the all spice and pepper corns. After, put that in the bucket, put the turkey in, and then cover the rest of the turkey with cold water. Put it in the fridge over night.
2) Take the turkey out of the brine and rinse it off to get all the all spice and pepper corn that will inevitably be stuck to it.
3) Put it in a turkey bag.
4) Rub about two tablespoons of butter under the skin, right on top of the breast. I don't worry about if it's in a big lump. It's butter. It will melt.
5) Stuff some apples and onions and herbs in the turkey butt. It will like it.
6) Now, here's the key (I think). Use a thermometer. Get rid of that pop-up thing. We've all heard of carry-over. Well, that pop-up thing pops when the bird is done. If you wait for it to pop up, well, carry over will bring your turkey to over done. Set the thermometer to go off at 161. I'm not sure why that one degree. It's a WWAD (what would alton do?) thing that I do.
7) Close up your bag and put it in a 350 degree oven.
Then, you wait. This is the hard part, because I never know how long it's going to take.
You can decide once your timer goes off if you want to brown it up. I tend not to because I don't think people NEED to be eating more turkey skin and I'm not into the whole unvailing presentation part of it. So, my turkey's ugly, but it tastes yummy.
Once it comes out, leave the darn thing alone for a while. I'm talking like thirty minutes at least. It's fricken huge; it's not going to get cold. Heat up your other stuff. Make your gravy. But, for the love of Alton, leave it alone!
That's it. Next year, I promise to take pictures and to make this a more...funny?...story. Here's the nitty gritty. Next year, we'll get into the fun.
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