Oysters!

I never used to like oysters on the half shell -- I think they are definitely a required taste that comes as we age and our palates mature (wow, could I sound more pretentious?). My dad attends the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival every year and has for what must be decades now. It is a swell time, full of delicious Cajun and Creole food and, of course, really fantastic music. When I was younger he'd always come home talking about what a blast he'd had. During my pre-teens and early teenage years I used to beg him to take me with him, always to be denied. Finally, I was promised that I could go when I was 16 -- or earlier, if and only if I ate a raw oyster first. I guess this was somehow dad's test that I was "ready" for New Orleans and all it had to offer. Dad loves oysters and I used to be so grossed out by them when he'd order some. So one evening during my fifteenth year, we're out to eat, just the two of us, and he orders oysters. I decide that this is my moment -- I just need to get one down and this could be the year I get to go to Fest! I bring the shell to my lips, tip the oyster into my mouth, give it a chomp as instructed by dad, and proceed to gag and spit it out. I couldn't do it, and I really, really tried. When I finally did get to go to New Orleans the next year, I tried frog's legs, alligator sausage, and had duck for the first time -- but no oysters.

As promised

Long overdue after my cryptic comment about tilapia -- check it out:

Tilapaponics

Read the blog, it is pretty self-explanatory.

I know, I know. Like I needed another project. I can't even handle the ones I've already self-imposed upon myself. But oh well -- this has been a really interesting and educational endeavor, and I'm looking forward to seeing where it goes!

Speaking of projects -- two more recipes down! Zucchini gratin and plum cake tatine. I've just ordered some special baking dishes from Amazon so that I can proceed with some of the other recipes. So, progress!

After 10 days in New England

I drank seven of these...

Dunkin Donuts medium French Vanilla iced coffee with cream. My life's blood. (Especially when served with a Boston Kreme doughnut on the side...)

I ate three of these...

The Clam Shack's lobster roll, served with sweet potato fries, for $6.95. It literally does not get any better than this.

 And I made this cake from scratch, thanks to Martha Stewart...

Vanilla cake with creamy vanilla frosting, to celebrate grandpa's 85th birthday.

It was good to be home.

CSAs and Monterey

Yes, I’m still here. No, nothing terrible has happened – I’ve just been super busy, as usual. I went to Florida for a quick trip a couple weekends ago and I am still wiped out from it. But, life must go on.

In any event, here are some updates, random thoughts, and so on.

A lot of my “food attention” has been spent lately on the idea of sustainable eating and what that means and how to achieve it. Have you ever done one of those online carbon foot print calculators (like this one: http://www.nature.org/greenliving/carboncalculator/index.htm -- this is just one of many, many out there)? They can be quite depressing. I did a couple recently and was dismayed by my results! I realize that I’m not perfect, but hell, I thought I was on the right path – shopping at the farmers’ market, making my own cleaning supplies, recycling – all that jazz. Apparently not. Sigh. Actually, I took this quiz as part of an online class I was participating in through Coursea (you should definitely check this out, there are a ton of free, interesting courses you can take). This particular course was a six-week course about the US food systems, and it was absolutely fascinating and enlightening (I got an A, in case anyone was wondering). The professor was actually very reassuring about the poor results from the quiz, and just how overwhelming these topics can be in general. I mean, no one can ever eat perfectly, even if you’re a vegan, or follow a raw diet, or only eat organic, local produce. There is always room for improvement, and even just making an effort counts for something. In that vein, I joined a CSA out here! I’ve been looking for one for a while now, and it finally all fell into place. This particular one is with Farm Fresh to You, and they deliver to my office, which is super-convenient! It’s all organic and locally grown, and I’m getting a delivery every other week, which is perfect, because in the past I’ve had trouble keeping up with weekly deliveries (I mean, that is a lot of produce). So far I’m really happy with it! I also finally joined Slow Food USA. So, good things happening in that department.

I’ve been kind of all over the place with my cookbook challenge – a recipe here and there, but no real direction. To that end, I’ve decided to focus on one chapter at a time, starting, naturally, with desserts. Yum. I’ll keep you posted.

Eating my way through Jack London Square

Oakland has a bad rap, both in California and across the country. And yes, there are certainly some parts that I avoid -- but there are some really nice areas, too, that are completely underrated. The Lake Merritt area, Rockridge, and Jack London Square are all cute, happening areas with a lot of cool shops and restaurants. Because of its convenient location to my apartment, I've been eating at various restaurants in Jack London Square (and no, not just at Ben and Jerry's...). One of the best things about the area -- besides the awesome farmers' market there every Sunday morning -- is that it's on the water, so not only can one eat outside in the gorg California weather and enjoy a view of the bay, but seafood is abundant. And I know that you know how I feel about seafood.

So far I've hit up Scott's, Kincaid's, and Miss Pearl's.

I went to Scott's fairly soon after I moved in, along with my brother and my roommate -- and we all loved it. Sitting outside with a view of the water was a definite plus. We all shared a shrimp cocktail appetizer, made with bay shrimp, which are quite small -- but that worked out because then there were more to go around! My roommate had a warm lobster roll, which i am going to get next time (it looks delicious, and she loved it). Alex had a seafood saute, which he also liked. Finally, I had the seafood cioppino, a classic San Francisco dish. It had tons of fresh seafood in a slightly spicy tomato broth -- yum! And it was served with a slice of sourdough-turned-cheesebread that was to die for!

Alex and I went to Kincaid's (pictured above) pretty recently. The service was okay, but not great (a trend I've found in most of these places), but the food was really good. We both had clam chowder to start, made with bacon and leeks. Seriously some of the best clam chowder I've ever had. Alex had never had it with bacon before -- which makes zero sense to me, consider that clam chowder and bacon are two of his favorite foods of all time -- so he was in heaven. The restaurant serves these really garlicky rolls, which were outstanding...I ate way too many of them, and then barely had room for my entree. I actually had an appetizer -- the hot crab dip -- as my main course. It was okay, although it seemed overly sweet to me. But maybe I was just too stuffed to really tell at that point. Alex had a twist on seafood etouffee, which he enjoyed -- and it was served on cheesy bacon grits instead of rice, which was delicious. And then we had dessert. I know, I just said I was ridiculously full -- but when has that ever stopped me before? Alex had some kind of crazy chocolate cake with homemade hot fudge sauce, and I had a waffle sundae with homemade butterscotch and hot fudge. Both were crazy good, definitely the highlight of the meal. Alex couldn't even finish his -- another first. Of course, I somehow manged to eat all of mine...

And then Alex and I went to Miss Pearl's for lunch just last week. We sat outside in the glorious sunshine, so that was awesome. He had -- wait for it -- clam chowder to start! (Shocking, right?) It was good -- also containing bacon -- and had something else that I can't quite put my finger on that gave it a certain uniqueness -- fennel, maybe? We shared some cornbread, which was good, although a little dry, and then he had a fried chicken sandwich and I had fish and chips with sweet potato fries. We were both happy with the main course. The batter on my fish had some Cajun spice in it, giving the dish a neat spin. Also, I know this is weird, but the iced tea was really good.

So, we still have to hit up Bocanova (small plates), Il Pescatore, and Haven, as well as the chicken and waffles place across the street. I'll keep you posted!

Christmas plans aplenty

Tomorrow afternoon, I fly out of Hartford – and six hour later, I will be home in Texas. Now, I’m sure I have made many snarky comments about Texas and how much I despised living there – all of which remain true. However, a visit now and then to spend time with my family (and a trip to Central Market or two) is something to look forward too.

Naturally, a big part of our family gatherings involve food – well, yeah, I’m involved, so what else would you expect? My dad and I spent some time on the phone planning the big holiday menus. I always make Christmas Eve dinner, while Christmas day is a joint effort – my mom always does some kind of delicious breakfast casserole, and then dad and I do dinner. Often, actually, we end up with waaaay too much food, having two big meals in a row like that. So this year, I though, how can we cut back on the amount of leftovers? At the same time, coincidentally, I caught a special on the Cooking Channel about the traditional Italian Feast of the Seven Fishes, always served Christmas Eve. Inspiration struck!

So, I decided to do a seafood dinner for Christmas Eve. We traditionally had shrimp cocktail that night in my house, so it fits. I’m planning on that, plus a main course – probably pasta with scallops – and steamers or mussels, depending on what’s fresh at Central Market (I also had to give a brief shout-out to what a fab day Friday is going to be – shopping with my dad and bro in Dallas, home of Northpark Mall [amazing], followed by a trip to Central market).

The Christmas day, we’ll have a scrumptious breakfast, as I mentioned. Right not, dinner is shaping up to consist of a crown pork roast (my idea), stuffed with an herbs de Provence stuffing and then rubbed with an herbs de Provence rub, along with scalloped potatoes, green bean casserole, some kind of sweet potato dish, and probably another veggie, plus pumpkin pie for dessert. Yup, still gonna have a lot of leftovers.

I haven’t even gotten into the myriad of sweets that will be in the house over the next week. I made sugar cookies, gingerbread cookies, and cherry-almond snowballs, as well as white chocolate bark and chex mix (plus some homemade dog biscuits, but those are less yummy). My brother made our traditional thin mint cookies – with help, I suspect – and I believe mom is making my favorite coconut macaroons. Then my dad always makes a puffed rice candy that’s yummy, and I’ve promised to make cream puffs for the clan. My teeth hurt just thinking about it all…in a good way.

Oh, and I haven’t even mentioned New Year’s Eve dinner. We’re not usually together for this holiday, so this year will be special. I think there’s beef on the menu, per my brother’s request, along with béarnaise sauce. Yup. Yum.

Anyway, I digress. Happy holidays to all, whatever it is you celebrate in your family. I’ll check back in once I’ve made my return to Massachusetts. Merry Christmas!