Proof that my cookbook addiction has merit

(At least in one author's opinion...) -- Why printed cookbooks still matter

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.

Things have gotten a bit out of control

Now, I've never been one to be ashamed of my love of Starbucks, as you all know (a certain poem comes to mind...) However, recently things have spun wildly out of control. I got two of my co-works -- we'll call them N and J -- hooked on the stuff too. J is especially bad -- he gets a venti latte (I usually stick with a grande). Recently we've taken to making Starbucks a daily trip. I'll even admit that there have been days that it has happened twice. I'm officially a gold member with my gift card. Not good for our wallets or our waistlines. So, we collectively decided that Wednesdays would be 'no Starbucks' day. And I have to tell you, I'm jonesing hard right now. I understand that it is just because I've been told (even if just by myself) that I can't have any, but it is all I'm think about. My brain is going "Starbucks...Starbucks...STARBUCKSSTARBUCKSSTARBUCKS!" My hands are jittery. I can barely type.

It doesn't help that today I got an e-mail that a free drink has been loaded onto my gift card.

Tomorrow can't come soon enough.

Now is the time...

...when farmers everywhere are purchasing chicks from their local tractor supply. I really, really want some chickens. And ducks. And a cow. That is all! (Cluck cluck)

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.

Completely fascinating

Take a scan through this article: http://www.thedailymeal.com/50-most-powerful-food-folk-america. I found it to be really, really interesting. There were some staples on the list, but also a few surprises -- and I've met one of them (Alice Waters, I'm looking at you)!

Seriously, though, what I thought was most interesting about this endeavor is that it really opens one's eyes to what influences what we eat. Sure, Food Network or your favorite food magazine (or other media outlet) are obvious choices -- although in those cases, the viewer/reader is already interested in food and taking the initiative to expose themselves to these influences. For the "other" eaters -- those that may or may not care about taste or nutrition, and do not have a strong interest in cooking or food culture -- the big influencers include fast food chains, Wal-Mart and other retail stores, commercials on TV...Maybe it is just me, but I found it quite interesting to think about what influences me and what I cook and eat and think about food. Anyway, the article stuck with me for a while after reading it, and I just wanted to share!

P.S. How awesome is it that Pinterest is on this list?!?! I am soooo addicted -- and in fact, I do get a lot of random food inspiration from the site (for example, the no-bake Nutella cheesecakes I whipped up last night). Don't forget, you can follow me on Pinterest and check out my boards at http://pinterest.com/asheardy.

An Evening at Baker and Banker

I’m not sure why it took me so long to churn this post out (its already two weeks overdue). I’m sure there’s an excuse of how busy I am, I’m still not over this cold, blah blah blah. Regardless, here (finally) is the recount of dinner at Baker and Banker (http://www.bakerandbanker.com).

And what a dinner it was! I forget where I first heard about Baker and Banker – Tasting Table? Food and Wine? The SF Inside Scoop? All plausible possibilities. Anyway, the restaurant had been hanging out on my “places to go” list for months when the opportunity to eat there finally presented itself a couple weekends ago. Some friends and I – the roommate among them – were going shopping to the city, and naturally, dinner plans fell to me. I actually tried to get a table at a couple other places first, and then when one at Baker and Banker was available, I snatched it up – and I’m so glad I did!