The end of an era

I have decided to end my time posting here. From now on, please read my posts at the new Mobilize. Divide and Conquer. Look Good Doing It.

Thanks for stopping by!

You want some tots?

My friends and I went to Grill last night around 2:30 a.m. Apparently it's the place to be at that hour, because there were tons of people out front and it was pretty packed indoors when we got there.

I've been to Grill once before, as a freshman undergrad. I remember eating french toast, and that's about it. Oh, and the table we sat at was round. We were there on election night 2004 with a bunch of other Young Democrats, depressed because things weren't looking too hot.

I guess the most exciting thing you can eat at Grill is tater tots, because my friends were adamant about the fact we were going to get some--to get a lot of them.

I was not at all in the mood for any sort of food. Water was fine. I could've gone for another beer, but no food.

Despite my stomach's advice that it was still full from a delicious pizza margherita dinner at Zona 78, I tried some tater tots.

Now I am not a huge tater tot fan. They're usually sort of soggy and greasy. But these at Grill were crispy and delicious. I actually ate more than I planned.

But I will admit the ketchup was my favorite part of the snack. I have no idea why.

So if you're up and about in Tucson and want a crispy, savory snack, I'd suggest Grill. Especially after 10 p.m., because that's when everything in Tucson closes.

Another hiatus

So I haven't posted in almost a month. I'm going to blame that on the fall semester.

I've been pretty much swamped since school started, and that's never fun. But I've been having some fun despite being swamped.

Because I started graduate school, teaching and editing at the Wildcat, I have barely had time to cook anything decent, so my diet has gone to hell. I ate truffles for lunch two days in a row this week, and then almost got away with just eating brownies for dinner one night. Until my stomach almost chewed it's way out alien-style and forced me to eat a stuffed bell pepper.

I'm working on that. I figure I'll eat better if I start cooking for people in the newsroom. And it seems like people in the newsroom need home-cooked meals, so I'm down with that. It'll be a nice counterbalance to the candy jar I set up in the arts desk cubicle thinger. The candy's wiped out by the end of the week, and I've spent about $20 on candy a week so far. Talk about an expensive enterprise.

In other news, grad school is going well. Lots of homework but never a dull minute.

Teaching is going extremely well (or at least that's what I think...), and I'm happy I decided to do it.

I've met lots of wonderful and interesting people so far this semester, which is good. Especially since all of my friends left me for far-off and interesting places like California and Poland. *Sigh*

We'll see how much longer this thing lasts as a food blog. It may end up becoming an...I don't know what...grad school/newspaper/teaching stress lamentation blog.

A currant affair

I've been fairly industrious lately in the kitchen--at least when it comes to making up new things to eat.

I've had a clamshell of red currants in the fridge for over a week. I couldn't think of much to do with them--I tried mixing them in with blueberries, raspberries, blackberries and milk to make a berry smoothie one day. (That came out OK, but currants have these little nubbins--yes, highly scientific--on them that come out crunchy in liquids.)

The other day I decided I would try them with some French vanilla ice cream.

My presentation wasn't pretty, but the dish was pretty darn good.

I put about an eighth of a cup of currants into the bottom of the bowl. I drizzled 1.5 tablespoons of Nutella over them. Then I put a cup of ice cream on top of the Nutella. I mixed the ice cream around so the berries and Nutella were on top, and dug in.

The flavor was tangy, sweet and chocolatey all at once--rich and refreshing.

Once again this week, I am successful in the kitchen!

The fat tax

My boyfriend and I were debating whether or not banning trans-fats from restaurants and banning fast food restaurants from poor areas of town are bad ideas.

I said they are bad ideas, he said they're not--he opposes all bans, even on drugs (which I have to agree with--for some things, if people can't have it, they want it more. Just see how many American teens drink underage if you want an example.)

But as far as food goes, I believe there are some things Americans eat that just shouldn't be allowed on the market. Ever. Like trans fats and fast foods, refined sugars and processed foods (although I do enjoy a good slice of Velveeta every now and again).

So when I read an article yesterday about France considering a tax on fatty foods, I naturally agreed with the idea. It's not a ban, but it prevents poor people from being forced into obesity because they can't afford healthier foods.

You see, fast foods are cheap. They are quick and easy to get. Low-income areas are rife with fast food restaurants and convenience stores. I've heard several stories on NPR in which experts said the reason so many poor people are overweight is because (a) they can't afford many healthier products, (b) they work many hours, often more than one job to support their families, and don't have time to cook nutritious, balanced meals, and (c) fast food restaurants prey on low-income areas because of the cheap, quick and easy factors.

Obviously this isn't the whole story, but it's a pretty good argument for banning fast food restaurants. But if you're not into bans, a fatty-food tax seems like the way to go.

Sure, it would mean low-income families have to plan menus, shop accordingly and take the time to cook. But in the long run they won't have to pay for the side-effects of eating so much fatty and fast food (i.e. the stigma that goes with being obese and the cost of health problems associated with obesity).

I'm sure it's not a perfect solution, but something's gotta give.

Another pita possibility

If you thought one pita recipe this week was plenty, tough.

This pocketless pita bread is proving endlessly versatile (OK, two recipes isn't endless, but still).

Well, I tried something new today--a pizza recipe.

"Didn't you just have pizza yesterday?" my boyfriend asked when I told him about it.

"No," I said. "That was different."

Well, it was. The last recipe was all veggies and dressing. Yesterday's recipe was all pizza sauce and cheesy goodness.

So, I took a "loaf" of pita bread (basically, one piece) and spread my Trader Joe's pizza sauce all over it. I could have used my special spicy pasta sauce instead, but I knew my boyfriend would frown at the idea of using pasta sauce on a pizza. Then, I covered the sauce in a thin layer of cheddar that I grated myself.

To add the finishing touches, I sliced some cigiellegne (baby mozzarella balls) and arranged them on top of the pizza. I popped the whole thing into the oven for four minutes at 450 degrees (the oven was partially pre-heated), and it was perfect.

Total yum. I recommend you try it.

How to drive your dog batty

If you want to make your dog feel helpless and frustrated, give him a Kong toy.

When I first got Bijou, I bought her a Kong toy. I figured, all dogs love these. She ignored it. So I took back to the store, happy to have $9 in my wallet again.

Then I took her to my parents' house a few months ago. She absolutely loved the Kong toy there--bouncing it around, trying to lick peanut butter out of it.

After discovering her love of tennis balls, I soon decided it would be a good idea to get her another Kong toy.

So I went to Petsmart on Sunday and shelled out the money for it again. I took it home, washed it. Put one of their free treats in it, and threw the toy at her. The treat fell out. She ate it. Started sniffing the toy, licking it. I put the other treat in the toy and set it down. Then she started to get excited. It didn't take her long to get the second toy out, because it was smaller than the opening.

So I put some chicken jerky (for dogs) into the toy. For half an hour (at least) she was frantically running around the house, clawing at the toy and chewing on it. She would sit down, stand up, sit down, stand up, run from one side of the house to the next. She was so frustrated she couldn't sit still. She wouldn't let me touch the toy because she was so intent on getting it out herself.

And how did the last bit of jerky come out? Much to her dismay, as she turned the corner--running frantically from one room into the next--the jerky flew out and she was left with an empty toy. So she had to sniff the entire house to make sure this hadn't already happened without her knowledge.

Sure, it kept her entertained and busy, constantly working. But she might have had a nervous breakdown if she hadn't succeeded in getting the jerky out when she did.

I think she can handle it, though.