Day 93: Chocolate Mousse

I went to La Provence on Division right after work for this one. The place was nice, not too busy, and had cheesy early aughts music playing like "Why Can't I?" by Liz Phair that made the girls at the next table over snort about five times while laughing. After looking at the menu, I felt a little sad that I wasn't having breakfast because a number of the items looked quite appetizing. I settled for ordering a chocolate chip cookie to go with my chocolate mousse.

It was fantastic. It came in a chocolate cup and had smear of caramel and a small dollop of whipped cream that was topped with a cherry sauce. I couldn't have asked for better.

Day 92: PBJ

Ah, the old classic. And it really is. The first reference in print to the PBJ is in 1901, and the recipe calls for a triple-decker structure with currant or crabapple jelly. This is before peanut butter was available commercially, so people had to grind their own peanut butter. It wasn't until the 1930s that the PBJ became a hit among children, due in part to sliced bread becoming more available. Wikipedia says (credibility doubtful) that the average American will have consumed at least 2,500 PBJs before high school graduation.

It's probably true for Alex. He loves peanut butter!

This is a cute infographic about PBJ, and the little guy looks like Alex:

Day 91: Sourdough Bread

This is probably one of my top three breads. It goes great with BLTs and is amazing as a toast. I think the only thing better is tomato basil bread and garlic bread.

I'm pretty sure this is the only bread we buy on a regular basis. It tends to go bad before we eat it all since I forget about often.

Well today is your day sourdough!

Day 90: Taters

This day is a sub for Clams on the Half Shell, mostly because we couldn't find them. But taters? Yes, please! Since the day is about taters as opposed to straight potatoes, we decided to make tater tot hot dish.

It's basically a terribly Americanized (bastardized) version of Shepherd's Pie. You get ground beef, cream of something or other soup (we used broccoli this time) and a canned vegetable (we used corn), and you bake it all with tater tots on top. Deliciously fattening!

Alex was super hungry when it came out of the oven, so we dug in quickly. But somehow, the taters were not done! Lame! So we microwaved the first serving and put the rest of the casserole back in the oven. Second serving was great. From an original Idaho spud (that's me!), Happy Tater Day!

Day 89: Turkey Neck Soup

More soup. As I've said, I'm not much of a fan of soup. It's just blah most of the time. This proved no different.

The first bite was nothing special. I didn't hate it, but I didn't love it. I decided to add about 100 oyster crackers to it. It definitely made it better.

But doesn't that just make this an excuse to eat oyster crackers?

Day 88: Lemon Chiffon Cake

So here we are at Papa Haydn again, because, as I've said before, it's the only place to get things like this. A Chiffon cake is special because it's made without butter, so it needs a nice accent to complement the lightness.

Like lemon. The only issue, at least for Alex, was that the lemon curd on top of the cake was quite tart. I thought it was delightful. Despite his issues, Alex finished the slice quickly.

Ain't he cute? Actually, he looks quite sinister here, but I think it's due to the graininess from his iPod Touch camera. Sorry, dudes. We forgot the good camera.

Day 87: Something on a Stick

I did not make this up. There are a number of days on this list where I have some freedom to choose. I had a little bit of an inkling to do something weird, but it's been pretty rainy today and all I have is a bike to lug me around. So simple it is. And what could be more simple than corn dogs. Acutally, now that I think about it, popsicles would have been easier. Damn!

I got a six pack from Safeway and threw them in the oven. You really can't go wrong with a corn dog. Unless you're stupid and choke on the stick. But isn't the danger part of what makes it fun?

Chomp!

Day 86: Spanish Paella

This food day was an irritation. An irritation of time mostly. And the weird part is that the irritation all took place yesterday. Oh, don't worry, I still only ate the food today. Let's travel back shall we.
Neither of us knew of places to find paella, so Liz searched online and found only one place: Toro Bravo. It was a bit out of my way on a bike home to work, but not only that, it doesn't open until 5 pm. We decided to pick up the paella then and eat it the next day. We tried to see if we could call in the order, but they didn't pick up the phone. We resolved to just go there and try and get take out. Giddy... Up.

When we got there it was packed. This is a super trendy place. Liz talked to the guy and he told us that they don't do take out orders since the kitchen is so small. Liz turned to me for answers and I grumbled something about whatever we need to get it done. I was in a bit of a bad mood because of the hassle this was becoming, but also because I hadn't even had my spinach salad dinner. We added our name to the list and waited our requisite 45 minutes at the bar next door to get our seats.

As soon as we sat down, Liz laid down our situation: get us paella and a few apps so we can bolt. The bartender was happy to oblige.  The apps were good and the atmosphere was nice. If I had had the time on Thursday I would have loved to sit and actually enjoyed myself. Once we got the paella we were out.
On the way home the aromatics in the car were lovely. Liz was dying to eat some. The plan was also to have her eat it for dinner that day and I'd eat left overs the next day. She loved it.

This brings us to today. When I got back to the house and finished taking Saba out, I got right to heating up the plate in the oven. I was actually looking forward to eating it, as long as I avoided the seafood parts. And the smell did not lie. It was mouth watering. A good spicy and a rich flavor. If I ever get this again, I hope I can get more of a land paella than a mixed dish paella,

Day 85: Spinach

I used to have spinach salads all the time a few years back. I normally made them with croutons, sunflower seeds, tomatoes, Parmesan cheese, Craisins, and ranch dressing.

This time I went with more of a meal type option. I had it with chicken, tomato, and cucumber. The dressing was what ever creamy delight I found in Emily's fridge. Liz got some sort of vinaigrette, but I'm not a fan of those. I like my dressing to be about 30-40% of the flavor.

I ate it really fast. Because it was good, but also because I was super hungry and I had a fun little board game project to work on.

Day 84: Lobster Newberg

The only interesting thing I could find about Lobster Newberg is that the name is actually an anagram of Lobster Wenberg. Apparently, sea captain Ben Wenberg introduced the dish at Delmonico's restaurant in New York City. This was in 1876. The dish was added to the restaurant's menu and became very popular. Then, Delmonico and Wenberg had an argument (big old babies) and the dish was removed from the menu. But the people still wanted the dish, so Delmonico changed the name to Lobster Newberg.

So, I am sure that in a restaurant this dish looks much fancier. All I have to say is that it was a little bit of a pain in the ass to cook. I had to opt for frozen lobster tail (this isn't the east coast, after all) and de-shell it and then steam it. Since I have a weird thing about lobster and shrimp (they are giant insects! In the sea!), it was especially trying to do this. Then I had to mix egg yolk, heavy cream and Madeira (of which I had to get a whole bottle for ONE tablespoon) and stir constantly until it 'thickened.' Ummmm...I was very uncertain when it was actually thickened. It progressively got thicker and thicker so I pulled it off the heat when it was the consistency of mustard. Then I added salt, cayenne pepper, nutmeg and the lobster chunks and put it back on the heat while I made a piece of toast. Unfortunately, while it was on the heat a second time, the sauce 'broke,' which is to say separated a little bit and it made me mad. Alex was horrified at the end result.

He said it looked like mucus first, which I gracefully shrugged off. Then he took a bite, let it sit in his mouth for 3 seconds and then spit it back on the plate. While he did like the sauce, he freaked out about the texture. I feel him, because the only lobster I can usually enjoy is lobster bisque, which is delicious. Should we give the rest to Saba?

She looks really interested, but we'll skip it. <You dodged a bullet, Saba>

Day 83: Chocolate Covered Raisins

Gee, there sure are a lot of days for things covered in chocolate. This is probably one of my favorite. I almost always get a box of Raisinets when I go to the movies. They are so good! For some strange reason (strange raisin?) Liz hates them. She knows my love for them, so she actually got me one regular box and one dark chocolate box.

I look so good I could be in a commercial for these things. It's a shame that they printed the box upside-down though.

Day 82: Chips and Dip

It's been a while since I've had chips and dip. It use to be pretty standard for me in a Saturday lunch. "Oh, we have sandwiches? Let's add chips and dip." Somewhere along the line, probably when I move out of my parents house. It turned into tortilla chips and salsa. Still good, but not the same.

You might suppose I have the occasional chip and dip at a party. You would be wrong. I tend to barely eat food at parties. If I do, it's usually from one bowl. So many times I'll be at a party and the food is just too fancy. I don't want humus or artichoke dip or whatever god awful thing you made that is in the blue bowl. I like the plain Janes of the party accoutrements: Doritos, pretzels, meat and crackers, etc.

So for chip and dip day I went with good old French onion dip and Ruffles (for the structural integrity) Ahhh! So good. And no, I don't double dip. I just eat the damn chip.

Day 81: Water

I definitely drink a lot of water, mostly of the sparkling persuasion. I prefer Crystal Geyser Sparkling Mineral Water, and plain only. None of that flavored shite for me. I have Alex on board with me, and that's good because he is not a devoted water drinker like me. New Seasons Market (dot com!) is having a great sale on my water today (4 for $5!) so I bought a case.

I know, I know. In a world where millions (probably billions) of people struggle for clean water, I should not be drinking bottled water. We do have a SodaStream machine at home, but we're housesitting for our friends this week. So we have sparkly water! I only hope that Alex is drinking water today. He is at softball practice and it is sunny and 65 degrees. Now to get outside, and I'll definitely take my water with me.

Day 80: French Bread

Alex really likes to eat bread. I was afraid he might eat too much, so I brought home an organic French mini from New Seasons Market (dot com!).

Quel sauvage! He just slathered it with butter and ate large chunks. At one point he dipped it in my bean and cheese nacho snack. He got about halfway through the loaf before I stopped him. Now I will find a bread knife and eat a slice the civilized way.