The Office

It's not like I've never worked in an office. I've spent plenty of time pecking away at keyboards, zoning out chatter and scouring google for obscure information. But for some reason, this office feels different. It feels like The Office.

There are some personalities in this office, and it's not exactly corralled into cubicles. Every chip crunched. Every frustrated fuck word mumbled. Every trill laugh. I hear it all.

And for those who know me, they know I can't tune things out: sounds seep into my ears with little or no permission, invading my innermost thoughts. So I hear it all, and I listen to it all. And actually, it's quite entertaining.

When I hear the guy in sales talking about wristwatches or advertorials in his cool, slow, voice I can't help but think about Oscar. And when I get a glimpse of the tired eyes, pleading to be fresh and appealing again, of the woman pounding fists with the tall, forever-in-a-suit co-worker behind her, I see a flicker of Marjorie.

Who knows who will pop up next, keeping me stimulated while I look up the square footage of a yacht, or the correct spelling of a name.

Who will be Michael Scott?

Baby food

I just found out Beech-Nut, a baby food manufacturer, just launched a new line of Latin-flavored baby food products under the Goya line. Is it OK that I am excited about this? Maybe I'm just really hungry, but mango baby food doesn't sound too shabby right now...

The chocolate monster

After cooking at an assisted living facility, I believed the elderly had to be the pickiest people on earth. One woman had a plain, broiled chicken breast and a scoop of mashed potatoes for lunch and dinner every day. One man requested that all carrots be picked out of his mixed vegetables. And cooking any type of haute cuisine? Forget about it.

But then I returned to babysitting, a job I had always loved. Kids are picky. I'm used to kids sneaking sweets and pushing peas around on their plates pretending they ate them. But they were never as bad as the elderly. And then I met her. The choosiest, prissiest most stubborn eater yet: a three-year-old monster who gnashes on chicken nuggets and chocolate ice cream till her mouth is sticky and brown, but tears up at the sight of a vegetable. 

I never thought my most challenging customer would be a child under the age of 5. But apparently, I've been lucky in the past, because I keep reading articles about picky eaters and ways to "trick" them into eating and hearing parents talk about how they can't get their child to eat anything but fast food.

Because I am not yet a parent, I can't really say it is the parents to blame. Maybe it is their parenting style, or lack thereof, but maybe it's something deeper. All I know is it's a bitch.

But, in the long run, it's probably helping me: helping me cleverly hide healthy ingredients, helping me be patient with people not as adventurous as I am and helping me find creative ways to cook with limited choices .

And, as much as I pray and hope and plead that I will not have picky children, at least I know I will be ready, just in case I do.

How Dreamy: The Unbelievable Dreamsicle Milkshake

My Cousin's photo

 Over the weekend, I had to go to Miami for an interview. I decided that instead of driving the 10 or 11 hours there and back in one day I would stay the night and enjoy a little bit of South Beach.

After some quick Urbanspoon research into dining options within walking distance of our bed and breakfast (which had an AMAZING breakfast that I will be blogging about later,) we found a cute and quirky little diner that wasn’t too pricey.

The menu was eclectic and fun. It had steaks and burgers, sandwiches and dinner meals that were featured on the Food Network Show, Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. And even though I’m not a fan of Guy Fieri, it was pretty cool to see that on the menu.

It took me forever to decide what to eat, and I ended up going with some fried food monstrosity: chicken tenders, onion rings, jalapeno poppers and mozzarella sticks. But I knew what I wanted to drink right away. Under the milkshake section, which had 20+ flavors of creamy goodness, there was a “hard” milkshake section. It didn’t take long for me to decide on one of the alcoholic dessert concoctions. I went with the Night Rider, a blend of Bacardi 151, Grand Marnier, Oreo cookies and vanilla ice cream. It was fabulous, but the true winner was the milkshake my cousin ordered, the Dreamsicle.

The mixture of vanilla ice cream, orange juice and Cointreau liquor was so good that we had to recreate it at home. And I’m going to be bold and say our version was even better, and it couldn’t have anything to do with the extra liquor we added or anything.

If milkshakes didn’t destroy my stomach, this could easily become my new obsession. The alcoholic, liquid version of an orange creamsicle? Count me in.

Nostalgia: Tic Tac traditionals

Last week, while standing in line at the checkout, surveying the rows of candy and gum, I had a sudden urge to buy Tic Tacs, but I didn’t realize that tossing the small, plastic container of mint green confections onto the conveyor belt would arouse an obsession.

I hadn’t had a Tic Tac in over a decade, and since that day, I’ve gone through six packs of the sweet little mints, even buying a bulk package.

But the point of this story is not my newfound fascination with the tiny pill-shaped sweets, it’s about the frustration I faced trying to find what was always my favorite flavor, spearmint. I couldn’t find the dark green mints anywhere. I found the pale blue-green wintergreen mints. I found white “freshmints.” I found orange. But my beloved spearmints were nowhere to be found. And during my search, which included gas stations, grocery stores and pharmacies, I realized I couldn’t find the cinnamon ones either.

So I dug deeper, and upon further investigation into the mystery, I realized my favorite flavor had been replaced, deemed unfit for sale. In an attempt to make more money, the Ferrero Company decided to nix both the cinnamon and the spearmint flavors to make room for new ideas and seasonal flavors, like Strawberry Fields and Pink Grapefruit. Yuck.

So, I guess I’ve found another item, or two, for my nostalgia collection, which simultaneously made me sad, and got me thinking about the commercial food industry. I wonder how profitable a food item has to be in order to stay on the shelves; because I have seen some unappetizing items stick around for decades, while other, often beloved, products disappear in an instant.  I really can’t fathom how a strawberry mint would outsell a cinnamon or spearmint flavored one.

What do you think? Did Ferrero USA make a mistake when they took the two traditional mint flavors off shelves, or are fancy fruit flavors really more appealing?

Caesar salads and burn outs

 

Last semester I took a blogging internship that drained my creativity. Near the end, I found myself struggling to even come up with things to write about; not a good sign. I was writing about what I like, food, and it was another opportunity to get my name out there, but I just felt limited.

So, for now, I’m going to focus on my writing in a different way. I am going to update this blog – it’s about time it got some attention. Besides, after a month or two of a blogging hiatus, I have tons of material to dump into this thing. Like how I just found the best Caesar salad I’ve tasted in years.

For some sick reason, I had never tried Big Lou’s Pizzeria before. I think maybe the location turned me off, or I just figured I would have heard more about it if it were really good. But, as much as it hurts me to say this, I made a mistake; I should have eaten there a long time ago.  The pizza is good. The garlic knots were good. The mozzarella sticks were good. But I haven’t been back for any of that stuff, and I have been back several times.

What I find myself thinking about while I’m driving to work, while I’m waiting in line or during a commercial break is that damn Caesar salad.

I have always loved Caesar salad, and at one point I would have even said it was my favorite food, somewhere in between my French fries and cheesecake stages. And even though I would probably eat any Caesar salad I could find, I do realize the difference between a “good” and a “great” one, and I find I rarely encounter one that I consider great.

So when I first tasted a bite of the crispy romaine, the sharp anchovy and the rich Parmesan cheese in the Caesar at Big Lou’s, I was surprised. I wasn’t expecting to have the best Caesar salad I’ve had in years at a pizza place, but I did. And I hope you do too.

New position

I've taken a new position at a campus-geared website writing about all things food related, and I love it! The bad part it's taken away from my time spent here, on my faithful old blog. I hope I can manage to keep both things afloat at once, and to start I am going to link articles I've written back and forth between sites, with some changes.

Since I've taken this position, I've found myself even more consumed with food: something I didn't think was possible. But, it's true, food has become an even bigger driving force in my life. It's always on my mind, even when I'm supposed to be concentrating in class. But, I kind of like that. It gives me the feeling that my career is starting to take front stage over classes, and at this point, so close to graduation, I think that is a positive sign.

Things are falling more and more into place everyday, and I'm loving it.

Here's to my future filled with food!