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!

Restaurantes en Santander

Aunque estoy contenta con la comida que mi madre cocina, me gustaría probar restaurantes en Santander también. Así, el otro día, después de almuerzo en mi casa, fui con amigas a un restaurante cerca del centro. Tuvimos el menú del día y era tres diferente opciones para el primer y el segundo plato y muchos opciones para postre. La comida también incluye vino y café.  Tuve hojaldre con jamón y queso, calamares asados con cebollas y papas fritas. El hojaldre era riquísimo y se sirve con un ensalada y puré de papas muy cremoso. Los calamares eran delicioso también y la salsa de cebolla los complementado perfecto. Para el postre tuve pudin de coco. Era como flan, pero con el sabor de coco. Lo me gustaba mucho. En todo, fue un buena experiencia, y quiero ir a más restaurantes antes de salimos Santander.

Paella

Hoy mi almuerzo era increíble. Aquí están fotos. Disfrute!

Leaving my preconcieved notions of Spain behind

During my time in Santander, in Cantabria, on the northern coast of Spain, I am staying with a local family. While there are many benefits to staying with locals, including continuous inoculation to the language, I have to say the best part is getting a taste of how locals really eat. This isn't some restaurant or chef's interpretation of Spanish food, this is real, stick to your bones home cooking. I'm not sitting in a four-star restaurant being bombarded by jazzed-up interpretations of what makes Spanish food uniquely Spanish, I am tasting what comes from the hands and hearts of people raised on the cuisine.

I have to say, I am constantly surprised by the variety of foods I am served here. I have had a classic soup from Burgos, pasta tossed lightly with hard-boiled eggs and white-fleshed fish, garlicky meatballs, steamed cabbage, fried sardines, chicken wings and roasted pumpkin soup. I guess I didn't really know what to expect in terms of a "theme" of Spanish food, but so far I haven't been able to grasp on to a strong common thread, besides the use of olives and olive oil, which I expected.

It seems people have a kind of "anything goes" type of mentality when it comes to preparing meals. What they have on hand, what they got at the local market, is what is served. Sometimes each part of the meal is separate and compartmentalized. Sometimes it seems there is no cohesion. But the strange thing is it works. I can't complain about anything I've had. And even though with my American-mentality I first questioned the pairing of certain foods (Why aren't we having pasta with the meatballs? Wouldn't pork go well with cabbage?) in the end everything was fluid and logical.

I am more than ready to encounter another odd couple and have my preconceived notions of what makes a meal "a meal" challenged again and again.

Madrid

El primer almuerzo

El primer día en España fue muy abrumador pero tenemos tiempo para un buen almuerzo. Fuimos a un restaurante poco en un paseo. El comida completa fue sólo 10 Euros y incluyendo ensalada o sopa, un plato principal, postre y bebidas. Comí una ensalada caprese primero. No fue como la ensalada caprese yo estoy familiarizada con. Claro hay fueron tomates y queso, pero no albahaca ni balsámico. También, la ensalada tuvo aceitunas y lechuga. Fue muy extraño. Por mi plato principal tuve lomo con un salsa picante y papas fritas. Las papas fueron muy delicioso. El lomo fue ordinario, no especial. Pero, lo mejor fue el vino. Nosotros tuvimos cuatro o cinco botellas de vino tinto y todo fue incluyendo con el precio y lo fue sabroso. Típicamente no bebo vino tinto, pero cuando en España!  Y no fue vino barato como se recibe por un precio económico en los estados unidos. ¡ En realidad, vino es la bebida más económico en España y es más barato que el refresco y a veces la agua!

The first day in Spain was really overwhelming, but we still had time for a good lunch. We went to a little restaurant in an alley. The whole meal was only 10 Euros and included salad or soup, a main entree, dessert and drinks. I had a Caprese salad for starters. It was not like the Caprese salad I am used to. Of course there were tomatoes and cheese but no basil or balsamic. Also, the salad had olives and lettuce. It was really weird. For my main dish I had pork loin with a spicy sauce and french fries. The fries were sooo good. The pork was pretty ordinary, nothing to write home about. But, the best part of all was the wine. We had four or five bottles of red wine and it was really good and included in Price. I usually don’t drink red wine, but when in Spain! And this was not cheap wine like you would get for a low price in the U.S. In fact, wine is the most economical drink in Spain and is less expensive than soda and sometimes water!