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Yolk's On Me

Another wonderful, punderful Monday. I would like to talk about eggs.  Easter being right around the corner and all. Eggs are wonderful.  Really.  Not only are they the universal symbol of life and rebirth, but they are also incredibly versatile and delicious. By themselves and one or two other key ingredients, they make an easy breakfast dish.  Add some flour and fat, and you have popovers, cookies, cakes...ad bakery infinitum. I am always a little saddened when I hear of someone suffering from an egg allergy.  Chocolate, okay.  Seafood, fine.  Wheat, probably better for you anyway.  But, eggs?  Sad sad sad.  Sorry, but today's post won't be for you. I used to not think too much about cracking an egg for a frittata or quiche or brownies or carbonara sauce.  Eggs are cheap, just an integral part of the recipe.  When I began to think of my food as simple and unfettered, though, I began to think simple ways to prepare eggs.  Ways in which I would only need two other thi
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History Lessons Through Food

Huh. Today's topic may prove to be one I won't be able to handle with brevity, comedy, or gravity.  Alas, away we go. Let me take you back to, oh, the year 1996.  I was in college at Iowa State University, studying to be an English teacher, and I was enrolled in an upper-level creative writing class.  The professor would have us read short pieces by professional writers so that we could discuss technique...which we would then practice in our own pieces. I can remember one heated discussion centering around the use of the word 'Oriental'.  A writer had used it to describe someone of Asian descent...and some of my classmates were outraged. "We're not rugs, we're people!" is one comment I distinctly recall among the many. It's an interesting word, really.  Oriental. Is it racist?  Certainly, it doesn't carry the connotations of other, more insulting words other races have been called over the course of human history.  But, Oriental?  F
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Back to Pundamentals

Say hey, good to be meating you again.  It's been a minute, hasn't it? I have just had a very terrible feeling...that I've come up with a very clever title for today's blog post, but that I'm going to seriously underexecute it in the body.  Like some recent American Olympians or similar. Slice it anyway you like, maybe it's paranoia, maybe I should just get on with it. Life has slowed down here recently.  I'd been adjuncting, and now that the term has ended, I get a six-month break...as there are no classes for me to teach.  This is all good, because it's almost... FOOD TRUCK SEASON! I've been working towards recertification as an ACF Certified Culinarian, and that means all kinds of hours of professional development.  So, I've been reading and studying things like avocados, onions, lamb, food allergies, and cheese.  And while all this bookwork seems tedious, I'm actually glad of it because it's putting me back in the grilled ch
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Addiction...And All That Jazz

For the record, this is not turning into an addiction blog.  Having said that, I will say that I've been without alcohol for over a week now.  It hasn't been terrible.  Sure, I have thought about it every day, but I don't think I'm craving it, or suffering from withdrawals. I do miss a good craft beer, though. I've made a goal to get my weight down under 130 lbs.  Then, I will indulge.  Not crazily, not recklessly, friends. Here's the thing.  I'm getting older.  Metabolism is slowing down.  I'm probably going to put on weight as I age.  Errr...not probably, definitely .  But, I'm too much of a fan of food and drink, and not enough of a fan of spending hours in the gym. It's an impasse, for sure - one we all face, undoubtedly. For example... This is a crappy piece of cherry pie. I teach at a college in the Culinary Arts department, so I have access to good food.  *Sigh*  Why, then, did I reach for this Sysco-knockoff premade pie?
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Booze for Thought

So.  Every now and then, I feel compelled to talk about something else besides food here at TTOSBF. Today, the topic is alcohol. I enjoy it.  Probably more than I really should, if I may lay the truth out there at my dear readers' feet. Sometimes it's a clever craft beer or a comforting gin and tonic.  I've realized lately that I often reach for the bottles in the liquor cabinet when I'm a.) bored b.) stressed c.) in a boozy social situation or d.) feel like I need a little reward for surviving (thus far) this Trump presidency. Huh.  As it turns out, most of my life these days moves within the realm of one or more of these four conditions. So, I was drinking often.  Every day. And here was the big epiphany: once I started drinking, my productivity went in the toilet.  Don't jump to conclusions, I hardly ever drank myself into a stupor...but I'd get the strong buzz going for sure.  Then, I was near useless.  I wanted to eat everything in my kitchen cu
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Citrus You and Me...There's Nobody Else Here.

Remember when, oh, a little over a week ago, I did a batch of preserved lemons?  Well, a couple of days after that, I did another batch...a quick-preserved lemon recipe I'd found in Paula Wolfert's book Couscous and Other Good Food From Morocco .  And then, the holiday break was done, and I went back to work and forgot I'd done a cool thing like cure freaking lemons.   However, today was a slow day...not to mention a snow day.  My two still-at-home children did a great job of cleaning the house while I was at work, and when I arrived home, I decided to tackle the Purging of the Fridge. Which is when I found both batches of lemons. My heart skipped a beat, my breath was lost in my throat.  Tonight could be the night!  I'd find out what preserved lemons actually taste like! But first, tacos. Yes, you so read that right.  Tacos for dinner at Chez Nelson.  The sautéing of onions, the browning of ground beef, the chopping of various garnishes.  Yes, yes, yes.  Al
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(She) Blinded Me With...Citrus

Excuse my attempt at tying today's blog entry with an iconic Thomas Dolby song.  What a terrible pun-ishment. Har har har. So, we're on the backside of Winter Vacation/Christmas Break/Holiday Hiatus here.  The kids return to school tomorrow, the freshman and I start back to our respective colleges next Monday. The clock is ticking and suddenly, I am whipped into frenzy to Get Work Done.  I suspect this phenomenon happens to many, many educators who try to avoid that panic-stricken night before they go back to work. And believe me when I say, I had the deepest, most earnest of intentions to write lesson plans, write quizzes, and generally prepare for the restart of my classes next week.  Like, really. And then...I was distracted by...citrus.  This happened. Okay, so....the lemons on the far right are no big deal.  They're available year-round.  But Meyer lemons...MEYER...I only find around here in the winter.  I first read about them in Alice Waters' cookboo
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