Life Begins at 30

John Mackey & Michael Pollan: My thoughts

As mentioned yesterday, the UC Berkeley School of Journalism hosted an exciting event last night: Michael Pollan and John Mackey in dialogue about food issues.  If you read blogs by other writers in the San Francisco area, you will notice a plethora of comments about the event last night.

Why the excitement?  It's a rare thing when we see a CEO of a major corporation sit in a room of possible detractors and open himself up to questions and unscripted dialogue.  So rare, in fact, that an auditorium with 2,000 seats sold out in less than a week. 

As the event opened, John Mackey asked how many people in the room had read The Omnivore's Dilemma.  To my eye, at least 2/3 of the audience raised their hands.  This was a room that was engaged, savvy, and ready to hear what Mackey had to say.

continue reading this post at the Eat Local Challenge blog

Anatomy of My Oscar Dinner

5 Things

I was tagged for the "5 Things" meme by Mary from Jalapeno Girl.  Though I am known among my friends as being the blogger who doesn't participate in memes, the stars aligned, and I decided to actually participate for once. 

#1. In second grade, I was asked to stay in from recess because I'd eaten spaghetti for breakfast.

The first thing you should know is that I was a geek of a kid -- never was in trouble at school, and was pretty much a bookworm for my whole childhood.  I was in second grade in Mrs. Hopkins class at Lake Arrowhead Elementary.  She was teaching a nutrition segment about the importance of a good breakfast.  Mom always fed us breakfast, but it was usually leftovers.  She didn't buy into the sugary cereal hype, and I never liked pancakes or anything like that.  So I'd eaten spaghetti with red sauce.  Mrs. Hopkins asked us all to say what we'd eaten for breakfast that morning before we were dismissed for recess.

Girl 1:  "Waffles."
Mrs. H:  "Great!  You're dismissed."
Girl 2:  "Cereal."
Mrs. H:  "Good, Girl 2, you can go to recess."
Me:  "Spaghetti."
Mrs. H:  "Please stay in from recess, Jennifer."

I was humiliated as she lectured me about the importance of a good breakfast, and the fact that spaghetti was NOT a good breakfast.  My mother promptly went down to the school the next day and informed the teacher that spaghetti was, in fact, a good breakfast.  I was never held in from recess again, and continue to eat unorthodox breakfasts.

#2. I can't stand entrees that are sweet.

Though I have mellowed about this rule a teeny bit in the past few years, I generally hate when my entrees taste sweet or syrupy.  Desserts I love.  But there is nothing more irritating than biting into an entree you expect to be savory and getting a mouth full of sugar.  My gradual acceptance of this lately has come from the realization that, when it is well executed, there is sometimes a reason for a bit of sugar in a dish.  But sugar content in entrees is so often poorly executed that I basically have made a hard and fast rule.  Teriyaki sauces?  Sweet and sour?  Sweet dressings?  Sugary squashes or other root vegetables?  Keep me away!

#3. I have convinced a legion of my friends' children that my name is "Cool Jen."

It started twelve years ago when my friend Joanne's son was an infant.  I decided to do an experiment with him and would hold him on my lap and point to him and say "Jack,"  then point to myself and say "Cool Jen."  Over and over.  It worked.  Even though they are both old enough to realize the truth, Jack and his brother call me Cool Jen to this day, along with many other children who I have since manipulated.

#4. My clumsiness has been well documented, but here's something that sent me to the injury clinic last year that you don't know about:

I was getting dressed in my bedroom, my legs got tangled in my jeans, and I fell with my head against my dresser drawer!  I had to go in for a gigantic bump on my head and possible concussion.  I also broke my arm in eighth grade by running out of the locker room and around a corner, right into the hard stomach of one of the toughest girls in school.  I knocked the wind out of her, fractured my arm, and was harassed by her and her friends for the rest of the year.

#5. I am a HUGE Bruce Springsteen fan.

Listening to Tunnel of Love as we speak.  I happen to be the only person my age I know who likes Bruce Springsteen as much.  In fact, when I scored tickets to a concert years ago, the only person I could find to go with me was my friend's 40-year old husband.  I had a blast at the concert -- me and the baby boomers.

If you're interested in being tagged for this, email me.  Otherwise I am not going to tag anyone.

Cyclo Ride, Hanoi

In a couple places in Vietnam, we took a cyclo ride.  For some reason, I imagined that it would be a relaxing, quiet ride through the town to see the sights.  It was basically anything but.  It was loud, and right in the middle of traffic.  But it was a super interesting way to watch the way that this city works.  Watch this video to see the cyclo crossing through a couple of intersections.  And remember while watching this that the zoom length on the camera I was using (my powershot sd700) was very short.  So when you see, for instance, a bus right in front of me, it's about 2 feet in front of the cyclo.

Candy Street, Hanoi

Hanoi's Old Quarter is a maze of small streets spread over a few square miles in the middle of town.  Many of the streets have a singular focus:  A street of nuts and bolts, a street of carnival-sized stuffed animals, a street of shoes, a street of travel agencies, a street of mirrors. 

The picture taken above was a street of vendor after vendor selling dozens of varieties of small candy.  The yellow candies in the middle became a favorite of mine - strong ginger flavor in a hard, sticky candy.  Delicious. 

Haircut II, Saigon

Haircut, Saigon

Streets of Saigon

Friends and family are asking to see more Vietnam photos on a daily basis.  I have yet to figure out an efficient work flow for editing from RAW to web (and to print) effectively, so the photos may be coming one or two at a time for a while. 

Vietnam UFO Fruit #2

Thanks, everybody, for your help on UFO Fruit #1: Wax/Rose Apples.  Now what can you tell me about this next one?  I've been told that it can't be eaten raw, and is used to flavor/color sticky rice.  It has a bright orange, spiny exterior and a blood red interior.  It's pretty large - size of a large grapefruit or small pomelo.  I think that the seeds are put on top of sticky rice too.  Anyone know?

Home

What does one eat after having Vietnamese food for three weeks straight?  Well, considering the fact that I had about zero energy after getting home from my flights yesterday, I think it's a miracle that I ate at all.  My dinner?  Store-bought cheese tortellini tossed with boiled broccoli, a bit of butter, salt and pepper.  Ahh ... comfort food.

This is my last official day off before starting work again and I am going to spend it editing photos, visiting a brand-new baby, catching up with Tivo, and taking a walk with a friend.  And maybe eating some more tortellini.