While I haven't been here much these days, you can find me in several other places on the web:
... on KQED talking about rising food costs, and what Michael Pollan and Alice Waters said that bothered me.
... on Serious Eats as the San Francisco writer for their national farmers market series (I will be posting about once a month).
... on Twitter mostly twittering about what I'm eating and cooking.
... on Flickr working hard on my 365 day project (about 100 days to go!)
With the chaos of the holidays, I didn't get a chance to tell you that I posted my Top 10 Tastes of 2007 on Bay Area Bites. It was a year of delicious tastes, and I hope to have equally wonderful bites this year.
And today, I wrote about Marin Roots Farm, a new booth at the Ferry Plaza Farmers' market.
Oh, and if you haven't had a chance to read the Eat Local Challenge piece called "Shut up and Eat?" it's worth checking out.
Happy Tuesday, all!
The Eat Local Challenge blog has been nominated in two categories for the 2007 Food Blog Awards:
You can vote in these categories and many others at the Well Fed Network. Voting is open through Friday, December 14th, 11:59 pm EST.
While I founded the Eat Local Challenge blog, I always feel a bit strange getting the credit for the site. It's grown into something that's so much bigger than me. The authors at the site have gone a long way to help the general public realize that this is a nationwide movement that can be practiced in a moderate, manageable way. So that's why I was extra proud to see our little site listed among the best this morning. Thanks for voting!
Reason #19,739 that I love this series of tubes? I posted this photo on Flickr a few days ago and was really curious about what the right-hand side of the billboard said. A lot of signs in this style can be found around Vietnam, and they usually have words of encouragement on how to be a good citizen or something else encouraging and pro-Communist party.
So I knew that it was a Vietnamese government-related sign, but since it had to do with food I was very intrigued. I sent it to bad-ass blogger, Graham at Noodlepie, he asked his readers and I had my answer really quickly.
The letters VACR on the billboard refer to Vietnam's program to rebuild agriculture. The acronym stands for fruits and vegetables, aquaculture, livestock and rice.
If you enlarge the photo, you'll see that the section on the right shows durian, jackfruit, roosters, corn, fish and some other fruits. One commenter's translation of the sign is as follows:
phat trien = improve
giong lua = rice plant
can an trai = tree bearing fruit
va = and
vat nuoi = raised animal (?)
chat luong cao = good quality
I wrote a post on Tuesday at KQED's Bay Area Bites detailing my first impressions of SPQR. I don't often do formal restaurant reviews, so this one is called "SPQR: A preliminary report." In the words that I used on my flickr page, "Go. Go Now." I have a long history with A16, so the fact that I had to try SPQR within days of its opening probably isn't a surprise.
Speaking of Flickr, I've been slowly going through the Vietnam trip photos and posting a couple a day. The photo above is one that I posted this week. Nine months after the trip, I am finally feeling like I can start to digest parts of it and talk about it. It took that long to not be completely overwhelmed by that amazing trip. So I've been writing a small amount about my impressions with the photos. You can see it all in the Vietnam Collection of my Flickr. You can subscribe to a feed of my Flickr photos using this link.
Also, if you read this site through an RSS reader, you may not notice the site's new look. I am happy to have new digs. Thanks for everyone who weighed in months ago about the new look. I chose a design that will allow me to swap photos in and out of the banner fairly easily.
I'm thinking it's time to retire the beets theme of this site. If you want to have a say in my next blog theme, check out my sample banner possibilities and comment on flickr. The banner look & feel may change a bit as I set in the type, but I'd be interested to hear what theme you like best.
And remember, I'm not as creative about changing my banner as Cookie or Dooce. I've had this look for about 1.5 years, I believe, so whatever you choose is most likely going to stick for a while.
Look what happens if you google "grandma". A picture of my grandma Lupe, from an old post, comes up. You should have heard my aunt trying to explain this to grandma a couple weeks ago. She had to start by defining the Internet, then by defining Google, and on and on.
Culinate is having a fun contest where a blogger will be sent to Napa for a grilling class at COPIA. And I was nominated. Would you go vote for me? The exciting thing about the contest is that by voting, you are also entered to win the contest - they are sending one blogger and one reader to Napa.
Thanks!
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.
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