View from the Kitchen

Baby Pear

Yep. It's official. And food is playing a critical role in this pregnancy. First of all that incredibly, insane obsession with truffle butter in December; I think I can chalk that up to pregnancy. Now the smell is less than pleasing. But I'm all about Indian food, salad, salad, salad and toasted everything. The weirdest thing is I (who never passed a cookie) have skipped dessert several times. A first in my life, I assure you. Stay tuned.

posted by PerfectPear @ Saturday, February 26, 2005 1 Comments

What are these?

I was cruising through flickr.com for food photos and found this lovely photo from someone named, Limone. How many amazing food things does this conjure up? The red... the shape... makes you want to reach right in. Flickr.com is awesome for photos. You can post your own, share others, or just browse. And no worries about anything weird, or uh... cringe inspiring.

posted by PerfectPear @ Saturday, February 26, 2005 1 Comments

Back from the Land of Fried Everything

I went to Tulsa for my Aunt Ella Lea's 90th birthday. It was really fun. I'm the only person I know who comes home from family reunion with ribs that ache from laughing all weekend. I don't know if you've ever been to Tulsa, but if you haven't, resist the temptation to toss it in as a fly-over state, worthy of trading to Canada for a six pack of their beer. My dad had two restaurants there, before I was born. I've seen pictures and heard tale though, the place was deco heaven with red and chrome barstools and red counters. Lunch specials of meatloaf and salsbury steak with green peppers. Pretty hearty, stick to your ribs, stuff. Anyway, Tulsa has some great places to eat. Pauline's (in Catoosa) for one, fried catfish galore, fresh biscuits, gravy, okra, and turnip greens and to top it all off, chocolate gravy. It's this insane concoction that people pour over biscuits, mashed potatoes, or ice cream. So seriously, would you want to trade OK to Canada when they come up with Bama Pies and sweet gravy?

posted by PerfectPear @ Friday, February 25, 2005 0 Comments

park here

Where are they? Where are those girls with the thin mints? I love this time of year, the promise of spring training and of course, Girl Scout Cookies.

posted by PerfectPear @ Tuesday, February 15, 2005 1 Comments

Martha's Outrageous Chocolate Cookies

I made these for my book club on Sunday. I wish I had taken pictures. I'll do it next time. They are chewy, lovely and overwhelmingly chocolate-y, as in don't have too many before bed and no need to serve with coffee, unless you want your house painted and cabinets cleaned in record time. They are a little fragile when you take them out and Martha suggests transfering to cooling racks, which actually made things a little harder. I managed to drop two of them ... but grabbed them before Savannah swooped in. Mon petite fido... I would suggest letting them cool on the cookie sheets a couple of minutes before transfering.

posted by PerfectPear @ Tuesday, February 15, 2005 0 Comments

Soon Tofu Simply Stink-pendous

Our friends, Lan and Deanna took us to a fabulous Korean barbecue restaurant in Arcadia last night. It was one of those places that you don't know about until you hit upon it, or someone in the know let's you in, hidden in a mini mall next to a Blockbuster. I've had Korean, and I love it, but this was AMAZING. We had mushroom soon tofu which is served boiling hot at the table. There were hundreds of mushrooms in the boiling clay bowl. We broke our little brown eggs and watched them bubble, dipped into the goodies that were served with everything. The place is non-descipt, wood picnic tables, linoleum floors, family friendly (except for the boiling clay pots, watch yourself...) and really, really good. I have found that the better the Korean food, the worse the lingering smell on your hands, clothes and hair. It's not as great the next day, but hey, wear wash and wear and find these places.

posted by PerfectPear @ Tuesday, February 15, 2005 2 Comments

View from the Table

I love the recent articles on blogging in the New York Times, including Julie Moskin's, "The Waiter You Stiffed Has Not Forgotten". I've catered, I've waited tables, I've done kitchen prep, and more often than not, I am an advocate for the one in the apron. But there are exceptions... Last night I went to the Yard House with my family for a casual dinner. It's a steak/burger place in Pasadena, and well placed near theaters and shops. It's kind of loud, which we expected, and has a huge menu, which I was surprised by. I had heard from friends that the food was good and great quality. The waiter was just a pain in the ass. He introduced himself and then said that he would only be standing in for another waitress who would join us shortly. He insisted on inserting himself into our dinner, into every conversation, and tried desperately to be charming, by calling my aunt and my mom, (both over 60) "Miss" and winking. They were distracted and annoyed. He then offered more sides, (at an increased cost) no more than five times. He also commented at length about every single choice my family made, well beyond, "Great choice..." It was fairly miserable. He was like a barnacle, unable to wrest himself away from our table, unable to measure that since everyone's mouth was full, and we were nodding that indeed, things were really, OK, and we didn't need anything else thank you Maybe the guy had OCD and couldn't grasp anything close to subtlety. We did tip 15% because I'm sure he was going to short shrift the other waitress, who was very good and very attune to conversations and interrupting. I'm sure that guy complains all the time, when he doesn't manage to ingratiate himself into the graces of a table and they are annoyed instead, shorting him, or worse. Someone needs to get a clue.

posted by PerfectPear @ Wednesday, February 09, 2005 2 Comments

Dim Sum Scene, Say That Three Times Fast

Another rockin' article from last week's food section, on LA's dim sum scene. "Real Fireworks". The photo and the food were too much for me to resist. I used to think dim sum was all about greasy, globs of stuff I couldn't get my head around. AND then I got my fat head around what it's really suppossed to be like. Check this out.

posted by PerfectPear @ Tuesday, February 01, 2005 0 Comments

From NPR's Morning Edition; Farmer's Markets in West Oakland

February 1, 2005 · At a farmers' market in West Oakland, Calif., shoppers who don't usually have access to fresh produce buy organic fruits and vegetables from Central Valley farmers. The program, funded by a government grant, is helping to change eating habits in a low-income community.

posted by PerfectPear @ Tuesday, February 01, 2005 0 Comments