Bistec-en Identity

I received a text from Miguel's sister:

Marlene: I left my lunch bag in the fridge at school! If it's there tomorrow please eat it!
Me: Yes! What is it?
Marelene: Bistec encebollado. With tortillas and beans. In a gray lunch bag.

That was Wednesday night. I had class Thursday morning. I tried to get to school before they cleaned out the refrigerator. Success! I found it. I ate it.

When I get to their house on Saturday, Marlene is watching TV with her parents.
"Here's your tupperware."
"That's not mine."
"Yeah, from the lunch you left at school."
"Mine was in a gray lunch bag. That's not mine"

By this time everyone was laughing pretty hard at me, including me. I ate someone else's lunch. What are the chances that someone that day had the exact same lunch including a package of tortillas?

So to the person whose lunch I stole:
I'm sorry. It was a mistake. And you should probably use less salt.

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Snowed In

I may not have a snow shovel,

 but I do have apple pie. 

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The night before

Class begins tomorrow.  Time to learn how to do therapy after doing therapy for a couple of months.  Classes have never seemed so relevant.  

Thinking about what is ahead for the next 10 weeks, I decided to treat myself after a long day of interning.  Tacos and 3 episodes of 30rock.

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Farmer Vicky

The CSA season is almost over. Our farmer sends out an email every week telling us what we will be getting in our boxes and updating us on what's happening with the farm. I love her updates. This was the beginning of this weeks email:

I am back from my trip and in full gear. I had a great time. The mountains were beautiful - and cold. I was actually deterred one day by a snow storm. What impressed me most was the golden hues in the aspens. I thought of harvest time. The earth turns the most fabulous colors as if to rejoice in the time of harvest. I get excited watching it all come in, and it seems Mother Nature, joins with me in the triumph of the season. As a farmer, it is my job to be harmony with nature, working within the confines of natural selection, and designation. What nature creates day to day and month to month I seek to cooperate with and utilize my skills to produce a crop that only Mother Nature can create. I can not create, only emulate. It is so important to realize we are truly not the head, the boss, the top of the heap - we are subordinates in the overall scheme of nature, and this world we so wonderfully inhabit.

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Pie

This is a pie I made today. It is the very first time I have made a pie with homemade crust. I went to the farmers market this morning and got some peaches, blueberries, and raspberries (along with some other great finds). I found a recipe in a Betty Crocker cookbook. You know the three ring binder red one that your mom always had around? First I made the pastry dough. Then I realized that I didn't actually have a pie pan so I rode my bike to Target to get one while the dough was chilling. My crust making skills could use some work.

I would really like to put it on the windowsill to cool, but I learned from cartoons that this only tempts the neighborhood children. I don't want them scaling the bricks and climbing up to the second story window.

The occasion? My friend Laura is having a pie party tonight. Everyone brings a pie, and everyone eats until they're sick. Should be fun.

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CSA Week #1

This year I am participating in a Community Supported Agriculture program with Genesis Growers.

From the website:

Genesis Growers’ mission is to provide nutritious products to local families utilizing the natural processes of the land and to provide a living wage to those who work there. It is a very personal and spiritual endeavor for Vicki Westerhoff. In fact, it’s hard to separate Vicki from Genesis because her beliefs permeate every part of the operation.

The land itself is respected. When Vicki first took over stewardship of this land she found it in bad shape. Years of traditional farming had left it in an almost sterile state. The only thing living was the crops, and those, only sustained by chemicals to fertilize and keep down weeds and pests.

Vicki changed all that. She uses no chemicals and practices sustainable, natural farming. The land uses its own natural devices to nurture what grows. The result is animals living amongst the crops and yes, weeds too. That’s OK. The natural process yields naturally healthy land that provides unmatched crops.

Genesis Growers provides a living wage to its workers. Produce in supermarkets come from all over the world. In many cases, the workers providing labor on these farms are paid pennies on the dollar. At Genesis we value our workers and pay them a living wage. Without them we wouldn’t be able to provide the best quality for our customers.

Vicki Westerhoff farms Genesis with the help of her son Jon and head worker, Jay. She also employs 6-8 hands and utilizes the help of interns and volunteers. We’re extremely proud of our farm. CSA members have the opportunity to attend two parties at the farms.

This is the first week of the summer boxes. Vicki sends out an email each week to let you know what is happening on the farm and what to expect in your box. The box this week included:
strawberries, kale, spinach, rhubarb, radishes, mixed baby salad greens, purple asparagus, and thyme. I was pretty impressed with the variety this early in the growing season. The farmers markets in Chicago are still pretty sparse. The picture at the top of the page is of the contents of this week's box. These are some pictures of what I did tonight:

This is a strawberry rhubarb crisp using this recipe.

These are Kale Chips. I dressed the Kale in red wine vinegar, olive oil, fresh thyme, salt, and pepper and then baked it on a cookie sheet until crisp. This was a suggestion from the farm.

Another shot of the purple asparagus, rhubarb, and thyme.

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Little Red Bicycle

Liza and I had breakfast at the Little Red Bicycle Cafe in Portland on Wednesday morning. This was the best sandwich I have ever had. A fried egg, prosciutto, caramelized onions, fig jam, and dijon mustard all on a fresh ciabatta roll. I have to recreate this.

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Bacon Bar

I have tried chocolate mixed with a lot of things.  A couple of months ago David and I stopped by Jazz Fest where we got some free Dagoba chocolate bars.  We had one with lavender and wild blueberries.  I normally don't like fruit in my chocolate bars, but it was surprisingly good.  Today I decided to try Mo's Bacon Bar.  This is applewood smoke bacon, alder wood smoked salt, and deep milk chocolate. Bacon in a chocolate bar?  I think it sounds a little strange.  I have to admit I enjoy a little mixing of maple syrup onto my bacon while eating breakfast, but I pretend that it happens by accident.  I would never intentionally drizzle syrup over my bacon.  And putting chocolate on my bacon has never crossed my mind.  I'm willing to try it, though.  

And the verdict:  Pretty good.  It's little bits of bacon mixed throughout the bar kind of like pieces of crisped rice in a Crunch bar.  Would I buy one for the disgusting price of $8.99?  Probably not.  Would I take one from a vegetarian who happened to win it in a gift bag?  Definitely.  

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Some Pictures and My Birthday

The month of June breezed by with no blogs. It was a good month. I had a birthday, a visitor, and some great live events. We started out the month seeing James Taylor at the Ravinia Festival. Ravinia is one of those things that everyone in Chicago says you must go to. It's a series of concerts held at an outdoor venue all summer long. There is always a great lineup, but I learned that its really not about the music. It's about seeing who can have the most elaborate picnic. Wine, fancy cheeses, beautiful blankets and candelabras. We happened to pick a spot beside a fun group of Lesbians that were more than impressed with the story of my Leisha Haley encounter. David kind of made them believe that she and I are good friends. My new friend Lori from the group promises to invite us to her big summer house party in the suburbs. Thats nice, but since I sold my car I have no way to get to the suburbs.

Did I mention that I sold my car? This is the first time since I was 15 years old that I have not owned some sort of motor vehicle. I bought a bicycle though. A 1970 baby blue Schwinn. I like it. It gets me where I need to go. I've started biking to the train in the mornings instead of taking the bus. It feels good not to have a car.

Marty came to visit the week of my birthday. We had a lot of fun and ate lots of food.

This is a shot of the ferris wheel at Navy Pier.

Marty didn't really understand why, but I insisted that you can't visit "the bean" without taking a self-portrait.

Marty among some creepy headless sculptures.

Breakfast at Yolk, a great breakfast place in South Loop. I love breakfast restaurants. Of course nothing compares to "Mama's Pancake Breakfast" at Cracker Barrel, but I don't really like Cracker Barrel that much unless I'm there with my Granddaddy.

This may not have been in June, but one night while I was waiting at the bus stop, someone drove by and threw a water balloon at me. It's kind of funny now, but it was a little upsetting at the time. It took me a minute to even realize what happened. A loud car drove by, I heard a funny noise and then the ground in front of me was wet. I wasn't hit, but it was a close call.

This is a picture I took while waiting in line for the Death Cab for Cutie concert. I forgot to get these people to sign a photo release, but I don't think they will mind.

This is my car...driving away for the last time. I was watching out the window with a tear in my eye.

I dragged Marty To Beograd, a Serbian restaurant near my house that I have wanted to try since I moved in. I think it must be a Serbians only kind of place. The waitress' limited English combined with Marty's innate need to ask questions about menu items made for a few awkward moments. That is one of the things I like about Marty, though. He is never shy about asking questions.

Marty's "hey, that hamburger is bigger than your head" Serbian Hamburger.

The marquee outside of Broadway United Methodist Church never disappoints. Marty, David, and I went to the Pride Sunday service. That event deserves a blog of its own.

This truck was stuck under the overpass where I catch the train each morning. "The Careful Movers". How embarrassing.

On the 3rd of July, all of my Chicago dreams came true and I was invited to go out on the yacht of a friend's friend. No one on the boat really knew anyone else there, but that's a small price to pay to spend an evening on a yacht watching the fireworks show.

I live in a predominately Hispanic area. Fireworks are a bigger part of the culture. On my walk home the night of the 4th there were fireworks going off in all directions. The possession of fireworks in the city of Chicago is illegal, however families gathered around impromptu fireworks shows in several of the city parks that I passed on my 2 mile walk.

Last night I ate with Raquel at Dharma Garden, a Thai restaurant a few blocks from my house. I thought these spring rolls were beautiful. They were tasty too.

If you notice that my pictures lack a certain luster, it's because I never take my camera anywhere anymore, so all of these photos are from my cell phone.

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Vietnam Food

Pork with sesame seeds steamed in a banana leaf

Clay pot fish
Snake curry

Elephant Ear Fish

Floating starbucks


Rambutan

Vietnamese drip coffee. Its very strong, but nice with some sweetened condensed milk (seen in the background)

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Last Few Days in Taiwan - Photo Recap

My 13 months in Asia is over, and I am back in North America. Leaving Taiwan was a little harder than I thought it would be, and I'm not sure what I've taken from my time there. So until I'm able to think about it more, I'll recap my final month in Asia with photos. This will be the first, then I'll do one of the Philippines, Vietnam, Hong Kong, and Vancouver.

My last days in Taiwan included my first typhoon. This picture doesn't look too ominous, and really the typhoon wasn't so bad. It made for some of the most beautiful and clear skies I've seen in Taiwan. The downside was that it rained during a very busy 48 hours of packing, shipping, and seeing friends. Driving my scooter in the typhoon was a little unsettling also. And yes, I did it barefooted.

Goodbye Thai dinner with sisters Dana and Katrina. Katrina is now studying in England, and Dana is the coolest insurance agent in Taiwan.

Ichieh, Our Chinese teacher, took David, Elena and I out for a nice lunch in a cave. An artificial artsy cave, but a cave nonetheless. One of my favorite dining experiences in Taiwan.

Elena and Ichieh

Dessert. Sticky rice with peanut paste.

Onion salad. Tasted a lot like Thai Green Papaya Salad.

Fried rice with little dried shrimp. I really grew to like dried shrimp, eyeballs and all. I'll have to look for them at my local Chinese grocer's.

We said goodbye to Ariel (tear), and our enthusiastic friend Mark drove us to the bus terminal.


My final Taiwanese meal. Chicken with typical pickled sides and seaweed.

And some final goodbyes...

Goodbye lady on the tiny scooter.

Goodbye Tuesday night pizza friends.

Goodbye class.
Goodbye Ariel. I told you he was violent, but you insisted on being his friend.

Goodbye beef noodle soup.

Goodbye again Ariel.

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