clip clip...recycle...trash...cull...declutter...show time...stage...it's like theater...
so for the next few weeks to months
I will post articles I've discovered/rediscovered
to recycle them in yet another way
much easier on the moving boxes
and freight weight for sure
yes there will be a new blog
but that will all come later
first up...
The Free Press Houston aka FPH (newspaperly magazine) - Issue 155
note: take a hint on where this newspaper is from for what's up next in the blog dept for me
link...
http://www.freepresshouston.com/
note: I have also taken note that under Staff there is a Wolf
his name is Paul Holzhauer, tho as well under Wolf the he could be a she Wolf
I will keep an eye on this position/job description & also try to figure out what it is
I have never heard of this title in a newspaper/anywheres before
(other than the zoo or the wild animal reference)
link to the article that caught my eye...
http://www.freepresshouston.com/featured/top-ten-annoying-food-trends/
Top Ten Annoying Food Trends
Hey, Foodies! Stop Doing These Things
by Omar Afra and Rob McCarthy
Images by Arthur Bates
1) Over-Glorified Junk Food
2) Truffle Oil
3) Fried Egg Topper
4) Bacon Everything
5) Cross-Cultural Fusion Poserdom
6) Kimchi
7) Locally Sourced
8) Water, No Ice (This is America)
9) Have it Their Way
10) Science "Food"
Thoughts on No. 1 - 10
1 - Over-Glorified Junk Food
no mention of in this article--but now there are french fries in burgers on TV adverts...
really? this is creative, the next step, are we kids again...(I 'know' this is not a 'new' idea too btw)
it all makes me remember when my sister & I made bologne & honey sandwiches, hot dogs with pancake syrup on them, on & on...that "I'm bored this summer let's make something silly outta the ingredients left in the refrigerator/pantry" kind of thing
Wiki will need an update...to add the French Fry Burger...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_fries
as will the Wiki on Hamburger...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamburger
(note: there is a photo of No3, see below, on a burger)
I don't often post fast food--like never, I think, because...I don't eat it, unless I'm in an airport with absolutely nothing else & starving, near migraine level...but I refuse to make a hamburger to put 4 french fries on top for my own photo of this dumb duo, so here's their promo photo from Facebook that I borrowed still from an article in The Week on why the BK FF Burger is a Bust (duh)
2 -Truffle Oil
I heard this a long while ago on I think it was Master Chef or maybe Hell's Kitchen (all official like right, no matter)--it was a big No No on the show...ever since, I'm wary of when I spot that ingredient on a menu item description (I'd much rather have real mushrooms, real truffles even the better--after I found out how expensive they can come)
link to what a Truffle is...nearly the uglest veggie in the world, maybe...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truffle
Wiki quote: "Most 'truffle oil,' however, does not contain any truffles. The vast majority is olive oil which has been artificially flavoured using a synthetic agent such as 2,4-dithiapentane." (ew...how bad can that be for you?!)
black (foodie) diamonds?
from a French truffle market
I've never understood the attraction
nor the absurd price they go for
(photo credit: VanessaFrance blog - Life on La Lune - March 2012)
3 - Fried Egg Topper
this choice I can imagine at breakfast, at any other meal of the day--forget it...
what are you adding, is it attractive--nothing/more calories & no I'd say
the local The French Press Lafayette Restaurant - added fried egg on a sandwich menu item
there are more than one item now with fried eggs on top
4 - Bacon Everything
when they added this to chocolate to make bacon chocolate cake I knew we (the people of the US) were in trouble...tho I adore bacon & eggs, after that it's overkill not to mention greasy & I think possibly the wrong kind of fat to be eating period...the worst tho was walking thru the French Quarter (for those who live under a rock--New Orleans) only to first see the sign & then see people walking around with them...Bacon-tini's (yes, as in Martini only made with bacon & big strips of bacon hanging out of Martini glasses like massive gross stir sticks...can you say Yuck, like a lot...later I will read in one recipe that you smear the bacon grease around the rim of the Martini glass, ugh, double Yuck...) & somewhere these have been referred to as 'Shock-tails' (I'm beginning to think all these 'annoying food trends' have something to do with 'shock' value...sad to say...)
link to Bacon Today & recipe for a Bacon-tini...
http://bacontoday.com/bacon-martini/
(don't know what's scarier--that there's a webpage to Bacon Today or a Bacon Martini...sigh...perhaps they are done, after this, with the exploration of Bacon in Everything...wait--there's more, there is a Bakon Vodka...)
from Bakon Vodka recipes
there is not just a Bacon/Bakon Martini, but a Chocolate Bacon Martini...
(so adds to my earlier troublesome Bacon Chocolate Cake discovery)
5 - Cross-Cultural Fusion Poserdom
the worst I'd seen & experienced, at least visually--that I refused to eat, was TexMex Sushi at what was suppose to be a Mexican Restaurant (or so I thought from the signs & the menu--at first)...needless to say that restaurant is no longer in business - and - it didn't take long to go under either
links to further definitions/photos...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tex-Mex
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sushi
(I don't know who would want to put them together, really...unless they're trying to just add a sauce to the sushi rolls, but even then I'm not sure the marriage of these two flavors is tasty enough for a whole restaurant to stand by - or well, locally, it wasn't...)
6 - Kimchi
let's see what are the origins of this food--is it food, something ethnic, and to do with burying jars in the ground for long periods of time with old vegetables/cabbage is it, in them until they rot & stink & ferment... Yum--no Not yum, at all...how can people put it on anything & actually eat it...luckily where I'm living they haven't discovered this as a 'topping' on anything (perhaps they're still not done with bacon or fried eggs to go there yet)
link to if you want to learn more about Kimchi...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kimchi
(I'm sorry I read more)
from Easy Korean Food online Cookbook - Kimchi Recipe
(maybe if I liked cabbage or fermented or pickled foods more, but no--I don't think so...says even better if fermented for 6 to 12 mo's....uh, don't know how I could get past the smell at that point...)
7 - Locally Sourced
hear hear...I agree, I try very hard to support local...but am not going to buy it just because it's made/processed/sold locally...
for instance now here in specifically Southern Louisiana they're trying to make local Rum--No, not drinking it (am wondering if Pirates would want to drink it--but I've sworn off alcohol for so many more years than when I could drink that I wouldn't know how awful/good the stuff was anyways)...
or local coffee? really, it's just roasted locally right (isn't that the way coffee works--they're 'not' growing coffee plants/harvesting coffee beans in Southern Louisiana...caveat, I did hear a rumor some old lady in the country was growing/roasting--but I have not met her/seen this coffee plant or coffee beans to date...) but I do still support the local roasters because they have good (local) guy Baristas that can make a descent cup of coffee (ie an espresso)...
have found many a Fab local Barista so that often makes up for it & really many of their coffee shops bring in small batch roasted local elsewhere coffee, which isn't supporting the machine or some non-fair trade coffee farmer so I'd like to feel I'm helping out the small business owner even if not a local one (for the beans, but for the barista/the coffeeshop--those are local...tho I will drive quite a long Long way for good coffee!)
and also here of late there's Pecan Oil to try 'n replace Olive Oil, they say, but I don't see that blowing up all over the country & I love pecans & all things baked/cooked with pecans but Pecan over Olive Oil am not convinced of...
there is local cheese, is it just goat cheese am not sure--but to find it, well you have to look...once spotted it at Great Harvest, perhaps it's been at the Farmer's Markets & I've missed it, then one time at a test tasting at e's Kitchen I think it was--then never saw the lady again, was talk then of opening up a cheese shop downtown (now maybe with the Astra Market setting up downtown she may show up again...)
there are local 'jars' of I don't know what all--condiments? sides? appetizers? veggies? fruit/jams? pickled quail eggs? on & on of what they could be--all in jars...those I see all over, in stores/shops/farmer's markets, but do I want to try them? uhm...no, not really...except, there's got to be an exception--I'll try anything in jars from Bread & Circus, nothing has disappointed me there & I'd like to think I know the 2 behind this 'jar' food or 1 of them actually does cured meats of all sorts to boot (not in a jar) & so far, knock on wood (or a jar) they've been oh so very de-lish!
I admire local supported/local made - some foodie items are just best as original (say Cajun or Creole--if there's not a chef/food stuffs in the kitchen from Louisiana I have great doubts about how original that dish is coming out to the table) & I think these originals (esp if made in the USA) should be sold as such but still sold local so we can still support the local shops...
this is all starting to sound like when I found out after the French Fry ban that there are way Way more things made in France or owned by French companies than we'd like to think about in the good ole' local USA...if you dig far enough what is grown/made locally--do we want to know...
but I have to say they're trying really Really hard at the Farm to Table/Farm to Fork idea here--more power to them & the few restaurants/chefs that are trying really Really hard to keep up with this trend/good idea (a lot of people will have to be reminded of Seasonal Foods though along the way--we are So use to having what we want to eat whenever we like that we've forgotten how Mother Nature really works at different times of the year...)
Pecan Oil from Kinloch Plantation Products
link to what Cajun food is or Cajun Cuisine (or per the World According to Wiki)...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cajun_cuisine
link to what Creole food is, as differs from Cajun food...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louisiana_Creole_cuisine
(mostly folks will just tell you there's more tomato/tomato sauce in these dishes)
8 - Water, No Ice (This is America)
water is always a subject to ponder...but with or without ice I thought was only to worry about in foreign countries where the tap water was suspect, so that you had to drink bottled water...we'd like to think that here in our own country that we didn't have to worry about that--but lately after contaminated water in a nearby town/Parish I can see you'd go for not just bottled water but no ice as well...really as for me I like lukewarm/room temperature water--I think it's better for you (& as a kid I would eat ice cubes in Florida growing up & have a hard time 'not' crunching on them--which I think my teeth are not the better for...) so I would probably go with this water, no ice...tho I have heard at least one college age girl order this at a table next to me recently & wondered why did she order that? I didn't know it was a thing
this is where I put my filtered water, no ice when I'm at home or in the car or at friends or anywheres really 'other' than taking it inside a restaurant or a coffeeshop...
glass water bottle in sleeve by Life Factory...see more of these at their link... http://www.lifefactory.com
9 - Have it Their Way
because we have gotten use to a lot of choices...and...we all seem to have allergies or are watching what we eat for whatever diet/exercise program there is--I can't imagine a restaurant now a days 'not' taking a request for a revision to your order...I know that most restaurants will charge a split fee for halving an order & I've been told I'll have to pay the full price for a menu item that I've asked for something to be left off of it, which I've not argued about (at the time didn't think of it, I just wanted what I wanted to eat & not have to pick out the offensive item so that by the time I did everyone else at the table would be done eating) -perhaps they'll start a charge for mucking up their recipes as well in future...
link to article considering restaurants substitutions & paying more for them...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/craig-goldwyn/restaurant-menu-substitutions_b_1317023.html
link to Restaurant Hospitality's spin on that same article...
http://restaurant-hospitality.com/operational_tips/charge-for-substitutions-0711
10 - Science "Food"
at first I thought they were going to go off on GMO's & that kind of science made food...guess they mean more the equipment of science (but as of today I have never seen anyone try to laser my food at the table like flaming desserts kind of deal) I don't much like being a lab rat in a doctors office nor in a restaurant...it's like the Wizard of Oz behind the curtain or a Dog & Pony Show is done to entertain/to cover up the bad/cheap food or in an attempt to be new or creative--that's not the way to do it I'm thinking & my taste buds too...did someone say you eat with your eyes before (then again I've not tried the restaurants in the dark and am not about to anytime soon...) also along with this I personally like food that I can eat easily--if I have to wait forever or make a huge effort at getting to my food to eat it or too have so many oddball ingredients or cooked oddly items on my plate...my tastebuds are confused & I'm not a happy satisfied (tummy/) customer, esp if just laid down a day to a week's pay for a meal...
link to New Scientist magazine & article on 'laser cookery'...
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21628965.200-laser-cookery-makes-your-food-more-fun.html#.UkZPONLa_4Y
No miracle (Image: Kentaro Fukuchi)
note: image from article in New Scientist on 'Laser Cookery'
(yes that is a QR-Code...could you actually use your cell phone to look up anything with this--I don't know, but obviously somebody in Japan is trying)
I'm sorry all in all I want to taste good whole real food, that simple, thank you & good night
