a bean counter's food blog
Recently, Keia Mastrianni of Charlotte’s Creative Loafing magazine asked me how I define the word “foodie.” Admittedly, I was a little frazzled by the question. Define foodie?! Let me counts the ways… For me, “foodie” is all encompassing. It’s me. It’s my world. It’s my everything.
Check out Keia’s article below, or click here to view a PDF version.
Update: the article is also posted to the creative loafing website.
If you’re like me, each morning when you sit down at your desk and open up your inbox you secretly hope to see one of THOSE emails. They come with subjects like “Goodies in the kitchen!” or “Get it while it’s hot!” or simply “DOUGHNUTS.” These are glorious emails: ones that don’t result in agitation or stress or silent shaking of an angry fist at the monitor. These emails confirm your department has, in fact, employed an angel, and the treats–be they muffins, homemade cookies, or (if you’re really lucky) the GOOD bagels–turn what might otherwise be a monotonous beginning to the daily grind into a full out PARTAYYY.
OK, maybe not a partayyy, per se, but they definitely make everyone a lot more smiley throughout the day.
Today, we got one of these very emails letting us know there were “rugelachs” in the library for our eating pleasure. Rugelachs? The library?! Yes, we have a library chock full of old tax filings and millions of pages of decaying tax code and free rugelachs. My first though was, rugelach? What the heck is that? I pounced from my desk to the library, camera in hand, all the while asking myself–what is a rugelach?!
When it comes to squash, spaghetti squash is my favorite. Granted, it took me a while to master how to halve a spaghetti squash without losing a finger, but I now enjoy a big plate of faux spaghetti (injury free) at least twice a week during squash season. 98.7% of the time, I top my squash with marinara. It’s not very creative, but it gets the job done PLUS it temporarily satisfies my persistent pasta cravings.
Tonight, after channeling my inner Arnold at body pump, I was ravenous. I could already feel the signs: tightness in my shoulders, tingling in my arms, and weak in the knees. Why, hello, low blood sugar, we meet again! Luckily, I pre-cooked a spaghetti squash last night (halved, then baked in a 375 degree for 20 minutes). Bonus points for thinking ahead, but sadly I neglected the absence of marinara fixin’s in my pantry.
Dang! Time to get creative!
In retrospect, it’s kind of shocking. I mean, I’d heard of Nutella and seen a commercial or two, but I couldn’t wrap my mind around slathering chocolate on bread. Don’t get me wrong, I love chocolate and I can eat my weight in baguettes, no problem, but a chocolate sandwich just seemed gross and, frankly, un-American. To me, eating such an insane combination felt like cheating on good ole peanut butter and jelly. When I confessed my big secret–that I’d never EVER tried Nutella–my friend Vanessa, appalled and concerned, bestowed upon me a tub of Nutella the size of a baby walrus.
That day, I had my first Nutella experience: baked stuffed bananas loaded with peanut butter, chocolate chips, and a dollop of Nutella. It only took one bite to realize I’d been robbing myself of intense palate pleasure for the better part of three decades. Since that moment, I’ve been making up for lost time and searching for things to slather with the unworldly chocolate hazelnut spread. For the record, I checked the ingredients list and chocolate-candy-crack isn’t listed—just hazelnuts, skim milk, sugar, and cocoa. Nutella doesn’t even have artificial flavors or preservatives.
It tastes too good to be true.
This post might be more appropriately titled “HOLY COW, I COOKED!”
After months of neglect, I dusted off the crockpot and kicked off the arrival of Fall, my favorite season of all, with a hearty chili recipe. What I like most about this chili, besides how tasty it is, is that it’s equally delicious with or without meat. Over the past six months or so, I’ve drastically reduced my meat consumption, a change that was (unintentionally) spurred by a sausage making class I attended. Since then, our food focus has shifted substantially, and meat now serves as more of a side dish than the main event.