2012 – Page 7 – Fervent Foodie

Foodie Penpals

August 31, 2012 5 Comments

What is it about getting a package in the mail that makes me squeal with excitement? Just the sight of a box on my doorstep makes a Cheshire cat smile spread across my face. As I carry the box inside I start playing the guessing game. I wonder what’s inside? Who’s it from? I know I ordered a book on Amazon four days ago, and since this is an Amazon box that’s probably what’s inside… but maybe it isn’t?! (p.s. it was.)

I think this package induced excitement is a large part of the allure and success of online shopping because deep down we’re all little kids dying to tear through that brown mailing paper. Occasionally (when I find a free shipping promotion) I’ll partake in an online shopping spree and buy hundreds of dollars of clothes only to return each and every piece at my local mall the following weekend. When will I learn that nothing I buy online fits? Even if I buy one of every size available, one size will inevitably be too small and the next size up is absurdly large. And since they don’t make clothes in half sizes… Yes, it all goes back. (My sincere apologies to both Banana Republic and the Limited for the large deficits I’ve created in your sales figures over the years.)

I recently realized this obsession with packages was a little pathetic (and neurotic), so I starting seeking other more respectable means of receiving packages in the mail. I considered Cravebox and my local CSA, but decided both of those required too much commitment. Then I found my answer: Foodie Penpals. The concept is simple—you send a package full of foodie goodies to your assigned foodie penpal, and then a different foodie sends you a package too.

Kim, who blogs at This Healthy Endeavor, was my foodie penpal, and she sent me a TON of goodies from a store in Cincinnati called Jungle Jim’s.

Jungle Jim’s is new to me. Have you heard of it?

Features, Food Articles, Urbanspoon

Microgreens, Macro Trend

August 30, 2012 1 Comment

Fervent Foodie is a contributing writer for the official Urbanspoon blog.

From solitary slices of orange to giant lettuce doilies, plate garnishes have perplexed diners for decades. Garnishes are typically used to quickly and simply fill a perceived void on a plate or inject a bit of visual interest, like the dramatic pop of color a single sprig of parsley can bring to twenty ounces of beef, a pound of steaming potatoes, and a thick pad of melting butter. In what remains a culinary mystery, kitchens across the globe have chosen to fill the visual and spatial voids with unappetizing embellishments, leaving most diners unsure…

(continue reading about the microgreens trend on the Urbanspoon blog)

Features, Food Articles, Ramblings, Urbanspoon

Tastefully handling distaste

August 14, 2012 No Comments

Fervent Foodie is a contributing writer for the official Urbanspoon blog.

I’m three bites into my shrimp fajitas at a new (to me) Mexican restaurant, when the waitress appears at the table inquiring how the meal tastes. I pause, wiping my mouth as a stall mechanism, while I frantically try to piece together words and form a polite response. A simple “it’s good” is all I can muster. She smiles and walks away. I frown. The shrimp’s fishy odor, which arrived at the table well before the plate, lingers over me like a putrid fog. The menu touted fajitas with onions and peppers, but…

(continue reading on the Urbanspoon blog)

Features, Ramblings

Crazy big news!

August 3, 2012 12 Comments

A month or so ago, I was piddling away evening hours on Facebook when something caught my eye in a big way—Urbanspoon, the leading online local restaurant guide (and a resource I use religiously), was seeking bloggers for the official Urbanspoon blog. What! A crazy excitement washed over me, and with blazing eyes and a butterfly filled belly I began furiously typing an application letter. I introduced myself and my blog and my deep passion for carbohydrates. I wrote about my love of Urbanspoon and how I am both a long-time user and contributor on the site. I flaunted my Urbanspoon Prime status, and even though I couldn’t visually emphasize that elite status with sprightly jazz fingers, the page was sparkly enough to imply them.

That was the easy part.

Then the hysteria began to diminish and the self-doubt speak started flowing. Was anyone even going to look at this thing? There had to be thousands of applicants… What am I doing? My shoulders hunched, but I trudged onward and began to plead. If selected, I promised not only homemade chocolate chip cookies but also a 5-course Italian dinner, complete with my famous tomato basil bruschetta and Amazeball’s meatballs (of course, famous here is used in relative terms). I sat and stared at the blinking cursor on the screen. It didn’t seem like enough–it wasn’t enough. I had no choice but to level with them, so I wrote “If given the opportunity to be a blogger for Urbanspoon, I’d probably poop my pants (in a good way, if that’s possible).”

Then I emailed it off, poop reference and all.

Ramblings

The Banana Party (plus links to 7 great banana recipes)

July 31, 2012 10 Comments

Back in college, I would often carry a banana in the front pocket of my pea coat, like a yellow edible pocket square. This was back before energy bars were all the rage, and my banana was not only all-natural but also quirky and cute and totally college (trust me). I was always prepared with a snack on hand, should I have to miss lunch for a study date (or a nap in the student center). To this day, I still open my banana from the bottom (the end without the stem), just like my mom.

Try it. Thank me later.

Recently, my friend Vanessa and I received emails from Dole asking if we’d like to co-host a banana party. You heard me. A banana party.

Obviously, we said yes.

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