ramblings – Fervent Foodie

#OperationLunch.

March 28, 2018 4 Comments

Seven years ago, I wrote a blog post about Ladies Who Lunch, in which I expressed a desire to find a group of ladies to, you guessed it, have lunch with. It was around this time that I adopted my Say Yes to Lunch Policy. The policy stemmed from my first birthday in a new city, on which I didn’t know a dang person in town. I blindly sent an email to a handful of food bloggers that I stalked on Twitter and asked them if they’d join me for a birthday lunch. And guess what? THEY CAME.

After that birthday, I implemented a new mantra: say yes to lunch. If someone asked me to lunch (or coffee or dinner or drinks) I just said YES. Even if I didn’t know the person, or thought we’d have nothing in common, and ESPECIALLY when I really just didn’t want to go, I said yes. Similar to going on a blind date, having lunch with a stranger can be a little… shall we say, scary. The thing that surprised me most about these lunches was that although the other person was often feeling just as awkward about the whole thing as me, they (just like me) were seeking a deeper connection, a friend, a lunchtime tribe. The truth is that in this era of hyper-technology and go-getter syndrome (I just made this term up and subsequently self-diagnosed it), many of us are “busier” than ever and missing having in-real-life friends. It’s not just a matter of loneliness, it’s a matter of real, raw, personal connections.

Over these last two years in Columbus (holy cow how has it been two years?!) I haven’t been proactive on my mission to lunch, and with the semester winding down, I think it’s time to refocus on this ever important goal. This summer, I’m setting a personal goal of inviting one new person to lunch each week. Maybe I’ll even write about it here on the blog. Whatdya say friends? Will you join me in #operationlunch?

THIS COULD BE US:

Ramblings

Let’s lie down.

June 18, 2012 4 Comments

I went for a run the other day. It was my first attempt in two weeks. I set out with the admirable intention of running 6 solid miles, and as I flew through those first two my goal seemed completely attainable, easy even. But then something happened around mile 2.3. My breathing became heavy and forced, and my legs moved slowly as if dragging two-ton shackles. I slowed to a walk. Step. Step.. Step…. My mind spun. “Ok, I’m stopping. I’m stopped. I’m not running, because I stopped… I’ve never stopped mid-run, but now I’m stopped, and here I am.” I looked around–at the street, the chipped sidewalk, then the grass. Everything seemed to tilt, like I’d just taken my turn in a game of dizzy bat. “I’m sitting down now, sitting down. I’m sitting down. And now I’m lying. I’m lying down. Is it laying down or lying down? I don’t know, and I don’t care because I’m lying down in the grass. This isn’t my grass… this grass I’m lying in, it isn’t mine. I hope they don’t mind, those people whose grass this is.” I lay there, arms and legs sprawled out to the sides like a beached starfish under the shade of a tree. Through the canopy of branches and leaves I could see the clouds floating calmly across the blue sky. And I lay.

I guess, sometimes, you need to lie down.

So I did.

It was unexpected and unplanned, just as I unexpectedly and unpredictably laid down my pen, my books, and my thoughts over the past few weeks. It has been three weeks since my last blog post–at least that’s what the calendar tells me. 3 weeks. Where have I been?

I know I went home to Ohio, I went to the beach, and I went to Ohio again. I know that I pondered, I caffeinated, and I mourned. We all mourned. But where have I been? Where have all my thoughts been hiding? I haven’t been present, or focused, or active in any which way, so where the heck have I been?

And what the heck have I been eating?

Recipes, What I ate

Cookie. Coma.

December 20, 2011 6 Comments

Tis the season for excessive amounts of cookies and glorious baked goodies! Fa-la-la-la-la…. la la la laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

Everywhere I turn there are COOKIES! I ~~love it~~… ~~hate it~~….

~~LOVEEEEEEEEEEEEEE~~.

~~HATE.~~

help.

Restaurants

A sweet weekend.

October 16, 2011 11 Comments

The past few weekends have been go-go-go: from Atlanta to Nashville to sleep-deprivation-fueled grumpiness seeping through every ounce of my bones. Thank the heavens this weekend was a completely different story.

Friday night the BF and I headed to Hawthorne’s to share some mouth-watering chili queso dip and small sausage pizza. And a few beverages, naturally. We had our hearts set on a balsamic glazed pasta dish and a hot fudge brownie sundae, but alas we wimped out after the first two courses. Amateurs.

Saturday, after I made out like a bandit at the outlet malls, we took advantage of the sunny day (hello high 70’s in October) and walked a mile uptown to have lunch at Dean & Deluca. I’ve never been to Dean & Deluca before, partly because I didn’t entirely understand the concept of the place and partly because I thought it was over-priced and hoity toity.

Randomly my Citi card (that I’ve had for a mere 11 years) decided to actually pay up on my “thank you” points, so I cashed those puppies in for a gift card to Dean & Deluca.

Inside of D&D, they’ve got various pantry staples like pasta sauce, noodles, spreads, and salsa. There’s also a large fully stocked sandwich bar with pretty much any toppings you could want on a deli sandwich. I went with the turkey breast on multigrain:

Loads of turkey, avocado spread, tomato, sprouts, and some chipotle mayonnaise. YUM.

The sandwich was about $9, but it was a hoss. Definitely worth the price tag. The side dishes on the other hand were a bit pricier. We nabbed some hummus and Stacy’s Pita Chips:

And some white bean salad:

At $4 a pop for the sides, plus two sandwiches, the chips, and two bottled waters our lunch came to $35. In my opinion, that’s a bit pricy for a sandwich shop, BUT it was rather delicious.

We’ll go back… once those thank you points rack up again Smile

After lunch we headed to the grocery store to stock up for the week. Grocery shopping is always a serious event for us because we each buy enough food to feed a small family. Walking past the card aisle it suddenly dawned on me that it was Sweetest Day! Whoops! I know, I know. Sweetest Day is a Hallmark holiday. Some of you might not even know the day exists. I don’t care though. I’m all about celebrating and will take any excuse I can get!

Last year, we both forgot about Sweetest Day (clearly it’s a holiday of high importance). I was in the kitchen making lunch, when I realized our oversight. I turned to Jarrod, looked up at him with a look of angry rage, and said “It’s Sweetest Day! Where’s my chocolates, biotch?”

Yes. That happened.

Tee hee hee! I know, it’s horrible. It sure did give us both a good laugh though.

For this Sweetest Day, we stuck with our pre-realization plan and cooked up some enchiladas. All I can say is OMG. Recipe recap to come this week, promise.

Since we forgot about Sweetest Day, Sunday morning we woke up “bright and early” (9am) to have a post-Sweetest-Day breakfast at the Flying Biscuit Café.

We’ve been wanting to try this place out since we moved to Charlotte. There’s practically always a line outside and that’s usually a good sign that some good food can be found inside.

We sat outside on the back patio. It was so sunny and hot I had to take off my cardigan! Gotta love fall in the south!

I ordered the veggie omelet with some chicken sausage:

Even though we were loving the sunshine, it wasn’t making for super photo-snapping conditions. I was able to coerce Jarrod into helping me filter the light with a napkin:

Ahhhh… Look at that beautifully filtered light!

Jarrod got the cajun chicken scramble filled with goat cheese and spinach and topped with a well spiced tomato sauce.

Oh… and we got a pancake. With chocolate chips. *insert drool here*

EVERYTHING about this breakfast was delicious. Well seasoned, crazy good flavor, and no grease to be found. I can’t believe we haven’t been to Flying Biscuit Café before. They even had this amazing apple butter on the table that tasted of pure fall bliss. Cannot wait to go back and try their oatmeal pancake!

After breakfast I convinced Jarrod to go for a run with me! Jarrod HATES running. Despises it. LOATHES the idea. He gave it his all, and we made it nearly 4 miles split between intervals of running and walking. I am so proud of him Smile

While relaxing after the run, we watched the Browns lose Devil , cooked up some sweets for the Blogger Sweet Swap, then dined on some crockpot Chicken Taco Chili (posts to come this week, PROMISE!).

All-in-all a relaxing food-filled weekend with my sweet. I actually feel ready for Monday… dang hope I didn’t just jinx myself.

My Favs, Ramblings

Lighter

June 22, 2011 4 Comments

After 2 hours and 45 minutes at the North Carolina DMV, I walked away… lighter.

Lighter from the extreme amount of sweating I did while standing outside the DMV in 94 degree heat… in my business suit… for one hour and 55 minutes.

Lighter from the calories I must have burned while frantically fanning myself with a copy of the North Carolina Driver’s License Manual that a coworker so nicely gave to me.

Lighter from the evil glares that shot from my body toward the DMV worker who told me (after waiting 2 hours and 15 minutes) that I was “wasting my time cuz there was no way they’d get to me before the 4:30 close time.”

Lighter from the happy dance I did when, a mere 5 minutes before close, that same worker said they’d take ONE more tester, and low and behold, that one more was ME! EEE!

Lighter from the woosh of air that escaped me when the same DMV worker told me, a mere 15 seconds later, that I absolutely had to have a social security card, and no a passport would not do, and sorry ma’am but the manual absolutely does not say that an Ohio driver’s license will suffice even if it has your social security number on it. And yes while laminating your social security card seemed like a good idea when you were 16, nowadays that makes the card void…

Lighter from the tears that gushed down my face as I bolted to the car frantically flipping through the manual to the page that listed the required identification documents.

Lighter as I stormed frantic yet triumphant back into the DMV with a moment to spare, past a long line of eyes wondering who this crazy suit-clad crying lady was, as I frantically pointed at the guide SHOWING her I was not crazy and that the guide DID say my social security number laden license would do.

Lighter from the defeat that washed over me simultaneously sucking out every ounce of gumption I’d mustered as she flipped to the inside cover and showed me the guide I had been giving was sadly three years out of date and no longer valid.

Lighter from the mental break down I had in my car in the DMV parking lot.

Lighter from deciding in a rash moment to close myself off from the world by symbolically turning off my cell phone (which lasted a whole 27 minutes).

Lighter.

…

I need some ice cream.

1 2 Next »