Hungry Times Two

Yesterday I "dined" on a takeout salad from a certain fast food establishment (trademark : red-pigtailed Pippy Longstocking-esque girl), as I left my own awesome sandwich and salad lunch languishing on the couch at home. As I was scraping the remnants of lettuce and carrot out of the bottom of the salad bowl, what should catch my eye but a dead fly in the mix. Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwww. I could barely keep my lunch down as I hurled the salad in the trash. As I was about a mile from the offending "restaurant" and time was tickin' to get back to work, I didn't reason to return the salad with its "secret ingredient" and ask for my money and my appetite back. Has anyone else found anything utterly revolting in their food before? I suppose, given this chain's recent problems with found fingers in its chili, I should consider myself fairly fortunate. But, I have to admit it truly does "bug" me out. (Ba-dum dum- chhhh.)

Epicurious.com is a great site I visit whenever I need a quick recipe to reinvigorate the usual routine/rut of salad, pastas, stir frys, Mexican, etc. However, Mexican is the theme tonight, as I am hosting Book Club at our place. Menu: Margaritas, cheese quesadillas, black beans, Spanish rice, and the accouterments of salsa, fresh guacamole, and cilantro on the side. Apparently quite a few people have an aversion to cilantro. I am aghast at the notion, as I can't find enough things to put it on! It's great in Vietnamese, Thai, Mexican, Indian... It's my favorite herb by far. (Sorry, Basil.) So, here are two recipes I downloaded from Epicurious to try. Guacamole - http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/105001 Black, Beans with Garlic, Cumim, and Cilantro (on the side!) - http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/101154 I'll give 'em a whirl and letcha know how it all pans out. PS Scott and I are currently digging on a really simple sauce you can use for ka...

- Reading "Eat This - 1,oo1 Things to Eat Before You Diet" by Ian Jackman. An interesting mish-mash of American food travel tidbits, as observed by the British Jackman. I learned in the veggie and fruit chapter that the avocado is named for an Aztec-based language's word for testicles. Hmm...makes sense. Now I will look at guacamole in a whole new light. - My mom visited this weekend and we had a GREAT time. Between walking Belmont Boulevard, visiting the Frist (check out SYLVIA HYMAN's trompe de oeil pottery works exhibit it' s amazing - the fortune cookie pic is an example of her work) , going to see the film "Two Days in Paris," and hiking around Radnor Lake, we lunched at Bread & Company (Erin: Centennial Salad and fresh squeezed Lemonade; Margaret: Wild Rice Salad and marinated asparagus, while Fruit Tea was an experiment that failed. Note to all culinarians - please do NOT corrupt perfectly fine sweet tea with fruit juice. It is absolutely wron...

Be cool and click below to add your fabulous self to the "Bring Trader Joe's to Nashville" petition. Despite our craptastic wine sales laws here in Nashville, (Wine can only be sold in liquor stores, no grocery stores. Yeah, big bummer.), we may still have a chance. http://www.PetitionOnline.com/tjsnash/ Even if you don't live in Nashville, help the foodies out and sign the thing. Those of us who can't afford the Whole Foods ("Whole Paycheck'), Turnip Truck/Wild Oats/insert ridiculously overpriced natural foods store-here deserve it! See the several blogs below as to why TJ is the best store ever. BTW it's my birthday and I'm l-i-v-i-n' 27 years young! Surprise birthday dinner tonight, and fun times this weekend with my mom Margaret, who's flying into town this Friday. High five to me! Erin

Six Feet Under This place sits amidst warehouses and other random machine shop in what my step-sister Jennifer described as "West Midtown." It's new construction, and artfully perched on a hill, so the rooftop bar and patio has great views of the many skylines of Altanta (for now, until some high-rises go up nearby). Fish was the meal, with fried catfish, blackened catfish, scallop quesadillas and plenty of beer to round things out. My blackened catfish was a refreshing break from fried catfish, as you're able to catch more subtle flavors of the fish, not the mention the Cajun seasoning, with blackened fish. Still, a light, cornmeal-based batter on catfish, with a little lemon, is heavenly. I'd also comment on the beer; I had a 60 Minute Dogfish I.P.A. (India Pale Ale for all you beer newbies) and it was nice. I've taken a liking to IPA's lately, as they're more than just beer (no offense PBR, you're the original three-letter acronym in life), ...

This is one for the books. I hope Scott will post today, because he really needs to write on here. I don't recall a time ever that when I wasn't eating, I was shopping for more food or talking about food that I ate before, was currently eating, or planned to eat in the future. It's just a little insane how foodcentric things can get. But tasty all the same. Scott and I have photos of our Atlanta trip, and some particularly great ones of the bliss we experienced at Trader Joe's. We brought back at least six bags of food, four packs of beer and five bottles wine from TJ's, because it's just that great. Plus they give out free bags of chips, as Scott's sister Jennifer learned. Because she truly is all that AND a (free) bag of chips. The Atlanta aquarium was also great fun - the Beluga whales were fun to watch. Favorite animals of note: Scott's dad Rob wanted to take home a sea otter, Scott loved the Asian sea otters, Molly was all about the hammerhead sh...