There are only a few things in this world that I’d never turn down – a very strong cocktail, a go on the dancefloor, especially when there’s a little crystal meth involved, a deep tissue massage (or any massage, for that matter), a steaming hot bowl of spicy soup enough to make me weep even if I were in the heart of a jungle on the equator in 110% humidity, real Buffalo wings, and…a meme.
She who is so very Easily Pleased tagged me for another meme, and though I have a backlog of kitchen exploits and restaurants jaunts that goes as far back as, well, I’m just too embarassed to say, I’m going to play along simply because, well, like I said, it’s a meme. And since asking “What are my five food challenges for 2006?” sounds like a smoother, sexier way of saying “new year’s resolutions,” (NYR) this is a great chance to revisit my Day One promises and audit my performance four weeks into it.
Pita-chos were going to be the last mention of football from me until September (and probably all sports, since baseball is even less exciting than Giada de Laurentiis making spaghetti), but then I realized that in addition to my extreme Mexi-terrranean mashup, I had eaten a few good football-related foods that had not yet received their much-deserved fifteen sentences of Delicious fame. So, instead of dedicating yet another entire post to my unrequited love for quarterbacks (Peyton, are you reading this? Did you get that care package of brownies I sent you?) I’ll just use them to illustrate each of the food challenges I should try to overcome this year – first the overall strategy objective that was one of the original NYRs, a specific actionable item in the form of a food challenge, and lastly, how my Super Bowl cuisine illustrates my current status. (Ick, sometimes, that business approach thing still comes out).
Polish sausage is not Korean
Objective: Search for My Seoul
Actionable Item: Cook or eat Korean food at least once a week.
Status: It’s a major failure right out of the gate! Polish sausages are, uh, Polish. Pitachos are Mexi-terranean. My glorious dinner party was Spanish. The only Korean foods I’ve eaten thus far have been dduk-gook on New Year’s Day, which doesn’t count, a stint with a “dark” chicken, and a visit to a surprisingly decent Westside Korean restaurant. Okay, so I guess if we’re doing weekly averages, I’m off by two. That doesn’t sound too bad, until I figure out that it’s 50%! *sigh* I’m so good at making myself feel worse.
havent seen them at the farmers’ market
Objective: Eat Local
Actionable Item: Visit the farmers’ market in Santa Monica at least once every two weeks.
Status: Haven’t gone to the farmers’ market yet. They don’t have Buffalo wings. At least, not that I’ve seen.
Objective: Expand my Dining Horizons
Actionable Item: For every 10 times I eat out on the Westside, try to eat out one time somewhere east of the 405.
Status: Since Mom’s house doesn’t count (does the OC ever really count?), I think I have only eaten downtown. That is sad, but not really, because I haven’t eaten out on the Westside 10 times yet! Yessss. You thought you had me on that one. High five! High five!
does chili grow on a tree or a bush?
Objective: Grow Something
Actionable Item: Do something that requires not even a hint of green on my thumb.
Status: If Mrs. Galayda’s 4th grade class can coax real live chlorophyll-containing leaves out of a f–king potato, I can shove three toothpicks into a pit and grow an avocado tree. Thank God avocadoes make for perfect garnish atop a bowl o’ red, or as we say in Texas, a bowl o’ red. (Yes! I made that chili, which means it counts for the next challenge, too!)
apparently, mr. t’s wife is polish
Actionable Item: Do not make reservations.
Status: Since eating out requires money which comes from 1) a job or 2) a sponsor (“Sugar Daddy” is such a negative word, don’t you think?), neither of which I have at this moment, I have been forced to budget-mindedly cook at home. It’s not a bad thing to be consigned to the kitchen, but I hatehatehate having to do something because I have to do it. *wah wah* Pierogis were a research project into the Polish population in Pittsburgh (Stillers), and though they are homemade, shamefully, I must admit that they were not made in my home. They were made in Mrs. T’s home. Apparently, Mrs. T, who must be married to Mr. T, though Mr. T doesn’t look Polish, lives in a very large pierogi-making factory. (If you’re curious, they were potato and cheddar, and though these were my very first pierogi and I have nothing as a benchmark, I didn’t love them. Not sure if it’s that i don’t love pierogi, or that Mrs. T just spent too much time doing Mr. T’s mohawk. )
Check back with me in six months and we’ll see how I’m really doing. I think the avocado might not make it past April.
tags :: food : and drink : korean : cooking : recipes : restaurants : reviews : los angeles
