Potlikker

please stand by

Blame it on the weather. It's time for a site re-design. The out-of-the-box templates at Typepad bore me. I've gone to plain white, with almost invisible grey text for links, and I cannot cotton to that. Bear with me, please until I design this blog's new look. 

Thanks, you're peachy.

alas food content missing

We're in a weird state. The Dieting state. So there's no cooking going on here, unfortunately. Ian and I are trying to lose weight gained while I was pregnant with Elsa. I've got about 2 pounds to go to return to the weight I was at when sperm met egg, but had gained a good 20 prior to fertilization. I know, TMI. This is just to explain the dearth of anything food-like happening on this blog, like actual cooking. Who has time or energy to cook when they have a 10.5 month old daughter and three dogs to tend to?

Mostly I read about food just before bed. It's come down to experiencing life vicariously through others. The majority of that includes introducing Elsa to new foods and gauging her reaction to them.

It's sad because I love food and love to eat. If I did not, then I would be a stick insect. So until we travel and go off diet then, I won't have sparkly foody things to share with you. And then more recently, I sort of lost my appetite completely. It's a shame. Stress in the workplace. I thought I was one of those emotional eaters who ate when they were stressed. Nope. A bit of analysis reveals that I eat because I'm bored. It tastes good, too.

wordle

I wasn't going to give in to the wordle trend, but since LLA did it, and then I was completely charmed by the results which included clafoutis, blackberries, butter, and Laura, that I decided to share it here. Without further ado:

just the facts, ma'am

portobella sammich from Alta Cucina, yummm

Since Nikki tagged me, I'll play along.  The rules as Nikki explained them:

1. Link to your tagger and post these rules.
2. Share 5 facts about yourself.
3. Tag 5 people at the end of your post and list their names, linking to them.
4. Let them know they've been tagged by leaving a comment at their blogs.

Five food related facts about me:

1. I eat arborrio rice mixed with butter and sugar almost every night for dinner. It's an addiction. I love my rice cooker. I love the simplicity. And sometimes, I love the redundancy.

2. Should you invite me for breakfast, or a special occasion, I like my eggs over easy, or deviled, or not at all (though that cauliflower & feta omelet in the latest issue of Gourmet tempts me).

3. Cherry-flavored drinks are my downfall: Diet Cheerwine, Diet Cherry Coke, and Jones Black Cherry Soda (it's sugar free!), yet I mostly loathe cherry flavoring, especially in cough syrup.

4.We bought a tub of Nestle cookie dough last week. I dipped my spoon in and ate a bunch of it despite having no sense of taste at all with my sinus issues of late. I threw it out before it was finished because it was too much of a temptation for Ian and I found it yucky tasting when my sense of taste returned. The best cookie dough is homemade, but if I have to rely on the manufactured kind, I prefer Pillsbury in the big sausage-link-like packaging. There's something so satisfying about squeezing out a blob of cookie dough from a that tubed-like container that represents the eating-of-cookie-dough experience.

5. My favorite meal, of late, besides the pseudo-rice pudding supper, is cheese and fruit. The cheese in question is brie. Brie, I hardly knew ye! I regret the years that I didn't appreciate brie. And surely, brie deserves a blog post all its own, in due time.

I'm tagging these folks: Bad Fortune Cookie, Dawn Houser, Gotta Knit, Golden Loving Knitter, and Write Kudzu, but I'm breaking rule number 4 and not letting them know it, just cause I think they've all been tagged before and may not want to play. Will rely on serendipity to so move those tagged.

Q and A (quinoa and applesauce)

Since I've been lax with the foodie posts in the past four days I'm taking this opportunity for a small dash of fun in the form of a meme I found at Lisa's. I think I've answered something similar before. But I can't resist. And I'm off to make a bread pudding!

How do you like your eggs? deviled (or over-easy, depending on the season, cause everybody knows that deviled-eggs aren't everyday affairs

How do you take your coffee/tea? black, if i'm drinking coffee; tea is iced and plain/un-sweet

Favorite breakfast food: soppy egss and toast with a side of bacon; i love breakfast food

Peanut butter: Reduced fat crunchy Peter Pan that they haven't returned to the shelves since the peanut butter scare of February

What kind of dressing on your salad? Bleu cheese

Coke or Pepsi? Neither, thanks. I'll drink water

You’re feeling lazy. What do you make? White rice in my rice cooker; less than 15 minutes for two cups

You’re feeling really lazy. What kind of pizza do you order? Plain cheese is always my favorite no matter whether I'm lazy or not.

You feel like cooking. What do you make?  Something decadent and greasy and loaded with butter

Is there a food you refuse to eat? Ham

What was your favorite food as a child? Mac n cheese

Is there a food that you hated as a child but now love?  pinto beans

Is there a food that you loved as a child but now hate? Nothing comes to mind

Favorite fruit & vegetable: blueberries & brussel sprouts

Favorite junk food: Salt n vinegar chips

Favorite between meal snack: cheese

Do you have any weird food habits? maybe

You’re on a diet. What food(s) do you fill up on? salad and water

You’re off your diet. Now what would you like? those mini krystal cheeseburgers. no, a corn dog.

How spicy do you order Indian/Thai? mild to medium

Can I get you a drink? as long as its got a clear liquor in it; vodka, gin, etc.

Red wine or white? red

Favorite dessert? Pie, preferably coconut cream, but I might take key lime or something fruity like blueberry

new widget

If you don't read potlikker with an RSS reader like bloglines or google reader, then you might get some use from the new widget I added a few moments ago. It's on the right, under my photo, and it allows you to receive an email containing each blog entry I make. Enter your email address, hit the button, and in theory, it should work like butter.

ten things

The always-entertaining Jennifer Coomer had a food meme at her blog this morning: 10 foods you do not like.

1. Lima beans
2. Menudo
3. Burnt toast or bread
4. Sugar-saturated foods-- like store-bought desserts
5. Corn sometimes bores me if it isn't cooked and/or seasoned to my liking
6. Cornbread salad
7. Gov'ment cheese
8. Popcorn--can't stand to smell it, either
9. Green peppers--give me terrible heartburn
10. Hardboiled eggs--except when used as deviled eggs

fav institution

The Nation will publish a food issue next month.

They want readers to tell them about their most beloved food institution in 100-200 words.

The deadline is 15 August. And the email is this: [email protected].

tmi: meme alert

Found: One food meme via In our kitchen.

How do you like your eggs?
over easy

How do you take your coffee/tea:
coffee black, but i rarely do coffee; tea mostly iced and unsweet; don't do hot tea much, either. I'm boring when it comes to drinks. i love water.

Favorite breakfast foods:
eggs over easy, buttered toast, hash browns.

Peanut butter: smooth or crunchy?
crunchy.

What kind of dressing on your salad?
none. if the ingredients are fresh and tasty who needs dressing? otherwise dressing of choice, hands down, is bleu cheese.

Coke or Pepsi?
yuck.

You're feeling lazy. What do you make?
fried egg sandwich/ grilled cheese sandwich, or mac n cheese from a box

You're feeling really lazy. What kind of pizza do you order?
from a local joint, Italian Pizza Pub. I hate supporting chains. if it's just me, i like it plain or with mushrooms. but we compromise and get pepperoni and black olives.

You feel like cooking. What do you make?
something traditional like meatloaf or chicken n dumplins

Do any foods bring back good memories?
cake reminds me of birthdays.

hot dogs remind me of time spent roasting them on sticks with my grandparents while out in the woods.

i have so many good food associations i can share 'em with folks who didn't luck out like i did.

Do any foods bring back bad memories?
mostly of bad service and bad restaurants

Do any foods remind you of someone?
banana pudding-- grandma and dad; she made it for him all the time

fresh crabs-- Don and Marie (grandparents) they lived in Baltimore for years so when they came to Erwin, Tenn., they made sure to find a crab dealer over in JC where they'd buy pounds and pounds and cook. lucky me.

salmon patties & stuffed bell peppers-- my mom made these all the time when i was young and lived at home.

peas- ian loves them, i've only recently come to appreciate fresh peas; still hate canned ones.

Is there a food you refuse to eat?
probably pickled pigs feet. their appearance is beyond disgusting.

What was your favorite food as a child?
macaroni and cheese

Is there a food that you hated as a child but now love?
peanut butter, beets, soup beans

Is there a food that you loved as a child but now hate?
chunks of cold, hard butter sliced off the butter mold

Favorite fruit & vegetable:
is coconut a fruit? tomatoes.

Favorite junk food:
cheetos cheese curls

Favorite between meal snack:
I'm not a snacker

Do you have any weird food habits:
i eat all fried shrimp parts. crunchy tails, yum. also like those crunchy fish parts like tails and fins.

You're on a diet. What food(s) do you fill up on?
nothing. if I'm dieting, I'm not eating. not like I'm anorexic. hardly, but total restriction works best for me. 2 slim fast bars, one meal.

How spicy do you order Indian/Thai?
medium spicy

Can I get you a drink?
gin and tonic, thanks. or maybe a bloody mary.

Red wine or white?
red

We only have beer:
Killian's

Favorite dessert?
coconut cream pie, cheesecake, ice cream

The perfect nightcap?
ambien + a glass of water

feelin the food

Dear regular readers of potlikker,

Please understand if I don't post/update as often as I have in the past. I'm going through a dry spell. I'm disappointed by food these days.

And more disappointed in myself. I drove through mcdonald's three times last week and was mostly disgusted with myself and with the food as well. Except for once, when the fries were actually hot and not just cold and soggy. One of those was twice the same day. Wait, maybe I've been thru four times!

I lack foodie integrity now.

But, I keep an eye out for interesting food/cooking/ag-related stories, so I'll keep pointing out those.

Plus, I really need to get back on my diet. I guess that's what the last few days at fast food hell have been: Me trying to pack as much in before I come to me senses.

Potlikker may be light going on the fun anecdotal stuff for a while, at least until I get my food on again.