The Great American Menu

I thought this was interesting. What's your home state and its signature food? Find out here:

http://deadspin.com/the-great-american-menu-foods-of-the-states-ranked-an-1349137024/@Jessica

The Purpose Fairy

I read a couple articles from this blog last week and I've been thinking about it a lot. I've been thinking about a lot of things a lot, especially improving my mindset and my world around me.

This list was going around Facebook the other week and I finally learned about The Purpose Fairy, an inspirational blog with "ideas and suggestions about life." I checked out some other articles and got a great daily dose of emotional sunshine. Let's face it, we all need it.

Some great quotes to think about:

Ne te quaesiveris extra - Do not look outside of yourself for the truth


“The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.”  Ghandi


“Would I rather be right, or would I rather be kind?”


Nobody can make you unhappy, no situation can make you sad or miserable unless you allow it to.


“You have enemies? Good. That means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your life.”Winston Churchill


Beauty is not in the face, but rather a light in the heart.


Whatever it is that you want, you have to want it more for someone else.


"How you treat anybody is how you will treat everybody"


My goodness, I could read for days and I suggest you do the same. I guarantee it will add at least one random act of kindness to your day.

My New Favorite Blog

It's such a shame that in all my days chasing around music boys in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, I never ran into Bon Iver. He was probably busy hanging out with cool guys while we band geeks were lucky to mix with the "jazzers." 


Perhaps that allows me to like him more from afar, with the new discovery of Boniverotica. The humor blog was dreamt up by a trio of friends Alice Warren-Gregory, Anna Sawyer and Alex Finkel from Boulder, Colorado, and went viral within a couple days of launching. Here's what happens when hipster girls imagine the perfect dude with comedic genius.


Some of my faves:

 "I am out back by the shed, tending to our chickens - Clara and Jack, and little Myron, who is lame. Bon Iver is waiting patiently for my return. While he waits, he is darning my socks."

"Bon Iver is sitting cross-legged on the floor, his brow furrowed. It seems he and the jigsaw puzzle have come to an impasse. We’d bought it secondhand, and the box had been lost, so we were left to guess what shape the pieces would take. We weren’t even sure they were all there. I suggest he take a break for a bit and clear his head. ‘I can’t,’ he says, ‘I need to make something whole today.’"

"Our trip to Eagle River took twice as long as the map said: because Bon Iver begged me to pull over for the apricot stand, the Indian village, the typewriter museum."

Just when I thought it couldn't get any better than Feminist Ryan Gosling's Hey Girl Meme. 

Lessons Learned from Live Chats

I needed the better part of the weekend to recover from a live chat on Friday discussing the future of food writing. (Okay, so there were some parties, too.) But seriously, for the precious pearls of wisdom gained from seasoned writers dishing out free advice, there was an awful lot to sift through.

My initial response is I needed to do some research on chat guidelines to make sure I wasn't missing the mark. I found this great article at smallbiztrends.com for a little reassurance that my "virtual whiplash" as one tweeted was not unfounded.

The author Lisa Barone wrote, "If you’re not familiar with them, a Twitter chat is a guided conversation where users interested in a particular topic hop onto the service to chat. The chat is given a hashtag, which makes it easy for anyone looking in to identify the chat and participate. It’s similar to a chat room in that it’s a topic-driven conversation happening in real time; it just happens to be housed on Twitter."


I couldn't have found a better way to say that. She also suggests researching the chat topics beforehand, participating, asking questions, and taking advantage of the chat as a networking tool. All great advice! 


Not sure if this chat was different, or just very busy from a lot of users. I found the re-tweeting got too heavy and created a lot of distance between answers to questions. In an active chat with an experienced panel, I would prefer to keep the little chit chat down so it is easier to follow. 


Favorite things said:


Monica Bhide: parting words: write because you love it. Do it consistently and do it persistently.. The rewards are priceless. :-)

Dianne Jacob: Writers are sensitive. Rejection can be difficult. The most important thing is to keep at it & believe in yourself.


Adam Roberts (Amateur Gourmet): My take on #futurefoodwriting: you can work your way up through established channels or create your own channel. I suggest the latter.


The Foodie Bugle: If food writers don't focus on showcasing artisanal food producers they'll have very little to write about in the future.


Dan Lepard: You are better than today's writing, or tomorrows. Aim to be clearer, gritter every time.

Live Chat on the Future of Food Writing

If you're catching this early, tune into the live chat on Twitter for an international discussion of the future of food writing. The handle is #futurefoodwriting with Amanda Hesser of Food52 and countless food bloggers, writers and journalists.

Here's a great link with guidelines for asking questions and a list of panelists.

See you there at 11 am Pacific Time, or check in with the Rambling Epicure for a recap.

In Defense of Blogging

There's something that's been eating at me all week. I'll just let it all out, dear reader.

Last week in my creative writing class, my teacher was discussing point of view. Since I write primarily in 1st person narrative and have a strong base for language, I felt pretty clear on this, but wondered if I wavered into 2nd at times.

"So what about that conversational type of writing where you are addressing the reader as 'you?' Like you often see in blogs as though telling a story to a best friend? Does that waver into 2nd person?"

Well, the gist of the answer was no, it is still 1st person unless the author is writing as if YOU baked a cake, YOU took a writing class, YOU are the character in the events.

But what got to me was that my beloved teacher wrinkled her nose and said, "Sloppy writing. That's the style of blogging."

I was disappointed, even a tiny bit crushed she felt that way. I'm sure many writers and academics feel the same.

Then I felt defensive. Blogging has not necessarily changed my life, but it has certainly given me more of a direction in my writing. It has increased my output, and encouraged me to write. Every day. (For a writer, this is huge.) It has pushed me to become more familiar with the computer and to share my work and bring it to light from mere musings hidden between the pages of countless notebooks. It has made me take a started thought and finish it, even if it is simply about a cracker tin or a rock that inspired me.

I want to think that readers feel the same- that they are reading everyday and joining in a community of followers with common interests. I love that the Pioneer Woman makes me smile and feel lighter just by posting a photo of her goofy Bassett Hound, Charlie, wearing nerd glasses. I love that I get to see what adventures my friends, Amanda Rae and Georgia Pellegrini are up to each day. Just by showing up and reading, makes me part of the connectedness, the adventure. And if that's simply from being addressed like I'm an old friend from far away, then I am totally more than okay with that.

I have to acknowledge that not all posts are created equal, that there will be days that you don't give a tinker's toot about what I had for breakfast or where I took a walk, and that other blogs may generate a similar response. But even if there is one day where you can relate to my experience, or be entertained, or inspired, or annoyed, or enchanted, or opposed, or amused, or interested from something you've read, then isn't that the point? Doesn't that make it worth it? I mean, sloppy? Really?

There is something beautiful about stream-of-consciousness, unedited thought. Why should James Joyce have all the fun? And glory?

So until my next great American novel is published, and as I try to hone my craft, come out of my shell, and try to take advantage of the delicate mysteries of life and the human experience, I want to keep sharing them with you, even if we've never met, as intimately as I know how.

Slops and all.

Life is Like a Shop of Chocolates

If I hadn't spent some wasted time today drooling over pictures of pastry in Google images, I never would have stumbled upon photos of my old staging spot in France!

Okay, a little more background. Just after culinary school, I went to Europe for 6 months where I worked as a trainee for La Varenne. I applied for the scholarship through Women Chefs and Restaurateurs, which led to being whisked away to lovely Burgundy for two months of recipe testing and kitchen assistance with five other lovely ladies. In exchange, we were granted the opportunity to stage for a month with a real French chef, and voila! Instant fairytale.

It was like a dream. And I didn't want to wake up, so I stayed an extra month before a backpacking extravaganza.

That was back in 2005. Was that really seven years ago? I've done a terrible job of staying in touch (mostly due to my poor written French skills), and after some basic updates over the years, the last I heard was the shop had been quiet in 2008 when I referred a friend there to do a short stint in the kitchen. As of today, I wasn't even sure the shop was still open!

Until I found photos from Adventures in Toulouse (top and bottom), who even linked to the chocolaterie's web site (middle two pics). They have a web site now! I love the internet for eventually closing in on all communication gaps in the world. I'm still in shock, although I shouldn't be, since everyone has a website or facebook page now.

The memories are coming back in full force. I can almost taste the lemon tarts.

The irony being that I have been writing a book about this shop for seven years and am now kicking it into gear to get it to press. Wow, I think that's the first time I've announced the project. This was a real kick in the behind for me to get back in touch and move forward.

And all I needed was an American in France to remind me of that.

Address the Present Moment

My fabulous aunt introduced me to the blog by Flux Capacitor a couple months ago. I check in when I need sensitive insight and feel starved for rich writing. The other day I stumbled upon this beautiful post from her and I think you should, too.

Some things I learned from her words about the natural rhythm of sadness and how to deal:

-Find something small that is beautiful and carry it with you
-Remember to carry your sadness inside. Do not bury it. Carry it. Remember to let it go occasionally and watch it fall apart at your feet. Remember to dance on its grave.
-Remember to lift the corners of your mouth enough to prevent an entire day of What's wrong?
- Let is be made clear that giggling and ridiculousness are both highly desirable and should be sought after as much as possible.
-Consume as much happiness as possible and is available.
-Better to become a Sickeningly Positive Person than a FSFY (Feeling Sorry For Yourself).
-Help someone else, every day.


Reminders of those things that really matter, and those things that don't.

Pink Fuzzy Slipper Cookies

I happened upon these months ago when I was blogging at Craft. They had already been posted on the site, but I bookmarked them to make on a rainy day.

I found them to be especially tempting and fitting in theme today. I broke in my slippers easily after dislocating my elbow. The good news? I'm out of the sling.

The bad news? I woke up yesterday with a head cold/flu and it's taken me down the last two days. Back to the slippies.

Nothing a little recipe surfing eye candy can't fix. Can you believe these are transformed from Nutter Butters? I feel better already.

This is the one of the many amazing creations of Beth from Hungry Happenings. She is especially creative with holiday themes and is a great resource if you're ever in need of a whimsical party dish. Makes me want to get in the kitchen! If I can get out of my jammies.

For the post featured on Craft, click here.

The Omnivore's Hundred

It's a new year, time to take stock of your life and plan for the future. It's time I set some more food goals, including eating new things and making a food bucket list.

I recently have been seeing a list going around Facebook of 100 foods to eat before you die. I didn't want to sign up for a weird app, so after a google search, I found a great list from the blog Very Good Taste. The instructions: 

1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment here at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results.

The items highlighted in orange have links to Wikipedia for more description. I was amazed how many things on the list I'd never heard of, but had actually eaten.

 Here are my results, thanks to culinary school, travel, and living in France I have 92 items checked off:

The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred:

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant (At Cotes St Jacques- Joigny, France)
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

So my next question is how in the world does one prepare Spam? That's a food challenge I need to take on!

Learning No-ga

Last night, my friend and I were philosophizing on why it is so difficult for smart and strong women to say no.

Luckily, she blogged about it with a great exercise to help practice the art of saying no.  She calls it no-ga.

Did I mention she's hilarious?!  Read it here.  Then read the rest of her blog, Boundless Optimism.