When Good Cookies Go Bad: A Bite Sized Blog

I have just won the 2012 University of San Diego Cookie Baking Contest! As I am triumphantly striding toward the Olympic sized podium to receive my award from none other than Betty Crocker herself, I look around at the audience. This is when I notice that instead of my friends and colleagues, the audience is made up of burnt cookies. And they are all laughing at me. I awake in a cold sweat, safe in my bed. Winning the cookie contest was not real, but the burnt cookies were...

I had great expectations for my cookies. I even believed them to be award winning. I had a killer recipe - Grape Nut Cookies with the secret ingredient of Peanut Butter Company Bee Knees peanut butter. I had made these cookies before with astounding success. They were delicious and could, with a little imagination, be construed as vaguely in the realm of good for you. So I had tastiness, healthiness (sort of), and the belief that I would win all going for me. I went to the store and bought fresh ingredients. I even waited until after dinner to commence baking so that I would not be rushed out of the oven by someone's incessant need to eat dinner - some people just have strange priorities - don't they understand I am trying to win a contest here? But I digress. So, dinner was finished and now it was baking time.

I carefully laid out all my ingredients and pre-heated the oven for 350 degrees - as instructed by the recipe. Everything was coming together perfectly - the butter was nicely softened, the brown sugar came out of its bag in manageable pieces and even the peanut butter did not fight me when I removed it from its plastic cocoon. All the ingredients were playing nicely in my large blue plastic bowl. I snuck a small taste and it was cookie perfection. I thought - this is in the bag - I could win this thing without even baking these cookies. Just show up with the raw mixture and say, "Try this" and they would just hand the award over to me. Not even bother to try the other cookies - it was that good. I broke out my special cookie scooping spoon (thank you Yogurt Land for your perfectly shaped spoons.) Onto the cookies sheets went perfectly rounded, 2 inch drops of cookie mix deliciousness. I set the timer for 10 minutes, the minimum on the recipe, and started the clean up.

About 2 minutes in my husband said, "How long have those been in there, they smell like they are burning." Silly husband I think, they have only been in there 2 minutes. What I actually said was "That can't be, they have only been in there 2 minutes." But then, the dread started to creep up on me, so I flipped the oven switch and son of a #$!*& they were burning on the bottoms. I quickly moved them to the top rack. We then carefully repositioned the other rack so it was in the middle. But sadly, the damage had been done. 18 perfect cookies went into the oven, 18 burnt cookies came out. I still had 9 to bake, but now I was trigger shy. I set the timer for 8 minutes and hoped for the best. Eight minutes went by and they weren't quite cooked enough. Two more minutes and I couldn't take the stress any longer. I ripped the cookies from the oven and surveyed the wreckage that once was my triumph.

We tried to resuscitate the burnt ones. I chipped away at the burnt edges, hoping maybe it was only an aesthetic thing. What the judges can't see won't hurt them, I thought. But finally I had to do a taste test and the hot slap of burnt cookies realty hit me. They were beyond repair. My husband, seeing my distress made one more valiant effort and tried to cut the burnt bottoms off. That was the way the cookie crumbed.

I had fallen victim to the baker's age old nemesis, the rental apartment oven. Oh you imprecise appliance, many a meal you have butchered. But this evening I thought we had made a truce. You had cooked our dinner so lovingly and prior baking experiences had resulted in sweet success. I let down my guard for one moment and innocent cookies were sacrificed. Darn you evil oven, darn you.

But, lest you think this whole exercise of late night baking was all for naught, there did turn out to be one winner in our household that evening. My husband, who loves a burnt cookie. So it turns out that one man's burnt cookie is another man's perfect snack.

And I did manage to find about 7 cookies, out of the whole batch of 27, which seemed decent enough to enter.  Stayed tuned, I might make a come from behind victory yet.

Culinary Adventure: Zia Gourmet Pizza

I am a pizza snob, but it isn't my fault. I used to be a "normal" pizza consumer. I would order a pie from Papa Johns and once it arrived promptly stick it in the fridge. Why you may ask? Fear of burnt mouth roof? Yes, but also because I was not fan of processed marinara sauce. Allowing the pizza to cool solidified the sauce somewhat and I could eat it without worrying about nasty tomato chunks and large pieces of green spices such as basil and oregano (yes, I know, I was a terrible Italian). For me, room temperature, or even better, cold, was the only way to go. Once my pizza reached my preferred temperature I would happily consume my slices thinking, it can't get better than this. My eyes were opened one fateful evening, November 2003, when my than boyfriend decided to make us a pizza from scratch. He bought pizza dough and cheese. I contributed the sauce. This was not just any sauce, this sauce was homemade and the best tasting sauce I have ever had. Granted it was my sauce tailored exactly to my pallet and you better believe there were no tomato chunks in it. It was delicious. The final piece de resistance was fresh mozzarella cheese and a sprinkling of grated parmesan. This culinary masterpiece went into the oven for 13 minutes and came out bubbling and smelling heavenly. After my first slice I was ruined for all future store-bought pizza. The crust was crispy, the sauce tangy, and when you pulled away from your first bite the cheese was just stringy enough. In other words - it was pizza perfection. Over the years that boyfriend became my husband and he experimented with various pizza recipes: spinach with garlic and figs; pesto with spinach; and artichoke spread with figs, each topped with fresh mozzarella. It was pizza magic. We were not, however, completely delusional; we knew, somewhere, there must exist such a perfect pizza pie that we could not ever attempt to imitate it. It was with that thought in mind that we ventured out to Zia Gourmet Pizza in Normal Heights, searching for the holy grail of pizza. What we got was way more than we could have hoped for.

Zia Gourmet pizza is a small restaurant located on Adams Avenue in the Normal Heights neighborhood of San Diego. The interior is eclectic to say the least. There is a center row of booths and some on either side, which extend from the front door to the back. All along the walls local artist work is on display. The artwork is a study of humanity, catching many a customer off guard when they first enter, unprepared for the stark reality that is depicted in oil paint. When we visited the place was undergoing some construction but that did not detract from the wonderful smells emanating from their kitchen. It is completely open, giving customers the opportunity to watch the chefs work their magic. In the background Bob Marley sings about peace. The overall atmosphere is relaxing bohemian and that sort of describes the clientele as well. This is a neighborhood pizza place, where the owner greets the regulars by name and they exchange pleasantries in the familiar way of a returning customer. The owner is an artist by trade and on his off days can be found in the back of the restaurant working on his latest painting. This restaurant is a true labor of love for him. He once told us that he spent three years developing the dough for his dessert pizzas. When it was completed, he liked it so much he started using it on all his other pizzas as well. If that is not dedication to your work, I don't know what is.

On the counter sat several examples of their top selling pizzas - Potato, The New Yorker, and the Eggplant. Back in the kitchen, workers were busily rolling out dough and dicing up ingredients. In addition to the unique pizza combinations found on the menu, one could also create their own pie. Given the myriad of options, it took us a while to make our selections. After a heated debate over who will get what on their side of the pie we settled on half potato and half Papay. After placing our order we settled into a comfy booth to watch our pizza take shape.

In no time a steaming pizza was delivered to our table and placed on a pedestal. My first slice was of the potato pie: rosemary potatoes with garlic, feta, lean cream cheese with slices of fresh mozzarella on a whole-wheat crust. I have never had a piece of pizza quite like this one. In fact, I have never had pizza with potato on it at all. I have now seen the error of my ways. The rosemary potatoes were cooked to perfection, tender and flavorful, with bursts of rosemary coming through each bite. The red sauce had a spiciness that lingered long after I polished off my second slice. Unlike most pizza places, Zia's does not ladle the red sauce on so thick that the toppings seem to float in it. They spread a light coating over the crust, just enough to compliment the toppings, not drown them. Cream cheese, another new pizza topping for me, is now welcome on any pie of mine. Though typically a fairly noticeable flavor, in this case the cream cheese played a background roll, only coming through every once and a while but with great success, pairing nicely with the potatoes and complimenting the red sauce. The whole combination made for a fascinating taste bud experience.

The other half of the pie was the Papay: seasoned baked spinach with mozzarella, scallions, garlic, and capers, all over the same red sauce with a drizzling of yogurt sauce. I was not kidding when I said these guys were creative. The spinach and leeks combined to give the pizza a sweet and salty taste that was enhanced by the spicy red sauce and creamy yogurt.

It was during a subsequent visit that I discovered my two most favorite pizzas in the whole world (sorry sweetie). We were just in for a few slices, nothing as serious as a whole pie, so we had to choose from what was on the counter. I chose the Vegetarian and the Sweet Southern French. It was as if both were custom made to my taste, which if you have been following this blog even a tiny bit you know my list of no-go foods is longer than the line to see the Hunger Games opening night (I bought tickets in advance so I wouldn't know anything about that). The Vegetarian was topped with olives, feta, artichoke hearts, light cream cheese and topped with mozzarella all evenly distributed over a light spread of that delicious red sauce. I am pretty sure that after my first bite my eyes rolled up into the back of my head and I blacked out from bliss. The artichokes retained their full flavor and texture; they were not dried out the way you might expect them to be after being blasted with oven heat and the same went for the olives. It was like they baked the pizza and then added the toppings afterward, instead of baking everything together, which is what they actually do. The artichokes and olives brought the salty; the cream cheese the tangy; the mozzarella and feta a smoothness; and the red sauce finished everything off with a spicy zip.

I would go on to have a similar reaction to the Sweet Southern French pizza only with the added impulse to hug not only the pizza maker but the pizza itself. I may have muttered something about wanting to marry the pizza but I can't be sure. The Sweet Southern French had chicken marinated in a lemon garlic sauce with feta, caramelized pears, walnuts and mozzarella. The chicken was flavorful and juicy despite being cooked in an oven (how does he do these magical things?) It was the kind of chicken you wish you could make for your parents when they come to visit instead of serving them something vaguely resembling chicken with the taste and texture of a baseball mitt (this could be why we go out to eat a lot when my parents visit...). The pears remained juicy (was this pizza man a wizard?) and the walnuts crunchy. I cannot emphasize enough how wonderful this pizza tastes but just try and imagine the last time you ate something so good that you wanted to keep eating it until you literally exploded. I don't often "stuff" myself, but when there is half a Sweet Southern French pizza in front of me, well lets put it this way, it was a tough decision to let my husband eat even one slice (and to be fair I ate half of the slice that I "gave" him.)

Most people are familiar with your standard pizza pies: plain cheese, pepperoni, sausage, etc. Describing those is pretty easy because people have a frame of reference for what you are talking about. When you get into putting potatoes and yogurt on a pizza the task becomes exponentially more difficult. You will just have to take my word for it. The pizzas being served up in Zia Gourmet are nothing short of an experience. Quite like instruments in a symphony, each individual ingredient is good, but when put together, makes wondrous music. For me, pizza shall never again be just dough, cheese, and sauce. So next time you are ordering a pie, skip the pepperoni and try some potatoes; your next great food moment could be one slice of pear away. Manga!

Magnificant Maui Dishes, Served by the Fishes

Everyone has their own way of vacationing.  Some like to get up super early and go hiking, others like to stay out super late and hit all the happening night spots and others prefer to be pampered at the spa (me).  Regardless of the vacation style, everyone has one thing in common - you have to eat.  While on vacation it is important to take advantage of the local fare.  TGI Fridays are everywhere, restaurants where you know the name of the fisherman who caught your meal are not.  Take a vacation, in every sense of the word.  Suspend your normal eating habits - and no, I am not recommending you toss your normally healthy diet out the window and subsist on cannolis and tiramisu just because you are in Italy.  I am referring to the wonderful opportunity to try local foods made the way they are supposed to be made.  You can always get a McDonald's Big Mac,  you might not get a second opportunity to try Poi.

Maui is a wonderful place to try a wide variety foods made the freshest way possible.  Many of the fish served in restaurants are locally caught and most of the produce is locally grown.  When most people think of Hawaii they think of the beaches, luaus and leis.  What people might not associate with Hawaii is SPAM.  In fact, residents of Hawaii consume the most SPAM per capita in the United States.  SPAM was introduced to the people of Hawaii during World War II and after the war ended the surplus SPAM supplies became a part of the local diet. Why people would choose to eat spiced canned ham over the many natural foods produced locally in Hawaii is beyond me.  While in Maui I did not try any of the many varieties of SPAM dishes available.  I know that violates my above statement but frankly, given the choice between a delicious meal of fish and purple potatoes and a meal of SPAM, I would choose the fish every time.  But I thought you would all enjoy the SPAM factoid so I threw it in.  Now on to things I did eat.

Island Prawns

If you visit Maui I hope you like seafood or if you have liking seafood on your to do list Maui is a great place to start.  Granted, no other seafood will ever live up to the expectations set in Maui but at least if you choose never to eat seafood again after your visit you will have a top notch reason...fish on the main land simply cannot hold a candle to fish caught fresh in Maui - if I cannot have that I will have no fish at all.  As is the case with most areas well known for their seafood, the fish selection in Maui is completely different from that of the Pacific Northwest or the Atlantic.  Mama's Fish House, in the Paia area of Maui, takes full advantage of the wide variety of fish out in the pacific. Their menu, which changes daily, actually lists the names of the fishermen who brought in each type of fish that day.  At Mama's Fish House you can have 

Mama's Lobster-Stuffed Mahimahi

Opakapaka, Pink Snapper caught in deep reefs near Kaho’olawe Island by Karl Wenger or Grilled Maui He’e (octopus) caught by Clifford Chow free-diving off Kanaha.  When we visited we started out with the Island Prawns Polynesian with Taha’a Island vanilla - phenomenal, I cannot explain to you enough how good these were.  There were 4 prawns on the plate when they were served - notice there are only 3 in the photo?  They were that good.   We then moved on Mama’s Lobster-Stuffed Mahimahi.  This dish had it all, mahimahi stuffed with lobster and crab and as if that weren't decadent enough it was baked in a macadamia nut crust. Can you say food bliss?  It is said that the best combinations are sweet and savory and that is exactly what this meal was.  Each course was perfectly balanced so that you left with every taste bud totally satisfied. Add in a round of frozen tropical cocktails and a view of windsurfers on the ocean and your evening is complete.

We had many wonderful meals while in Maui but one of our favorite places to eat at was our hotel restaurant, MaLa.  Now, I know what you are thinking...really?  the hotel restaurant?  Weren't there any other places you could possibly eat?  You the food adventurer?  And, normally, I would agree with you.  When on a vacation, faced with a wide variety of excellent culinary options, I would typically choose to eat out.  On this particular occasion, we arrived right around dinner time our first night in Maui and were both too starved to venture much further then 30 feet from our hotel room door.  MaLa, has both indoor and outdoor seating, though why you would ever choose to eat indoors when in Maui is beyond me.  Their patio overlooks the pool, lit in the evening with tiki torches, and the pacific ocean.  Picturesque isn't even half of it.  All meals at MaLa start out with an appetizer of edamame puree alongside tomatillo salsa and tortilla chips for dipping.  The edamame was cool and had the bite from the vinegar while the salsa was just spicy enough to keep you paying attention - they balanced each other perfectly when combined on a chip.  I could have lived our entire vacation on just these three items.  We enjoyed this appetizer so much that we actually bought the MaLa cook book to make them at home.  Ours was pretty good, theirs was fantastic.  A typical meal at MaLa consisted of our beloved edamame puree and salsa, alongside one additional appetizer.  Our favorite was probably the quartet of hummus, raita, olives, babaganoush, fried chickpeas, and feta with pita bread.  If you haven't already noticed, we are dip people.  For our main course most nights we ordered soup.  I know, ordering soup in Maui seems pretty weird, it's not like it was cold there or anything but the soup at MaLa was just so good.  Their White Bean soup was simple but it will have you scrapping the bottom of your bowl wishing for more and don't even get me started on their epic Black Bean and Chorizo soup.

Miso Marinated Pacific Snapper

As much as I still dream about those soups, their fish dishes are not to be ignored.  One evening we skipped the soup and headed straight for the entrees, the MaLa  special: Miso Marinated Pacific Snapper.  The fish was fresh caught and nothing can top that, unless there are Molokai purple mashed potatoes sitting under the fish and then your life is officially complete.  There is no way to accurately describe the taste of a purple potato - sweeter than a sweet potato and did I mention that they were PURPLE?  So cool.  Add to that locally grown butternut squash and you are talking happy food coma.  Of course, alongside all of this was the absolutely necessary tropical beverage.  I tried to sample a new one every night: key lime pie martini (yum); sunset punch martini (yummier); spunky MaLa monkey (yummiest and the most fun to order).  There is definitely something to be said for rolling out of your room around dinner time and being able to sit down to a delicious meal, poolside while gazing out across the ocean in less then 2 minutes.

Pirates Treasure

Many of you may not know the official state fish of Hawaii and many more probably don't know how to pronounce it.  Hawaii's official state fish is the Humu­humu­nuku­nuku­āpuaʻa or trigger fish with a snout like a pig.  This colorful fish can be seen gracing the tourist shops all over Hawaii and is the namesake of a fabulously fun restaurant in the Grand Weilea resort, conveniently located right next door to our hotel.  For simplicities sake I will refer to this restaurant at Humuhumu from now on and save myself the finger cramps of typing the full name over and over.  Humuhumu is like a giant tiki bar.  Timber columns hold up a thatched palm roof and the entire structure stretches over a man-made pond stocked with local fish.  Each evening at sunset someone canoes around the restaurant lighting the tiki torches.  If that doesn't have you rushing to Travelocity to book a flight then the fact that they serve a drink in a real coconut will.  I ordered it, I loved it, I wanted to bring the coconut home with me.  Our

Macadamia Nut Crusted Mahi Mahi

dinner that evening was Macadamia Nut Crusted Mahi Mahi.  Wait a minute, you must be thinking, didn't you already have that at Mama's Fish House and proclaimed it to be the best fish you have ever had?  And you would be correct, we did have Mahi Mahi and it was Macadamia Nut Crusted, but that is where the similarities end.  The Mahi Mahi at Humuhumu was served with Tahitian Vanilla Scented Moloka’i Sweet Potatoes and Pineapple - Tamarind Sauce.  It was completely different from the Mama's Fish House Mahi Mahi but no less delicious.  This dish was more sweet than savory, the tanginess of the Tamarind Sauce saving it from going over the edge.  It was a truly tropical tasting dish set in a most tropical feeling setting. 

My food experience in Maui was tremendous and I did not even try half of what was available. It is so important to maximize your eating opportunities and with that thought I leave you with these three tips.  Don't waste your money on the hotel breakfast - it is over priced and you can just get some cereal and eat in your room for much cheaper.  Bonus points if your room has a balcony for eating on and a refrigerator for storing perishables like milk.  Don't spend a lot of money on lunch, of course don't go the way of fast food, but grabbing a ban-mi from one of the local sandwich shops and having a nice, relaxing picnic on the beach will save you some major dough.  Which you can then spend on dinner.  Don't skimp out on your dinner plans.  Pick at least 3 must eat restaurants and make your reservations.  If it is on your list, it is most likely on a lot of other peoples and you don't want to miss out just because you didn't want the Open Table app cluttering up your iPhone.  Remember, treat every vacation like the trip of a lifetime and every dinner like its your birthday dinner.  E ʻai kākou!  (Let's Eat!) 

Humu­humu­nuku­nuku­āpuaʻa
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Culinary Adventure: Ono Sushi

Since moving to San Diego I have eaten at many a sushi restaurant, each seemingly better than the last. In fact, I would be hard pressed to say that I have ever had a bad sushi experience while living here. I'm not sure if it is the proximity to the ocean or higher sushi standards but for me west coast sushi reigns supreme over east coast. It is wonderful to have this level of confidence in your neighborhood sushi bar as it allows you the freedom to experiment without the fear of a trip to the E.R. due to severe food poisoning.

Acting on a recommendation from a native Californian friend of mine, I tried Ono Sushi, located in the San Diego neighborhood of Hillcrest.  Hillcrest is known for its vibrant bar and restaurant scene.  A highly walkable neighborhood, it is home to some of my new favorite eating and drinking spots, such as Liv, a fruit and vegetable juice bar as well as the Tractor Room, famous for its baking pan of cornbread (they call it a side - HA!).  I went to Ono Sushi on a Thursday night, early enough to beat the partying crowd.  It would soon become packed as Thursday night was $4 martini night and unlike some places I have been to, their martini list was pretty extensive and happy hour goes on all night long.  Personally, as soon as I spied Chocolate Martini on the menu my decision was made.  The interior of the restaurant features a separate bar area with flat screen TVs as well as a large L-shaped sushi bar.  For those looking for outdoor dining they have that too, offering a view of the bustling University Avenue.  The atmosphere is lively; I wouldn't come here for a serious heart to heart or if you are looking for a quiet place to wind down from the week.  But if you are looking for upbeat and friendly environment this place could be right up your alley.  We sat at the sushi bar, as we usually do, because it is interesting to see how the rolls are made and also see what others are ordering.  Also, being able to chat with the chef is helpful if you are a reluctant sushi eater as they can probably steer you toward something that you will like.  This Thursday we ordered a few of our favorites, me - avocado roll, my date - veggie roll and garden salad.  We also ordered the Baja Roll which was seared tuna and avocado on the outside with crab and cucumber on the inside.  Due to my hatred of the cucumber we ordered the roll without my green nemesis.  To start we ordered some edemame.

My chocolate milk, I mean martini, arrived shortly after we placed our sushi order

and it hit the spot. I like to think of myself as a connoisseur of the chocolate martini. It is my preferred beverage on most occasions but I have found over the years that there is no standard recipe and not everyone makes a good one. My favorite type is the clear chocolate martini which doesn't have any milk or cream in it, just vanilla vodka and clear creme de cacao. It has a nice pure taste without the overt sweetness that the godiva chocolate liquor can give you. The Ono Sushi chocolate martini was not clear but it was quite good. It tasted like a nice, cool glass of chocolate milk. It even had that light tan color, reminiscent of my Nestle's Quik chocolate milk after school snack. It was very tasty and went down very smoothly, which is why I had to sip it slowly otherwise I wouldn't know which end was up even before our food arrived.

The edemame arrived next and was a good distraction from my yummy martini. Edemame are traditionally served chilled or at room temperature, like these were. As is usually the case, the edemame were heavily salted, but once you knock a bit off, what is left is a great compliment to the otherwise mildly flavored food. This is why the temperature is so important, if served smoking hot, there is virtually no flavor left in them, but at room temperature we could experience their bean taste. As delicious as they were, the edemame did not last long and so to further distract myself from my ever decreasing martini I watched the sushi chef prepare our meal.

The sushi chefs at Ono Sushi are not your tradition Japanese chefs, these chefs have tattoos and ear stretchers but don't hold that against them because they know their sushi. Having faith in one's sushi chef is an important thing because trying a new sushi roll for the first time is a scary thing. First off, it is raw fish and with that comes those haunting thoughts in the back of your mind of smelly fishing piers. Secondly there are always intimidating sounding toppings that go on the raw fish like tabiko, which even when explained doesn't sound all that great - flying fish roe (fish eggs). So when when I am ordering a raw fish that I have never tried before and it is topped with fish eggs, I want to be certain that the guy behind the counter knows what he's doing with his tako hiki (sashimi slicer). From my sushi bar vantage point intensely watched the chef prepare our veggie roll and tuna roll, precisely cutting the fish so quickly that were it not for his obvious talent you might worry that you could possibly get a little something extra in your roll.

Crab was rolled up in the rice and seaweed wrap, then topped with the seared tuna and avocado slices. To keep it all together while slicing it up, a piece of plastic wrap was placed on top. The knife he used so sharp that there was no hesitation at all as it went through the clear plastic and the roll. Once cut into individual pieces both rolls were plated and presented to us. Pausing only slightly to admire the craftsmanship, I dove into the seared tuna roll. Moments like this make me happy I decided to try sushi so many years ago. The seared tuna was edged in a peppercorn coating, adding a rough and spicy texture that is usually absent from most tuna rolls I have tried. Then you add in the smoothness of the avocado and the slight sweetness of the crab and you have the perfect sushi roll. The tuna was deliciously fresh and tender, mild in flavor - just as it should be. The simplicity of my avocado roll played nicely against the complexity of the tuna roll. The veggie roll came wrapped in a rice paper wrap which is different from the usual seaweed wrap and a favorite of my fellow sushi explorer.

Ono Sushi provided me with an unexpectedly unique sushi adventure. While I have ordered tuna rolls before I have never had a roll as unique as the Baja Roll at Ono Sushi. Its peppercorn taste and texture is not something that I would have expected to experience in a sushi roll and I will now be on the look out for other seared fish rolls in the future. Hopefully they will be able to live up to the expectations set by Ono. The wonderful thing about sushi is that it is so easy to try something new without gambling your whole meal. Just go out to a sushi restaurant with friends and ask to sample one of their rolls. The only commitment involved is just to keep the fish in your mouth long enough to chew it and swallow (and keep it down). And that is the worst case scenario. Best case is you discover a brand new roll that you love and garner more respect from the sushi chef on your next visit when you order a yellow fin tuna roll. My sushi encounter that evening was a perfect example of how if you take a meal that you are comfortable with and tweak it just a bit you can discover a whole new culinary masterpiece. 上で食べ (Eat On).

Putting the Love Back in Your Brown Bag Lunch

Remember when you were a kid and you got sent off to school with a kiss, a hug, and a brown bag lunch? Regardless of whether or not you actually liked the lunch, wasn't it nice that it was all thought out for you. Made, wrapped up securely and packed into a nice, sturdy bag. There was no mad morning rush to shove the various leftovers from refrigerator into some sad plastic bag that you will later find out had a hole in it which might normally not be a big deal except today you brought soup and said soup is now a resident of your briefcase. As a kid you might have been able to get away with the excuse that your homework got ruined by your soup lunch and be able to turn it in tomorrow, as a grownup you just look silly and the report will still be due at noon.

Somewhere between grade school and college, lunch took a back seat to all other morning prep. Rush your shower? Never. Skip putting on eye shadow to save a few minutes? I can't leave the house without putting my face on. But lunch packing? That time is expendable. Shove and go is the typical model, much to many an employee's chagrin when it comes time to reveal your midday nosh only to find you grabbed an entire tupperware full of green beans (unless you are a health nut and then you are fine). For the vast majority of us, you will utter a special word or two and then head over to the closest Arby's. When did lunch become such a second class citizen in the food world?

Lunch should be the headliner. For those of us in the office, lunch is the time when we can escape our dark dungeons and get out in the sunlight. We should be packing foods that celebrate our brief freedom. Pack yourself a lunch the way your mom used to - even if you have to do it the night before - and if you want, put a little note of encouragement inside. It will get the second half of your day off to a much better start if you see a note from yourself that says - "You are awesome and great looking" - right next to a delicious turkey, swiss and avocado sandwich rather then finding out too late that you lunch consists of that stuff you forgot to throw out 2 weeks ago.

Don't under estimate the power of a fun lunch bag. Think back to when you were a kid - didn't you always want a new lunch box to start out the school year? Truthfully, isn't that still the case? You don't have to spend a lot to pimp your lunch's ride. Recently I picked up a great lunch bag from Whole Foods for $1 - which was a donation to their Whole Planet Foundation. It is the perfect size for any of my tupperware and is made from recycled plastic bottles. So now I can bring my lunch to work in style and help save the planet too! Take that plastic bag with a hole in it.



Packing a love filled lunch for yourself is not as hard as it may seem. Yes, it does take a little extra effort, but you are worth it! I typically pack my lunch right after dinner. I am a lover of the leftover. I will pretty much eat anything 2-3 days in a row. While I do love my variety, if I made chicken chow mein and there are leftovers, I could live off of them for a week. Once dinner concludes I just pop tomorrow's lunch into a tupperware container and into the refrigerator it goes. Then in the morning I can do the grab and dash secure in the knowledge that I have something yummy 4 hours in my future. Some leftovers do require a bit more prep than others - leftover rice and beans require some cheese and taco sauce along with a tortilla or two. And leftover pasta with meatballs and sauce always gets some grated parmigiana cheese because to do otherwise would be just plain wrong. But most evenings the process is pretty straight forward and is simplified by the fact that my husband doesn't enjoy leftovers with the same fervor as I do. No food wars makes a happy household.

You may ask yourself, "What do I do if there are no leftovers?" Well, I have faced this dilemma. Giving in to buying your own lunch is a very attractive option when you work on a college campus. Sushi, veggie burgers, and gourmet grilled cheese are all just a stone's throw away. Quick, easy, convenient and oh so yummy some mornings it is difficult to turn them down. And many times I don't. I'm only human and the wafting smell of deep fried goodness can only be ignored for so long. But most days I do make an effort to bring a reasonably healthy lunch, so when I am lacking in leftovers I head to my cupboard to see what it holds. Soup is an excellent leftover substitute. It is portable - just keep it in its can and bring a bowl (don't forget the can opener - nothing is sadder than when you are looking forward to a nice steaming bowl of soup and you realize that you don't have a can opener). Extra yummy points if you can throw some oyster crackers into your bag. Toss in a spoon and you are good to go. Have a few more minutes to spare? Throw together a salad and put some dressing in a small container (make sure it is closed tight and it wouldn't hurt to put that container in a ziplock bag - safety first). Now you have a lovely soup and salad lunch that only took about 5 minutes or less to assemble. You will be he envy of your lunch crew.

Sometimes there is no soup, no tuna, and no lunch meat. What is left? Good ole PB&J. I am willing to bet good money that pretty much everyone has some peanut butter and jelly stashed away. I personally keep a secret stash of marshmallow fluff in the back corner of our pantry for just such emergencies. So get out your peanut butter and jelly of choice and set out your bread.

I like to do a special assembly process for my PB&J sandwiches which involves putting peanut butter on half of each slice of bread and then putting jelly or fluff on the other half of each slice of bread. Then you cut your sandwich in half - go fancy and cut it diagonal. Trim off the edges if you like (just like mom used to) and wrap up in some tin foil. Add a salad if you like, it won't take much more time, and presto you have a great lunch that you will be thinking about as you type away on the machine for the man.

Putting the love back into your brown bag lunch doesn't take a lot of extra time and can be enjoyable if you have a little fun with it. Tell yourself that you are worth it. Take those 5-10 extra minutes in the morning or in the evening to create for yourself a culinary masterpiece that will leave you with the same warm and fuzzy feeling that you got when mom pressed that lunch sack into your hand each morning but with the added bonus of knowing that you will love what's in there this time.


"One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well."
- Virginia Woolf