nibor

I had to go on a clear liquid diet for a while, and was apprehensive about hunger, about not feeling well enough to cook, etc. The options are all so sugary. So ahead of time I made a huge pot of beef consomme from Julia Child. It really saved the day, and I am now using the leftovers as a base for stock, etc. I have to admit that I really enjoyed eating popsicles when I didn't feel well, and am continuing to eat the no-sugar added varieties even though I normally never eat them or any treat-type food.

Got it. Just checking. I have lived on and off in Europe and try not to be too annoying. I definitely don't fit the above.

I have a minimalist kitchen, and consider my LC dutch oven worth its weight in, well, enameled cast iron.

Most of the stuff on the eGullet Hall of Shame thread....

I have a cleaver.

There are lots of different people here, from all over the world, and they are eating lots of different things.

yasuofenix, you will be happier here in Orange County if you can keep an open mind about it. Take a deep breath and explore. That is the essence of "California Cuisine", in my opinion. This is so not New Jersey, not that there is anything wrong with that.

This makes me want to dive headfirst into my monitor.

What is an "undesirable expat community"?

Is your "actual grocery store" quite close to campus Chris? Our just-off-campus Albertson's doesn't really have much of what I consider food. It is there primarily to serve the students, and so has lots of prepared/packaged food and very little fresh stuff to cook. It took me a while to figure that out, and I am happy to drive farther (and spend more) to get real food.

I am going to try to eat more fish, and specifically, to buy it from our local fish shack, Pearson's Port, nicely reviewed by Russ Parsons in the Los Angles Times in 2008. This tiny shack sits on stilts above Newport Harbor, in the midst of the suburban sprawl of Orange County, CA. There are pelicans hanging around, and it smells like the sea. You can rent a kayak next door, and scoot around Upper Newport Bay (a not-very pristine mixed fresh/salt water estuary) before you take your fish home. I hope I make the time to do that. I am otherwise pretty happy with how I am eating. I just do too much of it! So that is another goal.

The "Little Saigon" area in Westminster/Garden Grove is huge, famous and interesting as well as being the home of good food. You can read about its origins on Wikipedia, and here, a history/food blog that has a links to posts about restaurants at the end. I haven't been over there in a while, so can't point to particular places myself. The shopping and just the scene are pretty incredible.

I'm not much of a cook. When at home my go-to books, when really at a loss, are The Joy of Cooking, Julia Child, and that Cook's Illustrated best of whatever book. We were away the last six months, and our fully furnished house was, oddly enough, totally stocked with great cookbooks and cooking gear. But no Joy, Julia, or CI. But I did have Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything, and used it a lot. Now I am home, I kind of miss that book.

I just tried their method for cooking swordfish, also with great results. I had 1" thick steaks right out of the ocean, and didn't want to mistreat them like I usually do. The SP recommended baking at 375 for 9 minutes in a pan containing wine or fish stock to a depth half that of the fish - a 1/2 inch in my case. I took them out a bit early, and they were perfect. I love that cookbook.

The same thing can happen if you nuke an ice cube. Gas bubbles heat, expand, and if trapped inside the cube, kaboom! I freeze demi-glace in ice cube trays. Sure makes a mess.

Again, it is easy if you have good ingredients. I tried to make gravlax while living in Santa Fe last summer. The best salmon I could get, out there in the desert, was just too old for making lox. It reeked! I threw it out, but was tempted to bury it. OMG. I may try again now that I am back in southern California. Although living by the ocean doesn't mean you can get fresh fish.

lala, they don't roast them on every street corner in Santa Fe, but where they do roast them, the fumes are pretty potent! The Whole Foods on Cerrillos has a huge roaster out in the parking lot during Hatch chili harvest time, and even though I don't have the classic allergic reaction to peppers that you do, I am wary of walking through the fumes. We have been living in Santa Fe part time for the last few years, and had been thinking of buying a second home there. But this business with the chilies has caused us to reconsider. Going out to eat in Santa Fe is like running a gauntlet for me. They put it on everything, and there is no way to know. The servers in many restaurants are of no help, at all. So sometimes I just end up ordering a couple of sopapillas. I sit there with the honey bear and drink tequila, and just watch everyone else enjoy their yummy food. Then I eat something when we get home.

Much mention of school lunches... some things never change

Never been to a Fatburger. Actually, I haven't eaten at a fast food restaurant in a decade or two. Except for In-N-Out! There is one about 2 minutes from my house, and sometimes, when I have just really had it, I escape to In-N-Out for what I will now call a Susie-Q burger (Double meat, no cheese, with grilled onions!!!) and a chocolate shake. The stuff is like drugs.

How do you think we catch diseases from other people? Their microbes don't manage to infect you by magic. It takes contact, and very often it is via secretions from the respiratory and gastrointestinal tracts. Many people do not wash their hands after going to the bathroom, they sneeze into their hands, etc. You touch what they touch, you stick your fingers in your nose or mouth, and you get sick. This is like public health 101 guys.

I almost missed the link to the Food waste photos. Some are pretty shocking. Wonder what that ditch of bananas smells like in the hot sun.

I live in southern California. It is hard to discern the seasons here, either from the weather or from the produce department. Everything seems to be available all year round. It usually tastes ok, but not great.

LRunkle, thanks for your input. These issues are complicated, and you are right on about the problem being too many people. We just don't want to have to live with the consequences of our actions. For instance, take your statement that there will not be more wild stocks of salmon again, ever. If humans were to go extinct (or undergo a huge reduction in population size), salmon would probably bounce back pretty nicely! At least, while there are still some left to bounce back. I don't wish ill on my fellow humans but wish something would happen to turn things around with respect to our relationship with the natural world.

Even though I work in the area of infectious disease, I am not very germ-phobic. I don't use wipes on my cart, or even wash my hands very often. I think exposure to microbes is, to some extent, good for you. The business with handling packaged chicken like it was dog crap is more to keep the slime off my hands. But I started doing it with vegetables too after noticing other shoppers wiping their noses on their hands, coughing, etc., then handling vegetables that I intended to eat raw, quite soon. Once I started noticing this, it seemed like I saw it all the time - people snacking (stealing) food with their bare hands and licking their fingers between courses while shopping (and sneezing and coughing). I think other people should keep their spit in their mouths, and not on my food.

I was hoping that people who work in restaurants would comment on my post above. Do you get instruction from the owner/chef/boss on how to deal with people who say they have food allergies/intolerances? Or does everyone (server/cook) just invent their own policy?