eG FoodBlog: KatieLoeb - I've been tagged!

[KatieLoeb]

Well - Fifi has tagged me so I guess I'm it. I hope my bizarre eating habits aren't too dull, or too revealing of my other *ahem* idiosynchracies.

Started today as I always do. Big cappuccino from the dining room. One of the advantages to working for a restaurant is having the cappuccino machine downstairs at all times! Makes the long hours pass with a much higher level of alertness. Otherwise getting my synapses to fire in the absence of caffeine is like trying to spark a campfire with wet wood

I've had a couple of North Star Farms peaches so far. Late summer peaches are SO good! Not terribly hungry today as lunar cycle issues are making me feel a bit queasy. Also like I'm birthing a small litter of porcupines, but this too shall pass when the painkillers kick in. Then I assume I'll be back to my usual hoovering self. Am I the only woman that feels like any foodstuff that isn't nailed to the floor isn't safe in my presence at "those" times? Particularly anything chocolate, fried or carbohydrate loaded. I'm having visions of a big plate of mashed potatoes...

More later...

[Lady T]

No truly good foodstuff is safe around me at that phase of the moon, nailed down or not. That's why God made crowbars, after all. Not to mention screwdrivers, pliers, and if necessary, tweezers.

Oh, yes: and forks. Say on, o Muse.

Edited September 4, 2003 by Lady T (log)

[alanamoana]

just the other day, i'm at work and the moon strikes (i think this thread may scare some of the male members of eGullet )...i rush off to the local drug store to buy supplies...

you guessed it:

mini m&m's

mini snickers

mini three musketeers

mini milky ways

needless to say, everyone else was happy even if i needed about 20 alleve!

[KatieLoeb]

Co-worker has been placed on earth specifically to test my limits today. Brought in a large bucket of Jersey Shore Caramel Corn. This stuff makes Cracker Jacks look like ghetto food. Crunchy, sweet AND salty. What more could a girl ask for?

Several handfuls later I am much improved in mood.

[sabg]

kfc. i dont think anything beats greasy salty crispy chicken skin.

[bloviatrix]

just the other day, i'm at work and the moon strikes (i think this thread may scare some of the male members of eGullet  )...i rush off to the local drug store to buy supplies...

you guessed it:

mini m&m's

mini snickers

mini three musketeers

mini milky ways

needless to say, everyone else was happy even if i needed about 20 alleve!

where was the ice cream food group?

[KatieLoeb]

I finally reached the point where my stomach growling was making it hard to concentrate so I got a plate of this evening's staff gruel. Today's selection was shredded chicken, white rice and roasted vegetables. Pretty plain, but well prepared (one would hope so at a restaurant of decent caliber) and just perfect for what I wanted at the time. Something to muffle the growling...

I'm thinking about stopping for some soup dumplings on the way home. [Homer Simpson voice-over]Mmmmmm....soup dumplings.[/Homer Simpson voice-over] Shanghai comfort food that will perfectly suit my mood. I'll eat those, curl up in bed and watch TV and then go look for something sweet in the fridge for my before bed snack. If I were being righteous it would be fruit, but I suspect that later on I will do a transformation that will look something like this:

Not THAT suits my mood...

[Suzanne F]

You go, girl!

[KatieLoeb]

I did indeed succumb to the pull of Shanghai cuisine and the thought of not having to cook or even open the fridge tonight. I stopped at New Joe Shanghai in Chinatown and ordered one order of eight soup dumplings and one order of Szechuan Beef soup. I love to eat soup when I'm feeling the need for comfort - especially spicy soups. Although I love Chicken Matzoh Ball or Chicken Noodle soup when I have a head cold (Jewish Penicillin - the Bubbe cure for all that ails you) I swear by a quart of Hot & Sour soup to make you start to sweat and get those fluids into you. Not to mention blasting the congestion out your head.

This evening's soup dumplings were sublime. Perfect little doughy masterpieces that I nipped the top off with my teeth and then poured a tiny bit of the gingery vinegar-soy sauce into and ate each one in a single big sloppy bite. Yummy!!! The Szechuan Beef soup was really good, and was something new to me. Lots of spicy red beefy broth with big thick noodles and shredded beef and what appeared to be tendons (similar to what I've had in Pho before). Very good and hearty. I had a very pleasant chat with the proprietress of the restaurant while waiting for my order to be prepared. I'm thinking this might be a great location for one of our future Dangerous Dining Club gatherings. The place seats 120 people and Susan (the nice manager) told me they'd be delighted to have a large group on a Tuesday or Wednesday evening when they usually aren't so busy. Shaighainese (is this a word, or did I just make it up?) cuisine is one we've not explored yet, and might be sufficiently different from our blowout Chinese New Year's banquet to attract a large crowd. {Note to self: post on Yahoo DDC Board to see if anyone is interested}

My predicted sweet craving seems to be satified by the diet ginger ale I'm drinking. Hoping to go to bed relatively soon, so maybe I won't turn into a she-devil devouring all in her path until tomorrow. I'll report back if the demons overtake me

[gus_tatory]

This evening's soup dumplings were sublime.  Perfect little doughy masterpieces that I nipped the top off with my teeth and then poured a tiny bit of the gingery vinegar-soy sauce into and ate each one in a single big sloppy bite.  Yummy!!!

ok KatieLoeb--

nice food blog by the way. but you just cinched it--i have to go to Chinatown for dim sum this weekend. there's no putting it off after your soup-dumplings description...

[KatieLoeb]

This evening's soup dumplings were sublime.  Perfect little doughy masterpieces that I nipped the top off with my teeth and then poured a tiny bit of the gingery vinegar-soy sauce into and ate each one in a single big sloppy bite.  Yummy!!!

ok KatieLoeb--

nice food blog by the way. but you just cinched it--i have to go to Chinatown for dim sum this weekend. there's no putting it off after your soup-dumplings description...

Hi Gus!

Thanks for the kind words...this is very interesting having my eating journaled and posted in cyberspace for all the world to see and analyze!

I suppose I should have confessed this in my earlier post, but what I think set me off on the soup dumpling tangent was reading Rick Nichol's article in today's Inquirer (HERE) I suppose I didn't want to seem so easily led and influenced. Oh well - my secret's out now!

You should try and join the Dangerous Dining Club for some of our various ethnic feasts. (Unless of course, you already have and I just don't realize it!) There's been talk of a dim sum brunch as a near future endeavor, as well as my thoughts of trying out New Joe Shanghai. You can scope it out at Yahoo.com in "Groups" and then type in Dangerousdiningclub as all one word.

The restaurant review in today's South Philly Review was of the gargantuan Chinese restaurant at the corner of 8th & Washington Avenue (New South Garden, maybe?) that mentions that they serve dim sum daily. Sounded pretty good and they have parking which Chinatown is always scarce on. Slightly closer to my Queen Village digs, but not tried personally - yet! I'll report back in the Pennsylvania forum when I have a chance.

[fifi]

Good going on the blog. This one is fun. I also found writing about what I cook and eat a somewhat strange experience. Not in a bad way, mind you. I still wonder if doing it affected what I actually cooked/ate?

[fifi]

I fogot to ask... Where do you get those neat smilies?

[sandra]

You made me so hungry for Chinese soups... and ramen just won't cut it right now...!

!

[KatieLoeb]

I fogot to ask... Where do you get those neat smilies?

I found a really cool site called emoticons4U.com Clickety. There are many categories of emoticons and if you click on the one you like it will give you the entire IMG address to copy and paste right into your post, or an e-mail. I've been having fun with them, and sometimes the little emoticons express things so much better than I could in words. Also, Hotbar.com allows you to download a toolbar right into your e-mail program that has a cute collection of emoticons, e-mail backgrounds, business cards, etc that can really jazz up your communicative ability.

Still wondering when I'll have an opportunity to use the ones of the doggie lifting his leg on the fire hydrant and pissing on it or the little smiles performing various sex acts . Yes - they do exist!

[aliwaks]

You should try and join the Dangerous Dining Club for some of our various ethnic feasts.

Katie ...so want in on that

dimsum yummy one of my favorite ways to spend an afternoon slowly going from pork product to pork product with some shrimp thrown in...

it's that Jewish girl pork thing we both seem to have, also find it funny that we are on the same umm cycle do you think the whole of the philly food industry is unfortunately linked to the same lunar cycle if so there should be a proclamation

ATTENTION PHILADELPHIA !!!! HEAR YE HEAR YE.

A MAJORITY OF THE WOMEN IN FOOD SERVICE WILL BE OVERLY CRABBY & EMOTIONAL THE SECOND WEEK OF EVERY MONTH PLEASE MIND YOUR MANNERS AND TIP WELL.

love your food blog & need soup dumplings desparately

am jealous of your staff meal. Ours last night was macaroni & cheese & baked potatoes...nearly bit the sous' head off everyone was in carbo coma for the rest of the night.

Am making it myself tonight.

[Suzanne F]

At a WCR conference one year, one of the attendees wore a t-shirt that proclaimed:

I'm out of estrogen and I have a knife

[KatieLoeb]

At a WCR conference one year, one of the attendees wore a t-shirt that proclaimed:

I'm out of estrogen and I have a knife

My OB/GYN's office has a variation on this (...Have a Gun) on a poster that is prominently displayed behind the receptionists.

One of the funniest things I ever saw was an interview where someone desribed PMS as swinging wildly between Pardon My Sobbing and Pass My Shotgun.

[snowangel]

At a WCR conference one year, one of the attendees wore a t-shirt that proclaimed:

I'm out of estrogen and I have a knife

My OB/GYN's office has a variation on this (...Have a Gun) on a poster that is prominently displayed behind the receptionists.

One of the funniest things I ever saw was an interview where someone desribed PMS as swinging wildly between Pardon My Sobbing and Pass My Shotgun.

Just wait until you hit the mid-40's. Wicked.

I got Paul out of bed one night at 11:00 pm to go to the store to buy bacon and ice cream. He protested, but decided that the kids really need a dad and health insurance .

[fifi]

My favorite bumper sticker is "Out of Estrogen, and I have gun". In Texas, that is not an idle threat.

[KatieLoeb]

am jealous of your staff meal. Ours last night was macaroni & cheese & baked potatoes...nearly bit the sous' head off everyone was in carbo coma for the rest of the night.

Am making it myself tonight.

So Ali - what'd 'ja make???

Folks - my sincere apologies for having been no fun today. I'm a little overswamped at work and trying desparately to finish one project before confusing myself with the next. Plus I'm helping train our new sommeliere on the finer points of printing the wine list, keeping the 86'd list up to date, etc. so I can't seem to hunker down and get anything truly accomplished or carried through to completion.

Short entry. So far today I've had the equivalent of a whole mango sliced up, a big handful of cashews and am about to dig into our staff meal tonight which is heirloom tomato salad, what appears to be a shredded chicken puttanesca-type sauce and mashed potatoes (YAY - finally get my mashers!). It is warming in the micro as I type and then I'll be off to finish plugging in this week's purchases, coding the invoices for the Accounting Department and creating the new inventory sheets for all three restaurants for Monday. I fell like I may never get out of here, but I hope to be gone in a couple of hours at most.

I'll report back on what's looking to be a late dinner when my weekend has truly begun and I can relax a tad...

[herbacidal]

has anyone noticed katie's promotion?

[fifi]

I did.

[suzilightning]

it's that Jewish girl pork thing we both seem to have, also find it funny that we are on the same umm cycle do you think the whole of the philly food industry is unfortunately linked to the same lunar cycle if so there should be a proclamation

how about croatian girl thing and NOT just in Philly but here in NJ, too.

great blog...

unfortunately now i am sitting at work craving chinese...hot and sour soup, garlic beans, chicken with orange flavor and i have to work till 3:sad:

[KatieLoeb]

has anyone noticed katie's promotion?

Thanks Herb! What are friends for...

Sorry I was so out of touch yesterday. Not much to report however as I was swamped at work and not having much time to eat. I ended up having a bag of Salt & Vinegar potato chips to tide me over (I worked until 11PM ) and then had a few glasses of wine whilst dropping off some paper work at the other restaurants. {Note to self: Take the heinous Cotes du Rhone OFF the wine list at Bleu. Yech. No wonder it hasn't been selling...} Grabbed a few slices of pizza on the way home and that was it. Slept like a hero after a grand total of about 5 hours sleep the prior two evenings.

On my way to the Temple-Villanova football game. Will report back tonight!