Food Blog: Squeat Mungry

[misgabi]

Dinner sounds amazing - one question though - Toaster Oven? Is this actually like an oven mainly used for toasting? Am completely bamboozled (sp)

Rant all you want - it's actually rather theraputic I found.

Yay - suprises!!! Found a couple of things today that might do well for you but am not telling

As I said above - enjoy your blog. Are you checking more often now you have your own thread? I did (sad it's true).

Have to find something for dinner now.

Just a quick ps to say I love ciabatta (and cannot get proper in Wagga - will pick some up next time I am in Canberra) but am fully enjoying reading how you are eating yours (jealous much!!!)

[torakris]

ribs in a toaster oven.....

.....who would have thought

[fifi]

misgabi... This is one kind of toaster oven. Though it is a fancy one with convection. You can bake, broil, toast, defrost... they are most useful.

Squeat... It's your blog and you can brag if you want to, brag if you want to.

Oh, damn. Now that stupid song is stuck in my head.

[Squeat Mungry]

At the office now... drinking coffee. I know I should, but I usually don't eat anything before lunch.

Was running late, so didn't have time to make the sandwich from the ribs. Not sure what lunch will be. Things are kind of catastrophic here right now. I'll keep you posted.

Arrrrrrrrgh! Monday!

Squeat

[ronnie_suburban]

At the Cowgirl Creamery, I asked for a cheese similar to Morbiere. They offered (these people go out of their way to please) Harvest Moon from Bingham Hill in Colorado. This is a fantastic washed-rind cheese, and the comparison was not off, though it is closer in my opinion to a reblochon. It is very aggressive and really fills the mouth!

Dinner sounds like it was great. Thanks for the note about cheeses too. I just bought a small wedge of morbier yesterday but I'd love to branch out from there. Had part of a wheel of Livarot too, very nice but relatively tame compared to the morbier.

Have you considered penning a "Toaster Oven Cookbook"?

=R=

[herbacidal]

Rant all you want - it's actually rather theraputic I found.

As I said above - enjoy your blog. Are you checking more often now you have your own thread? I did (sad it's true).

yea, i know i did, too. i suspect every blog victim/winner increased the time they spent on egullet during their week.

also true about the ranting too.

[herbacidal]

Have you considered penning a "Toaster Oven Cookbook"?

=R=

if you do that, I wanna be your agent/marketing person.

seriously. that'll sell.

[Squeat Mungry]

Okay, I am a disgrace to the food blog. Lunch was a hot dog. One lousy hot dog. Actually, it was a really good hot dog, with mustard and pickle relish, from Top Dog in downtown Oakland. (I live in San Francisco, but I work in Oakland these days, which is across the Bay. Oakland, you may recall, is the town of which Virginia Woolf lamented, "There is no there, there.")

Top Dog is actually quite good stuff. They are based in Berkeley. Their brats are excellent as well. I had the regular all-beef "Kosher-style" Top Dog.

This day has gone from bad to worse here at the office. When you hear from me next I will be nursing a well-deserved scotch!

Cheers,

Squeat

PS I drink water at the office all day. I never drink soda. Not out of health concerns -- I just don't like it!

[fifi]

Nothing wrong with a good ol' hot dog now and again.

I drink water all day long at the office. I have a really big insulated sippy cup that I carry around from stupid meeting to stupid meeting.

What goes in the toaster oven tonight? After the scotch, of course.

[misgabi]

Enjoy your scotch when you finally get home.

I didn't even mention water in my blog - I drink it all day except when I have the diet cokes (We have a water cooler in the kitchen for the staff that only I seem to drink - they don't know what they are missing - thinking of moving it into my office

Have you even thought about dinner yet?

[Suzanne F]

Okay, I am a disgrace to the food blog. Lunch was a hot dog. One lousy hot dog. Actually, it was a really good hot dog, with mustard and pickle relish, from Top Dog in downtown Oakland. (I live in San Francisco, but I work in Oakland these days, which is across the Bay. Oakland, you may recall, is the town of which Virginia Woolf lamented, "There is no there, there.")

Top Dog is actually quite good stuff. They are based in Berkeley. Their brats are excellent as well. I had the regular all-beef "Kosher-style" Top Dog.

This day has gone from bad to worse here at the office. When you hear from me next I will be nursing a well-deserved scotch!

Cheers,

Squeat

PS I drink water at the office all day. I never drink soda. Not out of health concerns -- I just don't like it!

Hey, good hot dogs is good food.

However: Gertrude Stein.

[Squeat Mungry]

Ugh. I'm finally home, scotch in hand. I had planned to stop off at my local produce store and get some arugula and a shallot. The plan was to roast some of the beautiful white beets I picked up at the Farmer's Market and the shallot, chop and toss with some EVOO and red wine vinegar, and consume with the pork pulled from the leftover ribs. However, I had to work too late and the produce store was already closed.

So this is NOT going to happen. I am reheating (in the toaster oven) a quiche lorraine I made and froze last week, then am going to bed.

I won't bore you (any more) with how awful my workday was, but this seems like a good time to describe my neighborhood a bit. I'm very lucky! The produce store I mentioned is a block away and is awesome! In some ways it rivals the Farmer's Market. For such a tiny place, they have an incredible array of always fresh and ripe produce, much of it organic. Plus, they stock all kinds of hard-to-find ingredients. Their prices are terrific too! The ironic thing is that they (like me) are directly across the street from an enormous Safeway. I feel like shaking people I see buying Safeway's inferior produce. It's RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET, people!

Also near my house is a small local grocery called Bi-Rite with a discerning eye. Though not cheap, for a local grocery they stock some amazing things, like prosciutto di parma, dry-aged beef, a boggling assortment of condiments, etc. They also feature top-quality produce. Half a block away from them is the best bakery around, Tartine. Their pastries are simply amazing, with the best lemon tart I've ever had, and I would rather eat their croque monsieur than my own, and (bragging again) that's saying a bit!

Misgabi, this is the toaster oven I'm working with.

Anyway, thanks for putting up with my blog so far. I am hopeful that it will be more interesting tomorrow. I'm now going to continue with the Farmer's Market transcription, in the hope that it is of interest to at least some.

Cheers from a very tired Squeat

Edited to add that the quiche turned out pretty well.

Edited November 11, 2003 by Squeat Mungry (log)

[maggiethecat]

ironic thing is that they (like me) are directly across the street from an enormous Safeway. I feel like shaking people I see buying Safeway's inferior produce. It's RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET, people!

I feel your rage; there are so many terrific, inexpensive places to shop for meat and produce here in Chicago, and---still--- folks would rather spend good money on bad food at a chain.

(Grants is my fallback for Dewars)

Edited November 11, 2003 by maggiethecat (log)

[misgabi]

Hope tomorrow is better Squeat - have a good nights sleep.

Re the toaster oven. Never heard of them but after some serious google usage it appears they do sell them here in Australia (just not very often by the lack of them on the store websites) maybe we just have bigger kitchens and rely more on stovetops, ovens and microwaves (not to mention sandwich presses, grill type things on the bench tops etc)

Hope you get to the store tomorrow - really want to hear about those beets - are you trying to tell me they come in colours other than purple

[elyse]

Which Safeway is that, Squeat?

[Squeat Mungry]

Ferry Plaza Farmer's Market List Part II

[sierra Vegetables was also selling Black Turtle Beans... while I was transcribing I thought I was done with them.]

Mountain Valley Orchard Gourmet Preserves: (Sign: "Taste the Real Fruit!")

(Me: "They've got quite a spread!")

(Sign: "No Sugar":)

Mountain Bing Preserves

Orchard Peach Preserves

Country Blueberry Preserves

(Sign: "Just a Little Sugar":)

Black Cherry Preserves

Bing Cherry Preserves

Peach Preserves

Raspberry Preserves

Apricot Preserves

Champagne Jelly (Me: "That sounds good!")

Cabernet Sauvignon Wine Jelly

White Zinfandel Wine Jelly

Merlot Wine Jelly

Plum Berry Delight

Hot Apricot Pepper Jelly (I sound quite enthused about this jelly: "Doesn't that sound good?!")

Spicy Strawberry Pepper Jelly

Hot Pepper Jelly

Spicy Peachy Pepper Jelly

Hot Plum Pepper Jelly

Black Raspberry Preserves

Red Raspberry Preserves

Seedless Marionberry Preserves

Seedless Boysenberry Preserves

Seedless Olallieberry Preserves

Lime Marmalade

(??? Something that sounds like "Oys Marmalade")

Meyer Lemon Marmalade

Strawberry Rhubarb Marmalade

Rhubarb Marmalade

Strawberry Marmalade

Blueberry Marmalade

Plum Marmalade

Marionberry Marmalade

Raspberry Marmalade

(Here I rave about some "beautiful, giant pomegranates" from someplace that sounds like "Bellachian Farms", but I can't find them on the FM website or on Google.)

Same place:

Eggplant

Concord Grapes

White Grapes

Flying Disc Ranch:

Medjool Dates (This is where I bought the Medjool dates. Me: "I've just tasted a Medjool date. The texture is incredible. I have to get some of these! Hold on." [by this time I was obviously talking to the recorder as if it were a friend and shopping companion!])

Dirty Girl Produce:

Radicchio (I bought one. Me: "Mmmmmmm, radicchio! I might have to get some..." They also had a type of green speckled radicchio I had never seen before.)

Carrots

Beets (I got some of these, too.)

Turnips

Arugula

Parsley

Strawberries (On the tape I sound so surprised that they have strawberries that you would think they were offering the actual food of the gods! Me: "How can that be true?!")

Dandelion

Radish

Romaine

Cabbage

???:

Organic Early Girls

Black Plums

Green Zebras

Organic Fresh Garlic

Organic Radishes

"Spiciest Arugula this side of the Embarcadero!"

Mizuna

Summer Squash (Me: "They've still got summer squash!" Er... dork.)

Dried Chelsea Cherry Tomatoes

Persimmons

Everything Under the Sun:

Sprouted Organic Veggie Burgers

Wheat Grass

Barley Grass

Fenugreek

Sunflower Sprouts

Garlic Sprouts

Garlic and Onion (sprouts I assume)

Daikon Radish Sprouts

(Me: "They've got all kinds of sprouts here.")

Krout Sprouts

Broccoli Sprouts

Clover

Alfalfa

Fennel

Alaskan Green Pea

Wheatberries

Black-Eyed Peas (sprouts, that is)

Soy Beans

Mung Beans

Garbanzo Beans

(Me: "They've also got Buckwheat")

(Me: "They're also selling prepared product called:

Pea-Sprout Pesto

Almond Delight

Sprouted Chipotles Hummus)

(??? Me: "And Brooks and Daughters' Sprouted Hummus" Er, that's what it sounds like!)

(Me: "One of my favorite booths is)

Eatwell Farms:

(Me: "They've got a big stand of organic lavender. They sell lavender products as well.")

Lavender Salt

Rosemary Salt

True Lavender Honey (?? That's what it sounds like!)

Lavender Sugar Scrub

Lavender Hydrosol

Sugar Pumpkins

Butternut Squash

Chard

Rosemary

Sage

Napa Cabbage

Hot Peppers (Me: "Five for a dollar!")

(Me: "They also have a few tomatoes left here at Eatwell!")

Sur La Table

(Me: "I'm not gonna go in there 'cause I don't have that kinda money!")

More soon,

Squeat

[Squeat Mungry]

Which Safeway is that, Squeat?

Elyse, it's the giant Uber-Safeway on Market Street at Dolores. (I live at the corner by the statue.)

Squeat

Edited to add: The produce store is Golden Produce on Church Street, literally across Church from Safeway.

Edited November 11, 2003 by Squeat Mungry (log)

[jackal10]

Land of the blessed. A pity so few appreciate it!

Waiting with baited breath for the Acme lists..

Do thy have a URL?

[Squeat Mungry]

Land of the blessed. A pity so few appreciate it!

Waiting with baited breath for the Acme lists..

Do thy have a URL?

jackal10:

I think Acme should be in the next part of the list (coming very soon, I hope).

They don't seem to have a website, but here is an interesting article on sourdough with some info on Acme.

Cheers,

Squeat (Up early and doing laundry.)

[elyse]

Which Safeway is that, Squeat?

Elyse, it's the giant Uber-Safeway on Market Street at Dolores. (I live at the corner by the statue.)

Squeat

Edited to add: The produce store is Golden Produce on Church Street, literally across Church from Safeway.

I KNEW it. I used to shop at both places too. I used to live on 20th between Dolores and Guerrerro.

[Squeat Mungry]

I got up early to do laundry, so I'm departing from my usual ways and making coffee and toast to munch on whilst waiting for the clothes to do their thing.

The coffee again is Graffeo, and I am not kidding people, do yourselves a favor! Delicious. When I was in college I lived across the street from their San Rafael roastery, and I can still conjure the aroma two decades later. Delicious stuff!

I'm also toasting some of the Acme ciabatta, which I'll have with some orange marmalade/apricot jam. This is another San Rafael college memory. There was a wonderful restaurant on 4th street called Le Croissant, and the cooks there told me the secret of this marvelous spread. You buy a jar each of the marmalade and jam, mix them together in a bowl and store the mixture back in both jars. If only I could recreate their perfect cheese omelets!

Cheers,

Squeat

PS Yes Jackal10 I will be working on the list while the clothes are drying!

[Cusina]

Squeat - GREAT foodblog. Really enjoyable!

I am so jealous of your available produce selection. In the summer/fall I have a decent Saturday market down the street from us but nothing like what you describe. Thanks for feeling like a dork with the tape recorder and going into such detail, almost feel like I've been there.

Acme sounds divine, though I always think of Wyle E. Cyote and some weird bird-catcher gadget that ends up shoving him off a cliff when I hear that name.

And toaster ovens are great even if you have a larger kitchen. We use ours constantly for small things. Sometimes you don't want to heat the whole oven up just to toast a few pine nuts or reheat a slice of pizza.

Keep going, I'll keep reading...

[GG Mora]

Squeat -- I'm really enjoying this. Except when you go on about toasted ciabatta with marmalade. I'm trying so hard to eschew carbs, but REALLY, now. Thank God my kitchen is two flights up, or I'd be tapping my fingers by the toaster right this minute (having rooted through the condiment shelves for some ideal jam or another).

You may have explained this before, but as a relative newcomer I'd have missed it...whence the handle "Squeat Mungry"? Sounds like a Dickens character. (I'm going to feel like such an ass if you tell me that it is...)

As to somehow getting your recording on line....wouldn't a weekly Squeat Report be a monster feature for eG?

[Squeat Mungry]

Ferry Plaza Farmer's Market Part III

Springhill Cheese: (Petaluma)

Salted Butter

Jersey Butter

Dry Jack (Me: "Which I've had -- it's excellent!")

Garlic Cheddar

Cowmilk Cheddar

Firehouse Chedder (Me, again unable to read: "Farmhouse cheddar?")

Sage Cheddar

Jersey Cheddar

Giana (Me: "They have Giana, which I've never heard of.")

Old World Portuguese

Sun-Dried Tomato Jack

(Me: "Okay, I'm gonna go in for the Portuguese, now." Then ensued a hilarious encounter between me, a lady fellow customer, and the cheesemonger arguing over which samples were the best!)

Hamada Farms:

Eggplant

(???Tsatsuma) Seedless Mandarin Oranges

October Sun (Me: "Those look like... plums?")

Persimmons

("All kinds of dried fruit.")

Nectarines

Dried Persimmons

Fresh Prunes (?What are fresh prunes?)

Dried Peaches

Cherries

Melons (Me, quite innocently: "They've got some goodlooking melons!")

Pomegranates

Walnuts

Grapes:

Natural Thompson's

Thompson's Seedless

Crimson

Crimson Seedless

Cypress Flower Farm: (Moss Beach)

Hydrangeas (Me: "Ah, they've got some gorgeous stuff here!")

Amarynths

(??? Sounds like "Echinots". Me: "Those are cool!")

Calendula

(The guy here was really friendly and I told him all about eGullet and the blog. I'm sure he'll be tuning in!)

Statice

Marigolds

Stargazer Lilies (Me: "Those are beautiful!")

Snowberries

Daisies

Sweet Peas

Freesia

Tuberose (Me: "Oh, and some of the most gorgeous tuberose, that I'm gonna have to buy!" I did. Then: "Okay these tuberose may not have been the best idea, 'cause they're really, really tall and I'll probably break them!" Somehow I didn't.)

K & J Orchards:

Asian Pears ("Known as 'Yah Li")

Persimmons (Me: "Some more persimmons! These are more orange than I'm used to.")

Asian Pears (Can't make it out...'Shin Li'?)

Very Crunchy Sweet Asian Pears (Again I garble the name. 'Alychthias'?)

Very Sweet Crispy Juicy Asian Pears ('Hos Li'?)

(Wish I had thought to spell out the names of these pears. They were beautiful.)

(I think it's Taiwa Farms? I seem to be having a stroke here.)

Arugula

Peppers

Chard

Pea Greens (Me: "You don't see those all the time!")

Organic Eggplant

Herbs

Tomatoes (Me: "They've still got some tomatoes, too!" I mourn the passing of the tomatoes. Like an idiot I didn't buy any.)

Early Girls

Rapini Greens

Frog Hollow:

(Me: "Frog Hollow has some of the best fruit going.")

Pluots

Bosc Pears (Me: "I like those! I might have to get some." I didn't.)

Asian Pears

More Pluots

Warren Pears

Capay Organic: (I say, "Copay". Doh!)

(Me: "All the organic farmers here are certified [by the state of California, that is]." I was reminded by Capay's certification sign.)

Tomatoes ("They've got some AMAZING tomatoes!" Still didn't think to buy any.)

Rhubarb

Butternut Squash

Downtown Bakery: (I had been looking for this stand in their former spot: "Oh, HERE's the Downtown Bakery! They've moved! It used to be at the back! Beautiful pastries here!" Guh.)

Cheesecake

Bread Pudding

Pain au Chocolat

Brownies

Almond Pecan Twists

Ciabatta Rolls (Sounds like I say "Kabatta", but I'm pretty sure this is what it was.)

Brioche

Organic Coffee Stand:

Organic Coffee

[Squeat Mungry]

Thanks for feeling like a dork with the tape recorder and going into such detail, almost feel like I've been there.

I'm glad people are enjoying the detailed lists. Makes me feel like less of a dork!

Sorry Jackal10, still haven't gotten to Acme! Yipes there's a lot of stuff at that market!

Now the clothes are done and I have to fold, then shower and off to work. Tonight I'm probably going to go hear Rudi Giuliani speak at Oakland's historic Paramount Theatre, so I don't know what's up for lunch or dinner, but will post. Also don't know how soon I'll have a chance to continue with the FM list!

Cheers,

Squeat