eG Foodblog: JennyUptown - Fun with food

[Al_Dente]

Did you ever have a date spoil for you what might have been an enjoyable meal/restaurant?

Is anyone a fan of the old Pink Panther movies? You know how when anyone mentions Clouseau's name around Chief Inspector Dreyfus? His eye begins to twitch, the side of his face convulses with a tic.

Such was my reaction when considering my answer to this question.

Edited January 14, 2004 by Al_Dente (log)

[reesek]

jenny,

i've been wanting to commend you on your blog. i love that though your work is not related to food - you've related it back to us in a food context. the sally jenkins article was very touching.

i'm rooting for kwame - i hope he doesn't have to lose all his innocence to gain some strength.

my earliest complete food memory is visiting my paternal grandparents in miami. (though i don't really think it was miami - bar harbour?) we used to go to carino's - a bustling minestrone-or-salad with your veal picatta type of place. we went because of the delectable garlic rolls - thinking back - these were parker house rolls sprayed with margarine and garlic salt. we loved them. my grandmother, all 82 pounds of her, would always, without fail, send every cup of soup/coffee/tea served to her back because it wasn't "piping hot, dah-ling" grandma and her asbestos mouth rocked.

[hillvalley]

Finally, I have already admitted to not liking seafood so I might as well come clean about my Tang addiction. Want to make fun of me? Go for it. Everyone else has.

You'll be pleased to know that Nasa now offers 7 types of Tang.

Tang still travels into outer space

Do you stick with the traditional orange or have you expanded your horizons?

[ronnie_suburban]

A possible new avatar for you...

of course, you'll have to shrink it a bit

=R=

[JennyUptown]

Just about 6:20 pm ET and here I am, writing in the blog instead of going to Ceiba for Restaurant Week. Waaaaah, I'm boooorrreeed. I feel like a kid again.

One friend bailed because of her sudden hatred of her job and a need to get her resume in order NOW. Another was worried about her bottom line and when I agreed that poverty is bad, we decided to pull the plug (and yes, cancel the reservation). DC is freezing at the moment; it's windy and we're due for the snow to begin around 9 pm so although I'd love to go out for a beer (and avoid my You Won't Be Considered a Good Chef For Long Pasta alla Vodka leftovers), I'll probably stay put for tonight. At most, I'll hit the gym.

I just got another amusing e-mail from a dear (but not near - he's in Ireland now) ex. He is largely unimpressed with aspects of my life, thinking I stress too much and focus on work/earnings/stability more than any normal person should. I've known him for a few years now - we met at a bar in NYC called Solas in 1998 or so.

I bring him up because I just realized that in all of these years of knowing him, I don't think we ever had a proper restaurant meal together. Owen, if you are reading, can you confirm/deny? So strange. I think there may have been bar food consumed at Matt's...or a pizza at Swift...but never a real deal with menus, nice napkins, a waitress (preferably one you didn't hit on in front of me), etc.

Procrastinating...don't...want...leftover...pasta!

[JennyUptown]

Check it out...I have a new avatar thanks to gus_tatory.

Can you tell what it is?

So exciting...

[ludja]

Check it out...I have a new avatar thanks to gus_tatory.

Can you tell what it is? 

So exciting...

banana pudding w/raisins in a sailor cap?

edited to reflect that I DO need to go to the optometrists for my yearly checkup...

Edited January 14, 2004 by ludja (log)

[Nick]

Can you tell what it is? 

Scrambled eggs with ripe olives?

[Toliver]

Check it out...I have a new avatar thanks to gus_tatory.

Can you tell what it is?

So exciting...

Head cheese gone really, really, really bad?

[reesek]

Can you tell what it is?

i'm hoping it's pasta with peas, but if it is - i think i know why people hassle you about it

[JennyUptown]

It is indeed pasta & peas (sans tomato sauce). I think I messed up the resolution when I resized it.

PS It's a representation of pasta & peas, but the dish shown was not made by me.

Edited January 15, 2004 by JennyUptown (log)

[CityCook]

I was going to guess that it was what I kept blowing out of my nose while I was sick for six weeks.

[ludja]

It is indeed pasta & peas (sans tomato sauce).  I think I messed up the resolution when I resized it.  

sorry if I dissed your pasta and peas... and by the way, your dish kind of descends from a long proud Venetion tradition: risi i bisi...

Edited January 15, 2004 by ludja (log)

[Marmish]

I don't think you ever told us what you ordered for lunch at the seafood place.

Inquiring minds want to know.

[JennyUptown]

People other than my mother caring about what I eat is still new to me. Oops!

I had steamed chicken buns (not as good as others I've had) and fried pork dumplings (really doughy and they gave me such heartburn). Do you know what's funny? Only one person out of a group of seven had seafood!

For dinner, the pasta warmed up tasted better than it did first time around - nice surprise.

I'm kind of in the mood for going out for a beer. If there were a nice bar nearby - say, in the lobby of my apartment building (now THAT's an idea), I'd travel that far. But it's way too cold to go out tonight.

Instead I'm contemplating making chocolate-chip banana bread tonight. I have the right number of ripe bananas. I'd rather make a pudding, however I'm short on ingredients (doh!) again.

[MichelleW]

Jenny, I actually do cook, but I thought of you tonight when I managed to cobble together a quite tasty meal from the (seriously) six or so ingredients in the fridge:

Tricolor pasta, fresh baby spinach, garlic, olive oil and gorgonzola cheese. I seasoned with s&p and gorged. It was really, really yummy. If I'd had a little cream on hand, I think I could have pulled off a light cream sauce.

One of these days I'll buy something other than coffee and eggs at the grocery store.

[cjs]

Check it out...I have a new avatar thanks to gus_tatory.

Can you tell what it is? 

So exciting...

banana pudding w/raisins in a sailor cap?

edited to reflect that I DO need to go to the optometrists for my yearly checkup...

lol

[JennyUptown]

Incredibly cold here in DC today (not as bad as NYC, I know, so I won't complain as much as I'd like to!). We didn't get any of the anticipated snow, at least here in DC proper, which to me was a bit of a disappointment. Like hillvalley, I enjoy a nice work delay or cancellation.

It's cold enough that if Cosi sold soup this early, I'd be slurping some. Instead, I'll start the day with my usual half bagel with cheese and a gigante iced skim latte. Yes, iced. No matter what the temp is, I generally prefer my coffee cold. When I worked at the NBA, one of the retired player-execs used to see me come in each day, iced latte in-hand, and make fun of me. In his fantastic West Virginia accent, he'd say "Jennifer, it's COLD outside and you're gonna drink THAT??" or similar. Without fail, he'd see me and shake his head.

I got a nice surprise this morning in the form of an e-mail from a friend who dropped the news that he's moving to my neck of the woods. This is only significant in a food capacity in that he is the person who introduced me to my beloved Indian food (Baluchi's UWS, NYC). Ever since that night of friends and food, when given a choice, Indian is almost always tops. Mmm...aloo tikki, lamb samosas (which Heritage India in Glover Park inexplicably removed from the menu!! ), lamb vindaloo, paneer anything and the old standby, chicken tikka masala/makhani (and yes, I know it's not all that authentic of a dish, but I love it anyway).

I'll be dining at Indique Monday night when my friend Jen comes to town from NYC. She'll be meeting a few of my friends for the first time, and since she really likes Indian food too, it seemed like the perfect location.

Time for the bagel...

[Busboy]

.

I'm kind of in the mood for going out for a beer. If there were a nice bar nearby - say, in the lobby of my apartment building (now THAT's an idea), I'd travel that far. But it's way too cold to go out tonight.

If you're still looking for an apartment, try the big place directly opposite the National Zoo. Old hardwood floors, big rooms (at least the one we sublet for the summer a couple of years back), high ceilings....and in the same building as the Zoo Bar. If you haven't been, go.

[JPW]

. 

I'm kind of in the mood for going out for a beer.  If there were a nice bar nearby - say, in the lobby of my apartment building (now THAT's an idea), I'd travel that far.  But it's way too cold to go out tonight.

If you're still looking for an apartment, try the big place directly opposite the National Zoo. Old hardwood floors, big rooms (at least the one we sublet for the summer a couple of years back), high ceilings....and in the same building as the Zoo Bar. If you haven't been, go.

Ah yes, the Zoo bar. Good blues bands.

Quite an interesting collection of neighborhood folk that hang out there, especially happy hour and Saturday afternoons.

I've got to say through experience that having a bar in your building also has its drawbacks. I could never quite get used to asking the drunk college kids to please quit p&*%ing on my car.

[Rhea_S]

It's cold enough that if Cosi sold soup this early, I'd be slurping some.

I love soup for breakfast on cold winter days. Unfortunately, I don't think there's any place where I live that serves soup before 11AM and I've been too lazy to cook my own.

[jsolomon]

Ah yes, the Zoo bar. Good blues bands.

Quite an interesting collection of neighborhood folk that hang out there, especially happy hour and Saturday afternoons.

I've got to say through experience that having a bar in your building also has its drawbacks. I could never quite get used to asking the drunk college kids to please quit p&*%ing on my car.

Wow, the Zoo Bar in Lincoln, Nebraska, has the same issue with various drunken college students accosting vehicles.

It's a blues bar, too. Are you sure you don't live down the street from me?

[Busboy]

Ah yes, the Zoo bar. Good blues bands.

Quite an interesting collection of neighborhood folk that hang out there, especially happy hour and Saturday afternoons.

I've got to say through experience that having a bar in your building also has its drawbacks. I could never quite get used to asking the drunk college kids to please quit p&*%ing on my car.

Wow, the Zoo Bar in Lincoln, Nebraska, has the same issue with various drunken college students accosting vehicles.

It's a blues bar, too. Are you sure you don't live down the street from me?

I love a bar where the old retired guys sit around all day nursing warm beers and old grudges, while the tourists families look inside and then beat a hasty retreat. Never saw a bad band there, either. One drawback: they seem to vent the deep fryer directly into the elevator, which makes riding up to the fourth floor after a long night smell pretty disgusting.

[JPW]

Ah yes, the Zoo bar. Good blues bands.

Quite an interesting collection of neighborhood folk that hang out there, especially happy hour and Saturday afternoons.

I've got to say through experience that having a bar in your building also has its drawbacks. I could never quite get used to asking the drunk college kids to please quit p&*%ing on my car.

Wow, the Zoo Bar in Lincoln, Nebraska, has the same issue with various drunken college students accosting vehicles.

It's a blues bar, too. Are you sure you don't live down the street from me?

Sorry if I confused.

Been to the Zoo Bar many times, but lived above a different bar in a different city.

[Cusina]

I don't know how things are now, but I suspect if you grew up in the Midwest before 1990 -- unless dad was a fisherman -- you didn't taste much good fish growing up. Even these days, in Denver, good fish is harder to find than it is on the coasts. And, of all things, I think freshness is most important to seafood.

So there is this huge, giant thing in the Midwest called Lake Michigan... they grow fish there and even eat them. Not only that but there are other lakes too, lots of them, and they have fish.

Hehe, I love living in the flyover zone.

Seriously though, I think growing up where seafood was scarce gave me even MORE of an appreciation for it. It was a serious treat rather than a daily occurence. I'll take good seafood over good steak anyday because of it's rarity. This, of course, is not to pass judgement on your dislike of seafood, it's just my own experience.

Jenny, I really enjoyed the Post article you linked to back there. Finding your way into real life is tough. I watch my college girls struggle like crazy through their first year after graduation (wait... I only get part of my paycheck? They take the rest for taxes and insurance??). Transitions are hard and food is a big part of it. Big institutions like colleges (or the NBA) don't do a good job of preparing their charges.

Thanks for putting that article up, I would have missed it otherwise.

Oh, and as for the tomato sauce issue, someone really wise once said, you learn a lot more from your mistakes than you do your successes. Next time you'll know!