TDG: Diet-ribe

[hathor]

What's an "Atomic Fireball"? Sounds like something your bosses at LLNL would like to keep away from the institution...

Its a Jawbreaker! Hot cinnamon on the outside...and after about an hour or so, you get a white middle.

[redfox]

Wow! How tragic to have never encountered an Atomic Fireball.

[winesonoma]

Wow! How tragic to have never encountered an Atomic Fireball.

It was what you wanted at the movies. Especially if the Girl friend had one.

[wnissen]

Maybe its 'cuz I'm a GIRL, but the joys of scotch have never thrilled me. I was briefly engaged to a man who prided himself on his 100-bottle collection of scotch, so no one can say I haven't tried good ones. By all accounts, I've had some of the most rare and expensive scotch available and all I seem to taste is burned tar (I'm told that is the peet moss flavor?) Whatever.

Ouch, burned tar is a really unfortunate flavor to get. Much worse than plastic. Well, liking both drinks, I'd say you got the better of the two.

That's a good looking porter. How long have you been homebrewing? My husband brews - has been doing it for about four years now. You must bottle all your beer if you're still enjoying a year old porter. How did you get started homebrewing?

My husband does a barleywine every year for Christmas. He just brewed this year's. I think we might still have a bottle or two of the 2002 vintage around, and definitely some of the 2003. Highly recommended.

I've been brewing since August 2001; my first batch was actually transported via canoe and served in a Tap-a-Draft at my best friend's bachelor party. Talk about starting with a bang... I bottle half and put half in the Tap-a-Draft 6L bottles for bulk aging, so I get to try some aged on yeast and some not. I keep wanting to make a barleywine, but always want to try other styles that will be ready sooner.

Those tomatoes look amazing. I'm so jealous that you have them already. I can't wait for them to show up at the NYC greenmarkets.

One of the great things about CA is that when it's summer, the produce is ready. I don't know if I could wait till the traditional harvest time to start getting produce. For instance, the temperature charts say to plant tomatoes in early March!

What! No picture of the Atomic Fire Ball???

Great blog! Love the fruits and the vegetables!! Love the wine!

But the Lucky Charms thing....??? 

What can I say? When I was a kid we were permitted one box of sugar cereal on our birthdays. I almost always chose Lucky Charms. When I was in college my friends bought three boxes and sorted out all the cereal, leaving a box full of marshmallows. I was in heaven for the three days the marshmallows lasted. Not something I recommend, digestively speaking. I figure I eat enough unprocessed stuff to make up for anything that's in the cereal.

What's an "Atomic Fireball"? Sounds like something your bosses at LLNL would like to keep away from the institution...   

You have got to be kidding me. They sell those right by the checkout counter of every drugstore in the world, as far as I know. How sad that adults today have no sense of our country's rich sugary history.

Although, Hathor, mine never last more than five minutes or so. I get too impatient.

Well, time to post about dinner, my last meal on the blog. I'm pretty full, so I'm going to go to bed without any iced treats for dessert.

6:45PM - Dinner

When I need a jaunty summer dish, this rolled chicken breast in lemon sauce always hits the spot:

Bread crumbs, oregano, and olive oil spread onto pounded chicken breast strips, which are then rolled up and speared. Put in a pan, then pour stock, wine, and lemon juice into the bottom of the pan. Bake at 475 for ten minutes, then five minutes more after topping with more bread crumbs. Really moist, great browned breadcrumb flavor, and quite attractive assuming you don't masscre them trying to get the toothpicks out. Corn was the veggie most in danger of going downhill, so I grilled it unshucked at 450F for 40 minutes. This was a bit too much, but it did taste good. Washed it down with the other bottle from Saturday, 2003 Márques de Cacerés Rioja Rosé. I think the 2003 vintage in Europe is just not my friend. This had a decent little underripe strawberries thing going on, but not much flavor or acid, and seemed somewhat clumsy. On my ten-point rating scale, just a Good. Oh well. In wine, there's always next year.

That's it for my week. I tried to stay honest, and hope you enjoyed the peek. It was a very educational experience for me; for one thing it really changed my idea about how many products I use in a week. I had thought of myself as pretty much a from-scratch cook, but now I realize that's not the case. On the other hand, even with this week picked at random most of what I ate tasted good and was wholesome. Thanks for the opportunity to share it. Cheers.

And now, without further ado, I'd like to turn the mantle over to someone on the opposite side of the USA, so let's all say hello to NulloModo and his blog!!

Walt

[Squeat Mungry]

Dude, thanks so much!

But, uh, check the corn a bit earlier?

Squeat

[jschyun]

Lovely blog. I was feeling a little unhealthy today, but I read your blog and felt much better.

[helenjp]

Thanks a lot...and you're a brave blogger to bare your kitchen !

[wnissen]

Squeat, that corn was probably the only serious misstep of the week; I chose the best looking ear for the picture, some of the others had the first layer of husk burned to the corn! Last time I did it at 300F for 40 minutes and it was good but not fully cooked. I'll just have to find a happy medium. As much as I love browned food, corn char is not where it's at.

jschyun, aw, thanks.

helenjp, I though I was brave for showing my scruffy head, not the state of the kitchen after preparing dinner! I figure it's a good thing for people to know that a modest kitchen with a crappy 27" electric stove and only two workspaces can still be used to make good food. It may be reverse snobbery, but I really feel that on the whole the stainless ultra-expensive kitchen has resulted in less cooking, not more. For one thing, almond-colored enamel and dark marble are a heck of a lot easier to keep clean!

I'll say one thing, it was something of a relief this morning to get up and not have to document or describe anything I ate. The ephemeral Foodblog has passed, and the only legacy is all the leftover wine, a 3/4 bottle, two half bottles, and a quarter bottle.

[Toasted]

I loved this blog and I'm sorry it's over. After seeing all the fruit you eat I've decided to make a point of eating more each day. Thanks for the blog, it was fun. Melissa

[Toliver]

The ephemeral Foodblog has passed, and the only legacy is all the leftover wine, a 3/4 bottle, two half bottles, and a quarter bottle.

Ah. Two words for you my friend: Homemade Vinegar

[herbacidal]

Henry Weinhard's also makes a non-alcoholic root beer.

There's an alcoholic root beer? Where? I want it.

Or do you mean that it's the only non alcoholic thing they make?