eG Foodblog: zilla369 - Derby Eats, Derby Week: Louisville, KY

[Mooshmouse]

Mama Sita's. That is hilarious. Given how "punny" all the Indians I know are, it probably was intentional.

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If I recall correctly, Mama Sita's is actually a Filipino brand. Some of its products include 'cheater' sauces and soup bases for when there just isn't enough time in the kitchen or the ingredients on hand to make things from scratch.

[zilla369]

Apparently, Chef's nine-year old daughter, Mimi, took this shot of herself while I was busy doing something-or-other. She's a cool kid, definitely a chef's kid. She can already roll sushi!

I often tell her she's as warped as this sheet pan:

A cautionary tale, that photo. That's what happens to a sheet pan when it's abused, when it gets repeatedly super-heated and then thrown into water before it cools. That's what pastry chefs are bitching about when they say they can never find a flat sheet pan for pastries.

The roommate says he sees an image of Jesus in the surface of that sheet pan. Please excuse me while I go out front and set up stanchions to herd the crowds of faithful sight-seers.

[zilla369]

So, that was my week. I didn’t eat much; as a matter of fact, I lost at least 5 pounds. Sadly, Steak ‘n Shake, near the beginning of the blog, was my only “formal” sit-down meal.

I drank far too many sugary beverages, as predicted, like these:

But I also drank a LOT of water.

Luckily, one thing I didn't drink was this:

I went to the going-out-of-business sale at a local grocery on my way home last night and picked up tons of cleaning supplies at 50% off in anticipation of the final push to move house this week. The roommate graciously offered to put away the groceries, since I'd done the shopping. So while I was finally relaxing, I hear this from behind the open refrigerator door:

"'Fabuloso, eh? What flavor is that? Strawberry?"

YIKES. Good thing we don't have any children in this house. Notice the label reads: "Liquid Cleanser".

And I used a whole lot of this, for myriad purposes; but mostly just jammed in the top of everything sweet. Nature needs to come up with another green garnish that doesn’t frighten people.

If anyone has any questions, post ‘em if you’ve got ‘em. We’re almost done!

[zilla369]

Oh, I almost forgot. Two weeks ago, we started ordering pork from a local Kentucky-bred meat supplier. They're a small operation. But their product is so fresh, and so good...we've ordered about 10 fresh pork loins from them in the last couple weeks.

Since the price is so reasonable, the line cooks asked me if we could get a whole slaughtered hog and make sausage, etc. They specifically asked me to make sure the head was included. Unfortunately, it didn't get delivered when we expected it; rather, it was delivered Thursday, when we were already deep into prep for derby. So I had to put it in the deep freeze until this week, when we'll have time to deal with it. I really wanted to take pictures of us breaking it down, but I guess it's not to be.

True story: As I was walking out of the dining room to go home Thursday night, a table of guests waved me over and told me how great their meal was. This was an eight top. They discovered I'm the "pastry chef" and asked me some questions about dessert. Then the host of the party asked me why I was carrying a camera. I told him I'd been foodblogging all week, and called up the review function on my camera to show him some pictures.

Yep. The first one that popped up was the photo above. While they were in the middle of dinner.

Fortunately, they were good sports about it. Heh.

[chromedome]

"Irish Moss" is a seaweed. It's the source of much of the carageenan that goes into chocolate milk, ice cream, and similar items across the continent.

In bygone days, it was harvested by individual householders on both sides of the Atlantic and used as a thickener for things like this pudding. Prince Edward Island, in Atlantic Canada, is a major producer; in fact legendary Canadian singer-songwriter "Stompin' Tom" Connors grew up picking the stuff.

[Tepee]

Throroughly enjoyed your blog! Now, I'm more in awe of pastry chefs than ever.

[Abra]

That was fun! I didn't post, due to life circumstances, but I've been reading along faithfully. Thanks!

[zilla369]

Thanks, everyone, for reading along. I got a good nap today in addition to the sleep-in this morning.

Foodblogging was fun. I highly recommend it. It was a busy week, to be sure, and I'm tired, but I'm happy.

And never fear - I finally got my mint julep.

Ahhhh.

[easternsun]

i have been following along...apparently in my sleep too! last night i dreamt that i won $42,000 at the kentucky derby thanks for the great blog! i hope i dont dream about that pig's head tonight

and i promise i will never drink jd again - makers mark for my next julip i reckon

[zilla369]

i have been following along...apparently in my sleep too!  last night i dreamt that i won $42,000 at the kentucky derby    thanks for the great blog!  i hope i dont dream about that pig's head tonight 

and i promise i will never drink jd again - makers mark for my next julip i reckon

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Thanks, easternsun...a great note to end on. Yet another convert.

Finally, I just want to express my appreciation to my roommate, John the Pirateking, aka “Lunchbox”. Lunchbox re-sized and drop-shadowed most of my photos for the blog, and fetched my slippers a lot during this busy week. He also had to endure a lot of "which picture is better: this one, or this one?" moments. Thanks, John!

Sleep tight, race fans.

[Makan King]

Thanks, everyone, for reading along.  I got a good nap today in addition to the sleep-in this morning.

Foodblogging was fun.  I highly recommend it.  It was a busy week, to be sure, and I'm tired, but I'm happy.

And never fear - I finally got my mint julep.

Ahhhh. 

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Congratulations on finally enjoying your mint julep. You thoroughly deserve it!Great blog!

[KatieLoeb]

Zilla:

Congrats on a truly great blog during an utterly insane week. You're a brave woman and I respect that immensely. The photos were excellent and the slice of your life was priceless.

I'm a huge fan of the Fabuloso cleansers. I make a special trip on my day off to go purchase a case of it for "bathrooms only" cleaning at my restaurant. It smells so good!

[arbuclo]

Marsha, thanks for blogging. I enjoyed it, the pictures and even your sense of humour...no really! :-)

[therese]

Great blog. And I'm not even going to hold you accountable for the fact that I now need, really need, some Rebecca Ruth bourbon chocolates.