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Food Log
Breakfast was half of a white grapefruit and a cup of coffee. I weighed 156 pounds.
At the office, I had two cups of coffee and a banana.
I walked downtown — about three miles — over lunch and got some lo mein. On the way back, I stopped at the Penn State Creamery and got an Orange Vanilla Sundae Cone.
Dinner was a mushroom/feta cheese/potato tart, a salad, and two glasses of Black Swan Merlot.
Is My Blog Burning: A Cake Walk
When I saw that Renee Kho, of shiokadelicious!, had decided to host the third Is My Blog Burning?, I was pleased. I was beginning to think that it was about time for another, but had not heard anything and I was afraid that the torch had been dropped and that we had seen the last of the distributed food event. But my concerns were unfounded. The response to the theme — A Cake Walk — seems to be overwhelming, to the point of including people who are not even food bloggers!
I have always been more of a pie person, so I turned to the Internet for inspiration in choosing a cake recipe. The Akron Beacon Journal has their Favorite Cake — a white scratch cake with a pineapple and nut frosting. Carroll Pellegrinelli, over at About Baking/Desserts has her Mom’s Piña Colada Cake — a coconut cake — and a Pistachio Cake and a Red Velvet Cake with Cream Cheese Icing that all sounded good. The Recipe Connection at Quad-Cities Online also has a Red Velvet Cake as well as a Lemon Sponge Cake Pie, which sounded good to me, but I didn’t think it fit the bill. The Chicago Tribune had what looked like a tasty yellow cake with orange buttercream frosting. Ina Garten (a.k.a. The Barefoot Contessa) has her Orange Chocolate Chunk Cake.
In the end I decided that this sounds a little like so much food porn — unrealistic recipes and techniques that result in dazzling, decadent dishes that nobody will ever make. I needed to simplify, to look inward for the simple satisfaction of a tradition dish. My cake would be our Pineapple Upside-down Cake.
This is a very old — by American standards — very simple cake. The recipe originated as the winner of a 1925 contest held by Jim Dole, who invented canned pineapple in 1903. Upside-down cakes had apparently been in vogue since the 1870s. We will often make one after dinner if we are feeling peckish. It requires few ingredients, most of which are pantry staples, and little time. This recipe is adapted from the 1960 edition of the Better Homes & Gardens Dessert Cook Book.
Pineapple Upside-down Cake
- 2 tablespoons Butter
- 7 slices Canned Pineapple
- 7 Maraschino Cherries
- ⅔ cup Brown Sugar
- ⅓ cup Shortening
- ½ cup Granulated Sugar
- 1 Egg
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla
- 1¼ cup Flour
- 1½ teaspoons Baking Powder
- ½ teaspoon Salt
Topping
- Melt the butter in a 9-inch by 1½-inch round pan.
- Drain the canned pineapple, reserving the syrup.
- Arrange the pineapple slices on the bottom of the pan — six around the outside and one in the center.
- Place a cherry in the center of each pineapple slice.
- Crumble the brown sugar to cover the fruit.
Cake
- Cream together the shortening and granulated sugar.
- Add the egg and vanilla.
- Beat until fluffy.
- Sift together the dry ingredients.
- Add the dry ingredients and ½ cup of the reserved pineapple syrup, a little at a time while beating, alternating wet and dry ingredients.
- When all of the ingredients are incorporated, spread the mixture over the pineapple.
- Bake in a 350°F oven for 45 to 50 minutes.
- Let stand 5 minutes.
- Invert the pan on a plate.
Food Log
Breakfast was a fajita omelette — that is filled with sautéed onions and green peppers, in our special marinade, and topped with our homemade salsa — orange juice and coffee. I weighed 157 pounds.
Lunch was a few peanuts and a glass of Black Swan Merlot.
Dinner was a Smoked Turkey Baked Chimichanga and some frijoles refritos with two glasses of Black Swan Merlot.
The Return of the 17-year Periodic Feast
As the Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences points out, this year will see the return of the 17-year periodical cicada. Well, for you foodies out there, this may prove to be a rare opportunity.
Although Americans are gradually increasing their intentional insect intake — a few bug parts get into everything from apple butter to wheat flour — the practice remains more a matter of novelty than nutrition. But when the billions of cicadas belonging to Brood X (the X stands for 10) leave their underground habitats next month, people who want to taste a bug may find their garage doors laden with opportunities. [Barr]
Barr, Cameron W. “Cicada: The Other, Other White Meat.” The Washington Post. 16 April 2004. <www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A16047-2004Apr15> (18 April 2004).
Passport to the Pub
If you are visiting Britain, heed these words.
By all means visit Stonehenge and Buckingham Palace, but if you want to see what real life in Britain is all about, you have to go to the pub. Pub-going is by far the most popular native pastime. The 61,000 pubs in Britain have over 25 million loyal customers. Over three-quarters of the adult population go to pubs, and over a third are “regulars,” visiting the pub at least once a week. The pub is a central part of British life and culture. If you haven’t been to a pub, you haven’t seen Britain. [Fox]
Fox, Kate. “Passport to the Pub.” Social Issues Research Centre. 1996. <www.sirc.org/publik/pub.html> (18 April 2004).
Bat Guano
The other day while sitting on the porch we saw another sure sign of spring. The bat is back in the bat house. We know because there is a little pile of bat droppings under it. Maybe this year it will find a mate.
Spring is Here
After a long hard day, edging the driveway, seeding a pasture, and planting some trees, it was finally nice enough to have dinner on the porch.
In other signs of spring, the Magnolias on campus are in bloom.
Whatever this is, is doing… Well, whatever they do in the Spring.
Even the fish in the marine tank at the HUB seem pretty happy Winter is finally over.
Food Log
-
Sunday, April 11, 2004
- Weight: 155 pounds
- Breakfast: mushroom/potato tart, orange juice, and coffee
- Lunch: a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale
- Dinner: marinated grilled pork chops, roasted winter vegetables, coleslaw, two cups of coffee, two Sierra Nevada Pale Ales, and a hand full of peanuts
-
Monday, April 12, 2004
- Weight: 156 pounds
- Breakfast: a slice of cherry pie and two cups of coffee
- Lunch: a Act II Kettle Corn Flavor Mini Bags Microwave Popcorn and four peanut butter sandwich girl scout cookies
- Dinner: a salad, roasted winter vegetables, and a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale
-
Tuesday, April 13, 2004
- Weight: 156 pounds
- Breakfast: half of a white grapefruit, a glass of orange juice, and a cup of coffee
- Lunch: a tall coffee and a croissant from MacKinnon’s Cafe in West Pattee Library and a Big Grab® Lays KC Masterpiece Barbecue Flavor Potato Chips from The Creamery while waiting for the bus in the rain.
- Dinner: two bowls of chicken rice soup, three slices of garlic toast, and a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale
-
Wednesday, April 14, 2004
- Weight: 154 pounds
- Breakfast: half of a white grapefruit, a glass of orange juice, and a cup of coffee
- Lunch: 2 peanut butter sandwich girl scout cookies, a bag of Act II Kettle Corn Flavor Mini Bags Microwave Popcorn, and a Penn Stater Sub from the Penn State Sub Shop.
- Dinner: half of a thin crust sautéed onion and pepper pizza and two Sierra Nevada Pale Ales
-
Thursday, April 15, 2004
- Weight: 154 pounds
- Breakfast: hash brown potatoes, a glass of orange juice, and two cups of coffee
- Lunch: Subway Meatball Marinara sub, a peanut butter cookie, a Big Grab® Lays KC Masterpiece Barbecue Flavor Potato Chips, and a Dr. Pepper
- Exercise: 3.12 miles (6613 steps)
- Dinner: a salad, two slices of garlic bread, and some peanuts
-
Friday, April 16, 2004
- Weight: 156 pounds
- Breakfast: half of a white grapefruit, a glass of orange juice, and a cup of coffee
- Exercise: 1.97 miles (4183 steps)
- Lunch: Panda Express Sushi — salmon, tuna, shrimp, and four California rolls — and a Creamery Creamery Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream Cone.
- Dinner: sausage, peppers, and onions, boiled potatoes, two glasses of Bella Sera Pinot Grigio, and some peanuts
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Saturday, April 17, 2004
- Weight: 156 pounds
- Breakfast: toast with strawberry jam, orange juice, and coffee
- Lunch: a bowl of potato leek soup and a glass of Bella Sera Pinot Grigio
- Dinner: three grilled chicken fajitas and two glasses of Bella Sera Pinot Grigio
Japanese Chopsticks Manners
Setsuko Yoshizuka, over at About Japanese Cuisine has this to say about chopstick etiquette:
It’s important to use chopsticks properly when you eat Japanese food. It might take some time to practice, but it’s worth learning it.
Basics: How to Hold Chopsticks:
Hold the upper chopstick with the index finger, the middle finger, and the thumb.
Put the other chopstick between the bottom of the thumb and the tip of the ring finger.
Move the upper chopstick only when you pick up food.
Bad manners:
- Waving chopsticks above food dishes.
- Sticking chopsticks into food instead of picking them up.
- Picking up a cup/bowl with the hand that is holding your chopsticks.
- Sucking chopsticks.
- Sticking chopsticks vertically into a bowl of rice.
- Passing food from your chopsticks to somebody else’s chopsticks.
How to Pick Up Chopsticks:
- Pick up chopsticks by the thumb, the index fingers, and the middle fingers.
- Support the chopsticks by the other hand.
- Hold the chopsticks properly.
Extra Tip:
When you finished using disposable chopsticks (wari-bashi), put them back in the bag and fold the bag in half. This indicates that they are used.
Yoshizuka, Setsuko. “Chopsticks Manners.” About Japanese Cuisine. 14 April 2004. <japanesefood.about.com/library/weekly/aa051401a.htm> (16 April 2004).