Vienna Summer Black Tea

I went tea-shopping with my mom a few days ago and going through the tea shop and smelling all the jars of tea was amazingly fun. Note: going to a tea shop that has jars you can open yourself is infinitely better than one with jars behind a counter that you need to get someone to open for you. I believe this is because your sense of how annoying you are being overrides the sense of fun derived from smelling tea leaves.

I'm a coffee kind of person born of a family of obsessive tea drinkers, but I also love tea and on (very) rare instances, will order it over coffee. Like when I want to be able to sleep. Once. And this behavior can be explained thus: the tea's name was Iron Goddess of Mercy. But when I'm at home, I almost always make tea for myself, due to the fact that I may have ruined my coffeemaker and anyway it was making somewhat weird coffee before that.

My parents are tea purists- especially my dad- but I like blending in a few things occasionally (like mint, rosehips, or chamomile) with your typical black, white, or green tea.

Vienna Summer Black Tea
My ingredients for this blend is approximately a ratio of the following:
4 tbsp black tea
1 tbsp rosehip
1 tbsp mint

Directions: Add an unknown amount to a teapot (I feel that I always disregard the package instructions that say to add 1 tsp or so for an 8 oz cup... I feel like I add 3-4 tsp, perhaps because I enjoy existin at the peripheries of life... joke). Boil water at an unknown temperature (although I do think I can admit I know black tea is supposed to be steeped at about 202-212 degrees-is this pretentious knowledge?).

Very simple and very delicious. I like the touch of mint, whereas I know my friend Ashley likes drinking mint tea straight up. That much mint flavor totally overwhelms me though. I think a bit of it is perfect. And no more. Unless you're trying to not only clear your sinuses but also your entire brain of every cobweb that has ever occupied it.

I'm not sure what effect the rosehips has in terms of taste, to be honest. But they photograph really beautifully.

bruschetta ideas

fruit bruschetta with goat cheese and herbs

This looks like the most amazing thing ever. I know if I were to attempt to make it, it would look like a blob, but I don't think that's going to stop me from trying.

Duck N Roll and Get Curried Away

Here are the other two savory food trucks that I went to last week. Duck'N'Roll was my absolute favorite of all the ones we tried. Saad and I both had the Duck Gumbo. It was amazing. It was spicy and flavorful without being over-the-top. Perfect ingredients, which, according to the website, included duck, spicy turkey sausage, smoked beef sausage, jalapenos, corn, carrots, celery, onions, tomatoes. Nitin ordered the thai curry chicken bánh mì. I only had a bite, but it was a bite that packed quite a punch.

On Friday, we went to Get Curried Away. I really liked the chicken masala but didn't like the chickpeas as much. Saad thought just the opposite though. I love Indian food and am always looking to try different places so I can get a more holistic eating experience so this was great.

Next post.... the sweet food trucks.

This was a rogue food truck that wasn't supposed to be at our school that particular day, but came back... hopefully because it had great success the day before and not because it was confused. I think the idea of food trucks having a mind of their own and just cavorting around the city streets is a funny one.

Brown Bag Lunch (Food Truck #1)

 

Last week, my school organized a "Truckin' for Haiti" event in which a variety of food trucks came for the lunch hours. People lined up. Some of the proceeds went to Haiti. As anyone with limited time is prone to do, I researched carefully and decided what trucks I'd be visiting.

First up. On Wednesday, Denise and I went to Brown Bag Lunch Truck. I tried the Pulled Pork. Here's the information, according to the menu:

brine: pineapple juice, mexicoke, chinese black vinegar, kosher salt

smoke: applewood or cherry wood, oak
tea party sauce: banana ketchup, earl grey tea, green tea, rice wine vinegar, kecap manis, ginger

I'm not a food blogger so I can't say that I tasted all those things. But I did love the smoky flavor of the meat. The sauce was also delicious- a little bit like sweet barbeque sauce. But the pure flavor of the meat without the sauce was perfect. My dad taught me to be a purist. Sometimes, though, the sauce is too good to resist.

Denise had wanted to order the spicy elotes (charred whole corn on the cob, spicy japanese mayo, shaved parmigiano reggiano, cilantro, lime juice), but they didn't have those. They did, however, offer supposedly the same combination in "pudding" form. I was glad she was down to try it because the corn on the cob sounded so good. The pudding sounded weird. When she opened her container, it wasn't pudding as we expected, but looked more like a pie. We must not be fancy enough foodies to know what that really is. It tasted delicious, though- kind of like cornbread. 

I feel like people with more sensitive palates are probably sensing all their taste buds die at my 3 AM attempts to describe food with a rather limited foodcabulary (okay, vocabulary in general...). She also had kimchi toasted garlic rice (jasmine rice, kimchi, toasted garlic, oil, kosher salt), which I thought was delicious as well. 

And we just had to photograph the mini Chinese takeout box. I heard that they have chicken and bacon waffles. Must. Track. Down. I view this as an accomplishment toward my Eat Delicious Foods goal. So great to have such achievable goals.

classy things

Things that would make it seem like I'm a classy person enjoying a (very) brisk fall afternoon: I am drinking some darjeeling tea and listening to the Yo-Yo Ma Pandora station. I swear by this station; it's the best. Also I just found this simple breakfast idea originally posted here. These three elements might tell one, Oh, this girl eats breakfast and listens to classy music (it's literally classical music), and drinks tea. Tea is classy.

Unfortunately, I woke up at 12:30 PM today to a text message after having shut off my alarm clock at 10:30 and also just poured the tea down the sink. So who I actually am is someone who stays up until 5 AM reading about determinants of pulmonary gas exchange, needs an alarm clock for 10:30 AM (seriously?) and then doesn't even respond to it. Furthermore, I skipped straight to baking a pizza and some ribs for lunch, and forgot about the tea I was steeping until it was way too bitter.

And now that I decided to write a quick post instead of brush my teeth, I have 15 minutes to leave and go meet my Anatomy group (which, by the way, is composed of great people. I can't help but gush every time I think of them. I told them I would profile each of them on my blog- which, true, has only been actively updated for the past 4 days, but whatever).

So things are a bit of a mess around here. But. Yo-Yo Ma on Pandora? Like I said, I swear by that.

over the phone

"Guess what I ate for dinner... Nevermind I don't think you'll be able to guess."
"Pizza? Pasta? Salad? Rice? etc."
"Are you done?"
"No... a sandwich? Chicken?"
"Yes!"
"Okay, so chicken on a sandwich?"
"No... just chicken."
"..."
"And strawberries, blackberries, and cheese."
"Are you on a paleo diet?"
"What... is that?"
"You're only allowed to eat what cavemen could eat. So it's mostly berries, lettuce and some meat"
"Okay, I could see how it seems like that... but I was just eating some strawberries and blackberries and I thought to myself that I should get some protein... hence the chicken. But I was too lazy to do anything with it."
"...and the cheese."
"Yes. I was craving cheese."
"Really?"
"Pretty much always."
(Your rare laughter)

So... what I'm trying to get across with this conversation is that my plan to cook different and unique meals is going great... not. But I did learn that I eat like a caveman. Day 3 and I have already run out of meal ideas.

goat cheese-stuffed dates wrapped in prosciutto

Picture from lolfoodie

I am always somewhat discouraged to discover every now and then that I may be a cooking genius. I feel as though I would be very relieved to find that I just don't have the ability to cook and save myself the trouble and pretense by ordering out all the time. And yet, I'm pretty good at copying recipes and following directions exactly. Sure, this isn't exactly displaying a knack for cooking, per se. It's a knack for following procedures. Sure, I forget every three seconds how to chop an onion or garlic, but every now and then... I can make a dish that is pretty good.

I still lack the comfort and ease in a kitchen that one might associate with a true cooking genius, and I still don't have a lot of helpful kitchen accessories, but... I do feel pretty encouraged that this is something I can develop. One of my goals for the next few months is to begin the process of developing some go-to comfort dishes. I'm hoping that as the summer progresses, I feel that I can grow an arsenal of simple and tasty dishes to turn to for guests and even myself.

I know that the key to creating a sustainable process (aka, such that I will keep cooking for myself) is to ensure that the recipes I choose have ingredients that are versatile... and that I can find at the grocery store. I'm not one to be searching for an exotic seasoning I can use one time. Also, I know that the recipes I choose need to not only taste great to me (and my personal taste is something I know very well, so that is helpful), but also will not take eons to make and will not make a huge mess. So these are key.

I started today with a pasta that I have completely fallen in love with. Can't wait to share. But for now, I am drooling over these goat cheese-stuffed dates wrapped in prosciutto. You know how I was saying I know my taste? This is exactly what it is.

I'm pretty excited about this... I feel like I haven't properly challenged myself in awhile.