Corn!

Apparently in Iowa, it's pretty much a sin not to eat corn throughout the summer, especially on the cob. A couple of weeks ago, my friends Rita and Liz and I went to Red Avocado's "birthday" party, and they featured grilled corn. I didn't necessarily think it tasted different, to be honest, but it was pretty good. I've never been to Red Avocado, even though it's all-veg, because of the cost. However, their brunch is a bit more reasonable so Rita and I are going there Sunday. I'll report back soon. As for my own corn preparation techniques, I admit that I don't buy corn frequently because I don't really want to find a worm in the husk. Needless to say, I was thrilled when I found these tiny sweet corn ears at the Farmer's Market one Saturday, already relieved of their husks! Nowhere for worms to hide, so I bought several immediately. I decided just to boil them and serve them with a bit of margarine, and they were superb. Then I went back the next week, and no more huskless corn! I had ideas for chowder, souffle, cornbread, corn pudding... but alas. Thwarted. I hope this week will be better. I miss silver queen corn, which apparently only grows in the South, but I have to say fresh Iowa corn is still pretty darn good and I'd like to be able to bake with it before the autumn's over.

Amazonian Purchases

And by "Amazonian," I mean Amazon.com. It started with Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind being marked down, and then I saw a Gold Box special on this lovely box of 120 Ceylon teas by Bentley's (not only is the tea itself a treat, but the box is what I'm really going for, as all my ridiculous quantities of teas have spread like an infestation throughout my cabinet. Then I need something, anything, to get Super Saver Shipping, so I decided to break down and by Clotilde's new book. I'll admit that my love affair with Clotilde only lasted a few months. I thought she was amazing, hers was the first foodblog I saw, etc etc, and I still find her very charming and informative, but I think the blog's gone a bit downhill. I don't enjoy it nearly as much as Smitten Kitchen or Tartelette or La Tartine Gourmande or Cook (Almost) Anything Once or the other dozen or so blogs that now occupy the "top" of my list. I have Chocolate & Zucchini but haven't actually made anything from it. Then again, that doesn't say much for me as I usually only make something from a recipe once every two weeks given my busy life, lack of access to a car, and unpredictable grocery habits. This book I think will come in handy next time in Paris, but it doesn't have my favourite restaurant in it. Actually, that's probably a good thing, because the masses will not descend upon "my spot" anytime soon. I do think that my strategy for foodblog management, given the "problem" mentioned in my last post, will be to try to cut down on the recipes I bookmark, so that less time is spent copying recipes I'll never make (who really needs 17 ways to make chocolate mousse?) and spend more of my "foodie time" actually reading and commenting on the dozen or so posts I do read. I'd also like to spend more time meal planning and, you know, cooking, as well as participating in more foodie events and my own foodie features on which I've been slacking. Finally, I'd like to dedicate a teeny bit more time to Yummr, Foodbuzz, and the Foodie Blogroll forum. This probably means that some of the foodblogs on my google reader will get the axe. I hate doing that, but hey, if I never comment they never know I'm there, and if I'm just scrolling by their posts, there's no reason to keep the blog hanging around because one time three months ago they posted a recipe I liked.

I have a problem

If you're feeling a sense of dejà vu at the moment, no no, another problem. I think I'm addicted to foodblogs. I spend hours copying recipes into my database, and at least an hour a day bookmarking recipes to copy later. I look at so many posts a day that I almost never actually get to comment on them. If I weren't doing this, I could be reading books, or even having a social life! It's a teeny bit depressing sometimes. Anyway... I ended up bringing bulgur salad to the potluck for fear that börek would not turn out as anticipated. I'm getting somewhat frustrated that I have no idea whether my bulgur is fine, medium, or what, so here's a picture. Do people who purchase packaged and labelled bulgur have any idea?

A Quandary

I have a problem.

I absolutely cannot, for the life of me, remember to put food in the fridge after it's cooled down. You're not supposed to put very hot food in the fridge for obvious reasons, so I cover it, leave it out on the table, and then promptly forget about it and go to bed. I have a horrible memory in general, and it doesn't help that the layout of my kitchen means that I don't have to walk through it to get anywhere. Normally dinnertime is the last time I'm in there at night. So what do you folks do to remember? Tie a string around your finger? Set a timer? A Google Alert? I have to admit that I stuck the instant mashed potatoes that have been out about twelve hours back in the fridge. They smell and taste all right, and I'm going to heat them up before I eat them. Yes, I know that's a fantastically stupid idea, but I'm sick of throwing away food. If I suddenly stop posting in the next few days, well, you know what happened to me.

Yes, it's the chocolate again

Well first of all, I realised that there was a picture on my camera of the chocolate I mentioned last post you can see just how decadently goopy and amazing it really is. But second, I tried the Noisettes (hazelnut) flavour, and it's just as amazing. It has a soft, very dark truffle center, but solid enough so that you don't have to eat the whole thing at once (ha!) and the best part - whole hazelnuts throughout the bar. I don't really buy hazelnuts for my own baking, but I adore the combination of chocolate and hazelnut. Maybe it's a Nutella thing. Whatever it is, it's good.

Some drive-by enthusiasm about Belgian chocolate

Of course I know that Belgian chocolate is good. I tend to say "well what about French, German, and Swiss chocolate?" though. I still am not convinced that, as a whole, all Belgian chocolate is better than all other chocolate, but I have to say it's two for two on tasty for me. I participated in a non-foodie sort of general package exchange recently, and my box came from Belgium, with a number of things inside including what's pictured here. There was a great big ole cinnamon New Tree bar, which made me happy, as I discovered and loved New Tree when Stephanie sent me some for Blogging By Mail. But in addition, as you can see, there were several Galler bars. I'd never tried Galler, and I highly recommend it. I tried the Café Liegois bar the other day, and it was fantastic. Quality dark chocolate on the outside, delicious goopy cocoa truffle filling on the inside. It's really impossible not to eat it all in one sitting.

A Taste of Iowa City

I went to an event this evening called "A Taste of Iowa City." The idea was that you could buy tickets for a dollar each, and buy food for one to three tickets by walking around downtown. The portions were small and the featured food was available outside each restaurant. I liked the concept, but I think it could use some tweaking. First, it would be nice if they had some way to put all the food in one place. Second, it would be nice to make it more of a discount. Honestly, most booths weren't charging less than they would inside the restaurant, given the portions. There were some tasty looking options like a bruschetta at 808, but it cost two dollars for a piece about half the size of my hand. I ended up getting a bowl of mostaccioli and a slice of veggie pizza for $3 total. That was a good deal, but pizza and pasta doesn't really live up to my hopes of a tasting event.