old friend

He'd kill me if I called him old... he's not... because we're only about 4 months apart in age... Dan is a friend I haven't seen in a long time... not much has changed, except what people call him... makes me wonder what the hell I was doing that I couldn't figure out how to keep in contact with him for the past 6 years... anyway... we had fun times for his belated b-day celebration with lots of his other friends... and a few more of mine...

eating out

I've eaten out more these last 7 days than I have in quite a while... thought I'd just share that... here are some of the meals and the details I can remember from the last week, plus some more time...

Flour Bakery + Cafe
roast chicken, avocado & jicama sandwich
panini with roasted chicken, brie, roasted red peppers & arugula
homemade oreo cookie
apricot crumb bar
milk chocolate mousse bite size tartlet
scharffenberger double chocolate cookie
* Everything I've eaten here has been amazing. The flavors in the panini melded together perfectly. The bread was perfectly crisp, the ingredients heated through and the brie melty. The roasted chicken sandwich was spicy, but nicely off set by the cool smooth avocado and crunchy sweet jicama. The cookies were awesome. I remember the scharffenberger chocolate cookie as deeply chocolately, but not too dried out. The oreo cookie was clever. Super crunchy chocolate cookie - even had those sugar crystals that can been see in the commercial types - and a non hydrogenated creme filling!

Sorellina
tangerine madras
trevisano salad with goat cheese, globe grapes and walnuts
niman ranch pork chop, dried fruit mustarda
warm chocolate budino with cinnamon ice cream
pinot noir
* I enjoyed this dinner with Simon, Anna and Tatiana. It was a decent meal. The pork chop wasn't "medium" as far as I could tell, the steak wasn't even close to rare and the salmon was too rare. The wine was delicious and the madras cocktail was a perfect summer cocktail. The dessert was amazing. But apparently budino is the italian word for "custard." I wouldn't call this a custard, it was more like a molten chocolate cake, except without the cake and it was much more than warm - the little pot that it came in was burn-making hot! Would have appreciated a little heads up from the waiter on that one. But despite the heat, the chocolate "custard" was rich and dark and the cinnamon ice cream was fragant, even as it was ice cold.

Kingfish Hall
Crispy Fried Calamari Rings…Shredded Romaine Lettuce, Spicy Lemon Aioli
Wood Grilled Tuna Sticks…Duet of Seaweed Salad, Sticky Soy, Wasabi
Classic Olives Crab Cake…BBQ Onions, White Bean Salad, Old Bay Aioli Salads
Tuna Tartar…Raw Tuna with Sriracha Aioli, Toasted Sesame Oil, Cilantro, and Ginger on Sushi Rice with Nori
Chilled Maine Lobster Tail with Homemade Cocktail Sauce
Peel & Eat Shrimp with Assorted Dipping Sauce
strong capirinha
* Enjoyed this meal with Joe and Dan. Kingfish Hall serves amazing bread. It is sweet with a buttery honey brushed over the top. I'd go back for the bread and the Tuna Tartar alone. Delicious red jewels lightly coated in a flavorful aioli served over top of a sticky, thick patty of rice. The wood grilled tuna sticks weren't rare in the middle like they were promised. The calamari was okay, but I've had crispier, softer specimens.

Carlo's Cucina Italiana
fried eggplant rolled with fresh ricotta, melted fontina, covered with a fresh tomato sauce
chicken and sausage in a light vinegar sauce with vinegar peppers, onions, mushrooms and pototoes
a really smooth merlot
* Erin came over to Allston for this one. This restaurant is tucked in between a laundromat and possibly an asian video store. As the back of the menu seems to correctly advertise - this may be a hidden jewel. We shared the eggplant appetizer. The ricotta was creamy and the eggplant was soft and smothered in a flavorful, but simple tomato sauce. The entrees were large and we both got a second meal out of the dinner. The atmosphere was definitely like a family restaurant - a family owned restaurant. This is simply good Italian food.

kitchen communication

I decided today that to be more successful in the kitchen I might have to learn not only spanish, but also portuguese and chinese - mandarin, cantonese, I don't know. I went back to Pine Street this morning to serve breakfast but was quickly whisked away to the kitchen to help make a special sandwich that would be served for lunch. (Thick white bread - "Texas Toast", both insides swiped with a mix of mayo and mustard, one side with thinly sliced red onion, cheese on both slices and then two or three sliced of ham, chicken or turkey - later these were placed on the grill and toasted off to melty goodness.)

Maria wasn't in the kitchen today. I pretty much did the same thing as I did last week, but the woman I worked with was a small asian woman who was hard to understand and had a hard time understanding. Luckily, I remembered most of the tasks from last week, so I was quite confident in what I was doing. I just tried to understand this woman and help her out when I could.

Here's the problem... her co-workers, the full time employees, don't seem to respect her. Well, at least one of them. The one woman just kept saying, "That's not your job. You don't know what you're doing." She even went so far as to shoo her away by hitting her on the shoulder. Yikes... That disturbed me. The head chef was very patient with her though so that should help to set the tone of the kitchen - understanding and tolerant.

Here is something I wonder about though: Wasn't it apparent at her interview that she could hardly speak english? When no one (except one other kitchen assistant) speaks her language, how can you expect to give instructions to someone and know they can follow them? How many languages must a head chef know to communicate with his staff?

I suppose this is the nature of the attraction for people to come to the US... seeming equality and the opportunity to be treated and rewarded like the rest of the people willing to work hard.

food = respect

Today I woke up at 4:30am to head over to Pine Street Inn to serve breakfast. I woke up dizzy and confused after having a hard time falling asleep last night. I might have had about 4 hours of sleep. Plus there were lightning and thunderstorms that kept jolting me out of the early lull of sleep. But I don't want to complain... I actually had a good time today.

I got to Pine Street just before 6am to be greeted by a husky bald man, the other volunteer, working breakfast. I guess usually if there are no volunteers, the kitchen assistants, two dimure asian ladies who are very difficult to understand serve breakfast. The guy who was volunteering told me that the men getting breakfast boss these women around. I know it may be hard to understand them, but no one deserves to be yelled at... that goes for the interaction between the meal service volunteers and the men being served. It's hard, at 6am, no one is really a "morning person." It's early and it is your only chance to eat, possibly until dinner. Serving breakfast was a different experience than dinner. Plus it was the first time I worked the line.

I think that people deserve choices, but when there are so many people to give meals to that the line is out the door, it is hard to be gentle with someone who doesn't want this, wants that, wants to trade, swap or substitute. For instance there was a gentleman who was eyeing all the different donuts that we were to include on the tray. We had some chocolate frosted, some regular glazed, some raspberry filled sticks, some coconut covered donut holes. We were backed up. This guy some how walked over to the end of the line without picking up a tray. He's trying to ask me for something and I have a bunch of guys in front of me waiting for a tray. I'm not exactly sure what he said, it is a bit of a blur, but probably asking about a particular item he wants, then the volunteer guy says, "What does he want?" And I said, "He wants it all." But meaning that I assume he wants a full try of food, the man overhears this and he was pissed, "What did you say? You think I want it all?" and just looks me over with a cold cold eye and does the "wapishaw" sound, like whatever, and walks away. I didn't mean to disrespect the guy, I actually wanted to make sure that he had as much food as everyone else, but I was too busy to explain and I think he was too proud to listen. Food is a delicate balance. Different choices can create a perception of being favored or not, being disrespected or not. You want to treat these men especially like they matter. Maybe they are down on hard times, maybe a little bad luck, maybe switching a chocolate covered donut instead of a "that's what's up there, just take the tray" will start their day off better. Put them in a positive mind set. All the same, this is a meal service, not a restaurant.

Speaking of which, I'm reading a book my Ruth Reichl - Garlic and Sapphires. The beginning of the book is about her review of Le Cirque. My point is... even powerful critics (in disguise) can pay hundreds for a meal and still get disrespected. This perception via food choices/quality happens in high end restaurants and in soup kitchens.

I stayed to help sweep the floor again and asked if there was anything I could help with after that. I hardly understood anything the little asian lady said except to follow her and "sandwiches." I was brought to a lovely woman named Maria who I worked with to make probably close to 300 sandwiches. She showed me what to do, told me how many to make, delivered ingredients and supplies and I was happy to help her out. Two slices of white american cheese and two slices of deli chicken on a whole wheat (thank god!) roll; wrap in plastic wrap and right before the second wrap around, place one mayo and one mustard packet under the wrap. I tried to make the next one better than the last, or at least be more efficient in making and wrapping. I made sandwiches for about 3 hours straight - worked til 10:30am or so. Probably will go back next Wednesday. But I'm taking 2 tylenol PMs at about 7:30pm on Tuesday night so I get more than 4 hours of sleep!

Thank you Mr. Bello!

Who is Mr. Bello you ask? Mr. Alberto Bello? Well, he is someone who has really helped me out, and I'm totally honored! Today I received notice that I am the recipient of the Alberto Bello Memorial Scholarship! The scholarship is distributed through the one, the only, James Beard Foundation. The scholarship that I received is specifically for someone making a career change and attending the ICE. How cool? Well, that is the rhetorical question of the day for me! I truly hope that some day I will be able to sponsor a scholarship just like Mr. Bello!

Additionally, to even be affiliated in some small way with the James Beard Foundation is so cool! Each year the Foundation names "best chefs" for all regions of the country, holds dinners at the James Beard House in NYC and sponsors countless other events throughout the year. I sure hope this is my "toe in the door" to volunteer to help prep or attend events at this really amazing place!

volunteer day

Started off Friday morning at the Greater Boston Food Bank. Lots of waiting there. I was the only individual volunteer, but two groups were expected to help sort and box food. One of the groups was on time... the other arrived about an hour late. That was a little disappointing because it held everyone up and we got started about an hour and a half late.

Anyway, a very interesting experience. The food that GBFB receives mostly comes from supermarkets. Most of the food is damaged in some way, but usually not so damaged that it is inedible. I guess they only throw out about 3% of the food donated (at least the non perishable stuff). Some market sent beef and chicken - raw. Gross. I can only imagine how old that stuff was! We sorted a bunch of stuff from Trader Joe's. I was wishing I was on the GBFB program when I sorted a box FULL of dark chocolate bars! I truly hope that goes to good use and doesn't sit in the warm warehouse for too long!

Sorting food was at times a sticky experience, but I will go back again (maybe after this "heat wave" passes as the warehouse was not airconditioned). Volunteers save the GBFB thousands of dollars each year and help feed hundreds of people each day. The staff that works with the volunteers (mainly one guy named Kelly) is enthusiatic and comical. He makes everyone feel like they did a great job and didn't show any anger or disappointment when the one group showed up late. He must have had to deal with worse.

The second volunteer thing I did on Friday was serve the dinner meal at The Pine Street Inn. I actually ended up not really doing anything with the "service" of the food, rather, I handed out plasticware to the men who came in to eat. It was a little intimidating because compared to the rest of the volunteers, I was quite exposed - meaning, not behind the "protection" of the service counter. Although let me just say, there was really nothing I needed to be protected from. The meal service, and the shelter in general, seem to be a pretty tightly run ship. There were two employees who watched the door and allowed entry to the cafeteria and the kitchen staff to help out too. The men who were there seemed to be well aware of the boundaries of the environment. In any case, I decided to greet the men coming in for a meal as I would like to be greeted at any place I was going to eat - with a smile and a "good evening" or "hello." Most of the men responded with a "thank you" or even asked how I was doing. It made me happy to be helping out. Not everyone that entered the cafeteria was so lucid, some struggling to make eye contact or grab the plasticware. No matter what though, Pine Street Inn performs a great service to all the men and women who can count on a meal, medical or job assistance and a place to sleep.

All in all, I will definitely visit both these organizations again to help out because not only were the other volunteers enthusiatic and happy to be there, the staff at the organizations were friendly and happy to have the help. I tried to get a morning shift next week to volunteer in the kitchen at Community Servings, but they are all booked up and I have to call tomorrow to see if there is another time I might be able to go in to help.

differences

This evening, in the pouring rain, I made my way to a neighborhood filled with industrial warehouses and uneven sidewalks to attend an orientation meeting so that I can volunteer at an organization that serves 650 meals to people living with HIV, AIDS, cancer and other forms of life threatening diseases. I certainly didn't mind going to this area, an area of Boston that seems not to fit exactly into surrounding neighborhoods, (despite the big new hotel that seems to be forcing itself onto a nearby corner encouraging shops and restaurants to fill its' out of the way lobby spaces). I want to volunteer here to understand how an industrial kitchen works, as well as to do something meaningful for a few of my fellow citizens of (greater) Boston. I realized while I was sitting there though, that this experience is meant for more than just my wanting to do something "good."

Do you know how important hand washing is? Well, for everyone that has ever been served anything I've made, have no fear... I am constantly washing my hands while cooking and baking. But that simple (at least 20 second) task is put into great perspective when you consider that the tinyiest germ on your hands could transmit a disease or toxin to a person that has virtually no immune system. I think that after volunteering here I will never forget the importance of washing my hands.

Another thing that struck me while I was sitting there was that probably at least 2 of the people in the orientation meeting might also be looking at this as an opportunity to get a meal themselves. I'm not trying to put that down. It just makes me realize that I'm one lucky young lady.

trying something new

I've read quite a few "recipes" on how to sugar violets. It is sort of cool, you can take a flower you grew (that is edible), paint it with egg white, coat it in sugar and let them dry - and all this (I think) is supposed to preserve them. From pictures I've seen they retain their shape, are relatively the same color they started out as (unless the are really old or faded by sunlight) and look just lovely. So after consulting a few cookbooks and other online recipes I decided to try it out.

I didn't have superfine sugar, so I decided to go ahead with the regular grains of sugar. It seemed like it was all working out just fine in the beginning. Unfortunately, I might have chosen to do this on one of the most humid days yet this summer, so as you might imagine, the drying out process didn't go so well. Within 24 hours, instead of having lovely little crystaled jems, I ended up with soggy, wimpy, gooey piles. So moral of the story... next time I'll try: brushing on a thinner layer of egg white, actually using superfine sugar, hanging the flowers by the stem, and most of all - doing this in a dry heat situation.