5/2/2010

4/5 stars

Inexpensive, tasty, and *huge* servings. Still recovering from what came later that night, but I have sriracha-filled Pho Dai Loi leftovers to help. If I'm looking forward to the leftovers and can ignore the cilantro, then I must be a fan, right?

Yelp tags: Vietnamese

5/2/2010

5/5 stars

Live broadcasts of New Orleans music, nsanely wonderfully creatively cool DJs, and deep reservoirs of knowledge and culture all offered up for a listen. From Lâche Pas to the Livewire, 'OZ takes your ears on a wonderful dance through wonderful music. Their on-line stream often twirls me through my days.

Yelp tags: Radio Stations

Often posted to the 17 or haiku groups on identi.ca:

Standing by the track, hoping to catch the earliest passing cool breeze.

And there it goes away on the breeze, my fried brain.

incoming douchebags
often bring out those feelings
undeserved but true.

Where some see lines, others feel sight pulled taught across imagination.

get out of the way
linguistic commentators
let words sing and shine.

I want naught but love
though less physical than that
lovely connection.

A nearly full moon
wearing a fast cloak of cloud
calls forth a fresh Spring.

And yes, I know some people roll their eyes at short forms. “The short forms aren't enough work to be poetry.” The other side is that they're accessible to all. Anyone can add a little form to an observation. That renders it special simply by intent. And poetic, by intent to be formed and special. I have no illusions about speaking deep truths or grand images. I just speak. That's all I can do.

I doubt if I'll keep up with all the great prompts at all the great sites (Big Tent Poetry, We Write Poems, Poetic Asides, Writer's Island, POW, and others), but all the talk of Ren Faire lately made the Big Tent's resonate.

calling out with a slightly off mystique
wallowing in the seedy sensual
exhibiting only the bizarre freak
challenging reason's illusory dual

to run away, chase possibilities,
to dive deeply within that core of wants
to fly far above the hope and the tease
to pick your own craziness, mirrored taunt

is nothing but a cloud of dust raised up
being left behind the traveling sideshow
was only passed fancy filling this cup
am I left here with empty hopes in tow

next time around, again, I'll follow chance
before I'm left with dreamed lusty romance

I do have to admit that my first, knee-jerk response was a tad shorter.

on running away
my calling litters the road:
elephant droppings

it starts with the beans
dried tight in their skin
shaken shaken shaken sluffed
wire mesh grates worked by hand

then the beans are packed
big bags breath potential
poured packed tied tossed
rough burlap grows tall beside

now see the settling that
may occur during shipping
pushed rolled swelled lifted
deep ocean coursing beneath

into hopper shaking beans
down before dreary eyes
filled ground tamped brewed
thin crema rising above

and out the door with a cup
no care taken en route
gulped stopped honked sighed
people all squeezing past

settling in to shake numbers
measuring desired growth
computed cranked graphed paid
soft mesh seats below

flowing back where the leaves
rustle with flowers and breeze
opened buzzed touched caressed
a pregnant season ahead

This was written in a hustle to submit to the Hustle issue of 48hr Magazine. Didn't make it in. Not too surprising considering some of the names I recognize in the contributor list, but it just kinda happened while I was sitting at Octane working.

Edit: Hey! I have a box! Well, a shipping container. Implicitly. Good enough for me to post this to We Write Poems, right? Write? Wight?

5/12/2010

2/5 stars

Someday I'll learn. If a server hasn't greeted you within a minute of sitting at an airport restaurant, they're not serious about helping you reach your flight in time. And if their tables are so tight together that the staff cannot even reach you… They don't even have the new brew already on the shelves at Kroger.

That said, a 420 and a so-so hotdog is an ok post-security, pre-flight snack. The fries? Fresh from the freezer and quickly microwaved, or that's how they felt.

Yelp tags: American (Traditional)

5/13/2010

4/5 stars

I was tempted to take a photo of the food, but then I would have eaten my phone. I've only been here one time, but I'll definitely return if I can. We didn't do the buffet, although it looked pretty good. One of us didn't finish his meal. Two others (including myself) did finish the at-table bbq, but we probably shouldn't have. Each of our meals was at least two if not three servings. Pork. Yum. Squid. Yumyum. And fresh-enough veggies. The sauce was maybe Caucasian medium, so just about right for wimpy me. The flavor was deep but bright.

Yelp tags: Korean Japanese

5/18/2010

3/5 stars

Yes, a chain. And a chain in an area that'll lease its soul as an extra storefront. I had an appointment across the street and needed a place to wait out the MARTA crowd afterward. I know Panera has wireless network access, so I could claim the time as working time. I also know to scout the area a bit better for the future.

Panera's Panera, hence ok and definitely a step up from fried snacks. The coffee's coffee. The pastry's flaky and vegetable-oil dull, probably made fresh in the early, early hours and still there at 5pm. I should have stuck with pan y cafe, but there didn't seem to be any smaller loaves left. Interesting people watching when you look up.

Yelp tags: Sandwiches Bakeries

This is more-or-less the recipe from the Whole Wheat with notes and moderately pointless illustrations. A rösti seems to be a Swiss version of hash browns or latkes. One that combines yummy garden parsnips with incredibly healthy quinoa? Worth a shot.

I had intended this to be a side for a salad. I ran late, ate the salad early, and then discovered this won't work so well aside a salad. This parsnip-quinoa thingy is strong. A rich butter with the quinoa leaves a very nutty flavor, and the parsnips roll around it to fill in some gaps sweetly. I think these would be great with a slightly spicy, gravy-less meatloaf, replacing mashed potatoes or fries.

My other main observation is that the recipe from the Whole Wheat doesn't call for a binder. I think it could use half an egg, or a whole egg if you like eggs. I made four smaller patties, and they barely held together. An egg might help crisp up the outside and brown more, too.

But the recipe, adapted from the Whole Wheat:

Ingredients

• 1 pound of parsnips, more or less (think mine was a bit less)
• 1 cup of cooked quinoa, still warm (roughly 1/3 a cup uncooked)
• butter, 2 tablespoons in the mixture then enough to cook
• salt & pepper

Procedure

1. Boil the parsnips with the skin on. Mine were very irregular garden parsnips and cooked well within 13 minutes. Cool sufficiently to handle, then slide and slip the skins off. Next time, I'll try peeling ahead and steaming them. I think it'll be easier.
2. Mix two tablespoons of butter with the still-warm quinoa along with salt and pepper to taste. If the quinoa's warm, the butter will melt and mix more easily.
3. Grate, chop, and mash the parsnips. This is easy with a grater disk in a food processor. It's even easier if the working grater disk is in the same state as the person cooking. Whoops. I squooshed off the soft outer layers and then grated and chopped the inner layers. One caveat about grating with a food processor: You'll also grate any wooden cores in the parsnips. Those don't taste or feel as good.
4. Combine the quinoa mixture with the parsnip bits. Knead it through your fingers a few times, and it will clump together pretty well. If you want multiple smaller patties, separate the mixture into appropriate balls.
5. Heat butter in a saute pan. I used a good bit of butter because I used a larger pan. If you make one solid rösti, you might not need much. Heat the butter over a relatively high heat to bring out the nutty flavor.
6. Add however many patties will fit, and cook over medium-low for 10 minutes or so. You're not going to burn it easily, so don't stress.
7. Now here's the "fun" part: Flip the rösti. For smaller patties, gently flip them with a spatula. For one big patty, remove the pan from the heat, hold something larger and flat against the top of pan, and flip the pan to invert the rösti. Then gently slide the rösti back into the pan on the heat again, possible after adding more butter for extra browning on the second side.
8. Cook on medium-low until you think it's done. Again, you're not going to burn this easily, so you can let it brown. Everything here is already cooked. If you use egg, you'll definitely want to cook both sides, but 10 minutes per side should be plenty.

And at the end, you get nice yummies that also prove I'm no food stylist.

5/21/2010

5/5 stars

What they said.

Finally had the chance to meet some of the people I've meant to meet, taste some food that I've wanted to try, and see the Dames Aflame who I've wanted to see.

My ears are still ringing. There were so many people that I fried and stopped even recognizing folks I already know. Still managed to meet a few new people, mostly by their asking "are you ok?" Quite a turnout.

Feel badly that my wife and I ducked out by the time the dancing started, but, well…

Yelp tags: Local Flavor

The rösti is great with the venison roast Nathan made. The rösti reheats well in an oven at 400°F+. The higher the temperature, the more it'll re-fry on the outside. At 400°F, the outside re-fried without burning while the inside re-heated.

5/31/2010

4/5 stars

Great shows by fun DJs, but… they don't have an on-line stream! Wah!

*sniff*

So I can't listen to Album 88 most of the time. Sad.

Yelp tags: Radio Stations

6/1/2010

4/5 stars

Ren Faire! Woo-hoo!

The smoked turkey legs were *PERFECT*. Juicy, smokey, big, meaty, yummy, happy goodness.

Yes, the food and drink are overpriced. It's a festival. That's what happens. The mead selection (er, only one) is junk, and the beer, well, why are there no local brews? That's the down side.

But it's still Ren Faire. And some of the acts are still around, although clearly the performers have passed the torch… (The Tortuga Twins' act just wouldn't work with walkers.) Jousting always holds a few surprises. Not many of the SCA everything-must-be-perfectly-period crowd, so this is more laid back than some. Quite a few pirates. They used to be the lowest of the low at Faire. Amazing what Disneywood can do.

This brought back happy memories of BARF, so it's good.

Yelp tags: Festivals

6/1/2010

5/5 stars

I grew up in Tampa, FL. My undergrad's from UF in Gainesville, FL. My expectations for college radio were set incredibly low. Programming from *local* people wouldn't appear until 11pm. Community radio was stultified, stratified, and simplified. KALX fixed me.

KALX is my go-to radio station. Even when I don't like the music style or don't like the DJ style, I still find myself listening. And learning. And appreciating. I've heard a ton of music on KALX that "isn't played on the radio." I've heard a ton of music on KALX I'd otherwise dismiss because I wouldn't like it a priori. But the DJs mix the music so you always stretch your ears in nifty new ways.

The *only* downside is that listening to KALX involves *listening*. It's not just background music. There are a few specific DJs I cannot have on while I try to work because I'll spend my time listening and thinking.

I still listen to KALX on-line even though it's three hours in the past. Screws with my timing, makes me late for meetings, but keeps me sane. KALX needs 10 stars, not five.

Yelp tags: Radio Stations