Saturday, July 28, 2007

BlogHer07

I am here!

And it is amazing... you can't shake a stick without hitting a food blogger here. Not that I would do that.

Today I am going to learn how to hone my skills... (Assuming that I have any to being with...) and to learn to take better food photos

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Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Squidtastic!

Who doesn't love a good fish story..

I know I can't!

And this one was bloody irresistable!

This is what I saw this morning from the Associated Press:

Voracious Jumbo Squid Invade California

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July 25,2007 | MONTEREY, Calif. -- Jumbo squid that can grow up to 7 feet long and weigh more than 110 pounds are invading central California waters and preying on local anchovy, hake and other commercial fish populations, according to a study published Tuesday.

An aggressive predator, the Humboldt squid -- or Dosidicus gigas -- can change its eating habits to consume the food supply favored by tuna and sharks, its closest competitors, according to an article published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal.

"Having a new, voracious predator set up shop here in California may be yet another thing for fishermen to compete with," said the study's co-author, Stanford University researcher Louis Zeidberg. "That said, if a squid saw a human they would jet the other way."

The jumbo squid used to be found only in the Pacific Ocean's warmest stretches near the equator. In the last 16 years, it has expanded its territory throughout California waters, and squid have even been found in the icy waters off Alaska, Zeidberg said.

Zeidberg's co-author, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute senior scientist Bruce Robison, first spotted the jumbo squid here in 1997, when one swam past the lens of a camera mounted on a submersible thousands of feet below the ocean's surface.

More were observed through 1999, but the squid weren't seen again locally until the fall of 2002. Since their return, scientists have noted a corresponding drop in the population of Pacific hake, a whitefish the squid feeds on that is often used in fish sticks, Zeidberg said.

"As they've come and gone, the hake have dropped off," Zeidberg said. "We're just beginning to figure out how the pieces fit together, but this is most likely going to shake things up."

Local marine mammals needn't worry about the squid's arrival since they're higher up on the food chain, but lanternfish, krill, anchovies and rockfish are all fair game, Zeidberg said.

A fishermen's organization said Tuesday they were monitoring the squid's impact on commercial fisheries.

"In years of high upwellings, when the ocean is just bountiful, it probably wouldn't do anything," Zeke Grader, the executive director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations. "But in bad years it could be a problem to have a new predator competing at the top of the food chain."

I think it sounds like something that you would see on a poster from a bad horror film from the 1950s but it is true. The Jumbo, or Humboldt Squid is increasingly being found in more northern waters outside of its normal range. The squid also known as the Red Devil (diablo rojo) because of the chromatophores in its skin which are used to communicate with other squid. Squids communicating you ask? Since they are found in schools as large as 1,200 individuals, they better be able to communicate. Especially since they will become cannabalistic.

The problem with them migrating into the cooler waters to the north? Well, they have disrupted the local fishing methods. But it isn't a total loss since they are commercially fished themselves. I remember seeing them for the first time at my local fishmonger, The Fishguy and wondering how they managed to find such large squid... and now of course, I know the answer. I am planning to make something with them really soon. Something that seems really red devil-ish...

Maybe, Red Devil Fra Diavolo? Yummy!

The jumbo squid is fished commercial

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Friday, July 20, 2007

Do you really need to ask why they call me a NERD?

Because I can win free drinks by outscoring YOU on an online trivia game!

That is why!

Yes, I outscored the owner of the restaurant that I ate lunch today, Hops & Barley and played a little Buzz Time... Then I see the magic words... win a free drink if you can outscore Presto! Presto's high score? 12,610.

15 Questions? 1000 points apiece... Yeah. I can do that. And I did.

Luckily many of the questions were food or history related. I breezed through the question about marscapone. I laughed out loud when I encountered the question about Karl Linne...

In the end?

13,002.

Enough for the cocktail of my choice! Naturally I picked one that has been the topic of the week at my house... Once I found that the kids all give each other virtual cocktails on Facebook, and my daughter has received several Sex on the Beaches.. I knew that was the cocktail for me.

Sorry for the bad picture of it. My glee made me giddy. Nothing tastes as good as free liquor!

Sex on the Beach

  • 2 parts (4.0 cl) Vodka
  • 1 parts (2.0 cl) Peach Schnapps
  • 2 parts (4.0 cl) Orange juice
  • 2 parts (4.0 cl) Cranberry juice
Mix and pour into a highball glass filled with ice. Garnish with an orange slice.

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Sunday, July 15, 2007

Taking a Flight for Lunch


Fun Daddy and I love to eat out

stop snickering those of us who know us... yes, it is obvious.

Usually though, we have trouble getting out of the neighborhood for lunch. Mes filles are getting older though and able to stay in the house for a couple of hours without burning the place down or practicing their knife skills on each other. (knock on wood)

This week we stopped for lunch at David Burke's Primehouse. This restaurant has been the site of many a family dinner. Dinner that have been blog worthy (see Maman) because of both the food and the hospitality.

This last week we enjoyed a special that they running at the restaurant. They called it the
it 777 Luncheons. 7 Wines from 7 regions for $7. I was there for Spain day and loved it!

We started out with a Llopart Rose Brut Reserva Cava. It was light and full at the same time, rich with fruit. Then we moved on to a Do Ferreiro Albarino Rias Baixas, a white from Galicia that was dry and tasty but a trifle light for me during a meal. But I can imagine drinking it at a summer party.

Then came our favorite. The Bodegas Vizcarra Ramos "Roble" Ribera del Duero, it was full bodied and smooth and so tasty that we were very sorry to see the end of it. To balance this out was a fuller tempranillo in the more typical and macho style, the Rotllan Torra "Reserva" Priorat. The Vinas del Cenit was wonderful and tasty... a complete delight.

Finally was the Jorge Ordonez Malaga wine. This wine I loved as much for the taste as the story behind how it is created. Apparently this section of Spain is so dry that the grapes are allowed to dry. Don Ordonez has 5 different levels. The wine that we drank was a level one! Unlike other wines of this type there is no botrytis involved to sweeten/dry the grapes because it is too dry to develop mold. The wine was wonderful. It was sweet and delicious without being cloying.

Over all the wine flight to Spain was amazing and better yet? All the proceeds went to charity, Common Threads. Their mission is
is to educate children on the importance of nutrition, physical well-being and to to teach them to appreciate the world's culture by experiencing their food.

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Sunday, July 08, 2007

Just for the taste of it


Blech

Diet Coke Plus.

It sounded like a good idea to me.

vitamins and that sweet, sweet nectar...

Sigh.

Alas, it was not to be.

Instead of that bubbly sweetness that I have come love... nay, crave... I got a heavy froth.... Ok, I thought, but I am getting tasty vitamins in this mix.

And was I!

Since that was the aftertaste, which was like tasting ass.

It was like chewing a multi-vitamin the trying desperately to wash it down with a tasty delicious Diet Coke.

I think I will swallow my vitamin and drink my Diet Coke separately from now on...

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