Weekend Report (Flavorful Humanism)

ADDENDA:
Went to the farmer's market on Saturday morning, was a virtual plant & flower show. It's all very nice, but I want stuff I can eat.

Saw the documentary "Young@Heart" Saturday evening, a beautiful account of a chorus composed of old people singing punk and alternative songs. The singing was clearly keeping them motivated to simply stay alive. I think a show of old people cooking the dishes they remember from their salad days (no pun, no pun!) and their parents would be a fascinating work of culinary anthropology and, umm, flavorful humanism. I despise Coldplay, but fell hard for Fred Little and his Johnny Cash-like baritone:


I bet he has a wicked recipe for smothered pork n' onions....

SATURDAY
BREAKFAST: 7am, good granola with good milk, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

AM SNACK: 11am, handful of baby carrots with hummus, small handful of Frito's, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Forgot to put Fritos on the chili pie last night.

LUNCH: 1:15pm, vegetarian dim sum, small cup of sesame ice cream, 2 bowls, hunger 4/5
Had a few assorted small dishes, including kale wrapped in rice dough. For years, my friend Danny and I would frequent this joint, and he would order the kale and I would order the fried dough - they looked the same, but very different on the inside. Bitter vegetables, yech. This time, I tried the kale and.... didn't hate it.

DINNER: 7:30pm, yucca cracklings, 2 pieces wholewheat bread with butter, spring vegetable ravioli appetizer, coconut encrusted tempe with millet polenta and bok choy, a little portion of vegan deserts, 2.5 bowls, hunger 4/5
Went back to Broadway East with B and the HVS, again the food was outstanding and interesting. After all the meat this past week, good to have 2 vegan meals in a row.

SUNDAY
BREAKFAST: 9:30am, 1 apple, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

AM SNACK: 10:30am, 3 bites of apple crumble, hunger 4/5
My ever-lovin' wife B mentioned yesterday that she had some apple crumble. I asked, did you finish it? She said no, I left a piece for you. The 1-foot-square ceramic dish of apple crumble was sliced evenly into 9 pieces. After Friday's dinner, a full one third was left. I assumed that B left me a full 1/9th square. When I peeked, her idea of 'a piece' was scraps in the corner. She had eaten almost a full third of the crumble in one sitting. I promised her I'd blog about it so the WHOLE WORLD knows B eats like a naughty 9 year old boy!!

LUNCH: 1pm, assorted dinner rolls, tomato and onion with steak sauce, piece of thick cut bacon, two pieces of porterhouse steak, creamed spinach, home fries, water, half an ice cream sunday with whipped cream, 2.5 bowls, hunger 4/5
Mother's day meal with B and her mom and bro at Peter Luger's in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Totally not feeling it. The service was good, the shrimp and bacon appetizers were excellent, the beef-steak tomatoes were oddly ripe and flavorful, and the house steak sauce complemented it wonderfully. We ordered a steak for 2, which was definitely more than enough to feed the four of us with a small amount of leftovers. They only serve porterhouse steaks, and we got it medium rare, nicely red and juicy but firm in the middle. I had two slices, about 8oz, the recommended portion by the gov -- I counted about 12 normal portions in this 'steak for 2.' I took the t-bone and with my steak knife got some marrow out and sucked it down with a peace of bread, it was really tasty. The dessert was excessive, but comforting.

After spending the last week studying and listening to lectures about meat, I was distinctly underwhelmed by Peter Luger's. The house-aged steak was tender and nicely browned, but it wasn't as transcendent as the price would suggest. I suspect at some point, with some key tools, I'll be able to make a better steak at home for half the price.

DINNER: 8pm, red pepper with hummus, vegetarian chili over brown long grain rice with Guinness-marbled cheddar and crumbled Fritos, 1 bowl, hunger 2/5
Friend stopped by, whipped up a nice quick dinner. Totally not hungry, very easy to eat a small portion.