2008 Fall Tour

First concert was at the beautiful Manship Theater in Baton Rouge, LA. The theater provided a fabulous hotel, amazing Whole Foods snacks, and we had cajun eats for lunch.



















On the roof at the Shaw Center/Manship Theater, overlooking the Mississippi River.


At Poor Boy Lloyd's, around the corner from the theater.

Awesome read beans & rice, poor boys, and gumbo! A no-nonsense Cajun diner, and judging by the lunchtime crowd, a neighborhood favorite.

Poor Boy Lloyd's
201 Florida Street
Baton Rouge, LA






Second stop: the gigantic Walton Center (yes, as in Wal-Mart) in Fayetteville, AR.


There's really nothing but fast food on our drive from Baton Rouge to Fayetteville. So we stop for dinner at a Sonic.

Most of us have never been to one before. We're a little confused.








Alex is pointing to a menu item called "Ocean Water."

???

















Walton Center, Fayetteville.

Our old poster is still in the green room...



...and our new poster is outside the theater.

Plum Bars

The task: Make snacks for the tour team (because there's no edible food served on the plane) and the kitty sitter (because she likes nice snacks).

The item: Plum bars, made with Britt's mom's plum jam.















8 oz butter (2 sticks)
10 oz brown sugar
10 oz AP flour (2 cups)
4 oz oats (not instant)
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp baking powder
one 12oz jar of plum jam

Paddle everything but the jam around in a stand mixer until the mixture looks like wet sand. Set aside about a cup and a half. Press the rest of it into a foil-lined 9"x12" pan and bake at 350 until lightly browned, about 10 minutes.

When the crust has browned, remove it from the oven and let it cool a little. Spread enough jam on it to cover. You don't necessarily have to use the whole jar.

Now crumble the remaining crust mixture on top of the jam. Put back in oven and bake until the top is a lovely golden brown, about 10-20 minutes.

Cool to room temp. Cut into squares. Eat with tea. Or milkshakes.

If only.

See. I'm not the only one fantasizing about this.

From the Times:

Aaron Sorkin Conjures a Meeting of Obama and Bartlet
by Maureen Dowd
published Sept 20, 2008

Headin' Out

On the road again!



Short trip, this time. Just going to Louisiana, Arkansas, Maryland, and Virginia. Leaving Sunday.





Looking forward to some good eats, especially in Louisiana. However, I'm running the Silicon Valley Half Marathon in a month, so I won't be able to eat with as much abandon as usual.

Stay tuned...

You need this machine.

My microwave went kaplooey a few months ago. Instead of replacing it, I put my ice cream machine on the counter in its place.




Who needs a microwave? When you can have homemade ice cream & sorbet ALL THE TIME?






And I would not get this excited about an ice cream machine unless it's the kind with the freezer unit built in. Mine is a hand-me-down, and I LOVE IT.


Blueberry Lychee Sorbet
- one bag o' Trader Joe's frozen blueberries, thawed
- one can o' lychees in syrup
- pinch salt
- maybe an additional 1/4 cup sugar

Buzz together in a blender. Strain, if you must (I don't). Pour into machine. Serve to friends. Be declared a sorbet genius (um, my friends are easy to impress).

Recipes

In order to keep my cooking/writing chops up, I've decided to post recipes. This will be original stuff I either make for myself or for my usual catering gigs, and they're not the most earth-shattering recipes, but I think they're pretty tasty.




Lettuce Wraps You Can Eat With a Fork (or hashi)

In a large pan, saute together:
- a little veg oil
- 1 shallot, sliced
- 1 Japanese eggplant, chopped
- 1/4 cup chopped nuts (I used pecans)

Then add:
- ground turkey (1 package from Trader Joe's - I think I had a pound and a half?)
- a small shot of booze (I used marsala.)
- a shot of one of those spice mixes from TJ's (Yes, I know it's ghetto, but I had some left over from a catering gig.)
- sriracha, fish sauce, asian sauce of your choice (I used kecap manis*), & salt to taste
- Aji No Moto to taste (Hey, don't be hatin'. It's in everything you eat, and you're not allergic to it. Ask Jeffery Steingarten.)

Cook until tasty. If you feel like it, you can add some frozen peas & corn. I did.

So you can take lettuce leaves and make wraps. Or - if you're reading stuff online while you're eating and trying not to get your computer all greasy, you can serve it in a big bowl on top of shredded romaine. A salad, instead of a wrap.

*I had some left over from a cooking class. And yes, I was the teacher, but no, I have no idea what this stuff is.

Gahhh!

Bad, bad blogger...

New posts coming soon, I promise. Can't right now, 'cuz I'm busy watching this on PBS:













In a few weeks, we'll be going to Louisiana, Arkansas, Maryland, and Virginia.