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Hot Off the Grill

9.02.2008:

Bar-b . . . que?

I made hummus for the annual MFA program BBQ in Padgett Powell's backyard thing. This was my first time ever making hummus--I only resorted to making it because the BBQ was earlier than I initially realized and didn't have time to go to the grocery store and I had a can of chick peas in my pantry. It was superbly easy to make. Now I can't quite figure out why I've been paying $4.99 a container for it. Here's the recipe:

In a blender, blend:
1 can chickpeas
2 crushed garlic cloves
A few tbsp of olive oil
A few squirts of lemon juice
Ground cumin

That's it. Seriously, what have I been paying for, and why?

In the past year, I've learned that poetasters and fictionistas are, consistently, amazing cooks. There's some sort of confluence of cooking and writing ability, apparently. Here's me eating some phenomenal red beans and rice and homemade blueberry pie and pumpkin biscuits.

But the truth is, even though all of the food was terrific, I only got really, really excited when someone brought out a bunch of boxes of Good Humor Bars. I have a massive, massive weakness for Strawberry Shortcake Bars. The marketing on the website is right on--they really are artificially flavored pure refreshment. Eating them makes me feel about four-years-old, and reminds me of hanging out at the Warrenbrook Pool and the smell of chlorine and beautiful blissful summer. And also makes the Strawberry Shortcake Theme Song get inextricably stuck in my head. But, with my obsession/regressive tendencies with my childhood and nostalgia in general, that's a good thing . . . right?

Since this was a communal eating event, I got lots of pictures of other people eating popsicles, too. There's something great about watching a bunch of thirty-year-olds standing around eating ice cream. Apparently, a lot of my friends are fans of drumsticks, and chose them over my succulent, scrumptious favorite, but since my mother is a drumsticks fan, I won't hold it against them.

Hey, wait a minute, this is not JamesDavisSniffingFlowers.com!

Labels: BBQ, food I made, food memories, ice cream, recipes, social eating

Posted at 11:56 AM // 0 comments

8.29.2008:

Salami Sandwich, Soup

This is a typical sort of lunch I make for myself when I'm eating at home alone. There's a salami sandwich on rye with onions, provolone, lettuce and mayonnaise, some Campbell's soup, and a big cup of Kool-Aid. I drink Kool-Aid because it's incredibly cheap; also, by buying the little 25 cent packages of unsweetened drink mix, I can add the sugar myself, thus avoiding the guilt of either soda (high fructose corn syrup) or diet soda (creepy chemicals), although I'm really not sure that artificial colors and white cane sugar are much better. Anyway, it's cheap and tasty.

The salami on the sandwich is Hebrew National. When I was a kid, this was the only deli meat my Jewish grandparents would have in the house, only they bought the big log form; this is the pre-sliced kind. My grandfather would cut it up into little pieces and fry it with eggs in the morning (there was a scene in The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay where a Jewish father does the same thing for his son, and it made me cry). I would slice up the salami to make myself sandwiches on rye bread when I'd be over their house in the afternoons, and this sandwich is sort of a goyish version of that--onions were only really used for frying things at their house, and they would never, ever have mayonnaise or provolone cheese in their fridge.

When I'm home alone, I eat at the computer, or in front of the TV, or while reading a book. I wonder if this is true for everyone. This way, I still feel connected to the world. I don't think anyone should eat in complete solitude.

Labels: eating in, food I made, food memories, sandwich, soup, webcam

Posted at 6:03 PM // 1 comments

phoebeeating.com relunch

Well, I've gone ahead and done it: I've deleted all of my old posts in this blog. Not because I was ashamed--not due to self-censorship or anything like that. But because I realized that I was doing the concept of this website a disservice.

When I would tell people about my website, they would laugh, then ask what was on it, and when I'd tell them that it was pretty much a regular blog, their faces would fall, disappointed, and rightfully so. There are tons of "regular" bloggy blog blogs out there--there are even tons of food sites. But there are certainly not enough photographs of me eating on the internet.

The concept was Jordan's, originally. "You like food so much!" he'd say, "It makes me happy to watch you eat. I'm going to start a subscription website, phoebeeating.com, and charge people to watch you."

The URL was so good that I couldn't not start the website (even if I would never dream of charging people for the service), but for some reason I felt self-conscious about the execution. Would such a website be too narrow in scope? Would I seem interesting enough if I was just eating food?

Of course, that was silliness. I say this as a feminist, as someone into body acceptance: it means something to be a woman eating in our society. It means something to be an omnivore. It means acknowledging that you have a body, that you take up space, that the body, as a vehicle for self, needs fuel, no matter how much advertisers tell us to abstain. Unlike many women, I lack the self-control necessary to diet. Unlike many women, I lack the desire to have the self-control necessary to diet. I don't like it when women talk about morality (i.e. being good) in connection to what they're eating. But I realize why this happens, and can't say that I've never been stabbed by pangs of self consciousness regarding what's on my plate

Posting about what I eat means more than posting about food, of course, but also the experiences surrounding food. Who am I with when I'm eating? I suspect that I look happy when I eat around Jordan because I'm happy when I'm around Jordan. We enjoy caring for each other, physically--cooking for one another, taking turns buying meals. I'm sure this is evident when I eat with him: that I'm happy, that I'm nurturing and being nurtured. So this will be a record of relationships, and not just romantic relationships--what do my friends do when we get together if it's not eating and drinking? Diner food. Popcorn. I suspect that if our bodies needed no tending, we would be far less social creatures.

And then there's monetary issues, and historic issues--what I pay for meals, the attitudes towards food that I've inherited or learned. So I think there will be plenty to talk about.

So, anyway, enough ruminating; let's get down to business--let's eat!

Labels: feminism, food, hunger, manifesto, relationships

Posted at 5:27 PM // 0 comments

About Phoebe, Eating.

Phoebe is an omnivore. Her favorite foods include chili dogs all-the-way, dark chocolate, savory soups, swiss cheese, raspberry sorbet, Fuji apples, tangellos, soft pretzels, onion rings, dragon rolls, tuna sandwiches, steamed broccoli, her mother's matzah ball soup, and kettle corn.

See Phoebe eat!