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Yummy Food

Tuesday, February 24th, 2009

fried okra

Here’s a picture I forgot to post a while back. It’s from when some friends and I went to see a one-man show (btw, Sleepwalk with Me is definitely a must see!). We wanted to have dinner together beforehand, so I googled for nearby places and discovered one down the street from the theater had fried okra. As we were from small-town kansas and Missouri and big-town Texas, I knew the others would dig it as well.

I also had the red beans and rice to go along with the okra, and I was reminded of college and how different food is across our country. One of my freshman year dormmates had never had or heard of fried okra. After about the third time I talked about, she asked where I got the whale. Yeah…thought I was talking about fried orca.

Posted in **New York, food/beverage | 1 Comment »

I Can’t Stop Eating Pickles

Wednesday, December 17th, 2008

pickle pickle pickle

I have eaten three pickles in the last hour and a half. I bought a quart of new pickles from a specialty pickle shop here on the Upper East Side on Sunday, and they are over 3/4 of the way gone. And I’ve been out of the city for two of those days.

Seriously. I think I might have a problem. I just love them so much because they remind me of one of the roadside snacks we’d get in NE India. Dirty-handed kids would sprinkle salt on quartered cucumbers, and it tasted so good. Just like these new pickles. (Except the guy who handed me these pulled on a latex glove beforehand.)

And as if munching on all these pickles weren’t already enough to push me into a sodium-induced heart attack, Sunday night the ladies I play basketball with were introduced to fried dill pickles. I don’t know how all the others had never had them before. But I shared the appetizer with them, and they all loved them. Even the French gal.

I think I may be able to talk them into getting them every Sunday night.

Oh yeah…and the jar of Claussen’s that I finished last week is still in my fridge because I keep drinking the leftover pickle juice.

I think I seriously have a problem.

Posted in **New York, food/beverage | 3 Comments »

Sorry

Monday, December 1st, 2008

Sorry I haven’t posted pics or updates from MO.

Still here, but I forgot my USB cables for my cameras.

In the meantime, here’s a pic from a fellow J-Schooler’s MO meal (at the ‘berg I believe)…which I definitely had my first night back in the Show-Me State.

Erica eating T Rav

Posted in food/beverage, other Americans | No Comments »

Missing Missouri

Thursday, October 9th, 2008

So, I have to say the last few weeks in NYC have definitely made me miss Missouri. First last week’s VP debate in St. Louis meant many views of the Arch. And then the football game. Seriously? I cannot wait until the MU/kU game next month!

I tried to curb my homesickness the other day, too…I noticed that the restaurant right next to my apartment building had “St. Louis-style” toasted ravioli. Um, yeah, not so St. Louis style. I swear, no place else in this country knows what t-rav really is.

Toasted Ravioli

Posted in back home, food/beverage, sports | 3 Comments »

Comment o’ the Day

Friday, September 5th, 2008

While discussing racism related to past wars, I said something along the lines of, “Yeah, I’ve had older people yell ‘dirty Jap!’ at me.”

The response: “Jayna, I didn’t know you were Jewish.”

Jayna Rust eating corn at the media welcome dinner at Minneapolis' RNC
and a random pick of me eating some Minnesota sweet corn…SO delicious!

Posted in back home, being Asian-American, food/beverage, government | 2 Comments »

Bad-Food Nation (Part Dos)

Friday, August 8th, 2008

Since I’ve moved to NYC, I’ve become a bit of a food freak.

See, the good ol’ mayor here decided that restaurants should post calories of food on most menu boards. The first time I came across this here (in Chipotle, of course) I have to say, it immediately altered my ordering habits.

I never really knew how many calories I was eating each day (which is probably why I gained about 10 pounds upon my return to the U.S.). But, seeing it up in big block numbers, I now know. So, I no longer get the burritos at Chipotle. It’s burrito bowl only for me. Why? Well, there’s about a 300-calorie difference between the two, and I don’t think the tortilla is that important to me.

But, I’ve also realized that a 6-inch Veggie Delight Subway sandwich has more calories than a Dunkin’ Donuts goody. So, instead of getting the 12-inch sub, I have no qualms about getting only a 6-incher and a donut for desert.

The best finds were at the ball park last week, though. Who knew the nachos had less calories than a hot dog? Or that beer would be “better for me” than a soda? Seriously…

menu board at Mets game

Posted in back home, food/beverage, government | 5 Comments »

Bad-Food Nation (Part Uno)

Monday, August 4th, 2008

woman selling produce in Vietnam

One of the most difficult adjustments for me has been getting used to American food.

While on the road, I had gotten used to eating homemade meals and shopped a lot for fresh produce.

So, when I got back here, I was mortified by the food we eat. Still trying to be as healthy and fresh-food friendly as I’d been in the East, I walked to Whole Foods Market in St. Louis. Trying to buy the ingredients for a soup, I couldn’t find one normal-sized onion there. Each one was easily as big as both my fists. Same for the tomatoes. And they were all practically identical.

Even at this arguably healthier supermarket, nearly every vegetable I picked up was genetically modified. Nothing was real or really natural.

Call me crazy, but I just want to eat a tomato with spots or have an onion that isn’t going to last me for a month.

Word on the street is that some European countries require produce to be marked as genetically modified. I would LOVE if we did that in the states. I mean, if people don’t like to refer to KFC’s meat as real chicken, why should I have to refer to that crunchy white thing as a real onion?

Posted in back home, food/beverage | 3 Comments »

Asians Are So Hot Right Now

Monday, July 7th, 2008

frozen yogurt

And, no, I’m not talking about the Asian fetish sweeping American men. Nor am I talking about this Asian and the insanely hot/humid New York summer days.

I’m talking about the food. A couple of years ago, a friend wrote about the growing trend of frozen yogurt shops in the States. (She’s also the one that convinced me to try Red Mango in it’s South Korean home last year…) Sitting here in 2008 and eating a fro-yo from the East Village I have to say, I think her prediction is coming true.

It’s crazy. Really. Ten storefronts away from Pinkberry (also called Crack Berry because of it’s addictiveness) I found Very Berry. It literally took me 30 seconds to walk from Pinkberry to Very Berry (also Asian-American owned). Both were serving up plenty of Styrofoam cups of fro-yo and fresh fruit. And right across the street from them is Bamn!, a staffed place that serves food through vending machines. Basically about as Asian of an idea as there comes.

And as gentrification makes even deeper roots in the East Village, in just the last few years, there have been a plethora of Asian types of restaurants popping up. Want rice and something else? You name it. They’ve got it.

Yes. We’re taking over the world, people. This is world domination through frozen yogurt and kimchi.

Posted in *South Korea, back home, food/beverage | 4 Comments »

I Like Wranglers

Wednesday, June 18th, 2008

I don’t know why I find it so humorous that when I meet people, they always assume I’m from a coast. East or west…but never the Midwest. And never from a small town. Even people who’ve known me for a while are still pretty stunned at how country I grew up. I mean, I think I’m pretty country through and through (um, hello…I drove a pick-up truck!). Apparently, though, it doesn’t always show.

My apparent lack of countri-ness cracks me up even more when my St. Louis friends make their two-hour way down to my neck of the woods and see for themselves all that is my hometown. But, it’s true. I grew up in a small town (as did JCM).

A couple of weekends ago I even went back to go with my pops to the local Country Days festival. It’s the summer festival for the “big city” of Farmington (pop. 13,924), about 20 miles from my hometown. I loved going there as a teen, and I have to say, some parts of it never get old. Especially the funnel cakes. Um. Um. Funnel cakes.

funnel cake

*PS: Ten points to the first person who can name the artist who performed at Country Days (as seen in the above video). I have to admit it’s a bit harder than say, Usher, but if you’re country at all, you’ll know him…

Posted in back home, celebrities, food/beverage, media | 4 Comments »