Fat Tuesday: Creme Brulee and Refrigerated Eggs

Let me lay it on you plainly. I have not felt like cooking lately. There are no gastronomic creations brewing in my brain and I have little motivation to go the grocery store. Sunday I literally had a green pepper and some peanut butter and that was about it. 

So, I don't have an amazing recipe to share today, but what I do have is a delectable treat that I had recently on a delectable night. 

I've been venturing downtown on nights I've been bored with the intent of finding some good photographs when there aren't many people around. However, I've been both pleasantly surprised and mildly irritated to visit downtown and see it teeming with people. Including a Thursday night a few weeks ago when I strolled past the fountain at Campus Martius because of the abnormally large crowd gathered there. 

And what to my wondering eyes should appear, but a band in the band shell, and cafe seating next to the fountain! I abandoned my pursuit of photos and opted for a glass of wine and dessert seen here:

Nope, those swirls of syrup are not painted on the plate. 

I'll be honest, I don't know much about creme brulee. I think it has a weird texture and an odd combination of sweetness and pastiness. Nevertheless, the after picture looks something like this:

Except it was creme brulee and not chocolate cake. 

It was tasty and I enjoyed it, along with the music bouncing off the downtown buildings. 

Are you ready for a great segue? So, creme brulee has a few ingredients, one of which is eggs. Which reminds me of a conversation I had this weekend where the question came up, why do we refrigerate eggs? 

(See great segue!) The question arose as I was listening to my friend share tales of her stint while WWOOFing. While staying at the farm, she noticed that the farmer did not refrigerate eggs. While at the time I forgot, I later remembered my sister sharing that in Europe eggs are purchased off the shelf, not the refrigerated section. 

While no consensus was reached, it was decided that Google would need to be consulted later. (Side note, Google is not a strange word in spellcheck.) During my trip to the grocery store (remember I only had a green pepper and peanut butter) I remembered this question as I pulled eggs out of the refrigerator, only to notice that the package says to keep eggs chilled at 40 degrees or cooler. 

How can it be that a farmer in Georgia can keep eggs out for weeks, but we consumers need to keep our eggs chilled? Well, I spent some time trying to find an answer to this question and didn't find anything really concrete. Most of these sources are not exactly what I would call reliable, but I think it gets the gist. 

Apparently, eggs produced on massive farms are more highly susceptible to disease, such as salmonella, which I read is found in hen poop. Because of this, farmers are required to wash their eggs (and because we don't really like hen poop). 

While washing gets all that nasty hen poop off the egg, it apparently also takes off the natural protective coating that protects the egg from other diseases. Since that protective coating is no longer there, we now have to keep the eggs cool, lest disease gets in. 

Therefore, in countries where eggs are not required to be washed, eggs can stay out longer without refrigeration, but we are led to believe that they are more susceptible to hen poop. In other words, if you know where your eggs are coming from (i.e. small farms like the one in Georgia or the Alps of Switzerland) then you are less likely to see disease and able to get away without washing or refrigerating eggs. 

Naturally, after this breakthrough, I found the Egg Safety Center's website (Egg Safety Center!!!) to help clear up some loose ends.

Fat Tuesdays: Guess Who!

Hey hey! So, I don't have any food for today's Fat Tuesday because, in case you didn't notice, I've been MIA for a couple of weeks. All I can say is... oops. Sorry! Basically, I was lazy and didn't feel like writing. So there.

But, America (and by that I mean dear family, Jay, Josie, and Jessica) I am back. And I'm ready to do some writing.

Let's start with today. I woke up this morning full of energy, relaxed by the evening thunderstorm and ready to conquer the day. I even had a good breakfast and was ready earlier than usual. I jumped into my car and noticed immediately that something was off. As I titled my body weight to one side, I poked my head out the window to see a lovely flat tire.

Dramatization

I jumped into Boy Scout mode with my Auto Mechanic merit badge and set to work changing my tire. Meanwhile, thoughts were running through my head: 

• cars suck
• did someone slash my tires? 
• who would be mad at me to slash my tires?
• why did they only slash one?
• why is this jack stuck in my trunk?
• I think I'm selling my car
• WHO put these LUGnuts on last? Holy cow!
• Okay, I think we're good. 
• Great, the spare is soft
• DAAAADD!

Yes, I called my Pops for some help. It always seems a bit silly doesn't it? My dad lives two hours away, I have a flat tire, and here I am calling for assistance. I think it must be the simple assurance through a familiar voice that things would work out okay. 

I went to work, stressed for about 15 minutes, and then got caught up in the day-to-day. I had found the local Belle Tire and got prepped for how to take the slowest, least trafficked route there. 

Basically, I was prepped to pay a bunch for a new tire. I had no idea that they can do repairs there at Belle Tire and no idea that they did them for free. Thankfully, my dad checked in on me to see how things were going, and made sure I asked for a repair and not a new tire.

Artist Rendering of my Dad

Anyway, the point of all this is that I was really stressed this morning. As the sun was rising (and the humidity was causing me to sweat profusely) I silently muttered numerous four letter words and thought about how this day was going to be miserable with such an awful start. 

In actuality, it wasn't much different from any other day, except I got sweaty before 9, my car tilted slightly to the left, and I had a pit stop to make before I went home. And when you think about, that's usually how most stressful things go. One minute its a crisis and the next minute its just another day. 

Oh, and on an unrelated topic, I really like this shirt.

Fat Tuesdays: Because One Isn't Enough- Grilled Cheese

I know what you're thinking. Grilled cheese? David, Mom taught me how to make grilled cheese when I was 7 because she was tired of making the second easiest kid approved meal in the world (the first being Kraft Macaroni and Cheese.)

But, wait. This grilled cheese was amazing. And for adults. Or something like that.

Oh. My. God. This is so good. 

I'm so serious. I can't believe I made it, that's how good it was. So what did I do differently? I added a few ingredients. First off, pesto. While one side is coated in butter for golden crispiness, the other side is slathered in pesto for a nice tasty base. Then, add your cheese. I chose cheddar and colby jack. You really can choose any cheese you like, but yellow cheeses seem to be staples. Also, I didn't use any Kraft singles. Those things aren't really cheese and are not allowed on grilled cheese sandwiches. 

Next, add tomato. I did a slice and a half on each sandwich. It depends on your liking, but I enjoyed it. And finally, the real secret ingredient and the one that made this sandwich sooo good, goat's cheese. I went to the store looking for feta and found that goat's cheese was on sale for cheaper than feta. 

Word to the wise, a little goat's cheese goes a long way. There is not even a full 'slice' on each sandwich, just a small smattering of goat's cheese that when mixed with pesto and other delicious flavors, makes this a grilled cheese worth having again. 

Recap:

Italian Bread- Really any kind works here, but something that you have to slice yourself tastes better

Cheddar Cheese- A slice or two for each sandwich

Colby Jack Cheese- A slice or two for each sandwich

Pesto- To slather on each piece

Butter- To grill the exterior of the sandwich

Tomato- A slice on each sandwich would suffice

Goat's Cheese- Just a dab will do ya

I use a frying pan on medium heat and let the bread grill until it is toasty brown. Then I put it on my plate and devour it. 

I also have a new Oregano plant named Octavius.  

Octavius really likes the camera.

Thoughtful Thursdays: Detroit's Image

I get a lot of funny looks when I tell people I live in Detroit. Especially back in my small, Anywhere, USA hometown where people think of Detroit as a nuclear wasteland. I'm also not able to be one of those people from the burbs who can say, well, "I'm from _________ (fill in the blank), but its very near Detroit," because I'm from Dearborn, and that often gets as many funny looks as it does when I say I'm live in Detroit.

On the one hand, people from my hometown ask if I live near a lot of 'blacks.' I do. In fact, I work mostly with people of a darker skin complexion. In fact I'm the only one on our recruitment team that has straight heritage from Europe, and I find that pretty cool.

If people hear I'm from Dearborn they ask how Sharia Law is and if I can hear the prayer bells each morning. I respond by letting them know that Dearborn's mayor is Irish and yes, I do live next to the Islamic Center of America, but a large majority of Arab-Americans practice a form of Christianity.

Their sickening grin often fades quickly.

I bring this up today to talk about Detroit's image. Mainly, I don't think its fair to say that Detroit's image problems are completely due to the people who live here. While there needs to be some self-love and some true work on the problems, I also think we get a bit of a bad rap. Like playing Detroit in Apples to Apples when 'Worthless' is the green card. That sucks.

I won't say that Detroit isn't all sunshine and roses. This is a true story that is downright terrifying. And yes, I found this house on Google maps and no, the image isn't photoshopped.

Its that sort of thing that really puts a damper on any kind of good news coming from the city. Like this.  Okay, maybe the news is more bizarre than good, but still... wouldn't that be freaking awesome?

However, I still see Detroit get a lot of bad rap that isn't always due. Mostly, I see it as preconceived notions that are solidified through the experience you get on the internet. Let's try an experiment.

Open a new browser. Go ahead, make a new tab, a new window, a new page on your mobile device, whatever... just get a web browser up. Got it? Okay. Now, Google image the following: New York City, Chicago, LA, Baltimore, Detroit. It has to be the images.

Spend some time on each city. Look at the first several pages of pictures. None have to be too detailed of a search, but notice what you see. Look at the related searches for each city- this will come up later.

You should have noticed that when you Google any of the first four cities listed, you get some beautiful pictures of the skyline during the day, at night, some famous sites, and beautiful cityscapes. You'll also notice that Google gives some other options on what to search for like: (city) at night, (city) skyline, (city) professional sports team.

Pretty right? What happens when you Google image Detroit? You see a few skyline shots, but you also get several crumbling buildings, vacant lots, a photo of the 1967 riot, and a shot that is actually Manilla in the Philippines that has been tagged as Detroit. And, oh yes, related searches include: Detroit skyline, Detroit lions, and DETROIT SLUMS and DETROIT GHETTO.

Awesome. Thanks for taking the time to optimize people's searches Google.

Well David, you say, Chicago and New York are a little bit different than Detroit. I think you should calm down.

Okay fine. Google Cleveland. Do you see 'Cleveland slums?' How about any crumbling buildings? Try out Newark. Anything yet?

Oh, I've got it. At the expense of my personal freedoms and liberties surfing the internet, let's Google Baghdad, Kabul, any city in Syria, and see how badly the war has ravaged these towns. Ah, I see. There's a freaking WAR going on in these places, but we don't have any pictures of crumbling buildings to be shown. And good luck finding related searches with slum or ghetto.

I don't deny that Detroit has problems. I don't deny that the photos shown aren't real. I do deny that Detroit gets treated just as fair as every other city and I do deny that it is only due to the people's attitudes that we get treated this way.

If the people from my hometown believed that Detroit was crumbling in all corners, filled with slums and dilapidated lots, Google would certainly confirm their thoughts. And no matter what I tell them, until they actually come to see the city, these preconceived notions will stick with people forever.

Fat Tuesdays: Because One Isn't Enough- Fish Tacos

As my friends from this weekend know, I have had a strange affinity for fish tacos lately. There's something in the air that is making me crave delicious fish inside a flour shell with whatever that tasty sauce is dripping all down my hand. I feel like I'm five again with the mess I made. Then again I almost always make a mess eating.

So, nothing better than trying to recreate the dish that made my fingers tingle with excitement.

Unfortunately, I didn't have all the supplies to make a true fish taco, so I opted for the old empty-the-fridge tactic to create a scrumptious dinner.

That's tilapia, cilantro, green onions, and green peppers. And it smells as good as it looks. 

I had wine. I've heard it prevents cancer.... or something. 

I also put some BBQ sauce on in lieu of the actual sauce you're supposed to use. 

Mmmm....

It was a bit unconventional, but it sure tasted delicious. I threw in a little tomato and a little cheese too and voila, a fish taco! 

Ingredients:

Tilapia Fillet- frozen food section at Meijer

Small pile of green onions

One side of a green pepper

Small handful of fresh cilantro

A few grates of cheddar cheese

3 flour tortillas

Tomato to taste

BBQ Sauce to taste

Cook em all up and put em in the tortilla!