Confessions Of A Food Nerd

I will be the first to admit, I am a giant food nerd. I am not, however, a foodie. I do not pretend to enjoy things like uni, or bone marrow, or offal, ‘cause it’s cool. I also do not eat brekkie, sandos, or fro-yo. I eat food without annoying shortened cutesy names. You know: hamburgers, grilled lamb, carnitas, and the like. I once had a family friend procure me some balut as I wanted to try something that seemed like the most disgusting thing ever. If you don’t know balut, it’s a Filipino delicacy that is a half formed chicken embryo. I know, right? Luckily, the eggs burst in the fridge and so I didn’t get to boil and take a bite. Not so lucky for my nose as that was kind of the worst smell of all time. Also, I’m quite sure if I did try it I would’ve thrown up. For some unknown reason I just really wanted to be able to say, “Yeah, I tried that. It’s as gross as you’d think it is.”

I don’t watch Food Network as much as I used to, but I do love Ina Garten (who wouldn’t love living in that house surrounded by that many gays? Dude, she’s like my fairy princess icon. That woman has GAYYYYME). I love Tyler Florence’s recipes, and watching Paula Deen makes me happy. I want to spend an afternoon with her. Just eating cubes of butter and ass grabbing hunky dudes while we say “Olive all.” That woman can’t say oil. She just can’t. If you have not seen the flickr page called Paula Deen Riding Things stop what you are doing and go now. Seriously, I’ll wait.

I also love to cook. The other night I made the most amazing lamb chops in a balsamic reduction, with oven roasted brussel sprouts. Seriously, it was so delicious I was patting myself on the back. I have two vices: sex and cooking. I put my all in to both. But I try not to mix them. Whipped cream and other food items are harder to wash off than you’d think. Tonight I’m making a ribeye with grilled asparagus. I will be thinking about it all day. Being the creature of habit that I am, every weekday I have 8 oz. of lowfat vanilla yogurt with 2 T of flax seed for breakfast. Then I have a Lean Cuisine or Smart Ones and a piece of fruit for lunch. So by dinner time I am totally ready for a real homecooked yummy meal. I know you’re supposed to eat a large lunch. That’s never going to happen with me. Dinner is my meal of the day. Always has been always will.

I belong to a website where you take pictures of what you ate and post it so that folks can go to any city, type in “burger” and find all the burgers within a few miles. It’s a really fun site, and I like it. You can check out my page here if you are so inclined: http://www.foodspotting.com/16499-melanie-dinos
My pictures aren't very good 'cause they're just with my iPhone, but if you check the page out and like it I highly recommend checking out a lady I follow, Rachel Valley. She's a food photographer. She could take a picture of a roach and make you want to eat it.

Last night was the first Sacramento Foodspotting get together. We all met up at a really nice restaurant and talked and laughed. It was fun meeting some of the people I follow on there. Plus, the food was delicious. I had skate wing. Apparently it is a fish similar to a stingray. You’re welcome Steve Irwin.

Originally I was going to include some of my cooking in the blog, but decided against it. I really enjoy cooking. I did not want to have to stop and photo document something that is therapeutic in my life. I think it would ruin the joy it brings me, so I’m not going to be doing that. I do follow several food blogs that you can find in my “Following” list if you’d care to check them out. They’re all really good, and save for one I know the ladies that write them, and they’re awesome so you should follow their blogs. Also, if I ever mention something I've made or am making and it sounds good to you, email me and I'll shoot you the recipe. Or if I don't mention food, but you want some recipe ideas, I'd love to send you some.


Happy picture of the day: my red patent leather flats. I woke up at 4 a.m. today with a screaming headache. I figured I'd better wear something sassy to get me through the day. I firmly believe it is much harder to have a bad day, when you are in cute footwear.