DDW, Street Food Expert

I found my dream job on “Unwrapped” today. The guest, I think, was Sean Basinksi. (That’s what I found in all the Googling for Food Network + Street Food Expert + Unwrapped). Anyway, this guy founded the Street Vendor Project and is a “Street Food Expert.” He even teaches a class and gives tours!

It seems as though this primarily took place on the streets of NYC, and basically what this guy does is walk around through the city and samples all the traditional, non-traditional, ethnic, hot dog, ice cream, and every other kind of food vended on the streets of NYC.

I. Want. That. Job.

Pair my love of city exploration with my love of all things food, all things fresh, and all things deep fried, and I’m set. AND with all the walking that comes with eating on street corners, my metabolism would stay high and efficient enough to support this career!

I want this job. Or at least to take this guy’s tours.

‘Bama or Bust

Well, we made it to the dirty dirty without any trouble. My dad works for Northwest, so while I am too old and quote-unquote independent to fly free like he and mom do, I fly on a cheaper companion pass and we all fly standby. Try THAT on Christmas Day the year they reduce the number of flights in general. The flight this morning was supposedly oversold, but we still managed to not only get on, but to sit up front. That was always the perk about dealing with not knowing whether or not we’d actually get ON the flight – knowing that there was always a little chance of sitting in first class.

And I hate take-off. HATE it. Something about the initial force of power or height or something, but my whole body just kind of silently freaks out. So what if it’s 7 in the morning? I’m sitting in first class, stomach in knots, dressed UP (because we are “representing the airline” or something) so dammit, I’m having a drink. And I did. I thought about a bloody mary, but vodka seemed fairly intense for barely being 7AM – even for me. I opted for Bailey’s and coffee instead.

I don’t know if it was the alcohol or just the coincidence that we “reached a final cruising altitude of 39,000 feet” at the same time I finished my coffee, but 25 minutes or so after take-off, I’d finally calmed down enough to read my book. *see next entry for my totally unqualified and abbreviated review of Chuck Klosterman’s Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs.

So I read and we flew, and eventually we ended up in Memphis. We switched planes, and headed to Mobile, which is where we are now and have been lounging for the past few hours.

I brought books, magazines, and my laptop. I’m planning to read, read, write a little, dig up trashy celebrity gossip, and watch whatever the rest of the family is watching on whatever TV is in the room. Right now, it’s something on PBS about the Vanderbilt hunting lodge (aka MANSION) in North Carolina. Before this, it was Alton Brown’s “Good Eats” (about sushi!) and then Marc “I’ll-Take-the-Physical-Challenge” Summers’ “Unwrapped.” *more on this later – I totally found my dream job.

So, Day 1/Travel Day of Vacation has been a success in that I really haven’t accomplished much except finishing one book and starting another – My Point… and I Do Have One, Ellen DeGeneres’ 1995 book that was updated (or something?) and re-released last October.

My goal is to finish that and start The Audacity of Hope by lunchtime tomorrow.

Merry Christmas!

Allez Cuisine!

I should be sleeping… long weekend, more going out than usual, on my feet all day… but I’m not. Instead, I’m watching the encore of this season’s super fun Food Network Iron Chef match up. Paula Deen/Cat Cora vs. Robert Irvine (Dinner Impossible)/Tyler Florence!

Speaking of Robert Irvine, I caught “Dinner Impossible” for the first time ever tonight. He had to cook dinner at a Vegas hotel for 16 famous magicians (and their plus-ones). The catch was that the food had to be one thing but look like another. He made a meatloaf and potatoes that looked like a slice of cake and ice cream. For dessert, he made ice cream that was in the shape of a hot dog. Maybe I’ll find pictures to post here later; either way – it was amazing.

Anyway, I know who wins because I caught the last five minutes when it originally aired earlier tonight (Paula), but mom says the whole thing was “a hoot,” so I’m checking it out for myself.

Last year, it was Iron Chef Mario Batali and Rachael Ray vs. Iron Chef Bobby Flay (*sigh*) and Giada Delaurentis, and Ray/Batali won (which was awesome). I like Giada just fine, but it’s fun to see the “less gourmet” and more realistic folks like Rachael “YUM-O” Ray take home the gold.

So instead of sleeping, I’m fighting urges to get out of bed and bake.

In the words of the Chairman, “ALLEZ CUISINE!” (Which, apparently – according to Wikipedia – roughly translates to “go and cook”)

Weekending

Wow, I actually feel like I had an almost legit weekend.  I slept “in” yesterday morning, which really meant I was up by 9am.  I spent all day putting more of my stuff away, unpacking, hanging pictures, watching reruns of America’s Next Top Model (cycle 8!) on VH1 until I had to get ready for work.

 Side note about ANTM:  I’ve only really ever caught bits and pieces of this show, but seeing a few episodes back-to-back, I can get why it’s returned for 8 cycles.  Tyra’s fantastic, and no matter what you think of any of the girls, the drama, or whether they’re “model-y” enough, one thing you can’t argue with is the interesting and amazing photography.  I was just astounded at the ideas they had and executed for all of these challenges – the photos ended up being amazing.  I wish I could do something like that!

I spent Saturday night working the PT gig in Woodbury for a few hours, then came back to St. Paul where roomie and I tried to watch “Thank You For Smoking,” but I fell asleep within the first half hour or so. 

I worked early this morning, which was actually preferred and kind of nice seeing as I was there for three hours before the store even opened!  It was a nice way to work on a Sunday morning… letting my own thoughts run around in my head to the tune of some half-decent Muzak (including the likes of The Decemberists, Gomez, and Feist).

The middle of the day was spent in CG with Pops.  At the mention of “I’m hungry,” Dad said he’d hoped I’d say that and said he had a treat.  He pulled a bag of fresh, raw oysters out of the fridge and popped a bottle of champagne!  The oysters come up on some freezer truck out of Galveston twice a year.  I told him next time the seafood mobile comes up, I want some crab meat!  So anyway, I sat on the [new, nice granite] counters, while Dad paced around in the [new, nice remodeled] kitchen, watching the Vikes get embarrassed by the Packers, eating raw oysters off of saltine crackers and drinking a dry, barely fruity Cuvee Klimat. 

Now, I’m perched at the dining room table of my friends’ place in Eagan where I’m watching their little one since they’re at the Dropkick Murphy’s (yay!) show at The Myth (boo).  Kiddo’s been in bed now for about an hour and a half and whereas Food Network reruns would typically entertain me for hours, I’ve seen the Giada/Flay vs. Ray/Batali Iron Chef America a few times already.  I think it aired first around Thanksgiving last year, because of the Battle Cranberry theme.  You know those judges?  I so want their jobs.

Ok, I think I’m going to perch on the couch until the fam gets home, maybe try to doze a little since I’m not even going to be getting home until close to midnight and 6am tomorrow morning is going to come EARLY.  I can’t wait to no longer be working two jobs…

Oh!  One more thing.  As a part of the many things we offer our customers at my PT gig, one thing is the offer of a trial magazine subscription to any customer paying with credit.  I offered this to one female customer, who politely declined saying that her husband “works in advertising” so they get all kinds of mags and don’t need anymore.  Being an ad kid myself, I asked what he did.  Turns out he’s the Media Director at a different Mpls mid-sizer.  Small world!  I resisted the urge to continue small-talking the Media world with her, but either way, that was a fun coincidence.

Bobby Flay, will you marry me?

Iron Chef, master griller, dorky/cute-type attractive, and a great TV show host, Bobby Flay has stolen my heart. This is what he whipped up today. I actually think I could do it… at least the eggplant thing and the apples. Mmmm… I love eggplant.

Grilled Eggplant with Tomato Basil Relish