I'll keep trying.

I can't seem to replicate my Perfect Caramel Popcorn Moment from our Chicago trip, and I suspect it has to do with how fresh that caramel popcorn was, but I did try a new flavor of bagged kettle corn this week. 

Popcorn, Indiana's Sweet & Tangy BBQ isn't bad at all, but I prefer their Smoked Cheddar flavor (though I wish the Smoked Cheddar were spicy).  I hear the company makes Bacon Ranch and Buffalo Cheddar versions, too.  I'd like to try those!  And their website teases with promises of Wasabi popcorn.  Wow.

The only problem I habitually have with this brand is finding lots of little, hard "duds" that threaten to crack my teeth when I bite down on them.  But this particular bag was predominantly dud-free.

-------

Righting wrongs in the buffet line.

Speaking of the Chinatown Soccer Club backpacks mentioned in the previous post, here's a photo of a pile of them in action at yesterday's Adi Cup 2010 Fanatic soccer tournament.  I was able to be there for two of the CSC team's soccer games and a bit of free lunch.



If you read my post about last year's Adi Cup, and the horrendous way the line for BBQ was handled, you might like to know that this year's event (which was moved to Pier 40) satisfied me on the food-service front.  There were two buffet lines, both moved quickly, and food was plentiful.  This year, too, they finally allowed players to jump the line to get lunch (which only makes sense if you're trying to keep a tournament running on time).  And, in addition to pulled pork (and hot dogs and veggie options and delicious BBQ chicken wings), there were pulled chicken sandwiches.  Perfect.



Now I'm feeling better about the free lunch from Adidas I hope to eat in 2011.

Adi Cup 2009
Adi Cup 2008

p.s. The guys were ROBBED of best uniform this year.  Robbed. Come on!  Look at that custom tailoring by my friend, Jen Wang!  Yes, I'm biased, as it also happens that Dan designed the CSC uniform, as well as a logo for the Krauts (a CSC-spin-off team), but I still think it was the best jersey at the tournament.



-------

Accidental Video of a Disappointing Pickle

Oops. Thought I was taking a still photo at local BBQ joint, Fette Sau.

WHY do they insist on serving these bland garlic pickles? Even the baby dipped hers in BBQ sauce to try to make it more appealing. And WHY won't they serve BBQ chicken and/or better sides (though, to be honest, the potato salad was better than usual this time)? I remain an unhappy camper at the Sau.

Except for those rolls.

Poetry Tuesday: What I Ate in Texas

The BBQ of Texas
(to be sung to the tune of The Yellow Rose of Texas)

There's a yellow rose in Texas, but all I find is meat,
Few vegetables or salad, unless they're fried or sweet.
There's BBQ a-plenty, with sauces as high art,
But eating yellow roses might be better for my heart.



(Chorus)
I'd the biggest shrimps with bacon this chow-hound ever knew,
Their bellies stuffed with cream cheese, and jalapeño, too.
You may talk about your San Antone, and sing of Kansas Cee,
But the Mexican of Dallas beat the belly out of me.



Where the chicken gravy's flowing, and the okra fried delight,
I walked with my umbrella* to huge dinners every night;**
I think that I remember, when I left upon the plane,
I promis'd to not eat for days, so I'd feel me again.

(Chorus)

Oh! now I'm going to veg out, for my stomach's full of woe,
And also full of casserole, and things fried long ago;
I'll eat my greens so happily, and I'll sing a song of fruits,
And the BBQ of Texas I will leave for Texan brutes.***

(Chorus)



*It did rain the entire weekend we were in Dallas.
**And lunches every day
***It was really good! But overwhelming. I can't eat like that every day.

Je [mange] au foot.

Last Saturday, I attended the 2009 Adidas Fanatic tournament, or "Adicup" in a park on the west side of Manhattan. I was there to cheer on competing CSC members (no matter their various alliances f0r the day), but was myself "fanatic" especially for the official CSC team in their smart yellow jerseys.

I was also there to eat.

I do like soccer. I promise I do. But I'll admit that a major draw to this event is the promise of free food. And free drinks. And free ice cream. Especially free ice cream.

Here's a brief photo-review:




Woo! Soccer!



Woo! Free Drinks!

Two things to mention here -- it was quite hot last Saturday, but I swear it was a good 20 degrees hotter on that green astroturf (or whatever) field. Thank goodness for rehydration options. Secondly, I refused to drink any of the "0 Calorie" beverages. To me, zero calories means weird fake sugar flavor. The Sobe Lifewater wasn't bad. Pomegranate Cherry was much better than Blackberry Grape, which tasted kind of cough-syruppy.




Awesome! Soccer! Yeah!




Awesome! The grills are up! Finally!

For an event that started at noon, which I consider to be lunchtime, the people running the show waited a good long time to put out the eats. I lingered near the tables when I finally started seeing smoke from the grills, and ended up pretty near the head of the line. Just out of my reach? Hot dogs (beef or vegetarian), veggie burgers, hamburgers, BBQ chicken, corn on the cob, coleslaw, potato salad, and various "fixin's," as they say.




Wait a minute! What's going on here?!

Although we were only 25 people or so back from the start of the line, it took maybe 40 minutes to make it to the table of food. Why is that? Well, apparently, there were not enough fully cooked hamburgers to go around. The men working the grill were busy rectifying this issue, but in the meantime there were plenty of other things to eat.

The problem that halted the line when it had barely begun moving was when people at the start of the line who *really* wanted burgers refused to accept alternate protein sources. They blocked the line in a snarl of greed and effectively kept it from advancing. Like a huge hairball in a pipe, they twined around each other, many of them waiting while eating from loaded plates (loaded with everything but their precious burgers) in front of everyone still hungry behind them in line.

The polite thing for burger-desperate free-food gobblers to do would have been to take what was ready and available (and free) and eat it, getting back in line for a burger if they were so determined to consume ground beef. Or at the very least to have made a second, single-file line of burger-holdouts that the rest of us could navigate around/through. But not these patrons. Stubbornly waiting for more burgers to be made, they clotted around the buns and condiments, holding up the works. As a rule, any one of them would move slightly to the side only grudgingly and in tiny increments of distance when challenged for access to the table by people directly behind them in line. This was infuriating to those of us just out of reach of food who could not move forward while they stood there trying to look innocent.

I admit to yelling, "Move it! You have food!" in that direction (okay. several times). But these Meat-Greedy Guses just hovered blankly, jamming up the works, refusing to make eye contact, and trying not to look guilty. Maddening. You can bet I whipped around them haughtily with my burger-less plate and elbowed in to get my mustard packets when we finally did manage to get to the buffet. Ruiners.





Ahhhh! Soccer! Now I feel better!




Ahhhh! Ice Cream! Now I feel best!

At some point, late in the afternoon, the free ice cream wagon came out. I grabbed an ice cream sandwich and a lemon ice for myself (and shared both with Dan). They were just what I needed. By this point, I was as sweaty as if I had played 5 games of soccer myself. Or run from the countryside into Rome carrying a dish of Italian ice (as pictured below) while wearing a heavy-looking helmet of some sort.



At any rate, the ice cream treats cooled both my literal and figurative hot-head hotness. The evening ended in cooling breezes, dimming sunlight, final games, a spirit of everybody's-a-winner, and happy weariness.

Football! Ice cream! Rah! Rah! Rah!

A Perfect Night (in Photos)

(photo by Dan)



(photo by Dan)



(photo by Dan)










(photo by Dan)

Sunday, BBQ Sunday

Diana's BBQ featured spicy macaroni and cheese (the jalapeño in there was a nice idea) and potato salad (my favorite ingredient: capers), many meats and meat-substitutes (I went for the turkey dog Vincent offered to cook for me), and a bevy of chip-type snackfoods.



For one thing, someone had procured several small bags of British crisps. My favorite? These Tayto Pickled Onion, which mostly (but enjoyably) tasted of vinegar.



I brought a bag of Popcorn, Indiana (named after a real place, though the brand is a NYC creation) Smoked Cheddar Kettlecorn. The mixture of truly smokey cheese with the sweetness of kettle corn was pleasing, but I would have liked a little spice in the mix. I'd certainly eat this again, but I'll be looking for other flavors to try.

Soy Whats?

I thought the flavor of these BBQ soy nuts would grow on me, but the opposite occurred. I like them way less now than when I first opened the bag. I couldn't even bring myself to take a better photo.

Down Under Manhattan Bridge Overpass

It wasn't exactly lunchtime, but pawing through used goods can make a person hungry. While in DUMBO on Sunday to peruse the market that is Brooklyn Flea, I ended up on BBQ Island (aka waiting in line at the King's County BBQ truck).







Convenient amphitheater seating under the bridge turned out to be windy and chilly, despite the sun.




Jalapeno-Cheese grits-- Not bad, but not great. A bit lumpy; tasted of corn.




"The Original King's County 'Chicken Ribs'" -- I'm not sure what's rib-like about these, but the BBQ sauce was sweet and the meat flash-fried to perfection (if slowly). Both sides of slaw (fresh-tasting) and baked beans (smoky, deep flavor) met with my approval. I also traded Steph for an Apple-Brined Chicken Wing. Though I preferred my drumsticks, the wing had an appealing cider-y tang.

Goodbye, BBQ grill.

photo by DanF.

This week's Poetry Tuesday poem marks an occasion for gentle weeping: a seasonal end to the grilling and eating of food out of doors. It's thoroughly, predictably cold now. *sigh.* Remember the summer?



Brooklyn: Barbecue Avenue

Ash of grilled cornsilk drifts through unflowered lattice slats
like ticker-tape parades: Hooray for Food! Bon Voyage!
Hot cobbler in pans warmed on coals washes with
thick tongue-bending gold: syrupy peaches deepened by time,
real cream a sudden luxury, unexpected out of kitchens.

Last fork in white plastic, remarkable tines -- purposeful:
to do with, to help make full. Seitan is in me, pale eggplant.
Meaty Portobello, potato-rich kebabs of red and white.
Greens washed with lemon citrus splashes, flashes
of flame, the romance of lighterfluid and match;
giddy, I am dripping with watermelon, leaving
tea-leaf messages on concrete: our fortunes as sweet.

Appetites expand, time slows, we can eat everything,
ingest and comprehend whole plates of flavor and talk.
Licking my fingers again, I am aware of clouds
moving against each other and above
our crowd below, moving against each other
easily, with affection, lingering even late, how
the sky blesses us – sweetness of not-quite-rain


(photo by DanF)