According to Snackreligious...

You CAN have nachos for lunch on a weekday.  Go ahead.  I've given you permission.  Many of your coworkers will be jealous.  Few will say so.

These are from the Big Enchilada, in Union Square (NYC).  They're a "small," if you can believe that. 

Also pictured -- the Emergency Hot Sauce that lives in my locker at work.  It's important to have on hand.

p.s. The hard taco shells at Big Enchilada (I love crispy tacos, no matter how inauthentic they may be) are too salty.  What a bummer.  But the chips are fine (if a bit flimsy).

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Photo Essay: Just Food's CSA in NYC Conference

Here's a shot of my lap at around 9:30 am at Just Food's CSA in NYC Conference yesterday. They didn't serve breakfast, or even hot water for tea (I brought my own tea bags). Luckily, I had a snack in my bag -- "Kranky" chocolate-covered cornflakes from Mexico (via Angela).

I attended the following three workshops, as well as the opening talk by Just Food organizers, and the Farmer Panel:

1. Caring for your Share -- which is going to better inform my CSA blogging this year
2. Donating Your CSA's Extra Food
3. Strategies to Increase Mixed-Income CSA Participation




Finally, time for lunch!




My plate -- savory, dressed roasted vegetables; an apple; goat cheese and eggplant sandwich. I'm not always into sandwiches, but it was good. Now, with bonus apple cider! The apple cider and apple were from Breezy Hill Orchard.


The rest of these (blurry phone) photos are all from the Farmer/Trade Expo at the end of the day.




This table belonged to The Piggery, and I got a sample of their pâté (which tasted like spreadable liverwurst, something I loved as a kid) and spicy mortadella. However, they displayed a photo of cute pigs on their table, which made me want to quit eating pork entirely again. I only started back up a few years ago, and I'm still dealing with a lot of guilt. I visited the Animal Welfare Approved table immediately after my Piggery experience, to make myself feel better.




Wine (not local) for conference-goers.




More apples and cider from Breezy Hill.




Salted butter on bread -- divine. Goat cheese with honey on a cracker -- divoon. Yum. Both were from Vermont Creamery. Swoon (-- onto the divan?! I tickle myself).




Sprouts with peanut sauce. I bought a "(sprout-your-sprouts-)Garden-in-a-bag" bag to take home. I'll be blogging more about this at a later date.






People really swarmed around the Grandaisy Bakery bread table. I had a little pizza-saucey something that was quite good.





I also tasted, but did not photograph, a surprisingly tiny sample of Magui's Artisinal Chocolates. It was so small a piece I barely got the white chocolate flavor before it disappeared in my mouth. But it was good.





This year, I'm taking on a role in the core group of my CSA (at Judson in Washington Square Park), so I appreciated the chance to get to know more about the innerworkings of CSAs in New York City. I wish I could have attended even more of the workshops, but I'm glad for the chance to go to the ones I did.

A magical, Mexican beast.

(photo by Dan)

You know you're in the presence of some kind of creative genius when he takes the dragon his aunt (not me) has made out of tortilla dough (which they give kids to play with at Uncle Julio's in Dallas) and tortilla chips...


(photo by Dan)

...and sticks a shrimp on its head. The question is, what do we call this creature he has made?

Giant Movie Night: Hot Stuff!

Meet Cholula and Jackie!

GMN Week four
Film: Ian loaned me Jackie Brown, which I hadn't seen before.
Snack: Mexican! Chips and stuff, hot sauce, salsa.
Guests: Dan.
Outcome: The movie was giant; the guests were few (one). I think the story and acting were stronger than the director (no fan of Tarantino, I), but it was a good flick.

Laura Bush Ate Here.

(phone photo by Dan)


Dear Houston's Trail's End Restaurant in Kanab, UT (and Salsa Brava in Flagstaff, AZ),

Your portions are out of control. Do you want all of your customers to be obese? Pancakes should not be larger than my head if they are also 3/4" thick each. Your "short stack" of two is a "WIDE LOAD stack." And side of hash browns should not cover a large oval platter.

A stuffed sopapilla (now I'm looking at you, S.B.) is delicious but it should not be bigger and wider than both of my fists held end to end (especially considering it is jammed with meat and covered in cream sauce AND my fists aren't petite). And if it is as big as that (and you're unwilling to warn the customer), I certainly don't need beans and rice on the side and I will NEVER have room for dessert. Also, I don't really want a bottomless Pepsi. You could at least ask me if I want a refill.

-- Jennette

p.s. Houston's, I did enjoy your wallpaper. Salsa Brava, your flavors were excellent before I became overwhelmed and annoyed by the portion sizes, and you did a nice job on the salsa bar. Of the four varieties we tried, I preferred the pineapple habanero.

On another note, when in Kanab, I recommend staying at the Red Rock Country Inn if you want a cheap room and appreciate a hot tub.

Back from the red.

This past week, I've been traveling in the red rocks (and sand and dirt) of Northern Arizona and Southern Utah. I wasn't able to get to an internet connection very often (or even pick up a reliable cell phone signal, for that matter), but I did do some eating.

Above is a picture of Sunday's lunch. We flew into Phoenix (finally! after a SNAFU with Delta that still enrages me) and drove north through some dinky towns trying to find delicious Mexican food. This wasn't it, but it wasn't bad. It beat driving around looking for food any longer, that's for sure.

La Fonda can be found sharing a building with a Dairy Queen (that I found to have substandard toilet facilities) in Camp Verde, AZ -- but even if my combo plate was only so-so, the horchata was smooth and refreshing.

More moments from the trip [and that Poetry Tuesday poem I wrote on time (I swear!) but couldn't get out of the wilderness to post] to come!

ADDENDUM: poem is here.