Middle Eastern Food Day

My boyfriend’s favorite food is Middle Eastern cuisine. And after all the Indian food days my friend and I had put him through, it was time to try something new.  So here was our menu:



Stuffed vegetables and pita by Claudia Roden

Bastille by Ghillie Basan

Baba Ghanouj by Alton brown
Falafel mix
Jallab, a berry drink you mix with water and rosewater and top with walnuts

The stuffed vegetables were very delicious. My friend stuffed peppers, an apple, tomato and an eggplant with rice, soaked raisins and ground beef, with a sticky, succulent rice mixture. The apple was my favorite, because when baked it conformed to the savory stuffing. Unfortunately, I could not take gorgeous pictures because we were so hungry that we demolished them right after they finished baking. From the same cookbook that the above recipe is from, my boyfriend made his famous pita with whole wheat flour instead of all purpose, which made it more robust and a little too thick. It would have been better if we had planned the other menu items to be lighter.

My boyfriend also made baba ghanoush from an Alton Brown recipe. However, the eggplant happened to be female which has more seeds than a male one. And a bit too much tahini was added. But it was okay that it was hearty. I made a bastille because I like making things that I have eaten at other restaurants before. Every Morrocan dish I have made is similar to the dishes that Marrakesh serves on NW 21st and Lovejoy. The most tasty dish is the bastille, shredded chicken with spices like paprika and cinnamon covered in phyllo. And topped with powdered sugar and cinnamon. The recipe by Ghille Basan called for too many onions, and it impacted the flavor. Still quite tasty for trying it homemade. But next time I would like to add scrambled eggs like the NW portland restaurant does.

The falafel mix we tried (the one I can't remember the name of) was not very good. It tasted a lot like sesame seeds and the texture was not very crumbly. The leftovers were very soggy too. Though the taste was not amazing, we were able to learn the process to making falafel. Next time we will make it homemade or get the two kinds I like from Trader Joe's or Costco. We also polished off a 1.5 liter of Cooks champagne with mango nectar, which was very delicious and addictive. Altogether, we accomplished the succulent and sweetness of the Middle East.

After the afrodisiac, comes "Love and Other Drugs"

I was visiting a friend of mine in Idaho when I saw this movie. We had just finished a late lunch at a pizza parlor sort of place, went back to her house, glanced at the films that were playing and saw this one was playing at 4:25 pm. The clock said 4pm, so we jumped back in her car, knowing we would make it in no time at all: everything in Idaho is about 5-20 minutes away because it is such a small state.

I found the epitomie of the 90's in the first and second scene in the film, where Jamie (Jake Gyllenhaal) is the best and wittiest sales person at an electronics store. He loses his job only because he can sell himself too well to the ladies. 

In the next scene, he is having dinner with his family. His parents are doctors and his nerdy, uncouth brother has struck it rich in the software business. They tease him about losing his job, even though he clearly has no problem in the sales industry as shown in the first scene. Everyone is employed in powerful jobs and everyone is optimistic: success and comfort are at its best.

At that point in time, I had to relinquish that those golden days were over, and now we are looking back on them in period pieces, such as this film. It is sad!

Jamie's brother Josh is an important character in this film, because I feel his journey is more complex than the main character. Josh is younger, very unattractive, kind but also gross. Though he is wealthy, his wife cheats on him and leaves him. So Josh moves in with Jamie, showing that despite the riches he has attained, he still values true love and family. Jamie on the other hand, is very apathetic, as he seduces women and tries to maintain a career. He can talk you into buying anything, but he does not believe in anything either. These brothers also are tied together: they both come to a realization after a sensuous escapade that causes them to change. Josh has  given meaning to everything in his life, but now can try being more adventurous. Jamie learns that he needs one girl to help him find himself.

Enter Maggie Murdoch (Anne Hathaway). She's your typical guarded-Bohemian-esque (she has an apartment that looks like Monica's from Friends)- won't take any crap- kind of girl. She's the one for Jamie, and has been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease at 26. Not only will Jamie have to compete with her ex/ the top prozac salesman (Gabriel Macht), he has to accept that her disease is going to progress and sell enough antidepressants to be promoted to the sales job in Chicago.

Maggie and Jamie work well together, even if it just starts physically. They also discuss some integral issues that lead to positive individual and couples growth. I also liked that her disease was not portrayed as a Hollywood tragedy, even though it was really sad. In other films, you see the tragic diagnosis, some scenes of the heroine being weak, and then dying beautifully.  Maggie's character was genuine to real life in that the film educated the audience on Parkinson's disease: the condition, the symptoms, the daily struggles and the family involved.

The disease is a burden for Jamie and does take its' toll when he becomes bent on fixing her. This also represents the drug culture Jamie has been working for, which has taught him that every symptom has a drug to fix you, but also propagates side effects. Unfortunately, the side effects for their relationship is that Maggie needs Jamie to accept that she will need his help more and more.....

Jamie and Maggie having a spontaneous lunch  in her "Friends" style apartment

The theme for improvement from new health advancements is similar to the technological advancements of this time. Computer technology was emerging at a fast paced rate. I remember being told I would need to write in cursive by high school and college, but then was rigorously trained in computers and typing. Then I had yet to see the side effects of technology, but see them on a daily basis. Now personal interactions are shorter and more impersonal especially when things are done by a computer (Please Bank of America, can I speak to a human not an auto tone?).

I try to not get too wrapped up or distracted by shiny technology, but's its really hard when you are allowed to use your cool new cell phone at work.

Decadence

Last Sunday, I started the day off with William Sonoma complimentary cooking  class at Washington Square Mall. They hand you a nice 10% coupon as you walk in, along with a handout about the dish we will be focusing on. The delightful dish was pasta, which anyone can get cravings for in cold weather because you need something hearty, filling and usually meaty and cheesy. They passed around rustic cookbooks, defined pasta kinds (we were sad that macaroni was not important enough to get a definition), envied their pasta kitchen aid attachment and watched the food being made from the mirror above the stove. I was quite intrigued by the pasta that was folded into a coin shape and had writing on it.

We were allowed to try a standard bolognese with corkscrew pasta, which they had spiced using a rolling herb mincer. We also had a smoky spaghetti.
Check out the herb mincer


Thus, I embarked upon the new store for my fantasy kitchen. I bought a nine inch cake pan and my friend bought a shovel like thing for his wok. My boyfriend searched for a knife sharpener, but they were very expensive.

So that was my brunch. Then around noon I took the MAX for another adventure.  My older sister and I went to the Portland Annual Chocolate Fest at the Convention Center around 1pm. As we entered they gave us bags for our purchases and with some coupons. What I didn’t realize, is that they give you a myriad of free samples, of chocolate that is. Wine was also plentiful along with sake and a nice chocolate martini from Leonidas with vodka and Baileys. The martini was free, but wine tastes were usually a dollar or two.
Some unique tastes that I either purchased or wished I could purchase:

-Pinot Noir dessert sauce from Euphoria chocolates= Tart like berries from the wine plus smooth and light chocolatey taste. They also make chocolate caramel clusters.
-Ladybug Chocolates= After tasting many caramels, this one knocked my socks off. The caramel is fresh and almost drippingly soft and buttery, covered with a robust milk chocolate that has just the right amount of fleur de sel. I believe she said something about it being apple smoked too.......
I also bought a chocolate covered twinkie for my mum’s birthday, and it has small pink and purple hearts on it.
-Coco tutti= Very unusual concoctions, including a cappucino truffle and a green spearmint marbled truffle that looks almost like that chocolate rock candy. My favorite of theirs was their ginger dark chocolate, after  you take a bite, the ginger taste quickly strengthens in your mouth.
-Theo= Very mainstream and usually very expensive. But oh so good. I tried the highest percent of cocoa chocolate there which was around 80%. But I fell hard for one of their fantasy bars with fig, fennel and almonds. For only $3!
-Cocoa Velvet= lots of great flavor concoctions here. I bought some earl grey lavender treats. They also had one with pear cognac flavor and another with smokey whiskey flavor.
-Brownies from Heaven= Tried a taste of their blue cheese brownie which is a step up from the cream cheese brownie. It also possible to buy a bite of a brownie for $1, which was larger than my fist. I would’ve but by that time I was getting chocolated out.
-Tea Time Toffee= Don’t call them almond roca! I was told when having a taste. The nuts on top of the chocolate layer have a roasted flavor.

As for the wines, I retreated to my old favorite and bought a bottle of Hip Chicks’ Drop Dead Red
Most of them were decent but didn’t really blow me away. I did like HV Cellars’ plum fruit wine, which was nicely aerated and captured the slight earthiness of the plum. My sister tried the blackberry one too, which tasted like the pie!

“The Queen” of England’s Unforgettable ‘90’s Week

I have had Portlandia’s “Dream of the 90’s” song stuck in my head for some time now, which I always seem to call “Feel of the ‘90’s for some reason. It’s getting annoying. I’ve discussed this show with my two groups of friends, even though I was the only one who has seen it. I related the sketches to them and we came to the conclusion that the TV show does not quite identify Portland’s quirks.
I also tried to pinpoint the film that brought upon my reflection of the ‘90’s as a period piece and decided it was The Queen with Helen Mirren and directed by Steven Frears.

The most definable feature of The Queen was the picture quality element. I’m not sure if this was intentional or just a viewing of a DVD on a blu ray player. Yes, like a late 80’s child I refuse to get caught up on new technology. The picture quality of this film is reminiscent of watching a VHS tape and this effect is recreated in this film in many ways including objects in the film, colors and use of news footage from this historic week.
When watching films made in the ‘90’s, I often notice how the picture quality makes objects  have crisper outer edges and a fuzzier interior. This observation is subtle of course, not like a coloring book at all. The Queen herself also stands out with a conservation primary color in her choice of clothing or accessories, surrounded by other actors in lighter colors or wearing earth tone clothing with a dark necklace.
As bold as the ‘90’s were with the bright colors in clothing or the highlights in music videos, we also started to tone down our colors with mustard yellow, casual blacks, different from the crazy ‘80’s hair-do’s and shoulder padded office clothes. The Queen gave a portrait of this change which also connects to the way the era dressed.
Color is also used to display the theme of isolation that the Queen is experiencing from Tony Blair and the public. There are several shots of the Queen alone and donning an outfit conspicuous from her surroundings, especially as she ponders the solution to the public outcry about Princess Diana’s death.

Tony Blair (Actor) also stands out with darker colors every time he visits the queen in her beige-pastel palace, showing the conflicting relationship between the royalty and the government that has to work together to ease the grieving of the public.

The Queen believes that the death is a private matter while Blair feels that Diana had such a public presence, that the royal family must comment on their former relation. I also noticed that on the Queen’s drive before Diana’s funeral, she wears a beige outfit that matches her outdoor surroundings, showing that she might have to conform to the duties her kingdom demands.

Stephen Frears’ use  of actual news footage from the ‘90’s helped identify these key events and characters. For example, the character of Princess Diana was portrayed only from real interviews and newscasts. I felt he chose well, because could not think of an actress that could portray her. The footage from the public also demonstrated the large scale of mourning and shock from the princesses death. Living in Europe at the time, I remember seeing the princess often on TV and could not believe the damage done to the car she died in. I also remember the TY beanie baby coming out that was super expensive, a commemorative purple bear named Princess.

According to IMDB.com, Queen Elizabeth refuses to watch this movie because she does not want to relive that week. I felt this was an interesting bit of trivia because of the increasing speed that movies from 20 years ago are getting remade, I love the millenium on VH1 comes out when 2010 was not even reached and biographical films are being made when the main character is still alive. I wonder if we can really, truly remember the way we were, if we don’t have enough distance? Or in this case do we want to remember? Was the first version of Fame worse than the old so we have to stay fresh to last in popularity? Is  Footloose such a pivotal film that we need to upgrade it? And Americans are not the only ones who do this: My last few favorite Bollywood movies were remakes, but at least those were coming from 40-70 years ago.....

Moralistically, if a biographical movie is done on you, do you have a say in who portrays you in certain  positive or negative ways? Or can you agree to embellishments? Please think about this.

From Downtown Portland to Cuba

I’m working on my organization for this blog, but so much I enjoy happens. So some might be posted later than when it actually occurs. Today, however, takes special note because it was a very Portland-y day: Pouring down rain with the indifference of getting soggy. But my errands were not boring enough to dampen the low key spirit I was in.

I rode the streetcar from PSU to Powell’s with a couple families who carried their young children as they explored the city via stroller. After a browsing in the Orange room for Cuban and African cookery and talking myself out of Lonely planet India since I won’t be going for a few years, I picked up my copy of “Memories of a cuban kitchen” by Mary Urrutia Randelman. This book was recommended to me by a friend.  

I bought some additional ingredients and then headed to Stumptown in the Ace Hotel on SW Stark and 11th ish. I ordered a mocha. It was not as I expected and was sort of watery, due to the decaf or new experience of Splenda. I do think something less sweet was what I needed as the first meal of the day. I went to 10th and Alder next for the food cart lunch my boyfriend and I have been doing for the past couple weeks. He wanted the famous Miyazaki pork yakisoba at Samurai kitchen and I tried the chicken  rice cart. I must say for something so simple, it is so deliciously complex. Chicken and rice at SomTuym Gai Yang is boiled chicken with jasmine and ginger infused rice. There then is a light buttery broth and a zingy but nutty brown sauce to accompany it.

Cuban Food Experimentation:
I made black beans and rice (moros y cristianos) plus the Mom's farm style chicken (pollo criollo en cazuela). About the chicken......Randelman can be a little terse in her directions even though many are strung together in a longer sentence. In my hurry, forgot to add my own concoction of sour orange juice (with about ⅛ lemon and lime juice) which is bloody fantastic on its own as well. I was supposed to add it to the marinade before the chicken had to go in the fridge. I had already started the chicken on the stove so  I added it when it was time to put the other ingredients, the sherry, stock and onions, into the pot.

Today I learned that there are a few kinds of sherry that Albertsons sells. One is called cooking sherry and has salt added to it. It also had a recipe for something french onion (maybe the soup?).  The other kinds were for drinking in big bottles from California. The cream sherry stood out because I’ve had it with dessert at Pix Patisserie. But I grabbed one marked very dry because the recipe called for dry. It tastes very sour and was a perfect complement to the orangey flavors needed for this chicken.

Sadly, I burnt the chicken but it was still salveageable despite my mistakes. It was not completely charred and tasted more garlicky and savory with a twinge of citrus. Next time I think I will use drumsticks instead and watch it more closely.

As for the black beans and rice I made as a side dish, they turned out quite nicely. Randelman mixes the beans and rice together to make a pilaf. The dish is much quicker to put together. Just add bacon (I substituted ham cubes), then garlic, slices of green peppers and onions. Fry until fragrant and then add two cans of non drained black beans, lots of rice and water. Then cook on the stove like you would usually cook rice. With both the rice and beans together, a very smokey and hearty taste emerges. See the results:

"The Dream of the '90's is alive......" maybe 1950s: Gen X: 1990s: the Millenium Generation

Even though the new Portlandia show professes that the dream of the '90's is alive in Portland, OR, I believe this ideal was ready to resurface long ago. I've heard lots of baby boomers reflect on the glory days of the 1950's when cars arrived, soda fountains were still open and people were more neighborly with each other. We do like to relive the days which were harmonious and prolific.

I remember one summer, three male friends and I were using the empty OSU cafeteria kitchen to make our breakfast of masala potatoes and my mum's semi-elephant ear recipe of a cinnamon and sugar tortilla. Somehow, the four of us all came to the conclusion that we wanted to take a 1990's class since our colleges offered the '60s revolution class or some other time capsule related course. The 1990's seemed perfect to learn about because we remembered in and it was a damn good time.
No arguments for me there. In the 1990's, my family was quite well to do, my mother stayed at home and raised us.  I remember having a couple pairs of doc martens, saw men wearing bold and flowy shirts, everyone was doing the macarena, my younger sisters were born and would grow up addicted to technology, girl power and all of this was interspersed with Pearl Jam, Beck, REM, En Vogue, Enigma and the Spice girls. I lived in Europe for six years of the 90s, but when we moved back to the US, we had kept up on similar trends, and now I was just learning about Britney Spears' first album and that Madonna wanted to become more tribal.
Currently, Britney Spears has a um, different image and Madonna also inspires episodes of "Glee." And we are slowly moving out of our 80's fashion phase by mixing it with early 90's styles of clothing. Plus, piercing is back in full force, the college age to mid 20 somethings are now thinking it looks cool again. My sister, a 90's born child and fashion plate, came back from college with a nose ring, which I want now.  And my other friends have gotten belly and ear cartilage piercings too. So I am going to focus a bit of time to the 1990's since I am being bombarded with it lately, due to my boyfriend lecturing me about Buffy the Vampire slayer feminism from the PSU class he's taken and more movies  coming out using the 90's as a period piece.

And I know that that you are quite aware that the 1990's are back, because I bet you watched Disney movies and "Boondock Saints" in your dorm if you were in college the past ten years.

For your viewing pleasure:

“She’s having a baby” timelessly

After an hour of watching the “Gods of the Dance,” I popped the 80’s flick “She’s Having A Baby” in on a grey wet day. This film is directed by John Hughes and stars very young Kevin Bacon and Elizabeth McGovern as newlyweds’ right out of college. The story begins at their wedding day and follows them up to the birth of their first child. In between, Jefferson or Jake (Bacon) experiences the tough realities of failing and potentially succeeding at the career he’s dreamed of and the nervousness about the commitment. He earnestly loves his new bride and feels he can’t live without her, but he is not ready to face the changes that occur in marriages and furthermore, cannot understand his own identity and mind yet. There are a few temptations that threaten to lead him astray: his selfish bachelor best friend (Alec Baldwin) who recently became a Manhattanite, and a pretty model who he randomly runs into twice. Jake never acts on these temptations even though he displays some interest, leaving the audience questioning if he will come to a decision of his own. Meanwhile he is faced with unpleasant situations in typical domestic life: in laws, fights about family, living with a woman, birth control, fertility, etc. But he still presses on and acquiesces to the wants of his wife.

The true treasure of this film is that it is timeless. It does not try to focus on a time to define itself, rather the problems faced in a right of passage that everyone will or has come to understand. That said, the plot is insignificant, but Jake’s transformation is relatable as we grow up and meet the next stage of life. Hughes portrays Jake’s journey in his point of view not only in voice over narration, but also uses the camera to stay close to Jake’s perspective. His wife, Kristy (McGovern) is not given a voice to display her view on Jake at all. We see her as he views her and comments on his feelings, which would be different in watching them through the third person omniscient view.

 I personally found it as a helpful guide since I watched it just as I moved in with my boyfriend and am still struggling to accept the current job market situation.  As an adult, everything becomes a lot more difficult. We just have to remember that we also are rewarded more than we used to be even if the rewards are more infrequent and harder to attain.