The Girl Who Ate Everything

...because I'm going fooding tomorrow in NYC. NO, NOT JUST FOR MYSELF. That would be a tad too gluttonous, yes? Vassar friend Jason is coming down so we're going to roam around for foodstuffs and ultimately get dim sum with other Vassarites, but I didn't prepare very well.

Dinner. Doh.

Today I had an interesting lunch: a plum (mmmm), an apple pastry pocket, half of a lobster tail pastry, and some potato chips. Yup, screams HEALTHY! For dinner I had some swiss chard cooked in butter and salt, fried rice with onion, mung bean sprouts, and egg, the last slice of my brother's b-day cake (I don't think he really wanted it...too late to find out now) and some cereal.

Cereal? There's one common food that I rarely eat. After buying one box last year and eating it in TWO DAYS, I decided never to buy cereal again. However, for my graphic design assignment, I needed to buy a cereal box to use as a template. I figured that if I were going to buy a box, I may as well buy a cereal that I'd like. I went to Whole Foods and got Gorilla Munch because it wasn't very expensive (I think it was less than $3) and only has three ingredients: organic corn meal, organic evaporated cane juice, and sea salt. To me, this cereal is a healthier version (or not so deadly version) of Kix, whose ingredients are...a lot more. It contains three forms of sugar! WHY DO YOU NEED THREE? Gorilla Munch is sweet enough in my opinion and tastes good!

So. There's my recommendation for anyone who likes cereal. I might be the only person in my class who doesn't eat it. A few people came up with a "grab and go" single serv cereal cup, one which had caffeine, some with a separate container of milk. I can't imagine every being hungry enough (or wanting cereal badly enough) to need that. It sounds like something good for camping, but if I want something quick to eat in the morning I'd eat a piece of fruit.

Yesterday I ate at Pane e Cioccolato with Mary after we saw March of the Penguins (BABY PENGUINS, HOLY CRAP CUTENESS AHH). I had never been there before but Mary really liked it, so for once I didn't have to choose the restaurant. ;) It's an Italian place (duh) but I got a cheeseburger. Yup. After I looked at the menu and decided I didn't want meat, I got a cheeseburger, aka animal product topped with animal product. It was pricey (menupages says $6.75 but I think it was $8.50, comes with fries at least) but I didn't feel like getting pasta. I actually never voluntarily go to Italian places (not that I hate them, it's just always at the request of someone else). Why? Maybe I ate too much of it as a kid? That doesn't explain why I eat so much Chinese food though. Even though I love Asian noodles and pasta is almost the same thing, it's...not. I don't hate pasta but for some reason I don't love it either.

blurry burger

I don't love hamburgers either though. I CAN'T EXPLAIN MY WAYS! The hamburger was good, juicy and pink (my mum says I'll get mad cow disease), but I was bothered by my inability to taste the mozzerella. It was obviously on the patty, but it escaped my taste buds. Weird. If I ever go back to that restaurant I'll try a pasta dish or a sandwich.

Randomness: Anthony Bourdain shopping at Mitsuwa! I need to go back to Mistuwa. I haven't been there in a while, a few months possibly? Since that time I saw Bjork (SURREAL)? I love Anthony Bourdain's books and would love to see No Reservations if I had cable.

Fast Food Nation to become a textbook? Sounds awesome to me. I had to read it first semester in my class, "issues of food and society" (or something like that). I had already read it before but it's always good to read again.

Soda = bad! But you knew that, right? I'd agree that soda isn't helping the whole "America is getting really fat" problem but it's not the reason for my weight gain as I rarely drink it (I've had it a handful of times in the past three years). My problem? EATING TOO MUCH CRAP! OR TOO MUCH! PERIOD! HA. HA!

(sigh)

I don't understand the soda addiction though. I remember being appalled by the amounts of soda people would buy at the supermarket. I was also disgusted by watching a few of my high school classmates drink coke in the morning. I recall one girl in particular...who also smoked in the morning. Anyway, soda won't turn you into a deliquent but if 1/5th of kids are drinking soda at the age of one and two, then...well. That's just stupid. At that age, kids certainly don't pick up a can and crack it open, meaning that their parents are giving their kids soda. OKAY! Good job there.

Today (yesterday by now) my mum and I went to Corrado's, which is fairly close by but I've never been there before. They have lots and lots of cheap produce and cheese hanging from the ceiling.

I wanted this

We got some fruit, a box of Turkish Delight (totally random; I think I've had it once in my life), and some pastries because I LOVE MAH PASTRIES. The fruit may be covered in chemicals but for $0.99/pound, I couldn't NOT get some plums. So I did. And they were yummy.

While driving to Corrado's, my mum and I passed through Paterson, which I've never really been through before. But I must go back. Why? Because...Main Street has a gazillion bakeries on it (the density of bakeries reminded me of Chinatown). Are they good bakeries? I dunno. Do I care? Not really. Gimme baked thiiiings!

last random link: A Century of Candy Bars (PDF, from Speak Up) analyzes candy bar packaging (but you probably figured that out already). Combining candy and design? Methinks I have an excuse to eat more candy; "It's for research purposes. REALLY." Okay, you don't actually have to eat candy to look at the packaging but it can't hurt the process. I'd like to print this out and read it but it's 75 pages. Hmm.