We just call them sausages...

Guess what I just had for lunch?

A banger in the mouth.

My cafeteria likes to think it's cute by serving British Banger Sausages and Mash. I think it's pretty cute, too. It's interesting to observe the unique ways in which various countries attempt to imitate each other. I'd say the U.S. ranks #1 in most efforts at mimicry, since we're such a bitsy baby nation and all.

-Linni
LA, CA

i loves england.

that's right kiddies. that is a dairymilk bar with creme egge inside. cadbury has officially done the best thing ever.

Sowing Oats, Wherever I Go

[I am going to try to write a follow-up to Korlin's entry, even if hers might be the best one this blog will ever see.]

As if the classic PB&H weren't indivatice enough of my placement on the globe, let me tell you about my most recent foray into oatmeal goodness!

Last night, I left my dorm for the first time since in 48 hours to brave 21 Choices, possibly the best frozen yogurt shop you will ever encounter. They had a flavor called Oatmeal Cookie once but I missed it, so I asked my friendly mixer to recreate it for me. It was french vanilla frozen yogurt, blended with cinnamon, cookie dough, and granola. And it was divine in every imaginable way.

Speaking of granola, and because no picture of last night's dessert exists, I am going to show you a picture of this granola from Bittersweet that I bought in the company of Mallory's lovely Jerome! It was the best granola I have had that I can remember. [I also got to try the best and only eggnog cheesecake I've ever had on that same trip to Bittersweet.]

For those of you out-of-towners, Bittersweet is a bakery in Chicago, classy yet homey and always delicious, much like the type I'd love to own someday.

-Linni
Los Angeles, CA
[though 21 Choices hails from Pasadena and also has a Claremont location]

Taste Explosion - a Sunday Evening Food Marathon

Prepare youself for envious feelings. The description of gluttony on the highest level will follow - a.k.a. sunday evening dinner made by my mum.

For pre-entry my mum satisfies us already with rice crackers and herbage bread with her own guacamole-creation (on the picture it is already almost empty), yummy creamy feta cheese from the farmer's market, some white sour cream stuff with herbs and couscous (green due to the nerbs) and olives stuffed with almonds. Like I said, we were stuffed after that.















For entry #1 my mum served us potatoe pancakes with sour cream, wild salmon, crayfish and vegetarian caviar.Then, for entry #2, my mum presented a French dish: fennel au gratin with bechamel (I think) and cheese. I was sceptical at first - but oh my gaaaawd. So yummy.











Then - geez, where to put all that delicious stuff?? No room in my stomach! - oh so tender venison goulash with broccoli, Brussel sprouts and croquettes...




Now, the cheese course. I don't eat cheese, so I cannot report on that part - but with the cheese there as salad with fennel and walnut and a sweet-hot chili oil sauce. When presenting that course my mum suddenly called out "OH NO!" - "What did you forget?" - "The roasted pine nuts which were to go along with the broccoli and Brussel sprouts...". So we added them to the salad instead.




Now prepare yourselves mentally for the big and overwhelming finale: caramelised orange slices with vanilla cream sauce, home-made (!) cantuccini (a million times better than those you can buy) and ice cream pralinées...








There was even more candy and cantuccini for second (and third...) helpings... chocolate sticks with orange flavour and with peppermint flavour
and sugared ginger.









Soooo. Eric. When you come here, you'll be in for all these sunday evening treats :)

I wish that some day, I can cook like my mum. Cos when I'm grown up with my own children - I want this sunday evening tradition, too.
This is too good to be given up.

-Korlin
Hamburg, Germany

Whats the weather forecast?

Whats the weather forecast? Cold, with a chance of A HURRICANE!


The Hurricane: 24 inches of pizza. delicious. literally takes up half of the table. I find that because it's so massive, though, it's not as good as a regular Vinny's pizza should be.

-The Blake
Dekalb, Illinois

Oxy's 24-Hour Bug

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the stomach flu. Not literally, although I did give it to a few people here.
This was my diet for pretty much the entire weekend. I planned to captivate you with tales of the amazingly creative Vietnamese place I went on Friday night, but that dream was flushed down the toilet, along with the meal itself, if you catch my drift.


But! This morning! I woke up and was able to eat this! My eternal hot jam, toast with peanut butter and honey. Is there anything better in the world, really?

-Linni
Los Angeles, California

england is weird.

SWEET MUSTACHE!

The land of britainia is a queer and silly place that has many WEIRD shits. especially london. yesterday i went shopping and got a few things at the nice grocery store down the street called "waitrose."

CHECK THIS SHIT OUT!

in our flat, we have some weird ass shit. in england, people never have regular sized refridgerators. they are all like, half sized. so naturally, thats what libbs and i have in our flat! and NATURALLY its fucking filled with food..

then we have this weird ass microstove. its fucking crazy, right? has like, two burners on top of the top of the little oven part. WEIRD.

okay, now to the food..

yo, this is a sweet example of some digestive biscuits. can you believe that biscuits (cookies) they refer to as freaking DIGESTIVES?! what the hell is that? there is history to it lemme tell you. in the 19th century and before, much of the biscuits (cookies) that were made were really hard and not digested well. in the 19th century, they started making biscuits that were like, eaten easier and weren't super hard and gross! so of course one would say "DIGESTIVE BISCUITS" and the name stuck. these particular ones are WHEAT GOODNESS cookies by mcvities which usually are doused in chocolate, but i figure i eat enough chocolate here.

the next thing i have are JAMMIE DODGERS! you may be familiar with them if you ever read the angus, thongs and full frontal snogging books. anyways, these marvelous digestives boast "DELICIOUS STRETCHY JAM SPLODGED AT THE HEART OF 2 YUMMY SHORTCAKE BISCUITS" completely sick, right? its true that the jam is stretchy. and that it is splodged. obviously.

obviously england grocery stores are different. and um, next time ill take you to the grocery store.

-spage

Fat & Fatty's

So, Brendo, Zarin, and myself were checkin out 7-11 to see what tasty treats they had to offer. Brendo decided on a Twix bar, Zarin snagged a Monster energy drink, I didn't see anything I felt like eating. But ho ho ho- what's this? Zarin walks up to me with a pint of ice cream. But it wasn't just any pint of ice cream dear readers, it was Ben & Jerry's American Pie Limited Batch. Facrangles! It's apple pie ice cream with apple and pie crust pieces. Yes please hello. So, he's gets that, and I wander over to the freezer to see what else ol' B & J's has for me. After about five minutes of deliberation between me and Brendo, I decided on the Banana Split. It's banana and strawberry ice cream with walnuts, fudge chunks, and a fudge swirl. Deal with it. As I write this, I'm stuffing my fat face with both ice creams while Zarin and Brendo play NFL Blitz on N64. Best night ever? Or worst night never? You decide.
- E
Oak Park, IL

Cinci Eats!

Breaking the Fast: One bowl of extra raisiny raisin bran.

Munching the Lunch: One and one half pieces of extra fluffy pita bread with extra lemony greek hummus, and one extra sweet guava juice box.

Maxin The Snack: One extra soft string cheese (you know you love it like that), One extra melt in your mouth satisfaction filled package of Milano mint cookies (by way of the Cal Gal).

The Winner's Dinner: One extra warm and crispy tailor made Quesadilla (Monterey Jack, Colby, Mozarella, Chedder, Cilantro, Onion) and one glass of cranberry raspberry juice.


The future looks bright for the morning, I predict a fast breaker of a mango/strawberry smoothie and toasted bagel with cream cheese!


*I can't find my camera to document these extraordinary feats of munching, but here is a picture of my extra-kitcheny kitchen for those of you who haven't seen it, i.e. almost all of you.

California sure likes their salads

Regular day in the caf--got some lettuce, tossed in some pineapple, edamame, sunflower seeds, and dried cranberries and shook it up. Then I had the grill guy make me some salmon and voila! Delicious lunch.

-L-Train

stick with the original stuff

-Steffan
Logan Square, Chicago IL

The Perfect Blend

This isn't about something I ate, but about something I just drank:

Imagine three of the most georgeous tastes you can think of.



Is one chocolate?
Did you think of Latte Macchiato/coffee?
Do you love a hint of chili?

If Johnny Depp wasn't the only thing you wanted to taste badly in "Chocolat", you really should try this: Get Chili Chocolate pulver (Balzac - similar to Starbuck's, but a Hamburg local thing I think) and mix a lot of it with really good, freshly ground coffee, then add creamy milk with a lot of foam. Enjoy.

-Korlin
Hamburg, Germany

I thought it tasted ok...

BREAKFAST!

Apple Cinnamon instant oatmeal (generic brand prepared in a microwave because thats all I gots) with a glass of Propel fitness water and protein shake.

Actually the protein shake in the propel was much better than I thought...

And I haveta thank Linni again for introducing to the stuff

LUNCH!

3.00 sandwich?!?!?! C'BON! Not worth it. It had some sprouts, cucumber, and some type of white substance...I assumed it was cream cheese... It was also made worse when I dropped it on the ground.

That meal was complimented with Sun Chips and a Diet Pepsi.

LUNCH II!
Lean Cuisine baked chicken.

Stuffing, chicken, and mashed potatoes...Absolutely fantastic

$2.50

DINNER!
Jimmy Johns

A number 10: "The Hunter's Club"

-Lettuce
-Sprouts
-Cheese
-Roast Beef
-Tobasco (added later)

Followed by a side of salt and vinegar Kettle Chips killed with Tobasco and my final Diet Pepsi



-The Lord Mulligan
Dekalb, IL

Good Food Comes in Circles

Before I get into anything, who doesn't like a good old trip to Von's that doesn't end in Double Stufs dipped in Cool Whip? That's right, no one. [The new Von's, meanwhile, has samples of clam chowder, turkey paninis, and black forest ham. Grocery store samples are my life.]


Tonight's dinner in SoCal began with dillas on wheat tortillas with 9-year aged cheddar and this stuff called quesadilla queso from the company that makes that chihuaha we usually use. It wasn't the same, but it was still dillas.

The main event, however, was dessert [isn't it always?] We knew we wanted something from a box, cuz we all have homework and things to do, but I wanted to innovate. Meghan had a craving for Oreos, I had a craving for Cool Whip, and Jess saw some cream cheese frosting she was pretty excited about.


We searched all over the dorm and found no baking sheet or cupcake tin or anything, so decided to use the frying pan. I took it out when it was still gooey and let the heat from the pan heat it til just firm enough to not kill us.


We still don't know what to call it, but here doesn't it seem like a chocolate pizza? The ooziest, gooziest chocolate pizza. [Gooziest?]

Some people chose to put frosting on their cake, some had it in cups, but everybody had the Double Stuf crumbs and everyone was moaning with a most-likely-sexual pleasure. If someone had shown up in the kitchen with a camera, we probably could have shot some foodie-porno Girls Gone Wild. It's probably best that didn't happen.


-Linni
Los Angeles, CA

Breakfast Is Best At 3 In the Afternoon

This has quickly become one of my favorite breakfasts. It's got plenty of protein, fiber, and vitamin C. It's healthy, it tastes great, and it leaves me feeling like a champ.

Here are the contents:

- 1 Bowl of Kashi Go Lean! Crunch cereal
- 1 Kashi Go Lean! Waffle with Peanut Butter
- 1 Banana
- Some Strawberries
- 1 Glass of OJ

- E
Oak Park, IL

united kingdom of sandwiches

obviously, being the sanwich extraordinaire of the Oak Park Jimmy Johns, i have a vested interest in sandwiches. the united kindgom is a place of weird and often overcooked foods, but sandwiches aren't often overcooked. or even cooked at all. so i have been living on sanwiches.

in this post. i would like to recount 4 sanwich instances that have particulary stuck with me.

#1. KENSINGTON, LONDON, ENGLAND.
South Kensington, the home of many french immigrants, could easily be referred to as "Little France." This little airy cafe is situated on Glouster Road, 1 block south of the Glouster Tube Stop, is darling and pretty inexpensive! WOOT. (i've obviously been reading too many tour books) the sandwich i ordered was simply a tuna sandwich. as i examined the tuna mixture though, i noticed SWEET CORN instead of the typical american celery or pickle additions.. and what a difference. a simple, but amazing change!

#2. LIZARD POINT, CORNWALL, ENGLAND.
Cornwall is known as the land of the Pasty. Pastys are amazing little half pie like things with meats and veggies inside. obviously amazing. but i'm not here to talk about pastys, i'm here to talk about my sandwich. as i perused the menu, i spied "Egg Sandwich" and wondered what the hell this could be! i ordered it excitedly and was asked if i wanted white or brown bread. i chose brown NATURALLY. the sandwich consisted of fantastic wheat bread, butter (as the english always butter their bread), and sliced boiled eggs. an easy, but very tasty sandwich.

#3. MINACK, CORNWALL, ENGLAND.
Cornwall, being the seaside area that it is, tends to have many seafood options on the menus. At the Minack theatre, which is an outside theatre chiseled out of stone on the coastal cliffs of cornwall, i enjoyed another sandwich. a crayfish masterpiece, complete with salad cream, onions, romaine lettuce, and of course, crayfish! gotta love seafood.

#4. THE CITY, LONDON, ENGLAND.
This nice little french cafe called apostrophe has many baguettes to choose from. I ended up choosing one that was FABULOUS mostly because of my budget and it being better for you than many others. It had pine nuts, hummus, watercress, cucumbers, and red onions. and may i say, TO DIE FOR.

in my next entries, i will discuss fish and chips, indian food in the UK and a few other topics. maybe even sandwiches more. so, be excited. duh.

my gumption is a function of my consumption

Today in the Life - 1.24.07

8:30 A.M. - Apples 'n Cinnamon oatmeal.
2:45 P.M - Footlong Subway Italian BMT with 'the works' and three chocolate chip cookies*
Midnight - A small Italian Beef sandwich with sweet peppers and some potato salad. **

*indicates that this meal made me fall victim to "the 'itis" and put me to sleep from 4 P.M to 8 P.M.
** The beef was purchased at 'Serellis' Beef' on North Ave. Beef and peppersheated in juice on the stove and poured over an Italian bread bun.

Liquids:
1 glass orange juice, 3 glasses of water, 1 cup of coffee, and 3 cheap 'tallboy' beers.

Notes:
•It was not a terribly eventful day for my digestive tract, though both sandwiches i ate today are world renowned for their ability to "hit the spot."
•Today was not indicative of my recent consumption trends of small snacks throughout the day, nor my recent vegetarian eating habits.
•I am expecting a firm, supple bowel movement at 7:30 A.M tomorrow.

-Steffan
Logan Square, Chicago IL

Sausage=god

Linni here, inaugaral post time.

http://www.hotdougs.com/menu.htm

Everybody go look at that. Pay close attention to the specials section and also to the fact that they have DUCK FAT FRENCH FRIES. It's just a normal hot dog stand, but with the most high-class stuff. wagyu beef! toppings you've never imagined anywhere near a sausage. glorious. we MUST go here as soon as we are all home again. i might be going home at spring break solely to try this place.

I snagged these pictures off of this blog called Skillet Doux---gotta give props


Merlot and blueberry venison sausage with three-berry mustard and stilton-apricot cheese

Calvados [apple liquor] infused smoked-duck sausage with apple mustard, white truffle cheese, and foie gras butter

cajun pork sausage with bleu cheese dijon, fried okra and spicy smoked almonds

I realize that isn't something i ate today, but it is a highlight in the foods of our lives [wow this blog could have had so many names. eric suggested hey teddy! look what we ate today!]. hot doug went to kendall college, that cooking school in evanston, so that's pretty sweet. in other food news, i decided today that i am definitely going to cooking school after oxy, not law school. we'll see how long this lasts. Now i'm off to eat a sandwich for dinner, because Teddy told me I had to eat a sandwich for her today.

-Linni