Senior Quote (Vote on the Right before Friday)

So I'm feeling slightly like a bum. I don't have any new posts for now, because I will be busy as ever this week and next. I've got a lot of schoolwork, and I've got two major dinner parties coming up that I will be cooking for. But on the brighter side, I should have some good material coming out pretty soon. I'm supposed to find out whether I'm into Wharton on the 15th of December and I'll post that whenever I find out, even if it's a no. I also have a post to write about the results of a taste test using different fats to make pie crust (yea I'm dumb, I should've posted that before Thanksgiving, but it will be out before Christmas). Also, my birthday is December 9th, so hopefully I'll be eatin good for that.

At the present, my senior quote for my yearbook is due Friday and I'm still pretty indecisive. I have decided that it will relate to food, and I think I've found a few good candidates. Lemme know which you think I should use (you can vote on the right).

Those who forget the pasta are condemned to reheat it. 

Ask not what you can do for your country. Ask what's for lunch.

I've been on a diet for two weeks and all I've lost is two weeks.

"With humans it's abortion, but with chickens it's an omelet."

A gourmet is just a glutton with brains.

Cheese is milk's leap toward immortality.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Happy Turkey Day to all of you readers out there.

Now I'm going to see how much stuffing I can possibly stuff in my belly.

New Job

I've got a new job. For four years, I've been apprenticing as a cook at the restaurant Lacroix at the Rittenhouse. I go in on the weekends--originally it was saturdays, now it's Sundays--and cook. For the last two and a half, I've spent eight hours there each weekend. Four whole years. I've been doing it since I was 13.

And so a few weeks ago, I was approached by the manager of the restaurant. He asked if I wanted to learn something new. He said I could trail him. I would be trailing the manager. I would be a mini manager. Hell yes. Hell yes. I love cooking in the back, but I have been there for four years, and I don't wanna hone one side of the knife and leave the other one dull.

I wanna be well rounded. I want to understand different aspects of the restaurant. I want to learn the restaurant. Not just the cooking. I want to own the restaurant: the concept of a restaurant. And I think this experience is just another step on that path.

So this week, I'll show up to Lacroix in a dark suit, white shirt, and conservative tie. And I'll be starting anew. Looking in from the other side. Broadening my perspective.

I can't wait.

Dinner in New York

Since I did pretty well on my first quarter grades, and to give me a little reward and perhaps relieve me of some of the stresses of the college process, my old man said he would take me to dinner in New York. Where should I go?

Do you have any recommendations? What restaurant would you like to read about here? I've got a few on my mind, Eleven Madison Park, Jean Georges, Del Posto (I've already taken myself to Per Se, Daniel, and Le Bernardin), but if there's something I'm missing, let me know. Don't worry about price. I'll pay for myself with catering money if it's expensive (which the restaurants I mentioned are). I'm pretty excited. I haven't been out for a real nice dinner in a while and I feel like those posts tend to be pretty exciting (read that Per Se link if you haven't already, it's my best post).

So let me know! Thanks

So I applied...

So I applied early decision to Wharton, the business school at Penn and now I'm just waiting for judgment day. This punishment, this wait, is cruel and unusual. I actually heard the Supreme Court is actually looking at the constitutionality of this torture right now. The duration is what kills me. Every day I go over in my head, why I might get in or why I might not.

And others contribute to the torture. Just last week I was at my friend's house. Her dad, who went to Wharton told me about some kid who was the Valedictorian of my high school, who had perfect SAT's, but didn't get in. I know this kid who was a senior last year, who was rejected by Wharton, but accepted to Princeton.

So I'm a little anxious right now. I know there are other places I'd be happy to go, but Penn seems too perfect. One of the essays penn requires you to complete asks "Why Penn?" I nailed that essay, and it came so naturally for me to describe why I belong at Penn. It wasn't contrived. Writing that same essay about anywhere else won't be easy to do.


So with this anxiety, I think I'm developing more of an appetite. I want more rich comfort foods. I'm dreaming in burgers and pancakes. In math class I see fried chicken falling from the heavens onto pillows of waffles and then it rains maple syrup.

But if I'm gonna indulge in comfort foods, I want it to count. See, my philosophy on food is that when playing the eating game, and you're on the lower end of the nutritional spectrum,  the match up between nutritional value and taste must be zero sum. If I'm consuming empty calories, they better taste really good.

 

 (If I'm gonna eat junk, gimme the good stuff, not crappy doughtnuts like these)

So What's your favorite comfort food and how do I make it or where do I get it? I'm 5'10 150 now, we'll see how that changes by judgment day.

Afterschool Snack

Scrambled eggs, pork, chorizo

2010 Hierarchy of Halloween Candy

As compared to the 2009 version. Read the list like u read a book, Reese's is 1st, Baby Ruth is 5th etc. The mysterious 3rd candy is Hershey's Cookies and Cream, which you really need to try if you haven't already.

So what do you think? Which list do you agree with more?

Pumpkin Doughnuts

Yea these were pretty bad. They had nothing more than a tiny hint of pumpkin flavor that is only noticeable every four or five bites. They smelled nothing like pumpkin either. The only thing reminiscent of pumpkin was the bright orange interior. Overall, they just tasted like plain doughnuts--a big letdown when you've purchased the doughnuts for the pumpkin flavor.

On the brighter side, I did just discover a particularly pleasant pumpkin product from Trader Joe's. Their pumpkin ice cream is really delicious. It's relatively soft even when completely frozen and has great mouthfeel and, I'm proud to proclaim, powerful pumpkin flavor. I'm slowly but surely getting my pumpkin fix.