one cool thing about travel...

... is seeing what flavours of junk food are available in other places.  Not just other countries even, but in other parts of this country.  In this case, however, in another country.  So it was that in Argentina, in grabbing a sandwich at a national park venue for lunch, I added a bag of serrano ham flavoured chips.

The verdict?  Fine enough.  Not a flavour I'd crave.  The scalloped potato flavoured chips from TJ's that I discovered yesterday, however....

 

guilty pleasures

It invariably takes a trip out of town to bring out some of my guiltiest eating habits.

(We won't discuss the contents of the special drawer in the living room and all of their teeth-rotting capabilities.)

Conrad and I were up in the UP this past weekend, enjoying time with his family. And really, we didn't eat badly. Well, not too badly. I had a lovely piece of roast walleye on Saturday night, for example, and my poached eggs on Sunday morning were a perfect, simple breakfast.

On the other hand, I steered us to pasties for lunch on Saturday and willingly caved in to the joys of Old Dutch.

And then there were the onion rings at Culver's on the way home on Sunday. That salad? Not mine. Nope, not at all.

Bad Peter, bad. I foresee many days of diet soda and cigarettes ahead...

magic foods

I was having a conversation with TK about this: the foodstuffs that just make me sit up and say, "YES!"

Conrad is easy: Pinot Noir, raspberries, chocolate (dark, please), salmon, plus cheeses of various sorts. I can build a special date night meal around those frequently. Come to think of it, I do.

;-)

Me? I have to be tricky. Seasonal items (asparagus, pomegranates). Pricier, specialty items (morels). Crap (Old Dutch dill pickle chips - I have them almost EVERY time we go to the UP).
The other problem with me is that I go through phases. For a season, a year, I'll be so into a particular thing. The list of past infatuations includes walnuts, radishes, and a French feta I was getting from Whole Foods. You know, just the things we all shop for, right?

I've figured out the two things for this year. For starters, I've been working through a bottle of white truffle oil and have totally reveled in its fragrance and flavour. Mmmmmm. The other thing? Strawberries.

That's kinda weird.

Usually the strawberries in the store - even Whole Foods - are gorgeous and smell heavenly and have no flavour or are sour as anything and get moldy all too fast. Strawberries are like the online hook up of the food world - they never are as good as their picture suggests. Bastards.

Somehow, though, we've had a good run of berries this season, and I've taken real delight in their perfume in the kitchen, especially when I've got them macerating in a bowl with some sugar and fresh lavender leaves. It's a play on an idea I stole from CG, and I've wheeled it out a few time this spring and summer.

When we were up in the UP for the long weekend, we caught the tail end of the strawberry season at the farmers market in town. A pint came home to Conrad's mother's place with us, and we snacked on them with breakfast while we were there. Sweet with an edge of tang, fragrant, a beautiful deep red. Lustful thoughts were mine: mixing them into a crisp with some rhubarb or turning them into an ice cream concoction. But really, they were best washed and popped into our mouths with no adornment. Just the flavour of real fruit.

I'll miss them now that the season is pretty much over. Happily for me, the cherries have been good lately, and the plum season is almost upon us. Upside down cake! Mmmmm....

Small UP delights

Another quick post - guerilla blogging? Ah well. I AM trying to push some thoughts and images out there, so small credit to me at least!

We spent the weekend with Conrad's family up in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. A very relaxing weekend, and mostly sunny to boot. Time spent out at the lake, time spent driving and seeing the sights, time spent sampling local wares/goods/produce. As you may guess, there's more to report back when I have more time.

For now, one of my ever more frequent list entries, this time focusing on a few of the small delights that we enjoyed this past weekend even if fleetingly...

We caught the tail end of the strawberry season at the Escanaba Farmers Market, and were rewarded with berries that tasted like strawberries should taste.

They have Old Dutch in the UP. Happy recollections of my favourite childhood brand, and a treat I allow myself almost every trip up there.


We missed their prime, and many of them appear to have suffered highway-side mowing, but a couple of ladyslippers were there, in the patch we return to every year, reminding us of their elegant blushing beauty.

Dutch treat

Ah, the fun of sleepless nights. Occasionally it happens, and I don't think the horribly mild, even warm, weather helps. I was in bed for about a half hour before giving up. No worries. I've been getting a lot of work done tonight.

Over 2.5 hours in, though, I realized, "Hey, I should catch up on blogging." Just me, I guess, putting the needs of the Library and its users first.

;-)

So let me launch a puffy, soft little entry out there. I actually feel a little drowsy now, and I may attempt going to bed soon. Before that, though, I present to you a treat, potato chips.

For most of my life, until perhaps 5-6 years or so ago, I thought that Old Dutch was a Canadian brand (and western Canadian at that!). Imagine my thrill, finding the brand on a UP trip, and imagine my chagrin at discovering they were USian. Darn it!

A late lunch in Negaunee last Saturday had us at the Midtown Bakery. Inside, I was delighted to see a display of chips that included my favourite flavour: dill pickle. Apparently, it's not a well-known flavour in the US, nor is another flavour I recall less fondly from childhood: ketchup. No sign of salt-and-vinegar - I guess some things remain resolutely Canadian.

Even before lunch arrived at the table, though, I'd opened up that bag and started on the salty, tangy chips. Heaven. Bliss. My own little Canadian treat in a part of the world that is pretty darn close, geographically, to the homeland anyway...

things Americans eat

Seriously, though, shell and all?



And waddaya know? They were pretty tasty. Deep fry anything, it seems, and it's rendered more than edible. I'll keep my eyes open in service station food marts in the future for more such treats like this.