restaurants

the camp food pyramid


{smiley face salad says cheerio!}
things i would kill for a fresh herb right now:
-a unicorn
-three sea monsters
-twelve zombies
{i only picked fictional things because i don't like killing, but the point is, do you know how sad a tomato is without its basil?} i'll keep the kvetching to a minimum though because it is actually quite easy to eat healthily in the dining hall. all it takes is one glance at the meatloaf and you've never seen me hightail it to a salad bar faster. i'm averaging a zillion oranges a day, and broccoli has somehow wiggled its way into my liking/accepting. what really keeps me from starving though is the spray can cheese and wendy's. the spray can cheese because it is not a camp experience until you have it hidden in your bunk and the wendy's because it is around the corner from the bar library that the staff members go to late at night. by far the best culinary experience is on special days when my campers have cooking class! today they made me hamentashen and i don't think i have ever been more desperate for a homemade somethin somethin. oh, it was so good, it was levain good. there's a rumor they're making ice cream soon. i can't wait!

...but seriously, who will help me plant an herb garden near the rock wall?

-yeh!

on the road: first stop, zingerman's!


1. zing!!
2. always judge a specialty store by its mustard selection
3. mum + ann arbor's second first greatest attraction: mr. rob knopper, ladies and gentleman!
4. i don't know
5. rob and i are in a pickle
6. possibly even better than our sandwiches, the pretzel and carrot top snackee we got for the road!

mum and i drove a hundred million billion zillion gazillion miles today. we are currently a frisbee throw's distance away from niagara falls! we made it so that zingerman's and rob would be on our way and it was so great. everything is so fresh and everyone is so friendly there. by far the best part is that you can sample anything in the store that you want. even the ibericos and the banyuls and the taza chocolates, like whoa. my favorites were the local strawbees with balsamic and the carrot top hummus. and the magic brownies and the mac & cheese. and the pickles and the pesto and the hot chocolate cake... oh yeah, that is why i feel barfy right now... oh well anyways, this place made me really happy.

-yeh!

two stoops on the television


well, it's airing!
this weekend!
watch it on the food network on sunday at 10pm est and look for challenger schneider's sous chef because that's my sissy!! 
and pray with me that the part where alton brown calls her a
"crafty little minx"
is not on the cutting room floor. 


then

on tuesday,
watch the cooking channel at 8pm est for the u.s. series premier of 
which will have a segment on the mothership that is the schnitzel truck
...and yours truly will be doing what she does best 
{eating a schnitzel, duh}
and if you're in canada, i think it was just on food network last night but hopefully they will show it again!


so get your jammies on and watch the tele!!
and karadashian sisters, watch out: stoops are coming to reality tv.

-yeh!!



et: barcelona


1. a spicy meatball thing at paco meralgo
2. hannah! eating a seafoodie
3. hannah and maria made me try a seafood. i don't remember what one it was but it made me cringe and want to vom.
4. the first of many tapas meals, at a place on las ramblas whose name escapes me
5. maria's new monocle
6. sandwich on a stick

omg tapas. our two loveliest meals in europe were in barcelona, and they were tapas. {is that correct? do you say they were tapas or they were in the style of tapas or they were tapas-y?}. the first was at paco meralgo. the object of chris' insanely adorable guest post months ago. it was perfect. unpretentious, friendly, sunny, pretty, yummy, so yummysagria-y. just the right thing for our little ladies lunch. the best were these fried onion things that had a special name and were a specialty of barcelona and came with a special sauce. and it was kind of one of those things where there is life before and life after, and so naturally i have no idea what they were called. lest i ever be able to have them again. stupid idiot. 

the second of the lovely meals was at la vinateria del call, in the gothic quarter. and it is inside of an old brothel! this is where we ate our last dinner in europe, so everything the waiter recommended it was like, yes, we'll take two. and the thing that floored me most was the blood sausage. it was good enough to make a lover out of one of those people who are like ew blood sausage there is blood in it gross. {i know because i sort of was one}. it was just so smokey and ricey and amazing. the tortilla extravasampler with zucchini and tato and pepper tortillas was also good, as were the croquettes, and cheeses, and wienees, and house made fig ice cream and so many other things. and being in there was like being in someone's dark and cozy basement where everyone in there is your favorite. it was so great.

aside from the tapas experience, it was mostly ibérico ham sammiches {ohhh that's where all my euros went}. because
the life is this: returning from the discotheque @ 5h30 and having jamón ibérico on white bread.

-yeh!!!