Ramble Ramble

I’m starving. Again.

Nevermind that I had a full dinner less than 2 hours ago. I’m ravenous.

Again.

I am always hungry these days. I can eat a full meal, and an hour later have a sandwich, and an hour later have another complete meal…and still be hungry. And I’m talking full on carbs, proteins, fats, veggies, everything falls to the enormity of my hunger.

There’s no escape really. I’m hungry when we get up in the morning, through the day, into the evening, late into the night…and yup, when I wake up to feed the kid in the middle of the night.

If I ate every time I was hungry these days, I would literally be eating more than half the day. I mean, I’m eating a hell of a lot anyway, but if I ate every single time I was hungry I wouldn’t have much time for anything else.

I know it’s because of the breastfeeding–the kid himself is ravenous much of the time, and I know my body has to keep up with that. It’s nice on the one hand because I feel like I have a responsibility to keep eating…you know, for the kids sake. But on the other hand, damn, I wish I wasn’t starving so much!

Today was the hubby’s best friend’s birthday, so we took him out to celebrate at the fantabulous Stone Brewery. Stone brews the hilariously named Arrogant Bastard Ale, and we discovered last year that the brewery is not only local to us, but that they have an absolutely gorgeous garden along with a great restaurant. We figured it would be a great place to spend a Sunday afternoon celebrating.

The food was good, the weather was nice (overcast and sprinkles, but that kept the people away), and of course the company was enjoyable. And then, because this is a birthday celebration for big kids, the birthday boy got an ice cream float.

Wait, let me clarify. He got a beer float. Not root beer, regular old beer.

Here, let me illustrate. Take a glass half full of Stone Smoked Porter and a bowl of vanilla ice cream.

Slowly, add ice cream to beer.

Be careful, the ice cream can create a bit of foamy head…

Aaak, attack of the foam!

Anyway, after you clean up your mess, continue adding ice cream until float is to your liking.

Then, enjoy!

So I’m incredibly late to this party, but that’s pretty much how my life goes. I’m always about 3 months to 3 years behind whatever fad is popular. Whatever, it works for me (and makes life cheaper!)

Anyway, back to the task at hand. So this is The Omnivore’s 100, which is

“a list of 100 things that I think every good omnivore should have tried at least once in their life. The list includes fine food, strange food, everyday food and even some pretty bad food – but a good omnivore should really try it all.”

So yeah, cool, whatever, I always like these things where you pit yourself against some random standard of coolness/excellence/wackiness. Why not have one that centers around one of my favorite things–food?

Onto the rules:
Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.

The original list has links to wikipedia for a bunch of the unknown/obscure foods on there (i removed the links cuz they were hard to read on my site…sorry). There was a lot I had never even heard of before, or knew by a different name once I read the description. And, interestingly, I didn’t cross as much out as I thought I would. After living and eating in New York City, I’ve learned to never say never about most  food. Most.  Anyway, I think 48 is a respectable number given the randomness of this list, how bout you?

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Molepoblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

There you have it, The Omnivore’s 100, my Monday list. For more lists, check out:

This is an “actual” list, so maybe it doesn’t count towards Anna’s rules. But maybe I don’t want to follow the rules today. Maybe I’m being a rebel.

Or, maybe I already had this post written, and still wanted to play along? Nah, couldn’t be that one…

This evening, I actually *gasp* went out somewhere. Drove somewhere that was more than 5 minutes from my apartment and got dressed semi-nicely and everything. Who knew hell was going to freeze over today?

A good friend of mine took me out to dinner, and I chose a place in Del Mar called Poseidon. I’ve heard it mentioned a few times, and I’ve seen photos of what looked to be a pretty awesome patio right on the beach, so seemed worth checking out.

And oh, it was. Let me tell you, that patio was right on the beach. Here was our view:

The food wasn’t too shabby either. I didn’t get pictures of the hummus plate (yum) or our our cocktails, but the house salad was pretty good–no boring iceberg lettuce here:

The Ginger Pesto Day Boat Scallops were also amazing–the ginger cream sauce with pomegranate molasses was very unique and the scallops were perfectly cooked. Plus they were pretty…I mean, look at this guy:

Of course, that should have been enough, but I couldn’t leave well enough alone. First there was dessert and another cocktail. Then, after a walk on the beach, we moved locations to have another cocktail, and ended up sharing 2 more desserts.

And then I had to be rolled home.

Ah well, stuffed as I am, it was a great evening. Great company, great conversation, great food, beautiful views. Plus I got to see this, just to remind me how thankful I am to live here: