The Convenience of Starbucks

I was supposed to meet up with some friends tonight at a local Starbucks.  I don’t love going to Starbucks – I’d much rather go to a locally owned place where they know what I like and have it ready for me when I walk in the door.  The problem is that those places don’t seem to exist.

I’m not one of those hippy-dippy people who only eats locally grown foods.  None of the meat I eat it from these parts – and have you ever tried to catch a salmon or seabass in the middle of the North American continent?  If the strawberries they’re shipping in from God-knows-where in February taste like real, honest-to-God strawberries, I’ll buy them and enjoy them.  Eating only locally grown stuff would mean several months of the year I’d be living on potatoes, onions and carrots – not much else.  I can’t do it.

In a similar way, I don’t want people to suffer so that I can enjoy a venti decaf-skim-mocha latte, but I’m not going out of my way to find fair-trade coffee. In theory I support all of these movements to eat locally and organically and humanely.  But in practice, I can’t be bothered.  I work long, hard hours. I don’t have the time, or frankly the money to search these things out. 

So why would I rather go to a locally-owned place over a nondescript world-wide chain?  Well, I like supporting small businesses.  I have a small business – and I like to support my own. Back to that small problem – there are no little, hole-in-the-wall coffee joints in my neighbourhood.  But there are 4 Starbucks within 5 minutes of my house. One of them even has a drive-thru – and another is located in a grocery store I frequent.  I can have a latte or iced tea as I squeeze the tomatoes and peaches.

Convenience my friends.  It’s about convenience.  My world involves working 5-6 days a week, up to 12 hours a day.  Then I come home and work on a second job.  I’m just tired.  Starbucks is convenient.  Almost anywhere I go, there it is, just waiting for me to stroll up to the counter to try this season’s new flavours.  Large cities, small towns.  There it is – like a beacon calling out to me. 

So I went, I sat on the patio, enjoying my chilled beverage and catching up with old friends.  Could I have had a better cup of iced coffee somewhere else?  Probably.  But you know what – I got home from work at 7, was able to grab a quick dinner and was at my local Starbucks by 8.  And I had a lovely evening. 

Maybe one day I’ll live in the neighbourhood that I picture in my head.  I’ll walk in and the barista will be steaming my lactose-free milk for my caramel macchiato.  But for now, I’ll survive.

Oh – by the way – the green tea frappuccinos are darn tasty.

More Yiddish…

My previous Yiddish post discussed words that have made it to mainstream English. Here are a few more. Sometimes there are no words in English that get the gist of things as well as Yiddish.

Bisel – it means a little.  “Add some flour to the dough, just a bisel.”

Gezunt – generally, this word means healthy.  But an example of it’s use in the kitchen would be “And she roasted a gezunt chicken – not a scrawny little bird, but a gezunt one!”  And you’d know the person saying this meant a big, plump, healthy bird.

Fress - this one means to eat a lot, enthusiastically. “Fress!  There’s plenty! Dig in!”

Shmatte – literally means a rag.  No kitchen can be without shmattes.  “I’ve spilled some wine! Toss me a shmatte!”

Shmutz – dirt. “Wipe the shmutz off the table before you set it!”

We haven’t even touched on foods themselves that have Yiddish roots.  That’ll be for another time.

How my garden grows…. harvest time!

So I’m still concerned about the tomatoes.  There are at least a dozen growing – but a few have been rotting from the bottom.  I thought I was over watering, so I held back a little – and most of the leaves shriveled up. Thankfully it rained again last night – so for the last few days, the choice of whether or not to water was taken out of my hands.  Is it odd that not a single one of my tomatoes is ripe enough to eat?

Luckily, tomatoes aren’t the only thing I’m growing.  And today, I harvested some fruit.  I have six strawberry plants in the ’strawberry box’.  I had 3 whole strawberries that were perfectly ripe and ready to eat.  After picking them, I rinsed them off and ate them – still warm from the sun.  I know I’ve had fresh-from the garden and just-picked wild strawberries before, but none have tasted as good as these.  Sweet, with a hint of tang.  Juicier than any I’ve ever had.

I’m not expecting to have a bushel of berries to enjoy this summer – but I’ll be sure to savour every one that I do get.

Thoughts on Search Engine Terms

For those of you reading this that don’t blog (are there still people out there not blogging?), you may not know that I get to see the search engine terms that people use to get to my blog.  I’ve only been up and running for a short time, but so far, some of the terms have amused me.

Apparently, people are very interested in Mr. Bourdain.  Searching for the following brings you here:

• Chicken Bourdain (I’m not sure if the person was looking for a recipe, or calling Mr. Bourdain a chicken)
• Anthony Bourdain Michael Ruhlman (Poor Michael, always seems to be second)
• I hate Anthony Bourdain (!!! – really?  It gets you here?)

And here are a few random searches I liked:

• Why is Chinese Chicken so nasty? (again… were you looking for info on recipes or actual chicken from China?)
• How to work stuff  (umm.. what kind of stuff?  did my blog help you at all?)
• Thoughts about me (I doubt my blog had thoughts about you… I’m not sure what you were hoping would turn up on the Internet about you…)
• Tomato plants + over watering ( sadly, I think that may be my issue – do you think that’s what’s happening to my tomatoes?  I’ll have to take a picture of a rotten one so you can see it for yourself)

That’s it for now, but I hope more interesting searches will bring people here – and I’ll report back when they do!

Steeeeeam Heat!

I know that sometime in January, I’ll think back on those balmy days of summer – but right now I’m thinking it’s enough already.  The last couple of days have been long.  I can’t seem to get out of work before 7 PM – and it’s hot. 

  For what seems like the first time this month (I think it’s really the second), there was a little relief to the heat.  This morning it finally rained – but by mid-afternoon, it was sunny and humid again.  By the time I got out of work it was really hot and I didn’t want to turn on the oven at home.  It was also late, so I wanted something fast and easy.  Back to the BBQ!

A simple veal rib chop – seasoned with nothing but fresh black pepper and course salt.  Grilled until just pink inside.  I checked the fridge for something to go with it and found some summer (yellow) squash and cool purple/green onions that I forgot I picked up this weekend.  I mixed up some olive oil, chopped basil, garlic, salt and pepper, brushed all the vegetables with the mix and they went on to the grill with the chops.

I’m not generally a veal fan – I usually find it bland and would rather have beef or lamb.  But this was good.  Simple, quick and dinner on my table in about 20 minutes.

mmmmMojito!

Apparently, people are saying that Mojitos are no longer ‘cool’.  Well, I’m happy to say I never put much weight in being cool.

A Mojito is one of those beverages that you could drink all day long, not feeling the effects of them, until late in the day, when it’s too late.  They’re tasty and refreshing.  And easy to make – and even easier to drink.

Using a muddler, or the end of a wooden spoon, gently muddle about half of a lime (cut into chunks) with a bunch of mint leaves.  Add some sugar (to taste), some rum (to taste) and you’re almost set.  Some people like to strain the liquid into a drinking glass – I don’t mind the little bits of lime and mint in my drink, so I don’t strain.  Add lots of ice, and top with club soda or sparkling water (to taste). 

Sit back and enjoy with something to nibble on – preferably on a deck or dock – but still enjoyable if consumed indoors.  Just watch out – they may sneak up on you.

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