Riding my bike home from school this afternoon, I listened to the soft patter of leaves hitting the sidewalk and I had to zip my jacket against the chilly air.

Autumn is coming quickly.

At the market this morning, I could buy strawberries, raspberries and blackberries if I wanted to. I could also buy pumpkins and butternut squash. Pears were out in abundance, and apples and peaches. Delicate lettuce stood beside heartier kale, and the first crops of beets were on display. What a delightful, delightful time for eating.

So much has happened, so much has changed, since I posted last in July.

For one, I spent twelve nights on a baltic cruise, and 10 days between Paris and Italy.

For two through fifty six, I started medical school; I adopted a stray kitten, four weeks old; the Walk a Mile in Her Shoes march went off without a hitch; I moved from my huge Hawthorne house and my five lovely housemates to a two bedroom duplex. Tomorrow, my new duplex mate will move in and things will change some more.

I feel like I am living a completely different life. In many ways, I am.

There are so many things I would love to write here: of the lunch in St. Petersburg, Russia at which I tasted my first caviar; of the market and the reindeer bratwurst in Finland; of the midnight buffets, the salsa dancing and staying up all night with my sister. Of the gelato in Italy and the pimples it gave me (oh, the wheat, dairy and sugar... and the havoc it wrecked!); the burger in the Bastile, and the midnight wine on the roof of a deer friend's Parisian apartment in view of the illuminated Eiffel Tower; of the local specialty in Monterosso: frozen TV dinner chestnut pasta with pesto.

And I'd love to write about cooking in the morning for a full day of eating, stowing the hot foods in glass jars and stuffing them into my backpack for my ride to school, and of how I couldn't resist the Ben and Jerry's on sale at Fred Meyer's last week (but am paying the price. when will I learn???), and of my tiny kitten's affinity for chicken hearts.

In my head, there are beautiful narratives of all these things. And, in my various picasas, there are pictures of most of them.

But, on my living room floor right now I have yet-unpacked boxes, stacks of notes and books and lists of assignments which all require my present attention.

What the World Eats

What the World Eats, Part II

http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1645016,00.html?xid=rss-photos

Thanks, Aaron.

A New Kind of "Flat Bread"

For about a year now, I've begun most days with two eggs, over easy. I slide two delicately cracked, golden yolked eggs into melted kerrygold butter in my small, two-egg pan. Over medium heat, the white sets until it doesn't slosh when I shake the pan, and with a gentle thrust I toss the eggs into the air and catch them on the way down. Face down, they cook for just a moment more (it's a sad day when I touch the yolk and feel it hard beneath my fingers) and I jostle them into my pyrex carry-out bowl. On a good day, these go above or below slabs of bacon, steamed, diced zucchini or wilted spinach or chard. Frequently, all they get is a sprinkling of salt and pepper before they get thrown in my bag to be taken to work and eaten, coldish, at my desk.

I started eating them this way when I learned how very good for you runny yolked eggs are.

In "30 Minute GET REAL Meals" (a low carb-ish cookbook; not a bad reference for eating grain and sugar free), Rachel Ray makes a salsa topped, egg and cheese roll up. I read the recipe, imagined the endless filling options, and resisted...but never completely forgot.

A month ago, Heidi posted this skinny omelette recipe; and still, I resisted.

I resisted... until I had a jar full of swiss chard surprise (what to do when your friend sends you home with two pounds of chard, and you don't feel much like cooking? You wilt it all... then wait a week, and turn it into a food processor pesto of sorts. This time, it was garlic, ginger, kaffir lime, one and a half chicken breasts...but mostly garlic. And salt.), but no rice pasta on which to eat it. Since that fateful day, I've made a ton of these. They're delicious... and a great way to use up leftovers.

Tonight, after finally exhausting my jar of chard pesto (there's another container of it in the freezer, where it's going to stay for a while), I ventured into new ground: the pound of crimini mushrooms I'd been wanting to sautee for days. I chopped these in the food processor (I think I just decided I'd be using that gadget more often. Cutting and cleaning the machine together took less time than chopping all of those 'shrooms by hand would have) and threw them into a pan of melted organic butter to do their thing.

Then, I made one of these egg roll ups and stuffed it full of mushrooms. I sprinked salt and pepper, cut in a bit of chives and sprinkled on some plain chevre. Oh, so good. This is not the news, though. The news is that I left the bottom end of my mushroom burrito open, and lost a lot of my filling as I ate. The egg wrapper tore just like injera bread would have, and cleanly picked up my morsels to deliver them safely--and cleanly--to my mouth. Oh, the possibilities!

Egg "Flat Bread"
I've done this with two eggs or three, and with butter or olive oil. Three eggs was overkill.

Crack two fresh, cage-free organic eggs into a bowl. Beat them with a fork to a uniform pale yellow. Put fat in your largest frying pan (mine's 12 inches in diameter) and bring to heat. Slip your beaten eggs into the pan. Tip the pan gently to swirl the eggs around and around until they coats the bottom evenly and completely. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, if desired. I usually don't. At this point, you can cover the pan for a second, or leave it uncovered and wait only a few moments longer. The egg will set quickly. It's up to you how dry you let them become; I usually take them off the heat just as soon as the egg is set enough not to run when I tip the pan. A few firm shakes should release the "flat bread". If it doesn't, release the edges with a spatula, and peel the egg out on to a plate.

Then, get as creative as you'd like, ladling your filling down he middle of the wrapper. Fold one edge across your filling, and use it to pull your mixture into a tight log. Then roll and enjoy. I haven't had any problems with breakage, so I can imagine that the egg would hold up to being rolled burrito-style, with the bottom in, to contain your filling. I can also imagine that these would cut into appetizer-friendly pinwheels pretty nicely.

I want to try pigs in a blanket, with a tasty breakfast sausage link and maybe a drizzle of maple syrup. Hummous, sheep's feta, olives and spinach would be brilliant, too. Or mustard, turkey, sprouts and goat jack cheese; salmon with dill; refried beans and salsa--the possibilities are endless. I would only warn against something super rustic, like a caesar salad on iceberg lettuce: the lettuce would probably rip right through the roll-up.

I'm most thrilled for the next time my dinner calls for flat bread: the next time I'm eating Indian or Ethiopian (note: Ethiopain injera is traditionally made of teff, and is usually wheat-free), or anything else I want to pick up with my fingers. Sturdy enough to tear, thick enough to hold up, delicate enough to not add any strong flavor--I'm pretty excited about all the options!

Also exciting is that, unlike with a tortilla-based roll-up, the filling does not have to be protein based: two eggs is a good 14 grams of easily absorbed animal protein!

Game Night

Deviled Eggs, with homemade mayonnaise, stone ground mustard, diced onion and celery, salt, pepper and paprika

Baba Ganoush from two firm, farmer's market eggplants, fire roasted under the broiler and blended with tahini, lemon and not quite enough garlic, served with olive tapenade and sheep's feta

Peeled, cooked, medium shrimp, heated through in a bath of olive oil, butter, garlic, and habanero pepper flakes, tossed with lemon zest, lemon juice and parsley.

Four pepper chevre and savory rice crackers.

Rice Pasta Pasta Salad, a la Toby

Mojitos for a crowd.

Games enough to go around.

No wheat, dairy, sugar (okay, maybe a little in the drinks) or soy. All good stuff.

What the World Eats

This Time Photo Essay is really interesting:
http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1626519_1373664,00.html

Why I love the Northwest

Mount Hood Strawberries. Oh, yum.
They're red allll the way through.

The Big Apple

Curbside hot dogs in New York City, hot off the cart Meat and Vegetables-style.
(That's me with my fabulous sister and grandma.)


Virgil's Barbecue
Oh, my goodness. I don't know much about good barbecue, but I do know good food. This is good food. Mom and I shared the Pig-out Platter: pulled pork, brisket, sausage, tasty, tender, meaty ribs, a quarter of a chicken and a couple of sides. Eat here if you're ever looking for tasty, tasty eats in Time Square.