popcorn at the movies!

tonight's oscars have me all kinds of excited. following the trend from my posts from grammy week, this week i'm going to post award nominee and winner inspired...everything! food and drink, munch and meal, past and present...here we go!

while the awards are going on though, what i'm thinking about is movie food. popcorn tends to make me sick, so i'm always looking for something else to nosh on during the flicks. i haven't quite hit my stride yet, having been unable to find one go-to snack since noticing that popcorn is relatively unkind to me, but i'm always eager to hear about and try other movie munchies. tonight's telecast for example, is accompanied by junior mints and twizzlers, two of my favorite movie stars-yum!

cheers to the academy, and break a leg to those nominated!

how is it already tuesday?

somehow time jumped from friday to tuesday, and i think that the mental gap is due to the much needed downtime i took advantage of thanks to the long weekend (thank you president's day). instead of gushing about being able to relax and having an entertaining and delicious meal sunday night (i don't think i've laughed harder in the company of people who were not my immediate family) though, i should get back to work, and study things that make my stomach turn. tomorrow is our servsafe food handler's certification exam, and i'd like to only have to take it once, and not have to worry about it for five years.

but for me, today is not just the day before my exam. it's also the day that kings of pastry comes out on dvd!

i remember seeing trailers of this oddly dispersed over the summer, so i was surprised to find out that the movie actually was released in 2009. it follows sixteen chefs competing in the food division of france's meilleurs ouvriers de france (MOF), a three day battle to wear THE collar-which, according to a clip in the trailer, if worn by someone who did not win the honor, can merit jail time.

hopefully, before the next long weekend (late april, egads!) i'll be able to sit down and indulge in watching some of the finest craftsmen in the pastry field at work. until then, i'll just keep salivating at the trailer.

time to catch my breath!

well this has been quite a busy week!

the rest of life has sort of taken over, and between class, job interviews, new job training and the like, i've barely had a moment to think! it's times like this that i could go for some banana pancakes. or rather "banana pancakes."

for those who know me, or if you read my silly explanation of this blog's name, the idea that i would actually be interested in banana ANYthing is something of a joke. i have famously refused anything ranging from delectable desserts to simple smoothies that have only the slightest hint of a banana present because i knew i'd be able to taste it. and if you're going in for a kiss, think twice if you've eaten a banana--so why on earth would i willingly ask for banana pancakes? with the help of jack johnson of course, i can tackle even my severe distaste for the odd fruit.

listening to the song brings a smile not only to my face, but every last inch of me. it's like the best parts of playing hooky and eating dessert first, folded into hugs and spontaneous dance parties, all of which is wrapped up in an easy breezy heart-song.

enjoy the weekend mes chers, and smile on.

music in the air, and food on my mind!

food and love go hand in hand, and while i wasn't necessarily going to highlight another romantic song this week, it's sort of hard not to!

tonight's musical munchie is brought to you by everything wonderfully indulgent about food and love--that's amore of course!

there's something about this simple chanson that feels like home. like pull up a chair and eat whatever mom put in front of you because she knows you haven't taken good enough care of yourself. like even though you know that dad is going to tell that one story again, you're going to let loose a full-bellied laugh just like the first time you heard it, because it'll never get old. like you should just do it already and dive into what you love, because you only have one life so make the most of it. like let that smile shine from ear to ear because that's when you're the most beautiful.

whenever i have food on my mind and especially when i hear this song, i think of the following quotation:

cooking is like love. it should be entered into with abandon, or not at all. 

-harriet van horne

carpe diem mes amours, and may life's plate be overflowing with delicious treats, for both heart and stomach alike.

be our guest and the flames of love!

before tonight's class, i had planned on writing a sweet little homage to one of my favorite songs from my favorite disney movie: "be our guest" from beauty and the beast. it's a wonderfully exciting number that fills me with childlike glee every time i hear it (but honestly, what classic disney song doesn't?).

and then there was class.

it was oddly appropriate that on a day so incredibly inspired by anything but burning love that we learned how to flambé in class. now that was thrilling to the nth degree.

seeing the pan of apple slices burst into flame just inches from me, and knowing that it was both on purpose AND my own doing was absolutely electrifying. it was also slightly conflicting, because it's a technique i'd like to practice, but when on earth will i trust myself to do so? not outside of class, at least not for some time, that's for sure.

and so, mesdames et messieurs, i give you "be our guest", a song that inspires me to create food that is both delicious and exciting enough to incite song and dance from even the cutlery, or at least a smile or two.

roll out the red carpet, get your knife and fork ready!

ladies and gents, it's awards season!

in honor of tonight's grammy awards ceremony, this week i'm going to spotlight a few of my favorite foodie songs. i'm going to start things off with a song near and dear to my heart, and one that you may not be familiar with: "strawberry" by paul baribeau.

to say that this is a love song would be like saying poetry is nice. but you don't have to be an oxford scholar to know that "nice" just doesn't cut it when talking about poetry, and you don't have to be a romantic to appreciate what baribeau is trying to say with "strawberry."

speaking of poetry, this song actually reminds me of one of shakespeare's sonnets (bear with me, this won't be as boring as your high school english class may have been.). in the sonnet "my mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun," shakespeare takes a number of classical romantic references and says no, my mistress is nothing like any of these things, but that doesn't make me love her any less*. in "strawberry", baribeau takes a (slightly) similar stance, turning the compliments "cute," "pretty," and "funny" and turning them inside out, trying to find a way to better express his affection and appreciation to his listener.

but what does the innate weakness of verbal expression have to do with food?

think of your favorite dish, and try to recreate the entire dining experience for someone who wasn't there. you can't! i mean, surely a number of things can be recounted and understood, but there are moments and flavors and discoveries in just one bite, let alone an entire meal, that completely escape the tongue in conversation.

to say that you are cute, would be like saying that a strawberry is sweet. 

because a strawberry has secret flavors that are sharp, and tart, and red, and deep.

-"strawberry"

how beautiful is that? the way that baribeau describes what a strawberry is says relatively nothing about the fruit, but it still captures an important something of what a strawberry tastes like. it's almost a verbal interpretation of one of my favorite scenes from ratatouille: remy's food visualization (also featuring, oddly enough, a strawberry!)

and so, without further ado (because this seems to be a post about how words just aren't quite enough), i present to you "strawberry":

*this is an incredibly reduced analysis of the sonnet, but then again, this is not a post about shakespeare, english poetry, or anything of the sort.

be mine, valentine!

valentine's day came early for me this year, in the form of a heart shaped box of macarons from the macaron cafe. and let me just say:

dé.li.cieux.

instead of gushing about a holiday (made up or not) that only a relative few actually enjoy, allow me to indulge in describing my new-found, head-over-heels, love-at-first-bite affair with you.

i am over the moon about these macarons.

if you have yet to hear of or experience the joy that is a macaron from the macaron cafe, at least start the visual feast by looking at their gallery. there they have beautifully crisp photos of each of their various macarons, ranging from apricot to pineapple, rhubarb to violette.

the first time i visited the cozy café, i was shocked to see the variety of the macarons that they actually had available. yes, the gallery is impressive, but i had assumed that there wouldn't be nearly as many available in real life. i had such a hard time narrowing it down to only three, but to have purchased more would have been gluttonous (and i'd like to pretend that i can eat sweet food in moderation).

at the very first bite, i knew that these petite confections were flying to the top of the list of things i must make myself. a while ago, i had purchased the book i love macarons on a whim, and now i am so happy that i did--i am only a few steps away from creating sweet macaron love, and when i get the opportunity to do so, i'll document the experience to share.

they only last a few bites at most, but each nibble is so delicately delicious that the brevity of the experience is made up for with flavor, which lingers sweetly on the palate. the texture is hard to describe, it's somewhere between cake and cookie, which is owed to the very specific nature of their preparation. for example, when mixing the meringue and the flour, once the flour is completely incorporated, one must scoop the batter a specific way (macaronnage) about fifteen times. if less than ten, the macarons won't shine, if more than twenty, they'll appear greasy (ogita 26). how particular! and yet, totally worth the effort.

so far i have tried fourteen of the morsels of heaven, and haven't found one i don't like. i can't wait until i'll have tried them all, but i want to pace myself. all in the name of moderation, right?

if you're looking to share something sweet with someone sweet, or just want to bring a smile to yourself, you know where to look.

(note: i am not affiliated with the macaron cafe, in any way, shape or form, beyond being an appreciative customer.)

Ogita, Hisako. I [love] Macarons. San Francisco: Chronicle, 2009. Print.