Allez Cuisine!

A few years ago, Chris Biddle [grad school roommate] and I decided to have a Christmas party for our friends and neighbors before we went home for the holidays. Nothing simple was really going to work for us since both of our minds tend to think in much more grandiose terms.

I do not know the hows, whys, or whats, but we decided on an Iron Chef Battle as the theme for the event - he would cook at his girlfriend's apartment while I cooked at our place. With both of us being poor, we opted for noodle as our theme ingredient. So much for inexpensive as I dropped $150 on my shopping spree. Ouch to a poor grad student, but I bought some great ingredients for what it's worth. As ameture culinary people, we had a great time making our food, battling, and sharing with our friends, and it was an EXCELLENT Christmas party to say the least. (Feel free to ask me about the details of this event as this thread is not about my experience...)

If only we could do this as experienced cooks, which I am not at this point...and I do not know about Chris. However, I read about this awesome throw down (sorry Bobby Flay) that happened between two chef brothers here in Portland. Read more about Iron Chef Portland.

It would simply be awesome to have battles like this between local chefs. They could promote their restaurant(s), show off their skills, and test their wits under the pressure cooker of a Kitchen Stadium Portland. Nevertheless, after reading the article, I am ready for my next battle! Allez Cuisine!

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Food 101

I am not a foodie by any stretch of my imagination, but I love cooking in that it brings friends together and it is fun and yum, especially when it involves a grill! However, I came across some thoughts on people who are taking the "let's make up new words and ways of doing things" way too seriously. I am all for doing the local thing - shopping, eating, buying - but do we really need a word for it?

“Locavore” was 2007’s Word of the Year, according to the Oxford University Press. If you need to know more, you can learn how to eat like a locavore and become a locavore.

Really? Do we really need all of the verbage. What about just saying "Buy, Eat, Shop, Love Local"?

But wait, it gets even worse in 2 Ought Ate. Let's not forget our Vegangelicals & the Retrovores, eh? What in the world is a Veganelical you ask? Well, here you go - http://www.eatingliberally.org/tags/vegangelical

I (er, we if you include the link) am asking...do you think this is too much, too?

Buy, Eat, Shop, Love Local! That is my easy Food 101 Local lesson.

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