Breakfast of Champions

I decided that, after the email we received from an angry tenant first thing this morning that I should indulge in the closets thing I can get to a British breakfast (as I am totally lacking eggs, sausage and beans in my eatables) - Crunchy Nut cereal and Tesco Earl Grey tea.

As this box proudly announces, Crunch Nut is a brand new Kellogg's cereal - in the States. I had it five years ago in London and have been trying to figure out how to get my hands on it ever since. IT IS DELICIOUS. I'm not a very big cereal fan; in fact I generally try to avoid cereal for breakfast at all costs because it's usually like eating sweetened Styrofoam. But this stuff... this stuff is the shit.

And this tea... I have tried all different kinds of Earl Grey, all different brands. And this is my favorite. It's got the typical bergamot flavor but also a nice smoky overtone. No idea why, but it's delightful. It also reminds me of St. Andrews, Scotland, because I bought it at a Tesco there. It's going to totally suck once the box I have runs out... so for now, I must make the best of it and save it for special occasions. Or mornings with unhappy tenants.

Sunday Morning

This morning, [Львица]'s cat woke me up by jumping on my back and meowing in my ear. No better way to wake up than by cat alarm. It was the best I'd felt in weeks, probably because I had a very cathartic lunch at Serum's with my parents (which has the best wings and the best fried chicken sandwich I've ever eaten in MY LIFE), even though I was tearing up at music, commercials and the news Saturday night (stupid PMS symptoms. Who thought crying over everything was a good thing to add in hormones?) Also, the leak in our bathroom ceiling was not active, which was good since I'm terrified the plaster is going to explode and water is going to go everywhere.

I went to get a load of laundry together and realized that I was short over a dollar's worth of quarters. So, I went out to get coffee and dental floss (yes, I know, great combination) so that I could end up with enough change to run the machines. I walked down to the Purple Onion in the fresh fall air and, because I am terrible at making up my mind, I ordered the first think I saw on the menu when the barista asked for my order. I ended up with a caffè Americano, which is just espresso and hot water. I am still wired from the amount of caffeine in my bloodstream. Then it was off to CVS to get the floss and back home.

Because I was nearly hyper-ventilating from the coffee, I decided to burn of my energy and do something outrageous and clean our bathroom.

Here's the deal - our apartment was not clean when we moved in. But because we'd spent so much time cleaning all the other 22 units for the new tenants, we didn't even bother with ours. Clearly the people who lived here had not cleaned much before they moved out, but then again, it probably wasn't clean when they moved in either. That's basically how it was for all of these units though. Anyway, I got ambitious and decided to clean - plus I couldn't stand the fact that there was an old scrap of toilet paper glued to the floor by dirt and dust that had been there since for God knows how long. Yeah, something needed done.

I'd cleaned the sink the night before because there was paint in it from when we got our shower repainted. First thing I decided to tackle was the toilet. IT WAS DISGUSTING. There was a brownish-black ring of... something... around the top. It took me at least 10 minutes of scrubbing and still not all of it came off. At least it looks better. And less disease-spreading.

Next I decided to scrub the floors. Because there were areas where you could see the gunk caked across the tiles. I did my best. It's not 100% clean, but it's liveable. I also think I was the first person to clean under the radiator since 1986. I felt like Cinderella, using a sponge and scrubbing at the tiles. No fairy godmother for me, but oh well - at least [Львица] and I won't have to worry about getting dirt on our feet the moment we get out of the show now.

A disgusting start to the day, but it make me feel pretty hardcore. I mean, really - how many college students would choose to do that sort of cleaning? Not that our tenants are going to have much of a choice. [Львица] and I plan on super cleaning our apartment and insisting that all other units look like this when they move out. Because somebody's gotta stop this cycle of never cleaning the apartments. It might as well be us. The building manager overlords have spoken.

Apples to Apples

I now know that fall is officially here - I ate my first Honeycrisp apple of the season today.

Why is this important? BECAUSE HONEYCRISP APPLES ARE THE BEST FUCKING APPLES I HAVE EVER EATEN IN MY ENTIRE LIFE. PERIOD.

I'm not actually being over-dramatic. As anyone who's ever eaten one can tell you, they are orgasmic. They'd probably be the apple that Eve ate in the Garden of Eden (all debates about whether apples can grow in the Middle East/ whether the "forbidden fruit" was actually a kumquat or some other vegetation) except that the Honeycrisp apple is one of those wonderful things modern science has created (like the flying saucer-shaped peaches) at none other than the University of Minnesota. But as far as GMOs go, it tastes pretty natural to me. Actually WAY more natural than Red Delicious or even Granny Smith now (seriously, I had a Granny Smith apple over the summer and it had NO flavor. When I was six, they used to be so tart they made my jaw ache. What HAPPENED?!) I mean, Honeycrisp have this great, sweet, juicy flavor and are super-crunchy, as if to announce to everyone around you, "Hells yes, I'm eating a Honeycrisp."

Other than being super fantastically delicious, they are also one of the few things in the produce section that only appear during certain times of the year. Thus, it's seasonal, local and fucking delicious. And special, because I can't just walk into Cub Foods in March and find it there.

So it's time to eat as many of this babies as I can to fully express the season that is autumn. I'm thinking of trying that baked apples recipe from Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution cookbook - I made those this summer with the gross Granny Smiths and they were AMAZING. WITH BAD APPLES. Imagine what it would taste like with these suckers...

Culture, food and why I'm a vulture

I had a strong, intense feeling the other day of just exactly how much of a "culture vulture" I've become - although I'd like to think it's more from a learning standpoint than exploitative. I was sitting in a falafel shop discussing with [Львица] the merits and disadvantages of becoming a vegetarian. I love talking about food. It's one of the few things that combines nearly all aspects of my education in one facet - sciences, health, history, language, labor, economy... the list goes on. Then I begin thinking about all the things that interest me. And how I want to study everything.

And while we continued eating our hummus and falafel, we began having this huge intellectual conversation about GLBT issues and then back to vegetarianism (and how apparently [novel killer] wants to try to follow Ramadan, so religion eventually came up too). Then I end up with this huge mental web of all this stuff tying together, not just because of how the conversations link but because everything DOES link together. I know I might be seen as a sort of flaky eccentric who likes trying everything, but I like to try different stuff, to experience things that I can't understand. I love trying different foods like falafel and curry dishes and sushi that fifty years ago were nonexistent in American cuisine. And I like how so many differences can still connect to so many similarities. Take food for instance again, because it's a great example and the easiest to work with. So many cultures have a version of dumplings, but they're all a bit different - there's actual dumplings in several different forms, gnocchi, ravioli, wantons, spatzle, pierogi, empanadas... the list goes on and on and ON. All these versions of dumplings are different - but it's the same basic idea.

One of my classes this semester, the only Cultural Studies course I'm in this fall, keeps mentioning how aspects of our culture, especially the university system, presses too much for separate disciplines. And when everything relates to everything, that may not be the best way of going about things. Being anti-disciplinary isn't easy... but it sure makes things a lot more interesting :D

In honor of the Minnesota State Fair...

What is the difference between these two items commonly sold on a stick a the "Great Minnesota Get-Together?"

  

Yes, I'm being an jerk. But the exact same picture came up when I Googled both "corn dog" and "pronto pup." Obviously, the difference is more than visual. Thanks to this post, I fact-checked what I thought the difference was: State Fair: Corn Dog vs. Pronto Pup. One uses batter made of corn meal (hence corn dog) and the other uses batter made of flour. Also, according to a friend, pronto pups have the skin of the hot dog taken off while the corn dog doesn't.

So there you go. Not that it matters that much. Go enjoy all that tasty unhealthy wonderfulness on the last day of the fair. I'll be there... then off to the first day of classes tomorrow...