Two Hungry Bears and a Lazy Tapir: 02/01/2008

Bonjourno! After a ridiculously long hiatus where we were met with reactions ranging from "soo...didn't you used to have a food blog" to "why you so lazy!?" I think its time that we updated a bit. Since then, a lot has changed. There have been several trips around California and abroad not to mention multiple adventures with craptastic landlords and killer creatures (both insect and humanforms). We've moved around a bit and have become sophomores at Cal, but one thing has yet to change: our devotion to anything edible :)

The top food trends so far this past semester:

1) Kabocha squash.. starchy and sweet..with the consistency of a white potato combined with the taste of a yam what else do you need?
2) Sufficient grounds sandwiches--them babies deserve a haiku written about them
3) Smart Alec's anything--you know how Paula feels about her butter? I feel that way about the cornbread. And yes, I would kiss a cornbread statue of myself
4) Korean food and chinese food--kimchi, bibimbap, bulgogi, chicken corn soup, hot pot...
5) ANY TYPE OF HOT SAUCE! Super spicy, mildly sweet, in a fat jar or an anorexic tube...I DO NOT DISCRIMINATE!

Because there are so many pictures, the following descriptions will be a bit short but they'll get better in subsequent posts!

KQED internship in SF = one too many incidents with the BART crazies + Tartine bakery!

Their sandwiches are worth the $10 BART ride alone.

There lies the deathplace of B1 and B2-the "happiest" bananas in pajamas that ever lived.

Sopresseta, Fontina, and Broccoli Rabe Pesto sandwich: Totally love at first bite. Well, love at first saliva drip if I'm being honest with myself.

From my trip to Europe this past winter break:

Subway sandwich at the SF airport. Never again shall I pay $6 for a few bland veggies and a whole lotta attitude from Subway ladies (I just wanted a few extra cucumbers! Why you got to hate, lady?!?)

I realized that it would be awhile before I could get the greasy, yet comfort-laden creations that is American food so I we ordered up some classics like hamburgers...

and chili nachos!

In France, there were more than few things that delighted me:

I knew I was in France when I saw macarons being sold at Mcdonalds.

And a macaron tree!

Though I was morally against it, I couldn't help but try foie gras (above is a foie gras sandwich). I wish I could say that it tasted like duck tears, but it was pretty delicious. Them old french granddaddies who are raising thousands of ducks and plumping up their livers really know what they're doing.

My croque monsieur. Looks kinda like a cheese covered house!

French Onion Soup. I was pretty surprised by how liberal they were with cheese. I don't think the soup actually started until halfway down the bowl. I always thought that "crapload of cheese" = american food, but I guess that's not so much the case anymore.

Chocolate mousse pastry from a bakery near my hotel.

Cheese-covered hot dogs--one of many delicacies that I didn't (but wish I had) tried.

You can't go to France without trying a crepe! This nutella crepe with a banana slice suggestively sticking out was what kept me warm during several cold and rainy afternoons.

My sister's salad nicoise. Twas a bit too fishy for my taste.

My mom's teensy, weensy salmon. We waited more than an hour for this baby.

Another french onion soup! This one's cheese content was a little more understandable. MMhmm gruyere + bread + beef broth + sauteed onions = Mika-esque happiness

Due to the enthusiasm The Girl Who Ate Everything expressed for duck confit, I knew I had to try it. I gotta admit though, it sorta tasted something I could get from my local chinese foodcourt. The potatoes were yum enough to save it though.

Though France was beautiful (you never get used to how pretty all the wrought iron and old buildings are), Italy was where the food was at. Basically our days consisted of eating breakfast, walking down the street to look at an old church/building/fountain, lunch, walking through the streets to find a place to have an afternoon snack, sitting at the snack spot for several hours while we debated the best place to have dinner, walking to dinner, having dinner, and walking back to our hotel...it was great!

An afternoon snack.

A prosciutto and mozerella panini from the shop near our hotel.

Pistachio and hazelnut gelato. The Girl Who Ate Everything is totally right about pistachio gelato's amazingness. Like most hipsters I know, its smoky, nutty, and mildly sweet.

Another shot

Afternoon snack: Chocolate cake with coffee liquor

Afternoon snack: A variety of paninis

I finally found the thing that has been missing in my life: giant donuts covered in nutella.

I love me some spelling mistakes :)

In terms of food, the one thing Italy seemed to be lacking was fresh fruit. I was pleasantly surprised to find these gems at a local convenience store.

Paninis waiting to be heated up and eaten!

Giant pannetonne!
We ended up going to a really popular italian restaurant for a two nights in a row. This was from the first night...

This is a plate from the salad bar. It consists of fresh, spicy mozerella, fried anchovies, fried cauliflower, roasted mushrooms, potato gratin, eggplant parmesan, and fried octopus...

Salad bar plate #2: Roasted tomatoes, roasted asparagus, sauteed greens, fresh octopus, and some other things I can't remember...

Afternoon snack: mozzerella and arugla panini

Tiramisu and pistachio gelato!

My pesto taglioni.

One of a thousand seafood pastas my mom ate this trip.

Bowtie pasta in walnut cream.

A pillowy tiramisu
Another night at the same restaurant...

Salmon taglioni. Looks hella innocent and maybe even yummy on the outside but beware! What you're looking at is the reason I had food sickness for a couple of days. I didn't mind the pain so much as the fact that I had to skip a day of gelato and stay in the hotel room where there was nothing playing on tv except for a special on Elvis' manison.

Some truffle risotto...Tasted earthy...if that means anything.

A spicy mountain!

Ahh I wish I could have smuggled some of these dried tomatoes back to the states. Stupid customs!

Little kids make me smile :)

Not food. Just one of many pretty signs around the city.

More hazelnut and pistachio gelato.

A lemon pastry my sister got while walking around.

There's a reason it means "pick me up." Whenever we felt a bit sleepy, we picked ourselves up some more tiramisu.

Artichoke hearts at a local farmers market

Oh, how I wish that cone were real.

Some traditional venician baked goods.

Some cheese and spinach pastries that I wish I had tried.

Gnocchi with a simple tomato sauce. By that point, I was pretty pasta-ed out.

My sister's linguine with roasted squid. Yummies.

Another one of my mom's seafood pastas.

My dad's tomato pasta.

Kabocha love is universal.

Yummies for the airplane!

So that's pretty much the fooding that was done before and during winter break. I'll definitely update a lot more and SOON!

In the meantime... here's an ode to some of the many WONDERFUL discoveries in Berkeley :)