Moved on to greener pastures

GUE has opted for sleeker look and moved on to a nicer platform with tumblr, as well as a slightly newer and friendlier format.

You may find us at our new home address: http://growingupeating.tumblr.com

hope to see you soon!

Culinary Art

So while browsing through the Fall 09 issue of Gastronomica, I came across an awesome article on Pauline Baynes. You may not recognize the name, though you should since she is responsible for the original illustrations in the Narnia series as well as being involved with Tolkien on some of his non-LOTR works.

Apparently she was involved in food projects illustrating cookbooks and her art adds on to the classic feel of the old cookery texts.

Pauline Baynes (1922–2008), best known as the ‘Narnia’ artist, had also illustrated three cookbooks: Recipes from an Old Farmhouse by Alison Uttley (1966), Kitchen Essays by Lady Jekyll (1968), and The Times Cookery Book by Katie Stewart (1972). [via Too Many Books...]

Being a closeted illustrator/artist, looking at these pieces, the very intricate and elaborate works, definitely surges inspiration in picking up the sketch pad again. Mainly, though, this points me a step closer to finding the illustrated swine butcher chart that I will need as a base design for my permanent skin work to be done at some point this decade.

Photo Lost

So it seems blogger has decided to stop hosting a lot of the photos I had uploaded and hence you will find several posts with missing images. I would try to fix it, but as you may have noticed I barely have time to keep up with posts, much less back editing.

For now, enjoy the following image and hope that it holds together any voids you may feel created while sifting through GUE.

2010: Space Odyssey

So 2010 is nothing like the entertainment industry had led me to believe. No flying cars. No regular trips to outer space for business meetings. Most definitely no crazy Barbarella looking girls bearing tons of skin trying to save me from extraterrestrial world domination.

2010, however, appears to be a year of renewal, soul cleansing, and brain-reconstruction (in an effort to sway from the usual self-destruct mode).
A lot went on in 2009 that showed me who I was and where I am and what I want and most definitely what I don't. Things that inspired me to be better and reach new heights and things that inspired me to innovate and break patterns.

Towards the end of the year I met a few people with whom I've been able to share life stories of myself, the family's circus-like rollercoaster, and my culinary inclinations, explorations, and discoveries. A thing that has sparked interest within me to retake this blog back to its roots and continue on retracing my lineage. Genealogical, Academic, Professional, and in the way everything all ties together through the personal, inter-personal, emotional, spiritual, and over all mind-bending.

A lot of adventures have taken place that GUE has yet to recant and with thsi post I intend to sort of attempt at a domino effect of posts to relay the recent happenings.

Hope all of you get what you want in this coming year, I know I'm working my ass off to get what I want and I intend on getting it.

Happy New Year from GUE!

Trial and Error

Well, needless to say the 66 Day Challenge didn't quite make it past the 5 day mark. A lot of stuff has been going on in my life that has more than prevented me from maintaining any kind of discipline. Time constraints, money constraints, life constraints. In any event. A lot of things have been going right! Although the tempest was making the skies of opportunity dim, a lot of things went on that have opened up doors and new sets of inspiration. So I'll put up my best efforts to keep this updated. also, trying to bring back the biographical timeline since Hopefully I figured out a way to get my scanner running again. Anyways. I'll be back! Life is getting hiot and exciting again!

Day 5

Kinda what I feel like right now.

'Tis friday, no less. Few things going on, which are very inviting, but I'm trying to maintian my compulsion to go destroy my insides and brian cells by way of overpriced liquids in an effort to deal, or not deal rather.

Work has been crazy busy the last couple of days, which is good, since it's kept my head out of the gutter where it would otherwise be. Been staying late, and leaving work late seems to be good for time-killing.

Meal plan for friday, also has not really worked out as planned. First breakfast was thrown out the window by the kind people of Washington Metro who ruined my life by making me arrive to work significantly over my start time. Followed by a surge of inner depression caused by...let's say, the weather. Which compelled me to go get myself a ridiculous bowl of pho, which I ended up picking up as carry out and eating at a bagel restaurant, where all I wanted was to stuff myself with 35 sesame bagels with jalapeño cream cheese. My chicken pho was a good option though, as well as a treat.


Today's meal plan was a little too ambitious, and more so as time has progressed from the beginning of the week till now.

Day 5
Breakfast - none
6 oz juice
Western 1 egg omelette
Decaf coffee/tea
Snack
Turkey Rollups - none
2tbsp cilantro mayo
Lunch - chicken pho
Gazpacho
Grilled turkey burger (half bun)
Tossed salad
Sugar free Jello/apple/pear for dessert (choose one)
Snack
Cucumber rounds with babaganoush - none
Dinner - i have a feeling it is not going to be anywhere near what I had planned.
Balsamic Chicken
Sautted tomatoes and onions
Steamed Spinach
Tossed Salad
Dessert
sugar free pudding cup/sugar free fudgesicle

there will not be any gym tonight, but most definitely so tomorrow and sunday.

Money spent thus far: $12
Balance left: $10.00 (maybe a six pack of something cheap and I'm out of comission till next Monday)

Day 4

Things are not very stable right now, so I'm holding on to this in need of a constant, although I really don't want to. Nothing would make me feel better than a piece of pie, some ice cream, a slice of cheese, and some baked ziti from Tony's.

I need to focus my energies on something else though and not let things affect me as much as they are. Today was another day where keeping food in check was difficult and I slightly faltered at night. I'll just have to keep on keeping on.

Day 4
Breakfast
6 oz juice - none
1 egg florentine - none
2 slices canadian bacon or turkey bacon - none
Decaf coffee/tea - none
Snack
Baby carrots or celery w/ laughing cow cheese - none
Lunch
Shrimp Salad with Herb Dill dressing - grilled chicken ceasar salad
Sugar free Jello/apple/pear for dessert (choose one) - none
Snack
10 cherry tomatoes with fat free feta (or low fat cottage cheese) - cheesestick
Dinner
Broiled Sirloin/Chicken - Cheese quesadilla and half a bean burrito - i felt severely ill afterwards
Steamed Broccoli - none
Broiled tomatoes/jalapenos - none
Mashed cauliflower potatoes - none
Dessert
sugar free pudding cup/sugar free fudgesicle - none

Money spent today: $15.00
Balance left: $22.00

The gym was bust again today. But Saturday and Sunday I plan on hitting it hard.
I have a feeling Friday is going to be pretty insane.

Day 3

When life throws curve balls your way, it tends to get difficult to maintain a new discipline, especially when you're your first week in. The plan comes to a certain stage of arrested development. Fortunately, I've had nothing but time to focus on me and how I'm going to make this work. I've dodged birthday cakes, chocolate gifts, and heavy drinking. omg. Heavy drinking. How i miss thee.

Although I had set a meal plan for the rest of the week, I haven't been able to eat as I planned, but have tried my best to use it as a guide to plan on what I ingest.

Day 3
Breakfast
6 oz juice - none
I egg asparragus/mushroom omelette w/ 2 oz part skim mozz - 1 hard boiled egg
Decaf coffee/tea - coffee
Snack
Baby carrots or celery w/ laughing cow cheese - none
Lunch
Chef's Salad - hummus, feta, cherry tomatoes, and avocado, with pita squares
Olive oil and vengar dressing - - none
Sugar free Jello/apple/pear for dessert (choose one) - none
Snack
10 cherry tomatoes with fat free feta (or low fat cottage cheese)- none
Dinner
Baked tilapia in scallion ginger sauce - none
1 small whole wheat roll or wheat pita (if bread wanted)- none
Steamed snow peas - none
Mashed cauliflower potatoes - none
Dessert
sugar free pudding cup/sugar free fudgesicle - sugar free pudding

No gym today, but life indeed is starting to give me a work out.

Money spent today: $13.00
Balance left: $37.00

Day 2

Ok, so day 1 was interesting. Spent about half of my $100 weekly budget on groceries, which brings me to my dilemma. Are groceries to be counted as fixed expenses? I mean, we have to eat no? In any event some of the stuff I bought will probably last longer than a week, hence making it cheaper next time I go. Hypothetically.

We ended up doing really well on our eating, following the meal plan as closely as possible. And crushed 1 hour at the gym no problem.

Today is day 2 - the challenge continues.


************************
Day 2
***update***

Breakfast

6 oz juice - done
1 egg (hard boiled or scrambled) - done
1 tortilla/slice of toast - done
2 slices canadian bacon or turkey bacon - done
Decaf coffee/tea - done

Snack

Turkey Rollups - done
2tbsp cilantro mayo

Lunch

Tuna chopped salad - Grilled chipotle chicken chopped salad
Sugar free Jello/apple/pear for dessert (choose one) - done


Snack

Baby carrots or celery w/ laughing cow cheese - cheese stick

Dinner

Baked Chicken breast - grilled veracruz salmon tacos
1 small whole wheat roll or wheat pita (if bread wanted)
Steamed broccoli
Tossed salad (mixed greens/cucumbers/green peppers/cherry tomatoes)
Olive oil and vinegar dressing



Dessert

Jello cup

Day 1

I've transferred all my money out of my ING Checking account and into savings., leaving only a little over a $100 (to avoid any inadvertent overages). These $100 will have to go until Sunday night. !!!

For the mealplans, I borrowed the SBD format and modified it to fit my needs. I will track progress by adding an update to this post at the end of the day.

**************************
**UPDATE**
Here's how the eating actually turned out -

Today's meal plan:

Day 1

Breakfast

6 oz juice - Mango Juice
1 scrambled egg w/ 1 tortilla - 1 poached egg w/ 1 tortilla
Decaf coffee/tea - coffee

Snack

1 Part skim mozz cheese stick - check

Lunch

Grilled chicken breast salad - Rotisserie chicken salad w/
w/ low sugar balsamic vinaigrette - oil & vinegar
Sugar free Jello/apple/pear for dessert (choose one) - none

Snack

Baby carrots or celery w/ laughing cow cheese - cheese stick

Dinner

Grilled fish (salmon/tilaps/mahi mahi) lemon and rosemary - baked lemon salmon
1 small whole wheat roll or wheat pita (if bread wanted)
Steamed asparragus - check
Tossed salad (mixed greens/cucumbers/green peppers/cherry tomatoes) - steamed brocc and cauliflower
Olive oil and vinegar dressing - none


Dessert

Sugar free jello/pudding - OMG YES!

Gym:

1 hour of cardio at the gym. - Done

the 66 day challenge

3. Do a 30-day Challenge. In my experience, it takes about 30 days to change a habit, if you’re focused and consistent. This is a round number and will vary from person to person and habit to habit. Often you’ll read a magical “21 days” to change a habit, but this is a myth with no evidence. Seriously — try to find the evidence from a scientific study for this. A more recent study shows that 66 days is a better number (read more). But 30 days is a good number to get you started. Your challenge: stick with a habit every day for 30 days, and post your daily progress updates to a forum. [66 days Habit Changing = via: zenhabits]

Discipline has never really been one of my strong points. It takes a while, but I have proven before that sticking to something, even if I don't see results right away, can, in fact, serve a purpose and feel really great once a goal is reached.

In an effort to control things in my life, which seem to be spiraling downhill, I (along with some people) will be attempting a challenge in hopes of feeling better, saving money, and getting back in shape. For the next 66 days, beginning today, Monday, October 12 I will be undergoing the following:

1. Money

In an effort to save money and discipline myself into not being a sucker for consumerism, which I am, I will attempt at curving my behavior and training myself to be more minimalist in the material goods department. Do not buy if I do not need. Limiting myself, for the next 66 days to $100.00 per week as spending cash. This is not to include fixed expenses (ie. utilities, rent, etc...) but to include things I need to be better about (ie. work lunch/breakfast, nightlife, weekend entertainment, etc...) This should theoretically begin to change my behavior and train me into being better about money and the way I spend it.

2. Time

I feel like I spend a lot of my time idling around online on incredible time-wasters such as facebook, twitter, and worst of all pages like hulu and netflix. I say worst of all because I got rid of my television so I could be more productive and now instead TV has found me and it sucks the living life out of me. Yes there are some shows I watch continuously and religiously, but having a set time to watch these can potentially reduce the time I spend with my head sucked into the monitor. Coupled with the goal of blogging and writing more in general, if I'm on the computer, I shouldn't just be clicking around. So, I;m trying to track my progress on this challenge and in this blog to give me a push forward in my blogging and my writing, and hopefully assist in the behavior change.

3. Food

OH. EM. GEE.!!!! This is going to be one of the 2 worst and most difficult goals. Why with me trying to be a chef and all, and here I am trying to limit my intake. For a few good reasons, however, I need to. My health is something that worries me continuously. I seem to come from a line of health issues and I seriously do not want to propagate my ending up in the hospital for reasons that could have been prevented, and especially don't want to reach old age not being able to care for myself. So I'm devising a bit of a "diet" portion and foods controlled and this plan is to be followed as closely as possible in search of results at the end of the deadline, not only of how I feel, but also of how I look (size 32 is only a hop and a skip away). I will try and blog my progress on this as well by posting what day meal plan is, and how close I came to eating what I'm supposed to.

4. Health

Also trying to get back on track on the gym thing. It's an ongoing battle, especially with as little time as one seems to have in this DC metro area. I seem to spend 40% of my time commuting, along with work, school, family life, and the 5-15 minutes of sleep I get per night (which will lead into point #5). To start myself off correctly and start getting back in shape, I'm going to set smaller short-term goals in hopes of reaching the ultimate long-term goal of being in shape and having normal persons sleep schedule. I'm setting also an exercise plan that I will track progress on as well to see where I'm at when day 66 comes. Heading to the gym in the morning at times trying to be tired enough when I come home from work as to not stay up until 3am fiddling around online and such. (hopefully this will also start helping push away the smoking habit)

5. Sleep

As before mentioned, I'm not the best sleeper. I have a tendency to get home and stay up and just be awake. forever. making me extra tired the next day. I'm setting myself to be in bed by 11pm on weeknights for the next 66 days. hopefully my sleep patterns will adjust to normality.

6. Weekend activities

Another one I'm very guilty off and serves as a precursor to set off my whole week. I need to keep weekend activities as such. FOR THE WEEKEND. I'm hoping this also allows me to be sharper at work, school, and at home.

I'm really bad at limiting myself on things I enjoy. I let myself indulge too much, to the point where it affects me physically, financially, and inter-personally and this needs to stop and change. 66 days doesn't seem like much and it seems like the world at the same time. Reaching the deadline accomplished will feel good. Reaching the deadline incomplete, will really suck. So part of my publicizing this is not so much for myself, but rather a way of having people witness what I'm saying I'm going to do and hoping to keep up in order to not embarrass myself by not reaching this short deadline.

Here we go.

the bi-monthly post

If not tri-monthly. It seems as of late that the blogosphere has not drawn me in as much as I wish it would. There are a million things that I constantly want to blog about and I just never get around to it for one reason or another.

In any event, I'm here now and I'm on a bit of a baking kick.

Yesterday I spent most of the hours past midnight formulating a red velvet cake, which to my surprise was incredibly delicious. Everything from scratch. Cake, red velvet, and frosting.



Waking up in a blaze of glory from the red velvet success, I decided to finally use that matcha powder I had sitting around and made some green tea mini muffins for the girlfriend's mom (and for us), which just as the previous, came out spectacularly.



I would get more in depth and write down recipes, but my current state of laziness prevents me from doing so. Instead, should you need the recipes, I'd be happy to send to you.

Edible Vinyl: Playing Catch Up

So in my long hiatus from the blogosphere (that's right, I said blogosphere) it would appear I've missed out on some updates from our secret bf ilovedragonfly. He's been hard at work while I've been, well, hardly working. He's got a few delicious vinyl pieces that again make me want lick my monitor in ways I can only imagine dogs lick their empty bowls after eating a ginormous raw steak. Get ready to get hungry.

Cheeseburger Munny




Peppered Country Bacon Illazilla



Gingerbread and Fruitcake Munnys



This next one took me by surprise. I thought nothing could make me as hungry as the pecan on that last one's head, but then, my boy delivers the Banana Split Dunny



OMG. Halloween! Candied Apples!



And to end the obsessive posting, I will leave you guys with the Chocolate Preparedness Kit Dunny, which looks awesome.



back


Please be sure to stop in and check out his page, he's got tons of other vinyl treats for your gazing pleasure. Or stop in and buy us one at the Dragonfly Store

Edible Vinyl: Sushi

As you may or may not have noticed, I've been away from the blogging for a while again. Not for any particular reason other than my sincere and/or severe apathy towards writing words of self-importance because i may have been the 23908429420th person to stumble upon a link of somewhat relevant importance to my social circle of peers. In any event, the reason for this post is not some revelation of how I've hit higher ground in life or some earth-shattering statement of prolific wisdom. Merely some SICK vinyl I MUST have. It's not often that I see a food theme toy that tickles my fuzzy in such a way that it makes me hungry. In line with the before posted Food Toys, along comes the O-No Food Company with some amazing concept art put into production.

NOMNOMNOMNOMNOMNOMNOM

To continue my lack of updating and the string of video cop outs to make up for any real posting, here's a sweet video on the joys of eating, furry cute animals, and the at some point interweb adapted international word for eating and enjoying fare.

'Nom Nom Nom Nom Nom Nom Nom,' by Parry Gripp

Happy Holidays from GUE!

They're back!!!

Omg! a site I once thought lost to the internet vortex, seems to have made a comeback. In full effect. Food Porn at it's best! Check it out!

Tastespotting <3

Food Meets Nu Rave

Japanese Electrorrific sensations, Polysics, bring it back to basics.

Shopsin on the Times

[photo cred: Larry Fink, via the NY Times]

So it's no secret I've been hyping up Kenny Shopsin for a while now, and as so I've been a bit more alert to his publicity. The NY Times had a pretty sweet piece on him (The Way We Eat: Flipping the Bird) and his quaint little shop and the modest menu that comes with it.

I have yet to experience Shopsin's, and I hope I get to at some point, considering his reputation for client refusal, but I'd have to say that although I'm unfamiliar with his cuisine, much like the case with Bourdain, I admire these two solely based on their personalities and attitudes towards the culinary world and society (and women, heh). They do what they do with passion and don't very much care about what people have to say. Maybe it's the egotistical, arrogant bastard in me, but I slightly identify with these two, and until I learn otherwise, they will continue to be on my list of top chefs.

“I dedicate myself to consuming all sorts of ideas,” says Shopsin, an avid reader and Internet crawler. “Eventually something inside me, probably skewed by my erotic feelings about breasts and things like that, assembles a product and just shoots it up.” [NY Times]

There's such a level of romanticism in his story. The fact that he's estalished himself and provided for his family, for almost 30 years, the work that he's put into his career, and the love he expresses for all elements that sustain him. His clients (the valuable ones, not the shitty ones), his establishment, his trade, and of course, his family. And he's been able to do all this without selling out his principles and just letting any asshole come into his realm demanding to be served. He asks that patrons prove themselves worthy of being served by him and not the other way around. After all, his food has been around long enough to understand that it's quality and he's busting his ass behind the burners to feed you. He owes you nothing and you shouldn't expect him to serve you hand and foot. Good business practice, ethic, and personal integrity and principles in my opinion.

Unlike other restaurateurs, Shopsin has refused publicity. (Whenever I tried to write about him, he would tell the fact checkers that Shopsin’s was a shoe store or out of business or insist that they do something uncheckable to themselves.) But two regulars, a Knopf editor and a literary agent, persuaded him to write a cookbook. “Eat Me: The Food and Philosophy of Kenny Shopsin” blends recipes with his uncensored thoughts on cooking (“The only explanation I can give for . . . how I came to this method of cooking is that it’s a product of a lot of psychotherapy, drugs and making chicken potpies”) and running a restaurant (“My approach . . . is the exact opposite of ‘the customer is always right’ ”). Like the restaurant, where three of his four children work, the book is a family affair, designed by his daughter Tamara and photographed by his son-in-law, Jason Fulford. [NY Times]

He does what he does because he loves it and not for the fame and riches and now, inadvertently all of that has come to him because he was himself. Thousands shoot for the stars and crash and burn severely. Not him. Self-awareness and a solid foundation of personal values go a long way.

He is full of deep (or shallow, depending on which side of the fence you're standing on) little excerpts on life and food full of a degree of sentiment and heart one can only hope to achieve at one point.

DC Best of Guide

[photo cred: stgrmh]

This guide has a list of what, by the Serious Eats Team's standards, are the best eateries in the area. Some I agree with (ie. Amsterdam Falafel), som I don't (ie. 2Amy's). In any case, it's a pretty concise guide of hot spots in the city complete with addresses, reviews, and some flashy pics of the local fare.