Stop and smell...your food.

Smell. What smells take you back? Think about it, what smells take you back to your youth? Your first love. I smell Nivea moisturizer and I think of my mom. I smell Polo by Ralph Lauren and I instantly think of my first boyfriend. I smell fresh bread, smoked meats and I think of my childhood. Weird right? Let me explain.
I'm 100% Polish and what that pretty much translates to is that I'm 100% rarely hungry. Our culture is centered around God and food. Tradition is praying and eating. So growing up I spent a lot of my time in the kitchen and in Polish delis purchasing food to bring to the kitchen.

This past weekend I made a stop at a local deli with my parents. (Note the obligatory pierogi poster) The minute we stepped in the back door we were welcomed by the soft, velvety, aroma of fresh baked rolls. Hello! One of the best smells in the world! I stopped and took a big whiff... I moved and took in all the meats and cheeses on stock and was hit with that spicy, smoky almost greasy smell of fresh kielbasa....

This right here, classic Polish deli. A bolt of kielbasi on display like a proud athlete showcasing their trophies. (I'm sure you're also noting all the different cake and torte selections) These 2 smells combined, fresh baked bread and kielbasa take me back to being 9 years old. After a morning of Polish folk dancing and language classes all 3 of us kids would pile into the car and head over to the deli to pick up rolls, meats, cheeses, candy and whatever Mama needed. This past Friday while we were standing there waiting to be check out I asked my mom to take in a breath and tell me what the smell makes her think of. Here's her answer. "It takes me back to when I was 10 years old before Easter. Standing in a line to get into the store to get what the family needed. When we finally got inside it was...'killer'. So beautiful and it smelled so fresh. Smoked meats, kielbasi, hams, fresh bread. That was the Easter feeling for us." My dad added "It was Mloda Lata" Or "The Good Old Days".

The price chart. I love the little "Poland rules" in the bottom corner. So this particular visit we picked up different hams, some cheese, fresh baked Polish rye and other little goodies. The end result:

Lunch! Lightly buttered Polish rye, 2 different smoked meats and a light swiss. We added fresh sliced tomatoes from the garden, Polish dill pickle and a pinch of green onion. Smacznego!

xoxo,
Lo
We are indeed much more than what we eat, but what we eat can nevertheless help us to be much more than what we are. —-Adelle Davis

How to maintain your weight during the holidays...

Those articles always amuse me...especially the tip "to avoid over eating at a party simply have a healthy snack before you go". There's a problem with this...a flaw in the slaw...if I'm at a holiday party (or any party for that matter) and I like what I'm eating I'll continue to eat regardless if I'm "full" or if I've had a snack. I end up consuming more calories and defeating the entire point of the pre-game snack. I'll eat until I'm showing more (food) baby than Beyonce or until whatever I've been munching is gone. Is it a mis-fire in my brain? I get the message loud and clear that I should stop eating but I just don't want to. Does something not click that says "you're full step away from the shrimp" or am I just that good at ignoring the voice that says "you've had enough taco dip" "you're going to turn into a baby quiche"? To maintain my weight during the holidays maybe I'll just walk to the party and wear something flowy.

Spants

(dont) got milk?

Milk...how I loathe thee...your smell...your taste. You disgust me. Got milk? Not since 1989. That's the last time I can remember being forced to consume that vile substance-the lunch room in grade school-5th grade to be precise. There wasn't an incident involving milk that I can remember. I just don't like it. Sometimes I tell people that and they give me a look-it's the same look I get when I say I don't like Oprah...as though I had said I drown puppies. It's usually followed by "oh are you intolerant?" Yes...of milk..not lactose.

I do think I suffer from a sort of phobia-lactophopia-the fear of being near or consuming milk. The fact that I'm female and could one day produce a milk is enough to make me never want children. I cannot imagine. I'm getting a little gaggy thinking about milk and have a lump in my throat. I don't even like it on my hand-if I'm cooking and it gets on me or a small crusty mustached child comes near I have to move as far away as possible. If by some disasterous chance it touches me I have to wash my hands immediately. Got milk? Not near me you don't.

 I can cook with it as long as I can't taste it. I buy the smallest container possible-the "Milk Chug" or single serving plastic bottle. The cashier inevitably asks if I want to leave it out to take with me. Absolutely not and please double bag it. I'm not taking a chance of spillage in the car. I'd have to sell it. I eat cereal dry out of the bag. I look for baking mixes that don't require milk. I can tolerate ice cream or milk shakes as long as the smell of milk is masked by other flavors.

Drink a glass of milk? ...I'd rather watch Oprah.

Spants


 

A man's place is in the kitchen...

There's nothing that I find more attractive than a man who likes to cook and does it well. I picture myself with a foodie. We'll shop the Farmers' Market on the weekends and cook over a bottle of wine in our fabulous apartment with stainless steel appliances. I picture a lifestyle surrounded by food and friends-dinner parties, Sunday brunch, sips and dips for the game.

I dated a foodie once. He really set the bar. If only he had spent as much time on me as he did cooking... He was known for his Thanksgiving dinners and Christmas cookies although I was never included in the prep. He was serious about his food and its preparation. He'd get authentic Italian ingredients from The Hill in St. Louis, shopped the freshest produce at the Soulard Farmers' Market...and lived for Paula Dean marathons. My only regret is ending the relationship in the early Fall before he had a chance to prepare one last pumpkin cheesecake.

Spants

Vizzies (or "I don't have a clever title like Laura...")

Name: Vizzie’s

Location: Kenmore Ave, Tonawanda, NY

Claim to Fame: The $6 Burger

Food:  Said $6 Burger, only $2 more because I wanted bacon

Rating: 8.5 out of 10

So, technically, the $8.95 burger.  The meal consisted of a 1/2 lb. hunk of beef grilled and resting atop a toasted Costanza roll (the local King of rolls), with lettuce, cheddar, and bacon (tomatoes and onions optional for people who aren’t secretly 5 years old like I am.  What? They’re ICKY.)  With the burger came your choice of potato, macaroni salad, or pasta salad.  Seeing as I was already ruining my diet for this burger, I opted for the fries.  They were homemade and arrived in a heaping pile of greasy, salty goodness. Please see the below photo.  This was one of those burgers where, when down to the last few bites, you fight to swallow them with every fiber of your being, because you just can’t handle leaving anything left over.  The spices, salt, pepper, onion, garlic and I believe a hint of Worcestershire, accentuated the flavor of grilled beef, instead of trying to mask it, as so many do.  The taste of grilled beef is a work of art, don’t hide it!  The fries had clearly been fried in well-seasoned grease, and were perfumed with the flavors of a thousand batches of their forbearer fries.  Absolute deliciousness.

 

Why then, you ask, the 8.5 rating?  Well, there were a few problems.  While the overall burger was delicious, it was not cooked properly.  When asked, I specifically stated I wanted my burger done “medium.”  I do enjoy a pink burger, none of this well-done nonsense.  Plus, E. coli O157:H7 isn’t near as common as alarmists would have you believe.  Well worth the risk.  What arrived, however, was very much “medium well.”  Minus 0.5 points.  My eating partner’s burger did arrive her requested medium, however (see Vizzie up the Burger).  Secondly, the roll was not adequate for the burger.  Costanza rolls have an almost cult-like following in Buffalo, NY, and in any other case would have been an asset, but their standard roll size was just not enough to handle a half pound of grade A beef.  Also, even though I had been assured that my roll would be toasted, it was barely so.  The sliced side was hard, but there was no change in color to indicate it had been toasted.  In other words, it had been thrown on the grill for approximately 5 seconds, then removed. Minus another 0.5 points.  Lastly, the bacon.  Now, it takes a lot to ruin bacon.  Well, ok, it takes a lot to make bacon inedible, and thankfully, they did not reach this point.  But it was a mass in the center of the burger, clearly cooked hours beforehand and dehydrated to the point of a jerky-like existence from sitting in a stainless steel container on the grill all day.  Granted, I still ate it, because bacon is bacon and it takes a lot of abuse to make bacon taste bad, but it was not what I was expecting, or at least not for a $2-price increase.

Overall, the burger was delicious, was a decent price, and was accompanied by some incredible fries that I still mourn not being able to finish.  Vizzie’s was a dive, but as everyone knows and Guy Fieri has made a lot of money from, dives have the best food.  Would I have improved on a few things?  Absolutely.  Will I go back?  Absolutely. And this time, I’m gonna finish those damn fries. 

Oh, and there was a dill pickle.  A dill pickle always makes everything better (see Pickled cucumber for concise explanation of said edict).

Food IS culture!

I can do nothing but agree with my esteemed Spants.  I spent four years studying cultural anthropology before I realized I'd much rather study dead humans than live ones, but I walked away with a lesson I will never forget.  Food is more than fuel.  Food is life.  Food is family, friends, other people.  Food is modern Homo sapiens

So many times I've heard, "all social events include food!"  Or, "you eat more with other people.  Don't eat and skip those holidays pounds!"  No, thank you.  When one goes to a party, and one doesn't eat, one is immediately ostracized.  People will remain cordial, but will be thinking, "WHY is this person not eating?"  They may even question your physical (or mental) well-being.  It is more socially acceptable to be the person at the party who eats the entire bowl of shrimp cocktail than it is to be the person at the party who eats nothing.

Fire pit at Atiahara

Animal bones are found scattered around the earliest known human archaeological sites that contain evidence of fire pits.  They're found before any evidence of fire pits, in layers with Acheulean hand axes and hammer stones.  Whether that species of Homo hunted or scavenged his meat, cooked or ate it raw, he ate it with his contemporaries.  Fellow members of his social group.  Later, settlements featured other aspects of human culture--cave paintings, ornamental weapons and tools--and often, a fire pit and animal remains.  Humans ate together as they culturally advanced together.  How did we out-compete the Neanderthals?  We were better at getting food to feed a group than they were!

A potlatch.

Feasts and offerings of food are found in the the Vedas, the Pentatuch, and the Christian Bible.  Leviticus is a veritable text book on what Hebrews were allowed and not allowed to eat.  Vishnu has been described as only accepting food offerings prepared in a certain way (everyone has a picky friend).  Jesus attended a wedding feast and turned the water into wine (who doesn't like an open bar at a wedding?).  Native Americans of the Pacific Northwest held legendary potlatches, huge gatherings where food and gifts were presented to contemporaries to celebrate a fruitful harvest and show off one's wealth.  We have that today, the potluck, a concept that is well-known to almost everyone in the New World and has been written about as early as the 16th century.  Human culture and religion is rife with food.  From tator tots eaten in a high school cafeteria to filet mignon eaten to celebrated inking that lucrative business deal, we eat and live together. 

So why fight it?  You eat with friends just as you laugh with friends.  Go to that party starving and ready to fill your face.  Circle that buffet table knowing your friends will be doing the same.  Talk about how much weight you're gaining and how you can't believe you just polished off your fifth mini-quiche while you go for more meatballs.  Invite your bestie over for a home-cooked meal and a bottle of wine to gush about your favorite band.  Take out of town visitors to the most important tourist sites your city has to offer--its restaurants.  Raise your fork and your glass, then dive in for seconds and order dessert.

And don't scoff when you're with a group of people and someone immediately asks, "so, when are we eating?"

~Indianadelae

Vizzi up the Burger!

Back at the beginning of the year, when we decided to start this food blog, Jen and I started our quest for Buffalo’s best burger. Our first stop was Vizzi’s on Kenmore Ave. There was a big sign outside claiming that they have “Western New York’s Best Burger”… we’ll be the judge of that. From the outside it looks like a hole in the wall, crappy bar and pretty much confirmed my theory when we actually went inside. (See photographic evidence below) But, I heard about these huge burgers and I had to check them out for myself.

I wanted to stick with the standard cheeseburger so I didn’t get too adventurous with the menu. When the burger was set in front of me I think I heard a tiny choir of angels singing in the background. It was truly a sight to behold, and that first bite was heavenly. It was so big that I could barely bite into it! The burger was perfectly cooked, juicy and very tasty! Complemented by all the glorious toppings (cheese, lettuce, tomato, mayo, ketchup and mustard). Not to mention the pile of fresh cut seasoned French fries that were also delicious. Did I eat the entire ½ lb. burger myself? Of course. BUT, I will say it was a challenge. Those last few bites were forced in, only because I could not be so close to the finish line and fail! Plus it was soooo good… *drool*

 My only complaints, or critiques if you will, were that the bun was not big enough for such a substantial burger. And also I ended up getting the core of the lettuce on my burger, which was pretty disappointing. If I were one of “those people” I probably would’ve asked for new lettuce but I was too hungry to care at that point. Plus, if you put food in front of me you’ll have to pry it from my cold dead fingers to try and get it away from me once it’s in my possession. Hence the reason I don’t usually send food back… unless it would cause me bodily harm.

Overall, the Vizzi’s cheeseburger gets a solid 9/10. IF it had a bigger bun (hehe) and a good piece of lettuce, it would be a 10. No question. I could find nothing else wrong with this burger. It was absolutely delicious and I will definitely be going again. Mmm.

 ~Laura 

PS- Ignore my lame attempt at a Goo Goo Dolls reference in the title... I have issues.