Unrealistic Expectations
Occasionally people want to know what I do. It’s an awful question, and it’s one I will never ask of you. Because for a long long time I’ve held that people have a broader identity than the jobs they hold. But far too often we define both ourselves and others by their work.
Starting this blog was in part a response to needing to answer that question.
Now, I can say with a semi-straight face that I’m a writer. And while I do receive actual checks and other forms of compensation for my work, writing would not seem to be a sustainable long-term path for me. Who knows, things can change. Maybe I can find some way to make more money doing this.
In truth I’ve yet to fully triangulate my location between being a stay-at-home dad, an unemployed marketing guy, and an aspiring tastemaker. But realistically if the right opportunity came my way, I’d jump back into the labor pool and cross my name off the nefarious list of the long-term unemployed who are no longer looking for a job.
So no, I’m not actively looking, but I did happen to stumble upon something notable. It’s a food marketing job, and it’s for one of the better restaurant groups in the region. But it’s not for me. Actually, it’s not for anyone. Because they are looking for someone who doesn’t exist.
Sell Out Sunday – Stick and Go
I’m back in town for a few days. I desperately need some fresh laundry. I’m hungry for the August harvest from Roxbury Farm, which hopefully will start to include more tomatoes. And within hours of my arrival, Mrs. Fussy let me out of the house so that I could make a much needed trip to Trader Joe’s.
Saturday night, they ran out of cookie butter, and they were almost out of the Spanish Olive Oil I’d been looking forward to for months. Luckily I snagged a couple of the last remaining bottles. But the best news is that I don’t need to hoard them. I can go back to TJ’s whenever I want. That’s awesome.
There will be more on TJ’s later, but what was painfully obvious is that the patrons on Day Two didn’t quite know how to maneuver in a space that’s filled with other people. Despite having the widest aisles I’ve ever seen at a Trader Joe’s, they were clogged with carts and people mindlessly mulling around.
The key is to stick and go. Put your cart somewhere at the end of the aisle, dart down, get what you need, and then come back. But today isn’t about shopping strategies. Today is about sharing the press releases I’ve accumulated over the week: I’ve got news of a bacon event, local produce on a large scale, and the mystery of the great disappearing press release.
What a Difference a Year Makes
Today is a hard day to have a food blog in the Capital Region, especially if you happen to be hundreds of miles away from Wolf Road. Because today, that thoroughfare lined with chain restaurants and shopping plazas is the epicenter of the Albany food universe.
If I were in town, I would have woken up early and trudged my tired tush down to the Trader Joe’s parking lot, and hung out with the crazies who I suspect will be gathering before sunrise to be among the first inside the new store. The thing is that they aren’t crazy. It’s just that the desire for this market has been so deep, and it has been unfulfilled for so long, that the first opening of those doors will be a magnificent release.
Surely to many, stepping foot in our very own Trader Joe’s will bring palpable feelings of joy so strong that it might approach ecstasy. Others will want to see what all the fuss is about and will come just to check it out. I fall firmly into the former category, and when I finally do step foot in the shop (I’m hoping to do so on Sunday), I suspect that despite the horrific parking, it will be difficult to wipe the silly grin off my face.
Do you want to hear something funny? August 3 is an auspicious date. Okay, that’s not actually funny at all, but I’ll tell you why I would say say such a thing.
Ask the Profussor – Farm Life
Things are quiet down on the farm. Maybe a little too quiet. In the past few days I’ve found myself on the Twitter trying to create a run on cookie butter at the Trader Joe’s opening, weighing in on what strangers should have for lunch, and deciding if I were a bird what kind of bird would I be.
But I’ve also been hammering out some of the details about the ice cream sandwich showdown with the Saratoga Idiots. And I had a great conversation with Brian Bowden. There are some great pictures on deck for the upcomming Eat This! next week on All Over Albany that have the farm as a thematic backdrop. Don’t tell AOA Greg. I want it to be a surprise.
You would think with all this free time that I’d be able to answer reader questions as they came in. But I haven’t. So here is the regular round up of unanswered questions. Today I give them the response they deserve, because that’s my commitment to you all. All questions, provided they were asked using proper punctuation, eventually get answered.
Now let’s get hopping.
Smashing Eggs
Congratulations to Burnt My Fingers and Fuddley for winning the All Good Bakers egg and cheese sandwich on a bialy giveaway. Irisira also won a sandwich, but you already knew that.
You know what else you seem to know?
That eggs raised locally on a small scale are better than those raised in gigantic factory farm operations, even if the latter happen to be close to home. Well Stevo isn’t convinced. And he’s actually far from alone. But I have to say that I think this has been the best contest yet on the FLB. Not necessarily because of the value of the prize or the volume of the response. But because your entry comments were truly illuminating.
I know you all are busy, and probably didn’t have time to quantify the comments left last week to learn about your fellow FLB readers. But I did. And I’ve been doing a little bit of follow up research regarding eggs as well. Oh boy. I wish I could unlearn what I discovered.
First the good news.
Read more…
Sell Out Sunday – Cheeses, Beers & Jeers
How the summer of 2012 turned into one endless vacation is a mystery. Actually it has been a string of mini-vacations that just keeps on keeping on. I still have another week in Pennsylvania, which is good because I have yet to try the new farm to table restaurant in Bedford County. But I popped in to look at the menu, and it is charming.
After a few days to recover, I’ll be off to East Hampton. So I’ll have to get my white linen pants clean. But seriously, the only thing I want to do while I’m there is get some fried chicken from this place my aunt and her chef friend rave about. Then it’s off again to Providence and another edition of WaterFire. Maybe this time I can swing a trip to The Dorrance.
In the meantime, life goes on in Albany. I’m scheduled to talk with Chef Brian at Creo about his grassfed steer on Monday night. So if you have any burning questions, let me know. The egg and cheese contest just ended, so I’ll be double checking the responses and letting Random.org pick two winners. More on that Monday. What about the winner for Outstanding in the Field? Well that news is included in this roundup of letters, emails and press releases from the week.
Soda’s Sweet Spot
Keep your laws of my soda. If the state can regulate the size of a soft drink, just think about what they could do to cocktails. Or perhaps the grams of saturated fat anyone could be served at a restaurant. Life would be so sad if New York took my deep fried Buffalo burger away from me. Granted it’s a very special treat and I only have one every eighteen months or so, but I would miss it terribly.
Still, I understand where regulators come from. Something must be done.
Recently I was at the mall and observed an alarming interaction between a small girl and someone who appeared to be her grandmother. The adult casually handed the girl a giant cup of soda. How giant? It was about the size of her forearm and four times as wide around. My guess is that it must have been 32 ounces of soda.
And far from being amazed by her newfound bounty of liquid candy, the little girl blithely slipped the straw in her mouth and started sucking as she walked. It was clearly apparent that this was not a special treat for either of them. No smiles were cracked. There was no noticeable joy. This was an everyday act of hydration.
Now there is no reason to think that this skinny little girl is on the fast track to obesity. But at the same time, this normalizing of soda as something to drink whenever you are thirsty, could indeed cause long term problems. Maybe not now. But perhaps later as her metabolism slows down. And if not for her, then for others like her.
Fear not, the soda industry is working on solutions.
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