The Girl Who Ate Everything

As you can see, I haven't updated this blog in a while. I felt like it's been much longer than it's actually been, but...it's been rocky. First off, thanks for the comments; I had no idea other people besides Amy and Lee Anne read this blog. ;)

You wouldn't know what's been going on lately unless you've read my LJ, which you haven't because then you'd think I'm insane. Unless you really love me or something. Anyway, what's been going on is that I've been banning all the foods I shouldn't be eating, which means no wheat or rice (that's been going on for nearly two months). However, I decided to ease on that a bit, so instead I'd ban bread, things made of bread, things wrapped in bread/similar things, cake (no matter what it's made of), cookies (ditto) and...those things. Basically, I had to cut out pastries because I was eating too many. It's not that I shouldn't eat wheat as pastries can be made out of non-wheat ingredients. It's the food that was "bad" for me, not the ingredients so much...

I ate some kind of awful salad this morning at the South Street Seaport for almost $5. It was a culinary catastrophe. But I met up with Vassar friends so it was fine. :) Note to self: don't buy ANY FOOD from the South Street Seaport unless it's chocolate.

I thought about it and...two days a week I shouldn't just eat cooked food, but any cooked food. As in, I should open up to that thing called wheat! And rice. To some degree. I'm not sure what the degree is...

...okay, rethink that. Basically I'll forget about restrictions if something is supposed to be wildly good. I must go to Dumpling House, which goes against the "don't eat things wrapped in wheat" rule but my desire to go has overtaken my qualms to not go. But no other dumplings shall be eaten, only ones from that place. I just have to choose really carefully and hopefully I won't develop a psychosis. My Monday plan: with Diana in tow, try those dumplings then head to Il Laboratorio del Gelato. A good way to spend a Monday, especially after having a midterm I'm likely to fail.

...yeah, what AM I doing? I think two days a week for fooding is reasonable. I don't feel too fat at the moment; it's a good thing. I still think I shouldn't major in food studies though...I mean, I am still restricted, but it makes those two special days more special.

This week signified my 9th week without cakes, cookies, rice, bread...all those kinds of things. I didn't go insane, but the overall restriction and my food phobia drove me to come up with a more reasonable diet as noted in my last entry:

• I can go out with friends to eat almost whatever I want two times a week maximum (I'd need a really good reason to go over that; for example, the coming of the Apocalypse)
• When eating out, only try something known to contribute to ill health/heart disease/diabetes/sugar coma if I REALLY want it
• For the other five days, I should eat a mainly raw diet, probably consisting of fruit and honey, with exceptions made for chocolate because...oh, like I need to explain

Today I met up with Diana to go fooding after doing my research on dumpling places in Chinatown on eGullet and chowhound (both very addictive websites, by the way). I was excited since I actually had an enjoyable Monday and I haven't had dumplings in ages. I cut out anything wrapped in wheat during my "NO WHEAT" phase (but I did cheat with foods that contained flour when I had fish pudding and okonomiyaki).

I heard Dumpling House was good so we walked up to the somewhat creepy and deserted street that is Eldridge to come across a not too crowded place. We must've walked in a millisecond before the dumpling obsessed LES-ers were called by the dumpling whistle because it was suddenly packed. Diana was able to order her dumplings before everyone else came in and I was left wondering how I was supposed to order anything.

I know Chinese places aren't known for service. In fact, it would be abnormal to find one that had good service, as sad as that is for me to say. You just don't expect much (I don't at least). I'm embarassed by my sensitivity because...I'm hyper sensitive. There's no point in explaining my sensitivity but waiting there and noticing that other people that came in after me already had their orders destroyed my appetite. Honestly, standing there made any desire for fried dumplings disappear. If you know me well, that's amazing.

So Dumpling House might have good dumplings, but I don't know and I have no desire to go there again. It's not like they lost any business from me. If you go, just shout your order to them over and over again or something.

However, not all was lost as I was also on a mission for cupcakes, specifically at Sugar Sweet Sunshine. I went there before with Diana but I didn't try the cupcakes since I was still on the no-wheat thing. On the way I wanted to stop by Fried Dumpling for a different cheap dumpling fix and thankfully, they weren't crowded.

fried dumplings

$1.50 later I had five yummy num fried pork dumplings and a hulking slice of scallion pancake that I couldn't even finish (I just finished it now while typing this). The dinner can't make any health claims but I don't think you can do any better for $1.50. It's my new favorite "cheap eat".

I haven't had pancakes in ages. I thought of going to Kitchenette this morning with Diana this morning but due to the craptacular weather (snow balls were being pelted down by sky demons) and laziness I opted to lie in bed for longer than I had planned. (I also need to check out Clinton Street Bakery's pancakes.)

Country Pancake House

Going home to New Jersey means I take the bus to Ridgewood. What's in Ridgewood? Country Pancake House! There are more reviews here and even though I've only had pancakes there three times, they were never remotely undercooked and the service was fast and not rude. I wonder what happened when these people were there, it's a shame. I can't remember what the food at IHOP is like so I can't compare, but the portions at this pancake house are ridiculous.

four pancakes that could engulf babies

Pancakes cost about $6-$8 so it's not like you're getting cheated out of anything. Just take the extra pancakes home (in my case, I ate 1 and 1/4th pancakes, but I also ate two pieces of complimentary cornbread and some of my dad's food) and eat them FOREVER. I got coconut and carrot pancakes, which are damn tasty if you like coconut and carrots, and the pancakes themselves are...well, you can see the photo. They're light, thick, fluffy, and not too sweet (I generally don't put syrup on my pancakes because i don't like my pancakes soggy). I would've liked for there to be more coconut and carrot in the pancake so I suppose I can try making them myself.

When I got home my mum ate the other 3/4ths of the pancake I started eating and I just ate another pancake as a midnight snack! While fresh, warm pancakes are lovely, cold ones are addictive as well and you can easily eat em with your hands. I have no willpower. :( That leaves just one pancake for tomorrow, dammit.

Oh, I ate a lot for dinner as well. [sigh]

okonomiyaki from Mitsuwa

I didn't finish it, at least. That was one HUGE okonomiyaki from the always awesome Mitsuwa in Edgewater. I've been going to Mitsuwa for most of my waking life (it used to be Yaohan) and I had never tried the okonomiyaki until now. Mm. I pretty much spent all day eating pancake! I have a feeling I'm going to break down in a few days, if not sooner, for the sin I have commited. But I feel alright now. Except that my organs are going to explode...

I'm eating a leftover pancake right now. Should I be eating a leftover pancake? No. Should I ever eat pancakes? Probably not. As usual I'm back to that idea that I shouldn't come home because I eat too much, and that's what happened. There are two jars of plain dark chocolate in the frige and I ate some last night in addition to a leftover pancake. That plus chugging more than half a liter of water and eating...probably something else left me feeling sickly. Retreating to my bedroom I thought, "Remember how badly you feel right now and hopefully you won't eat like that again," but I'm eating my pancake now. Because it's there.

I can't be around a LOT of food. When I'm in my dorm I only have honey and fruit, pretty much. I can overeat those but it's not as bad as overeating...chocolate. I shouldn't keep any food in my dorm but I guess that's a bit unreasonable.

Anyway, not super depressed at the moment but the food thing is going to keep me from coming home more than i have to. And I don't see why I'd have to come home next month since I don't have a vacation. And I have to deal with this when I go back to my dorm...

I hate how I'll feel fine one moment and then be so conflicted the next about eating that it just brings...everything down.

I'll be fine later.

Okay, so this morning wasn't very good for food. I'm still a bit "ehhh" because I just CANNOT stay at home surrounded by abundant food (or edible substances). Actually, it's not so much the abundance but that there's chocolate in the fridge, and it's the good kind (Valrhona "feve" dark chocolate oval discs).

I bought a small package of natto yesterday. I heard that it smelled and tasted awful, so of course, I had to try it. What's the verdict?

yum?

Natto doesn't smell as bad as I thought it would (or maybe the smell wasn't strong because it was cold) but it tastes like...um. It tastes bad. I can't even describe it; it's just not pleasant. It's not necessarily bitter or sweet, it's just NATTO.

I tried it plain on top of rice and at first couldn't taste anything. And then it hit me, "it" being "the natto taste" which is just. Just. ...if you're curious enough, just buy some. I put some of the included mustard sace on it but it didn't help. Then I put some soy sauce on it and that did nothing. No sauce could save it. Definitely an acquired taste, or maybe a taste some people are born with. It's kind of cool to see the spider-web-like threads that appear when you lift some of the beans off the NATTO PILE but that's about it.

There are a lot of foods I wouldn't choose to eat but wouldn't mind eating. Natto is the only food I can think of at the moment that a lot of people eat but I plain do not like nor can find anything good about. Maybe I need to try a different kind of natto, but...but. Oh, I burped sometime after eating the natto and my burp TASTED LIKE NATTO. I can't think of any other burp that had ever tasted so bad. The unpleasantness of burping eggs or sardines was like walking through a bed of spring flowers compared to the natto.

Overall, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be but it definitely wasn't good. At least it didn't make mem nauseous.

This chowhound post says, "Enough with all these homestyle bakeries." I understand the point this person is making but I'm not going to bake one cupcake. If I bake cupcakes I'll end up baking a bunch of them, which is bad because I'll end up eating all them. I'd also have to buy all the ingredients and if you look in my fridge I STILL have flour from last fall that I bought to make scones and I never needed again. I also needed to buy sugar to make those scones and I barely used any of it. However, I did start to eat the sugar plain, resulting in me having to throw out the bag of sugar.

For me, it's a waste to try and bake my own stuff because I either won't use all the ingredients or I'll be prone to eating everything. On the upside, if I make my own stuff then I know all the ingredients. I spent a crapload of money buying ingredients for banana pudding (partially because real vanilla beans cost...a bit) that would've been much cheaper to buy from a bakery but I guess the ingredients wouldn't have been as good. I definitely overate banana pudding by making it myself though.

I rather like American homestyle bakeries, which is weird because my family didn't make American food or bake much at all. My mother never made cakes or cookies and when we did buy pastries they were usually European patisserie type things. Since living in NYC I've craved homey foods and I have no idea why. The food doesn't even remind me of home. It's just...well, it's comforting as this post says. But what's also weird is that besides that my mum didn't make this stuff when I was a kid I didn't even crave cookies or cupcakes when I was little. There's no void to fill -- I just found out that I really like this kind of food.

Anyway. I hate food. Today I ate two persimmons, an orange, and some other things I'd rather not say. Things I shouldn't have eaten. I spent the weekend at home and after feeling bad on Sunday, pigged out. I don't want to go home now because I know I'll probably eat too much.

The question people ask me the most is "Well, can't you just stop eating so much?" It's an easy question. Like "If you don't do well in school can't you just try harder? Or grow a new brain?" Yeah, just like that.

It's my problem. I hate it. I don't want to go out. I don't want to bring money outside with me or I might buy something and that would be the end of the world. I still feel too fat and unhealthy to eat anything.

I'll probably just sleep in tomorrow. Yay, vacation.

I love Whole Foods. I shopped there the most in NJ because it was nicer than any other supermarket within the same distance. The Whole Foods at Union Square in Manhattan just opened and looking at Kill The Bird's photoessay I'm very, very, very glad I didn't go because I'd probably go crazy from sensory overload brought on by free samples or I'd die from eating the free samples...

Today I have so far eaten nothing. (looks at watch) In a few hours I'll have fasted for 24 hours. Oh well, I feel fine. I'm still in my PJs though. That's not good. I have to change.

NYC Chowhound links:

Green sandwich refrigerator experiment - I've gotten this sandwich a few times (I never knew it was simply called a green sandwich) and it's really good. I figure it has MSG or something magical in it to taste so good.
Lower East Side food itinerary - I passed Katz's Deli for the first time last night. I've neverh ad pastrami though (not knowingly) so I haven't been interested in going there. I'm not big on meat in general. I want to try Yonah Schimmel's someday though, in addition to Kossar's and Donut Plant. Some day. (sigh) Another LES tour: cityrag.

I shouldn't be reading this stuff seeing as I don't even want to go outside in fear of FOOD. Yesterday I ate three navel oranges and six persimmons. THAT'S A LOT OF FOOD! However, I wanted to eat a bag of sugar. Don't ask me why. Today I woke up at 2 PM (went to bed after 5 AM) and have so far eaten one navel orange, one persimmons, and three dumplings. Yup, I gave into the dumplings that have been sitting in my freezer since the beginning of January, or perhaps the end of December. They're still yummy. :\

If you've never heard of the Japanese chocolate-dipped cookie stick snack Pocky before then you live in a ditch. Or something.

I had never seen Pocky commercials in my life until now. Dan�s Horrendous Waste of Bandwidth links to some Pocky commercials and while commercials generall suck overall, these just make me think "WTF?" Yes, as in double-you tee eff. Hm. I didn't need advertising to make me buy Pocky. AHH! These ads almost make me want to not buy Pocky. I haven't actually eaten Pocky in ages (years maybe?).

Oh well. No Pocky until I lose more weight. I'm shooting for about 10 pounds, which I'll probably never reach, which means I'll just go insane. HOORAY.

---

update from boingboing:

A note on your post about sex selling Pocky -- a thick layer of irony is being missed here. The stars of the commercial are a female comedy duo called Othello who are clearly hamming it up like crazy, in Japanese that's phrased to sound like mock-sexy French, if you can get your lobes around that.

So I had a pretty nice day, as far as my days go (and they're usually not good). I wasted a crapload of time at Japanese Snacks.com, thinking that I could buy something tomorrow in Chinatown after getting a haircut (I really need a haircut so I'm gonna chop off 3 inches or so and hope that $20 will get me a good haircut). Looking at all the snacks made me nostalgic and Japanese candy-hungry. Examples of stuff I used to eat all the time:

• Super Lemon: Really sour stuff. I think my brother remembers these. I have NO idea why we ate these so much as I don't even like sour candy. Kids are weird.
• Kasugai Gummies: Best gummies ever. They don't look or taste artificial (well, as far as gummies go) and they tower above any other type of gummy candy out there. I've probably had every flavor. They also come in cute little packs in which the gummies aren't individually wrapped.
• Milky: I didn't eat these all the time but I clearly remember the cute rectangular metal boxes it came in and the orange and red wrappings. I can picture in my mind the little candies sitting in the box and for some reason it's a pleasant thought...I have no idea what I'm talking about, it's just a feeling.
• Koala Cookies: My family would buy the BIG packs of this, as in the huge containers that had 12 or so little packs inside. Of course, if I bought one of those today (can't say I've seen em) I'd eat the whole thing. I don't know how I ate as a child but I guess I had more restraint than I do now.
• Kinoko no Yama: I think I've only had this once or twice when I was little but they were so good that I STILL REMEMBER THEM. I'm sure it was more than 10 years ago I actually tried this. Anyhoo, even if they don't taste really good they're so cute that you'll think they taste really good.
• Yan Yan: I don't think I ate this very much but I'm mentioning it because it's quintessential. I don't think I'm into dipping my own cookie sticks, but it's kind of fun.
• Shrimp Chips: I'm not a huge fan of shrimp and these chips probably don't taste that good (or much like shrimp) but since they remind me of childhood I like them. I can't compare them to anything else. Another good snack is Calbee's Potato Sticks or something like that. I distinctly remember eating an entire bag one time (damn MSG) when I was in elementary school and the salt made my mouth hurt all day. That's probably why I only did it once.

I've been told that I have to try Melty Kiss. I also want to try Giant Pocky...has anyone had it? I've seen it but was never curious enough to buy it as the box is quite huge and...scary. Oh, I didn't even mention Pocky in my above list because I don't recall eating it a lot as a kid. That IS the main Japanese snack that most people would know, I think.

Oh, to the crappy point of my post, I was feeling somewhat excited about trying something or eating something besides fruit but after trying on a pair of pants that I'm quite sure fit at some point, I'm rather disgusted with my desire to eat at all. Of course, I'm human and I'll want to eat, but what the heck happened to those pants? They didn't shrink sitting in my closet. I haven't worn them in a while but I'm somewhat sure I bought them pre-raw foodist which means they should fit. At the moment, I don't see how they could've fit even when I was a raw foodist. I did lose a lot of weight though.

...and god knows how. Well. BY EATING FRUIT. And junk. I did end up gaining some weight after a while on raw food but not nearly as much as when I started eating cooked food. I have no experience with being addicted to smoking or alcohol but this whole food thing has got to be the worst as humans have to eat at some point (most of them at least) while humans don't have to smoke or drink (or do drugs, blahdeedah) and I think everyone accepts the act of eating while the other acts...not so much depending on where you are. Anyway. I don't know what to do.

I was also thinking how much fun it would be to go to Mitsuwa after finding their bus schedule (30 minutes from port authority, $2 each way!), maybe relive some fun moments with Jen or anyone who would care to come with me from NYC but...gah. I might go nuts. Not from the candy but that place is just full of good food not to mention books and stationery.

I guess I'll stay inside tomorrow aside from the haircut. Pray for me, hope I don't buy Pocky or any other candy or go insane just thinking about it. This is what I mean when I say that just when I think everything will be okay, it ...goes to crap. Or semi-crap. The thing is that it happens so much (weekly to biweekly basis) that I should be used to it by now, but I'm not. I don't think I'll ever be happy with myself but if I could eliminate 5+ pounds I'd feel a little better. In the meantime I'll continue wearing my brother's old pants (because they're comfy and I needed pants) and my 4 year old men's cashmere hoodie (because it's gigantic and I think I like baggy clothes more now than I did before).

Crap, I have to do homework.

green sammich of Asian origin!

First off, I've been eating a lot lately. Or today (but today counts as lately). After going to Chinatown on a mission to get a haircut for the first time since August I bought a green sandwich by the East Broadway mall. The last time I had one was in December. STILL DELICIOUS. Why is it so delicious? The bun is chewy and soft, the vegetables are crunchy and have a sharp, spicy taste from somewhere (aka, I have no clue but I don't think it's illegal) and it costs $1.

After strolling around the Manhattan Bridge I came across a supermarket. Mrrh? Under the bridge? Inside the supermarket (which is called New York Supermarket--I kid you not) sprouted a FESTIVAL OF CANNNDYYY (can you tell why I don't go to supermarkets?) resulting in much candy photo taking and total consumption of a box of banana Pocky.

Banana Pocky

For those who read this journal and know me (you know...both of you), I might do a full 360 and feel like killing myself soon. But wait, I'M NOT DONE! THE FOODING IS NOT OVER! (WHY AM I SHOUTING?!)

I'm shouting because I tried a new food today. It wasn't pig brains (oooh, some day) but it was new to me. Behold: THE KNISH. I'm not up on my Jewish foodstuffs (but I did go to a friend's seder once, resulting in the worst food coma I've ever experienced in my life...of course, it was worth it) so here's some info courtesy of What's Cooking America:

knish - The knish is a pastry of Jewish origin consisting of a piece of dough that encloses a filling of seasoned mashed potatoes. Basically they are a mashed potato pie. When sold by the street corner vendors in New York City, they are fried and square shaped. The baked ones are usually round shaped, and are usually made at home and some knish bakeries.

History: Eastern European Jews developed the knish. During the early 1900s, when hundreds of thousands of Eastern European Jews Emigrated to America and settled in New York City, they brought with them their family recipes for knishes. Knishes were made at home until Yonah Schimmel, a rabbi from Romania, began to sell them at Coney Island in New York City, and also from a pushcart on the Lower East Side. In 1910, he opened his original knish bakery located on East Houston Street.

[As for the name of that website, "What's Cooking America", is that questioning as to what is cooking the entire country? Like what kind of pot is cooking America? A huge one? At first I thought it was like "What's Cooking, America" but then there'd be a comma. There is no comma; I have been foiled. Maybe America is cooking in a foil pouch.]

As I was at the Sunshine Cinema to see Steamboy (and to get away from food for a sec, this movie was awesome and you should see it if you like Japanese stuff and watching things explode) I couldn't help but notice the warm glow of the Yonnah Schimmel Knishery.

it glows

Don't tell me you wouldn't be pulled in? Oh, wait...

there's so many

I stared at those for a while before buying my movie ticket. And then I returned and stared some more. After I saw a woman enter, I hopped right in.

Since it was around 9:40 PM there weren't tons of choices but I asked the server for a sweet one and ended up with blueberry cheese. She popped it in the microwave for a while and $3 later I owned a paper bag. ...with a pillow of blueberry cheese knish goodness. I thought I could eat it in the theater before the movie started but I stayed outside waiting for a friend. After maybe two seconds I thought, "Screw it" and dug into the knish.

You don't really dig into a knish though. Since it was warm, I had the feeling it was going to explode. Thankfully, it did not. What it did do was extrude warm, creamy cheese with a bit of blueberry in soft dough and I wish I remembered it better but I ate it hours ago and my memory sucks. What I DO remember is thinking, "HOLY SHIT THIS IS SO GOOD, CAN I EAT THIS EVERY DAY?!?!?!" It's only a 35 minute walk from my dorm, but I know a 2-3 mile round trip probably wouldn't erase the calories.

It was good. Ooh. I guess it wouldn't be that good if it were room temperature but it won me over as essentially being a huge, sweet dumpling with so much filling that its presence in my hand was akin to holding a water balloon, if the water balloon were made of dough and was full of cheese. You know, that kind of balloon.

I'm probably describing it incorrectly but I was enamored by this knish to the 10000th degree. I guess it's because I didn't have anything to compare it to, but now I don't want any other knish. Ever! Unless someone tells me it's really good.

Oh, the best part about all this is that I didn't finish my knish. This is GOOD because I tend to overeat everything and go out of control. Due to walking into the movie late and the movie getting out late I didn't want to finish the knish, so I'm saving it for later. Mmm.

From The Amateur Gourmet: Do other food bloggers exercise? After reading that I feel a little bit better about my lack of exercise, or at least not as guilty. I've come to the conclusion that walking a few miles a day does JACK SQUAT for me health-wise but I should do it anyway. In fact, it might lead to me twitching on the sidewalk in a fit of wheezing as I tend to get asthma depending on the weather and how much my lungs hate me that day. I think I've heard that exercise is good for asthma but if exercise gives you asthma, it doesn't help. The only way I "cured" my asthma was by eating a raw food diet but I guess that was because there was hardly anything bad for me to ingest.

In a few days, or perhaps tomorrow, I'm going to realize that all the food I've been indulging in has attached itself to my waist or thighs and go insane. JUST A WARNING.

A friend told me that when he was younger everything he ate seemed to burn off quickly. In case you couldn't tell, this is the complete opposite of me. Anything I eat immediately congeals to the layer of fat underneath my skin (I guess just about all of the human body is underneat the skin...anyway) and the only way to lose weight is to either not eat anything, stay below 500 calories a day, or chop off an arm. It's not cool.

Oh, I finished the knish this morning after warming it in the oven. Man, that thing is filling. If I just ate that every day....okay, no.

failed moment of craftiness

I spent the last Saturday night of my spring break making this. Oh, sadness. It's a good thing it's smiling, as that makes me feel a little better about it NOT REALLY LOOKING LIKE A CUPCAKE.

By the way, it's supposed to be a cupcake. I'm going to try and make a felt steamed bun. Hopefully that will be easier!

If you make REAL cupcakes, check out IMMB #13 My Little Cupcake at I was just really very hungry.

...was not today. But it was yesterday, so I'll fill you in on that.

After my 4:45 PM class I decided I needed more knish. Those bloated baked balls of happiness just won't go away. Back to Yonah Schimmel's I went.

gotta slice the knish, it's too BIG

And I have to eat it with a fork

I reheated it in the oven for about 15 minutes at 350 degrees. Mm mm. They use a microwave to heat them up if you want but microwaves suck the crap (I haven't voluntarily used on in years, figuring everything can be reheated by steaming, baking, frying...and other stuff). Re-baking made it so good. In retrospect, it didn't have lots of flavor but as I'm not well versed in the world of knishes I have no idea how flavorful it's supposed to be. I like it anyhoo.

Which reminds me; I tried an egg cream yesterday for the first time. I somehow got interested in trying one despite not being much of a beverage lover and from the chowhound thread on egg creams I decided to go to Gem Spa. While it was a nice drink, I don't see what's very special about it. It tastes exactly like what it's made of (seltzer, chocolate syrup, milk) but no flavor dominates, which might be good, unless you're a chocoholic like me. I'd like to drink melted chocolate ice cream. :) It was worth trying though, just kind of odd for tasting a bit like soda, chocolate and somewhat creamy yet no single thing at once.

I roamed around Chinatown on the way down from Yonah Schimmel's and got a random staple Chinatown bakery item.

coconut pudding tart thingy?

I never had it before, although I can say the same about most Chinatown desserts. A lot of them are similar though (like buns) but this one is a bit different. If you like coconut, TRY THIS! It's like a macaroon in a pastry shell with some pudding at the bottom, kind of. I heated that in the oven also or it wouldn't have tasted nearly as good.

And I took silly photos because I like to play with my food.

Cream Collon!

Cream Collon is so good. Dammit! DAMN!

Today I went on a little fooding tour with my brother, Bert, and longtime friend from middle school, Jesse. They didn't care where we went just as long as we did something so I took them to Great NY Noodletown, a restaurant I've never been to but have heard of a lot.

fried noodles

I heard the noodles were really good (which would make sense). Unfortunately, I didn't get to try any. Jesse ordered noodles and I had also, kind of; due to a mix up I just ended up with beef stew (as opposed to beef stew with lo mein) and I didn't feel like eating after that. That ONLY happens in Chinese restaurants! It's because the not-so-great service makes me feel bad, like I really shouldn't be eating there because they'd rather not have my patronage. Oh well. I might try it again later though.

Then we went to the Doughnut Plant because it was close by and IT'S CALLED THE DOUGHTNUT PLANT.

DONUTS!

It was a very small place (well, the storefront) and they didn't seem to have loads of doughnuts but they had the chocolate glazed one I wanted. Bert and Jesse got churros because they were too full for doughnuts. The doughnut costed $2...! But as I hardly ever eat doughnuts I don't see the harm in a little splurge.

I like the chocolate doughnut, oh yes

The doughnut was very soft and airy. As I just said, I don't eat doughnuts much so I don't know what a good doughnut is supposed to taste like. What I DO know is that they shouldn't taste like dense cake, which is what the ones my dad used to buy would taste like, thus fueling my un-desire for doughnuts since childhood. This doughnut was yummy and I want another one and OH GOD it would take the place of the knish in my food obsessed heart if I didn't think it would also clog my heart.

We weren't too far from Sugar Sweet Sunshine, so guess where we went next. JUST GUESS! I dare ye.

hellooo cupcake!

Bert and Jesse didn't get anything since they were full. Do you sense my dilemma? Can you see why I have bouts of insanity every so often? I can eat and not feel full. Then again, I didn't really eat anything for lunch (I only ate a bit of the beef stew and some of Jesse's veggies) but even if I had I would've still been able to eat the cupcake. The cupcake was tasty, moist, not too sweet, a hint of chocolate, but I wasn't very into the icing. I want to try all the cupcakes they sell and I heard the sexy red velvet was good, but I guess it's just not my cup of tea. I would've liked a more flavorful icing (and perhaps more icing on the cake).

We went to the new Union Square Whole Foods, which I had also visited the day before, because it's there and it's WHOLE FOODS and going there is like a new experience every time. ...wow, that sounds like a really lame slogan. But really, I've been to six Whole Foods by now (three in Manhattan, two in NJ, one in St. Louis) and it's always fun. They all have the same food, some more than others, and have different layouts. I like the Union Square one but sadly, it has gotten to the point where I realize I can get this stuff in NJ and if I'm in NYC surrounded by a plethora of specialty food stores, I may as well go to them instead of Whole Foods. The reason I'd go to Whole Foods so much in NJ was because there weren't many choices. They had the best pastries and nicest produce section. Now I just go to Chinatown for produce (because where else can I buy a tray of persimmons?) and bakeries are EVERYWHERE. But I was on an eating splurge, so...

lemon, coconut, white chocolate cookie

I got a cookie while we were sitting on the second floor eating area. I never had a cookie with such a combination of flavors before and it worked well. Yummers.

Lastly (can't believe this isn't over yet, eh?) I went to Win49 on Allen St after my 9 PM class. They proclaim that they sell "homey Japanese food" on their sign so I was intrigued. Also, Yonah Schimmel's wasn't open. Anyhoo, the food is homey and I'm sure I'll go there again. During class I had wanted cold soba noodles and they had it right there for me.

<

mm, noods

I guess I ate too much today. I wonder when I'll start to go insane.

Or my dorm, rather. My RA (plus another floor) set up a free meal at Chikalicious! I signed up ASAP, of course. I've never been there but have heard about it many times. Since 10 of us are going we're going to practically fill the whole place, meaning we'll get there as soon as it opens and then feast on teeny little desserts. I can't wait!

Today I ate two meals at M2M on 3rd Ave and 11th. I already loved that place but even more so now that they opened up the seating area and have a new sushi/Japanese food bar. I just got sushi from the prepared food section though.

vegetable sushi

Lunch consisted of "vegetable" sushi and dinner consisted of eel sushi and a daifuku (glutinous rice with red bean filling--I was craving one). It's weird that I suddenly decided to have sushi twice in one day as I don't recall eating sushi since December and that was because a friend requested we eat Japanese food. Japanese food was my favorite before I went on my raw food diet and I think I'm rediscovering it. A sushi roll is perfect; not too expensive, includes the major food groups, and isn't overly filling but filling enough.

Too bad I nearly spent $10 today. Obviously I can't do that every day or I'll spent $300 on food a month! I can do better than that. But do I want to? :\

No, not me. Gothamist! They had fun with Easter candy and wow, even I'm not that nuts. I hope nobody puked, although I guess it would only look marginally worse coming up than going down.

Funnily enough (because I don't do the following very often), I went to Duane Reade today because I needed q-tips (for a craft project, hopefully you'll see it later) and picked up a Cadbury creme egg as I'm sure I've never had one before. What I DO remember is seeing the commercial when I was very little that involved a bunny laying the creme egg and someone cracking the egg every so slowly to let the "yolk" and "white" ooze hyponotically. Knowing it was fake made it more appealing somehow. ...to me, at least. If it were real that would be nasty.

That must've been one damn good commercial for me to have remembered it for so long. However, it didn't make me buy any creme eggs until now, so it received a delayed reaction.

Oh, I've never had a marshmallow peep to my knowledge. [thinks]...nah, really can't think of a time I ever had one. If I ever ingested one of those brightly colored substances bordering on "food" then it would've been in elementary school, which was an eon ago, give or take a century. I'm assuming they're like marshmallows though and after eating some individually wrapped Japanese marshmallows, I realized that I really only like "homemade" type marshmallows. I've been spoiled. However, if they taste different enough from marshmallows so that I could appreciate them, let me know.

I have a crapload of photos to show you lovely Internet people. SOOON!

Early this afternoon I headed to the East Village to meet up with other people in my dorm for a free dorm-sponsored meal at Chikalicious. On the way I meant to stop at Moishe's Bakery since...it was on the way. I had just heard of it a few days ago and figured, "Hey, I can fit in more fooding."

I got a hanmantashen because I had heard of them just recently, had never eaten one before and THEY ARE CUTE. The bakery had craploads of em so I bought a large poppy seed one (first thinking it was chocolate) for the kingly sum of $1.50. I've rarely had anything with poppy seed in it before and as for a cookie FILLED with poppy seed, it was...

ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS! HOOYEAH! Yesterday's favorite new food was the French cruller (which I didn't talk about yet but I will soon); today, it's the hamantashen. Why was it so good? I don't know. Maybe it wasn't really that good, but I've never had one before so I have nothing to compare it to. And nevermind that, you'd have to be crazy to not like this baked good. My tastebuds said "YES, MORE" upon being hit with the crumbly, buttery texture and slight orange flavor (I didn't know it was orange until I looked up the recipe). Oh, the poppy seed filling was yummy too. It didn't taste really distinct but as I said, I haven't had much poppy seed stuff before. My best description would be that it tasted poppy and seedy. ...yes, that was a pathetic description. There were also ones with fruit filling but I'm not a big fan of jam (if there was a cream filled one I'd be all over it).

Oh, there's a funny point to this whole story. After doing some hamantashen research online I found out they're made for Purim, a holiday that started last night (which I figure means it's still going on today; pardon my lack of Jewish knowledge). While checking on my bloglines I found out from Gothamist and Chowhound that I happened to have gone to the right bakery for my fill of hamantashen besides going at the right time. So I had a magical first hamantashen experience that somewhat aligned with a holiday! I suppose it's a good thing I don't have any Jewish friends near me or I'd steal all their cookies....

However, my roommate gave me a chocolate bunny yesterday and I already ate it. :| Oops.

Oh yes, I'll have the full report on Chikalicious soon. Before that I have to tell you about yesterday's massive foodiness.

I ate this and you did not!

Yesterday was a massive solitary, impulsive fooding day--if you don't believe me, look at my walking route outlined on this map. I wouldn't have eaten the above had I not walked along 1st Ave and ranomly spotted the Old Fashion Donut shop near 14th St. By this time I don't remember what it tasted like but when I held the ridiculously huge cruller (for $0.80) in my palm, I could feel the sweet vibes of fried dough seem into my veins. How? Take a closer look:

cruller close up

Actually, that tells you nothing. A donut is sweet, fried dough, while a cruller is a different kind of sweet fried dough with RIDGES! I want to climb the cruller mountain ranges and then destroy it by chomping it away, bit by bit. Or gluttonous mouthful by mouthful.

For my Chikalicious outing, it's easiest to look at the flickr photoset. Here's a quick pictorial tour:

The storefront is mostly unmarked besides a review in the window (the white rectangle in the huge window) and the name of the restaurant on the door (which you can't see unless you get really close).

The dessert chefs work right in front of you (if you're sitting at the bar) and serve you as well. It's a cozy operation. ;)

The amuse that came before the main dessert was a star anise ice cream over black tapioca pearls.

Making lots of little chocolate tarts!

My "main course" was banana salad on kataifi with bourbon-molasses ice cream and ginger froth.

The meal ended with petit fours (this was for two people).

Overall, it was a fun experience, even more so because I didn't have to foot the bill. I think it's a good value for $12 considering how nice the restaurant and the food is. It was like sitting at a sushi bar and seeing the sushi chef do his work, except with desserts (which makes it better). However, I didn't like my dessert as much as I would have hoped (I really liked the ginger froth though) and since everything is so small it just makes you hungrier for more. It's nice to not feel like you want to puke from eating too much though. Your stomach may not feel full upon leaving but at least it'll feel comfortable.

I can't say the same about today, during which I overate at Win49. I just realized that all week I hadn't eaten any "full" meal (I'm not going to count Chikalicious). I've been eating snack type stuff and when I got a bento box at Win49 I though my stomach was going to explode because the food was so yummy and ...I suppose I wasn't hungry enough. But I still ate at a Chinatown bakery after that. Guilt is starting to set in...methinks I should try the honey diet again.

I've come to the conclusion that I'm eating way too much. I haven't weighed myself in weeks, preferring to play dumb rather than see how much mass has collected in my body. I'm sure my girth has increased a substantial amount as the pants I use as a way to tell that I've gotten too fat have gotten tighter, telling me that I have indeed gotten too fat.

What does this mean? I've been trying to figure out how to go about eating tomorrow and then I realized it would be easier to not eat at all. However, I have a registration session, which in the Food and Nutrition Department means "free food". There's a huge kitchen on the floor, it makes sense. I hope they don't have too much food or that I can resist what they have.

My asthma has been getting worse. I don't think wheat causes my asthma but it must aggravate it, meaning I should stop eating it altogether. (sigh) It seems like any food will make me likely to get asthma except fruit and nuts (or whatever's raw). Despite the asthma, which started getting worst last week, I still went out to bakeries, trying new wheat-filled morsels of doom. I would even GET asthmatic while walking to these places. God, isn't that like a smoker who can hardly breath reaching for another cigarette?

I don't think I should major in food studies as that gives me another unavoidable food situation, yet finding out how far I've gotten in my required classes makes me figure that it's best I just get it over with. I don't have to do anything with it as a career and I have the feeling I'll be suicidal by that time anyway. I keep waiting for it, to be depressed enough to be really suicidal, but instead I just think living is pointless for me. I'm not even depressed, I just don't see the point of life. That's acceptable, right? I can still be happy figuring that I'll die at some point. Ah, we all have things to look forward to.

...and while a warmed bun from a Chinatown bakery would be something to look forward to, I don't see how I can. It's an indulgence that just makes me fat and wheezy, quite an unfavorable combination. I took 13 photos of a bun today (whole and partially eaten). Who takes that many photos of a bun? Actually, it's great practice for photography but it must not help my problem that much. I can easily take 40 crappy photos at a concert but there's no mental problem there. I think.

I have no point. Just wanted to vent in this entry. I also thought that if I wrote down my goal of not eating anything tomorrow it would be more likely to happen. I won't bring my wallet to school, thus I can't buy anything on my walk to school (which is what I'm afraid of) nor anything on the way back home. I highly doubt I'll get hungry; it's all a mental exercise.

What the hell did I write in my last entry? I wrote one just recently, yes? I think half of my brain was snatched some time today around lunch and then replaced with...jello.

Number one: this crappy weather should go away, perhaps to a place that is in a drought.

Number two: there is no number two but since I had a number one I figured I'd also write number two. I'm trying to be consistent, folks.

Today at my registration session there was food, of course. However, this time it wasn't prepared in the kitchen next door but in Sullivan Street Bakery. My advisor had gotten potato and zucchini pizza from the bakery that I had been meaning to get pizza from. What did this mean? Was I supposed to resist the pizza (which is nothing like a regular pizza, thus making me hesitant to even call it pizza) or indulge after my morning rant about not eating?

I'm weak. I gave into the nine square inches of flat, chewy bread covered with potato or zucchini. And I sinfully ate SIX PIECES. Try to imagine a 3x3 inch piece--it's not very large. But I ate six of them, which to me means 54 square inches (the area of a city if you're a microscopic organism) and a number of calories I'd rather not know (thank god I can't calculate that).

Oh well, I suppose I won't go to that bakery anytime soon. I think their slices of pizza cost $2 each but I got it for FREE. It's worth $2. The pieces I ate weren't even warm or else they would've tasted better and god knows they were already addictive.

I lasted from around 8 PM last night to 2:30 PM today. That's not very long. I WASN'T EVEN HUNGRY! Oh, but it gets worse.

I walked home from school in the pouring rain. Actually, it didn't seem that bad, but then I guess the powers above drank too much Poland Spring and had a massive peeing get-together. I walked down Crosby Street, a lovely alternative to Broadway that allowed me a glimpse into the backs of empty shops that I'd probably never shop in. I went down Mulberry below Canal to take a look around a shop that proclaimed that they had SUSHI. For some reason I was craving sushi and found out their sushi is quite cheap compared to other places, not that it's free but a few cents makes a difference. However, I was wallet-less in my attempt to not eat anything so I continued my merry, sushi-less way.

Wait, I wasn't merry. How could I be merry dripping in sky pee? Actually, I wasn't soaked as much as hot and sweaty since it wasn't really that cold and my water-proof jacket could keep me warm in below-zero temperatures. Thank god I decided to wear my boots that morning.

I don't get hungry easily but I get the desire to eat as easily as I can breathe. No wait, scratch that; as easily as I can surf the Internet (I get wheezy so I guess breathing isn't my thing). I wasn't very hungry but something in me craved sushi so I went BACK INTO THE CRAPPY WEATHER at around 6:30 PM to go back to the sushi place plus the bakery a few doors down (Lung Moon Bakery; I like that name for some reason).

I knew it was raining hard before I went outside. The continuous ripples in the water I could see from my window told me, "If you go out, you're a dumbass." Ah, yes I am. In less than 5 minutes the front of my pants were soaked (and the back, mysteriously dry). I certainly wasn't going to stop and about ten minutes later I got my baked goods (a cream bun something or other and a rice ball for $0.50 each) and sushi (eeeeel!). When I walked home the rain had mostly subsided, the sky's urinary tract running dry. I guess I just went out at the BEST TIME EVER for a good pants soaking.

I haven't eaten anything yet, but I may as well. I saw a lot of delivery men in my dorm tonight. College students are sometimes the epitome of laziness, me being no expection, but what the hell compels me to walk to Chinatown in the rain for sushi and a rice ball?! As I said before, I tend to be far from starving and I'm not lazy enough to not go out. It's bad. It's very bad.

Oh, I couldn't justify eating anything if I didn't get some exercise. I bet I only burned 100 calories walking today ("walking" as in home from school and for dinner, not all the other walking in between), although being angry at the sky may have burned some more along with agitate my stomach acids.

...right now I can hear my roommate talking on the phone with her mum, I assume. She's a vegetarian and just found out that some cheese uses animal rennet, which bothers her. I don't mean to sound haughty but as someone who doesn't even eat much cheese (the most cheese I ate was when my mum and I grew fond of trying every kind of raw cheese available) all I can think is, "Duh." Being a lacto-ovo vegetarian is okay but you're eating animal products in some way or another. Is it such a big deal that the rennet in your cheese is from animal enzymes? Eggs come from animals, milk comes from animals...ah well, there are differences but I'm just saying. I guess I sometimes have bigger issues than eating animal rennet.

This isn't all from one day; don't worry. First four photos are from Sunday, next two from Monday, last three from today.

I fear I eat too much. Today I ate 4 giant pocky (so now i have no more; I can't believe it lasted 11 days), the roast pork bun, the red bean bun, 5 persimmons and one orange. Healthy? Not really. Could've been worse but I feel guilty. Spent $10 on the fruit, $1.30 on the buns. $10 of fruit should last at least three days. I walked to and from school and to and from Chinatown which equals out to at least 5 miles...? I'm figuring school is about 2 miles away. It always takes me 40 minutes to get there.

On Sunday I went to the Cornelia Street Cafe with my dad. That was nice. French toasting.

I try not to overeat...although it doesn't always work. I try not to keep food around but obviously I can buy two things from a bakery and eat them in the same day. I don't have snacks besides fruit as I decided I can't have Japanese snacks around anymore. All night during my food microbiology class I kept thinking about making sandwiches, which makes no sense as I rarely eat sandwiches and absolutely never make them. How come I don't make them? I can't buy bread. If I buy a loaf of bread I'll eat the whole loaf. It happened last fall when i bought a small loaf of rye bread--I didn't actually finish it as I threw it out before I had the chance. Since then I haven't bought a loaf of bread. But you can't buy two slices of bread. I don't buy sandwiches because they general don't have stuff I want and are usually expensive. I guess I'd buy some sucky little sandwich...anyway, I want a vegetable sandwich, that's all. But i don't really want a green sandwich from a Chinatown street vendor, would rather just buy some veggies and plop em on toast with minimal seasoning. And then I thought it would be yummy to have eel in there as well. Of course, I can't buy a loaf of bread (which would probably just cost $1.50 or so) so nevermind the sandwich idea.

So now I'm wondering if I should bring my wallet to school with me today. I'll be there from before noon until 9 PM, leaving a big gap for fooding, or not. The only way to make sure I don't buy food is to not have my wallet. But. I want a hamantashen! A GIGANTIC HAMANTASHEN! The bakery is too close to M2M. And even if I didn't want that, the other bakery I went to last week is close by too. Walking feels like nothing anymore as the time gap between my classes is pretty large (although not large enough for me to go to my dorm). No bakery within a 1 mile radius is safe. :(

I suppose it's better than being addicted to crack.

I really like taking photos of food. And then, of course, I eat it...but I wouldn't mind not eating it, ie taking photos of someone else's food. But the way I do it is that I hold a plate in front of the light that I can move around (hooray for ghetto photography "equipment"?), which means I need to take it back to my room and...I really need a bigger plate but the idea of buying a huge plate just for the sake of taking photos sounds a bit obsessive. I'm going to take a food photography class this summer though. I think.

For some reason I craved knish for dinner. It was partially because I figured Yonah Schimmel's would be open after 9PM, which was when I got out of class, but as I neared the warm glow of its neon sign I was met with SAD SAD KNISH-LESS DARKNESS and SAD. Yes. What are the hours of Yonah Schimmel's? They're open late on Fridays but maybe not on any other day. Or maybe I wasn't meant to eat a knish.

So I got no knish love. Hm. What else is open this late? NOTHING! I mean, lots of restaurants were open (Little Italy was busy as usual) but I didn't want to eat at a regular restaurant by myself. I even went into a bakery on Mulberry St that was brightly lit with craploads of pretty cookies ($10/lb) but I didn't want cookies. At least, I didn't want cookies for dinner (more out of guilt than not having a taste for cookies--I always have a taste for cookies).

Kept going on Mulberry, hoping that Fried Dumpling might be open. Nope. Mulberry below Canal Street is mainly dark and freaky, kind of like Mott St below Canal (since it's mainly produce/meat sellers and they're all closed at night). I was sad and a little iffed by Yonah. There's one way to make Robyn irritate and angry (and how often does Robyn get angry): keep her away from getting food when she is quite determined to get food.

I walked around some more. Went to East Broadway to see if any bakeries were open. NOPE. Went back to Bowery to check another place that looked open but alas had closed at 9PM. I was 30 minutes too late. But then in the distance I saw Everest Diner looking somewhat open. I've passed it a gazillion times but never though much about eating at a diner.

Hm. Hmm! The menu said it was open until 10PM. Score! This place had pancakes. DOUBLE SCORE! I had a real craving for pancakes, which doesn't make sense (I usually crave chocolate during/around my period, which if you're curious enough to know is what I'm having right now...yes RIGHT NOW! Anyway, I didn't get any chocolate craving at all this time, nor have I really been craving any one food, but I've wanted lots of carbs) but pancakes for dinner is a happy dinner.

The place was empty (besides the employees) when I went in although another man came in soon after I did and got an omelette. I ordered the pancakes, of course. (Off topic: Holy crap, my roommate is going to sleep. It's not even 12:30AM! WHAT IS THIS?) I figured I'd go for fruit-topped pancakes instead of plain pancakes; bad idea. The strawberry topping was a strange strawberry goo, although there were real strawberries in it which made it a smidgen better than plain ol' strawberry goo. The pancakes were also a bit burnt.

Despite that, I must REALLY LIKE PANCAKES because I ate most of it (too quickly probably, although I was also keeping in mind that I was staying after 10PM) and was happy that this little diner was open. The woman running the place was nice and even gave me her newspaper to read. The other people who worked there also seemed nice. So overall it was a good experience after being devasated by the lack of open bakeries and my lack of desire for any normal Chinese food fit for dinner.

Bring on the mishapen, burnt, strawberry goo pancakes.

Oh, for lunch I had kim-chee sushi from M2M and a giant hamentashen from Moishe's Bakery that, like last time, was the size of my hand.

After eating the sushi I gobbled up the hamentashen. However, unlike last time when I ate the cookie in two stages, I inhaled this one in one sitting. The cookie is too damn big. When I had 1/3rd of the cookie left I thought "This is really large; perhaps i shouldn't finish it." Can you imagine me leaving a cookie unfinished? Robyn doesn't leave cookies unfinished. They must all meet their doom in my tummy. So I finished it, feeling quite sinful, and then I felt like I wanted another one. Another giant hamentashen would've made my tummy explode by that point but I craved another one, thus proving that hamentashen is equal to a addictive drug, except tastier and cheaper.

I wonder if I'll suffer from hamentashen withdrawal.

I spent over $10. (sigh) Lunch costed $5 and the pancakes were almost $6 (left a dollar for tip though). If I hadn't been so gluttonous and just stopped at lunch I would've only spent $5. Does this mean I shouldn't buy anything tomorrow? Since I have to wake up early I have a feeling I'm going to eat breakfast, so the answer is...no. I've passed Khondoker Luncheonette a few times and it looks terribly iffy and run down, which translates to "Robyn wants to eat there!" Pancakes, of course...it's all about the pancakes. Seriously, if I'm in a pancake mood in the morning I'm going there.

Something's wrong with me. I won't be happy when I become obese. Hell, I'm already wheezy; I think all the mucus in my body has collected in my lungs, which is only a little less annoying than having it all collect in my nose. A few years ago it was in my lungs AND my nose, so I guess this is a little better. However, during class I coughed, which made me wheezy. That in turn made me cough some more and for a while I didn't think I could breathe. Methinks I should stop eating wheat to help keep the wheezing down, yet look at me; I ate PANCAKES for dinner and I want MORE PANCAKES for brekkie.

Someone shoot me. Or slap my head with a shoe. I don't know, do SOMETHING!!!

It would be nice if I actually ate with other people. The last time I did that was on Sunday (with my dad) and I had previously said I'd only eat out with the company of others. Then again, I also said I wouldn't eat wheat, or even cooked food. LOOK HOW FAR THAT GOT! Wow, I'm bad at dieting.

Lastly: BUY POOFY STUFF!!!