Category: opinion (Page 3 of 4)

Receiving Unsolicited Food Advice From Strangers

November 18, 2013 / / 6 Comments

My dog and I have a morning routine.

I get up early while my husband gets ready for work and drink a cup of coffee. My dog is snuggly in the morning and curls up next to me on the couch as I catch up on my blog list, surf my favorite news sites, and work on posts.

Yup. Just another excuse to sneak in a dog picture;)

Yesterday morning, I read through a Chowhound thread about people receiving Unwanted Advice at the Store and it made me chuckle. The woman who started the thread shares how a random man approached her in a grocery store. He told her the cookies in her basket were unhealthy and that she shouldn’t eat them because she would gain weight. The thread expands to a discussion of over 200 replies and it made me reflect upon my own strange encounters with strangers who offered unsolicited food advice.

The first time I received unsolicited advice occurred last year while I was riding in the elevator at work returning to my desk after a snack break. A man stared at the bagel in my hand and sternly informed me that I shouldn’t have put so much cream cheese on it, because cream cheese is fatty. The words, “I don’t care,” flew through my lips before I could stop them, and then I stepped off the elevator. I worried that my boss would be upset with me since he was a client, but she just laughed.

The second time happened during a grocery shopping trip. Now, I love grocery shopping but I hate pushing carts. I’ll do just about anything to avoid pushing one, to the point of injuring my back while lugging around two baskets. Carts are cumbersome and hard to steer. Plus, I push a cart like I drive, which is impatiently.

This must have been a major shopping trip because I parked my cart in an open space along an aisle and left my purse in the front basket. In my defense, I never really turn my back on my purse. It’s fluorescent pink and I can see it from the corner of my eye. Plus, if I spotted someone poking around my cart, odds are in my favor of outrunning most anyone who tried to steal it.

A gentleman approached me in the dairy aisle to say that I should not leave my purse in my cart because someone could steal it.

“Ok, thanks.” I respond. He doesn’t go away.

“Ma’am,” he continues, “you really shouldn’t do that.”

“Great. Thanks for letting me know,” I reply.

He still seems bothered and adds, “You know, it’s a very bad idea.”

“Yes. You are right,” I concur. “It’s a terrible idea,” and nod. He seems confused that I agree with him and we part ways. I’m sure he had the best of intentions, but he wouldn’t let up. I’m not sure what response he was waiting for.

And then, just last month, I was shopping at Target, when a man in a motorized wheel chair approaches me while I eyed a display of wine near the produce section.

“You’re gonna get drunk!” he loudly announces and roars with laughter.

I’m caught off guard and all I can reply is a defiant, “No, I’m not!” which just makes him laugh harder.

He repeats himself and circles me, still laughing.

Near the end of my shopping trip, I reach the actual wine/beer section. I am dismayed to see the same man heading my direction, but this time, I literally run away (but not before grabbing my bottle of wine).

Have you ever been approached by a stranger who offered you unsolicited food advice? If so, how did you respond? Can it ever be helpful and might it ever be warranted?

The Worst Kinds Of Tweeters

November 3, 2013 / / 2 Comments

I’ve only been on Twitter for about a year and wonder why I didn’t join sooner. Facebook had been my primary social networking tool of choice, but now the party’s on Twitter.

Twitter is a convenient tool for spreading and gathering information. News is disseminated faster than the traditional outlets that used to run the show. I like looking at everyone’s beautiful fall photos and family pets. Most importantly, I appreciate Twitter’s value in networking and connecting with people I would have never met in my daily life. I think social media can enhance relationships instead of hinder.

I have a lot of love for twitter so this post is a tongue-in-cheek rundown of my least favorite types of tweeting behaviors. I was inspired by Ed Kohler’s post, #Twitter #Behaviors #I #Can’t #Support.

Massive Quantities of Tweets: 
I don’t mind semi-frequent or even frequent tweeters. What I’m referring to are people who take tweeting to the extreme. Just the other morning, I woke up to find my feed dominated by a woman who literally tweeted 30 times within a single hour. They weren’t even original thoughts, but links to promote her website.

Now, I realize many bloggers use HootSuite and other social media managers that send out scheduled Tweets, so I’m unsure whether or not people are hand typing these repetitive tweets. Either way, I really don’t want to know about your giveaway every half an hour. 
Includes I Follow Back in Their Profile:
Do you actually follow everyone back? Including the weird porn bots and random Long John Silvers franchises in neighboring states? This statement screams desperation.

When I was new to Twitter, I learned that if you follow one of these f*****s back, an onslaught will immediately find you. If you want to increase your number of followers, then go ahead and follow them back, but you will soon come to HATE your Twitter feed. It’s not worth it.

People Who Think They Are Regina George and Twitter is Their Lunch Table: 
I might occasionally send a tweet to Anthony Bourdain for the heck of it, but I’d never actually expect to him to respond. I’m referring to people with exponentially less followers who won’t respond to tweets, but want to solicit everyone’s donations for their latest Kickstarter projects.
If you don’t enjoy when the general public tries to interact with you, then make your tweets private. Personally, I’ve connected with a lot of cool people by responding to thoughtful tweets from those I didn’t already know and my life’s all the better for it.

Then, there are the Tweeters who blast too much of a certain type of content that includes the following:

 Inspirational Quotes: Quotes are great. We can all use a little extra inspiration on some days. It’s satisfying when you find a sentence that perfectly summarizes how you feel. I don’t mind the occasional inspirational quote, especially from people who don’t make a habit of it, but I’ve found there are people who only tweet inspirational quotes.

Life coaches are the worst. I would choose a life coach based upon any other factor than the volume of Rumi quotes he or she regurgitates via Twitter.

Lots of Links: I love that people share interesting articles and photographs through Twitter. But I don’t love the people who tweet vast quantities of links that contain no description of the link or explanation about why the link is significant to the tweeter. Worse, yet, if they all link to something self-promotional.

Sometimes my Twitter feed is dominated by tweets announcing that so-and-so posted a photo on their Facebook account. I’m sure you can imagine what happens when these they update their Facebook photo albums. You get an individual tweet for every photo that’s added.

Give-aways and Sponsored Tweets: We all want to win prizes. Now, companies and bloggers ask participants to retweet things like, “I just entered _____’s giveaway for a free _____! Retweet to enter.” It’s a clever marketing strategy but I just find these tweets so annoying. Maybe I’d find them less annoying if I actually won something.

Corporate tweets are usually pointless, such as McDonalds asking who’s excited for Halloween or Walmart requesting people to retweet if they plan to visit their local branch to purchase holiday meal supplies. Do sponsored tweets actually move people to click on them to get more information? Do they actually make consumers feel engaged? I think I’m so jaded that I my eyeballs automatically gloss over them.

Weekend Favorites List

October 26, 2013 / / 2 Comments

Happy weekend. I was inspired by bloggers’ Friday Favorite posts and put together my own list. They range from some of my all-time favorites to the more recent. As usual, it’s random. I hope you enjoy.

Favorite Halloween/Scary Movie: The Shining
I grew up seeking scary everything. In reality, I’m a huge scaredy-cat. I get so frightened by scary movies and television shows that I can hardly watch them and have nightmares, yet I watch them anyway. Last October a study came out that found viewers burned up to 180 calories while watching scary movies and I can believe it. Scary books also gave me a thrill. I couldn’t get enough of R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps series, Lois Duncan’s thrillers, and even read Stephen King and Michael Crichton’s novels at a young age.

Just last night, I was shocked to learn my husband has never read a Goosebump book. Can we take his 90’s kid card away?

Also, what’s with the recent wave of torture flicks? I prefer the old school flicks I grew up on like Hitchcock’s Psycho, Poltergeist, and Silence and the Lambs, but my favorite one of all is still The Shining.

Favorite Movie I Didn’t Think I Liked But Still Can’t Get Out Of My Head: Melancholia
When we were in Fargo, we saw Melancholia at the Fargo Theater, the only theater that showed independent films. My first impressions were that the move seemed too long, too slow in parts, and that its ending hit me like a train wreck. I really didn’t think I liked it, but found that I couldn’t get it out of my head.

Melancholia is beautiful and devastating. It’s an interesting juxtaposition and even a prelude to the other post-apocalyptic films and television series that are so popular right now. Many post-apocolyptic/disaster films portray the whole world in chaos. This film is unique because it only focuses on a a single family’s experience, isolated from the rest of the world’s reaction to uncertain and impending destruction.

Favorite Travel Memoir: Chasing Dreamtime, by Neva Sullaway
This is the only book I’ve ever read immediately after I finished it. Sullaway shares her story about hitchhiking on ships across the South Pacific and pedaling across northeastern Austalia on a bike as a young adult. Dreamtime is an aspect of Aboriginal spirituality that Sullaway experiences along her journey.

Favorite Time Waster: Reddit
I heard a lot about Reddit, but didn’t actually get into it until recently. So far, I’m just a lurker who explores the boards that discuss every possible subject. I usually filter the responses by “top” and choose an increment of time that range from this hour to all time. I am giddy with excitement about all of the random things that I learn.

These are a few Subreddits I check each day:
/r//r/Aww: Where I get my fix of cute animal pictures.
/r/Pics: Interesting photos of all types.
/r/IAmA: Question and answer sessions. This week I followed interviews with Keanu Reeves, R.L. Stine, and Gabriela Cowperthwaite, director of Blackwater, a new documentary about the killer whale Tilikum and the inhumane conditions into which companies like Seaworld force the whales. Should it be any surprise that the animals act out in frustration?
/r/AskReddit: Someone asks a question and the community chimes in with answers. I’ve read a lot of interesting AskReddits, but my all time favorite asks Parents of Reddit, what is the creepiest thing your young child has ever said to you?
/r/ExplainLikeImFive: Understandable answers to questions people have always wondered minus the jargon that nobody understands. The title says it all.
/r/AskHistorians: Historians answer questions.
/r/DepthHub: Best of Reddit discussions in one location.

There are so many more. Jordan Bates lists and describes some of Reddit’s best Subreddits on his blog Refine the Mind.

Television Shows: Top Chef: New Orleans
Is anyone else following this season? I still haven’t gotten Top Chef fatigue. I just love it, even if the challenges are ridiculous at times. I’d rather see the chefs cook, than chip ingredients from giant ice blocks, but that might just be me.

I spent the summer of 2006 in New Orleans interning with a church that led high school groups from around the country in gutting houses. It was an unforgettable experience that I might share more about someday.

My favorite contestant so far is Carrie Mashaney who hails from Carpenter, IA. The most recent episode solidified that my least favorite chef is Travis Masar whose fixation on all things Asian grows creepier with each episode. I read a lot of recaps, but Hugh Acheson’s blog is really the best. It’s concise and snarky.

Guilty Pleasure Food: Grocery store raised donuts with white frosting with multicolored sprinkles (boutique donut shops haven’t exactly reached Mason City, Iowa yet). If these are not available, maple glaze will do.

Music: Boyce Avenue’s Acoustic Cover of Miley Cyrus’s We Can’t Stop. 
Oh Miley. You either love her or you hate her. Whether or not you like her music, this cover is pretty nifty. Who knew “We Can’t Stop” could be. . . beautiful?

Favorite Recent Local Dining Experiences: 1910 Grille & Pastime Gardens

Chicken Marsala

The 1910 Grille is the main restaurant in the Historic Park Inn Hotel, the only Frank Lloyd Wright hotel in operation. We received a generous gift certificate to this restaurant as a housewarming gift. The menu is concise and offers straightforward dishes. The prices are high for the area, but not out of line for being one of only a few fine dining restaurants in the city. We polished off our entrees of chicken marsala with caramelized mushrooms and sweet and savory squash puree, and angel hair pasta tossed with an actually spicy tomato sauce and snappy grilled shrimp.

My favorite part of the meal was the crispy, cornmeal coated fried calamari that we ordered as an appetizer. The seafood was tender and tasted fresh. I crave calamari, but have learned the hard way that I have to share, lest I feel ill from too much fried food. It was neatly plated, separated by rings and tentacles.

On the flip side you have Pastime Gardens, which is a trip. No, seriously, it’s trippy. While the 1910 Grille is polished, dining at Pastime Gardens feels like you’ve fallen into an alternative universe. Allow me set the scene:

Random fish hanging on brightly colored walls, one of which is a large marlin. There are large Buddy Holly glasses and shiny purple bobble spirals hanging from the ceiling. The restaurant is like a tiny tiki shack, except that it’s in North Iowa.

The service is as laid back as the atmosphere so don’t come here if you’re in a hurry or on a business lunch timetable. If your server asks if you want to start out with chips and cheese, say yes. The small portion of warm, orange cheese sauce and fried flour tortilla wedges sprinkled with chili powder was more than adequate for two. The accompanying salsa tasted so fresh and has a kick.

The rest of the menu includes Mexican-style favorites like tacos, burritos and enchiladas. I chose a ground beef chimichanga that came with refried beans and rice. It was especially good when doused with the salsa.

My half of the bill only cost about $10. I can’t wait to bring my husband so he can also have the Pastime Garden experience. A downside is that the hours are rather limited and don’t include many dinner services. You’ll have to catch them if you can.

P.S. There also appears to be a full bar.

Don’t Make Me Ask For The Salt: A Rant

October 3, 2013 / / 6 Comments

I really hate when restaurants don’t provide salt on the tables.

After dining at one of the fancier restaurants in town, I was annoyed when my meal tasted under-seasoned and there were no saltshakers on the tables. I searched online for explanations as to why chefs would withhold the salt and how other diners felt about the issue.

Some chefs do believe they season their food perfectly or that their customers could ruin the integrity of their dish by adding more salt. I was surprised to find a thread on Chowhound where even certain diners were bothered by the presence of salt shakers. Some complained about the nerve of those who add salt and/or pepper to dishes before they even taste them.

I was left wondering why on earth anyone should anyone care how a paying customer wants to enjoy their food? So what if a diner, or, even a dinner guest adds salt to a dish before they taste it. I could care less if one of my dinner guests asked for salt or seasoned their food with 50 cracks of black pepper. Are my guests respectful? Are they having a good time? These are the questions with which I’m more concerned.

Some diners and chefs feel it’s fine to only provide salt and pepper upon request, but I think the act of having to ask for salt serves to intimidate diners. It can make customers feel bad for asking for salt out of fear they will insult the restaurant staff, or cause them to second guess their own taste and wonder if they don’t recognize good food. I always provide salt and pepper for guests so they don’t have to feel sheepish about asking for it and consider it part of hospitality.

No salt on the table can feel like, “I dare you to ask for salt.

No cook or chef is perfect and it’s arrogant for anyone to believe he or she is above human error. We are not culinary gods. And don’t make me ask for the salt.

Saying Farewell To The Green Market: My Ode

February 24, 2013 / / 2 Comments

It’s hard saying goodbye to Fargo’s Green Market.

It’s really hard saying goodbye to the Green Market. The restaurant recently announced they would be closing at the end of March and issued the following statement:

We will be closing the restaurant at the end of March. The restaurant has been a consuming passion for the past six years and we are looking forward to new passions in our lives.

I, like many others, am very bummed about this upcoming closure, but wish the staff well on their new pursuits.

Jake and I have enjoyed some of our favorite Fargo meals at the Green Market. This restaurant fills a void in the Fargo-Moorhead dining scene by offering seasonal menus, intentionally made from local foods, when possible, and it rotates every day. Its menu items are creative without being overwrought. Nor, does this creativity distract from the quality of its ingredients.

Often, the menu celebrate occasions like the Chinese New Year or Dia de los Muertos. Other times, it celebrates themes like Julia Child. The Green Market has been supportive of local artists and fundraisers, often catering events, donating food or beverages, and offering their restaurant as a space for the function. Last fall, the Green Market partnered with Probstfield Farm, a local, organic farm in Moorhead, MN, and designated a couple weeks towards featuring the farm’s produce.

There are a handful of other restaurants in the area that also strive to utilize local products and rotate their menus, but, to be honest, none do to the same extent that the Green Market has. Especially in terms of menu rotation frequency and most especially in terms of pricing. Somehow, it manages to serve food reflecting the presentation and quality one might expect to see at Fargo’s best, upscale restaurants at prices found at casual chains. Plus, they do so with local, seasonal, and organic ingredients.

I can’t expect all restaurants to duplicate Green Market’s model, nor will I claim it’s perfect, but I would like to see more independent, sit-down restaurants serving, at the very least, scratch-made food in Tier Two’s price range with the same amount of quality and thought. In this regard, I’ll feel the loss of the Green Market the most.

During our visits to the Green Market, we haven’t had any contact with the chef, but have enjoyed becoming acquainted with co-owner Peter Kelly and the lovely Kitchen Assistant. They always made us feel at home. Plus, Kelly’s a pro at helping guests choose wines and select cheeses from their case.

Snapshots from our visit on February 21st, 2013. Dessert first, moving counterclockwise from the top-left: Magical buttery tart shell filled with tangy orange cream and passion fruit jelly ($5). Meatballs in bracing red and green mojo sauces ($13). Snappy shrimp, vegetables, and rice in a sweet, caramelized orange sauce ($14). Gently flavored sesame udon noodles with edamame and silky sheets of sweet pickles ($6). Not pictured: Cup of spicy West African peanut and yam soup ($4). Housemade pickle plate ($7).

The Green Market is closed next week, re-opens after March 6th, and closes after March 30th. It’s only open Wednesday-Saturday meaning you have 15 days left to visit.

Go.

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