Welcome to my Food Blog!

I think about food a lot. I think about food when I first wake up in the morning, during class, in the evening, in the shower, in my car, as I'm talking with people, in the library, right now and while I am falling asleep at night. I think about pad thai and curry in my Asian Architecture class, and I think about hungry children in Africa during my International Human Rights Law class (even when we are talking about Guantanamo Bay). I think about what I am having for dinner while I am making breakfast, and I think about what I am having for breakfast while I am making dinner. I dream about food. Last night I dreamt about two things. I dreamt I had been offered the job of my dreams, and as spring semester college senior, waking up to the reality that I am still jobless was disappointing. In my second dream, I dreamt I was at Balthazar eating a goat cheese and caramelized onion tart, and as someone obsessed with food, waking up to the reality that I will probably not be visiting Balthazar in Manhattan and enjoying a goat cheese and caramelized onion tart for many months was devastating.

Most of my memories and plans revolve around food. I associate growing up with "egg in a basket" and my mom's earth shattering macaroni and cheese. When I think of high school, before I think about proms or swim meets, I think about our dining hall's chicken parm, penne vodka and tuna melts. When I think of birthdays, I think of the time we dragged my suburbanite friends to Elizabeth, New Jersey to try soup from Manolos, or New York for Mexican at Chango. When I think of my post-high school graduation trip to Paris, I think about Guy Savoy's spit roasted farmhouse chicken with potato puree (and my mouth waters) before I think of da Vinci's Mona Lisa or Veronese's Wedding at Cana. When I think of Trinity, I think of spicy chicken gorgonzola from Trinity Restaurant and tapas from Barcelona. When I think of my summer in Cambodia, I think of my first experience with duck. When I think of my semester in Florence, Italy, I think of Acqua al 2's blueberry steak and pasta sampler and il Gatto e la Volpe's pizza (which should have a different name, since pizza is too ordinary a name to describe what exists at Gatto e Volpe) and thick balsamic. I plan most weekends and trips around food. I am choosing to go to New Orleans in a few weeks not just for my friend Suzanne's birthday, but also for an exotic cajun culinary experience. Recently, I have spent more time researching the restaurants where I need to try Bananas Foster (yes, I intend to try it almost everywhere we go, so I can compare them) than I have spent researching topics for a paper I have due imminently. Before I travel anywhere, I spend more time researching local cuisine and restaurants than I spend researching local tourist attractions. My biggest fear right now is that I do not have enough time before graduation to try the rest of the vast number of restaurants I still need to try in Hartford. My biggest fear about entering the real world is that I will not have enough cash on my first entry level salary (from my hypothetical job) to test out, explore, critique and enjoy the many culinary experiences out there that need to be tested out, explored, critiqued and enjoyed. 

So, as I read an email from my Oral Argument professor this morning and caught myself thinking about the next kind of birthday cake (in JUNE) I want and how it will compare to the last one (sandcastle bundt cake) instead of what he was saying, I realized it was time... time to share my thoughts about and love of food with the world (or at least the people kind enough to read this...i.e. my mom). Sarah Jessica Parker said in 2008 interview with Allure Magazine, "anything having to do with food is pleasurable to me...any conversation about food, review of food, story of food, picture of food, thought of food..." I think her thoughts sum up my reasons for starting this site. I have a strict philosophy about food: it is meant to be an experiment, and it is meant to be enjoyed, shared and loved, so I hope to share my love and enjoyment of culinary experiments with you.