Appreciation

And look at that. Just a few weeks in and I missed a weekly bloggy column update. Ok, by one day, but still.

Last week was a bit of a whirlwind as I was busy gearing up for a tradeshow for a new PR client I recently obtained. But, traveling to the tradeshow did spark some culinary interest. Mainly it was that of appreciation.

I was wise enough to refrain from snacking on the packaged, bland carbs given to us on the plane down to Anaheim, but upon arrival to my hotel room at roughly 7:00 p.m., I was left little choice but to order in room service for dinner. In a location surrounded by an insane amount of food chain establishments, I spent less than five minutes searching and brainstorming for alternative dining options that didn't involve calling 4115 on my hotel room phone. I surrendered quickly and just ordered a cobb salad off the menu. Really, how terrible could a cobb salad really be. Well...

Ok, I'm probably being a bit of a food snob here, but the salad was lackluster. The grilled chicken sandwich the night following was a bit better, but not by too much of a long shot. Lesson learned? My appreciation for Portland, it's restaurants and the food they dish up grew even deeper. Yes, from just two nights away. I love traveling, but my tummy is happy that I'm back home.

Some other things I loved this week...

• Getting back to some good gastronomical lit. I've had M.F.K. Fisher's The Art of Eating sitting on my nightstand for a while now, and finally cracked it open. This is the 50th Anniversary Edition and includes her famed essays: Serve it Forth, Consider the Oyster, How to Cook a Wolf, The Gastronomical Me and An Alphabet for Gourmets. In a world of reading lots of online news blasts and choppy food writing, it's refreshing to be reminded of some true gastronomical lit. 

• "The Storm Over Salt" section in the Feb. 22 - Mar. 1 issue of New York magazine. I love all the different types of salt that's out there, am still very much a student of all the varieties and remain fascinated by them all. 
• Portland's March issue of MIX magazine; "Our French Issue." Really, is there any more to say? I read it from cover to cover on the plane, and cannot wait to make Editor Martha Holmberg's soufflé. 

Cheers,

~JF