Food Trucks

I am intrigued by this phenomenon. Growing up in San Diego in the 70s and 80s, you certainly didn't think of the taco truck as anything but a roach coach; nasty food when you were absolutely desperate, and afterward, you prayed you didn't get sick. But THESE days, especially in Los Angeles and other hip, trend-setting towns like Portland and Austin, they are all the rage! I got a Twitter account specifically so that I could find the Kogi BBQ Truck. Got in line about 45 minutes before the truck even arrived, and ate in the car with my husband next to a park. It was delicious and I gotta say, totally worth it!

There are others. Tomorrow, there is a Fest in Long Beach and LA! I'm so glad, because I didn't want to have to get crazy trying to locate CoolHaus, the ice cream sandwich truck driven by and inspired by designers, architects, and other radical foodie people. It's going to come to me!

LB Street Food Fest:

http://www.lbstreetfoodfest.com/LBStreetFoodFest/Welcome.html

Fruits and Veggies, Part 2 and 3

Many many salads, broccoli puree, wild mushroom toasts, roasted red pepper toasts, creamed corn, zucchini fritters, onion rings, grilled veggies with mint raita, beets, corn, green beans, summer squash, fresh herbs, compote, peach crisp......... There are so many cooking and preparation techniques: roasting, sweating, stewing, baking, sautéeing, grilling, flambéing, toasting... no way vegetables are boring. no way! And fresh fruit compote is delicious.

Next: grains, legumes, potatoes and pastas. I made a tasty quinoa with dried apricots and pinenuts salad with peppery watercess.

Lagger

I lag. I have had and made some good food in the last 3.5 weeks, but gotten too busy to report on it. I bought a car in that time, camped with 100 or so friends, been ridiculously busy at work, and started another dog training class. So, I guess I'm no slacker. Anyway- here are some fun things I've made.....

Soufflé all on my own at home, and even threw in some pancetta to see how it would turn out. It was delicious. Also, corn chowder, borani dip, heirloom tomato salad with olive tapenade and goat cheese toasts (pictured) and fake Joe Jost Specials.

The last cooking class was Part 1 of vegetables and fruits, and for dinner that night I ate 11 salads!! It was like a dream come true. Seriously. I could eat like that every day. We had last week off due to the 4th of July Holiday, so I'm really looking forward to tonight's class: Part 2.

Next up in my culinary adventure: Mozza for upcoming birthday dinner, and I would really like to hunt down the ice cream sandwich truck painted silver and pink, with architect's pictures on the side (not sure the correlation, but why not). Is there anything better than an ice cream sandwich? I think not. Also, I support the AbdiKraut Experiment, and will try my first one this weekend, Juniper Kraut.