Observing People While Eating = People are weird

Disclaimer: I wrote this over a year and a half ago, but never published it because I didn't upload all the pictures. Since then the views of author don't necessarily reflect the views of the agency, but some do...

While I was dining at Taqueria del Sol recently I observed several points of interest that I thought were share-worthy. They also provide some vision into what is going on in my head as I simply seem to be an innocent young woman having dinner after work. Ha, Ha!

Taqueria del Sol- Decatur... walking distance from my house

First the couple that was sitting next ordered cheese dip, without chips. What? then they pull out a bag of their own chips/crackers they have clearly brought from home to eat with their cheese dip. Hum? They can't be trying to lose weight and skip the calories from the chips, because they did order cheese dip. So they must just be weird. This was my initial thought because who in the hell brings crackers to eat with cheese dip, especially when the chips at TDS are so good. Also this means they had to have planned ahead and knew they were ordering cheese dip before they showed up at TDS. Weird!

Perhaps this is what the original packing looked like?
They only brought the silver interior bag, sans box.

But, after some soul searching, I mean realizing I need to be more sensitive to others, I thought maybe they are trying to lose weight and this is a tactic.. an interesting tactic as cheese dip isn't exactly on a diet plan, but hey stranger things have happened and I should probably ask from some of those crackers to eat with my cheese dip. Well, i shouldn't have ordered the cheese dip in the first place but...

The culprit.... That oh so addictive cheese dip

However, the idea they were trying to lose weight went out the window when they ordered fried chicken tacos and beef red chili to complement their cheese dip, so onto another politically correct thought. Maybe they need to eat gluten free? Yeah, that is a nice idea Claire, gluten free that's the reason. That was, until they ordered tacos with flour tortillas and more flour tortillas on the side to dip into the beef red chili. So back to my gut instinct, these people are just weird. That is really ok, there doesn't have to be a politically correct explanation. Some people are just weird. Hell, I'm weird. My mother even said so.

Two fish tacos and a fried chicken taco... with flour tortillas

Then as I glanced behind me to spy on my former neighbor and colleague who I have strangely seen twice in the last week after not seeing her for at least 5 years,  I noticed a young couple letting their toddler stand on a table with her nasty-ass shoes as they giggled and cooed and I'm sure thought things like... our baby is so cute, she is so cute when she stands on this table that other people will soon be eating on, isn't our baby just so cute.... Yep, they let her stand on this unoccupied table as they cooed and smiled at her and then moved on, leaving nasty shoeprints on a perfectly clean and unoccupied table.

The scene was something like this, except the kid in question was a good year to two older, had on shoes and was not standing on their own occupied table (that is sure to be cleaned soon) but an unoccupied one.

Oh, the poor unsuspecting people that will eventually sit at that table and think it is clean. Little do they know some couple just let their oh-so-cute toddler stand on the table because she is oh-so-cute with those day-care infested nasty-ass dirty as a toddler can be shoes... and now you are eating in the same place. Can someone please do a scientifically valid study that proves mothers lose half their brain when they birth a baby? I am sure at some point this mother also said "I would NEVER let my kid do that" or maybe she didn't and she's just weird too.

Back to the folks sitting next to me. Now they are playing Words with Friends, with each other. Yep, one girl plays a word while the other ignores her, then she hands the phone to her partner who plays a word while the ignoring continues. Maybe they are talking a little between letters here, but the word playing is clearly the point here. So seriously, you come out to eat, to play Words with Friends, while swapping the one phone back and forth and bring your own crackers too boot! This is why i am single... i think, well maybe, anyway that is another topic! But seriously, is this not weird? Maybe I should explain the exchange better, maybe I'm the weird one...

I also discovered that I am capable of eating an entire bowl of cheese dip, drinking two Texas margaritas and eating an entire plate of Shrimp of Grits if I put my mind to it and most importantly if I am trying to lose weight. Yep, when do I over-eat the most? When i have decided the gut has to go and it is time to reel it in. No more cheese dip, means I'll eat the entire bowl, Thank you. What does telling myself I have to eat sensibly at home do? Well of course that means I deserve to go out and have a huge meal because I've had a bad day/week/month/semester/life. Of course it does. Look, I know I need therapy, but we've established that.

The Culprit... Shrimp and Grits! with cheese dip and an empty Margarita Glass!

 

To prove that point further it is important to mention the entire one-hour commute home when I was trying to convince myself to come home and eat leftovers and drink a glass of wine, the devil on my shoulder was screaming margaritas and cheese dip at TDS. Finally my Angel told my Devil we could eat there as long as we only ordered the Shrimp and Grits and NOT the cheese dip. As my Angel and Devil continued to fight, I knew what would happen as soon as we all set down at the bar and attempted to order without ordering the cheese dip. Duh Da duh.... Drum roll please...

As soon as the cute little waiter who used to hate me, but now likes me (i have that affect on people) asked me if I wanted cheese dip (in his passive but almost corporate marketing speak) the Devil would SCREAM, yes, I'll have cheese dip AND a Texas Margarita.

Nectar of the Gods.

Damnit. So much for that healthy lunch and walk. If my commute didn't suck so much, and my job wasn't so busy and if I didn't have so much stress in my life at the moment (offer on house, second offer on house, house is not on the market, move, don't move, quit job, get vested at job, refinance, taxes, travel, speech in front of the board of directors tomorrow, speech in front of the president tomorrow, ribbon cutting, grand opening, 25 essays to grade, etc) my devil wouldn't have to be so loud and my angel could steer me more in the right direction. Oh, yeah and my gut wouldn't be so damn big. Damn Devil (or Id, thanks Freud).

Therefore I've learned that if i wasn't trying to get rid of my gut, I'd probably have strolled up in there (DeKalb speak) ordered my Shrimp and Grits and one margarita, been fine and left still liking myself. Instead I fought my id the entire drive home, still ordered what the Id wanted and thus left hating that I negated all the hard work I had done trying to eat well all week (and was pissed at my devil aka Clairesse that she won again). Then when I told myself I was only eating 1/2 the cheese dip, I ate the entire thing, just as one margarita meant two. Such is life.

And finally I see my neighbors/former neighbors more at Taqueria or at Brick Store Pub than I see them in my neighborhood. Hey neighbor! Why don't you come over to my porch for a drink? Never mind, let's just meet each other up the street in one of the bars. Okay? Literally I have seen my former neighbor on the square more in the last two days than I saw her when we lived next door to each other. Not only do you have to get out of your house to see people, you have to leave your neighborhood to see your neighbors.

So the moral of the story is this:
 1) Some people are just weird, you don't have to be politically correct about it and assume they are eating gluten free or trying to lose weight when they bring crackers to use for eating their cheese dip. These people are just weird and will eventually play Words with Friends with each other, on the same phone, while they are eating dinner together using weird little crackers to eat glorisly good cheese dip that you know is better with the warm, homemade chips. Weird!

2)If i try and talk myself out of eating something, I am going to eat it and eat the entire bowl/dish/vessel and then eat something else just to prove I can. Forget trying to lose weight, I'm stuck here unless I all of sudden go through a horrible break-up again and lose 20 lbs.Weird!

3)I will never let my yet-to-be-born or created kids stand on a clean table, that is not mine, with their nasty-ass shoes while completely unaware of other people that will eventually eat at that table. And yes, I know all parents say this, BUT I really won't let this happen. Weird!

4) I will also never make those yet to be created kids clean their plate because once a member of the clean plate club, always a member of the clean plate club. Yep that is why I had to eat my entire bowl of cheese dip, drink all of my two margaritas and eat all of my shrimp and grits, because there are starving kids in Ethiopia you know! I seriously can't believe my parents used to say that to me, but they did... and I HAD to clean my plate, even after my smart-ass eight-year-old self asked if they wanted to mail the rest of my food to the kids in Ethiopia. I think i had to finish the entire casserole after I asked that and thus I blame all this on my parents (thanks again Freud). Weird..., parents that is!


Whatever... people are weird!

Happy Eating.

Caramello... My Guilty Pleasure

I don't really love chocolate. If its on the dessert table or dessert menu I can pass it up. Chocolate and cake too. I am not really a huge fan of either. In fact, I boycotted cake at my birthday parties at about the age of 14 and demanded only cheesecake be served. However, before you think I am extremely weird it is important to know that if there is some buttery crusty bread or nice creamy cheese or some crispy thin fries on the table, I will have to be forcibly removed before I am able to stop eating any or all of the above. So, I am a salty, not a sweet, shocking I know...  (but kinda weird inandofitself (southern word) because I don't really like salt).

Melton's Irish Nachos, something I can't pass up!

Anyway so chocolate, not a huge fan. While dining at Cakes and Ale a few weeks ago I heard the man next to me at the bar remark that his wife was disappointed there was no chocolate dessert on the menu. Hum, I thought, sounds like a perfectly fine dessert menu to me. Personally I prefer a nice Creme Brulee, a egg custard, a cheesecake, a panna cotta, a cheese course, something with caramel... are we seeing a trend here? eggs, butter, sugar, cheese, cream... all the good stuff. I don't need any coca beans to round out the evening.

The egg custard, topped with homemade caramel from Monteluce Winery in Dahlonega, GA. One of the best desserts I've ever had!

However the exclamation about the dessert menu didn't really surprise me as my friend Archna also believes that a dessert menu is not a real dessert menu unless there is something chocolate on it. I tend to disagree, I'll take custard, more custard, cream cheese concoctions and more dishes with eggs and butter please. However, there is one chocolate concoction that makes me change my ways. It is none other than the.....

Yep, that is my guilty pleasure. Now before you get all excited thinking I like chocolate you must understand the make-up of a Caramello and understand the chocolate is simply a carrier for the caramel, aka burnt sugar and butter with a touch of cream! So we are back to the butter and cream... Hell you'd think my dad was a dairy farmer instead of a cotton farmer, but I digress.

When I was young and innocent, or looked it anyway

My love affair with the Caramello goes back to junior high and high school where all the cool kids had money for the vending machines to spend during recess or lunch. Everyone got their daily candy bar treat and I wanted to be part of the in-crowd. But, I missed out on this event because 1) I didn't really like chocolate or nuts, therefore I didn't like most candy bars and 2) I am allergic to peanuts so there were not many candy bars I could not eat. Now I could have been a good little girl and not tried to like candy bars and saved several calories down the road but.... yeah, it's me you are dealing with, so lets move on...

Notice there is caramel on top, but clearly not enough caramel

I tried the ultra cool and new Zero candy bar about 10 times to make sure I didn't like it. I was certain I would eventually enjoy the white chocolate covering and get past the chopped up nuts in the center. Nope. I even tried the Milky Way a few dozen times but, no didn't like it either. However, when the Milky Way ice cream bars came out, I devoured them like there was no tomorrow, but we are back to cream and eggs again so...

Again, ice cream and caramel... cream and cream + burnt sugar & butter

In my quest to fit in with the candy bar-eating-recess-crowd I discovered the Caramello. This candy bar consists of several sections of hollow chocolate squares filled with caramel. Each section is like a little candy bar in itself and if you had any self-control you could probably just eat one square and save the rest for later, or share, or something else that you know really isn't going to happen.

The only two squares I had left by this point in the post.

Now, fast forward to 2003 when I was taking an instructor training course and I was assigned to teach the class how to complete a specific task of my choosing. The catch was we couldn't use a method or technique in our discipline and we had to use everyday objects (or something of the sort, I really can't remember 9 years ago). However the important portion of the assignment was to use the teaching method referred to as tell me, show me, involve me. Thus after racking my brain for days to trying to determine what I could do that was both fun and reasonable I was at the CVS around 11pm the night before I was set to teach buying every Caramello they had.

Yes, yes and hell yeah!

The next day I stood up in front of a class of 12 or so cops and told them the proper method for eating a Caramello. As they were all sitting there wide eyed, I demonstrated how to properly eat the candy bar (picture me eating a Caramello in front of 12 cops here). The method goes like this, first you must break off a square of the Caramello.

Step One

Then you must carefully bite around the edges of the square to free the bottom portion of the vessel from the rounded top portion of the vessel.

Step 2: The edges eaten off the square and bad lighting in my kitchen

Now use the flat chocolate piece to scoop out the caramel from the rounded portion, at which point you promptly place all that delicious goodness in your mouth. If you are a good enough dipper, you can simply discard the rounded chocolate vessel and move onto your next square.

Steps 3&4: scoop and eat! and enjoy and get better lighting

Now let's talk about discarding that top chocolate portion. I used eat the Caramello this way and is the way I taught the class to eat the Caramello, But in my quest to ingest all calories I possibly can (smirk) I have taken to now eating the top chocolate portion as well. I am sure this would nothing but excite my former classmates as all the chocolate lovers in the class gasped in unison when I told them they could simply throw that portion away. 

But let's be honest, even though this is a chocolate candy bar I am really only eating it for the caramel. I could seriously eat caramel with a spoon and have been known to do so on many occasions. Actually I should just start doing that because that would save me the calories contained in the caramel carrier (usually chocolate or ice cream).

I have eaten this Fat Toad Vanilla Bean Caramel with a spoon before. The entire jar... not in one sitting, but close. I highly recommend it. Its made from goats milk, so I think that makes it healthy or something... maybe

Before you think I am simply getting all my caramel and chocolate fixes from the gas station I must tell you about Fran's Salted Caramels. On one of my many trips to Seattle for my annual forensic science meeting I read that Fran's chocolates was the place to go, but I didn't really pay much attention because I don't like chocolate and chocolate shops don't really excite me that much. However I happened to walk by Fran's and they had the most awesome window display I have ever seen. The entire shop was lavishly and superbly decorated for Easter, so much so I could not walk by without stopping. Once in the store I wanted to simply bask in the scenery and try not to be sucked in to buying something simply because it looked pretty.

After several minutes or more of looking around I finally realized I was going to buy something and settled on the only chocolate item in the store I could imagine myself liking, the salted caramels. Now mind you, these really aren't chocolates, they are caramels lightly coated in chocolate and dusted in sea salt.

Fran's milk chocolate and dark chocolate gray salt and smoked salt caramels.

They are tiny bits of deliciousness that you could pop in your mouth one at a time, but because they are so delicious you make the one-bite caramel last for four bites (this may also have something to do with the fact they are $2 each).

They come in this cute little box of 20, which actually makes them $1.40 each or $28 a box (as of today). Isn't the packaging nice? I'm sure thats worth at least $8 of the price, but I do love a good presentation.

I think I got four of these while in Seattle and ate them before I even got back to the hotel. I never really forgot about this upscale version of the Caramello, but simply thought I would get them again when I returned to Seattle. That is until this past Christmas. I was watching one of the "best of" shows on Food Network and saw Bobby Flay mention that one of his favorite gifts, or something along those lines, was the coconut bars from Fran's. Forget the coconut stuff, all I heard was that they ship the salted caramels.

Therefore I promptly got online to order my high-faluting Fran's-located-next-to-the-Ritz-Carlton salted caramels. I was actually first surprised at the fairly decent price for the box of 20 tiny bites of goodness, until I realized it was going to cost me just as much for shipping as it was to buy the box.

Need I say more???

Oh well, it was Christmas after all and $40 and a box of 20 salted caramels later I was a happy camper. But hey, it is not everyday I can get the pricey salted caramels and sometimes it is necessary to resort to the $1.99 King Size Caramello from your local gas station or CVS.

Here is the King Size version... Why not?

Speaking of the King-Size version, which is in sharp contrast to the miniature versions sold at Fran's, I hate it when I get to the store craving one of those things and all they have is the King Size. Then I am forced to buy the King Size bar, which means I will eat that King Size bar because there is no way I could ever throw a perfectly good Caramello away.

The cure for the common cold or bronchitis...

And why should I, really? What made me think of my love affair with caramel and namely Caramellos you may ask? Well today as I was leaving work early and sick with bronchitis I had to stop and get gas. For some reason when I am sick a good old fashioned Coke makes me feel all better. But what makes me feel even better is a Coke Icee and a King Size Caramello... Yep, that was all they had, King Size... oh well maybe it is the cure for bronchitis.

Happy Eating!

Holy mother load, this girl made Caramello cookies... recipe here

Oh and...

I do love caramel cake, mostly just for the icing though, I discard most of the cake... which is not surprising, all things considered.

It seems like I am always posting a reason for being a slacker on this blog, and here I go again. Several months ago I made a mid-year resolution to tap my creative energies and engage in an outlet after work, and thus the blog was reborn.

However, I unfortunately decided to do this in the midst of one of the the busiest semesters in all my years of teaching. Not only did my school convert from quarters to semesters beginning in August, I also, for some crazy reason, decided to add a part-time job to my full-time job and 8 hour a week commute. In addition I agreed to write a portion of a book chapter, review 45 some-odd abstracts for scholarships and throw in the usual travel and everyday chores on top of that and I was too busy for blogging.

Needless to say the semester kicked my butt and thus I made some changes and dropped everything but my full-time job and blogging for the upcoming semester. In some ways I anticipate being bored, but in others I am so looking forward to have time to eat more and blog more.

Thus that is my explanation for being a slacker this time. I am sure there will be more, but hopefully this semester (the way I measure time now) will be less busy and will get to write many of the posts I have been dreaming about and many more as well.

Anybody and anything is game, so look out!

Happy Eating!

Birthday food- with a Peanut(s) theme

Apparently my previous post on peanuts resonated with many of my friends as it seemed to be the topic of choice at my birthday celebration. It began with Liz's sister-in-law, Laurie, sweeping peanut dust and crumbs that she had accumulated at the Braves game, out of her purse onto the patio furniture and floor. As i was squirming my friend Elizabeth was lightly mentioning... oh no peanuts... claire is allergic. She reads my blog!

elizabeth, me and julie at The Marlay

As it turns out Laurie's son is also allergic to peanuts, which she later relayed to us in a story about how she once felt like the worst mother in the world because her son ate some thanksgiving turkey fried in peanut oil. Of course he later had anaphylactic systems and she, as a mother and a nurse, felt horrible for not realizing that peanut oil was used to fry the turkey. I had a similar experience with almost eating a peanut-fried turkey, so i know the feeling. On a side note, she did not know i was allergic to peanuts when she was cleaning them right out of her purse onto the table, but she sure found out quickly! Thanks friends!

some of my loot and 1/2 a st. bernardus!

Later Shellie mentioned something about how i should take the day off of work on my birthday and have some of the delicious peanut butter pie at Java Monkey. Ah, i said, but i am allergic...  which happened about the same time everyone else at the table said "READ THE BLOG". Which is when elizabeth all but quoted my blog post and said "you are one of those friends that never remembers she is allergic". Everyone got a good laugh but luckily no one got a peanut butter pie for me. I got a Bruster's ice cream pie (like a cake w/o the cake) just as i requested.

Bruster's caramel apple pie! Yum!

The next day i begrudgingly went to work after having to psych myself up for a good hour. I promised myself i could leave at lunch (which i did not) and convinced myself it would be better to be at work than at home (it wasn't). However, there were a few bright spots to day, one of which being when my friend Dr. Maloof stopped by my office to give me my peanut themed gift.

This was the outside of the gift, with the appropriate packaging and note!

She remembered my birthday because her son's birthday is exactly one week before mine. Great people were born in September, i say! Nevertheless her gift was funny and right on track with the peanuts theme. Here is what the inside of the bag looked like!

very cute inside warning label for my gift!

And now for the peanut gift....

this cup is so appropriate in so many ways!

So, Dr. Maloof I am confronting the peanuts, with cartoons not legumes! and the life is hard part too!
Well it looks like my blog post about peanuts worked. Now most of my friends are aware I am allergic to peanuts, it was partially the topic of discussion at my BD soiree and I got a Bruster's ice cream pie!

Happy Eating! Especially birthday eating!

Yogurt is the new taco... Yogurt Tap and more

Or maybe the new burger? At least in Atlanta it seems that food trends have followed the lines of taco joint, burger joint and now yogurt joint.

Farm Burger... A burger joint

Taqueria del Sol, Decatur- A taco joint!

This new phase reminds me of the TCBY craze in the 1980's. Remember when you used to die for their chocolate and vanilla swirl? Then they finally got another machine and it was the wildest thing that you had a choice other than chocolate, vanilla and the swirl. It was the most happening thing in town for the longest time and so exciting to walk in and see what the "other" machine had to offer that week. Now, you'd be lucky to find a TCBY. Naturally there is still one in Monroe, LA, but i have not seen one anywhere else since the early 90's.

Nevertheless as just as leggings and leg warmers have come back in style, so has yogurt. However, these yogurt joints are now self-serve. A sign of the economy maybe, or perhaps just a sign of the times with all the self-serve kiosks and checkout lanes that are supposed to save time but always seem to take longer. Sometimes that is the case with yogurt too! Keep reading...

They just don't make them like this anymore. TCBY has a drive thru and now we have to serve ourselves!

The first of these newfangled yogurt joints that i became familiar was Yogurt Tap in Decatur. http://www.theyogurttap.com. Admittedly the first two times i tried Yogurt Tap i did not like it. Since it has been around for a couple of years i don't really remember what i did not like about it, i just know it did not warrant more than two visits. Undoubtedly one issue was their lack of parking. Due to it being on the Decatur Square, you basically have to be on foot to go to Yogurt Tap as there is literally no where to park unless you are lucky enough to score one of the four places out front. But it was getting good reviews on Decatur Metro blog www.decaturmetro.com and it always seemed to be happening so i felt like i should give it another chance.

About six months ago or I was in walking distance of Yogurt Tap and decided to give it another try. I mostly did this because i like to eat, but also because I had heard my friend Melissa talk about how she and Lauren go there almost once a week. Oh, and they love it, by the way. I thought I had to be missing something, so i decided to try it again.

Here is what it looks like from the outside.

On a side note I probably need some therapy for this affliction as i tend to try things over and over hoping for a different result, especially if other people seem to be getting a different result. Insanity? Anyway, at least in this instance it worked. Maybe it was the flavors they were serving, maybe they have improved since they opened or maybe the stars were aligned, but the third time was the charm.

After i finished that big ole cup of yogurt I called Melissa and told her that after three tries, spanning almost 1.5 years i finally liked Yogurt Tap. In fact, i liked it so much i wish it had better parking so i could eat it more often. Not only that, I ate it 2 times over the Decatur Book Festival weekend... and have eaten it three times in the last week... Now I am hooked too. In fact, I think I'll walk up there after i finish this blog post!

However, there are a few other downsides to Yogurt Tap. First it seems to have become the hangout for Decatur middle and high school students anytime between 2 pm and 6pm. The kids essentially flood the place and of course at that age have no concept that other people exist. Secondly, they only have 3 machines equalling 9 taps. Not only does that mean the flavors are limited, it also means there is a bottleneck at the yogurt bar, especially when people can't seem to make a decision. I mean you've basically got 9 choices (and that is counting the 3 swirls)... And you can even get them all if you want! Get your yogurt and move on! Thirdly, you spend so much time standing in line behind people deciding what toppings they want at the toppings bar, your yogurt almost melts. Again, how hard is it to make a decision?

the infamous toppings bar

I never want toppings... see post on the aforementioned peanut allergy... so i don't want to stand in line behind an entire family of people discussing toppings as they gently sprinkle one of each topping on their yogurt. I'm not sure of the proper yogurt etiquette here, but i think it should be ok for me to skip in front of them it if is going to take them FOR-ever to top their yogurt. Besides, I can make a decision. Yogurt, pay, eat...

But Yogurt Tap has some competition and you might prefer Red Mango or Menchies which in typical Atlanta fashion are less than a mile away from but seem oh so far. Atlanta is the only city i have ever lived in where there are 3 Publix's within a one mile radius, because lord knows it would be too difficult to drive 2 miles to get groceries. Nothing like some urban sprawl.

See all those green dots covering Atlanta? Those are all the Publix locations. And that is just one of our grocery store chains!

Speaking of, another yogurt shop is now set to open in walking distance of Yogurt Tap, this one called Swirlin' and Twirlin'. There new storefront boasts that they will have 40 flavors and the parking is also better at its location. Of course it might give my favorite New Orleans Snowball Shop a run for its money when it first opens, but hopefully the business will eventually level out.

All this aside, I hate to say it but my favorite yogurt joint is Orange Leaf in Monroe. LA http://orangeleafyogurt.com/. In typical Monroe fashion the line was out the door the first few months it was open but now you can walk in and choose from its many flavors of yogurt in more varieties than you can imagine. I am assuming the new Swirlin' and Twirlin' will be similar to Orange Leaf which admittedly has a more corporate feel than Yogurt Tap.

Inside the Orange Leaf

Certainly variety is not necessary and TCBY made it on chocolate, vanilla and the ever popular and genius swirl! Remember when that was new? We had never seen pre-swirled yogurt before! Anyway I digress... So maybe the variety of 40 flavors isn't all its cracked up to be, but certainly is more fun. Variety is the spice of life after all!

Cherries at the Union Square Farmers Market- NYC

Happy Eating!