Locally made Fruit n Nut Couscous for the last ESF of the year

In the spirit of the future of media.... This was my Wednesday.

6:00am - Wake up... cough and blow my nose for about an hour, go back to sleep

9:30am - Freak out, realize how much stuff I have to do before my class at 1:30pm, get a text message from Ashton asking me when I'm planning on going to the farmer's market. Reply by saying, "I dunno, i have to go to trader joes too :\ i just have to go and be back on campus before noon." She tells me I can drive her car.... I go back to sleep

10:30am - Freak out a little harder. Make myself some oatmeal and bananas, put on some clothes, and head to campus.

11:10am - Pick up Ashton's keys from the USFtv office.

11:13am - Call Ashton and ask what her license plate number is...

11:22am - Arrive at Trader Joes to buy local items (I received a tip from a girlfriend...to remain nameless...that Trader Joes had all sorts of local food. Even though I knew that I could get some couscous from Lucky's that was from Santa Cruz, I guess I thought I'd be able to pick up everything I needed from one place, and be good to go)

11:28am - Leave Trader Joes with nothing...thouroughly dissapointed(They manufacture and distribute out of Monrovia, CA, that's down south, my Grandma Shirley used to live there)

11:40am - After frantically parallel parking for only the second time in my life(:D) I arrived at the farmers market on Geary, at the Kaiser Permanente.(I highly recommend it, Wednesday's 10am-2pm, it's teeny-tiny but they've got good items, free samples, and live music.)

11:42am - I purchased some parsley for $1 a bunch from the lady representing the Nunez farm in Watsonville, then I moved clockwise to purchase a 1/2 pound bag of trail mix from a man representing Schletewitz Family Farms located at 9394 E. North Ave. in Sanger, CA(They print and stick a label on their bags) as well as well as 3 peaches and 3 apricots for Ashton's fruit salad.

11:48am - Left the farmer's market

11:49am-11:59am - Searched and searched and searched and searched for parking(Mind you, this is the first time someone has actually let me borrow their car during the day with full trust that everything would be okay....thanks Ashton!)

11:59am-12:02pm - Second parallel parking attempt of the day...Succesful! (I just had to hop out about four times to make sure my nose wasn't in the driveway...I kinda want a car in the city now)

12:05pm - Meeting with My, Marci, and Mark(The M&M's :D) about the future of USFtv next year, went well(I'm the Executive Producer next year, I want your cooking personalities ESF)

12:50pm - Down to Lucky's for my couscous! I asked the barista lady at the Pacific Roast Coffee station if I could borrow her cup measurer,(she thought it was kind of weird, but she let me) then I scooped and measured 3 cups of couscous into a little recyclable bag(I meant to bring my own container, but forgot. Ps I also knew to get 3 cups because I read on about.com that I would need 1 cup of dry couscous to make 2.5 cups of wet couscous, and that 1/2 cup of wet couscous is a proper side dish per person, therefore 3 cups of dry couscous would yield 7.5 cups of wet couscous, allowing for 15 sides for our class)

1:09pm - Walked up to Fulton and Clayton while talking to my mom on the phone

1:12pm-1:17pm - Waited for the bus because my mom said I shouldn't be walking so far if I'm sick...(I love my mom)

1:30pm - Dropped my couscous off at home and scuttled to Intro to Video production class(Natalija Vekic is amazing btw, you must take a video class with her if you're interested in film if you haven't already)

1:35pm-5:00pm - Finished editing, screened, and exported my two films, one documentary called Pets are Wonderful Support, and a narrative called Missed Call, for our Film showcase (Which I Emceed on Friday 5/15 at 6:00pm.)

5:15pm - Scrambled down the Mcallister incline while on the phone with Ali(About 45 seconds into the conversation I realized that I had forgotten my parsley and trail mix in the USFtv office)

5:16pm - Scrambled up the Mcallister incline

5:27pm - (You guessed it) Scrambled back down the Mcallister incline and made it home.

5:30pm - Put a pot of water on the stove on high to reach a boil

5:33pm - Went to the neighbor's apartment, borrowed a much bigger pot

5:37pm- Transfered the hot water from pot to pot(carefully transfered, carefully)

5:39pm - Washed hands

5:41pm - Poured the couscous into a large frying pan for some reason(It wasn't on any heat, it was clean...looking back I have no clue why I did that)

5:44pm - Enlisted in roommate Kiernan to help me chop 2.5 cups of dried fruit and nuts while I chopped 1.5 cups of parsley.

5:48pm - Enlisted in roommate Kiernan to do a finer chop of the parsley.

5:50pm - Removed the pot from the heat, poured in the couscous, put a lid over the pot

5:55pm - Checked on the couscous(ps. according to most couscous recipes, you will notice that you usually must pour in the couscous, and then let it sit with a lid on top of the pot for 5 minutes...I guess in must be different when you're cooking such a large quantity.)

5:56pm - Put the lid back on the couscous...

6:05pm - Stirred in the chopped parsley, dried fruit and nuts(Originally I was going to make two batches, one with parsley and one with the fruit and nuts, I realized that wasn't going to happen, so I figured this would just have to work, and would just have to taste good.)

6:06pm - Tasted couscous...thought about it(I needed something else to add that was local, the flavor just wasn't happening, I wanted to make sure I used absolutely nothing but local ingredients, so I didn't even use salt.)

6:07pm - Added two cups of honey(This honey was given to me by my boss at Ace Hardware, I believe she got it homemade from a friend of hers. Ps. I've been working at Ace Hardware in the Financial District since the spring of my freshman year, I have great bosses, and I love it)

6:12pm - Let couscous sit over low flame while I packed my backpack

6:17pm - Gathered everything I thought I needed and left for the last ESF class ever

6:19pm - Half way up the Mcallister incline I realized I forgot Omnivore's Dilema, called Kiernan to run it to me, ended up all the way at the bottom and he gave it to me in the middle of the street.

6:27pm - Made it to class

Cooking in College, A Delicious Meal for Three, for Under $3.00

A Day in the Life - Chris Begley Eating Today in the Most Peculiar Way

When chronicling what you eat throughout the day, you usually guard yourself and watch what you eat, I tried my hardest not to.

I woke up around 10:30am, the video will explain the rest



Here is my video regarding dinner:




Some interesting information on gelatin for Nick, and all of you other vegetarians...if you were unaware
http://www.ivu.org/faq/gelatine.html


Here is an article from Reuters on V8 fusion, guess it was a good purchase, and really is a good and quick fruit/veggie substitute :D
http://tinyurl.com/dgypu5

San Francisco's Mission District: Art, Food and Food...for thought

I've always believed there has been a big disparity, or unfair struggle for power between certain groups living in America. The rich and the poor, the white collar and the blue collar, the landlord and the tenant, the government and the citizen, the majority and the minority, the english speaker and the non-english speaker, the literate and the illiterate, the few and the many, the ones with power, and the ones without.

I believe this goes for many different areas of production and of life as well, even food, think about it. The mass-produced and the locally produced, the inorganic and the organic, the efficient and the enjoyed, the name-brand and the off-brand, the ones with power, and the ones without.

America is a land of opportunity and there are a multiplicity of groups in this country that are getting heard, some appeal and plead to the ones in power, others simply do what they think is right, and even some others simply do what they feel.

When Eating San Francisco went to the mission I witnessed an example of one group doing what they think is right, and one who did and continues to do what they feel.

We visited Mission Pie, a restaurant and pie house in the mission and I believe they are exemplifying really what the mission is all about, a community trying to help one another. Mission Pie and Pie Ranch are doing something good for the community, for the environment, and for food.

The mosaic above represents what really makes food and what goes into the production of food, people. Lots and lots of people. The night our class was at the mission we talked about Food television and food production. The whole time we talked I was thinking about the stars of the shows, and then I thought about behind the scenes. Behind the scenes of Tv with the camera people, the editors, and the writers, and behind the scenes of food. The cooks and the dishwashers, and even those who produce food that we buy in the super market.

http://www.picartia.com/
This mosaic of the mural "Victorian", by Sirron Norris is compiled of paintings and murals from throughout the country and the world.
I think that art is an expression that is primarily created by those that have-not.

The whole name of the mural is "Victorion: El Defensor de la Mision" and I think it's is a prime example what is happening all over cities in America in terms of big developers coming into small untouched parts of cities with the desire to gentrify the community and develop.

According to Norris, this mural is and example of "Cartoon literalism," a type of art form he uses to convey his messages. Norris says that "painting cartoons has given me a chance to access a variety of different venues, and allowed me the opportunity to extend my talents to art education."


He has also commented on the hero in his mural saying "I kind of see the character as this hero for the under represented in city and a symbol of San francisco's fighting stance for some kind of regional or national injustice."

Being the mission I also wanted to delve a bit into my meal at the restaurant we went to, Taqueria Vallarta, and show a real example of how you can make "mission style" chicken tacos. I enjoyed three chicken tacos and thought a little bit about the marinade for the chicken, as well as the taco stand there.

If you think about what a taco stand represents you think about beginnings and simplicity, and I think about common people. People on the street set up taco stands in cities all over Mexico and in Southern California.

Here's my new recipe for Streetside, taco stand, chicken tacos:
2 cups shredded beef or other filling (all recipes for fillings follow)
12 corn tortillas
1/2 cup corn or canola oil (optional - soft tacos aren't fried)
2 cups Chihuahua or Jack cheese, grated
1 tomato, diced
1 bunch green onions, chopped
1/2 head lettuce or cabbage, shredded
1 cup salsa fresca and/or salsa verde

If you click on the recipe it will take you to a site that explains everything you ever wanted to know about tacos. Did you know that it usually takes 4-5 hours to cook, marinade and prepare shredded meat for tacos?

And this is exactly what I'm talking about. There are so many dishwashers, cooks, and waiters that go unrecognized in the world of food, and there are so many people in the world that don't get their voice heard due to the structure of American culture. The Mission district represents a place that these people are just like everyone else, you can see their stories painted on the wall, or in the sauce of a burrito you buy.