Cameraless and Alone: The First Day

Thank you to everyone who suggested cameras and other devises to help resolve my battered camera syndrome. I went to Best Buy and couldn’t locate that USB Memory Card reader. I was able to locate it at PC Richards but it cost $35 and I’m not sure it’s worth it if I’m going to get a new camera anyway. So stay tuned in that department.

Do you want to hear a terrifying and bizarre non-camera-related story? When I came home today after 8 hours away, I put the key in the lock and felt like something was watching me in the hallway of my apartment building. I turned and looked and there was (huge intake of air): LOLITA! She was cowering in the corner! She must have ran into the hallway this morning when I left for school and hid there all day! I felt horrible for her. She looked traumatized–like she was in some parallel universe and “Make it stop, Daddy, please make it stop.” I did make it stop and carried her back inside and she readjusted quickly. She chomped some Meow Mix and luxuriated on the couch. Now she’s back to her old self, marching in place on my black sweater–or should I say, fur coat. Lolita hair is my fashion statement of choice.

But back to food. THIS IS A FOOD BLOG, ADAM, REMEMBER? Here are some exciting food things that happened today:

* I drank some Paul Newman lemonade. This is one of the pictures on my dead-dismantled camera. I once read that Newman’s Own lemonde is the BEST lemonade (I think it was in the Saveur Top 100 one year) because it’s “virgin”–meaning no preservatives. And for the most part that’s true. I really enjoy this lemonade. Is it as good as completely homemade? No. My current favorite lemonade of choice is at The City Bakery. On the rare occassion I lunch there (and it’s a rare occassion because it’s so expensive!) I order a lemonade—just to live largely. And it’s really good. But Newman’s is great to have in your fridge. I recommend it.

* I made those Gingersnaps again. You know the ones. Do I really have to relink it? FINE! The sad thing is that they came out AWFUL. Well, not awful. They still TASTED good, but they were not crispy at all. They’re all mushy and soft. I guess I didn’t slice them thin enough. I kept putting back in the oven and raising the temperature but that did nothing. So I have a bag of mushy gingersnaps. Luckily, there’s more batter frozen in the freezer so I can attempt slicing more thinly tomorrow.

* I bought Robert Sietsema’s new guide to Ethnic Eating today at The Strand. I really like it—it’s divided up by ethnic categories, so you can really get a good education reading through it. This, along with Jim Leff’s defunct but still enjoyable “Gourmet Guide” shall provide voluminous fodder for the site. So get ready–Bajan, Grenadian, and Yemeni cuisine here I come!

And that’s your pictureless report for the day. It occurred to me today, looking at the cookbooks in The Strand, how important pictures are in the world of food writing. Unlike, say, serious literature–I think food writing is always aided by good quality photographs. (This could just be my personal bias.) But clearly the visual is a huge component in the sensory experience of eating. So sharing an image of the food you’re talking about allows the reader to share in the sensory experience—the effect is greater than just words. That’s why I prefer (in my Birthday Wishlist) The Bouchon Bakery cookbook to The Gourmet Cookbook—there are pictures! Call me a 4-year old, but I only like cookbooks with pictures. And, similarly, a food blog without pictures is not a food blog. Let’s get me a camera, ASAP!