Kate Couch's Open Salon Blog

Whale of a Fear

Mon, 23 Jul 2012 17:07:02 -0400

I'm horrible to watch Antiques Roadshow with. I find myself shouting at the screen a la Indian Jones, "That belongs in a museum!"

And this really is the core of my being: I am excited by old things, find them amazing, fascinating, want them to be accessible to all, and want to get others excited about these objects as well. To learn is to better one's self and I'd love to write and educate, to spread enthusiasm for something in my daily career.

There are 2 things I want to do with my life. To the average person, they're very mundane. But to me, however, they're the equivalent of becoming a rock star.

I want to:

1. Write lesson plans in accordance to state regulations for historical societies and museums in order to entice local schools to take field trips to such establishments.

2. Work and write for Cook's Country/America's Test Kitchen, working as an Ethno-Foodologist or, even better, a Food Archeologist.

When I was in junior high and high school I would skip class about once a month or so. None of my friends would ever want to join me and my parents were always very supportive of these escapades. You'd think I had egghead friends and that's why they wouldn't skip, or that I had hippy dippy parents that would allow me to be so flagrant about my education, but neither was the case. Well, my mom could kinda be hippy dippy, but that's a different story. When I decided to skip school I would get a ride to the train station and take Metro North to Grand Central Station. Exciting, right? Who wouldn't want to skip school to hang out in The City all day?! I would then walk up Park Ave. to The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Or I would head west across the park to the American Museum of Natural History (or what's know as the Museum of Mother Fucking Awesomeness by its fans) and I would spend hours and hours reading in silence, smiling over beauty...with the periodic stop off at the Central Park Zoo to finish the trip. I did this over and over and over again. In high school I was fairly popular, I was certainly no prude, and the most epic parties were normally hosted by my brother or I. But when it came to what I really wanted, it was historical solitude. I would have shared that time with others, allowing them to tag along, but who cared for those things but me?

Photo Credit Jessica Hische

I'm extremely fortunate in the sense that I've been to the museums of NYC so frequently that I can't even count the days spent in their ancient and loving embrace. Dozens of times? Definitely. Hundreds? Very possible. I've moved away from that area a couple of times since graduating high school and being unable to take advantage of those museums is always the number one issue that I have when living more than a train ride away. I guess I miss my family, too, but I really miss those museums. In fact, when I visit my family, a jaunt to a museum in NYC is always one of the first afternoons planned. I am not so ego maniacal to ever think I could work at the Museum of Natural History or the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In order to do something like that I would have had to make all the right moves, and absolutely no mistakes, in the professional decisions of my life. The employees and curators of those establishments are my heros, my Steven Tylers and Brad Pitts. Unfortunately, it seems I've done the opposite of not making professional blunders thus far in my life. I've created quite the resume and educational experience with not one, but two degrees under my belt. They're just as far from the museum and/or food path as humanly possible. Awesome.

The first time in memory of going to a museum, I was about three years old and with my parents and brother. We headed out to the Museum of Natural History. My brother and I never really got along very well, and on trips like this we were more simply in the same place at the same time rather than actually experiencing something together. We walked passed the dinosaur skeleton in the entry hall and made our way around the mammoths and the naked, hairy neanderthals with the droopy boobs. This was prior to the Rose Center, otherwise we would have probably made a bee line for the giant glass box of Space. The favorite at this time, however, was the Great Hall. The Great Hall is massive, primarily so it can fit the life-sized model of a blue whale. It's romantically lit, and by that I mean, that it's somewhat dark, like the depths of the ocean. It consists of two levels with marine life exhibits lining the walls and a large open area in the center, from which one can admire the whale.

Photo credit Linden78. That bitch'll crush yo' ass.

I say "admire".

There are two things I remember from this day, one of my earliest trips to the AMNH:

1. Being horrified in the Great Hall by this massive whale that was going to crush and/or eat me at any moment while...2. George Michael's Careless Whisper played over the loud speaker. I mean, yeah, technically it was a Wham! song, but, c'mon, it was all George Michael and that damned whale. My mother said she heard "teeny, tiny pounding feet" and turned to see me flying toward her staring over my shoulder at the whale, horrified. And what self respecting toddler wouldn't be? Even at that young age I knew anything from above could crush you below, both literally and figuratively.

It's a hazy memory, but it's very real, and it didn't just end with that day.

I then proceded to carry around a fear of being in an ocean for years. Playing in the surf = good. Playing far enough out where water could go over your head and therefore allow you to be crushed from above by a whale = bad. It wasn't until I was in my twenties that I could picture myself getting out of a boat and into open waters. I wasn't afraid of whales, so much as being in water with them. I grew up along the north eastern seaboard, so going whale watching was a common activity. I respected their beauty and their power. And their ability to crush me in real life in the ocean or as a giant model in a museum.

Soul inhibited experience or no, I knew to differentiate my fear from what actually caused it and not where the experience occurred. Loosely translated: I didn't blame the museum for this silly fear that followed me around for a couple of decades.

And to this day I want to be apart of some historical and educational organization that learns from and loves the past, whale or no.

Austin Gastro Graze UPDATE: F+D

Sun, 24 Jun 2012 09:06:16 -0400

*Scroll to bottom for Update and new photos of items.

There are 3 things you must know about Foreign and Domestic's Saturday Bake Sales:

1. You absolutely should go, but go early.

2. It's CASH ONLY.

3. Be prepared to wait in line, but, for a Foodie, it's worth it.

This morning marked my second trip to the Foreign + Domestic Saturday Bake Sale. The first time I went was the first day they tried this baked goods masterpiece event. We got there a few minutes before opening and they sold out shortly there after, far before their 2pm closure time. Since that day Pastry Chef and Co-owner Jodi Elliott has streamlined the process, directing traffic in through one door and out through another. And as there's always a line, this is very helpful; people walk, bike, jog, and drive from all over the Austin area to score a Ham & Gruyere Croissant or mini buttermilk pie.

Ham & Gruyere croissant

There are always a dozen or more options, which makes choosing - and keeping your pink F&D to-go box from over flowing - rather difficult. Most items are $6, though their Black Pepper & Gruyere popovers, a light and indulgent staple from their dinner menu, are $4 and all are very large and easily shared...if you really want to. These fresh baked offerings are frequently too delicious to warrant nibbles from others. Often they have treats in jars for $6 as well, including a chocolate trifle (rich, velvety, with notes of vanilla, extra dark chocolate, and espresso) , a peach cobbler polka spotted with fresh vanilla bean, and fluffy chocolate mousse.

Black Pepper & Gruyere Popover...1/2 eaten

There is always a good mix of sweet and savory, vegetarian and Ham filled (notice I capitalize the H in Ham the way most people capitalize the G in God), but different pastries rotate each week. Our first visit included a Strawberry and Cream Cheese buttercup and Tomato Mushroom Tarte Tatin, both of which were delicious, though as a lady that prefers items less sweet and more layered, the tomato tartin was complex in flavor as well as being light and a fantastic large snack for any time of day. Today I scored an exceptional Blue Cheese and Caramelized Onion Croissant; the creamy, aged flavor was carried throughout the flaky pastry without being overwhelming and the onions lent a sweetness that perfectly balanced strong cheese and the buttery and crispy dough. My friend Tania, who first told me about Foreign + Domestic, and can be followed through tasty food exploits at @td_eats, joined me this morning and purchased personal butter milk pie ($6, and could easily feed 3 people), and a cinnamon bun, with icing that flavor-fully complimented the sweetened cinnamon treat rather than overpower it. The buttermilk pie had an excellent texture, much like a fluffy cheesecake with a gooey center, and was very bright and fresh with extra vanilla and a hint of lemon.

Buttermilk Pie

Elliott knows what she's doing and is exceptionally good at it. This is a fairly cheap brunch even for a Foodie Grazer and Experimenter, and you can taste the care and thought that goes into each recipe with every bite. It's well worth the $20 you'll through down for a decent tasting of treats and you'll get more than enough food to feed 2 or 3 people. Highly recommend. It'll be the the only line worth waiting in for you whole Saturday.

Feel free to follow me on Twitter, @TheNerdyFoodie

Blue Cheese and Caramelized Onion Croissant

* 6/23/12 update

Went to the Bake Sale again today with a friend who just had a baby. What better way to get your strength back then to indulge in delicious pastry offerings?! Today was just like the other visits I've made to the Bake Sale: Excellent choices, incredible recipes, and cash only. I did notice, however, that after the usual intense burst of early birds, a line that always wraps around the building, the line really wore down to nothing at about 10:45am and there were still plenty offerings left. That being said, they do have a lunch rush so that window of opportunity can be fleeting. I wanted to show the reader, however, exactly what you can get for $20.

Please excuse the bites taken out of a couple of pieces above.

Also, please note that they are not sitting on a regular plate; they are on a platter.

What I purchased this pat Bake Sale was a strawberry cream cheese danish, made with fresh strawberries and it was HUGE, see below. It was more sweet than savory, but because the strawberries were fresh they weren't too sweet, and the cheese was more tangy than sugary. I'm not normally a fan of "sweet" nor danishes, but this was created in perfect balance. Rather than eating a bit of dessert for breakfast, the freshness of the berries and creamy cheese counter against the flaky and buttery dough.

There's also a ham & cheddar turnover that was massive and flavorful with thinly sliced ham and a thin spread of mustard on the inside. The turnovers where new and they offered the classic sweet apple as well as the ham. There were also sour cream donuts, that, like the danish, balanced sugar with intense flavors that made it far more in depth than merely sweet.

I purchased a sausage breakfast sandwich, which was kept from being messy, by the ingenious method of cooking the eggs. While the sandwich itself is very, very large, it's easily sharable, cutting in half does not cause the layers to fall apart and, as a Neat Freak as well as a Foodie, this is something I appreciate. The eggs are light and fluffy, and have been baked almost in a Yorkshire Pudding like way. If you notice above, it's classic biscuit followed by a richly flavored sausage - I'm not normally a fan of sausage, but this was sweet and savory, absolutely delicious - and then another layer prior to the bottom of the biscuit. That layer is the whipped eggs, keeping the sandwich from sliding around on a round egg top and making sure that the eater gets a bite of white and yolk in each nibble. And, and finally, there's a gruyere and black pepper pop-over.

The above plate cost $20 exactly. It fed myself, my husband (who has quite the Saturday brunch appetite, and we still have plenty of left overs to get us through brunch today. Though, if it were up to me, I wouldn't stop eating that danish! I had brought friends to F+D with me on this trip and they, too, were blown away, asking before we left that we make sure to visit F+D regularly from now on.

Feel free to follow me on Twitter, @TheNerdyFoodie

Austin Gastro Graze 2: Foreign + Domestic Bake Sale

Tue, 19 Jun 2012 13:06:54 -0400

There are 3 things you must know about Foreign and Domestic’s Saturday Bake Sales:

1. You absolutely should go, but go early.

2. It’s CASH ONLY.

3. Be prepared to wait in line, but, for a Foodie, it’s worth it.

This morning marked my second trip to the Foreign + Domestic Saturday Bake Sale. The first time I went was the first day they tried this baked goods masterpiece event. We got there a few minutes before opening and they sold out shortly there after, far before their 2pm closure time. Since that day Pastry Chef and Co-owner Jodi Elliott has streamlined the process, directing traffic in through one door and out through another. And as there’s always a line, this is very helpful; people walk, bike, jog, and drive from all over the Austin area to score a Ham & Gruyere Croissant or mini buttermilk pie.

Ham & Gruyere croissant

There are always a dozen or more options, which makes choosing – and keeping your pink F&D to-go box from over flowing – rather difficult. Most items are $6, though their Black Pepper & Gruyere popovers, a light and indulgent staple from their dinner menu, are $4 and all are very large and easily shared…if you really want to. These fresh baked offerings are frequently too delicious to warrant nibbles from others. Often they have treats in jars for $6 as well, including a chocolate trifle (rich, velvety, with notes of vanilla, extra dark chocolate, and espresso) , a peach cobbler polka spotted with fresh vanilla bean, and fluffy chocolate mousse.

Black Pepper & Gruyere Popover…1/2 eaten

Buttermilk Pie

Elliott knows what she’s doing and is exceptionally good at it. This is a fairly cheap brunch even for a Foodie Grazer and Experimenter, and you can taste the care and thought that goes into each recipe with every bite. It’s well worth the $20 you’ll through down for a decent tasting of treats and you’ll get more than enough food to feed 2 or 3 people. Highly recommend. It’ll be the the only line worth waiting in for you whole Saturday.

Feel free to follow me on Twitter, @TheNerdyFoodie

Blue Cheese and Caramelized Onion Croissant

Austin Gastro Graze 1: Michi Ramen, Moo Bawk Oink, & Krak 2

Mon, 18 Jun 2012 11:06:40 -0400

I like trying new things. By “things” I mean food.

Living in Austin means I get an ever evolving restaurant scene in which to bask in beautiful tasty goodness.

This past weekend my husband and I ventured to the North Austin Trailer Yard, NATY. Some bites were simple meh, but one place was amazing.

This trailer yard is right outside my gym, which is…unfortunate. It makes circuit training much less effective. But that’s mostly due to the good food found within.

On Saturday we ordered a beef Snarky cheese steak from Boo Bawk Oink and a Black and White Donut from Krak 2 which is within the same trailer as Moo Bawk Oink and a bottle of water. The entire tab came to $13, which we considered to be a bit pricey for trailer food. The sandwich was overly bready and the meat what I believe to be pulled brisket, in fact at first my husband and I questioned if it was pork, a little dry, but not bad. I prefer the horrible cheesesteak sliced meat, but it was a decent sandwich. The jalapenos are not spicy and the cheese more like white goo sauce. Good enough to try, not sure if I’d go back, especially considering its competition at NATY.

The donut was actually a square piece of fried dough with a whole in the center, drizzled with icing, hershey’s chocolate sauce, and Cocoa Krispies. According to the prices on Boo Bawk Oink’s website our sandwich and bottled water was $8. There weren’t prices for Krak 2 and aren’t any on their website, but based on our tab the donut was $5. While the fried dough “donut” was tasty – what fried dough isn’t? – it wasn’t worth $5. It was essentially a large beignets. Now, if it came with a scoop of ice cream then I’d dig the $5…

We also ordered a bowl of ramen from Michi Ramen. Michi Ramen is, in a word, AMAZING. Flavor, rich, warm, traditional, the comfort food you never knew your craved. Michi only has the room to create 50 bowls of Ramen for lunch and 50 for dinner, so their twitter is merely a count down of the bowls they have left. At noon on a Saturday, however, Chip and I had no problem scoring a bowl. The line was steady, though, and for good reason: As an American who thinks of ramen as those dried 38cent packets you can get at the grocery store. What Michi serves is incredible, flavorful, and even served with a poached egg if so desired. The broth is cooked for almost TWO DAYS with all natural ingredients (this is their claim, but boy does it taste like it!), pork bones, leaking their delicious marrow and flavors into a rich base for a ultra flavorful lunch/dinner. The standard ramen is served with two slices of Cashu on top, gorgeous, fatty, soy marinated braised pork. It was $9, but in this case it was money well spent. I took home our left over broth, let it coagulate and then sauteed spinach in it with the next night’s dinner of grilled steak and mashed cauliflower.

Yeah. It was awesome.

Yes, under the pork and poached egg and mushrooms there are ramen noodles.

What Did I Just Watch: Prometheus & Moonrise Kingdom

Sun, 17 Jun 2012 13:06:42 -0400

As far as Prometheus goes, I'm doing an un-review. I say little and there are no real spoilers, period.

If you want something more comprehensive scroll down for the Moonrise Kingdom review.

Prometheus Review:

I'll keep this brief. It shouldn't be discussed unless you're with people who have already seen it.

I went to see Prometheus. Spoiler alert: If you're 8+ months along in pregnancy and you go see it, you will have you kid shortly there after. I'm not kidding, totally happened to a friend of mine (Welcome, new baby Kai, to the World and Nerdom!). Other than that, be prepared to leave with a ton of questions. If you don't walk out with at least some questions that spawn (get it?) into more questions, then you're doing it wrong.

David. Focus on David and his agenda. I'm not a huge Alien (or Aliens or Alien Resurrection or Alien 3 or Alien vs. Predator or Alien vs. Predator 2) fan, but I do love Sigourney Weaver, puzzles, and science fiction. No, Sigourney wasn't in this one, but I still found it to be entertaining and interesting. I'm hoping many of my questions will be answered in the sequel, Paradise, that we probably won't see before 2014. It's gross, it's phallic, it's spacey, it's Ridley Scott. Go see it. It'll be fun. There's not much else on Netflix anyway.

Moonrise Kingdom review:

I love Wes Anderson. I love his usage of color, his need to show viewers that it's okay to love and lose, that the more we care the more painful it is in the end. His long shots, his simplicity, and always, always his choice in music. Moonrise Kingdom starts off much the same of his other films, the classic songs, the endless single shot that reveals a lifestyle, and blocked colors, beautiful, bright, setting our mood and the tone of his story.

"I know what you do with that dumb policeman..." Photo courtesy of Booooooom.com

Suzy is a twelve year old girl feeling troubled. She's on the cusp of womanhood, she has no real friends, and her mother and father, lawyers with little to no true relationship remaining in their marriage played by Bill Murray and the fantastic Francis McDormand, think her to be troubled as well. Ultimately, however, she seems pretty on the ball compared to most tweens, merely going through all those horrible bits we all had to face. Sam is also a troubled youth of 12, recently orphaned and trying just to fit in where ever he lands while being himself...which is a bit over every one elses' heads. Both Sam and Suzy are growing up on a small island off the coast of New England, the story focusing on the summer of 1965. Shortly after meeting in 1964, Sam and Suzy become pen pals, sharing much of themselves, trusting only each other with their secrets and childish demons, until finally they hatch a plan to go camping for a few days together. What ensues is the frantic search for the children by the adults in their lives, revealing that youth - even "bad" youth - is always innocent while adults are just hot messes. Bruce Willis plays an wonderfully thoughtful and patient policeman, with Edward Norton as a stiff Khaki Scout leader who really wants to be the Dudley Doright of his troop, and Tilda Swinton as the heartless, frigid Social Services.

The shooting locations were primarily around Rhode Island and Jamestown, absolutely beautiful settings made all the more breathtaking through Anderson's shooting style, that made me ache for my own childhood. The story itself was interesting and entertaining, but not very thought provoking. It was as if watching a very well written and enjoyable young adult novel. It was a bit funny, a tiny bit heartbreaking, but more than anything it was relatable on a very real level. We were children once, or we have them now. It's what we went through, what we feared, what we worry about today, and it's a pleasure to watch. We've all felt left out, odd-balled, or worse - doing whatever we had to in order to be a part of the group. Moonrise Kindgom touches on this unabashedly and goodness wins the day.

Each primary adult in the film was dressed to their own accord. The policeman and savior in white, the Khaki leader in starched tan, Social Services in harsh navy like the turbulent sea, Suzy's father in aged sweaters and mismatched pants while his wife dresses almost too young for her age, signifying blatantly what their marriage had become to each. The Narrator is always in red, and adorable. This aided in the story telling aspect and was somehow refreshing after all the overly stressful movies, TV shows, and news that air nightly at home.

Photo credit Salon

Moonrise Kingdom is simple and lighthearted in it's writing, a wonderful interlude between the usual deeper fare, missing even the minor politics and family struggles that Anderson's previous live-action works delved into. It's filled with his usual honesty for the beauty we may be missing and the ugly that we sometimes prefer to ignore, flows comfortably, and is extremely entertaining. I in no way mean to intend that in being less complex than, say, Royal Tenenbaums or Rushmore this film lacked anything; it was merely a sweet story, simply told, with all the visual delight Anderson always brings to his films and was very endearing. It's very enjoyable, and everyone in it, including to new-comers to the screen Jared Gilman and Kara Hayward, are wonderful, though my favorite ma have been the minor role played by Jason Schwartzman; the narrator, played by Bob Balaban, was also hysterical. Gilman and Hayward encompass Sam and Suzy, playing with raw innocence, and the kind of awkward determination that only children can possess. Their characters were imperfect, the actors themselves perfect, making the viewer remember, at times uncomfortably, exactly what those years of life were like.

I recommend Moonrise Kingdom for the Wes Anderson fan or those just searching movie theaters for a more upbeat alternative to Spiderman, Prometheus, or Avengers. It's summer, but we don't have to to have Action Flick boners to see an excellent film. And you don't have to take my word for it: Moonrise Kingdom got a 95% on RottenTomatoes! It's funny, a good date movie, and a great summer flick when you get tired of gratuitous explosions, films that cost hundreds of millions for no obvious reason, and bloodshed...though Moonrise Kingdom has that, too.

Feel free to follow me on Twitter, @TheNerdyFoodie

Photo credit AwardsCircuit