Food Words

Certain words make me hungry. Often times I read a word on a page that has nothing to do with food, but it triggers an immediate food association/ hunger response. Here are a few that set me off, along with any necessary explanations. Sometimes there are a couple degrees of separation.

Calamity: Calamari

General/Generally: General Tso. I have an insatiable desire for any and all Asian foods. I would eat extra spicy Gen. Tso’s for breakfast every day if it was a bit more affordable/socially acceptable.

Pad/Padding/Paddle: Thai Food

Boat: Sushi Boat

Sticker/Stick/Stickler: Pot-sticker

Balloon: Chips. The word balloon leads to baboon, which makes me think of all those mischievous baboons stealing bags of chips in Cape Town.

Penguin: Ice Cream. Specifically, penguins make me think of puffins, whose brightly colored beaks make me think of Creamsicle.

Cool: Cool Ranch Chips

Viscous: Couscous

Harmless: Hummus

Blubber/Blub/Bulbous/Walrus: Pork Belly or some good Fatty BBQ

Basically: Basil, which leads back to Thai Food

Forklift: Obviously

Machine/Machinery: Mac and Cheez

Wood/Coal/Hut/Zone/Stuff… : Basically every word makes me think of pizza.

I could go on forever… These are just a few that are pretty locked in. As you can imagine reading has become very difficult for me.

Friday Fungus! Familiar Fungi

It’s time for another installment of everyone’s favorite (quarterly, mushroom-related) series!

I saw a couple ‘shrooms sprouting in our lawn a little while back and thought, “Wonder if I could eat that?”

Not having any idea what the ‘shroom was or if I could add it to one of my patented “fancy Ramens” (Pizza Ramen, Hot Pocket Ramen, McNugz Ramen, etc.) without dying was the impetus for today’s post… in which we’ll identify a few common fungi seen around the world and whether or not they should be consumed.

According to my new handy mushroom field guide, our culprit here from my lawn appears to be a semi-tasty common puffball, or Lycoperdon perlatum, OR for mushroom enthusiasts who like to party: THE DEVIL’S SNUFF BOX.

Common Puffballs (all imgs on this page via Wikipedia, send yer donations you freeloaders!)

(Please if you are a mushroom expert and believe I’ve made a grave error and this is really a deadly toxic ‘shroom, thanks for the heads up).

It’s head-scratching the names they come up with these fungi. I do like that every fungus seems to have multiple aliases, like gangsters, but most of them seem pretty negative. I’m not sure who the marketing gurus responsible for naming these things are, but to be saddled with descriptors like canker, blight, rot, rust, stinkhorn, decay, smut etc., is a real social barrier. Hopefully the Friday Fungus! series will help restore the good name of some of these unfortunately named beauties.

In the meantime, here are a few other common fungi to be aware of.

Grifola frondosa – A.K.A. Hen of the Woods, Ram’s Head. The Japanese call this edible gem maitake. It has been praised by many cultures around the world for its taste and also touted for its supposed medicinal purposes.

A lovely Hen of the Woods.

Clathrus ruber – A.K.A. Red cage, Witch’s Heart. This stinkhorn can be seen around the world. Fully grown it emits a foul odor and would only be eaten by a foolhardy drunkard, but apparently it can be consumed when still in ‘egg’ form.

A very lovely but smelly Red Cage.

Pseudocolus fusiformis – A.K.A. Stinky Squid. Another bizarre but common stinkhorn, this is another one to steer clear of when fully grown. So help me if I hear about any of you trying to eat something called Stinky Squid I will send our intern out to smack you.

Another smelly beauty, the Stinky Squid.

Fuligo septic – A.K.A. Dog Vomit Slime Mold, Scrambled Egg Slime.  This unfortunately named common fungus gets a further dent to its reputation by being accused of causing asthma. I say we band together to change the nickname to something more appealing, like Hero Fungus.

Dog Vomit Slime Mold, or Hero Fungus?

Be sure to join us next time as we learn more about the wild, wonderful world of fungi together!

Feeding Frenzies

Thanksgiving-time is upon us. In this fair season where we may be tempted to overindulge in foodstuffs, we thought it might be nice to show some footage of beasts more gluttonous than ourselves.

Why?

1.) We are all about feeling better about ourselves

2.) Because shame is a powerful motivator

So please enjoy these clips of ravenous animals chowing down without restraint. May it serve as a reminder to show a modicum of discipline during times of abundance. And also as a reminder to never trust cunning, deceptively bloodthirsty porpoises.

Fall Favorites: The 5 F’s of Fall

Apparently it is now Fall. Whatever that means; it was like 93 degrees here yesterday. Every year in Florida we rely on other people to tell us when seasons are allegedly changing elsewhere in the world, so I have to assume you guys are telling us the truth.

Despite not having much in the way of changing seasons, I do look forward to this time of year – if only to live vicariously through the quaint things you upper 47’ers do with all your pumpkins, snow and leaves. Here are the five things that to me, encapsulate all that is wonderful about this time of year.

Fifteen Fifty Five (1555 A.D.)

Today we’re going back into time… a time before electricity, aeroplanes, telephones, Cheetos and Progressive car insurance commercials. It was a time when people had to pour sweat into the earth to survive, when brave men risked all to rape, pillage, steal natural resources and exploit native peoples navigate the open seas and find mysterious knowledge at the ends of the unexplored earth. The year: 1555 A.D.

What was happening in the world 457 years ago? (Surely this was in the front of your mind when you woke up this morning?) Let’s look at a few broad topics.

Cultural Learnings – By 1555, the Renaissance had emanated across Europe. Sparked by the Italian masters named after Ninja Turtles and innovations like the printing press, Europe at this point was increasing in knowledge, improving technologies, increasing food diversity (the rich at least), and afire with vigorous religious debate (#euphemisms). The arts (literature, sculptures, music, paintings etc.) were flourishing, China was inventing all sorts of neat gadgets, trade was becoming an increasingly global affair, and tremendous leaps were being made in various sciences.

Francophone Fellowship

Greetings F Community. Just a quick notice that TMF leadership will be out of town for a bit, meeting with friends old and new in Port-au-Prince.

Your exhortation this week is to read a bit about the history of Haiti. Haiti’s story is more fascinating, complex and turbulent than any fiction you’re likely to read this summer. Pirates, legendary battles, incredible triumph, immense suffering, slavery and freedom, beating the odds, great music, spicy intercontinental intrigue, conspiracies, spiritual mystery, sugarcane, cockfighting, classic romances, dictatorship, revolts, one-armed heroes, massacres, invasions, idyllic landscapes, destroyed landscapes, stark poverty and unimaginable riches… Haiti’s story has it all!   

Fights at Panera Bread

Have you ever seen a fight at Panera Bread? A little Panini punch-up, a lil’ Mediterranean Veggie melee?

“Hey that’s my California Fresh Wrap!”

“Nuh-uh you got my Asian Fusion Bread Soup Bowl!”

It can get ugly fast! Bluetooths (Blueteeth?), apple laptops, Fresh Baja Zesty Chicken Salad flying everywhere!