Let's Talk About Food

I'm home in CT. Miller's home in Minny. Our summer research has come to a close, and now we have nothing to do but sleep, eat our mother's cooking, and blog. In the next few weeks, we will have a number of introspective, retrospective, metacognitive posts. We'll reflect on what we did in the lab this summer, in the blogosphere, and in our lives. We've learned a lot, and we want to share some of it with you.

Of course, mixed in with this, we'll have our usual, completely random posts.

For my first reflection, I'm going to focus on all things food. With no mom to cook, and no unlimited meal plan, I did some serious culinary exploring this summer. Here are some things I learned:

No, I don't want Ketchup, or Mayo, or Lettuce on that: I am to eating what Tim Duncan is to basketball--plain, simple, boring, predictable. This summer, I realized I'll either have to diversify my gastric portfolio or accept many more uncomfortable situations. Restaurants should love an eater like me--I pay just as much as everyone else, yet I don't get any condiments, or dressings, or sauces on anything I eat. I save them time, supplies, and thus money. Yet, when I make my order, they look down on me. They judge me. They mock me. To them, I am just a lowly rat, and they are Remy. If you ask me, all dishes should start off plain, and then people ordering should have to work their way up. It should be a turkey sandwich with mayo, not a turkey sandwich without mayo. That was bit of a rant, and I apologize, but it felt really good to get it out.

Grapes are Great: This summer reinforced my belief that grapes are the best food in existence.

The Three Amherst Restaurants Worth Eating At: Earlier in the summer, I completely bashed the Amherst food scene as expensive, limited, and simply not all that good. I've essentially done ten weeks of research and have come up with three eateries that are gems in the rough. They are reasonably priced, have a friendly atmosphere, and most importantly, serve excellent food:

-Bueno y Sano. Burritos and quesadillas aren't my thing, but their salads are fantastic. A great post-exercise meal. In the intangibles department, I really like that, though it's not sit down, they have real silverware. This is officially my favorite place to eat in Amherst.

-Rao's. The best muffins in town.

-The Lone Wolf. In an ideal world, breakfast food would be served for every meal. In this ideal world, I wouldn't mind eating at the Lone Wolf all the time. From crepes to Challah french toast, this quick service sit down restaurant should not be overlooked.

Raspberry, White Chocolate Moose is the best yogurt combo ever.

Would you like some Anti-Viral Software with your order?: Early on in the summer, I noticed that at Subway there was a sign explaining how you could place an order on-line and then pick it up on the spot. I never did this, because I found it somewhat ridiculous. However, it turns out that on-line food ordering is become widely used. In an article from last week's Sunday Styles, Stephanie Rosenbloom explains that a growing number of people use on-line services to make their fast food purchasing as efficient and hassle free as possible. It's an interesting read. Next up for the fast food industry: allowing consumers to print out the food straight from a computer. Until then, I think I'll stay away from ordering food on-line.

Instant Oatmeal, So Hot Right Now: By my rough estimate, after counting the empty the boxes, Miller and I had over 110 individual instant oatmeal packets this summer for breakfast. Nothing's better for waking you up in the morning. I'm not addicted to caffeine, I'm addicted to Quaker Oats Cinnamon and Spice Instant Oatmeal.