Went to Vegas to Visit FoF in the hospital again. For those of you who know Father of Food personally, he has been in the hospital for several months now after breaking his leg for the second time in just a couple of months. He is improving, but slowly. He walked down the hall this weekend, with the steadying of an assistant, a walker, and my Mom following him with the wheelchair in case he fell back. He made it down the hallway and then sat in the wheel chair for the ride back. It was quite an improvement over the few steps we saw him taking a couple of weeks ago.
If you don't know FoF, but want to read some of his posts, here are a few links.
Hidden Treasure
Patio Dining on The Strip
The Deli Experience
Boo
True Confessions
Basil-Pesto
Small Plates, Big Taste
Let's all wish Father of Food a speedy recovery.
It was a hot day for the dinosaur. She goes to the river to drink and makes ripples in the pond with the pebbles at the bottom, so cool and peaceful on this summer day... or .... The sun shone down hot on the dinosaur, she looks for a drink, but the plains are ablaze in front of her, she can not see for the billows of smoke blocking her way to the river.
Either way you look at it, it is a hot day for the dinosaur.
The Dinosaur is an almond butter and jelly sandwich on wheat bread.
The plains are green beans.
The sky is a graham cracker with a cheddar cheese sun.
The smoke/pond is made from pear slices.
The pebbles/fire are chunks of cantaloupe.
Which way do you see it? Leave a comment to let me know.
Special thanks to Friend of Food V for giving me a fun dinosaur shaped sandwich cutter which inspired me to make this bento.
Stockpots are simmering. That means The Beefening has come upon us.
"The Beefening" is what the members of my ad hoc bulk beef purchasing cooperative call a gathering to distribute the shares in our latest purchase of whole sides of beef.
Here's how it works. The organizer knows a farmer in upstate New York who raises and slaughters grass fed, corn finished beef and sells it by the side. Grass fed beef has a richer flavor, but corn fed beef has more fat and is more tender, so grass fed beef that's finished on corn works out to be a good compromise. The beef is inspected and often grades as USDA Prime or close to it. When people are interested in making a purchase, they make an announcement on an internet forum called Echo that actually pre-dates the World Wide Web, and we ask some friends who aren't on Echo if they would like to participate. The minimum share is one eighth of a side, which, depending on the size of the steer, is about 30 pounds of trimmed beef, not counting offal and soup bones. This time a share cost $130, which includes a small fee to cover the organizer's expenses involved in purchasing, picking up, and delivering the beef, which works out to about $4.30 a pound (excluding offal and soup bones)--not bad for prime or almost-prime beef, considering that it's the same price for hamburger or a porterhouse steak.
The beef comes butchered and frozen, and the organizer drives it down to New York City, where everyone gathers in a festive atmosphere and divides up the shares. Some of the division is straightforward--if there are sixteen rib steaks, then there are two in each share--and some involve more subtlety of judgment--is the full eye of the round equivalent to a rump roast and a brisket of about the same weight? Close enough for us. It's a friendly bunch.
When all the regular beef cuts are distributed, soup bones and organ meats go to whomever wants them. Remember the Pâté de Campagne that I posted about a few months ago? The beef liver was from the last Beefening, and I'll be making another this round. I also got a couple bags of bones, which is more than will fit in my 13 quart stockpot, so I've got two pots simmering with enough stock to last me, I hope, until the next Beefening. It's a better bet than the stock market these days.
Food Articles from The Onion, mmmmm, delicious!
Domino's Tests Limits Of What Humans Will Eat
Chicken Feeling Much better
Is Area man Going to Finish Those Fries?
Report: Meat Now America's No. 2 Condiment
Area Grandmother Tries Indian Food
Airline Food Under Fire From Area Comedian
Opinion: People Like Food
OK, there were the holidays, we went away, and Father of Food is in the hospital. The family apologizes for not posting. I know you just can't wait to hear what we may be eating these days. Both Daughter of Food and Son of Food spent some time in Vegas this past week visiting Father. We tried some new things. Here's the quick report....
Buffet at Asia is a busy Mixed Asian food buffet at the corner of Flamingo and Eastern. The selection includes Sushi, Dim Sum dishes, Crabs Legs, Shrimp, Mongolian Barbecue, Thai, Chinese, Korean, and Japanese fare. The food was decent, if you picked from the trays that were fresh. I liked the Crab Won Tons and the Shrimp tempura, but the Pad Thai was barely unrecognisable as Pad Thai. The meal cost $12.00 for dinner and the kids ate for free. I didn't flip over this place, but I would go back.
4090 S Eastern Ave, Las Vegas, NV - (702) 650-0290
Another Buffet we had (it is Vegas after all), was the breakfast buffet at Boulder Station. Breakfast is breakfast, an amazing brunch this is not, however, and if you're hungry and your funds are limited, you should go. We took our family of four on Friday morning and ate all we could eat for under $12 including tip (3 and under eat free). It was a heck of a lot more satisfying than the Burger King meal we had the next day for $20. As far as breakfast buffets go, this one was fine, but I did not like the omelet I got, mainly due to low quality, stale cheese. The chunky applesauce was very tasty on my so-so potato pancake. The bacon was greasy. Did I mention the cost was less than $3.00 a person? In these economic times, it was fine, really.
The last place I'll mention was featured in a post last year and it's called Metro Pizza. We went to the Boulder Station location. The pepperoni didn't impress, but I would recommend the white pizza. We were not able to get the legendary salad Melissa mentioned in the comments of the earlier post. If you go on Friday night, you can "enjoy" the Kareoke at the bar across the way.
Boulder Station Buffet and
Metro Pizza at Boulder Station
4111 Boulder Hwy
Las Vegas, NV 89121
