Rustoleum, Neglect, Polish and Reformation

Well, it seems I've spent the last month and a half making campaign promises as to the future of Gastrologica and the relative inactivity of both outlets. While my tepid reassurances that "We'll be back, and nastier than ever!" or "I promise to write more" in the intervening weeks have resonated as false as Donald Rumsfeld retiring to 'spend more time with his family,' the fact is, we do intend to crank up the food-o-meter and re-invigorate the site (now that I've missed out on the revolution).

I'd like to say a lot has happened. New developments, insurmountable projects ram-rodded to fruition, a wild and challenging new work environment that has made me question my passion for food, and what was I was wasting my time on this fool's errand in the first place.

Surprisingly, I can't. If I sound like a whiney blogger it's because I've turned into one. I've devoted so much energy the last month and a half to a job that has monopolized so much of my time, that I found myself astonished at my palpable dissatisfaction.

I'm hoping the challenges pay off in the long run, and I mean that in all the popular ways you'd think. Actually, the new crew is very cool. With limited, but notable exceptions, for the most part, I have found the challenge to be mitigated by some good and helpful people.

Now, this may seem it has little to do with food, but I've eaten out almost every day, and I get home so late I order out every night. It has given me an opportunity to get reacquainted with the disappointingly narrow choices the Greater Torrance Area doesn't have to offer.

In fact, for an industrial ghetto, there are a pretty decent variety of choices if you know where to look. You can't be afraid of running the gamut of ethnic food, including Chili's. There is German, Japanese, Chinese, Peruvian, Seafood, Burger Joints, even a Quiznos. Ok, so its not a culinary mecca, but it'll do for now.

I've got a cool couple of lunch buddies, Jenn and Whitney, who have been good enough to indulge my itinerant tastebuds. I think the only prohibition is the Spearmint Rhino two industrial parks down. Personally, I think it should be illegal to serve food within 10 miles of a strip club. Other than that, they've been good sports about my oddball tastes.

There is a whole Korean/Vietnamese strip I've only scratched down Rosecrans Avenue in Gardena. Another lunch crew, Ellen & Co., have exposed me to some of the better Asian joints I may have driven by a couple of thousand times before.

So, while I hope the monopolization of my time will be limited, it has given me a watershed of lunches to write about. For those of you who think I'm posting periodic bullshit to keep you on the hook, I'm not. Dan and I intend on planning out several shows and getting them on mp3. I have a whole new slew of places to write about, and I'm just now making time to start cooking again.

Hang in there....I know I am.

Still Alive And Kicking

Tired of hearing lame excuses why we haven't recorded or written? Sorry, it's the same excuse. 12 hour days and no energy at night. Look at me, I'm posting this at 2am!

Rest assured, I'm still eating, but you would be appalled at the junk I've been ordering and eating out.

I'm also testing out a new HP 10 megapixel camera, that has had some rather disappointing results. I'm hoping its because I'm getting used to the manual settings, but the pix have been coming out grainy, and the long ISO mode is..well...a little too long.

I've written about Typhoon before, but I'll post something quickly soon so you can see some of the Scorpion shrimp toast I had.

Burbon and Broken Noses

Alright, things are settling down at work, at least, I know what is going to blindside me on a daily basis, so I'm better prepared. But what about food related items? Well, I'm working back in Bore-ance, so there's not much exciting going on...even after a two year reprieve.

In fact, there were always good places in Torrance and Gardena, but they are all Asian, so that fits my criteria. We went to Koji Buffet this week, and it was much better than I remember. It's a mix of pan-Asian food styles featuring Chinese, Japanese, Korean and some vaguely Thai. There is also Toyo Sushi, which wasn't all that bad, even though it occupies a serile nook next to a Wal-Mart. Even the Wal-Mart has some very affordable spicy teriyaki salmon jerkey.

I have made it a point to visit Mitsuwa grocery store at least once a week. I missed the affordable and nearly instant packaged sushi. The Panda Express closed, and although it is an overused title, it had the best #1 spicy I've ever had. Didn't know exactly what it was, but it was a red, fiery broth with noodles and seafood. I knew it as #1 spicy, and that's the only way the ladies would reference it. Being next to Mitsuwa, I can also score my fix of salmon eggs on a whim. Mmmm, salty balls.

Dan hasn't had such great luck. He broke his nose on a particularly rough foul during a pick-up game of ball, so his broadcast voice is a bit off and muffled. Outside of that, the holiday season came and went, and he survived intact. If he keeps this up, his nose will be as enormous as mine.

It's been a while and I'm honestly getting restless to write more on my cooking and getting back into getting drunk with Dan and Rob and cranking out Gastrologicas. We've probably fallen off the charts, but that don't make me no never mind. I'm glad to see a lot of our fans have been keeping tabs on us, and some have even read Gastro and emailed. It's hard to be fans of apparitions -mere specters- but we are alive and eating.

I almost forgot, I stopped by the Alpine Village this week for a hearty German lunch (yeah, I've gained about 5 pounds...). It was prefaced with an ultracreamy cream of califlour soup, and the entree was a pile of dense mashed potatoes and a log of beef roulade. Beef roulade is beef wrapped around bacon and pickes. Yeah Germans, they gave us the V2, Jaegermeister and The Scorpions.

Because I found a swath of saran wrap in my potatoes, they gave me a free slice of black forest cake. Woah, that's something to bury my face in.

I also stopped by the small market they have, and grabbed some meat and sausage from the deli. There, I gained even more weight. The overworked and overwhelmed ladies behind the counter couldn't keep up with the demands of the elderly Germans, so it took about a half hour to get my variety of ground guts and scraps, but they did put samples on the counter with impunity. That was another 10,000 calories.