In an unsolicited response to (e:paul,52605) . I suppose I have stopped blogging for more than one reason. Part of it is I just haven't had a whole lot I have wanted to share with the world lately. I know this may sound kind of strange but I have had people say things about my blog that aren't really part of estrip and it made me uncomfortable. In turn I stopped blogging because I wasn't sure how much I wanted to share about my life. So many things have happened and changed in my life I would love to be able to write about them here however I am reasonably public with this account and am not certain I am comfortable saying them. I have often thought about starting over here with an anonymous account. But for whatever reason I just haven't. Everytime I start to write a blog I end up erasing it and just continue to lurk. I have actually started to lurk on my own facebook account partly for the same reason.

For me the increased popularity of facebook has had absolutely nothing to do with why I stopped blogging. I was on facebook at least a year before even knew estrip existed. Facebook has gotten to the point of annoying the shit out me. I really can't stand most things that people say and do on facebook. It isn't anywhere near as creative as estrip is. In fact I really only keep it to stay informed.

It also makes me sad to see that the blogging traffic on estrip has dwindled. I obviously have to take some responsibility for not posting much of anything in the past year. When I first moved here and didn't know a single person estrip was one of the best things about Buffalo. I met people instantly. I suppose I don't spend a whole lot of time with estrip people anymore but occasionally I still see them and hang out with them, and it alwasy turns out to be a good time. I would like to say I will blog more from now on, but I'm not certain I will follow through as usual. But I guess one post is a start.

I have stopped blogging. I'm not really certain as why other than being incredibly busy this semester, mostly I suppose I haven't had much I wanted to say. As of 6pm today I am finished with school, at least for now. It feels strange to have nothing due, and a "clear schedule". I have spent the past five years reinventing myself. It has been a learning experience to say the least. I am now ready to re-enter the workforce. I feel grown up, yet at the same time I feel the same uncertainty with less of the excitement I felt when I was 21. If anything I am proud of myself. I never half-assed anything I did in school this time around. I took it seriously and learned that things worth doing take some effort, and sacrifice. It was a challenging, frustrating, exciting, empowering, and rewarding experience. I am ready for whats next.

Just kidding, I could eat bacon with a side of bacon for breakfast. I did however make another vegetarian dish tonight. Mushroom and Caramelized Onion Quiche. This was my first quiche and I'm reasonably pleased with the results. I cheated a little bit with the dough and didn't let it rest before I baked it. It did shrink a tiny bit, but it still turned out flaky and delicious.



I used to hate quiche as a child, come to think of it I hated mushrooms as well. This dinner would not have been well received by me at age 8. I have a strange memory of quiche from 7th grade. In my English class there was some sort of contest. I don't recall the the contest but the prize was either a pizza party or a quiche party. I do like quiche but the pizza would probably still win out today.

So every now and then I've been known to cook something vegetarian for dinner. Last night I made Shakshuka



And Nan-e barbari



Shakshuka is an Israeli breakfast of eggs and tomatoes with some feta and few other things. According to Saveur (where I stole the recipe from) it is a Libyan dish. The Nan e-barbari is Iranian but it was originally an Afghan recipe.

Anyway as I was chopping vegetables it dawned on me that it was vegetarian but not vegan. Then I started thinking about all the different types of vegetarianism. I work with a girl that claims to be a pescetarian. Which means she won't consume flesh unless its that of a fish. And then there is the flexitarian which is such a stupid concept to me. Basically it means you are vegetarian until you are in the mood for a bacon cheeseburger. I also know someone who states emphatically when referring to his wife and his eating habits that "she will eat it if it swims, but I will eat it if it clucks". I suppose that should be another category. Is there any other types of vegetarianism out there?

Vegetarian food does not bother me, given that it doesn't suck. I wonder how many people out there are vegetarians because they like it, and how many crave a rack of ribs with a side of bacon on a daily basis. With that said Shakshuka is pretty damn delicious.

I'm not really into talking about politics, I do however love laughing at people who are. I also enjoy when politicians and talking head pundits slip up and say crazy things.

For example: apparently Senator Buttars doesn't particularly like it when "the gays", "stuff it down his throat all the time"


Or this young lad who prefers to be the teabagger instead of the tea-baggee.

I'm pretty sure this is a rip off of fruit loops


So I ended up making the stuffed french toast last Sunday. I stuffed it with this


Blueberries with lime sugar and Brie.
Also I did another batch with Nutella and Red bananas. (thanks everyone for the suggestions), ((e:jenks) how does the hollowed out bread thing work?)
It turned out pretty decent. When it comes to breakfast food though I really like Eggs Benedict. I love syrup on my bacon, but pancakes really suck. But the masses were satisfied, I think the Lambrusco helped.

So two weeks ago Elizabeth and I went to Cleveland just for the hell of it. Neither of us had ever been there and mostly we wanted to just take a quick trip out of Buffalo.

Cleveland reminds me of Buffalo


We went to two restaurants there. Plus a winery on the way. These are some of my favorite things we ate there. It's from the restaurant Greenhouse Tavern.


Top: House Made Fromage Blanc
Bottom: French Breakfast Radishes

We also went to this really awesome restaurant the night before ( sorry no pics) called Crop They have such a cool Sunday night deal. 3 course prix fixe for $25. You get your choice of entree, but everything else everyone gets. We ended up talking to the owner for a while. He a was a cool guy, from NY. Anyway, if you find yourself in Cleveland these are really fun places to check out. Great food, service and atmosphere.

Today we slept in and are making Vichyssoise and a Tomato Tart for dinner. I can't wait Im starving.

So I have never made stuffed french toast. I've actually never even had it before. So I'm wondering am I supposed to cut a pocket into the bread and actually stuff it? Or is it acceptable to make a sandwich? I have seen mostly sandwich looking concoctions online which seems to be easier to spread stuff out evenly. But I'm not sure what most people here have seen or had.

Today was such a beautiful day to ride my bike to get some groceries. I didn't really need much It was mostly an excuse to try to fight off this cold. First stop was price rite. I do like the proximity of this store, But the size of much of what they sell is frigging enormous. I really don't have much of a need for 10lbs of anything. I went there to get some flat parsley(which they didn't have) and Goya olive oil, which I love. This stuff is so delicious and unbelievably cheap. Much better than Wegmans brand crappola.

Next stop was this place:



I didn't even know this existed till last week. Its located on Connecticut st. near Niagara. Most Asian markets have a certain stink to them. I was almost knocked over by the unmistakable smell of rotten produce marinating in urine. I still looked around out of curiosity. The produce mostly looked bad. I would never buy the stuff that looked decent for the simple fact that its on the floor and next to the shit that is half rotten. They meat section was something to behold. There was a box of clams, not in the cooler, dying in the warm air, also on the floor. They had five gallon buckets of chicken feet, liver of unknown origin, and some unidentifiable meat substance swimming about in a mysterious golden liquid. They did have a large selection of fish sauce, but I think I will avoid buying anything there...ever.

Last stop was the farmers market. I love farmers markets, but the one on Bidwell needs more vendors selling produce. Actually I think it just needs more vendors in general. There is some good stuff there though. I got a huge bundle of chives that looked really fresh, and some of this stuff:



I read an article about this company, White Cow Dairy, in the latest issue of Edible Buffalo. $5.75 is more than I usually spend on yogurt/pudding but I am really curious about how this stuff tastes. I really do love buying local products. Especially ones that are good. So hopefully this stuff pans out to be awesome. They also had a couple of other things there, a mustard horseradish sauce, and a mocha creme full fat yogurt. They were both $4.00 each. So I'll come back for those next week possibly.

BTW: Does anyone know where I can get some ramps in Buffalo? They are in season but nobody seems to have them.