The Blog

Today was the first time I really got to experience the streets of the city. A few of us woke up in the middle of the day (nice to do that on vacation) and walked to Placa de la Bouqueria. This is one of those open air markets that Anthony Bourdain and his kind are always walking through to get ingredients for a cooking segment. I was in heaven!

I’ll have more pictures of the market later…

From there, I met up with the entire group to tour the Pablo Picasso museum. Honestly, Salvador Dali is my favorite Spanish painter, but I really enjoyed the museum. I will be seeing Dali on Monday or Tuesday.

This was the only drawing I could find of an African.

One room (pictured above) had no paintings in it, but was so breathtaking that I had to take photos. By the way, we were not allowed to take photographs in the museum at all. I had to sneak them in.

After the museum, we came back to our apartment and I cooked clam pasta for those who like seafood, which turned out to be just four of the seven of us. Fine. More for us. (*sticks out tongue) I’ve posted the recipe below.

Ingredients: olive oil, garlic, flat-leaf parsley, clams (in shell), white cooking wine, and long pasta.

1. Place clams in a large dry pot or pan. Make sure clams are in one layer. Cover and heat on low heat until clams have opened and are swimming in their juice.
2. In another skillet, cover a medium to large sized pan with a generous amount of olive oil. On medium low heat, saute two to three cracked cloves of garlic in the oil until cloves are lightly golden brown. Then remove the cloves from the pan and let oil stand.
3. Remove clams from pot with slotted laddle, place in bowl and set aside.
4. Pour off the juice of the clams into a separate bowl and set aside.
5. Bring water to boil for pasta. Boil pasta until pasta is al dente.
6. Remove pasta and transfer to pan of garlic olive oil. Turn heat to medium. Pour in clam juice. Pour in about a cup and a half of white wine.
7. Add in shell (or shelled) clams to pasta. Stir and let wine, clam juice and olive oil coat pasta and clams. Add salt to taste.
8. Add chopped flat-leaf parsely and stir until parsley is spread evenly into pasta.
9. Serve immediately, with bread and wine.

If the US Dollar was an animal, it’d be a chihuahua next to the ‘Great Dane’ Euro.

That was my first thought when I exchanged currencies at the JFK airport. Truth is, while the dollar is weak, you don’t have to spend a whole lot of money to feed yourself in Barcelona. Grab a baguette, a package of ham and some juice from the grocery store. 6 euros.

We were so jet-lagged this day, that all we could do was sleep. Later we woke up for tapas. Kelley Carter and I woke up first. We were starving and snack off for a quick snack. I had jamon con huevos, patatas bravas, and an espresso. Que European, indeed!

Later, with the group, we went to Tapa Tapa. This place turned out to be the Chili’s of tapas in Barcelona. I will never eat there again. But we still had a good time.

I gained two pounds last week. (And yes, I checked when I went back to the gym.)

Diane, one of the AP intern program coordinators, took very good care of us. Leading up to the trip I hadn’t eaten much of anything. And I’m a foodie. Sheesh! Difficult times. (I’ve mapped where we (I) ate. Check it out at the bottom of this post.)

More importantly, the intern’s week was a great experience and at times a little bittersweet. Going in, it was clear to most of the recent graduates in the intern class that jobs with the oldest news gathering service in the world were not plentiful. The week was almost like a dangling carrot.

Please don’t mistake my characterization for sarcasm or bitterness. I think I can speak for most every editorial intern to say we’d all chop off our baby toes for a gig with the AP. Pound for pound, it’s still…THE AP! And we 20-somethings are still not yet jaded by long years working in this profession.

Living this life is tough — the “I-just-graduated-from-college-with-a-journalism-degree-and-I-could-be-homeless-in-a-month” life. While I look for something to pay the bills, I won’t get too comfortable. I guess I’m waiting for someone (anyone) to tell me there’s a job in ‘Houlton, Maine‘ and that it’s Maine or … (*crickets)

That’s what you do when you love this profession, right? I mean, when you spend the last five years of your life studying and pursuing it …

What I’ve learn: Don’t put down any roots. Be okay with changing your mailing address at least three times in the next four years. Measure your decisions about long-term romantic relationships. No more Thanksgiving and Christmas with the family. Pick one.

I know I sound like I’m whining. I’m not, really. Just facing a reality — one that I admit is the least appealing part of this trade. Traveling is great. But feeling like a vagabond, not so much. I know many people would tell me I’m wrong, naive and unadventurous. And those traits are unappealing in this industry. So I’m training my brain to stop processing the following feelings: loneliness, nostalgia and a desire for real contentment. This way being in a place I didn’t choose will be easier to deal with.

I think my biggest fears are the lost connections or strained relationships: with family, with a significant other, or even with myself.

But, ‘tough it out’ is my new motto.

There’s a silver-lining somewhere. There always is, isn’t there? You show people you can withstand a little geographical hazing and they’ll appreciate you for it someday. And then you get opportunities in places where you’d like to be, right?

Thanks for reading. I rambled, I know. Had to get it out.

Here’s some pictures from the week:

The newsroom was really big. Not very many people at desks. But still a sight to see.

We ate at the Peking Duck House. The duck was pretty good. So was all the other food.

A talented group of people, the editorial interns were. This is just a few of us.

Map of where I ate all week:

View AP Intern’s Week Cuisine in a larger map

Ahhhh, Carmine’s. What can’t I say about this family style Italian eatery? For one, I can’t say that they don’t have this cuisine down to a science. I’ve probably been here eight times (I’ve lost count) — most of the visits were when I lived in California. In other words, I always make it a point to get here when I’m in New York.

I already know what to order when I go each time: the fried zucchini appetizer, caesar salad with a side of anchovies, chicken parmesan, and shrimp scampi on angle hair pasta.

To. die. for.

Last week, I went with who I always go with, my cousins Makeda, Raymond and Tangie with her beau Damon. We tried a new item, the lobster and clam bake. Delicious!

I can’t recommend this place enough. Just go. And thank me later. If you go on a weekend, be ready to wait. They take reservations, but even that’s a crap shoot. Don’t go starving. And go with a group. It’s too much food for even just two people. Thank God they have two locations, otherwise getting a table would be near impossible during the “dinner rush hours.” Okay enough talking, go eat!

View Carmine’s in New York City in a larger map

My Baltimore neighbors, Spud and Steffi, took me to Paper Moon one evening after work. I’d never seen so much art in a diner. The food was just okay. If you are in the area, pay them a visit anyway.

Pictures taken with my iPhone.

View Paper Moon Diner in a larger map

So I returned to Lexington Market in downtown Baltimore for lunch on Wednesday…at Faidley’s, where I enjoyed a crab cake last week, there’s a raw oyster bar in the middle of its store. I had about a dozen for the first time in my life. They were good. Felt like I was charting new territory. I was amazed watching the guy at the counter shuck all the oysters like he could do it in his sleep.

A couple of weeks before I took off for Baltimore, I had dinner with my friend Heidi and her friend. I’d eaten Ethiopian food before, but this time was different. First off, I was starving. Cafe Colucci on Telegraph in Berkeley, CA is by far the best I’ve had. We also tried the honey wine. It was beyond good.

A note about Ethiopian in the Bay Area (and probably anywhere): it’s hard to pick out the good, quality places. If you ask someone local, and especially if they are Ethiopian or Eritrean, they may point you to a friend or relative’s place even if it isn’t the best. So…I hate to say it…use online reviews as your thermometer. There are usually healthy debates

This is the second time I cooked dinner for the my parents. I’ve cooked the chicken recipe once before with a fellow food enthusiast. Have any variations on these recipes? Leave them in a comment.

Chile-Lime Crab Salad with Tomato and Avocado

(Recipe)
Ingedient list: Fresh lime juice, extra-virgin olive oil, vegetable oil, jalapeño, cilantro, honey, garlic, black pepper, lump crabmeat, Hass avocados, red onion, and heirloom tomatoes.

Spinach and Bacon Macaroni and Cheese

(Recipe)
Ingredient list: macaroni, fresh baby spinach leave, bacon, flour, milk, shredded cheddar cheese, grated parmesan cheese and salt and pepper.

Chicken Saltimbocca

(Recipe) (You may need to sign up for an America’s Test Kitchen account.)
Ingredients list: unbleached all-purpose flour, ground black pepper, thin-cut boneless skinless chicken cutlets, fresh sage leaves, thin slices prosciutto, olive oil, dry vermouth or white wine, lemon, butter, fresh parsley leaves, table salt

Asparagus

All you need for this is fresh thyme, olive oil, honey, salt and pepper. Spread the asparagus on a baking sheet and rub the all the ingredients evenly on the the asparagus stalks. Bake them in an over at 350 F until they are tender. Serve immediately.

Oh, how I love mussels and fries. It’s the best lunch/snack. And it’s not too expensive to make, although a little labor intensive. (Wish I had a better picture of it for you. This is taken with my iphone.)

Ingredients: olive oil, leeks, shallots, garlic, mussels, white wine, lemon, salt and freshly ground black pepper, butter, tomatoes, fresh thyme, and fresh parsley.

And, here’s the recipe.

Now let’s see if I can find some really good and fresh mussels in Baltimore…

He’s my hero. If you’ve not read The Omnivore’s Dilemma, make sure to read it soon. Getting in shape has to begin with being particular about how you consume food. It’s connected to everything you do. Everything!

Here’s a segment from Democracy Now featuring Michael Pollan. Watch it, then go out and apply it to your life.

And if you aren’t watching Amy Goodman on Democracy Now, get on that too!