Owner: Leena Eats this Blog URL:www.leenaeats.com/blog Join Date: Wed, 25 Jul 2007 21:02:41 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: Leena eats this blog
... and just about anything else that crosses her path. Recently returning from Australia with her Masters in Gastronomy, Leena is a food writer living and eating her way through Chicago and the rest of the world, sharing her past an Site statistics:Click here
My Words in Print 2007-12-06 17:02:08 Guess what. I was published...in an actual book...by real people. I know. I peed a little when I heard it too. The book is "The Business of Food: Encyclopedia for the Food and Drink Industry" edited by Gary Allen and Ken Albala. You can read about it here.
Do you see the shadowy figure in the background of the picture? Nope, not me, but I have a sweater just like the shadowy figure is wearing, so that's pretty cool. I wrote an entry on the history of food delivery in America. I know, I know, too much excitement for one post, huh? I actually wrote this prior to starting the Gastronomy program, which is kind of exciting. If you are looking for the perfect Hanukkah or Kwanzaa present for that loved one...this is probably not it. But get it anyways. People need to know more about the food and drink industries, damn it. And hey. I'll even autograph my section. Lucky you.
~LTG
Read more:Words
, Print
Look what I just made... 2007-12-16 17:56:10 Nothing says loving like pork fat and dairy products.
Jalapeno and Applewood-smoked cheddar polenta topped with a fried egg (still gooey), and crispy fried pancetta (the closest thing I could find to American bacon).
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Happy First Birthday, You kick-ass Little Blog, You! 2007-12-15 00:20:21 Ginger Beer and a laptop: a girl's best friend.
Yup—Leena Eats This Blog turned one year old this week. One year ago this week, I was sitting at my exciting receptionist job in downtown Chicago, surfing the Internet and daydreaming about moving to Australia. Right now, I am on my porch, enjoying the warm summer evening with two of my best friends: Stone’s alcoholic ginger beer and my new laptop, dreaming about moving back to Chicago. Irony, huh? Gotta love it.
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Read more:First
, Birthday
, Happy
Sneak Attack 2007-12-13 19:30:00 I never saw it coming.
Stealth Ninja Nugget: One bad-ass cat.
Nugget is a stealth kitty, trained in the art of stealing food.
~LTG
Online Gastronomy Student Dinner 2007-12-11 19:30:00 gooey brown butter and strawberry tart
I bet some of you are wondering what it's like to roll with a bunch a people who study Gastronomy. It's understandable. We're pretty awesome people. You might be thinking, do they sit around and have heated discussions about the similarities between 17th century British diet and medicine and the Chinese’s use of hot and cold foods in humoral medicine? Or do they simply use it as an excuse to have numerous pie eating contests?
Actually, a little of both.
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Read more:Student
, Dinner
Happy Chrissy from Down Under! 2007-12-25 05:43:50 A giant tree, sand, and a homeless man: the essence of Adelaide Chrissy
This is my first official Chrissy down under, and sadly, probably my last. But spending an international holiday in another country is a great way to learn about other cultures, and this Chrissy is no different.
First off, it took me a few weeks before I could figure out who this Chrissy person was everyone was talking about it. Who was she? Why didn’t I know her? Did she have massive parties on the weekend and invite everyone in Adelaide except me?
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Read more:Happy
No title 2008-03-09 23:27:11 Happy belated New Years from some fish that were very tasty!
What? A New Years Eve post in March? Damn that bitch be crazy!
Yup. A regular blogging rebel.
There is always so much pressure for New Years Eve. You have to go out, have to get trashed, have to have a memorable night so everyone admires you and thinks, gee, (name inserted here) sure has their life together. After all, they had a great NYE!!
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The Adventures of Nanners 2008-03-06 22:05:39 I hate words.
There are currently too many words in my life and yet not enough words. In one month and twenty four days, or 7.43 weeks, or 54 days, or 1296 hours, my dissertation is due. Of the 15,000 word limit, I have 5,000 written. Excuse me while I clean up the mess I just made on the floor.
It hurts to think, let alone write blogs that are so old they could each have illegitimate children by now. So to catch up, my next couple of posts will have a few more pictures and a few less words. This is not a permanent change. Words…just…hurt.
One of my favorite procrastination techniques is to throw all my energy into something random that makes me happy. In this case it was those adorable little tiny bananas called ladyfingers that I can buy in Australia. Minia Read more:Adventures
Things you never really wanted to know 2008-02-26 06:05:16 Welcome to the gun show.
My pal Dylan over at Sourdough Monkey Wrangler tagged me a for meme that requires five sordid facts about myself. He also said he didn't know if I would have time to complete it. Sounds like fighting words to me, folks.
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Read more:wanted
Once upon a coconut s'mores bar 2008-02-23 07:17:12 Toasted coconut
s'mores bars
Once upon a time four months ago, Vanessa over at What Geeks Eat made a S’mores bar cookie that inspired me. So I took her recipe, swapped in toasted coconut marshmallows for the regular ones, and gave it a go. Then I waited four months to blog about it, during which I spent copious amounts of time both writing a really long dissertation and avoiding writing a really long dissertation. Yeah, I’m a complicated woman.
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A Chunky Guide to Melbourne (it's a long one, folks!) 2008-02-13 17:47:07 Leena eats Melbourne
. It tastes like chicken salt.
***NOTE***This post is from November 2007-ish. It is late because I am slow and drowning in homework, but it’s a long one filled with tons of food, so it’s worth it, damn it.
***SECOND NOTE***
Don't know what chunky means? Find out here.
When people think of Australia, they usually think of Sydney and Melbourne. In fact, before I moved here, people would constantly say, oh, Australia? Are you moving to Sydney or Melbourne? Like no other city existed. They were partially right.
I had already visited Sydney, and while I loved it, I had to hit up its sister, Melbourne. She deserved some loving too, damn it.
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Read more:Chunky
, Guide
, folks
U.S. Food Blog Survey Update 2008-02-05 04:37:39 Why avocados in a post about food blogs? WHY NOT?
Recently, I posted an online survey about U.S. food blogs and U.S. food journalism. You can read about it here. Thanks to the help of a number of generous food bloggers, I was able to round up 1853 of you to take the survey, a very successful response indeed. I would like to officially thank the following food blogs and bloggers for promoting the survey:
Anna @ Sunday Night Dinner
Shuna @ Eggbeater
Michael Ruhlman @ Michael Ruhlman: Notes from the Food World
Sam @ Becks and Posh and Food Blog
Scool
Robyn @ The Girl Who Ate Everything and Serious Eats
Cookiecrumb @ I’m Mad and I Eat
Dylan @ Sourdough Monkey Wrangler
Vanessa @ What Geeks Eats
Amanda @ What We’re Eating
Molly @ Orangette
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Read more:Update
Chili, anyone? 2008-02-03 05:10:40 Chili as far as the eye can see.
I think my body is still set to Chicago weather, because despite the fact that it is a beautiful sunny 80 degrees (26 C) in Adelaide, I still feel like it should be snowing (which is funny, because I moved to Australia to get away from the snow). This is the first year of my entire life it has not snowed on my birthday or the Super Bowl, and while I love it, I find myself craving winter stews and a seat next to a roaring fire. What the hell is wrong with me?
I have definitely been craving a nice big bowl of chili, American chili, and lots of it. So I did what any respectful food lover would do: I held a chili cook-off. I make one chili, I get nine other kinds of chili back—I like those odds. This actually took place in October, but thanks t Read more:Chili
U.S. Food Blog Survey 2008-01-14 05:46:45 ***UPDATE***The survey is completed and is no longer live. I received 1853 responses, so thank you if you participated or help promote the survey. Please go here to read updates about the survey results.***
I am like an onion. I have many layers like an onion, many different pieces to the puzzle that is Leena and sometimes, I make you cry a little. SO Leena = onion...we on the same page so far?
This is my seafood layer, Larry the Lobster.
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Read more:Food Blog
Dragon fruit 2008-03-14 00:46:50 Dragon fruit
This is one of the many crazy fruits I can find at the farm stands in the Central Market. This is a dragon fruit, and their bright magenta and green colors always catch my eye. The inside is white with black seeds, and it has the texture of kiwi. But it tastes quite bland, just slightly sweet. It has a sort of indistinguishable flavor. Oh, and just a warning. There was actually no dragon on the inside of this fruit at all. Liars.
The insides of the dragon-less fruit.
According to the net, this is also called pitaya, and is popular in Mexico, Central and South America, as well as Southeast Asian countries, which is probably where mine came from. The fruit actually comes from a few different species of cactus. To eat, chill the fruit, then slice in half and scoop Read more:Dragon
Corn Muffin Madness! 2008-03-11 16:36:20 Damn girl, I would love to break me off a piece of that muffin.
One day at the Central Market, I saw a cornbread muffin filled with ricotta and pesto. It stopped me in my tracks. It was like the other 500 people in the market suddenly disappeared, and there was just me and this muffin.
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Read more:Muffin
, Madness
A Chunky's Guide to McLaren Vale 2008-03-16 19:06:16 D'Arenberg Winery in the McLaren Vale region of South Australia. This peaceful valley gets people drunk all around the world.
***Let me just start out by saying, I had not planned to write this much, especially while working on my dissertion. I just can't shut up. It's a disease, people.***
My friend Matt was the first person to actually visit my partner and I in Australia, so we were heaps excited to show him a good time. Matt is a former chef and current food lover, so of course, I had to show him that South Australia could roll with the big boys.
Lets be honest. Matt is from Nebraska. The “big boys” are a TGIFridays and the Buffalo Wild Wings outside of the Super Walmart. But still, I dig the guy culinarily speaking, so I wanted to show him a good time.
Read more Read more:Chunky
, Guide
My chutney brings all the boys to the yard 2008-03-24 06:09:43 And damn right, it's better than yours.
I am an Indian without a mango chutney recipe. And like a Mexican who can’t make tamales, an Aussie who hates to drink, or George Bush in the White House, it just feels wrong.
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Curry at the Exeter Hotel (a photo essay) 2008-03-31 18:46:53 We're excited for curry!
Curry
goodness.
Can't...move. Curry...slowing...muscles...down...
Warning: Mass consumption of especially delicious curry may cause excessive bloating, slowed reflexes and an uncontrollable desire to cuddle with slightly obese kittens.
~LTG
Read more:Exeter
, Hotel
, essay
Setbacks and salted caramel 2008-04-05 22:12:57
You can’t always get what you want. You can’t always get what you want…
Oh sure, it's all fun and games now...
I am a surf goddess. At least, that is what I want you to think when you see this picture. I think I pull off the look quite well. But as I have learned many times in Australia, luck can be a fickle mistress, sometimes bestowing you with treasures beyond your wildest dreams, and at other times, getting your hopes up only to let you down at the last minute. In my two experiences surfing, my luck has mainly fallen in the latter category.
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Read more:Setbacks
, salted
, caramel
Eating South Australia 2008-04-17 01:58:36 The reason why South
Aussies are so happy, the frog cake.
Hey there, remember me? Brown girl, cute, a bit too interested in food? Yup, I’m still alive, but just barely. In 13 days, my 15,000 word dissertation on food blogs is due. In 17 days, I move back to Chicago from Adelaide, South Australia
. I also happen to have less focus than a meer cat on meth. But hey, at least I still have an appetite.
Read more! »
Procrastination at its Finest: Dark Chocolate Cupcakes with Wattleseed Icing 2008-04-20 22:04:50 Just another "I should have been writing my paper, but instead I baked" mistakes: dark chocolate cupcake with wattle seed icing.
Anyone got a spare two thousand words? The old dissertation is looking a bit skinny at the moment, and after six straight months working on one paper, I have to be honest--I have nothing left to say. I'm spent. Over it. Done. And yet it is still here, demanding words from me that I don't have like a nagging housewife. I am married to my freaking dissertation...and I think it is time to start seeing other papers.
Read more! »
Read more:Procrastination
, Chocolate
, Icing
, its Finest
, Dark Chocolate
Food Nerd Central 2008-04-29 23:04:20 Yeah, I'm still alive and eating well, might I say.
Guys, I am almost there. I am almost done with the dissertation that ate Adelaide (my working title, what do you think?) Cue Chariots of Fire Music.
Da Da Dada Daaaaaaaaa Daaaaaaaaaaa
I just want you to know that I recognize our relationship as food blogger and food blog reader has been compromised over the past few months. Sometimes, it has been downright ignored and damn it, that ain't right. You deserve better than that. You deserve, at the very least, to be bribed with homemade brownies and cupcakes personally delivered by me and perhaps a kick line of koalas trained to do a pop and lock routine to Salt n Pepa's famous song, Shoop, at least until you forget this whole mess occurred. Lucky for me, I'm a poor college student w Read more:Central
Lamb Curry 2008-05-08 14:55:39 Lamb curry with mango chutney
As my time quickly winds down in Australia, I realize I should be enjoying this time. I should be taking extra trips to the ocean, maybe visiting some more wineries or hugging a couple extra koalas. Instead, I am working hard to finish my dissertation, sell my apartment, move home and find a real job. And you know, if I have time, solve world hunger, the war in Iraq, and decide who the Democratic presidential candidate should be. Shouldn’t be too tough.
Read more! »
Read more:Curry
I'm back!!!!! 2008-05-22 14:08:29 And I'm eating well! Nueske's Applewood Smoked Bacon.
Hello, fellow food friends. I have safely landed in Chicago and I am slowly but surely starting my life back up again. The past two months have been hands down the most STRESSFUL of my life (my Aussie nickname was Stressbunny, if that is any clue). Between finishing my 15,000 word dissertation, moving twice in a week, FIVE flights home ov
Leena eats the Great Ocean Road (grab a snack, its a long one!) 2008-05-24 10:09:33 How I spent my summer vacation.
“I dropped my pills.”
“I can’t find my phone.”
“There is corn muffin in my belly button.”
It was the first five minutes of our GreatOcean
Road trip and I already sounded like a senior citizen. All I could do was hope someone packed the adult diapers, because I had also just drank 42 ounces of water. This was going to
Melbourne: The Sequel 2008-06-10 09:42:29 Melbourne is a great place to eat. Tons of famous people have eaten here, like...
Any curry that is good enough for the big red man is good enough for me.
And...
Clinton also did amazing things with a cigar, but that doesn't mean the man should be mimicked OR encouraged.
Read more! » Read more:Melbourne
Leena eats the Great Ocean Road (grab a snack, its a long one!) 2008-05-24 10:09:33 How I spent my summer vacation.
“I dropped my pills.”
“I can’t find my phone.”
“There is corn muffin in my belly button.”
It was the first five minutes of our GreatOcean
Road trip and I already sounded like a senior citizen. All I could do was hope someone packed the adult diapers, because I had also just drank 42 ounces of water. This was going to
I'm back!!!!! 2008-05-22 14:08:29 And I'm eating well! Nueske's Applewood Smoked Bacon.
Hello, fellow food friends. I have safely landed in Chicago and I am slowly but surely starting my life back up again. The past two months have been hands down the most STRESSFUL of my life (my Aussie nickname was Stressbunny, if that is any clue). Between finishing my 15,000 word dissertation, moving twice in a week, FIVE flights home ov
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