A few good causes. 3 December 2008 7:04 am
Posted by Tracy in : eugene,friends,news,nyc,people,restaurants,time versus money , View CommentsEugeniuses especially, take note:
I got some sad news over the weekend and I’ve decided to stop keeping it to myself. Mark Zolun, chef/co-owner of Eugene’s Iraila and all around great guy, has bladder cancer. (Some of you may remember that one of my first TracyFood posts was about my interview with Mark for my first food studies class.) He was diagnosed in September, right after he and his partner Kenne closed the restaurant to prepare for their transition to an exciting new location in Eugene, and the fact that he has this interim period to heal is a bright spot in his favor. Not so favorable is the fact that, like many small business owners, Mark has no health insurance. What he does have, however, is friends. (Some of whom are across the country wishing we could do more, and gritting teeth about being enraged at cancer yet again…. grrr.)
Catering jobs are out as a source of income, but there’s a fund set up in his name at Washington Mutual (again, that’s Mark Zolun, account #3411304029, and donations are tax deductible). More deliciously, there are some benefit events coming up in and around Eugene, and I would love it if anybody reading this checks them out or helps in any other way. (more…)
On dinner parties. 19 March 2008 7:21 pm
Posted by Tracy in : cooking,friends,identity,politics,responsibility,school,time versus money,work , View CommentsOh, lady. Stuff White People Like wins again with yesterday’s post on dinner parties, a subject I’ve written about on a few memorable occasions. The following little essaylet, first posted on Everything2.com on September 1, 2001, tells the story of one such occasion. (Writing it was another, and I suppose reposting it here is yet one more, in a very meta way.)
* * * * *
For years and years, my parents have belonged to a club that treated its members to gourmet dinner parties, sometimes in restaurants, but also for some time hosted at members’ homes and prepared in a prescribed potluck style by the guests, who were given recipes for dishes selected to fit the evening’s theme. In addition to these smaller seasonal events (four times a year; you figure it out) the club — ominously named The Establishment — used to meet in its entirety twice a year for an annual formal, black tie dinner in January and a much more informal outdoor picnic/barbecue in July. The venues for these latter two events were fixed for years, at the homes of the club members with the most extensive silverware, glassware, and flatware collection, and the largest back yard, respectively. But I digress.
As a result of my parents’ participation in those black-tie dinners, I learned quite a bit about the workings of the dinner party, first-hand, by working as part of its catering staff (with the help of a rotating roster of friends recruited to help) for five years in a row (the pay got better every time, especially when I returned to “the annual dinner” as a starving college student). However, I believe that it was as a result of this experience that I failed to earn a potentially valuable scholastic distinction during my senior year of high school. (more…)
Friday night (near-) freeganism and other post-punk culinary exploits. 14 March 2008 8:42 pm
Posted by Tracy in : Morning Glory,books,cooking,pictures,time versus money,vegan,vegetarian,work , View CommentsSubtitle: with pictures!
So Peter’s away at a big nerdy conference in Portland until tomorrow, and I’m home alone except I’ve been working a lot this week — which is great, because we need the money something fierce. But speaking of money, I really need to invent a good word for the weird but delicious mix of cheap and/or free stuff I’ve been eating for the past few days. It’s semi-freegan, 100% opportunivore, and 150% TracyFood. Anybody got any clever ideas? I’m very open to suggestions. But I digress. Let me tell you all about my thrift mode eating habits.
First and foremost there’s Morning Glory shift leftovers, of course: (more…)
Ask TracyFood: For Ellen, in lieu of Foto Friday 13 April 2007 4:37 pm
Posted by Tracy in : advice,convenience,cooking,eating,friends,health,time versus money , View CommentsDear TracyFood,
I currently live life at an extremely hectic pace (2 jobs, 2 classes, and a job search for post-graduation employment). One of the results of this is that I eat a lot of junk. Do you have any suggestions for ways I could improve my eating habits yet not cut too much into my precious sleep time?
XOXO,
Ellen
