Steak Sandwich

I made the best steak sandwich!  Ever since I was a kid my dad always made the greatest sandwich’s in the world, he always said they were so amazing because he put love into it (as cheesy as it sounds).  “You gotta put mayonnaise on both side of the bread that’s the trick!” he would tell me.  I never really make sandwiches, just because its not really my thing, but I made this sandwich when I was home over spring break and it was literally the best thing I have ever put into my mouth.  It was pretty simple too, mayo (on both sides), mustard, lettuce, tomato, jalapenos, pickles, onion, cheddar cheese, steak on toasted sourdough bread.  It was awesome.  Be creative and try something that you normally leave for someone else because you think they are better at it, you never know, you might be great too!  Here’s a pic from my blackberry

March 16th 2009

So on Monday March 16th I had a busy day, for my ESF class I have been instructed to document what I eat throughout the entire day.  I got up early and went to work I usually have toast in the morning but we were out of butter so I grabbed two oranges and ran out the door to catch the 38BX.  

I always have a Peppermint Stick Luna Bar between breakfast and lunch

I got out of work at around 2:00 and picked up Subway, Veggie Delight! Mmmmm good.

Then I was off to school to sit through my senior seminar, sucked on sour jolly ranchers to keep me from falling asleep (it works for me).  

My class finally ended, I went to the gym, and when I arrived home my roommates had wine, various cheeses and salami awaiting.  Dinner is served!  It was amazing.  

I took the assignment pretty literally, I picked a day, wrote down what I ate and took some pictures a long the way.  Now, today is St. Pattys and I am very Irish so its time to enjoy green beer and potatoes!

There’s just something about the Mission

As we drove down mission street trying to find parking close to our meeting spot at Balmey Alley and 24th, I sat in the back seat of the car staring at this random grassy hill off in the distance.  It was such a lush deep shade of green and it seemed to set the mood for what was to come of our class field trip to the mission. It was calming and somewhere I really excited to be at the same time. 

Balmey Alley is the most concentrated collection of murals in San Francisco.  The murals began in the mid 80’s when artists’ needed to express their indignation for human and political injustices that were going on in Central America.

The murals are beautiful and are made to express something to the person viewing it; whether it is as obvious as simply painting Frida Kahlo alongside her husband or a piece filled with different shapes that create a whirlwind of vibrant colors, the artist is trying to communicate something important to world.  With each stroke of paint that artist is releasing their position, their stance, their opinion for people to absorb, learn from and maybe even act upon.

When we were done documenting every square inch of the alley we walked around the corner to Taqueria Vallarta, an authentic Mexican taqueria.  I ordered a vegetarian burrito filled with avocado, rice, pinto beans, sour cream and salsa all wrapped up in a big flour tortilla.  I know, its not the most authentic Mexican meal but it was so good.  In fact outside of northern Mexico, burritos are not common in traditional Mexican cuisine and only might be seen in some non-traditional venues South of the Boarder.  

As I look back at what I ordered I feel like I should have thought about the experience a little more and ordered some of the authentic Mexican tacos that were in the front of the restaurant tempting people strolling by; two corn tortillas, carne asada, cilantro, red onion and a little salsa.  mmmmm

We then walked a couple blocks to Mission Pie a local bakery and cafe specializing in pies by the slice and taking ingredients from local farms.  Even though the Mission Pie website says that it “encourages urban folks toward intimacy with their food through live relationships with the people and places that grow our ingredients.”  I think we can all agree, that statement went as far as the text on the website, if their banana cream pie wasn’t effing amazing I honestly wouldn’t step foot in the place again.  Oh well. 

My hw assignment for ESF was to use food to tell a story about the mission or to use the mission to tell a story about food.  When Silver (my professor) said this I immediately thought that there isn’t a way to choose one to define the other,   they simply go hand in hand explaining  and evolving each other; just as we did as a class and the many people that live and experience it everyday use it to define themselves within their culture, gender, ethnicity, residence and identity. 

There’s just something about the Mission.

 

 

Make a Smilebox slideshow