Another one of my famous (or world famous in MY reality) sweet and sour stirfries. Since last night, I've had a vegetable craving, mostly for mushrooms. Why, mushrooms? I don't know. It's a particularly odd thing to crave. I mean they are a grey fungus that sprouts from the ground, but yet my body said "Lauren, you want mushrooms, lots of mushrooms." I was feeling sick at the time and I thought maybe my body was protesting it's lack of vegetables of late. Our cupboard has been pretty sparse lately but we picked up groceries today so I could use anything I so desired for my dinner. Stirfries are like the easiest, laziest food ever that does not require a microwave. A chimp could do it. This particulary stirfry contained mushroom (of course), baby corn, bok choy, chicken, sesame seeds and sweet n sour sauce, all piled up on rice. I was very hungry and this totally hit the spot, satisfying my vegie craving.

And now for the real treat of the evening. I'm currently copying Justina's photos from America. Since she is a much more avid photographer than I am, she has a lot more photos, some of which being photos of food. It brings back happy memories, even though most of it isn't even food I ingested. But I was there to watch it's consumption, so I was part of the experience. Plus food is fascinating.* There's probably more where this came from because I haven't finished going through the discs yet. Big thanks to Justina for the pictures. I give you full credit for their beauty.

Introducing Lauren's Food Tour of America Part 2.

Boston Chowder (otherwise pronounced "chow-dah"), lobster roll and oyster chips. New England is famous for it's seafood and here you have three different kinds. A thick clam chowder with oyster chips for dunking, plus creamy lobster sandwiched in bread. According to Justina, it was pretty good and I'm kinda sad I didn't participate in this quintessential Boston meal. Next time...

Boston Cream Pie. Justina and I shared this at the Bull and Finch (or Cheer's) bar. As the name suggests, I was expecting a pie and upon delivery of this dessert, I was a little confused. It's a cake! I guess some crackpot just called it a pie way back when and the name stuck. Apparently, it was so named because it was traditionally baked in a pie dish because they were more readily available than cake tins. Despite my initial confusion, I dig the quirky twist. Cake is pie. Pizza is pie. How many other kinds of pie are there?

Peanut Butter Brownie With Icecream and Cream. This dessert should have been mine, but Justina has a mean habit of stealing the last order of a dessert I have my eye on. Still, my sundae dwarfed her measly brownie. My dessert would have kicked her desserts ass in the playground. I'm so not bitter, not at all. The photo is dark (Hard Rock have crappy lighting, Justina is in fact a fabulous photographer) but doesn't it look delicious.

New York Pizza. Yet another kind of pie. Mmm. Cheese, pepperoni and a dash of basil leaves top this mouth-watering beauty. I can't remember if it had sauce or not. I can't tell from the picture. I would have liked more toppings but unlike back home, you pay per each extra topping so I can't imagine the final figure for what I would have concocted.

Chicken, pesto, tomato and mozzarella crepe from Profi's Creperie at Reading Terminal Market in Philadelphia. This is Justina's but I ordered either the same thing or something similar. I don't think I'd had a savory crepe before but it was good. Anything with pesto is. Besides, the crepe is related to pancakes and that is always a plus. This was a very interactive eating experience for us. We got to sit at a thin counter, watch them pour the crepe batter on the cooker thing and then add all the ingredients. Fascinating. I loved Reading Terminal Market. It had such an eclectic, almost haphazard set-up but had this cool homely, urban vibe. They also sell lots of baked goods made by fine Amish folk.

Here ends part 2. There is more but I'm actually starting to get kinda sleepy now. I promise more installments to come. Together we shall embrace the travel food porn.

*Apparently, it's weird to announce food is fascinating in public. I grabbed a roll of taro cake at the vegie store today and said to Ma like "I've got to try this because I find it's purpleness fascinating", with much emphasis and excitement on the fascinating. She gave me a funny look. Maybe she was just jealous that I possess such a strange passion for odd coloured foodstuffs.

Labels: American, Chinese, dessert, French, home-cooking, Italian, pizza