Good Eats Post Competition

Yes these are small suckling pigs in an oven. Did I tell you I was craving some good food?

David took this picture last time we were at Chez Panisse following my last competition, it was July 14, on Bastille Day.  I love this restaurant, real food, prepared with care, and always something intriguing on the menu, like the little piggies above!

I always have a list of things I want to indulge in after my competition, and the funny thing is that often I will only eat half of what's on the list.
What I am craving and will have in my bag backstage:

Two bananas. They are high in sugar and carbs, I haven't had a banana, or much fruit to speak of since August!

Doritos. I eat them only on Christmas morning and the night of a competition- go figure (no pun intended).

Dark chocolate covered caramels with salt on top. From Peet's Coffee... wicked I tell you!
Peanut M and M's.
Snickers bar.

Peanut Butter and rice cakes.
Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwich.

Sparkling wine.
My homemade fig pop tarts.

Then I will get in my car, and drive home where David will have REAL Champagne for me and a cheeseburger. Then some red wine and a long, hot, steamy shower.
We will laugh and have too much wine and go to bed happy and tired.

 
I will sleep in, probably until 6:00 am and get up and have a big cup of hot, black coffee and a piece of my fig pop tart along with a big spoonful of peanut butter, or two.

When David wakes he will make "David's Famous Ramos Fizz" and I will make eggs Benedict with fried potatoes.

Lunch I am not so sure yet, Cooper has a lacrosse game at 2:30 so that means it will be something at home. I would really like a  Nicoise salad drizzled with olive oil, whole eggs on it and anchovies. I hope my garden still has tomatoes. And a nice crusty pieces of bread to soak up the juices.

I am sure I will see my friends and neighbors, Mark and Virginia for even more sparkling wine, they usually stop by after a competition. If not, we will just walk over to their house!

I would also like a tuna fish sandwhich  on sliced sourdough with sweet pickle relish and lots of romaine lettuce. Odd, but that sounds good right now.

Dinner will be a juicy skirt steak, aioli, steamed new potatoes and an artichoke, cooked at home, along with some red wine.
 

The where do we go from there?

We are craving lobster rolls and the most fantastic onion rings from the Old Port Lobster Shack in Redwood City, California.  Cooper may try their fish and chips this time, I might have some lobster bisque before my lobster roll.

I have been dying to go to The Counter for a cheeseburger.  I went there and walked inside and LOOKED once, but I couldn't eat at the time. Cooper went with his friends and said it was one of the best burgers he has ever had. I am a cheeseburger freak!

I would like to have a salad Lyonnaise  with french fries at the Left Bank in Santana Row, David will have the steak tartare.

I think some al pastor tacos in downtown San Jose sound good, there are so many great taqueria's I am not sure where I will go.

I plan to make a torta cubana, one of my favorite sandwiches, but it is terribly fattening and calorie laden so I rarely make it. It has chorizo, ham, melted cheese, avocado, tomatoes, onions, jalapenos, and mayonnaise, all on a grilled roll.

I am looking forward to a bowl of pasta with Parmesan cheese. I am not sure if I will make a ragu or a broccoli rabe with anchovies and garlic, both might be in order!

That gets us to Saturday when David, Cooper and I will make the pilgrimage to the Ferry Plaza Market in San Francisco. We will go to Mijita's and have fish taco's and red wine for breakfast.

We will shop at the huge farmers market and buy clams and mussels and some fish from Hog Island Oyster Company and I will make bouillabaisse with rouille for dinner.

 
Then we have reservations for lunch at Zuni Cafe in San Francisco, their food is fabulous. Here I am enjoying dessert there after my last competition in July.

Lobster Rolls

Yesterday David and I celebrated our 26th wedding anniversary. We decided to go out to dinner and have lobster rolls.

I find it interesting that some people restrict their diet year long, depriving themselves of every pleasure, every wonderful taste treat, yet most of them really don't look as though they do, honestly.

It makes me wonder if they are really sticking to their diet, or they just think they are eating the right things.

I eat a well balanced, healthy diet year round, but I certainly don't suffer and deny myself when there is not reason to.

When I am preparing for a competition, as I am right now, I start buckling down and I don't have those little tastes here and there, no spoon fulls of peanut butter at night, no sips of wine, and that, really, honestly does the trick. I mean, if you maintain a well balanced diet anyway, it isn't that hard to tighten it up.

Last night I went all out, and didn't even think about the food, and this is what most of the population does on a nightly basis when making food choices.

Here I am at the Old Port Lobster Shack in Redwood City, California enjoying a Maine lobster roll. They import live Maine lobster daily, have a bakery that makes the special rolls and they fry an awful lot of their food and I enjoyed it quite a bit, and I won't feel guilty. After all, as I always say "Life is not a dress rehearsal!"

Cooper, David and I ordered appetizers (called shaketizers) of cheesy garlic fries (for Cooper really), beer battered onion rings (for Cooper again) and beer battered coconut shrimp (for me). I was at a party at a friends house a couple weeks prior to my last competition, and she made platter after platter of coconut shrimp, which I was forced to decline....so this was perfect!

David had a cup of great clam chowder that even the 16 year old liked.

Then came the lobster rolls. These things are packed and overflowing with huge hunks of sweet lobster meat. We ordered the Maine rolls that come mixed with Hellman's mayo (it's Best Foods west of the Rockies), green onion and salt and pepper. Stupendous! Not too much mayo at all, in fact it was a very light mixture.
David couldn't eat all of his so I was obligated to finish it, it would be a crime to let that go to waste. He turned to me and commented "You are an amazing eating machine!"

So I went home, very full, but feeling like we celebrated and enjoyed life together once again.

Tomorrow, it's back to the same ol, same ol. I had lost three pounds in the last week anyway, so I will be up a bit, then back down, I have time, no worries.

It will probably be a couple years before I go back again, although Cooper did ask if we could return to try the fish and chips.....

The point I want to make is, be good to yourself, eat right and respect your body. Understand it's limitations when you don't provide it with the proper nutrients. Don't be so rigid with yourself and your diet that you cannot enjoy a meal out with those who care about you and want to be with you. Don't obsess!  Remember, you are hearing this from a person who competes and restricts her diet for months on end. If I wasn't going to stand half naked on stage, I wouldn't be so manic about it, believe me. Put it into perspective.

Enjoy life, enjoy the people around you, remember that everything you do affects those who love you.  Don't ever have regrets. That's one thing my mother taught me early in life.