From the "Color Me Unsurprised" Files

I came to this realization a few weeks ago, and now with today's results against the Rays it is official: if the Red Sox are the new Yankees, then Dem O's are the new Red Sox. You know, the ones that could always be relied on to suck? Yep, those Red Sox. Any bets on when their season officially becomes "unsalvageable"? I vote May.

Pig and Pandanus in West Papua

I just discovered this show on the Travel Channel Living with the Mek: The Adventures of Mark and Olly. The latter are Mark Anstice and Olly Sheeds, two British adventurers who spend three months with the former, the 3,000-strong Mek tribe of West Papua province, Indonesia (though the Mek are culturally more similar to the tribes next door in Papua New Guinea). Among the things these two do: get initiated, along with a 9-year old, as "men" in the village (even though they are both in their 30's); get their brand new penis gourds - and have to introduce themselves to the village wearing nothing but them (It was not dirty, but I still gott say: these two blokes fill out a penis gourd pretty well.); trying to intervene when a young woman was accused of being a witch, by trying to convince her to leave before "the village" took things into their own hands; and witness the funerary rites of an elderly man who died while they were in town.

One thing that Olly (who blogs about life with the Mek here) mentioned after that funeral stuck with me. These folks don't get a lot of flavor in their food, which consists of things such as potatoes, taro, yams, and (only on special occasions) pig. But the prep isn't too flavorful, so whenever they have a reason to inject flavor they do so.

The very somber day after the funeral, where the Mek burned the corpse in a pyre, they were much happier and threw a wake. Olly was one of the guys that was charged with the task of preparing bright red pandanus fruit* for the meal. This stuff is just about the only flavor the Mek, and many New Guineans, get at all. It comes in many different forms. The pandanus they used looked long and smooth; the one pictured at Wikipedia looks like a durian.

I found a Papua New Guinea Cookbook a very long time ago when I lived in California - it was in the cookbook section of the local university library (!). It's not the same one that's here, but I did xerox the hell out of it when I found it some eight or nine years ago. I have long since broken that New Year's Resolution to cook something from a different one of my cookbooks every week. Maybe I'll try this one next. I can get Mark and Olly and the Mek to mix the pandanus fruit for me. I'll just keep my eyes away from those penis gourds!

The top picture is of Olly and Mark with the Kombai, another New Guinean tribe. Below are gentlemen wearing penis gourds. Ow. UPDATE: Jeff at Tropical Designs just left a comment, asking to give credit where it is due. I got the photo of the pandanus from the Tropical Designs web site, http://tropicaldesigns.com/ipm.htm. Not sure why I didn't already because I usually do. Speaking of which: the penis gourd pic comes from http://www.westpapuatrekking.com and our buffed British blokes are from the Discovery Channel Asia web site for "Living with the Kumbai"

Yes, Charm City Cakes has a blog.

I don't know why I didn't bother to link to it before. Food Network Addict has talked about it for months. Can't read all the posts at once, I think. You can only read one at a time.

A Note about Slanderous Anonymous Posts

I am totally cool with anonymous posts - in fact, I get lots of perfectly nice and constructive comments from posters named "Anonymous" (my sister, who doesn't have a Blogger account, occasionally posts under this name). Anonymous posts in and of themselves do not bother me.

I also don't mind critical comments, whether or not I agree with them, and whether or not they are even critical of me. Some of y'all have had some quite constructive things to say (Dan's enthusiastic un-recommendation of Cafe Hon is one good example). I learn from these comments, and it helps me to be more critical in my critiques as well.

What does bother me is the occasional critical, even slanderous, comment posted by that brave soul known as "Anonymous". To wit: last week while I was in the Netherlands I got an interesting comment about the folks at Mirchi Wok and Mango Grove, whose dishes (not as much whose service) I raved about a while back. I then got an interesting comment slandering the owner, Mr. Rowit Chalwa, talking about how he is a crook who overcharges his customers (to paraphrase the commenter - these are definitely not my thoughts - Indian-Americans apparently are too docile to say anything, them being Indian and all). The commenter then went on to describe how anyone who questions the bill will either get the silent treatment from Mr. Chalwa or a browbeating - the comment really wasn't clear on this. The best part? The commenter is Anonymous.

I cannot verify if the comment is truthful or merely slanderous, but see for yourself - it is repeated word-for-word here (this time the commenter isn't anonymous, calling him/herself "SaidLikeItIs"). Maybe it's true, maybe not, but the only disappointing thing I found about their service was the slowness. I haven't found anyone else specifically saying these things, except one person (here - it's the one comment of four like it). One person was disappointed in the food at Mirchi Wok. I agree - Mango Grove's is a bit better than Mirchi Wok's, who left me longing. And maybe I'm being PC, but the comment's dismissal of most Indian-Americans as "spineless" seems a bit, well, racist to me. As far as the bill goes, it's always a good idea to watch your bill and make sure you haven't been overcharged. And if they complain, definitely do make a stink. Make a big stink. But you don't need to insult a whole ethnic group to do so, and you certainly don't need to go by your secret identity of "Anonymous". Don't need your birth name and SSN or anything, but Anonymous could be anyone.

So starting now, if you want to slime someone, have the guts to put a name to your comment (signing up for a Blogger, TypePad, Wordpress or other account helps) and refrain from attacks on an entire ethnic group. Otherwise, I ain't publishing your comment.

UPDATE: I really don't want to discourage Anonymous comments here - feel free to comment, Anonymous! I'm just saying if you are going to call someone out, don't just go hide back in the woodwork. But even if you do post with no identity, I will not post any racist, sexist, or otherwise bigoted things here. Just won't.

UPDATE TWO (JUNE 29. 2008): I took a gander at the above-linked slanderous review and found this interesting tidbit from a more supportive patron, quoted here:

BTW as for the previous review …some feeble try at defaming such a strong foundation….looks like she has a complex about being Indian .I witnessed this lady customers horrible behaviour and all the guests in the restaurant were applauding when the cops walked her away for her vulgar behaviour and vandalism. I am glad the restaurant owners are choosy & vigilant for not letting such characters get away with typical “Gimme some free food or I’ll scream” behaviour. This way civilized patrons can get the great dining experience they come back for.

Explains a lot.

Amsterdam Trip Part Zes: In case you were wondering...

I didn't enter any tea or coffee houses, to get any tea or coffee. And as for the coffeeshops, where visitors go not for a pot of coffee, but, well, pot? Nope, not my scene. Going to one of those was truly never on my agenda. But it was the modus operandi for a whole bunch of tourists, many from the US, most from the UK:

• the granola girls from many countries,
  
• the middle class white boys with dreadlocks,
  
• the occasional hippie dude playing guitar or violin (!) on the street to get enough money for pot and his hostel room,
  
• the chavs yelling at dealers selling harder stuff on the street (Amsterdam's coffeeshops are VERY adamant about stopping the hard stuff),
  
• and pretty much any other American or Brit tourist that specifically came for the mary jane.
  

The smarter dope tourists will have gotten high in moderation, so I'm not talking about them. The funny ones were the ones who just went to excess! One group of kids we ran into in our hotel as we were taking the elevator to the room. They were very stoned, and studying a sign with great difficulty, or maybe it was their room number. I'm not sure. At least they didn't throw up on us. They probably did that outside of the coffeeshop they went to last. Blobs of puke in front of coffeeshops were not uncommon.

It's interesting that so many of them chose to openly smoke it on the streets, because that actually is illegal. Some of them probably got arrested.

As for Amsterdam's other famous vice, the "working girls" of the Red Light District: I did see them. If you've been paying attention, y'all have figured out I wasn't there to visit them. But lots of male tourists were. And the women who work in the prostitution booths? Protected by the law and by a very large man, and with health benefits from their employers! Still, one guy must have overstepped his boundaries. One day when I was walking back from a long day of sightseeing and, of course, more walking, I would up walking through the RLD and heard "OUT!" yelled in the distance. I turned around and saw some guy being thrown out of one of the prostitution businesses. The guy just cursed and muttered. I don't know exactly what he did, but I can only wonder.

Amsterdam Trip Part Vijf: Wagamama

After the 15 months since I visited the one on a non-descript but well-traveled street in London, and several days after passing up my chance to eat at the Faneuil Hall one in Boston, I finally got my chance to go back to Wagamama. There are two in Amsterdam, three total in the Netherlands, and I insisted on dragging Jim to the nearest one, on the Max Euweplein near the theater, Museumplein and Leidesplein.

We had just come from the Anne Frank Huis, the museum built around the house where the famous Dutch Jewish girl hid from the Nazis with her family and another for several years, until their safe house was breached (only her father survived the death camps, which took 6 million Jews and 5 million others). We had also just visited the nearby Homomonument, which as far as I know is the biggest monument in the world dedicated to GLBT persons around the world, especially gay victims of the Holocaust (5,000 to 15,000, at least). Max Euweplein, dedicated to a famous Dutch chess champion, is the site where people (like Anne Frank's family and many other Amsterdam Jews, gays and other Holocaust victims) were marched to be sent to the concentration camps. It was very sobering.

Still, we did enjoy our trip to Wagamama, as did the US and (moreover) UK tourists around us, and the Dutch coming in to eat as well (maybe they were also tourists?). Jim assured me he liked his food, so I didn't feel bad obsessively making him wait for the place to open at noon). And this is why I wish they would open more in the US, maybe DC, especially Baltimore, even LA which I do occasionally visit:

• The Wagamama Ramen (€12), a big steaming bowl of, as their menu states it, "noodles in a vegetable soup topped with a marinated and grilled mushroom, seasonal greens, kamaboko-aka [a type of fish], wakame [seweed], prawn, seasonal fish, chicken, fried tofu, menma [dried bamboo] and spring onions". Oh my God, this was good stuff. Everything was so wonderful, especially the kamaboko-aka and those grilled prawns. I got almost to the bottom, and was disappointed that there wasn't more at the bottom of that big bowl. Jim got the Seafood Ramen (€13), which had the same seafood as mine, plus other fish and squid.

• The Banana Katsu (€5) covered with a dollop of orange-vanilla ice cream. I've had banana tempura but never banana katsu (banana fried in Japanese bread crumbs). Three small banana halves with a small dollop of ice cream. Heavenly, about as good as a good tempura ice cream. We each got this.

• I was less impressed with the small side order of Japanese pickles (€1.50), not for the taste but specifically for the size. You could fit all three pickles together on the head of a quarter, they were that small).
  

While eating we did get the chance to see some guys playing chess outside. This was no ordinary chess game, mind you, but a game featuring very large and light pieces that can be played for all to see very easily. The piecs are in two large locked boxes so people can't just walk off with them. You have to get the key from somebody. It was amusing lunch entertainment.

Amsterdam Trip Part Vier: More Bites from Amsterdam

I'm back, after 24 hours of foot, tram and plane travel and two transfers for a total of three plane trips through two continents, three economic zones (euro, Icelandic kronur and US dollar). I'm surprisingly well-rested. It seems much easier to get back on schedule when you're going to a later time zone than to an earlier one.

Again, the photos will be posted sometime in the next few days. First, just some brief notes about a few other places I ate and drank at this past week.

Haute Cuisine

The Getto Bar and Restaurant is a very funky, openly GLBT-friendly place you might even find in Hampden or Charles Village. The night before Gil headed out to Arnhem, we all went in for some dinner. This was where I spent the most money for any dish, and this was not one of the more expensive places. I followed up a forgettable witte bier (€4) with a fascinating plate of game: venison, wild boar and rabbit medallions with hearty yet tender mixed vegetables (€17). It tasted pretty good, but one thing annoyed me: if I am going to order something as different as wild boar and venison, I would at least like to be able to tell them apart. All three meats tasted exactly the same to me. That's not my fault. I think they did something wrong. Very tasty and creative, but not worth €17 (for comparison's sake, that's roughly US$25). I forget what the others ordered, but they liked them. In addition to food, Gil got a very good, home-brewed rosé cherry beer (which I tasted, of course). Jim and I did go back on our last night in town for more of those home-brewed rosé cherry beers

Bars

In addition to the Getto, I stopped by a few bars, both gay and not, including a few good ones on Zeedijk (including the Queen's Head, which has a beautiful view of the canals by the Red Light District and where I got to see a hilarious Celine Dion impersonator) and Kerkstraat (a famous part of gay Amsterdam, including the Spijker Bar, where I ran into someone who, after trading genealogical info, apparently came from the same village that my great-great grandfather came from in Northern Ireland). I visited a regular old straight bar on Kerkstraat but I'm frustrated that I can't remember its name. But it's across from a gay bookstore and next to a gay sauna. Very gay area, Kerkstraat. But I must mention it because it was my first introduction to Hoegaarden, a delicious witte bier that I have to find at the Wine Source when I go next. I drank it wherever I could find it. If I can find it.

More Dutch

The Roode Leeuw (Red Lion), on Damrak - one of the major streets downtown that leads to the historic Dam - is in the beautiful Hotel Amsterdam (much bigger, much more expensive, and probably much better than my cruddy excuse for a hotel). We all ate here before Gil's trip to the little city of Arnhem. Their offerings were quite expensive, but we were enticed by the relatively inexpensive items on their lunch menu, including sandwiches. First I got a delicious tomato soup (€3), a common item on many Dutch menus that I saw. It was creamy and not so salty. It did strike me that, maybe, it was from a package, but since the Dutch don't oversweeten their syrups, sweets and sodas, maybe they don't oversalt their soups. Next I got a grilled mozzarella, basil and tomato sandwich - a classic panino, they just didn't call it that - for €6. I got no dessert - I wanted to save my euros for other things. But the other guys got creme brulée. I would have as well, were it not for the €8 price tag. I reasoned: as much as I love it, would I ever spend $12 for creme brulée? No. Gil did stuff a spoonful in my mouth. It was good, but not worth $12.

One thing I regret never getting to try is that common Dutch street food, salted raw herring. Last Thursday I saw the stand, all the way up to Holy Saturday, that day before Easter. I kept on putting it off. Then Easter Sunday hits and it's closed. Then it's closed Easter Monday, then Tuesday, then Wednesday! I never got to try it.

Argentinian

The Dutch seem to love Argentinian steak. Argentinian, Uruguayan, Brazilian - anything from South America, but specifically Argentinian. The problem with these places is their price: steak ain't cheap, no matter where you eat it. And at the typical price of €16 - €25 per steak, it was quickly ignored as a viable dinner option. But on our last night in town, Jim and I were lured into La Pampa Argentinian Grill Restaurant on Paleisstraat, again near the Dam. Their €15 complete dinners lured us in. I got a tasty if small Argentinian chorizo for my first of three courses, with a forgettable veggie garnish. The main course was a real medium-rare Argentinian beefsteak smothered in a peppercorn sauce, with frites (fries, or chips in UK English). Good steak, good sauce, pretty variable quality fries (back to those in a minute). Dessert was an okay double combo of chocolate and orange ice cream. Add one Cola Light (as Diet Cokes are called in much of Europe) for €4.50 (that is almost $7 for 200 mL of soda), Jim's two teas for €2.50 each and a basket of the softest hot bread I have ever had (no more crusty bread ever!!!) at €3.50, and we were looking at about €43 worth of food, drink, tax and tip. Just imagine if we had ordered the not-so-special steak.

One thing I did do was finally try fries with the typical Dutch frites sous (fries sauce), which is part of the mayonnaise family. Whole stands and small stores selling mostly just frites with mayo and a hundred other sauce choices are extremely common all over the Netherlands. Since I never got into those, I figured I'd try it here. I was nauseated at the idea, but it was actually much better than I thought it'd be. In fact, I even liked fries in frites sous. Then I went back to ketchup, which they also had. Peanut satay sauce is also a widely available topping for frites.

Amsterdam Trip Part Drie: Little Bites Here and There

I've had very little time to report in, but two things are for certain. One: it's very difficult to not find a different cuisine to sample every night. Two: it's fairly easy to spend €15 to €20 (that's $23 to $30) on a meal. At least I get a free breakfast. Unfortunately, it's godawful, so I just go to the local Albert Heijn supermarket and buy a croissant for €0.50.

Again, I have no access to my photos at this point. Yep, stupid hotel's wireless just is untappable with my computer. So photos will come later. I must say that, apart from the hotel kitchen, everything I´ve eaten has been quite good. To wit, a few cuisines and their attached restaurants:

Dutch - already addressed this in my previous post. But I am desperately looking around for stroopwaffels to bring back. Man, I love those things. You can get them for a little more money at Trader Joe's for about $5 (at Albert Heijn they are €1.50, or around $2.25). Lovely things. Also bought some syrup, which is far less sweet and far more molasses-y than our own. Also bought some sambal oelek, a very hot spice which is...

Indonesian - My friends and I all had some nasi goreng and Bojo, as well as a few other things. RE: Indonesian food is like Chinese food in the US. It. Is. Everywhere. That's due to Dutch colonialism in Indonesia. I had a very hot mackerel. Jim had lamb satay. I can´t recall what Gil had. I have to ask him. Total cost for me was about €15.

Surinamese - Most Americans have never heard of Suriname. And though I tried to find a purely Surinamese restuarant in Amsterdam, all I could find was a Surinamese-Chinese one. That´s the Wok to Walk, a popular franchise here. I got the Balinese bami with pork for about €5.

Italian - O Sole Mio is pretty close to Bojo, and for that matter it´s close to a few good eet-huisen. I got the pizza napoletana (anchovies, tomato sauce and mozzarella) for about €11. €4 more and I was in tiramisú heaven.

Sweets - Australian is not an Australian place. Instead, it has waffles, crepes and lots and lots of chocolate. My crepe with nutella, chocolate sauce and whipped cream was €4. The crepe was not soft at all, but that turned out to be a good thing, as I needed it to be hard so everything would not fall out.

Irish - Hoopman's is one of many, many Irish pubs in Amsterdam, again near the street with the aforementioned O Sole Mio and Bojo. I had a hearty salmon chowder for lunch today, their Galway Bay Chowder, for €10. Very good idea, considering the ridiculous amounts of snow, little styrofoam ball-sized pellets of hail, and more snow that we have been getting here. No problem, though: it's supposed to get much sunnier on the day I leave. Wat yammer.

Middle Eastern - Crystal on Leidestraat, one of the main thoroughfares through the city, serves up a mean hummus and falafel platter. My friends got lamb shaorma and something else - I forget what exactly. Mine cost about €11.

Indian - Bollywood ain't just the biggest movie industry in the world, it's also a cozy two-story restaurant across from Bojo. Most of their entrées run about €20, but we each got the chicken table meal for €14: pappadam, chicken soup (the only part I wasn't too crazy about - lots of grains of chicken), chicken curry, the tastiest and tenderest chicken tandoori I have had in a very long time, and naan.

Chinese - Two Chinese places to talk about, both on Zeedijk near the Red Light District. Nam Kee has been mentioned in various travel guides, and no wonder: they get you in very quick if they can, and will seat you sometimes with someone at a partially full table if there is nowhere else to put you. It´s Chinese but serves many Vietnamese and Indonesian dishes. In fact, many Chinese offerings had typically Indonesian names, such as the Chinese lumpia (spring rolls, €3), which were tasty if greasy. I ordered the nasi goreng, another Indonesian favorite, for €11. Heeeeeel lekker. Jim got the salt and pepper squid (€12). I don´t know what Gil got, because he went off to the small town of Arnhem to visit a friend. That´s the last I´m seeing of him this trip.
The second Chinese place, which all three of us went to a few days ago, was the Good Fortune Dim Sum restaurant. Many good pieces of dim sum there, and the proprietress and waitresses were able to talk to us and others in English, Dutch and several other languages. She commended me on my at least attempting to talk to her in Dutch, even if my friends gave me a ribbing for it. Total cost: €60, or €20 each.

Not sure if I will be checking in again tomorrow or before my flight. I will try. But the photos will be going up later this week, after I´m back in the US. I haven´t had any time to comment, by the way, but thanks to all of you who have given me suggestions and tips and input. I´m still looking for some Belgian chocolate, but it´ll have to be obtained here in Amsterdam. A train ticket to Antwerp, the nearest Belgian city is €58! YIKES!

Amsterdam Trip Part Twee: Dutch food - goed, of niet so goed?

Pictures to follow...



I haven't gotten to a working internet connection since Thursday. It's now Easter Sunday morning (Happy Easter, or Goede Passdag) and I am surprised that anything is open right now.


I have no way to get the pictures off my card at this internet kiosk, and some of the places I hve eaten I only remember by name if I see their photo in my camera. So I will just wait on writing about them (long story short: fascinating and fast stir fry at this Surinamese-Chinese noodle franchise, excellent Indonesian food, not so great Dutch, delicious Middle Eastern, and a pancake in the Hague that is to die for). Let me mention at least the Dutch food I have had:


The Hotel Old Quarter has been, well, interesting. Not in the best way either. Loud and loutish tourists from Germany, the UK and - yes! - the US have either kept me up at night or woken me up in the morning. The plus side? They have free breakfast. The minus side? It's not very good. But if you pay €5 more you get a real English breakfast (the proprietor is English I think. Lots of English ex-pats here).

One frigid night my friend Jim (not a fan of being out to begin with) begged me that if we went back to the hotel, which we had just left, he'd buy me dinner there. I was all up for that! I ordered a traditional Dutch dish, called hutspot. This is a potato mash with shreds of carrot and onion mixed in, and a large meatball covered with gravy in the middle. I don't know if it's supposed to be good, but theirs certainly was not. It was like a big Salisbury Steak meatball, only hard. The potatoes also left something to be desired. At least the dessert pancake with vanilla ice cream and whipped cream was better. They had the most wonderful ice cream. It's the only good thing they serve there.

In fact, I had to go all the way to the Hague to find good Dutch food. At the Babbelen Brasserij I got this filling and very tasty pannekoeke met spek en kaas (pancake with bacon and cheese), with powdered sugar and syrup. Dutch syrup is not super sweet like in the US. In fact, it's the main part of their delicious syrup waffle cookies. I must buy some of each to bring back.

Time at the kiosk is almost out. I'll write soon... With photos!

Do Icelanders Eat This, or Just the Folks at Icelandair

I got this as part of dinner on my flight from Boston to Reykjavik, in whose beautiful airport I transferred to a three/hour flight to Amsterdam. The food was your average airplane food, the only difference being that there was some in the first place.

It looks like strawberry ice cream but tastes vaguely like krab with a K, and smells very fishy. It was not good.

So what is this exactly?

Amsterdam Trip Part Een: Sidetracked in Boston

The airport is a pretty quick hop, skip and jump to downtown. I hit State Street. Take the free 33 bus to the metro, and then go toward Downtown on the Blue Line, getting off at the third station. Not sure what to do (get something to cover my head – damn this cold rain), I looked around for the much-raved about Faneuil Hall (rhymes with “Daniel Hall”) area. I turned around and noticed that the rail station was in the basement of the Old State House Museum, three floors of history about Boston’s important role in the American Revolution. It’s even easier to get to from the metro than the Museum of Natural History in New York is from NYC’s subway (sure you have to go outside to get to Boston’s, but there’s pretty much only one way to get out and it lets you off RIGHT THERE). It has artifacts from the Boston Tea Party, the Revolution, and more, and is next to the site of the Boston Massacre, which happened next to the Old State House.

I bought some tea. In Boston. Fancy that.

Faneuil Hall itself is a historic market building that offers very little, apart from muffins, decorative items and tacky Boston souvenirs – you know the type, every city has these. I mean, have you been to Harborplace lately? The real fun begins on the other end of Faneuil Hall, when three large, narrow and crowded marketplaces spread out before you – North, South and Quincy Markets. Both North and South have nice restaurants, including another McCormick & Schmick’s, and the Durgin Park restaurant, the oldest continually-operating restaurant in the country. Quincy, however, is lined with stalls and stalls of quick bites. And what a variety! I saw maybe eight different Italian places, just as many bakeries, four different seafood stalls (all of the New England variety, though one actually had crabcakes, too), plus kiosks of Greek, Mexican, Japanese, Thai, Chinese, hot dogs, Indian, Middle Eastern, Philly cheese steaks and God knows what else.

One thing I was set on was a lobster roll, and I found it at the Boston & Maine Fish Company. Since they offered a combo of lobster roll – actually lobster salad roll – and clam chowder, I got that. The price? A shocking $16! Add a small Diet Pepsi and tax, and that comes to $19 on the nose.

This is going to be an expensive vacation.

The clam chowder was wonderfully buttery – unlike another that was sitting out by another place whose name I forget, closed-lidded, for people to take samples by swabbing a chunk of bread in it on a toothpick. That one was very tinny. I wasn’t impressed. But I liked this place’s clam chowder. True, the clams were small, and probably should’ve been more plentiful or at least bigger, but I was pleased with it. At the time I really liked my lobster roll as well (it’s cold – I had no idea), but as I stumbled upon other restaurants later, I found myself wishing I had skipped it. Now I understand that a lobster roll from a kiosk in a commercial area probably isn’t as good as one in some side neighborhood that I couldn’t get to. But I figured this was my best chance to get any lobster roll. It was good for what it’s worth, with a mixture of very large chunks and some of the special parts of the lobster. Still, I liked it. The next time I’m in Boston, I’ll look for a cheaper one elsewhere (it alone was $15, sans special). Or is this truly the cheapest one you can find? I don’t have experience with lobster rolls after all.

I next walked around the Faneuil Hall complex to work off that lobster roll and chowder. Along the way I saw a few other places I will have to stop by the next time I’m in town:

The “original ‘Cheers’” bar. You know this is a tourist trap. Heck, I never got the chance to get a beer in Boston. No I’m not going to run into Sam.

• The Salty Dog oyster bar and restaurant, with all the typical Bostonian and Yankee delicacies. Here, raw or steamed little neck clams are $2 per each, $10 for 6, and Boston Cream Pie is $5.
• Again, Durgin Park, “established before you were born,” where everything is expensive (Boston Cream Pie? $6). Not a bad Boston Restaurant Week special, though.
• Also here is one of the first two US locations of Wagamama, that popular UK fancy ramen noodle franchise (the other US location is in Harvard Square, also Boston). I would’ve gone in but it looked like more than I wanted to pay (that was before I ran into the lobster roll-clam chowder combo). Besides, there are three Wagamamas in downtown Amsterdam alone, so it’s not like I missed my chance.
  

I next went to buy a hat to keep my head from freezing and getting all drenched. I figured it’d be a good idea to ask the merchant at the Orvis outdoor outfitters if there was a good place for Boston Cream Pie. He said if I didn’t mind walking a quarter-mile (hell no I don’t mind), there were both Mike’s Pastry and the Modern Pastry, both in Boston’s North End (their Little Italy). Both were on Hanover Street, and apparently both were very easy for me to walk right past. How could I not walk past them? I was taken in by all the smells of lunches I could’ve eaten before the $19 lobster roll meal. Much of it was Southern Italian (that’s MI famiglia), and many of the stores were plastered with 2006 World Cup posters, memorabilia and Italia jerseys, scarves and T-shirts.

I finally found Mike’s, which I once again almost passed by. Here I got what was the cheapest slice of Boston Cream Pie that I could find, at $3. Even though the cream was a little frozen, it was still thick and tasty. Double goes the chocolate, so much so that it was difficult to cut it with the fork. Delicious, tangy, chocolatey stuff. And despite this slice’s semi-frozen state, the flavor was still delicious. You can also buy the pie whole; I don’t know how much that is.

On the way back to Faneuil Hall I stopped at the Modern Bakery, with lots of candy lambs for Easter. I bought one chocolately Florentine cookie for $1 and ate it on the way. I almost stopped one last place, the Salty Dog for a clam or two and a beer, but passed. I didn’t want to spend the money. Instead, I got snookered in by the COMICS PLACE, where I spent several minutes staring at fresh-out-of-the-UK Doctor Who figurines, the whole set from the new series – including, among many other things, three different models of David Tennant, handfuls of Daleks, a USB-powered TARDIS, even a half-size “working” K9 (it’s a Doctor Who thing). I did pass up buying one of those “COEXIST” bumper stickers and a small one that read “OMG Shoes,” but couldn’t get out without dropping $13 on the second bound series of the Y: The Last Man graphic novel. I’m not a graphic novel person, but this one is fascinating.

Now here I am in the airport with nowhere to charge my laptop (bastards deactivated all the wall outlets in the terminal, rrrrrrrrrr), and with a day pass costing $8, I will just wait until I get to Holland to upload this. In fact, if you are reading this now, then I have indeed gotten to Amsterdam or at least Reykjavik (if they have free wireless).

The second leg of my journey begins: the Eurozone. Tot ziens!

Other photos

This is literally what the doors of Durgin Park have written over them. They´re that old.

Birthday Weekend Loose Ends

Brewer's Art

My sister and I had our "culture club" on Friday - the two of us and a few of her co-workers and ex-coworkers. The place we went was the fabulous Brewer's Art Pub., a constant standby on "best of" lists all over Baltimore. I was quite impressed, and everyone else seemed to be as well. A few things we got that were so good:

• I started with the Proletary Ale and Onion Soup with Broiled Gruyere Cheese ($7). I liked this soup, particularly because of the broth. Everything else is usually my favorite part of the soup, but not usually the broth. Not so with this soup - good everything.
• I washed that down - if you really need to wash down soup - with two glasses of their Resurrection Ale ($7 each). At least I think that's the one it was.
  
• My entrée was the tasty Roasted Pork Tenderloin, which I could have eaten with a spoon ($19). This was medium rare - not as unwise a choice as I thought it would be. It was covered in a chocolate demi-glace, though I really was so focused on the pork that I didn't taste it much. Coupled with that was a dish of roasted apples and potato pavé. I wasn't terribly crazy about this pavé thing, which was a dried-out stack of thin potato slices in a sort of really broad obtuse triangular prism sort of formation (oooh, go back to your 10th grade geometry now). I would've been much more satisfied with the buttery mashed potatoes that Cathy got, which were heavenly. She got grouper, I think. She liked hers too.

Pork and apples with, uhhh, potato cake? I was very impressed with the pork, not so much at all with the potato cake.

• Dessert was the densest chocolate cake I have ever had. Yummy.

Trust me, it's heavier than it looks.

The grand total for each person was, on average, $50 after tax and tip (there were six of us, leading to a "gratuitous gratuity" of 18%).

Eddie's of Roland Park

The next night my landlord - he was first a friend before he became my landlord - threw this big St. Patrick's Day party. So much liquor, wine and beer - Guinness, Harp, some ale made by Guinness, and Corona (?). While he did make the desserts himself, he bought all the dinner from Eddie's. who make a mean corned beef and cabbage. Yes, I have had better, but for store-made-and-bought it was pretty good. Their mashed potatoes actually impressed me. No soda bread, but I've never been impressed with the store bought soda bread.

Just a reminder: don't tell a room full of gay men that today is your 35th birthday, unless you want a really campy birthday serenade. Especially if some of them are in theater.

Edo Sushi

Since I paid for Cathy at the Brewer's Art, she returned the favor by paying for me at Edo Sushi. I felt bad going to a more expensive sushi place than normal, and suggested alternatives, but she insisted. Actually, for a while we were wishing we had looked for something else. It was either Edo Sushi or something in Federal Hill, maybe Thai Arroy, or Matsuri, or one of those other places there. I never get there often enough anyway. "No, let's go to Edo Sushi!"

Then we got into a massive backup. Cars just sitting there by Harborplace. We were wondering what the hell could be causing this!

I hit myself in the head the way they do in the V8 juice commercials when I saw all the people starting down Pratt Street in green clothes, carrying Irish flags. Guess who forgot the St. Patrick's Day Parade was at that exact hour. Yep, me.

So half an hour later we are in Edo Sushi. We were very impressed with the lunch, not impressed at all with our dessert:

• We started out with miso soup. But it was not your simple miso. It was hearty, with scallions, tofu, and whatnot in a big bowl. I almost didn't finish it.
  
• I was getting impatient since our food wasn't coming out and there weren't many people there for lunch. But then the waiter brought everything out at once, and we.
  
• The Harbor Maki ($14) was just eight slices of crunchy, crabby, shrimpy goodness. The presentation? Also gorgeous. It was one of the tastiest rolls I have had. And none of it was raw, I don't think.

Beautiful

• Of course, raw never stops up. Our sashimi plate ($20) had a beautiful, fully edible presentation next to typically satisfying tuna, salmon and other types of sashimi. We were just very satisfied and happy.
• So of course there had to be a little letdown at some point. There was - the tempura ice cream (about $5) was greasy and not in any way crispy on the outside, with a ton of vanilla ice cream on the inside. Every tempura ice cream I have previously had has been much better, and that includes the one I got out in Pasadena, CA, which was just ice cream inserted whole into a pre-fried tempura shell (!?). Avoid it, please.

I've never seen so many people in silly glittery green shamrock Mardi Gras beads in a sushi restaurant before, but hey, first time for everything. Of course, this was just stupid.

A green dog people? Please. That's just bómánta

The vacation starts tomorrow...

Well it's finally here. The passport is xeroxed - twice, the clothes are packed, the dishes are cleaned up and the mail is... uhhhm, oh shit, I forgot to stop the mail.

Anyway, in 24 hours I will be in Boston, roaming around the city while I wait for my connecting to Reykjavik, which then takes me to Amsterdam around 11AM Thursday morning, Nederlander time. A few things I'm hoping to see and try:

1. My first lobster roll in Boston or, barring that, some "wicked" New England seafood. Certainly it's not as good as the Chesapeake's, but whose is? :) But I'm still looking forward to it.
2. Will anyone in Reykjavik's Keflavik Airport be able to talk to me in English?
3. Trying real Dutch foods like pannekoeken with some other stuff (bacon? raisins? cheese? Apparently these are heel Nederlands things to put in your pancakes).
4. The supermarkets, where I will be getting most of my food, due to the continued slide of the dollar into the proverbial gutter.
5. Some good Indonesian food (again, easy to find in the supermarkets). It's as easy to find as Chinese is here. Nasi goreng, anyone?
   
6. Surinamese cuisine - I have little clue what it is, except the word roti keeps popping in my head.

That's it for now, except that I am going to start copyrighting these posts, just as any of you who writes a blog (hopefully) may be doing already. I thought it was understood, but since the previous one (I still have no idea how to contact the bastards) I have to threaten legal action (direct quotes that give credit to me are A-OK). Malnurtured Snay also gave me the suggestion that I go to Wordpress, which apparently will allow me to choose who links back to me or not, but that still only solves part of the problem.

Who the F*#k is Tom Courtney?

If you are Tom Courtney, could you please tell me why you're passing off my blog posts as your own, and then cease and desist from passing off what I take the trouble to write as your own?

I haven't been on Technorati in many months. I found out that I have four people who have favorited my blog (thanks, Jeff Quinton, Harmony Lameche, Teambenya and to Foodette at Restaurant Review World out in the City of Angels).

Now I found my antepenultimate blog post, Exit 27A-B from my Beltway Snackin' series. I also noticed 470 blog reactions to me, accumulated over perhaps the last year or so.

Among them I found this. Click on it to read what it says:


This is what it says (all links have been deactivated and boldfaced):

Exits 27A and B: MD-146 (Dulaney Valley Road, to Towson)

by @ 2:24 pm. Filed under Uncategorized

Tom Courtney wrote an interesting post today on
Here’s a quick excerpt
I would’ve taken a photo just to remember all the varieties and ingredients, but I felt self-conscious even whipping out my cell phone, the guys behind the counter were that close. Each slice had delicious cheeses. …

Read the rest of this great post here

It can be found here, on a website that is apparently about cell phones. I am not hotlinking it, so as not to give free publicity to somebody that may not merit it: http://www.cellamigo.com/blog/exits-27a-and-b-md-146-dulaney-valley-road-to-towson/

Perhaps I am misunderstanding. I mean if anyone who clicks on this will get to me. But I'm puzzled as to who exactly "Tom Courtney" is, or if he even exists. I don't know if this is a bot or just a stream or someone trying to plagiarize off of me. Or it may just be streaming for me, but I never asked anyone to do that, seeing as how it's on a "blog" about cell phones, getting both me and them an extra link. I think it might be some kind of spam thing, since there is no way to contact anyone on that page - there is no contact info. And the only way I can leave comments is if I register. Of course, I'm afraid if I do that I'll get a ton and a half of spam in my inbox. But I will continue to figure out what the hell is going on.

So if this is legit, contact me and discuss this at your earliest convenience. And if it truly isn't on the up and up who or whatever you are, stop fucking plagiarizing what I write!!!

And yes you may leave a message about how happy YOU are that I'M turning 35. *

Damn, it's my birthday today. I'm no longer in my early 30's. Of course, those of you who are older than I am are probably just shaking your heads saying, "35? Damn, kid, stop whining."

First off, thank you for calling me "kid," and second, you're right - I'll be saying that too in a few years.

And what better way for a Sondheim fan to celebrate his 35th birthday than by listening to the only musical written around a man trying to deal with his friends throwing him a poorly-hidden surprise party on his 35th birthday? I can't think of one, either! I went and saw this version of Company in New York twice, once in its closing week. Raúl Esparza is damn good. And he's a looker, too.

This is the title song from Company. I don't think you can get in trouble for linking to someone else's illegally recorded program, right?



If it is, just skip that one and watch this shortened version of "Side by Side by Side" from PBS's much more legally uploaded video:



I'm just getting cake from my family (they wanted to do more but I wouldn't let them), and going to a friend's St. Patrick's Day party later in the evening. My family is probably throwing a party, but I'm counting that St. Patrick's Day thing as a second party, even though it's not for me. My birthday and St. Patrick's Day have always been intertwined, me being born so close to it and all.

* The entire quote: "Hi this is Bob. yes, today is my birthday. And yes, you may leave a message about how happy you are that I'm turning 35. And whatever you're calling about, the answer is 'Yes'."

Exits 27A and B: MD-146 (Dulaney Valley Road, to Towson)

As with so many other exits, this one branches off into two directions. Foodwise, there isn't much down Exit 27B except for houses. If you want some history, head down to what was the US's biggest house in 1790, the Hampton National Historic Site, a massive plantation which is now a site of many lovely Christmas celebrations, so I understand. Hell, it's run by the park service!

Going the other direction, there are many places I have frequented. Many, many places. I've eaten so much in downtown Towson, and written about much of it. So in case anyone plans to accuse me of leaving them out: Kyodai, Jasmine's (now off Exit 22 - the replacement is yet another sushiería), Kabob Hut, Sushi Hana (the Mt. Washington location, though apparently the original one in Towson is better), and Café Spice, just to name the big ones. And of course, the Towson Farmer's Market on Thursday mornings during the warmer months, up and down Allegheny Street. It's puny, but still a nice excuse to get on out to Towson.

There are a few places I have visited on or near Allegheny and Pennsylvania Streets, and a whole lot more I have not. But it seems that the rule of thumb in Towson proper is that if you throw a rock at any restaurant, that restaurant will likely be Italian, Indian or Japanese. Of course, I don't want you going around throwing rocks at these places. They probably wouldn't invite me back if you did.

A few years ago I stumbled across the Kathmandu Kitchen (map), when I was looking for an Indonesian restaurant that had just closed down not too long before that. Out of this place and Kumari, I think the latter is a little better for Nepalese food, though Kathmandu has a good, basic Northern Indian buffet ($9) that is easy enough for me to get to. It's worth a look. Then there is the Thai One On/San Sushi Too (map), which i visited a few times until it just got too expensive. It's across from Kyodai. I visited a fw times, usually getting sushi though I should stop by at some point to try the Thai half of this place. I found their pork katsu to be overall satisfying, even if a little dry.

And get this: I still have yet to tackle a range of spots, and I know I am leaving many of them out because there are just too many (not a lot of chains outside of Towsontown Center, I might add): The Japanese-Korean Purim Oak Restaurant (map - it's nearby the Jerry's Subs, a small and diminishing chain that serves pretty average subs), Italian at Strapazza (map) and at Cafe Troia (map), the "New American" Vīn (map, a Great Tastes Show exhibitor), The Melting Pot (map - whose fondue everyone in the city raves about but isn't for me - $75 a meal? Oy - and which is a national franchise based in Florida), even more sushi plus Chinese at the Olive & Sesame (map) and even more Italian at Paolo's Ristorante (not bothering with a map - Really, Paolo's and O&S are right across from each other so why bother with a second map?). I totally missed A Taste of Philly (slow link from the Towerlight; here's the map) - apparently the taste here is pretzels, not cheese steaks.

There really isn't much worth eating in the mall, by the way. There, I said it.

The places I did get to on this trip were on the cheaper side.

Burger Bros (map):

After parking at Trader Joe's (yes I did that - sue me), I cut through the Barnes & Noble and made my way up Allegheny. I was not sure where I'd go, but the burgers smelled good and seemed like they would be cheap. So into Burger Bros. I went. The place is modest, as is the wait. And while it does take a little while to get you food, the burger, at least, is pretty satisfying. I should've asked for it rare, because it was well, but it was good apart from that.

$10 after tax got me this: one cheeseburger ($5.50) with various toppings (I chose "caramelized" onions and jalapeño slices with pepper jack cheese), a small fries ($(about $1.50) and a small fountain drink (again, about $1.50). They had Fanta birch beer - which I didn't even know Fanta made - but I went for the Diet Coke to avoid all that sugar.

The burger was good enough to back for, but I wouldn't go out of my way for it. The fries were extremely salty, and that was before the Old Bay (so why did I put Old Bay on them? Because it was there). I finished the burger but only half the fries (I ate about $8 worth of my meal). Perhaps I will try the onion rings next time.

Mmmm. Burger.

Pasta Mista (map):

Located next to the Super Fresh on Dulaney Valley Road, in Dulaney Plaza, this is a VERY busy place. Just as small as Burger Bros., but with many more people shoehorned in. And my oh my! Lots of inexpensive slices of pizza sold at the counter, in so many different varieties. I got two massive slices. One looked like a buffalo chicken pizza (it had sparse but large cubes of chicken, and those were surprisingly tender) and the other was a tortellini pizza with pesto on it. I would've taken a photo just to remember all the varieties and ingredients, but I felt self-conscious even whipping out my cell phone, the guys behind the counter were that close. Each slice had delicious cheeses. I would've waited for the three cheese pizza to be replenished, but I didn't feel like waiting. I should've tried the mandragone pizza, a super thick-crusted pizza with thick slices of mozzarella and tomatoes on it, but I had already ordered, and I only had $6 with me. I waited a few minutes for my pizza, which they set for a few minutes in the oven to melt the cheese. And again, it was pretty busy during the 12 to 1 lunch rush. So much pizza I had to cut each slice in half - I will be eating them sometime in the next few days (average cost of a meal, for me at least: $2.30 - after tax these two slices were $4.60 so I basically paid a pittance for two meals). So many varieties, I have to go back and try some. Plus I think they serve pasta or something.

Tortellini on a pizza? I actually have seen stranger things. Wasn't bad, actually.

A note about Pasta Mista: It seems to be a favorite pizza place for transplanted New Yorkers, Garden Staters and Philadelphians who find themselves stuck in the Mid-Atlantic. Pasta Mista's was voted the best pizza in Bawlmer by the Towerlight (Towson U's magazine). Apparently, the pizza in Maryland sucks. Towson college students from above the Mason-Dixon line say this is THE one place that makes good pizza in Maryland. And I admit: I do like their pizza, and plan on getting more. It is tasty and cheap!!! But while I did like Pasta Mista's alot (I'm so trying not to be contrarian here), I might also suggest Tony's next to the Catonsville H-Mart at Rte. 40 and Rolling Road (or at least I would but I suspect they ripped me off when I went to get their tasty pizza, charging me for three instead of two - I said nothing due to the line and that it wasn't that much more money), and Pepe's up in Mount Washington (again, a tasty slice of pizza). But since I actually haven't eaten pizza in New York, I don't have a barometer to gauge what is good in NY terms.

Other photos:

One of many, many Italian places in Towson. And no, I'm predominately Italian so of course I have no problem with it. It's just strange to see us everywhere.

Here's the Macy's side of Towsontown Center. Again, not so great of a place for food. Just leave the mall and go somewhere else - like Trader Joe's! They probably will have free samples anyway.

Not a bar and grill. But wouldn't that be a great name for one?

Places I visited:

Burger Bros. (burgers / subs) - 14 Allegheny Avenue, Towson, MD 21204; Phone: (410) 321-1880

• Would I eat there again? Yes, probably.
• Would I go out of the way to eat there again? Probably not.
  

Kathmandu Kitchen (Nepalese / Indian) - 22 W Allegheny Avenue, Towson, MD 21204; Phone: (410) 847-9595 Pasta Mista (Italian / pizza) - 822 Dulaney Valley Rd., Towson, MD 21204; Phone: (410) 321-8855

• Would I eat there again? Yes - in fact, I have.
• Would I go out of the way to eat there again? Probably not. It's more convenience than anything else.
  

Pasta Mista (pizza / Italian) - 822 Dulaney Valley Rd., Towson, MD 21204; Phone: (410) 321-8855

• Would I eat there again? Yes - I have to try all those other types of pizza
• Would I go out of the way to eat there again? I might, especially if the New Yorkers are right about it being so good.

Thai One On/San Sushi Too (Thai / Japanese / sushi) - 10-11 W. Pennsylvania Ave. Towson, MD 21204; Phone: (410) 825-0907

• Would I eat there again? Yes
  
• Would I go out of the way to eat there again? If there was no other sushi or Thai around, then probably.
  

Places to look up later:

Café Troia (Italian) - 28 W. Allegheny Avenue, Towson, MD 21204; Phone: (410) 337-0133

The Melting Pot (fondue) - 418-420 York Rd., Towson, MD 21204; Phone: (410) 821-6358

Olive & Sesame (Japanese / sushi / Chinese) - 2 W. Pennsylvania Ave., Towson, MD 21204; Phone: (410) 494-4944

Purim Oak Restaurant (Japanese / sushi / Korean) - 321 York Rd., Towson, MD 21204; Phone: (410) 583-7770

Paolo's Ristorante (Italian) - 1 W. Pennsylvania Ave, Towson, MD 21204 (three locations in all, including Georgetown and Reston; is the Pikesville location still open?); Phone: (410) 321-7000

Strapazza (Italian / pizza) - 12 W. Alleghany Ave. Towson, MD 21204 (five locations in all, including Columbia, Eldersburg, Severna and White Marsh) - (410) 296-5577

A Taste of Philly (pretzels) -

to cell phone | to email address

40 W Chesapeake Ave., Towson, MD 21204; Phone: (410) 828-5600 Vīn (New American) 1 E. Joppa Rd., Towson, MD 21286; Phone: (410) 337-0797

Various and Sundry Food Thoughts

Blogger Brunch

I went to a fun blogger brunch at Julie's place. We had about ten or twelve people show up, all area (though not all food) bloggers. Nice meeting or seeing y'all again, Rachel, Simone, Meg, Xani, Erin, Jamaila (who has four blogs), Janet and Anne. I had no idea that so many bloggers were either designers or lawyers / in pre-law. And Julie, you have a lovely kitchen. Everything was good and I can't remember everything I ate . I liked it all, but there were a few good quiches, some tasty fruit salad, hummus and the best sundried tomato pesto/spread/dip I have ever had. I need that recipe again. I made a buttermilk pie, the recipe for which I found on the NPR website.

Help Friends, Get Korean Food

I had to leave early to help some friends move into a nice new house just across the street from the Rotunda. It was an easy move distance-wise because they are moving out of their smaller house in Hampden. They lived on one of the side streets where there is absolutely no parking in any way, shape or form. Ever. They are very happy now - parking all the time! Plus they treated me to Suzie Soba's for dinner afterwards. I still love her bibimbap, but do try the bulgogi when you can.

From the "This Stuff Is Naaaaas-ty!" Files

Don't. Ever. Buy. This:


It does not taste like cherries, or chocolate, or Dr. Pepper (Diet Dr. Pepper actually does, remarkably). I bought it not looking, thinking I had picked up just your ordinary Diet Dr. Pepper. I forced myself to drink it just to not waste the $1.35 plus tax, but I couldn't get through much. Out in the trash with barely a few ounces gone.

So should I even bother canceling my dinner reservations for Friday night?

You know, I don't even give a flying confit about Top Chef 4, despite the fact that this recent fourth season of Project Runway rocked (and congrats to Annapolis-born winner Christian - you go, fierce girl! He's only 22, too). Instead, I am contentedly watching Aftermath: Population Zero on the National Geographic Channel. I tried to watch it Sunday night but fell asleep halfway through (yes, 9PM on the day that we set the clocks forward - so really my body thought it was 8:00!). I'm catching up now, 'cuz I love these post-apocalyptic, "what-if" type shows. It's the latest version of (unrelated) Alan Wiseman's book The World Without Us, my favorite book of 2007, and the ensuing (also unrelated) "sex'd up TV special," Life After People on the History Channel. The premise of all of them: what would happen to the world, animals and all, if every last human being - every man, woman and child - disappeared all at once? What of ours would last, and for how long? And how would other animals and life forms last? Our pets, SOL if they can't get outta the house (I can haz owner back pleez? I can hungree.), the NY Subway flooded in less than 2 days (Which o' yooze turned the pumps off?) and nuclear power stations eventually overheat and explode because nobody's around to stop it (Oops). But on the plus side, our ancient buildings and monuments would survive, as would some modern stone and copper structures (Statue of Liberty hangs around for thousands of years, and Mount Rushmore for millions, though most skyscrapers will be gone in a century). And National Geographic is fun anyway. Most of their specials are pretty well done.

And then there's this:

This is too weird for the workweek. Is it the weekend yet?




Dear Lord.

Is this on the up and up? YOU decide

Various food bloggers have gotten this exact same post. I know because I've seen it elsewhere and I myself got it the other day. Being naturally mistrustful, I deleted it because I didn't know if it was spam or not. Rachel just the exact same message in her comments, so I investigated from there. It doesn't really look like spam to me. So not to be uncharitable, here it is. You decide.

UPDATE - baed on Rachel's experiences with this type of message several times a week, I'm removing the links to "Jeena"'s website. If there really is a Jeena. I've replaced the links with bold face, so as not to give her any linkage.

Hi there my name is Jeena and I have started a food recipe forum that I thought you would like to join here Click here for food recipe forum

I would love to see you on there to chat about food and cooking and you can talk about anything you like and start your very own topics. :-)
or see my main food recipe website Jeenas food recipe site

You have an excellent food website yourself and your just the right person to take part on our cooking forum, your going to love it!

Hope to see you soon- your most welcome to come and join us foodies, we are a friendly group and you will have lots of fun. :-)

Thanks

Jeena x
jeenaskitchen.com/forum

I was probably just being paranoid and silly. But Jeena has four different blogs. It's probably fine.

UPDATE 2 - With that attitude, you might be surprised that I don't give out my credit card number or click on spam messages in my mailbox or anything like that.