A Roundup

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How-dee Partner!

It's been a while since I've posted anything of substance, so I thought I'd give a little roundup of what's going on at the Noms Away headquarters.

Life at the Giant Corporate Cooking School is going along swimmingly.  We're moving from lean yeast doughs to rich and laminated doughs (croissants, danishes, ect.).  I haven't screwed up too badly, although I have screwed up.  Note to self, if the butter block you're incorporating into dough is a square shape, then the dough itself should be squarish instead of amoeba.

In other news, I have been on a quest for pho and am being thwarted at every turn.  Yes, I know that the truly amazing pho is in east LA, but I live in west LA and already spend too much freaking time in my car.  Besides, there's completely acceptable pho in west LA.  First I went to a place that had online reviews rating its pho only to find out they hadn't served it in a year.  (Side note: a fried egg sandwich will not cure your craving for pho.)  Next I ended up at a place that had pho but not pho tom (SHRIMP!!).  So I got the house pho which was beef, beef balls, brisket, steak, tripe, and tendon.  It was okay, but not exactly what I had been craving.  Finally I got to a place that had pho tom and indulged in a huge bowl.  It hit all the right notes and I left satisfied.  So much so that when I woke up Tuesday with a scratchy throat and a queasy stomach I knew exactly what would cure me.  Post class I fought traffic and drove directly there, visions of noodles and steaming broth sustaining me.

Sometimes I forget how early I get up and how early it still is for the rest of the world when I get out of class.  10am is well within business hours but arguably early for lunch.  Pho is a breakfast food though!  Too bad the restaurant didn't agree with me.  CLOSED.  And I realized this after I fed the meter for an hour.

I try really hard not to get pissy about stuff like that, shit happens.  But feeling ill, going out of my way... There may have been tears.

There's a cute little Korean food/tea place near my house, and they also serve ramen.  Which isn't pho, but it fell within my craving for sickness banishing broth and noodle goodness.  Since I was going to have to pass it anyway, I popped in.  After I read the menu and decided on what I wanted and got my hopes up, I was informed that they were closed for another half hour.  I was nice to the lady behind the counter - she's just the messenger after all.  But there were definitely tears in the car.

How badly did I need some form soup curative?  I stopped in the corner market and bought two packs of Nissan's Oodles of Noodles.  Yes, the noodles of 1000mg of sodium and with nothing natural in it at all.  And I paid $.89 per packet, which is like 5 times what you would normally pay for that.

I don't regret it.  I may have bought two more, just in case of emergencies.