Pork Belly....surprisingly deeee-licious

I always see Anthony Bourdain and all the other hard-core foodies savoring pork belly on TV, but I'd never had the a) nerve b) interest c) cash flow to try it until now!
I went to, as promised, a new restaurant last night--Bellanico in Oakland (www.bellanico.net). It is a lovely, rustic, romantic little spot in the Glen Park neighborhood. I ordered a glass of wine and a salad and the fresh house-made pasta with hot peppers, bacon, roasted tomatoes and arugula. Yum, right? Right. My dining companion ordered a beer, the pork belly, and the risotto with ocean-y things and sausage. "Pork belly" I thought to myself. "Hmmm".

When the PB (that's short for pork belly, you see) arrived, I was offered a taste. And so in brave, bold, I'm-gonna-try-something-new fashion, I took a taste.
Holy moly. Yum-city. Since pork belly is very high in fat, and is really considered a throw-away part of the pig here in the US, I expected it to be heavy, oily, fatty and just generally ick. The meat was tender, very flavorful (more of a dark meat taste than usual pork loin) and the sauces--to die for. It came accompanied with a spicy whole grain mustard sauce, and a red onion chutney. Each was better than the other.

So pork belly was a success! But don't go looking for me to start eating elk eyeballs and eagle talons like Bear Grylls. Not yet, anyways.

An accountant and a yucky sandwich

For today and yesterday there have been a few new things! Nothing too sexy or exciting considering it's mid-week and between work, exercise, and volunteering I don't have much free time for skydiving or nude surfing or any one of the other new things it's been suggested I try.

But here is some mid-week newness:
-New exit off of the Bay Bridge (good...got me to where I was going, didn't get lost, and didn't have to sit in 101 traffic)
-First sandwich from Panera Bread (ICK. Oily, heavy, not very healthy tasting. What's the big deal about this place? Unfortunately I was at a three hour dinner meeting so it was eat a 1/2 sandwich or eat my notebook. Sandwich won.)
-Hired my first accountant. That's right, I put on my big-girl pants and finally did it.
-Tonight--anticipate eating at a new restaurant. Not sure where, but I'm up for some new Oakland/Berkeley eats! Stay tuned for a restaurant review in tomorrow's post!

Toodles.

Detox Cleanse

It's spring cleaning, CA-style. Time for my semi-annual liver, kidney and digestive cleanse. I'm trying a new one this winter that's meant to be more effective. It also comes with more rules, including:

-no caffeine (I will disobey this rule)

-no processed foods (no problem)

-lots of water (check)

-lots of sleep (well, if it's medically recommended...)

-minimal sugar (so sad. Does chocolate have sugar?)

Ahh well, it's only a few weeks, right? But you know, if I'm offered a piece of cake or a slice of pie, I'll probably accept....because it would be rude not to, right?

Twitter...what's all the fuss?

I finally signed up for Twitter today. Not because I care to know when Sally gets a ham sandwich or that Bill is stuck in traffic, but because I think that this will (eventually) be useful for work. We've discussed "tweeting" as one way to be in touch with participants in different programs, so today I decided to check it out.

I'm not yet convinced that this mode is really the future of communication, but it's certainly true that it's changing how folks communicate. I would argue that Twitter's net contribution to communication is, at this point, an increase in quantity, not quality. Does tweeting about activities of daily living really improve our relationships?

I'll still take a hand-written letter or Hallmark card over a tweet any day.

Being vulnerable

That's all I'll say for today. But that's today's new thing. Not easy. But eventually, hopefully, worth it. Ta ta!

New Run! Featuring mud, and gummi bears

Today's new thing was a new trail run! In a new town that I'd never before been to! I got up at 6am (on a Saturday. That's 6AM ON A SATURDAY, folks. Just wanted to be sure you caught that) to run a 9K over in Pacifica in the beautiful hills...okay, they're really mountains...south of San Francisco.

Since it had been raining for 2 weeks, the trails were muddy. Very muddy. But the course was beautiful--climbing up up up until we were at the top and were rewarded with great views of the ocean and the green, lush hillsides. The course offered a 9K, 21K, 30K and 50K. How beautiful it was to run in the hills with the warm sun, which we hadn't seen in a while, on our backs. The highlight for me was (besides the end which featured gummi bears) a stunning grove of eucalyptus trees at the top of a little ridge. The smell was intoxicating!

It was a great day and now I'm anticipating a great dinner complete with wine and roasted chicken! Thanks to DBrown for inviting me to this trail race--what a fun morning!!

New Allergy?

It doth seem that I have developed myself a new allergy. Yay, me. I'll spare you the details but it involves an itchy, bumpy rash on my arms. Ok, well, those are the details I guess. Anyhoo, said rash has flared up three times in the past month. Now, thanks to the internet, there are lots of possible explanations for this rash. Here are a few from the inter-web:

*Poisonous plants

*New toys

*New tools

*Smallpox

*West Nile Fever

*and the most likely, Diaper rash

So what's a girl to do? My suspicion is that this is a food allergy, and I have two theories. Please keep in mind that neither of these theories is informed by science, and are therefore, likely completely wrong. But, they are the only ones I have. My guess is that this is either an allergy to gluten (oh please God no) or to iodine from sushi. The flareups have each happened within 24 hours of eating sushi, which leads me to think it's the latter.

Therefore, my new thing for today is: NO MORE SUSHI. Can you hear me crying? No more wasabi. No more pickled ginger. No more rainbow rolls. Oh my heart, how it breaks. I'm going to practice sushi abstinence for a while and see what happens. If that doesn't clear it up, it may be time to consider West Nile as a possibility.

Thurs: Up with the birdies

Well, I would have been up with the birds, if the birds had been up. Instead, since it was pouring rain--at the rate of 1/4 inch an hour--I was up with, well, the rain. And today my new activity was an EARLY MORNING workout. Me + elliptical + treadmill + Good Morning America = ready for more caffeine. Overall it was great to get er' done early so that I have the rest of the day to not think about it. Let's see later, around 3pm when my eyelids feel like they've got bricks on top of them, how I'm feeling about the morning workout. But so far I think I like it. We'll see if I still feel the same way tomorrow morning when the alarm goes off at 0:Dark-thirty.

Wednesday: Airplane cards

Wednesday night I learned a new game--airplane cards!! It's a game totally designed by and invented for dudes. The cards have photographs of airplanes on them. Below each photo are approximately 6 'specs' about each plane: top speed, ceiling/ft....OMG, why am I even going into so much detail. Anyways, the basic point of the game is that each round, you hope your airplane kicks every other airplane's ass. It was very fun. I lost, of course, because I got like, 5 helicopters which, as it turns out, are totally crappy compared to most other planes. Who knew?

Bundle of new things

Tuesday already….how did that happen? I’m well aware that it’s been nearly a week since I last blogged. I have a great excuse. I had the wonderful good fortune to spend a long weekend with 4 of the most amazing, smart (smaht), fun, kind, loving and generous women ever put on this planet. I left early Friday morning and just returned late last night, so please forgive my absence from the blogosphere during that time. I spent three blissful days laughing, talking, smiling, EATING (of course) and generally just looking around and wondering how on earth I got so lucky to have such wonderful people in my life. And during those several days, I got the opportunity to do many new things! I will list them here. This should more than cover the one-new-thing-a-day goal that is this blog.

So, without further delay, here’s are some new things I got to experience over the past few days:
-South Carolina (never been to that state!)
-The 5-month pregnant glow of my beautiful friend Lauren
-Salad served by Leila Clair Doyle
-Erica’s new house
-Decatur, GA
-Taste delicious roti made by Nadia’s aunt
-Nad’s mom’s Dal…..OMG…one of the best things I’ve ever eaten
-Being offered Girl Scout Cookies by a total stranger (we politely declined)
-White chocolate made of goat milk
-Walking in Piedmont Park with the sun on my back

That should cover it. Sure, it was a weekend full of new things. But it was also a weekend full of all things familiar—sitting around and digging into our favorite chocolate cake with our forks, fighting over who gets to treat to tea/lunch/gas this time, watching in amazement as Erica’s girls grow and grow and get ever more beautiful and sweet, and laughing…a lot. What a wonderful weekend. I love you guys so very much.

Taste of the Nation.

Once again this year I'm involved with Share our Strength's (SOS) Taste of the Nation event (thanks, Annie!). SOS's goal is to END childhood hunger in America. There are more than 17 million kids in this country who don't have adequate or reliable sources of food. The Taste of the Nation is the nation's premiere culinary benefit dedicated to ending childhood hunger. Bringing together famous chefs like Tyler Florence, Emeril Lagasse and hundreds of others, the event raises money for community food banks, healthy school lunches and educational programs that teach children and parents about healthy eating and cooking on a budget.

At last night's meeting, the director of the San Francisco event pulled me aside and said "I have a huge favor to ask you." Hmm...okay, I'll bite. Jodi explained that she needed someone to direct and manage the hundreds of volunteers that will participate in this year's event on April 29th. With over 1000 attendees anticipated, the volunteers needed to staff the event will number in the hundreds. Would I, she asked, be willing to take this on? It only took me about 10 seconds to say yes. It didn't hurt that she was simultaneously offering me a slice of gourmet veggie pizza as she asked this. Very smart Jodi, very smart indeed. So that's my new challenge.

So in the coming weeks and months those of you in the Bay area can expect a call or email from me first inviting, and later likely begging...pleeeeading you to volunteer at this fantastic event in April. It's a worthy cause, an organization with integrity, and a REALLY fun (and delicious) event. Consider yourself warned.... :)

News and New Volunteer Effort

Today's earthquake in Haiti is likely to be absolutely catastrophic for this poor island nation. Haiti is the poorest country in the Western hemisphere and has virtually no public health infrastructure. The 7.0 quake, followed by several 5.0+ aftershocks mean that devastation will be widespread. Haiti has has it's share of natural disasters including 4 hurricanes with major flooding in 2008. Haiti is a nation beleaguered by poverty and illness and an earthquake like the one today spells utter disaster.

So what can we do? Lots. Money, resources, supplies--all will be needed in the coming weeks and months. Especially once the media outlets move on to other stories, Haiti will be left, once again, to rebuild.

For those of you interested in reading about the public health conditions in Haiti and some of the efforts currently underway, I urge you to take a look at Paul Farmer's work through Partners in Health. Just one of many organizations doing good work in Haiti, PIH is unique in that it trains local people to be lay health workers. It uses the countries best resources--it's people--to spread information and medical assistance.

Today's new thing therefore was a donation to charity and a renewed commitment to do what I can, both for Haiti, and in my own community, to promote health and wellness among the most vulnerable groups. Here is a list of resources. I urge you to do what you can.

Partners in Health: http://pih.org

International Action: http://www.iawater.org/index.php

Direct Relief International: http://www.directrelief.org/WhereWeWork/Countries/Haiti/Haiti.aspx?gclid=CI7WyL6K9pQCFQNaFQodO26fqQ

The Rotery Foundation: http://www.rotary.org/en/AboutUs/TheRotaryFoundation/Pages/ridefault.aspx

The Red Cross: http://redcross.org

Soy Chicken Nuggets...

Who knew they were so delicious?

Nom Nom...New Recipe!

Today is one of those chilly CA winter days--blustery wind, blowing fog, and temps in the low 50s. Perfect weather, if you ask me, for trying a new soup recipe! But first, before this blog goes any further, let it be publicly stated that I love food. I love cooking food. I love eating food. I love sharing food. I love talking about food. I obsessively watch the Food Network at the gym. Did I mention I love eating food? So consider yourself warned that many of these posts over the coming weeks and months will be about food.

So today's new recipe....wait for it....is: Smoked Sausage, Butternut Squash and Wild Rice Soup. Unlike most of the things I make, this is decidedly NOT low in fat. But anything with sausage and half-n-half has to be good, right? I'll let you know....
But first, I better go take a long run to burn off the calories that await!

Ok, UPDATE: 4:20pm (heh). I could not, despite the lure of the sausage, bring myself to make a soup that had 10,000 calories and 5,000 grams of fat. So I've changed the plan. Still making a new soup recipe, but this one is waaay healthier: roasted butternut squash, beans, carrots, celery, onion, tomatoes, and homemade chicken stock. It may not be quite as decadent but at least I'll be able to fit into my pants tomorrow!

Pain...is a 4-letter word

Well, today I decided to try something I never do but always tell others (Hi, Mom) to do: Listen to the body. This in fact is one of my other new year's resolutions--to be better about listening to my body. Things usually go like this:
-I do something
-It hurts
-I continue to do that thing anyways, ignoring the pain and hoping it will go away on it's own
-It doesn't go away

Lately that hurt has been coming from my heel--plantar fascitis, probably caused by running shoes that need replacing (not from running in high-heel Converse shoes as this photo would suggest). I've been running, spinning and generally just ignoring the pain for about 4 weeks now.
Today, instead of taking a run like I wanted to, I decided to LISTEN to my body, and just walk. Clearly, my heel is telling me that it needs a break (my waistline, on the other hand, is telling me that I need to get my Christmas-cookie-lovin' butt to the gym). So today, Heel: 1, Alyson: 0. Tomorrow....well, we'll see.

Fake First

So today's new thing is really not a new thing at all. But the last time I did this thing I must have had enough wine that I forgot all about it. The new/not new thing is....LASAGNE from the Ravioli Factory. Usually I get ravioli from the Ravioli Factory. I mean, duh, why would you ever get anything else!? Today, I thought I'd stretch my boundaries and get their meat lasagne. It had to be good, I reasoned.
Well, fast forward several hours later to dinner with DBrown. Lasagne arrives at table and he says "Hey, didn't we eat this up in Tahoe?" Oops, indeed we did DBrown, indeed we did. So since I thought today's new thing was new even though it was, in fact, old, I'm counting it. Hey, it's my blog and I'll cheat if I want to!
See you tomorrow!

Fundraisers and Running--these are a few of my favorite things

Today's new activity: signing up for a fundraiser! Students Run Oakland is a youth development program that uses the challenge of training for a marathon to help students develop long-term goals, improve health, and overcome obstacles. The organization builds confidence, resiliency skills, and reinforces the value of commitment and hard work. The students are raising funds to support their training, registration for marathons, and to expand the program. The fundraiser will take place in 2 weeks and will include the screening of a documentary film (Runners High) that explores the journey of three students training for the LA marathon. So I made a donation, will attend the fundraiser, see an inspirational film, and get to eat good food. Not shabby! For anyone in the Bay Area who may be interested, you can find out more at www.sroakland.org.

Oh, and I totally went back to Mike's spin class tonight. I'm clearly too distracted by his hunkiness to realize how much he's making me hurt!

Finish What You Start

That's today's new thing. I am notoriously bad about multi-tasking...and then not really finishing any of the things I start. I mean, I eventually get to them, but it would be so much easier to start and finish one thing before moving on to the next. So that's today's new thing. For my first feat, I decided to finish the coffee that was in the pot. Usually I make too much coffee and end up throwing it down the drain. Today, in keeping with my new theme, I drank the whole pot. The result? I'm wired and have had to pee three times already this morning. We'll see how the rest of the day goes...
P.S. I really miss Carl Kasell's smooth, velvety voice coming through my radio in the morning.

New Spin Instructor...and a new reason to take Advil

Today I tried a new spin class with a new instructor. In actuality, both the class and the instructor have been around for a while. And both have a reputation. For punishment. But I've heard great (albeit terrifying) things about Mike's class so decided to give it a try.

At 5:00pm sharp, in walked Mike--striking, fit, and clearly ready to make us work. The tattoos of scorpions and other sharp-looking things on his arm and leg should have been a warning. But optimistic that if nothing else, I would get a good workout, I remained on my bike instead of running for the whirlpool like every cell in my body wanted to do.

The class was BRUTAL. We climbed. And climbed. And climbed some more. And then, when I thought I couldn't add any more resistance without coming to a complete stop, he cranked it up some more. The music, and Mike's periodic "woo woos" are the only thing that got me through the 45 minutes.

At the end, I slid off the bike, mumbled a thanks and shuffled my way to the locker room. But despite the searing pain in my thighs and butt, I feel great! It was a tremendous workout, with a lively instructor and, should I ever need to ride my bike up a vertical cliff wall, I'll be ready!

Thanks to everyone for all the fun suggestions for new things to try. Below is an abbreviated hit parade of some of the more unique suggestions:
-Test drive a Ferrari
-Go on a guided bird walk
-Take a tandem skydive
-Try long-board surfing
-Light a fart on fire

During the work week the new activities will likely be somewhat less exotic but I'll try to make up for it on the weekends.
Until tomorrow...

Today's New Thing...A Blog

Okay, so technically blogging is not "new" for me, but this blog is new. Does that count? Yes, I believe that it does.

So this blog is a space for me to chronicle my intention to do, see, create, feel, taste, experience, say, try or live one *new* thing each day in 2010. Some posts will be short, some will be long, some will be serious, some will be goofy, and some will probably be really, really boring.

And I'm sure there will be days when I come up short on ideas for new things to try. So please send your suggestions! As long as it's legal and not too embarrassing, I'll try anything once.

And away we go!!