live, love, eat

"Some people love to eat, some people love to write about what they eat, and then there are lots of people who love to read other people's writing about what they eat."

These words struck a chord when I heard them this morning on NPR's Morning Edition during Steve Inskeep's interview with Ruth Reichl. The show was about the growing popularity of food memoirs--a genre in which people "write their lives in food" and "food first"--drawing out the deeper meaning of food in our lives. Take a listen!

time to refuel

Heidi's cousin, Sean, completed his first Ironman Triathlon on Sunday! This is a huge accomplishment since it involves swimming 2.4 miles, biking 112 miles and then running a marathon (26.2 miles)! As if that weren't enough, he got in his car the next day and started his drive from Idaho to his home in Arkansas (thinking about the drive alone makes me tired!!)

We were happy to have him spend the night with us last night and enjoyed hearing all about the race over a dinner of fish tacos and homemade ice cream.

Some of you have asked about Mike's race on Saturday. He also completed a triathlon, but it turned out to be very memorable in an less than ideal way. Just before Mike's event started, a participant in another event drowned. Needless to say, no one was feeling very competitive after that and I was glad to have Mike home safe and sound!

a lady who lunches

I'm really enjoying a quiet week at home before I start my new job. The to do list is long but I've found time to do some baking and make a few batches of ice cream. On Sunday we made Zuni Roast Chicken with Bread Salad (from the Zuni Cafe cookbook), using a Campo Lindo farms chicken and locally grown vegetables. This week I'm enjoying the leftovers at lunch in the Zuni Cafe Roast Chicken Salad with Peppers, Pine Nuts, Olives and Bitter Greens.

race day

Mike, along with our friends, Doug and Bob, are at the Innsbrook resort near St. Louis for a triathlon this morning. Originally, we were planning a long weekend there, but plans changed and the guys left yesterday morning and will return tonight. Before that, they will swim 1,000 yards (.6 miles), bike 28 miles, and run 6.5 miles--all in 86 degree heat and 53% humidity!

The race was scheduled to start at 8:30 am, but does not have live timing, so the results should be posted tomorrow. Good luck, guys!

the news from Kansas City

My friend Karen and I joined many other strong, good looking and above average people at the Starlight Theater for a live broadcast of 'A Prairie Home Companion'. Typically, the show is live on Saturday afternoon but the last time Garrison and his crew came to the Starlight Theater, they "almost perished of the heat" so this time the show was held at night and prerecorded.

The show will air tonight (Saturday) and you will hear the news from our home town of Kansas City (and The News from Lake Wobegon), as well as the music of this week's special guests, old-time string band, the Carolina Chocolate Drops, humorist Roy Blount, and gospel singer Jearlyn Steele.

tee for two

They say that a bad day at golf is better than a good day at the office. I know that's true so I was glad to have a day off when my old friend from the Theta house at K-State, Kristen Falkenberg was in town! Her e-mail said she'd been wanting to play golf with me for years so I was happy to oblige. We had a great time catching up, reminiscing and teeing it up (and sweating--it's alot more humid than in Seattle where she lives).

sweet sendoff

As some of you know, I recently accepted a new job with Brian Clark + Associates, a landscape architecture firm located in the River Market area of Kansas City. My last day at Patti Banks Associates was this past Wednesday, and my co-workers surprised me with a very sweet send off! Set up on the rooftop garden was an all chocolate lunch! Each dish (prepared by my co-workers) contained chocolate! There were several mole dishes, chili, and lots of desserts--fondue, turtles, brownies and chocolate crepes! Our resident graphic designer/bar tender even created a chocolate drink (non-alcoholic, of course!)

a long way to go

We haven't been able to post as often as we would have liked during our 100 mile diet experiment. Eating "well" takes alot of planning and preparation. While the meats, dairy products and vegetables were available to us (and delicious), we quickly realized how many of the foods we consider staples are not available locally, or, require advanced preparation (baked goods, homemade ice cream, pasta, etc.). We also faced the challenge of eating out a few times--even at a locally owned restaurant, most of the foods are shipped from other states/countries.

We did what we could and enjoyed several meals of primarily local foods. Best of all, we did alot of thinking, reading and talking and have found additional sources of local products including flour. We will continue to support our local economy and farmers and encourage you to do the same!!

father's day dinner

since we're not parents, and since we don't live near our parents, father's day is just another day around here. to our fathers and grandfathers, our brothers, brothers-in-law, and all of our friends who are fathers, happy father's day!

it seems we still had a 'traditional' father's day dinner of steak, potatoes and grilled zucchini and summer squash--all locally produced and purchased at the farmer's market (except for the salt, pepper and olive oil used to prepare the meal). we gave into temptation while watching the 'Next Food Network Star' and indulged in a 100% ethically traded dark chocolate with hazelnut toffee bar.

we wish our dads had been here to enjoy it all with us! we love you!

one down, 20 to go

Breakfast was our first "official" meal of our 100 mile diet week. We haven't changed our eating habits much (yet) and most of these items are things we eat regularly.

• Roasterie Coffee (see previous post...not locally harvested but locally roasted)
• poached eggs from Campo Lindo Farms and Benedict Builder's Farm (owners Calvin and Laura Benedict)
• bacon (we're not sure of the history of our 'all natural' bacon purchased at our local grocery store)
• wheat toast from Bread of Life (owners Glenn & Kathy Crouther)
• butter available from Shatto Farms (owner Leroy Shatto)
• milk also from Shatto Farms
• grape jelly (grapes obtained from Strawberry Lane Farm CSA share and canned by Heidi in 2004)
• Cooper's Honey (Belton, Missouri)

THINK before you eat

The Brookside organic farmer's market hosted a '100 mile diet' festival yesterday so this week we will be keeping track of how much of what we eat is locally produced. We think that eating locally produced food is important for a number of reasons:

• taste
• more nutritious
• supports the local economy
• more efficient (organic plots have been shown to use up to 56% less energy than conventional plots since energy is used to manufacture pesticides and fertilizers as well as ship products far away)
• preserves the environment
• provides economic support to small farms which may not receive government subsidies
• social benefits
• food safety
• genetic diversity
• safeguards traditional farmland
• better treatment of farm animals

We have been (and still are) doing alot of reading on the subject so we encourage you to read the following:
The Omnivore's Dilemma
Plenty
Coming Home to Eat
What to Eat

That said, there are some things we just aren't ready to give up so will continue to frequent local businesses which use imported products to produce exceptional products. This includes coffee and chocolate. Other staples not available locally include bananas and salt.

on the road again

It was time to try another barbeque joint on the list of many here in KC so last night we headed to LCs Barbeque. (We were especially excited about this place since Mario Batali ate here when he was in town). As we waited in line, trying to decide what to eat, Mike pointed out that NO ONE in the tiny restaurant was eating. When trying a new place, an empty restaurant is a bad sign...but what about one that is packed full with clean tables?! We placed out order (a mixed plate, burnt ends and a side of fries) and became just two more people sitting, but not eating.

Even though the meat had been smoking away for hours right behind the counter, it took quite awhile to get our food. We were relieved when orders were called and everyone started eating! Good thing we had time to work up an appetitie because as you can see, the portions were huge! Everything was good...especially the turkey and burnt ends! The sauce was spicy but not enough to break a sweat.

As we were eating we overheard one of the guys next to us say "where to next?" His friend responded "I think we should go back to (Arthur) Bryant's, and then on to Gates". That's impressive! I wonder if those guys have a blog?!

it's getting hot in here

although it was 88 degrees outside, i couldn't resist trying christopher elbow's drinking chocolate while in the store today.

the dark chocolate with orange and citrus cocoa was wonderful and the 2 homemade marshmallows were well worth the extra 50 cents (this from someone who has made their own marshmallows on more than one occasion!)

i'll definitly be back (although i'll probably wait until it's cool out!) since they offer almost 20 flavors of cocoa as well as 3 flavors of marshmallows!

i scream, you scream

well, 2 of us scream while the third just barks...

after a dinner of orechiette with sausage, beans, and mascarpone we headed to murray's ice cream in westport for dessert. mike tried the blueberry cheesecake (ice cream) while heidi indulged in tuffleufagus and oreos and cream!

vokey loves murray's too but this time she had to settle for us bringing her treat, a peanut butter 'frosty paws' home for her to enjoy on the front porch!

a beautiful day in the neighborhood

kansas city has gotten alot of press lately with the opening of the new bloch building at the nelson atkins museum of art so we were excited to be there for the opening weekend.

friday night we attended a panel discussion about the role of architecture in museum expansions. afterwards, we enjoyed pizza at a favorite neighborhood spot (actually owned by our neighbor!), pizza 51.

we got in our usual saturday morning run and coffee, then headed to the nelson with our friends mickey and doug. while we were there mostly to see the building, the art collection (contemporary and african collections as well as rotating exhibitions) is also impressive. not everyone in kc loves the new building but we both think it is the perfect companion to the original building (and one of our favorite landscapes in kc!)

on our way home (we walked), we took a detour through the kauffman gardens--one of many kansas city destinations we had been wanting to visit since we moved here and enjoyed the beautiful flowers and fountain.

saturday evening was spent enjoying dinner with our neighbors scott and monica who recently built a new deck on the back of their house. we ejoyed talking with them well into the early hours on sunday morning and visited with even more neighbors on our walk back home across the street!

mary, mary quite contrary

a few months ago we planted our first edible garden and although not everything has survived the cold snap and multiple heavy rains, our garden is growing! it seems that our green onions are thriving and ready for harvest and soon we'll have garlic. we have a bit of lettuce, a few tomato plants trying to survive and one lone broccoli plant. it looks like we have some potatoes, too, as well as basil and chives. we'll keep you posted!

our garden is just one step in our effort to 'eat well' as outlined by the 'locavores' and the '100 mile diet'. locally produced food is better for the environment and, we believe, ourselves. and it tastes better, too. we're lucky to have some great local farms which supply us with meat and dairy products year round and now with vegetables at the organic farmer's market!

we encourage you to find local food producers in your area and support them in this age of industrialized food production!

grillin' and chillin'

After yesterday's run we were ready to relax and it's been a pretty low key weekend. Our friend Curtis fired up his grill and we enjoyed sangria with some friends yesterday. Tonight we grilled salmon and vegetables for dinner.

the family that runs together stays together

so we weren't actually running together, but it was a big race day for the pollmann family. while heidi was conquering the hills in kc (cheered on by mike and vokey), stacy, mackenzie and mark ran from one dam to another in the des moines 'dam to dam 20k'. we'll be cheering on mike in a few weeks when he competes in the ultramax triathlon near st. louis. the same weekend, heidi's cousin sean will be in coeur d' alene for his first ironman!

run for the hill of it

At times, I think our posts make it seem like all we do is eat! While we do love cooking, baking and eating food, we do balance this interest with others as well.

Today Heidi participated in the Hospital Hill Half Marathon. As anyone who has spent time in KC knows, we have alot of hills and the race course includes many of them! It was a great day for a run--partly cloudy and even a nice cool breeze. Even though my time of 2:17:50 was a minute slower than last year, it was a good race!

eat it and beat it

Our goal is to try every barbeque joint in the city, so, before it is forced to relocate due to the construction of the new Sprint Center, I had to try Danny Edwards/Lil' Jake's Barbeque. Since Mike had been there before, I joined some co-workers for lunch today. The Zagat rated restaurant's slogan is 'Eat it and beat it' since there are only 18 seats and MANY patrons. I'd recommend the burnt ends sandwich!

ready for (another) weekend

Sunday brought sunny skys but heavy hearts as we learned that one of Mike's aunts in South Dakota passed away unexpectedly. We decided to extend our stay in Des Moines and join the family caravan to Dell Rapids on Tuesday.

With the logistics figured out, our car with 2 people, one dog, 2 sets of golf clubs and a bike followed another car with 2 more people (Mark and Shannon) and a 2 1/2 year old (Lukas) to South Dakota.

It was so good to spend time with family but we sure were glad to see our house when we arrived home late on Wednesday night! Luckily, the next weekend is just around the corner!

the great outdoors

Our Memorial Day weekend started off with rain on Saturday morning but it turned into a beautful weekend! After church and a birthday brunch on Sunday, Mike and I met his brother, Mark, for a round of golf. Later, Mike and Spencer took a bike ride.

happy birthday to you

happy birthday to you
happy birthday dear mackenzie
happy birthday to you

We celebrated Mackenzie's 19th birthday with the Pollmann and Lang families. Spencer and Heidi spent the afternoon making the cake. Our creation was a 4 layer chocolate cake with 2 layers of dark chocolate ganache filling and one layer of white chocolate ganache filling. The frosting was a chocolate buttercream (with a little bailey's irish cream) and Coe College inspired roses!

best of both worlds

We love our Kansas City barbeque and Iowa is famous for their pork, so we were excited when our brother in law, Gary, made pork ribs for dinner! They were fantastic--as good if not better than those we're used to getting here! Thanks, Gary!!

mixxing it up

Before heading out of town for Memorial Day weekend, Mike and I enjoyed lunch at The Mixx a soup/salad shop near the Plaza Library. It's one of our favorite neighborhood eats--good food, great space and owned by a Theta!

Mike went with his favorite, the Salmon BLT while I "mixxed it up" with something new--half of a Garden of Eden salad and half of the white bean and tuna salad sandwich since the lobster salad sandwich is no longer offered. We shared a red velvet cupcake so we'd have energy for the drive to Des Moines!