Sunbeam

Another poem written for and debuted at Gigi's Cafe for MNYFP February — Food Love Affairs.

Part 1

Forget cartoons—

on Saturday mornings, I climbed the kitchen counter

to lift down the low-slung Sunbeam Waffle Baker & Grill,

heavy with age.

The tattered copy of The Joy of Cooking fell open to page 240.

I sifted a mountain of flour,

beat egg whites to stiff peaks, and

folded till barely blended—

batter buzzing from baking powder meeting milk,

I from anticipation.

Question: When is a waffle done?

Answer: Never quickly enough.

I ignored the control knob light

and waited for the tug in my gut.

Part 2

I jettisoned Joy, experimented with leavening agents and egg alternates;

the Sunbeam steamed on.

I snagged something unknown,

fed a sourdough starter and a young husband;

the Sunbeam steamed on.

Then, the clime cooled,

unseen cultures crumbled.

Question: When is a waffle done?

Answer: When no steam issues from the cracks of the iron.

I had ignored my gut

and the light had burnt out.

Part 3

When you are drinking on a Saturday night,

nothing tastes better than reappropriated cake mix.

The Sunbeam accepts funfetti batter

like it has accepted every batter,

bubbling with beat albumen

or bare of bicarbonate—

with steady heat.

My mind wanders

and the Sunbeam steals a kiss,

searing its red-hot love across my forearm.

Question: When is a waffle done?
Answer: When you feel it.

---
You may also be interested in my 2015 project, Right Now Is Your Life.

What I'm Excited About #7

Clemenquat Salad: My contribution to this Sunday's party food.

Collaboration: I worked with +Ryan Johnson, +Jamie Bain, and +Mary Vitcenda to bring this blog post to fruition: SNAP-Ed: Our Expanded Focus. I think it turned out real nice. Then again, it is color-coded, and that counts for a lot in my book.

Kombucha: A MNYFP'er hooked me up with a symbiotic community of bacteria and yeast.

A photo posted by @jastrd on Jan 31, 2015 at 8:25am PST

Homemade kombucha, here I come!

Sent and Tried

At last week's Minnesota Young Food Professionals' happy hour, we made food resolutions for 2015.

How self-referential.

For this first post of 2015, I'll review two of the goals I made for 2014. The first goal was to send 52 pieces of mail. Pieces of mail actually sent? Twenty-four. But some of them were pretty sweet, like this package I put together for +Garnet Bruell.

A box full of letters, motorized sushi, and "A little sugar from your MN sugar mama."

The second goal was to try 52 new things. I counted forty-one new activities tried. Here's a selection:

• Attend and judge Pundamonium.
• Get a piercing.
• Paddle board.

Am I doing it right? (Photo credit: +Kate Elahi) 

• Get advice from an attorney.
• Call 911.
• Visit an impound lot.

I saw a couple cars like this. (Photo credit: Neil Turner)

• Buy and use a state parks permit.
• Take a solo road trip.
• Take a parkour class.

Check out that dive roll.

• Interview candidates for a serious job.
• Precept dietetic interns.
• Help plan a conference.

Pin the Dots. #hnmn14 #UMNExt

A photo posted by @jastrd on Aug 19, 2014 at 6:01am PDT

• Raft through rapids.
• Attend a Baptist church.
• Spectate B.A.S.E jumping.

Busy #BridgeDay BASE jumping and rafting. #WhatUpWV #GoToWV

A photo posted by @jastrd on Oct 18, 2014 at 9:32am PDT

• Attend a BareBones production.
• Sing Sacred Harp.
• Write, share, and perform original poetry.

Many thanks to everyone who assisted me, wittingly or not, in a working toward this goal. And a special shout-out to +Susan DeBlieck, who spontaneously checked in with me about both goals. You'll get a piece of mail this year, I promise!

What I'm Excited About #5

Includes the following:

Visual recipe by Stacy Stanley.

• Tapping URSA: A black IPA made by Fulton with Mighty Axe Cascade Hops? I'm there. 
• MNYFP December: A mini-launch of the Minnesota Food Charter next Wednesday at Gigi's Cafe, hosted by Donald Warneke and (who else) Eric Sannerud. For details and to RSVP, bop over to the Facebook event.
• Visual Recipes: Local artist Stacy Stanley records recipes, illustrates them, and shares the creation. She recorded my recipe for, well, something tasty and will be posting the result on her blog, 
• Condiment Clean-Up: I am on a mission to extinguish all the condiments in my refrigerator. Today I defeated a small bottle of Maruso Soy Sauce.

What are you looking forward to?

What I'm Excited About #4

April showers bring... myriad May marvels.

• Mississippi Mushroom's Kickstarter Finale: Lawrence University transfer student Ian Silver-Ramp runs this local-yet-exotic urban agriculture operation out of Northeast Minneapolis. Fungi you've never heard grow in neighborhood waste products and yield real nice compost. Triple win, right there. Kick in!



Look how much fun we have working!

• MNYFP May: Inaugural work night for Minnesota Young* Food Professionals** on Monday, Happy Hour on Wednesday. Follow the #MNYFP hashtag on Twitter or like the Facebook page to stay in the loop.
• Minneapolis Forum: Misleading lead-in, perhaps, but alliteration's important. The Union of Concerned Scientists presents "Science, Democracy, and a Healthy Food Policy: How Citizens, Scientists, and Public Health Advocates Can Partner to Forge a Better Future." I'm swooning over the panelists already. RSVP (you can join remotely!).

What are you excited about this week?

* "Young" is a state of mind.

** "Professional" means working at SOMETHING (an education, side project, full-time job) related to food.