Recently there has been quite a bit of controversy in the lit-blog world about the value and necessity of MFA programs. If you're interested, check out some of the links:
-The MFA Question Mark on the Poetry Foundation's Harriet blog
-The Rumpus' take
-Montevidayo on Seth Abramson's MFA rankings, and then Montevidayo's MFA controversy roundup
Un-MFA related:
-Seven tips to stop wasting food.
-Got a food related question? Tweet it to Foodpickle.
-My question about how to eat more protein at breakfast was featured on one of my favorite food blogs, The Kitchn!
-I failed horribly TWICE when making this seemingly easy dessert. I will try again.
MFA-related again, but also related to me:
I am now blogging at the NMSU Creative Writing program blog; check it out if you're a prospective MFA student, or if you just want to know more about what we're doing and writing here in southern NM.
Also, I'm cooking for workshop again this Tuesday. Any suggestions on what might be good?
WRITING, EATING, GRADUATE SCHOOL
Showing posts with label food. Show all posts
Showing posts with label food. Show all posts
September 15, 2010
Cooking for Workshop
All of the workshops here at NMSU are at night, usually from 5-7:30pm or occasionally 5:30-8 pm. Prime dinner hour. It's hard to sit for 2 1/2 hours and be critical and smart when you're starving, so for the last two years, our poetry workshop has had a tradition of asking each person to bring food for the class once each semester.
We've had quite the range of meals since I've been at NMSU. Pizza ordered ten minutes before class began (cough cough Robbie), cold gazpacho, banana pudding, PB&Js, enchiladas, zucchini bread, eggrolls, veggie platters from Albertson's, chips and salsa, candy; pretty much everything on the spectrum. It's always interesting to me to see what my classmates bring to share. I'm clearly into food, but I'm also really (creepily? is this abnormal?) interested in other people's eating habits: what other people like to eat, the effort they put into food, and what they might deem appropriate food for certain settings. I also think that class feels just a little bit more festive when you can pass cookies around the table.
It's important, of course, to not bring something too involved; you don't want people concentrating more on your food than on the work in front of them. Messiness is also kind of out; having to pass back comments with melted ice cream or something like that on them is not ideal.
Last night, it was my turn to provide food for my fellow poets. In the past I've made cornbread, spinach-bean dip, and pasta salad. I didn't have much time to actually make anything too involved, but I always want to bring something good and a little unusual, more than a bag of pretzels and a box of gingersnaps, you know? I find that finger-foods usually work well, so I brought sliced french bread, crackers, sharp cheddar cheese, apples, and hummus. I had also seen this recipe for Mint-Pea Dip and was looking for a chance to make it. Mint-Pea dip sounds borderline gross, I think, but I promise you it's refreshing, delicious, and wonderful on bread. It consists of frozen peas, fresh mint, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and parmesan cheese; that's all.
Everything seemed to be a hit, including the dip, which I was a little wary about. What would you make if you were cooking for a group in a classroom setting?
We've had quite the range of meals since I've been at NMSU. Pizza ordered ten minutes before class began (cough cough Robbie), cold gazpacho, banana pudding, PB&Js, enchiladas, zucchini bread, eggrolls, veggie platters from Albertson's, chips and salsa, candy; pretty much everything on the spectrum. It's always interesting to me to see what my classmates bring to share. I'm clearly into food, but I'm also really (creepily? is this abnormal?) interested in other people's eating habits: what other people like to eat, the effort they put into food, and what they might deem appropriate food for certain settings. I also think that class feels just a little bit more festive when you can pass cookies around the table.
It's important, of course, to not bring something too involved; you don't want people concentrating more on your food than on the work in front of them. Messiness is also kind of out; having to pass back comments with melted ice cream or something like that on them is not ideal.
Last night, it was my turn to provide food for my fellow poets. In the past I've made cornbread, spinach-bean dip, and pasta salad. I didn't have much time to actually make anything too involved, but I always want to bring something good and a little unusual, more than a bag of pretzels and a box of gingersnaps, you know? I find that finger-foods usually work well, so I brought sliced french bread, crackers, sharp cheddar cheese, apples, and hummus. I had also seen this recipe for Mint-Pea Dip and was looking for a chance to make it. Mint-Pea dip sounds borderline gross, I think, but I promise you it's refreshing, delicious, and wonderful on bread. It consists of frozen peas, fresh mint, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and parmesan cheese; that's all.
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| Photo courtesy of DinnerALoveStory.com |
Everything seemed to be a hit, including the dip, which I was a little wary about. What would you make if you were cooking for a group in a classroom setting?
July 7, 2010
Saludos
I'm back from Guatemala/Nicaragua and gearing up to work on my thesis (a book of poetry) and plan my fall class (Holocaust Representation), while enjoying the boiling desert heat. I meant to take pictures of my meals while I was in Central America (a la Robert Alan Wendeborn), but I pretty much forgot. I ate well when I was there, though: a lot of avocado, beans, rice, chicken, and various vegetables seasoned with lime juice. I stayed with a host family associated with this Spanish school in Antigua, where I ate three huge delicious meals a day. There were two little girls (ages 7 and 9) in the family, and we had a lot of fun pretending lychee shells were aliens (extraterrestres!) at lunch.
I'm not a big meat eater and it was surprisingly easy to get by without eating much meat, especially in Antigua. One day I was craving red meat, so I ordered a cheeseburger and the waiter asked me if I wanted it "con jamon (ham) and queso (cheese)." I said I didn't want ham, so I received a hamburger bun with a smear of mayonnaise and a slice of American cheese (American cheese is everywhere). I also had a bad encounter with quesadillas made from canned cheese. I guess the lesson here is that Guatemala is really not a good place to go if you like decent cheese. Aside from that, the majority of the food I ate was good and cheap--really cheap, about $3-$4 a meal, especially outside of the cities. Huge portions, relatively healthy (despite the rampant popularity of fried chicken), and amazingly spicy.
Anyway, if you're ever in Antigua, Guatemala I recommend Rainbow Cafe; it's a bar, bookstore and restaurant (with live music every night of the week). I bought and traded so many books during my two weeks there that the bookstore clerk knew me by name! They also have lectures on Tuesdays at 5:30: I went to a really interesting one given by MuJER, an organization that provides support to Guatemalan sex workers.
I was itching to cook once I got back, especially now that so many vegetables are in season; tomatoes, zucchini, squash, everything good, really. I made this awesome recipe last night, and tonight I made a concoction of couscous, chicken, spinach and asparagus. Look for the recipe in the next few days. For now, here are a few pictures from my trip:
I'm not a big meat eater and it was surprisingly easy to get by without eating much meat, especially in Antigua. One day I was craving red meat, so I ordered a cheeseburger and the waiter asked me if I wanted it "con jamon (ham) and queso (cheese)." I said I didn't want ham, so I received a hamburger bun with a smear of mayonnaise and a slice of American cheese (American cheese is everywhere). I also had a bad encounter with quesadillas made from canned cheese. I guess the lesson here is that Guatemala is really not a good place to go if you like decent cheese. Aside from that, the majority of the food I ate was good and cheap--really cheap, about $3-$4 a meal, especially outside of the cities. Huge portions, relatively healthy (despite the rampant popularity of fried chicken), and amazingly spicy.
Anyway, if you're ever in Antigua, Guatemala I recommend Rainbow Cafe; it's a bar, bookstore and restaurant (with live music every night of the week). I bought and traded so many books during my two weeks there that the bookstore clerk knew me by name! They also have lectures on Tuesdays at 5:30: I went to a really interesting one given by MuJER, an organization that provides support to Guatemalan sex workers.
I was itching to cook once I got back, especially now that so many vegetables are in season; tomatoes, zucchini, squash, everything good, really. I made this awesome recipe last night, and tonight I made a concoction of couscous, chicken, spinach and asparagus. Look for the recipe in the next few days. For now, here are a few pictures from my trip:
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| man with 4 dogs on his bike |
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| the ruins at tikal in northern guatemala |
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| market in chichicastenango |
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| how tortillas are traditionally made |
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| little girls in a village on lake atitlan |
February 23, 2010
hello fellow cooks, eaters & writers
Welcome to MFE, Master of Fine Eats, brought to you by Robert Alan Wendeborn and Carrie Murphy. We are friends and colleagues in the MFA program at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, NM. We are poets and we like to eat. The purpose of this blog is to bring you ideas, recipes and reports on eating well in graduate school: where we eat, what we eat, how we eat.
We will try to post three times a week, so check back soon for quick/easy/cheap recipes, restaurant reviews and our thoughts on good eats and good writing.
We will try to post three times a week, so check back soon for quick/easy/cheap recipes, restaurant reviews and our thoughts on good eats and good writing.
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