# 21: WTF Whole Foods

Sometimes, I just don't understand vegetarianism. Food...yes, to a much greater degree, but vegetarianism - not really. Let that be the disclaimer.

I understand liking animals enough not to eat them. I get that some people think eating meat is just so close to eating people, it's like cannibalism. If it's for religion reasons, fine by me.

I understand the veggie wrap at Starseeds Cafe to be a very fine specimen of of good vegetarian fare.

What I don't get is tofu stroganoff. Seriously, it's food like that that gives me the impression Whole Foods thinks vegetarians care more about the statement their food makes than how it actually tastes. For one thing, the stroganoff flavor relies on the beef a good deal. It needs meat. Why would you want something that shows you're willing to stoop to low levels to get something that's so meat like, but probably tastes like ass. I suppose in general, I just don't get meat-like vegetarian products. I understand that some people transition into the lifestyle, but in that case, if there's no appeal in meat, drop it like a bad boyfriend.

#20: It's Blackberry Season!

I feel bad in that I've been slacking in getting out the time sensitive material. Blackberry season is well underway and as such, blackberries are on sale everywhere :D!

The inspiration for this posting is my dear boyfriend who, in claiming that all the berries looked the same, brought home a rather sour pint of blackberries. I, on the other hand, examine the berries, open pints, and (if no one's looking) pick out berries to switch into other pints. It's most certainly a longer process for me. Being someone who's rather anal when it comes to produce picking, for the benefit of everyone:

+How to pick out sweet blackberries+

The main things to consider are:

color
overall berry size
globule size
globule packing

1) Color

~ Look for all black ~

blackberries with any specks of red in them are going to be more sour than the berries that are all black

2) Size

~ the bigger, the better ~

if given a choice between berries with specks of red, the bigger one will be less sour.



3) Globule Size

~ look for big and soft (right) ~

I call each little round fruit that composes a blackberry a globule. Smaller ones are more likely to be sour, uptight, and unpleasant.

4) Globule Packing

~ look for somewhat loose and soft globules ~

In conjunction with the thing to look for above, you'll find that big soft globules are highly incapable of packing as tightly as the smaller, sour, less juicy ones.

Overall, you're looking for something big, all black, and soft.

And now you should be set. I might actually regret doling out this advice since blackberries are always on sale now and I may be left with all the small sour berries if people want to go and test out their berry picking skills. Such is life. Happy berry picking!

Ugh...& Crabs

There might be an observable slow down in the output of this blog only because...bearing the brunt of being a college graduate in a recession, I really just haven't been going out as much for budgets sake. I'm saving up for a rainy day and despite the sunny days we've been having, I'm always expecting rain.

I've been thinking about crabs most of the day. For the past week, I've been contemplating going down to the Crawfish Shack and getting a pound of crawfish and a pound of crab before that mess in the gulf starts to take effect. I had their boiled crab not too long ago and it was awesome! Given that me and my sister are addicted to crab, seriously, at the Crawfish Shack it's like crack. Given my current economic situation, I'm going to have to cold turkey eating boiled crab until my sister offers to pay. (sigh)

You know you're a poor college graduate when you think "hmmm, that dollar I'd spend in the vending machine could buy me 3 apples at the grocery store." I really want to kick this recession's ass.