Sarah Bon’s Photography, and my moment as Das Modell

My friend and local uber-talent Sarah Bon will be having an art opening on Friday, the 18th of July, at AKA Lounge.  The event is hosted by local music maven DJ Smilin’ Dan, who has dubbed it “Substance 2,” which leads me to expect at least a couple of New Order tracks to be played during the night.

Sarah took some photos of me at work at Stardust, making blueberry scones (as I was burning banana cupcakes in the oven), and she also grabbed me and a handful of her other friends to be used as models for her more portrait-based photography.  I made the joke that all of us would have some kick-ass photos for Last.fm, Facebook, Goodreads and other social sites soon.  I haven’t seen any of the photographs, although I hear my friend Melanie got a sneak peek at some (cheater), so I will be just as surprised as anyone else as to how they turned out.  I’m extra curious as to how the baking ones turned out, as I bought a whole new smock-like apron for the event.  Truly, it was just an excuse for me to get another apron.  I love aprons.

The flyer features one of Sarah’s friends I don’t know too well, but I do remember her being pretty cool when I met her at Sarah and Robert’s place a couple Sundays ago, along with two sisters, and the three of them seemed nice.  The photo looks very rock n’ roll with the eyeliner and the screenprinted gun shirt.

So, if you’ve got seven bucks in your pocket, wallet, sock or brassiere, come down to AKA Lounge on Pine Street downtown and have a gander at some photography, check out some live music, have some beer or other bevvies, and hang out.  I’m not familiar with the bands who will be performing, but I’m sure it will be good times, as good people–my friends–will be in attendance.

But I make no guarantees.

A Food Lover’s Book of Days/Dining Alone

I’m on the cusp of completing my intermittent reading of James and Kay Salter’s book, Life Is Meals: A Food Lover’s Book of Days.  It’s a great collection of food trivia, tips, recommendations and personal anecdotes and recollections organised in a cozy package.  I checked out my copy from the Orange County Library, but it’s a nice little book to buy for your favourite food lover.

In the book, I particularly enjoyed becoming acquainted with the great stars of food history and gastronomy: Sylvester Graham, A J Liebling, Juliette Recamier, and Brillat-Savarin to name a few.  

I also liked the comments the Salters gave on “Solitary Dinners,” which I found interesting having had a few solitary dinners at home and out in the public.  Of the latter, I can find them at times pleasurable or awkward, depending on the eatery.  If I eat out alone, I prefer bringing along a book as company.  When I was in school, I would often read textbooks and highlight passages in-between bites, or I would work on a short story idea prior to my food arriving.  There have been a couple of rough, handwritten drafts of short stories and Japanese homework bearing the mark of the vinaigrette concoction from Stardust.

Nowadays, since I fix food more at home and am saving money for one thing or another, I don’t eat out alone as often.  In fact, perhaps the last time I did so recently was at Bikes, Beans & Bordeaux a few weeks ago. It’s a rarity now because money is so tight, so I don’t feel like indulging as much as I used to.  But, it seems, the best places to dine alone–at least in Orlando, but perhaps in general–are cafes and teahouses such as Stardust, Infusion, B3 and Pom-Pom’s.  Perhaps because the atmosphere is informal, you’re allowed the extra time to lounge and have an extra cup of coffee or tea, bottle of beer or glass of wine.  Taking out a book or opening up your laptop is accepted, unlike a “proper” restaurant, or even some diners.

Eating alone at home can be different as well, not so much in what you’re eating, but how you’re eating it.  It’s one thing to make a peanut butter and jam sandwich on a paper towel and eat it standing up over the counter, whereas eating the same sandwich off a plate at a dining table or even your coffee table with a nice cup of Earl Grey elevates it to a little ceremony.  As I’ve gotten older, I’ve found these little ceremonies enjoyable, and seem more fulfilling when the food is on a plate.  Granted, my dishes pile up a bit more with all the plates and mugs and tea strainers, but there’s a sense of giving the soul a little something to feed on as well as the stomach.  It’s a happy thing that makes simple meals that much more special, even more so when you don’t always have the time to eat in such a way.  Even take-out seems better out of the styrofoam and paper containers and on a real plate with real silverware, or even the plastic IKEA reusable utensils.  Yes, leftover pizza deserves a bit of dignity at times.  Because, excepting the street food sold in stalls and push-carts around the world–as some of the best food can be found with these vendors, if the food isn’t worth taking a moment and eating on a plate, is it really worth eating?

The Great Orlando Beer Festival

Man, I love beer. I can’t drink a lot of it in one sitting, but beer is what I choose to drink at a bar, and the bars I choose to drink at tend to have good beer. If they don’t, well, then I guess I’m drinking water.

So, imagine my excitement when I found out that on this Saturday, the first annual Great Orlando Beer Festival will be happening from 2 pm until 7 pm downtown in the lot for the Club at Firestone. At $25 a ticket for advance tickets, it’s not cheap, but there will be unlimited beer samples. UNLIMITED! Okay, really the limit is what you can intake which, in my case, might be around the $25 mark. Judging by the list of breweries participating at the event, it’ll be money well-spent. Flying Dog Brewery, for example, puts out excellent beer I’m well-acquainted with from bringing it over to friends’ houses. Our very own Orlando Brewing will also be involved, as well as Red Hook, Lagunitas, Otter Creek Brewing, Rogue and more. Food will be available for purchase, as well as a live band, but really, it’s all about the beer.

Sadly, I’ve asked around and it looks like a handful of my best beer-lovin’ friends will be working. If you’re lucky enough not to fall into that category, it’s $35 to enter the day of the event and $25 if you buy early, so if you think you’d like to attend, get your tickets Friday and save yourself ten bucks. If you’re the designated driver, you get in for $10, and can get free non-alcoholic beverages. You can buy the tickets online, or you can visit one of three locations where they will be selling tickets for the festival:

• Redlight Redlight - 535 W. New England Avenue, Winter Park (near Park Avenue)
• Underground Bluz - 12261 University Boulevard, Orlando (near UCF)
• Orlando Brewing - 1301 Atlanta Avenue, Orlando (near AMTRAK station)

If you’re seriously broke, but still want a piece of the action, you may still be able to volunteer to work at the festival. Some free schwag, like a t-shirt, may be your reward. If you happen to be pouring a beer for me, I don’t like that much head on mine, thanks.

For directions to this wonderful brouhaha (or… brewhaha?!), you can click here for a Mapquest map and some written directions, or simply GoogleMap “42 West Concord Street, Orlando 32801,” which can give you a good idea of the what and the where. Also, the website says you can park in the Courthouse parking lot, but there’s also parking on the street along Orange Avenue and along some of its side streets. The metered parking is waived during the weekends, unless there’s been a change in policy, so you should be good to go.

The event is meant to be “a celebration of craft beers,” which is a fantastic way to get people introduced to microbreweries across this great country, as well as a handful of popular tasty beers that people enjoy, such as Guinness and Blue Moon. A portion of the proceeds are earmarked to help out our local Habitat for Humanity, which goes to show: drinking good beer leads to good things.

You can ruminate on what drinking bad beer will get you on your own.

Norman Rockwell exhibit

Lacking anything else to do, and having seen a gigantihuge poster for the event on the side of the building, I went to the Orlando Museum of Art today and had a look at the Norman Rockwell Exhibit they currently have going on. Officially titled American Chronicles: The Art of Norman Rockwell, the exhibit features some of Rockwell’s original paintings, in addition to a large collection of magazine covers from The Saturday Evening Post, with whom he was an illustrator with for over forty years. There’s also a brief documentary on Norman Rockwell at the beginning of the exhibit, which I’d encourage attendees to watch, because I found it quite informative, especially when it discussed and showed Rockwell’s technique in creating his works. I didn’t realise it, but he employed actual people to pose for his paintings, and when the camera became more widespread, he would use photographs of people with costumes and props, including himself.

Americans are more familiar with his Post illustrations, but I was surprised to learn late in his career Rockwell focused on more of the tumultuous contemporary issues that characterised the 1960s. One of the works on exhibit at OMA that exemplifies this is Murder in Mississippi, a powerful painting depicting the murder of three civil rights workers in Mississippi. The little picture on this page is nothing in comparison to seeing the work in person, which is just steps away from another Rockwell piece I remember from my history books entitled The Problem We All Live With. Work such as this show that Norman Rockwell was not only an ingenious illustrator, but a true American artist.

The Norman Rockwell exhibit will be continuing until the 26th of this month, and the Orlando Museum of Art will be open extended hours until then: 10 am to 5 pm Monday through Saturday, and on Sunday from 11 am until 5 pm. If you have a college student ID, admission is $9. Otherwise, it’s $12 for the regular adult admission.

I was feeling particularly peppy and sprung for the college student year membership for $30. Hey, as long as I’m still paying loans, I should still be eligible for a student discount, right? It’s not like they took my student ID from me when they mailed me my diploma. Besides, I want to see the upcoming exhibition, The World of William Joyce, which begins on the 18th of this month. William Joyce is the guy who did Rolie Polie Olie, as well as other children’s books. Sometime last year, I missed out on an exhibit at the OMA featuring children’s book illustration, but I won’t miss out on this one, thanks to my spankin’ new membership. It’ll be going on until August 31st this year, so I won’t have an excuse, especially since I will be moving into a new place not too far from the museum starting in June!

Where’s your Publix?

I was at a dinner party on Friday evening, and the conversation turned to my current search for a place to rent in the downtown area.  I had mentioned that my future roommate and I were considering locations based on the proximity to a Publix we liked.

“College Park’s out, because we both hate the College Park Publix,” I explained, “and Clark doesn’t like Gay Asian Publix that much, so we’re looking at North Colonialtown so we can go to the Publix on 17-92 near the Krispy Kreme.”

This sparked a flurry of discussion as to where the best Publixes were, which was interesting.  Clark would be happy to know that he isn’t the only one who doesn’t like Gay Asian Publix–his dislike, by the way, is best summed up in a trip to that Publix and discovered they were out of waxed dental floss.  “They’re always out of everything!” he attests, and at least a couple of last night’s dinner attendees would agree.  I personally have been unable to locate GoodSense’s dried cranberries and apples there on repeated trips.  Interestingly, when I went with my mother to the Publix in Oviedo this evening, they had the elusive bag of dried fruit.

Sarah and Robert recently moved to a new area, and at the moment, there isn’t a Publix that’s terribly convenient for them to go to aside from the despised Shine Publix (aka Gay Asian or, with some, “Gaysian”).  They recently joined the unfortunately-named BJ’s, which is a bulk goods store that also sells groceries, so they tend to go there, with occasional trips to the larger Publix on Orange and Michigan, south of Downtown.  I used to shop at that Publix frequently when I used to live with my ex-boyfriend Brent and our roommate, Shawn, on Briercliff.  When I moved to South Colonialtown, I bitched about Gay Asian Publix, but after a while, I loved it, because it didn’t have some things I tended to waste money on, but yet it had all the essentials I needed.

Then I moved to the fringes of College Park and became perpetually aghast at the lack of certain staples.  I recall one event when my friend Mike and I went into the Publix, since he needed to pick up some things, and we walked right back out because that particular Publix didn’t carry Worthington Loma Linda Vegan Big Franks, a staple for the vegan who doesn’t like vegetables, like Mike.

By the way, the Oviedo Publix doesn’t carry, from what I could tell, the Loma Linda Big Franks, as I was looking for them this evening.  Oviedo Publix: +1 for the Goodsense Cranberries & Apples, -1 for no Big Franks.

As the conversation yesterday wore on, Alexis revealed a “dark horse” Publix that wasn’t even considered by either Clark or myself in our rental hunt: the Baldwin Park Publix.  “Ohhh,” we collectively pondered as we thought about the Baldwin Park Publix.  “It’s great!  It’s never crowded, it has everything!” Alexis evangelised.  I believe Erin countered with, “I can never figure out how to get into that Publix!” but no one else had gone to the Baldwin Park Publix, mostly because it’s in Baldwin Park, and no one really goes into Baldwin Park unless they live in Baldwin Park, at least no one I know.  I began to ponder what other secrets Baldwin Park might hold… I hear there’s a Mexican restaurant in there somewhere.

As far as I know, everyone I know shops at Publix unless it’s late in the evening and Albertson’s is the closest and/or only choice, or they go to a bulk goods place, like BJ’s or Costco.  So, when we talked about which Publixes we liked and found ourselves going to, and which ones we felt “never have anything,” it not only showed which neighbourhoods we roamed in, but also indicated what we individually felt were essential for a Publix to have.  Like Mike’s Loma Linda Vegan Big Franks, I have my own necessities that I feel every Publix, or at least the ones I go to, should carry.  Here’s a sample of some of my essentials:

1. bagged salad greens, Earthbound Farms or Greenwise brand
2. big bags of organic flour (all Publixes seem to no longer carry the larger bags of the Gold Medal Organic flour many of them were carrying, so I go to Whole Foods now for this)
3. organic bananas
4. organic lemon juice
5. a good selection of Wolfgang Puck soup, my favourites being Corn Chowder, Old-Fashioned Potato and Tortilla
6. Martin’s Famous potato bread in its various forms
7. Almond Breeze almond milk
8. Ghirardelli chocolate chips
9. Apple & Eve juices
10. Florida Crystals natural sugars

This list might not be complete, as I’m trying to envision what I used to buy when I used to do more grocery shopping, so I’m a bit forgetful.  Living with my parents, I don’t do much cooking here, so I don’t spend much on groceries.

If Clark and I move in the North Colonialtown area, we can try out the Baldwin Park Publix to see if it’s to our tastes.  If not, there’s always the Krispy Kreme Publix that carries Sioux City Birch Beer and has their Greenwise section right up front, which I absolutely love, or Gay Asian for quick runs for goods… but apparently not waxed dental floss.

South Colonialtown also has Gay Asian Publix, but also the Michigan/Orange Publix, aka the Delaney Park Publix, since that’s where you shop if you live in Delaney Park.  Apparently, the Delaney Park Publix has put in an olive bar near the deli area, which is awesome providing the bar is too high for dirty-fingered children to poke around in, although there are some dirty-fingered adults to consider as well.  Also, there’s going to be another Publix that will eventually open right in Downtown on Central, which should prove interesting.  I’m a little afraid that the Publix may try to cater to a perception of “downtown clientele,” like the now-defunct Central City Market did.  Central City Market generally carried swank wines and cheeses, as well as accompanying crackers, some pasta ingredients, beer and bottled water.  Not much else.  Eventually it turned into more of a restaurant that happened to have a few deli and grocery items… and now it’s a seafood restaurant.  Hopefully this Publix won’t try to be some hip urban Publix, but a functioning one that stays open until 10 pm and can handle what will surely be an insane crowd around lunchtime for sub sandwiches.

In the meantime, Clark and I have to stake our claim for a duplex or apartment, which will then determine our Publix options, among other things.

Organic Options for Orlando

Those of us in Orlando are generally familiar with the organic options in the Publix Greenwise section and at Whole Foods, though some of us may not know of two other ways to get organic produce in this little city.

I’ve been a customer of Orlando Organics off and on, and on the whole, I’m pretty satisfied with their service.  Providing that you live in their vast delivery area, you can get organic produce delivered to your door weekly or every other week, depending on how you have your account set up.  Some leafy produce, like spinach, may not come in its own bag, so be aware that you may need to provide your own resealable bags for some goods you may want to have separated in your crisper drawer.  The service is good if you don’t mind surprises (you can compose a list of produce you absolutely don’t want), and it saves you the trouble of going to the store for some basic ingredients like carrots, onions, potatoes, etc.  You can also order extra produce should you want a bit more, say, apples or oranges once you find out what the delivery will be around Sunday evening or so.

My first account with Orlando Organics enabled me to eat parsnips for the first time.  It was awesome.

If you prefer to only get exactly what you want or need, then perhaps Homegrown, from the Florida School of Holistic Living, is more to your tastes.  It’s a food co-op that you can join and order food from, but instead of home delivery, you pick up the food on Thursdays from 2-7 pm in the downtown area.  This would suit people who live and/or work downtown a bit better, since I don’t see too many people living in Sanford making the trek for the time being.  However, if it is convenient for you, this week’s listing features many locally-grown veggies, herbs and fruits, including tasty daikon!  An individual membership is $35, and there is a requirement to work with the co-op a minimum of three times a year, which really doesn’t sound like much.

If there are more organic options in terms of products and produce in Orlando, I’d love to hear about them.  For now, I’m waiting to resume my Orlando Organics deliveries in the beginning of June–I don’t have time to cook at the moment with my current commute.