Thursday, May 7, 2009

Meeting for lunch



Google might have cut back on afternoon tea for its employees in Mountain View. But during its annual meeting at corporate headquarters, the company still offers an impressive lunch buffet for shareholders who attend.

In addition to items such as salad greens and hard-boiled eggs, we have an orange couscous salad, and a Greek pasta salad with olives and artichoke hearts.

We have bacon-wrapped pork tenderloin, rotisserie chicken, and mini pot roast sandwiches. We have crab cakes with little to no fillers. We have asparagus, macaroni and cheese, and corn and lima bean succotash. We have so-called raw lasagna layered with thin slices of zucchini and "cheese" made from macadamia nuts. We have strawberries and fresh-cut pineapple.

For dessert, we have eclairs, white chocolate chip and cranberry cookies, berry cobbler, and IT'S-ITs packaged with the Google logo.

I'm sorry. Is the CEO talking? Is there investor business to conduct?

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Sugar, sugar

"All I ever really want is sugar."

Andy Warhol, who spent time at Serendipity 3 in New York City, something I learn in the gift shop for "Warhol Live," on exhibit through May 17 at the de Young museum in San Francisco.

Was he talking only of sugar, what we bake with? Or was he referring to something more?

About Me

is a writer and reviewer on the West Coast whose essays and articles have appeared in publications such as the Oakland Tribune, the San Francisco Chronicle, Budget Travel, Brown Alumni Magazine, Saveur, Relish, Gastronomica, Best Food Writing 2002, www.theatlantic.com, www.npr.org and www.culinate.com. She has a bachelor's in English from Brown and a master's in literary nonfiction from the University of Oregon. Send comments, questions and suggestions to: mschristinaeng@gmail.com.

Books I am Reading

  • "James and the Giant Peach" by Roald Dahl
  • "Manhood for Amateurs" by Michael Chabon
  • "The Big Sur Bakery Cookbook" by Michelle and Philip Wojtowicz and Michael Gilson
  • "Rustic Fruit Desserts" by Cory Schreiber and Julie Richardson
  • "Toast: The Story of a Boy's Hunger" by Nigel Slater
  • "Jamie at Home: Cook Your Way to the Good Life" by Jamie Oliver
  • "The Gastronomical Me" by M.F.K. Fisher
  • "Shark's Fin and Sichuan Pepper: A Sweet-Sour Memoir of Eating in China" by Fuchsia Dunlop
  • "My China: A Feast for All the Senses" by Kylie Kwong
  • "Serve the People: A Stir-Fried Journey Through China" by Jen Lin-Liu
  • "Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance" by Barack Obama

Films and TV Shows I am Watching

  • "Jiro Dreams of Sushi"
  • "Wallace & Gromit: A Matter of Loaf and Death"
  • "Gourmet's Diary of a Foodie"
  • "Waitress" with Keri Russell
  • "The Future of Food" by Deborah Koons Garcia
  • "Food, Inc."

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