A couple weeks ago, I went on what was to be my last interview for awhile. It went incredibly well, and I headed to Berkeley afterwards to meet up with my friend and former roommate Amanda. Amanda loves food as much as I do, if not more; she inherited her culinary inclinations from her talented mother, who is always experimenting in the kitchen. So it’s not really much of a surprise that we ended up making lunch instead of going out. Amanda offered me the use of her kitchen and the contents of her fridge, so I ended up throwing this together:

And it was delicious. Amanda, who’s been a bit burned out lately from feeling obligated to cook for her boyfriend and young daughter, called it the “Bring Calmness and Creativity Back into the Kitchen for a New Mom” sandwich. Apparently I looked really laid back even as I was busy slicing and sautéing mushrooms and sausages. Wow.

Anyway, the following amounts make two sandwiches:
1/2 portobello mushroom, sliced and sautéd in olive oil
2 chicken apple sausages, sliced and heated in a skillet (no oil)
handful of salad greens
1/2 large tomato, sliced
swiss cheese spread (I recommend using swiss cheese slices)
4 slices of sourdough bread

Instructions:
Do you really need instructions on how to make a sandwich? I think not.

The end! (Or, time to go on another apartment-hunting adventure!)

Ingredients:
- 12oz box of soft tofu
- 1/2″ slice of red onion
- 2 tbsp. sesame oil
- furikake
- pepper

Directions:
Heat sesame oil in a small saucepan. Dice onion slice and sauté for 1-2 minutes. Slice or cube tofu and add to saucepan. Contemplate, for a moment, the tendency of soft tofu to crumble the second you so much as think about touching it.

Add furikake. Cover and simmer on medium heat for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and devour, not bothering to put it on a plate or anything because you’ll be done in less than 15 minutes anyway, and it’ll just be another thing to wash.

I grind and press coffee every morning. You’d think I would have the process down by now.

The ingredients:
- pita bread
- cherry tomatoes
- leftover breakfast sausage
- salsa (Mrs. Renfro’s Habanero Salsa)
- sour cream
- green onions
- grated sharp cheddar

Conclusion:
Delicious. Would make this sandwich again, but with different meat (or none at all)–the sausage was a bit too salty.

Apparently, “earthquake” here means “will violently assault your taste buds with excessive salt and vinegar.” I detected a hint of onion, but I couldn’t taste the paprika and tumeric that were supposed to be in there. They’d probably be good with sour cream or plain yogurt, but unfortunately, my coworkers seem to have finished off the leftovers from yesterday’s potluck. The barely-touched chips are sitting in my lunch bag now, waiting to be transported home for experiments.

I should note that I’ve grown accustomed to a diet that’s lower in sodium (and sugar), and my taste buds have adjusted accordingly. Even so, I don’t think chips should be that salty anyway.

Update: Well, if anything, eating more of these chips has whetted my appetite for the tabbouleh I’m about to have for dinner. Sour cream helped, but I still couldn’t finish the rest of the snack-sized bag in one sitting. I hate to discard food, but I really don’t want to finish these either.

I found this cookie thanks to the empty half-and-half container I found on the counter on Sunday morning. “We need to get half-and-half for coffee,” I said to Bryce. “Or coffee.” Less than an hour later, we were headed for Mishka’s downtown. (I tried their coffee for the first time during that visit, by the way, and I didn’t realize brewed coffee could be so flavorful.) The cookie was an impulse buy.

This was my first gluten-free pastry, and I was pleasantly surprised to find that it wasn’t as sweet as most other cookies. Probably not a point in its favor if you like your cookies loaded with sugar. It did have a light dusting of sugar and cinnamon, which I was ambivalent about: on one hand, it was tasty. On the other, it was messier than I expected; if I want pastries coated with cinnamon sugar, I’ll make some churros.

(Note to self: make some churros.)

It wasn’t the best cookie I’ve ever had, by any means, but it was a nice change from the usual sugary pastries. If you’re interested in trying it for yourself, it’s made by Sun Flour Baking Company in Sacramento.

* Yes, I know this is worthless without pictures.