Leena Eats, Gourmet Communication ... Food, Travel, Gastronomy

For this week’s Gastro Friday, I wanted to reflect on my first two weeks teaching gastronomy to high schoolers.

Week one: the candy lab.

The most important lesson I learned from my two weeks of classes is that I am officially old. I must be. Because at the ripe old age of 28, I have already forgotten what it is like to be a teenager, even though I vowed I wouldn’t. Especially the part where they laugh at anything that reminds them remotely of sex or drugs. I should have known that–hell, I was ONE of those kids (and still sort of am!). Woe be to me, the one who chose to have them read candy reviews out loud on lollipops (who could write a lollipop review without using sucking” repeatedly?!) and candy bars with nuts. NUTS. I walked right into that one. Read the rest of this entry »

A vending machine in New Zealand with Twisties (New Zealand/Australian cheetos).

For this week’s Gastro Fridays, I thought I’d share with you a poem I wrote for a poetry slam in Chicago. The Encyclopedia Slam, which is hosted by Robb Telfer and Shanny Maney-Magnuson, is sponsored by Young Authors of Chicago. Each month, Robb and Shanny pick a theme and assign topics from an encyclopedia. Teens in Young Authors and friends/colleague’s of Robb and Shanny then write a poem or piece of writing based off of their topic. The show I participated in was called The Visual Spectrum, and my topic was the color orange. I wrote about the first thought that came to mind when I heard orange–Cheetos dust. I’m not a professional poet, but I quite liked it myself. Hope you do it. Happy Gastro Friday! Read the rest of this entry »

Hey guys! Just wanted to share a few updates in the world of food with you. I have always been a fan of Anthony Bourdain’s show, No Reservations, but after the Chicago episode, I am officially hooked. Tonight is his food porn special, a topic after my own heart. I’ve been dabbling in the food porn industry (either reading or creating) since I was 5, so no one is more excited than this food bitch. Read the rest of this entry »

Me as a puffy-haired teen, circa 1996.

(My apologies to the gentleman in the photo. I was only trying to embarrass myself, but I suck at Photoshop.) ************************************************** As the start date of my first high school food studies class comes closer and closer, I am starting to get curious about my students. How much will they know about food? Will they be open to eating a wide range of food? Will they be able to write a proper sentence?! My teacher friends keep telling me to set my expectations low or get disappointed. This made me think about what I was like as an eater in high school…and it wasn’t a pretty picture. Just look above! I swear my hair wasn’t always that puffy. It was purely a special occasion sort of thing. So that is going to my Gastro Fridays topic of the week: teens and gastronomy. What do they know? What did I know? Can I learn something from my memories as a picky teenaged eater? Read the rest of this entry »