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

This is a picture of my partner at his greatest?he wanted to check his email before we went out to dinner, and this is what he looked like. I love how crazy he is– he always keeps me laughing! I was originally going to use this picture for a post on how much I love this man, but we had a bit of a scare this morning. Adam was taking a shower and I was in the kitchen. I heard the sound of glass shattering and a loud ?fuck!? We have a glass door and a large glass shelf in the shower and noise was quite loud, so I dashed into the bathroom to see if he was okay. Read the rest of this entry »

I have a job! I have no clue why I am ecstatic about that, considering all my free time and homework/essay writing time will be taken up by said job, but hey, its money, and good money at that, so lemme get a woot woot! I will be working at an exotic, glamorous…sandwich shop! Exactly what I wanted time wise, no nights or weekends, something to do with food so I know I will get fed on the job, and no McDonald’s. Score. It is actually a cute little place and stays quite busy, which is nice. Nothing worse than sitting around doing nothing at work. But it’s tough. I may seem to have a hard exterior, but underneath it all, I am a little fluffy fragile kitten who gets stressed when she has to walk to the other side of the apartment to retrieve something, so we’ll see how this whole “working on my feet doing physical stuff” works out. But they are starting me right away, and paying me more than when I worked as a receptionist/office bitch for one of the top real estate management firms in Chicago. Take that, corporate America! And I am happy to report that my “lack of culinary skills” that another sandwich shop owner felt I had kicked major ass at my first day of work. So he can take his toasted foccacia chicken sammy, sit and spin. I am a sandwich artist. No autographs, please. ~LTG

I was so stoked that Tom the Chive Plant is alive and thriving and quite delicious, I might add, I decided to try my luck with another plant. Everyone, I would like to introduce you to Steve.

Steve is a thyme plant. He is hardy, doesn?t need much water or sun light and will still grow like crazy. Practically Leena-proof. Sweet. I?m a little worried about Tom, though. I think he may be jealous. I woke up the day after I brought Steve home, and there were some cut marks on Steve?s pot. Yeah. Tom?s a little ghetto. ~LTG

So….Sherman didn’t quite make it. But in all fairness, he lasted just as long as the lady at the market said he would…she only gave him until April, and he didn’t poop out until a day or two ago. I know what you’re thinking. Murderer. Good thing I subscribe to the “buying new things to replace dead ones make me feel better” club. Meet Tom. Tom is a chive plant. He is supposed to last for a few months, so this will be a better gage of how responsible I can be. Maybe.

Tom is simple. He’s not complicated, like a basil plant. Even his name is simple. He is already grown, and just wants to be eaten. Sounds like a match made in heaven to me. In fact, let?s just pretend Sherman never existed. It’s better that way. I wouldn’t want Tom getting jealous, especially since he has Sherman’s old pot. Plus, I’ve got some smoked salmon and cream cheese that are just DYING to meet up with Tom! ~LTG

If my posting seems sporadic, that?s because I am drowning in a sea of tandoori oven research. School just let out for a two week Easter break, and I have a 3,000 word essay on how other cultures have influenced the tandoor oven in Northern India due April 13th, and another 800 word essay due Tuesday. And I seem to have a knack for picking topics that are pretty hard to research. Lucky me. The Gastronomy research librarian LOVES me! One class down, three more to go?and an unbelievably LONG dissertation. But I promise to treat this blog like the fine dame that it is and give it the sweet sweet loving it deserves. Don?t worry, I?ll be gentle ~LTG

I never saw it coming.

Stealth Ninja Nugget: One bad-ass cat.

Nugget is a stealth kitty, trained in the art of stealing food. ~LTG

I have been extremely lucky to have the two people I knew in the war to return safely, although not completely undamaged. It is with a sad heart that I report a fellow food blogger, The Madeater, has not been so lucky. There is no option to comment on her latest post, so please, if you get a chance, just a take a moment of silence for her loss, and for the family and friends who are still over there, fighting for our country. ~LTG

Okay, I’ll admit it. I’m a total wannabe. I am that girl you knew in high school who wanted desperately to be one of the cool kids, but never quite made it. I used to call them superpops, short for the super popular crowd. I would try to dress like them, buy the same shoes, I even taught myself to dance to the same cool tunes they were rocking out to. I’m not proud to admit I have several dances to “Baby Got Back” in my arsenal. And then when I didn’t get invited to the party that weekend (please place a collective AWWWWWWW here), I made my own party. Okay, so it usually involved my mom, my cat, and a good book, but hey, I rocked what coolness I had as hard as I could. Welcome to my own party. Always the meme bridesmaid, never the meme bride! I read a great meme started on the blog f00die, and continued in the Sunday Night Dinner blog. Although I was not tagged, I’m gonna pretend I’m a superpop of the blog world and do it anyways, damn it. Just try and stop me! Read the rest of this entry »