Farmer's Market Day at the Ferry Building, A Market Madness Melange of Spring Vegetables & Prawns

The Ferry Building was all abuzz with Spring produce on this glorious day in San Francisco.

Braising greens, tender shoots & lettuces of every variety were showcased as were English peas, snap peas, asparagus, spring onions, strawberries, Spanish black radishes, wild mushrooms galore including honeycomb-like morels. Root vegetables were out in full force. New potatoes, baby carrots, turnips.

It was a cornucopia of plenty.

Surprisingly, I also saw robust chesty tomatoes as well as cherries but steered clear for fear of being disappointed this early in the season. Apples & clementines seem to be lingering. Go figure!

Hog Island Oyster Co. had some lovely rosy-colored prawns #16 (about 16 to the lb.), so I bought 3/4 lb. of those for me & the hubby.

I've got two meals worth of luscious veggies. What to do? What to do? ;P



Here's a little peek at today's greatest hits at The San Francisco Ferry Building's Farmer's Market:

Tomatoes in April???

Fresh Daikon

Spring Into Shape The "Lite" Gourmet Way: Grilled Pomegranate-glazed Prawn & Sea Scallops, Fiesta Salad of Jicama, Avocado & Feta, Campania Artichoke

Fiesta Salad

In the Spring, a young man's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love, at least in the world according to Lord Alfred Tennyson. And a life without love is like a tree without blossoms or fruit. Fortunately, Spring is the season for for flowers to grow; so they'll be no barren branches for us to worry about either.

No, the thing that women start to ponder about this time of the year is not necessarily Lord Tennyson & his corny words nor the blossoming shrubs that enliven the pollen and add to the woes of allergy sufferers everywhere. No right about now we start thinking of the dreaded, the inevitable... the silhouette framing clothes of spring & summer with that right around the corner bikini season swimsuit taunting us.

So with that in mind, I'm starting to think of delicious full-flavored dishes that are lower in calories to start your "Spring" back into fitness & whittle your way back into your bikinis which frankly, won't hurt your love life either. (See how beautifully I tied in the rites of Spring-- NOT!)

The assembled dish

Yep, Mission Control has set the course and the following recipe, if you call what is basically an assemblage of ingredients a recipe, is the blast off into a regimen utilizing the best of what the Bay Area has to offer in this eternal season of renewal. What makes this a little lazy as well as "lite" is that we will use store-bought Pomegranate Sauce from Stonewall Kitchen, a really superior product that saves me time & tastes remarkably similar to a sauce I would make from Pom juice, aromatics & herbs. We marinade the seafood in the sauce with a bit of E.V. olive oil & fresh ground pepper up to an hour ahead or as little as 15 minutes, grill the shrimps and scallops, and then reduce a 1/3 of cup of the Pomegranate sauce in a small pan with a touch of soy sauce & a splash of whatever wine you happen to be drinking at the time until it's thick & glaze like. While the seafood marinates, prepare the sriracha aioli, the artichokes, the salad veggies & the dressing, keeping them separate until ready to serve; then toss the ingredients together. Simple!

Note: The Campania is a large red artichoke. Redder than the Anzio, but not quite as red as the Fiesole. It is the world's largest red artichoke as some have been harvested that weigh over 2 pounds. Like the Lyon, it also comes from extensive breeding program in Southern France and its usage is similar to the Lyon. The Campania artichokes really have a beautiful almost fuschia-colored tinge to the leaves & are much more tender than the usual Globe choke; so they require less cooking time and preparation. If you can't find them at your market, simply replace with the Globe variety, cook longer and trim more, carefully removing the tough outer leaves & spines.

The gomasio for the court bouillon is a Japanese condiment that provides a more savory alternative to plain sea salt. It is comprised of sesame seeds, sea salt, & sea vegetables: organic dulse, nori and kombu. It really works well with the chokes imparting a nutty but still greenish (is green a flavor? yes it is!) flavor to them. You can just substitute toasted sesame seed, sea salt & maybe nori, if you have some around. I like the Eden Organics brand. Here's a link: click here.

Grilled Pomegranates-Glazed Prawns & Sea Scallops, Fiesta Salad, & Campania Artichokes with Sriracha Aioli

Ingredients:

For the salad:

1 fresh jicama, peeled, cut into batons
1 handful of fresh cilantro, coarsely chopped
10 cups of organic field greens (about 5 oz.), rinsed & dried
1/2 pint of grape or cherry tomatoes, halved lengthwise (from stem end to stem end)
1 Hass avocado, cut into 1 inch chunks
1 shallot, minced finely
2 ounces of feta (mine came from San Rafael), crumbled but not too finely
1/2 Meyer lemon
1 Tablespoon of Stonewall Kitchen's Pomegranate Grille Sauce
1 Tablespoon of cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil
sea salt & freshly ground pepper to taste

1 Ziploc gallon-sized plastic bag

The ingredients all assembled & ready for action

Jicama cut into batons

The mise en place for the salad

For the Artichokes:
2 Campania artichokes, stems lightly trimmed, tops sheared
1 bay leaf, whole for the court bouillon
2 tablespoons of seaweed gomasio (optional)
2 cloves of garlic lightly smashed (substitute garlic powder for it, if you must)
freshly ground pepper
8 quarts of boiling water that has been acidulated with lemon or rice wine vinegar

Campania Artichokes... so pretty...
picture not so pretty

For the sriracha aioli:
2 Tablespoons of lowfat mayo
1 clove of garlic finely minced & mashed with 1/4 teaspoon of coarse fleur de sel
1 Tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
the juice of a 1/4 Meyer lemon
1 and 1/2 teaspoons of Sriracha hot sauce (or add to taste, you can find it in any Safeway supermarket, check the archives for a link to the product or google sriracha sauce)
1/4 teaspoon of Thai or Vietnamese fish sauce (or a 1/4 teaspoon of high quality anchovy paste)
freshly ground black pepper

Sriracha-chili aioli dipping sauce for the Campania Chokes

For the scallops & prawns:
1/2 lb of fresh sea scallops, adductor muscles removed (see photo)
1/2 lb. of #10-#12 prawns, removed from shells and deveined
1/3 cup of Stonewall Kitchen Pomegranate Grille Sauce (see note)
1 Tablespoon of Meyer lemon infused extra virgin olive oil (or the juice of 1/2 a lemon & 1 Tablespoon of EVOO)

1 teaspoon of soy sauce

1 teaspoon of agave nectar (or honey)

freshly ground black pepper

sea salt to taste (optional, I personally think both the pomegranate and the soy sauce have ample amounts of sodium so I wouldn't add it; but that's just my preference)

East Coast sea scallops and #10 prawns, sorry locavores!

Removing the adductor muscle from the scallops

Directions:

1. Prepare the marinade ingredients for the seafood. Using a mixing bowl whisk together all the wet ingredients with the pepper, whisking in the oil last to form an emulsion. Taste, adjust seasoning &/ or marinade ingredients & when prepared to taste. Set aside for a moment.
2. Clean and prepare the scallops & shrimp, being sure to remove the adductor muscles from the former, and the shells, intestinal tract, pleopods and pareopods (the front "arms" & back "legs") from the latter.
3. Add the seafood & the marinade to the ziploc bag, shaking the bag around a bit to be sure that the marinade is evenly distributed. Set aside & allow to marinate at least 15 minutes up to an hour.
4. Place the seasonings in 7-8 quarts of the boiling water for the artichokes, then add the chokes covering with lid & allow to boil for 10 minutes. When you smell them & can pierce the bottom of the chokes easily with the tip of a knife, you know they're done. Remove them from the water & set them on a towel, cut side down, to drain.
5. While the artichokes are cooking & the seafood is marinating, prepare the sriracha aioli. The best way is with a large mortar & pestle but you can mix it in a small bowl. First crush the garlic & salt together to form a paste, then add the lemon juice & some freshly ground black pepper to the paste, incorporate well. Add the lowfat mayo, stir in. Add the sriracha & fish sauce. Mix well. Whisk in the olive oil, which just provides flavor for this dip, not emulsion, the prepared mayo provides that. Then taste & adjust for seasoning, thickness & heat. If it's too spicy add more mayo. Too thick, add more lemon juice. etc. When done spoon into individual small bowls for dipping.
6. Next prepare the salad dressing, whisking the ingredients together & set aside until you are ready to serve the salad.
7. Add all the salad veggies, except the avocado, to a large bowl & toss together. Set aside. DO NOT add the dressing, yet.
8. Prepare your grill pan by brushing it with grapeseed oil or another vegetable oil with a high flash point. DO NOT use olive oil. It burns too easily. Place over medium/high heat.
9. Place a 1/3 cup of the Pomegranate Grille Sauce in a small sauce pan set over medium/high heat, add a dash of soy sauce, the agave nectar & a splash of olive oil. Whisk it in & allow it to reduce while you cook the seafood. Keep an eye on it by stirring occasionally to be sure it doesn't burn.
10. Remove the scallops & shrimp from the marinade. Drain excess marinade & pat dry with a paper towel. When the grill is hot, place the shrimp in pan making sure not to overcrowd the pan. Grill about 1-1/2 minutes per side or until they pinken & just start to curl. Remove from pan & set aside on a warm plate while you cook the scallops.
11. Next, wipe the grill down with a wet paper towel held with tongs. Then brush grill surface with grapeseed oil; let it heat for 30 seconds or so & place the scallops in, careful not to overcrowd them. You want them to grill not steam. Cook the scallops about two minutes each side, less if they are small; more if they are large. When done to your liking, remove them from the grill pan & set aside in a warm place with the shrimp.
12. Add the remaining marinade to the grill & heat until bubbly & thick. Remove from heat & place seafood in the sauce, gently tossing to coat the seafood. Turn off the sauce pan with the pomegranate sauce, giving it a quick stir.
13. Toss the salad with dressing, avocado & feta.
14. Plate the dish by placing a smear of pomegranate glaze on 1/3 of the dinner plate & topping with half the shrimp & scallops. Drizzle a little additional glaze on top, if desired.
15. Plate the salad next to the seafood. Place the artichoke & dipping bowl on the last 1/3 of the plate. Serve.

This recipe serves 2 hungry workout addicts looking for a little "Spring" in their step. ;P

Le Creuset grill pan, an apartment dwellers best choice for grilling

Pomegranate-marinated scallops grilling

Voila...

Simple with a few short cuts but still yummy!

The Colors of Spring:

San Francisco Treats: A Foggy Walk Along Crissy Field

What makes this city so unique is that a warm, sunny morning can suddenly become this: 

A cool, foggy, windblown afternoon...

Which gives you every reason to enjoy drinking this:

As you treat yourself to a stroll along Crissy Field 

to watch those amazing windsurfers take flight:

The best things in life are free...

 (except the small lowfat latte, of course. Gotta pony up for that!)

Fab Food for the Visiting Foodie, Pt. 2: Pizza

Little Star makes it to go, too. Yaay!!!

Everybody loves pizza.

Everyone believes they know the composition of the perfect pizza and the best place to find it. What no two people can ever agree on, however, is what that perfect pizza actually is or where you can get it.New Yorkers are thin crust fanatics (... I'm guilty, too....) and know that their crispy blistered crusts with a very delicate ratio of cheese to sauce and crust to toppings is America's premiere cheesy pie (yes, yes, we know all about the joint in Phoenix, Pizza Bianco, whose owner bakes each pie himself, makes his own mozzarella & imported that amazing wood-burning oven from Naples; but, if you're actually willing to wait two hours for a pizza, New Yorkers don't care how great it is, to them you're obviously a loser who lives in the middle of nowhere and, furthermore, they don't want to hear your opinion on anything, capiche?). 

So do yourself a favor, never take an East Coast foodie to any pizzeria that specializes in either Neopolitan or "New York-style" pizzas. Delfina, Tommaso's, A16, Amici's, Chez Panisse Cafe, Gioia, Tartine's Bakery... fuggetaboutit! 

You'll never convert them. The best you will get is sympathy for what they say must be the inferior composition of California water which somehow is not sexy enough to interact in a meaningful manner with the yeast in the dough; thereby inhibiting production of that magnificent crust that is the very foundation of every NY slice. Not fun to listen to, especially when you are trying to fulfill your obligation as a host or hostess and avoid adding a few drops of arsenic into your ungrateful toxic guest's Barbaresco glass. 

No, the best thing you can do is take them to a pizza place so far removed from the NY pizzaphile's own experiences they have no basis for comparison. That's right, take 'em to the unchartered territory of the deep dish pie. A notion so alien to the thin crust afficionado, they won't even know their eating pizza unless you tell them. 

Little Star's "Classic" Deep Dish 

They'll think it's just a crusty lasagne or a cheesy crostada. Especially if the pizza joint you take them to is Little Star Pizza on Divasadero who serves the paragon of classic Chicago pies in the Bay Area with the best salads in a pizzeria bar none. (Sorry, Zachary fans!)

Little Star's interior: not your typical pizzeria

The first time we went to Little Star, it was to take a couple of pies to go (we had friends

 introduce us to it's takeout pleasures one Pizza Friday sometime just before that). We were living in Presidio Heights at the time and we chose to go to the Western Addition branch on 846 Divisadero Street off McAllister (there are two restaurants). 

Now, despite having the address on our person and both being free of any vision challenges, we went by that 800 block on Divisadero about 4 times without seeing any sign of a pizzeria. Granted, I was looking for a large red awning with large plate glass windows and the usual displays of beer, pizza slices or neon red letters. Never saw them. Actually, there is another pizzeria of the more usual variety on that 8oo block but it wasn't Little Star. 

We decided I had the wrong address & to continue driving up and down all of Divisadero until we spotted the place. Once again, no sign of what I could determine was the pizzeria.

Little Star's low profile entrance. Doesn't it look like a night club to you, too?

Finally, the hubby decided we should call Little Star and get the cross streets. 

Did that.

Twice. 

Because, I swear I couldn't find that pizza joint! 

By now, the counterperson was surely thinking this is a crank call; but, to her credit, she was patient and assured me of their physical presence in this plane of existence when I suggested that perhaps they were located in an alternate universe whose event horizon coincided with ours every third lunar cycle & whose Divisadero Street contained a Little Star which probably was, indeed, located between McAllister and Fulton. It just didn't exist in our dimension of the universe.

The hubby, not easily deterred and hungry for his pizza, asked me to ascertain from this friendly Little Star employee both the house number and color of the building. 

Eureka! 

While, I still refused to believe that entrance belonged to a pizzeria with its brownish black facade and heavy brown velvet curtains at the windows and doors obscuring the view inside, the hubby insisted I enter and enquire after our dinner. 

I never saw the very discreet signage out front which looks more like an angry Pac-man from Texas than a pizza to my untutored eyes.

The logo looks like an angry Pac-man from the Lone Star state

Little Star's interior looked like a 40's supper club or speakeasy. 

Indie Rock (on other occasions Jazz) playing softly in the background. 

Dark, sexy, mysterious with low barely lit orbs of pendant lighting, dark blue and gray walls, striking cubist paintings of jazzy musical instruments, and small crowded dark, wooden tables filled with glassy-eyed hipsters rapturously hunched over their tables fixated by something on top of them. 

Heavily pierced and tattoed servers in tight jeans and black t-shirts roamed to & fro. A far cry from Nicolas Cage's dingy white "guinea" tee in the movie Moonstruck. (Don't get offended; that's how those thin-strapped ridged tee shirts are known throughout all five boroughs of NYC)

Definitely, not a Little Star server

Your eyes are not thinking pizza; but, simultaneously, appearances notwithstanding, your nose, suddenly animated, is telling you that this may be a night club, but, if it is, they also offer something that smells so delectable and redolent of sweet tomatoes, Italian herbs, buttery yeast, and milky cheeses, you can swoon from the excitement generated by the anticipation of tasting it. 

This place had to be a pizzeria!

Then you see what all those diners are hunched over like so many opium bed denizens is undeniably pizza. Not just any kind of pizza but a proud, bosomy pizza with a strong, golden, cornmeal crust and a robust topping of chunky tomatoes blanketing melted mozzarella that just oozed enough to make you want to have it right there. 

It took all my willpower and years of proper etiquette training to overcome the savage-like desire to snatch a slice from the jaws of an unsuspecting diner. 

After all, one must be civilized; but, as I say, the temptation was great!

Of course, we have ordered many pies since then and allow me to assure all ye who say Chicago-style pizzas are a doughy mess: you haven't given that crust your full consideration until you taste Little Star's version of deep dish. 

They do offer a thin crust version but fuggetaboutit!

All of their toppings are fresh & delicious from the veggies to the meats. 

When we share a pizza (a 9" deep dish pizza easily feeds two to three people provided you can all agree on the same toppings, 12" deep dish pie can feed a family of four with no problem), it's the Classic with thick juicy hunks of perfectly-seasoned Italian sausage, mushrooms, green pepper and onions; all sauteed before being added to the pie, and, all in perfect balance with each other. 

The crust is a symphony of cornmeal, olive oil, butter & flour. Both crisp & tender at once. Never too salty, never too oily with just the right heft to hold up the prodigious amount of mighty toppings. Too good!

If I'm eating by myself, I love the namesake Little Star with sweet, creamy fresh ricotta, feta, sauteed spinach, mushrooms, onions and garlic. The leftovers reheat beautifully over the next day or so as long as you place it in a hot oven (450 degree) either directly on the rack with a sheet of aluminum foil beneath to catch the drippings or, my favorite way, on a hot pizza stone.

The Vegetarian is also delish with fresh zucchini, black olives, red bell peppers, mushrooms, onions, garlic. They also offer Pesto Chicken, White Pie, Italian Combo with pepperocini, pepperoni, salami, etc.
The range of toppings offered is wide and you can create any combination you like for $1.50 - $2.00 a topping.

There are not many appetizers but what they do offer is solid. Really the best takeout salads I've ever had at a pizzeria.

The Caprese is simply slices of fresh mozzarella with sliced tomatoes, fresh basil & drizzled with very good e.v.o.o. & balsamic vinegar. Good, fresh but since I'm already having pizza with mozzarella, it's not something that I would regularly order. Too redundant.

The Mixed Salad with Gorgonzola & House Dressing, yummy!!!

The Mixed Salad on the other hand is something I crave: fresh organics greens, ripe halved cherry tomatoes, sweet chopped red bell peppers, chopped red onions, topped with chopped toasted walnuts & pungent gorgonzola. The housemade vinaigrette is a winner, not too oily, not too tart and just the perfect amount of it to coat the greens without drowning them. So yummy!

The Garlic Bread is warm sourdough served with a blend of salted butter & extra virgin olive oil with a whole bulb of roasted garlic to spread on the side. Again, it's not something I would normally order since I'm eating pizza which is starchy enough for yours truly but it's a good start if your carbo-loading for your next tri-athalon.

The oddest starter is the Spicy Chicken Wings served with the requisite blue cheese dressing but baby carrots instead of celery sticks. I've never ordered them. They don't appeal to me. I didn't go to college in Buffalo, New York so I never was really indoctrinated into their penniless college student, beer drinker's appeal.

They have a housemade cheesecake & gelato for dessert but I'm always too full after two slices of the deep dish to even consider eating anymore.

So, if you want to show your out-of-town foodie the best pizza in San Francisco without falling into the usual traps, go to Little Star. It's worth it and so are you!

Pizza pies range from $17-$23, depending on the toppings with a plain cheese pizza going for $12 for the 9"-$16 for the 12". Additional toppings are $1.50-$2.50 per topping for 9" and 12" pies, respectively. $28 bought us dinner last night with one 9" Classic and a large Mixed Salad.

Little Star does not accept reservations and is a cash only establishment.

Go to Little Star website for further details.

Fab Food for the Visiting Foodie: A Cheat Sheet of Options: Pt. 1... My First Tastes of SPQR

Okay, one of your snarky, picky, Greenmarket-going, H&H bagel-eating, Frank Bruni-reading, ssam-scarfing, Zagat-toting, fans of David Chang from (where else?) Manhattan is coming to what they (trying to be clever but missing by a mile) refer to as Fog City.

You're a proud San Franciscan, even if it is only your adopted home, and you want to show this philistine, .... oops, I mean very good friend, the best San Francisco has to offer by way of comestibles: where do you start?

Step right this way, ladies & gentleman, I'll take you through a quick tour of a few of my favorite hot spots, old & new, that will have any visitor wondering how they could ship their belongings out here without having to head back to that dingy, old city by the East River to collect them. This will be part one of a series of posts that take dead aim at their intended target: the visiting foodie. Please secure your seatbelts, stow your tray tables & have your seats in their locked and upright positions... here we go:

The Bay Area is rife with regional Italian restaurants. Abbondanza doesn't even begin to accurately modify the amount of restaurants with nods to that thigh high boot along the Mediterranean. While Manhattan boasts my new chef crush, the very hot import named Fabio Trabocchi & , of course, the stalwart stallion of all things Italian, Mario Batali, we here in Frisco (as the obnoxious, no..no.. I mean... clever, eastcoaster refers to our fair gotham) have a few aces up our own metropolitan sleeves: namely Nate Appleman and his SPQR, a casual Roman-style osteria, with spot on delectable dishes like the fried brussel sprouts; so nutty & succulent, I almost cried when the last crispy sprout was gone.

Ditto for the expertly dressed salad of radicchio, almonds & meaty fried sunchoke which was so fleshy & voluptuous that I initially mistook the chokes for hunks of tender guanciale; the supremes of tangerine made the dish complete bringing all the elements into a harmonious balance. Dishes like these could convert the most voracious carnivore into a life-long veggie eater.

Other dishes also hit the spot like the classic mozzarella en carrozza with sweet little cow's milk bocconcini coated in a savory crumb crust and its accompaniment of a marinara sauce with just a hint of fiery chili flakes offered a nice balance between sweetness & acidity to cut through the richness of the fried mozzarella.
The fresh ricotta with crostini & olio nuovo is sweet, creamy & served at the perfect just slightly below room temperature.
Housemade sausage does pork right with a crisp, caramelized crust and juicy, fennel-inflected interior. The hubby likes his sausage a little leaner with fewer bread crumbs; but, even though I tend to agree with him, to me, it is still a good example of Appleman's charcuterie wizardry, a skill for which the 26 year old has rapidly gained national recognition.
The delicate lobster brodo with plump tender rock shrimp, rapini & toothsome ceci beans, all anointed with a few drops of the fruitiest olive oil, was the kind of dish you fantasize about when you imagine an evening tryst with a handsome Roman at his favorite little osteria. The bay scallops & cauliflower with rapini & olives was another lustily satisfying dish that was light on the tongue but somehow soulful and rich with it's perfect measure of earthy cauliflower and sweet meaty scallops. YUM YUM.

The housemade pastas are very basic but well-executed. My only quibble may have been with the carbonara which was beautifully light (thank God no cream just rich unctuous egg yolks which caressed the pasta with their golden goodness) but the sauce may have needed the slightly more assertive pancetta flavor instead of the nuanced house-cured guanciale. The Amatriciana however had all the flavor & fire you'd expect in the dish.

The griddled ricotta cake with crema fresca & bitter orange sang it's way on my tongue and through my throat. A masterful dessert made all the better because of its purity and simplicity.

Wines run from Italy's North to South, East to West in their origin with interesting varietals as well as the more classic blue chips.


SPQR

The room is somehow both spare & luxe with heavy brown velvet draperies at the entrance, dark wood wainscoting & floors, marble counters (for both the bar & chef's table), tastefully matted & framed lithographs with a few whimsical subjects, utilitarian dark wooden furnishings and a staff of female servers who are professional but ever so slightly aloof. In all fairness, however, it's a tough assignment being a cute young woman in a trendy restaurant. It's a fine line they must draw that male servers probably never need to concern themselves with; i.e. being friendly & helpful without seeming like they're being too flirtatious which can alienate certain green-eyed monsters in the guise of female diners & overexcite their male companions. It's an unfair disadvantage but these are everyday realities that female waitstaff contend with; so, as I said, the young attractive female servers I encountered both times I visited with my husband were very efficient but a wee bit distant. While I both understand and sympathize with their plight, it is a bit off-putting in a casual neighborhood setting, no matter how uber-hot it's meant to be.

All in all, SPQR is a great experience, especially if you sit at the bar and order a few nibbles while you wait for your table (no reservations are accepted). I plan to more fully review this restaurant after a few additional visits & give you further details on the menu, prices, etc. (only been twice now for dinner, too many things to try & I am watching my weight these days) but I implore you to go & take your visiting foodie. They won't be disappointed and neither will you. This I will tell you now: be sure to go with someone who likes sharing because there are many wonderful small dishes to try and the organization, pricing, as well as the generous portions of the menu, encourages selfless eating.

SPQR
1911 Fillmore St. (between Pine & Bush)
415-771-7779
website

Gotta go! Headed back there for brunch tomorrow, I'll be going to bed tonight with visions of griddle cakes dancing in my head... yaay!

(to be continued with other restaurants on my must eat now list...)