How many have you tried?

1. Abalone

2. Absinthe

3. Alligator

4. Baba Ghanoush

5. Bagel & Lox

6. Baklava

7. Barbecue ribs

8. Bellini

9. Bird’s Nest Soup

10. Biscuits and gravy

11. Black Pudding

12. Black Truffle

13. Borscht

14. Calamari

15. Carp

16. Caviar

17. Cheese fondue

18. Chicken and waffles

19. Chicken Tikka Masala

20. Chile Relleno

21. Chitterlings/Chitlins

22. Churros

23. Clam Chowder

24. Cognac

25. Crab cakes

26. Crickets

27. Currywurst

28. Dandelion wine

29. Dulce de leche

30. Durian

31. Eel

32. Eggs benedict

33. Fish Tacos

34. Foie Gras

35. Fresh Spring Rolls

36. Fried Catfish

37. Fried Green Tomatoes

38. Fried Plaintain

39. Frito Pie

40. Frog’s Legs

41. Fugu

42. Funnel Cake

43. Gazpacho

44. Goat

45. Goat’s milk

46. Goulash

47. Gumbo

48. Haggis

49. Head Cheese

50. Heirloom Tomatoes

51. Honeycomb

52. Hostess Fruit Pie

53. Huevos Rancheros

54. Jerk Chicken

55. Kangaroo

56. Key Lime Pie

57. Kobe Beef

58. Lassi

59. Lobster

60. Mimosa

61. MoonPie

62. Morel Mushrooms

63. Nettle Tea

64. Octopus

65. Oxtail Soup

66. Paella

67. Paneer

68. Pastrami on Rye

69. Pavlova

70. Phaal

71. Philly Cheesesteak

72. Pho

73. Pineapple and Cottage Cheese

74. Pistachio Ice Cream

75. Po’ boy

76. Pocky

77. Polenta

78. Prickly Pear

79. Rabbit Stew

80. Raw Oysters

81. Root Beer Float

82. S’mores

83. Sauerkraut

84. Sea Urchin

85. Shark

86. Snail

87. Snake

88. Soft Shell Crab

89. Som Tam

90. Spaetzle

91. Spam

92. Squirrel

93. Steak Tartare

94. Sweet Potato Fries

95. Sweetbreads

96. Tom Yum

97. Umeboshi

98. Venison

99. Wasabi Peas

100. Zucchini Flowers

We braved bitter cold temperatures on Houston Street (no, it’s not pronounced the way Texans do) down on the Lower East Side, but after a 15 minute wait outside, another 20 minutes on line inside, (our meat cutter was slow) we found ourselves diagonally across from the table where Sally Faked Harry at Katz’s Delicatessen.  I hadn’t been there in thirty years, some in our hardy group had never been there.  As you can see, it was jam packed (Saturday afternoon, holiday weekend) but as has been the case for over 100 years, it was worth the wait:

$15+, pickles are $2 extra and it’s worth every penny.  You can’t do it often (more for health issues than the cost), but you’ve GOT to do it.

Next up, video taken that same night of the belly dancer at the Turkish restaurant on the Upper East Side.

Jews and Chinese Food from Jewish Forward on Vimeo.

The way I see it,  you turn fifty and you have only two choices.  You can buy into middle age and prepare for that gradual decline of…everything.  OR…you do what you can to fight the common wisdom and make however long you’re given…whether a week, a month, or thirty years…as productive and active as possible.  I’m in the middle of a book called ‘Younger Next Year‘ and although one of the authors, Chris Crowley, is shouting at me a lot in the pages I’ve read so far, he’s also confirming that my recent choice to work with a personal trainer was the right choice.

This isn’t vanity, or a desperate attempt to recapture youth.  I have to deal, every single day, with enough people who suffer from Narcissistic Personality Disorder.  All I am doing is making a conscious choice to get fit…physically and mentally.  That’s where Adrian Guyer comes in.  Adrian, who is in his 20′s, opened Xtra Innings Performance in Lyndonville, Vermont earlier this year.

If you’re middle-aged, or if you act middle-aged, or if you’re young and out of shape, you need to know that almost the entire world and our entire way of life is conspiring to make you old and unhealthy.  You don’t have to go along with the masses.  I’ll finish the book and let you know my thoughts…in the meantime, spend fifteen minutes with my personal trainer:

Adrian Guyer, XIP

If you’re in a more populated area, there are probably dozens of personal trainers around.  Figure out your budget, do some homework, ask your friends.  Here in the Northeast Kingdom, you can reach Adrian at XIP at 802-249-7870 or email him at xiptraining@gmail.com.

DO IT NOW!

Dear Michelle,

I am a chef at an independent high school in Northern Vermont. Your work with the White House garden and promoting healthy food choices has been amazing. Presidential food influences have historically meant penchants for jellybeans and Big Macs™, unease with grocery stores, vegetables, and scallops, and a general apathy toward the American diet. Now, the White House is producing fresh produce, embracing the local food movement, and even harvesting honey from its own bees!

You have harnessed the power of celebrity to help spread this message. Chefs Mario Batali, Bobby Flay, Emeril Lagasse, and your own Cristeta Comerford have competed on Iron Chef using fresh garden ingredients. The gardens and gardeners themselves are a regular topic of the New York Times and other media outlets. You and your family have been to food shelters and schools. This is such a great beginning.

One topic that hasn’t seen the change it desperately needs is the USDA commodity foods program, and I have a suggestion. A brief background:

Here in Vermont, over 50% of my students have some form of government assistance to pay for their school meals; other communities get as high as 85%. My budget is less than $1.50 per student for lunch. That won’t buy a Starbucks latte, but we manage to make fresh bread and soup every day. Our students can get local apples, and on “breakfast for lunch” day (a favorite) we use real maple syrup from a local sugar house. To afford the good, we take advantage of USDA commodities.

These include products like “Beef Patties,” an amalgam of beef, soy protein, and seasoning. As these come precooked, we have to work food magic to make them moist and palatable. The turkey breast comes as a foot-and-a-half-long log that’s full of water and excess salt. Cheese is as tasteless as packing material and has an unnaturally long shelf life. I hear schools aren’t even willing to compost these products at the end of the year for fear of what contaminants they’ll leave in the soil.

Most Americans don’t know that this is what their children are being fed. Demand for change will come with knowledge, and the best way to spread knowledge these days is with reality television. I suggest another round of Iron Chef White House.

This time Bobby and Mario should go head to head with school service directors and chefs, with the mystery ingredients coming straight from the USDA commodity list! We all dream of fresh produce from kitchen gardens for our school, but it isn’t reality. As one of my mentors is fond of saying, “It isn’t hard cooking with the good stuff.” Let’s see if the celebrity chefs can match the inventiveness that is required of the people that feed our children every day. Is Alton Brown able to explain the commodity production policy? Will soy tacos and turkey loaf tetrazzini win the day? Who will reign supreme? My money is on the school chef.

Thank you for your time. I look forward to hearing from your staff.

Chef Bryan C. Andregg • Lyndon Institute, Lyndonville Vermont

Sign the Letter, Please tell me how you’d like your affiliation listed.

The Vermont Children’s Theatre is on Darling Hill.  The youngsters are in the middle of their season.

It was, far and away, Lyndonville’s biggest event of the year.  And as the music continues in Bandstand Park, we are already planning Stars & Stripes 2011.

It’s better here.

In the meantime…

Eat, sing, lean!!

Happy Passover.