BDC

Two of the three members of the BDC (best damn curriculum?) committee were present today at LATFC (along with Hollander and Russell).

Johnson, a proud BDCer along with Hume, passed on the lemon bar. After having the perfect bar last week he didn't dare risk having another. Good thing. I found the bar lacking and Russell ate only one of the two generously provided in the clear plastic case. The leftover may escape and become a free range lemon bar.

Some talk of a Grady Recipe Book, and how lemon bars will deserve their own chapter.

BDC actually stands for Bile Distillation Committee. It's a long story.

A Very Lemony Bar

Had the most lemony of lemon bars today. Still hungry after my meal, I went for a cup of coffee and a lemon bar. Hume also went for a cup of tea.

Lemon-spiked tea.

Coincidence? I wonder . . .

Stunned Silence

I suppose it is entirely possible that the last entry demoralized all of us so badly that we have sulked off into silent corners. Which, to be honest, is pretty much true ... 

But the final insult happened on Thursday, the one insult that could make me not lament the loss of The Eatery, the one that could let its demise come to be without a single protest.

It was Thursday, and there were no lemon bars. Not. A. One.

I suffered through the cherry pie which, to be fully honest, may have had a higher level of lemonicity than some of the lemon bars of the past.

Criminal, border line criminal.

Meeting 1, Lemon 0

Today's lemon bars may be the best I've had at TFC. Perfectly baked, good texture, hint of lemon. Maybe I was just hungry and I have only one data point: no one else at my table had 'em. fyi, those present: Hume (veggies), Martin, and Russell (suspiciously similar sandwiches).

I followed this joy of lemonocity with a department meeting, which counteracts any dessert (or caffeine, for that matter).

Much discussion of Sarah Palin's speech, some Democratic gnashing of teeth. Or maybe the food was chewy.

An entertaining, mostly non-academic lunch with Acosta-Alzuru, Fink, Hollander and Hume (delayed by committee meeting, which is darn close to "delayed by death"). 

Lots of talk of apples. Preferred apples, heirloom apples, saving apples for later, the best age for apple trees and the heartbreak that an apple tree will put you through. (Fink, mostly, on that last one.)

Things we learned:

• Fink believes apple trees do best along treelines
  
• If a tree splits and the branches spike into the ground, they can root and continue to grow
  
• Apples are not grown in Venezuela, and all those imported are "red"
  
• Johnson prefers Empire apples, occasionally available at Publix now (which the author knew, being Johnson himself)
  
• Hollander ate some sort of small, sour green apples as a child (no comments, please)
  

Lemon bar update: I failed to comment on last week's lemon bar which was, perhaps, the finest lemon bar I have ever consumed at the faculty center. It had a nice, sponge-cake like consistency with wafting overtones of lemonicity. Far superior to the gelatinous creations we consumed last semester.

This weeks again had a decent consistency, though perhaps slightly more dense than last weeks, but had hidden pockets of lemon situated quite far from the edges. Some discussion on how they managed to center the lemonicity in a bar cut from a pan. 

Gobble the Cobbler

Ate alone at TFC. Veggie day -- corn (canned), green beans (canned) and mashed potatoes (one prays not from a can). And apple cobbler.

With every bite of good cobbler, one should be prompted to ask: "How many sticks of butter died for this dessert?" Dairy must be present, butter must drip from every loving spoonful. TFC cobbler is light, not quite so buttery. Subtle, perhaps? Not a Zen moment, nothing like the nearly impossible hint of lemon one strains to find in lemon bars, usually with no success, but it does make you work.

I'm starting to believe desserts are what TFC does best.

A New Level of Lemonicity

My plan was to avoid campus this week. Which was going fine, until I remembered I had to help set up the GSPA photo students on Monday. And then I had to go in to get something out of my cage for another faculty member ...

But that's not what I'm going to write about. When I returned home for lunch on Monday, my wife's newest bestest friend was here, delivering ... lemon bars. 

And not just any lemon bars, but vegan lemon bars. I was concerned, for a moment, but it all passed with just once sniff.

There was obviously a high level of lemon in these bars, though I have to admit the top level looked more gelatinous than any other lemon bar I'd seen of late. (Surprising, really, since there would be no gelatin in a vegan lemon bar.)

The taste was heavenly. A citric assault on the senses. The crust was crusty, a crunchy under-layer of support rarely experienced. 

I ate two. If we are blessed with them again, I will not share.

Analyze This

Checking the stats for our page, we find someone Googled "where do lemon bars come from" and ended up here.

To whomever that was, here's our response: Not from lemons.

It had to happen sometime

Yes, it's true: we hate pretty much everything (hat tip: @jarekbeem).

Lemon Bar Meets Lemon

While Hollander may have thought, and Russell may have wished, that we were done with lemon bar reporting for the semester, Friday brought one last opportunity to explore and expound upon lemonocity.

And so, an experiment - to bring the lemon bar into contact with a real lemon ...




So perhaps my final lemon bar review: For all its lemon intentions, and even with the addition of actual lemon juice, Friday's bar fell short because of its lack of bar-ness. It was more gelatinous than bar-like, with a consistency similar to over-thickened lemon-like pudding.

A sad way to wrap up a season of lemon bar.

LADeP (Lunch at DePalma's)

A couple of "real" journalism people invited me to lunch downtown, so we met up at DePalma's Thursday. They chose an exterior table, which was fine excepting for the noise. Nice day to be outdoors.

Conversation wandered around the curriculum status of Grady (both are alums), future plans for growth and their needs in their current positions of power.

I ordered an Italiano Panini with a side salad. The sandwich was filling, if a little plain and dry. I added the included tomato and lettuce leaf to the second half of the panini, but it didn't improve things much. For the salad dressing (just lettuce and one quartered tomato), I went for the jalapeño-citrus vinaigrette. A little bit of warmth from the peppers, but nowhere near enough citrus. 

Maybe if they crumbled a lemon bar on it ... 

Last of the Lemon

Thursday is lemon bar day. Okay, so Friday is lemon bar day too, but only for leftovers. On this the last Thursday of the 07-08 academic year, I had the final lemon bar and closed my eyes, letting the Zen of the moment progress.

Today's bar: high in lemonocity, low in taste and texture.

Yes, lemon bar fans, I suspect the Powers of Lemon read this blog and added a dash of lemonocity to their recipe. The result was less than satisfying. Cloying is a better word. Disappointing, while still lemony.

Hume and I had lunch, Hollifield showed up later, making it a 3-H gathering. We got to talking about department cultures. "What culture is your department?" she asked.

"The culture of a strip mall," I said.

And thus ends the semester...

The Zen of Lem(on)

What is Zen? According to that source of all wisdom, Wikipedia:

It emphasizes dharma practice and experiental wisdom—particularly as realized in the form of meditation known as zazen—in the attainment of awakening. As such, it de-emphasizes both theoretical knowledge and the study of religious texts in favor of direct individual assessment of one's own experience.

So waste not your time on lemon religious texts. Seek not scripture to understand the nuances of lemoness. Only direct individual assessment of one's own experience will lead to true wisdom.

In other words, taste the lemon bar.

Thus, this week's lemon bar was the essence of lemonicity, for even a clean palate strained to find the slightest hint of lemon in its sugary goodness. Of course it's there, but one must be worthy to discover that trace, that citrus awakening. Pehaps a real lemon passed nearby when the lemon bar was created. Perhaps the lemon bar, in a previous life, was the third cousin to a lemon (twice removed). Or maybe the lemon bars are merely downwind of that big jar full of lemons found near the ice tea.

Who can say? That is the Zen of Lem(on).

Even the folks at Wiki know this. For in defining lemon, they note: "The exact origin of the lemon has remained a mystery..."

'nuff said.

Secrets

The secret to lemon bar happiness is the absence of lemonyness leading up to it.

Two Lunches in One Post !

Thursday

Dr. A joins us for a delicious lunch. I think we need a blog posting in the form of a telenovela. Hunky dumb guy. Beautiful but twisted girl. The woman who is truly evil. Carolina can arch her eyebrow perfectly, so she gets the role of her choice. I'm sure there are a bunch of characters I'm missing, mainly because I don't speak a word of Spanish.

I had the required lemon bar. You taste lemon on the first bite, I've discovered, but not after. I suppose the bar's lemonness is only in contrast to a complete lack of lemonness before that first bite. Also on the scene were Hume, Russell, and Fink, none of whom had lemon bars, thus they cannot speak to lemonness.

Friday

Hollifield, Hume, Hollander, and Fink (who must now change his name to Hink if he's gonna eat with the H's.). Meat loaf good but not as good as I hoped. Greens bland, even after pepper vinegar. Mashed potatoes professionally mashed and lumpless.

Much discussion of pets, including the dietary and excretory habits of Hollifield's dog. Certain jealousy of said animal concerning duck for dinner, or even kangaroo.