Food noise, explained. Other posts to come, intermittently.

As I've been invested in recording my carbohydrates since May 6 so that I will have a better hemoglobin A-1C test result on July 28, I've come to notice something running in the back of my mind, now and then, no matter what I happen to be doing or where I might be.

Monday, June 27, my brain sent me what I will now use to identify this phenomenon. I felt surprised, then happy with the term. Food noise.

Here's my explanation of food noise. I sit at work involved with my daily tasks and performing them spot on. As the day progresses, I have counted my breakfast foods--calories, fat, carbohydrates, protein--on the iPhone app I use, MyPlate, and the water that I've had with breakfast. I've walked with my iPhone on my person or in my shoulder bag so that the health app that came with it counts my steps. Those steps are deducted from the calories I consume from my allowed calorie goal for the day--the app is tuned to calories but thankfully fits in with my goal of not becoming a diabetic, therefore the carb counting. Throughout the day, I enter foods eaten at lunch, dinner, snack (if any), and more water.

I do not for the most part feel unsatisfied at any particular meal or moment. I have found it exciting to watch those steps impact those calories. In this way, the app encourages me to continue my efforts. I have shed pounds. I have increased stamina.

Yet, unbidden at any given moment, in the back of my mind, food such as you see in this photo--duck confit, gnocchi, fava beans from 3 Doors Down Cafe in a photo that I took June 17, 2011--appears. I feel my teeth biting into the meaty duck, the satisfyingly dense gnocchi, the al dente fava beans. I don't taste any of these, I feel them. I keep right on working, undeterred by the food noise which so far has not manifested itself in the form of aggravating craving. I think the fact that I easily keep on with my regular activities made the term food noise pop into my mind because, for me, it is kin to white noise, as in this definition--a steady, unvarying, unobtrusive sound, as an electronically produced drone or the sound of rain, used to mask or obliterate unwanted sounds.

Not that my food noise is obliterating anything unwanted. I have, in fact, found food noise to be a comfort. By the way, it is not always prepared by professionals. Sometimes, it is something that I myself have cooked. More posts to come, if I have the appropriate photo on hand.

3 Doors Down Cafe -- taking a break from basketball

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After I spent my gift certificate and some cash at Murder by the Book on SE Hawthorne, a great little store succumbing to the downturned economy, I rode the 14 bus five blocks east, got off at SE 37th and walked north half a block to my favorite Portland restaurant, 3 Doors Down Cafe. My older son Lamont used to be sous chef there, my younger son Leland used to be a line and prep cook there. Since our first visit to Portland in the summer of 2004, Mama and I loved to go eat there every chance we got; I've lost count of how many friends we've taken there for dinner. 

Lucky me, Lamont and Leland gave me a gift certificate for Christmas! I felt so good sitting at the bar, saying hello to everyone, taking photos of my food, and enjoying every morsel!




Grilled Bruschetta with an Italian Chopped Salad of salami, provolone, capers, peppers and olives--sent out to me from the sous chef Zack. Thanks! The salad, filled with flavor and texture. Always, always I'm amazed by the crunch perfection that is bruschetta at 3DD. Notice the buttery bubbles on the piece to the right, in between the grill marks.  I am particularly pleased with the fact that they showed their shiny little shapes in the photo.




Pugliese and white bean spread--once you've had a bite, you've found yourself a favorite.

Here's the recipe, found on 3 Doors Down's Web site:

Classic White Bean Spread


What you'll need:

2 cups cannellini beans 

1 medium onion, finely diced 

4 tbl butter 

1 tbl fresh rosemary, finely chopped 

2 tbl fresh garlic, finely chopped 

2 pinches red chili flake 

2 tbl parsley, finely chopped 

2 tbl extra virgin olive oil 

Italian bread with a nice, crunchy crust 

Instructions: 

Cover beans with water by two inches. Soak for 4 hours. Drain beans. Put beans into saucepan, cover with water and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook beans until tender. Drain. In separate saucepan melt butter and add all remaining ingredients. Cook until onion is translucent. Add cooked beans. Mash. Add salt and pepper to taste. This can be reheated, just add a little more olive oil. Makes four cups.




Gnocchi, roasted hedgehog mushrooms, chevre cheese--I choose an appetizer to finish my meal. A divine appetizer. Let me list the reasons for that adjective. 

The gnocchi--smooth and dense, perfect-to-the-tooth--the most comfortable little pillows of food known to me. 

The roasted hedgehog mushrooms provided a touch of earthiness. 

The perfect finish--the chevre. Salty and sitting lightly on the gnocchi. By the time I had eaten a bite or two, the chevre began to melt a bit, enhancing its texture in relation to the gnocchi themselves. 

I don't know the ingredients of the sauce, but suffice it to say that I cleaned up the entire plate with the last of the Pugliese.

Last Friday at 3 Doors Down Cafe, SE 37th and Hawthorne Blvd.

Margarita Fresca, a deliciously tart and cold drink that I enjoyed last Friday. Here are the ingredients: Antiquo de Herradura, lemon and lime juice, and St. Germain Elder Flower Liqueur.


The perfect accompaniment for my margarita, grilled prawns, corona beans, Mama Lil's Hungarian peppers, basil and bread crumbs.


The other appetizer I devoured, small bite and swipe of bread by small bite and swipe of bread: potato and chevre cheese gnochi, cauliflower cream sauce, pine nuts and scallions.

Wonder what delicious-ness I shall dine on this Friday after work?

Would that I could imbibe a second Pimms Centre Court.

"Prepare me one, oh 3 Doors Down bartender," I exhort!
"Surely the Pimms, cucumber vodka, cane syrup, lemon & a splash of soda libation
"Would do much to ease my mind and cure this heat-induced perspiration!"

Ain't that a gorgeous-looking drink?

3 Doors Down Cafe co-owner Kay Bergin said, "Summer on a plate," when she placed the potato gnocchi with succotash on my table--she was oh, so right!

I'm here to tell you that the Pimms Centre Court is pure-T summer in a glass!

Oh, by the way, it was 106 degrees in Portland on Tuesday, one degree off the record. And Wednesday's predicted to be even hotter. We persevere!

Special, created with skill, precision, and love

Grilled, house-made, boudin blanc sausage, creamed corn & sweet onions, from 3 Doors Down Cafe, SE 37th and SE Hawthorne, which is right where I headed last Friday after leaving Wood Village Nite Out.

Surely this photo ought to be in Webster's beside the definition for succulent, the adjective: full of juice, juicy; moist and tasty, toothsome; as in a succulent meal.

Amen. Boudin blanc created by Dave Marth, chef/owner of 3DD.

Hi, Dave.




Leland carved these spoons! He gave them to Mama and me for Mother's Day. Sweet.

Potato gnocchi with Fava bean succotash, my other appetizer, prepared by none other than Flash, line cook, situated right beside my New Old Fashioned--house-made dried maraschino cherries, muddles orange, Angostura bitters, sugar and bourbon.

I made sure I had several glasses of water before ordering the alcoholic beverage, plus I knew Leland would be driving me on home.

What a perfect night!