Eat My Words -- Diner Speak

For a non-virtual writing assignment I have been researching diners. I was charmed by the colorful code or language waitresses and cooks developed over the years. See if you can answer these Diner Speak Questions correctly. Answers are in comments.

1. Which of these terms does not refer to a hot dog?

A. Ground Hog
B. Coney Island Chicken
C. Dog and Maggot

D. Bloodhounds in the Hay

2. A soup jockey is a ________________.

A. Patron that orders soup
B. Cook who prepares soup
C. Waitress who brings soup

3. Which of these terms does not refer to a hamburger?

A. Cowboy
B. Hockey puck
C. Chewed with Fine Breath
D. Burn one

4. What exactly are these desserts?

A. Nervous pudding
B. Eve with a lid
C. Bucket of cold mud
D. Fish eyes

5. What are these drinks?

A. Windmill Cocktail

B. Adams Ale

C. City Juice

D. Dog Soup

For more diner slang, you can click here (which is where these terms came from).

---------------------

Photo credit: Hangar Hotel

Eat My Words -- And My Roasted Garlic and Tomato Soup

“So Little Gold for So Much Work” – Gary, Blog Appetit husband, when he realized there would only be two and a half servings of soup.

I like making soup. My husband likes eating soup. Any soup product that results in less than eight servings with something left over for the freezer (the frozen soup is henceforth somewhat confusingly known as “liquid gold”) is considered unfortunate.

This soup was designed to use my “use it or lose it" veggies: a bit less than a pint of tired cherry tomatoes; two very soft large tomatoes, and a beginning-to-wrinkle red bell pepper. I decided to make a roasted garlic and tomato soup and served it with grilled cheese and avocado sandwiches made in the panini grill. There were just enough veggies for soup for two with a bit left over, which Noah, the future pastry chef, slurped down.

(By the way, this soup was very easy to make, so Gary was a bit inaccurate in his assessment of the soup-to-work ratio.)

Roasted Garlic and Tomato Soup
2-3 Servings

This recipe can be easily doubled. The roasted garlic is a predominant taste, so if you are not garlic fiends like us you may want to use significantly less.

Olive oil spray or olive oil
6-8 peeled garlic cloves, whole
Pint basket (more or less) of cherry tomatoes
2 large tomatoes, sliced in half
1 red bell pepper, seeded, cored and halved
Quart of chicken or vegetable stock
Salt and pepper to taste
¼ cup chopped fresh basil and/or parsley

Preheat oven to 450 degrees
Spray baking tray with olive oil spray or grease lightly with oil.
Spread garlic and vegetables on the tray. Large tomatoes and pepper should be cut side down. Spray or lightly grease tops of vegetables.
Roast, stirring garlic and cherry tomatoes occasionally until tomatoes and peppers are softened and blistered and the garlic is browned, about 25 minutes.
Remove from oven and let cool a bit. Put into a large pot with any juices from the baking pan, add stock and salt and pepper. Cook over a medium heat until vegetables and garlic are cooked all the way through and are very soft.
Take off the heat and puree with an immersion hand blender or in batches in a regular blender.
Add chopped herbs and reheat. Serve topped with some fresh chopped basil or perhaps a bit of chopped ripe avocado.

Eat My Words -- Meow

Hmph! Din-din. I’ll eat when I’m ready.
Attributed to Morris the Cat, 1988

I don't care what you call me, just don't call me late for dinner.

Attitude of Noche Chocolate Kramer (above).

Eat My Words III - - Hot Dawg

The noblest of all dogs is the hot dog; it feeds the hand that bites it. -- Laurence J. Peter

------
Sausages and onions at the Alameda (California) County Fair, July 3, 2006

Eat My Words -- Magnetic Attraction

Ran across two "foodie" sayings written on magnets in a local gift store:

Ever notice "stressed" spelled backwards is desserts?

and

Good cooks always have a lot of friends

Eat My Words -- About Love and Cooking

I've been wanting to feature a quote or saying about food, love and life (not necessarily in that order or with all three components) periodically. Some might be my own creation. Some might be written by, inspired by or adapted from others. What they'll have in common is that I liked them enough to share.

Here's the first, which I believe was adapted from the teachings of the Dalai Lama:

Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon.