we are happy to present....Nowlze!

As promised, Nowlzie's guest blog appearance! And, stay tuned for my Rampin'-It-Up Reprise this week!

from Nowlze....

well, dear e, allow me to tell you about my lunch at google....

my friend, chealsea, works for a company called double click, who were recently bought out by google. i had heard tale of google's fantastic meals, and of their compound in CA, replete with pool, lounge chairs, smoothies made to order, etc. in fact, our good friend deidre's (aka "dabby's") husband was working there in CA, and i believe dabby was told that she, in fact, could not just stay there all day and hang out. bummer.

but new york is not cali...there is no pool, not a lot of craziness of that ilk aside from some lounge areas set up with guitar hero and coffee areas brimming with complimentary snacks (pita chips, power bars, gum, mints, candy, fresh fruit, all manner of soft drinks, waters, and juices...all complimentary.)

cheal gave me a mini tour, and we waltzed through many micro-kitchens as well as two cafeterias on two different floors. these were less cafeteria and more mall food court (but mall food court if whole foods took over and everything was fresh and organic.) there was a sushi bar complete with chef. as we got our trays, i grabbed a smart water (heh) and swiped a pack of gum. we traipsed through the caf, surveying the day's selections.

one area was completely raw and vegan...of course, they had the typical salad bar fare, but i also spied daikon salad among other prepared raw salads. i helped myself to some roasted tricolor beets, quinoa salad with cranberries and orange zest, and various other delicious fresh veggies and drizzled it all with an avocado dressing (wish i had a recipe for that.)

in the hot areas, there were lots of pastas made to order and, of course, many meaty things. for lunch that day, i went greek, and had some DELICIOUS roasted artichoke bottoms in a creamy yogurt dill sauce with some gorgeous salty greek olives. it was divine.

for dessert, a homemade, hot-from-the-oven pecan chocolate chip cookie. fantastic.

did i mention that all of this was free? gratis? on the house? little does cheal know her fatal flaw: she just may have a bi-weekly visitor, as goodle ny is but blocks from the tv studio that generally provides us with meat, meat, more meat, and oily pasta with salad from a bag. such a contrast. cheal says that she could eat three different meals there a day, any time of the day.

ah, to be a programmer...

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Thanks, Nowlzie!!!

If you'd like to read more about what Google spends on (free--for employees) employee food, here's an article about the $72 million (!!!), about $7530 per employee, per year.

meatless loaf

I'm so annoyed with myself that I didn't have my camera last night to photograph my dinner because it was so perfectly A Home Cooked Meal.

I'd been wanting to try to make a version of "meat"loaf since I'd had the Meatless Loaf Hero sandwich platter at Kate's Joint when Barbara and I were visiting NYC. I'd asked our waiter what the base was, and he thought it was Gimme Lean ground beef style. So, I found this recipe, and tried it out last night. It was so good! It totally reminded me of my mom's meatloaf when I was growing up. Unlike lots of other kids (if the TV can be believed), I *loved* meatloaf. It was one of my favorite comfort foods. Now it is again! It was perfectly moist with the fantastic (and so simple) tangy glaze. I had it last night with roasted blue potatoes, sauteed green beans, and some challah. Today I'm going to have it for lunch on a sandwich of challah bread, and leftover green beans on the side. Yum.

I'm going to try to make a snack either tonight or in the morning for our road trip to the Ramp Festival. Last year I made some of (a riff on) Heidi's pocket tarts (and, while delicious, they were a pain in the behind to make because I used phyllo instead of puff pastry). But, I made the curried potato-pea puffs for new years (using actual puff pastry), and they were great and not to difficult. I've had a request for them again, so I'm gonna try to redd up some. Will report back...

Also, stay tuned! My good friend Nowlzie will be guest blogging for us about her recent lunch at a Google location (they're known for their FREE gourmet-style meals. I can't wait to read all about it!!