Spellcheck

It would be nice if the so-called self proclaimed "professional writers" use spell check without rushing to voice their opinions. Or if they are using obscure words which a common man like me would not know and cannot find in m-w.com, they could at least provide a glossary entry.

ps: At this point, I am a "childless"/non parent human too, but I don't whine and complain about it on Time.com and take up valuable space.

Eggplant Parmesan (in State College)

Among Italian dishes, I really love eggplant parmesan (ep). What is so great about that? Well, this is coming from somebody who absolutely hated eggplant (brinjal) growing up, so for me to profess love for this vegetable in a signature dish is BIG. Yes, a long long way from childhood dislikes! I am not going to share a lengthy review, but just briefly indicate portion sizes and taste/cost details.

The places I tried ep are:
Olive Garden, State College.
Cafe Laura, Restaurant on Penn State Campus.
Faccia Luna, South Atherton St, State College.

Olive Garden's ep is pretty mundane fare. But it is a good choice for vegetarians who like some fried things in their food! Pay around $11-13

Cafe Laura is the one place where I tried this item at lunch time. For 6-7 bucks it is a good deal. The portion size is smaller, but that is how lunch is served isnt it?

At Faccia Luna it comes as a fairly large portion and I have had it twice now. The first time it was great (in 2007?) that was one of the better choices that year. (update summer 2008: recently I had their egg-parm and the egg plant was not cooked enough :(. They lose their title for making good eggplant-parmesan now) . Pay around $11.50 or s0.

If you just want to do lunch and eat cheap, ie for $6, go to Cafe Laura on the Penn State campus.

The different diets I love

Or..should I say, cuisines? Because I don't really count calories while eating, but I usually do worry if my pants start getting tighter around the waist!

So some of the nice cuisines that I like are:

South Indian (especially Tamil Nadu - obviously when your mother and grandmother's cooking is from one cuisine, it is usually your top choice!)

Rajasthani
Punjabi
Bengali Sweets
Outside India
Meditteranean (in fact these cuisines from regions in Italy, Crete, Spain, Greece) have been noted to be one of the healthiest diets in the world.
Mexican cuisine (minus the sour cream for me please!)
German desserts
Slavic desserts
Ethiopian cuisine

and more that I can hopefully try as time flies by!
Here perhaps I should also divert and mention that Crete is a place to visit for tourism and wonderful eating. So if you want to take a 2 month book writing stay - Crete-Skafia region is the place to go. Check it out here. There accomodation prices seem relatively cheap except for the fact that getting there can be an adventure in itself and a little pricey (if you are going for a short trip and by yourself). A group of four seems to be best party size to go to this place and you won't find discos and bars while out there. Most places there do close at midnight too. However they advertise their location as a good hiking spot too.
I have not been there but I think I would love to go there!!

Bird Flu and Vegetarianism

So here it is, my first 'blog' post, not related to travel, but more related to the issue of vegetarianism.
While following the issue of possible bird flu pandemic, I was wondering if fish and meat consumption would increase beacause of the lack of birds (chicken+eggs). Don't know, only time can tell. However, this might be a good time to proactively and calmly suggest non-meat protein alternatives to people and try to guide them towards vegetarianism.

Also there is some news on

Tamiflu hoarding if you care to read about it.