Sunday, March 1, 2009

The Master Sans Margaritas

As Beethoven composed his greatest symphonies after he lost his hearing, so too did food become my muse throughout the Master Cleanse.  Since the prescribed beverage is already sweet, I spent very little time fantasizing about desserts and quite a lot of time thinking, obsessing, pining for all matters of savory food.  Within hours of starting, I began keeping a journal of what I was craving at any particular moment.  Here's what I came up with:

2/20/09 (the day before the cleanse, when I was eating only fruits and vegetables (oh, and some sushi) )
11:28 am  Cold Sausage Pizza
4:22 pm   Pork Buns (dim sum)

2/21/09 Day 1
10:53 am  
Bacon Cheeseburger from the Red Coach.  Chicken Soup
12:00 pm 
Jap Jae (stir fried Korean sweet potato noodles with vegetables and sesame oil)
1:19 pm 
Fried Chicken, buttermilk biscuit with butter and honey, mashed potatoes with chicken gravy, slow cooked green beans.  
        also, I have a headache
1:57 pm    
Pho
6:75 pm    
Not hungry, just wishing I was on a beach
7:13 pm
Basmati, palak paneer (reading about the slums of Mumbai in the New Yorker)
9:01pm
Chicken pot pie/Chicken and dumplings

2/22/09 Day 2
Various times throughout the day:
Risotto Milanese, Storm's hot crab dip, pad thai, spaghetti and meatballs, roast chicken 
with roast vegetables and pan sauce, beef marrow on toast, toast slathered with butter and strawberry jam.  
Even my cat's canned lamb smells good.

2/23/09 Day 3
Riding bus to Jury Duty:
Cook 2-3 strips of bacon or guanciale, remove and fry one or two eggs in remaining fat (or add butter if there isn't enough.  Meanwhile, take 2 thick slices of artisan bread and grill or toast and moisten with aioli.  Assemble sandwich:  lay down one slice, aioli side up, and spread a layer of arugula over it.  Place 2 slices of ripe tomato or some oven-roasted winter tomatoes and season with salt and pepper.  Then lay down the eggs followed by the bacon and a few slices of an artisan cheddar.  Top with the second slice of bread.  

Later, in Jury Duty...
-Vegetable lasagna (spinach, zucchini or eggplant) not to heavy, but with homemade pasta and bechamel
-Hot biscuits with butter

2/24/09 Day 4
-Brown rice-with cheese? or a hippie fried rice. 
-Chili con carne (with brown rice)
  -SALMON slow cooked, with soy, citrus and ginger.  
- spinach

2/25/09 Day 5
9:42 am  
Spanish tortilla with romesco
12:32 pm
Zuni Cafe Cookbook's pasta with broccoli, cauliflower and breadcrumbs (with anchovy and lemon)
2:56
Hot dog

2/26/09 Day 6
10:42 am
Onion bagel, lightly toasted with cream cheese, lox, red onion.  Tomatoes and pickles on 
the side

2/27/09 Day 7
-Carnitas tacos from porque no.  Guacamole tostada.
- Lamb with couscous

2/28/09  Day 8
-poached aggs, buttered toast, bacon
-croissant, butter
-baguette, room temperature triple cream brie, radishes, salt
-chicken liver pate, bread, gherkins

3/01/09 Day 9, Today
-bagels and lox
-slow cooked pork roast with polenta
-frozen dinner chicken nuggets (from my trip to Fred Meyer)

Technically, I am not supposed to end the fast until tuesday morning, the day after tomorrow, but I am bringing a banana into work with me in the morning and if I feel like eating it, and perhaps even a smoothie from Whole Foods, I'm going to.  I'm ready to join the ranks of the living again.