How many calories did I drink last night?!

Many 22-year olds consider themselves to be veteran drinkers but few of us really ever contemplate the amount of calories we consume when we meet up with coworkers after a long day, binge drink on a Saturday night, or when we check out the newest hip microbrewery in town.  Good times also come with consequences related to regretful and forgetful drunk mistakes, lengthy hangovers, and added pounds associated with the empty calories from alcohol.  The possibility of being tinged with pain and bitterness is never weighed evenly.

Recently celebrating a best friend’s 21^st birthday, she confided in me that alcohol was a major influence in her life, if not the biggest (disregarding the legal drinking age of course).   At midnight, she gave her fun birthday toast to alcohol; the partygoers and I all cheered to the liquid substance that we all bonded over since high school.  I spent the Saturday preparing for birthday festivities, the biggest challenge happened to be collecting 21 mini bottles of UV Cake vodka to stuff in a tri-colored burro piñata that was to be busted into around 12-midnight that evening.

Never personally trying the cake-flavored vodka, I wasn’t too anxious to try it.  My boxed wine habits, of course bad, prevent me from ever stepping outside of my comfort zone, especially with liquor.  Yes, I am of Irish heritage, however, I am one to slur my words after one drink with matching bright red cheeks in tow.  I never believe in Irish stereotypes anyways.  After three attempts at busting the burrow open, our birthday girl pulled him off of his string and kicked it open.  We all individually grabbed one of our own mini bottles, and the chugging began.  There is no denying the UV cake was vanilla cake flavored, however, there was a large denial in the idea that the vodka was tasty.

These little baby bottles of liquor inspired me to write a blog on the actual calories provided by alcohol and the lack of nutrients that our drink of choice provides.  I may not be a connoisseur of fine wines (despite taking a course in college), but I aspire to be one on the calorie contributions of alcohol.

The pinata aftermath…

My favorite picture from the night!

I’ve learned most of my alcohol-calorie information from the book, “Why Calories Count”, by the acclaimed author, Marion Nestle.  The book is a wonderful read if you’re interested in food science as well as learning a basic understanding of what a calorie really is, can you actually answer that yourself?

The definition of a calorie that is used by chemists is:

One calorie is the amount of heat energy needed to raise the temperature of one gram of water by one degree centigrade, from 14.5 degrees to 15.5 degrees, at one unit of atmospheric pressure.

The furthest derived definition given by Nestle, which I prefer is:

100 calories is the amount of heat needed to bring a quart of water to the boiling point.

The famous food scientist, Wilbur Atwater and his colleagues in 1902 discovered by use of bomb calorimeter, that alcohol contributed 6.9 (7.0) calories per gram.  They also discovered that alcohol calories were also metabolized differently than calories provided by food.

Calories, in a nut shell, are units of heat energy.

No history lesson can be taught without a math lesson in there as well, right?

If the percent of alcohol (proof) is known, it is easy to determine the alcohol calories in your favorite wine, beer, or hard liquor.

Calories = Percent alcohol x number of ounces x 30 ml/ounce x 0.8 g/ml x 7 cal/gram

For practice, I will calculate the amount of calories in UV Cake vodka.  This may not be the best example because it is higher in sugar than most hard liquors and lower in alcohol percent, but just for fun.

UV Cake is 30% alcohol or 60 proof (hard liquors normally are 40% or 80 proof).  I am calculating the amount of alcohol calories in one shot or 1.5 ounces.

Alcohol calories = 0.30 x 1.5 ounces x 30 ml/ounce x 0.8 g/ml x 7 cal/gram

Alcohol calories = 76,

Mind you, this does not account for total calories related to the carbohydrate in the shot.  Traditional hard liquors have no calories from carbohydrate but 5 oz. of wine has on average 20 calories and 12 oz of beer normally has 50 calories from carbohydrate.

Drink	Total Calories	Calories from CHO	Calories from Alcohol
12 oz of Beer	150	50	100
5 oz of Wine	120	20	100
1.5 oz Hard Liquor	100	0	100

Drink alcohol in moderation!  However, many of us know this can be difficult for some.Not all of use are lucky enough to be woken up at 11 am the next morning by their best friend with a lox-bagel sandwich (hey, it was my day to sleep in!).  A good hearty breakfast always does the trick!

Be safe and smart with your alcohol choices; white wine may be lower in calories than red, but whites do not have the same proven heart-boosting effects as reds.  Weigh your options, and have fun while staying hydrated!

Cheers!

“A nickel will get you on the subway, but garlic will get you a seat.”

For those who haven’t taken a trip to the city solely for the purpose of eating (including me before this weekend), I highly recommend it.  After walking passed at least 5 halal meat carts on each block, we reached Soho, which caressed my face with a cornucopia of aromas. I departed from Randolph, New Jersey with my new and beautiful boyfriend Adam who happened to have an APDA debate tournament at a Columbia-sponsored high school, and landed in the city via the New Jersey transit.

The debate tournament initially made me feel like a black sheep amidst a flock of fluffy white dolly’s (I am a nutrition major remember), however, the debaters were hilarious, relateable, and intelligent folks.  After two rounds of being a starry-eyed smitten kitten from Adam’s rounds, we went on a mission during the lunch hour to find a pizzeria that had slices that were the size of two of your heads.  Being relatively small individuals, we split a plain slice and finished about half of it; weak, I know.

The tournament was filled with laughing, arguing, and small talk; around 6 pm, I was ready to cease the discussions of drones, war buttons, and teach for America and was ready for a walk through the city and for it’s foodie hot spots.  We met Adam’s parents on Bleeker Street at a bar with 20 delicious brews on tap; I had a dogfish head amber-peche beer that was intensely sweet and alcoholic, pleasantly awakening my eyes as well as my appetite.  After chitchatting with some locals, the four of us moved on over to the trattoria across the street for a late dinner.

The menu was simple yet decadent; I ordered the monkfish with sautéed escarole and enjoyed every last bit.  Monkfish, the poor man’s lobster, is a fish that happens to be low in saturated fat while being densely packed with vitamin B12 and selenium (I’m not sure of it’s mercury content however).  The most interesting dish ordered at our table happened to be by Mr. Drucker, who ordered the squid ink risotto (an item deserving of it’s own blog post).  The dish was pitch black and scrumptious; a rare, natural black food.

For dessert, I cannot forget to express my obsession with the Rocco Choco-pie at Rocco’s on Bleeker street, a fabulous Italian patisserie, that, wait for it, is open till midnight on weeknights and 1 am on the weekend!  A snacker’s dream.  The pie was a 6″ tower of caramel, rolos, and chocolate everything.  Swoon. I also impulsively bought a pistachio meringue cookie because of my attraction to bright green foods.  My impulsiveness was appreciated in the form of a snack through the holland tunnel.

https://www.facebook.com/RoccosPastry

Sunday morning was my one morning to sleep in and the eight hours I devoured were greatly appreciated!  I called my beloved father and wished him a happy fathers day; the phone call was actually his first notification of the national holiday.  Oh, how I do envy my father’s disconnect from technology and media of all kinds.  My trip to see Adam prevented me from cooking my normal father’s day breakfast for my him, but a compromise of making him dinner this week sufficed.

I returned back to the city in the morning with Adam’s family where we all went to Katz’s deli on his father’s request.  Being deprived of authentic pastrami on rye sandwiches in upstate New York, this polish girl was extremely eager to sink her teeth into the first bite.  The intense cure resulted in a perfectly tender meat that was mellowed by the eloquently acidic mustard.  Mind you, Katz’s diner isn’t only known for their monstrous portion sizes, they are also the home of the famous “When Harry Met Sally” scene.

 

“I’ll have what she’s having.” Yum.

I was most incredibly impressed by the pickles at Katz’s; I believe my next hobby shall be…. Pickling!

The Sunday was rounded out with the creation of steak and shrimp fajitas with an accompanying fruit salad.  Light and fresh, this dish was the perfect ending to my satisfyingly scrumptious weekend.  Cheers!

 

 

 

 

It’s Week Seven?

So many things I want to do but so few days remaining! I’ve decided I’m going to head back to Binghamton for the Summer before leaving for my beloved Lexington, KY; knowing this, Rochester, I will miss you! I’ve been spending my days working my two jobs and performing normal college student on-goings, that I haven’t been able to think about even leaving this city, and ignoring the possibility of never coming back. While I have the few moments today, I want to attempt to compile a comprehensive bucket list of the gallivanting-involved events I need to accomplish before I leave ROC city.  Feel free to join me.

Last night during my yoga class, one of those tasks was accomplished.  Be aware of my immature humor that I am about to reveal; I have always wanted to partake in a yoga/Pilates class where someone would pass gas.  There you are, relaxing, stretching, breathing, pretending to be a blade of grass, whatever, and yep, you heard that right.  How can one not laugh?  This happened last night, and I am ashamed of my actions but I could not stop laughing, I should’ve left the studio.  My friend Jamie had to pinch herself to the point of physical pain to stop herself from embarrassing the poor guy behind us.  Short and sweet: it was a serious moment that tumbled into a fun and memorable hour and a half, a good workout as well! So thank you guy seated behind me.

My inspiration: Johnny Knoxville in Yoga class, genius.

Rochester Bucket List

• Attend the Rochester Public Market more than once before June (involves waking up before 8am on Saturday mornings, Katie, you can do this!)
• Go to Lento on a Tuesday night for dollar oyster night, maybe a Thursday as well for buy one cocktail get one free night…
• Get at least 20 friends to participate in to Rochester Clinical Research HIV home testing kit study (where I work) – You’ll receive a $50 stipend for a half-hour appointment. Call (585) 288-0890 for information on becoming a study volunteer. *Contact me with questions if need be!
• Lame, but finish my Pita Olympics tasks before I leave in late May
• Go to Cheesy Eddies and try their cheesecake and pastries
• Cook the perfect lamb burger with my friend Dave, continue Sunday night dinners
• Present my senior thesis poster at the New York State Dietetic Association Poster Session
• Present my senior thesis poster at the Imagine RIT Festival
• Go to Wegmans as often as possible, there are none in KY
• Express my love to all of my Rochestarian friends; hugs and kisses all around
• Continue Yoga Monday with Annie and wine, minus bachelor Ben, and dance to Old Crow Medicine Show with her
• Finish reading Maryanne Nestle’s book, Why Calories Count: From Science to Politics
• Girls night at Salena’s for their famous Margaritas (and Lux and Solera!)
• Look confident (and pretty) when I walk up to get my diploma!
• Attempt to find an apartment/house in Lexington through my new roommate, who seems great by the way! And get to know the other UK Hospital interns
• Partake in P. Palace shenanigans (without embarrassing myself) with my beautiful roommates before they leave me
• Pack up my entire 4 year college life collection into a truck and ship out!

P. Palace, you will be missed!

There’s more I am sure, but why talk about the boring things?  I hope to keep writing; what a perfect way to keep in touch with old and new friends.

Three more weeks of classes, here begins the slow but exciting countdown till graduation!

Whoohoo!

Go Wildcats!

The power of positive thinking has been on my side for some time; I could do back flips right now!  The universe has aligned, the fog has cleared, and the fat lady has sung! I am extremely proud to say that I was matched to a dietetic internship; the overwhelming feeling of a program choosing me to be one of their interns has given me that warm fuzzy feeling inside.  My uncertainty has vanished, stick a fork in me, I am DONE DONE DONE! Hugo (my cat) and I will be moving down to Lexington, Kentucky in July where I will be an intern at the University of Kentucky Hospital!  I consider myself a warm and friendly person so the southern hospitality of Kentuckians could not be a better fit for me.

Let’s dance!

Life has its unique ways of pointing you in the route of success; my unnatural and unfair amount of luck I possess has also contributed to my wonderful life I have been living.  Matches were announced Sunday night a 7pm, and prior to that I went to the Gate House at Village Gate with my beloved beauties, Stephanie and Annie.  Downing a glass of Malbec and scarfing down a lamb burger (first time consumer right here), my overflowing appreciation and love for the two women beside me came pouring out of my mouth, and almost my eyes.  Trials and tribulations took place this year for all three of us and sharing a meal with them was the best and only thing to do at the time. I remember whispering to them that I had been secretly kicking myself in the butt for not ranking Kentucky as my first choice over a Cincinnati internship; beautiful symphonies, in reality, screams of joy from Annie and I echoed through my house at 7:30 that night when I found out my match.  Stephanie called a minute later and was almost incoherent on speaker phone, but we managed to hear the words “California internship!”; congrats girl!

Hello beet salad! If you haven’t been to the Gate House in Rochester, go now!

I spoke with the director of the UK internship on the phone on Monday, where I could barely contain my blissful excitement; her voice was extremely soothing and her accent was heartwarming.  What do I do immediately after I hang up the phone with the chooser of my future destiny?  Urbanspoon Lexington of course! I found a slew of sandwich shops, wine bars, and burger joints but what caught my attention was the common occurrence of tex-mex influx as well as bbq and Cajun cuisines.  Yes please!  They have just about everything, which is what I answer when someone asks me what my favorite type of cuisine is.  My Lexington bucket list will most undoubtedly have a pizza search on it; the North East, in my opinion has the best pizza (Rochester not so much), so I need to look around for a whole in the wall place with the best pizza pie in town, because I don’t think it will be an easy feat.

How could I forget to mention that UK won the NCAA championship!!! Couches were burned, people got hurt, and beers were drunk that Monday night in my future city.  I am a proud new fan and could not be happier about moving to a city with a great college basketball team, not to mention the best in the country.  Sorry my Syracuse fan friends, at least I’m not moving to Ohio, right?  I am going to be in the land of the Wildcats! Speaking of cats, I got inked!  A St. Patrick’s Day impulse; I couldn’t be happier.  My adorable Hugo now has his beautiful face on my mid-back.  He approves.

Too much Kentucky excitement for a recipe but I hope to be more active with this blog.

My end note:

“One of the very nicest things about life is the way we must regularly stop whatever it is we are doing and devote our attention to eating.”
- Luciano Pavarotti

Recipe for Success

The recent months have been my most difficult; the combination of taking my hardest academic classes, the high competition of being matched to a dietetic internship, being separated from family, and hearing the love of my life tell me he had found someone else after four years had all created a toxic mental environment for my green and naïve heart. The unending questions of why me, why now, what does she have that I don’t, have all gone unanswered while at the same time not gotten me anywhere. I am confident in saying that I have become a much more confident 21-year old woman who has places to see, work to accomplish, friendships to make, and food to eat. Lots of food to eat; don’t let my size fool you! More importantly, I have many people to share meals and conversations with; I definitely have many smiles to create through my cooking.

After experiencing heartbreak, I actually realized I had a lot to be thankful for. To those who had answered my calls, picked me up off the floor, brought me a bottle of wine (or two), and most importantly who taught me that I was lucky for getting a new independent pathway in life, thank you. Maybe, after all, heartbreak is only a preparation for the best things in life. My difficult hand of cards, was accepted finally. I took those cards, and ran with them; RUN KATIE RUN! Excellent grades, new friends (not to mention new beautiful roommates), unending volunteer opportunities, and completion of dietetic internship applications have all been accomplished with full effort and heart. With this, my blog constituting of words and recipes, is for those who appreciate the best things in life: loved ones and good grub.

The character trait that this recipe is centered around is respect; in order to get some, you’ve got to give some. Yes, r-e-s-p-e-c-t, a necessary ingredient in any relationship’s success. My love for cooking for others is my way of always offering an olive branch except instead of an olive branch; enjoy some homemade pita chips or some souvlaki. What are you going to do with an olive branch anyways (make olive oil…that would be great actually..)? Anyways, continuing, though I have been disrespected in my past as many others, it makes me really happy to know that my personality hasn’t changed at all. However, I don’t always like that I only see the good in those I come in contact with for the most part, my glass half full-mentality makes the respect I have for myself a very high standard.

On Friday, I was given a large batch of eggs to give to my roommates by my friend Rachel; she participated in an egg drop competition at the University of Rochester that ended up in an excess. Sleeping in fairly late on a Sunday afternoon, I waltzed into my kitchen, holding my cat in my arms, and devised a plan for the perfectly satisfying hot meal. I opened our communal fridge and glared at the eggs; my large distaste for the white and adorable things does however, come with large respect. Possessing a proportionally large amount of protein (not to mention 9 essential amino acids), an affordable price tag, vitamin B12 (I know my diet doesn’t provide me with enough), and naturally occurring vitamin D, it has been hard for me to not envy those who love eggs. My just-woken up stupor forced me to grab an egg and create a delicious and healthy meal.

Yep.

Fried egg & basil polenta cake
1 medium egg
½ cup leftover polenta, instant or non
1 tbs freshly grated parmesan cheese
2 tbs chopped roma tomatoes
2 tbs ripped fresh basil
1 tbs extra virgin olive oil
Salt & pepper to taste

• Heat skillet and olive oil over medium heat
• Combine polenta with cheese, basil, and tomatoes. Form into a patty, about 1/2” thick
• Place cake in the hot oil and sear on one side till golden brown (about 5 minutes), then flip
• Sear on the opposite side for a couple of minutes then move to the side of the skillet
• Crack the egg; add some freshly cracked black pepper
• Fry the egg until the white is set and the yolk is hot
• Plate the polenta cake, top with the fried egg, and garnish with freshly torn basil
• Cut into the egg so the yolk oozes over the side of the cake, and enjoy

The creamy texture of the polenta with the richness of the egg yolk worked perfectly in combination with one another. The freshness of the basil rounded out the dish nicely as well. Snapping a picture sadly wasn’t at the forefront of my mind but my plate ending up looking similar to this:

That’s my spiel, it was delicious; maybe I am convict to the seven year taste bud turnover-bug, I really don’t know. Happiness, I believe, manifests itself around the dinner table. I hope to continue relating my life experiences to what I create in the kitchen, till the next time, cheers!

“One of the secrets, and pleasures, of cooking is to learn to correct something if it goes awry; and one of the lessons is to grin and bear it if it cannot be fixed.”
- Julia Child