Tyler Hunt

Oh, where have you been all these years, sour cream doughnut? I have long sought out your dense, moist bite, but why should it have taken twenty-four years for you to reveal yourself to me? The chocolate cake may have been a commensurate substitute, but pales in comparison to the sugary sweetness of your fine flesh. Never has a pastry come along with a taste your equal, and never has it been consumed with such voracious tenacity.

As a child, I much preferred the blended, Swiss-style yogurt to it’s chunkier fruit on the bottom cousin. However, as an adult I’ve found my taste buds have realigned themselves in favor of the fruity jam at the bottom of the cup. I’ve often wondered, though, what the purpose of keeping the fruit separated from the yogurt was. While it doesn’t answer that question specifically, this excerpt from an article in Food Product Design goes into quite a bit of detail about the manufacturing of these products:

Swiss-style yogurt has the fruit mixed in. Preps for these products usually contain fruit puree, flavors and/or essences. For fruit-on-the-bottom—or, sundae-style—yogurt, fruit pieces are a more critical factor. “Here, you’re looking for fruit identity,” says Haughey. “But there also are some blended products that should have identifiable fruit mixed in the product.” In general, yogurt fruits only contain between 33% and 50% solids, with the rest being water and stabilizer. Fruit-on-the-bottom (FOB) preps have formulations similar to those for Swiss-style. The fundamental difference between them is how the prep is applied. “Fruit-on-the-bottom preps are meant to stay on the bottom, and the formulation of the stabilizer system is critical to getting a clean interface between the fruit and the yogurt,” says Nick Nikola, business unit manager, Sanofi Bio-Industries, Trevose, PA. “In Swiss-style, the interface isn’t there so it’s easier to formulate.” According to Nikola, an FOB prep frequently uses a pectin-based stabilizer. This makes its appearance resemble the jams and preserves consumers used to add to their yogurt. Because clarity and shine aren’t as important in a blended/Swiss-style, a starch-based system might be appropriate. Since yogurts are refrigerated, yogurt preps can have a fairly high water activity, and they can contain large pieces. “Piece size is pretty much up to the processor,” says Nikola. “The type of fruit depositor they have will limit the fruit size. Typically, the depositor tubes are 9 to 13 millimeters.” If the prep contains fruit pieces, it must be properly processed so the moisture between the pieces and the surrounding prep equilibrates. If not, moisture migration could occur beyond the fruit prep and affect the texture of the yogurt.

Maybe the answer comes not from the manufacturing process, but from the consumer himself. I know that I enjoy the process of eating fruit on the bottom. There’s an odd satisfaction found in the simple act of pulling off that foil topper, digging down to the bottom to surface all of those intense, fruit flavors, and then stirring intensely to integrate them into the creamy white yogurt. We may never know its true origins, but fruit on the bottom will always be my yogurt style of choice.

I was cutting some cantaloupe a few weeks back when I noticed this bizarre zigzag streak cut into the juicy flesh of the ripe, orange melon. Thinking at first that I had stumbled into some abnormal or diseased specimen, I soon realized that a seed had simply been caught on the edge of the knife as I sawed through the tough rind.

I bought The Il Fornaio Baking Book at a garage sale last weekend for $0.25. I’ve been wanting to try out bread baking for quite some time now, and I thought this might be a good way to do it. It’s a book all about the classic Italian bread recipes that have been made the same way for hundreds of years.

Yesterday I took a stab at my first handmade bread, and it ended up being some of the most delicious bread that I’ve ever tasted. I don’t know if if was the bread itself that was so good, or the mere satisfaction of ingesting the fruit of a five hour labor. Whatever the case may be, odds are that this bread-making thing might become a bit of a ritual in our house.

I have the best girlfriend in the world. I had to stay home and work on homework all night tonight, and she stopped by and surprised me with a strawberry gelati. She makes me so happy.

For being sick, I had a fairly productive morning and finished a decent portion of the Software Systems project that’s due this Wednesday. I made it to class this afternoon, but just barely made it through. I knew I wasn’t going to get much out of the second class, and Daniel had brought Jeni with him and wasn’t sticking around either. It’s amazing what regaining those two hours of your day feels like.

We ended up making dinner at Bell’s house with Steve and Laurel, Daniel and Jeni, and me and Erin. It was a fun little night, and despite Steve’s cooking experimentation on us, the food turned out tasting pretty good as well. Thanks to some friendly neighbors who happened to have better games than the Bell’s (sorry Laurel…), we played some Uno, and then Daniel and Jeni taught everyone how to play President.

In an early Father’s Day celebration, we went to Straub’s tonight for dinner. This Orlando seafood restaurant used to fulfill all of our family’s celebratory outings, being a favorite of both my parents and grandparents, but it’s been a while since I’ve been. I had the sesame seared Ahi tonight, and while not the best rare tuna I’ve had, it was more than satisfying. The only truly disappointing part of the dish was the wasabi, which was dried out and not very spicy. Erin, on the other hand, had her mouth full trying all kinds of new things tonight: clam chowder, grouper, and the Ahi. For someone who doesn’t like fish, I was proud of her for being so adventuresome tonight.

After last night’s movie, it’s time to start thinking about being a healthier eater. Erin really took a lot of the truths about fast food to heart and has decided to stop eating so much crap. We went shopping tonight for all kinds of fresh fruits and vegetables and assorted other nutritionally valid items.

Changing my diet for the better has been in the back of my mind for a while now. I know it’s something that I really need to do (along with exercise, but that’s another story). I’ve really been a slacker when it comes to putting healthy food where my mouth is. The other night we had grilled shrimp, scallops, and asparagus, and it was one of the best meals I’ve had in a long time. It’s really amazing how good simple foods taste on the grill. I’m hoping that moving out will help encourage me to do more cooking at home, and as a result change my eating habits for the better.

I have an “admit it,” too: seeing Super Size Me actually made me want to go to McDonald’s. Despite all of the harm it does, there are fond memories associated with so many of the items on their menu.

In trying to come up with a place to eat tonight, Sarah suggested Rodeo’s. Apparently its a bit of a favorite among Full Sail students, as most places near the campus seem to be. We hit it up before lifegroup tonight along with Matt and Kirby. As the name implies, they serve mostly wings and subs. I tried the Philly cheesesteak, and while it wasn’t the best I’ve had, it was certainly good enough for the price. Rodeo’s is also sweet tea friendly, which automatically gives them an extra point.

They have a few tables outside, which we chose to make use of tonight. It was really nice to be able to sit outside, and the weather tonight was just below the sweating point. We’re probably getting close to the last of such days before the summer heat sets in.

The meal decision ritual has become fairly standardized recently. We sit around and decide we’re hungry, and then spend a good ten minutes just trying to name off places until one comes along that sounds like it might be good for a change. To help abet this problem, I have created the Meal-O-Matic. A tool for making lunch and dinner decisions, it will tell you where you’re eating today. Be careful though, because there is no denying its decision. Once summoned for, it will give one suggestion for the day, preventing abuse and forcing its users to try new places.

In addition to Meal-O-Matic on the web, I’ve also delved into WAP programming for the first time and created another version of the meal-chooser for use on your cell phone. This could end up getting more use than the online version, since the times when you’re hungry don’t usually coincide with the times you’re near a computer.

Daniel and I have taken it upon ourselves to explore uncharted culinary territory as we sample from the vast array of Chinese buffets in the Central Florida area. Our tour of each of these establishments has but a single purpose: to determine the ultimate in Asian gluttony. The first stop on this magnificent self-imposed test of intestinal fortitude is the Hong Kong Buffet, a place I used to frequent with Kirby back in our high school days.

While our discussion at lunch brought up a means of rating each restaurant on our journey, we came to no good conclusion as to how to perform these ratings. So, the Hong Kong Buffet will be our baseline, the 5 out of 10. While they have most of the typical buffet fare, General Tsao’s chicken, bourbon chicken, egg drop soup, and the ubiquitous lo mein, a few items are worth noting. The seafood delight was truly delightful, a smorgasbord of artificial fishes atop a crispy, dish-shaped pastry. And Chinese doughnuts are always a welcome end to any buffet meal. I have to say Hong Kong Buffet earns a few extra points for the ‘80s decor with pink neon accent lighting and classy chandeliers. Overall, it was a good place to establish a baseline and commence on our delectable tour of Orlando’s Orient.

While at the Kessler’s the other night, Steve shared their family tradition of sopapillas with us. They’re a quick, easy, and delicious way to finish off a meal. Basically, you just cover the bottom of a pan with oil, heat it up, and then fry tortilla shells until they become puffy and golden brown. Sprinkle them with cinnamon and sugar while they’re still hot, and then drizzle honey on top. Erin and I tried making them for the first time tonight and they were amazing. A warm, crispy, delectable treat. Honestly, they were a little better than Steve’s, even though he’s supposed to be the expert (he just needs to go a little heavier on the cinnamon and sugar).

Cooking is something I’ve always enjoyed a lot, but it’s not too often that I actually take the effort to prepare a whole meal. Erin and I thought it would be a good idea to cook up something for some friends tonight, so we went online to try to find a new recipe to try out. We ended up coming across All Recipes, which is a really nice source for new recipes. We made Lime Chicken Soft Tacos for Chris and Kat. They turned out to be quite tasty, and were a lot of fun to make as well.

While I feel comfortable in the kitchen, it’s funny how there are still so many things I’ve never actually done before. Like working with chicken, for instance. It seemed really strange to cut up that raw meat, but I appreciated the experience. It was good to learn some cooking new cooking skills tonight, and I’m looking forward to having opportunites to cook more once I move out.

Erin and I had a strange waiter tonight at Olive Garden. Not the weirdest, but he was pretty far out there. He found out Erin worked at SunTrust and he started telling all of these stories about how he used to be a SunTrust customer until they kicked him out because he had overdrawn too many times. And then he went into this long account of how his girlfriend had gotten tickets to the Eagles concert, and then he wrote her a check to pay for his ticket, and then he couldn’t go to the concert because he was going to New York, and then she cashed the check anyways, and then he bought gas and a pack of cigarettes, and then his balance was $170 in the red, and he was stranded in New York, but he has his guitar so he played in and earned $8 which was enough to get home. He earned his tip tonight.

It’s really a shame that the best Thai restaurant in Florida isn’t in Orlando. We went out to Thai Thai in Melbourne tonight. It’s a combination Thai place and sushi bar, which I’m usually kind of wary of, but I really liked the place. As much as I love Thai, it’s been a while since I’ve had some good sushi, so I ordered a few rolls. With only two of us at the table who eat sushi, it was fun making Kirby and Erin try it. Kirby was very hesistant at first, and made everyone look a way while he shoved the California roll into his mouth. His description of it as “bland” is about right. You need to hook that stuff up with some wasabi to make it good. Erin on the other hand, to keep up her part of a hundred dollar bet, ended up eating the roll whole as well, and gagged on it severely before spitting it up into a napkin. Good times. I’m proud of them both for trying it.