Foodie Underground: The Secret Diary of a Foodie, Part Three

ColumnOur ongoing look inside the intriguing world of a foodie.

While madly searching for food trucks, a good greens blog and love – we get another look into the secret life of a foodie. (Part 1 and 2 in case you missed them.)

Saturday September 1, 2012, 7:33 p.m.

Dear Diary,

This summer has been hectic! The Barista ended up being a total nightmare (you just can’t date people that bring PBR to dinner parties). Finished the coffee roasting class and then debated on building my own roasting machine in the backyard, but decided instead to focus my efforts on developing a new artisan salt business. Have been bottling up all kinds of infused salts, and everyone loves them so much, I figure I can totally sell them at farmers market. Or at least via my new salt blog. Who eats regular salt these days anyway? Boring.

Sunday September 2, 2012 4:42 p.m.

Dear Diary,

I love the final days of summer… so many good foraging adventures. I joined the local urban underground fruit collective and we’ve been going on undercover midnight pear and fig missions. There’s nothing like sneaking a juicy fig from someone’s yard as a midnight snack, it’s exhilarating. Plus that fruit is just going to go to waste anyway, I might as well make some fig anise jam out of it, right?

Wednesday September 5, 2012 7:38 p.m.

Dear Diary,

Biked home with a new set of small mason jars for all the new salts that I have been working on. As much as I try to save jars that my friends bring food over in, I just never have enough. So new ones it is… All because I am trying to bottle all these new salts. Fennel cardamon sea salt is my current favorite. Even delicious sprinkled over some homemade vegan caramel ice cream. Must launch the website soon. Should I start a salt blog in conjunction?

Friday September 7, 2012 2:14 p.m.

Dear Diary,

So overwhelmed by the severe tomato problem I am having this week.  Is six quarts of salsa too much?

Another midnight urban foraging expedition. I brought a jar of my fig anise jam and gave it to the really cute guy that has been on the last two midnight missions. He mentioned he recently got back from a trip to Mexico City and learned a super secret sauce to put on tacos. Perfect.

Saturday September 8, 2012 9:56 a.m.

Dear Diary,

I am so excited. I just got invited to take part in a food writing immersion class in Provence. It costs $8,000 (ack!) but I think it will totally be worth it to have a better understanding of southern French food culture, and really get to work on my food writing skills. Will be good for networking too, which can only help the salt business. Which by the way I just bought the domain for: www.infusedseasaltisbettersalt.com

Monday September 10, 2012 10:32 p.m.

Dear Diary,

Got yelled at when I picked a few rosemary stalks from a house on my ride home today. What is wrong with people? Ok, so by “a few” I mean I filled my bike basket. But I needed enough to dry out so I can make a full batch of Rosemary Chocolate Salt. Delicious right?

Wednesday September 12, 2012 9:48 p.m.

Dear Diary,

Cute Mr. Urban Forager asked me if I wanted to go and pick chanterelles this weekend. He said he knew of a secret spot. Yes, please.

Sunday September 16, 2012 8:18 p.m.

Dear Diary,

Foraging disaster. Never say that you know of a super secret spot for chanterelles if you don’t really know of one. Ending up with a basket of two chanterelles is not impressive. We can go ahead and cross Mr. Urban Forager off the list. As it turns out, I think he rarely showers anyway and he wore the same flannel he wore on the last two midnight missions. Which means I am going to have to find a new urban underground fruit collective. I need to focus on Infused Sea Salt is Better Salt anyway.

Tuesday September 18, 2012 9:26 p.m.

Dear Diary,

Overwhelmed by all that goes into launching an artisan food business. Realized that over drinking a few too many glasses of pinot and doing expenses last night. And what if I get sick of sea salt? Then what? I think my time could be better spent on focusing on my writing, so I went ahead and signed up for the immersion food writing class. Maybe I’ll meet a Frenchman. Countdown to Provence: 65 days! Can’t wait.

Friday September 21, 2012 6:34 a.m.

Dear Diary,

Woke up to the best email ever: a publisher dug up the book proposal I sent in earlier this year and wants to talk. It was the proposal for The Story of Greens and the People that Grow Them, all about people that have obsessions with kale, arugula and beyond. I can’t believe it. Looks like I’ll have to lay off the sea salt business right now, and maybe the immersion class will have to wait. As will this journal, and the potential Frenchman. All writing from now on goes into my book. I wonder if I can put kale chips on top of a chocolate cake?

Editor’s note: This is the latest installment of Anna Brones’s weekly column at EcoSalon, Foodie Underground, discovering what’s new and different in the underground food movement, from supper clubs to mini markets to the culinary avant garde.

Anna Brones

Anna Brones is a food + travel writer with a love for coffee and bikes. She is the author of The Culinary Cyclist and Fika: The Art of the Swedish Coffee Break. Catch her weekly column, Foodie Underground.