Farro Tricolore: How To Impress Your Foodgeeky Friends In Just One Picnic. Plus a Giveaway!

As if organizing a potluck/picnic for a bunch of food-obsessed parents and their toddlers wasn't enough to think about, I also had the mind boggling task of coming up with what the heck to bring to this shindig.

When fellow food blogging mommy Reservation For Three contacted me to see if I'd like to co-host our first ever GastroTots potluck picnic, I was thrilled at the idea of finally being able to hang out with the parents I frequently chat with on Twitter about food, restaurants, potty training and tantrums. But being that our guests were going to be some serious food nerds, I knew that a box of Albertsons cupcakes and Tostitos chips and salsa just wouldn't cut it. (Umm, not that I would normally bring that to a potluck anyway, right?)

First and foremost, I would need to bring something that tastes good.

It would also have to be something that didn't need to be reheated as we'd be meeting in a park.

And visually appealing.

And somewhat healthy as our kids would also be partaking in this feast.

And something that's somewhat easy to make since time is always so precious as a busy working mom.

Fortunately for me, my Gourmet Today cookbook came to the rescue with its recipe for Farro Tricolore--a colorful salad of farro, arugula, radicchio, Belgian endive, tomatoes and pancetta that fit all the above criteria. It's also a recipe that will be sure to make anyone look like they know what they're talking about in front of all of their foodgeeky friends. Farro? It means you buy your food at places other than Vons. And then if you bought locally farmed organic vegetables for this salad, you might totally be able to bond over farmers markets and green grocers! High Five!

By doing a little prep work of soaking the farro and cutting the vegetables up the night before, it's a fairly quick and easy dish to make. The contrasting flavors and textures in this salad are just insane: it's got all kinds of delicious al dente, crispy, wilted, bitter, salty, sweet, acidic, nutty and peppery craziness going on.

Farro Tricolore (adapted from Gourmet Today)

Salt
1 cup farro (available at Italian markets or specialty grocers like Whole Foods)
4-6 cups arugula, stems discarded, leaves torn into bite-sized pieces
1 head radicchio, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 large Belgian endive, cored and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/4 lb. pancetta, diced or sliced and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 basket of cherry or grape tomatoes
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2-3 tbsp balsamic vinegar

First, soak the farro in water for about 8 hours. Go do other stuff--sleep, chop veggies, watch a Real Housewives marathon, whatever.

Bring the soaked farro and about 6 cups of salted water to a boil, reduce to simmer and cook until al dente, about 25 minutes. It will look like the photo above when cooked. Drain and set aside.

Toss the arugula, radicchio and endive together in a large bowl. Note: the first time I ever made this salad, I neglected to remove the stems from the arugula and to tear or cut the arugula, radicchio and endive into smaller pieces. The salad still turned out fine, but I noticed that the arugula stems and bigger leaf sizes made it a less cohesive salad so I made sure I went with the smaller pieces the next time. Yes, it's more of a pain in the ass, especially with the arugula, but so worth it.

Heat 2 tbsp of the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the pancetta and cook until slightly crispy. Remove from skillet and drain on paper towels, leaving the pancetta fat in the skillet. You'll need that fat for later, so do not dump it or you'll be sorry!

Add remaining 1 tbsp. of olive oil into the skillet and add the tomatoes, garlic, salt and pepper and cook for a few minutes until the tomatoes get soft and the skin gets kind of wrinkly but still stays on.

Add the balsamic vinegar scraping up any of those delicious smoky browned bits on the bottom of the pan and allowing the vinegar to reduce and thicken slightly.

Add farro and pancetta to the bowl of arugula, radicchio and endive. Pour the warm balsamic pancetta-fat tomato dressing over the salad and toss to coat. The greens should wilt a little bit.

The result is simply wonderful. And you will definitely not lose any cred with all your foodgeeky friends.


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But wait, there's more!

Normally, goody bags at kiddie get togethers mean fruit roll ups, snack packs, temporary tattoos, stickers and minature bubble bottles, but thanks to Reservation For Three, her husband Max of Morning Glory Confections and some very generous businesses, our goody bags were a tad more grown up this time. We got:

-A box of Morning Glory Confections' amazing Fleur de Sel and Peanut artisan brittle.
-A coupon good for 15% off your bill at Cacao Mexicatessen
-A token good for one iced or hot 12 oz latte at Cacao Mexicatessen
-A coupon good for a complimentary klein of Belgian fries w/ any food purchase at Wurtskuche
-An $8 gift card to Colorado Wine Co.
-A coupon good for one free scoop at Pazzo Gelato.
-A coupon good for 50% off your meal at Spitz.
-A $10 gift card to Cafe de Leche.
-A delicious and adorable individually boxed cupcake from Delilah's Bakery.

I was so excited about my swag that I want to share a goody bag with one lucky reader! (minus the cupcake...sorry, it's hard to ship, plus I already ate it.)

Just leave a comment with either your favorite childhood food OR your child's (or childrens') favorite food by 11:59pm Wednesday 9/8/10. I'll draw a random winner on Thursday 9/9/10. Be sure to leave an email address so that I can contact you if you win.

Good luck and thanks for reading!

Bibimbapquinoa: A Healthy Twist on a Korean Favorite

Although Korean food purists will probably write me off after reading this post, I don't really care. Why? 'Cause I've lost 18 effin' pounds since embarking on this Biggest Loser journey and none of it could have been possible without creative modifications on some of my favorite dishes.

With some inspiration from some of those bougie healthy food places, I came up with a healthier twist on a Korean favorite and made bibimbap with quinoa. If whatever little knowledge I have of the Korean language is correct, I guess it would then be called "bibimquinoa" since I took out the bap (rice), but whatever you decide to call it, it still rocks. Although the caloric content of quinoa is about the same as rice and although both provide all the health benefits that whole grains offer, quinoa (unlike rice) contains all nine amino acids making its protein content complete. And more protein means more muscle maintenance. More muscle means more fat and calories burned even while you're sitting on your fat ass watching Kimora: Life In The Fab Lane on the Style Network. As an added bonus, for the price you pay for a "health-conscious" bibim bap at M Cafe De Chaya, you can make 3 of these at home. This dish turned out to be such a hit with me that I sneaked a container of it into Alice in Wonderland in 3D IMAX and ate it for dinner. No joke.

All you need is one cup of cooked quinoa, prepared bibimbap veggies (*see below), about a tablespoon (more or less depending on your personal tolerance for spiciness) of gochujang/korean pepper paste, a tiny swig of sesame oil and if you can spare the extra calories, a fried egg. I've personally been using fried quail eggs as of late because they have less calories than chicken eggs, make for a much prettier presentation than without an egg, and are so damn cute. Squee!

Prepare your bibimbapquinoa vegetable toppings according to this recipe, or if you're feeling particularly lazy, go the prepared foods section of your local korean market and buy some assorted seasoned vegetables such as spinach, daikon, beansprouts, carrots, fern brakes, and shiitake mushrooms. Sometimes they even sell all the vegetables together in a special "bibimbap pack" because they know that people like myself are too busy to get themselves involved in the ingredient- and labor-intensive job of cooking 5 different vegetables separately.

Put the quinoa in a bowl and arrange the vegetables on top.

If adding an egg, fry the thing up so that the yolk's still a little runny and put that on top of the quinoa and vegetables. If you want to be cute and use quail egg like I do, be aware that quail eggshells are a little more difficult to crack open cleanly than those on chicken eggs. I always have to use my fingers to pull that shell-membrane-thingy apart so the egg drops cleanly into the pan.

Take a picture or a good look at your pretty bowl of colorful veggie- and egg-topped quinoa because in a second you're going to mess it all up.

Add the sesame oil and gochujang, mix the shit up really well and you've got yourself a healthy, delicious meal that you, too, will love so much you'll want to take it into the movies with you.


Enjoy!

Nice Package: Sake Steamed Mushrooms En Papillote

If you're ever in the mood for a bunch of 'shrooms (the legal kind), give them a nice sake steam bath en papillote for a dish that's full of earthy and slightly sweet flavors plus health benefits to boot. Research has shown that mushrooms have anti-cancer properties, help reduce blood pressure and cholesterol and boost your immune system. Plus some of you who have had enoki mushrooms might already know that they are like nature's loofah and quite excellent at cleaning up the digestive tract. Hey, any additional weight I can lose between now and my final Biggest Loser weigh-in is a good thing if you catch my drift!

Sake Steamed Mushrooms En Papillote

-2 cups of assorted fresh mushrooms, trimmed (I usually use shiitake, enoki, shimeji, and oyster)
-1 tsp vegetable oil
-1 tsp soy sauce (preferably the light kind)
-2 tbsp sake or mirin

*Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
*Tear off a piece of parchment paper 12-15" in length.
*Brush or spread a thin layer of vegetable oil on to the center of the parchment paper and arrange mushrooms on a single layer over the oil.
*Sprinkle soy sauce and sake evenly over the mushrooms.
*Bring up two ends of the parchment paper and fold over a few times about 1/3-1/2 inch.
*Fold in the two open ends. The package should look something like the photo below. Use pins or staples to secure if needed. (You can also do the fancier, more traditional en papillote pouch by cutting a heart out of the parchment paper, folding up the middle and crimping the edges like a dumpling. I don't do this because I am too lazy to cut out the heart. Suit yourself.)

*Bake at 375 for about 20 minutes. The package should puff up a bit.
*Let cool for a couple of minutes, carefully cut or tear open the package, and serve immediately.

Enjoy!

Sunomono: Another Foodie-On-A-Diet-Friendly Food

So what do you know, I've lost almost nine pounds since starting this Biggest Loser challenge! Not bad for a food blogger on a diet, eh?

I guess trying to lose weight while being a food enthusiast has its disadvantages as well as its advantages. It's pretty clear what the disadvantages are. It's even worse when you're so tied in to what other food perverts are up to; it takes a lot of self control not to want to eat everything in sight after reading about every one else's food adventures via blogs or Twitter. The advantage of being a food enthusiast trying to lose weight is that I can use my knowledge of food to come up with a wider variety of healthy yet delicious things to shove down my gullet.

Take that salad that I featured in the last post, for example. Now you just bought all this wakame seaweed and shaved bonito, but as tasty as it is, you're not going to eat that salad everyday, right? So what to do with all those ingredients? Luckily, this food lover can tell you right away that you can use both to make sunomono--a light, refreshing Japanese cucumber salad that (you guessed it!) tastes good and is good for you!

The best cucumbers to use for sunomono are Japanese cucumbers because of their minimal seeds and thinner and less watery makeup. Japanese cucumbers can be found at Japanese or other Asian markets, but if you can't find these, you can always substitute English or Persian cucumbers; just keep in mind that your salad may turn out a little less crisp.

For a little extra protein and pizazz, I added some octopus/tako (available already boiled at most Japanese markets) to my sunomono, but if you can't get your hands on any or if tentacles gross you out, the salad is just as good without.



Sunomono
(makes about 4 servings)

-4-5 Japanese cucumbers (use 2 English or Persian ones if you can't find Japanese ones, but really, Japanese ones are the way to go; find them at a Japanese or other Asian market)
-A few pinches of salt
-2 teaspoons dried wakame seaweed
-1/2 cup rice vinegar
-1/2 cup dashi (see below) or water
-2 tablespoons soy sauce
-1 tablespoon sugar
-A few slices of boiled octopus or other seafood (optional)
-Sliced lemon wedges for garnish (optional)
-A pinch of sesame seeds (optional)

*Use a mandoline or knife to cut the cucumber into ultra thin slices.
*Toss with a couple of pinches of salt and let sit for about 15 minutes.
*Soak the dried wakame seaweed in enough hot water to cover. Let sit a few minutes to rehydrate.
*Meanwhile, mix rice vinegar, dashi, soy sauce and sugar together until well blended.
*Quickly rinse cucumbers and wakame with cold water and squeeze out excess water.
*Arrange cucumbers and wakame in small bowl or dish, add octopus if using.
*Spoon a couple spoonfuls of vinegar dressing onto the salad, adjusting quantity to your liking.
*Garnish with lemon & sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Enjoy!

*Since this post isn't about making dashi (a post for another day), here's a quick down and dirty version with no pics. Put a 4" square of kombu/kelp in 4 cups of water. Bring to a boil and remove kelp as soon as water boils. Remove from heat. Now remember that shaved bonito you used for your tofu salad? Well take a cup of that and put it in the kelp water and wait until it sinks. Strain, and you've got yourself some dashi stock! (You can also buy the instant kind, but you needed something to make with that leftover bonito, right?)

Tofu Salad With Wakame Seaweed and Shaved Bonito: A Meal That Won't Break My 1400 Calorie-A-Day Budget

Ohmyfackinggawd watching calorie intake is hard work!

According to a bunch of those health websites out there, I'm supposed to keep my calorie intake to about 1400 a day if I want to lose weight, and that's with three to five days of exercise a week.

1400 calories a day???

One medium apple is 95 calories, and one medium banana is 105 calories. Could I eat only 13-14 apples or bananas a day and be satisfied? Hell to the no.

Even three Altoid mints are 10 calories. You know how all those little breath mints add up over the course of a day!

This first week of my Biggest Loser challenge hasn't been an easy one. I've had to cut out or cut back on alot of foods that were, up until this point, staples in my diet. Over 200 calories and 15% of your daily recommended carb intake for one measly cup of plain rice or pasta? Ouch. I had to find ways to make salads and vegetables tasty, filling and somewhat nutritious, so of course I resorted to an old favorite of mine: tofu salad with wakame seaweed and shaved bonito.

After having been to numerous Japanese restaurants and loving the salads, whether it be Mishima's tofu salad, various sushi bars' sashimi salads, or even the gratis side salad that one usually gets with a bento, I created my own version that's exceptionally simple to make at home.

Using mixed greens, firm tofu, wakame seaweed, shaved bonito and some Japanese dressing, you get a delicious, filling meal that takes up an entire plate and that's only a little more than 200 calories. And not only does your body benefit from all the great vitamins in the greens, but it also gets protein from the tofu and calcium from both the tofu and wakame.

The best thing about a filling, 200 calorie meal is that leaves room for lots of other stuff like an ice cream craving later on in the day.

Tofu Salad With Wakame Seaweed and Shaved Bonito
1 tablespoon dried wakame seaweed*
3 cups mixed greens (any mixed lettuces will do--I like to add arugula for a peppery bite!)
2-3 tablespoons of your favorite Japanese dressing (I usually use a combo of JFC's Ginger Dressing and McCormick Sesame/Goma Dressing because they're tasty and MSG-free unlike many bottled Japanese salad dressings. Or you could make your own!)
1/4 block of firm tofu, cut into squares
1/2 cup dried shaved bonito*

-Soak wakame in hot water to rehydrate, drain & rinse in cold water.
-Toss salad dressing with greens and seaweed.
-Top with tofu slices and bonito and violà!

*Note: Wakame seaweed and shaved bonito are definitely available at Japanese markets such as Mitsuwa, Marukai or Nijiya. They're probably also available at other Asian markets or the Asian aisle of bougie Western markets, but I could be wrong.

DG's Recycle & Reuse Program: Steamed Roast Pork With Shrimp Paste

In Cantonese, we use the word hahk-hei to describe when someone is being polite. But it's not the common-courtesy-kind-of-polite; rather, it's the I-need-to-be-polite-to-save-face-kind-of-polite.

Ever been out to eat with a bunch of Chinese people and experience a literal fight over the check?

"Mm-ho hahk hei, lar!" we'll say to each other as we're literally lunging over the table trying to grab the check from one another's hands. It's our way of saying, "Hey, don't be so polite, yo. Let me pay!" To which the response is always a never ending back and forth tirade of "No, no, no, let me pay!"

OK yes, we do like to be generous to our friends and loved ones. But the thing is that we don't put up a fight for that reason alone; we put up a fight because we don't want to look like we didn't. It's all about saving face.

The same situation applies to leftover food at said gatherings. No one wants to look like the greedy one who snatched all that food for themselves. "Mm-ho hahk hei, lar...you take it!"

Except when it comes to leftovers, I have no qualms about taking the shit.

Because the reality of it is, I am poor. I got a mortgage and bills to pay and a family to feed and I need anything I can get after either a) paying for your dinner to save face or b) giving away a benjamin or two inside a red envelope to a newly married couple or new baby or whatever.

Now if you're really, really poor, or really, really cheap, or perhaps a combination of both, harm ha jzing jee yook--steamed roast pork with shrimp paste--is the perfect dish for you. It reuses every bit of your leftovers, so it costs next to nothing to make, and a little goes a long, long way.

First thing you do is make sure you are not hahk hei--if there is leftover roast pork at whatever Chinese party/dinner you're attending, take it. If there are no Chinese dinner leftovers involved, that's OK. Drive yourself to the nearest Chinese BBQ shop like Sam Woo BBQ and buy yourself a pound of roast pork for under 10 bucks.

Next, add a little bit of shaoxing cooking wine, a swig of vegetable oil, a dusting of cornstarch, a dollop of shrimp paste (like the one pictured below which you can find at Asian grocery stores) and a teeny bit of water to the pork and mix it all up.

Put it in a shallow dish and steam for about 20-30 minutes. Serve with lots of hot steamed rice.

The result is juicy morsels of pork that have been both roasted and steamed and that have taken on this savory, pungent, funky-in-a-good-way flavor. My favorite part is that once-crispy pig skin that's now taken on a chewy texture after having been steamed but still retains a hint of that smoky flavor it got by roasting.

Like I said earlier, a little really goes a long way. All you need are a few pieces of the pork and maybe some of the juices to liven up an entire bowl of rice. In fact, if you use too much, your meal often becomes too salty. Rationed properly, this dish could potentially last you several days, partially offsetting the original cost of your dinner bill or gifts.

My Favorite Childhood Dish, Loud and Proud: Steamed Pork With Salted Duck Egg

Coming from where I come from--a podunk little suburb about 25 miles outside of San Francisco--growing up Chinese-American back in the 70’s and 80’s was tough work. As one of a small handful of ethnic minority kids in my grade school classes, I was always guaranteed that anything I did that was remotely culturally diverse was a free pass for taunts, teases and hurt feelings. Had I known then what I know today, those Slant-Eye-Ching-Chong-China insults would’ve been met with the finger and a resounding “Fuck You” from that little Chinese girl with the bowl cut. Unfortunately, I wasn’t that self-confident back then and resorted to taking the “If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em” attitude in order to avoid being the laughing stock of my school.

I watched shows like the Brady Bunch to figure out how a stereotypical American family lives. Easy enough, right? Everyone calls each other "dear", they eat roast beef for dinner every night and they like to go camping. It would be my job to convince my classmates that these kinds of things were what my family liked to do too.

So when my 6th grade class was studying nutrition and had a homework assignment to keep a food diary and categorize those things into the four food groups, I was determined to replace stir-fried pork intestines and pickled mustard greens with pot roast and potatoes. I didn't think anyone in my class would understand that at my house, we ate from the vegetable, meat, and bread/grain groups as well as the offal group, the soy group and the various-preserved-foodstuffs group.

It was a total shame because my embarrassment and cowardice led me to leave some of my all time favorite dishes off of this food diary. What's worse, my parents somehow got a hold of this project and were crushed that I'd rather show people that I ate meatloaf instead of my favorite dish that they'd prepared with so much love: steamed pork with salted duck egg, or hahm dahn jzing jee yook.

I've been kicking myself in the ass for that food diary incident for as long as I can remember. How could I have been so stupid as to lie about something that made me feel so good? Knowing that it was my favorite dish, my parents always let me have the first scoop, and I strategically dug my spoon into the center every time so as to get some of the salty, velvety egg yolk. I'd plop the spoonful of this porky, eggy Cantonese village dish onto a steaming mound of rice, mix it all up, and start shoveling the stuff into my mouth. My parents would also purposely leave a little bit of the hahm dahn jzing jee yook in the dish because they knew I liked to dump the last bit of rice from the rice pot into it and scrape up every last juicy pork and egg bit.

I therefore made it my goal to make sure I knew how to make this dish for my own children. Even though my son is a little too young to be eating such a sodium and cholesterol bomb right now (hey, I never said this dish was healthy), it's comforting to know that I can one day make this dish for him the same way that my parents made it for me. And being that he's mostlikey going to be growing up in the Chinese-heavy San Gabriel Valley, I don't think he'll have a problem putting steamed pork with salted duck egg on his own food diary.

The basic recipe follows; sorry I don't really use exact measurements. Do like I do--trial and error until the taste and texture is to your liking. You'll be surprised at how super-simple it is!

Steamed Pork With Salted Duck Egg/Hahm Dahn Jzing Jee Yook

Ingredients:
-A large handful (about 1/2 lb?) of ground pork butt preferably chopped by hand for a coarser texture
-Sesame oil
-Soy sauce
-Shaoxing rice wine
-Cornstarch
-1 large chicken egg, beaten
-1 uncooked salted duck egg (available at Chinese markets such as 99 Ranch)

Put a swig each of sesame oil, soy sauce and wine onto the ground pork. Sprinkle with a little bit of cornstarch. Mix it all together with your hands.

Add the chicken egg and mix again with your hands.

Separate the salted duck egg--the big bulbous orangey-yellow yolk will remain intact.

Combine the salted duck egg white with the pork & chicken egg mixture and mix thoroughly with your hands.

Pour the mixture into a shallow dish and put the salted duck egg yolk in the center of the mixture.

Steam for approximately 20 minutes or until the pork is no longer pink.

Serve with steamed rice and enjoy!

Note to parents: I recently started cooking an alternate, lower-sodium version of this for my toddler. I simply omitted the salted duck egg and added an additional beaten chicken egg. It won't have that subtle salted flavor that the duck egg lends to the dish, but at least my kid can enjoy something similar now. It still has that wonderful aroma of steamed pork and sesame oil and the custardy texture of the steamed egg. He's already been eating it at daycare and loving it--he makes mama so proud!

Jook: The Next Best Thing To A Hug From A Chinese Mama

Growing up, no other food that my parents made spelled out love better than jook, or Chinese rice porridge (also called congee). All it took was a little rice and broth or water to make comfort food at its finest. It warmed our tummies alongside noodles on weekend lunches at home. Since it's so hearty yet easy to digest, it made us feel better whenever we were sick with the flu, stomach problems, you name it. It was also traditionally a birthday food with my family--my dad explained it as "simple food that symbolizes your humble beginnings"--pretty wise, eh?

So now that I'm a Chinese Mama, jook has quickly become a staple in my household too. It's cheap, it's delicious, and it's such a feel-good food. Long gone are the days of dragging myself out of bed on a weekend morning to go to brunch in my best I-tried-really-hard-on-purpose-to-look-disheveled-yet-comfy garb. No sirree, I'm up early making jook for my family.

All you pretty much need is this: one part rice to approximately 10 parts liquid (broth, water or a combination of both) I prefer using jasmine rice, and using broth always makes jook alot more tasty than does water, though using water is handy when queasy stomachs call for the blandest of bland foods.

Put the rice in a large pot and add only about 4 to 6 parts of the liquid. Bring to a boil and lower heat to simmer and cover. After the rice simmers for a little bit, it will start to break down and look like the photo on the left.

Keep adding liquid in one to two part increments as the liquid in the pot starts to get absorbed by the rice and stir. As you near the 10-parts-liquid-part, the rice will start to look like the photo on the right. At this point, I always taste the jook for consistency before adding more liquid. Remember, you can always add more liquid but you can't take it out, so don't think that you have to use exactly 10 parts of liquid. Sometimes 8 is the magic number for me and sometimes it's 11, it all depends on how you want it and how moody your rice is on the absorbency scale that day. Another thing to keep in mind is that you can't rush jook; hearty, soul warming foods can't usually be made in 10 minutes, so be patient. Jook can sometimes take up to a couple of hours to make.

When your jook is near done, you can also add meat or other ingredients that would make it more interesting. Make jook as simple as you want, or as elaborate as you want. These days, I usually add coarsely chopped chicken thigh or beef because I'm catering to a toddler's diet, but the possibilities are really endless. Seafood makes for a really tasty jook, as do offals. My favorite jook growing up was a chicken and dried squid one; my brother's favorite contained pigs feet and boiled peanuts.

No jook is complete to me without all the condiments. At bare minimum, I've got scallions, ginger, and preserved turnip laying around for our jook meals. But it's an extra-extra-special day when I've got peanuts, thousand year old egg, deep fried bean threads, or yao zhar gwai--a deep fried cruller of sorts--to add to my jook. And oh yeah, don't forget the white pepper!

So doesn't this make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside now? Makes you wanna go hug your Chinese Mama, right? Don't have one? That's OK, just go make some jook--it's the next best thing.