Author Archives: John Idstrom - Eater, Angler, Writer, Cook

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About John Idstrom - Eater, Angler, Writer, Cook

My name is John Idstrom and I write Meezenplace, which is an intentional misspelling of the french cooking term Mise en Place. I am a non-indigenous, invasive species who lives and writes on a rock that juts up from the Salish Sea, Vashon Island. My tag line is "Eater, Angler, Writer, Cook." I used to think Meezenplace was about food, and maybe it was at some point. Now it's just stories that find me that have food in them. Pull up a chair and join me for a meal.

Brooding

Since emerging from a recent funk, I have come to some fairly garden-variety epiphanies. One is, life is too short to be on the mobile device when using the bathroom. As my sensei says, “Do one thing at a time.” … Continue reading

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The Italian (Duck) Job

Some days even Superman can’t manage to get the cape on.  I don’t have a story for all y’all today, but I do have a dish.  Lately, I’ve been eating cheap duck from my new grocer, H-Mart, which sells five … Continue reading

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Home Cookin’

Home. It’s where they have to take you back. In food terms, it’s where you grow, gather, catch, shoot, or otherwise scavenge your sustenance, and in this regard, the closer to where you lay your head down, the better. A … Continue reading

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Mr. Jones Goes on a Field Trip

Something is happening and you don’t know what it is, do you, Mr. Jones? –Robert Zimmerman Hibbing, Minnesota I was feeling in need of some adventure the other day, so I grabbed my passport and shuffled my wing tips on … Continue reading

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Mad Menus: Loaf of Meat

My literary empire is expanding.  The last few weeks I have been contributing short pieces to The Spleen (www.the-spleen.com) called Mad Menus, that are essentially sidebars to Claire Moshenberg’s and E.C. Fish’s erudite recaps of recent Mad Men episodes.  I’ll … Continue reading

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The Quack-Up

There I was, sitting beneath 26 Edison lights glowing softly over the bar at the Pacific Grill — my friend Gordon Naccarato’s swanky Tacoma restaurant — slurping my second glass of wine, the delicious Townshend T3 blend that Gordon pours there by … Continue reading

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When Numbers Get Serious

“Red means run, son, numbers don’t add up to nothin’…                                                             –Neil Young, from “Powderfinger” As it happens, I was running the numbers the other day, as I am prone to doing. Maybe you’re not like me, but I am, … Continue reading

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Mississippi Redux: Happy New Year

Author’s Note:  While I am working up a new essay, I thought I would share an old one from September 2011 that I recently reworked and expanded with the help of Amy Milligan, editor extraordinaire of The Spleen (www.the-spleen.com).  If … Continue reading

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This Little P-I-Ggy Goes to Market

In Spain, bacon can cost you $90 per pound. OK, that’s an approximation based on my imperfect conversions of euros to dollars and kilos to pounds, but you get the picture. Also, it’s not quite fair to call the Spanish … Continue reading

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Meez Teez

A new Meez en Place is in the final stages of editing prior to posting, but just thought I would provide a little teaser for my loyal readers.  Several weeks ago I got multiple requests for the recipe of a … Continue reading

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