It's the new year and new blog readers out there. I love lists and I love questionnaires. I think both items give you insights to what people are thinking and what their daily lives are like.With that said I figured I would like to share my life with a 50 question and answer section to start off the new year of TameekaEats so you the reader can get to know me.Sit back and have a read. If something triggers you leave a comment below or send me a tweet: @tameekaeats.1. What name do you go by and why?
2. Do you buy more than one kind of butter?
- Yes. Absolutely. I buy whipped butter, clarified butter (for when I'm dieting), and often pick up a tasty Polish butter made of 82% milk: Masło Ekstra. I also buy almond butter and cashew butter. I'm currently in search for recipes to make my own peanut butter and almond butter at home.
3. Where do you go eat for a special meal?
- This I hard to answer because I live in one of the most amazing cities in the country (New York City) so I often go out to eat for special meals but as of recent. My significant other and I have frequented a local restaurant named JADE EATERY. It's located in the town next to ours (Forest Hills). It's very casual with a lounge and restaurant area. We can dress up or come here straight after work and enjoy a fancy meal and cocktail.
4. Do you drink wine?
- I do. I really do. I actually love drinking wine. I'm a big fan of reds. I really live Merlots. My favorite type of wine is Cabernet Franc. And I can always go for a glass of cabernet sauvignon.
5. Do you prefer vegetables raw or cooked?
- I can go either way. I love a good crunchy carrot or a crisp celery stick. I also enjoy carrots roasted in the oven and topped with honey and a little salt and pepper.
6. Do you watch any food TV?
- Yes! My favorite cooking/food tv show is “Chopped”. I love the fact that the contestents are timed. I’m often heard screaming at the tv while this show is on. I also really like: The Great Food Truck Race and Bizarre Food with Andrew Zimmern.
7. Chinese? Thai? Japanese? Cambodian? Vietnamese? No preference?
- I actually love all types of asian foods. I’m a huge fan of Japanese cuisine. I can probably eat Japanese food every day and not get sick of it. I will hopefully plan a trip to Asia at some point in my life.
8. Have you ever made a recipe from Julia Child’s “Mastering the Art of French Cooking?
- Unfortunately no I have not but I just ordered Mastering the Art of French Cooking and plan on getting my Julia Childs on with in the next few months. From the movies I’ve watched I really admire Julia’s passion. It’s something we all can appreciate.
9. Discuss your thoughts and experiences about specialty salts.
- I think specialty salts are necessary. I especially think Himalayan salts, sea salts, and truffle salts are important. Salts are made to bring out the flavor in foods. It’s a science. It’s not just hearsay. "Salt is used as a universal flavor improver because at low concentrations it will reduce bitterness, but increase sweet, sour and umami, which is desirable for sweet recipes. But at higher concentrations it suppresses sweetness and enhances umami, which is good for savory things.” {Source: Science Focus: http://www.sciencefocus.com/qa/why-does-salt-enhance-flavour }
10. How do you store your leftovers?
- Yes. I know many people who are not fans of leftovers but I LOVE leftovers. For some reason when I cook meals I feel like the next day the food tastes even better once re-heated. Sometimes I’ll bake chicken thighs, don’t eat them right away, put them in the refrigerator and reheat it the next day and I’m in chicken heaven.
11. Where do you tend to get your new ideas for cooking at home?
- I get my new cooking ideas from Pinterest, Facebook, other food blogs, twitter, basically most visual social media platforms.
12. How often do you eat out?
- Within a month I’d say about 3-4 times. For the past month I've been receiving orders from Blue Apron and I'm really enjoying the variety.
13. When you do eat out, what kind of place do you like?
- I typically eat out during the week, and it’s usually different places. I frequent websites like Groupon, Pulsd, and LivingSocial for dinner deals and usually go during the week and the weekends are usually spent at home with family relaxing and cooking. If I had to choose one "type" of place I go to a lot I would say foods with asian flair.
14. Have you ever eaten on a train?
- I just laughed after reading this question, I will confirm yes. I have eaten snacks on the train. Being from New York City you will see everything on the train and one thing you will see (no matter if it's Winter, Spring, Summer or Fall) is something chomping down of a full bowl of food. I am not a fan of this because there are lots of foods that do not smell well.
15. Do you buy any food magazines?
- Yes, in 2016 I had a 1-year subscription to Cooking Light. I have not renewed because I'm on the look out for a new food magazine line to subscribe it. It's always refreshing to have an actual recipe in hand and photos to flip through.
16. Have you even been/eaten abroad?
- Yes, and I have to say one of the best places I've gone to eat is in the Montreal, Canada.
17. What are your thoughts about eggs?
- I love love love eggs. I think they are a great source of protein. I can eat them morning, noon or night. My favorite style of eggs are hard scrambled and hard boiled.
18. Miracle Whip or real mayonnaise?
- Real mayonnaise. 100%. I can not tell you the last time I've had Miracle Whip, it was probably when I was a teenager.
19. Do you buy organic foods?
- Yes. In my household we do our best to eat organic as much as possible. Our meats (chicken and fish) are usually purchased organically.
20. Do you buy local foods?
- Occasionally we do. And by locally I mean in my household we tend to get our groceries from Polish family owned markets in Greenpoint Brooklyn.
21. Do you shop at a farmers market?
- Yes! I adore farmer markets. The market that I frequent is located in Manhattan in the union square area. It's one of the best farmers markets in the city.
22. Do your vacation pictures ever include food?
- Absolutely! I take a lot of photos and I'm generous at sharing them on various social media platforms. The key with getting good photos on vacation is to set a time for photos and then set a down time where your cameras are back at the hotel or your phone is turned off so you can actually enjoy the vacation.
23. Are you a radish eater? Have you ever cooked radishes or used the greens?
- I am now a radish eater. I did not radishes until a few months ago when my significant other made me a radish salad. It contained: raw radishes, diced onions, sour cream, sugar, dill, salt and pepper. Once this was set in the refrigerator for a half this side dish was delicious. I have never cooked radishes our used the greens. Maybe this will be in my near cooking future.
24. Rice: basmati, jasmine, sticky, sushi, long, arborio, brown, wild?
- If you know, you know that I LOVE rice. It's one of my comfort foods. Growing up I grew up eating rice having a Caribbean background. Now if I have to pick from the above options, I would go with jasmine rice. The aroma alone makes my mouth water.
25. Crème fraiche? Sour Cream? Crema?
- Sour Cream for sure. I like that it is a base that can be mixed with sugar or salt and pepper and still taste yummy. It's a staple in my household. It may not be the healthiest option but it damn sure is tasty.
26. Do you cook ahead?
- I started cooking ahead starting last year when I tried the Whole 30 diet. It was a great experience and it makes you really think about what goes into foods at restaurants and makes you wonder if the ingredients are fresh, local, or even good for you to consume so a long story short it's always best to cook ahead. Cook for the week.
27. What are your holiday food favorites?
- Some of my favorite holiday foods are: candies yams and cranberry sauce. Those are the 2 dishes that I do not eat on a regular and whenever I eat it during the holidays it feels like a treat!
28. What’s your favorite berry?
- Strawberries. They are hands down my favorite of the berries.
29. Recommend a good wine for a newbie.
30. Have you ever eaten bugs (on purpose)?
- Actually I have. I dined at a Mexican restaurant named Serenata in the Chelsea area of New York City and the appetizer I chose included roasted grasshoppers. The dish was called ENSALADA DEL DESIERTO and it was quite delicious. It reminded me of eating sunflower seeds (maybe because it was roasted but I did not complain).
31. Do you like liverworst?
- I wouldn't say that I like it, I would say I've eaten it and I have not complained.
32. Have you ever made sausage?
- No. But, I have watched the process in person and on screen and it's usually something I do not enjoy watching because it's usually kind of gross but I will eat sausage until the cows come home.
33. Do you like to try local specialities when you travel?
- Yes. 100% before I travel I do a bit of research based on where I am going so I can try the national dish of that place. It gives you a feel of the location and connects you to what the people there value when it comes to food.
34. Ever made your own beer or wine or spirits?
- I've assisted in making beer at an editorial house I worked for years ago. The ingredients were simple to get but the process itself included a few specialty items and the final process take several weeks to complete.
35. What are your favorite vegetables?
- My favorite vegetables are: carrots, beets, baby kale, sorrel, spinach and cabbage.
36. Fruit crisps – with or without oatmeal?
- With oatmeal. And also with ice-cream on top!
37. Have you ever met a cheese you didn’t like?
- I have indeed! I enjoy cheese like the next person but when it is way too smelly I have a hard time eating it. I can not remember the brand but I was at an event and was served a camembert. Once I touched the tiny tasting block I just couldn't bring it up to my mouth to eat it. I'm find with non-smelly cheeses and I understand the smellier the cheese the better the taste but not in my book!
38. Do you like coffee?
- I do like coffee. Out of the types of coffee, I really enjoy cappuccinos. As I do enjoy coffee, I only drink it when I'm tired. I actually love tea a lot more and can drink tea all day.
39. What pasta do you favor, and with what sauce?
- I am a big fan of penne. And I can always go for a nice vodka sauce on top.
40. Do you eat beets, and if so how do you like them prepared?
- I do eat beets. I liked them juiced. I like them oven roasted. I can eat them raw in salads. During the holidays I eat a Polish beet soup. Recently I learned to shred them and pan fry them. I can eat anyway!
41. Have you ever eaten flowers?
- Yes. I have eaten roses before in cupcakes. I've also had various teas containing flowers. Lot's of people do not realize they are drinking dried flowers in certain teas.
42. Do you like to read cookbooks?
- No I do not like to read cookbooks, I usually skip the stories and go straight to the recipes.
43. Do you like to shop in foreign speciality grocery stores?
- Yes. I mentioned earlier my house hold is half Polish so we shop at speciality polish markets and speciality Caribbean markets.
44. Does fancy dress enhance a special meal, or make it uncomfortable?
- I would say yes. When you have to dress up for a meal it makes you feel special which in turn makes the meal feel special and when we usually dress up for meals it is for a special occasion.
45. Are good knives important?
- Yes and no. For years I've used standard knives and I've been fine. I've managed to make perfectly delicious meals. Recently my significant other dropped quite a pretty penny on knives for Christmas and I will say these expensive knives cut everything so perfectly. I am grateful for them when I'm preparing meats and chopping vegetables because it does make a difference but for the last 15 years I've been okay with out them. So if you can obtain expensive knives do so.
46. What is your favorite kitchen tool (feel free to list more than one)?
- This may sound weird but my tongs. I have at least 5 different sized tongs in my kitchen. No matter what I'm cooking, I seem to always use my tongs to pick something up or put something hot down. I don't know how I operated in my kitchen before having them.
47. Have you ever tried kitchen scissors?
- Yes. They come in handy with cutting vegetables and tricky packaging.
48. Do you ever save up to splurge on an exceptional meal?
- I have not saved for an exceptional meal but I have budgeted my month around an opportunity to eat at (2) of New York City's most famous steak houses in one week: Peter Luger and Strip House.
49. If you had $200 which you could only spend on food, what would you get?
- If I had to spend $200 on food it would be a mixture of steak and lobster.
50. Have you ever thrown a dinner party?
- Yes. I love dinner parties. I think they are great. Last year I threw a party at my apartment, it was called Tameeka's Birthday Pizza Pokeno and Pierogies. It was a lot of fun.
BONUS: Please share a recipe.
Many thanks to the questionnaire post on Swap-Bot for providing the above questions.
It seems like every other culture has food that's proudly celebrated but its seems like black food isn't celebrated as much as Italian or even Mexican food. I feel Marcus is doing a great job representing for us and showing the culinary world the importance and sophistication of black food.
I've had the pleasure of eating at 
While I was at the restaurant I had a chance to meet Marcus. I completely fangirled and as you can see from my photo I was really excited to meet him. He was extremely humble. He was even open to suggestions about the food. Which I thought was really thoughtful and just plain real. He made sure he went to every table and checked to see if everyone was happy with the menu and the dishes they ordered.
A few years back I started reading his James Beard Foundation award winning memoir titled 
To keep up with Marcus I now follow him on 
The pop up restaurant/parking lot was located downtown Manhattan at 
While waiting to get in everyone took photos with the staff members, the infamous man in a chicken costume, and we watched the official trailer a few times. In the trailer I noticed Gus says "come in and try our curly fries". I didn't think anything of it until one of the staff members announced there was no chicken being sold nor given out. My heart sunk. ?
I want to mention that I ALWAYS research every restaurant, event, pop up shop, grand opening, etc I attend. I search the internet for details and because of my "need to know" personality I always like to be prepared and know what to expect. But this time, because I saw so many tweets about it being so "cool" at SXSW I did not dive into finding out what to expect and wanted to be surprised. With that said, I was unaware that chicken would not actually get served at the pop up restaurant.The one time I do not research a pop up event this happens. I would not have gotten there so early if I knew this. On a positive note, they did however provide us with curly fries (and the fries were actually tasty). For free. 
I will say this was more of a pop up museum of the Los Pollos Hermanos restaurant rather than a standard pop up restaurant. I can't front, I'm sad I did not get to try some chicken but it was kinda astounding seeing the replica of the set. It was like we were actually in the southwest and in this extremely nice and wholesome chicken joint that was really a front for drug money. It was pretty freaking awesome to have experienced it.
