Poetry Tuesday: Talk To Me, Yan Yan by Meiji

Here's a normal golden egg,
Mostly golden, not quite gold,
Owl-faced, moony-eyed, and
Short on gumption, pride, and light.
Kokekokko no! That's me not being chicken.
Animal instinct's the tallest mammal
And I've lucky-numbered pieces here.
8 inches of snail mail makes for a slow ride.

So - love it on the pale bakery tip.
Not love, love. I'm in like. Like this. It's
OK to try to gallop, girl, astride a
Crispy kinda cracker stick. We're
Stuck and thin, a skinny swim
In -- sorta chocolate cream to dip.
Butter me up, herbivores. Meet me so
I'm sugar light. But then
Think big and bigger, more:
Sweeten me there, chocolate-like.
Meet me back in.
I'm more active at night.

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These are odd.

Paul showed me these videos the other day.  That candy sushi looks pretty fabulous!  My instinct is that these must taste gross, but  I haven't tried them for myself, so that's not a fair assessment. 

I do like miniature things...and assembly...




The pizza freaks me out a little.  What's with all the liquid?

Have any of you ever tried this sort of homemade gummy candy? 

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I don't see what's so masculine about this.

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Onigiri Girl

At Crest Fest on Saturday, Dan picked out a carob, banana, and peanut butter dessert onigiri to serve as part of our lunch.  An onigiri is a Japanese rice ball (often triangular), wrapped in seaweed.  They were being sold by Brooklyn Onigiri Company.


Skirt from ModCloth

I liked that it was wrapped in a banana leaf, but I don't agree with the Company founders when they say (on their website), "We try to re-package the traditional Japanese version usually not so attractive, and give it our own twist in terms of looks and flavor."  I think that traditional Japanese onigiri are often quite lovely.  For example, I enjoyed the aesthetics of the one I ate in Seattle.



This dessert onigiri was intriguing, but I would have loved even more filling. Wouldn't I always?

They're not all sweet.  Next time, I want to try the one with bok choy and peanuts.  Here's the menu:


 
Dan told me I shouldn't post this video unless I put music with it.  But I don't have time, so nyah!

Photo Essay: Crest Fest, 2010

I think it's awesome that this hardware store in my neighborhood wants to support and display local artists.  They hold an annual event that's part street festival and part gallery opening -- all centered in and around the Crest Hardware Store in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

Walking around the store, looking for artwork "hidden" among the merchandise (and often greatly resembling the merchandise), was like participating in a treasure hunt.  Actually, there was a map to the artistic treasures, but it wasn't available yet when we stopped by on opening day.  We spent an hour or more just wandering and trying to spot everything.

Read more about the Crest Fest here. 


Dan's tool wallpaper.









Smitty's saws.




 


Made of tires!  What?!









In the garden at the hardware store.





Extended festivities on Saturday included food, crafts, face painting, other vendors, bands, and more!

I was glad to see that the major beneficiary of this event was The City Reliquary Museum, another local institution that's been in danger of going out of business for too long.








Expect details on lunch in my next post!

Unhelpful Review: Japanese Crab Chips

[A gift from Jeff H.  Thanks, man.]

These tasted warm.

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A teaser

Coming soon...

A little cookie, a little Kit Kat

The Japanese have the right idea.  Everything sweet SHOULD be a flavor of Kit Kat.  Let's go!

Takumi Take-Away.

The soup base was a little greasy, but the flavors were nice.

Ramen Takumi
90 University Place
New York, NY

What snacks would YOU choose for YOUR birthday bus trip?

My Birthday Bus Snacks, 2010
Haribo Happy Cola
Japanese snack mix (wasabi flavor)
Anna's Chocolate Mint Cookies**


**I did not eat these yet. Report coming soon.

Worth coming home to.

Dan picked up some Banana Pocky. Sehr gut.

My notes:

• Just the right amount of banana flavor
  
• Strong and whimsical
• Not too artificial; not too natural
• Skinny crisp
• Handsome
  

Hungry Eyes

We came; we got some popcorn; we saw a new movie; we ate some fancy film screening snacks.



Note to the man sitting in front of us (and anyone else who can learn from his example): it is impolite -- and, in my opinion, boorish -- to turn around and give people dirty looks for having honest emotional responses (within reason) to cinema. Perhaps you need to pay more attention to the movie and less to your neighbors. My friend and I both found the juxtaposition of an old man stapling a mattress while a Kylie Minogue song played on the radio to be funny. I think our point is defensible.

[There is some evidence you may also be the kind of man who immediately begins fretting when seated next to a baby on an airplane, despite not having any way of knowing how that particular baby will behave on that particular flight. Now, is that fair?]

Oh! Yakitori!

I had a dinner full of snacks at Yakitori Oh! Taisho at 9 St. Marks Place earlier this evening.

We ordered the "B" sampler of yakitori and other skewered foods, rock shrimp with a mayonnaise-y sauce, squid, some kind of potato pancake piled with fish flakes, and more. My favorite items were the chicken meatballs (tsukune - at the far right in the picture above), the rolled scallions (also on skewers - at the far left in the picture), and the "spicy fried chicken" (not spicy at all, but hot and crispy and flavorful with a spritz of lemon - not pictured).

I also drank beer, which I never do (except in foreign countries), and hardly minded. The food was that good.

Some of us aren't eating solids yet (except for gnawing on fingers) but found the menu intriguing anyway.

Mmm...finger skewers...

Unicorn Crepes

Unicorn Crepes is in the International District neighborhood of Seattle, just around the corner from Uwajimaya. Inside, a display of plastic crepe wedges with various plastic toppings catches the eye. Choose your poison! Your delicious, delicious poison.

Wait. Why are they called Unicorn Crepes?



Oh, I get it, maybe! I guess it's because you start with a crepe that has been made flat and round, but then after the person behind the counter finishes putting the fillings in it in a wedge shape, the crepe is rolled into a horn-like cone and eaten that way. Tear the paper off as you eat from the top down.

Dan's Banana Corn Flake Choco Whip (pictured above) was excellent. That's banana slices with corn flakes, chocolate sauce, and whipped cream. I really dug the inclusion of corn flakes; they're an asset to any crepe, turning a rather soft dessert into something less passive. My strawberry (slices of whole strawberries, not just sauce) and yummy vanilla custard and whipped cream (and chocolate? I forget.) crepe was almost as good. Needed cornflakes. There were a number of savory crepe suggestions, too, such as spicy tuna and egg salad, but their plastic display counterparts appealed to me less.

Japanese Picnic foods

In Seattle, Eva took us to Uwajimaya (an impressive Asian-and-more grocery/home goods market) in the International District for a pre-camping shopping trip. We also picked up some ready-to-eat items for snacking in the car on the way to (and on board) the ferry.



Inarizushi are fried tofu pouches filled with sushi rice. They are good cold -- moist and sugary, but tangy from the (rice wine?) vinegar -- but I wondered if they might be even better just fried and crispy. Then I discovered that the pouches come pre-made in cans. One merely stuffs and (some recipes say) steams them. So I guess they wouldn't be crispy that way, either.

We also tried onigiri (not pictured), triangles of rice and filling (salmon, eel, etc) with crisp seaweed around the outside. The packaging of the brand we found in the market ingeniously keeps the seaweed dry - even if one of your onigiri gets lost in the cooler and doesn't get eaten until the next day.

Ooh, and there were some kind of delicious shrimp rolls (I've forgotten the name). They were excellent - fresh and crunchy and light.



But...



Less satisfying were the Cheese Rings, which also tasted quite sugary. Though the flavor was "off," the shape was novel and they were eaten anyway. I mean, as long as one is trying new things...