New goal: Try Takis.

Personally, I prefer Jalapeno Cheetos to Hot Cheetos. But what are these Takis you speak of?

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 Engage in Some Shameless Name-Dropping.

I have to say that although I don't care at all about American football or the Super Bowl (or even, honestly, the commercials), I do love both cranberry juice and Henry Strozier, the actor on the left in this Ocean Spray spot.  I know Henry from work (and I'm positive he's not our food thief, in case you were wondering).  He's even more fun outside the bog.   

By the way, if I happen to wander into a Super-Bowl-watching scenario this evening, I'll report back.  Because there will be food there, or I won't be.

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Brunch Bunch

I digress: A short film with our hosts -- unrelated to today's brunch, but v. nice.










(photo by Dan)


(photo by Dan)



Anna and Mike hosted the most charming all-day New Year's Day "brunch" I've ever attended. Seriously. Well, it was also the only all-day brunch to which I've yet been invited, but it was better than I could have imagined -- and I do tend to get my hopes up when it comes to holiday food.

The day started with fruit and doughnuts and egg dishes (etc.), transitioned to chili around lunchtime, and when we left (late in the afternoon) there were promises of spaghetti and meatballs for evening stragglers.

Oh. My.


(photo by Dan)



Babies, dogs, adults -- everybody seemed to be having a lovely time. I certainly did. The food was plentiful and delicious, and it didn't hurt that their (under renovation construction) apartment is gorgeous, too.


(photo by Dan)


(photo by Dan)

My favorite dish? Mike's Hash Brown Casserole (recipe on Epicurious). I will be making this for myself. It was crunchy outside and creamy inside. I had two enormous helpings, with hot sauce.


 


These fancifully-flavored doughnuts from "Dough" were also a big hit.

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Thighs n Thighs

I have a new favorite dinner at local favorite chicken joint, Pies 'n' Thighs.  Surprising as it may be, this doesn't involve pie.



My current favorite side dish is the watermelon salad, which includes cucumber and jalapeño.  This is significantly different from how I like to make watermelon salad (with red onion, feta, and black olives), but it's light and refreshing.



The horchata is my beverage of choice this summer.  It's cold and tasty and spiced, without being too sweet.  I've had it at several restaurants, but the mixture at Pies 'n' Thighs is one of the best I've had.

Here's the main event:




It's the "Chicken Biscuit," it's $5, it's decadent, and it's phenomenal.  What you see here is a sandwich of chicken breast with hot sauce and honey butter on a fluffy biscuit.   There's so, so, much butter.  It can't possibly be healthy.  Just watch it ooze:



I love it so much.  This is currently my go-to comfort meal, y'all.

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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!

Ice Cream, Man.

My friend Nick keeps making delicious homemade ice cream. He sent me home with a jar of chocolate peanut butter cup (homemade peanut butter cups!) a few weeks ago, and we demolished it in one sitting.



I'm encouraging Nick in his idea to run a "CSI" (Community Supported Ice Cream) program in the neighborhood this summer.  At the very least, I think I need to commission some flavors when I start receiving fruit from my CSA.  Nick, I'll happily pay for more jars of ice cream.  Take my money, please!

I support The Gay Agenda.

If you're in the New York City area, you have two more chances -- this Tuesday and Thursday -- to see The Gay Agenda's shows running at Ars Nova on 54th Street. 

I'm going to get a little excited now:

Hie thee to that theater, baby! 

The Gay Agenda duo, Nicholas and Micah, have two shows running in a very limited rep, so Tuesday and Thursday nights' shows will be entirely different.  Though you certainly could see either one as a stand-alone performance, I recommend watching them both.  That's what I did.

Without giving away all of the fun surprises, Tuesday night's show is centered around mini musicals (this review goes into more details) and a Great Big Broadway show. Thursday's has more to do with the superstar pop status for which The Gay Agenda seems inevitably destined.  I liked myriad aspects of both shows, so I can't pick a favorite night, but I do love it when they do piano/trumpet/ukulele mash-ups and arrangements of pop and folk songs (which is more represented Thursday).  Micah does a wicked Lady Gaga.  There was even a nod to the old Smothers Brothers album "Think Ethnic" on Thursday night.  Be still my beating, bleeding liberal heart.

I know I sound like a super-fan (and I think the guys may be concerned I have a little too much enthusiasm for them), but I seriously love watching Micah and Nicholas on stage.  They're both extremely funny and ever-so-talented.  Nicholas plays the piano so easily and well that it makes me curse my younger self for giving up piano lessons in junior high.  Not that i would be that good now, but... I'm getting off track.  Both men sing and harmonize like a dream.  The bulk of the songs in both shows are original, witty, and well composed.  I'm gushing, aren't I?




Did I mention that Nicholas and Micah served cookies before the show on opening night?  They served cookies!  Chocolate chip, to be exact.  This is so an agenda I can get behind.




Watch The Gay Agenda on YouTube here.  The sound's a little low on some of the videos, but maybe you have better speakers than me.

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CSA and my bated breath

My CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) program's vegetable distribution begins in two weeks.  The video above features our farmer, Zaid, and his produce.  22 weeks of fruits and vegetables, here I come!

Zaid reports our first week could include:

Lettuces
Spring Garlic
Mixed Greens
Radishes
Japanese Turnips
Possibly garlic scapes

Can't. Wait.

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Photo Essay: Me and my Hostess Cupcake look-alike viewing some dioramas

At the well-catered (giant sandwich, anyone?!) opening of the Theme Magazine and Scion exhibition, "Small is Beautiful."







Theme Magazine article on Dan's piece in process




Not enough cream inside, btw. 






p.s. Nail polish = the surprisingly matte "Dream" by Savina, purchased at Nordstrom Rack.

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Video Postcard: Cairo

I'd never before seen a sign with neon that switched from Arabic to English.  Cool.

Still, I didn't seek out a Coke (or Pepsi) while we were in Egypt.  Look at me, advertisers.  I'm impervious!

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BabyCakes, meet Baby Cakes

BabyCakes vegan bakery's Banana Bread





Baby Cakes by Brad Neely, Creased Comics (watch 'em all!)

Put a Jenny in the Slot

Our knitting circle added another Jenny (actually a Jen)* and a Kara, and both of them brought food! Kara's individual turkey meat pies were terrific, as was Jen's apple crumble tart.

I forgot to get a picture of our host Melissa's chocolate chip banana bread tonight. I hope you can forgive me.

Oh, knitting circle friends, I love you.


*we are now Jen/Jenny (Jennette)/Jenny (Jennifer)/Jenni, Melissa, and Kara. It is strange and lovely to have so many Jennies. 'Twas a popular name in the late 70s and early 80s, wasn't it folks?!

I Hate That I Love Going Away Parties.

I feel so conflicted when people serve snacks at sorrowful events. I also feel hungry.




Look at my coworkers start to gather!




We miss you already, Jeremy, but the cupcakes helped ease the transition. I picked Oreo.

Oh, and congratulations on your new gig. I hope you find the time to make more of these:




Tiny cupcakes from Crumbs kindly procured by my employer.

The eternal question.

How many flights of stairs does it take me to get to the center of a date?


Date generously supplied by my coworker Ian.

Happy New Year! Now, get back to work!

I rescued two Pixy Sticks from the piñata that was whacked to smithereens during DJ and AF's New Year's Eve party. Glitter covered the dance floor in drifts, hiding the rest of the loot that had been driven out of the festive vessel, but I managed to come away with a plastic and silvery necklace, a couple of KitKats, and these.

I found the paper cylinders of tart red powder (again) in my purse while at the office a couple of days ago and ingested one (just its contents, not the paper) as a well-needed back-to-work-already?! sugar rush pick-me-up (that's a lot of hyphens, no?).

It was sweet and so are you.



(photos mostly by Dave Johnny)

Still Life on Video

I am experimenting with using more video on this site. The fact that most food doesn't move shouldn't stop me, right?

Right?

Giant Movie Night -- Accidentally Awesome

 

 GMN Week six Film: Boogie Nights, starring Luis Guzmán, as far as I'm concerned. With Thomas "Mr. Patricia Arquette" Jane of Hung, interestingly enough. 

Snack: Spotted Dick (a gift from Rusty), ice cream. 

Guests: Dan. 

Outcome: It was another quiet Giant Movie Night. I appreciated the film on this re-viewing. Like Casino, it's the sort of stylish epic (with just enough humor) that I don't get tired of.

 

Canned Spotted Dick was a frightening and exciting treat. I may have mentioned I'm not too big on raisins, and this is basically a stiff sponge cake with raisins (if only it had been currants, as described on the Wikipedia page). However, once steamed in the microwave it wasn't half bad. It was a little like slightly dry pumpkin bread (with raisins). I didn't even need to cover it with ice cream to make it palatable. Perhaps the non-canned version is grosser? I thought it would be grosser. In short: this snack was not terrible at all. Thanks, Rusty! It was only due to your thoughtfulness that I had the chance and encouragement to try it. Still, the cake does manage to look unappealing. You could work on that, Brits. But don't let me tell you your business.

Monkey See (brownies made into waffles), Monkey Do (make brownies into waffles).

I am so suggestible.

It only took one blog post about making brownies in a waffle iron to convince me to do it myself.



This video was posted on Serious Eats at 11am. I unplugged my waffle iron at 9:55 pm and settled down with my last brownie. That's not a bad turnaround time.

The changes I made to the recipe?

• I used instant espresso powder instead of instant coffee powder or brewed coffee.
  
• I stirred the espresso powder into the melted chocolate and butter instead of into the wet ingredients that were mixed together in the recipe's second step.
• I sprayed my waffle iron with cooking spray before each round of waffles. The video does not specify whether to do this once or before every batch.
• I topped my brownies with leftover CSA sour cherries and powdered sugar.
• I only had 5.7 oz of chocolate, and I think it was semi-sweet or milk chocolate (the label was gone), rather than bittersweet chocolate.
  

My ingredients (in case the video goes haywire):

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
5.7 oz (should have been 6) of whatever chocolate is wrapped in foil in the freezer (should have been bittersweet)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 T. water
1/2 tsp. instant espresso powder
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp. salt

My waffle iron does not have power levels. It took about 5 minutes to cook two medium-sized waffles at a time.

How To Live Forever: Health Magazine, July/August 2009

(This is the first installment of a new feature here at Snackreligious, in which I sporadically chronicle all of the things you "should" eat or drink regularly for better health.)

Have you ever noticed how many magazine, newspaper, radio and blog articles instruct you regarding the frequency with which you should eat or drink various ingredients or foods in order to guard against disease, injury, or other maladies? I've been thinking someone should keep track of this advice, as it would probably be a full time job (and rather nauseating) to ingest everything that writers and nutritionists so glibly tell us we should be eating "every day," "3 times a week," etc.

So, while the lists I'm going to compile and share with you will be in no way comprehensive [how could one person with a full-time (more or less) job comb through all the media outlets out there for a complete list of RDAs?], I hope they will serve to instruct and to entertain, and to point out that it would be humanly impossible to eat as healthily as journalists suggest we should all be doing. So don't sweat that handful of walnuts you're supposed to be eating every 36 hours to keep your headaches from turning into blindness.

Again, I am not posting these "tips" because I think we should all follow all of them. I am just fascinated by how many there are in the informational ether.

Today, let's see what's contained in the July/August issue of Health magazine. If you really care about yourself you will:

DRINK

• no alcohol per day (because the first drink increases breast cancer risk by 12 percent)
  

EAT

• an apple before (every?) meal (to reduce calorie intake by 15%)
• three or more servings of foods rich in vitamin C each day (to burn up to 30 percent more fat while you work out)
• foods from "all of the color groups during the day" (to cut calories easily)
• 1/2 cup blueberries per day (to block cancer-causing free radicals)
  

INGEST

• 1,300 mg calcium per day (lower your colon cancer risk by 28 percent)
• food prepared with cooking sprays, not oils (because a high-fat diet might put you at an increased risk for the "spread" of cancer)
• 25 grams of fiber per day (to lose body fat)
• a multi-vitamin per day, with 100% RDA of "chromium, copper, folic acid, iodine, manganese, molybdenum, niacin, pantothenic acid, riboflavin, thiamin, vinamins B6 and B12, and zinc" (to "kill hunger")
• 1,500 to 2,000 I.U. vitamin D supplement per day (to guard against flu)
  

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The list so far? Not too bad. But we've only just begun. I'll be gathering more "every day" type tips and will share them with you soon. Together, we will eat and drink all day long and live forever!

As Dr. Steve Brule would say, "For Your Health!"