Archive for the ‘Happenings’ Category
going on vacation/hiatus
t says: g and I will breaking from blogging for a few weeks as the holidays come around. We’ll return soon! In the meantime, contemplate Philly Mag’s bit about “12 Restaurants Trends that Need to Die“. Some of his/her stances I can agree with (I don’t order lobster mac-n-cheese. I don’t order crabcakes) … but there’s a lot I don’t.
1) I think the Philly needs more chocolate in savory dishes for the precise reason that “you have to be a certified genius to make chocolate work in a savory dish” – if they don’t keep trying, then how will they get ever accomplish genius?
2) Dude better step off of the hamachi crudo (otherwise g might “call in a favor” if you know what I mean … a and v do …). While I agree that I’ll leave it to Asian (read: Japanese) restaurants to serve it plain/clean, there are times when I like a little pizazz added to my raw fish, which is what I look to all those non-Asian restaurants for. I mean – do you think I’m going to walk up into Zama and be like, “yea – could you put some citrus on my sushi?”. Nope.
3) Finally: regarding sous-vide. I disagree with the author whole-heartedly. It’s a manner of cooking that can yield excellent results when done properly. Who cares if it’s a fad now? If that’s how the chefs cook the meat, then that’s how they cook it – whadya want? And does it really matter that it’s being used despite the fact that it’s “been around forever”? So has using ovens but you don’t see anyone throwing a tantrum when they see “roasted” on the menu, do you? Finally, is the author implying that he/she is “over” sous-vide because that’s soooo “last year” and that he/she is just too cool for school? … get over yourself … go home and cook with some lasers or something.
Oh … and bacon … don’t mess with bacon …
g & t are going back to school
t says: g and I are going to a wine tasting “class” at “The Wine School”. We went to one a while ago in the days when groupon was new/exciting and not 99.99% useless like it is now. Basically, you show up, sit down at small tables like at a restaurant (n.b. there’s no food at these events), and some enthusiastic guy/gal talks to you about the wines you’re going to taste. It was actually a lot of fun. Perhaps the most famous quote of the night we went was when d exclaimed, “You know … after all these years, I think that I finally understand that all that wine snobbery isn’t just made-up bullshit … you really CAN taste a difference!”
We’re going to return to school and go to the 12/23/2011 tasting of “Luxury Wines of Napa Valley”. For more info, go to https://www.vinology.com/ and scroll down until you find it.
While I can’t guarantee the level of luxuriosity of the wines at this particular tasting (they’re not naming any wines in the listing), I can at least say that they did a pretty good job with the Italian tasting we went to – some whites in the $20-30 range, and some [appropriately aged] reds in the $60+ range … and that class didn’t have the word “luxury” in its name!
So if you’re bored on Christmas Eve Eve, get warm with some California wine.
UPDATE: They’re now down to 12 spots left! Hurry!!!!
UPDATE: a and v are in! That should be extra incentive to go, because if you didn’t know: awesome story-worthy things happen when you mix together a and v and wine on a Friday night. Can’t wait to see what the night’ll bring.
iTether
t says: Today, Apple approved the Tether application (actually, I think it was yesterday). Later today, Apple pulled the Tether application from the App Store. Why? Well – you see – Tether allows you to use your iPhone’s cellular network as an internet source for any attached computer … without paying for it. Ok, that’s not exactly true: you pay $15 for the application and then that’s it. It’s not like when you sign up for the tethering service through your cell phone company and they hit you for $20 per month and then hit you up more if you exceed a certain number of MB. So this was quite a steal.
Apple used to have an app called NetShare that functioned similarly and suffered a similar fate. While I can neither confirm nor deny that I was able to download this application before it was pulled (those who have downloaded the app before it was pulled retain the ability to use the app), I can at least say that Apple could have very well “stuck it to the man” by letting the application slide (but of course, I’m sure they’ve signed some sort of agreement with the cell services saying they wouldn’t). We’ll see what the future brings …
celebrity chef switcheroo
t says: Those who know me know that I’m not the biggest Bobby Flay fan. Ever since meeting him with k at the opening of Bobby’s Burger Palace, I found him to be short, too Hollywood, and kind of an ass. That said, I listened to him on Wednesday before Thanksgiving on the radio (Q102) and he was actually far more “normal-sounding”. He poked a little fun at himself, and he didn’t take cooking too seriously. He seemed like a real human being. Bravo Bobby!
On the other hand, I’ve added a new celebrity chef to my personal “dislike list”. Marcus Samuelsson. Ever since his appearance on the Next Iron Chef (the season that Jose Garces won), I’ve hated him. He may be an awesome chef, but he is not a nice person. I even booed him every chance I got on Top Chef Masters (but he still won … BOOOOO!). Now that he’s competing again on Next Iron Chef Super Chefs, my negative feelings have been rekindled. I will take up my arms and continue to boo him. a disagrees with me about Mr. Samuelsson. We’ll see, a. We’ll see.
In the meantime, I’ll post this absolutely ridiculous picture of him from the subway in NYC:
Tell me that you can look at the above ad and keep a straight face.
how g and t do Thanksgiving
t says: g and I normally cook up a storm for Thanksgiving at my parents’ house. This year was a little different, as we did a lot of cooking at her mom’s house. While I just hate to toot my own horn, I have to say that the food turned out pretty darn good. g’s mom and family took care of the classics (mashed tatoes, sweet taters, dressing/stuffing, lasagna), while g and I took on the remainder (forcing everyone to enjoy new-to-our-Thanksgiving additions of cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, and fennel salad) and coordinated the cooking schedule. What does that mean to “coordinate a cooking schedule”. Let’s just say that I run a tight ship – a dictatorship (buzinga!). See what I mean:
the master schedule ... color coded slots for ovens (pink and blue) and stovetop (orange)
We finished approximately 15 mins behind schedule due to some unforeseen baking pan mishaps (one pan was too wide for the oven so it had to wait until I could free up another pan from another use). And another hiccup included using extra virgin olive oil for high heat roasting (i.e. it smoked a LOT). Our only real folly of the evening was forgetting to put g’s special sauce on the table (a gouchuchang-based sauce that’s sweet and spicy … just like g … i’m sooo funny).
Oh – and a special shout-out to honorary family members k and cm who brought their homemade cranberry sauce (not to be confused with Ocean Spray’s can-berry sauce [g interjects: i’m so funny!]). g’s mom hopes that their recipe gets posted on adsz so she may use it in the future. We made the case that this is unnecessary just so long as k and cm come to every Thanksgiving from here on out. Be that as it may, we’ll also have to see if cm can divulge his secret family recipe.
k and cm also get a second special shout-out for the stroke of genius that occurred at their recent Thanksgiving gathering. Somewhere along the line, one of their guests was looking for a vessel for the gravy for cm’s turkey. Not having a gravy boat on hand, it was suggested that a pitcher be used for the purpose. This was genius. With a large enough pour-ready vessel, we didn’t have to get up to refill the gravy boat 17 times throughout the dinner. g and I stole this idea and, inspired by Apple’s brilliant strategy, served our gravy in a brand-new, colorful, aesthetically-appealing pitcher of our own.
the all-new most technologically advanced gravy boat ever: a pitcher ... sure, the technology's been around for a while, but I'll still claim it's "new" and "never before seen" ...
lc felt that perhaps the pitcher had too small a base and was easy to tip over, having demonstrated its propensity to tilt on a number of occasions. As a result, we took another strategy from Apple by learning from their dealings with the iPhone “death grip” fiasco: we told everyone that they simply had to be careful when setting it down, as clearly its instability is not a fault of the product’s design, rather, something that we should just adapt to. Duh!
So three cheers for Turkey Day 2011! Hip-hip-hooray! Hip-hip-hooray! Hip-hip-hooray!
is it iced coffee or iced tea? both!
t says: I happened across this bottle of Harney & Sons iced tea today: “Organic Coffee Tea”.
coffee + tea = ???
The back label describes: “While most tea and coffee drinks are made with extractions, Harney & Sons fresh brew our black tea blend with a delicous full bodied medium roast bean to make this very unique brew. Heavy on the tea, light on the coffee, it is a brew that is popular all over Asia and one we decided was delicious enough to bottle.” While full of useless propaganda (and contradiction – is it “unique”, or is it “popular”? Make up your mind!) g had had it once before and admitted to a both-good-and-bad experience.
g says: At first sip, it was kind of gross. But, I figured: “I’m thirsty, and I paid for this.” So I drank more [t interjects: g does NOT throw away food, especially if she paid for it], and by halfway, I kind of liked it. But the guy at work loved it at first sip …
t says: So, I’m not a coffee drinker. It doesn’t taste good to me. Consequently, the extent of my coffee-drinking is Starbucks Double-Shots (the one with the espresso, not the coffee) the last day or two before an exam to give me those extra couple hours of study time (instead of sleeping). As often espoused by Dr. David Dinges, I use caffeine “like a drug”. Hmm – that sounds wrong. What he/I means/mean: I use it for the desired effect only when necessary, not every day because that would diminish the effect when I especially want/need it.
But this time, Dinges be damned – this is supposed to actually taste good, brain stimulating properties aside. After all – would Harney & Sons really want to be associated with an inferior product? (As if they care just so long as people buy it.)
Result: it was actually quite good. I liken it to a mild black tea that somehow tastes “creamier” and sweeter to me than their normal iced tea (i.e. more caramel or dulce de leche flavors), whereas their normal tea gives me more bitter bite/bark. The coffee for me was very subtle (i.e. I didn’t gag), coming in mostly in the aftertaste, balanced with the tea (I’d say it’s 3:1 tea to coffee). While I don’t think I have full-on coffee breath afterwards, it’s still probably not benign enough to go without a mint. I don’t know if I’d have one of these every day, I’d venture to say that this is my favorite of the Harney & Sons cold drinks. So if you see it, I’d recommend giving it a try just so you can say you have!
Chocolate + Pop Rocks = ???
t says: Someone gave g a candy bar. I proceeded to eat the candy bar. Result: g didn’t get any. Oops! But to be fair, I did take a few days to eat it – she could have had some any time she wanted …
As you can see – there really is no way for me to communicate to you what this bar is called, who it’s made by, or even where it’s from (g tells me it’s from Israel – so says google, which pointed me to this blog). But I will tell you one thing: it had Pop Rocks in it (or at least something like Pop Rocks). That’s right – it had that sugary candy with the carbonation that pops/fizzes in your mouth.
Pop Rocks alone never actually tasted good to me, but I guess others and I liked it because it made fun noises – never mind that it never sounded as loud to anyone around you as it did to you while you were eating ’em. Fortunately, the chocolate bar was far better than straight-up Pop Rocks, as the chocolate was sweet and creamy. I did eat some for breakfast one day and it added a nice spring in my step for the morning. Good fun.
I guess my point of this post was to show you a wrapper so that if you ever come across this candy bar, you’ll buy it … and then share it with me …
after dinner sneeze 