Do It (Over) Yourself: USE PEPPERMINT EXTRACT!

January 2, 2012

I told you it would look the same.

The other night, after reading my post about making chocolate chip mint ice cream, my mom texted me, “Mint extract and peppermint extract are 1000 miles apart.” I was like, too late. Also– how could mint extract be a thousand miles from peppermint extract, when mint extract was part peppermint, part spearmint?

But you know what? It made a BIG difference. The spearmint was giving the ice cream the maybe-I-want-to-barf twinge, because it’s a little too mint chewing gum. (I don’t really like spearmint gum.)

Of course, I spilled a little bit of the peppermint extract before it got to the bowl, and with my too-minty PTSD I erred on the side of not accidentally over-minting it again. So I ended up with a MUCH more subtle mint flavor, but maybe-not-minty-enough is DEFINITELY better than possibly-too-minty/maybe-I’m-going-to-barf. (Next time I’ll try to get it just right. Peppermint is definitely what you want to use to achieve that Baskin Robbins flavor.)

You know the ice cream is coming out muy tasty when you find yourself eating probably a whole serving size out of the machine, as it churns.

Caught with my spoon in the ice cream jar!

As for the first batch– it’s in the trash (I didn’t want the chocolate chips to clog up my sensitive sink). Too add insult to injury– somehow it managed to fall all over the kitchen floor as I was ushering it into the trash can. Jerk.

Oh– and a note about the chocolate chips. I used less than the called-for half-cup in this batch, because when the mint flavor is right, you don’t need to rely so much on the chocolate.

Another note– with my Cuisinart machine, it takes less than 20 minutes to churn to a consistency that is totally ready to eat. The recipe claims that you need 2 hours freeze-time after you churn. Nope. Make it right before your friends come over, and you’re good to go.

So– to recap. I took THIS recipe. I halfed it. I used half & half instead of cream. I used ultrafine sugar. I used a little less than the called-for amount of chocolate chips. And it came out… awesome. (And pay attention to your machine’s churn times… like I said, this is ready-to-eat in less than 20 minutes– but that’s my machine.)

You know what? Screw the link. Let’s write it out, RIGHT here. For posterity.

1 cup 2% milk
1 cup half & half
1/2 cup ultrafine sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract (PEPPERMINT) (NOT MINT)
6 drops green food coloring & 2 drops yellow food coloring (optional)
1/2 cup (or less) miniature semisweet chocolate chips (or shaved chocolate… if you have skills)

In a large bowl, stir together the milk, half & half, sugar, salt, vanilla extract and peppermint extract until the sugar has dissolved. Color to your liking with the food coloring. Freeze according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Whenever in the process your machine recommends adding mix-ins, pour in the chocolate chips.

My inspiration.

Unlike the last batch, I can pretty much guarantee that this is delicious. I am no longer concerned about how in the world I’ll manage to finish this less-than-a-quart over the next few days. If that ever happens again– that’s a good sign that the ice cream wasn’t delicious enough, because a quart is not THAT big. (A quart is 8 half-cup servings… but who eats a half-cup of ice cream at a time?) (People with excellent self-control.)

OKAY! Now that I’ve got a handle on mint chocolate chip ice cream, I can start thinking about which flavor I want to try NEXT… hmmm.

xoxo…

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Do It (Over) Yourself: Chocolate Chip Mint, Part 2

January 2, 2012

I didn't take this. Thanks, Google.

My mom alerted me to the fact that peppermint extract DOES exist. I think the spearmint in the general mint extract might have given my mint chocolate chip ice cream the weird twinge that made me feel a bit ill. (I don’t think I like spearmint.) (For the record, Sam thought it tasted fine… maybe he lacks the spearmint-nausea gene.)

So… I found peppermint extract at a different grocery store, and since I still have all the necessary ingredients I’m going to whip up another batch. It’s going to look exactly the same as the first batch (peppermint extract is clear), so I probably won’t take any pictures.

But I just wanted you to know, in case you decide to emulate my recipe. Learn from my mistakes! (See the next post for the thrilling conclusion.)

xoxo…

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Do It Yourself: Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

December 31, 2011

Best eaten from a delightful ramekin.

The best kind of gift is the one you open and realize– it’s what you always wanted, but never knew you wanted. Because it’s such an amazing surprise. That pretty much sums up my new ice cream (and frozen yogurt, sorbet, gelato, etc.) maker. It was a Christmas present from Sam’s parents (THANKS!).

Luckily they let me know that I had to freeze the bowl– that’s a pro tip for everyone. When you buy an ice cream maker, stick that freezer bowl in the freezer. You’re gonna have to wait about 24 hours before you can whip up your first batch.

One of my all-time favorite ice cream flavors is the chocolate chip mint (I think I’ve said before– I never know what order to say the words… chocolate chip mint, mint chocolate chip) from Baskin Robbins. So I decided to try to emulate that most excellent taste in my first batch of ice cream.

I searched online and found this recipe from AllRecipes. Because I have natural family cholesterol problems, I looked for a recipe that didn’t involve any egg yolks, and used half & half instead of full-on cream (and planned on using 2% milk instead of whole milk, but this recipe already calls for 2%). I also halved the recipe to make only 1 quart.

As long as I mention it– is there anything else that can replace cream? I found a recipe that talked about saving calories by using gelatin, but then I looked up gelatin to see if it’s still made from boiling animal remains and– yep!– it is. Gross. Can’t deal with it.

I forgot to put the vanilla extract in the picture. But I used it.

The recipe calls for peppermint extract, but all I could find at the grocery store was “mint extract.” I looked at the ingredients– peppermint and spearmint extracts. Fine. [Edit:] (Maybe not.) [Later edit:] (Definitely use peppermint extract– I was fortune’s fool.)

I also opted to buy ultrafine sugar, because this recipe didn’t call for any sort of heating that would aid in dissolving big regular grains of sugar. (This was based partly on friend-Seth’s warning that homemade ice cream can often come out tasting grainy.) (Yes, I have become real-life friends with an internet stranger!) Now I’m stuck with more ultrafine sugar than I’ll need all year, because it only came in gigantor size.

So… you mix together the ingredients. It’s that simple. And then you add food coloring. Some people might say– hey, you’re using mint extract? You’re putting in food coloring? What’s that about? Be NATURAL. Sorry– Baskin Robbins did this to me. I’m not always a mint fan, and actual mint in my ice cream doesn’t appeal to me ONE BIT. (But I do like mojitos.) (But I don’t like mint tea.) (SEE?)

Fun with food coloring.

Since when do food coloring containers look like gnomes?

I was thinking that I’d add a drop or two of blue to get the right minty color, but the back of the food coloring box revealed that mint green is achieved by adding 1 drop of yellow for every 3 drops of green. I learn something new every day! (I used 6 drops green and 2 drops yellow, in case you were wondering.)

Then I whipped out the ice cream maker– it’s a Cuisinart ICE-21. You put the freezer bowl on the base, then throw in the plastic paddle and cover it with a lid. AFTER you turn on the machine (the bowl spins!), you pour the ice-cream-to-be into the bowl. And it starts to coagulate! (Okay, maybe that’s more of a medical term?)

Wheee!

At first I was concerned, because the paddle wasn’t fully emerged. But it worked out fine… and there are two levels to the paddle. And… the bowl is spinning like a centrifuge. So… don’t freak out. Just go with it.

After about 10 minutes (it only takes 20, total), I dropped the chocolate chips into the sludge. I had originally intended to shave some chocolate (sexy?), to be more Baskin Robbin-esque, but then I got lazy and decided to just smash chocolate chips with a rolling pin. But then I couldn’t find my rolling pin, so I smashed the chips with the giant container of ultrafine sugar. That didn’t really work, but they were mini chips to begin with. So whatever.

Chips ahoy.

The chocolate chips got sorta traffic-jammed in the paddle, and since there was nothing sharp or scary going on, I realized I could just scoop my fork in and give them a stir. (I avoided the moving bowl.) Then I realized that I could eat the ice cream as it was churning. (You know… testing for consistency. Yeah…)

Hey, I actually look like I'm supposed to!

The recipe called for the ice cream to be frozen for an additional 2 hours after churning, but I thought it was edible enough after 20 minutes. I stuck it in the freezer anyway, just because I wanted to eat some real lunch before I ate much more ice cream… when I pulled it back out to take that ramekin shot later, I noticed that it gets melty really fast… probably because of the low fat modifications.

Time to freeze.

As far as the taste… I thought the consistency was very nice. Somewhere between ice cream and frozen yogurt. We’ll see what it’s like after a bit more freezing. I’m on the fence about the minty-ness. It definitely tastes much better with chocolate than it does when I take a mint-only bite. But I’m not sure if it’s, like, barfingly minty or just the right amount of minty. I’ll have to force Sam to taste-test it. (What a terrible thing… tasting ice cream.)

So… maybe next time I might use a hint less of the mint extract. It’s really potent. It’s kind of weird that I can’t tell if it’s amazing or awful, right? I feel weird about it.

Oh, and PRO-TIP– the freezer bowl is SO COLD. Even if you wash it with warm water (as directed), it is still cold enough to stick to your wet hand if you touch the inside whilst trying to dry it (thank God I didn’t rip my skin off)… and then it’ll stick to the paper towel, too. (Just dry it upside down.) (And then stick it back into the freezer for the next time.) It’s very “A Christmas Story.”

One thing I already love about having an ice cream maker is that it’s a great topic of conversation– a lot of people own ice cream makers. The great friend-maker! That’s what they should really call it. If you have any tips, tricks or recipes– send them my way!

So… I’m looking forward to a new year full of ice cream-y inventions. (Which may or may not be barfingly minty…)

xoxo…

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Snack With Caution: BEN & JERRY’S LATE NIGHT SNACK

August 9, 2011

When I chip you chip we chip.

Typically I am pretty good with my portions. If you give me a big chocolate bar, I will eat it in small chunks over a series of days.

If I bake a spice cake, I will eat it in small pieces, and it will take me at least a week to finish. (I actually did that, but I didn’t blog it yet.) (WHY I did that is still unclear/stupid.)

It is probably okay for me to buy a big bag of Baked Ruffles, but it’s safer to buy the individual-sized bags. (Sometimes the giant bag FEELS like an individual size– you know?)

But I am really bad with ice cream. It calls to me.

A few weeks ago, Mr. Tea and I bought the Dreyer’s Slow-Churned Drumstick ice cream. It’s the best parts of a Drumstick all covered in chocolate and swirled around in vanilla ice cream (a bit like Ben & Jerry’s Stephen Colbert’s AmeriCone Dream, which was a danger to my health when we had it in the old office’s kitchen).

I don’t know what it was (perhaps the awesome just-home-from-the-store melty-ness action), but I ate that slow-churned ice cream until my stomach was doing a churn of its own. Maybe half the container, which is probably double the size of a human stomach. I never learn!

Luckily Mr. Tea retained custody of the ice cream, because even after a mundo stomachache, I wanted to eat it again the next day. (See: I never learn!)

When I saw the new Ben & Jerry’s Jimmy Fallon Late Night Snack ice cream at Gelson’s last week (seriously, they carry every flavor of everything), I was mighty tempted by the prospect of chocolate-covered potato chips. But I held myself back, because I just can’t be trusted around ice cream-y goodness.

I ALMOST bought the mini-size of AmeriCone Dream to console myself, but that just seemed like a slippery slope to a freezer full of mini AmeriCone Dreams.

If you’re like me, there IS a way to keep ice cream around the house– sorta. I buy individual-serving ice cream– like the Skinny Cow cones, or the Weight Watchers English Toffee Crunch Bars. And I don’t let myself eat more than one. (I could just ban them from the house, but that would only resort in teeth-gnashing or spending $4/cup at nearby Gelato Bar.)

So yeah, I’m not trying the Jimmy Fallon ice cream unless I can take one scoop and hand off the rest of it to some sort of ice cream parole officer. Until that day arrives (?), I will console myself with the delightful giraffe song. (Apparently the video is expired? WTF, that was the best thing ever.)

(Okay, now I don’t know what to console myself with.)

Another solution: I need to be amongst many, many other people– people who will eat the ice cream before I can go too crazy on it. Basically I need to have an ice cream-tasting party, and send everybody home with the leftovers. (OR they need to release the mini-size of the Fallon flavor.) (No wait, I already nixed that idea.)

How do you deal with those foods that you love so much, you have to set them free (from your kitchen)?

xoxo…

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Snack Trek: Ice Cream Cupcakes! (Frosted Cupcakery)

November 21, 2010

Aesthetically pleasing.

Today my family summoned me to lunch in Long Beach, on the cute 2nd Street in Belmont Shore. When I arrived at Open Sesame they served me with my traffic school papers. There’s no such thing as a free lunch!

But seriously now, why are there so many traffic schools called “Pizza 4U”? Are they serious? Is there pizza involved? I’ll bite! (Pun intended.)

Unfortunately it appears that all the comedy and improv and pizza and fabulous gay traffic schools occur during business hours on weekdays. Which happens to be when I… work. So I guess you only get delightful traffic school options if you are unemployed or don’t have a normal day job. Poopers. Looks like internet traffic school for me… hopefully. Or just Screwedsville.

[Just kidding, I realized that the M-F thing is when the COURTS are open. I can do comedy pizza school if I want. Let's stop the letter-writing campaign. But I think I'm going to do an internet comedy class... and I can incorporate pizza IF I SO CHOOSE.]

Anyway, I wasn’t about to go all the way to Belmont Shore and NOT drag my family to Frosted Cupcakery for dessert. (There are two locations– the other is very close to my LA life-things, but I haven’t visited yet.) I recently heard about their ice-cream filled cupcakes, and that is EXACTLY the kind of thing my family likes.

The design of Frosted is so fun. I couldn’t take a proper picture of the huge colorful cupcake mural-thing on the wall, but it was very… energetic. The store is a very inviting space. Accordingly, it was packed with people for the majority of the time we were there.

They only have the regular cupcakes on display, because the ice cream ones are in the freezer. Makes sense. Don’t be afraid to ask when you go, because the ice cream ones ARE back there!

The normals... still lookin' mighty tasty.

We started out with a “royal white” cupcake filled with pumpkin (pie) ice cream, and a regular old red velvet. (The red velvet came out too blurry to feature, but you can see it here. Yes, that’s an acorn-shaped chocolate on top.)

Moment of ice creamy truth!

The stuff dreams are made of.

The red velvet (and the pumpkin in the next round) was extremely moist. (I know… we all hate that word.) Like, moreso than Sprinkles. Watch out, Sprinkles! The cake part of the ice cream cupcake was still fairly frozen, but was nonetheless had a great flavor. We didn’t really give it time to thaw. We just hacked away at the frozen-ness and devoured it.

After we finished those, we decided to go for two MORE cupcakes. This time we went with chocolate filled with mint chip ice cream, and a pumpkin cupcake.

Another round, Barkeep!

I ate the pumpkin chocolate that was on the pumpkin cupcake. I couldn’t tell if it was strictly white chocolate, or if it maybe had a little bit of spice in it. Feel free to enlighten me if you know.

It's what's inside that counts.

As you can see, the ice cream cupcakes are about twice the size of the regulars. They appear to be baked in some sort of special hollow mold, and then the ice cream is inserted and the frosting covers up the hole. Nice work. (You can also see that the non-frozen cupcakes aren’t overwhelmed by a mountain of frosting… that’s a pro in my book.)

Every once in a while I’m struck with horror at the thought that if Flickr fails or somehow these photos all get unlinked/the links go dead, this blog will be totally boring/ruined. That’s what keeps me up at night, kids. That, and the knowledge that a solar flare could just reach out and incinerate our planet AT ANY MOMENT. Like, super casual. Oh oops, did I just wipe out a whole planet?

Why does that worry me more than the much more likely possibility that the Big One (the earthquake) will inevitably (supposedly) strike within the next few years? I really need to buy some emergency bottled water.

Way to bring down a frivolous cupcake post, right? I’m good at this game. The worry game.

But until we all die at the hands of fickle, mindless nature– ice cream in cupcakes exists! Wahoo.

(I hope the aliens are taking notes on this stuff, in case our civilization is wiped out. The universe should not be deprived of these treats, just because Earth is gone.) (Let’s be real– they’re probably not eating a grain-based diet.)

xoxo…

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Snack Trek: SCOOPS Ice Cream

November 11, 2010

Scoops at Scoops. (Lazy captioning.)

Recently I went to Scoops, a hip(ster) ice cream shop near LA City College (aka near my apartment– it’s maybe the only interesting destination within walking distance). I’m not sure if it’s more of a gelato/sorbet place than an ice cream shop, because many of the flavors are vegan and… funky (like, unusual flavors for ice cream– a lot of marsala and balsamic and… some other third thing).

The thing about Scoops is that you have to sample as many flavors as you can. Also, they run out of flavors as the day winds down. Their signature is a flavor called Brown Bread. I like Brown Bread, except that it has Grape Nuts in it and they’re a little bit… hard. On ze teeth. (Said like a true faux old person.)

I asked the guy at the counter if it was annoying to give me… probably 6 or 8 samples. He said, “No, it’s cool… as long as you buy something.” That’s kind of a problem, because sometimes when you get there late, it’s only the weird flavors that can’t really hold up for a full scoop. I’ve definitely thrown out my purchase halfway through, because it was like… “Wow, this salty dulche de leche is living up to its name in the grossest way possible.”

That’s why I’ve only been to Scoops a few times, despite its proximity to my abode.

But this time it was all good. Mucho de flavors.

I was met with a quandary because they had a pumpkin flavor, but it was Pumpkin Eggnog, and I like pumpkin but do not like eggnog. The flavor was okay, but I didn’t know if I wanted a whole scoop of it.

Pumpkin! Eggnog? I'm conflicted.

The other thing about Scoops is that one “scoop” (less than $3) is actually 2 biggish scoops. (I love seeing people finally choose one flavor, only to find out that they get TWO flavors.) I ended up getting chocolate pomegranate (the last scoop!) and some sort of vegan flavor that had Oreos and was basically vegan cookies and cream. (My stomach was being weird, so I didn’t want a dairy overload.)

The best part– and pretty much the only thing that motivated me to finally post this– was that I looked up and noticed the Calder-esque mobile of gelato-style spoons. (Another reason why I suspect that this ice cream might technically be gelato.)

Here it is, my moment of Zen:

Me gusta.

I know my mom will like that, because we like Calder. We like art in general.

Oh yeah, speaking of that– Scoops is also a gallery. (And that site confirms that it’s gelato, vegan ice cream, and sorbet.)

It’s a good place to go on a date, if you want to show your date how fearless you are by asking for a bunch of samples and ordering something crazy. Just don’t be an asshole to the sample-giver. Being mean to waiters is a red flag, gentlemen. (So take your date to Souplantation until you’ve sucked her into your web… because no waiters!)

If you really go there on a date I hope I witness it. I love to ogle obvious first dates. (Especially online ones… it’s easy to tell because they’re like, “You don’t look like your picture.”) You should ogle people, too. It’s fun.

Okay, I think that’s enough advice for one post.

xoxo…

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Snack Trek: MILK (Blue Velvet Cake & More)

August 12, 2010

Dinner is served.

You may recall that I went to Milk for dinner on Monday night, and I said that I didn’t take any pictures. And now I’m here, with all these pictures. Am I a liar?

No, I had Milk AGAIN last night. (And I made up for Monday’s lack of pictures with SO MANY PICTURES.)

Don’t judge me. I’m already judging myself enough for both of us. (Or maybe I’m APPLAUDING myself.)

This is how it happened: I met up with a couple of friends last night at Bar Lubitsch for a former co-worker’s comedy show. The bar is decorated with Russian kitsch/propaganda posters and serves a million types of vodka. (Okay, hyperbole.) We were in a back room. One comedian aptly said that it looked like something out of “True Blood.” (Lots of red.)

I left with a few friends and we were all walking and talking, and it turned out that two out of four of us had never been to Milk (it’s a few blocks southeast of Lubitsch). So of course I, the ice cream loving instigator, was like, “We have to go NOW!”

The crazy thing is that one of the Milk virgins, Adam, literally grew up (and still lives), like, a mile away from Milk. That’s what I call Statue of Liberty syndrome.

My mom lived in the NY/NJ area until she was… my age, actually… and she never visited the Statue of Liberty because it was always RIGHT THERE. (The one time we were visiting the East Coast and planned to go, I sprained my ankle and we nixed it because there are apparently many stairs involved.) (What about the handicapped?)

Similarly, growing up I lived about an hour from Los Angeles and only came here every few years. It was too close to be a tourist destination, too far to be… convenient? Whatever.

I had a sundae on Monday (that’s hilarious), so this time I wanted to try an ice cream sandwich and the blue velvet cake. I ordered those two items (about $10 total) intending to share with everybody, but fate intervened. (Usually I wouldn’t be so bold, but I have the whole, “My birthday is next week” excuse.)

Here’s the vanilla bean ice cream sandwich. I think I read somewhere that the sandwich part is made out of what macarons are made of, so I’m going with that because it makes me very happy. But it might have been sugar cookies. (But no… the consistency was more airy than a sugar cookie… I’m sticking to my macaron-guns.)

As you can see, it’s chocolate dipped. Yessss.

An ice cream sandwich in the hand...

The blue velvet cake is a sight to behold. It’s practically electric. As far as I could taste it wasn’t blueberry flavored (it was… the flavor of blue?), but it had a few blueberries thrown in for interest.

You are so beautiful... to meeee...

The blue sphere on top is a dried blueberry dipped in chocolate. You can find those at Trader Joe’s, if you’re interested.

I ordered my cake thinking we’d all share it, but then Rachel had very strong willpower and did not partake, Adam ordered his own thing, and Marites had to spend more than five dollars in order to use a card. So we ended up with TWO pieces of blue velvet.

Double trouble.

I wish we’d ordered red velvet, so I could say, “One cake, two cake. Red cake, blue cake.” So lame, I know. But… captions don’t grow on trees.

A man in black scrubs (an evil nurse?) asked us if the blue velvet was better than the red velvet. I told him that we hadn’t tried the red velvet, but if he gave us some we’d do a taste test and let him know. He actually seemed to consider buying red velvet for us, which tickled me to no end. I felt like Miles on “Work of Art,” when he managed to convince Jackie that she should take naked sexual pictures of herself because it was artistic, when he really just wanted to see her naked.

But sadly I’m not as persuasive as Miles… next time, red velvet cake. Next time you shall be mine! (Not that I even know if I LIKE red velvet cake… but I’ll keep sampling it.) (Let’s be real: It’s cake.)

Action shot!

Adam ordered… I’m not exactly sure what this is. It’s either Rocky Road or Cookies ‘n Cream, and it was basically vanilla ice cream coated in chocolate goodness. (I’m assuming… I didn’t try it.)

When I uploaded this to my computer I had to rename it, and I just called it “poo.” Haha. And now… it just feels right.

Poo.

Adam was the only guy amongst three young women who were eager to gossip about man-stuff. He was a very good sport about it all, and dished out some out advice from the male perspective. Between his words of wisdom and my blunt/bawdy take on things AND our respective experience as battle-scarred dating veterans, we were giving out some top-notch (and witty) advice. I kind of want us to have a Pot Psychology-style relationship advice show. (I loooove Pot Psychology.) But with a straight-guy perspective.

Send in your questions!

One more picture of the order before I get to the chaos/aftermath.

So stylish and refined. And maybe macaron-y.

The resemblance to a black & white cookie pleases me mucho.

I was a little bit obsessed with the colors in the blue velvet, especially once I started to deconstruct it. (AKA shovel it into my stomach.)

Love the green where frosting meets cake.

There were also surprising little flecks of pink, probably from where the blueberries were before I hunted them down.

I call this a cake-splosion…

Sadly, I'm fully responsible for this.

Apparently the cake turned my tongue blue. (WHAT kind of dye are they using?)

But luckily I wasn’t alone in cake-sumption.

A job well done!

This is why it’s great to have friends. I wouldn’t be emboldened to walk into an ice cream shop and eat TWO desserts by myself. Friends are such great enablers! (I mean… we also enjoyed each other’s company. Cake would not be fun with BAD friends.)

Adam aptly noted that I never show people in my blog. He wanted to be the first friend to actually APPEAR on my blog, and he also wanted to look as if he was suffering after eating EVERYTHING on the table. Adam, here’s your moment of zen. (I’m a little nervous, because Adam is a legit photographer and I took this on my camera phone… but he approved this snap.)

Desserts R Him.

I like the reflection of the unsuspecting person in the background.

That shake (or whatever it is) was… espresso banana? It tasted… like those things. Good work, Milk.

So it was a very successful trek, and I am going to try not to go to Milk again until… next week earliest. (Every time somebody hears that I went there, THEY want to go with me because THEY’VE never been before. Somehow I’ve become the gateway to Milk.)

I think I would recommend the ice cream sandwich over the cake (if you’re the sort of sap who just orders one thing!). The ice cream sandwich was unique and delicious. And–let’s face it– blue velvet is a novelty. (Though I’d probably eat it again, if it was offered to me.) (I’m easy.)

We drove back to the Bar Lubitsch area and walked past a fire station that had one of those “Safe Baby Drop-off” decals. Too bad they don’t accept FOOD BABIES.

I fully planned on waking up early and doing some blue velvet cake penance at the gym. My alarm went off at 6am and I set it for 10 more minutes… and woke up at 6:50am. Kinda too late. At 6:12pm TONIGHT my alarm went off, and I realized that I must have flicked the AM to PM without realizing it. (I blame my discombobulation on the jolty earthquake that happened at around 4am… I think.)

But I’m going to yoga, so I’m okay. But if I see Sara there and she wants to go to Yogurt Stop… I won’t say no. (Still haven’t been.)

And now I also need to comparison-taste the blue velvet at The Alcove… see what I’m getting myself into?

All for you, people.

Nah, mostly for me.

[It seems as though posting these photos through Flickr as URLs makes them unclickable, so I think I'll link my Flickr somewhere on here? I like giving you guys access to the full resolution pics.] [I mean, it's still a cellphone camera, but... you know.] [Mission accomplished: See the column on the right.]

[Everything in the brackets above these brackets is moot now. I figured out how to link the pictures. Click away!]

xoxo…

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Snack of the Afternoon, 9/3/09: EATING RIGHT STRAWBERRY SUNDAE CUP

September 3, 2009
Yeah... about this.

Yeah... about this.

It’s Thursday, and the snack-pickings are slim. So… I ate one of these.

Backstory: We get our groceries delivered from Vons, and we have to order certain items each week to qualify for free shipping. These strawberry ice cream cups were one of those items (Eating Right is a generic Vons brand). We used to have vanilla cups, which were good– until I ate them all.

The best part is the little wooden spoon (nostalgia) and adding a little bit of Magic Shell on top. The worst part is that these things taste really artificial. Also, the “strawberry swirl” looked like clotted blood (and not in a cool vampire way), and was really gummy.

But I got a funny response to my “More to Love” blog from faithful friend/reader Thomas. Let’s feast on his words!

3:18 PM Thomas: Anna says, “You’re gonna pick me, right?” Luke just gives her an uncomfortable look. Uh oh!
at least he didnt lie, right?
3:20 PM ask rachel [Roomie] if someone is a smoothy if they are cold and lumpy
3:22 PM me: haha
Thomas: ok so
here’s my thought
i think luke doesnt really want to marry any of them
me: he just wants a wife and kids
Thomas: so he will choose which girl he wants to bone the most. thus, my prediction is tali
me: haha
3:23 PM Thomas: he likes that it wont work with her family

Good theory, Thomas! Snack of the Afternoon has turned into TV Theory of the Afternoon. I like it! Keep sharing your theories. They’re much more palatable than some of the snacks around these parts.
xoxo…

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Snack of the Afternoon, 8/18/09: SMUCKER’S MAGIC SHELL

August 18, 2009
Magic Shell in action!

Magic Shell in action!

Today’s Snack of the Afternoon was made possible by the fact that yesterday was co-worker Matt’s birthday. Co-worker John and I went on a secret mission to find a kitchen treat worthy of Matt’s birthday, and I (sort of) covertly discovered that Matt’s favorite ice cream topping is Magic Shell.

A magical turtle is always a trustworthy source.

A magical turtle is always a trustworthy source.

I have seen this in the grocery aisle a million times, but have never purchased it.

When I was a kid I used to get chocolate-dipped ice cream cones at Dairy Queen, but I never had at at-home hardened-chocolate-topping experience. It’s like magic! The cold ice cream sets the chocolate, and the nuts get embedded into the shell… it’s magnificent.

We also tried cupcake flavor, which looked like Funfetti (yay!) but tasted like… cupcake-in-a-bottle. Weird. (In very exciting news, Roomie plans to bake me a Funfetti cake for my birthday!!!) (Exciting for me, at least.) (Suckas!)

Also: Eating an ice cream sundae in the middle of the work day? Pretty awesome.

xoxo…

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Posted by yapplebee

Snack of the Afternoon, 8/5/09: MACGUYVER’D ROOT BEER FLOAT

August 5, 2009
Le grand experiment.

Le grand experiment.

This is the MacGuyver’d root beer float that I referred to last week. Basically I find whatever ice cream is available in the office and stick it into some root beer (okay, that sounds like fondue). Today I found a misshapen Skinny Cow ice cream sandwich. Not my favorite, but it worked (sorta). If the ice cream sandwich hadn’t already been a lumpy mess, I might have tried to cut off some of the “sandwich” part.

To be honest, it didn’t taste amazing. I think the chocolate part was stale.

Luckily, we also have Pringles. And fruit leather.

Need a non-food Snack of the Afternoon? My friend posted this Red Remover game on Facebook. It’s my crack of the afternoon.

xoxo…

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