A Day For Donuts

June 3, 2011

The office kitchen-- no natural light, ever.

It’s a holiday-packed week. First Memorial Day on Monday, and now– National Donut Day! (Or doughnut, if that’s how you swing.)

You may recall that I’m not really a donut-eating gal, except for very special donuts/occasions. (For example, I am still hoping to trek to MA to try a bona fide apple cider donut.) I didn’t partake of the office kitchen donuts (yet…), because– I don’t know, I already had two breakfasts today. (And by that I mean I had two things when I would typically only have one… a piece of toast with butter and jam– I’m super British now– followed by an expired coffee yogurt with Wheat Germ.) (I’m also super… into eating expired foods before they’re too expired?)

But, whatever. This day isn’t about me. It’s about you, getting some free donuts. Check in at your local donut hole. (Get it?) I’m sure Dunkin’ Donuts is up to something… they don’t exist in CA, so I don’t cover that beat. (Starbucks has those mini donuts with the sparkle sugar… don’t know if they’re free today– or if they taste good– but they sure are purty.) (And Krispy Kreme used to be a big deal… what happened there?)

Find your donut-y bliss!

xoxo…

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Potatoes & Ice Box Cake: The Sequel

April 28, 2011

Looking shrivel-y.

Today I tried roasting the potatoes. I prepared them exactly the same as I did last time (well, I forgot the salt & pepper until the end). Instead of the pouch, I laid them out on foil and roasted them at 400 degrees for a little over an hour. (I only planned on an hour, but I kinda lost track… whoops.)

At first I was worried that the potatoes were burned/shriveled, but they tasted good! (And they were still multicolored, it’s just harder to tell.)

Appearances can be deceiving?

I wish I could somehow combine the pouch potatoes and the roasted potatoes. I’m not sure which I liked better. The roasted ones are more of a snack or a breakfast thing, and the baked ones are juicier and feel more like a side dish. (Maybe if I roasted the potatoes a little less, they would have retained more juice… or maybe I should have cut the pieces a little bigger?)

Oh, and as long as I was taking pictures/eating things, I grabbed another shot of the inside of the ice box cupcake.

Better?

That is what it looked like inside! (And then I ate it.)

Okay, back to “The Office.” Watching Michael Scott leave. “Hey, will you guys let me know if this ever airs?” HE TOOK OFF HIS MIC. And missed his cake. (Sorry– spoiler alert.) (Also the new boss is crazy.) (Double spoiler alert.)

xoxo…

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Snack Trek: CONVEYOR BELT SUSHI (Fat Fish)

April 8, 2011

It wasn't moving THAT fast, but my camera couldn't handle it.

Early this week I wanted to cook some sort of magnificent salmon dish and invited Sam to come be my taster, but on the appointed salmon-cooking day I  got over myself and asked him if we could just go to Koreatown for cheap sushi (including uncooked salmon) at Fat Fish.

Reader, he said yes.

I’m a little bit scared that Crystal will come over and beat me with a bedazzled handbag for spilling about her most favorite place, but hopefully she’ll take pity on me. And hey, it’s all over Yelp.

Fat Fish is the only “conveyor belt sushi” place I’ve ever been to (as far as I can recall…), and there’s such an element of futuristic fun to it. When my youngest sister was a toddler she was a little bit obsessed with conveyor belts (at grocery stores, airports, and this vitamin plant where we took a tour) (yeah…), and now I GET IT. They’re cool. Everything goes away… and comes back again. And again.

The amazing thing about Fat Fish is that during “Happy Hour,” every plate is $2. From what I’ve gathered, it’s Happy Hour at Fat Fish from 11:30am-3pm (maybe 5pm?) and anytime after 7pm. Strangely, the only hours that AREN’T Happy Hour are the hours that would typically be Happy Hour at other establishments. Go figure. (Go fish?)

Choices, choices...

The chart at my seat explained that the plates were color-coded by price. That doesn’t matter during Happy Hour, but it’s still interesting to see what the most expensive items WOULD have been.

Last time I went (with Cole and Crystal), we got there on the later side (8:30pm-ish) and sat in a boondocks-y area of the belt. This time, Sam and I got there right around 7pm, and sat right near the area where the sushi chefs are throwing new plates into the mix. We sat for a while, and periodically they’d start making new types of sushi. So you must be patient and not eat too quickly, or you might be full by the time the rainbow rolls (or whatever you prefer) start cropping up.

I’m the type of person who doesn’t want to have plate-grabber’s remorse, so I typically watch for at least one full rotation before I select anything.

Anything atop crispy rice is usually a safe bet.

I am going to eat you.

Salmon and avocado? Yes, please! But I’m not so much for the mayo-y sauces. That’s my one gripe. A little too much sauce going on (on many of the rolls). (It’s fine on the side.) (Another gripe is usually air-grease, but it was under control last night.) (Plus I have to do laundry in the near future.)

I’m a big fan of edamame, so I’ll grab that to snack on while I watch the parade. (Oh– and you get FREE miso soup.) (It just occurred to me that we didn’t drink any tea!)

Halfway done.

It turns out that Sam is really good at identifying dead fish parts (hidden talents!). He pointed out octopus, squid, and even sea urchin (which is special order and is always $8). It was like being at an edible aquarium. (Haha sorry.)

We also sat next to a real businessman, and that made the whole thing feel authentic somehow. I wondered if he was a bachelor, or if it was just an after-work snack, or if his wife was working late or WHAT. I’m so curious about people. (STALKER.)

It’s nice to be able to grab a plate just to try it, and know that even if you don’t like it, it’s only $2 lost. Or to grab something you usually wouldn’t order because the group can’t come to a consensus about it. (For once, Sam got to have eel.) (I prefer to order by committee and share everything– I try to seek out food-compatible companions.)

A weird quirk of mine is that I tend to like to follow dessert with something savory (I typically end with one last bowl of soup at Souplantation). So I grabbed this little fruit dessert plate while I contemplated my final sushi of the night.

Yep, that's a square marshmallow.

I’m pretty sure the bananas were caramelized, and I like to imagine that it was done with a little creme brulee torch.

Around that time, the rainbow rolls began to rotate. I’m a sucker for a rainbow roll. AND I like that they weren’t doused in sauce. On further inspection, the sauce on the side was quite pretty.

The last temptation of Elysse.

Sam and I each got 8 plates. Each plate had 2-3 pieces of sushi on it. (Except one of mine, which was edamame.) So for each of us that was 16-24 pieces of sushi, for just about $20. For such a variety of sushi, that’s an awesome deal.

And I didn’t have to wash any dishes!

xoxo…

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Sunday Cake Love

March 13, 2011

The 90s called. They want their spangles back.

I had a delightful and Binge-worthy weekend, including pancakes from the Dark Side (you’ll see), FINALLY trying spaghetti squash (a long-time goal), and baking soft pretzels (well… helping my sister/dad bake them).

While the pretzel dough rose, my sister (Dana) baked a red velvet cake. You know, just because. (It was from a mix.)

She decorated it in this crazy 90s Lisa Frank style. With love, obviously. Belated Valentine or something.

Good thing I snapped this picture when I did, because (as she does) Dana didn’t wait for the cake to cool before she frosted it. Within a few minutes the (kinda cracked-looking to begin with) heart totally melted. (That’s not a metaphor.) (IS it?!) (And is a melting heart sweet or depressing?) (This one was definitely sweet, in the literal sense.) (And gross-looking.)

So… if I stay good, look forward to posts about all that stuff from the first paragraph. In the pipeline!

xoxo…

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Snack of the Afternoon, 3/7/11: PRETZEL ROLLS from The Bread Man/Hollywood Farmers’ Market

March 7, 2011

You're a star.

I sorta got off my weightlifting/Farmers’ Marketing routine for a month or so, because I went on several cool little weekend trips, got sick, etc. But now I’m back in the groove, and my new resolution is to buy one thing from the market each week. Because it’s more fun if you’re in it to buy.

A few weeks ago I finally acquired a vase (from Target) (for my Valentine’s flowers… AWWW), so it’s a no-brainer to keep buying flowers for the vase. I feel like such an adult/cool person with an interesting life (fake it ’til you make it?), walking around with a bunch of flowers tied up in newspaper.

Last week I bought two bunches of mums (one yellow, one white) for five dollars. (I also bought a box of Samoas, which are still called Samoas in Los Angeles– WHEW.) A week later, I took this picture.

Still kicking!

It’s obviously too soon to replace them, but this week at the same stand I scoped out some lovely purple daisies. I’m not saying that I’m EXCITED for the mums to die. That would be mean. But I am excited for purple daisies. Probably next weekend. (Sorry mums!)

I’ve been changing the water every few days, and sprinkling some sugar into the water for nutrients. (Note: Flower water smells HORRIBLE. Like… nasty cheese or something. But the flowers are so pretty. It’s worth it.) (Having flowers has made me so responsible. Like, I have to do the dishes so that I’ll have room in the sink to refill the vase.) (Maybe in a few years I’ll be ready for a goldfish.)

This week I decided to finally buy the pretzel rolls I’ve been coveting (you know I’m all about the soft pretzels… though I STILL haven’t blogged the ones in Philly– whoops), from The Bread Man’s booth. A bag of rolls was $4.50.

Happy faces.

They were slightly oily to the touch, but in a bakery way. I zapped mine in the microwave so it would be warm. My one sadness is that there didn’t seem to be any salt baked into the rolls. I like my pretzels with a little salt.

But… now I’ve tried them! Now I don’t have to wonder/covet/stalk anymore! And next week I’ll buy something else (or two).

And I’ll try to write more! I have such a backlog of photos.

xoxo…

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Tea for Two

February 22, 2011

Care bear.

Hey guys. Remember me? I’ve been busy, but also I’ve been straight-up shitty about blogging.

I guess my lack of words here imitates life, because I have laryngitis. Like, legit. Yesterday I was basically inaudible.

Not being able to talk is pretty nuts. Well– I could talk, but nobody could hear me. Same diff. And I wouldn’t really think about it until I TRIED to talk. And then I’d be like, whoops! I sound like a fucked up violin. Like if you tried to play a violin that just got beat up by a bunch of thugs. (Because thugs love to beat on inanimate objects.)

So I went to the store for a cure, and the best I could find was Celestial Seasonings Sleepytime Throat Tamer. I snapped that picture and sent it to Mr. Tea, to get his tea seal of approval.

And he sent me THIS picture in return, of some tea HE had just purchased.

Smells like burning.

(The difference between me and Mr. Tea is that I show my thumbs, and he apparently does not.)

Isn’t that crazy?? That’s some Gift of the Magi-style craziness, except that it’s nothing like Gift of the Magi (I just like saying “Gift of the Magi”). It’s just a regular coincidence, not a weird/tragic/bad communication now-all-our-money-is-gone oops-ident.

I GET that the bear is smelling the sinus tea, because it’s helping his NOSE REGION. But why is the throat bear reading? Is READING the best way to symbolize a sore throat? I can’t really think of anything better, but you would think some marketing genius at Celestial Seasonings who is making the BIG BUCKS could think of SOMETHING.

But at least the Sleepytime Throat bear is obviously going to bed. He’s doing bedtime things. The Sleepytime Sinus bear is obviously drinking this tea for BREAKFAST. That’s not Sleepytime! That’s Wake-Up Time.

Whatever. I’ve been drinking it during the day. No big. Just weird marketing, right? (My honey container is also a bear… so many bears.)

When I went back to the tea section, I didn’t see any other boxes of Sleepytime Throat Tamer, so it obviously magicked itself out of thin air. Therefore, I had to buy it. For its magickal qualities. (And Vons didn’t have any Throat Coat.) (PS: I’m not sure that Throat Tamer was all that much better than normal tea.) (So much for magick.)

I don’t know how Mr. Tea does it. I drank tea at restaurants, tea at home, tea at work. With and without honey. And it kinda made me feel ill. Too much tea. Too, too much. Tea much tea. Tea until ya pee.

So yeah. Laryngitis. Pretty crazy. I had a cold, and it went away, and two days later my voice was gone. That’s a new one. I always wished for laryngitis the day before a book report in middle school. But when you answer phones for a living, it’s not so cool.

It might be kinda fun if I have a sorta husky/sexy voice tomorrow. But I’d be fine skipping straight through to regular voice again.

(silent) xoxo…

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I Say Pancake, You Say…

February 7, 2011

I have never used "ho cakes" in a food context.

Happy New Week!

Certain foods have regional names. I call pancakes… pancakes. In my book, “ho cakes” is a nickname for a certain type of girl. Or a term of affection. (Depending on whether you’re an actual ho.) I actually thought that the label pictured above was some kind of inside joke. Apparently not.

Learning so much today.

This past weekend in Palm Springs, I encountered another name for pancakes… but I don’t think these will taste anything like the ho cakes… or your typical flap jacks. (PS– I can’t wait to see what kind of searches this blog will pull in, now that “ho cakes” is on here.)

Flap jacks!

A few more pretty pictures of unconventional cacti/succulents are on the way. They were one of the highlights of this past weekend– Lauren and I went to Palm Springs. A small trek-ish post to follow… if all goes as planned.

What are some other names for pancakes? What do you say in your town/family?

xoxo…

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Monday Sushi Factoid

January 31, 2011

Katsu-Ya goodness, from a recent Sunday outing.

I learn something new every day, without even trying. The facts just fly at me. So many things to know! (Listening to NPR is really bridging the gap. For example, now I know that there is a dating website for women who want to date Sea Captains.) (Thanks, Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me!)

(I will not be particularly surprised if Sea Captain Date turns out to be a hoax. But… crazier things have been NOT fake, you know?)

This past weekend, friend-Daniel told me a fact about sushi: Don’t eat sushi on Mondays.

Why? I asked. Why Mondays?

Because the fish markets are closed on Mondays. So the fish in your sushi definitely won’t be fresh. (I tried to research this on Google, and it might be that the markets are closed Sundays? Either way, they can’t get fresh fish for Monday.)

Blame it on the sea captains. They need a day off to check their Sea Captain Date inboxes. (Sea captains need love, too!)

Either way, I’m probably eating a frozen dinner tonight. (Full disclosure: I kinda love frozen dinners.) (Further disclosure: I’ve probably eaten sushi on a Monday night before, and I’ll likely do it again.) (Whatever. I’ve eaten grocery store sushi.) (Even with krab. What was I thinking?!) (Krab is basically a rubber/plastic hybrid.)

Monday & Tuesday nights are the doldrums of the week. No weekend in sight. (Haha, I used a sea metaphor without evening meaning to. I’ve got the sea on my mind and my mind on the sea… captains.)

Happy impending February!

xoxo…

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What’s Black & White and Delicious All Over?

January 14, 2011

Treats of the East.

Happy Friday. Long time no see. Happy long weekend, to those of you who are getting one. Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Despite its potentially misleading title, this post has nothing to do with MLK– unless you want to get deep and talk about how black & white come together on a cookie, and it tastes like a dream.

In these LA-ish parts, Starbucks sells packaged Madeleine cookies and sometimes chocolate-covered graham crackers. But in Philadelphia, I noticed/grabbed a picture of their Black & White mini cookies. Some places have all the luck! I’ve never even seen a B&W cookie in legit machine-wrapped packaging in a non-deli environment.

I didn’t buy any (partly because I was stuffed/wasn’t carrying my wallet), so I can’t vouch for the flavor. They were thinner than your typical B&W cookie, which is almost a small cake. Potential inauthenticity aside, I was tickled. East Coast things!

I’m also a sucker for miniature foods.

I kept looking back at that picture of the cookies and thinking, “The East Coast has all the luck!” (And cookies.)

Imagine my delight the other day at LA’s very own Canter’s Deli, when I discovered mini B&W cookies at the dessert counter. (At first I couldn’t even spot the B&W cookies, because they are so much thicker/larger than a regular cookie.) (I know, I know: That’s what she said.)

Mamas & babies.

I was tempted to buy a baby cookie, because it’s closer to the size of a regular cookie. I could eat one and respect myself in the morning. Well… respect myself relatively more than I would if I’d eaten a giant cookie the size of my (big) face.

My moment of opportunity passed. I didn’t buy one. That’s the way the cookie crumbles, sometimes. (Forgive me.)

But now I know where to find them.

So… the East Coast doesn’t totally trump us on the mini B&W cookie front. But they trump us on the B&W cookies-at-Starbucks front. But I like the novelty of certain things only being available regionally, based on what’s popular in that area.

We need some regional thing at our Starbucks that East Coasters can marvel over when they visit. I guess I wouldn’t recognize it, because I’d just find it to be normal. Like… ho hum, vegan seaweed cookies. Just normal stuff. (Just kidding. We don’t have those… yet.) Maybe it’s the graham crackers? They’re fairly health-esque. Sorta.

Anyway. It’s Friday. Enjoy your weekend. Eat a cookie, mini or otherwise.

I’m going to eat some seaweed now. (Well… some sushi.)

xoxo…

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This is Top Chef, Not Top TURTLE

January 9, 2011

Tre makes hilarious faces.

Every once in a while I have to write about a TV show, or I won’t be able to say that this blog is about TV and snacks. It’ll just be about food, and there are a million (better) blogs about food. My very special niche is TV and snacks.

This week’s episode of “Top Chef All Stars” featured a Quickfire in which the chefs had to beat Tom Colicchio’s speed-cooking, and a dim sum Elimination. I love dim sum! And Dale works at a dim sum restaurant, and cooked sticky rice. So guess who won.

(Spoiler alert: Dale won.) (Spoiler alert: Sticky rice, when done right, is AMAZING.) (Spoiler alert: I really want the Dim Sum Truck to return to our office!)

But the REAL reason I’m writing this post is for Lauren, because this episode featured some Fabio gems, including a FLASHBACK to his famous “This is Top Chef, it’s not Top Scallops!” clip. Prompted by Jamie wanting to cook scallops for the dim sum challenge.

Fabio: Jamie, didn’t  you learn anything from season 5? [Cue montage of Jamie presenting scallop dishes... which were mostly unsuccessful, I guess. I don't fully remember.]

Flashback– Fabio: This is Top Chef, it’s not Top Scallops!

His hair is longer now.

Red-headed Tiffany also went on a funny rant about how she’s a 36DD, and if she took off her bra she would knock people out. I find it hilarious that one of the guys said something like, “You girls don’t wear bras, do you?” Um… hello? I mean, I don’t know how other girls live. But I’m kind of a Tiffany, so… yeah, bras are for real. They’re not a myth.

If Fabio gets eliminated in the near future, I think red-headed Tiffany or Tre will be the new comic relief. Already Tre is a wealth of funny soundbyte interviews.

On grocery shopping in Chinatown–

Tre: This market isn’t your, like, Whole Foods kinda place. They kind of look at you at the meat counter like, “What you want?” And I’m like, “What’s DEAD?” [Laughs]

Fabio gets a little ferklempt at the turtle tanks.

Fabio: I notice that there is a tank full of turtle. When I moved to the United States, I bought a little turtle. She is a PRINCESS. Once or twice a week, I take her for a walk. I have a little Chihuahua leash that I tie around her shell and tie up to the chairs so she just go back and forth. Now these guys is cutting turtle to make turtle soup. And that’s MEAN.

All during that story, we actually SEE Fabio walking the turtle. Then it cuts back to his interview, and Fabio does a perfect Napoleon Dynamite-style eye roll/sigh combo. “God!” he sighs, exasperated.

Because this aired several days ago, gems such as this are easily Googled:

Oh, Fabio.

I finally got my mom on the “Top Chef” train, and she weighed in that her favorite is the “handsome Italian.” And it turned out she was talking about ANGELO. So weird, because last season he was sort of the villain– right? I don’t know. Everything’s shifting! (And PS, the obvious guy to call “the Italian” would be the one who is FROM ITALY.)

But maybe my mom will have time to join Team Fabio, because– miracle of miracles– his dish was in the top 3.

Casey got out for making inedible chicken feet– which she’d never cooked before. (And which many would argue are not particularly edible, even when prepared correctly.) Casey was mad at Antonia for frying the feet while Casey worked the house, but it turned out that the correct way to cook them was to fry them EVEN HOTTER. So… oops.

Okay, that was a little dose of TV, albeit food-oriented TV. (Appropriate!)

xoxo…

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