Clearing off my virtual desk for the weekend
I get a lot of e-mails from regulars with great ideas for posts -- so many it's hard to get to them all in a timely fashion. First of all, thank you. I'm sorry if I've missed some. (This has been a hectic week.) Anyway, I'm going to throw out a few before I have to head to Artscape (please, God, don't let it be as hot as Bel Air) to report a story for tomorrow on the new food courts.
First, Chez G sent me this link to an intriguing story in the Washington Post. As usual, please don't linger on another newspaper's site. You know how the Powers That Be hate that. Return here to comment on it.
Is the customer always right? If I want an iced latte, I always get a regular latte and a cup of ice, not so much because I get more but because I like the taste of steamed milk in a latte, hot or iced, and a lot of places make iced lattes with cold milk. ...
Federal Hill Jim sent me this info:
Hi EL. I'm vacationing on the Eastern Shore. I went to the store to get some snacks. Just when I was about to buy the danish havarti that I always buy at home, I saw a sticker on it that said it contained, or the cows were treated with, [something I can't exactly recall because I'm still in shock but it looked like a horrifying chemical element, it had letters and numbers]. After the scary letters and numbers, it said something like "no research has shown [scary letters and numbers] to affect food quality or to be harmful to humans."
Okay, well then, why the sticker warning me about it? And why isn't there the same sticker on the same danish havarti at the Safeway at home? I'm glad I know now, but jeez, I've had a lot of that danish havarti over the years..... what is going to happen to me? Do you know anything about modified cheese? BTW, I ended up with an aged vermont cheddar instead, which didn't have the warning. L
Brother Bim sent me this link to a story about the most expensive steak in the U.S.
Voodoo Pork had me laughing out loud with an e-mail the subject line of which was "Our great national nightmare is over."
Before copying a story on the FDA's lifting the salmonella warning on tomatoes, he had this to say:
Finally, Dahlink sent me a food quote:
"I have made a lot of mistakes falling in love, and regretted most of them, but never the potatoes that went with them." --Nora Ephron, "Heartburn"
If I've missed anyone, please post below.
(Photo from the Sun archives)
Comments
Its Artscape, of course the temperature will make that from your Bel Air trip seem autumnal. The Hinges of Hell seem cool compared to the weather during Artscape. It was either last year or the year before that Artscape had pleasant temperatures. It was the only time I can remember that happening. I've have never been to Artscape because of the heat. I don't like it PERIOD. Circumstance, the cool year conspired against my attending. Love the concept, don't want to sweat to death. I've always taken as gospel that the Artscape week-end will be the hottest week-end of the summer.
As I write this, its already 91. Good luck.
I feel better now. EL
Posted by: Robert (the Single One) | July 18, 2008 11:51 AM
The Cinghiale website indicates that the $29 supper special is a Sunday night special. Since Federal Hill Jim was there on a Saturday night, I'd say that he got a different supper special. It does seem weird that a Saturday night special would be cheaper than a Sunday night special, but perhaps the Saturday special was a one-time-only deal.
Posted by: hmpstd | July 18, 2008 12:22 PM
Mmmm ... HeatScape. I can almost smell the baked hippies.
The hinges of hell?
I went to Safeway last night and picked out the makings of an air-conditioned Sandwich-palooza weekend.
Ali G interviiewing Pat Buchanan on BLTs of mass destruction (@2:25)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwEd_tcKBfU
This will cheer up lovers of the love apple:
http://www.heirloomtomatoesoftexas.com/images/Tomato_guy.gif
Posted by: voodoopork | July 18, 2008 12:24 PM
Supper? When the frack did that happen?
Posted by: OMG | July 18, 2008 2:27 PM
I see the ad above. A "classic three course Italian supper"? Isn't that a snack in Italy?
Posted by: OMG | July 18, 2008 2:35 PM
I eet modified cheez & I terned out awrite.
Posted by: jl | July 18, 2008 2:36 PM
Bucky is five of the most unusual people I know. Sorry I didn't get in on that conversation, or was it a soliloquy? It's good to be back in the Sandbox today, clearing off the virtual desk, catching up on past posts, expanding my horizons, posting spazzy digressions.............
Posted by: jay el | July 18, 2008 3:06 PM
No offense taken.
Posted by: Bucky | July 18, 2008 3:28 PM
Me, either.
Posted by: Chucky | July 18, 2008 3:30 PM
I googled "modified cheese" and found this nugget...
http://conspiracyfactory.blogspot.com/2007/08/beware-genetically-modified-cheese.html
Yay! the link thing worked!
Posted by: Rob in PCB FL | July 18, 2008 4:07 PM
I've been forced to look at the Cinghiale web site, and it gives me the idea for a top ten most informative restaurant web sites. Not that I'm sure Cinghiale would be on that list.
Posted by: Federal Hill Jim | July 18, 2008 4:32 PM
OK, I want to clear this up before the week ends. I’m Bucky. Chucky is my, uh, “friend.” A few years ago, we formed a comedy act (you know, where he sits on my knee and I hold the back of his head and we tell jokes back and forth) that we tried out in a local club on amateur night.
That was the night I discovered that Chucky is so introverted that he clams up when he has to speak in front of a crowd of strangers. I’m sure we’ve all had that happen to us. (Well, maybe not you, Pierre. But the rest of us.)
Fast forward to the present. Over the course of a couple of days this past week, I came to understand that the Sandbox may, in fact, be inhabited by far fewer people than it initially appears. As I considered this possibility, one of those big light bulbs popped out of my head. (No, really. It did.) I got Chucky out of his box and Voila! our new act was born.
Yes! Y’all have been witness to the birth of an entirely new form of entertainment: “Ventriloquism for the Blog!”
However, we both want to make this perfectly clear: neither Chucky nor I are responsible for Ducky, Plucky or any other “-ucky” persona who might have crawled out of the woodwork on Thursday. Those were the efforts of someone who knew a good idea when he/she/it saw it and tried to horn in on our light-bulb-poppin’ fabulous idea.
I hope this clears things up.
Posted by: Bucky | July 18, 2008 5:05 PM
Excellent explanation, Bucky. Now get your hand off my head. That’s fooling nobody.
Posted by: Chucky | July 18, 2008 5:06 PM
Can't wait for Yucky.
Posted by: Dahlink | July 18, 2008 6:00 PM
Is Sucky a pathetic little whiner?
Posted by: Susan WNAJ | July 18, 2008 10:51 PM
I did some research on the genetically modified cheese. There is an EU law that requires it to be labeled. So that's probably the reason for the label on the Danish havarti. I thought I was safe going with the aged Vermont cheddar instead, but since there is no U.S. law that requires genetically modified food to be labeled, the Vermont cheddar may have been modified too. Creepy.
Posted by: el JAY | July 19, 2008 10:13 AM
Really Weird Food -
Not even on the hottest day of the year...
Posted by: Rosebud | July 19, 2008 6:44 PM
Ewwwwww!
Posted by: Susan WNAJ | July 19, 2008 7:14 PM
Rosebud & Susan, I would normally agree that is, "wierd" and "Ewwwww".
But it's 100° here today and three-digit heat has a way of turning "Gack!" into...well, maybe not, "mmmm," but at least "ahhhhh."
Posted by: Bucky | July 20, 2008 2:37 PM
This post has gotten weird. Pickle Pops? Like a pickle without the skin? Do I really need to state the obvious here?
Ucky, sitting on your hand before you "have a puppet show" is called The Stranger. It's not a skill. Try a Pickle Pop.
Posted by: Rev'Ed | July 21, 2008 4:26 PM
An one for the Baconette -
Chocolate covered bacon
1 bag (12oz) of Semi-Sweet Chocolate morsels
1 lb of uncooked bacon
Separate the strips of bacon and lay them down on a cookie sheet. Arrange the bacon on the pan, side-by side, being sure not to overlap the pieces. Bake in a preheated oven at 400 degrees F. For quicker clean up line the cookie sheet with aluminum foil.
Bake the bacon for 10-15 minutes for thin-cut, or until desired doneness. I like my bacon very crisp, so I baked it 15-17 minutes. For thick bacon, add another 4-6 minutes. Carefully remove the bacon from the oven, drain on paper towels, and let cool.
While the bacon is cooling melt the chocolate chips in a double boiler over medium heat. Stir the chocolate to prevent it from burning. Using tongs carefully dip the cooled bacon strips into the chocolate, turning it to evenly coat the bacon. Lay the coated strips on a cooling rack.
You can add chopped nuts or sprinkles on the chocolate covered bacon while it sits on the cooling rack. If you're going to add anything do it while the chocolate is still warm so the nuts or sprinkles will stick to the chocolate. After the chocolate is fairly cool, place the whole cooling rack with bacon into the refrigerator for about 15 minutes.
Remove from the refrigerator and store in an airtight container or just eat
'em right away.
Posted by: Rosebud | July 22, 2008 7:23 AM