Pocket Shots.

I really am confused as to the products coming out on the market these days. So we have all heard the saying don’t drink and drive or be seen in public with open containers. Well this new product called Pocket Shots, completely disregards that. So why exactly are these on-the-go shots of liquor legal? You be the judge.And it is not like this is a new thing. It is just new to me. THe product has actually been around since 2000…….Yay FDA! haha.

The Pocket Shot is a sporty-looking tear-top plastic pouch filled with vodka, rum, whiskey, gin or tequila. The website says that you should consume this while: Biking! Swimming! Rollerblading! Hiking! among other activities. Seeing as the product’s tagline is “Flask on the Fly,” one wonders when Piloting an Airplane! will be added to the list.

Here is their commercial for it:

Which looks legal and fine, but then you get “jack-asses” like this who do it….

And actual jackass, Johnny Knoxville…. nice.

Squirmish…..ugh.

So this post is about foods that make me squirm. On an earlier one I had a live baby octopus, which is definitely one. In these videos, world traveler Andrew Zimmerman takes on exotic cuisine in different locals.

Here’s one from Korea:

Yes that is LIVE soup. Ginger, chilis and live, squirmy, gooey mudfish. I always say that if the food can jump off the table, stay away! Sushi is good, but this is a little too raw.

In another trip to Tanzania, Andrew tries: soup with goat lungs, heart, and liver, and cow stomach, intestines and tongue.

Yummm… There are more videos of him found on the travel channel, one of him eating RAW meat. Hmm.

To see more of Andrew on the  Travel Channel, click here.

oh… and funny other fact… He is the spokesperson for cherry pepto bismol.

Hotdogs, Spaghetti, and more.

So my friend Ginny shot me a story that I think would be super interesting given the direction of this blog. Think: hot dogs and spaghetti. Apparently, it is popular with the kiddies….I don’t know though, I mean if I were a child and I saw a hotdog that looked like a crackbaby squid I would freak. But I guess it adds some amusement to dinner. In fact one user went so far as to call them “squidlies”

Yum?

Here is the article for more reading.

Happy Earth Day!

So Happy Earth Day! I had to get the weirdness off my chest in the first post, but now I am ready to focus on the important stuff. So for those of you who are not or ill informed…today is of course earth day. Pick up some trash, eat those vegetables and fruits, ban meat for the day! Yum…. I am a carnivore, so this is especially difficult for me, but we must try! While you are at it, check out the CO2 emissions that we have emanating from our orifices….

Ok, so to help you out today, here are some yummy recipes that you could try out to be earth friendly.

Breakfast: Since it has already passed, you could try it another day…

Plantain Crepes: this one is from a vegan website (vegan.com)….Yum? It is actually pretty good, I tried it over the Christmas holiday at a friend’s place.

INGREDIENTS:

Omelet
4 small plantains or green bananas (3 cups mashed)
½ cup spelt flour
1 tsp baking powder

Nut Cheese
2 cups cashews, macadamia nuts, or pine nuts
3 TBL lemon juice, fresh squeezed
6 TBL olive oil
5 medium garlic cloves
¼ cup shoyu, or to taste

Veggie Topping
½ cup cilantro, chopped
½ bunch green onions, ¼ inch slices
½ cup carrot, grated

¼ cup or more coconut oil, for sautéing

DIRECTIONS:

1. Cut the ends off the plantains (or bananas) and score up the sides.  Place the scored plantains in a 3 quart sauce pan and boil for 20 minutes until you can easily poke a fork through them. Drain the water from the bananas and let cool a few minutes.

2. Remove peels which should come off easily and place plantains in a large mixing bowl.  Mash with a fork or masher.  Add flour and baking powder to plantains and knead into a dough. Separate dough into 4 pieces.  Roll into balls.  Flour the counter and roll the balls into 5” circles.

3. Combine cashews, lemon, shoyu, garlic and oil in a food processor and process until smooth.

4. Heat a skillet over medium heat until hot. (cast iron works well). Pour a small amount of oil onto skillet and fry cake on one side until golden, approximately 3 minutes. Flip and cover ½ of cooked side with nut cheese, carrots and cilantro.  Fold over like and omelet and cover.  Flip and cook until golden brown on both sides.  Serve hot.

Lunch:

Not your mother’s Cheese Sandwich!

So for those of you who love cheese, this is definitely for you!

Ingredients:

1 slice Cheddar Cheese (I recommend Dublin, Irish Cheese- get at Wegman’s, expensive, but oh so worth it in the end!)

1 slice Pepper jack Cheese

1 slice Manchego (or your favorite other cheese!)

handful of soy sprouts

avocado

olive oil

touch of vinegar

sourdough bread

lettuce

tomato and onion slices

pepper to taste

Directions:

Take a medium fry pan and put on low heat (make sure both slices of bread can fit!) put 2 tabs of butter in the center and place bread on top. Halve avocado Throw in onions and tomato to the side of the pan. Turn bread slices over after 1 minute. place all three cheeses on one slice and soy sprouts, lettuce, oil, vinegar, smear on avocado like a spread. after 3 minutes top with the tomato and onion and put sandwich together. Flip until both sides are golden brown, then serve.

Dinner: (a favorite of my friends, love you Avi and Cathleen! haha, APPLES!)

Apple Pesto Tortellini

Ingredients:

Your favorite tortellini (I use 3 cheese or spinach and cheese)

2 red apples

Red onions chopped

Red olives

Red and green peppers chopped

Garlic minced

Romaine Lettuce

Olive oil

Pesto Sauce- Make your own! here’s the video: Tastes amazing!!!!

Directions:

Take a medium sauce pan and add 6 cups of water, boil, add 3 tbs olive oil and salt and pepper to taste. Put in tortellini, (time varies with brand)

While boiling tortellini, make the pesto sauce or heat it up whichever you choose, and take out a frying pan.

In the frying pan add a small amount of olive oil, throw in olives, peppers, onions and apples. Keep turning and don’t allow apples to get mushy, may need to add them 3 minutes before tortellini is done.

Strain tortellini and add to fry pan with other ingredients. (Now this part is up to you, you can add the pesto to the fry pan and mix it up, or add after)

Wash, dry and place 3 romaine lettuce leaves on the center of each plate. Plop the pasta in the middle and serve!

WHY?

I crave raw spaghetti noodles soaked in pickle juice!! It is fantastic when they get almost soggy, but not quite.

—Emily Elzner, Terrell, Texas

When I was younger I always had a craving for chocolate chip cookies…on a sandwich….with mayonnaise. Despite what others might think…it was tasty.

—Tila Wymonds, Crescent City, Fla

I have in the past craved “Argo” laundry starch. My mother used to also eat it, as well as other female relatives. I especially craved it once when I was pregnant, but found out the company no longer made the starch, at least not in the desired form that I wanted, which was solid chucks, not the loose powder. I searched every mom & pop store I could find and even called a cousin in California who told me she had to stop eating it because it was no longer sold. I tried to wet the powder form and let it dry to see if I could get it to come out the same, but it didn’t. I started eating chipped ice instead.

—Chesapeake, Va.

So, people are popping up all over with strange outlandish cravings for food, and no, not only pregnant women….

“Stress, boredom and smell are often the biggest triggers for food cravings,…” Yes, thats right, meaning those of you who think your guilty pleasure is “normal”, remember what those around you are looking at. So the next time you decide to stick a cookie in bacon fat and ice cream… we all think its weird. From peanut butter to Laundry starch…these people tell all on their cravings….

From MSNBC.

What do you CRAVE?

So we know what we crave, but why do we crave it? I was reading an interesting article on a study done by researchers on this subject.  For example on the differences between female and male cravings: “Women in North America and Europe, in particular, salivate for sweets. Men, on the other hand, tend toward the savory side of the menu, digging into barbecue or french fries. For both sexes, the usual foods that lure us in like the Pied Piper of Hamelin are those rich in fat or calories”

The article is pretty interesting and also features a video study the cravings of rats… which when you think about it, we really are similar when it comes to scavenging around for that last potato chip. HERES THE ARTICLE

I mean, this is just the tip of the iceberg, I think a lot of these cravings are odd, but in other countries things like live octopus are a delicacy….

The First Family.

In celebration of the Obama’s new puppy, Bo (Portuguese Water Dog), I thought it would be nice to list a few of the First Family’s favorite dishes.

Obama Family Chili

So apparently this was served at the Democratic National Convention, when Obama was officially picked as the party’s candidate. He, and his family have been eating this for years. The best part is, it’s only 183 calories, no wonder they look so good!

Retrieved from the Chicago Sun Times

Ingredients

• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 green pepper, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 lb ground turkey or beef
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon ground oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1/4 teaspoon ground basil
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• tomato, several depending on size, chopped
• 1 (15 ounce) can red kidney beans

Directions

1. Saute onions, green pepper and garlic in olive oil until soft.Add ground meat and brown.
2. Combine spices together into a mixture, then add to ground meat.
3. Add red wine vinegar.
4. Add tomatoes and let simmer, until tomatoes cook down.
5. Add kidney beans and cook for a few more minutes.
6. Serve over white or brown rice. Garnish with grated cheddar cheese, onions and sour cream.

Here’s the video on how to make it!

Michelle Obama’s Apple Cobbler

“I’ve been making this cobbler for a

long time, so I usually just eyeball how much needs to go in. People might want more or less sugar, but this is how our family and friends like it. This recipe makes one cobbler, which is like a double pie.”

Retrieved from the NY SUN.

Filling:

• 8 Granny Smith apples, peeled and sliced [or a bag of frozen peeled apples]
• 1-1/2 to 2 cups of brown sugar
• 1-1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup white flour

Mix these ingredients together in a bowl and let it sit in the refrigerator overnight so the spice goes all the way through the apples.

Crust:

• 3 sheets refrigerated pie crust
• 1 stick of butter

Preheat oven at 325 degrees. Butter and flour the bottom of a large baking dish. Roll out three pie crusts real thin — as thin as possible. Layer the bottom of the pan with 1-1/2 of the pie crusts and prick a few holes in it. Pour the apples with the liquid into the pie pan. Dot 3/4 of a stick of butter around the apples. Use the final 1-1/2 pie crusts to cover the apple mixture entirely (let the pie crust overlap the pan).

Pinch the edges of the dough around the sides of the pan so the mixture is completely covered.

Melt final 1/4 stick of butter and brush all over top of crust.

Reduce the oven temperature to 300 degrees. Bake at 300 for up to 3 hours — that’s what makes the crust flaky, like Barack likes it. Put the cobbler in the oven and go for a walk, go to the store, or do whatever you have to do around the house. Start looking at the cobbler after two and a half hours so it doesn’t burn.

Serve anytime.

So I am Portuguese, West Indian, Irish…..

In honor of my roots, I thought today would be an excellent day to come up with some dishes that will mix together for a interesting feast this weekend…. Anyone want to join? haha.

Ok so let’s start with the main entree which will be from Portugal. Now normally one would think Portuguese…. a lot like Spanish food? No, that’s like saying that Cubans are like Mexicans or Chinese are like Filipinos… there is a big difference. For instance Cubans use olive oil which most people did not know in a lot of their food and Filipino’s have a lot of Hispanic cuisine influences because of the Spanish rule in their colonial period.

So anyway’s Portugal… For the main dish because I somehow have to instert West Indian and Irish flavors I will stick to Pork. The main recipe for this Pork Loin is actually spicy, but we will want to sweeten it up with Caribbean spices and then add a bitter Irish side. Top it off with some kind of Sangria or White Wine and we are good to go!

So how about we call this a kind of Portuguese Jerk Tenderloin? It will have the Portuguese base, and then the added Jerk spices from the West Indies. Delish.

Portuguese Jerk Tenderloin:

Ingredients

1 lb Pork Tenderloin

1 tsp Paprika

1 tbs Butter

1/4 cup red onion sliced

1/3 cup dry white wine (cooking wine, spice it up with a blush for a sweeter taste)

1/4 tsp dried rosemary

1 tbs fresh lemon juice

1/2 cup of Caribbean jerk marinade (can find in a Wegman’s, Whole foods, Harris Teeter)

2 cups fresh pineapple juice

(and if you want to get creative cut up some pineapple and put it in with the pork 5 mins before it is done–so that they do not get soft– and drape over pork for a colorful presentation)

Directions

In large resealable plastic bag, combine 1/4 cup Caribbean Jerk Marinade, 1 cup pineapple juice and pork tenderloin; seal bag. Marinate in refrigerator 3 hours or overnight.

Season tenderloin with salt, pepper and paprika. Saute pork in butter until golden brown. Add sliced onions and mushrooms. Saute for a minute or two. Add wine and rosemary. Cover and cook over low heat for 45 to 60 minutes, or until done. Add lemon juice just before serving.

OK, so yum.

And now for the Irish twist… haha I never thought it possible, but…  for an appetizer, instead of salad, how about the:

Bacon, Blue Cheese and Courgette Soup:

Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
5 to 6 streaky rashers (traditional Irish bacon), diced
1 medium onion, chopped
3 medium zucchini, sliced, and a few slices reserved for garnish
3 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
4 cups homemade chicken stock, canned low-sodium chicken broth, or 4 chicken bouillon cubes mixed with 4 cups boiling water
4 ounces blue cheese, such as Cashel Blue, crumbled
2/3 cup half-and-half or light cream
Freshly ground pepper to taste
3 tablespoons minced fresh flat-leaf parsley

Directions

In large saucepan over medium heat, warm the oil. Add the bacon and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, or until nearly crisp. With a slotted spoon, remove a few pieces and reserve for garnish. Stir in the onion, zucchini, and potatoes. Cover and cook, stirring once or twice, for 5 to 7 minutes, or until the onion and zucchini are soft but not browned. Stir in the stock or broth and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer, covered, for 12 to 15 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender. Remove from the heat and let cool for 10 minutes.
Working in batches, transfer the soup to a food processor or blender and purée until smooth. (Or purée in the pot with an immersion blender.) Return the soup to the pot, whisk in the cheese and half-and-half, and season with pepper. Warm over low heat until heated through.
To serve, ladle the soup into shallow bowls and garnish with the reserved bacon, zucchini slices, and the parsley. Serves 4 to 6

Pair this meal with your favorite rice, I recommend brown, with the extra zucchinni and some onions. Then after it is cooked throw it in the saucepan that the pork was in for a bit to gather up the marinade flavor.

SANGRIA:

Pizza in a cone with a side of bacon vodka….

So if you didn’t think that pizza vending machines and cheese perfume were odd enough…. you can now buy an ice cream cone full of your favorite pizza toppings…. and for those adventurous few….wash it down with a bacon vodka martini. HMMM…. ok.

So we really need to start on some back story before I go into complete freak out mode on the FDA….

Bacon Cocktail, for the real liquor connoisseur… apparently is becoming more popular among bar patrons… Right, I mean personally I love to smell like bacon next to my date, maybe I should wear the cheese perfume at the same time and become the ultimate aroma secreting explosion. MMM.

Here is a video featuring Don Lee of PDT on how to make a Maple, Bacon-infused Bourbon Cocktail from New York Magazine.

Pizza Cones, a different kind of craze, equally as strange in my opinion. I mean I guess if I just closed my eyes and thought of it being a falafel or a gyro?…. No. It is flaky and falls apart so you look like a fat kid trying so hard not toget it all over your clothes, and in the end being unsuccessful. I had the immense pleasure of enjoying one of these bad boys a few weekends ago and it was so messy I ended up throwing it away after 2 bites. The toppings were so heavy that they caused to bottom of the cone to fall off so I had to do this weird sideways angle bite, you know the kind where you begin thinking that if you just turn it a little it won’t spill. WRONG. After ruining my favorite pair of flats I gave up.

But for those of you that are intrigued by the to go pizza, it may actually be a better idea than the vending machines, because it is portable. Here is one site that specializes in the cones called Kono Pizza. The company pegs itself as the “Future of the Pizza and the Pizza of the Future”, without destroying historical ties to the recipes.

Another good site to check out has other foods in cones, not just pizza. So you could be walking to work with Asian beef,  BLT sandwich, teriyaki chicken, philly cheese steak, chicken and peas, an omlette….whatever… Crispy Cones, has it.

Oddball food laws…..

Hmmm, ok so after researching for a while on laws surrounding food a few things caught my eye. What sparked my interest to look into these laws was the recent problems with many different items under the FCC, peanut butter, tomatoes, and pistachios among other things….

This post is spawned from a weird radio commercial I heard on the way to the office this morning. In it, a friendly male voice plainly says “In Minnesota, it is illegal to cross state lines with a duck on your head.”

I wondered if it was still illegal if the duck in question was cooked.

This led me to think about other food laws and bans that are currently in place in America. The foie gras ban in California for 2012. This whole business with the Roquefort tariff — where cheese lovers will soon pay a 300-percent markup for the cave-aged, French bleu – is a current hot-button topic, too. (The L.A. Times recently reported on a delay in the tariff)

Here's a picture I took of alcohol being given to donkey in the Dominican Republic.

I started searching for other serious food bans and tariffs, but then realized that exposing our country’s strange food-related laws would be more fun. Read on, dear readers, and judge for yourself if these are too wacky to be true.

• In Alaska, it’s illegal to give a beer – or any other alcoholic beverage – to a moose.
• Missouri cities can levy a tax to support a band, as long as the city’s mayor plays the piccolo and band members can eat peas with a knife.
• In Greene, N.Y., don’t eat peas and walk backwards down a street during a concert. It’s illegal.
• Clawson, Mich.: There’s an actual law that makes it legal for a farmer to sleep with his animals. (I hope this means “sleep,” as in “catch some Zzs” and not “sleep” as in “sexy time.” Gah.)
• In Texas, if you take more than three sips of beer while standing, you’ve broken the law.
• Connecticut law says that a pickle is officially a pickle only if it bounces.
• To Idaho women in hetero relationships: It’s against state law for your man to give you a box of chocolates that weighs less than 50 pounds. (Cash in, sisters!)
• Residents living in a small town in Colorado may not own chickens, but may own up to three turkeys.
• In Gainesville, Ga., it is illegal to eat chicken with a fork.

Sources: MundayWeb, TurtleZen, The News Journal, Mental Floss, Roadside America.
If anyone has any information of the law books that provided these facts or any other strange laws to contribute, please contact me! haha.

KID ROCK…..makes a beer?

OH AND another side note….KID ROCK BEER! Kid Rock is apparently designing his own beer…. that will come out in the mid spring this year. Um I actually really want to try it, just to see how gross it will probably be. This makes me reminisce about Jr. High and his song Cowboy….

Yeah…. Here is more in formation on the company that is promoting, seeling the Beer… they previously have promoted/sold Willie Nelson bourbon and Donald Trump vodka (and, within the next few weeks supposedly, Dr. Dre Cognac)… yum?