Madison&Mayberry

Didn't Want Cooked Plastic for Dinner...

So you know those Glad OvenWear containers.. Sounds too good to be true that these trusty black plastic containers can withstand the heat of the oven, right? I've always been wary. But their whole name -- OvenWear -- implies they are oven safe. I was reheating parsnips coated in Parmesan cheese (a very good Delia recipe) when suddenly the whole apartment began to smell like burning plastic.

I should have known better than to trust them. It took two days of scrubbing my oven to get rid of every bit of melted black plastic pieces. And, of course, the oven's brand new so I feel bad destroying it in such a manner so early on.

I visited the Glad Wear website to discover that they advice placing the OvenWear container on a sheet tray in an oven during use. Did I miss those instructions on the container? At least now I know.

Happy Turkey Day!

I was overdosing on the Macy's Day Parade and turned to Spike TV's Chowdown. First, there was a cranberry sauce eating contest. I'll never look at cranberry sauce again the same way. That is, if I am able to look at it again. A 105-pound woman -- Juliet Lee -- beat all the rest, consuming more than thirteen pounds. Eh. After the competition, when asked how she felt, Juliet responded, "Like I'm pregnant again." Well said, Juliet. A turkey eating round followed that. What better way to celebrate our Pilgrims than stuffing ourselves with food? Let the amateur eating begin.

Not the only one..

Until reading this post on Serious Eats, I thought I was the only person in America who didn't enjoy pumpkin pie. I really, really want to like it but it's just pureed pumpkin with some sugar and nutmeg. What's so special about that? I'm like a child in that the only way I can be tempted into eating a pumpkin pie is when it's topped with mountains of whipped cream. So this year, I'll be attempting to make a coconut cream pie. What could be better than coconut custard and whipped cream? Much better than pumpkin pie.

Another Day, Another Blog Entry

I'm at the halfway point of the NaBloPoMo.  Yay! Fifteen posts down, fifteen to go. Needing a slight break so this'll just be a short post on a yahoo article I found --" Tapei Diner Attracts Clients with Toilet Humor."

Instead of chairs, there are toilet bowl seats. Also.. "They wipe their hands and mouths using toilet rolls hung above their tables, which may be glass-topped jumbo bathtubs."

This sums up how I would feel --" 'My son thought it was disgusting and didn't know if he could finish his food,' said Taipei mother Lin Li-ju."

Toilets and food -- best when separate.

Why I Need to Follow Directions

I'm not sure how much you can tell from that photo but that's my cornbread. And, yes, it only rose half an inch (I measured). And, no, cornbread is not supposed to do this. It's usually pretty flat -- but not like this.

I thought we had milk in the fridge but I guess not. All I needed as 1/3 of a cup of milk for the cornbread. I thinned yogurt out with water and added it instead. And, yes, all because I was too lazy to go to the store. Which, I have to add, is just across the street. And now the cornbread gods are punishing me with my barely-risen cornbread. What I don't understand is exactly why the substitution made such a difference. I can't find anything on Google under the search "Substituted yogurt and water for milk and cornbread didn't rise." Imagine that.

I'm making chicken and dressing, even if Thanksgiving is next week. Dressing is cornbread-based and usually filled with meat. We shall see if the flattened cornbread made a difference in the taste or not. I shouldn't think so. But, then again, I also thought yogurt and water could be used instead of milk.

Didn't Carve a Pumpkin? Do it the Virtual Way!

What can't modern technology do?? If you didn't get around to carving a pumpkin this Halloween,  you can indulge in this mess free option.

I couldn't even remember the last time I had carved a pumpkin, so Michelle and I decided this was the year. There's a fruit and vegetable store on the bottom floor of my apartment building which makes tasks like these almost too easy. It's 24 hours too -- just in case you have that 4 a.m. craving for an apple! I still don't quite get the 24 hour thing but at least it's good security for the building. So I sent Michelle downstairs to purchase a pumpkin. Her enthusiasm took the reigns, and she proceeded to buy the biggest pumpkin there. Good for the mass of pumpkin seeds inside but a little challenging for carving.

I've always free-formed my pumpkin's face before to okay results. This time, we downloaded a pattern. You pin the pattern onto the pumpkin and stencil it in with a nail. I got bored halfway through so it was good that Ryan and Michelle were there to pick up the slack.

I have to say this was one of the nicest pumpkins I've ever (jointly) carved. I'll go the stencil route in the future.

Unfortunately, when we went to move the pumpkin from one corner to another two days later, we discovered it had already begun to rot. Who knew? Warm apartments and carved pumpkins don't mix. Or maybe we just got a bad pumpkin?

At least the pumkin produced lots of seeds because the best thing about carving a pumpkin is roasting the seeds, in my opinion. I just sprinkled some Cajun spice on mine, along with a touch of chili powder and roasted them until golden and crispy. Ta da.

Loving New York

A stop in a coffee shop the other day returned this...

Which  made my thoughts stray to a photo I had seen online..

And both brought a smile to my face..

Not So Joyful

Note: Never, ever type blog entries straight onto typepad. When the Internet gets fussy, it disappears. I'm a slow learner because this is the THIRD time it's happened to me. I promise my first version of this was much better.

I was drawn in by the commercials, promising a cascade of happiness to my taste buds within one bite of my soyjoy bar. I am always on the lookout for good, quick breakfast options, especially in the form of a bar. For now, I latch on to a certain brand/variety of granola bars and eat them until I can't stand them. Then I repeat with another brand.

Anyway, Soyjoy will send you three bars, as long as you "promise" to pass two to friends. I secretly vowed to keep the entire stash if they were good. Fortunately, that wasn't a problem.  What?? A product not living up to the hype of its commercial? Shocking, I know. I passed them along to friends, thinking maybe it wouldn't taste so much like dense, chewy cardboard with a hint of fruit to them. Oh, but it did. Maybe soyjoy will revamp their bars and make another go at it. But for now, steer clear.

Top Chef Week 1: 200-Word Recap

We begin with a show-us-who-you-are amuse bouche quick fire making the best of a leftover buffet with plastic utensils. Clay the Southerner had a fruit bowl, instead of a small bite. Micah won with Italian-inspired bite. Clay’s upset; reveals his chef father died by suicide.

Elimination round is hard-to-find proteins with Anthony Bourdain added to judge’s table. Group prevails with sea urchin panna cotta, alligator fried steak, ostrich tartare and spider crab jambalaya. But there are problems – Howie doesn’t get his frog legs on plate in time. Poor Clay – his seasoning is off, boar inedible.

Hung – friend of Season 2 Marcel– is emerging as the assholish, egotistical one in the bunch. Only reinforced as he comes in second. Trey wins the challenge -- a stack of Bourdain’s books and the promise of a late-night yakitori outing. In the previous seasons, the winner of the first challenge went on to win the season. Wouldn’t be shocked if the these two end up head-to-head at the end.

Howie, Dale, Clay and Brian with the dueling snakes are in bottom. Goodbye, Clay. All around, better caliber of cooks and reminiscent of Season 1. Good season to come!

Leftovers + Kool-Aid Pickles

Leftovers garnish two reactions-- 1) those who are appalled by their mere existence and 2) those who strive for ways to have more. My mom raised me to be the latter. We'd make massive quantities of food, eat the leftovers for lunch all week and freeze the rest.

So just imagine my freezer -- stuffed to the limit with meat (if it's on sale, why not buy extra and freeze the rest?) and lingering portions of meals. The only time this can backfire is during a very long electricity outage.

It's rather ironic that this happened after a post where I ranted about my apartment. After months and months, the electrical wiring is finally getting fixed. Unfortunately, while the electrician was making an estimate, he forgot to flip a random switch back on. And this switch was plugged into none other than the fridge.

When I returned  home after a weekend away to a warm fridge/freezer, I knew I was in trouble. Cleaning it out later that night, I filled 5 garbage bags. I'm responsible for a majority of it. One roommate is always at his girlfriend's, the other rommate doesn't eat (I'm not exaggerating. She lives on water and lettuce. I'm her worst nightmare). So there is a downside to packing so many leftovers in the freezer after all. 

The condiments were saved, at least. Luckily, I had been recently inspired by this Salon article that told me a majority of the condiments I stored in the fridge did not need to  be. Many of them had already been moved to the cabinet. I'm taking a chance on the rest, including my recent Kool-Aid Pickles, which I made after a recent NY Times article profiled the Southern treat. I had never even heard of such a thing until the article. But being that the recipe was Southern, I had no choice but to try it. 

The dill pickles are soaked in double-strength fruity Kool-Aid for a week until they are stained red (or whatever color/ flavor you've chosen; I could only find cherry.). In the end.. they taste like pickles dipped in Kool-Aid.. Which is EXACTLY what they are. I'm not really sure what I was expecting. I have this preconceived notion that most any recipe from the pages of the NY Times is a goldmine until proved otherwise. This was proved otherwise. Let's celebrate other Southern creations like biscuits and gravy, tomato sandwiches and sweet tea. Let's leave the pickles and Kool-Aid separate.