No one loves True Blood as much as me..
But would I actually drink Tru Blood? Probably NOT …
especially since it’s going to be hitting stores near us for $16. Yup, 16 bucks for a 4 pack. NO, its not reallllyyy synthetic blood, its a carbonated drink that’s “slightly tart and lightly sweet” that is “sure to taste better than the O negative consumed by the show’s fictional vampires.”
So, is it going to be like thick and icky like I imagine the real Tru Blood is? What does this say about us that we want to emulate fictional vampires? I mean, ha ha, marketing genius but seriously, did anyone think of these questions? Or did they really give them a serious thought? I love novelty items, as long as they aren’t edible.
I think that we all really do owe Subway a big thank you (and not just for those hilarious commercials!) even if we don’t eat their food. Personally I’m not a big Subway fan, its more of a last resort, however their $5 Footlongs are making food more affordable again. Even if you don’t eat out, or really eat fast food often, you have to admit that each time you go to do it you look at the menu prices and think that damn these things have gotten hella expensive? Well, if they keep this us, it can only benefit us!
For awhile, Subway was the lone company offering such a deal. I mean, in reality its not the best deal since chips and a soda are extra money, but the idea of a big sandwich for so cheap went a long way. People felt like they were getting a deal since the sandwich itself was sooo cheap. In that time, I’m sure the pockets of these other companies felt the burn…but now its finally paying off in the hand of the lazy consumers! Yay us!!
Arby’s is now offering a $5 BBQ Bacon roast Burger. Now I have never eaten at an Arby’s nor do I eat beef, but it starts with one meal then others will follow!
Annnnd the other day I saw a commercial for KFC having a $5 fill-up box. Now this is an idea I can get down with since for some reason every time I go to visit my grandmother I end up eating KFC on the drive down. I however, would never let my mouth rest on that horribleness they call grilled chicken. I tend to stick to twister wraps and chicken tenders. Great Stuff! I also love me some Quizno’s! Haven’t had the chance to try it yet, but they have these new Toasty Torpedoes that should be good, I mean how can you go wrong at Quizno’s? I happen to love their expensive Chopped Salads, well the ones that don’t have bacon or beef or pork.
The sad part is that none of this food that is becoming more affordable isn’t really the best food for us. I mean, sure we can try to justify Subway by saying, “well Jarred did it” but the more mayo and cheese and other glop you put on it makes your dreams of achieving success on the subway diet slightly unattainable. And anyone who thinks they can get healthy eating KFC often has bigger problems than weight loss, its called denial. While yes this is a good step for consumers, let’s not really forget who’s interest are at heart here!
Happy Friday Lovers!! The weekend is here and the sun showed its face in Jersey today. Let’s hope she makes herself at home, because my tan is already fading! Let’s all send a shout out to the Jersey sun in hopes that it stays! LOL
RECESS!! FOR ADULTS?: LOVE IT!! I mean seriously! You should check it out. It’s only a few dates in NYC so get it while its HOT!
Summer Eating: I love BBQs-I love to throw them & go to them.. take heed people!!! The Very Smart Brothas are telling you the Do’s & Don’ts of BBQ etiquette (sidebar: I really do love this blog, quickly becoming a FAV!)
Having trouble with your oral: I have a suggestion! Blowguard! LOL I saw this @ the sex expo last year and had no interest in it. I know how to control my teeth, do you?
My NY/NJ friends (and those in select other locations), I discovered a new dining establishment. Grand Lux Cafe. While its not new to everyone, its definitely new to me. And let me tell you, Oh my GOD, it was delicious. And we all know I’m a foodie so my approval means a lot! GLC is operated by the same folks as Cheesecake Factory, so if you enjoy CF, I’m sure you’ll love these people. The decor was very Cheesecake-esque, and the food equally yummy.
Their desserts are made to order, some taking up to 30 mins to prepare, so they suggest you order early. I had the upside down pineapple cake and my comrade (Kitty Bradshaw) had the New Orleans Beignets (I ate more of her dessert than mine!) and both were great. The Beignets come with three dipping sauces, but the strawberry & chocolate aren’t even worth your time. The best by far was the Jack Daniel’s sauce. When has anything with Jack Daniel’s in it tasted bad? The Beignet’s were like little Zeppoles covered in powdered sugar and bought to your table in a pretty basket. If Kitty wasn’t careful i was going to sneak her dessert home with me (sshhh don’t tell!). For our entrees we both had the Caramel Chicken, and let me tell you. I had a flavor explosion in my mouth. The flavors were phenomenal! There was chicken, mushrooms, which I hate, and red chili peppers. While it sounds like it might be heavy, it so wasn’t. The appetizer was CrispyShrimp & Chicken Thai rolls, with some dipping sauce that will make you go mmmm!
I’m telling you, this place was good. I wonder why there are so few. I’m getting hungry just telling you guys about it. Trust me this was good, Cleo recommends you see if there is one close to you & try them out. Prices aren’t even that steep. Caramel chicken was around $15 dollars and there were two servings on my plate, and we know its always good to be able to take some home. The only thing I wish I had tried was a drink. Next time I go, I will indulge in a Mimosa. I couldn’t this time because this recession has a foodista’s pockets burning
Unfortunately in NJ there is only one GLC and its in Garden State Plaza all the way in Paramus (for my Garden State Parkway people, that’s exit 163) . And there is only one in New York, and its not even in Manhattan (how the hell did that happen?) its in Garden City, NY. Where the heck is that? Upstate or Long island? They need to bring more of these around (like we really need more eateries, but if they were all this good, it would force the bad ones out of business-sorry bad restaurant owners!).
Yes.. This is a bacon spread, from the folks who bought you bacon salt-which I didn’t know existed either. Either way, apparently bitches love bacon… Fat bitches that is!!! NO, just kidding. I know people (skinny people) who love bacon. Like my friend, Friend A. Sometimes we go to Au Bon Pain and order salads. I always get the turkey medallion salad which happens to come with bacon. I kindly ask them to hold the bacon, since I don’t eat the hog. She’s like “No, give me your bacon. You can never have enough bacon.” I disagree, because sometimes if you over load on bacon, turkey bacon for me, you can get a little nauseous. So anyway, I discovered Baconnaise from my daily email from Hungrygirl.com. I love some of her tips & tricks. She was introducing Baconnaise Light ( I love how people trying to lose weight want the bad stuff in light).
Anyway, back to this Baconnaise crap. After seeing it there, I promptly used a search engine (nope, I will not say I Googled it!!) and came across the official baconsalt/baconnaise site. Apparently, after the growing popularity of bacon salt, someone suggested they attempt a bacon flavored spread, so they set out on an experimental journey to find it. Thier words from their official website:
“So we set out on another bacon-flavored adventure. Could we make a mayonnaise product that met our own high bacony standards? Could we get people as excited as they were for Bacon Salt (for which shrines have been built and songs have been written)? It was at that point that we began a very unhealthy morning routine: eat a slice of bacon, try a version of Baconnaise, eat a slice of bacon. Compare. Improve. Repeat. Over the 6 months it took us to make Baconnaise, we estimate that we probably ate 20 pounds of bacon, consumed 5 large jars of mayonnaise and took 2 years off of our lives – looking for that exact and delicious flavor that we would be proud to call Baconnaise.”
I find this stuff to sound gross. I would NEVER EVER try it. I find the fact that they boast about it being vegetarian to be a mockery of what good bacon is too, and I don’t even eat pork. I’m just putting this out there for everyone to be disgusted with too. But I know somewhere out there someone’s mouth is salvating and they are trying to find the store nearest them to buy it.
I don’t know if its been made clear in the past, but I like to cook, I might even venture to say that I borderline love to cook. I am intrigued by the way different flavors mesh and can’t wait to buy The Flavor Bible, when it goes down in price. So, one day I’m blog strolling and I came across this blog, Dolcecakes.wordpress.com which features different baking recipes. Now, while I think I have the cooking thing done pretty well, but don’t ask me to make a Beef Wellington anytime soon, I have not conquered baking. So, on this blog I found her recipe for Chocominty Coconut Cookies. I love mint chocolate so these instantly got printed and I conspired to make them. The ingredients sounded like things I could pick up from my local supermarket,so I decided to give them a go. After all, I love trying new things, and baking is my next goal. Well, there are a few more dishes I’d like to master, but I can multitask..
Now, I don’t know the difference between pastry flour and regular flour. The recipe called for wheat pastry flour, however in the aisle at Stop & Shop they only had wheat flour. On the package it said great for baking so I went with that since pastry flour wasn’t there. All the other ingredients were easy, brown sugar and coconut among them. I get home and set my butter out to become room temperature, which takes forever. I was getting anxious so I put it in the microwave for 10 seconds. Then I let it sit while I mixed all the other ingredients. After adding the butter, I wish it was a little softer, but it was pretty thick cookie dough. I’ve only made cookies from scratch one or two times and they were oatmeal cookies, so they should be dry. Since then Pillsbury and Tollhouse have been my cookie go-tos, so this was pretty dry, but i did as the instructions said and rolled it into a log and refridgerated it for the designated two hours. It instructs you to cut in in 1/4 inch slices, but I had no clue how to judge that, so I decided to wing it and came out with some different sized slices on my cookie sheet. I baked them for the instructed 10 minutes, but they didn’t seem done, so I left them in for a few more minutes. Not the best idea.
Cookies!
After taking them out and letting them cool, I had a very delicious mint choco cookie. However, it was tough on the teeth. Not the best results for cookies. But they were so good, strong flavors.. At first I had doubts because it used so little mint extract (half teaspoon). I wondered if the mint flavor would stand out, and it really does. I will definitely try to make these again, I would like them to have a “gooey” factor, so after I get the recipe down, I might add in some semi-sweet chocolate chips for added “gooey” ness. They may be hard, but they taste damn good with milk! I shall master baking . . . one day…
Holy Moly! I found this article about a lady finding a black widow spider in her Costco Grapes. For those who don’t know, the Black Widow is the deadliest American arachnid-even their web is poisonous! Not something I’d like to find in my grapes-sometimes I just pick grapes up in the store and eat one (don’t judge me, everyone does it!). Then we I get home, I run water over them and put them in the fridge. Imagine, ingesting poison that way and not even knowing. Imagine that thing getting lose into your house and possibly biting you!
In case you’ve noticed more spiders around this year, which I’ve heard people say, it could be because in California farmers have been using spiders as a natural pesticide to keep insects off of the crops. While I applaud these efforts to stop the use poisonous pesticides, I think that they maybe should not use spiders that are dangerous to our health as well. Seriously, what kind of logic is that, let me not give you a man made poison, but a natural one instead. Although maybe their logic comes from the fact that no one has died from a Black widow bite since 1960 in America, but still. Confusion. This is definitely confirmation and reinforcement to always, ALWAYS wash your fruit. Like really wash it, just just run the water like I do and shake it. Not enough.
So, the other day I read an article on the NYtimes website on my Blackberry titled “Calories Do Count.” Basically, the article talked about the rising resurgence of calorie-counting, which is something many dieters have done or currently do; and how this has led to, at least in New York right now, the now ever popular occurrence of calorie contents of food posted on menu items. I know it happened to me one day. I was in New York, near Time Square at the NewsCorp building and I went to a Wendy’s for a cheap quick lunch. Now, I know damn well I shouldn’t be eating Wendy’s, especially since I’ve been gym slacking. But I wasn’t about to spend $15 dollars on a salad I wasn’t guaranteed to like. And I hadn’t really eaten all day, so Wendy’s it was. So I head in there, and right there next to my #6 were numbers that said depending on my size I could be expending about 1000-1600 calories on a spicy chicken sandwich with fries and a drink. Shocked and appalled I was. I almost thought about not getting fries. But its not the same if you get a sandwich and a baked potato. So I settled for a small and a bottle of water. With Wendy’s a small is really a medium. I once got tricked into ordering a medium and had this big ass soda I couldn’t finish. But I knew i wasn’t trying to waste my whole daily caloric intake on just one meal. Do you know how hard it is to burn 1000 calories at the gym? HARD! Super HARD!!
Anywho, there is a law in NY that restaurants with 15 or more outlets were forced to post the calorie content of food next to the price. Now, do I agree? Yes and no. I think that yes, people should know more about what they are ingesting, however, I was perfectly happy going online or looking at the pamphlet they were supposed to keep in store if you had questions about content. I don’t like scare tactics. And this is a scare tactic driven by rising concerns over the obesity of Americans. Restaurants should have thought of this before they made heaping portion sizes the norm. In fact, as a result of this some restaurants have realized their food has very high caloric intake and to not reduce sales, they have reduced portion sizes-but not cost. So that is a win-win for them. Still sell and make more. You have to wonder, do they really care about the health and concern for Americans? I know who doesn’t, The FDA!
American is driven by profit. Companies are taking super advantage of the average Americans obsession with weight. Caloric content is spewed all over every damn product these days, and they make 100 calorie products in so many lines now. If people want to be fat, let them. You can’t make them eat right and you damn sure can’t make them work out. They have to come to the realization on their own.
So, I’m @ the Walgreen’s today after work and I’m buying my shampoo and my hair gel, which is very vital–See, I have wild and unruly curly hair. So when I need to buy new hair products of a different brand, I stop at the Walgreens, (yes, I always say The Walgreen’s) and see what they have on sale. They almost always have a brand name on sale for buy one get one free. So no matter what brand it is, unless its like cheap ass Sauve or something, I buy it. Today it was some Mark Anthony or some crap that was on sale. but anywho, that’s not why I write today. I’m checking out with my hair product, toothpaste, eyeliner and sharpi mini and I see at the counter a box of “Premium M & M’s!!!!” What in sam hell is this. They were in flavors like mint chocolate (see picture), mocha, and triple chocolate. So I came home and googled that and they have even more flavors!!! I was outraged. I mean here we have little chocolate candies being revamped and sold for 4.99. Is everyone all bougie now??? M & M’s are supposed to be the little quirky candy that melts in your mouth not in your hand. How can I watch the commericial with Red & Yellow knowing that M&M is trying to phase them out in favor of these new bougie m&ms. And poor green M, now she has a rival! She better punch mint chocolate right in her hoohas can call it even. Tell her no one likes them bougie chicks around here. I’m just saying…. It’s a sad day in history when even our candy gets all fancy on us.
Dope. Crazy. Perfectly Imperfect. I'm not the best writer and probably not the worst either, but I am happy while doing it. Stick with me and you'll never be bored! I mean, maybe you won't and maybe you will....
Holy Moly! I found this article about a lady finding a black widow spider in her Costco Grapes. For those who don’t know, the Black Widow is the deadliest American arachnid-even their web is poisonous! Not something I’d like to find in my grapes-sometimes I just pick grapes up in the store and eat one (don’t judge me, everyone does it!). Then we I get home, I run water over them and put them in the fridge. Imagine, ingesting poison that way and not even knowing. Imagine that thing getting lose into your house and possibly biting you!
