#152 - twenty-two minutes.

this weekend, before i sat down for the evening's snack & drink, i was on the phone with a friend explaining that in my next blog post, i planned on discussing things that are twenty-two minutes long. his response was "like taking a dump?" i was all like, "twenty-two minutes? it takes you that long?" personally, when it comes to doing my business, i'm in & out in five minutes tops, but i suppose that for some people, if you're sitting on the can for twenty-two minutes, that's acceptable. if you're standing at a urinal for that same amount of time, that might be a problem though. if it takes you twenty-two minutes to deftly execute your corporate strategy, that's acceptable. if it takes you twenty-two minutes to execute a prisoner by electrocution...not so deft.

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#151 - seven years of bad luck.

when i awoke yesterday morning, i awoke with the overwhelming feeling that something about the day was different. was it the ides of march? nope. that happened back on the fifteenth. national chocolate covered raisins day? nope. that's not until next wednesday. what was it? as i went through my usual morning routine, stepping out of the shower & into my "i'm hung like saddam" boxers, it finally hit me...it was the seventh anniversary of us invading iraq! i'm a sucker for anniversaries & the nostalgia that comes with them, so i decided to take a look back at all the good times we've had in iraq over the last seven years.

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snackdown! - 3.12.10

this week, the entire food world was fixated on news out of nyc that klee's daniel angerer was making cheese out of his wife's breast milk. it's something that the village voice reported on almost ten days ago, but this week the story really picked up steam, getting national attention & a warning-of-sorts from the board of health. while it's made in a fashion that's similar to most other cheeses, the critics who sampled it thought it was "softer" & "more slippery" than regular cheese. regardless of what the critics thought, there's something about it that gives me the willies. on a related note, klee will be unveiling their spring cheese menu next thursday. breast milk cheese will not be on the menu. for that matter, it never has been, but it sure has created a lot of buzz for klee. luckily, the rest of the week's news wasn't quite so nasty.

• late last week, the FDA announced a recall of a ton of products containing hydrolyzed vegetable protein, a common flavor enhancer. this week, that list of products extended to include two meat-inspired pringles flavors--restaurant cravers cheeseburger & family faves taco night. while i've never tried the cheeseburger flavor, i polished off a tube of the taco night flavor a few weeks back & am happy to report that i didn't die as a result. i'm also happy to report that taco night pringles are strange but amazingly good. after all, they're inspired by tacos. (christian science monitor)


• on another taco-related note, austin's SXSW got under way this week & for attendees, they can rest easy knowing that when they wake up with the worst indie rock & tequila-inspired hangover known to man, they can nurse it with an austin delicacy--the breakfast taco. the ny times notes that "when it comes to breakfast tacos...austin trumps all other american cities." the breakfast taco, which is "inspired by mexico, but not mexican," is basically a tortilla filled with standard breakfast fare such as scrambled eggs, bacon & sausage. some places like torchy's tacos get creative & serve items like "migas tacos, made with a scramble of eggs and strips of fried corn tortillas, pocked with green chilies, capped with avocado slices, enveloped by flour tortillas." the best part? they're not just for breakfast. (ny times)


• with st patrick's day only five days away, it's time to start getting wasted & downing copious amounts of corned beef & cabbage, right? well, not entirely. you should still get wasted but it turns out that corned beef & cabbage, which has become shorthand for "irish food," isn't really an irish dish. in fact, most of the "irish food" you find in america, stuff like irish nachos & reuben egg rolls, has nothing to do with traditional irish fare. the reality is that a lot of traditional irish cuisine is rather bland & the stuff you typically find in irish pubs here in the u.s.--"burgers, chicken wings and pizza"--is often similar to what you'll find in pubs in ireland. there really is no "irish cuisine" to speak of. it's cool with me though. corned beef & cabbage sucks. (chicago sun-times)


• in a week where the producers of the academy award winning documentary the cove busted a restaurant in l.a. for serving endangered whale sushi, serious eats took a look at a more legal (& likely tasty) form of sushi--the sushi pizza. as they reported, a japanese tv show that profiles "wacky 'japanese' food" served at japanese restaurants in america" visited hyde park's edo sushi to try out their sushi pizza. to their surprise, they actually enjoyed the dish, which is made up of "a lightly toasted rice patty" topped with spicy mayo, chopped maguro, green onion & tobiko. sure it's not technically pizza, but it still sounds awesome. (serious eats)


• over the past year or so, nyc's become known for their vibrant food truck scene, but in the midst of all the food truck hype, not enough attention has been paid to another portable food trend that's on the rise--the pop-up restaurant. they're locales where chefs set up shop for a day or evening & hock their creations. since they're hip & trendy & only temporary, there are four lessons that the la times thinks are key to the pop-up experience: don't expect to stumble on a pop-up, expect to wait, stay current on twitter & go at opening time. if you keep those four things in mind, you'll be just fine. if not, they'll be gone before you know it. (la times)

#150 - limited appeal.

this past weekend, i decided to take advantage of my newly-acquired on demand capabilities & checked out the first four episodes of how to make it in america, hbo's newest series. the half-hour comedy-drama, which premiered back on valentine's day, is produced by most of the same dudes who produce entourage (including mark wahlberg) & it's basically a new york variation on the entourage concept. whereas with entourage you have a group of four dudes trying to make it in hollywood whilst occasionally partying their asses off, how to make it... features two dudes trying to make it in new york's fashion scene whilst occasionally partying their asses off.

as it is, the premise is sort of boring & the content's only slightly better. i have to say that after watching the first four episodes, i'm not all that impressed & if i wasn't a new yorker, i feel like i'd be even less so. like with bored to death, there's a lot of stuff going that's very nyc-specific & might not seem very interesting to folks who don't live here. here's what they've given us thus far:

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#149 - only in dreams.

for years now, i've been waking up pretty much every morning with absolutely no recollection of my dreams from the previous evening. i'm pretty sure why this is, but we won't get into that right now in this fully public forum. reasons aside, science tells me that there are dreams going on up on that brain of mine whilst i snooze, but i'll be damned if i know what those dreams are about. on the random occasions when i wake up & actually do remember my dreams, i find myself cursing waking life & wanting to go right back to sleep, with the hope that i'll pick right up where i left off. that never happens though...stupid dreams & their lack of continuity.

over the past week something's changed though. i've been waking up almost every morning with actual memories of the previous evening's dreams. quite frankly, it's been awesome, although it's made me want to spend more & more time sleeping. i've never been one to believe in dream analysis, but if i was, here's a sampling of what i'd have to work with:

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