I read a very interesting article that shows Twitter finally has made it. It was the CEO of Twitter who once said if the media would leave them alone they will make it big. I did and I am not even the media. I think they have finally made it big. The study says 48% of people who received marketing tweets actually do searches for the products compared to 34% on other social media and that 20% of all tweet worldwide are invitations for products. Twitter had always had the design of a great broadcast platform. A marketer can reach many and many target potentials very easily and be very EFFECTIVE. The problem is labeling Twitter a broadcast platform will result in less people wanting to use this fun conversation tool. Twitter has been around long enough so enough believers exist of how no conversation exists via Twitter if percentages actually matter. For all practical purposes, Twitter users broadcast their tweets onto the followers and the Twitter universe. That is that. Twitter is finally getting recognition for how great a tool this is and it should not be long before they admit the conversation part is a great story. I wonder what the celebration for the success of Twitter will be but do know since Twitter finally has a definable purpose and function, the competition will duplicate it. That actually can be good because Twitter will have to operate as a normal company with customers to stay afloat. Competition does a lot of good for the users also.

*This post belongs to this week’s edition of Wine by Cush Magazine blog and published early in World of Cush also.

Music: Jeff Buckley – Corpus Christi Carol (we’ve been watching The Tudors)

This year for my REAL birthday (I’ve been celebrating since September) my family and I went to Peasant for dinner.  We were all so impressed with the simple marinara sauce they served – I was even surprised my mother ordered it with all the amazing things on the menu.  But man, were we glad she did. Since then I’ve been attempting to recreate their simple marinara and I’ve come pretty close. And so in honor of my Mother’s Birthday today I made her this!

A few years ago I was watching Lidia on PBS and she did a recipe for a Chicken Parmesan.  I can’t seem to find it anywhere but I think I remember it.

What you’ll need:

For sauce – 2 35-ounce cans of tomatoes (San Marzano have a good rep– but a little salty for me.  I like the Muir Glen kind), 15-20 whole leaves of basil, 4 cloves of garlic, ½ cup of olive oil, salt and pepper to taste, 1 cup of water and ¼ cup of parsley. Red pepper flakes and ¼ cup of red wine optional.

For chicken – 4 chicken breasts, 1 cup of flour, 1 egg, salt and pepper, 1 cup of olive oil, 3 cloves of garlic, fresh mozzarella and 4 leaves of basil.

Sauce: (my camera crapped out for some of this…forgive the lack of photos)

• Put tomatoes into a large mixing bowl and smush (technical term) with both hands (depends on how chunky you like your sauce.  The large chunks will cook down too.)
• Finely mince garlic.  Heat oil in a skillet over medium high heat. Cook garlic for about 2 minutes until golden.
• Pour in crushed tomatoes and 1 cup of water.
• Sprinkle with salt and pepper (and red pepper flakes if you like some heat!)
• Chop basil into thin slices. Finely chop parsley.
• Add basil and parsley to sauce and cover. Add wine if you have it. Let cook for 10 minutes.
• (At this point you can add ¼ teaspoon of baking power.  It cuts the acidity from the tomatoes and its fun to watch in the pan – it’s like a science experiment).
• Remove cover and cook for additional 10 minutes.

Chicken Parmesan:

• Bowl water for pasta (I used Rigatoni for this).
• Tenderize chicken breasts until they are about 1 ½ inches flat.

• Put flour, salt and pepper in one bowl and whisk egg in another bowl.
• Soak each chicken breast in egg and then cover with flour.
• In a skillet, heat olive oil on medium heat. Once heated, add whole garlic cloves to oil.

• Add chicken breasts. Cook on each side for about 4 minutes.

• Cut mozzarella into thick slices.
• Add 5 ladles full of red sauce to the skillet. Place one basil leaf on each piece of chicken. Cover chicken with Mozzarella slice.  Put lid on skillet and cook until cheese melts (about 5 more minutes).

• Drain pasta, plate and enjoy a melty cheese mess!

Sammi has this game for her DS called Cooking Mama. One of the items she gets to “cook” is a baguette. Being a video game junkie, I asked if I could play her DS and try this game. Sammi obliged and the item I decided to make was the baguette.

I said, “I’ll try making this baguette.“

And Sammi said, “Is that how you say it? I thought it was ‘bagwet’.“

I started laughing and said, “Noooo! It’s bag-ette.“

She said, “That doesn’t make sense. It has a U in it!“

How do you explain French pronunciation to an 8 year old… ?

I had a baguette with cheese and tomatoes for lunch. I also brewed some passion iced tea which turned out pretty good. I think I’m over this whole bread+cheese+tomato thing now..

I know… it has been a long time. Even after my ardent declaration to “keep the party going” with blogging, whatever that means, I have failed. Alas, I haven’t updated my blog in over a month. But it’s alot harder than it may seem… every time I finish a blog post, I feel like I’ve just run a marathon. If you know me, you know how laughable and unlikely me running a marathon actually is, and so maybe you can begin to understand how drained I feel after clicking out a post.

In brainstorming this post, I tried to find a way to re-engage all (three) of my readers while not killing a small piece of my soul in the process. That is, I need this not to be philosophical, or witty, or awesomely snarky because really I don’t have it in me. I think the best way to do this is to tell a little story.

It’s actually not a little one; it’s long one. So cozy up and prepare to feel better about yourself in comparison, because this is the story of how Kathryn realized she’s not a real adult, only a poorly drawn caricature:

A little over a month ago, I was preparing to fly down to Nashville for my first Homecoming as an alum. I was all super excited because I was gonna get to see my boyfriend and my bffs and completely relive college (whoooo!!!) without feeling like a failure of an adult. I had been debating all week whether I wanted to pay $40 for a private shuttle to BWI, or depend on cabs and cheap public transportation at 5 AM. If you recall my last blog post (which you probably don’t because it was yeaaaars ago) where I griped about the incompetent excuse for public transportation in this city, I was a super skeptical. However, given that 90% of the time I’m $5 away from poverty, I decided that paying $20 for sketchy and unreliable service was a better option than paying $40 for a serene private shuttle ride (adult decision fail #1).

However, when I called to try and reserve a cab, none of the assholes hard-working Americans picked up the phone. I was forced against my will to reserve the shuttle instead. $40 and one financial-situation-panic-attack later, I was setting my Blackberry alarm for 4:30 so that I could make my 8:15 flight and tucking into bed.

When I woke up, it was 5:30. My phone had died… and my hopes, dreams and alarm had died with it (oh, and also adult decision fail #2, because what adult doesn’t charge her Blackberry????? Why do I even have a Blackberry???? Sorry, tangent…)

I then proceeded to have the most obnoxious FML moment I myself have ever witnessed. There was crying. There was screaming. There was tripping over and running into things because omg this is so awful and I couldn’t quite get my motor skills to function properly. Looking back, it was embarrassing, even though no one witnessed it but me. This whole debacle continued for about 10 minutes because:

1. I was mourning the loss of my 40 bucks and I needed a moment
2. I was still half asleep and screaming/crying was the most effortless thing I could think to do at the time
3. I’m dramatic
4. I have not yet reached a level of maturity that will allow my to snap out of it, focus, and figure out a solution

I then called my mom (adult decision fail #3) and went all “Moooooommmm!!! Why didn’t you call and make sure I was awaaaaake!!??? I’m going to miss my flight and my life is going to be over! OVVVVEERRR!!!!”

She was like “Seriously, Kathryn?” And she hung up.

I deserved that. I did. I was acting like a 5-year old, I woke my mom up in the middle of the night and blamed her for my stupidity. I think as far as karma goes, that moment might have set me back a few.

At some point, I managed to get myself together and call a cab. I am forever and always indebted to Diamond Cab Company for actually answering the phone, showing up, and getting me to Union Station just in time for a train to the airport. Further, I’d like to thank the Ghanaian cab driver for listening to my sniffles in the back seat and commiserating with me. I would have thrown me out of the car.

When I finally got on the train to BWI, I had time to analyze my behavior. What adult acts like that? I freaked out on my mom… I probably woke up my entire neighborhood with my wailing. In the midst of my self-deprecating internal tirade, I realized that a Hispanic man sitting across from me on the train was staring at me as he talked on the phone. Now, I am no speaker of Spanish, and I’m usually not unnecessarily paranoid, but I was pretty sure he was talking about me. I was certainly no feast for los ojos – my hair was all over my head, my glasses were askew, and looking back I’m not entirely sure I had brushed my teeth before leaving the apartment. Then I realized that my sweater was crooked, and my bra and a good amount of chest was definitely exposed.

Ahhh, I see the fascination, amigo.

When things like this happen, as they often do, I begin to doubt myself as a functioning member of society. That I couldn’t take the time to make sure that my lady bits were nicely tucked away suggests to me that I should consider social retirement. I don’t mean to be a hot mess; hot messiness just follows me around and I can’t evade it.

OH! and then… when I got to the airport something else happened. The line to check a bag was long, as was the security line, so I decided to go straight to security and carry my bag on board (finally, adult decision WIN!!!!). Since I always check bags, I never do the carry-on liquids in a plastic bag thing (which never really made sense to me in the first place). In the moment, I decided to keep only the things I couldn’t easily replace, and toss everything else. I started stuffing the keepers in my pocket to separate them. Then a guy behind me was like “Um, you can’t hide your liquids in your pockets.”

Huh?

I admit, it was slightly sketch. I could have handled it better by, oh I don’t know!, asking for a bag to put my liquids in instead of clandestinely slipping them into my pocket (one step back, adult decision fail #4). Fine. Still, the tone of his voice and the WTF look on his face clearly told me that this guy thought I was a terrorist.

Welp! That was awkward.

I never read it, but I’m pretty sure Lemony Snicket’s “A Series of Unfortunate Events” would read like my diary.

____

By the end of that morning, I was at a win to fail ration of 1:4. On average, 80% of my life is spent trying to be a real adult and actually failing. Those are just not good odds, not at all. So with that I decided that I need to work on being a better adult person. Now I know that to many of you, this sounds alot like the Great Declaration of 2006, where I promised to not fall asleep in public anymore and to stop believing inane things like “Did you know if you unexpectedly get caught in a magnetic field all the iron in your blood will mash together and kill you?” (Which was not a cool thing to joke about because it scared the beejees outta me). No friends, this is different. I’m determined to become a better adult person, I’ve set rules for myself, and I’m going to stand by them.

First, I have to stop whining. I’ve been told that this is annoying, and when other people whine I find it obnoxious, yet for some reason I find myself doing it ALL THE TIME. I’m not proud.

Second, I need to be more responsible for myself. There is absolutely no reason that I shouldn’t have charged my phone that fated morning. Nor should I have blamed my mom for me waking up an hour late. Yes, it’s really easy to blame other people for your lack of common sense, but it’s just not okay.

Also, I’m thinking I should learn to accept that real adults sometimes have to do things they don’t want to do. Waking up at 6:30 to go to work will always suck; that doesn’t mean I can snooze till 7:30 for the rest of my life. Paying rent is a huge pain in the ass that takes away from my Whole Foods and Happy Hour budget, but living on the street instead isn’t really my vibe. So I should learn to suck it up a bit and deal with the hard stuff. Besides, I’m no longer at the age where “well I don’t wanna so I’m not gonna” is an acceptable way to handle responsibility.

And speaking of the Whole Foods and Happy Hour budget… when I have a budget for expensive organics and after-work wine, but don’t know where my ride to the airport is coming from, that’s a problem. Especially because for four years in college my diet was mostly Miller Light, Doritos and melted cheese. I don’t know why becoming an “adult” made me feel like I had to switch it up, but perhaps I should switch it off and downgrade.

In any case, that’s my plan. When I write my next blog post, which will probably be months from now (I’m saying that because adult people don’t make promises they can’t keep. And let’s face it, I’m a horribly inconsistent blogger. But no matter how bad of a blogger I am, I will not be a bad adult. No… I will not) I will provide updates on how this is going.

Wish me luck… we all know I need it.

Cordially (cause that’s what adults say),

Kathryn

English pub meets West Elm.  CommonWealth is my kind of place—clean, rustic, welcoming and romantic.

Having had many meals here, I think CommonWealth is a classy addition to Columbia Heights.  Portions are satisfying (unless you’re a three-hundred-pound trucker), the food is consistently fresh and beautifully presented, and the staff is at the top of their game.

Start with a rocket salad.  Very simple with lemonette, sliced radishes and shaved sheep’s cheese.  Savory, bitter, tart, and a healthy start to your meal.

The grass-fed beef burger is exceptional.  Taste it and you will immediately know the difference between cows raised on a natural diet and those fed grains and hormones.  The taste is clean, natural and tender.  The way beef is supposed to taste.

Try the steamed mussels.  An appetizer that will surely wake up your taste buds with an array of flavors—sweet, tender mussels, with dry-cured sausage, a kick of vermouth, sprinkled with smooth squash.

But the main reason I come here is the Scotch eggs, a very unique food item in my book.  Hard-boiled eggs are wrapped in pork sausage and fried.  A British picnic food, Scotch eggs are traditionally served cold.  At CommonWealth, they are served hot with green chutney, honey mustard, and remoulade (I think).  Staying true to form, I take them to go and eat them cold.

They’re better that way, anyway.  Kudos!

This is not something I’m used to seeing in my fridge this time of year. Unless it comes from my freezer or from the store, pesto usually takes leave of my kitchen in late September or early October. But as I was pulling the brown, shriveled twigs that were my basil plants out of the garden today, I decided I needed to to something to celebrate the fact that my parsley was still going strong. Maybe even stronger than it was in the summer.

So I made a parsley pesto.

At the grocery store today, I picked up a wedge of Piave Vecchio cheese, something I’d tried in a cooking class and really liked. It tastes to me like a cross between Gruyere and Parmigiano Reggiano, and despite what this writer had to say, I found it to be perfectly good for grating. I used a mix of Piave and parm in this pesto, and I found that the softer Piave gave it a lot more richness.

In addition to my parsley, my mint still has some healthy sprigs on it, so I threw a bit of that into this as well.

If you have any green herbs left in your garden, and you, like me, are trying to hold off the winter doldrums for as long as possible, then mix up a healthy green paste like this before it’s too late, if for nothing more than to make it feel like spring when you open your refrigerator.

Parsley-walnut pesto

2 cups parsley leaves, tightly packed (Italian parsley, not the curly stuff)

juice of half a lemon

1/3 cup toasted walnuts

1/4 cup grated Piave Vecchio cheese

1/4 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese

1 clove garlic

1/2 cup olive oil

salt and pepper, to taste

Combine first six ingredients in food processor. Pulse until they form a paste-like mixture. With the motor running, pour the half-cup olive oil into the drip container that sits in the feed tube. Let olive oil drizzle into the mixture with the motor on, then continue to run the processor for 10 to 15 seconds after all the oil is in the pesto. Taste and season with salt and pepper.

I used some of this tonight on a pizza with sliced supermarket zucchini, eggplant, mushrooms and pepperoni. It was really nice. I always love to have pesto around on weeknights to make up a quick, comforting bowl of pasta.

Right now, I am sitting pretty among several snoozing passengers, flying from my humid (though currently delightfully breezy) home in the Sunshine State, back to California for two more weeks before finals.

… That’s right, yall! I’m writing FROM AN AIRPLANE. And, it’s FREE! Thanks, Delta Airlines!

(Maybe airplane wi-fi has been around for a decade and I’ve been living obliviously on my own foodie planet, but free or not, I still think it’s amazing.)

I apologize for how long it has been since my last entry; this month has been wave after wave of madness, but such is the life of a university student. The fact that my digital camera suffered a fatal fall hindered the posting, as well. I now have a new one, thanks to an early birthday party thrown by my family Thanks Mum and Dad! And also, thank you, the three people who checked my dusty blog today, for bearing with me.

However, despite my flakiness over the past month, I did make some time to cook, so prepare for a gradual deluge of concoctions.

I really never watch TV, but when I do, it’s nearly always the Food Network. Like most people, I usually watch it for simple, passive pleasure, mentally pondering Rachel Ray’s waistline, the Neelys’ off-screen marital behavior and Alton Brown’s encyclopedic culinary knowledge (weird confession: I have a very odd, teenyboppery baby crush on him, despite his innate nerdy strangeness. I just think it’s amazing that anyone knows that much about food. I think a date with him would be horribly intimidating and that he would think I’m a complete twit, but still…)

Last weekend, for the very first time, I was actually inspired to cook something on TV! Bobby Flay’s grilled stuffed mushrooms just looked so tasty, I felt the urge to go make my own– and I did, that very night. My version is a bit simpler, done solely on the stove (it was a bit too cold for grilling… okay, I know, I live in Malibu but anything below 60 or so is “a bit too cold” for this child of the tropics) and skips out entirely on his fancy (albeit tasty looking) homemade vinaigrette as I don’t have a blender. They turned out savoury and delicious, despite all of the little changes. My Greek “little bro” Robby, who hates mushrooms, ate two big ones. I served them later in the evening with my Pirate-Friendly Winter Cider (recipe follows) as somewhat of a “second dinner” for several of the wonderful people sprawled out in my apartment; however, they would make a great main course after a salad for a hearty vegetarian feast. They were so cute, too, with the yummy-looking stuffing poking out of the caps… but alas, I was cameraless, at the time.

don't worry; as delicious as mushrooms are, I would never eat this cute little guy from Fantasia

Untamed Stuffed Portobellos

(Serves about 10 people, assuming at least two will go back for seconds)

INGREDIENTS:

-14 large Portobello mushrooms, gilled with the stems pulled off

-about two sticks of butter (or your favorite butter substitute), total

-Four cloves garlic, minced

-One brown or white onion, chopped

-Three bags Uncle Ben’s instant wild rice

-4 tbsp grated hard cheese; I used Pecorino Romano though Parmesan would work just as well (leave off to keep things vegan)

-1/2 cup chopped parsley

-Salt and Pepper to season

DIRECTIONS:

First things first: these mushrooms need to be tasty and tender; In one pan, sautee each mushroom for about five minutes on each side (best done in batches) in the butter or futter on medium heat. This bit is so simple, it can be left to a small child or helpful boyfriend to do.

Next, for the stuffing, sautee the onions in a medium saucepan until they are almost clear. Then, add the garlic and cook for about three minutes. Pour in the rice, add the necessary amount of water, and cook until tender. Mix in the cheese (if using) and parsley.

Stuff a heaping spoonfull of the rice mixture into the mushrooms, and serve with a sprinkling of the cheese on top.

and now… for the cider. Use this recipe as more of a guideline than an exact formula (and if you have whole cinnamon sticks, use them! I don’t here because I don’t usually have them in my pantry, these are just my leftover pumpkin pie spices); improvise and substitute as you see fit. The rum especially is very optional– I’m not trying to condone drinking here, especially not as a student of a dry school– but that is the element that makes it so appealing to pirates and other piratey individuals.

fancy a bit of cider, Mr. Sparrow?

Pirate Winter Cider

INGREDIENTS:

-Two containers apple juice; about 128 oz. total

-two oranges, sliced

-one lemon, sliced

-one large green pear, sliced

-1 tbsp ground cinnamon

-2 tsp ground allspice

-1 tsp ground ginger

-1/2 a bottle of Spiced Rum (Captain Morgan is the norm, but if you have access to Cruzan, use that! Maybe I’m biased, but it’s the best)

DIRECTIONS:

Pour apple juice into a big pot, and heat to a boil. Add fruit, and reduce heat to a simmer. Add spices, and let simmer for at least 20 minutes. Once the cider is comfortably below the boiling point, add the rum, and serve. (NOTE: if you add the rum while the cider is still boiling, the alcohol will all cook away, which to some pirates is quite a wasteful shame.)

Oh– and make sure to munch on some of the cider-soaked fruit. It’s mouthwatering.

I think I finally figured out one good reason why food carts and mobile food attract people. They have some kind of charisma that restaurants and other eateries lack. They are ‘open’ in many ways but most of all a mobile food cart or mobile food is out in the open and part of the open space. The presence of a mobile unit in the open has grabbing dynamics. If nothing else, one sees the unit and gets curious of what offered and how much and the quality and so on. That is one good reason why more and more of these units will reinforce the San Francisco culinary scene. If plenty of them are around, one can visit by them even if there is 50 of them before trying anything. The excitement of the marketplace will bring people back over and over again. It will never work for restaurants because they are not in the ‘open.’

I happened to walk by a liquor store today and was stopped by the red light that kept me there. I noticed the Corona sign and the tropical colored drawings complementing it. The logo and scenery was part of an outside portable blackboard sign. The promotional signs are issued by liquor companies and given to vendors to put in front of their shops. I used one from another beer company to promote our happy hour at a fancy restaurant. The really strong thing about the blackboard sign is the handwriting. I read a blog post yesterday that said Americans used to be targets of advertising 2000 times daily and since the advent of social media that has increased to 5000. An average person is exposed to only a few hundred ads daily (and that is too much) but the total number of ads positioned to hit that person’s mind have made a huge jump to 5000. One thing about the ads is they are very generic or were until the social media arrived which helps target the ads to the recipient. Whether or not the message is received and matches the person has a great deal to do with the effectiveness of the advertising and the human mind knows how to deal with the ads.

The blackboard sign has everything any other kind of signage has. Anyone who has worked in retail knows consumers are trained over the years to ignore all advertising. They learn to block them out effectively so they can go about their lives. Any kind of physical signage does qualify as advertising and the human mind automatically blocks it out. It works on the same principle that I had to mention once before. I had a friend whose house was in close proximity of the railtracks in the Peninsula and the answer to my question of whether the train wakes people up at night, if it goes by, was “never.” The brain learns to block the sounds out and sleep through the event and I don’t have to bore you with the science of it. The printed signage works the same way. The brain recognizes the sign as advertising and blocks it as if not there. We used to have an inside joke in retail that if one wants people to ignore something 100% all they have to do is make a sign and put it in front of them. That never failed. The most ignored sign is the one right in front of the consumers as they walk in the door. EVERYONE ignores it.

The blackboard sign is basically a chalkboard with legs that spread and each surface can be handwritten with that day’s promotion. I used it for happy hours in restaurants and worked great. It not only changes daily but is seen and read. Everyone glances and reads something off the blackboard because of the handwriting. A handwritten chalk writing is not blocked by the mind because the brain has learned to block the graphic design and colors of a print. People actually read the blackboard sign not because it can change at a whim but because it has personality. The manufactured signs are professional but have no personality. The poor handwriting (no matter how good written) has a person behind it. Humans are trained to see part of that person through the handwriting as they learn to read and write. We allocate positive or negative to a person’s personality, intelligence, attitude and many more things based on the quality of the writing. That is how people are brought up. The bottom line is people will read these signs because we are programmed to read handwritten writings.

The retail shop of today has to grab and bring customers in to keep going. One of the first rules of sales is to bring the customer to the sales floor. Anyone who has tried to buy a car knows how the salesperson will fight the phone call to bring one to the floor before answering any questions. No deals are made on the phone and the sales floor has power of its own. Retail works the same way as the restaurants do. If the customer can be brought into the store or restaurant floor, one has a very good chance of selling something no matter how small. And more importantly that customer learns how to shop at that place even though the transaction was small. Shopping habits are extremely important for repeat business. A customer can know of and go by a restaurant or shop for years but never shop because the brain has not registered the steps of entering, browsing, selecting and purchasing. People take action when it is time to shop based on what they remember of the places they have shopped no matter how small the transaction. Retailers call this shopping habits and that makes or breaks businesses.

The blackboard sign is God-sent for today’s stressed restaurants, bars and retail shops. The promotions can be tailored to whatever works for that day. The vendor can create a strategy for just that day or a few hours and change it. One can even write in other languages depending on the neighborhood or if in tourist area. The bottom line is the blackboard will get people in the door with an open attitude. The informal writing of a good promotion for a few hours or that day will speak to many people who read it while the very professional writings of a printed sign are definitely ignored. And what of the ‘open’ characteristic that helps the mobile food and carts? One reason the blackboard handwritten signs work so well is by also being out in the ‘open.’ Nobody is obligated to do anything by walking close to and reading a handwritten sign but many will take simple action based on what they read. I observed a small stretch of a street in San Francisco today and how many signs were outside in a row. The venues were all places to eat or drink and the signs were all blackboard style with all kinds of handwritings.

What if every retail shop, bar, store, and restaurant had one of these in front with information for that day or the few hours of that day? I know I would love to change my walks to go by the blocks of streets with many changing signs just to read them for fun. Would I shop at any of them? What else would I be doing after all the window shopping I was doing? The friendly signs speak much of the people who run the venues also and if they are just cold business people or nice folks. I guess the blackboard sign works in one way as the wine label sticker does. You can put artwork on it or just make blank with a name and a date. It speaks much of what the attitude and personality of the people behind the venue is.

The blackboard sign will meet and greet people for you all day. The sign will speak to almost every person that meets it as if you do in person. Your sign may become part of a population of handwritten signs that are made daily just to meet and greet people passing by without any obligations. The handwritten blackboard sign will work because it is out in the ‘open.’ Everyone is nosy and curious to find things out about others and the signs go out of their way to help with this and what is new that may be good in that venue. I am absolutely sure if the handwritten blackboard signs are abundant, friendly and informative, they become an automatic part of window shopping culture and people will visit them to satisfy curiosity and these visitors end up becoming lifelong customers by knowing so much about the actual business of a location on a regular basis. They become part of the internals of that business with no obligation and will shop there daily or yearly but will do for sure.

*This post belongs to this week’s edition of Wine by Cush Magazine blog and published early in World of Cush also.

So for this first entry I decided to review one of my favorite haunts in The Drrty Mo.  The place is called The Big League Hot Dog Company and I love hanging out here, grabbing some food and hopping the Wi-Fi.  Let me first say that this place is immaculate.  This is the cleanest ‘Mom and Pop’ I have ever seen.  Big League Hot Dogs has a nice sized dining area with a small lunch counter and a baseball dug-out for those wrapped up in the baseball theme.  Diners can also venture to the patio for a little al fresco action.

Let me just say, baseball is not my favorite sport.  In fact, I find it to be tedious at best.  That said, the folks at Big League Hot Dogs have done a great job with the theme and decor.  There are stadium seats out front and patrons are asked to step up to the plate to order.  You place your order from the Major League Scoreboard Menu, just to the right of home-plate.  The restaurant is loaded with ephemera related to baseball.  I really like the photos of the local ball teams from the 40’s and 50’s.  (ref. Hickory Rebels, Mooresville Moors)

All of this baseball flair would mean nothing without a menu to support it, and here’s where the Big Leaguers really shine.  I have had several of their dogs in past visits, and they offer a nice variety.  (Chicago, Carolina, Chili, Firecracker, the obligatory foot long, and other monthly specials) Additionally you can get your dog steamed, grilled or deep fried!  Add to this a variety of sausages; Italian, Brat and otherwise, and you’d have a nice healthy menu.  This is where the grill comes in.

Big League Hot Dog Company offers a variety of grilled items.  In addition to the grilled sausages and hot dogs, they offer burgers, chicken breast and veggie burgers.  I have had most of their grilled offerings, and have not been disappointed.  As good as they are at grilling, the Big League crew have mastered the art of deep frying.

The fries, kettle chips, and onion rings are unmatched up here at the Lake.  They offer some fried entrees; a clam roll and shrimp basket, for example. And their fried desserts are excellent (ref. Fried Bananas Foster).

On today’s visit I met my daughter for lunch.  She’s often my partner in crime, because she’s a hardcore foodie like me.  Today I ordered up a Double Cheeseburger with mayo, mustard, lettuce, tomato & jalapenos.  On the side, an order of the chili cheese fries.  My kid opted for the Fiesta Dog Special, finished with a dessert of Fried Bananas Foster & Raspberry Sauce. 

The Fiesta Dog Special has Two Spicy Grilled Franks on soft steamed hot dog Rolls topped with guacamole and home made salsa.  The Special included an order of the Big League twice cooked French Fries.  As usual the Fries were a nice tan-brown brindle color with a light crunch on the outside and a soft creamy center. And in my daughter’s case… Drenched in Malt Vinegar! 

The twin dogs did not disappoint either.  She liked the amount of spice from the spicy dogs and the home made salsa.  (That usually means its not nearly spicy enough for me.)  I’ve had the guacamole in the past and it’s a nice creamy avocado flavor.  The consistency is extremely smooth, no chunks of avocado or other ingredients.  I normally like my guacamole with some chunk, but this offering is good.   It doesn’t appear to be made onsite, but they have purchased a quality guac.

My Double Cheeseburger appeared with the obligatory pickle spear.  The large twin patties were char-grilled to perfection and accompanied by two slices of American, two healthy tomato slices, crisp iceberg lettuce, mayo, yellow mustard and a nice handful of jalapenos.  The tall stack of burger bliss required a squish before I could dig in. Being char-grilled, there isn’t an excess amount of grease… just good grilled beefy flavor.  This is the flavor that keeps me coming back for this burger time and time again.

My side order of Chili Cheese Fries are an occasional guilty treat.  It all starts with a bed of fresh twice cooked Fries.  Then the Big Leaguers top the fries with lightly spiced chili and molten yellow cheese sauce.  The ingredients compliment each other and work very well together.  I’m not a big fan of cheese sauce, but this stuff has a nice flavor and isn’t overly salty.

Finally, our Fried Bananas Foster:  Nicely battered nuggets of Banana Filling served with powdered sugar and raspberry dipping sauce.  The nuggets, as with everything at Big League, were fried to perfection.  They were cooked just to the point to heat the product through… but not to the point where a scalding banana flavored lava flow would make you cry out in agony.

The Quick Take:

Price: Very Reasonable

Menu: Dogs, Sausages, Burgers, Chicken, Seafood, Fried Goodies, Desserts, Pepsi Products

Pros: Extremely Clean, High Quality Food, Friendly Staff, Wi-Fi, Sports on multiple TVs, Beer on Tap

Cons: Family Friendly… so if kids bother you, pick your visit wisely.

Where is it?  Mooresville- Mount Mourne Springs Shopping Center, Exit 33 off of I77 north. Directly across from the McRonald’s Fast Food. (Yeah I spelled it wrong… on purpose!)

The Extra: Even though they are a pre-made product, try the Onion Rings!They are Great!

I decided to try a new recipe tonight. Pork cranberry roast I found online. Unfortunately it didn’t appeal to me as much as I was hoping. It had great reviews and hundreds of people had tried and liked it, but I didn’t much care for it. Still hungry and all. So I decided to make some mac n cheese. Now a week ago I made an excellent homemade crock pot macaroni and cheese. Very good. But since I didn’t have all the ingredients, nor the time, I decided I’d attempt to spice up a box of regular kraft mac n cheese. So many things you can do to make it better, because let’s face it, it isn’t very good. It does the job, but it isn’t very good. So here’s my take on improving the box.

Bake: 375 Degrees                    Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

Box of regular kraft mac n cheese

1/2 cup of sour cream

2 TB Milk

1 Cup of any shredded cheese (I used kraft pepperjack or whatever is on hand)

3 TB butter

Paprika, optional

Directions:

Heat oven to 375 degrees.

Cook the noodles as directed. I believe it’s 8-10 minutes. Meanwhile shred a cup of whatever cheese you have on hand or your favorite. Pepperjack is pretty awesome in it, but it really doesn’t matter. Drain the noodles. Now forget the box, toss it in fact. Add the cheese mixture the box provided you to the noodles. Add the butter. Add 2 TB milk. Add 1/2 Cup of sour cream. Add most, but not all (about 3/4 Cup) of cheese and stir it all together.

Put the mac n cheese in a rectangle baking pan, pretty small. Top with the remaining shredded cheese. Sprinkle paprika on top. Bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes. Enjoy!

Of course, there are so many other things you could do to this. You could substitute the sour cream for cream cheese. I added a few red pepper flakes to mine. You can add some italian seasoning, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, anything you desire! Anything is better than the crappy box. Experiment!

a wishful pantry is back, on a new site, but less in the form of a food blog and more like a food photo-comic – food photos + words = culinary graphic fun.

Also in trying to be as organised and on-top-of-myself as possible lots of the first few comics were done well in advance to maintain a smooth weekly comic. Well, that’s the plan anyway. You might notice the style, photo colours vary greatly from one comic to another. I can only ask for your patience and understanding while I discover the many functions on my camera and Photoshop.

Onto the food. While I have to admit I made this cauliflower walnut pasta quite a few months ago and I haven’t made it since, I always have the same problem with mixed through pastas.

It’s easy enough with a spag bol to regulate the ratio of spaghetti to bolognese sauce to individual taste with the pre-mixed pastas I always add way too much pasta. Which is why there probably won’t be many pasta dishes cooked at wishfulpantry.

For a more concise recipe and other delicious pasta recipes try Smitten Kitchen, where I originally found it.

Enjoy!

Saint Lucy’s Day, Sweden and Sicily.

29.11.09 Thanksgiving leftovers and avocado turkey wraps after this national holiday day. Or the table before – and preparing – it. Thanksgiving menu and over-stuffed onions as an appetizer. And, furthermore, as I am Italian, I would ask to all of you from America when, ehm, Thanksgiving is…

04.11.09 - Apples. Is it true that apples stave off Alzheimer’s disease, protect against colon cancer and prevent high blood pressure? Recipes with them…

28.08.09 Do you like icecreams? And how? Which flavours? Let’s try the icecream with white chocolate or almonds… And food with rice? Ice cream makers.

Vanilla icecream, Vanilla Toffee Crunch and Chunky Monkey

Vanilla Bean, Strawberries & Cream, Double Chocolate, Mango & Passion Fruit Madness, Lemon Meringue, Cappuccino and Sticky Toffee Fudge

Mango & Banana Smoothie, Banana & Strawberry Smoothie, Frozen Yogurt, Cappuccino and Chocolate Icecream

Texas and turkey burgers. Texas burgers and photos… Do you like turkey burgers, mashed potatoes and mixed vegetables? How do you cook them? Fried turkey, butter and cheese on the potatoes and butter on the mixed veggies? Too “fat” recipe?

- Spicy Beans with Turkey Sausage

- – -

I thought to share with you a traditional Sicilian plate, the “cuccia” that is eaten on December, 13. I found this website in English that publishes a recipe – or a second and third one. How to make cuccia is also explained in another page or even this one from a religious point of view. If you like to try it, you can also log on this yellow-coloured page. I will ask my mother if I should add anything – a comment or anything else – about the recipes and these pages. Besides, here there is a website of Faith Willinger, who should be a journalist who deals with food… General food….

In Liguria, Piedmont and Tuscany. Chickpea flour and olive oil – or even onions and black pepper or sage – and… you can cook the farinata almost as in Liguria, Piedmont and Tuscany… And, besides, is it called a pancake or a cake? Please also be aware how “biblioteca comunale” and “farinata” are written and how your “merenda” tastes…

- Your favourite travel destination (please vote)

- Which is your best song? (please vote)

Opera, an European browser, and Mozilla, Linux and Apple

Spreadthesign, the sign language dictionary. European Commission – Education & Training

Friday December 12, 2008

updated on Sunday November 29, 2009

calogeromira.wordpress.com – e-mail

Does this search engine save watts/hour?

Discontent-The Beginning of Progress

Part 2

Who Moved My Cheese? is a simple parable that reveals profound truths about change. It is an amusing and enlightening story of four characters that live in a maze and look for cheese to nourish them and make them happy.

“Cheese” is a metaphor for what you want to have in life-whether it is a good job, a loving relationship, a possession, health or spiritual peace of mind.  And the “Maze” is where you look for what you want-the organization you work in, or in the family or community that you live in.

As mentioned last week these little characters, Sniff and Scurry and the two little people- Hem and Haw- are faced with unexpected change-even though the need for change was right in front of them.  Eventually, one of them deals with it successfully and writes what he learned from his experience on the maze walls in his search for NEW CHEESE OR WHAT YOU WANT IN LIFE.  His insights were:

• Changes Happens-They Keep Moving the Cheese
• Monitor Change- Get Ready For the Cheese to Move
• Adapt to Change Quickly-The Quicker You Let Go of Old Cheese,

The Sooner You Can Enjoy New Cheese

• Change – Move with the Cheese.
• Enjoy Change! – Savor the adventure and enjoy the taste of new cheese!
• Be Ready to Quickly Change and EnjoyIt, Again!-They Keep Moving the Cheese

When you come to see “The Handwriting on the Wall,” you can discover for yourself how to deal with change, so that you can enjoy less stress and more success (however you define it) in your work and life.

There is no change or progress without discontent or crisis!  The leader’s job is to be the change agent and create crisis and discontent.

Bill Bendure is a facilitator of change and CEO of Bendure and Associat

“Dear CY, do you have a good inexpensive nibble/canape recipe suitable for a Christmas party?” AM

Thank you for your question A.M. I’m happy to share a “sisterhood” recipe with you – one I have done endlessly for parties. They are easy – absolutely delicious and they’ll be eaten so much quicker than the old cheese straws!

Parmesan or mature cheddar shortbread topped with tapenade (a good bought one is absolutely fine).

Ingredients:

For about 32:

60 g plain, sifted flour

45g cold, diced butter

60g grated parmesan (reggiano is best but padano, the cheaper of the 2 is ok)

salt (little pinch)

cayenne pepper ( a pinch)

Method:

1)Hoping that you have a food processor – throw everything in and whazz until a dough almost forms. If you use parmesan reggiano, don’t bother with salt as it is salty enough.

2)Tip onto a floured surface. Form a smooth, dough ball and roll out till about 1/4 of an inch thickness. Using a small, round cutter (about 1 1/2 inch width) cut out as many rounds as you can.

3) Put on to a baking tray lined with baking parchment. With the remaining dough, form another ball and repeat until you’ve used up all the dough. Try and chill the cut rounds in the fridge for about half an hour.

4) Pop the oven on 180º and let it heat up while they’re taking a nap!

5) Put them in the oven for about 8-10mins – they should be light golden brown. Lay them on a rack to cool down.

6) When you serve them, have a jar of tapenade to hand and pop about 1/2 a tsp on each one.

These freeze like a charm, just defrost them for when you need them and you don’t need to reheat. I guarantee your colleagues will woof them down real fast!

If you want to do something even quicker that are equally as tasty, make some crostini by slicing day old baguette into 1/2 inch slices. Brush with some olive oil and bake in a 180º oven until golden (about 10 minutes). These can then be kept in an airtight container at room temperature for about 2 weeks. A simple tomato and basil topping can be made to remind you of past hot summers.

Ingredients:

For 20:

5 ripe plum tomatoes, seeded and diced

1/2 medium red onion, finely chopped

1 crushed garlic clove

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

salt/pepper

basil leaves (to make them look pretty!)

Method:

1)Mix everything together in a bowl and make sure there is enough seasoning (imperative!).

2) Top the crostini with the tomato and onion relish.

3) Pop a basil leaf on top and serve

Retro prawn cocktail croustades (naf but fun!). In Waitrose & Sainsbury’s you can buy ready made croustades, made by Rahm. Buy some cooked prawns – you choose the size – and a pot of M&S prawn cocktail sauce. Mix the prawns together with enough sauce to coat well. Fill each croustade with the prawn mixture and finely shred a couple of cos lettuce leaves and top the prawns just to pretty them up a bit.

I hasten to add – I have NEVER served the above at any of my parties that I have catered for, however, I do know a very good caterer who does this one regularly and she gets away with it! They don’t come quicker than this. Hope this is of some help to you A.M! You won’t be up to PM making any of them!!! (Hehe).

CY x

WOW!  That is all I have to say about this recipe.  I like quiche, but it has never been one of my favorite foods.  In fact, quiche has always had a baby-shower-esque feel for me.  You eat it because its there, and someone is usually celebrating something.  This quiche recipe has made me rethink my previous analysis.

Ironically, I made this dish as part of our Thanksgiving feast for a vegetarian friend.  I altered the Luna Cafe’s recipe for Leek, Cheddar, and Rosemary Tart.  You can find the original recipe here.  Luckily, Luna Cafe has a few great hints to make cooking quiche pain-free and effortless.  The two main things to know are: 1) Quiche is done when it reaches 160 degrees internal temperature.  Do not overcook!  Custard will curdle at 180 degrees. 2) You will know when to take the quiche out of the oven by the size of the indent in the middle.  This means when the outside begins to set, it will raise around the edges, but not in the middle.  This forms an indent in the middle of the quiche.  When the indent is approximately 3-4 inches from the outside, it is done!  It is safe to take the quiche out of the oven at this point, because it will continue to cook after you take it out of the oven.

Recipe (adapted from Luna’ Cafe’s Leek, Cheddar and Rosemary Tart)

1 prepared pie crust rolled into a quiche pan

2 Tablespoons unsalted butter

2 medium leeks, trimmed and sliced crosswise

2 teaspoons of minced garlic

2 Tablespoons chopped fresh chives

2 teaspoons minced fresh rosemary

3 large eggs

1 1/2 cups half and half

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

1/3 cup parmesan cheese

salt and pepper to taste

I started by par baking a pie crust.  Par baking is simply partially cooking an item.  You need to do this with the pie crust, otherwise it will not cook properly when you pour the custard over the crust.  I did this by placing a pre-made crust in a greased quiche pan and poking holes in the bottom.  Then I cooked it for about 10 minutes at 350 degrees.  After doing this, take the crust out of the oven and sprinkle lightly with shredded cheese.  This will help keep the crust crispy.

The next step is to cook the veggies.  Melt butter in a pan.  Then add chopped leeks and garlic.  Season with salt and pepper.  Cook until translucent.  Add chopped chives and rosemary and remove mixture from heat.

In a mixing bowl, whisk eggs.  Whisk in half and half.  Season egg mixture with salt and pepper.  Mix cheeses together.  Add a small handful of the cheese mix into the egg mixture and whisk.

Pour the veggie mixture over the crust.  Then pour egg mixture over the leek mixture.  Make sure there is approximately 1/4 to 1/2 inch room at the top of the pan because the egg mixture WILL rise when cooking.  Finally, top with leftover cheese.  Bake quiche at 350 degrees for approximately 35-45 minutes.  Let the quiche cool for about 10 minutes before serving.

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The forecast was for rain for the long Thanksgiving weekend, but each day, we had mist and then sun.  That was a nice turn of events, because we had lots of touring of Rome to do with our visitors.  Yesterday morning, I had to swear to everyone that I didn’t plan it this way, but en route to Piazza Navona and the Pantheon, we ended up walking by both Antica Caciari (where we bought fresh ricotta, fresh pesto, and fresh sausages) and Roscioli, my favorite forno (where we bought fig bread, hearty bread for dinner, and a torta di mele—apple cake—the last of which I’ve been wanting to buy since I first laid eyes on it).

Some other observations…

Sorry, this is gross and unappetizing, but interesting.  Don’t park where the starlings roost:

What would beauty be without shit?

Now, though, let’s turn to beauty.

Lion and pinecone: fierce, lordly, evergreen; pignoli, carne, regeneration, peace, power, teeth, needles, mane, shade.

Giant Bernini-designed river god, at ease in his musculature, reclining in the center of Piazza Navona:

The oculus:

Another, humbler, dome:

Mmmm… so moist and appley.