SERIOUS EATS EXCLUSIVE:
NO LIE GUYS, this is a picture of two hamburgers; one SAVED FROM 1996 (yes, you are reading correctly) on the left, and a burger from 2008 on the right. What is veryyyy scary is the fact that both of these burgers still look COMPLETELY edible. There must be a reason why this 12 year old burger is still in mint condition? Oh that’s because Mickey D’s food is…. COMPLETE CRAP. That’s all for now.
1996 BURGER, 2008 BURGER - YUCK!!
This is my issue. I walk over to Campus Convenience every morning and pick up an Everything bagel (my FAVORITE), however, lately I have noticed something. They are puffing up their bagels. Yes you heard correctly, I think they are making their bagels larger than usual. Bagels, historically, have been “the fat kid” breakfast pick, … instead of getting a nice, small slice of “Whole Wheat bread” like a “smart person” should, I choose the white floured Everything bagel… and I enjoy it. However, this new increase in size isn’t making me happy.
Truthfully, who REALLY needs that much bread? Come on now CampCo.
So if you know me, you know I thoroughly enjoy listening to singers whom have faded many…many.. years ago. I truthfully don’t mind listening to their music- even if they are “burn outs”, so what?
I will begin with confessing three things:
1) Yes, I do still listen to the Unleash The Dragon CD, if you are not familiar with the album I will refresh your memory, “She got dunks like a trunk… trunk trunk… guys like what? What? What?… Lemme see that THONGGGG” .. Yes folks I love Sisqo still. I don’t have hopes for that little fellow, however, my next two confessions I do believe can be brought back into the musical spotlight, with all of our help!
2) I love LOVE love Lauryn Hill. Yes, she hates me because “I’m white” apparently. No, I cannot relate to any of her lyrics. But do I think she’s probably one of the most talented musicians who faded away? ABSOLUTELY. Her CD, “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill” is hands down in my top 5 CD’s ever purchased. Songs to download if you don’t have them already include:
- “To Zion”
- “Miseducation of Lauryn Hill”
- “Forgive them Father”
3) Alanis. I know she’s already attempted to make a comeback which I think is going fairly well, I want to emphasize JUST how much I love her… and her craziness. “You Outta Know” was the MOST intensely vengeful, angry song I have ever come across. I loved how it was somehow connected to Full House- Oh, Poor Joey. Either way, she is incredible. I love Alanis’ Greatest Hits, you should purchase that CD if you do not own it yet. You should also realize she is talented and somewhat of a hippie/uber-feminist/angry person but hey… who isn’t nowadays?
EXHIBIT A
EXHIBIT B
CASE CLOSED.
Would someone like to perhaps explain the new Gatorade to me because I am a bit perplexed here. It’s part of their lower calorie G2 line but here’s what I don’t understand. Who in their right mind would WILLINGLY drink something that looks like this?!? It looks like a mixture between space travel liquids and urine. No thanks.
Where do I really begin. I have had an insanely large obsession with Dirty Dancing since age eight. Every facet of the film makes me warm and tingly inside.
The sexual references I never grasped until much later in life is one of the main reasons I love it. I knew there were abortions around age 11. I also realized there was sex around that time and now I’m realizing even more at 20.
The dancing drew me into this movie. It was provacative and forbidden. They danced in places where they wouldn’t be caught in dim lighting. All I wanted to do was climb up those stairs and join the cool kids grinding on the dance floor.
Patrick Swayze’s one claim to fame was this role. He was so intense and passionate. I loved his dance moves in this movie. Sigh. My first true crush was clearly PS (yes it’s abbreviated).
The music although perhaps isn’t cool sounding really rocked this movie out. My favorite song of all time is actually from a scene in this movie. It was when Baby was about to sleep with PS for the 1st time… It was called “These Arms of Mine” by Otis Redding. Go download it now if you haven’t already.
Dancing. Good Music. Hot bods. Water scene involving wet t shirts and a strong plot make this movie my MOST recommended to others.
“Now, I’ve had the time of my life” writing this but I must farewell –> direct song lyric from movie. Peace out.
TRUE BLOOD. The new series on HBO…. WOWZA. I have never used that word before so if that’s not an indication that I am totally enamored with the show? I don’t know what is. I was unbelievably skeptical about even watching the first 10 minutes of the pilot. Another example of the vampire craze, great. It’s my current issue with Twilight series. If any of you have been keeping up with my blog since LAST MAY you’ll note my first post was my obsession with the Stephanie Meyer books but now that the “cool thing to like is vampires” I”m over it. I did, however, give this series ONE CHANCE to prove themselves to me. And they pulled through, big time. Wow.
First off, their marketing campaign as I discussed with my friend Laura yesterday was INCREDIBLE. Plastered all over New York and Los Angeles were signs for this “beverage” entitled True Blood with a massive sticker covering the sign saying ‘SOLD OUT’- their strategy was to confuse YET ENTICE the passerby’s. At first I thought it was a real drink, then I found out it was a new series on HBO, I was confused but it made me stay interested in the name of this new “brand” whatever it may have been.
ONTO THE PILOT-
Everything you could want was in this series premiere. Sex, love, attractive people, enticing/twisted plot, oh…. and of course vampires!!!! Anna Pacquin picked a good show to “re-invent herself” with. It’s a very simple plot…. a back water town near New Orleans attracts the likes of a ‘real life vamp’ who is not only attractive (obviously) but interested in low class waitress, Anna (obviously again).
The only comment I must make… aka… advice others about is the somewhat twisted sex scenes. Perhaps it’s just me but I really don’t like the two scenes involving rough sex leading to the death of a girl in the first half hour. I also think rough sex with a vampire taped is a bit too much for me as well. The fangs, the trebling pale body…. the whole thing gave me chills. If this isn’t your thing you may wish not to tune into this show because the two scenes were not even with the two main characters, so I can guarantee those sex scenes are on their way.
Overall, if you like Nip/Tuck esque shows, with a lot of drama, intrigue, sex, and twisted plots? I think this hour long HBO series will be a great new season pick for you.
I can’t stop watching episode after episode to the point where I’ve become some what anti social.
The show is so well written, Marky Mark truly stepped up his game with this hit series. Entourage not only appeals to the younger college male demographic but females as well.
The diversity of the character’s personalities added with the slew of celebrity add in’s make this show highly addicting and relatable.
My personal favorite character is most definitely Drama. He’s not only the most anal but he is also a cook and a devoted brother to Vince.
Ari reminds me of every uptight Jewish father I grew up with; his characters a bit too high strung for me. I love Vince but his non challant attitude gets to me at times. Turtle is great he’s witty and totally doesn’t resent his rank within the group. Lastly, E is another favorite of mine. He’s real and I think that’s what makes him very relatable character.
It’s one of the easiest recipes of all time, the muffin. Why is it, however, that over the years, bakers haven’t come up with a lighter formula to create the insides of the muffins a bit less dense? Because bakers/chefs/stay at home moms are still in the process of figuring out a better technique, us normal people have found an alternative to leaving half of our muffins for “the starving children in Asia” as our mother’s once said….. The muffin top baking sheet. What a brilliant idea! Although the Seinfeld episode does always trigger an urge to open up my own “Muffin Top Shop” an easier, quicker, and much less expensive solution is to purchase a “muffin top pan” specifically designed to only create the tops of the muffins minus the heavy and dense bottoms.
The ability to create chocolate chip, banana walnut, and blueberry muffin TOPS is just unbelievably exciting to me at least. They are sold at all higher end kitchenware stores as well as online and EBay I’m sure… everything is sold on EBay these days right?
Paella (IPA: [pa'eʎa]) is a typical Valencian rice dish from Spain. The origin of the name paella is in the Valencian for frying pan. This word in turn derives from Latin patella and is akin to Frenchpoêle, Welsh padell, Italian padella, Old Spanish padilla and New Mexican Spanish puela.
Many people in Valencia refer to both the pan and the recipe itself as la paella. However, outside of Valencia, la paellera is the proper word for the pan. [1]
Paella is usually garnished with vegetables and meat or seafood. The three key ingredients arerice (usually Calasparra[2][3] or Bomba[3] varieties), saffron, and olive oil.
EASY RECIPE BELOW, EXTRACTED FROM MY FAVORITE “GO TO” SITE… MYRECIPES.COM
BROTH:
3 cups water
1 cup dry white wine
1 teaspoon saffron threads
2 (8-ounce) bottles clam juice
HERB BLEND:
1 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon dried tarragon
2 large garlic cloves, minced
PAELLA:
1 pound monkfish or other firm white fish fillets
16 unpeeled jumbo shrimp (about 1 pound)
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cups finely chopped onion
1 cup finely chopped red bell pepper
1 cup canned diced tomatoes, undrained
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
3 garlic cloves, minced
3 cups uncooked Arborio rice or other short-grain rice
1 cup frozen green peas
16 littleneck clams
1 (7-ounce) jar sliced pimento, drained
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
To prepare broth, combine the first 4 ingredients in a saucepan. Bring to a simmer (do not boil). Keep warm over low heat.To prepare herb blend, combine parsley and next 4 ingredients (parsley through 2 garlic cloves); set aside.
To prepare paella, trim connective tissue from monkfish; cut into 1-inch pieces. Peel and devein shrimp, leaving tails intact. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large paella pan or large skillet over medium-high heat. Add fish and shrimp; saute 1 minute (the seafood mixture will not be cooked through).
Remove seafood mixture from pan, and keep warm. Add onion and bell pepper to pan, and saute 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, paprika, crushed red pepper, and 3 garlic cloves; cook 5 minutes. Add rice, and cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Stir in broth, herb blend, and peas. Bring to a low boil, and cook 10 minutes, stirring frequently.
Add clams to pan, nestling them into rice mixture. Cook 5 minutes or until shells open; discard any unopened shells. Stir in the seafood mixture, and arrange shrimp, heads down, in rice mixture. Arrange pimento slices spokelike on top of rice mixture; cook 5 minutes. Sprinkle with lemon juice. Remove from heat; cover with a towel and let stand 10 minutes.
8 servings (serving size: 1 3/4 cups paella, 2 shrimp, and 2 clams)
