Moonstruck, Five Easy Pieces at dinner at the local Jewish Deli

The husband and I were out to dinner at a local Jewish deli this evening. It is in the cycle of neighborhood restaurants that we frequent on Friday nights.  A couple is seated in a booth just behind us. When the waiter comes back to take their order the gentleman starts putting him through hoops with his questions. He, “I see you have Chinese chicken and rice dish special, what’s that like?”  Excuse me, really --- you are in a Jewish delicatessen why would you consider their Chinese chicken and rice dish?

Next it was like a scene from Five Easy Pieces.  He asks, “You have a fish sandwich?” The waiter replies, “yes.” “Can I get that without the bread and can you broil that?”  “No sir, it is battered and fried only” the waiter patiently responded. It was another five minutes of this gentleman breaking down each item. He ordered a salad with the dressing on the side and he wanted them to chop the salad for him. The husband and I are smiling but the best was yet to come.  

Watch the video, get the recipe and read the full story HERE.

Rant: truffle oil - love it, eat it or leave it?

Over 10 years ago, a chef friend put a dab of white truffle oil on my lips to taste I was won over.  A food junkie, always looking for my next new flavor fix. Truffle oil was a good way to experience the scent and simulated taste of the expensive truffle. I say simulated because the majority of truffle oils on the market are synthetic mixtures of odorants and various oils. 

Continue reading on Examiner.com Rant: truffle oil - love it, eat it or leave it?

You scream, I scream, we all scream for ice cream but beer and bacon flavor?

As summer temperatures rise we tend to think of cooler foods to eat, like salads, ceviche, gazpacho but the biggest food for me in the summer is ice cream. The flavors of summer come alive like fresh peach or cherry ice cream, flavors beyond the typical vanilla and chocolate.

I’m game for artisanal flavors, blending fruits with cheese i.e. fig and Gorgonzola or one of my favorites to come out, salted caramel – but some of the savory combinations like beer and bacon, or maple syrup and bacon – I’m game to taste but not sure I would like it in a cone.

Continue reading You scream, I scream, we all scream for ice cream but beer and bacon flavor?2

Monday, Monday – what a food day - Baltimore dining | Examiner.com

Monday started off pretty good, three appointments and dinner with the culinary sorority gals that evening.

Meeting one: Panera Bread – Pikesville – Help coordinate a cooking/food contest for a local restaurant – you will learn more later. So far, so good

Continue reading:

Monday, Monday – what a food day - Baltimore dining | Examiner.com

Cheetos absolution

Many a rant has come and gone over the six years of blogging about food. I have opened myself up to criticism, taken long introspective looks at my fixation with food and admitted to liking the non-food passing as food, Cheetos. I’ve tried the baked kind, the better for you kind – you know what I’m talking about but I always come back to the original, like a moth to a flame.

Read the full rant: Cheetos absolution

A bag of Utz potato chips and Kathy Griffin or a rant by any other name

Let me set the scene for my little pseudo rant. Yesterday was day two of a back-to-back gig working in Washington DC as a kitchen slave. It means early mornings up at 4 a.m. and out the door by 5 a.m. It isn’t glamorous, it truly is the washing of lettuce, blanching veggies and washing a lot of pots but it pays well. I learn a lot from my friend Sylvia, the chef, and lunch/leftovers are excellent. I have yet to learn to go to bed early the night before so I’m usually operating on four hours sleep. Scene 1

Read the full rant: 

A bag of Utz potato chips and Kathy Griffin or a rant by any other name

The bad, the calories – Ripert & Bourdain part 2

The draw for the Foodie Experience at the Hippodrome Theatre were the stars of the show, No Reservation’s Anthony Bourdain and Le Bernardin’s Eric Ripert which I wrote about in Part 1 of the Bourdain & Ripert – the good, the bad and the calories – (Read HERE). When purchasing the tickets you had choices for just the show for approximately $29 or $49, $89 for the show and a post party with gourmet offerings from local restaurants and city food emporiums. If you were flushed and had $250 you get the foodie experience and get to meet the stars of the show (which I think about 60 people paid for that privilege – the number is from one of my sources.)

Read the full story -click: The bad, the calories – Ripert & Bourdain at the Hippodrome part 2

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Supermarkets – Top 10 things that drive me crazy

Many of you are spending today at the supermarket getting the last minute items for your Easter celebration or items you are taking to a host or hostess’s home. Many of you are on the final days of purchasing for the Passover holiday. If you have spent anytime in the supermarkets there are definitely things that could be done better by the stores and also the customers who shop there. Here is my top 10 peeves about supermarkets:

Read my Top Ten Peeves on Supermarkets: Supermarkets – Top 10 things that drive me crazy

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Cheetos meltdown

I’m coming clean with all of you, I eat junk food – you know the kind; corn tortillas, pretzel sandwiches with cheese stuff in the middle and Cheetos. I am Pavlov’s theory in application, turn on the television and I must eat and carrot sticks just doesn’t cut it.

Whole Foods has a healthier version of the Styrofoam textured Cheetos but they just don’t have enough preservatives, salt or powdered cheese to cut it. They aren’t bad but they don’t hit the junk food spot. Read the full rant: Cheetos meltdown

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Snowapocalypse – what you gonna cook?

The snowapocalypse is upon us with a potential of 15 to 30 inches of snow and unless you are in walking distance of a bar/restaurant that has enough staff to open you are going to be home fixing food or eating a lot of pre-planned carryout. Personally, I’m sick of the white stuff, I stopped enjoying it when I stopped enjoying laying in it creating snow angels and making snowballs with the fresh snow and vanilla.

Read the full story: Snowapocalypse – what you gonna cook?

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Mini rant - mini knishes

Because of the holiday and peace on earth and good will to man I’ve held off on this mini rant. So here is the story. I go to a specialty store to pick up their mini-meat knishes. I know where they are kept, in the freezer/refrigerator upright. So there are potato and spinach knishes but I can not find a meat knishes.

Read the full rant: Mini rant - mini knishes

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70 cents for an ice cube - seriously!

New York's restaurant reviewer Gael Greene tells the story of *Marcus Samuelsson’s Riingo Restaurant charging seventy cents per ice cube in a cocktail in her Insatiable e-newsletter. Considering cocktail costs in New York and we all know that the bar really makes the money. Explain why, with the economic times as they are, trying to rip off customers.

Read the complete story: 70 cents for an ice cube - seriously!

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The blizzard is coming and Kim Kardashian’s video shows salads are sexy

I was at Trader Joe’s by 9 a.m. looking for specific items for baking; after all, the blizzard is coming and one bakes and cooks during blizzards- at least I do. It was a simple in and out.

Get the full story and a peek at the upcoming Kim Kardashian's sexy salad commerical

The blizzard is coming and Kim Kardashian’s video shows salads are sexy

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What is your experience with dirty restaurant bathrooms?

I've seen some pretty bad restaurant bathrooms in my day. The ones with no towels, no hand driers and you look around the room looking for anything to dry your hands. At last you settle for the toilet paper that crumbles in to snow like pieces of air and half stick to your hand that you can't shake off. The partially flushing toilet and the trash can overflowing with paper, real turn offs.

Read the full story:

What is your experience wih dirty restaurant bathrooms?

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How old is all this stuff in my refrigerator?

The article in Serious Eats about taste testing mustards inspired me to go look at all the mustards I have in my refrigerator. I remember having numerous mustard jars: Dijon, horseradish, creole, honey, the key word is remember, because they weren’t there anymore. They probably disappeared in one of my fits of tossing out food products that have been sitting in the refrigerator since recipe testing for the Yum cookbook three years ago.

Read my full rant:

How old is all this stuff in my refrigerator?

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Here's to you fat America - KFC's Double Down Sandwich

This is enough to test anyone’s cholesterol meds. After the big launch of their grilled chicken offering healthy alternatives, KFC has created the Double Down sandwich for those with a death wish.

Read the whole story:
Here's to you fat America - KFC's Double Down Sandwich

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The Love Maine Lobster Claw game, catch your own lobster dinner

Think back to the boardwalk, your childhood and those arcade games with the claw to pick up stuffed animals, watches and other slocky toys. Got the picture? Now picture the same machine with live lobsters, using the big metal claw to capture your crustacean du jour.


Read the complete story and watch the video:
The Love Maine Lobster Claw game, catch your own lobster dinner

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Chicken Cacciatore – rant and recipe

Chicken cacciatore was the first dish I fixed for my boyfriend who eventually became my husband. And after all these years together he remembers that was the dish I prepared. If it sealed the marriage deal I don’t know but it surely helped.

Read the full rant and get my recipe:
Chicken Cacciatore – rant and recipe

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FREE food giveaways addendum - healthy or not?

There seems to be controversy between the Restaurant Examiner and myself about whether the FREE food giveaways are healthy for us or not. Her response to my post was a post on a FREE chocolate dessert, Sugar Free Crownies, designed for those on a sugar free diet.

Apples to Oranges - Read more:
Baltimore Dining Examiner: FREE food giveaways addendum - healthy or not?

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FREE Food - Have you noticed none of it is healthy?

The only ones making out on these free food giveaways are the doctors with people eating these cholesterol and calorie-laden foods. Today is free donut day, we had free ice cream day, we had free root beer float day. And we have Mars weekly free chocolate candy Fridays. KFC wanted you to think the chicken giveaway was healthy but really, did you look at the sides?

Read my complete RANT:
Baltimore Dining Examiner: FREE Food - Have you noticed none of it is healthy?

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