Pages, Pucks and Pantry

Small Plates - August 26, 2011

I don't really think I need to post anything else today, now do I?

Thank Something of That Ilk for todays Bacon Goodness.

Small Plates - March 8, 2011

  So today, Starbucks is touting their 40th anniversary. Have they really been around that long or does it seem like they've been around forever?

NEW LOGO - Starbucks new logo is being released on both cups and merchandise today (they mention just four cities...Beijing, Paris, London and New York..I can't seem to find out if it's just those cities or all over).  Notice the logo no longer incorporates the words "Starbucks". Guess they figure like McDonald's arches, that their new logo says enough. A few stores have also been said to have changed their signs with the new logo. Anyone seen the new logo on their cups today?

STARBUCKS PETITES - For their anniversary Starbucks is also debuting a line of "micro-sized sweet treats" which include cake pops (lets jump on the cake pop bandwagon Starbucks, but they are so last year!), mini-cupcakes, petite squares and whoopie pies. Each treat is said to be made with minimal ingredients and will be under 200 calories each.

There will be three kinds of cake pops: Birthday (170 Cal - Vanilla cake and icing, dipped in pink chocolate and white sprinkles), Rocky Road (180 cal - Chocolate cake and icing dipped in dark chocolate, rolled in mini-marshmallows and roasted almonds) and Tiramisu (170 Cal - Vanilla cake and Starbucks coffee icing, dipped in mocha chocolate and topped with a chocolate coffee bean). There are two types of mini cupcakes: Carrot Cake (180 Cal - Spiced carrot cake topped with cream cheese frosting, sprinkled with cake crumbs and carrot bits), Peanut Butter (170 Cal - Chocolate cupcake with peanut butter frosting topped with a mini peanut butter cup). One whoopie pie: Red Velvet (170 Cal - Cream cheese frosting sandwiched between two small red velvet cake pieces). Two sweet squares (traditional bar cookies): Lemon (120 Cal - Lemon curd on top of buttery shortbread drizzled with sweet white chocolate) and Salty Caramel (190 Cal - Salted Caramel and chocolate filling with a layer of crisp pretzels and pecans on top of a butter shortbread crust). I don't know about you but the Salty Caramel square with the Salted Hot Chocolate sounds like a great pairing! These little bites will run you $1.50 each or two for $2.50.

FREE SAMPLES - The good thing is that Starbucks will be giving away (while supplies last) free samples of their new Petites this Thursday (10th), Friday (11th) and Saturday (12th). All you have to do is buy a drink from them from 2 - 5 PM during those three days to get a sample.

COCOA CAPPUCCINO - Get ready to try a new coffee at your local Starbucks. Cocoa Cappuccino debuts today and features "caramelly espresso, bittersweet mocha sauce, steamed milk and a thick layer of silky foam". A tall with nonfat milk will run you 120 calories, with 2% milk 150.

TRIBUTE - As a "tribute" to you, the customers, Starbucks is releasing a new coffee (both in bean form as well as instant). It's called...wait for it...Tribute.

All photos from Starbucks. Check the Starbucks website for more info here: Starbucks.com

 

Small Plates - February 24, 2011

PEOPLE COOKS - There is a new special issue of People magazine out...all about celebrities and food. Did you know Eva Longoria is coming out with her own cookbook?  (Available here on April 5th). The special issue, on newsstands now, is supposed to be "choc full" of celebrity recipes, their tips and shortcuts to help you cook. They do talk about spaghetti tacos so the issue would be worth if for that LOL.

OSCAR FOODS - While Wolfgang Puck has his Oscar menu down (25 huge black truffles, 40 tins of black caviar, six Serrano hams, 800 pounds of lobster, 60 sides of salmon and 1,200 bottles of Moet & Chandon Champagne) I'm still trying to figure out what to make for this years Oscar party. Black Bottomed Pie for Black Swan? Shrimp and Grits for True Grit? Irish Stew for The Fighter? Alas the only movie out of the ten best I've seen so far has been Inception. We plan on watching several of the ten this weekend but that's going to be a bit late to try to figure out food ideas. Did any of the folks in the movies up for Best Picture eat anything during the films???

FREE PIZZA WE DON'T GET - There has always been a wonderful promotion with the San Jose Sharks and Round Table. The Sharks score X amount of goals, and Round Table will trade you your used game ticket for a free one topping personal pan pizza. For many years, the number of goals has been 4 which the Sharks were kind enough to score (along with a shutout and a hat trick) at last Saturdays game. We did notice that the rules had changed to "free pizza with purchase or $5 off a large". Which was okay, we planned on having a few drinks with our personal pan pizzas...but the store we usually go to has made that purchase "of equal or greater value". Which meant paying for a personal pan pizza to get your free one. My assistant was told at the Round Table where she went that she would have to at least buy an 'extra topping' on her pan pizza to get it free. And the downtown Willow Glen Round Table doesn't even participate in the promotion any more. Hmmm...me thinks maybe it's time for a change in this promotion. Make it buy one get one free, get another sponsor or drop the promotion all together.

COAST GUARD AND TACOS - Mr. L and I went to Fleet Week in San Francisco last October and were able (after standing in line for almost two hours...never again) to get a tour of a Coast Guard ship that was docked. Though I found the whole tour of the ship interesting, it was this note tacked on a walkway to the galley that I found the most interesting. "Taco Day" in big bold letters. I actually asked the Gunner who was giving us the tour if Taco Day was really that special. He didn't have much good to say about any of the food on the ship (grin), but I'm thinking it must be a no miss meal to have it highlighted so!

Small Plates - November 18, 2010

FREE STARBUCKS - Okay technically, it's 'buy one, get one free' but at least someone is getting a free drink. From today through Sunday, buy one of Starbucks signature holiday drinks and get one of an equal or lesser value free. It's only good from 2-5 PM which means I bet the stores will be pretty busy during that time frame.  The drinks in this promotion are the Caramel Brulée Latte, Peppermint Mocha, Peppermint White Chocolate Mocha, Peppermint Hot Chocolate, Gingerbread Latte, Eggnog Latte, Caramel Brulée Frappuccino, or Peppermint Mocha Frappuccino. For more info go here. I love the design of this years Starbucks holiday cups by the way.

BEST EGGNOG LATTE EVER - If you happen to live in the San Jose area and really like Eggnog Latte's, may I suggest you making a trip to Roy's Station in Japantown (corner of 5th and Jackson). They don't use flavored syrups in their eggnog latte's...whatever stuff they use really makes that latte shine. Actually, I happen to just like their coffee's in general. For more information on Roy's go here.

FREE SLURPEES - I realize it's a bit cold out there for some folks, but on Black Friday (November 26th) while you're out shopping, I bet you get a bit warm. Whether it's from traipsing from store to store trying to find that flat screen 52" plasma 3-D TV that someones selling for $400 or you're warm under the collar from fighting some idiot who jumped in front of you in line after you waited seven hours in the rain and he got the last tv at the reduced price...well, maybe a free slurpee will help cool you off. If you become a Facebook fan of Slurpees, you'll be able to download a coupon to receive a free slurpee on the 26th. Just don't use it to throw in the face of that jerk that got the last on sale tv! For more information go here.

Small Plates - November 16, 2010

FREE TACOS - Gotta love when Jack in the Box gives away free tacos. They happen to be my favorite, greasy, not good for you, fast food item. And today, from 2pm to midnight you can get two of Jacks tacos free, no purchase necessary.

The problem with all this is that they might have changed my beloved tacos. I've read "the event is designed to showcase improvements made to the long-time menu product". Which pretty much means they've messed with my tacos! Damn them. Yes, Mr. L and I will be partaking in this free venture this evening. If Jack truly did change his tacos he might have more than some laughing gas to worry about.

FREE COLDSTONE - Today from 5 to 8 PM, Coldstone Creamery is giving away free 3 ounce samples of their new Eight Layer Cakes. The cakes have three layers of ice cream, three layers of cake and two layers of frosting and toppings. At participating restaurants of course.

LESS TIMBITS: Seems Dunkin Donuts is too big of a competitor in the New England area, and Tim Hortons is closing 34 restaurants and 18 self-service kiosks there. Supposedly they are going to "reinvest a portion of the expected earnings...to increase our brand profile in our U.S. core growth markets". Hello Tim Hortons, how about coming West? We got no Dunkin Donuts in our area to compete with you !!

 

 

 

Small Plates - June 18, 2010

FOOD FASHION FRIDAY - As someone who has had various items airbrushed on her nails in the past (think shark fins and teeth with some teal) I get a kick out of seeing bacon painted on nails. Of course my first thought when seeing these was "how do they taste" cuz someone has to be able to come up with bacon flavored nail polish right?  These nails come from a great blog called The Daily Nail...which is trying to do 365 different nail designs in 365 days.  If you check out her blog here you'll find some awesome looking nails, some even food related. My favorite?  The One Sandwich Short of a Picnic...especially since today is International Picnic Day.

MAN BAIT - Though I couldn't find any bacon flavored nail polish,  I did come across some other interesting bacon flavored items. There are several Bacon and Maple Syrup Lollipops out there (check Amazon). One version is appropriately titled "Man Bait" though I think a few women (ahem, like me) wouldn't mind them. There is also bacon flavored syrup from Torani, although a bacon latte might even be a bit much for me. There is even bacon flavored rolling paper which might give a new meaning to having the munchies.

COLORED BACON - More than one person, knowing my love of bacon, sent me this link about  colored bacon. These folks decided to dye their bacon different colors. Quite frankly, I'm not sure why this hasn't been done before.  Cuz said it would go great on some Chuck E Cheese pizza. I'm thinking red and yellow bacon would go great in a McDonalds Bacon Burger. And the new Smurfs movie could do a tie-in with some bacon company if those little blue things were eating blue bacon in a scene! And don't even get me started on St. Pattys day and green bacon. The possibilities are endless...

Small Plates - May 6, 2010

COMMERCIALS -  We own a DVR. Okay we own more than one. Okay we own three. Don't ask. Owning a DVR usually means that it takes less time to watch a show because you fast forward through all the commercials. But sometimes...we watch the commercials. Because, lets admit it, sometimes the commercials are better than the dang TV show (and I know there is more than one person out there, like me, that records the Super Bowl to fast forward through the actual game just to watch the commercials...don't lie, I know you exist).

EPIC ADS - AdFreak came up with "The 25 most epic ads that aren't '1984'". Quite a few of them are food related. Most of them are "full" versions of ads you might have seen only 30 seconds of (one runs almost ten minutes). Some are like little movies, with amazing production quality and special effects. Some I wish were movies. Though I've seen a few of these, most were new to me. Have a seat, grab a drink and check out some amazing videos here.

JUICY FRUIT AND THE UNICORN - I'm lost here. What does a singing unicorn and Juicy Fruit have in common? Should I be amused or very, very afraid? In any event, the unicorn sings. Or lip syncs. To different songs. Like "Do you really want to hurt me". And you can send the singing unicorn songs to your friends. Who then might no longer be your friends because they think you have gone off the deep end. I'd just like to find out what drugs whoever came up with this was on. To send a lip syncing unicorn song to your friends go here. And pass me some of that Juicy Fruit. It could get interesting.

DANCING COWS - Well, if there are singing unicorns of course there are tap-dancing cows. At least Cadbury uses better music than Juicy Fruit (nothing beats a good Fred Astaire song). For the dancing cows go here. But be warned. Might not be safe for work (there is a blatant udder shot :)

LUPITA - Whenever I just need to lighten up my day and my cooking I go watch Lupita. She really needs no introduction. Just know she'll teach you how to cook. Like Pistachio Pie.  I will forever pronounce Jello, Hello. Go here. 

PLASTICS - This quick little video from Rise Above Plastics might make you think twice about throwing that plastic bottle on the side of the road...or maybe not using plastic water bottles at all. Go here.

ROLLER COASTERS AND ICE CREAM: We end our little video ad tour with this  video I found on the So Good blog. Have you ever tried to eat an ice cream while on a roller coaster? That even goes backwards? I certainly wouldn't want to be in the seat behind (or in front!) of you if you tried! Go here.

EDIBLE IPHONE - That photo above of a chocolate iPhone? Was real. Alas, it sold last month. But I'd still eat one.  IMAGE SOURCE

Small Plates - May 4, 2010

HAPPY STAR WARS DAY

May The 4th Be With You

THE BACON AT-AT: The mind boggles. But no, I wouldn't eat it.

STAR WARS CAKES: Man, some of these are absolutely awesome. The amount of work and detail in some of these cakes (and cupcakes and cookies) is amazing. If you are looking to try to make a Star Wars related cake of your own, this is the place to start for inspiration.

STAR WARS PLATES: A place setting your Grandma would have loved.

STAR WARS COOKBOOK: Yes, I own this. No I haven't cooked from it yet. Yes, I was hoping to make something out of it to post today, but alas, I will have to save it for a future Star Wars Day.

DARK LORD OF THE DESSERT: I would have no problem eating these cupcakes.

BOBA FETT COOKIES: I think these are cool and I could eat a whole tray of these without even thinking. Though to Boba Fett fans that might not be so cool. And they might hurt me. So maybe not.

STAR WARS GLASSES: Oh man, I sure wish I'd collected these when they came out in 1977! And no, not for the future monetary value, but because they are totally cool Star Wars glasses (uh oh, did my geek just show??). Besides. They'd look fine next to the Star Trek glasses we got last year.

GROCERY STAR WARS: A classic. And if you haven't seen it spend six minutes and watch. You won't be sorry.

VEGGIE STAR WARS: Seriously, people will make anything into items from Star Wars.

WOOKIEEPEDIA ON FOOD: What, you didn't know there was a Wookieepedia? Silly people, Star Wars has taken over everything. But seriously, it's the only way to find out how to make things like Cream of Fleek Eel Soup. 

STORMTROOPERS AND FOOD: Not sure what makes food and Stormtroopers such a good combination but many of the Stormtroopers 365 photos do have them around foodstuffs. Of course them being taken over by raspberries is a bit disturbing.

Small Plates - April 27, 2010

FOOD PARTY - New episodes of Food Party start tonight on the IFC channel. If you haven't seen artist Thu Tran's comedy food show (with her puppets, yes I said puppets), check it out. Of course I did tell a friend last season to watch and I got back a "what kind of drugs are you taking Mrs. L?", followed by an "Um...are you serious?". The show is quirky, offbeat, silly, strange, wonderful, odd, annoying, ridiculous, charming and funny. Each 15 minute episode (they show two back to back) will either have you shaking your head in disbelief or laughing out loud. A promo for the show says it's  best described as "a psychedelic melding of Pee Wee’s Playhouse and Rachael Ray with a dash of J-Horror vibe". Beware, there may be blood (though it's not real) as my favorite episode is, of course, "Horrorsode". You can check out some clips of last years episodes here.

DINNER WITH THE BAND - The IFC channel also debuts tonight a show called "Dinner with the Band" where NYC chef Sam Mason has an indie band over to teach them "how to add his signature culinary spin to their favorite “on-tour” food". I admit, I haven't heard of many of the 13 indie bands to be showcased on this  show, but it might be interesting to check out anyway (who knows, maybe I'll find a new band to follow!). For more info go here.

BASKIN ROBBINS - Don't forget tomorrow is 31 cent scoop night at participating Baskin Robbins. From 5 to 10PM get 31 cent scoops of your favorite ice cream, helping out the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation. For more info go here.

ARE THEY SERIOUS? - And I know that child obesity is a problem and it should be addressed. Schools? Yep, give kids healthier meals. Teach kids about better nutrition. Get kids moving and get them some exercise. But me thinks Santa Clara County has gone a bit far. In unincorporated areas of the county they have banned restaurants from giving away toys with kids' meals that are high in fat, sugar and calories. Gees, little did I know that small children were getting in cars and driving to fast food joints to pick up meals just for the toys! How about those not so young people who buy the meal with the toy but throw the meal away (since it's all about the toy). How about banning idiot parents who pick up the fast food every night for their kids to eat? Kids go to the restaurants the parents take them to. What's to say the parents won't still take their kids to the same bad fast food places and buy them stuff off the adult menu, full of fat, sugar and calories, toys or not?  Wait, ketchup is a vegetable so that counts as healthy right? Oh man, I can so see folks screaming about this one.

Small Plates - April 15, 2010

Being tax day, lots of places are offering free items or discounts today. It's actually a good few weeks as the end of April seems to be bringing out free stuff or discounts at many restaurants and fast food joints. There are a ton of regional places that are offering free goodies so be sure to check in your area to see if your favorite place is offering a free treat or discount.

If you find a local deal in San Jose I haven't listed, leave a comment and let us know where it is!

STARBUCKS - Bring your own reusable travel mug into your local Starbucks today and get a free brewed coffee. It's Starbucks way of paying you back and paying back the environment (think of all the paper cups that won't end up in the garbage today!). I love this Starbucks Poppie Mug, I wonder if they would consider that a reusable travel mug?

CINNABON - From 6PM to 8PM stop by participating Cinnabon mall stores and get two free bite-sized cupcakes. Flavors include Chocolate Passion, 24-Carrot Cake, Vanilla Bliss and Cinnacake Classic.

JAMBA JUICE - Today through April 25th, buy any smoothie, get another one of equal or lesser value for free. From April 25th through May 31st, Jamba Juice will have daily specials:  Monday - Protein and fiber rich Ideal Meals for $3, Tuesday - Buy Two Tuesday (special pairing offer), Wednesday - Steel cut oatmeal for $2, Thursday - All baked goods $1 off with drink purchase ,Friday - 16 oz. All Fruit Smoothies for $3.

JACK IN THE BOX - Jack is rolling out their new fries on Friday. Stop by any participating Jack in the Box and receive a free small bag of fries, no purchase necessary.

CHICK-FIL-A - Today and tomorrow Chick-Fil-A is offering free snacks. Also visit a participating restaurant today and keep your receipt. The “Tax Relief Day Special” lets you return before April 30 to receive the same order for free.

TACO DEL MAR - Sign up online and they'll e-mail you a coupon for a free taco.

IHOP - Participating restaurants are offering free dinner for one child age 12 or younger with each adult meal purchased 4PM to 10PM all April.

MCCORMICK & SCHMICKS - They are offering a $10.40 dinner with drink specials in the bar. Patrons will also receive a $10.40 gift certificate for a later visit.

PF CHANGS - Dine at one of the participating restaurants and save 15% on the total bill

BASKIN-ROBBINS - 31 cent scoop night is April 28th from 5PM to 10PM

Note: Sometimes there is conflicting information about exactly what the deal is or exact times and who participates so be sure to check the companies website for more information.