Pages, Pucks and Pantry

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.

Small Plates - April 6, 2010

GIMME A TACO! - Street food or trucks roaming neighborhoods with great food has become a trend up in San Francisco. Unfortunately I haven't heard of any in the South Bay to get excited about. But the desire to eat from them is there. I've even made mental notes of food trucks to look for if I happen to be up in the City. So imagine my surprise while driving on 280 towards SF the other day, when I saw the Kung Fu Taco Truck. My heart leaped. A taco truck in my area!!? Have they moved South? Will we have a Kung Fu Taco truck in San Jose?! My first thought was to get out my camera and take a photo, but since I was driving 280 speeds I figured fumbling for the camera in my purse wasn't the best idea. Neither was trying to flag the truck down just to see if they would sell me a taco. I was afraid they would think I was some sort of stalker instead of an insane foodie who just wanted to try one of their tacos. Alas, on their twitter feed I found out that they had a private event in Cupertino and that's why they were in my neighborhood. I guess I just need to find out how to get invited to these private events!

OPENING DAY - There was a time where I waited anxiously for baseball opening day. Since I became a Sharks fan, I admit, Opening Day usually means "hockey playoffs are coming soon". I do still follow the SF Giants now and then (especially since I have some die hard Giants fans as friends :) The start of baseball always makes me think that it's time for hot dog season. There is just something about summer that makes me want to fire up the grill and cook some hot dogs. But why is it that hot dogs always taste better when you eat them at an actual ballpark? I can't ever go to a baseball game without getting at least one dog. And you can find hot dogs at games topped with a gazillion different toppings be it plain mustard, chili and cheese or topped with cole slaw.  I actually prefer mine fairly simple with (I know I'm gonna get crap for this one) mayonnaise. Yes, Mayo.  And no ketchup. Maybe topped with dill pickles, none of that sweet relish. Maybe a bit of mustard and if I'm really daring, some jalapenos.  Now that I've admitted this, I'll probably be banned from any local ballparks.

MOST DOGS - They estimate that over 21 million hot dogs will be sold at ballparks this year. That's not even including all those hot dogs cooked in grills by folks outside the parks tailgating. Expected to serve the most dogs this year? Fenway Park (home of the Boston Red Sox for you non baseball fans) with approximately  1.6 million hot dogs.  Alas, I can't find anywhere which tells me which ballpark sells the least hot dogs during the season. If you want to find out more about what kind of hot dogs are sold at each stadium, the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council has a great write up here. 

FROZEN FOOD NIGHT - Since today is National Frozen Food Day I say take the night off and cook some frozen food (for you purists, please feel free to pull out that Pan Roasted Breast of Squab with Swiss Chard, Seared Foie Gras, and Oven-Dried Black Figs you froze on Sunday that took you 12 hours to make and cook that).

Small Plates - March 24, 2010

BACON JESUS - Okay, I'll admit. I never see Jesus in the cracks of trees, tortilla's or in Cheetos.  Call it a lack of faith but every time someone comes up with the fact that they see a religious imagery in inanimate objects or foodstuffs I usually just think "crazy train". That was until Bacon Jesus. Yep. I see him. Though I do wonder if it's a faith in Jesus or my faith in bacon that makes me see the image :-) Your mileage may vary. For more information go here.

BACON ROSES - Bacon Jesus? Don't really want it to show up at my house. Bacon roses? Did you say Bacon Roses??? Now that would truly be a way to my heart (if not my arteries). To check them out go here.

BACON TURTLES - My mom likes turtles. She has many nice turtle themed objects in her home and garden. I too, have a few in my garden that I really like that were given to me when my Mom had to move. So I thought she would love to see these turtles made out of bacon and hot dogs. She was not amused. They are actually cheeseburgers wrapped in bacon with frankfurters used to make the tail, feet and head. I would have no problem eating them, would you?? Would your kids?? For more information go here.

HAM BAR - A place called "Ham and Rocks" will be opening up early summer in San Francisco. A place serving "Four to five hams representing Spain, Italy, and the United States, each served with pickled mushrooms, salads, and other accompaniments" the bar will also serve drinks focused on old-school cocktails, using booze described as "coming from your grandfather's liquor cabinet.". Bar snacks will also come from other parts of the pig. So I'm assuming bacon. Yep, this place goes on my list as a must place to try! For more information go here.

MORE BACON? - No today is not National Bacon Day, it's actually National Chocolate Covered Raisins Day. But if they can make Bacon Cookies and Chocolate Covered Raisin Cookies, someone must be able to come up with a Bacon Chocolate Covered Raisin cookie right? Get to it!

Image Source

Small Plates - March 17, 2010

CORNED BEEF - I used to impatiently wait for St. Patrick's Day every year. As a lover of corned beef, it was pretty much the only time I was able to get the stuff (being that I had no idea about cooking it myself). It was usually hit or miss as to whether the corned beef from a restaurant was dry and rubbery or mouth wateringly delicious. And even if I did try to make it myself, most grocery stores only carried those pre-seasoned packages of corned beef during the month of March. So I was usually left with my craving for corned beef to only be fulfilled one day a year.

I knew that I had a good one in Mr. L when, on one of our first dates, he made me corned beef and cabbage on St. Pattys Day. Yum. He cooked everything in a crock pot and the meat was very tender, not stringy or two chewy or dry. I also knew he was a keeper when we started eating corned beef year round, not just on the day one drinks green beer.

THOSE PACKAGES - I find a lot of folks don't like corned beef because it's too dry (as opposed to those that don't like corned beef because they think it includes corn..for those not in the know, "corning" a beef is a form of "curing"). Most of the corned beefs I've eaten that were too dry were either because the person used a pre-seasoned plastic package of the stuff or because they boiled the thing to death. May I suggest, if you really want to try a good corned beef, find a butcher where you can buy a fresh cut of meat and try cooking it in a crock pot.

POINT OR FLAT - We can find fresh corned beef at several of our local grocery stores (Cosentinos and Lunardis). In fact, Lunardi's sells fresh corned beef not only around St. Patrick's Day and Easter but around the Christmas holidays too. Lundari's offers two different cuts of the beef... A flat corned beef cut (which is the most common and easiest to find) and a 'point' corned beef cut. The flat cut is said to be leaner and used more for sandwich cutting. The point cut is cheaper because, and get this...because it's fattier. And you wouldn't want that why?  But for crock potting a corned beef we go for the point cut all the time. I don't think we've ever had a point cut corned beef that was dry. And it's easy to put the whole pot in the fridge after cooking and get rid of excess fat if you require. Point cut = Fattier. Seriously. Try the point cut. But then I'm the person who actually likes the fatty part of a piece of bacon so I may not be the best judge (but go for the point!). 

CORNED BEEF AND CABBAGE - In case you can't guess, today is National Corned Beef and Cabbage Day. And for those that don't like cabbage, I see no reason that you can't trade the cabbage for potatoes. And if you don't like potatoes either, well that's your problem and I'm going to be of no help!

Small Plates - March 12, 2010

SAN JOSE MARKET - Though I have been to the Ferry Building in San Francisco several times, I have yet to actually make it to the farmers market portion of that show. It would take getting up really early on a weekend and since getting up at thebuttcrackofdawn isn't my idea of fun, I just haven't done it. But every time I'm at the Ferry Building or read of someone getting some awesome foodstuffs at the farmers market there, I also find myself thinking "I wish they had something like that in San Jose". Well, starting August 1st, we may just get a little taste. Something called "The San Pedro Square Market" described as "approximately 50 unique vendors selling everything from farm fresh fruits and meats to perfect raviolis and hand crafted chocolates" will be opening in downtown San Jose. They will also "produce daily entertainment and showcase beautiful art created by local artists and craftsmen". It sounds more like a retail center than a standard farmers market so I'm interested in what might be available. For more information go here.

DON'T MESS WITH MY JACK! - I'm still in the corner that the best fast food french fries are found at McDonald's. But maybe Jack is listening to me. He's going to change his fries. He's going to improve "crispness, temperature and freshness". I hate when places change foods that I've been fond of for years but who knows, maybe fries will be better at Jack In the Box? Have you noticed a change in your fries? If you hated Jack in the Box fries before, will you give them a try now? Will I give up my McDonald's fries for Jack fries? Since In-N-Out fries rank second on my list, Jacks fries will have to really improve to wow me. For more info go here.

THE FINAL FRONTIER - So lets say it would take a couple of years to take a spaceship to Mars and back. Would you be willing to do it? Would you be willing to give up bacon for two years? McDonald fries? Fresh fruits and vegetables? Well, would you have to or is there a way that you would be able to eat such things in space? Hey, they make sushi in space so why not a chocolate milkshake? If you've been wondering about space food lately and all you come up with is "Tang" you should read Pillownauts posts about space food. You can find the posts about food now and then here and here (you should read Pillownauts blog if you or your kids are curious about space travel at all, very informative!). 

WENDY'S CHILI - Remember the Wendy's Finger Lady? She who cooked a finger and put it in a local Wendy's chili to try to get money? Well, she just got out of jail. Not sure why that is news but it is. And since the Wendy's she tried to shake down is MY Wendy's (two blocks from where I used to work and eat the chili regularly and still pass on my way to work every morning) reliving the whole thing makes me shudder. Yuck. Anyway for more info go here. And for what it's worth, I still eat the chili and yes, even at that Wendy's!