didn't mean to disappear.

just been busy lately is all...

went to see the swell season tonight at radio city..so amazing. 

also have been cooking.

and... i start my summer job thursday! eek. it's at a private yacht club in the hamptons. and i can't wait to start and i'll try to update this with whats going on.

anyways. so here are some pics of things i've made lately. 

chicken cacciatore

bread pudding w/ caramel sauce

poached eggs & bruschetta

(sorry it's not great quality but here is a video i took from tonight's show..the audio is good but we weren't terribly close)

(also can you believe he was doing all that with out a microphone!)

sorry it's been a while...

updated my muxtape though...

danamania.muxtape.com

enjoy.

it's pop-punk ish fun.

sorry it's been awhile...

wish i had an excuse... i'm just stressed is all.. 

here are some links (i'm working on a music post--maybe tomorrow night)

that's it! next time someone asks me what i want to do when i'm done with school, i'm telling them "i want to be a chef at google!"

wow.. my cellphone company actually cares about people...shocking.

gridskipper brings us nyc's oldest bars.

last night i went to see murder by death & o'death at the living room in rhode island. great show not nearly as morbid as it sounds.. i'd never really heard o'death before last night.. but they are really great and are fun to watch.. as are murder by death. even though the singer now thinks he's johnny cash.. if you can catch the tour i recommend it.. i think they have a few more weeks 

oh btw...

finally got around to making a muxtape... 

i just put my itunes on random and this is what came up, seemed kinda fitting.(i have weird (read:horrible) taste in music) 

anyways. that whole literary dealbreaker article reminded me of something..or one. a while back i gave my copy of charles bukowski's you get so alone at times it just makes sense to my good friend colin, he was visiting and i had it sitting on myself-- i knew at the time he'd need it more than me. and whenever i notice (via his blog) that he's reading it it makes me happy because i was right.... i actually told sage francis this story when he was in my bookstore buying out our bukowski section. he smiled and told me bukowski was the only thing he could stand reading... made my day. (he is a nice guy believe it or not)

funny stuff.

so i noticed patton oswald was performing in providence in may. i decided to try to convince my roommate to go with me because a) she likes dane cook and i want to show her good comedy and b) because i don't want to go alone. 

so saturday night (after a night of mild drinking) i start playing her werewolves and lollipops that goes into playing some mitch hedberg...then some jim gaffigan. 

here's some of what i showed:

patton oswald "stella dora breakfast treats"

Mitch Hedberg "Fruit on the bottom, hope on top"

Jim Gaffigan "I love food"

also, we're going to see krs-one & sage francis (again, because she likes eminem and i want her to like good music...and don't want to go alone) 

and lastly.. cursive is playing here at the end of april.. i love providence (and am psyched to get all this good stuff in before i become a working zombie for 6 months...)

it's been a while....

i know... sorry had a busy weekend. and this isn't really much of a post. but the new york times has an article on literary dealbreakers... (aka books that there's no way you could  date someone who's read...)  like a year or so ago i started seeing this guy-- and the first time in his apartment i noticed he had an ann coulter book and this chick-lit book about getting married (i think it was called something blue...) he swore the ann coulter book was an airport impulse buy and he didn't know what he was getting himself into.. but the something blue he said he found on the subway and it looked "interesting"--it bugged me but it wasn't a dealbreaker..although when he moved to a new apartment and still thought enough to bring BOTH BOOKS.... that was the dealbreaker. 

a few things....

xbox live is now tracking and branding cheaters. kinda funny (and brings a mental image of my brother yelling at his friends while playing halo 3.

she & him will be playing hiro ballroom april 21st (it's a monday and alas i can't go.. but speaking of my brother--i'm making sure he goes and takes lots of pics)

the ergs! from nj are playing easy axxes in pawtucket, ri on friday (this i can go to--but my friend ashley has an art show.. so we'll see where i end up)

some links....

here are a few quick links....

gridskipper brings you the best places to play beer pong in nyc. (if this were for nj i'd be disappointed my sister's basement and every frat house in new brunswick wasn't on this list.)

um... fairtip.org.. apparently this recession is hurting waitstaff...

radar brings you an advice column from spencer pratt (i don't watch the hills I SWEAR, but i do read enough gossip magazines to know this guys a bit of a jerk--and the first question is pretty hysterical)

happy easter.. or something..

in some ways i'm bummed i wasn't home.. my mom attempted to make lamb for the first time.. but it's ok. i worked and went to dinner w/ a friend afterwards and am STILL full of fried calamari & tagliatelle bolognese!

anyways. here are a few links.

i hate my roommates 2.0 (try reading this with out laughing. seriously--i dare you.)

the onion reports on the ongoing novelists strike.... (c'mon! you had to have noticed new books weren't hitting the shelves on tuesdays.. actually you probably didn't even know that's when new books were released...)

and a song..

locksley-- "she does" (remember that band jet--- well imagine if they were actually GOOD)
(sorry..it's a .m4a.. damn apple!)

finally! a recipe!

so here's a quick veggie recipe i made this week in class, my chef handed me a bag of zucchini and a bowl of sliced mushrooms and told me to have fun. so i did.
here's what you'll need.





zucchini pancakes
4-5 zucchinis
1 med. onion
1 c. mushrooms
1 egg
1/4 c. milk
1/2 c. flour
salt & pepper to taste.
oil

chop the mushrooms and saute with olive oil until they're reduced by at least 1/2. peel the zucchini and with a cheese grater grate on the largest setting, do the same with about 1/2-3/4 of the onion (depending on how much you like onion) when the mushrooms are cool enough to handle chop finely and combine with zucchini and onion, add egg and milk and mix- add flour a little bit at a time until it has a loose batter consistency. (you want it to be mainly veggies with a the egg, milk and flour acting as a binder) add the salt and pepper to taste. heat a medium pan with vegetable oil so that it'll cover your pancakes by half-- add a small ladle or ice cream scoop of batter into the oil and turn once golden brown (if you find that they're too runny to flip add more flour for the next batch) when golden brown on the opposite site remove from pan. ONLY FLIP PANCAKES ONCE--IF YOU FLIP MORE THAN ONCE IT WILL START TO ABSORB THE OIL. they will still be a little soft and almost liquidy in the middle that's okay.

you can add other veggies to this-- shredded carrots, chopped spinach or broccoli.

after making this i realized it was something my great grandmother would make when i was growing up.. guess i just kinda retained it. anyways.. it came really good..and my one friend has been bugging me for veg. recipes since i left for school.

links galore!

i've been slacking lately.. so to make up for it..

the james beard foundation brings us an article on kitchen initiation .. kinda like a frat but way cooler

ugh! where can i find indian pizza in edison??? seriously.

punk rock hot sauce... seriously ian mckaye.. why?

apparently the border control has way more to worry about than drugs... 

i don't really like anthony bourdain (don't get me wrong, i've read and appreciate his books... but he only tells one side of the culinary story and to be honest les halles doesn't impress me..) but this write up from a philly magazine entertained me "[on philly] "my first impression was w.c. fields was right, this place was fucking closed" and  from his latest book "there is no lying with food. You either can or can't make an omelet. No amount of skill with words can conceal the truth of the matter."

and "the napkin of shame" kinda reminds me of a coupling episode 

observer brings explains this new phenomenon of "urbane tomboys"-- since arriving at school i've slowly fallen into this category... 

this is kinda old but it's a photo gallery from nytimes magazine of chef's tattoos. 

speaking of chef's with tattoos--i came across this casting call...weird. (and seriously, why's it have to be a dude?)

and if you live, or eat in nyc--check this out and search your fave restaurant ... it's kinda disturbing..

i'm in a funny mood...

so here's some funny stuff...


apparently conan o'brien makes a mean st. patrick's day beef stew and matthew fox makes awesome smoothies...according to good housekeeping

i love tracy morgan.




some food comedy (click on the links to download the tracks):

according to patton oswalt, great food is cooked by psychos.

(also... america has spoken)

and mitch hedberg talks about sandwiches..

(upon going through my itunes i've noticed mitch hedberg talks about food..a lot. so i think maybe i'll post a new bit every week)

happy pretend to be irish day....

the daily dose brings us great moments in irish history

new jarvis cocker song--live from argentina





(i hope this means he's working on more solo stuff or at least that he'll tour the states again soon-- 'cause he's probably one of the best live shows i've seen)

and for shits and giggles...


jarvis cocker & beth ditto temptation live





also.. a song by the frames (guess i feel like being festive..) "fake" from burn the maps (which is a really solid album you should check out)

sxsw.

my friend colin (who lives in austin) took some pics at sxsw (feat. gaslight anthem, hot water music, paint it black and a few others) check them out here. 

(this is of the gaslight anthem, probably one of my favorite bands as of late, and def. some awesome guys)

the lovely jersey girls over at the providence daily dose give some much needed relationship advice.

epicurious rates some more absinthe 

and gridskipper breaks down bad italian food

it's been a rough week for me so thanks for checking back to see if i've bothered to keep up.. i may go back to nyc/nj this weekend. a good friend of mine is heading back to norway for a bit.

some quick links...

Guinness is trying to make St. Patrick's day a federal holiday. Read about it here-- sign the petition here. 

Maxim does a story on hot new york city chefs.  (they're all dudes. surprisingly enough..)

and one of them has their own online cooking show; "cooking with the band" so far it's featured the likes of el-p, tokyo police club and matt & kim

the punk guy posted some karate mp3's (i've been listening to them most of the day) not really sure how to describe them so just check them out... (he also posted some gossip b-sides)

also, i gave the mike doughty album another listen today. and only hate 2 songs. the rest is pretty good...

so...

i went out tonight. had fun. little drunk. danced a bit. went to local 121 a really cool restuarunt i want to eat at... for their britpop night in the tap room

they played this.
fuck i love that song..

bought the new mike doughty cd. little dissappointed. after 27 jennifers (redux) it gets good. love most the album after it.. like this song.. but seriously what happened?

did you know kurt cobain lives in new brunswick,nj?

some pics..

so here's what i've been up to (aside from watching lost...)

chicken roulade and spinach pasta (from scratch) with a sun-dried tomato, garlic, basil, olive oil dressing.

brown rice, steamed green beans w/ roasted peppers and garlic & basil, poached pork with raspberry sauce

oh and here's a mix (considering i've been lacking on the song front lately)

1. "west coast" -coconut records

2. "why do you let me stay here?" -she&him

3. "hello tomorrow" -karen o.

4.  "when your mind's made up" -swell season

5.  "nature of the experiment" -tokyo police club

6.  "rhythm & soul" -spoon

7.  "oh my god" -lily allen & mark ronson

8.  "a song i can't recall" -the second band

9.  "in the mausoleum" -beirut

10. "the late great libido" -menomena

11.  "knife" -grizzly bear

12. "denial twist" -the white stripes

13.  "pregnant for the last time" -colin meloy

14.  "for you (part II)" -locksley

15.  "turnpike gates" -lifetime

16.  "alive with the glory of love" -say anything

17.  "shoulder to the wheel" -saves the day

18.  "i'm on fire" -bat for lashes

(if something on it doesn't work let me know this is my first time attempting this)

geeky stuff...

so.. geeksugar posted cool gmail tips..like if someone tried to email me and typed in my email address w/ lots of periods or send it to googlemail.com i'd still get it. (i tested it..it's true)

and gizmodo shows you the worst people have done to their electronics..and i thought my old keyboard that was covered in soda and random other spills was bad.... 

oh and another reason i love my mac....seriously this alone makes my computer worth the price i paid for it i've dropped my macbook at least twice from 3-4 feet and it's still kicking. 

and i seriously want this (ok it's not geeky..but it's girly-ish) 

quick song....

my friend's band knyfe hyts (ex- ex-models) did a cover of iron maiden's "running free"
check it out at pitchfork

hopefully there will be more later..

this is a little short today, sorry, but i've spent the past 2 days getting caught up on entertainment weekly and getting into lost. (that and actually doing stuff for class)

so... i'm still trying to figure out how i'm just finding out about this now, but coolio has an online cooking show- i can't wrap my head around it. but wow.


i'm in a nutrition class now my chef reminds me of will forte and keeps talking about fried chicken and rib eye steaks--but basically reinforces everything in moderation and there really are no bad foods which is true. i mean i guess if you want drastic weight loss you basically have to cut 1000 calories from your diet daily and in about 3 days you'll lose a pound. scary but yeah.

late post? or early? hmm...

so i'm back at school--this trip went by way to quick and didn't get to see everyone i wanted to oh well. 

for some reason most the ride back i listened to npr--- i think they sucked me in with this piece on new orleans shrimp. 

i also stopped at these outlets in connecticut and got this! (yes--in obnoxious lime green and for probably half of what it costs on that site and def. nowhere near the list price) and a few pairs of sneakers.. although one isn't for me. 

remember jill sobule? she wrote that "i kissed a girl" song.. well apparently she's trying to raise money for her new album.. see how she's doing here.

i'm sorry this is funny--and i love david cross.

i should really be packing...

i leave for rhode island today- and spent most of yesterday in the city, it was nice saw the orphanage (a spanish thriller/horror movie) i'm not a huge fan of horror movies- but this wasn't gory just creepy and kinda nightmarish on my drive home i had what i like to call the "movie epiphany" when you finally sort out all the details of a movie kinda like an a-ha! moment. anyways. once i sorted it out i liked it a bit more. i def. recommend checking it out if you get a chance to. also went to dinner at this spanish place on 1st & houston which was pretty good. (i guess the theme for the night was spanish..accidently)

ok. so really there hasn't been much going on lately.

gizmodo posted about trent reznor's 36 instrumental tracks entitled ghosts I-IV that he's releasing ala radiohead meaning. for free online but in his case if you want the full album you have to pay $5. and he even has a $300 package with some goodies.

slice shows us the top ten crazy asian pizza crusts-- a lot of them are stuffed w/ shrimp 

yesterday was a good day...

and  a long day-- dorian (little d) got in from his externship in florida and we celebrated by getting tattooed and an amazing meal. okay--that tattoo wasn't planned on my part, but i was able to be squeezed in and got a tattoo i've been wanting for a while now. but the amazing meal was at hotoke a newer restaurant on george street in new brunswick--it's an asian-y fusion type place that two of our friends work at and the chefs that helped open it also worked on nobu london & vegas-- and it was amazing. i'm officially sold on sushi now- i had what they called a zen roll which was shrimp, crab, crunchy mayo--and it was wrapped in cucumber, not seaweed. it was amazing. we ate so much food and got to meet the head chef--also their miso braised short ribs were great..way better than mine--

ok. so some links. 

traci "slut machine" egan tests out the clone-a-willy/pussy kits over at jezebel (she uses the molds to make chocolate with--see it's food related, and totally nsfw. if you want the full story check out her blog. still nsfw.)

there's speculation robert irvine may be axed from from the food network following his scandal. 

also a short little write up on female sommeliers in new york magazine. apparently there are only 3 female masters of wine in the states (i was lucky enough to meet one at school, and was told that it's harder to become a master of wine than it is to become a doctor that's how strict they are) 

somewhat early post...

(for me at least)

there's not a whole lot going on today---

so.. here's a couple news-ey links..and a few links 

i go to when i'm really bored (kinda like today)

esquire and marie claire bring us the top things guys should never do in front of girls... 

apparently steven spielberg doesn't want the new indiana jones movie being shown on digital projectors.. that's fine by me, considering the first time i saw an indiana jones movie it was on a 13" tv, with an antenna during a rain storm.. so anything is a step up from that

ok and now onto the bored links...

i've always been a fan of marmaduke explained, and now there's garfield minus garfield.. which is pretty much just jon. and jon is funny. 

i've also been spending a lot of time on passiveagressivenotes.com (at the cafe i managed i used to have an employee who would leave a ton of these..but he'd also draw funny pictures on them so i left them up)

lateish posting..

sorry for posting so late--today was a long day- had to drop my car off at the shop, take my cousin to the dr's, then pick up a transmission for my car, hopefully i'll have my car back tomorrow. anyways, on to the posting...

new york fast food joints are trying to fight the new law that they have to post the amount of calories in their items saying it goes against their freedom of speech...

pig farmers in england are trying to raise money by selling a song the recorded, a play on "stand by your man", "stand by your ham"..clever, but i kinda wonder how it sounds...

brooklynvegan has a nice write up on glen & marketa's oscar win (and they somehow found a shot of them on the red carpet---which i was digging for all night sunday) anyone want to go to the radio city show with me? please...

afternoon links. (well, actually..mainy videos)

so.. in case you haven't noticed, i'm a bit of a dork. and when i saw this clip on gizmodo i had to share it.

3 members of the group "improve anywhere" brought their desktop computers to the 7th ave starbucks. seriously? 

also..for any girls that read this... here's the full length preview for the new sex and the city movie. (not that little fluff teaser you saw at the beginning of be kind rewind this weekend)

and another girly thing.. 

diablo cody refuses to wear the million dollar shoes stuart weiztman created for her... (as if she didn't annoy me enough)  

i mean they're kinda cute right? 

ok sorry. so some food (ok fine alcohol related stories)

staten island to open a vinyard?  i'm not so sure i'd be willing to try. 

and 10 unexpected uses for beer (ok 9, and 1 obvious one)

the oscars...

normally i don't care about the oscars--maybe i'll watch to see what people are wearing. but aside from that i don't care much. but earlier today a friend informed me that glen hansard and marketa irglova of once would be performing (i was so out of the loop i didn't even realize they were nominated for best original song for a motion picture). so i decided i would actually care about the oscars this year. (and said friend and i wound up im-ing throughout the whole program)

firstly, jon stewart was pretty funny once he got into things. but if i had to see one more song from enchanted i was going to scream. finally glen and marketa come out and they're song is cut short..not like a little short. like they maybe get to perform half of it. half. after sitting through 3 elaborately staged songs, i only get to hear half of the one i want to hear? wtf? (ok fine they only cut the last minute or so..but still.)

but they won best song, as they deserved to they were both so cute during their speeches (cute was my word for the evening btw.)

so here's a clip of their acceptance



and here's their performance

sunday reading and a song

sorry for the lack of posts-- last night was the big meal for the family--it came out o.k.- i'm a pretty harsh judge of myself, so i'm sure it was fine.. but i wasn't impressed. i went with the short ribs and apparently 6 pounds was not enough for 7 people oh well. next time i suppose..

an article about how the michelin stars are being received in tokyo.

the history of the buffalo wing (thought it kinda funny i came across this today because yesterday i made buffalo chicken wontons...those did come out really good)

and a song:

the second band's "the killer comeback line" 

just got the album in the mail yesterday and i'm really digging it.

boomp3.com

oh fine. one more thing...

brooklynvegan posts a flight of the conchords documentary here. (thanks k)

...

so. i have finals today and then i'm driving 4 (probably only 3) hours back to jersey afterwards. so here's a quick link i found today... i'll make up for it tomorrow *hopefully!*

world most dangerous roads! eek. 

some news...

ok. so back to food--sorry about all the music related posts (not really)

Robert Irvine (of Food Network's Dinner: Impossible) is a fraud?

Martha Stewart buys the Emeril Lagasse brand... does this mean BAM! is going to start coming back again?  please no. 

and USDA claims they're going to step up food inspections (still trying to figure out how, as there's less than 2,000 inspectors for more than 200,000 food plants) 

oh and an update on the 4 impressionist paintings stolen in switzerland the van gogh & monet have been recovered. 

she & him.

so i tracked down some she & him demos (zooey deschanel & m. ward)  so good. really psyched for this album. 

download the demos here. 

or stream a couple songs.

boomp3.com

(change is hard)

boomp3.com

(magic trick)

...

this is my friend dorian (also known as little d). we've known each other for 4 years and are currently arch-enemies (he goes to the CIA, i go to JWU) when we get to hang out we like to eat good food and see art. (or get really drunk on jameson) 

one day we went to the metropolitan museum of art and ate beforehand and had really bad food at a place called dorrian's because it was named after him (sorta) 

so for spring break i've decided we're going to eat at little d eatery in brooklyn to continue the trend. (although this time i think the food will be good because according to gridskipper they have amazing bread pudding.)

an unlikely duo--reebok & kool aid join forces and create--scented shoes? if the design weren't so bland. this may've been a good idea...(but still, probably not.)

at epicurious they have a distubing quiz about the current meat recall. 

i also just ordered the second band's new album on the orange grammofon site and just got the weirdest email from them

Hey there Dana!

We've compiled your order and it will be sent off today and probably reach you in a few days. Payment is to be made through paypal within ten days after you've received your package. If you've got any questions regarding this just let us know by responding to this e-mail.

You ordered...

The Definite Form (1 ex.) 16 USD
Shipping 3 USD

Total 19 USD

Hope you'll like what you've ordered, we like you!

/Emma, orange grammofon

they are quite trusting, no?

sunday reads.

off the broiler reviews celebrating valentine's day at white castle. (i'll be honest me and a friend considered this one year...maybe next.)

the new yorker reviews dell'anima a new italian restaurant in the west village seems kinda promising 

143 million pounds of beef recalled after the fda finally investigated this. 

and esquire brings you the countries best sandwiches, but considering there's two fast food places, and the only entry from jersey is a pork roll, egg, & cheese sandwich (and not one fat sandwich!) i'm not impressed. 

earlish post...

newark, nj has gone 33 DAYS WITHOUT A MURDER. cause for celebration, no?

heath ledger's final film will be finished with JOHNNY DEPP, JUDE LAW, AND COLIN FARRELL filling in. seems pretty cool...

also, the local theater here in providence, the avon, has taken to showing his past movies every weekend night at 11:30 last week was "Candy" (so good), and this weekend it's "I'm Not There" which i may go see monday.

hope everyone had a good weekend, i didn't. some how between friday night & tonight my front bumper got cracked pretty bad and i have no idea how...ugh!

avenue d...

came across this on vice tonight. i've had many fond memories on ave. d. none of which are worth a $50 box set of crappy cd's although i'd like the i have a big heart on for you shirt that comes with it... 

btw tonight was hilariously interesting. you should ask me about it.  also, tell me if you know what egress means.  ok thx. 

also, an elliott smith song; "alphabet town"

boomp3.com

late--before i go out post.

a popular cereal brand in canada "shreddies" has a new marketing scheme...diamond shreddies. hilarity ensues. 

speaking of gimmicks. gizmodo shows us the sandwich phone for those of us that are just too cool for the juno hamburger phone. 

nyc's naked cowboy is suing m&m's for $6 millions dollars because they used his likeness in an ad

hope everyone had a lovely valentines day last night--- i know the jersey girls threw an amazing party and i ended up having a great time. 

quickie before work.

valentine's cards rejected by shoebox....

but i'm sure someecards would've taken them....

that's all i got today. i'll be here later- 

also, things to do tomorrow if you're single...

nyc:

my good friend zoe sent me an email about this event at her bar--seems like it could be fun..

Crush on Karaoke this Valentine’s Day!

Kissing booths, free beer, air guitars, 100,000 karaoke songs, and a strict pants-optional policy? This ain’t your mom’s Valentine’s Day party. As always, hedonism, licentious dancing, extreme costuming, and enthusiastic performances overrule vocal talent at Akdola Karaoke. Valentine’s Day never sounded so good! Pass it on…

Event: Akdola Karaoke Party – Pants-Optional!

Date: Thursday, February 14th.

Time: 9 p.m.- 2:00 a.m.

Location: downstairs at Fontana's (105 Eldridge St. between Broome and Grand; (212) 334-6740)

Subway: B, D to Grand

Cost: FREE!

Official Site: http://jamesmasonfanclub.blogspot.com

Drink specials from 9-10:30. Peak Moment with FREE Peak Organic Beer when first 25 enthusiasts arrive (So come early!).

No-Pants Note: While you’re certainly not required to take your pants off, you never know if the spirit may move you once you arrive…so wear something you wouldn’t mind showing off! Otherwise, just enjoy the sights…

or if you're like me, and in providence, the jersey girls of the providence daily dose are hosting a valentines day party at e&o   (these were 2 of the first gals i met here and if they drink nearly as hard as they do at lili's on a friday, which i'm sure they will, this promises to be a fun night)

not so much on food today...

Scrabblicious chocolate? I guess it's a pretty sweet valentine's gift if you're significant other is really into scrabble and doesn't mind getting their gift a little late, seeing as you'll have to order it (here)

men's health brings you the 20 worst foods in america, (along with very unappealing pictures..)

cutest beagle ever wins westminster according to gawker (and i concur, and  i also spent 12 mins. today watching the boxer segment and aww'ed about every 5 seconds...i miss my puppy)

apparently lego is holding a castle based vignette story telling contest (long enough for you?) and someone submitted an awesome monty python inspired one of the skit "bring out your dead". (almost as cool as my brother's figure drawing of the "upper class twit of the year awards"..almost.)

90 day jane was in fact a hoax. (who didn't see that one coming?) 

tipping point.

to tip or not to tip.. gourmet talks with bartenders & patrons on how much they feel is a suitable tip (here) i know at least $1 a drink seems like common sense to most people (my father took me to atlantic city when i was 21 and told me that even though the drinks were free at the bar (because he gambles a lot) i should still tip at least $1 a drink, and i've taken those words to heart, even tipping $1 each for a round of $1 test tube shots at a bar) one  bartender  in the article goes as far to say that if he hears change clink on his bar he'll chuck it back at the patrons head...i think i want to start drinking there. 

cheap lunch in chelsea? gridskipper tells you where.  (i can vouch for #6 spice, i went there for lunch w/ my friend helena before she went back to germany--not bad $7.50 for an app and a lunch)

starbucks to close for 3 hours on feb 26th to retrain baristas on how to make the perfect drink... something tells me they're going to need more than 3 hours and maybe they should get rid of the push here dummy machines. (push here dummy, or phd's, was a term my hight school photography teacher would use to describe point-and-shoot cameras, but if you've seen starbuck's espresso machines you'd see the phrase works there as well)

4 in 1 hot dog maker--(thanks gizmodo!) um. it cooks hot dogs, eggs, and pop corn & steams buns. really..could anyone need this? (apparently not, it's already on sale)

and non-food related: 

90 day jane blogs about the 90 days leading up to her suicide here.  kinda not sure what to think of this? i'm hoping it's a stunt.. guess we'll find out in 80 some odd days... (thanks krist!)

food, robots, & art

i knew i loved mario batali for a reason...(and not just for his amazing veal saltimbocca at lupa)

here he is talking about "foodbloggers" (or more correctly food bloggers that think they're food critics)

"It's just people who hate things. But you know what? If they don't like my beef-cheek ravioli and the rock-and-roll we play on the sound system at Babbo, they can suck my dick. I don't care." 

(just so you know mario, i adored that you had elefant playing overhead at lupa's)

coffee tasting robots? here. 

nyc's the knitting factory is hosting an art show featuring paintings of pabst blue ribbon cans...

(info here.)

speaking of art..works by 4 of my favorite artists (van gogh, degas, monet, and cezanne) were stolen at gunpoint from a small museum in switzerland (here.) apparently the works were worth an estimated $163 million total.  well at least my absolute fave edvard munch was spared this time..

lazy sunday reading.. (and a song)

Maxwell Gladwell (author of The Tipping Point and Blink) writes about how Grey Poupon changed mustard and how World's Greatest Ketchup will never beat Heniz (here.) 

a short story by Kiran Desai about her family's cook (and his temper)..here.

and a song by Zooey Deschanel & M. Ward 

She & Him--"Why do you let me stay here?"

(right click- save target as; or on macs, ctrl + click -download linked file)

or stream it

boomp3.com

anyone else bored on saturday night?

gizmodo tries to get to the bottom of the cheeseburger in a can (here. and here.) (i love how a tech site has become one of my go to sources for weird food info)

speaking of geeks, geeksugar posted a link to recipematcher.com a pretty cool website that searches for recipes based on what you have in your kitchen...better than resorting to ramen noodles...

and non food related: polaroid to stop production on instant film? considering that most hipsters have moved on to digital slr's to take pictures of their drunken escapades (and apparently are somehow making a living of sorts off of it) i guess this isn't that big of a deal... 

for your viewing pleasure:

frozen grand central. 

some music...

boomp3.com

here's a new song from gaslight anthem's ep señor and the queen, "say i won't (recognize)" 

gotta love the sam cooke reference. (you'll have to listen)

check them out here.

and see them w/ the ergs! and the loved ones at the knitting factory friday the 23rd (i'll be there!)

but steven seagal's endorsing it! it has to be good....right?

 AV club reviews celeb endorsed "food" (i'll use that term lightly considering it's mainly hot sauces) some of them make sense (i.e. sammy hagar and tequila; cheech marin and hot sauce) others don't (dexter holland of the offspring and hot sauce, smokey robinson and frozen dinners..weird)

blue bottle coffee opens up it's first cafe in san fran-and employs the first siphon bar in the u.s. (imported from japan)-- kinda looks like a mad scientist's lab-- which brews each cup individually check out a review here..

(pretty interesting concept, but not terribly practical for all, or most cafes. i think my employees would've killed me if i told them. "remember how much you loved it when a customer would order a tall coffee and you barely had to do any work, well forget that because now you're brewing each cup to order!")

gridskipper  brings us brooklyn's best bbq here...  seems a little weird. but about a year ago. i experienced some brooklyn bbq and it's def. worth checking out.  (i'm actually pretty sure i went to #8 on the list soule)

a philly boy's review of how other countries interpret his beloved cheesesteaks (here.) one of my best friends lives in philly and out of all the times i've gone to visit her i've yet to have an authentic philly cheesesteak... i guess i should get on that. huh?

and now for something completely different. zadie smith bashes contestants in her short story writing contest and tells them all to try again next year.. (after working in bookstores for 4 years i can tell you 2 things about zadie smith not many people come in asking for her, and her follow up to white teeth was in our bargain section  not even a year after it was released...) so i'm not exactly sure who she is to judge..

so i stumbled upon a new site the other day... airlinemeals.net where believe it or not, that picture was yanked from. fine it's from a first class meal on a continental airlines flight but even the coach meals don't look terrible.... it's also kinda fun to see what other countries airlines serve. (or maybe i'm just a geek)

also, mississippi is passing a bill banning restaurants and fast food places from serving people deemed obese, claiming that if they do so they will loose their health department license. read about that... here

and now that absinthe is legal in the u.s. epicurious reviews the first two to make their debut stateside. the first being lucid which i know a few of my friends have tried.. (here.) and the second being kubler (here.)- when i was home for christmas  my mother and i went to a french brasserie called pigalles kinda by hells kitchen they had it on the menu, but considering my company i figured a glass of riesling was better choice....next time...i suppose. 

late posting...

sex sells..........fruit? seriously. wtf? nsfw... at all.

today's round up...

umm.. what is kraft doing? here food that kills intestinal worms.. yummy.

also, could pasta be good for you? apparently so-- it contains the same amount of dietary fiber as a slice of whole wheat bread and also has 15 different vitamins and minerals.  yet another reason for me to break out my cavatelli press when i get home...

i generally hate japanese food (okay fine i said. it just seems bland to me. and the concept of sushi scares me even though i'll eat sweet breads) but this place looks really good. maybe i'll try to hit it up soon. 

speaking of when i go home, i'm preparing a dinner for my family. i'm thinking braised short ribs in a red wine gravy with roasted potatoes and squash, zucchini and eggplant prepared in some manner...(probably roasted as well w/ a balsamic reduction) hmm. or should i stick with my old standby chicken francaise? 

quick intro.

so a few quick links i picked up from gizmodo

check out the........

"GREATEST FAST FOOD INVENTION..ever" 

seriously.. what is our country coming to? do we need to be able to enjoy our popcorn chicken and soda from the SAME CONTAINER?! also, i'm kinda shocked it took this long to think of this idea, when you look at the breakdown of the product it's fairly simple...now if only there was a place for dip..

also, behold! the spice gun!! please do not let this get in to the hands of freshman at johnson & wales, they still haven't figured out how to operate a simple pepper shaker, no need giving them a device to ruin their roast chicken any more than they already do. 

and from the new york times...

a bizarre medical mystery is unfolding in Minnesota-- if you can't make it through this article, don't even try to read Fast Food Nation

i suppose that's it for today- this is just going to be a silly blog for me to post some random food news, maybe some recipes, and other mishaps I encounter while in culinary school.. enjoy!