Last week , as I was consuming the above beverage, a friend pointed out that the locally-made, coconut water kombucha was basically the embodiment of current culinary fads.
If only it came in biodegradable packaging hand-painted by fairly paid women from a southeast Asian co-op, it would have been perfect.
One of the most popular holiday presents for foodies in recent years has been the Sodastream machine. These $100 seltzer makers are new, trendy and high-tech, but also fit nicely into the food world’s current obsession with all things organic and D.I.Y. So naturally, when I walked into my cousin’s Manhattan apartment recently and spied a Sodastream, I congratulated her on being such an up-on-it, trendy foodie.
So imagine my surprise when my other cousin, who was in town visiting from Ireland, walks into the kitchen a few minutes later and remarks, “Oh, a Sodastream – how retro!”
Whaaaa?
Irish cuz goes on to insist that every single Irish home had a Sodastream in the 1970s, “back when they were cool,” but that now the contraptions are mostly just gathering dust in people’s attics and basements. Clearly, we didn’t believe her, because these things just got popular here, and there is no way we could be decades behind Ireland in terms of food trends, is there? A few days later, she sends this:
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Ever since the cupcake trend died down (at least a little bit), everyone has been looking for “the new cupcake.” I found it.
I never particularly like the cupcake trend because there didn’t seem to be flavors in a cupcake I couldn’t get elsewhere. Red velvet cupcake? Yeah, I can just get red velvet cake. Move along. Nothing to see here.
So I was a little apprehensive of the new, “trendy” donut and fried chicken place opening in South Philly. Another baked good trend? Meh. But on Monday morning I headed down to the opening of Federal Donuts, the brainchild of Philly chef Michael Solomonov and Steven Cook (of Zahav), BODHi Coffee owners Thomas Henneman and Bob Logue, and local food-and-drink expert Felicia D’Ambrosio (aka the tour guide on the Philly episode of Bizarre Foods). This place already had an advantage in my mind, since the hummus and salatim at Zahav is my kryptonite. When I die, I want to be slathered in that hummus. Preferably by Solomonov himself. Or any of the male servers from Zahav. I’m not picky.
I went along to Federal with my former flame (The Artist), because he has a few fabulous qualities for an eating partner: he shares, he knows what he likes, he’s been to Zahav and he isn’t afraid to park in the city. But then we walked in, and The Artist asked if they had decaf coffee (they did not) and then I remembered why it didn’t work out between us. One point for Federal, though.
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I actually don’t think fruit salad is funny. In fact, I hate fruit salad. It’s this big soggy mess and all of the different kinds of fruit just end up tasting like each other. Who wants to eat a brown, citrus-infused banana? Anyway, apparently all of these dudes find this vitamin C filled bowl fodder for a good chuckle. Who am I to deny their joy?
(Collage by Endless Simmer; Photos from BuzzFeed)
This probably isn’t a phenomenon at all. But girl’s gotta do something to save her failing Vegas restaurant, Beso.
(Photo: @EvaLongoria)
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It’s comparing presents time. 80P and I just got back from our long winter break, bringing back to the apartment new jackets (him), cardigans (me, although I really wish he would cave to that trend!) Converse sneakers (him), over-the-knee boots (me), and for both of us, a Blu-Ray player (thanks 80P’s parents!)
As we took a couple hours to put everything away, I noticed a most adorable Whole Foods reusable tote bag. 80P’s mom filled it with gifts of sake. But it was no ordinary tote – there are interior dividers, morphing the bag into a reusable 6-pack container.
In fact, could there be more totes going on right now? DC charges per use of plastic bag (and gives the proceeds to the Anacostia River Protection Fund) so you will see plenty of shoppers lugging totes around to not only the farmers’ markets, but to grocery stores as well. But I’ve yet to see a clever upgrade of the tote. And as the girlfriend of a boy that is always bring a mixed-beer pack to friends’ houses, I’m excited by this development.
And while claims exist about reusable totes’ unsanitary qualities, this must be better for our lives than all that darn plastic.
Jumbo cupcake!
King size cupcake!
Tiny cupcakes won’t do, but 25 times bigger feeds the whole crew!
Cupcakes are tiny cakes, yes? But for some reason, the logic doesn’t feel right the other way around. There’s no such thing as a giant cupcake. There’s just not. It’s a fucking cake.
It’s back. The iconic spare-rib shaped sandwich from McDonald’s. I was but a twinkle in my father’s eye the first time the McRib surfaced, so I never got around to eating one, and I’ve never been so inclined as to cross state lines just to find it.
It’s been almost four years since my last McDonald’s fine, two years since I got drunk and ate McDonald’s. I’m not sure why McD’s became the victim of my boycott, but I have always thought of it as the epitome of fast food. For some reason I feel less guilty when eating Burger King or a late night slice of pizza.
But for the purposes of research alone, I broke my “fast food” boycott and took a bite into the elusive McRib, which McD’s has brought back by popular demand for a special six-week, nation-wide run, now through December 5. Continue reading to see what I have to say.
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