Personal - - Page 11

by BS

How to Cut an Avocado

As you know, we here at Endless Simmer like to put avocado on everything.

I don’t know if everyone has this problem, but I’ve always been unsure about the best way to cut up an avocado. Some people like to cut it in half and slice up semi-circular pieces to place in salads or sandwiches. I find this method creates less-than-ideal pieces; there’s just something textural I don’t like about those long, thin slices of avo. Spoon it out works for guac, but not when you want whole pieces of green.

So I was pretty stoked when I recently spied a friend in a kitchen cutting an avocado up just like I cut mangos. Cut it half, slice crisscross patters into each half, and then just pop ’em out.

Apologies if this is not as revelatory for everyone else, but lately it has changed my life. It’s so much easier and quicker than other ways, and it results in perfect bite-sized pieces, ideal either for tossing in a salad or for mashing up into guacamole or another avocado dip.

by Miss K

Friday Fuck-Up: Ten-Year Dejá Vu

A few weeks ago, I did something that I haven’t done since high school. No, I didn’t stay up all night watching the entire Mighty Ducks series or eat nothing but French fries for all three meals. Either of those things would have been preferable to what actually occurred. No, friends, instead I burned a pot of rice, and not just a little bit. I am still sketchy on what the exact sequence of events was that led to this tragic incident, but upon reflection on my tendency towards distraction, I am surprised that it hasn’t happened more often.

I still have a clear memory of the last such disaster. I was probably about 16, and I was tasked with making Spanish rice from a packet to accompany dinner. I put the rice on, forgot about it, and went to watch TV in the basement. The squealing of the smoke detector was my first hint that something had gone horribly wrong. After shaking her head in pity at my irresponsibility, my mom declared the pot irredeemable and tossed it in the trash.

in Personal 6 comments

by ML

Some Beers are Worth the Wait

Normally when I’m thinking about booze, filling cups and consuming it as fast as humanly possible seems about right to me.

So when I heard about the Bottoms Up system — a beer dispenser that fills beers up from the BOTTOM, and takes only seconds — I figured it was worth a shot, if I ever encountered it. No beer line? No wait? Sounds good to me.

As it turns out, at the Phillies game a few weeks ago, the bottoms up Bud Light stand was the closest one to my section. Let it be known I never drink Bud Light by choice, but…sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. So…Bottoms Up: God’s gift to sports fans? Not quite…

in Drinks / Personal / Rants & Raves / Trends 5 comments

by BS

Do You Have What It Takes to Simmer?

Ever read ES and think “I could write better than this crap?” Well, we’re calling you out.

Endless Simmer is looking to add some new spice to our salty chex mix of writers. If you’ve got something ~~incredibly important~~ tangentially relevant to say about food, drinks, food TV, food-like products, or really anything even remotely food-related, holler at us. We’re looking for writers who can commit to posting at least once a week. Only other required qualifications are a love of eating and a deeper love of running your mouth off about it. Bonus points if you can take spectacular food photos. You’ll be paid a hilariously low rate, plus the likely opportunity to get smashed with us sometime.

Sounding good? Shoot us an email (info AT endlesssimmer DOT com) and tell us about what kind of things you like to shove in your mouth.

(Photo: Mostly About Food)

in Personal 2 comments

by Emily

Eat It, Don’t Tweet It

The blessing and curse of being a food blogger is that you feel obligated to record every bite you put into your mouth, because you never know what might become good post material.

Consequently, you end up being this guy a lot of the time.

in Personal / Restaurants 0 comments

by Russell Warnick

Blendtec: A 99% Rationale

I love gadgets and my kitchen is full of them: mini-food processor, mini-crockpot, Cuisinart, Kitchen Aid, deep fat fryer, slow cooker… You get the picture, but one item I’ve always lacked was a blender…until recently. I splurged and went with a Blendtec Total Blender, $400 worth of blending goodness. Yes, $400. I get that this is a ridiculous amount of money to spend on a blender when there are tons of cheaper blenders out there, and I’m sure something as simple as a Magic Bullet would suffice for smoothies.

Here’s my justification. I’ve been on a smoothie kick of late but the only place I can find one close to my office is at Whole Foods. They charge $7.50 a drink which I think is a little absurd for some blended frozen fruit and ice. A couple of bags of frozen fruit — enough for five smoothies — is $12, plus a carton of coconut water is $3.95. Instead of spending $37.50 on smoothies a week I’m now spending $15. A weekly saving of $21.50. In 19 weeks I’m going to be even. In 20 weeks that $400 Blendtec will start saving me money.

The BF thinks my rational is ridiculous. He thinks the idea of spending $7.50 on a smoothie to begin with is too much. I’m sure he’s not alone in thinking that. But he’s wrong. In addition to saving money, it’s pretty to look at and I will make many other things in the blender, not just smoothies — margaritas for instance.

Who’s right? Leave your thoughts in the comments, and enjoy a recipe for my smoothie du jour.

in Drinks / Personal / Photos / Rants & Raves / Recipe 8 comments

by Jody

A Recipe for a Healthy Marriage. And Lemon Cupcakes.

Editor’s Note: Wouldn’t have guessed this on Monday, but apparently lemon cupcakes are huge on Endless Simmer this week. Also, please welcome Jody, previous guest poster, to the ES family.

I’m the first to admit that I’m not a baker. My husband is a close second. When he hears muffin tins clanging or sees a dust cloud of flour fumigating the kitchen, he says things like “baking is a science” and “you are following a recipe, right?” (Italics are totally his.)

I try. I honestly try to follow a recipe. But the world plots against me. Take the other morning.

I am making green lemon cupcakes for St. Patrick’s Day and follow The Recipe to the letter. Well, except for omitting the lemon curd filling and butter cream icing because they are each sub-recipes and therefore omittable. Let them eat plain cake.

First cream the sugar and butter. Measure and mix the dry ingredients. Allow four eggs to come to room temperature. I stumble a bit on the “room temperature” part. How will I know? But that’s silly. I’m not a Coors Light drinking idiot unable to discern temperature by touch alone, relying instead on color-changing technology. I’m a big girl. With hands.

Focus. I grate the peels of three lemons. And squeeze them. Confident that I’ve obviously turned a corner, I read the end of The Recipe which, granted, should have happened earlier. But who’s that organized? I’m spontaneous. A common excuse for the unorganized. The recipe taunts me from my computer screen. “1 cup buttermilk.” Buttermilk? Who in the hell has buttermilk? I sure don’t.

Dammitalltohell.

in Desserts / Personal / Recipe 1 comments