Calamity Shazaam in the Kitchen

As you may know by now I am a BIG fan of Diemand Farm out in Wendell MA. It is a family farm and for about five or seven years now I have been getting the Thanksgiving turkey from there. The turkeys from Diemand Farm are quite literally the best turkeys I have ever tasted. I usually put my order in around the beginning of October and then Grandpa and I go out the weekend before Thanksgiving to get it - which we call Turkey Shoot Weekend. If you want the best dang turkey ever this year, let me know. Put your order in and I will gladly pick it up for you if you don't feel like driving out to Wendell . Anyway, for various mechanical reasons that are beyond me, my Mom asked me to put 200 miles on her car so that she could have it reinspected. I had every intention of going to help my dear friend Moey make Sassy Sauce , but then of course one thing led to another and I ended up just going to the farm instead. Getting there is a crap shoot. One minute you are barreling down Route 2, th

So after we went to Pho Hoa ( see post below ) we went to the Super 88. I am in love with the tea aisle at the Super 88. And apparently it loves me back. Or it would with a strong cup of New Wei Gei Tea... There are dozens of diet teas, extract teas ( the chicken one has me a little perplexed ), remedies for booze, boobs, & bowels, cures for TV/Computer, and apparently a Baywatch tea.... Then there are the * ahem * stamina teas, which of course are kept on the upper shelves. Oh yeah, and they were also selling corn in a bag. Curious. FYI - I think if you click on a picture you can see a larger view.

Last night my buddy T called up and said "hey, whachoodoin let's go to the market, and get something to eat ok". Ok! Eating and shopping - my two favorite things. First we went to Pho Hoa on Dot Ave which to be honest I had no idea was a chain. But it is, and it's still good. T had the grilled chicken rice plate and I had a small chicken pho. After we placed our order we were given a pot of cold tea (which unlike cold tea in Chinatown at 2am is NOT beer) and a plate of veg for the pho. The long leaves on the top are culantro , underneath is a stalk of basil, a pile of bean sprouts, a wedge of lime, and a green pepper. Basically you shred the culantro and the basil with your fingers, dump it in the soup with the sprouts and then squeeze in the lime. The hot soup will sort of wilt the sprouts and it tastes delicious. Then on a little side dish I usually mix a little hoisin sauce with sriracha sauce and dip chunks of chicken in that. Dear readers, I really tried to get

So I was slowly sauntering home tonight from the BCAE and since I hadn't eaten anything since lunch, and it was a little after nine, I decided to stop at Nicole's for a slice and some salad. ( I love their house dressing. Love, love, love it. If I could, I would marry it. I really would .) Anyway so as I walk in I notice that there is a really ridiculously HOT guy standing in the tables & chairs area on his cellphone. Whatever, it's the South End, hot guys abound. However, this lovely looking fella looks just like a young Steve McQueen, ie: ( image from William Claxton , and is available for purchase. If you love me as much as I love Nicole's house dressing, please will you buy me a life sized poster. Thank you. ) So as I place my order, he comes up to get his. And he notices me slavering over his, *ahem*, slices of pizza and starts chatting away. Turns out he is a fireman at Engine 22 (700 Tremont Street if you want a looky-loo for yourself). And he is from Arkan

If you know me at all, you know that sugar is my weakness. White sugar, fake sugar, brown sugar, raw sugar, burnt sugar, you name I will eat it. So when I read that 5,000 gallons of molasses spilled in SUGAR LAND of all places, well let me just say that the ticket is booked and the spoon is packed. I love molasses, especially in the winter, spread on hot buttered toast. But I also have zero problem eating it out of the bottle. Seriously, this makes me almost as drooly as that one time the cheese truck caught on fiyah !

I love gnocchi. The best gnocchi I ever ate was at the Butcher Shop in the South End. Typically it is served with a tomato-meat sauce, but sometimes I cannot stand meat sauce so they very kindly made it with just a little basil, some garlic, and a scrape or two of cheese. With a glass of wine it was sheer heaven. The worst I ever ate was in Nice with my Mom the afternoon after her Dad (my beloved Pepe) died. The gnocchi were gluey and the wine mediocre, although it could have also been due to the fact that I was already choked up on sorrow. I later threw it all up in the Galleries Lafayette bathrooms to the sympathetic horror of the Madame attendant. Never say die however! Nowadays when I want a quick & totally satisfying meal I make gnocchi the lazy way. 1. Heat up a little olive oil in a pan 2. When the oil is hot toss in a handful of frozen Gem Potato Gnocchi ( they're sold at Whole Foods, in the freezer section, duh. Gem is located in Rhode Island and their products are

I still don't like them. And after the whole guac-debacle last night, shudder , I think that I have satisfied any curiosity about liking them ever again. And I am definitely NOT with child. It was gas. Same thing from what I hear though. But I ought to explain that the weirdest thing happened to me. It used to be that I could eat avocados. I didn't feel much either way, if they were there, I ate them. However, one morning I woke up and could not stand three things: avocados, the Rolling Stones, and the Doors. Weird huh! I can sort of stand the Rolling Stones again, but it's a very limited set list. I can maybe listen to about one Doors song, but that's it. And as for avocados, well, you know. Not so much.

People should be getting ready for the second coming of the Messiah because even though it is woefully technically not possible that I am "avec bebe", I want to know how else it is possible that I just ate an entire smallish container of guacamole. Especially considering that I HATE avocados. I mean I really do LOATHE them. I have this idea in my head that if you were to gently poach a slug, it would be of the same consistency as an avocado. Plus the word 'guacamole' reminds me of the word 'guano' which means batpoo. A good rule of thumb to me would be to avoid eating anything that begins with the letters g-u-a. Blech! But for some strange & bizarre reason, I bought some guacamole today and ate it. I sort of feel satisfied and contented, but also I now really want to throw up. *sigh* *image from Colintheriot @ Daily T Shirt

You know how it can get. You eat your veg, eat your five fruits, get enough fiber, water, and vitamins. Then WHAM-O What your body really craves is a frikin' Happy Meal. *sigh*

Truth be told, my favorite guilty pleasure cake is a supermarket cake from the " Bake Shoppe ". The kind that is 100% artificial with about 7lbs of sugar in it. It's even better the next day when the frosting develops a fine crust layer and the cake is just ever so very slightly stale-ish. So I bet that this cake, all 400lb of glorious frosted sheet cake, would sort me out for life: Holy crap! AND it come with real live sailors!!!!! It has to be cut with a sword!!!!! Errrghhhhh......... Me likey! Me wanty right NOW!!!