Playing with your food: When sushi met cupcake

Sometimes people like to make food that looks like another food. Some of the fake turkeys that are made of tofu that become available around Thanksgiving come immediately to mind. (Though really, if you've given up eating meat, wouldn't you want to be eating something that DIDN'T look at all like the meat you gave up eating?) Or think of some of the breakfast cereals out there that are supposed to be "fruit flavored" that have neon-colored fruits made of puffed grains or something. Sometimes foods that are made to look like other foods are okay. Sometimes, as in the two examples I just presented, they are terrifying.

But then there are times when they are just downright adorable. Case in point is this site (Glue and Glitter) showcasing cupcakes made to look like sushi rolls.

Oh my goodness! How adorable are THESE? Two of my favorite foods, sushi and cupcakes, coming together! But unlike turkey-shaped, turkey-flavored tofu, these cupcakes taste like cupcakes, not like raw fish wrapped in rice.

I might want to try making something like these sometime. Of course, you could always just make a sheet cake and then cut pieces out of the cake to look like the sushi. I also love the blogger's suggestion to use marzipan in place of fondant, because marzipan is delicious whereas fondant is not.

Playing with your food can really be adorable.

Gourd

I was just looking at my computer desktop and I found a screenshot of an ad from Craig's List that was just too good NOT to share. Behold!

I could comment at length on the sheer absurdity of every part of this ad—the fact that someone is selling a dried gourd, the fact that they priced it at $3, the fact that they want exact change, the fact that they photographed it—but I'll shut my mouth and just let you revel in the glory that is this ad. I wonder if anyone ever bought it.

Leggo-ing of your Eggo

Apparently there is an Eggo Waffle shortage.

Yes, there is a limited supply of Eggo Waffles and will be until the middle of next year.

The thing is: why do people care THAT much? Why does it matter that there is a shortage of a random breakfast food like Eggos? It's sort of funny to read some of the quotes by people in this article talking about rationing their supply or putting them on E-bay. What's wrong with you people? Get some oatmeal! Buy a different brand of frozen waffles! Or (gasp!) make your own waffles! It's NOT difficult, and basic waffle irons are affordable.

I just find it ridiculous that people are worked up over a food that's not an essential or a dietary staple, like milk, vegetables, or whole grain. It's not even that healthy for you! Maybe these people should switch to oatmeal, fruit, or eggs (not Eggos) for breakfast. Yes, I understand that it can be upsetting not to have a certain comfort food available, but frozen waffles, to me, seem like they should be treated more as a luxury than an essential.

Make this now

Seriously... don't delay. Make this today: Mark Bittman's macaroni and cheese.

I make the first version of this, though I am intrigued by the variations and might try some of them soon. Jeremy and I just made some of this over the weekend and it's fab. It's very grown-up, savory mac and cheese--no gloopy, overly sweet cheesy goop. The bay leaves in the milk give it its special taste.

This time I added peas and ham. Cook one cup of frozen peas according to package directions; drain and set aside. Slice one ham steak into small cubes and set aside. Stir the peas and ham into the pasta after adding the sauce before baking. Yum!

We paired this dish with Brussels sprouts and sausage with just a touch of white wine and vinegar. Steam the sprouts, cut them in half vertically, and set aside. Throw some butter in a large pan and add the sausage, preferably split in half longways. Cook the sausage till it's about half done, add some more butter to the pan and throw in the sprouts. Once the sausage is nicely browned and the sprouts and done (still firm but easy to put a fork through), remove the sausage and sprouts, but leave the heat on the pan. Add a little dry white wine to the pan and stir it up, scraping up any bits left in the pan. Heat for a few minutes, cut up the sausage into small bits, then turn off the heat on the pan, stir in a splash of white vinegar, and drizzle over the sprouts and sausage. Tangy and delicious!

I made this one up on the fly because I had sprouts and sausage in the freezer and a bottle of dry white wine that I really didn't like as a drink in the fridge, but I wanted to try and find a use for it rather than just pouring it down the drain. I remember having some sprouts that a friend of mine made years ago with bacon and apple cider vinegar, so I put my own little twist on them. They turned out really tasty!

I went to an Italian street festival in my neighborhood, and in addition to a meatball sandwich that I purchased for a dollar (priced to sell!), I also had some really good lemonade and my very first deep-fried Oreo. The Oreo was delicious--kind of like an old-fashioned donut with an Oreo in the middle. Yum. I definitely giggled when I bit into it--a sure sign that I am really surprised by and am enjoying a food. I love street fair food.

Never apologize... even for garlic

So I recently made a batch of arugula pesto. (Using my handy-dandy, just-taken-out-of-the-box Magic Bullet of course.) I had some wilting arugula in the fridge and I didn't want it to go to waste, so I threw it together with pine nuts, lemon juice, parm cheese, garlic, and olive oil in the Magic Bullet and processed away.

Well. I was a little short on the arugula. Like probably a cup short. And I wasn't thinking and just threw the 3 cloves into the mix. And the end product was really rather garlicky. I tossed in some extra salt and stirred in some extra olive oil, which helped cut back on the garlic, but it was like taking a cup of water out of the ocean. It helped, but not much.

But whatever! It's all good. Jeremy and I happen to love garlic, so despite leaving us with garlic breath for hours and hours, we enjoyed it. We just found that we didn't have to put quite so much on our linguine as if it were less garlicky pesto.

And by the way, if you melt a little butter and drizzle it over the linguine before stirring in the pesto.... mmmm. Magnificent! Really, what isn't made better with butter?

"Cheese" expert

Also, I can't resist sharing this post I found on Craig's List today.

CHEESE EXPERT NEEDED
Start up company looking for a "Cheese" expert. Who has written for a major food, wine, cheese magazine or website. Tell me why I want to hire you? Tell me what you know about Cheese?

LOVE when people use question marks with declarative sentences! LOVE when they put the word "cheese" in quotation marks!