March 24th, 2012
Who exactly is this person? A third grader that made a keepsake silhouette? Simon Pegg?
No, dear readers, it is none other than Wolfgang Puck, star of chefdom and soup labels everywhere (Only eclipsed in merchandising saturation by Emeril, whose first name is so surely trademarked). His silhouette, though I would have never guessed it to be him, is immortalized on a few keurig k-cups. While it may be a swift departure from his typical labels featuring Puck in a chef’s uniform, the image has little brand recognition, at least not yet.
The k-cups are not to be confused with coffee pods, which are more akin to the look and concept of a teabag, yet are inserted into a machine as well. I am one of the 16 people in my state, twelve being under the age of five, who has yet to adopt the cup and pod craze. Therefore, I am explaining for the Super Sixteen. The cups are the ones that look like giant dairy creamers.
Anyway, the nice thing about Keurig coffee brewers is that you can also load them up with tea and hot chocolate pods that are available if coffee is not your thing. While brewing tea on the stove is just fine, my curiosity was ticked by a few of my cousins who have been gifted with them. The system is so easy in college dorms and first apartments, as there is little mess. (Not to be sexist in a “boys have cooties” way, but I tended to find that apartments inhabited by 18-21 year old men tend to have the most beverage receptacles with 1/2 of inch of liquid in them quickly turning into petri dishes. Young ladies can germinate just as many forms of bacteria, though.)
I wonder what the next 20 years will bring. Will the k-cups still be growing strong, will the Keurig brewers be dinosaurs, or will retrophiles be swapping cups on the internet like expired Polaroid film? Maybe we’ll be refilling them like ink cartridges. Live on, Keurig, live on. My cousin’s roommates are depending on you.
March 16th, 2012
Well hello little strawberry tart or cake-let, whichever you may be. How did you survive on my counter so perfectly all these hours without one finger print in your buttercream overdrizzled with chocolate?
Our friends at GeekAlerts, the folks that showcase all the Geek Toys have not disappointed me yet. The Strawberry USB cake will set you back $16-17 and contains three ports for your USB-linking pleasure. It would work well if you set your eReader or iPad on a book stand to read recipes in the kitchen, or to have available at the internet coffee cafe. It has a ceramic-like appearance, so could hide as a knock knack or dust collector when you are not using it. Better yet, stick it under glass on a cake stand. No one will know that it is not one of those decadent little $10 micro tarts in the Whole Foods bakery section.
While trolling around in all the Geeky goodness, I also spied an ExpressCopy promo code and 123 Print promotional codes. Those are great to nab if you are looking to print up some business cards, or even some promotional postcards. Stickers with your business name or logo give an extra touch to boutique desserts and candies, especially when the buyer gives them as a gift. All of that goes right to the thighs. At least faux cakes don’t.
March 1st, 2012
Ordering perishable food products online can be a frightening process when your mind begins to wander. Images of ice cream melting all over the postal carrier’s bag come to mind for me. In reality, it’s not as painful as one might think. You can actually Order Cheesecake Online without too many mishaps if things are done right.
How do I make sure a cheesecake arrives at cousin Bernie’s apartment safe and sound?
- The fresh cheese cake is frozen, then wrapped in clear plastic.
Most shippers accustomed to shipping such items pack the cheesecake in dry ice, and then place it in a Styrofoam container. The container material keeps moisture in, but allows gases from the carbon dioxide solids, or dry ice, to escape.- Two day shipping with FedEx or the USPS, depending on the company or your location is selected. Cheesecakes typically only ship early in the week to ensure that the package doesn’t sit around undelivered on a Sunday, especially in the summer,but check customer service to be sure.
When the cheesecake arrives, place it in the refrigerator or freezer, depending on when you plan to serve it. If you will not consume it within 7 days, it is best to freeze it, since it does contain dairy. You forgot about that, right? I sometimes forget and think they are made of meringued clouds that babies waiting to be delivered sit on. They just are a bit heavy as gravity compresses them as they sink towards the terra firma. At least the chocolate ones with the dark chocolate squiggles on them. If that were so, I’d have been a fighter pilot instead. I’ll have to settle acting surprised when one falls on my doorstep in a basket. Or maybe a box.
March 1st, 2012
Thanks to Jonathon Woods
I think that if everyone could have two wishes in their lives, the first one would be to be incredibly rich. The second one would come in a close second at being incredibly skinny or in shape. They say money can’t buy happiness, but it sure could put a dent in getting there. And then, if you are skinny, you would look good when you got all that money.
Everyone I know is on some kind of health kick these days. My kids and my husband all go to the gym. People at work change clothes at the end of the day and go walking or to the fitness room to work out. I just want to get out of there at the end of the day and go home. Even when I turn on expertsatellite.com, there are shows like the Biggest Loser which is a program about people being in competition to lose the most weight.
I am sorry, but I just don’t see myself ever being on a show like that. I am not super fat or anything close, and I think you have to be a whopper to get on a show like that. Well my kids are always after me to at least go on walks. I could probably handle that OK. But if I start I am certainly not going to tell them about it so they won’t be bugging me to see if I walked each day.
February 29th, 2012
Somewhere around 150 B.C., our good friend Cato the Elder issued a very long book length missive on cheesecake. Well, not exactly. The complete work, De Agricultura, was about farming and working the land. Cheesecake, which wasn’t called cheesecake at the time, was slipped in their for good measure. He made it by two different methods as an offering to his gods. Apparently, is higher ups didn’t have a problem with cellulite, but they had excellent taste.
So…what exactly IS cheesecake?
According to our esteemed friends at Merriam-Webster, McGraw-Hill and Funk & Wagnalls, cheesecake has two meanings. The original utterance of the word occurred somewhere between 1400-1450, with the second meaning cooked up somewhere in the early 1930s.
From Dictionary.com:
Cheesecake
cheese·cake
[cheez-keyk]
noun
1. Also, cheese cake . a cake having a firm custardlike texture, made with cream cheese, cottage cheese, or both, and sometimes topped with a jamlike fruit mixture.
2. Informal . Also called leg art. photographs featuring scantily clothed attractive women.
My associates would beg to differ.
A: Is Cheesecake really a pie? It fits in a pie pan.
B: No. It doesn’t have fruit in it.
A: I put fruit on mine.
B: Maybe its more like creme brulee that didn’t quite make it.
I doubt if Romulus and Remus were dipping their spatulas into a tub of Philly. Recipes evolve. But in our effort to make things lighter and less fattening, is the item really the item any more, or does it become something new? Can light cottage cheese in a cracker crust really be considered a close kin of Cato’s version, which started out with 2 whole pounds of cheese? Arteries are better for the innovation, but what can we call it now?
Thoughts?
