Hungry Times Two

Sigh. Mangoes aren't local. Double sigh. But I couldn't help myself last night. Besieged by a "sale" of $1 very ripe mangoes at Kroger, who was I to resist ? I purchased two and took them home and chopped them, eager to enjoy a sliver or two over a small bowl of vanilla bean ice cream. Note to those who co-habitate: check your rations first before you get too excited at the grocery store. My SO turned into the SOB who ate all the ice cream in the freezer. Thus, no yummy dessert. I could have eaten the mango with other dairy, such as cottage cheese or Greek yogurt, but it wouldn't compare to luscious, juicy mango over creamy and cool vanilla. One drawback to the mango: its fortitude of reluctance to free its tasty flesh from its pesky pit. I usually wind up scoring the mango skin about five times and then peeling it back in sections but then when I get to the skin-free fruit, it becomes one wet, pulpy mess. I recall seeing a method for inside-out mangoes once upon ...

Introducing, in limited markets, KFC's Double Down Chicken Sandwich. A co-worker alerted me to this monstrosity; yet another reason us Americans cain't get no respect when it comes to our cookin'. Behold: two fried chicken fillets swathed in bacon, cheese and KFC "Colonel Sauce." Wow. I didn't think US waistlines could get any bigger, but I think this might help us all achieve our dreams. Aim for the stars, fatties, and grab you some Pepto Bismol while you're at it.

This blog post title is my favorite German idiom - Literally, "That's sausage to me," but it means "It doesn't matter." Why not use food products to say what you really feel? I stole these below from The Splendid Table's site. They're fun. Food Idioms from around the world I'm not hanging noodles on your ears! I'm not pulling your leg — Russian To give it to someone with cheese, to pull your leg — Spanish To give papaya, to pull someone's leg — Spanish Colombia I'll boil tea with my navel - that's laughable, you're kidding — Japanese To live like a maggot in bacon, live in luxury, live the life of Riley — German To fry a bologna sausage, to give special treatment — German To have three foot long spittle, to yearn for something — Chinese Brew the dirt from someone's fingernails and drink it - learn a bitter lesson — Japanese To drown the mouse: hair of the dog. stave off a hangover — Spanish The one of shame, the last pie...

Sugar. Lime. Mint. Alcohol. What's not to like when you mix those things together, muddle it with all your might, and then pour over ice? The mojito is the best drink for the summertime. Well, it is for the moment. Yes, a frosty beer, Gin and Tonic, a chilled Chardonnay, or whatever else slays your summer thirst is just fine, but a mojito - it's just too special to get thrown in with the rest. Especially when the bartenders at Rumba have their way with the cocktail. Mango, Pomegranate , the Miami version with sparkling wine... man, it's only 11 am and I need a drink just thinking about those icy libations! Scott and I thoroughly enjoyed our dinner with birthday girl KG last night at Rumba. They have a great deal at the moment - Mucho Mondays, $22 for a small plate, an entree and a dessert. (Side note: if you go, enter their Summertime on Our Dime Contest . They also own Jacksons , so if you dine there, you can also enter the contest to win gift cards and the big prize,...

I posted these links for Facebook folks, but figured I'd share them here as well. http://www.slate.com/id/2186219/ http://www.smh.com.au/news/environment/cans-or-glass-mmm-this-requires-a-think-over-a-drink/2007/04/02/1175366158790.html http://www.treehugger.com/files/2004/11/ecotip_glass_a.php Lately, I've been buying beer in cans, thinking it's more sustainable because aluminum's 100% recyclable, it's lightweight (meaning less fuel's consumed shipping the beer) and frankly, I'm lazy, so throwing a crumpled can in the recycling bin is preferable to driving a load of glass bottles to recycling center (Metro Nashville does not recycle glass via curbside - you've got to drop it off yourself if you want it recycled). Anyway, I came home from the grocery store stumped: what's most sustainable, cans or bottles? The short answer: local beer, in glass bottles. 2nd runner-up is long-distance beer (i.e. out-of-state or country) in aluminum cans. Still, I know...

That's "Chicken of the Sea" if you're not a Spanish speaker (Pollo del Mar is the name of hotel in "L.A. Story," a joke). Sometimes you've just gotta' eat - we got home from the Inglewood Kroger at 9:10 p.m. and were not about to cook a full dinner, so Erin whipped some tuna, mayo, salt, pepper, and oregano together for tuna sandwhiches, plus some homemade honey-mustard (honey, plus mustard - easy) for pretzels. We finished off the meal with bing cherries (trucked or train-shipped from Washington State, boo-hoo; we didn't make it to the Nashville Farmer's Market this weekend). Still, we managed pretty well at our closest Kroger, which is NOT a ghetto Kroger! : ) I've heard people refer to the Inglewood Kroger as "ghetto Kroger" and "ghetto" is always relative. For "ghetto," try the Eastland/Gallatin Pk. Kroger or 8th Ave. N. Kroger, but I wouldn't put the Inglewood Kroger down as "ghetto." And w...

So, summer, being the awesome season it is, blessed us with an abundance of watermelon. Other than slurping on a slice over the kitchen sink, there's been few variations on the theme. Until I picked up Sheila Lukins' Ten: All the Foods We Love and 10 Recipes for Each. The Watermelon Salad on page 266 inspired me on Monday eve - I omitted cucumbers and tomatoes and mixed up chunks of watermelon and feta cheese with a little chopped mint, olive oil and cracked pepper. I LOVED this salad; Scott was a little leery of it and didn't really praise it. That's okay, I devoured the leftovers for lunch the next day. This was a week for trying new things: my friend Candice invited me over on Friday night for a little introduction to canning tomatoes. Armed with plenty of chardonnay and sharp knives, we peeled and quartered about 30 tomatoes from her father's stockpile and boiled them in my enormous stockpot (found in the ba...