Power & Negotiation - Flipside

Here's the another perspective of the whole chocolate negotiation situation with Zess and Zames, witnessed by Adam:

Zames: [walking out of Zess' room with a chocolate]
Zara: Hey Zames, where did you get the chocolate?
Zames: Zess gave it to me.
Zara: How nice of her!

Swedish Princess Cake

Not to be confused with Disney Princess character cakes, the Swedish Princess Cake is a deliciously confection for adults and kids alike. It's sponge cake layered with custard, whipped cream and raspberry jam and completely wrapped in a layer of marzipan. What could possibly be better. I bought my first slice at The Cakery in Burlingame for a snack last week and became obsessed with eating more Swedish Princess Cake before I left so I bought a whole six inch cake from the Copenhagen Bakery also in Burlingame just for the heck of it and enjoyed two more nights of dessert. I must confess, I was reluctant to share my cake with the broader family on night two and was kicking myself for not buying a ten inch cake when Adam's dad offered Zess some Princess Cake for dessert. I know I'm a sugar fiend and can be a terrible aunt. In the end, I selfishly enjoyed a second night of cake since Zess promptly forgot all about Princess Cake which was surprising since she loves Princesses and Cake.

Power & Negotiation - Creating Value

I was hanging out with my niece Zess the other day playing with her cash register math toy when her little bro Zames wandered in and started frenetically playing with the toy. The following is a reconstructed conversation:

Zess: ZAMES, you're not allowed in here, it's my room, stop playing with my toy.
Zames: [Ignores Zess]
Zess: You're going to break it, stop playing with it.
Zames: [Continues to ignore Zess]
Zess: [trying a new tactic] Zames, if you stop playing with my toy, I'll give you a chocolate coin or a big chocolate.
Zames: [no response]
Zess: How about I give you a big chocolate and you stop playing with my toy?
Zames: [relinquishes the toy, accepts the chocolate and leaves Zess' room]
Zess: [Sigh] Sometimes it's better to give him a chocolate than have a broken toy.

Wise words indeed...good job Zess for creating value through negotiation and finding an incentive that Zames wants more than the toy.

Little Hero Capes

Our Christmas gifts for the kids were a huge hit, we ordered each one a cape from Super Hero Capes. Zess got a purple/gold cape with a crown, Zames got a blue/red cape with a rocket ship and little Zhor got a green/lime green cape with a lightening bolt. I wasn't sure if the kids would all like their capes, but they all spent many hours wearing them as a super hero trio zooming around the backyard on their make believe adventures.

Bumpits - Eeeek!

I was watching MTV last night when I saw this commercial for Bumpits, a hair "volumizer" gadget and I was mortified. I thought it was a joke, especially after they started talking about the mini-Bumpit for volumizing bangs and then there's the Hollywood Bumpit for special occasions.

splityarn

I discovered these adorable pouches from splityarn, a local crafter, at my office's holiday crafts fair this year. I just love the patterns she uses, they're super cute and retro. I got Wheezy a wee pouch in this woodland teal print. The lovely print features that's slightly subversive because it features birds and squirrels and deer and tiny skulls. The one I got Wheezy has two subversive skulls front and center. Unfortunately, splityarn seems to be out of stock since it's a "one-woman sweatshop," but the patterns are very fun so check it out.

Savant Project - Nine Thumbs Up

We tried the Savant Project in Mission Hill last night for dinner with our Groupon coupon and the food was really delicious. I was surprised when we arrived because it has the vibe of an independent hipster coffeehouse with board games in the corner, hipster staff, quirky decor, etc. It reminded me of Diesel Cafe in Davis Square, but serving dinner. It's not the fanciest place, but the food sure was delicious.

We ordered:

Truffled Parmesan Polenta Logs - Awesome!

Braised Pork Ribs - Super Tender and Sweet with a Kick of Heat

Pan Seared Port Tenderloin over Sweet Mashed Sage Potatoes and Veggies - Giant Portion and Yummy

Churros with Chocolate Sauce for Dessert

We're looking forward to coming back sometime in the future, but most likely when it's warmer out. The Savant Project is near the Green E line, above ground, which runs about once every 20 minutes. We waited for 15 minutes in the frigid cold and managed to miss the train because were waiting in the wrong spot so we took a cab instead...I couldn't take waiting another 20 minutes in 15 degree weather.

Gifts - Earbud Holder

I sent MGDub some earbud holders from Levenger and clearly she opened her gift before Christmas. Orthodox Christmas I believe comes after English Christmas, not before. Bad MGDub! She was very confused by my gift and thought it was a dog bone or maybe a holder for plastic bags for scooping dog poop. Maybe I was sending her a puppy. She figured it out after doing some online research at Levenger...Yeah MGDub! Merry Christmas!

Sing Off

plasticann: Oh no, it's 9:15pm, Adam I forgot to tell you to DVR something for me.
Adam: Well it's recording right now.
plasticann: Well, there's this new show I really want to see, it's called...
Adam: Sing Off? That's what's recording right now, I had to move the Closer.
plasticann: How'd you know? Yipee!

Adam and I happen to love Acapella so the idea of watching eight Acapella groups compete on TV is super exciting. However, what's a dream for us is a nightmare for Wheezy who hates Acapella so Wheezy, be sure to avoid NBC at 8pm for a week so you don't fly into a murderous rage.

Diamonds and Coals - Mantra

As a shout out to George, my friend Steve’s friend and fellow Brown alum, a special Mantra edition of Diamonds and Coals:

Diamonds: Groupon for Mantra provided an opportunity for a fun night out
Coals: Service was really slow and I had to literally chase down our server who had tunnel vision. They only had two people in the kitchen and one server for the whole dining room.

Diamonds: We enjoyed the mustard crusted lamb chops from the appetizer menu, delicious!
Coals: Chipotle Tandoori Chicken was way under seasoned, no salt

Diamonds: Adam loved the green dip sauce and ate it up, very refreshing and Adam would love to buy vats of this sauce and eat it by the spoonful
Coals: the Foie Gras Momos were very disappointing, I’m not sure if there was even any Foie Gras in them, the chicken was dry and the dish rang up $2 higher than the menu price. I’m pretty sure that’s illegal

Diamonds: The dining room was nicely remodeled with slick modern furniture
Coals: The once slick bathrooms have not been updated, random holes in the walls in the stalls and burned out bulbs

Diamonds: We have wonderful memories of a great meal at Mantra about 7 years ago
Coals: We’ve decided to never go back, Mantra has seen better days

Lucy + Veggie Planet

Whenever Lucy Kaplansky's in town at Club Passim, we make it a priority to go. I just love Club Passim, it's small, cozy and the tickets are reasonable plus you get to order food for dinner and eat too. The food at Veggie Planet isn't my favorite, but they have a few items that are good and I don't mind eating there once or twice a year before a show, it's part of the experience. I do like their ice cream, it's from Christina's and they give you a nice portion for 2.75...not to shabby. Tonight, I think I'm going to get the Caesar Salad with Tofu Croutons, sounds weird, but it's oddly delicious.

Chinatown Cake Club

I read about this subversive underground bakery or dessert salon in NYC called Chinatown Cake Club kinda like Fight Club for extreme dessert lovers. Sounds dangerous and awesome all the same time. Strangers gathering to gorge themselves on sweets for a $10 cover charge...diabetics need not apply.

Fish and Chips

Adam and I checked out Elephant and Castle last night for dinner since we had a Groupon coupon that as about to expire. We ordered the fish and chips shelling out a few more bucks for the halibut and we ordered the meatloaf. The food was alright, the fish was good, but the chips were just alright. We both agreed that the fish portion was much too small and we don't really need to go back to the Elephant and Castle. On a brighter fish and chips note, I'm eager to check out The Battery in Brighton, it claims to be an authentic English Chipper. They even offer the fried Mars bar for dessert.

Scamper Over To Scampo

Adam and I checked out Scampo at the Liberty Hotel last night for a very belated birthday dinner and the food was wonderful. The server was overly attentive, but it's just probably that one overly enthusiastic server who likes to check in at least twice during each course, maybe more. Alas, I digress. We enjoyed the following

White pizza of truffled cheese and sherry chanterelles
Mozzarella with prosciutto, crisp pear and quince paste
Ricotta ravioli with sun dried tomato and pork belly
Lamb ribs with pistachio butter and risotto with cherries
Sugar Pavlova with lemon cream and strawberries

Success!

With the help of our friends this morning, we successfully hosted our largest holiday brunch ever and it was super fun. No melt downs, no freak outs, couldn't have asked for better logistics. We both had fun even though we were serving, cooking and hosting throughout.

There were 52 adults, 7 kids and 4 babies. We were just shy of 5 dozen if we don't count babies who don't eat brunch food. Yet, I still managed to have too much food, but I've come to terms that I can never predict what people will eat each year and how much of it they will consume having too much food is not a bad thing. Adam and I have about 15 bagels in the freezer and a pound of lox so that'll be a nice treat for us.

Earl Gray Latte

I recently discovered the idea of steeping tea in hot non-water liquids, revolutionary and delicious. I had the "Chaider" at Tealuxe a few weeks ago, chai tea steeped in hot apple cider. Yesterday, I enjoyed a "Earl Gray Latte," earl gray tea steeped in steamed milk. It was delicious, but I think kept me up last night. I guess we can steep tea in pretty much anything hot although I'm staying away from savory soups for now.

Five Dozen Guests

Tonight I'll be food shopping for our annual holiday brunch and this year the RSVPs have grown to epic proportions, nearly 60 RSVPs. I'm hoping and praying this will be a fun celebration for our friends and that they'll come in waves. There will be lots of food and I have an extensive plan to ensure our event is fun and delicious. Adam wisely said last night that there are two keys to a successful brunch, "We should get to bed at a reasonable hour on Friday night and I [Adam] need to not freak out."

Avenue Q

We went and saw Avenue Q with Adam's ma and pa when they were visiting over Thanksgiving and it was super awesome. I just love cuddly puppets, they're just so cute even when they're being inappropriately funny. The show is unsuitable for kids, but hilarious and I would see it again. For now, Adam and I are entertaining ourselves by singing along to the soundtrack and watching YouTube videos to help us master the choreographed head motions to our favorite songs like "Everyone's a little bit racist."

Vanilla Bean Source

We found a great price on whole vanilla beans at Leroux Kitchen in Portland, ME. I bought a pack for $15 with over 30 whole beans from a San Francisco importer called Saffron. You can also buy them directly from Saffron for even less where they're selling a pound for $19.95, contains 85-100 beans.

Holiday Gift Idea: Map Totes

I just love these super fun and quirky Map Totes. Of course my favorite tote is Cambridge, but they're all super cute and at $15 reasonably priced as a gift. They're sold locally at Wardmaps, now on Mass Ave, and Passport, a wonderful travel themed store in Harvard Square.

Where's the ...?

Adam's took this week off from work to hang out with Mama and Papa Zakun which is very nice, but I'm realizing one downside, more occasions for Adam to call me when he can't find something at home. I guess when he's at work, he doesn't call me when he can't find something in the office. Other variations include "What is the...?" and "Do I like this?" I guess my role is to fill in the blanks or basically key details.

Q: Where is the Garmin?
A: Downstairs on the china cabinet by the fruit.

Q: Where is the Ketchup?
A: In the fridge, squat bottle, upside down.
Q: It's not in the door, I don't see it.
A: I guess we don't have any.

Q: What is the cheese shop in Seattle?
A: Beecher's.
Q: Oh yeah, it's so good, we can get it here in Boston at that place...what is that place called with the cheese?
A: Pemberton Farms.
Q: Oh yeah!

Q: Where is my scarf?
A: In the closet.

Q: Do I like this?
A: No!
Q: Are you sure?
A: Yes, you tried it last year, you said it wasn't your favorite.

Q: Where are my jeans?
A: You're wearing them.
Ha ha, this one's a joke!

Portland Take 2

Adam's parents are in town so we recreated about 90% of our summer trip to Portland, ME. It was lots of fun. However, we did discover a few more wonderful blog-worthy find this trip.

Rabelais Cookbook Store - A whole store specializing in wonderful new and old cookbooks

Dean's Sweets - Delicious samples, they even offer a "vegan" chocolate made with stout instead of dairy

Friendly Toast - Eclectic menu, delicious food and ginormous pancakes. Waitstaff at 8pm on Monday night is a little scattered so I was relieved the kitchen was prompt

I Heart Kindle

This update is about 10 months overdue, but better late than never especially since I have collected some stats to report. Adam, kindly, graciously, generously bought me a Kindle earlier this year. YEAH! He tried really hard to convince me the Kindle wasn't worth it. He even did a cost benefit analysis and tried to negotiate with me, offering to pick up books for me from library or buy them from Amazon. In the end, Adam generously relented from his strong opinion about the Kindle and got me one.

I'm love my Kindle, it's so great and it makes me so happy. I'm reading a lot more books, I love sampling free chapters and the wireless technology is awesome. I'm getting my Wall Street Journal on it and my recycling pile has gone way down. I've read 16 books so far and I'm in the middle of five right now. I convinced my aunt to get one and I'm in the process of selling plasticmom on it. I highly recommend it, I dare so it's maybe changed my life for the better. At the very least it's dramatically improved my reading habits and I really enjoy reading more now that I'm not lugging around books in my bag.

Kindle - 9 thumbs up

Unfounded Outrage

I'm a mentor for a college prep program for high school juniors and seniors. Last night was a fun field trip to a Celtics game. The following is reconstructed from a conversation I struck up with a student:

plasticann: Hi, we haven't met, I'm [plasticann].
Student: Hi, I'm [student].
plasticann: Where do you go to high school?
Student: Rindge and Latin.
plasticann: Are you a junior?
Student: Why? Do I look like a junior?
plasticann: Umm...I don't know, you're either a junior or a senior so it's a guess.
Student: [not bothering to clarify] Are you in college?
Note: Some mentors are college students
plasticann: No...[clarifying that I'm not a college drop out] I'm no longer in college.
Student: [Incredulously] YOU'RE done with college???
plasticann: Yes, I'm a few years out of college. [huge understatement]

He was potentially all riled up because I thought he was a junior when he might have been a senior. Whereas he was way off pegging me as at least 10 years younger than my actual age. Harumph! I considered driving the point home that he had no cause to be outraged by telling him I was nearly 10 years out of college, but I decided to just let it go. Yeah, how big of me for not getting into it with a kid. I guess when one is 16, the idea of someone thinking you're a year younger or older is a really HUGE deal.

Losing My Interest In Eating

plasticmom has gotten super healthy in the last two years which has been wonderful for her health, but one unintended consequence is that food and eating food has become a lot less interesting to her since she avoids unhealthy foods. I'm experiencing some of the same only after 2.5 weeks on this vegan fast I'm kinda losing my interest in eating food and I'm not as excited to eat and I'm not as hungry. Eating sometimes feels like a chore and it is a lot of work chewing especially when I eat giant salads. I guess in the end, meat and dairy really are much more interesting to me than even the tastiest of vegetables and fruit which is the whole point of giving up something important for a fast.

Snappy Sushi

Adam and I are rounding week 2 of our vegan fast. Things are going well overall, but I'm feeling obsessed with eating desserts which is hard since dairy is off limits. However, today, we enjoyed a delightfully delicious meal at Snappy Sushi where they serve brown rice sushi. I'd been there once before when they first opened and I was not a big fan of the brown rice sushi, a bit too crunchy and dry for me so I've been reluctant to go back. Today, we decided to give it another try and we were surprised. We ordered a bunch of vegetarian rolls and they were all really good. I think they've perfected the brown rice preparation since it was really tasty.

Our order:

Gourd Strap (Kanpyo) Roll

Avocado Roll

Veggie Futomaki Big Roll

Italian Garden

Portabella Roll

Veggie Gyoza

Squiggle Scarf

I'm getting excited for Christmas shopping, but I can't blog about any of my fun finds so I'm reporting on my new scarf today. I got the Squiggle scarf from Anthropologie last month and I've received so many nice compliments about it. It's described as "festive" and I concur with the assessment. It's nice and soft and warm and fun to boot.

Mini Cone $1.59

The weather was gorgeous today so I walked to Harvard Square this afternoon. I popped into Lizzy's on Church Street to check out their Mini Cone. It's about 1/2 scoop for $1.59. Not a bad deal if you just want a small taste of ice cream. When we were in Montreal a few years ago, all the gelato places had these tiny mini cones for $1 which was great if you wanted to try something, but didn't want a whole scoop.

Close Proximity

Living so close to my oral surgeon paid off again this morning when I needed to schedule a quick check up.

8:05 am - Wake and call the office from bed, finagle a last minute appointment for 8:20 am
8:18 am - Dressed, checked email and out the door to the oral surgeon's office one block away
8:25 am - Sitting in the chair
8:30 am - Getting checked out by the dentist
8:37 am - Left the office with a prescription in hand and stitches removed, headed to work

Total time = 32 minutes

I feel like Jack Bauer for getting a lot done in that 32 minutes. Of course the rest of my day is not quite so impressive.

Wisdom Teeth Out!

The rest of my pre-surgery feasting on Wednesday included a bowl of PB Captain Crunch and a burger+sweet potato fries from Joe Sent Me.

On early Thursday, Adam and I walked down the street to the oral surgeon and we walked home an hour later. I was expecting the worse and I'm doing pretty well. Not much swelling, not too painful, but I am taking the pain killers. I'm taking it easy, watching TV, reading, eating tepid porridge, ice cream, smoothies and jello. Not too shabby, I think I lucked out.

Fattening Up

I'm scheduled to get my wisdom teeth out tomorrow and I'll be on a liquid diet for a few days. On top of that, I'm also doing a fast for three weeks that's mostly a vegan diet for the next three weeks. Therefore, today is really the last day for a while where I can eat with reckless abandon. I had taco salad for lunch, crunchy chips, cheese, beef chili, the works. I'm going to eat a snack this afternoon, maybe a cupcake with bacon it. (Just Kidding!) I need to decide what to eat for dinner, but I better make it good and filling. Maybe a big Italian Sub. Oh the options!

It's Sometimes Sunny in Cambridge

It's been really gray this last week and I'm so happy to report that it is SUNNY today and warm.

Diva Lounge $1 Tapas

We checked out the $1 Tapas this afternoon and they were all pretty good and a very good deal. We tried eight different ones, we would go back for the lamb slider, Tangeri Kebab and the Mini Cheese Dosa. The others were good, but I liked these three better. The Naanwich was weird, I would recommend against that one. Overall, I can't wait to go back and check out the other 9 items we didn't try.

Sampling

We took our bikes out for the first time yesterday and rode up to Arlington Center. We went to dinner at Sweet Chili and for dessert, I had to have some frozen custard at Chilly Cow. The following is reconstructed conversation while waiting in line at Chilly Cow:

Adam: OK, when you ask for your sample, ask for Lemon. I don't want to ask for more than two samples.
plasticann: So what sample are you going to ask for?
Adam: Peppermint stick and smores.
plasticann: [confused] That's two samples. I thought you didn't want to ask for more than two?
Adam: I'm asking for two. You're asking for one. I feel bad asking for three samples so I need you to ask for the Lemon.
plasticann: So you want three samples total not two samples total.
Adam: You got it!

Of course we ended up buying a kiddie peppermint stick to share and we didn't have any change or small bills to leave a tip since Adam put the $2.35 purchase on his credit card. We felt kinda lame.

Maine Good Eats

Adam did an awesome job planning our meals for our trip this weekend and we enjoyed many good eats. We started off on Friday morning with a Gracie Bar donut at Donuts with a Difference in Medford. Then we drove up to York, ME to Stonewall Kitchen for lunch. I had some clam chowder and Adam had a fancy grilled cheese sandwich. We hopped back in the car and drove up to Portland stopping by a lighthouse on the way which was beautiful. We checked into our hotel in Portland, it was an old converted armory which was pretty cool. Suited up and went for a walk around the old part of town. Our first stop was an awesome kitchen store right on Commercial Street Leroux. This place is incredible. They have everything by every kitchen tool maker. They also had all these oils and vinegars you could taste and buy, all from Italy. For dinner, we were able to get a table at Fore Street and the food was really awesome. It's an open kitchen with a wood fire oven and we got a table where we could watch all the action. On Saturday it was cold, wet and windy all day, but we still did lots. We started with breakfast at the Standard Baking Company, just downstairs from Fore Street. I wanted to move into this bakery. We got croissants and sticky buns and bread to go. Then we drove up to Freeport, ME, home of LL Bean and the outlets. Adam had never been so it was pretty cool. We watched a beefy guy shoot arrows in the archery range. It was glass enclosed. For lunch, we shared a lobster roll at The Lobster Cooker for a first lunch. Then we drove back to Portland for second lunch at DuckFat where they fry their french fries in duck fat. Yeah you heard that right. The frites were amazing and the beignets we had for dessert were also delicious. A perfect culinary end to a very fun trip.

The Maine Event

We're taking Friday off and going on an adventure with our zipcar to Maine this weekend. We're going to check out Portland, Freeport and Kittery and possibly buy lots of candy and eat french fries cooked in duck fat. I'm looking forward it.

Burren...thwarted by hunger

We tried to go the Burren on thursday night for dinner. I was all excited for fish and chips, but we a bit thwarted since we were super hungry and we hadn't seen our waitress for 15 minutes. We thought maybe the service would be super slow even after we ordered so we cut our losses and went to Anna's instead. We did discover that Diva Lounge is serving $1 Indian tapas. I'm not sure how big these tapas are, but I'm excited to check it out sometime really soon.

Julie and Julia

A group of us went and saw the movie last weekend and it was so much fun. The reviews warned not to go see the movie on an empty stomach so we chowed down on some Vietnamese sandwiches in Boston Common before the movie. I really enjoyed Meryl Streep as Julia and frankly what's not to love about Julia Childs and her enthusiasm for food. What struck me was Julia was middle aged when she embarked on her career in food which gives hope to the rest of us for finding our way in life.

66 out of 71 restaurants

Adam recently created a restaurant map/packet for a church gathering of 71 restaurants within a 1/2 mile radius of our church. Since we live really close to church, this 1/2 mile radius is pretty much our neighborhood.

I was initially surprised that there were so many places to eat in Porter, Davis, Alewife and on Mass Ave. It seemed like an excessive amount of restaurants, but turns out it's not quite enough restaurants for the Zakuns.

Super methodical Adam went through the list and checked every restaurant he'd been to on the list. He's been to 66 out 71 or 93%. Of course, I had to go through the list myself and I scored 65 our 71 or 92% at 6pm, but bumped up to 66 after dinner at Singabella Cafe tonight.

Adam is now determined to complete his list by going to the last 5 restaurants even the ones that we know are bad. We do agree that we need to go to the Burren sometime soon for some Guinness stew and fish and chips, neither of us shockingly have ever been.

Tupelo

Summer is finally here and we went very quickly from cool/rainy to hot/humid. We went on a long walk over to the Kendall Square Theatre this weekend to see "Away We Go." I liked it and it made me laugh when John Krasinski tries to scare pregnant Maya Rudolph to get their baby's heart rate up. After the movie, we checked out Tupelo, the new Southern restaurant by the makers of Petsi's Pies. Overall the food was pretty good, but we like Hungry Mother better. However, Tupelo has much better desserts, the Pecan Pie with Bourbon Ice Cream was really good.

Junk-Food-Palooza

Adam and I celebrated our anniversary in style last week. We even chanted a celebratory [with fists pumping] "Four Years...Four More Years." For dinner, Adam ordered lots of delivery from my favorite places. Since one major point of contention/negotiation in our marriage is the amount of food we order, I was super happy about the abundance of dinner options and the quantity of food.

On the menu:

Wings (Buffalo + BBQ) and Breaded Mushrooms from Wingworks

Pepperoni + Carmelized Onion Pizza from City Slickers

Tofu Yellow Curry and Chicken Pad Thai from Thai Hut

Strawberry Cake from Lyndells

What more could a girl want than an abundance of delicious food for dinner except maybe a sock monkey? Oh wait, I got a sock monkey to boot! Booyah!

Newtowne Grille

I've walked by this dive bar for years and I've never walked in, but we heard they actually had goo pizza so Adam and I checked it out for dinner tonight. It's right in Porter Square, definitely a dive bar with keno and the TVs and the quirky locals. We ordered the "bar" sized pepperoni pizza which was the size of a dinner plate and cost $4.50. It was tasty and hit the spot. The crust was crispy. The sleeper hit was the twin lobster roll special. Two lobster rolls with delicious cole slaw and crispy french fries all for $13.95. The lobster rolls were refreshing and featured big chunks of lobster lightly dressed in mayo with some celery, salt and pepper. There's even a take out counter so you could even pick up some lobster rolls for a fun summer picnic.

Best Chocolate Chip Cookies Ever

The following is a reconstructed conversation with enthusiastic cookie lover:

Man: Did you bake those chocolate chip cookies?

plasticann: Yes, did you like them?

Man: I ate like 7 of them. I was trying to make chocolate chip cookie bars, but yours are so much better than mine. 

plasticann: Oh, well would you like the recipe?

Man: [slightly befuddled] No! Why? It's just a chocolate chip cookie recipe baked as bars

plasticann: [bemused] Yes, I guess that's true, they are just chocolate chip cookies baked as bars.

Hah! Just chocolate chip cookies...we'll see about that. Fortunes have been made and lost over just chocolate chip cookies.

Spaahhhcee!

We walked over to Tip Top Thai last night for dinner. We hadn't been there in years so we decided to check it out since I was in the mood for some soup. I ordered a small Tom Yum soup + Summer Rolls and Adam got the Pad Thai. Service was super slow and the dining room was empty. All was going along reasonably well until I started chewing on a "green bean" in my soup. Blistering heat started after a few seconds...it was a small super spicy pepper with seeds. I spent the next 10 minutes bathing my mouth in milk to control the burn. My lips were blistering hot so I had to pour milk in my plate and put my head into it to cool down my lips. When we tried explaining to the waitress that they should warn people about the peppers in the soup, she was pretty unsympathetic. She gestured that "Duh" you're not supposed to eat the peppers, they're for flavor. Point taken, but it was in the soup looking like a green vegetable mixed in with all the other ingredients. Not a great end to a meal, but now I know not to chew on "green beans" and be more careful.  

Bottega Fiorentina

Adam and I were out on Newbury Street a few weeks ago when we decided to check out Bottega Fiorentina for lunch. It was gorgeous out so we split a Italiano sandwich in the Public Garden. It was wonderful. They thinly sliced the "salame, Soppressata, Mortadella, Provolone, Onions, Lettuce, Tomatoes" fresh to order and added just the right amount of "Pickles, Hot Peppers, Vinegar, Extra Virgin Olive Oil & Seasoning." There aren't really many good places to grab a cheap meal in Back Bay and at $7.95 for a massive sandwich it's a really good and delicious deal. Seven Thumbs Up!

SOFRA

One of my favorite restaurants is Oleanas in Cambridge, it's really wonderful, but more of a special occasion place at least for us. The owners of Oleanas opened up Sofra, their bakery/cafe outpost last year and I've been super excited to check it ever since. The bakery is located toward Watertown and accessible by bus or car so we finally made it over there on Sunday with our friends, the Zoritys. All of it was great. We shared the mezze platter where you can pick up to 5 different spreads to enjoy. I loved the whipped feta and bean and walnut pate. I got the falafel flatbread wrap which is exactly like the falafel appetizer at Oleanas only cheaper and bigger. Adam enjoyed his sausage flatbread. Kris had the Turkish Breakfast which was very interesting. It had greek yogurt and a soft boiled egg wrapped in crispy fried phyllo. Even the bacon/egg breakfast sandwich was yummy, according to Dave. It was unexpectedly small, but that was the only quibble. Oh and the mezze platter could have had a much higher bread to spread ratio. We shared the baklava and the kunefe, both yummy. We also shared the croissant with zatar and the fennel tart. Adam got the sesame cashew bar as a little extra and I got the last bite of it yesterday...it was incredible yummy. The verdict, Sofra is awesome. I love it and if you'd like to drive me over there sometime, I'll buy you lunch.

Holy Moly

Adam and I went to Macy's last night and I was admiring this Martha Stewart drink dispenser until I looked at the price tag...$100. It was cute and I wanted one, but it was made of plastic. I couldn't believe it so I took it over to the cash register and inquired: 

plasticann: Excuse me, how much is this?

Saleslady: Oh, it should be on sale, let me check....It's $59.

plasticann: You mean the price tag of $100 regular price is real?

Saleslady: That's Martha Stewart.

plasticann: Are you sure? That seems outrageous.

Saleslady: That's what we thought when we put them out. We even had our manager call and double check and it's a real price.

Wow! Whoever made that pricing decision should be canned. My strategy is to wait until they discount it to twenty bucks. Afterall, who's actually crazy enough to pay $100.

April 28, 2009

plasticann: [looking in the fridge] Wow, you bought Ricotta.
Adam: Yeah, it was half off and I thought we could make pizza or something.
plasticann: Very cool. I wonder why it was half off?
Adam: I don't know, sell by date says it lasts until April 28 so that's pretty far off.
plasticann: [pause] It's the end of April now.
Adam: What's the date today?
plasticann: April 27!
Adam: Oh! Well, it's the sell by date, I'm sure it won't go bad for a while

Note: I've taken to calling it rancit cheese, but Adam doesn't appreciate that.

Adventureland

Adam and I went and saw Adventureland at the Somerville Theatre last night and it was really fun. Kinda sad coming of age story and not super laugh out loud funny, but I really liked it and the main character was really endearing. Reminded me of Almost Famous.

Sweet Cupcakes Coming to Harvard Square

My friend Zayne (male) kindly informed me that Sweet is opening up in Harvard Square. I've been to their location in Back Bay and I very much enjoy their cupcakes. In fact, I've sampled the red velvet cupcake pictured here and it is delicious. The current location is kind of a trek and not really close to any T stop so I'm very excited that they're coming to Harvard Square.

RIP - WSJ Print Edition

After over fifteen years of subscribing to the WSJ, I cancelled my subscription on Monday and switched to the digital Kindle version of the WSJ. I've been having frustrating paper delivery problems over the last 3-4 weeks and I was gradually becoming an "angry" person since my complaints to customer service was falling on deaf ears. Apparently we live in a newspaper Bermuda triangle and the delivery person just keeps "forgetting" to deliver. However, I learned one very valuable lessons:

Even the most loyal customer will give up...eventually: The morning paper has been non-negotiable for me. I never thought I'd give up print papers. However, living without a paper for a few weeks taught me that I can live without it and I can find other ways to get the news that are more reliable and cheaper. Customer service lesson, don't let your customers learn to live without your product.

Customer service lessons aside, I did encounter two hilarious incidents stemming from this irritating saga. Last Thursday was a rare day when I actually received my paper. Stuffed inside my paper was a note that I'm sure was not intended for me, but for my delivery person. It read, "Complaints Cost Money...$20...Address: xxxx...Instructions: Just Deliver the Paper...Fix it now!!!" Incredible! I think my delivery person might actually be a doofus.

Then yesterday I get a phone call from the field supervisor. "Hi Ann, I saw that you had another missed delivery. I thought we had fixed the problem, but I guess he forgot to delivery the paper again. I yelled at him about it today since I thought we'd fixed the problem. I don't know what's going on, but please give me a call." My delivery person FORGOT to deliver my paper. I have nothing to say in response. Now that I get it automatically delivered on my Kindle...I'm a happy camper and no longer angry.

plasticann in the big apple

Last weekend, I took the bus down to NYC to see MGDub and Corinna. I had an awesome time hanging out, enjoying good food and shopping. Here are some highlights:

Friday:

Doughnut Plant - MGDub and I bought four doughnuts to share: vanilla bean glazed with strawberry filling, chocolate cake, meyer lemon glazed and coconut cream filled. Very yummy!

Muji - I remember Muji in Japan from when I was a kid. Back before Muji was the essense of minimalist chic, Muji in Japan was your basic no brand type brand sold in little sections of the grocery store and little department stores. Very cool even back then, I remember buying a cylinder of colored pencils when I was about 10. I still have those pencils and I saw they were still selling them when we went to the Muji in NYC

Fish & Eddys - I was coveting MGDub's cool dishware so I had to spend some quality time at this store. I went back the next day with Corinna since she also loves the store.

Ippudo - MGDub and I enjoyed some delicious bowls of ramen. The food was great, but it was really loud and happening at the restaurant so not the easiest place to have a conversation

Saturday:

Union Square Greenmarket - I bought Adam some garlic jelly from the jam lady at the farmer's market

Gramercy Tavern - Fancy lunch out with friends Corinnna and Ian, food was delicious...I enjoyed the Mushroom Lasagna

ABC Carpet - We spent a few hours getting lost in this store, I couldn't believe how much stuff they had

Magnolia's - This time I got the banana pudding and it was wonderful. A bit rich, but hard to put down so I had to pitch my cup of unfinished pudding to avoid eating it all

Chelsea Market - More food, more window shopping than eating, but we checked out all the cool shops

Steak & Blue

Adam and I stopped by Dave's Pasta last night for sandwiches and we tried the Steak & Blue which was very delicious. It's a bit pricey at $8.95 since it's a takeout place, but the flank steak is perfectly cooked and the sandwich is well balanced with the carmelized onions, blue cheese and greens. Be sure to get it pressed!

Tropicana Outcry

Adam has been pretty upset and outraged recently about Tropicana's new package design. Not only does he mention it everytime he buys orange juice at the supermarket, he voices his disappointment everytime he sees the Tropicana packaging or advertising. This has been happening a lot lately. Even though the new packaging doesn't bother me as much as it bothers Adam, I absolutely agree with his opinion. The new packaging is terrible, terrible enough to annoy my husband constantly, but not terrible enough for us to stop drinking orange juice. The good news is, lots of other people are upset about the new packaging and the uproar is so big that Tropicana is reverting back to their old packaging. I had to send Adam this article, "Tropicana discovers some buyers are passionate about packaging," from the nytimes. The following are Adam's reactions to the article:

Article: resembling "a generic bargain brand" or a "store brand."
Adam: Agree!

Article: Others described the redesign as making it more difficult to distinguish among the varieties of Tropicana
Adam: Absolutely!

Article: The symbol, meant to evoke fresh taste, had been supplanted on the new packages by a glass of orange juice.
Adam: Shows i didn't look closely. I had no idea that was glass of juice.

The New Kindle

I went to Amazon this morning to order a book for plasticmom when I noticed the announcement for the new Kindle on the front page. It looks really cool and it's shipping end of this month. MGDub has one of the first generation Kindles and she really loves it. This one is thinner, has more memory, a longer battery life and you can switch it to audio so it reads to you in an electronic book. How cool is that. I've always wanted one of these devices, but I have a hard time overcoming the psychological barrier of buying books. I haven't bought a book in a while because Adam gets them for me from the library. However, the new Kindle does look mighty tempting.

Potty Training

Our friends are potty training their adorable 2 year old these days and her reward is...coffee ice cream. Holy Smokes! I shouldn't be surprised that the kid has refined tastes, her parents are foodies.

Brunch at Upstairs on the Square

Wheezy and I checked out the brunch at Upstairs on the Square last Sunday and it was phenomenal. I was watching a Food Network show called, "Best thing I ever ate..." and Upstairs Eggs Benedict made the show so I invited Wheezy to come with since I do love Eggs Benedict. We sat down at 11:45am [very fortunate as you'll see later] and perused the menu. I noticed our "neighbors" had this awesome bread basket. I wasn't sure if we had to "order" bread, but I didn't see "bread" on the menu so I figured and hoped that the bread basket was complimentary. It was indeed and the bread was AWESOME! We both agreed that we'd be happy eating just bread. We each got a mini cheddar dill scone, a muffin, sweet bread with dried fruit, coffeecake with nuts and a sticky bun. The food was really good too and my Eggs Benedict were cooked perfectly with just the right amount of hollandaise. As we were leaving the restaurant, we spied a group of young men in blazers and bow ties, a Harvard acapella group there to entertain the brunchgoers at 1pm. Remember, Wheezy "hates" acapella and the idea of acapella makes her want to "murder other people" or "murder herself." I forget which one it was, homicidal or suicidal. Fortunately, we were done eating and on our way out before they started singing so Wheezy's lovely brunch experience was saved.

Hungry Zakun

Adam's much anticipated [by me] blog is finally up and running. Naming his blog was his first major decision. I like the colors, coordinates well with some of his new sweaters. Check it out sometime.

Awesomest Pens Ever

I've been obsessed with these Hi-Tec C pens from Japan ever since our 2007 Asian Vacation. They write really smoothly and they never skip so they're super reliable and they come of all these wonderful colors that make work a little more fun or at least more colorful. plasticmom was kind enough to buy me a full set this winter when she was in Tokyo so I have a cup of these pens on my desk at work that I count sometimes to make sure none have slipped away. You can get them here statewide at jetpens.com where they have an amazing selection in a number of pen nib sizes. Check it out!

Great Minds Think Alike...Jelly Doughnut Bread Pudding

Frugality is in! This place in NYC makes Jelly Doughnut Bread Pudding with their Jelly Doughnut leftovers. Sounds even more delicious than waffle bread pudding, but I don't usually have a bunch of old Jelly Doughnuts hanging out in my kitchen. MGDub, I have an assignment for you...

Waffle Pudding

We splurged and bought ourselves a new Belgian Waffle Maker with a cool flipping feature a few weeks ago. Since then, we've made waffles three times and it's become our recent Saturday morning routine. Yesterday, we enjoyed our waffles with fruit for breakfast, but because there's only two of us, we always have leftover waffles so I repurposed this weekend's extra waffles to make a chocolate banana bread pudding. The results were delicious and I was expecially proud of myself for creating a decadent new dessert using leftovers. I added the banana on a whim and it made the pudding extra moist.

Chocolate Banana Waffle Pudding

4-5 Belgian Waffles or 8 slices of bread, etc. torn up into inch sized pieces
2 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 mashed banana
2 cups milk
1 tablespoon butter
3 oz chocolate chips + a handful extra for the pudding
Dash of cinnamon (optional)

1. Heat oven to 350
2. Put waffles in a 9 inch square pan or a deep pie dish, scatter a handful of chocolate chips for extra chocolatey goodness
3. Gently heat milk, butter and 3 oz chocolate in a small pan over medium heat. Stir together until mixture is melted and incorporated. Approx 5 minutes
4. Whisk eggs, sugar, vanilla and baking soda together in a bowl
5. Mix heated milk mixture into egg mixture and whisk until smooth. Mix in mashed banana
6. Pour liquid over waffles
7. Place pan in a larger rimmed sheet pan/cookie sheet
8. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes, until pudding is puffed and firm
9. Remove and let rest for 10 minutes
10. Dish up warm and enjoy

Check out my new poll...look to your right...VOTE!

I found out about this free polling tool from Vizu today so I decided to check it out. It's free and you put a poll on your page or blog, etc. It's super easy and took me just a few minutes to create an account, create a poll and post it on my blog. Once you vote, you can see the results in real time. Right now, I have three votes from Boston and Oatmeal Cookies are winning out 2 to 1. I voted, I asked my coworker to vote and then there's the mystery third vote which I'm guessing may be Adam.

Happy New Year!

I can't believe it's 2009, but another year has come and gone. Adam and I have been enjoying hanging around at home over the holidays. My in-laws were in town for Christmas which was very nice since they're some of our most low maintenance houseguests. plasticmom is very low maintenance so it's a draw with the parentals. Adam and I ran out and got a tree from down the street the night before the big snow storm. We got a 3 footer Charlie Brown style tree and it was very cute and festive once we decorated it. Adam got a bunch of clothes from me and I recieved many wonderful gifts like a necklace, but mostly I made out like a bandit with a bonanza of home goods/cake related products:

Cupcake Courier
Mini-Cupcake Stand
Giant Cupcake Pan
Cake Stands
Cookbook
Tin of TastyKakes
Domino Book for Decorating