Gotta Blog Like It's My Birthday!

Because it is my birthday today and I'll get to celebrate with plasticmom for the first time since high school, which contrary to my looks was quite a long time ago. I've been mistaken for a high schooler and I think they were being generous in their estimate so really we're talking like junior high. However, that's neither here nor there like Steve likes to say. We're flying to LA for Laurel and Alex's wedding this weekend. I'm a bridesmaid so I'm all set with an outfit. Unfortunately, we have to go shopping for Adam in LA and now that I'm thinking about it, I may have to check up on what plasticmom is planning on wearing.

What The Fluff?

Marshmallow Fluff, an batch processed produced marshmallow creme, was invented right in Union Square so this weekend there's a festival celebrating Fluff and all of it's goodness on Saturday, September 30th. There's a Fluff science contest, baking contest, Fluff inspired foods and performances by the Flufferettes.

Saturday, September 30
3:00 to 7:00 pm
(Raindate Sunday, October 1)
Union Square Plaza, Somerville

Morphing into MGDub

I often ask randomly ask, "how clean is your apartment?" to gauge how busy and stressful her life is. The relationship between the two is invers, the more MGDub has to do, the cleaner her apartment. In the past, my business and cleanliness tended to be positively correlated though I have to admit, cleanliness was never particularly high even when I wasn't particularly busy. However, I've started to morph into MGDub, which is never a bad thing. I procrastinated this morning my organizing my pantry and labeling everything with my p-touch label maker. Part of it was motivated by the fact that Adam asks me about five times a day, "Where is blah blah blah?"

My favorite blogger

ljc is also wearing the mary jane crocs...I feel validated.

New Gear for plasticann

I got plasticmom a pair of navy blue crocs in Seattle and I've been coveting a pair ever since. I have to admit, I was initially "anit-croc" because I thought they were supposed to be rain shoes and I didn't understand why they had holes on top. It also seemed like the entire population of Seattle was wearing them. What won me over was seeing legions of little kids looking so cute and happy in their brightly colored crocs. I was shopping online for a laptop backpack last week at REI.com when I saw they had the new Mary Jane style crocs so I had to order a pair for myself. They arrived yesterday just in time to show Wheezy who was coming to our High School Musical party. I'm loving my crocs thus far and quick search online reveals that they make an bright orange mary jane style...perfect for Wheezy.

Mark, the Deli Guy

Adam and I stopped by Shaw's last night to buy food for our High School Musical party. Because our menu is high school cafeteria themed (mac&cheese, jello, tator tots and hot dogs), we stopped by the deli counter for some Pearl Kountry hot dogs where we met Mark the deli guy. We spent a good 20 minutes bonding with Mark over hot dogs, the Phantom Gourmet, donuts, etc. The following is a very small reconstructed snipit of our conversation:

Mark: Yeah, Pearl's are the best. My dad's thinking about opening up a hot dog cart over at Tuft's on game day.
plasticann: Have you been to Speed's hot dogs in Newmarket Square? I saw it on the Phantom Gourmet.
Mark: Of course, those hot dogs are unbelievable. I don't know what that guys marinates those dogs in, but it's just incredible. You can wait two hours for a dog, but it's worth it. He's only there for three days out of the week. Everything on the Phantom Gourmet is good. Well, the other day, my dad and I went to that new place in Davis, Spike's, and we were not impressed so that recommendation wasn't good.
Adam: Really, we used to live in Providence where the original Spike's was and it was always good. I guess now that they have a dozen locations, it's probably harder to keep quality up. Have you ever been to that place in Waltham, Carl's Steak Subs.
Mark: Yeah, I love that place, it's right by my house. I drive a truck so I'm all over the state and I always plan my route so I can go to my favorite places. [pointing to his belly] I didn't get my girlish figure eating salads.
plasticann: Are you going...
Mark: Do you guys know about that food festival they have on Landsdowne Street?
plasticann: I was just saying, are you going to the Phantom Gourmet Food Festival?
Mark: Are you kidding, of course. My wife's already bought the tickets.
Adam: Last year, we had this dynamite stick.
Mark: Wholly Cannoli, that place is awesome. There area a lot of great places here too, you know RF O'Sullivans, they have the best burgers.
plasticann: We live down the street from there.
Mark: Do you need a roommate? Just Kidding.
Adam & plasticann: Ha ha ha!
Mark: Now I'm really hungry, I need to call home and ask my wife to make me dinner when I get home.
plasticann: I'm hungry too.
Adam: When do you work here? We'll stop by next time and say hi.

Maaahhk, the deli guy, basically lives my culinary fantasy life. I did briefly consider truck driving as a vocation, seemed so footloose and fancy free, full of hot dogs, subs and cannolis. Adam, while walking away, said wistfully, "I really want to go to Wholly Cannoli someday."

Bike Girl

I got a bike! Need I say more? It's a girl bike and it's that lovely shade of light green Martha Stewart loves so much. I also got a helmet (very important), a headlamp and a light for my helmet. It's been years (14 to be exact) since I last had a bike so I was very proud of myself for riding it home from the bike shop. I was very careful, stopping on the sidewalk to cross the street instead of making left turns. I took it out for a spin around Cambridge and was amazed by how far I could travel on a bike...modern marvels I tell ya. I went to Harvard Square and before I knew it I was in Central Square. I thought about riding over to MIT, but decided to ride over to Inman Square for some ice cream before going home. I would have made other pit stops, but couldn't figure out how to lock my bike so I had to skip the shopping and keep riding. I was happy to learn that traffic on Cambridge streets is pretty slow and sometimes there's even a bike lane. All I need now is to name my bike and find a bike basket.

The Breakfast Club


Adam and I ventured over the river to Allston for breakfast at a diner appropriately named, "Breakfast Club." (It's also around the corner from that leafy b-school across the river.) They don't serve sushi for lunch, but they do offer a slew of "library specials" inspired by the characters from the movie:

The Dork: two eggs any style with home fries and toast
The Princess: a Belgian waffle topped with fresh fruit and whipped cream
The Jock: scrambled egg-white omelet with veggies and wheat toast
Detention: two eggs any style with steak tips, served with home fries and toast.
The Criminal: two eggs, seasoned home fries and toast, with a choice of ham, bacon, sausage or corned beef hash

I was tempted by the Princess waffle, but I ordered the "Gucci" omelet instead, spinach, feta, Cheddar and bacon. Though the cheese to omelet ratio was too high for my taste, I did enjoy the combination. Homefries were pleasantly ungreasy. Adam enjoyed his pancakes and his sausage links came nicely browned. Prices were affordable and the coffee is bottomless.

The Breakfast Club
270 Western Ave (Cross Street: Everett Street)
Allston, MA 02134-1034
(617) 783-1212

What's Cuter than

cheerful Dave Lieberman earnestly teaching us how to cook on a budget? Dave trying to teach his somewhat clueless college aged kid brother how to cook a meal. We spotted his show last year and started TIVOing it. After googling Dave, I realized that I remember reading about him a few years ago. He strated a cable access cooking show while at Yale and apparently got a Food TV show upon graduation so he's actually super young, he just gradutaed 2003.

PS The food network somehow got the blurb incorrect.

plasticmom is famous, but she keeps a low profile

The following is a reconstructed conversation between plasticann and plasticmom about how plasticann got into college:

plasticmom: Did you read that article about Zrown in the Wall Street Journal?
plasticann: Yeah I did. It's about how Zrown and Zuke have raised their profile by taking kids with rich parents who might donate and kids with famous parents.
plasticmom: People always think you got into Zrown because you were smart, but I should tell them it's because I'm a big donor.
plasticann: That's Zuke, not Zrown. Zrown takes famous people's kids.
plasticmom: Right, I meant, you got into Zrown because I'm super famous.
plasticann: You are, you're the famous "plasticmom."

Cuban Sandwiches

After a day of unpacking (for Adam) and studying (for plasticann), we went over to Chez Henri for their Cuban Sandwiches from their bar menu. We usually get the pork cuban which is delicious, but we decided to also get the roasted vegetarian sandwich as well tonight. The roasted veggie sandwich is even more delicious and it comes with greens and housemade plantain chips to boot. The bar is small and it does get very crowded so we made it a point to get there right after it opened.

The Zakuns Are Moving

Adam and I are moving as we speak. A sign that I've been living in Boston for way too long, I'm filled with glee that our new place actually has newly refinished hardwood floors, the kitchen is clean, there's pantry space, the walls are not riddled with weird nubbins and the heat will be maintained at 72 degrees. Yup, our new place is nicer than any other place we've ever lived as singles and as a couple. While moving sucks, we are excited about our new place. Here's the insane timeline for all who are interested.

Sunday evening: plasticann comes home to Boston
Monday noon: Visit realtor 1
Monday early afternoon: Visit realtor 2
Monday early evening: Visit realtor 3
Tuesday 9am: Call realtor 2 about apartment
Tuesday 10am: Meet realtor at apartment for another look
Tuesday 10:45am: Apply for apartment
Tuesday 10:55am: Approved for apartment
Wednesday 1pm: Sign lease, meet landlord
Wednesday 10pm: First load of stuff moved to new apartment

On another note, I had to order new business cards so I took a look at my old ones from last year. I'm embarrassed to admit that my phone number from the old one has a typo, somehow I never noticed it for a whole year. I'm not sure how many calls I've missed because of this. For anyone out there with my MIT business card, please e-mail me instead.

Way Ahead of the Pack or a Clueless Culinary Cliche

I've alway enjoyed the pigs in a blanket and my friends have always gobbled them up whenever I've brought them along. People gobbled them up faster than I could bake them at MGDub's birthday a few years ago. According to the nytimes, pigs in a blanket have become a staple at hip Manhattan parties so I can't decide whether this means I'm ahead of the the pack or I've been a little clueless about just how unchic pigs in a blanket have been for all of those years I served them.

plasticann and Adam are back home

We're finally back in Cambridge after our summer adventure in Seattle. Adam had to come back home two weeks earlier, but fortunately, plasticmom flew out to visit me this last week. Having enjoyed various forms of seafood for four days straight, plasticmom and I had a little mercury scare. Other than that, plasticmom got a new pair of crocs and enjoyed the sights near our Seattle apartment. In other news, Adam and I are looking for a new apartment since our new landlords are converting our building into condos. The search began this afternoon, I can decide if it's discouraging and exciting, but at least we'll find somewhere to live.

Frozen Cookies

Yup, it's been awhile, but here's a quick reconstructed conversation now that Adam's family is here visiting.

Adam's Dad: I really enjoyed those frozen cookies plasticann had in the freezer.
Adam: ...What frozen cookies?
Adam's Dad: The cookies in the freezer bags.
Adam: That's frozen cookie dough that she's baking for her big presentation.

Yes, my big presentation is today and I made presentation cookies also known as Adam's favorite. I refused to let anyone eat the presentation cookies. Well, I made an exception for Tesserrific. I couldn't resist her cuteness so I let her eat two of the cookies.

Golf

Hard to believe, but I used to play golf in high school. In fact, I was on the golf team even though I was never any good. Turns out, when there are 12 spots on the team and only 11 people who want to play, everyone gets to be on the team. I was the only girl on the team my freshman year, but being on the golf team did come with some tangible perks. Free nine holes of golf every afternoon during the spring plus fifty buckets of free practice balls. That's actually worth a couple hundred bucks. Alas, I digress! Living in New England for the last decade has presented NO opportunities to hit golf balls. Lack of car, lack of driving ranges near the T and freezing temperatures half the year do not make for a golf friendly environment.

I supposed I could have overcome all of these hurdles if I were truely serious, but at the end of the day, who wants to trudge through snow with some clubs to hit balls in a basement in front of a simulated computer generated golf scene and pay a hundred bucks a month to boot. Therefore, I was excited when I spotted a driving range on the way to church a few weeks ago right on our bus route. I ordered a "pre-owned" iron off off amazon (of course) and went on an adventure this afternoon. I wish I could say that the outing went smoothly, but I can't. I managed to lose my one golf club immediately and had to enlist someone to track it down. Then I was utterly confused by the machine that dispensed the balls, golf ball dispensing technology certainly has changed. Finally, I was reminded how utterly WASPY and preppy the whole sport is when I spotted a woman wearing a white visor withe her hair pulled back in a pert ponytail. I can't believe I used to do this most days as a teenager. Then again I had plasticmom driving me around and footing the bill. I do love whacking those balls, but I have to admit that I took up golf mainly so I could avoid PE because I hated running and had flunked the one mile run.

Gelatiamo

There's a gelato shop nearby that's highly rated by Zagats and has become a butt of our jokes. Seems like it's never open so Adam started telling me "We can try going to Gelatiamo later" whenever I started pestering him for some sort of dessert treat on our evening walks. Of course, Gelatiamo is never open so thus no treat. I fell for it several times before I realized what was happening.

Food Obsessed

I think Adam and I just might be food obsessed.

1. Even though we'd been the market twice this weekend, we were still abnormally enthusiastic when we happened upon a third market this afternoon. Granted this supermarket was slicker than the two previous markets, it even had an eat in sushi bar and rows and rows of frozen foods.

2. When at the market, we study the deli section. Instead of buying what looks good at the deli, we grill the poor deli worker on how the dishes are prepared before we scamper off to buy the exact ingredients that are in the already prepared deli dish so we can make our own. Same behavior applies to the bakery section as well, hmmm let's make our own chocolate cups adn fill them with mousse.

3. I scour the city looking for the Mike-arita because I saw a hilarious commercial on television. I don't even know if I like Margaritas, but I'm easly swayed by advertising.

plasticmom in Cambridge

If you think you see plasticmom tooling around Cambridge this summer, no need to get your vision checked. plasticmom is taking summer classes at Harvard and living in our apartment. Even plasticmom had to admit that our apartment was squeaky clean as it should of given that we hired a cleaning person. If you see plasticmom taking the 77 or hanging out in Harvard Square, be sure to say "Howdy."

Chatty

I've noticed that folks here in Seattle are "chattier," even the homeless are much more apt to strike up a random conversation. The following is a reconstructed conversation between plasticann and a random homeless person (HP) with a sign while plasticann was trying to cross the street after church.

HP: Hey, you're supposed to press the button to cross the street!
plasticann: [walks around the pole looking for the button]
HP: No, over there, that button.
plasticann: {gratefully presses button]
HP: ...are you from the Philippines?
plasticann: No!
HP: Japanese?
plasticann: No! [decides to avoid this conversation of pan-Asian country naming] My parents are from Taiwan!
HP: Oh, Taiwan! Welcome to America!
plasticann: Thanks???

Ironically, while I appreciated his help with the button, I didn't really feel particularly welcomed, but at least he tried. Since Adam is in CA visiting his family, he wasn't with me this morning. I wonder if HP would have "welcomed" me had I been with Adam or if he would have assumed that I'd already been properly welcomed to America.

Wheezy In Seattle

I'm not actually feeling wheezy, but Wheezy's in town this week for vacation on her inaugural west coast tour. She stopped by San Francisco to see Greg & Helen, come into Seattle for a clandestine visit on our anniversary, took the train to Vancouver and came back to Seattle for a proper visit. Last night, we feasted on platters of cheap ($5.50 a dish) and very delicious Thai food at Mae Phim where we sipped ginormous glasses of Thai iced tea that were only a buck a piece. Tonight, we walked walked over to Pagliacci Pizza. Because I was famished, I spent most of the latter part of our walk over plotting about what I would order...pizza, root beer and an appetizer to snack on before my real dinner came. Turns out, the place offers slices cafeteria style which means immediate gratification. While I was extremely excited at the prospect of food fast, I was disoriented since I was expecting to wait. The food was delicious and the sodas were bottomless, Wheezy had three diet cokes. She takes off for ye olde Boston tomorrow night on the red eye, but we have time for one more culinary adventure, we're heading over to Wild Ginger for a farewell dinner.

Happy Anniversary To Us

Adam and I celebrated our anniversary this evening at the Melting Pot Fondue restaurant courtesy of plasticmom. "Thanks Mom!" we exclaimed. We enjoyed the "Big Night Out" four course meal which included, cheese fondue, a strawberry almond salad, a variety of meats/veggies/etc and finally a coconut chocolate fondue. The cheese fondue was by far our favorite and while we did eat everything else and overindulge, we could have stopped with just the cheese. Anything dipped with chocolate is sure to be tasty, but we were disappointed with the lackluster chocolate sauce consistency...we were hoping for something thicker. However, we're now determined to finally break out the lovely electric fondue pot Corinna got us for our wedding.

Dispatches From Tesserific

Our niece, Tesserific, has become so obsessed with pink and soccer, she declared, "I want to be a pink soccer player" a few weeks ago. Zara also tells me that Tesserific is quite attached to her Nalgene Sippy Bottle [not coincidentally pink] as "Aunt Ann's Sippy Cup." Sort of implies that I, myself, am a sippy cup user, but that's beside the point.

Watermelon Feta Salad

We've been here for a week and we've eaten a lot here in Seattle. One thing for sure is I haven't been blogging so I'm trying to get back in the swing of things with our latest dinner. I was intrigued by this watermelon feta salad recipe I saw in a magazine so we tried it out tonight, Just combine seedless watermelon chunks with crumbled feta cheese, you don't need a lot. Season with freshly ground pepper and kosher salt. It's pretty refreshing and I think it'll become a summertime staple.

Seattle: Day 1

We got into Seattle yesterday afternoon and enjoyed a delicious dinner at Wild Ginger. The following reconstructed conversation/scenario happened while we stopped by Walgreens after dinner for some provisions.

Walgreens Lady: [to the man in front of plasticann] Would you like to try our M&M special? Two for a dollar?
Man in Front: No thanks!
Walgreens Lady: [to plasticann] Would you like to try our M&M special?
plasticann: NOPE!
Walgreens Lady: OK, that'll be eight dollars.
Adam: [as plasticann is about to pay] Actually, yes I would like some M&Ms. These are the special M&Ms.
Walgreens: Yes, they're Pirates of the Caribbean M&Ms.
Adam: I saw an ad for these white chocolate M&Ms and I've been meaning to buy them since they're limited edition!
plasticann: [amused, but shakes her head]

Walking out of Walgreens, we encounter a trio of punks hanging out on the street corner. Punks as in kids who loaf on street corners with nothing to do but cause trouble, not punks as in fans of the musical genre.

Punks: [to Adam] Hey, can I have some M&Ms.
Adam: [eating M&Ms] No!
Punks: blah blah blah...open toed sandals...thirty years old and you're wearing open toed sandals.
Adam: [Keeps walking in his Tevas without responding]
Punks: I wouldn't be caught wearing open toed sandals.
plasticann: [around the corner] Oh my goodness, what just happened? What was that about?
Adam: I don't know, I guess open toed sandals are unfashionable, but people in Boston wear them.
plastican: Did they make a crack about how you'd never find a girl since you wear open toed sandals?
Adam: I thought they did, but I'm not sure.
plasticann: I would have defended you and said something.
Adam: I thought about responding, but I also thought getting into an altercation on our first night in Seattle wouldn't be good.
plasticann: That's funny! I wonder how they knew you were thirty?
Adam: I was wondering that myself.

If that exchange had happened three days later, we totally could have said, "Hah, you clearly don't know what you're talking about, he's thirty-one not thirty so there you go." I was wearing my Keen sport sandals or what Adam likes to call my "orthopedic shoes." I would like to point out that I, however, was not the one who was mocked by teenage boys loafing on a street corner.