Pillow Pets

It's a pillow, it's a pet, it's a pillow pet. We celebrated a coworker's birthday with ice cream sundaes and a unicorn pillow pet. She was super psyched and did a great job demonstrating the features of the pillow pet. Best line of the day?

Q: How old are you?

A: I'm 57, but I think this pillow pet makes me look younger.

Note: She's not 57 and not 5, she's somewhere in between.

Mothers Iced Oatmeal Cookies

These crisp iced oatmeal cookies are one of my favorite childhood treats. I remember plasticmom would pack me three cookies everyday for me to share with my two best kindergarten buddies. We'd hang out at the playground firetruck after class and enjoy our treats.

Mothers cookies are not available in Boston so every time I'm in California, I get a pack for old times sake. About two years I couldn't find the cookies, but I kept checking so I was super psyched to find them over Thanksgiving.

Turns out, Mothers closed in 2008 which was why I couldn't find them for a few years. Kelloggs bought the brand and brought them back. Mystery solved! The iced oatmeal are my favorite, but the iced animal crackers with sprinkles are also good. They are really sweet so be warned. I also found them on Amazon which makes me love Amazon even more.

P.S. Adam's now a fan. He said, "where did you get these cookies, they're SOOO good."

Penniless

The following is a reconstructed conversation between a wife and husband, they shall remain anonymous, but I did bear witness to the conversation:

Wife: When we got married, I assumed I was marrying a penniless grad student. I had no idea that he had all these investments and savings.

Husband: Well, I didn’t have much money as a student, but I’d saved over the years and bought stock so I had some money saved up. I guess she assumed we were both penniless.

Wife: [indignantly] I wasn’t penniless! I just didn’t have a single dollar to my name.

Everyone: [long pause + laughter] Umm, isn’t that the very definition of penniless?

Whirley Pop + Vermont Cheese Powder

Last summer, I impulsively bought a Whirley Pop stovetop popcorn maker at a yard sale for ten bucks. I didn’t do a great job negotiating, but I’d heard these things lasted forever and ten bucks was still cheaper than a new Whirley Pop. It sat unused for a few months and I got teased about it enough that I was determined to make popcorn last fall. Now I’m obsessed with the Whirley Pop because it makes awesome popcorn in 3 minutes and efficiently pops every last kernel. To literally “top it off,” I’ve been making delicious cheese popcorn with this wonderful Vermont Cheese Powder my friend Laurel sent me. Mix in two tablespoons of cheese powder into a batch of popcorn (made from ½ cup kernels) and you’ve got lightly cheese flavored popcorn. I’m snacking on the batch I made on Sunday and it’s still yummy.

Wooden Bottle Opener

I intrigued by this bent nail wooden bottle opener when I saw an article on nytimes last fall and I jotted it down as a gift idea. I wasn't sure if it was actually functional so I first bought it for us try out when I found it at Abodeon on Mass Ave. I'm happy to report that it works really well and we gave a few away this Christmas. The bent nail easily opens the bottle and the bottle cap stays attached to the magnet embedded in the opener's underside so you don't have bottle caps flying and pinging all over the place. There's even a magnet on the top of the opener so you can stick it to your fridge. Like the article says, it's "rustic" and "refined" and it actually works.

P.S. After I bought my first one, the opener started getting gift guide press pickup and I saw it featured a few places. Today, I read that Jason Schwartzman recommended it on some shopping site. Should I feel cooler because the tastemakers agree with what I like should I feel less hip since everyone else knows about it?

Echo Touch Gloves

This winter I was so excited about these smartphone compatible gloves that I bought them for all my girlfriends. They have a small fabric tip sewn into the index and thumb of the glove so you can actually use your touchscreen phone with the glove on. If you live somewhere like Boston where it's frigid 5 months out of the year, an internal debate rages daily. "Do I want to take off my gloves to check my iPhone and see when the bus is coming, but risk my hands cracking because it's so cold out?" This cute little glove elegantly solves my dilemma and is vastly improving the quality of my life. Thank you little glove.

P.S. Wheezy and I stopped by Moxie on Charles Street last weekend and each bought a second pair of these awesome gloves.

Exercise

That's almost a dirty word for a blog devoted to eating unhealthy, but Adam and I are trying actually giving exercise a try this new year. The following is a reconstructed conversation:

Adam: So are you going to do Pilates or swim today?

plasticann: No, I've decided to do only one physical activity a day.

Adam: [pause] So if you're not doing Pilates and not swimming, what are you doing today?

plasticann: I'm getting a massage.

Adam: [cracks up]

plasticann: I'm glad you appreciate my rationale.

Adam: No, I'm definitely laughing AT you.

Babysitter's Club

Last night, Adam and I babysat for our friends' baby, Zvy, while they attended a holiday party. We're very inexperienced with kids, but stepped up because they needed sitters last minute and they promised to freshly diaper her before they left. We were warned that she might stay up until they got home at midnight and not sleep. 9pm rolls around and this is what happened:

Zvy: [Wah, wah]

plasticann: Maybe she's getting tired?

Adam: She hasn't rubbed her eyes yet.

plasticann: Well, let's put her in the sleepsack and see if she'll sleep.

[We wrestle her into the sleepsack while Zvy says "Wah" and rubs her eyes.]

plasticann: OK, she's in! Where should we put her?

Adam: On the couch, they said she likes to be with people.

[Zvy cries "wah wah wah," struggles for a little on the couch and quiets down, but isn't sleeping.]

plasticann: Let's turn off the movie, the lights and also pretend to sleep

[We pretend to sleep in the dark and Zvy stays quiet.]

Adam: Why don't we try putting her in her crib and maybe she'll go to sleep. (So he could keep watching our movie.)

[We put her in the crib and she goes "wah wah" for a little bit. We let her "wah wah" it out for a few minutes and eventually she gets quiet]

Adam: I think she's sleeping.

plasticann: Or...is she dead, how do know she's not dead?

Zvy's parents came home totally impressed that she went to sleep in her crib. The called us "awesome" babysitters." We either awesome or totally unsympathetic sitters who make her "wah wah" it out.

Donut Tape Dispensers

My supply of Hi-Tec C pens was running so low, I actually had a nightmare one night that every pen I tried ran out of ink and I was freaking out so I went on jetpens.com to replenish my stash. While I was picking out my beloved pens, I saw these genius donut tape dispensers. I thought it would be funny to get them for my coworkers because they enthusiastic consumers of the Verna's donuts I often bring to work. I ordered a variety of tape dispenser "donuts" and "wrapped" them in plain brown paper bags. I wrote the "flavor" of the donut, added a Dunkin Donuts napkin I pilfered from the mall and haphazardly stapled the bags shut. Then I went around the office offering my coworkers holiday "treats" and I asked them what "flavor" they wanted: chocolate, caramel, custard, etc. I got plenty of laughs and I had a blast tricking people, but one of my coworkers was super concerned about the flavor she picked. She really wanted the cuppuccino, but coffee made her stay awake so maybe she should get another flavor. I felt kinda bad that I was being mischievous so I encouraged her to get the cuppuccino and said I'd let her trade if she didn't like it. One of them displays his "donut" on top of his travel mug and it looks real.

A Zappos Miracle

My obsession with bags is pretty well known and was even referenced by Adam when he proposed. He promised to go purse shopping with me six years ago and I still hold him to that promise. Poor guy! I blame my bag obsession on genetics since plasticmom is also obsessed with bags, backpacks to be specific. With my achy back, I've been on the hunt for a nice leather purse I can wear cross body. I picked out the Foley and Corinna mid city tote in Aubergine or dark purple and decided to order it from Zappos where I have VIP status and get free overnight shipping on everything. Their service is so crazy amazing, it's blogworthy. Here's the timeline for my order:

Monday 7 pm - plasticann orders online

Monday 11:47 pm - Zappos ships my order from Kentucky

Tuesday 7:59 am - my order arrives in Boston and is on a truck for delivery

Tuesday 11:34 am - my order is delivered

Total time - 16 hours and 34 minutes

I was flabbergasted, I couldn't believe how fast my order arrived. What had I accomplished in those 16 hours while my purse was zipping across 1000 miles? Let's see, I took the bus home from work, ate dinner, slept for 8 hours, went to work, drank coffee and had some morning meetings. I'm a little embarrassed the purse was more productive than me.

P.S. If you order from Zappos and want to be a part of their beta VIP program for free overnight shipping, just call them up and request it. The program is "invitation only, but they might be able to help you out if you call."

P.P.S. I'm loving my new bag, it's awesome.

Bakun Burger Tour (BBT)

At the end of 2009, Adam was telling me about how one of his dreams in life is to try all the $20 burgers in Boston featured in this one magazine article in 2010. Fortunately, Adam's modest dreams in life were well within reach and could be funded by one hundred dollar bill. DONE! He did enjoy a few of the burgers, but wasn't disciplined enough to really follow through with all of them. He did spend a lot of time last year pitching our friends on the Bakun Burger Tour, a monthly get together of burger lovers who try different gourmet burgers. Here are a few of Adam's rules if you're interested in joining in.

1. The BBT only visits restaurants with delicious burgers. It doesn't go for "gimmicks" like enormous burgers or five pound burgers held together with skewers that are not as delicious. You might wonder who the taste maker who gets to decide which burger is worthy, that would ultimately be Adam who named the tour after himself.

2. On the BBT, everyone has to order the burger. Don't think about going off script by ordering a turkey or veggie burger. You need to order the signature burger.

As much as I make fun of Adam for his BBT, I think it's a pretty fun idea which is why this year I got him an official BBT "flag" to encourage his culinary adventures. I found this awesome tea towel at a local craft fair with a diagram of a cheeseburger and I had it embroidered with BBT. I was kind enough to actually use Adam's official name rather than sneaking in the name I was originally advocating for, the "triple B" or "BBBB" or the "Boston Bakun Burger Bonanza." To top it off, I got him a set of fabric markers so he can write the name and date of all his burger accomplishments on the towel. Let the tour begin.

Illustrated tea towel from Girl Can Tell.

Art Deco Tour

We stayed in South Beach for three days during our trip and I didn't realize until we arrived that South Beach has a huge district of preserved art deco buildings. The Miami Design Preservation League had the entire area designated as historic in the 70s to preserve the architecture. On Christmas, we went on a really interesting art deco walking tour and learned more about the area and the architecture. It's really fun and I'd highly recommend it. If anything, it'll provide a baseline understanding of what art deco architecture looks like so you can avoid running commentary of, "why isn't that art deco" or "I think that looks a little art deco to me." Of course, not from recent experience and totally hypothetical.

Sushi Samba

We celebrated Adam's dad's birthday at Sushi Samba while we were on vacation in Miami and it was one of the best meals we had this trip. It's a Japanese/Brazilian/Peruvian fusion restaurant which sounds a little schizophrenic, but it totally works. The food is really flavorful and the textures are different since they use a lot of Peruvian ingredients like peruvian corn. Here's what we shared and my awesomeness ratings, it goes good, awesome, super awesome and freakin' awesome:

Rock Shrimp Tempura tobanjan alioli, black truffle vinaigrette SUPER AWESOME

Chicarron de Calamar cornmeal crusted calamari with tomato, mint, plaintain, tamarind AWESOME

Beef Tenderloin and Aji Panca GOOD

Sea Bass and Miso SUPER AWESOME

Sake-Soy Braised Short Rib burdock purée, shimeji fricassee, brussels sprout AWESOME

Peruvian Fried Rice with pork belly FREAKIN' AWESOME

coco duo dark & white chocolate custard with praline AWESOME

warm chocolate banana cake maple butter, banana chip & vanilla rum ice cream SUPER AWESOME

P.S. I know I forgot a bunch of other dishes we tried because I couldn't find the description on the website, but it was all really yummy.

B.O. Fish Wagon

On our first night in Key West, we were hungry for a good meal so we walked over to BO's Fish Wagon for dinner. I don't know how to describe the decor so you'll have to check out some of the photos on their website to get the feel. Anyhow, the food was awesome. We had the fried fish sandwich and upgraded to the fresh grouper option, a fried conch sandwich and a Key West style hot dog which turned out to be fried. Definitely check this place out if you're looking for a fun low key meal and be sure to get the refreshing key limeade.

Besame Mucho [Key West]

Every so often, I find a well merchandised independent housewares/gift store that I fall in love with and Besame Mucho is my most recent addition to my all star list. It located down the street from Blue Heaven in Key West and it's a really fun store with lots of cute vintage finds. It's that nice mix of old and new and the unique merchandise is thoughtfully selected and displayed. I was eyeing a great woven beach bag with gold leather detailing, but decided that Boston is not really "beachy" and I didn't really need it. I almost bought myself a pair of heavy vintage scissors, but they were ultimately too heavy to be practical and I can't bear to have scissors for decoration ever since I watched that movie Dead Again with my friend Corinna. Eeek! Now back to sunnier topics, be sure to check out Besame Mucho if you're kicking around Key West, it's definitely worth a visit.

P.S. My other all star favorites are Watson & Kennedy in Seattle, Posh in Chicago and of course Fishs Eddy in NYC.

Blue Heavenly Breakfast

Before we left for Florida, I'd asked MGDub for some recommendations from her last trip and she's recommended Blue Heaven for breakfast so we started our first full day in Key West with their heavenly breakfast. Adam and I shared the shrimp eggs benedict and a blueberry pancake. The hollandaise sauce on the shrimp benedict was perfect and the giant shrimp were meaty enough to stand up to the eggs benedict. The homemade sausage that Adam's parents got was tasty, it had a little kick to it and their homemade banana bread was very good. It's not as good as my banana bread, but it's pretty close so that's actually a rave review from me. Great outdoor eating area to enjoy breakfast on a nice day and they even have their own wandering roosters roaming about the courtyard.

Five Guys Burger

We did a lot of driving while in Florida, actually Adam's dad did a lot of driving, Adam navigated with his Droid while the rest of us took naps and enjoyed the scenery. I was on occasion "helpful" around meal times when I would look out the window for a good place to eat. My "good eye" proved indispensable when were stuck in traffic on the highway out of Miami. We were all hungry and on our way to becoming "hangry" [hunger induced angry]. We had been on the wrong end of the four lane highway to turn into a restaurant whenever they appeared and I had no idea when we would be able to eat. Fortunately I spotted a Five Guys on my side and was able to get Adam's dad to make a quick U-ie. While I was impressed with my "good eye" and kept self congratulating my "good eye," I'm not sure my family really appreciated my "good eye." I did get to enjoy Five Guys for lunch and that pretty much made my day.

As for the origins of my love for Five Guys. A few years ago, I discovered Five Guys Burger at DC's Reagan National Airport. I was waiting to fly back to Boston on a business trip when I noticed a plain looking sign for a "Five Guys Burger." The signage was so basic, I was intrigued. I figured it had to be either super awesome like In-N-Out or just nondescript and I had to find out. It turned out to be super awesome so I ordered a burger and fries even though it wasn't time to eat. Their fries are fried in peanut oil and the burgers are topped with all the toppings you want. The burgers are hand formed and I actually think the food is better than In-N-Out. I don't love the fries at In-N-Out and Five Guys has amazing fries and they're generous with them to boot.

Key Lime Pie Pilgrimage - Finale

2. Robert Is Here [Homestead]

Also a find from the article, Robert Is Here is a tropical fruit farm stand that makes awesome fresh fruit shakes. Their signature is the Key Lime and Strawberry Key Lime milkshake. We stopped by on the way back to Miami and picked up a huge box of tropical fruits: mangos, papaya, jackfruit, etc. I was totally key lime pied out at this point, having already enjoyed two slices of pie earlier that day, but I had to get a shake just to try it. I ordered a Strawberry Key Lime milkshake to mix it up a little and it was so good, I felt sad I couldn't drink the entire shake. They use real key limes so there's actual pulp in the shake. It's refreshing and really flavorful...I'm still mourning the 2/3 full shake I had to throw out.

1. Joe's Stone Crab [Miami]

We asked a bunch of different people where we should eat on vacation and Joe's Stone Crab got the most unprompted recommendations so we had to check it out. The food was good, no doubt, but they had my favorite key lime pie of the trip. It was a classic tangy slice that was super well executed. The filling was cool and smooth and the graham cracker crust was crumbly and buttery. Like I said three posts ago, I'm a big fan of key lime pie and the classic is always a winner in my book so I'm giving Joe's the top spot.

P.S. Joe's has a key lime pie recipe on their website and you can also mail order a pie.

Key Lime Pie Pilgrimage - Part III

4. Chocolate Dipped [Key West]

Key lime pie is everywhere in Key West and chocolate dipped key lime pie on a stick is even more prevalent. Pie on a stick is totally portable for snacking while you walk around town and chocolate just makes it even better. Alton Brown's a fan of this sweet treat and frankly, I wouldn't have tried it had I not read that Alton Brown loves it. Yep, I am THAT food snob. Turns out, it's pretty yummy like a uber delicious frozen ice cream bar. Everyone sells it and you don't need any utensils to enjoy it.

3. Porky's [Marathon]

We're rounding out the top three key lime treats here so it's getting harder to rank them. We also read about Porky's fried key lime pie from the article. Adam would probably disagree with Porky's fried key lime pie at #3 and argue it should have the top spot, but this is my list so ha. Porky's is this BBQ restaurant with no real walls. It's the kind of place you think of when you imagine the keys and the first time we stopped in, I couldn't believe this place existed. They lightly batter a slice of key lime pie and then fry it for 30 seconds and it is really really good. The fried batter envelopes the pie slice like a meta pie crust making it extra crunchy. The filling is not super tart and still cool, even frozen, on the inside. The fried pie was so memorable, we stopped by Porky's a second time for lunch and pie on the way out of Key West. We ate the most Porky's key lime pie hands down tucking in 3 slices of fried key lime pie.

Key Lime Pie Pilgrimage - Part II

6. Flamingo Crossing [Key West]

I love ice cream a lot so I had to try the ice cream at Flamingo Crossing on Duval Street one night. The Cuban coffee ice cream was intensely coffee flavored and wonderful and the key lime ice cream was refreshingly creamy and delicious.

5. Wooden Spoon [Marathon]

We read about the Wooden Spoon in the key lime pie article so we grabbed a slice to go on the drive back to Miami. It's a little yellow dive diner on the side heading away from Key West and they make an interesting pie that's the consistency of whipped cream. It's very light and fluffy and mildly key lime flavored. There was much discussion whether the graham crack crust was homemade or packaged. I vote machine made since it was so evenly pressed, but Adam argued it was homemade by a highly skilled pie maker. The verdict is out, but the filling is definitely one of a kind and tasty in its own unique way.

Key Lime Pie Pilgrimage - Part I

For Christmas, we flew down to Miami to meet up with Adam's parents for vacation and spent a few days in Key West hunting down key lime pies to try using an from the New York Times as our guide, "Searching Margaritaville for the Perfect Key Lime Pie." While I'm a big fan of key lime pie, Adam and his parents are not natural fans of this tart treat, but they really embraced the spirit of our Key West adventures and enthusiastically sampled eight key lime treats.

8. Pepe's [Key West]

I had high hopes for this pie since the article mooned over it. Their crust has cinnamon in it which isn't my favorite. I like the tart filling, but the others preferred a milder key lime flavor. Kind of a weird tasting pie in my opinion.

7. Cole's Peace Bakery [Key West]

We stopped by Cole's Peace Bakery three times in three days, the food was so yummy. Wonderful homemade Cuban bread, delicious breakfast sandwiches and phenomenon sandwiches with home-roasted meats. I bought the key lime pie since everything else was so good and it was alright. Classic key lime pie with a graham cracker crust, nothing special. I don't think they sell many pies so I'm guessing the pies sit in the fridge for a while which might be part of the problem. There are better things to be enjoyed at Cole's and better key lime pies to sample elsewhere.

P.S. The bakery is attached to The Restaurant Store next door, a great [surprise] restaurant supply shop. I bought myself a nice big industrial whisk and 500 cupcake liners. Be sure to check it out.

Happy New Year 2011

I actually made some resolutions this year.

• Lose weight [Boring]
• Blog more

When I started blogging regularly in 2003, I was a couple of life stages back. I was working in a small office where I hung out daily with hilarious friends like Steve and Wheezy who provided lots of blogworthy material and my best bud MGDub was still living in Boston. Life is still good in 2011, but it certainly has transitioned quite a bit and I've pretty much been off the blog mania routine the last few years. The deal is I really have missed blogging regularly so I'm going to try making it a priority in 2011 for my own enjoyment.

Enough introspection! We had the last day of 2010 off so Adam and I went downtown for lunch at the Back Bay Social Club for lunch. We tried their $21 burger and their pastrami sandwich/tomato basil soup combo. The burger was very good, wonderful beef that was half aged and half prime. A lot of fancy burgers feature brioche buns, but this one was a really great white roll with a crusty exterior...a refreshing change. The fries were pretty good, but I kinda expect excellent fries for $21. The soup/sandwich combo I thought was a really good deal at $10 and it even came with fries so I would recommend checking it out for a delicious and well priced lunch if you're downtown shopping. While the burger was delicious, but not worth $21 so it doesn't make the cut in terms of our price/quality ratio efficient frontier. The burger still to beat in terms of the quality for the price remains Garden at the Cellar in Cambridge.

New Old Car

As many of you may know, Adam and I have never owned a car and our goal is to put off car ownership for as long as possible. Fortunately, we live in an area that enables living car free really easily. plasticmom, on the other hand, lives in LA where car ownership is a must. She hates driving and tries to walk or take public transportation as much as possible, but she still needs to maintain a car she rarely drives. As a result, she's owned her car for around 8 years and managed to finally crack 5 digits on her odometer in year 7. That's right folks, she drove less than 10,000 miles in the first 7 years. The following is a reconstructed conversation of her most recent car inspection:

Car dealer: [looking at the car befuddled] How old is this car?
plasticmom: Eight years old.
Car dealer: Ummm, why does it look so "new?"
plasticmom: I don't drive it very much.
Car dealer: Hold on, I'll be right back.

[minutes pass and they return with a gaggle of other car dealer employees.]

Car dealer: You guys have to see this, I've never seen anything like it. This car is eight years old and it looks brand new and it barely has 10,000 miles on it.
Everyone: Wow, I've never seen anything like it.

Sunshine Lucy's

Admittedly, this blog has jumped the shark as my good friend Steve would say, but I'm trying to be better about blogging mostly because I do really enjoy blogging and I've missed it.

Here goes. One of my favorite stores in Davis is a furniture store called Sunshine Lucy's on Holland. I always try to stop by and check out what's new which is easy for me since I live in the area. They have a lot of used furniture, but the really cool thing is they repaint and reupholster their furniture with fresh colors and modern prints. I think they do a really good job pairing the old and new so it's vintage, but not so old fashioned. It reminds me of the Anthropologie shabby chic look without the super high prices. They'll also make you whatever you want if you're into designing your own pieces, they seem really accommodating. I bought myself a great armchair last year with a great black and white dragonfly upholstery and a old school painted wooden stool with clawfeet. Actually, the aforementioned Steve drove me and my furniture home and saved me on delivery charges. Right now, I'm coveting the bookcases they're featuring in their window. They're kinda mod and cubist with each asymmetrical cubby painted in a different vibrant color. Check it out this weekend and let me know what you think of the bookcases.

Treats

I wasn't able to bake this weekend, but I wanted to make treat bags
for work so I put together mini wintry treat bags. Tiny Dolphin
chocolates like ginger, masala and pink peppercorn, my favorite
peppermint Stash tea and a mini candy cane. At least they look super
cute.