COOKIES!

Oreo Cookies are gods gift to man. He brought forth a heavily creation that was this chocolate cookie twin with sugar cream in the center. While moderately expensive compared to many other cookies, the Oreo Cookie isn't going anywhere anytime soon. People will always buy, eat and dunk their Oreo Cookies as long as they little things still get made.

History of the Oreo Cookie @ About.com

 Oreo Wiki




Tuesday, December 29, 2009, that's when the last post on this blog was created. That is a long chunk of time to go between posts, it is.

A blog about food is a good idea but without things to talk about, whatever is there a point? So, we add a point and do things like post food like things on said blog. Then we, perhaps, link it to a different blog that has more viewers.

How to Eat A Star Fruit

3 weeks since the last post, huh? Well, why not explain something? We haven't had many how-to's that aren't recipes.

<-- It's a little early to eat this unless you want sour star fruit (some recipes call for it)

A ripe star fruit is yellow with a little bit of brown. The points of the star are brown. Cut those off (just the brown part). Cut the ends of the star fruit off (the stem end and the opposite one). Slice it so you have lots of stars (as many or as few as you feel like cutting in it). Remove the seeds. You can just push them out with your knife if you cut the slices thin enough. After that, you can enjoy them. If you've never had one before, they're between the texture of a granny smith apple and a watermelon and between the flavors of a kiwi and a red delicious apple. And they look cool.

Eggs Benedict

I like eggs benedict. They suck to make if you're lazy, but they're well worth the effort. I'm sure at least a few people don't know what they are (Eggs Benedict, not the readers themselves), so it's RECIPE TIME! This recipe is from the Food Network Kitchens, so it must be good.

Eggs Benedict
From Food Network Kitchens

Prep Time:45 min

Inactive Prep Time:--

Cook Time:--
Level: Intermediate
Serves: 6 servings

Ingredients

• Water
• 1/2 cup distilled vinegar, divided
• 12 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 12 slices Canadian bacon
• 6 plain English muffins, split
• HOLLANDAISE SAUCE, recipe follows
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh chives or finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves

Directions
Pour enough water into 2 large skillets to reach a depth of about 3 inches, and divide the vinegar between them. Bring both skillets to a gentle simmer over medium heat. Crack an egg into a cup and carefully slide it into the hot poaching liquid. Quickly repeat with all the eggs. Poach the eggs, turning them occasionally with a spoon, until the whites are firm, or to the desired degree of doneness, about 3 to 5 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, remove the eggs and transfer to a kitchen towel. Lightly dab the eggs with the towel to remove any excess water.

While the eggs are poaching, melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the Canadian bacon and cook until heated through, about a minute on each side.

To serve, toast the English muffin halves and divide them among 6 warmed plates. Top each half with a slice of Canadian bacon, and set an egg on top. Spoon the hollandaise sauce over the eggs and garnish with the chives. Serve immediately.

Hollandaise Sauce

• 1 1/3 cup unsalted butter
• 2 large egg yolks
• 2 tablespoons cold water
• 1 tablespoon strained freshly squeezed lemon juice, plus more as needed
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• Freshly ground white pepper or a pinch of cayenne pepper

In a medium pan, completely melt the butter over medium-low heat. Remove from the heat and set it aside for 5 minutes. Skim and discard the white foam that rises to the surface of the butter. Carefully ladle or pour the clear golden butter into a container with a pouring spout. Take care not to add the milky solids and watery liquid at the bottom of the saucepan. Set the butter aside in a warm spot.

Pour enough water into a medium saucepan to reach a depth of about 2 inches. Bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat.

In a medium heatproof bowl, combine the egg yolks and the cold water. Whisk until the yolks are light and frothy. Place the bowl over the saucepan of simmering water and whisk constantly and vigorously until the yolks are thickened and light, about 3 to 4 minutes. (If the eggs begin to scramble, or the mixture is cooking very quickly or gets too hot, remove the bowl from the heat and whisk to cool). Remove the eggs from the heat and whisk for 30 seconds to cool slightly.

Remove the saucepan from the heat and set the bowl over the hot water. Slowly drizzle the butter into the eggs while whisking constantly. Whisk in the lemon juice, salt, and pepper, to taste. (If the sauce is very thick, add a few drops of warm water to adjust the consistency so it is creamy and light.) Serve immediately or keep the hollandaise sauce in a small bowl set over warm, but not hot water, for about 30 minutes or in a warmed thermos for about an hour.

Yield: about 1 1/2 cups

Copyright 2001 Television Food Network, GP. All rights reserved

9/16/09 - I have recently tested this recipe; it IS good.

B-O-L-O-G-N-A =/= Baloney

Recently, while traveling to get groceries and the like, I have noticed that the "common brand" or "generic" bologna has been spelling its products name incorrectly.

Baloney =/= Bologna and never will. This is just, STUPID! Why are people not only ENCOURAGING THIS but also stating that the other (bologna) spelling is actually wrong?

That's just, annoying! I eat bologna, not "ball-oony".

One of my favorite little slices of meat gets tainted by stupid. This is not something I am amused to hear or see!

There is a very glad look on my face, however, when it turns out that they are chemically the same. Thus just making it a "merchandise puck up" on the sellers point. I just hope that people realize one is not how the thing is actually spelled and is a slang term.

McDonalds

Sure, it's not good for you (not even the salads or apple slices for the kids...ESPECIALLY not those), but people still develop near-addiction to the food here.

"Hey, it's cheap!"
You sure about that? Let's see, something cheap...The classic Hamburger: 89 cents (at the McDonalds' around here). Let's see: 1 hamburger bun (top and bottom, of course), one 1/4 lb burger, minced onions, three pickle slices, and maybe half an ounce of ketchup (being generous here). Here are some prices I found for these on GroceryGoGo.com:

Arnold Select 8 Hamburger Rolls - 8ct:        $3.19
Fresh Ground Beef - 80% Lean apx 2 lb:        $8.40
Onions White - 1 lb:                          $2.59
Vlasic Whole Original Dill Pickles 46 oz jar: $4.89
Heinz Ketchup Squeeze 32 oz sqz:              $2.69
---------------------------------------------------
TOTAL:                                       $21.76

MATH TIME!

$3.19 / 8 buns = apx          $0.40 ea = $0.40
$8.40 / 8 '1/4' lb patties =  $1.05 ea = $1.05
Onion = (guess)               $0.12 ea = $0.02
Pickles = (guess)             $0.02 ea = $0.06*
$2.69 / 64 '1/2' oz ketchup = $0.04    = $0.04
----------------------------------------------
TOTAL PRICE PER BURGER                   $1.57*

So, yes, it's cheaper for you to go to McDonalds. BUT for 68 cents more*, you can get an even BETTER burger that was made when you made it and seasoned as you like it (preferably with panko and a "secret family recipe" of herbs and spices...or steak sauce. Not to mention, you do have to factor in the drink...and why not drink some water...or as Dudel suggested, Kool-Aid.
Oh, and if you think about it, they're paying probably less than 10% on that. I actually DID choose a slightly more expensive way, as I didn't include frozen meat or bulk quantities.

*EDIT: I didn't change it in the math, but the price of the pickles wouldn't even register, as I put my price guess for a WHOLE pickle. So...yeah...the final is 6 cents off, but it's still a lot.

"They have healthy options, too, don't they?"
I'll let you believe that. It's mostly wrong, but go ahead and believe it.

"So I take it you don't go there often?"
I try not to, but like White Castle, I ate there once and get random STRONG cravings. I usually get the Cheeseburger or Double Cheeseburger...which is a little strange as I don't like beef...but then again, that's not beef ^_^

Cookies

Doesn't everyone like cookies? While I know some people can't eat cookies, and a few people don't, I still love cookies equally as much as I love lemons. My favorite are oatmeal chocolate chip (made with any oatmeal raisin recipe, sans raisins and avec chocolate chips), but I have a soft spot for regular chocolate chip (as I've baked them many times, starting with my first time baking them with my grandma and my dad on our family farm [which has gone to pot since we sold it] when I was 2 years old.)

Now, people often debate whether hard and crunchy or soft and chewy cookies are better. I say that if they're buying them from a store or a vending machine, neither is better, as they're automatically crap unless they're homemade, since homemade ones aren't made with as many partially hydrogenated oils, if any at all. But when it comes to homemade cookies, I prefer chewy cookies. Hard cookies are a sign of the cookies being burnt or old. The longer a cookie stays soft, the better the cookie is. Personally, my chocolate chip cookies can go months before they go hard (tested with cookies I forgot about in a sealed container) and I have yet to see them get stale (the tested one was still quite yummy).

So, if you like cookies, feel free to tell me your type preference and favorite level of hardness.

Hmm...

Not sure why I made this blog. I might as well say something, though. Let's see...

I like lemons. Lemons are yummy. It's not often one gets to say whatever they want, especially when lemons are involved, especially lemon kisses. Lemon flavoring, on the other hand, usually isn't too good. There has to be just the right balance of sweet and sour. Speaking of sweet and sour, I'll say something about Asian food that I noticed on Rachel Ray: SHE KNOWS NOTHING ABOUT IT. She thinks you should have more meat and almost no rice, but the dish she made should have been mostly rice with a tiny bit of meat and sauce on top to add a little flavor.

On that note: The Japanese word for meal, gohan (御飯), is also the word for cooked rice. なぜか (Why?)。 Because RICE SHOULD BE THE MAIN DISH. Except in America, of course. I'd love to see people from America try to find the stuff we call Asian food ANYWHERE in Asia from a place that isn't influenced by Western dishes. Even in India (at least going by what Buddhist monks there have prepared here), the main dish is the rice with curry on top (and not what most Americans call curry).

On a related note, when my mother and I made food alongside the monks (we made the dinner that night), the curry they made was the best food of any kind I've ever eaten. Maybe I'll put the recipe on here eventually...but...well...they didn't exactly follow a recipe and no measurement went on. It was merely a list of ingredients.
And I had pizza for dinner today. VERY cheesy pizza. Hospital pizza, but it was good, nonetheless. Maybe some other time I'll rant on hospital food.