Jones-ing for United Way

As many Americans did this weekend, I celebrated our nation’s birthday by doing what else–grilling with friends and family. At one barbecue I attended, I was surprised and delighted to find United Way-branded Jones Soda in the cooler. The bottles feature Seattle Seahawks head coach Jim Mora and are helping to raise awareness about United Way’s Climb for the Community. (I work for United Way and my team produced the labels for the soda.)

Buy a 24-pack of the limited-edition Jones Soda at Costco and other fine retailers, and a portion of the proceeds will benefit United Way of King County. You get three flavors: orange and cream, green apple and cream soda. It’s a tasty way to do something good for the community.

Saar’s is not contagious

I do most of the food shopping in my household so I pay attention to the weekly grocery circulars.

I know use of the word “circular” immediately dates me, but no one has created an iPhone ap yet that enables you to easily compare prices on specific items at different supermarkets. Old school newsprint still rules in this respect.

I get ads for Safeway, QFC and Albertson’s, but I also receive one from a place called Saar’s Market Place, which appears to have rock bottom prices, especially on produce. I see their ad and always wonder, how can they sell oranges for only 29 cents a pound?

In this comatose economy, every dollar counts so I decided to visit the Saar’s Market Place closest to my home. This took me to Burien, a small, non-descript city southwest of Seattle.

I immediately knew that I was not going to have a typical supermarket experience when I saw the grocery cart corral at Saar’s. There were only about 20 beat-up, rusted carts with suspect wheels available.

I entered the store and was struck by two things: it was bright, and it was almost empty. It was a Monday night, which isn’t a super busy night for grocery shopping, but I know if I had been at the nearby Safeway, there would have been easily five times the number of people.

The people that I did see appeared to be mainly Latino and Asian. There were fewer than 10 white people in the entire store, and 3 were employees.

I knew for sure that Saar’s is an ethnic supermarket when I saw these kinds of items in the meat department.

Pig snout

Pig ears

Beef feet

The piñatas were also a dead giveaway.

I learned the Spanish word for “marshmallows” that night.

I find it amusing that food packaging from other countries often features the food item as a cartoon character that is really excited about the possibility of being eaten. For example:

Señor Tuna just can't wait for you to put his tasty flesh on a saltine cracker!

Saar’s did have good prices on produce, but I had to shop carefully and thoroughly examine the wares. Prices on canned goods and other staples were fairly comparable to other grocery stores. I was not convinced of the integrity of the chicken, beef and pork in the meat department (unusual cuts aside), but bacon aficionados may want to check this out:

That's a lot of bacon!

Saar’s had the typical grocery store offerings, but there was also an odd mishmash of other items.

Why so many Torani flavored syrups?

BTW who knew there was a guava syrup? (Bottle on the far right.) That would be good over vanilla ice cream.

Fluorescent-topped plastic storage containers were 2 for $3.

And you could buy barbecue sauce by the gallon.

Real Chocolate Relief Act

While I was playing around with the Snickers Snacklish translator on Facebook (see previous post), I stumbled upon this hilarious video featuring the one and only Neil Patrick Harris. I love the purposefully low-rent production values, especially the use of bad stock photography and b-roll video.

I visited the Mars realchocolate.com Web site and found out that every Friday you can sign up to get a coupon for a free Mars candy bar (M&Ms, Twix, Milky Way, Dove, etc.)

Most news outlets and blogs broke this news last month when the campaign was officially kicked off (here I am late to the party again), but few have talked about how the Mars campaign is a dig at competitors (namely Hershey) who are using cheaper oils instead of cocoa butter in their products in order to save money. It’s an interesting strategy, and I’ll be watching to see if it pays off for Mars.

Speak any Snacklish?

My husband absolutely hates the Snickers billboard campaign currently running in Seattle and other major cities. The billboards feature random acts of “Snacklish” such as:

-Go camping in the Snackarondacks
-Get dunked on by Patrick Chewing
-Take a field trip to the Peanutarium

And my personal favorite:
-Nougetaboutit

The corresponding TV commercials are kind of lame, but I enjoy the billboards, especially because my husband’s irate reaction to them is pretty comical. And being in the marketing biz, I think it’s a clever use of branding. Whether the Snacklish campaign increases sales of Snickers is another matter though.

The “English to Snacklish” translator on Facebook (Danger: Lost productivity at work ahead!) is really fun. My favorite word transformation?

Obama = Chompander in Chief

Fight hunger with fashion June 18

From NWSource:

The Community Project is hosting Fashion Kills Hunger, a fashion show to support Northwest Harvest at The Chapel on June 18, 2009 featuring looks from The Industry, Horseshoe, Lizzie Parker and Original Penguin.

The Community Project sponsors events that bring people together as a community in order to fundraise for those in need in the Seattle area.

Tickets are $25 and includes a swag bag, champagne and cupcakes from Wink.

Cocktail hour begins at 8 p.m., with fashion show following at 9 p.m. Guests are asked to wear black to symbolize their commitment to ending hunger.

“I got some ice cream…”

I went to college in St. Paul, Minnesota and lived through two of the coldest winters ever, which is saying something in that part of America. One record temperature was -75 degrees. So understandably, all of the ice cream shops in St. Paul would be closed during the winter because no one really one more frozen thing.

I always hated this though because I like the act of going somewhere for ice cream. Sure, you can buy it at the store and bring it home. That has its own comfort. But going out for ice cream is one those rare things that makes almost everyone happy.

Nowhere was this more evident than at the recent grand opening of Seattle “ice cream boutique” Molly Moon’s second location in the Capitol Hill neighborhood.

The line that snaked down the sidewalk included sleepy college students, Goth couples, pierced punk rockers, parents with babies strapped to their chests and aging hipsters.

Everyone was giddy. No one was complaining about how long the line was. Children were exuberant but well-behaved. Couples were more in love than ever.

This is the power of going out for ice cream.

My friend Sharon and I tried three flavors that day: salted black licorice, strawberry balsamic and pomegranate curry sorbet. I don’t even like black licorice, but I wanted to at least see how Molly Moon’s would approach this flavor. Maybe years of hating the strong anise flavor would suddenly fall away after my first taste of ice cream. It didn’t–but the salt did add an interesting element and made it at least palatable. Sharon loved it.

I preferred the pomegranate curry sorbet. I didn’t know what to expect from this flavor combo and was pleasantly surprised. It was too strong to eat more than a couple of bites on its own (no way would I ever want this in a waffle cone), but I could definitely see myself enjoying this sorbet after say, a great Indian dinner.

Strawberry balsamic is a Molly Moon’s staple, and with good reason. It’s a nice balance of sweet and tangy.

And now, for all of you Eddie Murphy fans who think of this first when you hear the words “ice cream…”

Does Eddie still rock leather suits? And do more people in America now know him from his work in “The Nutty Professor” and “Shrek” than in “Delirious” and “Raw”?

Brownie points

Since I gave birth to my son a year and a half ago, it has really been hard getting back in the kitchen. Now that he’s older, I am starting to be able to cook a little more. But I haven’t baked at all until a few weeks ago.

It was a Tuesday night, and I really wanted a brownie. But I didn’t want to go to a bakery and buy a brownie. I wanted the satisfaction of making my own.

But what kind of brownies? I perused my cookbooks and perused Google. I decided to be ambitious and bake two kinds of brownies. There were a study in contrasts.

The first recipe I tried was one from Epicurious for cheesecake-marbled brownies. I have always loved eating these type of brownies, and while I’ve made many separate batches of brownies and cheesecakes, I’ve never combined the two.

I don’t why, but I was surprised at how easy it was to make the cheesecake brownies. I guess any kind of layering, especially in baking, sounds complex to me, when it really isn’t, especially with this recipe. You just make the brownie batter, put it in a pan, make the cheesecake batter, put that on top of the brownies and then swirl everything together with a knife. A few people on the Epicurious forums suggested adding extra chocolate, which was a really good tip. I think it would not have enough chocolate flavor otherwise.

The second recipe was for Bisquick fudge brownies. This may seem like an odd choice, but I was intrigued by the ingredient list, which included sweetened condensed milk and of course, Bisquick. I wanted to see how it would turn out.

The condensed milk gave the brownies an interesting tang, and a nice fudgey texture. I don’t know if using Bisquick was really necessary (unless you have some in your pantry that you’re trying to get rid of!) Regular all-purpose flour would have been fine, but maybe would have resulted in too-dense brownies.

I had friends, family and co-workers try both kinds of brownies and the cheesecake-marbled brownies were the hands down winner. I don’t think it’s because the Bisquick brownies weren’t good, but they just couldn’t match the powerful combo of gooey chocolate and cheesecake.

While sampling my brownies, one of my colleagues at work said, “You know what the best brownie recipe is? The one on the back of the Baker’s chocolate box.”

So last week, I made those too. I have really missed baking!

The Baker’s one-bowl brownies were the best yet. What I liked most about them was the top of the brownie was crispy, almost like it had a candy coating. And these brownies had the most chocolate flavor of the three I tried. The recipe calls for two cups of sugar, but I feel like one would be plenty. If the brownie was less sweet, I feel like even more of the chocolate-ness would shine through.

Too hot to handle!

Wow–has it really been over a month since I last posted?! The ironic thing is that I think I’ve been posting less because I’ve been cooking more.

I’ve spent most of this morning trying to fix some way too spicy chili that I made last night. I was trying a new recipe, and I didn’t read it as carefully as I should. Instead of putting in two chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, I put in two cans of chipotle peppers. So I probably put in four times as much chipotle as needed. Holy hotness!

As I was slicing up the many peppers, I did think, “This is really a lot of chipotle,” but I figured that if that’s what the recipe called for, then it must be right. Argh–one of my food resolutions for this year is trying to build my cooking intuition. I ignored it this time and paid the price. Or rather my husband did because he’s a big chili fan, and I made the chili especially for him.

The chili was so spicy, it was practically inedible. I am loathe to waste any food so I wondered how I could tone it down and salvage it. I added another can of beans, some canned core, more crushed tomatoes and a little bit of water. The helped a lot, but it was still super spicy. Then I thought, “How about some starch.” So I cooked some rotelle pasta and added it to the chili. That did the trick. The chili was still quite hot, but you actually detect some flavor beneath the spice. And with some cheddar cheese and sour cream, it may even be delicious.

The only problem is that adding all of those extra ingredients tripled the volume of the chili so now I’ve got a lot of leftovers to freeze. I better stock up on the Rolaids.

There are no danishes in Denmark

I am WAAAYYY behind in my blogging so this week I’m having my friend and dependable eating buddy, Lynn, guest-blog about her food experiences during a recent trip to Europe.

And now Lynn in the role of Rick Steves…
I took a 10-day trip in March 2009, hitting several cities in England and then Copenhagen, Denmark. I had never been to either country before (Ok, the several layovers in Heathrow don’t count), so was excited to take in all of the sights, sounds, and snacks. I had always heard that the food in England was nasty, but I figured that my peasant stock food preferences wouldn’t be too far off from the normal British fare. I was generally correct. I had some good fish and chips, an absolutely delicious Cornish pasty (NOT pronounced like the things burlesque dancers glue to their boobs) with the sweetest, flakiest crust. And the best Indian food of my life! Heard the rumors…well, they’re true. Damn good Indian food. Plus, I ate every chocolate product that Cadbury ever created. And that was just England. Denmark is renowned for its seafood, but I’m not a big fan of products from the sea (other than the aforementioned fish and chips). But I ate pretty darn well in that country too! Good pork, duck, breads, pastries, and beet salads with freshly grated horseradish. Below are some of my more food-centric photos from my trip.

Yes, I turn into a 14-year-old boy every time I see “spotted dick” on a menu. It’s basically a baked pudding that has raisins or currents in it. Never tried it, but had loads of fun cracking up over it.

This is a GIGANTIC cupcake that I saw in Harrods. Gucci on your right, Princess Di and Dodi memorial on your left. *^%$@ HUGE cupcake straight ahead. The cupcake fad has hit London and Lola’s is one of the top cupcake bakeries.

I kept seeing signs for “jacket potatoes” everywhere I went in England. Turns out, it’s just a fancy name for a baked potato. This was my last meal in the UK: a jacket potato with cheddar and bacon. The bacon in England was more like a really, really salty, thinly sliced ham. It was yummy. And they serve beans with breakfast. Strange people. Glad we seceded.

Ok, now we’re in Denmark. We had lunch at a café owned and run by Ida Davidsen, known for her smorrebord (open-faced sandwiches). The fact that there was a slice a bread that came with it somehow made it an open faced sandwich. Yummy duck, potatoes, and beet salad with fresh horseradish.

This is my standard American breakfast that I was able to re-create in Denmark. The fun thing about this is that there’s a big ole Nestle logo on the box.

Lunch at Kronborg Castle. The Kronenburger.

Cracklin’ pork! My friend Torben made a traditional Christmas dinner. Cracklin’ pork has salt rubbed and cooked into the top fat so it’s all pork rindy crispy and you pull it off and just munch on it all night. And they put flags on everything.

Caramelized sugar potatoes.

Danes love their “brown gravy.” Problem is, when you make gravy, it’s more golden beige color. So every household has brown food coloring to add to the gravy.

Absolutely huge sugar pretzel.

Plate of Danish desserts, plus a chocolate tort from Vienna.

My last morning in Denmark. Traditional breakfast rolls. Some of these rolls were buttery and flaky like croissants.

That’s a lot of woks

I read TV Guide obsessively when I was a kid. On any given day, at any given time, I wanted to know exactly what was on TV. I especially loved reading episode descriptions.

9:00 p.m.
Three’s Company
Jack goes to an ATM machine and the machine goes haywire and spits out all of the money on Jack. He tries to get it back to the bank, but the bank is closed. Janet suggests that he hide it in the couch, which, incidentally, gets takes away by Furley who wants to put in a new couch!

I still do this, but now I just push the “INFO” button on my digital cable remote control. I prefer to channel surf through program summaries, rather than flipping through channels.

The other night the Sundance Channel was showing something called “The Biggest Chinese Restaurant in the World” (hereafter referred to as BCRITW). The title alone got me. I didn’t even have to read the description. I started watching halfway into part three of the program, and I had no idea what it was all about, but it was compelling. A Chinese woman was talking about how she put off her own dreams of studying and went to work at the BCRITW so she could pay for her younger sister to go to school. In contrast, the daughter of the owner of the BCRITW discussed her pampered lifestyle with a surprising degree of self awareness.

Later on, I found out that the BCRITW is located in Changsha, China and named West Lake. It has five kitchens, 300 chefs, features live entertainment and can seat 5,000 people. Whoa!

West Lake is run by Mrs. Qin, and I really wanted to know how she came to be in charge, and if she was the one who had the grand vision for the restaurant.

The BCRITW is no small feat to manage, and the program shows that HR issues are universal. Much of episode four deals with managers talking about attracting and retaining good employees. It sounds boring, but it was interesting to see this aspect of the restaurant biz and in a different cultural setting no less.

Another part that stayed with me was when some of the young restaurant workers were asked about their dreams and aspirations. Several of them said, “To make enough money to support my parents.” What would a group of young Americans say? I have to admit that parental support is not what first comes to mind when I think about personal goals.

I was hoping that the BCRITW was a reality program that I could watch on a regular basis, but it turns out that it was a four-part BBC documentary. Too bad. I hope the Sundance Channel will air it again.