Soba and Nine Courses

Soba Made by Hand. It sort of rhymes with Castles Made of Sand, a song by Jimmy Hendrix. This is the one I like best. Duck in the hot dipping sauce "tsuyu"... the soba was amazing. It's great when you can taste the freshness, and the green onion which are those huge chunks, were actually quite sweet. Ate this at a spot in Saitama. It's pointless to even guide you there. It's about an hour north of Tokyo in a tiny spot that I'd never be able to find. You can get this at most soba spots that have variety, but not with fresh noodles.

Dinner time was another story. Sumireya is an amazing spot. I didn't shoot another city scape but it's on floor 42. The elevator gets you up in 5 seconds, literally. This, above is sort of like an appetizer, but it ends up being, that the entire meal was like many appetizers. I think I liked the seasoned squid on the bottom left. The scallop in the cup was good and the tiny green vegetables were seasoned with ume. They were crispy. The shrimp was a sushi with I think potato under it, mashed. 

This sashimi will mess with you. The tuna was chu toro. That alone was amazing. Name the other two. 

Cold Chawanmushi, that had this super bony fish in it. I think it takes a special technique to cut it and rid the bones. That's uni on top. Great uni makes uni great. (how's that sentence?).

Tuna that's fried seared. Amazing, and it's not because it was fried.

This wasn't even mine, and it was good. Chicken. Cooked well.

With Mr Arai, we discussed pachinko futures and gangster business techniques.

Gelantinous seafood puck. This wasn't sweet, but every bite was a party in your mouth.

Sir Loin on fire. This was good. Perfect amount, if you got a 10 oz steak of this, you'd have passed out at 6 oz sporting a woodrow.

The rice is white but it had bits of fish. Was it Spanish Mackerel. Red dashi miso soup, the best kind, and pickles.

Dessert was a mousse cake, with fruit.

Shiodome City Center D4Tokyo 41F, 1-5-2 Higashishimbashi, Minato-ku, Tokyo

Here's a site for the four restaurants. I guess I'll have to try the other three. One's a bar. Here's the big site.

Hot Doug's hot dogs Part 2

Hot Doug Part 2 - it doesn't stop. The food in Chicago is pretty good. I've written about Hot Doug's before, which is perhaps the best dog place around. It's open only during the day, and it's right by the folks at Midway who makes the Chow Yun Fat video game. Eat dog seems be well crafted. The above two are the veggie dogs, and maybe some of the folks who read this blog can tell me what the heck the bottom one is. I forgot. I added the image above, and that's Hot Doug himself. I sneaked photos of him before, but this time I asked, and look at that smile. If you're in the business of making great food, and making people happy, I hope you can smile like this man can. He's always there working. When he's out, the spot might be closed. 

Rumor has it, that Hot Doug is a culinary student of sorts, and went through the rigors of being at high end restaurants, and now makes the best dogs he can. That's really cool.

This is the Dave Kingman. I do remember Mr Kingman, who hit a ball in the Astrodome that went so high, it didn't come down. The Chicken sausage dog is the Dave Kingman. I got it Italian style, which has those special herbs that mama would put in the sauce. 

The technique of opening this dog is a bit freaky. If you hit Chicago, you should check this place out.

Here's my last post about Hot Doug's.

Smoque in Chicago

Baby back Ribs. If you think of that Chili's song, that's a heartbreaker and maybe a dealbreaker. Refrain please. Instead, grab a pile of wetnaps, get your all you can handle Fanta Orange and get ready to rumble. These are the St Louis style, and the ribs break apart easily, and the flavor is both juicy and meaty with a bounty of taste. It's not heavy on the sauce when it shows up, and their BBQ sauce works great on everything including fries. See the forks? You don't need them for the main features.

 
Brisket sandwich. The bread alone works with the sauce. It's sort of like eating Unagi, you can put the sauce on anything, and it'll taste good. But the brisket is tender and breaks down in your mouth. This a soft sandwich, and the thick bread isn't too heavy, and compliments the meat. I found myself pouring a tiny bit more of the BBQ sauce in. Does that meat look amazing? Even you vegans and veggies have to admit, this is looking good, right?

The sides aren't a joke here. The beans are a winner and sports a great sweet and smokey flavor that blows a can of Bush's to Uranus. Tiny bits of meat, tell me that it's probably made with the "shake" from the ribs and brisket giving that extra jab to tell you it's homegrown. The cole slaw might actually be a vegan dish. It's void of the typical mayo, but instead is in a dressing, so it's more like a mini salad. Vinegar, spices, and the onions make this work. I could have ate a bowl, and today, the following day, that's what I'll probably need to eat all day in the wake of this devastating to the body type of meal.

Smoque
3800 N Pulaski
(between Avondale Ave & Grace St)
Chicago, IL 60641
(773) 545-7427

Is summer here? Paletas have come

One of the tell tale signs that it's getting warmer and summer is on it's way is that the Paleta man appears. It's annual and I think today was the first day that he came back on the job. These dudes operate a business that patrols through neighborhoods in sort of an ice cream man role. I'm sure they get hassled, but hearing those bells on the handle make us run out to catch him when we can. Eventually they'll get near our office and ring the bell hoping that we'll pop out of the door in a few seconds.

Yeah watermelon. The seeds inside tell me this is real. You can make out the black dots. Yes, this is an Adidas ad too. The one above is a subliminal Fed Ex ad.

Golden Triangle Burmese in Whittier

Burmese food. The next frontier. Know any Burmese people? I'm sure you can't say you do. Recently watching Rambo 4, and seeing Stallone decimate an entire pack of Burmese soldiers in crude horrific form, made my hungry. What sounds like a messed up country if you do any reading, especially with the victor of an election, Aung San Suu Kyi, who should have been prime minister but instead the military stuck around in power. Pretty much sucks eh? Read the link on her name. This is pretty screwed up, and that makes it no wonder why Stallone chose to fuck with Burma. It's a country no one seems to care about, the military in power seem like dicks, and will they ever fight back? Will anyone stick up for them that you'll hear about? No. So with all this in mind, I made a trek to Whittier to try the Golden Triangle. I used to think that a Golden Triangle was a somosa or a won-ton, but no, it's pretty important. It's where opium is grown! Read the wiki. Also if you haven't seen the flick, see Protege, the film that our friend and fellow blogger Daniel Wu stars in.

So a restaurant name based on the region of opium production. Had to try it since I've heard nothing but good things about it.

That's fishcake, onion, and tomato curry. If you aren't sure what's Burmese vs Thai on this menu, many say (Burmese) next to it. *hint hint. The rice on the right looks like white rice, but it's not that simple, it's coconut white rice. It tastes great alone. The curry is great too, and has a juicy vibe.

This is a soup stew like item. It's Catfish "chowder." You put the noodles, egg, and assorted "stuff" into a bowl, and you ladle the soup like stew over it. The proprietor walked by and noticed my bowl and said that I should put more on top. I might try something different next time instead of this dish. It wasn't bad at all, but this one is the weakest of the three.

The winner. Ginger salad. Everyone says this is great, and yes it is. It's potent in smell. I think it's fish sauce that gives it a kicker. You might not want to get near people after, it'll make your breathe rock. But this is a must. Most dishes are in the $8 range.

Read about them in Yelp and it's a place that my homey with a palate, LA Weekly writer, Jonathan Gold likes to frequent. One last thing, I notice that Stallone didn't stop and eat once in the film, and if he tried the Burmese food, I'm sure he would have slowed down the hate, ate a little, and had a better time liberating people.

Isn't that right, Ms Lieu?

7011 Greenleaf Ave
Whittier, CA 90602
(562) 945-6778

Got Ganked. Mystery meet ID help?

Today I was eating chicken tacos and our order from Tacos LaFlama had a box of three extra tacos in it. Martin told Brian who's helping in the office that it's tripe! Brian walked in and said, guess what? We got bonus free Tri-tip tacos. I was thinking awesome, Tri-tip... Then on closer inspection, this was entirely something else. I ate one, and now a couple hours later, I'm feeling something in my stomach. What is this? We've come to a conclusion that it's either brain, definitely not tongue, cabesa (head) meat? It didn't stink like liver and they don't have that on their menu... it was soft, so that rules out tongue. It wasn't smelly or anything... so I'm not quite sure. It's a bit on the spongy side. Any clue?

Pho 99

Westside pho? Yes, it does exist. Some people go to Le Saigon or Phoreign, but I think one place does pho closer to how it's supposed to be done by leaps and bounds compared to the other two. It's tucked away near Baja Buds, and pretty much hidden by a Chinese buffet spot, it's Pho 99. They have everything. It's a one stop shop of all that is Vietnamese, which makes it generic, but it's also the westside of LA where this stuff shouldn't even exist. The pho shown above is medium size and is 6.95. High for pho, I know, but it's pho nonetheless. Is it kick ass like what you get, when you hit the south bay? No, but see the tripe? Their everything pho is pretty good, and with the basil, lime, and beansprouts, it's like how it's supposed to be. You even have to pay at the counter. That's OG.

11819 Wilshire Blvd
Suite 106B
West Los Angeles, CA 90025
(310) 312-7881

Young Dong / Explosions in the Sky

Yung Dong restaurant serves a slow cooked beef soup. As Jonathan Gold said, "pho is the best one" but this one is pretty good too. The name alone elicits great laughs, so it was a must try. The deal is, it's a Korean soup spot and the waitress walks up and says something like "first time?" We answer yes, and it's practically a nod of disapproval. She seems keen on explaining what were in for as if maybe we don't want to be there. The soup comes flavorless and it's your job to add salt, pepper, chilis, and kimchi style juice to make the soup better. I got oxtail soup and the waitress said good choice. The banchan, is basically kimchi, and it's actually good because you get the radish type along with the cabbage. The green onion, I have no idea what to do with. They give you scissors to cut it down to bite size pieces. The oxtail is great, the sauce you get is tasty, and it's a good call. But, I still think Soontofu will beat this.

3828 Wilshire Blvd Los Angeles, CA, 90010 (213) 386-3729

We got a tutorial from the waitress. See the sauce container with the chilis in it? That big vat of green onions is to put into the soup when it's hot. The banchan comes in that metal container. See that tea kettle? It's filled with kimchee juice.

Explosions in the Sky is the best band of the moment. They don't have vocals, but they do rock the Friday Night Lights music. I don't know how long people will love them when they don't sing songs, but I hope it's a while. Live, these dudes rock harder than you'd think. The rad thing about them playing at the Wiltern is the pre or post Korean food.

Donutman

We do a perfect day in Giant Robot mag, and one thing is we've never done one ourselves, so if I were to have a way to start off a perfect day, it might be with the Donut Man during strawberry or peach season. Don't miss strawberry season, it's going on now.

gr/eats Valentines Day Special Box

Iphone pics might not give this enough props... the salmon was sooo good. Although I know that gr/eats can get trampled in the mix of the many restaurants in the area, I swear it's good food, and for the regulars who come in because they know it's a pretty solid choice, I'm glad they're conscious of it all. gr/eats isn't supposed to change the world, it's just supposed to be part of the bigger picture.

The sashimi works too. That wasabi stings powerfully. The lotus root in the middle rocks.

Almond pudding dessert. A nice touch.

Donutman I hear you calling.

Strawberry season is in, and the Donutman is doing the strawberry donuts once again. It's not a long season, so I suggest you get in there and taste some. Delicious of course. 24 hours a day, they claim they won't run out of them until the season is done. It's a far trek, Glendora to be exact. Donutman



I'll be making more treks out there I hope.

Food Show

That's a MIXTA. Mixed seafood over ceviche on a tostada chip. $3.50. It comes from the truck parked on Rose. I've been talking a lot about the truck over many years, and I realized, that I think I've been going there for almost 20 years. How's that possible that a truck can show up nearly every day to serve people for that many years? Maybe it's the food.



Happy Chinese New Year. Or better yet, Happy New Year. The photo above that a bit soft focus are snow pea leaves, that's the best thing ever. Above that, Peking Duck. Love that name. Above that Phoenix Boutique dessert. All this is from the Phoenix Inn.



Portos. Cuban cafeteria! I don't have to get into the potato balls which is the first photo in this set. The rest are pastries that are filled with mostly meat. I had to have one of everything, but the tamale was no good.


Pho from Pho Hong Phat in the LBC. The broth is a bit more peppery than other pho shops I've been to lately. It's good.

Chosun

The new tradition, eat Korean food on Christmas. I guess we can always go to Chinese food. I even saw one of the strip mall 3 kinds and fried rice or chow mein places packed. Everyone goes Chinese. But how many go to Korean? My mother made a funny observation. Not everyone eats Korean food. But Koreans eat Korean food, but not Chinese food. So of course, Korean places will be open. Clever.

Hot Cakes

Made it to Hot Cakes today. I've driven by this bakery many times in the last three years and never stopped in. I actually never noticed Hot Cakes until fairly recently to be honest. The stretch of Centinela where this shop is at, is sort of slowly revitalizing. There's a comics and collectibles place on the corner, and B&B, the hardware store institution is always busy. Walking in, you see people working hard baking. They're making cakes of some sort, and of course what catches my eyes are the cupcakes. I'm not sure how hard it is to really mess up cupcakes, but then again, if you go to a market, they're terrible. These are handmade and the many choices with thick frostings are nice.

The painted chalkboard, and handwriting ads a nice touch. Even though this is big on the wall you hardly notice it since you're busy looking into the glass case.

These stare at you and it's hard to get just one or even two, you tend to want to buy a bunch of give to people. That's why cupcakes are cool.

Of course, cupcakes are sort of like snacks you might buy on a whim, and they definitely bring you back into nostalgia, as least in my lifetime. When I was little, I remember cupcakes were cool. I think that's where the idea of a Ding Dong and Twinkie came to be. The idea was the make small cakes. It's great that cupcakes are in now, and I do hope they never leave. A slice of cake is essentially the same thing, but are they really? Is a cupcake, that's handcrafted for one serving better? I actually think so. The care is worth supporting.

Hot Cakes
10-7 mon-sat, 10-4 sun.
4119 centinela near washington blvd
la, ca 90066
310-397-2324

Counter Culture

This is a shot of what we look like after a softball game. Maybe it's a little better today than recent games. We're now 1-9. That means 9 losses straight for us. We played decent defense, and kept pace with the game. No big blowout innings, it was a little up, a little down, and we came up a run short tonite. There were some stellar highlight reel type of plays. The dude wearing Adidas is Mike, he made two insane over the head catches that I was sure were home runs. He gets a late jump, but somehow stretches like a person at a finish line to make the play. It's Willie Mays shit. I swear, but twice. Take that Willie. At this point, I can only seek the rad moments of a game, since we've been losers almost this entire season. Single moments where something neat happens is all I can hold on to. A funny base running incident, a good throw, a dive-yet a miss, a great hard hit that yields nothing except for a lot of distance, and some positive vibes, that kind of stuff. The photo above captures the hesitancy after a game, where big dude Jason is waiting for anyone except for himself to make a suggestion on where to go eat. When we win, it's a definite, but when we lose, sometimes, we go straight home losers. So this season, we lose, and we usually go somewhere, but I know Jason is tired of saying, "Norms" or "Carrows" or "Dennys" so he waits for someone to make a move. If not, then he's on it. Bill, the homerun hitter tells it like it is, we are going to The Counter.

At The Counter, you can build your own burgers, there's a clipboard and you pick what you want, on it, from pineapple to salsa. Anything you want. The beef comes in three sizes, 1/3, 2/3, or 1 pound. It took longer to get a seat, but this was our last game before the holidays, so it was a send off from softball and the relationships from it in 2007, at least for some of us. The factions of new friends, old friends, and family will see each other, but some won't see any of us, so it's a "laters" until the first game in 08.

Above is the special Bloody Mary burger, which seems like an odd name for a fish burger. Some slaw, pieces of celery, a thick bread which differed from the burgers, a dark lettuce, adorned, the patty which was filled with spices that pretty much attack your taste buds in just the right ways. It's really good. Our group of 7 shared two orders of sweet potato fries and the onion strings. They open until 10, so once in a while, this can be our spot.

Cafe Tacuba

The name sounds undangerous and almost uncreative. What's a name like this all about? It turns out they're one of the more respected bands in Mexico. I figured, they were some crappy band who got lucky, but in the end, they're more akin to REM and many other bands, or something like that, which is alright with me. Check their site out here.

First off, you can't beat Julia Huang's bento. You don't even see the sashimi that's not included in this pic.

Lead singer of Tacuba. Look at their fans.

Borracho Y Loco

7.4.7

Transformers? No... 4th of July. Hope you had fun, I ate good is all I know.



That garden is awesome. Grapes are coming in, and the ones that are red are actually sweet and good. Winery?

Breakfast of Champions

Simpson's are out of control. Not much more to say, but this makes me hungry.



I wonder if Bruce Jenner, Kristi Yamaguchi, or Lance Armstrong would eat this?

Food in the East Coast

Stop 1. Lobster Rolls Part Deux - Seafood Haven Lobster rolls shrunk. It's still claw meat, but the chunks got smaller. Still tasty with the cheap roll it comes on, but that's what makes it work. No mayo, just Lobster and maybe butter. Since it's smaller, it was on to the other sides. Crab cake sandwich! Not bad. Soft, fishy tasting since it's real. Clam Cakes (one of their specialties) tasted better. Soft, big, with a tiny piece of clam in it. Not bad. Clam strips are good, but they're heavily fried almost like popcorn chicken. Seafood Haven is a nicer spot that Captain Zak's, and the menu seems bigger. I'm suggest Seafood Haven, but get the Lobster roll for the end of your meal.



Legal Seafood is a huge chain that you'd probably see advertised in an in flight plane magazine. Tasty and with everything you want in seafood, it's a good call. Of course Cioppino is a winner.

Julian's It'll always be there in PVD. But go there for brunch, it's works better than dinner. Dinner is good, but it takes a damn long time. But the best thing about it, it's where I met Jack Long's work.

Mystic Drawbridge Ice Cream This place has it all. It's a shop that's actually the last business right next to a working drawbridge. It's arguably on the bridge! The shop is in Mystic, CT as in Mystic Pizza, which is just down the street. In the last picture you can see the drawbridge actually up. When it's up at 40 past the hour, people have to wait about 15 minutes for it to come down, and the inviting ice cream is right there. They make their own, and they do it well.

In every big city in the US, there's nothing as cool as this. We're all so trapped with the rules of safety, distances that businesses can be from a bridge, and can a business be on a working draw bridge? Only in a small village town can something like this exist, and the ice cream even tastes better because of it. Too bad their t-shirts are in only ugly colors. Print it in black and you'll sell a bunch more.

gr/eats

I'm working at gr/eats once in a while to help out. Today, this dish came out from the kitchen and I had to take a photo. That's omelette rice and it made me hungry.

It's actually fun to work at gr/eats, if it's just a little, it feels pretty good, and I think I'm actually alright at it. I think I'm paying attention to every table almost at the same time. People need water, Ice-tea, lemonade, more napkins, their check, change, and so on. The idea is to beat them to their asking you for anything, as if you're not even there. It's not easy, and some people are wired for it, but most aren't.

That's Nelson running things in way back.

Daikoku Ramen Little Tokyo

The cloudy pork brothed ramen is taking root in Southern California. In Little Tokyo is yet another place doing it, called Daikoku. The soup broth isn't as strong as a place like Santouka, and has some pork pieces, green onion, a marinated egg, and slices of bamboo shoots. For a few extra dollars, you can get a side dish like fried rice, oyako don, tuna bowl, etc. The ramen portion is large, and the noodle are decent, and there's a wait to get in. The gritty: the bowl stuff isn't exciting, and the ramen is decent, but isn't up to the level of Santouka. You get more, but it's just under the level. But if you want tonkotsu style ramen, and you don't want it so strong, then this is a good place for you, but it's definitely watered down.



Daikoku Ramen
327 E. 1st St., Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 626-1680
11:00am to 1:00am (Mon-Sat)
12:00pm to 10:00pm(Sun)

Pinkberry in the LA Times. It's not good for them.

Is it, isn't it? Who cares? But for $5 or whatever high price it is, you're getting cold matter at Punkedberry. It's just cold shit, and I think shave ice is better. Common people, get off this fad, and get back to the basics. Taiwanese slush has been there for years and years, it was never a fad, and it's always been a lifestyle. Imagine, Hong Kong movie, Chinese food, Taiwanese slush, and smiles all around. Get back to what's right.


Pinkberry in culture clash

Regulators say its product doesn't qualify as frozen yogurt. For some devotees, that's OK.
By Kimi Yoshino, Times Staff Writer

But is Pinkberry really yogurt? (you have to have an acct - if not I posted it - find the Giant Robot quote)

That's the uncomfortable question swirling this week around the uber-trendy, Los Angeles-based chain that has attracted legions of calorie-counting, yoga mat-toting devotees and spawned a spate of imitators.

"Crackberry" addicts, prepare for your favorite dessert to take a licking from California Department of Food and Agriculture officials. Their answer:

Nogurt.

"You can't call a product frozen yogurt unless it's mixed off-site and delivered to the site as frozen yogurt," said Steve Lyle, a department spokesman.

Pinkberry executives concede that their product is made with a powder and mixed in-store. They say it includes plain yogurt, yet they wouldn't disclose what else goes into their refreshingly tart treat.

But a lawsuit might force them to take their secret recipe out of the deep freeze.

This week, a civil suit was filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court by L.A. resident Bryan Williams, 48, who contends that Pinkberry's powdered mix lacks the "good" bacteria cultures found in yogurt.

"For lack of a better word, it's just dessert," said Williams' attorney, Michael Amir. "We're just asking for them to … tell the public the truth."

Williams, a legal recruiter who lives in West Hollywood, could not be reached for comment, but Amir says his client is a health-conscious guy with no affiliation to any Pinkberry competitor.

Mary Glarum, another attorney for Williams, said: "We're not asking for punitive damages…. The goal is to just have them come clean about what they're doing so that people can make an informed decision when they buy the product."

But Pinkberry founders — who now have 15 California franchises and three in New York — say they are "under attack" by imitators. The suit, they say, is just the latest salvo from a slew of bitter rivals.

Pinkberry "is yogurt, absolutely 100%" vowed company President Young Lee, who said he's working with the state to resolve the concerns. "We are more frozen yogurt than other frozen yogurt."

Nevertheless, Pinkberry has removed written references to frozen yogurt from its website. A catchy jingle, though, still extols Pinkberry's fat-free, 25-calorie-per-ounce virtues: "Sorry ice cream, I'm dreaming of a different dessert. Pinkberry shaved ice and frozen yogurt. It doesn't feel like I'm cheating when I'm eating it, because it's healthy I feel better already."

If Lee is a little defensive, and protecting the recipe as if it's a state secret, it's because Pinkberry has caused its fair share of controversy since its first outlet opened in 2005, serving just two flavors: plain and green tea.

Within a year, the tiny West Hollywood shop was drawing 3,000 customers a day, most of them self-described Pinkberry addicts willing to risk parking tickets to stand in a line that snaked around the block. Neighbors wanted Pinkberry to move, but the city negotiated a compromise. Security guards and workers now help pick up litter and dissuade parking scofflaws.

Since then, 17 other stores have opened, and six more are coming in the next few weeks to Little Tokyo, Belmont Shore, Topanga Canyon, Beverly Hills, Lakewood and New York.

Competitors are vying for a piece of the success. Among the hatched frozen yogurt shops: Kiwiberry, Mr. Snowberry, Roseberry and Berri Good.

As a Pinkberry buzz has built, skeptics have questioned what's in it and whether it's as low-cal as it claims.

One customer said the hype reminded her of a famous "Seinfeld" episode in which Jerry and Elaine gain weight eating loads of "nonfat" yogurt. They finally test the yogurt only to discover that it's not really fat-free.

"I hope that episode wasn't foreshadowing Pinkberry's ending," one Angeleno wrote on the Giantrobot.com blog.

On Wednesday, Sandy Hsu, 26, a tourist from New Jersey, trekked to the Pinkberry store in Koreatown after a friend e-mailed her a photo of Paris Hilton spooning up the treat.

Hsu didn't seem to care what was in the icy concoction, but said it didn't live up to the hype: "It's not super good like I think I'd come back."

Regulars, though, said they were hooked.

"It just tastes good, and I'm not a frozen yogurt connoisseur by any means," said 19-year-old USC student Andrew Wilson.

Austin Cho, 27, agreed: "If it tastes like yogurt, I don't really care. Just as long as it's healthy."

He paused, peering into his frozen snack: "Is it healthy?"




It was a quote from Saelee, a Pinkberry eater.

Cinco!

Yo still have time... a bit of time. gr/eats rocks May 5th. Yes, darn good.

Fruit Snacks

Lost a softball game. Not that big of a deal, but 9-6... not enough hitting from us, and the other team earned most of their runs with hits and so forth. Sure, we had a few blunders, but so did they... but it's the hitting, I have a lot to say, but basically, it's frustrating. So what to do?

go to gr/eats and take part in the Cinco de Mayo celebration! Haha. Ate two tacos, a veggie taco, and a chicken taco, rice, beans, salsa, and guac and chips... Then I hit my favorite aisle in the supermarket.

Tonka?! by Betty Crocker?! I imagine this is the fruit snack for the future tough kid. The ruler of the sandbox. The alpha child. He who handles tractors will get a fat ass, drink Bud, wear suspenders, may even marry a hottie who's hair style will remain 80's, and not shave.
Ram Tough, I say.

Build a Bear. Ah... for the kids who can't let go of that blanket. Ralphs makes this one... So the bear you make for yourself, because you shouldn't suck your thumb, not crap or piss in your pants, and that old dirty baby blanket, you stuff all that in the bear, so you can feel secure. Everyone is special, you're special, you're a winner too! Not. (Wow I'm still mad from softball)

Avatar - ah trying to capitalize on the "Asian is cool" thing... Nickelodeon cartoons. At first glance, I thought it said Avatar The Last Hairdresser. Damn. They really blew it, my idea is better. The kids who gets this are Otaku wannabes. Contrary to the Asians nerd is now cool. If this is your choice, you're a loner with a boner. "Alright! Avatar fruit snacks!" Schwwwing!!!

LEGO®
Classic. These don't really connect, but basically, you get a 2x2 piece, which is pretty cool. The big logo is comforting. Who gets this? This is for the crafty, thinking, building type. Work with your hands, make something, change the world, think spacially, think systems, just think.
My only criticisms, where's the regular colors? White (yes coconut flavor!), Purple?! That's not a common color! Black! Make Black. Licorice! Wrong shade of green for sure. Orange? Eh.. I'll give you a pass on that, but what about Grey?! What flavor is grey?

So what did I opt for? The one that was on sale. Regular plain fruit snacks. No style, just the one that was suggested to me by Pond Crosser. It's generic.

31 flavors for .31 cents

Saw the special online... 31 flavors Baskin Robbins for a .31 a scoop, .62 for a double! I'm not dairy compliant, so it's a tough one for me. But sorbet, sherbet (sort of)... I can have it.



The line was long. Standing in front of me... I thought about a scoop of ice cream as I peered over the bright scalp to the front door. Martin and Wendy waited in the long line, that moved pretty fast. Ice cream makes people happy. I'm going to wait until everyone leaves to eat the scoop of chocolate peanut butter.

Favorite Aisle in the Market

Super Markets can be huge food emporiums. We take them for granted unless a major disaster happens, and all of a sudden people flock for bottles of water and canned goods. Some of us have different names for them. It's the market, the store, grocery store, or it's a proper name, Albertson's, Ralph's, Von's, Jon's (with a silent J), Safeway, Kroeger's, Meijer etc.

When I go, I realize, I start off in produce, fruits, vegetables, then it's off to the wanna be healthy area, then it's to the Vitamin water and juice area, I might get sparkling water... Then I check out the meat area, then I bypass all of the frozen, and I check out the canned area, if I want anything, if not, then it's to the last aisle, cereals and fruit snacks. Of course, the fruit snack part isn't heavily marketed as it's own section. But it's a great one.


The variety is kick ass. Movie tie-ins, Fruit by Foot, fruit snacks, plain brands, Sponge Bob, Fruit Gushers, and so much more.


Today was Hello Kitty's day. Kellogg's is rocking Hello Kitty in the fruit snacks category. It wasn't on sale, so I didn't buy any. The best time to come is when the movie is gone and dead, on DVD already and forgetten, but lo and behold, the only thing keeping the film relavent is the fruit snacks. But when the market people catch on, it goes on sale to kill the item. That's when you have to swoop in and buy low, so you can eat high. No deals today, I got nothing.

Mr T Snickers

Nice commercials fellas... Mr T is back.<