Woof Dreams. 5 Dog Breeds I want.

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Life without a freezer. Sucks. 5 reasons why.

Gormsen Appliance.  Monday morning, they sent over a repairman in full coveralls with his name, Russ, written in neat cursive on his “suit.”  He arrived straight from 1950, and chatted me up as he replaced the thermostat, which had gone bad and caused the entire vent system to freeze over (I was on the right track with the hair dryer, just didn’t have the equipment to fix it).  Anyway, an hour later, the freezer was up and running, and three hours later, I was eating twice frozen ice cream with massive ice crystals in it.  Anyway…while we were thawed, here are the five things I missed most.

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1.Ice- The weirdest thing about Europe is their disdain for iced drinks.  I was in Berlin this summer, and ordered a coke at a movie theater.  It came in the same massive size that theaters in America have, only NO ICE.  And when I asked for ice, I was given a look of disgust instead.  Eventually, after minutes of explanation and barter, I managed to get 2 ice cubes for my 32 ounce soda, which melted almost immediately.  
When I moved to the beach this last year, I left a nice place with a nice kitchen.  And to this day I miss my dishwasher so much…however in my new place, my freezer has an automatic ice maker/dispenser.  This is the most valuable thing in my home.  Not having to bother filling and waiting for ice trays to freeze is worth millions to me.  So when I woke up cotton mouthed on Sunday morning and pushed my cup on the ice button, only to hear empty mechanical whining, I think I might have begun to cry.  I definitely became dehydrated over the ensuing hours, as I refuse to drink juices and water without ice.  Definitely the number one loss with regards to my thaw crisis.
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2. It’s Its- I must admit, the first time I tried these, it was around ALOT of hype.  And at first, I didn’t get it…the texture just didn’t work for me.  But I gave it another go, and another, and another, and now I AM HOOKED.  If you are not lucky enough to live in California and have access to these, its worth the trip by itself.  Vanilla ice cream, sandwiched between two oatmeal cookies, frozen in a chocolate shell.  Trust me…as I trusted others.  Incredible.
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3. Individually Wrapped Tyson Chicken Breasts- I get these at costco.  A wonderful product. Usually…chicken breast is expensive, easily freezer burned, and get frozen stuck together and it is difficult to thaw one out for an individual meal.  For 16 dollars at costco, you get a ridiculous amount of these things, each one in its own plastic packaging, airtight to prevent freezer burn issues and sticking together.  Without the freezer, its daily grocery store if I want to make chicken, and its not like I can buy 1 breast at Vons.
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4. Double Rainbow Ice Cream (vanilla). Okay…I know I already have an ice cream product on this list, but I eat a LOT of ice cream.  And since being introduced to this by a friend that I try to avoid admitting is correct at all times, I have given up Breyers (an old family favorite) for good.  This stuff, like the it’s it, comes from the Bay area.  Here in San Diego, we can get it in large sizes at the trader joes, though I am not sure if that is the same for the East Coast.  I particularly enjoy putting loads of Milo powder, or Ovaltine powder all over it, makes it kind of like a milo mcflurry, only with good ice cream.   There are few times when I don’t have this in my freezer.  It really is, simply the best there is.
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5. Frozen Roti Canai- Roti Canai really is the best tasting snack in the entire world.  Unfortunately, as someone who’s tried to learn from some of the best Kuala Lumpur Roti flippers, it is NOT easy to make.  99 Ranch sells frozen roti in packs of 5, for less than 2 dollars.  I generally eat them roti gula style, because I am not yet an ace with my curry.  Though sometimes I do hit up and indian restaurant for some dal, though it never really tastes like the dal from home.  I never have less than 5 packages in my freezer, which sucks, because when they thaw, the dough all sticks together and you are kind of screwed.  These do NOT refreeze well.  So off to Mira Mesa I am this week, to restock on roti.  
Lesson learned?  Maintain your freezer, and call Gormsen at the first sign of problems.
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Take Me Home, Country Roads. 5 things to know about my home state.

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Twas the night before the state of West Virginia validates itself as a solid component of Hillary’s remaining voter base.  That of course being white people who did not go to college (and are probably also racist and will end up voting Republican in the general election anyway).  Most of the Democratic voters are vestigal remnants from the days before Chuck Heston flew in to town and told them that the liberal sissies were going to take away their guns, force them to marry someone of the same sex, and then have free abortion clinics on every corner.  Unfortunately, many of the social stereotypes about West Virginia are based in some degree of truth.  And while its hard not to perceive some implied and outright criticism of West Virginians in my opening to this rant, I, like Bobby Huggins, truly do believe that the majority of folks from the mountain state are hardworking, genuine, reliable people that wave to you as they pass by, stop if you need a hand, and expect the same from their neighbors.  Unfortunately, the states economic troubles, rooted in fancy dressed folks from the Northeast   robbing the wealth from within the mountains from which the state draws its name and taking it back with them to Cape Cod, leave many of those great West Virginia folks without the infrastructure that affords them the opportunity to escape their stereotypes.  In fact, many of the West Virginians who do work hard to educate themselves end up heading to Charlotte, Washington DC, and Pittsburgh, following jobs that don’t exist in their own state.  But while it might not offer the best job opportunities for college graduates, or a metropolitan scene to support a younger population, there are some things about West Virginia you just can’t find anywhere else.  I’ll give you 5.
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1. The Pepperoni Roll- Arguably the most important offering the state has (and this is by all means a compliment to both the state and the food), the pepperoni roll is one of those mysteries of cuisine.  Why is In and Out Burger restricted to the west coast?  Why do bagels in New York taste so good, yet Mexican food there is so weak?  Why are east coast cheetos cheesy poofs entirely different than west coast cheetos cheesy poofs?  All mysteries.  Just is that of the limited dissemination of the Pepperoni Roll.  It’s so simple, a well prepared white roll, stuffed with two 2 to 3 pieces of stick pepperoni.  Soft on the outside, grease soaked on the inside, this snack is perfect hot or cold.  To me, it’s THE West Virginia food (many would argue that the “west virginia hot dog,” about which is an entire cookbook that I own, owns this distinction, but to me its just not as unique).  And yet, no one believes me…until I prepare a batch for them.  Unfortunately, mine never come out as good as those from the bakery’s surrounding the fairmont area in which I was born.  In fact, the pepperoni roll really loses its magic within an hours drive in any direction from that place.  In Charleston, where my father lives, you can buy them, but they aren’t the same.  In fact, anywhere else you think you’ve found one, don’t be fooled.  It’s probably only “like fairmont guts”.
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2. Bridge Day- 364 days out of the year it is illegal to jump off the western hemisphere’s largest steel arch bridge (1700′ steel arch).  However, once a year, hundreds of thousands of BASE jumping nuts descend upon the new river gorge valley and jump off The New River Gorge Bridge, which also happens to be the second highest bridge in the country (876′).  Bridge Day represents an interesting community of “part time” West Virginians that I hope will one day revitalize the states economy through promoting ecotourism.  While Bridge Day is the extreme of these extreme outdoor thrill seeker attractions in the state, the top notch mountains, white water rafting, forests, and fishing could serve as a selling point for the state, if it just did a better job managing and promoting it.  
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3. Sports fan devotion-  Look at this guy.  He just says it all.  West Virginians live for their sports teams.  Be it WVU or Marshall, the lack of a pro sports franchise in the state doesn’t stop mountain staters from being avid sports fans.  Quite the contrary.  I have more informed conversations regarding sports (of all kinds) when I am in West Virginia than anywhere else.  It might have something to do with the ridiculous amount of top tier athletes the state produces relative to its small size.  From Jerry West to Randy Moss, the state has produced more than its fair share of top athletes. In fact, Randy Moss and Jason Williams played on the high school basketball team(also with another teammate who played football at Notre Dame and eventually in the NFL) and did not win a state championship their senior season.  You can’t say the same about OJ Mayo’s Huntington High School team, which is arguably one of the best high school teams ever assembled, with Kentucky’s Patrick Patterson and Oklahoma’s Chris Early also from the team.  I would guess that their generation of kids from Huntington, WV (the small town where Marshall University is) probably is the most ridiculous concentration of talent to ever grace a small American town at once (when you also consider that Kansas State’s Bill Walker is also from the town.  Anyway…I can talk WV sports forever, but in an effort to finish this post I’ll end this number with OJ Mayo’s high school career ending dunk. (set to explosions in the sky by some talented youtube film maker).
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4. Senator Robert Byrd- To be honest, I really don’t know too much about Senator Byrd, except that he is really really really old.  This guy is the most tenured fella in the senate by quite some time, and he did get really upset at how mike vick treated dogs.  He was once in the Klan (a very uncool fact that might have some relevance to the opening paragraph of this entry, though probably not much), and has been in congress since Eisenhower was president.    He has done a lot for his oft-forgotten homestate, and I am convinced that if he ever does stop moving, West Virginians will continue to elect him.
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5. Top Quality Hip Hop- So after my first year in Malaysia in 1994, my older brother was kicked out of our house by my mom and stepfather, sentenced to a year of high school at South Charleston High School.  There he met Sam…who let’s you know about the rabble razzlers in this urban tour of the West Virginia hip hop scene.  Only in WV does a rapper cooking crack whilst holding a baby make it into a music video.
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