Kneadful Things

Garanimals is back....yo!

Who didn't love Garanimals? They're back. Oh yeah! Gotta go get my cougar on! Literally.

Let's reward good grades with heart disease!

Yesterday morning, I was watching the local news channel and had to giggle to myself. There were back to back stories, not meant to correspond to one another, about children's eating habits

One story was The New England Journal of Medicine's study on the link between a high BMI in children and teens to a VAST increase in the incidence of heart disease as an adult. It's quite an eye-opening and scary study that has been getting mucho press.

The second story was how in Seminole Co, Florida, they are now rewarding good grades with HAPPY MEALS! OH YEAH BABY! If you get an A, you also get a healthy helping of Trans-Fat and blood pressure shaking sodium. And this is the "replacement" reward to the Pizza Hut prize that was formerly awarded.

How is it possible, in this day and age, can we do this to our children? How do people possibly see this as a GOOD IDEA?!?! I am baffled.

On another, lighter, note, many people, (presumably fans of "Jon and Kate plus 8") keep asking me a strange question. They ask if I think it will bother me if my son doesn't look like me. The answer is no. I understand that my baby will probably look somewhere between nothing like me and not resembling me at all. If it were to bother me, I would have married a Caucasian guy. But I am often tempted to be snarky in my response to them with something like, "Are you just jealous, because you think he will be cuter than your child?" But I don't say that. I just smile and say, "You know, I don't really mind". I am often amazed at my ability to be polite. I had no idea when I got pregnant, just how much unsolicited advice you receive, or the strangely rude comments people make. It's quite odd how people just feel the need to do this when they find out you are expecting....Huh. Eh, what are you going to do?

Prince is a Poo Poo head, People should be nicer.

Why in heavens name does Prince care whether or not a 2 year old dances to his music on YouTube? The audio was barely audible and the munchkin was having a good time. What a putz. Maybe Mnpls, has frozen his sense of good times....But that doesn't seem to be the case for everyone. So why him? Though, this is also the guy that bore a "slave" sign on his cheek. Blegh. People should be nicer.

On a completely unrelated note. My son, currently in utero, I am fairly sure, very much likes chocolate. Whenever I eat the stuff, my stomach looks like the scene in "Alien" before the alien punches through the skin. He is definitely the product of Tim and I. Both consummate chocoholics.....mmmm...

Chocolate Sopapilla-Crepe from Chiles and Chocolate in Brooklyn.....The highlight of the entire meal. The rest was just "so so" and the service was terrible....but oh, this dessert. Not too sweet, not too bitter, creamy, dark chocolate with bananas, just perfect.

Everything 4 Coffee and Tea Fest, Brooklyn Bastille Day, Naidre's, Denino's

Man o Man I did a lot today, including just surviving the 90+ degree heat. First, I went to the Everything Coffee and Tea Festival at the Metropolitan Pavilion. It was a festival geared toward the consumer as much as the purveyor. The space is nice and was laid out well, but unfortunately a few of the companies sent representatives that were very new to the products and did not know them very well.  My biggest gripe? A lot of these people had no idea whether or not their products were "fair trade certified" or if 3 year old children were working for three cents an hour with no bathroom breaks. But there were a few major exceptions, for one Fair-trade NYC was there to educate the public on benefits and necessity of fair trade and social responsibility.

As you enter, the first booth you came across was that of Toki, a store in the Palisades Center Mall that sells tea supplies and tea. They had many beautiful tea sets on display, as well at various teas for sample and sale. They also hosted a tea ceremony complete with shamisen players and a master geisha. It was quite beautiful and elegant. Made me rent "memoirs of a geisha" when I got home.

The woman in the glasses is the master.

The owner's 5 year old.

The owner's 6 year old.

After that booth I saw something that intrigued me. A healthy tea geared toward children called "Captain Teao's Tea for kids" Their goal is to market a tasty, herbal tea to kids as a replacement for more sugary beverages. This would be ideal if they weren't just organic, but organic and fair trade certified. Is it not our responsibility to not only teach our children to be healthy and respect the environment AS WELL as respecting the PEOPLE who tend to our foods? (Aside of that, their mascot "captain teao" had to be 50.)

Then on to something EXTREMELY tasty. Gourmet, hand-dipped, chocolate covered pretzels by Jill at Fretzels. We chose the cappuccino flavor made especially for the festival that was OUT OF THIS WORLD GOOD!!! They must be TRIPLE dipped with the sheer amount of chocolatey goodness mounded on those twisted tasties. It was milk and white chocolate and coffee and salty and sweet and TASTE-TASTIC. I HIGHLY recommend you head on over to her site and order yourselves this decadent treat or give it as a gift. Remember, everything in moderation, but don't deprive yourself or you will feel just that; deprived. She has MANY other flavors to choose from and MANY varieties of gifts to choose from. One word to describe this luscious treat....wow.

After downing a glass of iced "genius" tea, (a white tea blended with mint and plums) from Tavalon, we found a particularly yummy brand of coffee based marinades and seasonings, Keuka Lake Coffee Roasters has an extensive line of rubs, marinades, and sauces. Tim and I purchased and tried the poultry rub and the fruit rub, yes, fruit rub. They aren't overwhelmingly "coffee-y" they just give a hint of java goodness to your chicken or steak or in my case, yams and zucchini.

There was also a few more mentionables, Jalima Coffee, a new company with an expanding product line of delicious, socially responsible coffees. Dean's Beans, one of the oldest fair-trade companies around with a large line of quality coffee and products. I fear that this show was not well advertised and that the wholesalers were disappointed. There's always next year.

After the show, Tim and I headed to the Brooklyn Bastille Day festival on Smith St. It was a smallish festival full of people playing french bocce and drinking wine in 90+ degree heat. Oddly enough though, the loudest music wasn't french at all, but Spanish, and coming from Coco Roco. I was really expecting more champagne and crepes. My husband had paella,,,,,french? I don't quite think so.

We left this fair rather quickly, (crowded, hot, and not at all impressive) and headed to Naidre's to cool off with some iced tea (yes, I know, we can't get enough of this stuff) and a sandwich. It was whole grain bread with hummus, cheddar cheese, lettuce, tomato, and chipotle dressing served with a side salad with balsamic vinaigrette. It was just what the doctor ordered on such a hot day.

And now, I am super ticked off at my husband, because yesterday we went to my favorite pizza shop in the WORLD, Denino's on Staten Island. Tonight, we were eating the remains and he THREW MY FAVORITE PART, THE CRUST, TO THE DOG BY "ACCIDENT". He is now in the dog house himself.

The perfect pie, half garbage, half veggie.

They are known for their "garbage" pie, which is meatballs, mushrooms, sausage, pepperoni, and onions. Mine was a TON of veggies with perfect sauce and DARN PERFECT crust.....I love Denino's. More than words can say. You need to go to Staten Island to try it! Need a partner? I'll DRIVE!

A wild Staten Island Turkey....no I am not joking, they hang out at the asylum....once again, no I am not kidding.