Category: Food

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You know the routine. We can’t pass up a bizarre image without taking a photo and posting some sort of comment. Not even on vacations.

Alien Fresh Jerky SignThe drive to Las Vegas from southern California is simple: make your way to the 15, head north, and keep going until you get blinded by the neon. The ⅔ mark is Baker, CA, a small strip of restaurants, stores and gas stations in the middle of the desert, famous for the Bun Boy and the world’s tallest thermometer. Baker has something new: Alien Fresh Jerky.

We were staying at the South Coast Hotel and Casino, the latest megasino to open, which is a bit off the strip. At first I was a bit worried about finding the right exit. As it turns out, it’s the first giant hotel you’ll see as you approach Las Vegas from the south…about two miles before you actually have a chance to get off the freeway! (They have a free shuttle to the strip, though that had its own share of problems.) They put us in a room on the 24th floor, which had a great view of suburban South Las Vegas. Continue reading →

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There are some things that no self-respecting Something Positive reader wants to see, and this recipe is among them:

Choo Choo Sandwich Recipe

Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook (classic reissue)Poor Choo-Choo Bear! Disguising yourself as a pitcher is one thing, but being turned into a sandwich? Alas, such a sad, sad fate for everyone’s favorite amorphous kitty.

(At least the sandwich probably won’t be as pink as Slashdot’s OMG Ponies! theme.)

Source: the Better Homes & Gardens New Cook Book : (1953 Classic Edition), page 297.

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After our trip to the nursery this weekend, Katie started seriously looking at our existing plants. We have a mint plant that got so pot-bound it grew down, through the drainage holes at the base of the pot, and back up the outside of the pot. She decided to make cuttings out of those bits… but what to put them in?

Well, she’d just finished off a container of baking cocoa…

Mint cuttings in a Hershey's Cocoa container.

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  • You pour yourself orange juice, then very carefully put the carton back…in the cupboard.
  • You walk into the lunch room for coffee, but forget to bring your mug.
  • You momentarily forget how to make coffee.
  • You set up the coffee maker, but leave out a critical step like positioning the coffee pot.
  • You get the coffee, then forget to drink it.
  • You pour yourself a bowl of Wheat Thins.
  • You try to slice fruit into your cereal, but you do it over the sink instead of your bowl.
  • You pour yourself coffee, then immediately wash your mug and head for work.

Feel free to add to the list in the comments!

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I was preparing my latest favorite work-suitable drink a few minutes ago, and a drop of tea spilled over the side of the mug and ran down to the base. Naturally it immediately spread around the entire base, forming a ring on the desk. It was easily wiped up, but then I thought—why does it always spread around the entire base to form that unmistakable coffee ring?

It occurred to me that it might just be capillary action with the liquid flowing along the V-shaped channel formed by the table and the edge of the mug. Some googling did turn up the fact that ring-shaped coffee stains from single drops are caused by capillary flow: as the drop evaporates, it draws water from the inside.

But the instant ring from the mug? Either it’s something else, or it’s so obvious no one has throught it worth writing about.

Edit: *sigh* Read first, then post. I was just reminded that capillary action specifically refers to fluid moving against gravity. Any other thoughts?

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The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf has a drink they call a Moroccan Mint Latte. It’s a tea latte with chocolate. You can get a fairly good approximation by making hot chocolate using mint tea instead of hot water. Katie suggested Bigelow Plantation Mint (after I mentioned that I’d tried it with Stash Moroccan Mint), which seems to work well.

Update: I forgot to mention the key difference between the two varieties of tea that I tried. Black tea works better with chocolate than green tea.