A Slight Delay

You know the little warning stickers on pill bottles about taking the medication only on a full stomach? That goes double for Man Eat Food. Entry after entry will leave you either salivating, or listening to your growling stomach (or both). What I like about the blog is its catholic quality. This is clearly someone who loves to eat–no arguments from these quarters, certainly–and who, though he loves good food, isn’t a snob about it. It’s a nice antidote to some blogs I’ve seen written by self-proclaimed “foodies,” where the simple pleasure of a good meal gets lost amid the stuff calculated to impress the other foodies. Hold onto your napkins…

Okay, break time’s over (mine, anyway). A quick take on another tasty, addictive snack, this one from the good folks at Calbee. Well, I’m assuming they’re good, fine people. There’s nothing to indicate that they’re not. I don’t think that they use whales or baby seals in their snacks, so…

Where was I? Oh, yes. Their “Snapea Crisps.” Texture: think Cheez Doodles. The puffy kind, minus the annoying orange stuff that gets all over your fingers, and could easily substitute for a dye pack in your local bank (”Suspect was apprehended when he was spotted licking his fingers a block away from First National.”). Taste: Think peas. ‘Nuff said. If you like peas (lightly salted) and Cheez Doodles, this should be right up your alley. They also come in a Caesar flavor, which I haven’t tasted.

I’ve found a new obsession (and, unfortunately, can’t find a picture of the package). The brand name, or maybe the name of the product itself, is Nori Hineri Norisuke. For all the Japanese I know, that could well translate to “You’ll eat half the bag before you know it.”

The closest thing I could think to compare this to would be Rice Krispies, if they had grown to mutant size (i.e. something likely to be found in Godzilla’s cereal bowl), were crinkle cut, and were delicately seasoned with nori (seaweed) and wasabi. It’s an interesting taste… savory, with a hint of malt and just the right amount of heat (not so mild as to be an afterthought, but less wasabi than you’d find in wasabi peas). I do not, however, recommend putting them in milk, unless you’re an enormous green fire-breathing lizard with a phobia over high-tension wires, in which case you can go right ahead and do as you please.

Nothing beats fresh spices. The taste of a clove of crushed garlic, cilantro snipped right off the stem, or fresh-cut parsley (just try making tabouleh with parsley flakes) puts dried spices to shame. On the other hand, if you’re short on time, it can be a pain in the neck cutting, washing, snipping, et cetera.

Polaner–the same company that makes fruit preserves and whatnot–have done a nice job of bridging the gap between the produce section and those little jars of sad, dessicated horticulture. Most supermarkets will carry at least the garlic and basil (which, between them, put you well on your way to a good pesto), but oregano and jalapeño peppers are also out there. They’re relatively inexpensive, and while they’re not the same as going to your local farmer’s market they’re a good compromise, especially if you want fresh taste but you don’t have as much prep time as you’d like.

In lieu of writing an entry today, I’ve made an update to the site. Two pages–Links and Resources, and Quotes–have been added. Both pages will be updated from time to time, as the inspiration strikes.

Since the government seems to have realized, gradually and belatedly, that trying to scare the hell out of the populace with threats of terrorist attacks doesn’t have the same political effect that it used to, I’m thinking there’ll probably be a change in tactics for the ‘08 elections. With prices both of crude and of gasoline reaching all-time highs (and with gas prices here on the east coast projected to top $4.00/gallon in time for Memorial Day weekend), fuel prices have become a hot-button issue. My gut tells me we’ll see either some form of negotiated deal to drop prices, or a release from the strategic reserves, timed either for the Democratic convention, or some time around Labor Day weekend. I could be dead wrong here (lord knows it wouldn’t be the first time), but this administration has played politics with enough other issues that it wouldn’t take a hardened cynic to see the possibility.

The April 12-18 issue of The Economist has an intriguing special section on wireless telecomm that you can read here. The series’ premise—reduced to ridiculous simplicity—is that the technology has had an enormous impact on the way we live, work, write, and… do other things. While that’s not exactly a revelation, there’s something to be said for how it’s reported; you’ll find neither hand-wringing jeremiads or breathless praise. While the report finds much that’s praiseworthy in the world o’ wireless, there’s also some clear-sighted criticism and questioning of the technology, as well as the uses to which it’s being put. Especially worth reading (at least for people concerned with reading and writing) is the last segment, “Homo Mobilis.” There’s likely a longer blog post buried in there somewhere, but you’d do better to just read the original.

I remember walking down Park Avenue in East Rutherford one day years ago and wondering why, in the spring, one of the trees was a brilliant autumn orange. It stood out, even from several blocks away.

When I got closer, I found out why. Every available inch of the tree was covered with Monarch butterflies. The leaves and branches were a blaze of black and orange, and other butterflies swooped around the tree in lazy, graceful arcs. The sight of it stopped me dead in my tracks.

I felt for a second like some kinda suburban Moses standing in front of a burning (or winged) bush. Supposedly, Moses couldn’t look directly on the face of God. That fleeting moment was a reminder, though, that we unexpectedly–and sometimes obliquely–find ourselves face to face with God.

Rule of thumb: Food always tastes better when it’s shaped like something. Okay, maybe it’s just me, but I’ve always had a weak spot for shaped foods over their dull, geometric counterparts. For instance: Fritos used to make chips that were shaped like race cars. They tasted much better than the spiral Fritos, which, in turn, tasted better than the “traditional” ones. Animal crackers, gummy bears, Goldfish… Come to think of it, this needs to be put to a blind taste test.

Of course, there’re exceptions. The chicken nuggets at Burger King, for instance, are supposed to be shaped like crowns, but they look more like paws. Chicken ought not to have paws. This is an abomination against nature. So, for that matter, are Burger King’s Chicken Fries (I don’t want to know what part of the chicken they used to get that shape) or White Castle’s Chicken Rings (ditto–actually, that goes double, in this case).

After reading Chris Hedges’ I Don’t Believe in Atheists and Nicholson Baker’s Human Smoke (and Kurt Vonnegut’s Armageddon in Retrospect, which I’m reading now and will be taking up later this week), I seem to have pacifism on the brain lately. Something occurred to me: Pacifists, like generals, are always ready to fight the last war. Just the same as those who wage war need a degree of creativity and foresight to be effective, so too must the antiwar movement. It isn’t enough to do something because it worked in ‘68; we’re forty years on now, and the same old things aren’t going to be nearly as effective now as they were then.

Worst of all, it seems that so much of the antiwar movement is reactive rather than proactive. We seem to have waited ’til we were already well on the way to mobilization to try to sound the alarm, rather than realizing that the run-up to war, the war itself, and the means by which it’s conducted are all the product of a particular mindset. It seems to me that the odds of a good result would be higher if we’d address that mindset, rather than trying to change the tide this long after the fact.