Gluttonous jumbo 餃 child

I don't speak Japanese so thanks to Babel Fish I was able to find out that this man is in fact eating a gluttonous jumbo 餃 child. Translate it for yourself if you don't believe me: 大食い ジャンボ餃子.

餃 must therefore mean ____? Tasty?

Music Monday

I'm not sure if Tut-Tut invented the Music Monday but I am emulating her trend anyway. It's a great idea. Mondays are always so difficult when one is returning to the work week that something is needed to jump-start the system.

Ximena Sariñana was nominated for a Grammy in the Latin music category in 2008, and has, I think, a wonderful vocal style.




From her Grammy nominated Mediocre.





I love the way she works this song but the giant dork glasses are distracting.

Pepper and Eggs Friday

Here's a video that is unfortunately relevant these days when most people are broke and looking for ways to cut down on costs. This if from the series Great Depression cooking, hosted by 93 year old Clara, who shares with us recipes from her childhood during the great depression.



Pepper and egg sandwiches were popular on Fridays in my Chicago neighborhood when I was growing up, because many Catholic residents did not eat meat on Friday.


*The idea for this video was brazenly stolen from Margie and Edna's Basement (Stealing from the "elderly." I should be ashamed.)

Jolene Makes Baby Food Pate

Two things are clear from watching this video. First, Jolene should fire her agent because she should have had a book deal by now. Or at least a guest appearance on the Paula Dean Show. Jolene oozes star potential! And second, there is a suspicious looking shadow on the right side of her face that makes me wonder if there is something besides cookin' going on in that trailer. Jolene, I hope you are not becoming the Rihanna of the trainer park honey.

Now who wants to come over to my house for some baby food pate?

The Truth About Japanese Restaurants

The truth, finally confirmed, as two people talk while taped on hidden camera. I KNEW it! Nobody really eats raw fish.

Supperclub in San Fransisco

At this restaurant, you will handcuffed to the wall for behaving badly or not tipping well. So, if your boyfriend is a cheap loudmouth, you may want to drive yourself lest you be left to walk home while your date is shackled to the wall.

Monkey Waiters

A restaurant in Japan has added two monkeys to its wait staff. What do you think would be the biggest problem with having monkeys as waiters in a restaurant?

1) The repeated mysterious disappearance of the bananas from the Bananas Foster.

2) Staffing shortages during the Discovery Channel's Primate Week.

3) Cold entrees due to arriving at the table from the kitchen via the rafters.

Which would be the biggest plus with this concept?

1) Could probably get away with using a few shiny buttons for a tip.

2) They won't arrive to work tired because they were up late watching the Colbert Report.

3) Don't have to worry about your husband flirting with them.

Gorgeous Tiny Chicken Machine Show

Sprint just added several new TV channels to Sprint TV, available on my Q phone. I can now watch Comedy Central and CNN on a television screen the size of an ice cube! Isn't that great? I spent several hours last night checking out the new shows I will now be able to watch while sitting in traffic, or while wearing that paper napkin at the gynecologists office, waiting for the doctor to come into the room. My favorite by far is the Gorgeous Tiny Chicken Machine Show. I watched every episode available and am still giggling about Lick Poop. Then there is the Unicow..... which is not sounding funny to those of you who have not seen it I am guessing.

Well just watch. Let me know what you think.

New Jolene!

Jolene Sugarbaker of the famed Trailer Park Cooking Show, internet culinary sensation, and my favorite celebrity chef, has posted some new videos on her website. This one shows how to make peanut brittle in the office microwave. Anything besides burnt popcorn smell is an improvement I say.

Is it just me or does Jolene's bosom look a little larger in this video? Jolene, did you have a little work done honey?

Prison Themed Restaurant, Japan

Ingenious (or nutso, depending on how you look at it) Japanese restaurateurs have developed the prison themed dining experience. Customers are led to their cells in handcuffs, walking past a man in an electric chair, writhing in agony. This will of course whet your appetite because every time I see a man an in electric chair, the first thing that comes to my mind is pork with scallions, in a light sweet and sour sauce or a lovely chicken salad on a bed of fresh garden greens. The breadsticks are free but if you want a good shanking, that's extra. No word on any soap dropping problems in the bathroom. Regardless, I believe I'd just hold off on that.





This blog, Not Quite Nigela (and who is?) has some great photos of a different Japanese prison-themed restaurant.




Today's poll:

Will prison themed restaurants become a big hit (ha ha! no pun intended) in the United States?
1) yes

2) no

3) A restaurant where you are treated like an inmate, seated in a cramped cell like place, and made to pass by people writhing in pain before sitting at your table? Sounds like a Shoney's to me.

Force-Feeding in Mauritania

This video is absolutely shocking to me. I had no idea there was such an issue.

In this video, shot by Al Jazeera, girls in Mauritania are force fed to cause obesity as it brings on puberty earlier. There is also a perception that larger wives are treated better by their husbands. There is much denial in the country that the tradition is still being practiced but this video shows othewise.




Initially I was glad to find a country where we curvy women are considered "in." After watching the video, one can't help but be appalled that there is yet another archaic practice forcing women's and girl's bodies to conform to a societal standard. It confuses me that there is one country in Africa where some are force fed and so many others where people do not have enough to eat.

Of course, we Americans know that if Mauritanians want to be overweight, all they need is a McDonalds on every corner. No need to force feed when customers are lured in by the promise of fries and a cute toy in each happy meal. It's also quite interesting that there remain countries that have not been effected (yet) by the western idea of beauty. The end of the video suggests that this might be changing.

Trailer Park Cooking Show

Finally a celebrity chef I can relate to. Jolene Sugarbaker describes her style as "White trash with class." She is the purveyor of a cuisine that is much more attainable than that snooty Barefoot Contessa and her luncheons in the Hamptons. I like Jolene's personal sense of style and her quiet, understated use of cosmetics. I like that she pronounces tortilla correctly (tor-TILL-ya) and to heck with what anyone from Mexico or that has a Webster's dictionary might say.





Note to the Food Network: Enough with the painfully dull cooking shows and rigged Next Food Network Star "reality show". Y'all need to hire Jolene! That's a show I would watch.

Adventure Dining: Inedible

I saw this video on Malibu is Burning and just had to "borrow" it. Very creative video. Kaleidoscope pepper anyone?





You can see other creative PES videos here.

Ali Kali, Albania

The Ali Kali restaurant in Albania. The owner/waitor delivers the food on horseback and then puts on a show for customers.

Chattanooga Video

Finally. Someone appreciates our small city. Here is a video showing some of the rejuvenation efforts among the small business owners in Chattanooga and a look at our public spaces. Kinda creepy that this man takes covert photos of people though. I watched the video three times, concerned that there might be a shot of me somewhere, adjusting a wedgy.

Adventure Dining: Iran

Now this looks exotic! So colorful with tapestries and raised, pillowed, platform tables. Unfortunately the video is short and does not show much.

From the Youtube poster:

Inside of the Yord (Tent) restaurant outside of Shiraz. They had live music,
fresh-baked bread, amazing regional foods, and traditionally dressed people.The
Ghashghai are a Turkish nomadic group inside Iran.

Adventure Dining: China

With the upcoming Olympics in China, I am sure that we will be hearing a lot about all the grossiosities that are consumed in that country. Just search for video's of the famous Beijing night market, to see exactly what I am talking about. I think that pretty much every living creature and animal part is consumed there, in some form. We eat a lot of strange things in the US, but typically we are blissfully unaware as the product is labeled "hot dog" or canned spaghetti and "meat balls."

In this video Sheila shares her culinary experiences in China:

Ramen Lust

In Japan, ramen apparently is more than just something you can buy 6 for a dollar on sale when you are short on cash. YouTube user 46E2Q has 39 videos posted--all of Ramen. Other videos include the scientific study of Ramen.

Sure, this video is in Japanese, and you, like me, probably don't speak it, but just make something up: ...big, hot, steaming bowl..., ...so popular people line up around the block...., ...garlic. The secret is lots of garlic....

Japanese Maid Cafe

The cafe that started due to Manga mania, has now spread to several other Asian countries, and Mexico (according to Wikipedia). Now, in addition to the Maid Cafe, there is the Mother Cafe, featuring slightly older, motherly waitresses; the "Younger Sister" cafe; and the Butler Cafe:

Where Does Our eTrash Go? (off topic for Earth Day)

Ever since seeing that famous photo of the woman in China breaking a monitor with a hammer, exposing her to all sorts of toxins, I've wonder about where all our electronic trash goes. This excellent and eye-opening video from Current TV provides a look at this issue.

You can see other great videos on Current TV's website. Searching under only one keyword (China) resulted in several videos that I found interesting.