Which One's Cuter?

The devastating wildfires in Australia are pretty incomprehensible. So far there aren't many "feel good" stories coming out yet--it's just horrific. But this little story, and the accompanying picture, was just too sweet and heartbreaking to ignore.

Christian Bale Needs to be Kicked in the Nuts

I actually agree with the essence of Christian Bale's argument. (Click here if you haven't heard his crazy tirade yet. Turn the volume down if you're at work) He's trying to do his job, somehow someone keeps making that difficult to do, and his frustration boils over. I completely get that. All that being said, what an ass and what a blowhard for going so completely apeshit and not being able to calm yourself down. You're not curing cancer, you're playing John Conner, and you're totally replaceable. Wow, I feel strongly about this.

Mostly, though, I just want this t-shirt.

Ribs: Why Don't I Cook These More?

Is anyone else daunted by cuts of meat? No matter how many cooking shows I've watched, I just can't keep track of what's a butt roast or whether sirloin is better than prime rib or whatever. And forget ribs. Racks and baby backs and spare ribs, I just like to eat them.

But when Saveur told me I should consider making Chinese Spare Ribs for my Super Bowl eating pleasure...who was I to argue? I'm nothing if not good at following directions, and Saveur told me to get St. Louis style spare ribs, which I figured was far too specific for the Menifee Stater Brothers...but lo and behold, it was RIGHT ON THE TAG. WOW! Meat is fun! (Ha!) I don't know what makes them St. Louis style, by the way. Maybe they are the ribs of giant cardinals?

Mr. Butcher Man cut up the big ole rack into pieces for me, which I then marinated in sauces hoisin and soy, sugar, garlic, Chinese 5-Spice powder (which 5 spices? I don't know! A Chinese mystery!), probably some other stuff, and red food coloring. Then they sat in the oven for a really long time and turned into happiness.



We burned our fingers and ate them. The ribs, not the fingers. We ate these ribs BEFORE the red velvet cupcakes, but by the end of the night, every part of our mouths had red dye on it. Mmmmmmm....deadly red dye......

Dang it, Sprinkles Is Tasty.

Sprinkles are tasty? Whatever, they make a mean cupcake. And by they, I mean me, using their official "mix". I expected the cupcakes to be mediocre at best. Cake is cake, so it's hard for it to NOT be somewhat delicious, but I'm skeptical of these high-falutin' and trendy cupcake places, and have wondered if there is too much emphasis on style points, or wowing everyone with massive amounts of frosting, as opposed to a quality baked good. Are they worth the $3.25 a piece ($36 A DOZEN, PEOPLE) that they charge? Well, if you can't bake...maybe?

I was pleasantly surprised, I must say, and I wish I knew their flour to sugar to cocoa ratio. The cake wasn't overly dense like a lot of "homemade" recipes, and it was moist and chewy with a great tangy, sweet red velvet flavor. I think I forgot to mention they were red velvet. Their cream cheese frosting recipe was scrumptious as well, although I recently made cream cheese frosting from another recipe (thanks, J&D!) that used a bit of lemon juice instead of vanilla. Sooooo good, but that's for another time. Until then, enjoy this picture of the finished product, with the signature Sprinkles dot.

Instant Technology!

Best commercial this year.

Found it! Or: Food photography is not my strong suit...

I'm a little grossed out by this picture. I realize my mind is in the gutter, but I would imagine that a food stylist's biggest challenge is making sausages look less weiner-y. Also, making sure the mashed potato/ice cream doesn't melt.

Soup, There It Is

Brrr! Man, it's cold, as evidenced by the news, and by the gigantic icicle Lyla tore off of her house with her bare hands. I absolutely can't complain about the cold in San Diego when I see below freezing temperatures where my friends are. Who am I kidding, of course I can.

Since the mercury has been dipping into the 50's lately, that means it's soup weather in San Diego. Lately I have been really into the radio program The Splendid Table. I love listening to the podcasts which are hosted by the delightfully unsnobby yet super knowledgable Lynne Rossetto Kasper. She sounds like she's been smoking for far too long, but she speaks with a smile, and I like that. I also receive her weekly e-newsletter, Weeknight Kitchen. It usually only has one, maybe two recipes, but they are always simple and delicious and relatively doable on a weeknight.

May I recommend the Winter Squash Soup and Stout Batter Bread? The bread is suuuuper easy, and is the PERFECT way to use up the cans of Guinness I scored from a Ring party like 3 years ago, thinking Shane and I would work through them nice and easy. I kept waiting and waiting for Shane to drink them...then I finally threatened to throw them out...BLASPHEMY!! How dare I think to throw out good beer?!? And then this recipe landed in my Inbox. Victory! Dense, beer-y, moist, and yummy.

The soup is nice and yummy and easy as well. Actually, the hardest part is peeling and chopping the butternut squash, but thanks to thekitchn.com, there is an easier way than just going at it with a vegetable peeler. Don't leave out the heavy cream at the end, I know it's optional, but it's only a half cup, and it makes it so thick and creamy. Scrumdiddly.

Oh, you want the recipes? Well, for some reason I can't find them on the Splendid Table website (guess the lovefest is over...sigh...), but if you shoot me an e-mail or make a comment, I'll forward you the newsletter issue it came in.

The best part? WHERE THE HECK ARE THE PICTURES I TOOK??? I have no idea. I have been stumbling over these pictures for months now, waiting to write about this soup, and now I can't find them. Good gravy. So, I guess I'll just leave you with an oldie but a goodie: