happy birthday, beer!

(via)

the canned kind, at least.

the first iterations of canned ale came out 76 years ago today. those little fuckers look tough to get into - eager dipsomaniacs had to punch holes in the top of their tins with church-key openers. what friends we have in pull-tabs, wide-mouths and keg cans!

gonna get me summa this to celebrate.

Drinking Country

This weekend I plan to take full advantage of the strange ratio illustrated by the infographic at left.

...and afterwards, if I know what's good for me, I'll heed these hangover cures outlined by the late, great Kingsley Amis.

Happy weekend!

Locks of Love

Stay long enough in one of the neighborhood bars and you're sure to meet the Tamale Man. Dressed only in a red hoodie despite near-blizzard conditions, the Tamale Man makes his rounds every night plying hot, fresh tamales and salsa verde out of red lunch coolers. The transaction is simple - $5 buys six, your choice chicken or pork. Six is a brilliant quantity of tamale, too many for one person to eat alone but absolutely perfect for two. At the right time of night, even a Ziploc bag full of tamales can be an aphrodisiac as couples lean drunkenly, giddily, over their new-found treasure troves.

If you hate robot unicorns, Lisa Frank, dolphins or flash games, do not click this link.

I for one welcome our microbial overlords.

Heart...melting...kids singing Phoenix...too...cute....

Soothing Japanese website will teach ironing skill, drip coffee skill, party magic skill & more.

Image:  Lovers' locks chained to a bridge in China.

food-heavy friday

Walking into Selfreliance Ukranian Credit Union is like entering a cafe in a foreign country. The room is thick with conversation but none of the words make sense. The seats in the lobby are all taken; you find the nearest pillar and lean against it in a way you hope looks nonchalant. You count heads, try to figure out your place in line, until you realize that none of the elderly Ukranian men and women are there to do banking. This is their gathering place, these hard-backed chairs their soapboxes. Everything here is being fiercely debated, bony wrists flying in wild gesticulation, veined hands flapping like birds about to take off.

“All told, farmed animals in the United States produce . . . roughly 87,000 pounds of shit per second.” A review of Jonathan Safran Foer's latest book.

Twenty-four secret restaurant menus. Ordering fast food will never be the same.

What makes a good teacher? Getting kids to pay attention to you, mostly.

So far, Chicago's finest craft beer establishment ain't got nothin' on Monk's.

Image: Yesterday Ben and I got a new mattress! It was like sleeping on a raft made of sky. I'm pretty sure this bed will change my life.

backbackbackback

I feared for the fate of this little Internet Thing today. Started my new job (!!!) and didn't know if I'd get around to it. Luckily the gig's only part-time, even if it took the better part of the day getting myself across town.

A delightful, insightful, thoroughly maddening article by Francine Prose on women and religion.

My challenge to you this month: take at least one photo for this project. I'll do it too and we'll all meet up back here to share.

This outfit makes me wish I had a gorgeous navy trenchcoat for spring.

A delicious vegetarian quiche recipe for your Meatless Monday.

Image: Happy Baba Marta Day to all our Bulgarian readers!

New & Improved

I changed templates and layouts. You like what you see?

We finally got our rabbit ears last night and settled down catch up on the Winter Games. Finding this article about sibling ice skating partners got me thinking about how uncomfortable that sport is, especially when juxtaposed with this article about the 100,000 condoms used in the Olympic Village each year.

Taco Tuesday!

"You fall in love with worrying—with not knowing what the hell is going to happen. And the movie never tells you everything’s okay...You can feel Woody Allen shrugging at you in this film, because he doesn’t know either. He makes not knowing, and the worry that comes with that abyss, something oddly beautiful."

 How old words become new again.

Image: Hip-hop-anonymous.

The Smoking Stovetop: Peanut Sesame Noodles

One thing I discovered last year about living alone: it sucks. Especially when it comes to cooking. There are no good recipes for one, so you're knee-deep in leftovers every time you open the fridge.

I hate leftovers. I can never make myself eat them in time. So instead of fresh ingredients and healthy bag lunches, I was confronted by shelves upon shelves of old, moldy crap every time I went to the fridge

It was kind of cool, I guess. In a middle school science fair sort of way. It turns out that even onions grow mold if you leave them alone long enough!

One thing I'm excited about since moving in with two new roomies is cooking for them. Since I live with boys, I won't ever have to worry about leftovers again. The refrigerator is a magic box: you put something in, open the door a few hours later and *poof*! It's disappeared! Magic, I tell you!

For last night's meal, I did an adaptation of a recipe from Smitten Kitchen. I'd have pictures, but I forgot to bring my cord to work. You'll have to take my word that these peanut sesame noodles tasted bomb and looked even better.

My recipe:

For the dressing:

1/2 cup crunchy peanut butter
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup warm water
1 tablespoon chopped peeled fresh ginger
1 medium garlic clove, chopped
1 tablespoon black vinegar

1 tablespoon white wine

1 1/2 tablespoons Asian toasted sesame oil
1 tablespoon honey
1 heaping teaspoon Sriracha

For the noodles:

1 lb dried soba noodles
4 scallions, thinly sliced
1 red bell pepper, cut into 1/8-inch-thick strips
1 yellow bell pepper, cut into 1/8-inch-thick strips
Half a seedless cucumber, thinly sliced
1 package firm tofu, pressed and crumbled
3 tablespoons sesame seeds, toasted

Whisk dressing ingredients in a large bowl until smooth - ish.

Cook pasta in a 6- to 8-quart pot of boiling salted water until tender, about 7 minutes. Drain in a colander, then rinse well under cold water.

Add pasta, scallions, bell peppers, cucumber and tofu to dressing, tossing to combine. Garnish with toasted sesame seeds and serve immediately.

I've never cooked with tofu before and this was an easy introduction. Luckily I'd heard somewhere that tofu needed to be pressed before using to make sure it takes on the flavors of the marinade. Otherwise we would've been looking at one soggy dinner.

Hunting Saison

I don't care if Beer Advocate gave it a B-. It's local beer in my favorite style and I'm going to have a taste, goddammit!

Me and B and whoever wants to join will be at Southwark tonight for the release of this tasty-looking brew.