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Archives for Oct 2007

Marilyn Manson Cooks Up Spooky Cocktail

In a strange turn of celebrity brands, goth-rocker Marilyn Manson has jumped into the mix just in time for Halloween with his own brand of the beverage absinthe. The drink, which he’s dubbed Mansinthe, is available in Switzerland (not legal here yet) at Absinthe.de at 29 Euros or approximately $42.

A rep for the company producing the drink says that “Manson was intensely involved in the development, constantly tasting the samples, giving his opinion and providing suggestions for changes.”

Not only is the drink 66.6% alcohol, how many of you would actually drink something made by Manson?

Posted Oct 31, 2007 by themagster | 5 Comments | Share It

Filed under: absinthe celebrity halloween

Sushi Samba: 1st Restaurant in Second Life

I just received a press release stating that the first restaurant to enter the virtual world of Second Life will be none other than SUSHISAMBA, a mostly sushi partly samba (Brazillian influenced) chain born in NYC that is now making its way across the country with locations in Texas and the West Coast.

SUSHISAMBA originally gained popularity as their 7th Avenue location appeared on multiple episodes of Sex and the City during the height of the show's popularity. Typically busy and known for pushing the rope it isn't too far fetched to see them enter the Second Life world first in their genre, but is it really viable?

What do you make of virtual dining out? Virtual sake classes?

The official PR word:

SUSHISAMBA’s Second Life location will re-create highly successful promotions such as CosPlay, the weekly party at the Miami outpost where trendsetters dress up as characters from Japanese manga, anime, video games and movies. Visitors to the SUSHISAMBA island can also enjoy bespoke music compilations from renowned DJ’s who play at the restaurant’s six locations around the world. Special menus, such as those for Brazilian Independence Day, along with SUSHISAMBA’s signature Sushi + Sake 101 classes, will be on offer to visitors who pay Linden dollars to purchase goods online.

What do you make of this? Money well spent by SUSHISAMBA? A culinary trend that we will see expanded upon?

Posted Oct 30, 2007 by sarahisafoodie | 2 Comments | Share It

Martha's Halloween Doubletake

Martha has put together a double-sided magazine stock full of 150 "bad things" and 150 "good things" for her Halloween edition. It features Stewart in her good/bad costumes on either side and a slew of awesome recipes and decorating tips for the Halloween holiday.

I spent some time over the weekend testing out her recipes for my loyal kiddie neighbors who indulge me when I try to hone my culinary skills and the ones that I liked the best were the witch cupcakes (a little tricky to perfect but so cute and yummy) and from the good side, Orange Jack-o-Lanterns with sorbet. The Lanterns were pretty hard to execute perfectly but were light, refreshing, and tasty.

What are your plans for this Halloween season? If you need any recipe or decorating ideas, feel free to check out Martha's Halloween issue! 

I'd love to hear any suggestions that you have as I am always that person looking last minute for what to bring to the Halloween party and what to wear.

Look forward to hearing all of your awesome ideas! 

*sarahisafoodie 

 

 

 

Posted Oct 29, 2007 by sarahisafoodie | Add a comment | Share It

Favorite foods from your mama?

I have always believed that people got their food preferences from what they grew up eating, what people within their families and social circles eat, and with what the offerings are in the environment that surrounds them.

An example of this (and this is a total generalization) is that in my experience I've noticed that people who grow up in urban environments typically enjoy sushi whereas more rural eaters probably don't as much--because sushi is a recent trend that has taken place typically in more urban markets. Another possible example is that people who grow up in the south love BBQ more than their northern counterparts.

However, a new study says that this is not the case. This study has presented pretty compelling evidence that food preferences are hereditary and not reflective of social and environmental factors.

The study says that this is especially true with regards to three main items: garlic, coffee, and fruit and vegetables.

Interesting.

Check out the Food Navigator article on the study and tell me what you think.

 

 

Posted Oct 24, 2007 by sarahisafoodie | 5 Comments | Share It

Filed under: coffee fruit garlic vegetables

Yoga + Wine = Perfect Pairing?

I know that I am at my calmest during two specific times of day: my morning yoga class and my rooftop glass of wine post-workday in the seasons that allow it (by the fireplace in the seasons that don't). I don't know why a fusion of the two never occured to me before but as a foodie and a healthnut I couldn't be happier to read about this new trend of fusing wine with yoga.  

I am an avid reader of this life/body/spirit ezine Vital Juice Daily and today they sent me my daily dose of Juice that featured a blurb about this new national trend that blurs yoga with wine.

According to them, workshops that have a combo of the two are popping up everywhere from yoga studios to wineries to retreats and spas.

Do you want to figure out how the fusion works? Vital Juice recommends checking out the work of David Romanelli of Los Angeles' Yeah Dave Yoga, and Bliss Flow Yoga (out of Madison, Wisconsin)'s Angela Gargano. Together this duo tours the nation offering their blend of wine and zen.

Vital Juice also points out a few workshops currently taking place on both coasts:

Workshops are also taking place at SoCal's South Coast Winery Resort and Spa and Heathan Hill Yoga in upstate NY.

Have any of you heard of this trend? Tried it out? 

Posted Oct 23, 2007 by sarahisafoodie | 2 Comments | Share It

Filed under: yoga and wine

In The Raw

Feeling a little sluggish? It’s no surprise considering what so many of our processed foods pack into their packages. A growing number of people are swearing on a raw food diet that uses fresh fruits and veggies as its staples. Cooking food above 115 degrees farenheit destroys many of its best enzymes and anti-oxidants.
Supermodel and actress Carol Alt shares in her new book "The Raw 50" how to start a raw diet and keep with it, along with some recipe ideas.

She suggests you get in the habit of shopping for "raw staples" that will make your kitchen well stocked any time you want to whip up something. What’s on her list? Raw dairy products, water, kefir, salt, natural sweeteners, miso, flax seeds, fruits, oils, and raw preserves.

f you're not in the mood to "cook," check out PureRawCafe.com to order delicious raw meals delivered to your door, like the lasagna pictured.

From Carol Alt's Book, The Raw 50:
Red Beet Ravioli with Tarragon Goat Cheese
3 cups raw pine nuts
3⁄4 cup cold-pressed, extravirgin olive oil
2 whole lemons, zested, then peeled and quartered
1 medium shallot
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
2 teaspoons whole black peppercorns
1 garlic clove
3⁄4 cup purified water
Salt to taste
1 medium or 2 small red beets
3⁄4 cup fresh tarragon leaves
Cracked pepper to taste

Soak the pine nuts in enough purified water to cover them for 1 hour. Drain, put the pine nuts in a food processor, and add the olive oil, lemon quarters, shallot, and zest. Process for about 8 minutes until the mixture is well combined and clumps together. Pour half of this mixture into a blender and set the rest aside. Add the yeast and 1 teaspoon of the peppercorns to the mixture in the blender and blend on medium speed for 2 minutes, until thick and smooth. Transfer the “goat cheese” to a bowl and refrigerate, uncovered, for 1 hour.

Meanwhile, place the reserved pine nut mixture in the blender. Add the remaining teaspoon of peppercorns, the garlic, and the water, and blend on high speed for 1 minute, until smooth but quite liquid. Add the salt, and set the sauce aside.

Roughly chop the tarragon and fold 1/2 cup of the leaves into the cheese once the cheese has completely chilled. Add salt to taste.

Peel the beets and slice paper-thin. Lay out half of the slices on a clean surface. Spoon about 1 tablespoon of the cheese onto each slice, then top each with a second beet slice. Arrange on a baking sheet in a single layer, sprinkle with salt, then store in the refrigerator. To serve, pour the sauce onto a deep serving platter and arrange the ravioli on top. Sprinkle with the remaining 1/4 cup of tarragon leaves, and salt and cracked pepper.

Posted Oct 22, 2007 by themagster | 4 Comments | Share It

Filed under: health raw foodies recipes

Capers: Tasty Antioxidants?

Capers have often been the small (but amazingly tasty, in my humble opinion) addition common to many Mediterranean dishes. Now, on the heels of a compelling research study just published that was done in Italy, it appears as though the caper might be chocked full of antioxidants.

These researchers, whose work was published in Journal of Argicultural and Food Chemistry, said that capers were found to have a pretty significant antioxidant effect similar to that of Vitamin E. Should this prove to be viable, this is a great reason to start tossing capers into your everyday meal.

I originally stumbled across this study via a friend who found it on FoodNavigator. In their coverage of it, they highlight one part of the study specificially, that I found to be very interesting.

When the researchers added capers to ground-turkey they found that they helped "Prevent the formation of certain by-products of digested meat that have been linked by others to an increased risk of cancer and heart disease."

Has anyone else heard anything about this? This could end up being a powerful addition to a healthy culinary lifestyle. I'm going to be following this as it develops. Stay tuned...

Posted Oct 19, 2007 by sarahisafoodie | 1 Comment | Share It

Yummr Activity: Holiday Culinary Fun

The holiday always seem like the best time for expressing my innner foodie. I just LOVE all of the potential baking and basting and ultimately--eating! I just put up a new activity that just asks you to share your holiday favorites (recipe, dish, whatever gets you excited to get the season rolling!)

So take a moment and check out the activity, The Holiday Dish. I look forward to reading your favorites!

(ps--At left is pictured one of my favorites Black Current Pie which comes originally courtesy of Chef David Bull of the Driskill Hotel in Austin, Texas---Yumm!) 

*sarahisafoodie 

Posted Oct 17, 2007 by sarahisafoodie | Add a comment | Share It

Pinkberry Gets the Dough

Pinkberry locations have been spreading like wildfire in Southern California and here in NYC, with them popping up with their sherbert colored exteriors in many urban neighborhoods. So what exactly is going on with the yogurt expansion? According to an article in The New York Times, Pinkberry just received a whopping $27.5 million in VC funding backed by a Starbucks giant who has invested in the early stages of uber-successful companies such as Ebay, where he reportedly walked away with a cool $148 million return on his investment.

So TCBY, Coldstone, Tasti D Lite--these guys have been around for years, why is all of a sudden a new yogurt phenom taking the culinary scene by a storm? Granted, Pinkberry has a different positioning. It is known for sweet/sour simple flavors with fresh toppings, replacing gummi bears with granola, and canned nuts with blueberries. But it definitely isn't reinventing any wheel.

So my question is: where is there room for this in the already over-saturated market of 'fast' food offerings?

Most of us probably remember the love affair with yogurt we had in the late 1980's/early 1990's that ended in a tailspin bust. Will this new expansion end up in a bust as well, what do you think?

 

Posted Oct 16, 2007 by sarahisafoodie | 2 Comments | Share It

Kiddie Caffeine Habits

Starbucks is finally admitting that part of their target market may be the under 18-year old crowd, says an MSNBC article. Just a teensy bit. With teens crowding local Starbucks and children grasping for the milkshake like strawberry and vanilla bean Frappuccinos and the cookies in the display, it’s sort of hard to ignore that the coffee giant has become a staple in youth culture – and Starbucks is ready to admit that they’re going to cash in on that any way possible.

The company’s spokeman Brandon Bourman says "We need to be realistic about who comes into our stores, so if we have children who are coming into our stores that are on their own, we want to make sure that we have products that are appropriate to that age group."

The scary part is not just the teens getting a head start on a coffee addiction (when one teen was asked if his macchiato contained caffeine, he said he didn’t know), but the children that are recognizing the green Starbucks logo as easily as Disney or Chuck E. Cheese. One Starbucks in New York City refers to steamed milk as a "babyccino" and one mother says her 4 year old asks for a chai tea latte once a week (she of course obliges).

What do you think? Do we need to work on getting kiddies to kick the caffeine habit they’re starting to develop by steering them clear of coffee chains? Or should we offer non-coffee treats so that they have alternatives to choose from?

Posted Oct 15, 2007 by themagster | 1 Comment | Share It

Filed under: children coffee starbucks