Newman Endorses #2: Orange Tic Tacs

For this week's installment of "Newman Endorses," I am officially throwing my hat behind orange tic tacs. While, I assume the original business plan of the Tic Tac company was to produce a breath freshener - as well as a solid replacement for having loose change in your pocket - they failed miserably with the orange tic tac. Every other flavor of Tic Tac does a fairly decent job at freshening up your breath, the orange tic tac however, does not. Going on a date and just had a cup of coffee - an orange tic tac will be your least effective choice. On the other hand, if you're going on a date and your stomach is growling with hunger pains, a box of orange tic tacs will definitely do the trick! That's because orange tic tacs are delicious!

While we are on the topic of tic-tacs, there is one other quick bonus endorsement I would like to make: The first 3 seconds of a white tic tac. Yes, the white tic tac becomes a solid breath freshener, but for the first 3 seconds it is in your mouth it actually rivals the orange tic tac in terms of tastiness.

*By the way, I do understand this blog is eerily similar to my blog about cherry Luden's cough drops.

Pool Sports

Yesterday, I got invited, or more precisely Evited, to a friend's pool party. On the evite (which I I will always will respond "Maybe" to for the fact that I am given that option to postpone making any concrete decision, a feature lacking in the standard invitation-RSVP formula) it said there would be lots of food, drinks and a pool volleyball tournament.

I thought, "Hey! I like food! And, look at this - drinks! I enjoy drinks too! So far so good," then I got to pool volleyball. Pool volleyball?! I do not like pool volleyball. I like the pool, I like volleyball but I do not like pool volleyball (much like how I like Peanut Butter and I like taking a bath, but I don't like taking a bath with peanut butter.) I don't enjoy my sporting events when they feel as if I am playing them in a vat of molasses. And forget it, if you get put on the team that has to stand partially in the deep-end, then I am half playing, half trying not to die. I prefer my sports on land (except diving.)

Bacon Mayonnaise

Over the last year, bacon has become insanely popular, to the point where it has become overly-trendy to use. I don't like to seem like I follow these ideas just because everyone else does I don't do that stuff (You're jumping off a bridge! I can't wait!!!) but I do love to cook with bacon for another reason: It's delicious. So, I made something yesterday that you have to try - Bacon Mayonnaise. This is the mayonnaise angels would use if they weren't all vegetarians (read it on the internet.) I got the idea from the cookbook Fat: An Appreciation of a Misunderstood Ingredient by Jennifer McLagan.

Basically, you are making a mayonnaise but replacing whatever oil you normally use (I use grapeseed) with the fat that cooks off the bacon. The only thing that stinks/ROCKS! is you have to cook a decent amout of bacon (8-10 slices 0f normal fat bacon is what I used.) So, take an egg yolk, some lemon juice, little under a tablespoon of dijon mustard and salt and whisk it up in a bowl. Then SLOWLY add the bacon fat while really whisking (once it starts to emulsify you can start adding it quicker) until you get the desired consistency. I used it on some BLT's and they were insane!

First Installment of "Newman Endorses"

I think every week I am going to be doing a new installment on my blog called, "Newman Endorses." In it, I will name something I am currently interested in, excited about or just generally endorse. So, here is my first endorsement:

Newman Endorses: Those Little Half-Shopping Carts at Wegman's

These things are awesome for many reasons. First off, I rarely need to buy a full cart worth of food, yet at the same time, I am far too lazy to carry around a basket. Problem solved. Second, maneuverability. People in general forget how to walk when they go into the grocery store (this holds true to the mall as well) "Hey, I forgot to get the milk back there, let me just completely stop short, swing this gigantic metal cart/ankle-crusher around without looking!" With, the tiny cart accidents are reduced. The most common accident occurs at the end of the aisle when you are leaving the aisle and can't see if anyone is coming across, with the little cart you can peer out further thus significantly cutting down on this fender benders and the amount of dirty looks little old ladies have to give out (their face will get stuck like that.)

My Day At Le Bernardin

For my birthday, my wife got me one of the greatest gifts ever! I have wanted to go to Le Bernardin, in NYC, for years. If you are a food lover, you know the restaurant, if not here's the basics: It's awesome. Eric Ripert, the chef, has designed some of the most amazing seafood dishes ever. You can see more here. Here are some pictures I took while I was there:

1st Dish - Escolar

2nd Dish - Black Bass

3rd Dish - Monkfish

Update On My Previous Post

Thank you to MJ (who may or may not be Michael Jackson from beyond the grave, or former NBA star Michael Jordan) for noting what should have been obvious to me, that my idea is really just . . . well, gravy. Look for my next big idea soon, I am thinking what it would be like if I took a loaf of bread and made slim, little slivers , I'll call them "slices."

Is This The Grossest Idea Ever or . . .The MOST AMAZING!!

Sometimes ideas just come to me in a flash of brilliance. This usually fades as I slowly realize just how dumb an idea it actually is. You will either say the idea I came up with yesterday is genius or it's the dumbest, most disgusting thing you have ever heard (I'm leaning towards the latter.) I warn you before you read this, it is not for the faint of heart, or should I say stomach.:

I was cooking up burgers on my George Foreman Grill (still my favorite boxer-branded cooking device, far better than my Wladimir Klitschko Rapid Rice Cooker - burns the rice every single time) when I started thinking about how much fat comes off the meat. The thing is, the fat is where all the flavor is. This got me thinking (And, if you think you know where I am going, you are 100% right, so jump off the thought train now before it is too late) what if took all this delicious fat that pools up in that little plastic catcher's mitt piece on the George Foreman grill and used as a sauce! Yes, correct, I would like to use the fatty pool of liquid that collects off the George Foreman as food not just something you leave outside for the birds to eat (Oh, what, like I'm the only one who's done that?) My immediate idea is a sauce for spaghetti and meatballs. For a less gross version I would strain it and use it as a base for a tomato sauce.

Thoughts? Who's hungry? Who's violently ill?

The Case Of The Red Saab

Since, I have started with The Wake Up Crew I have been the first person into our building in the morning. This has provided many benefits : Rights to the first cup of coffee, the opportunity to come in naked (the way I prefer) and put my clothes on at the station and, most importantly, my choice of parking spots. Clearly, I selected the first parking spot closest to the building and have parked there ever since. Two years - no problems, yet for the last two months there has been a red Saab parked in my spot. First of all, who drives a Saab? Second, nobody is in the building so someone has left this car in my spot for over a month. I have no legal right to the spot but I believe I have something more powerful, I have dibs on that spot.

Now, I am confronted with how to handle this situation. My options are:

1. Leave a note on the car
2. Get some people to help me pick up the car and move it
3. Complain about it on my blog like a coward

I have chosen the latter. However, if you are the owner of a red Saab and have legally parked your car in parking spot at the PST studios and you happen to run into me be prepared for a very angry glance!!!

My Dog With Goggles . . . That is all

Public Flashing: The Aftermath

If you did not hear what happened this past weekend, here is a quick recap: My neighbors saw me naked. Ok, that's the very quick version, here is a bit more detail: I was down at our family's shore house and I had just finished taking my shower. I derobed (ladies!) and walked over to the closet to grab some clothes. The room door was open because no one else was in the house so there was no reason to shut it, or so I thought (this is called foreshadowing,) but as I walked to the closet I realized when I looked out the room door, that you can see right out three big windows, but perhaps more importantly, you can see right in. Looking out I notice ALL of my neighbors are in their sun-room, and said sun-room is right out the window. I look. They look. I pause. I hurry out of sight. They saw me. I know they saw me. Two adult parents, two tweenagers and a handful of little kids.

So, now the fallout: What do I do when I see them next?