Smacked me upside m'demo!

See that? I tried that tonight, and damnation if it didn't do exactly what I wanted it to do, and I'm pissed off about it! What is it? It's a bag of frozen veggies, a special bag, which somehow knows exactly how it should be cooked. Throw it in the microwave, give it a good zap, and veggies sans fuss.

So? Why be PO'd about that? Because it plays right into our worst tendencies, which tend to center around hope for the future. Now this thing has me thinkin'; if they can make a bag of veggies that knows when it's cooked, why not one that just throws itself on the plate? Or one that knows what condiments should be applied and, hell, why not just have them in the bag too!

Hell, why learn to cook? Someday We'll just be winging bags which are smarter than us, in ovens that are smarter than them, put on plates that are hellfire prettier than we are, complete with lazer-powered forks and knives that will track and shoot down wayward foods before they even think of getting close to our shirts, so I could shovel it in like Harvey Weinstein at a Coney Island SpeedEating Competition and come out minty fresh!
Naturally these foods will be of a quality that will make Per Se seem like a sack o' sliders; I expect nothing less.
I'm going back to the couch. Wake me up when they get there, willya?

Today, I know that when I cook badly, I did it! It's a triumph of me! No one else could screw it up like me! So, on those rare occasions when you don't screw it up, well....that's yours too. Better than perfect steaming every time...

Oh, I didn't have that particular collection of veggies. I just had broccoli.

ZingerDough

The photos I took the other day of Zingermans were of the deli. I may go back that just to take photos of the sandwiches -- trust me on that one -- but today I went to another Zing location, the Bakehouse! To wit:

Please notice when your bread arrives for maximum freshness:


With the speciality breads, you should also know the day!


For those who like sweet, the chocolate cherry sorta pumpernickel is excellent, but I love the parmesan pepper bread: big chunks o cheese with hot peppercorns interspersed throughout. I don't even make sandwiches with these breads, just eat 'em as is!

Let's look at some bread, eh?


And a bit more...ooops! Blurry photos=no coffee!


What else we got? Brownies...multiple flavors...


Scones...


Croissants, and more..


Palmiers and Cinnamon Rolls!


and lastly, let's send you with some cookies! Ok, back later!


Update: You can now take baking classes from one shots to 4 days of baking madness!

Snow Quiet, Coughing, and Bread

Well, the snow I thought would hold up my trip to the Bakehouse yesterday, done showed up today instead. This has produced the wonderful virtue of Snow Quiet. When there's any sort of snow on the roads, people don't drive around very much. Living on a main drag, with too many street lights, I've to appreciate it when it's just dead out there. Normally, this would help me sleep...

...but I've some kinda thing, maybe my bronchitis, which has kept me up all night lately, and just stinks. I can't lie down without coughing up a lotsa...stuff...and not even pit stopping in the land of Nod.

Tomorrow I will try and get some nice Bread pics...maybe some Zingcouragement would let me open up some of the way cool loaves for your Carb Pleasure.

I still have a poem or two in the reserves of Crazy Mike, even some of his odd stories...anyone still interested? Fluffy wants to know.

A poetic pause

Because I may hole up and not get to the Bakehouse to continue the Zing-blogging, due to the big snowstorm coming, I'll just put up a poem written by one of the characters of the novel I'm writin', named Crazy Mike. Enjoy!

Big Willie sez, "Get yo ass outta bed!"

My little rounded life's sleep
Was ended by the crying havoc alarm,
So I let the dog slip outside,
And what is that dog good for? Absolutely Nothin' ! Say it again!
And leaving the shower, I forgot when,
I left my hair dryer with the guy in 2B...
Or was it not?... No, it was... What was the question?
The morning Post told me that there weren't enough Black Actors,
and I agreed, sickled o'er by thoughts of pale casts,
Sans eggs, sans bacon, sans toast, sans coffee(!),
I lugged my guts back into bed, to sleep,
Perchance to dream of devoutly wished consummations,
When I was re-awoke by the unmuffed sound of
My idiot neighbors' Plymouth Fury,
Which signified that I really should plan my life better and
Tomorrow I will clean out the fridge, and
Tomorrow I will make that dentist appointment and
Tomorrow I will eat more fruit for
I can no longer bear the stench of my own fardels,
Those "blasts from Hell," as my crazy girlfriend calls them,
As my thoughts turn to the East
Village and Julia and her son,
Both of whom are cool cats of infinite jest.
But where are their japes now, when I need them,
As I sit in this creeping petty pace of traffic going Uptown,
As I head towards the untimely death of life at work?

Land of Zing

The Indefatigable Sundries not long ago, took us on a photo tour of one of her Miami markets which was quite nice! So in this post we sort of return the delight, by going to Zingerman's one of my favorite stores/places to go here in A2! Without a doubt, Camie will speak differently on this topic, and for her views you may wind up seeing them in her blog. Here, you get my blather! Zing's is not an airport hanger of a market, but rather a small corner, which, over time, has become an every bigger corner. They also go to great pains to makes some of their own goods in a bakery, a creamery, a coffee roaster...hell, they probably make zeppelins somewhere in town! I may go to these places just to show you what goes on there, but today, let's just check out some stuff in the deli, shall we?

Your standard row of cheeses!


Let's look at some French...

Some French and Italian...

and French and Spanish!

Let us not forget the English...

And the Blue Veined!

Lastly, just a bit of their own...


Is it all about Cheese? Well, in this post it seems to be! Here's a bit of pate,
and a bit of bacon,

a bit of sausage to finish this one off...

I'll save the bread for next time!

Yellow Matter Custard

And here we have The Little Man today, after he applied the Yellow Matter, er, ah, Playdoh over the eyes of The Beatles. Why did he do that? I have no idea...

We are indeed eager!

Those who know me, know that my favorite person, my best friend, and coolest person I know is one C.Vog. And those who also know her, know that another Vog is soon to arrive, and I have to admit, I can't wait to see her enter the world! What kind of person shall she be? Already a topic of speculation! This is just an IntraBlog note to Camie, to say how we here at the Stuffin' send a big chunk of positive energy, transmitted through Coney Islands and Gyros, to the soon-to-arrive Vog whom we already love like crazy.

With the first Vog child we have also great love and delight as seen in this slightly older photo of he and I.


We know The Little Man will do his bit to raise his sis, in the Vog tradition! We here love you all, Camie, and can't wait to see what coolness will occur...