Jamba Juice Doesn’t Taste As Good When You Pay For It With Cash

The DSL at “my” Jamba Juice has been down pretty much every time I’ve visited this month.  This means that they cannot accept any kind of plastic payment, including their own Jambacards.  This is detrimental to them (I’ve seen many customers just turn and walk out as soon as they see the “Cash Only” sign on the register), and frustrating for me, since I have a generously-endowed Jambacard, but rarely carry more than $10 in actual money.  I was committed to getting a massive dose of fruit and vitamins for lunch, but after handing over most of the bills in my wallet, that flu-slaying, vitamin-enhanced Mango Madness seemed a lot less magical. 

All These Visits To Woodside, And I Still Can’t Pronounce “Slainte”

Carolyn’s in New York!  Hurrah!

We celebrated her first night back in the big city with delicious cheeseburgers and pints of Smithwick’s at Donovan’s in Woodside.  It was a delicious meal, evidenced by how quickly I inhaled my burger, and I was reminded as I drained my beer how much better Smithwick’s tastes when it’s poured right from the keg.  After dinner, we walked past her old apartment and through Doughboy Park, and rode the 7 train back to Jackson Heights.

Yay!

Maybe That Sale On Chicken Noodle Soup Was An Omen

After a day chock-full of stock-up shopping, egg-pickling, floor-washing, and laundry-folding, I collapsed in front of my computer to enjoy some late-night Obliviating.  That’s when the sickness struck.  Colds and flus seem to take me by surprise, every time: I look and feel absolutely great for days and days, and then all of a sudden, eight different symptoms appear within one hour.  Because I’m usually in perfect shape the day before I get really ill, I can’t call in sick to work–nobody would believe me. 

The upside of going to work sick, however, is that I can treat myself to a guilt-free Jamba Juice.  It’s not a $7 breakfast–it’s a magic, nutrient-rich panacea! 

Dining Out In Queens Is Educational

Spanish Word of the Day: pulpo (octopus)

Outside: Mercury Falling. Inside My Body: Mercury At Record High.

I’ve known for a long time that my favorite sushi fish tended to be loaded with toxic heavy metals.  But it breaks my heart to read the NY Times article that specifically calls out Sushi Seki as one of the restaurants with dangerously high mercury levels in their tuna.  After I just “discovered” it, and wanted to go back on a weekly basis and take all my friends there.  So sad.

Of course, I happened to come across the article just after I darted out to get a tuna-and-salmon roll from the local deli.  I was devouring all eight large delicious maki while reading how many mercury atoms were darting about in my fish, and how health officials suggest that a woman of my size eat no more than four small pieces of bluefin every three weeks.  Nooooooooooo.  I better not need an MRI anytime soon; my blood must be practically silver.

If this isn’t an argument for cleaning up our environment, I don’t know what is.

I’ll Hate On Chain Restaurants… Unless Red Raspberries Are Involved

I’m not especially fond of chain eateries (although small, local, independent chains like Mama’s Empanadas are fine), but after tonight, I fully support the rise of Yogurberry in Jackson Heights.  Somehow, the first and only franchise in NYC is located right on 37th Avenue, and somehow it’s taken me this long to notice it (last September marked the grand opening). 

I expected it to be really, really similar to Pinkberry, since aesthetically, it’s a total knockoff.  But the Yogurberry “substance” (I hesitate to call it “yogurt,” “ice cream,” or even food, since they won’t post the full ingredient list, and I hear it’s made from a powder) is surprisingly much tastier than the so-called Pinkberry swirl.  It’s actually got enough flavor (yes, even the “plain”) and sweetness (thanks to lots and lots of fructose) that you don’t need to rely on a handful of Fruity Pebbles to render it edible.

In terms of toppings, Yogurberry offers the standard choices–ranging from mango to coconut to Cap’n Crunch–although the presentation leaves a little to be desired.  Pinkberry still does a better job keeping their berries unbruised and kiwi chunks intact.  However, Yogurberry is pretty damn good, and wins serious bonus points for being within walking distance of my apartment.

I Wash My Face With Rosemary More Often Than I Cook With It

Lush had a sale today.  Sara likes Lush sales.  Sometimes they are strange (impossible combinations of limited edition items that the staff can hardly keep straight), gross (you must buy at least one patchouli-based item), or lame (free leftover bath bomb with $75 purchase), but today’s was good.  Essentially, most everything in the store was buy-one-get-one-free or buy-one-get-TWO-free.  Much was purchased.  Plus, I finally remembered to bring in my empty packaging, and got additional free bath bombs for each container I turned in.  Excellent. 

It dawned on me later this evening while taking a bath with one of my newly-acquired French Kiss bombs that I use more rosemary (and herbs in general) in my bath and face care products than I ever have on my food.  Not that this is consequential… just wanted to share a random fact.

Also, after a very successful practice run with Kevin about a week ago, today I made as many dumplings as I could squeeze out of a pound and a half of ground pork.  The recipe is simple and very satisfying: blend ground pork with chopped fresh ginger, sesame oil, green onions and sugar (all to taste, but I will recommend that use don’t skimp too much on the fresh ginger–you’ll enjoy it in end).  In the process of crimping and folding the rice flour dumpling skins around small portions of meat, I figured out how to fold them the “real” way, and turned out several dozen very authentic-looking gyoza.  I’m saving the prettiest ones for when I have company later this month. 

My Freezer Is Full Of Frost And Delicious

It’s remarkable how exciting Costco is, even though it’s little more than a large, unfurnished warehouse filled with ordinary packaged goods.  Yesterday, I took advantage of a special deal for American Express cardholders (I swear, getting that in:NYC card was probably the best thing I did for myself in 2007) and got my very own membership.  I was handed my card along with a stack of coupons for products I never considered buying in bulk (tomato sauce, salmon fillets), but am told are much, much cheaper when they are purchased as part of a 48-pack.  In addition, I can now confirm from personal experience that the in-store samples are both plentiful and delicious.  During my brief visit, I enjoyed a cheese and pesto ravioli, a cinnamon cereal square snack mix, a Ritz dressed with artichoke and sun-dried tomato topping, and something meaty that I cannot recall.  I passed on the Polaner’s All Fruit spread and the CoQ10 liquid joint supplement (it looked suspiciously like the flax-flavored beverage I tried the other day in the local Jackson Heights grocery). 

Shopping at Costco also forces you to make tough choices and hard decisions that may have a long-lasting impact on your checkbook and eating habits for weeks to come.  Shopping at Costco without a car sharpens those decision-making abilities even further; faced with an upper limit on how much weight you can reasonably wrangle across two different bus routes, you are forced to make heartbreaking shelfside cuts: “Which do I want more: the case of Vitaminwater, the 12 gallons of organic chicken broth, or… fuck it, two dozen plus-sized chocolate muffins plastic-wrapped to a raft of cardboard?”  After you weave through the checkout lines, desperately trying to find a way to carry these oversized goods while proferring a receipt to the door security as proof that you really did pay over $60 for just five items, you’re almost finished. 

Almost.  The conclusion of any respectable Costco adventure involves returning home only to discover your freezer is several hundred cubic feet smaller than what you need: there is no way that four gallon tub of ice cream is going to fit in there alongside the half-pallet of chicken patties.  Somehow, with a system that involves judicious use of Tupperware and Ziploc bags, you manage to get most of the perishables into the freezer, a job that leaves you exhausted and hungry for precisely the item that you put back at the last minute, reasoning that it was just too heavy to cradle in your arms for the duration of the crowded, jerky, 25-minute-long Q66 ride back. 

You can bet I’ll be going back next week.

Further Expanding My Gaming Horizons Beyond Tetris

Morrowind, Oblivion, and a shiny new trackball arrived at my doorstep today.  Guess I’m not going to taekwondo sparring tonight.

Everyone Else Is Doing It So Maybe I Should Too

2008 Resolutions

1. Lose inches.  (I don’t think you’re allowed to make a list of resolutions without some varient of “lose weight”.)  Mostly I blame taekwondo for the whole not-fitting-into-my-clothes thing, but I also wag my finger at full-time employment, and the omnipresent copies of Gourmet and Bon Appetit magazines piled on my desk; their consistantly delicious-looking cover photography inspires undeniable saturated fat cravings.  It’s not so much that I need to lose weight–indeed, my goal is just to convert all body fat into lean muscle, which actually weighs more–but I need to trim down the ridiculous bulk I’ve developed.  I can no longer find boots that zip beyond my calves or suit jackets that don’t render my arms immobile sausages.  I can’t even fit into the clothes I wore to my job interview two years ago.
2. Devise a better strategy for keeping in touch with everyone.  I would love to be able to chat with friends and family members more regularly.  I think about all of you often, but I am going to work on taking action (writing an e-mail or sending a text message or calling) instead of just letting the thought pass.  I’m toying with the idea of a weekly mass e-mail or setting aside one night a week for phone calls.
3. Incorporate more vegetables and healthy protein (read: not steak tartar or cheeseburgers) into my diet.  This goes hand-in-hand with the “lose inches” resolution, but I want to call it out separately so that I’ll be sure to finally seek out that elusive recipe that uses lentils but actually tastes good.
4. Save enough to cover moving expenses.  Even if I don’t decide to move this year, I want to be ready with the security deposit/realtor’s fee/moving costs when the perfect two bedroom becomes available.  I’ve got my heart set on having a kitchen (with a dishwasher!) that opens into a living room, a real bedroom, and a cute study that can double as a spare bedroom.
5. Take my black belt exam proudly and competently.  By September, I’d like to be able to throw all my basic kicks with accuracy, power, and speed, refine my breaking techniques so that I can confidently nail the boards on my first or second attempt, and be a tougher (but controlled) sparring opponent.