Al Dente

Pop Open a Refreshing Can of....Sandwich

Thanks to Mark One Foods, the dream of one day having a sandwich in a can is now nearly a reality. Hoping to go into production later this year, the president of Mark One Foods says the Candwich has an excellent shelf life, and we can look forward to four delicious flavors: PBJ Strawberry, PBJ Grape, BBQ Chicken, and Pepperoni Pizza. As an added bonus, the two PBJ varieties come with a candy surprise inside the can (?!). Marketed as a convenient and no-refrigeration-needed food, the Candwich website touts the canned sandwiches as "the perfect product for people on the go such as students, construction workers, soccer moms, and outdoor enthusiasts." I'm not sure which to be more wary of--this convoluted canned sandwich, or the new mozzarella-stuffed grilled-cheese sandwich from Denny's...

--AndreaLeigh

National Rum Day is August 16

National Rum Day (August 16) is nearly upon us, and the folks at Infinium Spirits have the perfect way to celebrate: Zaya, a 12-year-old rum from Trinidad featuring notes of Tahitian vanilla, butterscotch, brown sugar, and maple. My favorite way to enjoy rum is in a Dark and Stormy--rum, ginger beer, and lime juice--yum! National Rum Day supposedly marks the end of the sugarcane harvest (from which rum is derived), which the harvesters celebrate with a huge party. If you can't make the trip to a tropical climate to celebrate in person, pick up Zaya at your local liquor store and try the recipe below--served best in a highball glass or glass tumbler, over lots of ice.

Zaya Dark and Stormy

Ingredients
2 oz Zaya rum
Ginger beer
Fresh lime juice
Ice

Directions
1. Pack a highball glass with ice, and fill the glass halfway with the rum.
2. Top off with ginger beer, and add fresh lime juice to taste.
3. Stir and enjoy!

--AndreaLeigh

Mojito: The Antidote to Monday

It's finally summer here in Seattle (well, an on-again/off-again one, at least), and if you're not about to sail away on a fantastic summer vacation, I suggest you make a toast to whatever sunshine you can get here at home. Or, you know, just take the edge off a summer Monday with a few friends. A good way to do that? With a mojito in hand, of course. An easy way to fake the taste of paradise are the flavored rums from Rum Jumbie--they come in coconut, pineapple, mango, and vanilla. The mojito recipe below is equally delish with whichever flavor you choose, and tastes best while wearing flip-flops and a flower in your hair. No need to get fancy with the glassware either--mojitos are best served in tumblers or a simple pint glass. Enjoy!

Ingredients (serves 1)
1.25 ounces Rum Jumbie Splash
12 mint leaves   
1 tbsp sugar
0.5 ounces lime juice
2 ounces soda

Directions
1. Place mint leaves in bottom of glass.
2. Add crushed ice, rum, sugar, and lime juice.
3. Gently muddle.
4. Add soda water and garnish with mint leaves.

--AndreaLeigh

Spring: Time for Tulips and Mint Juleps

Well-known as the traditional beverage of the Kentucky Derby (the first Saturday in May), a mint julep is the perfect way to celebrate the arrival of spring. As a nod to Kentucky, make sure your bourbon is Four Roses, or another brand that hails from the bluegrass state. Four Roses is a current favorite, and features notes of plum, cherry, maple syrup, and cocoa. Yum! Mix up a batch of juleps for a derby party, or if you're lucky enough to have a porch and a nice view, just relax and take a breather.

Mint Julep Recipe (from drinksmixer)

Ingredients
4 fresh mint sprigs
2 1/2 oz bourbon whiskey
1 tsp powdered sugar
2 tsp water

Directions
1. Muddle mint leaves, powdered sugar, and water in an old fashioned or highball glass
2. Fill the glass with shaved or crushed ice and add bourbon
3. Top with more ice, garnish with a mint sprig, and serve with a straw

--AndreaLeigh

A Marvelous Cinco de Mayo Margarita

Whether you're celebrating Cinco de Mayo, or just making a toast to May's warmer weather, you'll be in good company with a delicious margarita. A simple drink that packs a flavorful punch, the margarita is a summertime staple that takes the edge off of your day, much like May tempers the wicked weather winter often brings. The best margaritas use a delicious tequila, a dash of something sweet, and a healthy dose of lime. My current favorite is Case Noble Crystal, an organic tequila made from mature blue agave plants aged up to 14 years. The tequila is then triple distilled for a pure and full-bodied flavor.

Ingredients
2 oz Casa Noble Crystal tequila
1 oz fresh lime juice
3/4 oz La Sierra agave nectar
Lime wedge and salt for garnish

Directions
1. Combine tequila, lime juice, and agave nectar with ice in a cocktail shaker
2. Rim margarita glasses with lime juice, roll in salt
3. Shake cocktail shaker and strain into margarita glasses (straight up or over ice)
4. Garnish with lime wedge and enjoy!

--AndreaLeigh

Celebrate Earth Day with Eco-Friendly Bubbly

What better way to celebrate Earth Day (April 22), than with a delicious bottle of champagne? Pommery POP Earth champagne utilizes a lighter glass than conventional champagne bottles in order to reduce weight in transport and decrease pollution. Each bottle is also recyclable and does not have a jacket, and the labels utilize recycled paper and use water soluble inks. Pommery supports eco-friendly practices as well, using sea transportation instead of air, which saves on fuel costs and energy usage, and uses transportation boxes made of 10% recycled paper, working with their suppliers to re-use the boxes in production cycles.

Over a decade ago, Pommery became the first champagne house to obtain ISO 9001 (environmental management) certification. Since then, they have been practicing sustainable wine-growing, managing waste and limiting water and energy consumption. Featuring a blend of 70% Pinot Noir, 20% Chardonnay, and 10% Pinot Meunier, POP Earth is a fresh, environmentally-friendly way to celebrate the planet. For more ways to lead an eco-friendly lifestyle, check out items from our Green Home & Garden Store.

--AndreaLeigh

Support Your Team with Tasty Sipping

Root for team USA as you watch the Olympics with a little help from Pommery's POP America champagne. Patriotically packaged in a bottle adorned with stars and stripes, the champagne is a tasty blend of 90% Chardonnay and 10% Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier, and features citrus and floral notes. Great alone or mixed with your fruit-y beverage of choice, POP champagne is a fun and festive way to enhance your game watching and celebrating. Did I mention the bottles come in a cute 187ml size, so they're easy to pack if you're making a road trip or heading over to a friends' house? My current favorite recipe below:

POP Lemonade

Ingredients
1 bottle POP America champagne
1 bottle chilled pink or regular lemonade
Lemon wedges

Directions
1. Fill a champagne flute halfway with champagne.
2. Fill rest of flute with lemonade.
3. Twist lemon wedge onto rim of glass for garnish.

--AndreaLeigh

Donate Blood, Get Free Beer

Calling all Washingtonians! Cascade Regional Blood Services in Tacoma, WA, recently debuted a "Give blood, get beer" promotion where blood donors are given a coupon for a free pint of beer from participating pubs and restaurants. Throughout January 2010, a variety of local businesses will be hosting pint-for-pint blood drives. Get more information here.

--AndreaLeigh

Decant and Unwind: The Perfect Present

Wine--one of the most-gifted items during the holidays. No one's going to have a problem with this, but why not step it up this Christmas by pairing your bottle with a nice decanter? Whether you just want an easy vehicle for your vino to breathe, or you're in the market for something that doubles as art, the options are endless. A few of my favorites:

	Libbey's 5-piece stemless wine set includes a 60-ounce decanter as well as four 17-ounce glasses that are dishwasher-safe.
	Riedel's Amadeo decanter is mouth-blown of leaded crystal and was designed as a commemorative decanter for Riedel's 20th anniversary. A full bottle of wine may be decanted into the wider side of the piece, which then serves as a handle for pouring.
	Spiegelau's classic bar decanter holds 39 ounces and is produced in Germany of lead-free crystal. A unique platinum finishing process increases the decanter's durability and adds a brilliant shine.
	Peugeot's Prestige Duck decanter accommodates a standard 750-ml bottle of wine and is made of hand-blown glass with a shiny pewter neck and handle. The tilted shape keeps air in contact with the wine, and the design minimizes dripping when serving.

Looking for the perfect pairing for your decanter? Close de Los Siete 2007 offers a tasty treat at a great value. From Mendoza, Argentina, this dark ruby-colored blend features a bouquet of violet, black cherry, black currant, blackberry, plum, and cocoa. It's currently about 95 degrees F in Mendoza, so hopefully this drink will transport your tastebuds to their sunny locale while you endure the winter in chillier climates. Happy Holidays!

--AndreaLeigh

Drank Soda: Extreme Relaxation Beverage

Perfect for the hectic holiday season, Innovative Beverage Group brings us Drank soda--the beverage that supposedly equals relaxation in a can. Dubbed by some as "weed in a can," Drank contains melatonin, valerian root, and rose hips--a combination that's supposed to induce relaxation and drowsiness. A spokesperson for the drink says "In our day and age, we've got a lot of stress. The economy is bad. People need something to help them relax, bring them down." In reference to the claim that the drink mimics the effects of marijuana, the response was "This isn't going to get you into any trouble. You can buy it in the store. It's legal." Plus, it tastes like grape soda--sweet! Check out Drank's website for fun facts and media (The Pussycat Dolls and Ludacris love it--how bad can it be?), or go ahead and snap some up on Amazon.com.

--AndreaLeigh

Chill Your Beer with Air

I just found this tip in the new issue of WIRED magazine, and had to share. I think this falls under the "WWMD (what would MacGyver do)" category, but after researching it online it seems like a fairly common practice. Place your beer in a container, then grab a can of compressed air (the type used for cleaning out keyboards), and hold it upside down so it releases its contents in liquid form. Coat most of the beer in frost (just not the top where you'll be drinking from it), wait a few seconds for the buildup to fade, then pop the top of your frosty beverage and enjoy! Please note: I haven't actually tried this, but would love to hear success stories from anyone who has.

--AndreaLeigh

7-11 Debuts Private-Label Wine

7-Eleven, Inc., and Seven-Eleven Japan have joined forces to introduce two private-label wines--Yosemite Road Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon. The wines are produced in California exclusively for 7-Eleven, and will be available in the companies' 15,000 convenience, department, and grocery stores, Denny's family restaurants, and department stores (?!) in Japan. I haven't had the privilege of trying these wines yet, but their $3.99 price tag seems like a compelling enough reason to do a little research...

--AndreaLeigh

Roofies to Get Kiss of Death?

Next time you're out for a few drinks and something tastes funny, whip out your lipgloss and test the drink for drugs. A new lipgloss from British cosmetics company 2LoveMyLips comes with a spike detector to identify GHB and ketamine in drinks. The gloss, which is already a hit in Britain, comes with a pink taper which is dipped into a drink and turns blue if drugs are present. The product claims to work on some fruit juices, soft drinks, energy drinks, vitamin water, tea and coffee, beer, wine, and spirits. Launches for the product are planned for Australia, the US, and tourist destinations in the Middle East, with plans to sell the product in vending machines in bars and nightclub bathrooms. Read more at news.com.au.

--AndreaLeigh

Le Whif: Zero-Calorie Chocolate

Le Whif, a new product that allows you to simply inhale the scent and taste of chocolate, is being marketed as a "terrific" way to curb your appetite and get a guilt-free chocolate fix. Invented by Harvard professor David Edwards at his design center in Paris, Le Laboratoire, Le Whif contains hundreds of milligrams of tiny chocolate particles that are picked up when you inhale, and land on your tongue. Available in Paris at Colette, and online at Le Laboshop (cost is about 10 Euros for a pack of six), Le Whif is just one of many cool/crazy projects being developed by La Laboratoire. Whether this new form of eating by aerosol catches on or not, I have to admit I'm really curious to know what these taste like.

--AndreaLeigh

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes

Chocolate. Peanut Butter. Cupcakes. Three of my favorite things together at last! My good friend Amanda found this recipe at picky-palate.com and I had to share. It looks so delicious!

Ingredients:
1 devils food cake mix
4 eggs
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup canola oil
8 oz sour cream
1 small package chocolate pudding mix (4 serving size)
2 cups creamy peanut butter
1 1/2 Cups powdered sugar
8 oz softened cream cheese
1 stick softened butter
3 cups powdered sugar
White nonpareils for top

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a stand mixer, mix cake mix, eggs, water, oil, sour cream and pudding mix on medium for 2 minutes. Pour into paper lined cupcake cups 3/4 way full.

2. In a mixing bowl mix peanut butter and powdered sugar until well combined. Form 1/2 inch balls and press into each filled cupcake. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes clean from center. Let cool completely.

3. Beat cream cheese and butter until creamy and well combined. Slowly beat in powdered sugar until well combined. Spread over cooled cupcakes then sprinkle with nonpareils if desired.

Makes 24 cupcakes.

--AndreaLeigh
 

Chocolate Marshmallow Pizza

In an effort to combine three guilty pleasures into one superguiltypleasure, I give you the chocolate marshmallow pizza pictured below, compliments of thisiswhyyourefat.com (yep, the site's name says it all). Gross or so, so good?

 

--AndreaLeigh

Beer + Pizza + Music + Bike = Pub on Wheels

Meet Hopworksfiets, a "pub bike" built by Portland, Oregon-based bike builder Metrofiets for Hopworks Urban Brewing (Portland's first eco-brewpub featuring organic handcrafted beers, local ingredients, and a sustainable building). The bike features a metal keg bucket that holds two full-sized kegs and 25 pounds of ice, topped with a wooden bar and two taps. A rack on the rear of the bike holds a stack of pizza boxes, and below the pizza rack is a sound system to blare your favorite party anthems.

Future iterations of the bike will include a second sound system for music played in stereo, and a solar panel cover for the pizza rack that will power the music and a string of LED lights around the base of the bike's bar. The bike made its first public appearance last week at HUB's Biketobeerfest celebration, and the brewery plans to showcase its pub bike at various bike events year round.

--AndreaLeigh

Create your own pub at home with:

• Beer taps and beer tap systems like Heineken's BeerTender
• Home bars and barstools like the bestselling Winsome Wood air lift adjustable stools
• Beer mugs, highball glasses, shot glasses, and coasters (Libbey's Heidelberg beer mug set is a classic)

Friday Links for Food Lovers

It's Friday again! Here are a few tasty links the Al Dente editors obsessed about this week:

• Edible.com had me at tea picked by monkeys, then lost me with giant hornet honey.
• Shaken or stirred? Our very own A.J. Rathbun dispenses important cocktail advice on Chow.
• A fun way to test your culinary knowledge (and get recipe ideas!): check out Foodista's Escoffier game.
• Colgate's stealthy new advertising--cruel or ingenious?
• Cutest new viral video: Kids vs. Marshmallows, a.k.a. learning the ropes of delayed gratification.
• Missed the televised try for the world's largest pie fight? Serious Eats has you covered.
• In Seattle this weekend? Be sure to check out Oktoberfest in Fremont. Or, heed yumsugar's advice and throw your own beer tasting party.
• Speaking of marshmallows, these homemade ones from the salty spoon topped with caramel and crushed chili peppers look amazing:

Photo courtesy of the salty spoon

While you're out and about, reading up on food news, don't miss the party gear we're loving this week:

• Fred's design team is working overtime! Check out their Hopside Down glasses, Cool Shooters ice shot glass molds, and Finger Food plates.
• Just looking at French Bull's tableware makes me happy.
• So many beer-tap systems, so little time...

Did I miss a not-to-be-missed foodie link from this past week? Add a comment or tweet at me!

Have a great weekend!

--AndreaLeigh

Buddha Pears

According to dailymail.co.uk, a bevvy of buddha pears have been selling like hot-cakes over in China. Farmer Gao Xianzhang spent six years crafting the molds that shape the pears to look like tiny buddhas, and remarks "People seem to think they are cute or lucky and will buy them as soon as they're off the tree." Gao intends to export these cute fruits to Britain's supermarket shelves in the near future (no word yet on whether they'll be coming to the US).

--AndreaLeigh

Deep Fried Butter & Other Fair Fare

If you're a fan of anything deep fried, you're probably well aware of the plethora of crispy, artery-clogging treats to be had at state fairs. Texas, naturally, takes the cake. At the upcoming state fair of Texas (September 25 to October 18), you can delight in deep fried peaches & cream, fried peanut-butter cup macaroons, country fried pork chips, fried butter (yep, just butter), and my personal favorite, deep fried pecan pie (see below). Anyone heading to the fair to indulge? Let us know your favorite fried find!

 

--AndreaLeigh