Microwaves IN; Fat-free dressing OUT

Since we canceled our cable subscription, I've been listening to podcasts in the morning--particularly NPR, a nice change from NY1, which, for those of you who are unacquainted, plays its morning news program on a 10-minute loop.

Actually, you'll have to forgive me for this tangent, but I can't not share this: NY1 recently held a music video star contest in which they asked their die-hard fans and people with an inordinate amount of free-time to submit music videos using their theme song, coincidentally titled "New York 1." They played a few of their top picks on the air; however, they failed to share some of the true gems. Too bad I wasn't on the judging panel. My top picks would have definitely been Soraya Sobreidad (because that took balls...or not?) and Ronnie Raygun (for literally blowing my mind...and surely, haunting my future dreams.) You can watch them all here.

ANYWAY, I originally started this post to share the NPR podcast I listened to this morning, about making the most of your veggies.

I wouldn't say the podcast was earth-shattering, but I did learn a couple things, for example:

• A little fat in your salad dressing aids in the absorption of fat-soluble nutrients like those found in tomatoes. That's right, olive oil is still #1.
• Chewing or cutting/grating your food into tiny pieces aids in the body's absorption of certain nutrients. This helps to justify why I need to chop everything into tiny pieces when I cook...and why I'm a lover of all things tiny in general.
  
• Microwaving actually helps maintain antioxidants in vegetables. This is just convenient. And it helps to dispel my lingering childhood leeriness of microwaves, after being told never to stand in front of them while they're on.
  

Dining with Bruce Willis

So a couple nights ago my Aunt and Uncle treated me and Gus to dinner at P.J. Clarke's, one of three recent installments of the 125-year-old original, a favorite of Sinatra's--who apparently once exclaimed "Those urinals! You could stand Abe Beame in one of them and have room to spare." I assume he liked the food too.

The spacious, "saloon-style" restaurant was packed with a paradox of beautiful people and huge burgers. The jukebox heightened the atmosphere with hits from the Beatles and the Traveling Willbury's. The service was fast and the food was good, though definitely on the pricey end. In other words, perfect when you have generous family members picking up the tab.

But I didn't start this post to write a restaurant review. I'm writing because I simply can't contain my lingering star struck anxiety of seeing BRUCE WILLIS.

That's right, this guy:


Bruce Willis walked in about 7 minutes after we sat down. He was seated TWO SEATS away from me (unfortunately, on the same side I was sitting, so I couldn't stare at him during my meal).

For those of you who know me and my inability to contain myself upon seeing B-list, sometimes D-list celebs (i.e. Clay Aiken, Mario Lopez, and Randy from the Real World), this was huge. But I DID control myself and, despite making a phone call and sweating through my clothes, managed to appease my excitement with a few side-long glances. I suppose Bruce made it easier to not make a scene. He was very unassuming--dare I say, he looked quite average--in his baseball cap, t-shirt, and the poker-face expression he wore on his otherwise hairless head. I don't think he laughed or joked once during his meal. He was out to dinner with a guy who looks like he would be associated with the stars--some dude with long frizzy hair and sunglasses, who I did notice picked up the tab. Gus thought it may have been his manager. Anyway, no autographs or pictures ensued. But my memory of Bruce is strong enough to remain without those.

As a side note, Gus ordered his first non-vegetarian restaurant meal in 8 years: a turkey club. I was beaming with bewildered pride when I heard him tell the waiter, though the words "I'll have the free-range turkey club" didn't sound quite as bold as I imagined following my uncle's deadpan order: "Cheeseburger."

Listen up! For all of you beer pong lovers...

New York Magazine, always on their game, reported that the State Liquor Authority may or may not "send seismic ripples across the Murray Hill drinking scene" with their "declaratory ruling" about beer pong in bars:

We’re on pins and needles, folks, because during its last full board meeting, the State Liquor Authority made a declaratory ruling about one of the most important issues of our time: beer pong. A declaratory ruling, in case you’re not familiar with the ins and outs of the SLA, is when an elected official or a business owner asks the Authority to clarify its position on a certain matter. Apparently someone wasn’t sure about the legality of throwing Ping-Pong balls into crappy beer, and so the SLA will soon release a statement clarifying the conditions under which it can or cannot occur in a bar (it has previously fined establishments when gambling or unlimited drinks were involved).

One night at Hook and Ladder or Whiskey River and you'll realize the grave implications such a ruling can have: Ivy League fratboys that dominate these establishments take their drinking games almost as seriously as themselves. I've actually seen my friends challenged to a game of beer pong by a finger-pointing Ivy Leager (he made sure to inform us) in a baby blue polo and khakis yelling "FUUCK YOUUUUUUUUU!" True story.

On a semi but mostly unrelated note, how did I not know this? And more importantly, what purpose does it serve?

Attention Attention! For those of you who haven't heard the monumental news yet: Gus has joined the dark side...carnivorism. Alas, after eight years of veggie protein links (a.k.a. "hotdogs"), tofurky, and boca burgers, Gus tasted a former living animal in the form of a barbeque-slathered chicken wing dipped in blue cheese. (Actually, I'm not so sure he actually tasted the meat, but in the very least he experienced the texture.)

Why did he do it? Well, why does Gus do anything? His affair with vegetarianism started as a self-imposed challenge to see simply whether he could do it. After finding it easy to abstain from meat, poultry, and seafood for a couple of weeks, Gus chose to stick with it for the next eight years despite constant derision and mockery by friends and family.

Is this what led to his final breakdown, the lack of a "support group," as he once described it to me, which is apparently a strong factor as to whether or not vegetarians stay the course. Well, that may have had something to do with it. (But just for the record, I've become quite adept at [willingly] incorporating soy meat into our meals...I make a mean veggieblt.)

No, what it really comes down to is the chicken wing. He just wanted one. And though food manufacturers do incredible things now days with soy and vegetables to mimic the real thing, nothing really comes close to an authentic chicken wing.

So what does this mean for us? Well, his color has improved.

Before:
After:







Just kidding! No, nothing as drastic as this news may suggest. Since the infamous date, Gus's non-vegetarian inventory-to-date consists of 1 bite of a turkey sandwich, 3 scoops crab dip. We'll still be sticking with the soy stuff for the most part--there are so many compelling reasons to abstain from meat, after all. But it's nice to know that we can indulge in a chicken wing once every blue moon.

Soho restaurant provides exclusive oasis for hungry models

Starbucks Trying Out a New Strategy...yet again

(Though I wouldn't consider eating at McDonald's "smart," I would consider this ad campaign "genius.")

Is Starbucks finally seeing the error of its ways? Well, not exactly. After lukewarm receptions to its Pike Place roast, instant coffee, and new line of health-conscious food, Starbucks is embarking on a more extreme strategy to confront the decrease in foot traffic it has been experiencing as of late (and subsequent store closings and layoffs): According to a Seattle Times article, the Beyoncé of coffee chains is reinventing some of its stores, marketing itself under a new name and feel:

The ubiquitous coffee-shop giant is dropping the household name from its 15th Avenue East store on Capitol Hill, a shop that was slated to close at one point last year but is being remodeled in Starbucks' new rustic, eco-friendly style.

It will open next week, the first of at least three remodeled Seattle-area stores that will bear the names of their neighborhoods rather than the 16,000-store chain to which they belong.

The new names are meant to give the stores "a community personality"...In the spirit of a traditional coffeehouse, it will serve wine and beer, host live music and poetry readings and sell espresso from a manual machine rather than the automated type found in most Starbucks stores.

Hm, attempting to capture that cozy feel of the locally owned independent coffee shops it had nearly driven to extinction. Oh, the irony.

Well, I'm glad Starbucks is finally recognizing the value of uniqueness and diversity, even if it was only driven to this out of financial concern. But you know what else will help them in the long run? Good coffee. And reasonable prices.

NJ Turnpike Inspires New Beer Series

The Flying Fish Brewing Co. recently unveiled a new beer series (their newest brew, Exit 11 Hoppy American Wheat Ale, hit bars today) that has the NJ Turnpike Authority and Mothers Against Drunk Driving (M.A.D.D.) on edge.

The Exit Series™ of beers is a multi-year brewing experiment to brew a series of beers as diverse as the great state of New Jersey. These big beers–in size as well as flavor–will celebrate each exit of the state-long artery that connects us. Each beer will focus on a unique aspect of an individual exit.

M.A.D.D. raged against "Exit Series," telling the AP: The combination of a roadway and advertising for any kind of a beer doesn't make any kind of sense...This is almost a mockery.

The NJ Turnpike Authority had a calmer reaction, ensuring that Flying Fish made no mention of the Turnpike on the web site (besides the disclaimer at the bottom).

The rebuttal?

In an interview with NY Magazine's Grub Street, owner Gene Muller said:

We all agree that drinking and driving is a bad thing. But we thought a lot about it and made sure that there wasn't anything about the beer would give the impression that is was about that. I mean, there are Budweiser billboards on highways and there's a Budweiser logo on a NASCAR racecar going 200 miles an hour. We're a little company and if someone wants to beat someone up, it's going to be the little guy.

Hm, playing the "little guy" card. Ok. Maybe he has a point. But still. While I'm sure this will merit many fist pumps from in-staters, it's going to take a lot more than a decent beer to make me disassociate the NJ Turnpike from the traffic congestion horrors, foul smells, and asshole drivers that plague it.

Always looking out: NY Mag Cheap Eats 2009

http://nymag.com/restaurants/cheapeats/2009/

Demystying food expiration dates

Live or die by Use by/Sell by/Best if used by labels? I know I do. (It's hard not to after you've encountered sour milk in your cheerios.) But this video shows that, like people, processed food shouldn't be confined to a label.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLgUhyRYkVo

Most of it is common sense, but the egg-in-the-water trick is pretty neat. Not sure why you would freeze lunch meat, or who would actually call the manufacturer to inquire as to a food's freshness/safety, but, after reading some of the viewer comments, I realize that I tend to overestimate normalcy.

grahamulax

yesterday I was making chili cheese fries and after I ate the delicious meal I realized the chili I used were from 2004. It tasted like heaven.

ELIOZD (3 weeks ago)

thats crazy??i throw yogurt 5 days before itsexpiry date and it smells like farting:)

LondonGuysVids (2 months ago)

The powdered cheese that comes with Kraft Dinner(Mac n Cheese to everyone else outside of Canada eh), is pretty safe to use after the expiration date. Only thing is, it will taste like ass. The noodles will be perfectly fine however.

What I'm wondering is this. Is it safe to eat Campbell's "Cream of" soups about a year after the expiration date? I have several cans that expired 8 months to a year ago.

limegurl319 (2 months ago)

A friendly warning: Do not eat or open Mac n Cheese 3 years after the expiration. It's disgusting. Really. When I opened one last,the macaroni was greenish and foul smelling...

iwreckdotcom (2 months ago)

you can smoke egg shells and get throwed

hackerhell900 (2 months ago)

Really? How much do you freak out?

iwreckdotcom (2 months ago)

you ever drop acid well its kind of like that lol

My new food writer crush

So I think I found a soul-mate today in Kerry Saretsky, a 26-year-old native New Yorker who has formed a nice little niche for herself in the world of food writing. Known for her "fresh, chic" take on classic French dishes from her childhood, Saretsky has her own blog and also contributes to various publications, including Serious Eats (which, by the way, is quickly becoming my new favorite blog/social community).

She initially caught my attention with her post on 80-cent Madeleines, a recipe she contributed to Serious Eats. How can one reproduce such a sophisticated cookie on an 80-cent budget, you might ask? Saretsky uses Jiffy, the all-American corn muffin mix, as the basis for her batter "to the chagrin of the French in my family who think corn is only for feeding pigs."So, to recap, she's a native New Yorker with French blood; a love of food, cooking, and writing; and she's thriftily minded (that's the term I'm going with these days).

I wonder if Saretsky read my post about Hodgson Mills. When I meet her we'll have to bond over that one.

Check out her blog, French Revolution, where she weaves personal anecdotes, pieces of French history, and beautiful photography throughout her recipes. I highly recommend it!

Top NYC Cupcakes

Grub Street, New York Magazine's food blog, just recently posted an amazing slide show of the best of NYC cupcakes...at least according to Gramercy Tavern's all-star pastry chef, Nancy Olsen:

"Fifteen bakeries — from Brooklyn’s Baked to Two Little Red Hens uptown — dropped off more than 75 cupcakes to New York Magazine headquarters. With milk shots to cleanse the palate, Olson graded their versions of chocolate, vanilla, and everything in between on a ten-point system for taste, five for presentation, and five awarded at her discretion.

If this could somehow be a full-time job, and if such a job did not forge a direct path towards diabetes and morbid obesity, I would be first in line. I guess it's probably best that the ranking is in Olsen's hands--anyone who contributes something as wonderful-sounding as a Crunchy Milk Chocolate–Peanut butter layer cake to the world only deserves the very best.

But I digress. Olsen ranks the top 11 (why 11 and not 10, I'm not so sure) NYC cupcakes. She seems pretty discerning and her descriptions are honest when they need to be (she found many of the cupcakes much too dry). But ultimately, I think the pictures speak for themselves. #5, #4, and #2 top my "to try" list (especially #4--they're only $2 each!). I mean...just look at this picture, I almost don't have to eat it to know that this is probably the best cupcake in the city:
The only comment that made me second-guess Olsen's judgment was her favorable review of Batch's odd selection of cupcakes--"carrot-salted caramel" and "bacon caramel" are pairings which, in themselves sound like oxymorons, and in the context of "cupcakes," well, that just seems downright scary. I guess I can't knock it until I try it. Too bad I'm off pork.

I almost surprise myself to say that I've only ever tried one cupcake producer from this list: Magnolia, of course because I would feel so "out of touch" if I hadn't. From what I remember, the chocolate icing did release a flood of endorphins, but the cake part itself was lackluster. I'm not so sure it lives up to all that hype. I've also tried Crumbs, but that's like saying I've been to Sbarro if this were a pizza competition (ok, maybe that's a little harsh). Gus is a fan of Billy's Bakery and recently became enraptured by Sweet Revenge's red velvet cupcake. Apparently Sugar Sweet Sunshine tops many New Yorker's lists.

As someone who likes to hold strong opinions about food, I just know that I have a lot of catching up to do.

Chelsea Market

Well, I've been on a bit of a hiatus, but I'm back! And I have some house-cleaning things to address:

First off, please note and admire the wonderful addition to my blog: the updated header and cartoon version of myself are the creations of an incredibly talented, meat-abstaining, recent Montana transplant otherwise known as Gus's best friend. (Thank you Adam!) Check out his graphic design blog for more fun!

Now, to fill you in on what I've been up to! My birthday came early this year. Yes, that's right. Gus decided to treat me to an incredibly lavish weekend last Saturday in the Meat Packing District (I know, ironic choice), which entailed a 14th floor hotel room at The Standard (that had a floor-to-ceiling glass wall looking out on the Hudson and a completely door-less shower) and a night out at the ultra-trendy bar (meaning ultra-loud and expensive, with the obligatory bed) called APT.
Amidst all of this swanky indulgence, I got to finally explore Chelsea Market! For those of you who have ever been to San Francisco, it has a similar feel to Ferry Building Marketplace; Spanning one city block, the market consists of a wide wooden walkway lined with various restaurants, bakeries, and fresh food stores. The six-story complex was originally born out of the fiercely contested biscuit war of the 1890s: New York Biscuit Company commissioned the building in an effort to gain advantage over its rival, the American Biscuit and Manufacturing Company in Chicago. The two groups inevitably melded into one, along with a few other bakeries, to form The National Biscuit Company, which soon provided half the biscuit production in the United States; the company produced such American classics as Premium Saltines, Vanilla Wafers, Fig Newtons, Barnum's Animal Crackers, the Oreo, and the Mallomar. (Here's the full history).
Harking back to its origins, Chelsea Market still has a nice little selection of bakeries. I wish I had known this ahead of time, because Gus and I were so excited when we came across the first one, we expended our enthusiam and money on only mediocre cookies before realizing that the wonderful smell that had originally lured us in was actually emanating from Fat Witch Bakery, right next door. Next time I'm heading straight there to try one of their "wickedly delicious" brownies.

Chelsea Market is also home Amy's Bread, a well-established name in the world of New York bakeries (the "master baker" Amy Scherber has two other locations in the city) which features a wide selection of daily-baked loaves and pastries. The huge kitchen is encased in glass walls, so passerbys can watch the flour-dusted manueverings of the baking crew.
Some of our other favorites were the Chelsea Wine Vault, which happend to be offering a free wine tasting, the ultra-serene T Salon, (a perfect name, really, because I wasn't sure if I stepped into an Asian-inspired spa or a tea shop), and Roonybrook Dairy, a 1950s style restaurant which serves homemade ice cream and whole milk in glass bottles (Gus and I sat at the counter and split a creamy chocolate milkshake--then he gave me his high school pin).

Wallet-friendly Crépes

Apparently, The Gothamist shares my love of "food to-go" windows, saving money, and the French. In today's post, they blogged about Shade to Go, a take-out window that offers build-your-own crépes, right next to Shade bar near Washington Square Park. In addition to being customizable and delicious, the crépes have been reviewed as both inexpensive and satisfyingly filling. Here's more from the Gothamist:

"Each crépe comes with three ingredients, and for the "savory" crepes, customers typically pick a meat, cheese and a vegetable [A reviewer on the Insiderpages notes the selection includes smoked salmon, French brie, goat cheese, ham, smoked turkey, spinach, roasted garlic, eggs, roasted zucchini]. Or get a 'sweet' crépe for dessert and choose from ingredients like fruit, syrups, chocolate and dulce de leche. They also have sandwiches and salads, all made fresh to order. Take advantage of the special and get a crépe or a sandwich with a salad for $10."

The next time the weather breaks 60 degrees, you'll know where to find me!

Prices:
Dessert crépe: $6.75
Savory crépe: $7.75
Crépe/salad combo: $10

Location: 241 Sullivan St

Fresh Direct Gives Away Free Fruit!

A little surprise came with our Fresh Direct order today...
My apprehension quickly gave way to pure joy, as I realized this extra carton of apples was not a mistake on my part but a generous gift from The Peak Produce Club, of which apparently Gus and I are now members.

Sample Mac N Cheese for Free at the Great Greenpoint Mac Off

If you love mac 'n cheese (and who doesn't), you may want to check out The Great Greenpoint Mac Off this weekend, a competition among four Brooklyn bars to win "the highly coveted title of 'Greenpoint’s Best Mac & Cheese'."

The event, which is free and open to the public, takes on the form of a bar crawl, and participants get to sample mac 'n cheese from each bar (in addition to enjoying bar specials) to help determine the winner at the end of the night. A separate judging will also take place at 8 pm by local "celebrities" to determine the best bar fare. An after party tops off the festivities. Here are the details:

"Starting at 4pm at Red Star, chef, John Manzo serves up his menu’s Mac ‘N Cheese the day. At its own pace, the crawl moves to The Habitat where chef/owner Ashley Engmann offers samples from their standard menu. Participants then cross the road to The Mark Bar, the tried and true Greenpoint watering hole celebrating its 5th year, where Chef Michael Diprima of Lamb and Jaffee...serves the group from their all day menu. The crawl moves one block to t.b.d. Brooklyn to receive a final sample prepared by chef Cody Utzman, owner of local Cali-Mex eatery Papacitos and the soon to open Brooklyn Standard."

And the contenders are:

Red Star
37 Greenpoint Ave

The Habitat
988 Manhattan Ave

The Mark Bar
1025 Manhattan Ave

t.b.d. Brooklyn
244 Franklin St.

Pretzel Croissants: A Must-Try New York Treat

The other day at work we got these pretzel croissants from The City Bakery, a hot spot in the Flat Iron district known for their baked goods (they make a fresh batch of cookies every 30 minutes) and bustling lunch crowd (their atypical salad bar features farmer's market produce and sophisticated munchies like smoked tofu with chili garlic sauce and Bulgar with feta, parsley, and chopped bell peppers).

The pretzel croissant is City Bakery's "in between" specialty. What the French may find as blasphemous, New Yorkers have widely embraced; this Americanized classic pastry has attracted such a following that City Bakery made a website devoted exclusively to this "sweet & salty, flaky & rich, weird and wonderful," concoction, and various bloggers have elevated the baked good to god-like proportions. As Andrea Strong of The Strong Buzz noted, "Maury Rubin, the owner and creator of City Bakery, would probably have a warrant taken out on him if he ever closed City Bakery."

If you haven't yet experienced the buzz surrounding this trendy joint, I can vouch--at least for the hype surrounding the pretzel croissant. It's one of those unique "only in New York" things that everyone should get to try at some point or other. And while it's not necessarily "cheap," it will only set you back about $4, and it's so rich and satisfying it's worth every penny.

The pretzel croissant tastes exactly how you would expect a salty pretzel and a buttery, flaky croissant to taste if melded together. The bite starts out crunchy, as your teeth break into the buttery, flaky top layers. About mid-chew, your pearly whites begin to sink into the soft, moist, and chewy interior; the pretzel croissants we got were still warm, and they had that right-out-of-the-oven taste. While many things in New York are just short-lived fads, the legacy of the pretzel croissant is sure to last for many years to come. Isn't it about time you treat yourself to a sweet and salty treat?

Location: 3 W 18th St (btw 5th and 6th)

Search for local deals on 8Coupons.com

I found out via a Grub Street post the other day about a useful little site called 8coupons.com which allows users to search for local deals, from spa treatments to dental treatments and everything in between:

"8coupons is a fun and easy way to save time, money, and trees by getting the best, up-to-the-minute deals on your phone. Get FREE printable and text message coupons that you can redeem by just showing the cashier. Yes, it really works! You can also sign up for deal alerts (e-mail and text message) from your favorite neighborhood restaurants and shops so you never miss a deal!"

The site recently launched an NYC Money Map which now allows users to search for deals by zip code. I did a couple food-related searches in my area, and the results were a little mixed: As NY Magazine said, "there's a lot of filler" but also "some genuine deals." I did discover some good deals right in my neighborhood:

- A sketchy looking bar that I frequently pass called The Underground has $1 Beers and $3 Drinks during Happy Hour
- The ever-popular Tonic East lets ladies drink for free on Wednesday nights from 8 to 9 PM
- Grand Sichuan NY, a Chinese restaurant chain with a poorly designed website, has $6.25 lunch specials during the week

Since the site allows both businesses and regular web users to post deals, it relies on a user-generated rating system to vet out the real deals from the impostors. And the rating system also helps determine the Top 8 NYC Deals (just in case you were wondering what the whole "8" thing was about). Though I wouldn't rely on the site exclusively, 8coupons will be a welcomed addition to my "Cheap NYC" bookmarks folder.

A 10-Minute Recipe that Actually Takes 10 Minutes to Cook!

In my latest quest to find quick and simple meals, I found one in the most unsuspecting of places: The Food Network. I say "unsuspecting," because let's face it, many of us tune into cooking shows, not to replicate the signature dishes of our favorite celebrity chefs, but for the simple pleasure of watching an attractive and charismatic teacher guide us through his/her mouth-watering creations--and hopefully we'll pick up one or two tricks along the way.

But the other day, Giada De Laurentiis, the petite, bubbly host of my favorite cooking show, "Everyday Italian," featured a simple, easy dish which I whipped up the other night in literally a matter of minutes. Born in Rome and trained in Paris, Giada is a master at putting new and creative twists on classic Mediterranean cooking. Yet normally I appreciate her creations vicariously, when she samples everything at the end of the show.

Fortunately, Giada balances her inventive meals with dishes like the Orecchiette with Mixed Greens and Goat Cheese, a fusion of salad and pasta that's simple, quick, and cheap to recreate. Gus and I made it the other night with just a few minor alterations to the original recipe, costing us less than $15. Here is the "Gus and Emily" version:

1/3 box orchiette pasta (we used gemelli pasta because it happened to be the cheapest)
4 cups mixed salad greens
1/2 jar roasted red peppers, chopped
1 small jar artichoke hearts, halved
half pint cherry tomatoes, halved
feta cheese
salt and pepper

*Makes 2 very generous servings

Cook the pasta according to the box directions. Meanwhile, toss the remaining ingredients together. Drain the pasta, reserving approximately 1 cup of the pasta water. Combine the salad and the pasta in the pasta pot, adding in the reserved pasta water until the greens are just wilted. And voila, your meal is finished! The wonderful thing about this dish is that it requires no dressing and very little seasoning. Instead, the starchy pasta water fuses the flavors together, resulting in a healthy yet filling dish. Here's a picture, pre-toss:

Pinkberry Buy One Get One Free!

Though up until this point I've managed to insulate myself from Manhattan's obsession with glorified frozen yogurt, Pinkberry's 2 for 1 deal just may break me down.

When I first moved to the city, I remember feeling slightly taken aback by the number of Pinkberry's I came across--not to mention all of its various copycats. From Red Mango and WildBerry to Yorganic and Yolato, this new wave of frozen yogurt franchises--with their endless penchant for portmanteau--seems to have done to the gourmet dessert market what Starbucks has done to coffee.

But I guess the overwhelming support for Pinkberry and the like shouldn't surprise me; in a city filled with the weight-conscious and health-obsessed, anything that's non-fat and non-sugared yet manages to still taste halfway decent is likely to be embraced.

So why haven't I joined in the frozen yogurt fanfare? It's not the concept I have a problem with--although, if I'm really craving something sweet, I'm more inclined to share a pint of Ben & Jerry's with Gus once every blue moon rather than buy a pricey cup of "green tea" flavored dairy paste that barely passes muster as yogurt.

Ok, maybe I do have a slight problem with the concept. But, on some level, I do understand the desire for a reasonably healthy (though admittedly, less enjoyable) dessert. Perhaps it's a knee-jerk reaction to cast off anything that's wildy popular, or maybe it was the dissapointment in finding out that these frozen yogurt places only offer a wimpy 2 or 3 flavors.

Though I have yet to pinpoint the issue, I am open to trying a cup to see what it's all about. And the coupon may just push me to be so adventurous. What are my readers' feelings about the frozen yogurt phenomenon? Are you a Pinkberry lover or hater?

Martinis: The Most Cost-Effective Cocktail

For all the thrifty drinkers out there, here's a tidbit for maximizing your bar tab: According to The Consumerist, you should be ordering a martini--"Alcohol-to-price, it's the best value out there."

This surprised me, for I always assumed the infamous Long Island Iced Tea claimed this category. With equal parts vodka, gin, tequila, rum and triple sec, thinly veiled by a few splashes of sour mix and cola, the LIT is embraced by many as a cost-effective way to get the job done.

Unlike the martini, however, the Long Island Iced Tea doesn't exactly scream sophistication or class, as evidenced by the popular college cheer "Let's get LIT tonight." (I can make fun of this because I used to be one of those people.)

But since I've graduated college, I guess it's time to graduate to the martini as well. No one really needs a drink with that many different types of alcohol anyway. And when else can you order something "dirty" and actually sound cool?