Spaghetti Stir-Fry and Hambagoo: Japan Looks West

I just read this article from the New York Times on yoshoku. We know when we go to a Chinese buffet in Cape Girardeau, the food is nothing like the food we'd expect to be served in Shanghai, because it has been 'westernized' to fit our tastes and conceptions of Chinese food.

It turns out the same thing happened in Japan, creating 'yoshoku', which is westernized Japanese food. Utterly fascinating to think that the cultural culinary mirror reflects the other way as well. None of it sounds very tasty to me, but how many Chinese people like Crab Rangoon?

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/26/dining/26japan.html

Miraclefruit

Hey kids,

Here's a link to a New York Times article about miraclefruit. Check it out...

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/28/dining/28flavor.html?ref=dining

Finally, our own Cupcakery in Winnipeg

This past week, the first-ever 'Cupcakery' opened in Winnipeg. You regular readers know I have noted the opening of various cupcake-dispensing bakeries in the St. Louis area with an increasing sense of dismay, wondering if we poor Winnipeggers would ever merit our own Shoppe dealing exclusively in the sweet confections. Well, Winnipeg's day has finally dawned! The Cupcakery has opened. And the cupcakes are delicious; I had a "cookies-and-cream" specialty cupcake today. The cake was airy; the icing was probably the best buttercream I've ever tasted.

I can happily guarantee Cupcakery cakes to any family or friends who venture north to visit me in the future.

Someone was annoid

Found this story on Kottke.org (one of my favorite sites!):

"In commercials for Domino's Pizza, the chain's employees wage a never ending battle against the Noid, a gremlin who delays deliveries and carries a gun that can turn a pizza ice cold. Many viewers are amused by the Noid, Domino's says, but one of them took the advertising campaign personally. Last week Kenneth Noid, 22, walked into a Domino's Pizza shop in Chamblee, Ga., with a .357 Magnum revolver and took two employees hostage. When police arrived, he demanded $100,000 in cash, a getaway car and a copy of The Widow's Son, a 1985 novel about secret societies in an 18th century Parisian prison.

All Noid got was the pizza he ordered. After a five-hour siege, the two employees slipped away and Noid gave himself up. According to police, Noid has "psychological problems" and believes that he has an "ongoing dispute with Tom Monaghan," the head of the Detroit-based Domino's chain."

Old Jokes Home

A girl walks up to her house and notices her Grandfather sitting on the porch with nothing on from the waist down.

“Grandpa, what are you doing?” she exclaims.

The old man looks at her and says, “Well, last week I sat out here with no shirt on, and I got a stiff neck. This is your Grandma’s idea.”

Thought you might like to see the room

You Want To See Beaches?

Oh, for the beach on a hot day!

We slept in today, and plan to go to the beach for the hot afternoon. We meet up with the ME crowd this evening for dinner. Love you all

WELCOME TO MEXICO

Got Raw Milk?

Here's a really interesting article from Harper's on the benefits and detriments of raw milk consumption:

http://harpers.org/archive/2008/04/0081992