Summer Bliss....and Blissini's

Summer. It’s coming to an end.

Well, I rarely step outside during the day Monday to Friday, but my trusty meteorologist has been telling me that the past few days have been pleasant and this weekend is suppose to be nice weather – perfect for that end of summer BBQ.

If you’re like me, you also enjoy those lovely adult beverages that are cool, refreshing and have just enough alcohol to tune out those annoying kiddies next door who think playing Marco-Polo is fun, after EIGHT HOURS. I mean seriously, aren’t your hands pruney yet?

MARCO – POLO – MARCO – POLO – MARCO – POLO.

Sorry, sidetracked.

Anyways, a few weeks ago I made this fab drink – yes, courtesy of Giada again. It’s a Summer Blissini and is the perfect compliment to a nice brunch/lunch outside. Enjoy!

Summer Blissini

Prosecco, chilled (I recommend a dry Prosecco since you are mixing this with both OJ and Pom juice which will make it sweet)
Orange juice, chilled (non-pulp)
Pomegranate juice, chilled (Trader Joe’s had this great Sparkling Pom Juice that worked great)
Mint leaves, for garnish

Directions
Combine equal parts of the Prosecco, orange juice, and pomegranate juice. Pour into glasses and garnish with a mint leaves. Serve and enjoy!

Review: Psycho Donuts

For those of you living in the South Bay – you’ve probably heard of this place on the news. It’s capturing headlines for being inappropriate and has offended the Mental Health Organization. Riots, pickets and even a televised debate have taken place.

I think that the efforts to shut down this place have actually been harmful, since many people (like me) are more curious to visit Psycho Donuts. I mean, who could pass up an opportunity to take a picture in a straight jacket in the padded cell?

Psycho Donuts began as a normal donut shop and is located on Winchester and Campbell Avenue (next to Subway and the Comic shop). When I walked it, I saw the notorious padded cell that has been labeled “inappropriate” – um, it was a seat with three padded panels – if they didn’t tell me it was a cell, I would have thought it was an odd telephone booth. Unfortunately, the padded cell was closed so I couldn’t get a picture of myself inside…darn (strike 1).

As I approach the register, one of the employees (dressed as a nurse) handed me a small piece of bubble wrap, saying it “will help you decide on your order.” Hmm, okkkaaayyy (strike 2 – FREAKS)

Headbanger, Cereal Killer, S’moreos, Cookie Monster, Cocoa Kooks, Psycho, Mellow Submarine, Deserted Paradise – hmm, these didn’t seem like anything you should be too worried about. I mean, sure the Headbanger looked like a person that had jelly oozing out, but I thought it was actually quite humorous.

After buying our donuts, we looked for a place to sit and eat. There was no place to sit (strike 3). In fact, this “popular” donut shop had one mere coffee table with a few chairs around it. So, we went home to enjoy our donuts.

The verdict: Nothing special at all. In fact, they took average donuts and probably thought, “what can I put on top of this that will make it sweet and give people a sugar high.” I sampled a few of the donuts (obviously) and none were amazing, just average.

With all the riots, you would have thought these donuts would have been better, especially since it's probably getting more business given the publicity. If anything, people should be picketing over the fact that you are getting ripped off – high prices (for a donut) that don’t even taste great.

Three strikes, you’re out – that’s my motto.

Total disappointment, what’s psycho is how people keep yapping about this place. Take me to Stans any day.
Information:
Name: Psycho Donuts
Address: 2006 Winchester Blvd, Campbell, CA 95008
URL: http://www.psycho-donuts.com/
Pricing: Prices range from $2+ or $15/dozen
Byte Rating: 1.5 out of 5

As Seen....(on Maury)...

Today, I’m beginning a new series on my blog. “As Seen In/On…” which will showcase the food that you see in movies, TV shows, even YouTube clips. Send me and e-mail or leave a comment here with a dish you’ve seen and I’ll make it, eat it and critique it. Think: Fried Green Tomatoes (book/movie), Green Eggs and Ham (book), Pumpkin Juice (Harry Potter books and movies) – the sky is the limit! Let me know what you’d like me to try!

To kick things off – I thought I would continue with the Chicken Tetrazzini since it seems be getting tons of watches on YouTube. As a background for those of you who haven’t seen it, The Soup found this hilarious clip from Maury Povich. Maury had on a lovely guest who accused her boyfriend “Powl” of being seduced by her friend because of some CHICKEN TETRAZZINI. Enough said – well, you know how Maury goes, he tried to mentor the young couple, but both were pretty much crazy.

ANYWAYS, I was hoping my chicken tetrazzini would be as seducing as well. I decided to check for recipes from Giada – I mean, she’s a classy lady that seems to seduce people on her Food Network show with low cut tops, techno background music and...I mean her food! (See previous posting for the full recipe with my suggestions).

Glancing at the recipe, I knew this had to be good, after all with pounds of pasta, cream, butter and cheese, how could I go wrong? (Aside from the fact that it’s a heart-attack-waiting-to-happen).

Actually, maybe that is where things did go wrong: POUNDS.

Let’s just say I let my sister help me boil the pasta. Long story short, it exploded, shattering the lid and I was forced to let everything cool off in the backyard where the pasta was then hunted on by the wild cats and birds of the neighborhood. Okay, that may have been a little exaggeration, but it did blow up in the kitchen.

Back to the meal.

Chicken Tetrazzini is basically a baked pasta casserole. It’s a cream sauce with shredded chicken, peas and mushrooms. The casserole is topped with a mixture of breadcrumbs and Parmesan cheese – when baking this it hardens up and provides a crusty top.

One thing really weird about this dish is it’s usually always made with linguini or spaghetti noodles. This turned out to be a real pain when trying to scoop the pasta out of the dish. I definitely would have substituted this with some sort of tube pasta. Or, equally classy would have been macaroni.

I was actually pretty disappointed with this dish, considering the fact that “Pawl” left his woman after being seduced by some chicken tetrazeeeni. It was dry, the pasta was way hard to get out of the casserole dish and if I am inhaling over 800 calories per bite, I expect it to be a savory dish. This fell WAY below par.

My cousin summed it up when he told me the next day: “I think I ate too much tetrazzini...Yes, and I either threw up in my mouth last night or I had a dream I did.”

If you are easily offended my Maury Povitch guests, don’t check out The Soup clip below. For the rest of you, enjoy this little tale of how “Pawl got seduced.”

And, don’t forgot to leave suggestions for the new “As Seen In/On” series!