Yikes

Occasionally, I come across some tangential shit at work that is straight-up terrifying. This is one of those times.

Opposite day

I woke up in a bad mood today.
I'd spent the evening slogging through an impossibly humid Phillies game that saw Brett Myers tease me by taking a no-no into the seventh, only to have them lose 2-0. They spoiled a great pitching outing by being totally unable to comprehend the movement on Edison Volquez's pitches (seriously - dude's stuff is sick).

ANYWAY, I just read a story that turned my mood around. In a city that gets urban planning wrong 99.997% of the time, it's rare to read something like this. Now, Shop Rite sucks ass (new slogan: "Hey, at least we're not Pathmark!"), and Lowe's is just another soulless big box blah blah blah mom and pop store blah blah walmart blahrg. Bottom line is this community needed a grocery store, needed affordable home repair supplies, needed JOBS. And that's what this will give them. You ever notice that the only people who really complain about the death of mom and pop stores in favor of walmarts and Lowe's et al are well to do, college educated people? Meanwhile, low-income people are forced to rely on the wildly unhealthy food options dished up by mom and pop. That's right. Mom and pop are stuff white people like.

Lowe's and Shop Rite are stuff everyone in this community needs.

Fuck you, mom and pop.

It's BACON

h/t.

Optimism Comes in No Greater Form than the Humble Meatball

For visual evidence that I make some durn good ones, I present exhibit A:

Ingredients:

Ground turkey

Crushed red pepper

A fistful of fresh rosemary, minced

Cayenne pepper

Paprika

Carmelized onions, minced

Salt and pepper

Saute until golden brown on all sides (yes, in my kitchen, spheres have sides), finish in the oven covered in tin foil.

Serve over a big bowl of pasta, with the greatest tomato sauce in the world (recipe forthcoming), and a generous amount of parmigiano reggiano.

Now go vote!

I couldn't agree more

Foodie Report - Rumor Mongering

From a poster on Craig LaBan's chat today:
"Thomas Keller's Per Se over the holidays and a woman at another table, with Philly connections, said she'd heard that Keller is supposed to open a burger place here? The Per Se staff hadn't heard anything, but I was wondering if you knew of such a plan?"

PLEASE LET THIS HAPPEN!

Foodies on vacation

I just discovered a pretty durn cool resource. The US Department of Agriculture maintains a map that lists farmer's markets all across this great nation of ours. While I'm sure that it's information is far from complete or up-to-date, it's still a nice development.

Planning a trip to New Mexico? Now with the click of a mouse you can get an idea where you might pick up some fresh local huitlacoche. A lot of the listings even have phone #s you can call beforehand to find out hours of operation, which, although listed, are probably not very current.

This would make a fantastic Food Network show- a big ol' road trip from market to market, hanging with local farmers and tasting what's good from week to week, from place to place. Of course, if such a show ever happened, it would no doubt include Rachael Ray and square dance lessons. Much like the 8th circle of hell.

Foodie Report - Tequila's

Tequila's, at 16th and Locust.
Went there today for lunch. Nice place. Really nice staff. Although service was a bit slow, it was actually kind of a nice change of pace compared to the usual center city rush job.

Highlights- Two words, people: Grasshopper tacos. I didn't get them only cause it was a work lunch and I feared offending folks. I am 100% positive they're delicious though. They were a special, so I'm curious how often these sweet sweet babies are available. Other highlights - nice decorations and ENORMOUS portions, each nearly big enough for 2. excellent black bean soup, served w/ queso fresco, bacon, and onions. Really good limes. Cool bathrooms.

Lowlights- Mediocre ceviche (overcooked), underspiced sauces, very not ripe tomatoes in the pico de gallo, mole dishes underspiced and overcooked.

Overall- not nearly as good as some of the nuevo latino places, nor as good as Las Cazuelas. But definitely a fun, nice place- has an AMAZING booze selection (all the varieties of hangar one vodka, plus what I've heard is the best tequila selection in the city). Would be good to go w/ a group who feel like boozin' and sharing those huge portions.

I'll give it 2.5 Jiminy Cricket Enchiladas out of 4.