Products I hope never go away.

* Swiffer in the mop and duster form.
* The bug killer from Home Depot that comes in the gray bottle.
* Rickshaw tea.
* Unsalted chicken broth in the aseptic carton.
* Engineering graph paper.
* Those little palmier cookies at Costco.
* Schweppes Ginger Beer, Bitter Lemon, Grapefruit, Dry Ginger Ale, and Cream Soda, in that order.
* Disinfecting wipes.
* Neutrogena clarifying shampoo.
* Coke One.
* Trader Joe's dark chocolate-covered caramels.
* Act in its original, non-alcoholic, 0.05% fluoride form. It boggles the mind that other mouthwashes don't offer fluoride.

Discontinued products I wish they would bring back.

* Trader Joe's Gummi Chewies, both the ones shaped like fruits and the "tropical" ones shaped like animals.
* Trader Joe's Gummi Bears.
* Trader Joe's mango sauce. At least I thought they made one at some point. Now I'm disappointed because I want to experiment with mango turnovers.
* Robitussin Cough and Cold, the kind with pseudophedrine.
* Trader Joe's ladyfingers.
* Haagen-Dazs burnt caramel.
* Ben and Jerry's White Russian.
* Costco French chocolates, not the Swiss ones.
* Costco caramel nut frozen yogurt topping.
* Costco hot lattes and mochas.
* Yoplait guava.
* Trader Joe's rice senbei.

Shrimp in "Crazy Water", Modified

Ingredients
~24 shrimp, thawed
1 c Corona Light
0.5 c unsalted chicken broth
1 small yellow onion, sliced into thin half-moons
2 cloves garlic, smashed
couple shakes red pepper flakes
2 small handfuls sugar plum tomatoes, halved
couple tablespoons olive oil

Method
1. Saute onion and garlic until the onion turns translucent and slightly golden.
2. Add (carefully) beer and broth, and tomatoes. Simmer 10 minutes.
3. Add shrimp and cover until done.

The truth about black grapes.

They probably contain more antioxidants.

They probably taste different than the red and green ones.

None of that matters.

They just look cooler, that's all.

Question of the day.

How many cooking games do we really need for the Nintendo DS?

Thought of the day.

The Democratic National Convention looks great in HD. Now it's time to go watch cartoons.

Homma's Brown Rice Sushi

2363 B Birch St, Palo Alto, CA 94306

* Had the chef's choice Combo #1, $8
* Combo #1 had tuna nigiri, smoked salmon nigiri, couple pieces of white fish nigiri, 3 pieces tuna roll, and 3 pieces cucumber roll
* Also sampled the unagi roll, futomaki, unagi donburi, and spicy smoked salmon asparagus roll

* I didn't realize brown sushi rice could stick together about as well as the white kind.
* The texture of the rice was nicely chewy (but not overly so) and the fish and other ingredients were very fresh. The fillings were nicely proportioned to the rice as well as to each other.
* The rice itself seemed to have a wasabi kick. This offset the slight nuttiness of the rice but was surprising at first.
* The unagi was very good, with the skin nicely broiled to give it a crispy charred edge. I think it worked better in the roll because it the texture of the skin was immediately offset by the texture of the rice. However, the donburi is a better choice if you want to focus on the eel.
* Since there is only one chef, it takes a while to get your order. Although it is worth the wait, the wait itself is a test of patience.
* As with all sushi, I found everything on the salty side.

Costco Polish a la Japadog

Ingredients
1 Costco Polish sausage with bun from the deli
2 tbl thick Korean barbeque sauce (teriyaki works too)
1 snack pack seasoned nori seaweed

Method
* Apply sauce.
* Shred seaweed and top sausage.

I'm off the bagged spinach.

I was so grossed out last night I neglected to take a photo. The underside of one leaf of my spinach contained a neat cluster of little grey spheres. They were either insect eggs or styrofoam packing material of some sort. The meal ended right there.

The e-coli didn't get me, the foreign matter did.

Question of the day.

You know what's great about summer? Being able to eat a bowl of blueberries like I would a bowl of cereal. Only it's blueberries, not cereal.

So Gong Dong Tofu House

4127 El Camino Real, Palo Alto, CA 94306

* Had the combination tofu stew (no spice), $9.24
* Nice smooth tofu stew with bits of beef, clam, and a couple whole shrimp.
* Rice was mixed with a little black rice and beans, giving everything a reddish hue. Perhaps J can fill me in on what it's called when that is done and why it's done.
* Banchan included kimchi, seaweed in ketchup/spicy sauce, pickled cucumber, potato, garlicky bean sprouts, and those clear noodles stirfried in sesame oil.

* I liked the rice, that the stew contained very little onion, the flavor of the beef, and how the clams miraculously didn't turn into rubber bands. My favorite banchan was the noodles, followed by the potato.
* The ventilation system was a little smoky. Also I think $9.24 is a little pricey for tofu stew, but then, the cheaper option in Santa Clara contains a lot of onion.

Question of the day.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/04/arts/television/04watc.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Solar-powered tanning beds.

Run that by me again?

Banana Chocolate Vivanno

* Banana Chocolate smoothie...sorry, Vivanno, $3.70
* Basically a chocolate banana smoothie. Chocolate part was nice and the drink was not too sweet. The texture was more watery than expected; most smoothies are thicker. Seemed more wholesome than the green tea Frappuccino but the chocolate was the only thing keeping it exciting.
* So we know the cup used 45% less emissions to produce...now what about the straw?

Ramen Club

3924 El Camino Real, Palo Alto, CA 94306

* Had Tonkatsu Ramen, $7.25
* Contained porky broth, ramen noodles, corn, sliced green onion, shredded cabbage, seaweed slivers, 2 slices roasted pork, half a hard-boiled egg, and a slice of roasted seaweed.
* Noodles were nicely al dente and fresh, the broth was salty for my taste but had a nice porky flavor. Broth was not as milky as expected. Hard-boiled egg not overdone, but yolk was soggy from being buried in the broth.
* Meal came with a cup of peachy gelatin.

Question of the day.

Since when is an on/off switch an optional feature?

Thought of the day.

I really don't want to get into a cc battle.

Question of the day.

As people, are we really as idiotic as we think we are, or is it just easier to call everybody idiots?

Question of the day.

See what happens when you don't pay your bills right away?

Question of the day.

This weekend I consumed, among other things,

• barbeque chicken pizza
• hawaiian pizza
• Tim's Cascade jalapeno potato chips
• shrimp chips
• lychees
• cherries

How long do you think it will be before I break out in zits?

Question of the day.

When you detox, where do the pesticides and other junk go?