Raise your hand..

Raise your hand if you have a case of the morning curls!

Quick fix..

Ok - now that's out of the way.

Good day all!

I have some great news.

Yesterday I officially became a “Featured Foodbuzz Blogger”

(notice the badge on the top right corner of my blog)

http://www.foodbuzz.com/ is a huge website composed of 10,000 +food blogs.

It is a place for sharing passion for food and dining. I’ve come across quite a few food blogs that I now read every day – thanks to the exposure they received on Foodbuzz. If you yourself have a food blog (or are just interested in food in general) I strongly advise you visit Foodbuzz and take a browse through what they have to offer.

So thank you to the Foodbuzz team/staff for giving me the honor of being a featured publisher! I won’t let you down!

On to more good news!

My blog will be undergoing a little reconstruction within the next month. I am really excited for this reconstruction because it’s truly been a long time coming.

Taking a new picture (to replace the strange hot dog one with a random stranger in the backround lol) will be the first line of business! Hopefully it will be a photo that equally portrays my curly Q’s and my love for food & culture. So enjoy the ride with me as this blog develops into it’s fullest potential!

Moving onward yet again…

Yesterday – I took a stroll to the local Wal-mart and bought these bad boys!

A 6-piece bakeware set & a 24 mini muffin pan!

So excited to give them a go!

(I have a feeling there are a lot of recipes to surface in the near future)

Lastly….

If you come by once a day, once a week, once a month, or if this is your first time – I consider you a big part of my curly head family. (Even if you aren’t a true curly head) :)

So as long as you keep reading – I’ll keep blogging!

If you have any questions, comments, compliments, criticism, concerns, tips, etc. please send me an e-mail! I am quite friendly – so don’t be shy!

Jennablack8@gmail.com

Ok- enough of this jib jab.

Let us begin…

[[Today’s music]]

MAPS & ATLASTES – THE ONGOING HORRIBLE

[[Today’s restaurant]]

LURE FISH BAR – NYC

[[Today’s kitchen gadget]]

ICESAC

"Like a good cocktail every once a while? Need crushed ice? Here’s your solution: A super sturdy silicone bag with an unusual shape, made for one thing and one thing only: To hold ice that will be whacked! You tried the towel, that didn’t work. Tried the grinder, until that broke. Tried the ice pick, until you had to go to the ER. Try the ice bag and never look back. Add ice, pull drawstring, use whacker and voila, crushed ice!"

[[Today’s news]]

GERMS BEAT 5 SECOND RULE

"Experiments in dropping carrots and sippy cups on a typical floor found that germs do indeed attach themselves within 5 seconds. You gotta love this research: Three baby carrots were dropped into a kitchen sink, onto a tiled floor, a carpeted floor, a table and a countertop. There also was a control carrot, which remained undropped. In each case, germs glommed onto the veggie in 5 seconds. The germiest culprit? The countertop, followed by carpeted floor and the tiled floor. The wet sippy cup actually picked up the most germs when, gulp, dropped onto a highchair tray."

Want to read more?

http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/sc-fam-0318--5-second-rule-20100321,0,6447662.story

[[Today’s random]]

SOUND PHUKET NIGHT CLUB

“The night scene in Phuket, Thailand, changed permanently last fall, when SOUND Phuket night club opened. The launch night audience included the who-is-who of local and international jetset elite, and the vibes have only improved since.

Located on the third floor of the Jungceylon shopping and entertainment complex in the Patong resort, SOUND can accommodate an impressive 700 clubbers. It is part of the stable of upscale boutique hotels, destination restaurants, clubs and bars conceptualized and operated by the Bed Management Company, the group behind the popular Bed Supperclub in Bangkok that opened seven years ago.

SOUND’s design theme, realized by Orbit Design Studio (Bangkok, London and Tokyo) in association with Bed Supper Club, is the human ear in all of its super-human awesomeness, so everything in the interior is rounded, curved and tubular. While mimicking the human body, the SOUND environment with its intense audio and visual effects offers a surreal, out-of-body sci-fi experience.

The walls and décor contribute integrally to creating a superior acoustics and audio environment. The fantastic lighting, designed by Inverse (London and Bangkok) uses the latest club lighting technology. One of the central attractions is the bar lit by a stunning 19-meter graphic equalizer LED screen that is synchronized to the music that ranges form electronic music, hip-hop and R n' B to house depending on the DJ and the theme of the night.”

[[Today’s food clip(s)]]

ANTHONY BOURDAIN – GUINEA PIG LUNCH

ANTHONY BOURDAIN – BANH MI IN VIETNAM

[[Today’s curly head]]

BRODY JENNER

[[Today's recipe...sort of]]

Late last night I used "Dunkin Heins Moist Deluxe: Classic White Cake" mix to make mini cupcakes in my new mini cup cake pan!

(I know what you're thinking "why didn't you make cake from scratch?" I was in a hurry to try out my new pans - and I didn't feel like whipping anything up from scratch at midnight. Plus - Dunkin Heins is the bees knees!! Don't let anyone tell you different!)

The pans were non stick so I didn't initially put flour or shortening in them to keep things from sticking - because I assumed nothing would.

Wrong....I was just...wrong lol.

Out of the first 24 only 14 were good to use - the rest got stuck and fell apart. So for the next two batches - I rubbed a small bit of shortening in each little compartment and what do ya know - my little cup cakes came out perfectomundo!!

(sorry for the poor camera and lighting quality)

I was clearly sleepy which masked my pure joy and happiness the mini muffin pans gave me lol.

Although I was very tired - I somehow managed to bake all of the mini cup cakes.

I woke up bright and early this morning (if you consider 9:30 bright and early lol)

and I iced simple yet cute designs atop all of the mini cup cakes

::SIGH:: I love a good baking session.

Even when the kitchen (and myself) is a complete mess and it feels like total chaos. Baking is very therapeutic for me.

Give it a go sometime!

::ATTENTION::

Love ice cream?

Today is free cone day at Ben & Jerry’s! From 12 pm- 8 p.m. you can get a free scoop of ice cream – any flavor you so choose!

So stop by a Ben & Jerry’s near you!