Confessions Of A Splenda Stealer

Today’s train of thought was inspired by the Google reader that I just set up, thanks to my friend Ria. She brought my attention to the RSS feeder because I am always hopelessly doing things the old school way, i.e., haivng about a million open tabs. I feel that there are so many short-cuts in the world, at least when it comes to computers and tech-stuff that I just have no idea about. I still keep numbers and addresses written down in my Filofax. Bluetooth what? Smart phone what??

Anyway, as I sat down excited to check my Google reader and all the new hits that await for me to take note of, I just started recently reading another sister site of Apartment Therapy that I really like, called The Kitchn. Today’s wisdom comes from The Kitchn’s posting called Good Quote: On Tasting Everything.

In the introduction to his book, 101 Wines: Guaranteed to Inspire, Delight, and Bring Thunder to Your World, Gary Vaynerchuk gives one of the most compelling arguments on taste that we’ve heard:

The best way I’ve found to exercise your palate is to taste everything, and I mean everything–not just wine…There is nothing in this world I won’t eat. So, when you see me on WLTV or Conan O’Brien chomping cigars or sucking wet rocks, it’s no gimmick. These really are the things that I’ve done to train my palate. You need to explore every exotic fruit, imported candy, farm stand jam, animal, vegetable, and mineral, because by a miracle of nature, all these flavors can appear in a glass of wine.

I would have to say that I completely agree with this. Now, I’m not neccessailry going to order an entire plate of a foreign taste, but I will try a bite of something at least once, so it’s good for me to have at least adventurious eaters around me. But besides from tasting at the table, it made me think back to when I was little, like really young, when you almost have that animalist instinct to put everything in your mouth out of sheer curiousity. There is so much of that curiousity that we lose when we get older, so I think that Vaynerchuk has a great point. Even if we don’t like the taste of something, it is still knowledge. I learned at a very young age that I do not like the taste of crepe paper, the green rug in my bedroom, and my Pooh bear’s nose. I don’t think that this knowledge will nessarily make me a great sommelier, but it’s something to think about.

Sometimes I fear that my palate is dulled by peanut butter and oatmeal overload. And coffee. I also do love my crushed red pepper flakes…not all together, obviously. I would not have to taste that combination to know that would not be a good one.

What have you tasted today?

While I think that cheapassfood.com is resourceful and funny, this idea to save money on booze I’m not so sure about, unless you really know what you are doing. From the site:

Absinthe – The Green Goddess Homemade

INGREDIENTS:

INSTRUCTIONS:

COSTS:

By the way, if you ever have wormwood listed on your grocery list, please take me with you when you go shopping. I would not want to miss that.

New word of the day alert!! According to style.com,

vocabulary lesson: recessionista

“…the younger, hipper sister of the fashionista is the recessonista, —who is at the mall finding designer threads (or diffusion designer threads) at discount prices. Look for her at Target, Uniqlo, Payless, or Kohl’s, all of whom have inked deals with designers recently. That’s because recessionistas aren’t letting a little thing like falling stock prices and rising gas bills get in the way of their wardrobe. And with the Fourth of July on the horizon, think of it as doing your patriotic duty. Says Tara Subkoff, the former Imitation of Christ designer (whose frocks occasionally hit five figures) who now does a collection for mall giant Bebe: “As Andy Warhol said, ‘What’s great about this country is that America started the tradition where the richest consumers buy essentially the same things as the poorest.’ ” As usual, the man in the white wig got there first.”

As a Splenda Stealer, I would have to say that I’ve become somewhat of a recessionista myself…even before the recession. I guess anything with an “ista” at the end makes it sound like you are savvy of a subject, rather than just cheap.

Stemming from that theory, is it safe to say that when I scope out a cheap happy hour, am I a lushista? Or, how about when I secretly look for ways to be a mooch, like when I search for free samples or raid my parent’s pantry when I’m home, can I call that being a moochista? Who the hell came up with “ista” as the suffix anyway??

Wiktionary had the answer:

-ista –one who follows a principle; an adept

example: Marxista

Does anyone else find it ironic that the one example they give has communist connotations?

Friday was a great night. After Happy Father’s Day cocktails at Four Seasons, then dinner at Dos Caminos, my parents left to grab a train and my sis and I went to make our way up to the UES to meet Ria and her friend for drinks. They were still at dinner so the twin and I got a drink at P.J. Clarke’s then decided to waste more time in Dylan’s Candy Bar. With a little buzz going, we craved for something sweet, though I never need a buzz for something sweet. They were closing in 15 minutes, but we decided to be those obnoxious, lingering customers that won’t leave until you ask them to. Though I was disappointed that I couldn’t see the store in all it’s sugar-coated glory because of renovations, it was still serious eye-candy as the stairs and walls were covered in candy collages and neon lights.

As soon as we climbed our way up the flight of steps, we started to scan for treats, though I must admit, between the two of us, we are what we call, “Dessert Challenged.” I am lactose intolerant and can’t eat ice cream and other creamy treats, the twin is a diabetic and can’t have too much sugar. You are probably asking why we even bothered to step inside the store, but I ask, why the hell not? Maybe we are just sadists.

I immediately flag down a salesperson and ask where the sugar-free candy is. She is speechless for about 30 seconds, looking around the space with wide eyes. “Wow, honestly, we don’t usually get that request,” she said. She had to go ask a manager. They lead us to a teeny, tiny back corner and tell us to enjoy the treats. We look at each other and decide, we are going to take that as an open invitation to chow down. How can you bust the sugar challenged?? I quickly grab a sugar-free gummy worm and drop it into my mouth. Twin takes about five orange gummy things and loads two in her mouth. We start to act like five year olds, popping other gummies in our pockets and mouths before another salesgirl comes over to us asking if we need any help. Busted! Luckily, we were the only two sad sugar-free customers in the store, so they totally took pity on us and just left us alone.

Hmm. What would our names be if we were characters in Willy Wonka? Annie Aspartame and Sally Soy?

Here is what the interior looks like of the candy store:

Here was our color-blind corner:

Where’s the love, Dylan??