Dog Days

On Sunday I was running around the city making bad choices when I decided to treat myself to a Grey's Papaya (6th Ave & 8th St.) dog. I hadn't eaten one in ages and there was barely a line. Alas, I realized that it was dumb of me to get the dog when it wasn't crowded because the normally succulent tube steak sported a dried layer where it had been sitting on the grill too long. It was also a bummer to learn that the price had gone up to $1.25. The other hot dog place a couple blocks down on 6th Ave. also sold them at that price. Is that the new price everywhere? When I first moved to the City, Grey's P was selling their Recession Special, two dogs and a drink for a little more than half of what they're selling it for now. Oh well, I still love that skinny snappy hot dog. Increasing price, burnt bottom and all.

If you like a bigger weiner, Jumbo Hot Dogs (149 Canal St.) sells fat juicy dogs for a buck after tax. Ten cents more for relish or those tomato-y onions. Robert Siestema from the Village Voice says that the hot dogs are from Newark. It's practically local food, points for the environment; plus it's much more filling than your typical Grey's Papaya or Papaya King for less!

Thoughts on Butter Chips

I'm waiting for the fancy stores on Madison Ave to open at ten, so I can return thousands of dollars of briefcases. Life has been pretty weird lately. So my thoughts turn to warm and comforting foods like enchiladas. The last time I had good enchiladas was in Texas, of course. We went to El Fenix. Food was good. Service was fast and polite. A model example of a chain restaurant. The weird part was being served the chips and salsa. In Texas, it's as it should be. Chips and salsa are free. So are the refills. For 5 adults and 2 kids, we got 4 baskets of chips and the waiter gave us two more when they emptied. They were served to us with little packages of butter. My sister was like, "What is that for?"
And I was like, "They must be for spreading on corn tortillas like bread and butter." She said, "But there are no tortillas, only chips. I think they're for the chips."
And I was like, "NO way! That's crazy talk!"
But sure enough, there was a table of two a couple feet away who were buttering their chips and crunching away.

Merry Belated Christmas

I miss the holidays. The cheer of looking forward to something, the smell of trees for sale on the street, the constant eating, the not working. Here's a picture of the 20lb turkey my mom made for Christmas. The secret to getting the turkey so nice and brown is baking the bird in a brown paper bag. I kept on asking my mom if she rubbed it with soy sauce or butter or something to get such a nice brown color and she said "No, nothing!" Well, I just googled brown bag turkey and there was a site that said that cooking the turkey in a grocery bag isn't safe because the paper could have been treated with some chemicals. Plus the glue or dye could be harmful because a grocery store bag isn't designed for food cooking. It suggested using a plastic oven bag. Whatever. In the picture of my dad's hands and the bag, I don't see any words on the it, so I think I'll live. We're a family that likes to live dangerously. Can you tell by how the turkey is stuffed?