Gilda’s always trying to get me to sample new restaurants, particularly those with a Latin flavor. So I went on the Web site of her latest suggestion, a Venezuelan restaurant in Mamaroneck, and the first offering under “Starters” was “classic Hummus” encompassing warm pita, cucumber, carrots, cherry tomato.
Gee, I had no idea Venezuela stretched all the way to the Middle East!
Zabars pastries are overrated. By me. Though not by the birds that frequent the feeders in my yard.
For hosting her and her husband for several days Gilda’s sister sent us a thank you package of Zabars goodies which included a pack of fruit filled Hamantaschen, the triangular hard dough cookies associated with the holiday of Purim.
Multi-problems: Gilda does not like any fruit-filled pastries. I’m okay with such delicacies if they in fact are delicious. Zabars’ Hamantaschen did not meet that standard.
They lacked “ta’am”—taste. Flavor. Neshama—Jewish soul.
The birds, however, devoured them after I extruded the fruit from the hard pastry triangles.
The birds in our yard are international in their tastes. They similarly have enjoyed crushed Chinese fortune cookies and always make a meal of leftover rice regardless of country of origin.
Back to Zabars. I’m partial to black and white cookies, the round confection with equal parts chocolate and vanilla icing. I tasted one from Zabars. It was like eating sawdust.
I resisted trying the soft rugelach in the gift pack. I prefer crisp crescent-shaped rugelach. Our daughter Ellie has from time to time made them for us.
I was about to give up on the goodies from the Upper West Side of Manhattan emporium when I cut into a chocolate babka cake. Scrumptious! My appreciation of Zabars restored, I’ve been enjoying a slice of chocolate babka for the better part of a week.
Brown Eggs: Anyone who has gone to the supermarket during the last half year knows egg prices have cracked the hen house ceiling barrier. The price of a dozen eggs is nearing double digit dollars.
If you’ve monitored egg prices you might have noticed that the least expensive eggs often are the brown ones.
My theory is there’s a degree of prejudice involved in egg purchasing. Shoppers prefer white eggs over brown ones. So to move brown eggs off the shelf grocers sell them for less than white eggs.
You’re probably thinking I’m a little daft. That’s okay. Journalists often look at the seamier side of life with and without obvious evidence.
I’ve been buying brown eggs for about half a year. They taste just fine.
The Trumpian: During my professional career, the start of a new year always meant the beginning of trade show season, the first one being the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
Nowadays, CES has expanded beyond traditional products such as computers and video/audio equipment. What many news outlets concentrated on this year was the introduction of high end toilets with features including the ability to analyze a person’s health based on their deposits.
My warped mind wondered if one of the new models might have enabled the simultaneous shredding of documents without clogging the pipes. I’d call it The Trumpian.
