Mermaids, Bees, and Nachos June 28, 2010

Bumblebee Ride at Coney Island

What a strange title for a post, right?  But that’s exactly what we experienced last weekend!

June 19^th marked the annual Mermaid Parade at Coney Island, which is an experience to say the least.  Sand, surf, sun, mermaids, and everything else in between!  The parade includes anyone who wants to participate – little girls’ birthday parties, groups making a statement (think “boycott BP” for this year), mermaids-at-heart.  It’s Coney Island at its best.

If you haven’t been to Coney Island, let me describe it to you. Imagine a carnival, sideshow, boardwalk, amusement park, and beach all mixed into one.  It can be fantastic or a little too much, depending on your mood.  It is also very loud.  Coney Island is home to the infamous Cyclone (a rollercoaster that’s been there since 1927) and Nathan’s Famous (origin – 1916) hot dogs.

The idea of a hot dog, a quintessential New York snack, was much more appealing to us than the Cyclone, but that’s just me.

After an hour on the train with some crazies dressed as pirates (did I not mention that pirates are also common to the parade?) We arrived in time to see the last half of the parade and then eagerly headed over to the site of Nathan’s, right off the boardwalk, along Surf Avenue.  Then we saw the line…maybe 150 people long.  It was hot and we were hungry, so we decided to save Nathan’s for another post which brings us to the nachos…

San Loco Ballpark Nachos

We still wanted something to eat that fit in with the theme of the day – fun, campy, not-entirely-healthy – so we stopped off at San Loco in the Lower East Side.  San Loco’s self-proclaimed Gringo-Mex menu is great!  Ordered a

couple of taco locos, Pacificos, and the star of the show – a small order ($2.60) of the Ballpark Nachos, complete with tortilla chips, squeezee cheezee nachco cheese sauce, sour cream, fresh jalapenos, taco sauce, and ground beef.   Totally bad but oh-so-good.  Yummm.

End of the Mermaid Parade 2010

It was the perfect punctuation to a day spent in the summer sun, mish-mashing with mermaids, pirates, and rollercoasters.   We’ll be heading back to Nathan’s on a less crowded day.

Tweet Tweet Twitter June 27, 2010

Do you hear tweeting?  Are you twittering?

Yes, that’s right, we’re now on Twitter!

Go ahead and follow us and join in the fun.  You can find us at http://twitter.com/queenbeeeats or @queenbeeeats.  You can also click the Twitter button in our sidebar.

Happy eating!

QB

The Cutest Ice Cream Shop Ad EVER! June 23, 2010

As I wait for our “official” blog photographer to send pictures over for what was scheduled as the next post (keep your eyes peeled for “Mermaids, Bees, and Nachos”) I came across this advertisement.  And since it also happens to be the cutest ice cream shop ad EVER, we had to share it.  Check it out:

After watching this absolutely brilliant ad, I had to find out more about this Lake Street Creamery.  The first thing I noticed on their site was that they

“don’t just sell ice cream. [They] are dedicated artisans bringing you unique flavors in ice creams, gelatos, sorbets and the floats made thereof.”

They also claim their ice cream will turn you into a god.  Mmmmm!  I love everything about it so far.

From the looks of their menu they’ve got innovative and exciting flavors like Donut, Earl Grey, and California Zephyr (Tahitian vanilla, Meyer lemon, and fresh mint!)  With fresh ingredients and small batches changing everyday, I can’t wait to try them!  And with reasonable prices (about $4 for a scoop), there’s no reason not to.

Aside from their smart marketing and fun campy content on their site, they are in Los Angeles!  Which means that our other resident bee can check them out immediately (or wait for me to get there in August – which I might add would be the bee-utiful thing to do…)

Oh, and I should probably mention that this isn’t really an ice cream parlor in the traditional sense of the word.  Lake Street Creamery is a mobile unit that posts their daily locations via Twitter and their site and can apparently be booked for special events.  How fun!

We will let you know when we’ve tried this.  In the meantime, has anyone had the experience of cute kittens and Lake Street Creamery?

Thai Toddy June 19, 2010

The concept: The Cold brew or Toddy Style said to be the best way to make iced coffee. This style makes a less acidic and bitter version of brewing coffee. Interestingly, it was developed by a chemical engineering student at Cornell University.

The chemistry:  Coffee contains many fatty acids and certain oils which are only soluble at a high temperature, this is what gives coffee its characteristic bitter or acidic ‘bite’. Because you aren’t exposing the beans to high temperature these fatty acids and oils are not released. Cold brewing is approximately 67% less acidic than hot brewing methods.

picture taken before I went to sleep

The technique: Cold brew process (Toddy Style)

• 13 hours before you want drink the coffee
• coarsely grind coffee beans, letting the ground coffee bloom (or sit) for 1 hr
• place grinds into french press (this process is usually on the strong side, but you dilute it later)
• for more flavor you can add a pinch each of cardamom and cinnamon, and a piece orange rind, if you want
• fill with cold water, pouring a circular motion will help get all grinds get wet
• don’t stir, but you may nee to tap the grinds to make sure they ‘re all wet
• leave plunger up, letting the coffee grinds sit in the water overnight

The cool thing with cold brewing is that the coffee stays good for a up to two weeks when stored on the fridge, so you could use your biggest size french press. If storing, you’ll want to transfer the coffee concentrate into another container and discard the ground coffee. You can use this for feeding you garden, acidic loving plants adore coffee.

picture taken the next morning

The variations:

• For iced coffee drink: 1 part coffee to 3 parts water milk or cream
• For thai coffee : add one tablespoon of sweetened condensed milk for each 8 oz. of iced coffee
• This process can also be followed for making iced tea.

the final press

What the Heck is Pine Nut Mouth? June 14, 2010

Source - wikivisual.com

How often do you add pine nuts to your salad or recipes?  If you’re like a lot of foodies out there, the answer is probably more often than not.  And you’re probably one of those people that add a little more than just a small handful of these tasty little suckers to whatever dish you’re making.

Now, think about how often you’ve experienced a bitter, almost metallic taste in your mouth that you just can’t shake.  It’s not all that rare, and no matter what you do, you just have to deal with that foul taste in your mouth for a little while.  Have you ever thought that it could have been caused by the pine nuts?

But, what is strange is that others who have eaten the same thing as you on the same day don’t have the same experience.  So what’s up? It’s called pine nut mouth.  (Sounds a little dirty, doesn’t it?)

Pine nut mouth is poorly documented, so there’s not a whole lot of research on it, though there are a few articles in food magazines and blogs out there.  So, that means there are only a bunch of theories out there as to why pine nut mouth actually happens. We’ve put together a couple of them for you so you can come to your own conclusion.

Could they be toxic?

As a leading environmental chemist and toxicology expert at the University of Idaho, Gregory Moller was asked about pine nut mouth.  He mentioned that because there are so many different species and varieties of edible pine nuts out there some may be slightly toxic to some people thus resulting in pine nut mouth.  This actually comes down to a mild allergy.  There are about 29 varieties safe to eat, so if you’ve experienced pine nut mouth, perhaps try a different variety.

Are they too old?

Another interesting possibility about the cause of pine nut mouth comes from a Belgian study that was actually published in the European Journal of Emergency Medicine.  This study suggests that when someone experiences pine nut mouth, they have eaten nuts that have oxidized, which means they should not have been eaten.  The study also indicates that most occurrences of pine nut mouth happen after eating pine nuts from China, though that has yet to be proven.

Is it you?

Dysgeusia, or changes in taste, can occur in people for a variety of reasons.  These reasons could range from something you ate to a more serious health problem.  This can also happen during pregnancy or as a side effect of taking medication.  Sometimes, perhaps in the case of pine nut mouth, dysgeusia can also go completely unexplained.  If you’re worried that the funky taste in your mouth is more than a little pine nut after-effect, check with your doctor.  (It’s probably not, but we do have to warn you!)

The overall conclusion is that you shouldn’t worry too much about pine nut mouth.  It won’t kill you and you haven’t been poisoned by any heavy metals.  Just remember, there are plenty of pine nut varieties out there, all of which have incredible health benefits, so you may or may not ever experience the fun of pine nut mouth.  But if you do have a funky taste in your mouth all of a sudden that you just can’t lose, think back…have you eaten any pine nuts lately?