Pretty Sassy

On Wednesday I called my local Gamestop asking if the WiiFit had come in.  They had!  I did feel out of sorts when I noticed at my lunch hour that everyone who carried the WiiFit briefcase box was female.  I’ve been succesfully stereotyped.

Out of the box there are two things that are apparent. 

1.  The board is very sturdy but the top covered in a white, pebbly textured plastic. 

2. The white pebbly plastic attracts dirt like crazy.  Ours is already looking a little grimey.  I’m planning on picking up some Mr. Clean Magic Erasers today to help with the fight.  Why couldn’t they make it a darker grey so it wasn’t so obvious?

The games are a good workout.  While they aren’t the same intensity as Gym visit you sweat and you breath hard and you get endorphins. 

The Jogging was the game that sold me on buying the pad.  What I didn’t know is you actually don’t use the pad for Jogging.  You either hold on to, or put the controller in your pocket and jog in place.  You have a coach slightly ahead of you that acts as your pacer.  Just take my advice, don’t try to out run him, he punishes you for it.

The tightrope and hula hoop game are my favorites.  In the tightrope game you balance from foot to foot to keep you on the rope while avoiding mario-style traps.  In hula hoop you twist your hips like you are hula hooping and lean from side to side to pick up hoops being tossed at you.

There is also a fitness test you can take every day.  It weighs you, gives you your BMI, checks your balance and gives you an age.  On the first day it marked me 17 years older than I am now.  The next day I improved 9 years and am only 8 years older than I am.  Thank goodness for progress.

With taxes I was out about $90.00 for the pad.  It’s a good thing for anyone that needs more motion in their life. 

I was chatting with this cool guy at work.

Me: Hey when you gonna put that candy bowl back out, I miss it.
Him: I can’t, I’m on a diet.
Me: That’s great that your being so healthy, but maybe you can fill it with stuff you don’t like.
Him: I’ll still eat it.
Me: I bet you wouldn’t eat circus peanuts!
Him: What are those?
Me: Those horrid orange marshmallow-ish candys that are shaped like peanuts.
Him: Those are terrible.

That is why I would like to declare Circus Peanuts the worst candy in the universe.  In Junior High my friend Michelle convinced her now husband(yup, still happens) to kiss her by placing a circus peanut between her teeth and taunting him to bite it.  So beside Junior high romance, it has no purpose.  If you have a potential candidate as worst american candy, please let me know.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circus_peanut

This weekend the mister and I had gone to the Culver City Surfas(a really cool chef supply store that also caters to the normal cook).   I had been further working on my great pursuit to make the worlds greatest, not remotely authentic paper wrapped chicken and needed some Chinese 5 Spice.

 The mister had not ever been to Surfas and was sort of blown away when we walked in, it’s high-end gourmet and serious resturant kitchen at the same time.

As soon as we got in the dude immediately needed to make use of the facilities which are near the test kitchen.  While in the test kitchen I talked to a chef who is using their kitchen to make some very delicious(I know I tried them) crustless kitchens to serve to a very prominent food buyer. 

While at the counter I spied packages of Little Flower Candy Company handmade vanilla marshmallows.  I had never had handmade marshmallows before.  My everyday favorite are the sugar-free La Nouba Marshmallows which are in taste and texture better than a jet-puffed.  After I plopped them on the counter the lady whispered “You are in for a real treat”, she told me there were excellent out of hand but out of this world in a beverage.  

This afternoon I plopped one in a cup of coffee and pulled it out to take a bite.  These marshmallows must have much lower melting points, because the marshmallow was that campfire liquid gooey without the burning napalm effect.   Oh man was it good.  I mean like really good.  It was creamy and dense and delicious.  The vanilla flavor was exquisite and without high fructose corn syrup it just had the cleanest taste profile ever.  It was like a little vanilla fairy was dancing on my tongue.

This are amazing.    I’m not a big jellybean fan.  But after my dance instructor handed me a handfull fo these to me I changed my tune.  It’s a super flavorfull sweet tart middle with a sort of lemon-head crust on the outside that reminds me of the chewy sweet tarts from a few years ago.  I bought the bag a few days ago and the dude and I have been fighting over them since.

 Really, they are worth it.  I want some now.

 Here is CandyBlogs review(which is so much more detailed than mine).

http://www.typetive.com/candyblog/item/sweetart_jelly_beans/

I got super excited when I heard that MAC Cosmetics was coming out with a mineral powder in a compact.   Yay! Portable powder.  The retail price is 24.50, but I was lucky enough to get a sample of the product from MAC.

By it’s own advertisement it is not designed to be it’s own mineral foundation, but used to set regular foundation or do touch-ups during the day.

Right now I like to use a little conceler(Laura Mercier) on my red spots, old acne scars and under the eyes and top it with this mineral powder and a little blush/bronzer.

It’s 10:00 pm and I put it on at 9:00 am and I’m really surprised at how good it still looks.  I still have that mineral glow(though not as much as loose minerals) and I look fresh. 

This product let’s you have a mineral glow, even when using heavier liquid foundation which is a nice flexibility.  I think (assuming you found a good match) you could substitute the Max Factor pressed powder if you wanted to try the look for a little cheaper.

Summary: Treat it like “glowy” pressed powder and you’ll be pretty happy.  It covers a little better than regular pressed powder and has a great mineral shine.  Ideal if used with the MAC Liquid Mineral Foundation.  The staying power is excellent.

Some Other Reviews(since extra knowledge can be awesome)

http://makeupbag.net/2007/12/06/mac-mineralize-skinfinish-natural/

http://blog.specktra.net/2008/01/29/specktra-scoop-mac-mineralize-powder-foundation-color-story-info/

http://makeupbag.net/2007/12/06/mac-mineralize-skinfinish-natural/

A little while ago I put in request for NPR Splendid Table contributer and author of the cookbooks A New Way To Cook(2001) and The Improvisational Cook(2006) Sally Schneider(aka the Improvisational Cook) for an email interview.   I was so excited that she agreed and even more excited to share her rich answers on life, cooking and make-up.

To me, my Rockstars have always been cooks and scientists.  Sally Schneider fits this mold as she is both cook and wonderful mad scientist.  She writes with her unique, more formula than cookbook, to teach the big picture behind the recipe.   So here is the interview!  Thank you Sally!

 Here are the questions
1. 5 favorite beauty products you can’t live without.
Kevin Aucoin Eyebrow Pencil. Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer, I’m still looking for the perfect lipstick but Mac’s Spice Pencil is a great all-purpose one. Can’t live w/o mascara but don’t have a favorite.

2. Do you use Wondra in your cooking for anything else but fake-frying?
I also use it to make a butterless base for souffle’s, which I make all the time i.e. Wondra and milk, whisked together, egg yolks added, with salt, pepper, nutmeg, then grated cheese and egg whites folded in….The recipe is at http://splendidtable.publicradio.org/recipes/light_cheesesouffle.shtml

3. Voges Mo’s Bacon Bar. Try it? Like it?
I’m dying to try it but haven’t found it yet. It’s an inspired idea: adding smoke and more fat to chocolate, if they get the right balance.

4. Junk food worth commiting crime for?
I’d kill for a good gougere, (a French style cheese puff made from choux pastry – eclair dough – baked with cheese in the batter) which is really hard to find and isn’t really junk food except that you need to eat them with cocktails. I also have a fondness for Eskimo Pies and malted milkshakes, and spoons of caramel (the jarred stuff used for ice cream sundaes, made without any scary additives) sprinkled with a tiny bit of sea salt OR mixed with peanut butter.

5. You’ve just graduated from highschool, what was the plan? Never had a plan. Just followed things along in a kind of zig-zag path (up the Amazon River and thinking I might be a photographer….) until I woke up from a dream knowing that I should cook (really!) and then followed that in all sorts of ways, from chef to caterer, to food stylist to journalist to cookbook author to here, doing my thing on American Public Media, writing in new territory, and about to launch a blog….

Note from Kelly: I must make a souffle now.  I must.

 Who the heck would spend $7.50 for a chocolate bar?

Me!  It’s chocolate and bacon.  But I should clarify.  Smokey applewood  bacon in 41% milk chocolate.  This bar ain’t for kiddies. 

I first heard about this delightful little bar on the MunchCast podcast from Powell’s Sweet Shop in Northern California.   During the episode Leo Laporte “accidentally” walks off from the premises of the candy store with a Mo’s Bacon Bar in his pocket and falls horribly in love.

I listened to it and thought “bacon and chocolate, that makes sense”.  Evidently most people who I talked about this with didn’t get the mystique.  They thought bacon and chocolate sounded strange.

So when I spotted the Vosges Mo’s Bacon bars at my local Whole Foods I grabbed one and forgot about it for a few days.

So the taste?  Well you know how sweet and salty are actually really good?  This is like that.  It’s a little like a chocolate bar with salty almonds, but more bacon-ey and smokey.  The chocolate is really good, it’s 41% cacao milk chocolate.  It’s really a wonderfull  treat, with or without bacon.    The bar itself has a pretty short shelf life(it’s bacon after all). 

If it sounds interesting, you should try it.  I give it an enthusiastic “YES”.

Kelly

 P.S.  If you are ever looking for the perfect gift for somebody that likes strange things.  It might be this

Due to the fact I had roots that quite possibly had their very own roots, I figured it was time to dye.  Some ladies go to see amazing hair stylists name “Franc” who dye your hair using only imported Bavarian apple leaves and water fresh from the clearest ravine in the north pole.  I personally prefer to use myself.  I swear a lot and drink bad coffee and read magazines I don’t mind getting stained.

 Standing in the aisle of the Rite-Aid next to a husband ready to get home I was narrowing my choices.  In the typical male act of “make a decision, anything.  Let’s go home it’s been 2 hours since my last digg“, he pointed to box.  I tried to explain that I won’t actually turn into the lady on the box, who is like 99% thick, beautiful hair and green eyes.  It didn’t really seem to matter.  He took the box, held it close to his chest, patting it gently and murmering something about his “baby” and took my hand and swiftly guided me to the register.

What I liked about this brand was that it includes a color-boosting glaze to keep your hair from fading *immediately*.  Because I dyed it today, I haven’t had a chance to verify the claims of the glaze, so I’ll edit this post a little later with that review.

Price: $15.99 which is quite expensive for a drugstore dye.

Preparation: Tube of developer you squeeze into the conditioner bottle.  The bottle is opaque which means it’s a tad bit more difficult to see when both our mixed.

Texture: A little thinner than Feria(my normal dye), but not bad and definitely not drippy.  I skip using the bottle with the needlepoint tip.  I bought a cheap dye basin and brush from Sally’s Beauty Supply.  I recommend this heartily as a way to avoid swearing after the fact at roots that still aren’t covered. 

Fragrance: A lot more neutral than Feria, not a lot of smell good or bad.  From a scent perspective this was a much more pleasant experience. 

Rinse out: Seemed to rinse quicker than Feria and also didn’t feel quite as “trashed” before applying the conditioner.  I had read some reviews that the color boosting glaze wasn’t enough conditioner right after the process, so I used some leftover Feria conditioner and was quite pleased.

 Color:  A lot more subtle than Feria.  Also didn’t seem to get that horrible purple tint that a lot of auburn dyes get.  Very shiny and looks a lot like my own hair color, just better.

 End Result: Liked it a lot for it’s subtle change.  Not as dramatic as Feria, but I think that’s the point. 

Kelly

     Versus      

Here at prettysassy.com we get a lot of email.  A lot of email about which red pepper Jam or Jelly is the best.  It’s one of those things that people are nervous to talk about it.   I want to shed some light on this subject and may make you feel less trashy about your love of the spicy jewel.

While Grocery shopping I  spotted Reese’s Hot Pepper Jelly and Delicae Gourmet’s Roasted Red Pepper Jam and wondered..  Mmmmmn, which one is best?

I’m pretty sure I’m one of like 4 people who have a fondness for pepper jelly, so I figured finding someone elses review would be a lost cause.

So I conducted a formal testing by carefully layout out 6 townhouse crackers, topping them with a modest layer of Philadelphia Cream Cheese and slathering on either the Jelly or the Roasted Pepper Jam. 

I kept a freshly opened can of Diet Sunkist to ensure that my palate was properly cleansed between tests.

Reeses: Smoother consistency with tiny bits of seeds and of  red jalapeno scattered through.  From looks it reminds me of canned Cranberries.    The smell from the jar is almost all vinegar with a little smack from the peppers.  Spread on my cracker it looks pretty much like any other jam spread on a townhouse cracker.  The first thing I taste is sweet.  A tangy, over-the-top sugar high sweet that makes me feel like I’m eating cherry jell-o.  Then it runs hot.  Sort of kicks your tonsils on the way down.  It’s so candy-like, I want to take a spoon and dig in.  The sweet hot combination is very well balanced and it seems to turn on all the bells and whistles in your mouth as it goes down.

Delicae Roasted Red Pepper Jam: I open the jar and it looks like jarred bruschetta.  I see chunks of peppers and onions and slight bits of char(from the roasting I guess).  The texture is almost like a chutney, It’s pretty and more sophisticated than Reese’s.  On the cracker it looks like something that you might even serve.   It sort of piles on the cracker in an indulgent mound.  It smells just like pickled onions.  In fact this jam really reminds me more of a relish.   When I eat it, the sour and sweet really fight it out, making for an excellent balance.  It would make an interesting relish on a hamburger.

I really wanted a clear winner, but there isn’t.  They we’re both good.   Roasted Red Pepper Jam was far more sophisticated than the Sweet-Hot Reese’s but it all depends on the mood your in.
Kelly

I recently heard about a company in Los Angeles that makes artisinal, organic chocolate bars.  The company is BonBon and the buzz I hear is that these chocolate bars will make you want to cry with pure decadence.  They only make 2 bars(in milk or dark) right now a malt bar and a caramel nut bar.

The only downside(or upside if you don’t want to gain a gazillion artisinal pounds) is that at $5.oo bucks a bar it probably won’t be a bi-daily treat.

I really can’t stand it anymore and will need to order soon.

The owner of the site also runs a blog that also makes me drool.

Kelly: Who hopes Steve realizes that you can never plan to early for Valentines Day