Year: 2002

Spinsanity

Ashley BischoffLeave a comment

I’ve recently discovered Spinsanity, a political-commentary website with the tagline “Countering rhetoric with reason”. It’s fairly interesting, and covers subjects from Rush Limbaugh to Michael Moore’s Bowling for Columbine.

The distortions begin with the film’s title. Lyons reports that, contrary to the title of the film, the two boys who committed the massacre at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo., did not bowl the morning before the shooting. Although early news reports did state that they had attended a bowling class in the morning, police told Lyons it's simply not true. […]

DFWBlogs Cocktail Event – November

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The DFWBlogs Cocktail Event for November was held this month at Cosmo’s. I had a great time, and it was just what I needed after a hectic day at work.

Cosmo’s has a jukebox that didn’t drown out our conversation, though the sheer number of people later in the evening tended to do so. Their interior lighting was a bit quirky, but lovable. It was full of those goofy colored lamps that see you see at places like Eurway.

According to the GuideLive review, Cosmo’s speciality is its little personal pizzas. And, actually, that seemed to be the only thing on the menu (not that there’s anything wrong with that).

The pizzas came in 7” and 12” sizes, and I knew that a 7-inch would be plenty for me. They had various topping-combos, including Greek (feta cheese, olives, and so on) and Sun Dried Tomato (sun dried tomatoes, garlic, and other toppings).

The menu also had an option for a make-your-own pizza at $4.95 + 50 cents per topping. Considering that the combo-pizzas were all $7.95, that’d allow me to choose up to four toppings while still costing less or equal to the regular combo price.

So, I chose Italian sausage, pepperoni, and sun-dried tomato. The pizza arrived shortly and, though it was appropriately hot, its other features could have used some improvement. Sure, the sausage was tender and crumbly (just how I like it) and the sun-dried tomatoes had a pleasant sweetness, but I didn’t detect the pepperoni (perhaps they forgot that).

The dough was full of good flour-and-yeast flavor and had a browned-crispiness from a good oven. The make-or-break factor in any pizza, I feel, is the sauce. And, in this case, the pizza didn’t fare so well. After a few bites, I realized that I couldn’t taste the sauce. Thinking that maybe the other ingredients were simply overpowering the sauce, I even took a quick peek under the cheese: I couldn’t see any sauce in there.

Consider an entree made from freshly baked dough with a generous helping of hot mozzarella chesse, and what do you have? That’s right, I had apparently unknowingly ordered an open-faced mozzarella-based grilled cheese sandwich ;). As grilled-cheese sandwiches go, it was pretty tasty — especially with the Italian sausage and sun-dried tomatoes sprinked on top. But, it didn’t make much of a pizza.

Kidding aside, the food was still a pleasant change-of-pace from my normal dinners at home , and I look forward to the next Cocktail Event.

Apple Pumpkin Pie – Recipe

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From the Back of the Box mailling list, I found this recipe for Apple Pumpkin Pie. I’m trying to be adventurous in foods and, though I didn’t used to like pumpkin pie as a kid, I think it's something that I’d like to give another chance.

I seem to be at the point where my taste buds are dying and some foods are tasting differently to me. So, I think I’ll be daring and have a slice of pumpkin pie this Thanksgiving. At any rate, this Apple Pumpkin Pie recipe could be quite tasty, Thanksgiving or otherwise:

Prep: 15 min, Cook: 60 min

Filling:

  • ¾ cup (148 grams) sugar
  • 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • ⅛ teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup canned pumpkin
  • 1 egg
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
  • 2 cups Granny Smith apples, peeled and chopped (about two to three apples)
  • 1 (9-inch) unbaked pie crust

Crumb Topping:

  • ⅓ cup (47 grams) all-purpose flour
  • ⅓ cup (66 grams) brown sugar
  • ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 2 tablespoons butter, softened

Directions:

  1. Combine the sugar, flour, and salt in a large bowl.
  2. With an electric mixer, beat in the pumpkin, egg, vanilla, and pumpkin pie spice until smooth.
  3. Stir in the apples gently with a spatula.
  4. Pour the mixture into the pie crust. Cover the crust’s edges with foil.
  5. Bake at 375°F for 45 minutes.
  6. While the pie is baking, prepare the crumb topping:
    • Combine the flour, sugar, and cinnamon in a small bowl.
    • Mix in the softened butter with a fork.
  7. Take the pie out after 45 minutes and add the crumb topping:
    • Sprinkle the crumb topping over the pie.
    • Bake for an additional 15 minutes.
  8. Serve warm.

Atkins May be Good for Cholesterol

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According to a study at Duke University, the Atkins diet may be good for cholesterol:

After six months, participants on the Atkins diet had lost 31 pounds, had an 11 percent increase in HDL, the good cholesterol, and a 49 percent drop in tryglycerides. Step 1 dieters lost 20 pounds, showed no change in HDL, and their tryglycerides fell 22 percent. […]

I’m not on Atkins (my eating habits are most similar to The Zone), but this news was a bit surprising to me (a pleasant surprise, I suppose).

Update: Here’s another article on the Atkins diet study. This one focuses more on the teeth-gnashing that the study evoked from regular dietitians, while also noting that the study was financed in part by the Atkins Foundation.