Lunchtime fads, pudding races, and two lucky readers

And the winner of the food excerpt contest is....Ramona Quimby, Age 8!

With an impressive almost-40% of the vote, this one was the clear favorite. I'm willing to bet that this passage won on equal parts nostalgia and writing. The story itself is clever, and something that many of us can easily relate to; grade school fads and trading lunches were a part of just about every one's lives at one point or another.

In seventh grade, my favorite lunch consisted of an onion bagel with cream cheese, a Snickers bar, and a bottle of Orangina. These were purchased from the local bagel store and cost just south of five dollars. My mom would stop the car in front of the shop while my little brother Gab and I would pop in and place our order, grabbing the snacks while the sweet round lady behind the counter (Linda, I believe) would quickly schmear the bagels and divide into two brown paper bags. It was the perfect combination: the sweetness of the chocolate, the saltiness of the cheese, and the fizzy orange beverage.

When I reached high school, I started attending a private catholic prep school about 20 minutes away so we rarely had time to stop anywhere to buy lunch before getting to school on time (this may or may not also have had something to do with my morning hair & make-up routine). With a mom that was just as busy, the idea of "making lunch" never really entered the equation so my dad got into the habit of leaving us each five dollars on the kitchen table for us to buy from the school cafeterias.

I used to consider these five dollars an additional source of income, and would usually opt for a cheap lunch of a 60 cent Snickers from the vending machine (I have a thing for nougat), pocketing the other 4 dollars and 40 cents. When you factored in the 3 dollars my dad also gave me for bus fare (unnecessary as I regularly had a friend drive me home) going to school quickly turned into quite the money-making enterprise.

There were, however, some days when hunger trumped mall cash and so on those days I often indulged in one of two of my favorite menu items: the "hot ham and cheese" on a roll (melty and salty and thoroughly un-nutritious) and "chocolate pudding." Now the chocolate pudding was more of an event than a meal. Best friend Vanessa and I quickly invented a rather absurd game that probably did little to ingratiate us with the "cool kids." It was called "Pudding Races" and it went like this:

1.) Vanessa and I would take turns buying a package of Peanut M&Ms from the vending machine, plus two bowls of pudding (one each).

2.) We would then divide the M&M's equally (about 14 or so each) and mix them into the pudding. These we referred to as "Obstacles."

3.) Next we'd call time and proceed to see how quickly we could shovel down our bowl of pudding and M&Ms (the obstacles there to "slow us down") before the M&Ms started to melt and lose their color in the pudding.

4.) Whoever finished first, won. There was no actual "prize"; just lots of giggles and strange looks from the "normal" girls.

Surprisingly, neither one of us ever choked during these races. Not quite surprisingly, we both had to ask our respective gay best friend to the prom. Related? Perhaps...


*****
I'm contacting the winners of the Italian Rainbow cookie now and once I hear back from both I will post their names. In the meantime, why don't you share some of your grade school lunchtime memories in the comments section?

Time to Vote!

Some really great entries came in for the Italian Rainbow Cookies contest! I wish I could have posted them all, but I had to pick five and here they are. Most of the entrants included a little background info with their excerpts, so I posted a bit of that too for context. Read over the entries, decide on your favorite, and then enter your vote. The excerpt that receives the most votes by the end of the week wins and the person who sent it in will win a batch of cookies. A second winner will be chosen randomly from all who entered the contest.



So tell me...which is your favorite?

1.) Ramona Quimby, Age 8 by Beverly Cleary

Background: “One of my favorite scenes is when Ramona brings a hard-boiled egg to school because it is the fad to bring them to lunch and crack the shell on your head before peeling. Unfortunately, Ramona's mom forgot to hard boil the egg and she literally ends up with egg on her face. In this passage, Ramona discusses the importance of the lunchtime food fad.”

The excerpt:

“This week hard-boiled eggs were popular with third-graders, a fad started by Yard Ape, who sometimes brought his lunch. Last week the fad had been individual bags of corn chips. Ramona had been left out of that fad because her mother objected to spending money on junk food. Surely her mother would not object to a nutritious hard-boiled egg. {...} Ramona did not feel it necessary to explain to her mother that she still did not like hard-boiled eggs, not even when they had been dyed for Easter. Neither did she like soft-boiled eggs, because she did not like slippery-slithery food. Ramona liked devilled eggs but devilled eggs were not the fad, at least not this week."

2.) Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami

Background: “I had never tasted udon prior to reading the book. I started reading the book on a trip to Eastern Europe I took last year. The book really made me want to try it. By a stroke of luck a Frankfurt airport restaurant served udon, and I enjoyed some during my 18 hour layover (!!!). The associational memories are very strong.”

The excerpt:

“At the station I pop into the first little diner that catches my eye, and eat my fill of udon. Born and raised in Tokyo, I haven't had much udon in my life. But now I'm in Udon Central - Shikoku - and confronted with noodles like nothing I've ever seen. They're chewy and fresh, and the soup smells great, really fragrant. And talk about cheap. It all tastes so good I order seconds, and for the first time in who knows how long, I'm happily stuffed. Afterward I plop myself down on a bench in the plaza next to the station and gaze up at the sunny sky. I'm free, I remind myself. Like the clouds floating across the sky, I'm all by myself, totally free.”

3.) A Girl of the Limberlost by Gene Stratton-Porter

Background: A children’s book from 1909.

The excerpt:

“She lifted the cover and perfumes from the land of spices rolled up. In one end of the basket lay ten enormous sugar cakes the tops of which had been liberally dotted with circles cut from stick candy. The candy had melted in baking and made small transparent wells of waxy sweetness and in the centre of each cake was a fat turtle made from a raisin with cloves for head and feet. The remainder of the basket was filled with big spiced pears that could be held by their stems while they were eaten. The girls shrieked and attacked the cookies, and of all the treats Elnora offered perhaps none was quite so long remembered as that.”

4.) Moby Dick by Herman Melville

Background: “Here is my entry…it's one that has managed to make me hungry since the first time I read it, back in American Literature my junior year of high school. Without further ado, the chowder scene from Moby Dick…”

The excerpt:

“Upon making known our desires for a supper and a bed, Mrs. Hussey, postponing further scolding for the present, ushered us into a little room, and seating us at a table spread with the relics of a recently concluded repast, turned round to us and said-- Clam or Cod? What's that about Cods, ma'am? said I, with much politeness. Clam or Cod? she repeated. A clam for supper? a cold clam; is that what you mean, Mrs. Hussey? says I; but that's a rather cold and clammy reception in the winter time, ain't it, Mrs Hussey? [...] Queequeg, said I, do you think that we can make out a supper for us both on one clam? However, a warm savory steam from the kitchen served to belie the apparently cheerless prospect before us. But when that smoking chowder came in, the mystery was delightfully explained. Oh, sweet friends! hearken to me. It was made of small juicy clams, scarcely bigger than hazel nuts, mixed with pounded ship biscuit, and salted pork cut up into little flakes; the whole enriched with butter, and plentifully seasoned with pepper and salt. Our appetites being sharpened by the frosty voyage, and in particular, Queequeg seeing his favorite fishing food before him, and the chowder being surpassingly excellent, we despatched it with great expedition: when leaning back a moment and bethinking me of Mrs. Hussey's clam and cod announcement, I thought I would try a little experiment.

Stepping to the kitchen door, I uttered the word cod with great emphasis, and resumed my seat. In a few moments the savory steam came forth again, but with a different flavor, and in good time a fine cod-chowder was placed before us. We resumed business; and while plying our spoons in the bowl, thinks I to myself, I wonder now if this here has any effect on the head? What's that stultifying saying about chowder-headed people?”

5.) A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway

Background: “a little Parisian Earnest...”

The excerpt:

"The leaves lay sodden in the rain and the wind drove the rain against the big green autobus at the terminal and the Cafe' des Amateurs was crowded and the windows misted over from the heat and the smoke inside. It was a sad evilly run cafe' where the drunkards of the quarter crowded together and I kept away from it because of the smell of drunkenness. The men and women who frequented the Amateurs stayed drunk all the time, or all of the time they could afford it, mostly on wine which they bought by the half-liter or liter. Many strangely named apertifs were advertised, but few people could afford them except as a foundation to build their wine drunks on. The women drunkards were called powrottes which meant female rummies.

The Cafe' des Amateurs was the cesspool of the rue Mouffetard, that wonderful narrow crowded market street which led into the Place Contrescarpe."

A Little More Time

I've extended the deadline for my Italian Rainbow Cookie contest to next week to allow more people to get their entries in. Here are the rules:

1. Pick out a great food scene that you've read and loved. It can be from a novel, poem, play, memoir, short story--whatever! Only requirement is that it have been in print (no movie scenes or song lyrics). The scene could be as short as a couple lines or as long as an entire chapter--no limits.

2. E-mail me your scene and the reference (i.e. "Like Water for Chocolate," chapter one, page 2-4)

3. Come back on the 31st to vote for your favorite.

Easy, huh? Also remember that I'm going to randomly pick a second winner from ALL who enter. If you're not that literarily inclined, you can also gain entry by posting about the contest on your blog and sending me the link.

I'm accepting entries until next Friday, the 28th. I'll post the top five that following monday for voting.

Each winner gets a full batch of Italian Rainbow cookies in a lovely ribboned gift box.

Sound good?

To inspire you, here is a scene I read just the other day in a book called Trail of Crumbs. It's by Kim Sunee and it's wonderful:

"He popped open the Champagne and poured two glasses. He dipped his forefinger into my glass, touched the back of each of my ears with a drop of the cold liquid, and offered a toast. Olivier winked, and I could feel everything melting, the space between my legs. I leaned back and closed my eyes, ready for him to kiss me, but he filled my mouth with a sweetness I had never known before, deeper than honey. I opened my eyes to a handful of fresh fat figs dripping with their own milk. He whispered that we would roast them with red wine, taste them with acacia blossoms he would fry and powder with fine sugar.

...I pushed the hair off my face, and the sweetness from the wild figs stuck to my fingers and lips. I licked them again, willing myself to memorize that full-mouth flavor."

And now it's your turn...

My First Week

My first week in business is officially complete and I could not be happier! I got eight orders in--five through the site plus three outside--and the results have all been wonderful. The first few orders were delivered yesterday and I'm shipping out a second batch on Monday. The Italian Rainbows have the been the crowd favorite, but I've also sold two orders of ginger financier madeleines and got my first local commission for a custom Italian Rainbow cake to be delivered on Monday afternoon.

Even more exciting (well, to me at least): my custom boxes and special tissue paper arrived this morning! They actually arrived at some point yesterday afternoon, but my super was holding them hostage while I was out spending way too much money at Club Monaco (latest store obsession). For the packaging, I picked out a beautiful, high-quality shoe box-style box covered in glossy white paper and two beautiful reams of waxed food-grade tissue in chocolate brown and hot pink.

The cookies will fit nicely nestled into the perfectly-sized box and it's sturdy enough to help keep them from getting crushed in transit. I'm toying with the idea of ribbons or some kind of bow situation. More about that later...

I also had a set of shop labels custom-made with my store name and website in pink, brown, and white lettering and damask from another fabulous Etsy seller. I am (impatiently) looking forward to receiving those on Monday so that I can include them with the next batch of orders. The designer sent me a proof last week and I'm delighted with the results. I think they'll look perfect with the boxes and tissue paper colors. See for yourself... Positively edible, right?!

Business cards courtesy of Moo.com are next on the agenda as are a few more marketing ideas. I've been telling everybody about the store and am looking forward to some promised orders for next week. Even my father, who (like me) is a Harry & David addict, decided to use my little shop to send some spring gifts to some of his bosses and colleagues over at 30 Rock. We're talking corporate bigwigs here, and if there is one thing that I've learned from growing up with a news anchor dad is that NY isn't Hollywood. TV people *love* to eat. So fingers crossed on that!

The treats are the most important part, of course. I'm still tweaking the menu selections, but have recently added my flourless tortes into the mix and am working out a Springtime version, just perfect for Easter, of my rainbow cookies made with lemon curd between the pastel-colored almond sponge layers and all topped off with rich white chocolate frosting. Yum! I'm offering special rush availability on these so that you can get them in time by Easter as long as you order by 6 PM on Tuesday so head on over to the store to get your order in now!

As a reminder, this is the LAST week to get your entries in to win a FREE batch of these incredible cookies, now available in my beautiful custom gift boxes. You can read the detailed rules here, but the short version is: send me your absolute favorite food scene from a novel, story, or poem, along with the reference and you'll be entered to win. Mention the contest on your blog, website, or MySpace/Facebook profile and you'll get extra chances. No purchase necessary; all I want is your yummy food scenes. E-mail me at alwaysorderdessert (at) gmail (dot) com with "Contest Submission" in the subject line.

As for what else I've been up to... Well, I've got some overdue recipes that I need to post. Look for them over the coming days. I'll be back-dating them to save room for new stuff, but will add the links here so you can find easily.

Rainbows for Sale (and a delightful little contest for you to enter!)

For about as long as I can remember, people have been telling me that I should stop giving my food away for free. By "people" I really mean my "father" who is perpetually trying to figure out ways for me to turn my various hobbies and projects into cash-generating enterprises (please see Exhibit A: "The Sexy Fiction Incident"). I usually would listen to his suggestions with a smile and a quickly forgotten promise to "think about it."

Now it's not that I have actual objections towards making money. Quite the contrary; I really like money--earned, found, gifted--it's really all quite lovely. The problem was that I never really approached any of these hobbies with quite the same mercenary eye as my dad. It may sound cliche, but I really do just love to write and cook and bake and blog and design websites and edit graduate school application essays. (OK, perhaps not so much the essays--will admissions season *ever* end?!) The thing is that these little hobbies actually start to add up after a while--software, drawing tablets, hosting fees, butter, cream, eggs, etc... Not to mention the time.

It all finally clicked a few weeks ago when I passed by a bakery not far from my office and saw in the window that they were selling rainbow cookies for $1.50 each. "What the heck!?" I thought to myself. They were rather generously portioned, but still I could not believe it. Just a month or so earlier I'd brought in a batch of 30 into my office for free. A batch that I'd made over the weekend and which my coworkers somehow managed to devour in minutes. I'd made them before and they're always a hit with coworkers, friends, and family. It's my most requested treat, and here I was giving it away when I could have been selling it for a buck and a half each.

So the wheels started turning and today I'm excited to announce that I'm going into the (virtual) bakery business. Come visit my brand new online bakeshop: http://alwaysorderdessert.etsy.com/.

I'm selling a small selection of cookies and cakes, all baked fresh to order and shipped priority across the contiguous United States (and parts of Canada). I'm starting small with Italian Rainbow cookies, Italian Rainbow cake, and my financier-madeleines, but hope to expand soon to include flourless tortes and a few other treats. I've already received my first orders and am giddy with excitement.

And because old habits die hard...

I'm giving away one final batch of Italian Rainbows to one lucky reader. (Shh...don't tell my dad!)

These moist little almond cakes are layered with organic raspberry and apricot preserves and topped with a yummy cap of bittersweet chocolate. I'm telling you, it's the perfect cookie and it could be yours.

Is your mouth watering yet? Here's the scoop. As you know, I love to read. I have an entire room in my apartment dedicated to my books ("the library"). How many New Yorkers do you know with a "library"? As a way of combining these two passions, I've been working on a little side project compiling a collections of wonderful food scenes in novels, stories, and creative nonfiction. There are the classics, of course (Proust and his Madeleines, the sexy rose petals in Like Water for Chocolate), but I want to find some new ones.

So, your mission, (should you choose to accept it): Send me a wonderful literary food scene that you've read and love. It can be as short as one great sentence describing the taste of tea or a ten-page soliloquy about ripe figs. The only requirements are that they are about food and that they come from a non-cookbook. Fiction is preferred, but great passages from food memoirs or other types of creative nonfiction are also OK. The classics are good, but those that are less obvious (perhaps even a bit obscure) will score slightly better (although it's really ultimately about how good it is).

I will select my five favorite passages (chosen both for originality and the quality of the passage) from all the entries and will post them on the blog for readers to vote. The entry that gets the most votes wins and I will send that person a beautifully packaged "Tea Party Box" of 24 decadent rainbow cookies.

But wait! There's more!

Since this is obviously meant to be a bit of self-promotion, I'm going to be awarding a SECOND batch of 24 to one randomly-selected entrant. You can double your chances to win in the random drawing by mentioning the contest (and my online shop) on your blog or website. Send me the link along with your entry and I will include your name twice in the final drawing.

So how does that sound? I can't even begin to explain how freaking excited I am about this!! (Yes. Freaking excited!)

The contest starts right now and I will be accepting submissions until midnight on Friday March 21st. The five finalists (as chosen by moi) will be posted on Monday the 24th and voting will continue until Sunday March 30th. The two winners will be announced on Monday the 31st and the prizes will ship out that week. Send your submissions to alwaysorderdessert (at) gmail (dot) com with the phrase "Contest Submission" in the subject line.

I can't wait to see your entries!

Oh! And if you can't wait to try my cookies (and how can you possibly wait? they're so damn good!) why not head on over to http://alwaysorderdessert.etsy.com/ and order yourself a batch.

All my blog readers get 10% off their entire first order just by mentioning one of my blog names in the buyer's notes section of your order. I take special custom order (birthdays, showers, parties, etc.) and for the New Yorkers in the bunch, save on shipping with my local delivery and pick-up options within Manhattan. Don't be limited by what you see on the site--I love getting creative! Just ask!

It's My Birthday!

And what do I want more than anything? Well, what every girl wants: sparkly things, vanilla beans, bubbly champagne, and for you to VOTE for me in the Culinate Death by Chocolate contest.

One of my awesome readers entered my deceptively light flourless chocolate hazelnut torte in the contest and now I'm determined to see it rise to the top (pun absolutely intended!). The ten top winners will be selected by the reader votes, so if the more of you who vote, the more chances I have to win! If I win, the magical people at Culinate will fly me to Napa to attend the (delicious) annual Death by Chocolate festival where I'll learn lots of fantastic things to come back and share with you.
Even BETTER: One of you could win too!!! Simply by voting, you're entered to win the contest, which will be awarding not only one blogger, but also one reader (because they totally get that we bloggers are nothing but crazy people shouting into the void without you readers.)

So if you've ever enjoyed anything that you've read on this sweet little blog, won't you make me a happy birthday girl and drop me a little vote?

The contest nitty gritty:

The Culinate Death by Chocolate Contest sends one reader, and one food blogger, on a trip for two to Napa Valley to attend the Copia Center’s annual Death by Chocolate Festival on Feburary 23, 2008, featuring a day of chocolate and wine tasting, demonstrations by pastry chefs, and other sessions with chocolate aficionados and experts.

The contest will include daily drawings for cookbooks, additional festival tickets, and Valentine chocolates.

The winner among readers will be chosen at random from all entries. Readers will vote for their favorite blog posts, and the winning food blogger will be selected by a panel of judges from the top 10 reader favorites.