B-Side Blog

Bethenny Frankel Shows Off Baby Bump, Recipes on 'Today Show'

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The New Year brings many new things, and one such gift will be The Real Housewives of New York City. I don’t know when it’s gonna premiere, but I’m already excited for it. In fact, I ran into a friend of mine two weeks ago who I learned is now a producer on the show. When I asked how this season was shaping up, his eyes widened, he grabbed my arm, and he said “There’s some good shit.” If that doesn’t get you frothy with anticipation, I don’t know what will. In the meantime, we’ll just have to make do with this breathless segment from today’s Today show in which natural foods chef Bethenny breezes through some light recipes, all the while bantering at five hundred words per second. It’s no wonder she seems to be panting by the end of the video. Enjoy.

Happy New Years!

It’s 2010, which means that Twitter and Facebook have been littered with all sorts of celebratory messages to usher in the new year — not to mention the decade (which really doesn’t start until next year, but whatevs). My favorite declaration has to be from my friend Adam, who announced this all over Facebook:

Well stated, Adam. Well stated. I can’t say that I’m in a similar position as Adam, but I can promise that there will be more updating of this blog in the new year, and I’m even toying with the idea of introducing a podcast to the mix. For those occasional times when I’m unable to post as frequently, remember that the forums are still around, and there’s always my Twitter, which I do update, sometimes more often than the blog itself. Be sure to follow that if you aren’t already.
Looking forward to more excitement in The Dime!

ADVENTURES IN DOMESTICITY: Bombes Away!

Impressed by my ever involved Adventures in Domesticity, my mother last month gave me two Julia Child cookbooks: Julia Child & Company and Julia Child & More Company. My mom, who likes to call herself C-Side, explained to me that more than any other tomes, these two cookbooks elevated her culinary education. This was all very exciting to me as I had yet to attempt a Julia Child recipe in any shape, matter, or form. Part of me was intimidated, and part of me felt like it was already well-worn territory, thanks to Julie Powell (on whom Julie & Julia was based). But then I realized that just because a bigger, more successful blogger had already tackled Julia Child didn’t mean I couldn’t attempt a similar Adventure in Domesticity myself. After all, Julie Powell hasn’t cornered the market on Julia Child (although, she has cornered the market on saying “penis” on Iron Chef).
Nevertheless, feeling emboldened and intrepid, I decided to take on an ambitious cake by Julia Child — one that my mom had made two or three times in my youth. I’m talking of the one and only Bombe Aux Trois Chocolats: a chocolate-covered, brownie-crusted, oversized bonbon of a cake filled with dense, delectable chocolate mousse. I knew it wouldn’t be easy — the entire cake is actually comprised of three different recipes in the book — but my desire for a challenge coupled with an insatiable craving for chocolate propelled me forward. Would I be able to properly execute this most decadent of desserts? Results after the jump…

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ADVENTURES IN DOMESTICITY: Red-Cooked Pork Edition

About a month ago, I discovered the Sichuan cookbook Land of Plenty by Fuchsia Dunlop online and became immediately intrigued. The collection of recipes has received rave reviews from critics, bloggers, and buyers on sites like Amazon, and after having perused various images of dishes people had whipped up from the book, I felt an overwhelming desire to try one out myself. The only problem: I didn’t have Land of Plenty. You see, I haven’t found it in any bookstores as of yet, and while I could purchase it off Amazon (for cheaper), I’d personally like to at least leaf through it once before ordering to see if it’s even a cookbook I’d use frequently enough. Nothing worse than a novelty cookbook taking up space on the shelf.
Well, in lieu of being able to thumb my way through Land of Plenty, I resorted to Googling people’s experiences with the book, and that ultimately took me to a site called Eat It, Atlanta, which features a “Land of Plenty series” in which a writer attempts to cook perhaps all of Dunlop’s recipes. He eventually stops after about eight or ten posts, which is unfortunate, but at least there’s enough content there to give me a small idea of what’s in the cookbook. One of the more intriguing recipes is for something called Red Cooked Pork — fascinating to me for both the name, the appearance, and its lack of exotic ingredients (ie. Sichuan peppercorns). With my appetite and curiosity piqued, I followed a link from Eat It, Atlanta to a site called Appetite for China where I found Fuchsia Dunlop’s recipe for the dish. Upon seeing the photos on that website, I knew it was AWN. Granted, it didn’t look like the healthiest of recipes, but I figured this (coupled with my next planned Adventure in Domesticity) would be my triumphant final fatty huzzah to 2009 (with healthier forays to come in the New Year, as is often the lofty goal).
But would I be able to successfully pull off this dish, which was apparently the favorite of Chairman Mao? Results after the jump…

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HOUSEWIVES PREVIEW: Men First and the Gimme Gimme's

Major drama looks to be heading our way tonight on The Real Housewives of Orange County. As we all remember from last week’s episode, Vicki had planned out a whole girls’ weekend in Florida, but alas, Simon and Jim decided that they wanted to crash the party, lest their untrustworthy wives veer from the straight and narrow. Vicki certainly wasn’t thrilled about this, and I can understand why. Even if the guys did their own thing, it would still be a couples vacation, and that is remarkably different than just a weekend with the goils. Nevertheless, in the grand scheme of things, I wouldn’t call it a big deal. But then again, I’m not Vicki — a woman who flips her lid if she finds an errant piece of macaroni on her kitchen floor.
Anyway, in the clip above, we get to see Alexis and Jim exhibiting more of their loving relationship. Basically he talks at her, and she nods and agrees. Of course, according to her, she’s offering valuable input for Jim’s project, but I can’t honestly say that her contributions are terribly, uh, substantial.
After the jump, a clip of all the couples bashing Vicki behind her back in Florida. Fun times!

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SQUIRRELS: Yea or Neigh?

I didn’t get a chance to watch the Top Chef reunion last night, but I did get a chance to see this squirrel, which was so bold as to come up to my front stoop without any fear of human attack. It has spent the past ten minutes licking the bricks, which seems odd, but it’s probably rabid; so who the hell knows what’s going through its mind. Anyway, since I don’t really know what to post today, I contemplated live blogging this squirrel’s brick-licking adventure, but then I thought that might be lame — even for me. So now I’m just uploading this photo for no real reason other than to say that I don’t know what to write about. I guess I can open up the floor to discussion: are squirrels cool? Or do they suck?
DISCUSS.

HOUSEWIVES PHOTOCAP: Keeping Up with the Upkeep

It’s just too easy to mock the Real Housewives of Orange County for all the cosmetic surgery and enhancements that they undergo, but really, shouldn’t we applaud these women for being so open and upfront about their physical alterations when so many others refuse to ‘fess up to such similar modifications? Eh, probably not. Proving that vanity always trumps fiscal prudence, these women continue to slither back to that same creepy plastic surgeon in Newport Beach for lifts, tucks, and in some cases, reductions. This time around, it was Lynne and her daughter going in for some dual action under the scalpel. Lynne wanted to freshen up the wilted leather that passes for her face, and her daughter just wanted a nose job. Yes, this was mother-daughter bonding for the new millennium.
Ultimately, the daughter’s nose looked pretty much the same post surgery, which was sort of a let-down. I was hoping for a wild transformation, and let’s face it, she probably was too. The girl was happy enough though; so I suppose that’s good (although, I’m sure her complex will immediately return upon reading the things that I and other bastards on the internet have written). As for big momma, we couldn’t quite tell how effective the surgery was. Lynne spent the remainder of the episode looking like she’d gotten her head caught in a puffy toilet seat on account of the bandages that adorned her head. When they finally came off, she still looked swollen, and thanks to what I imagine was a steady stream of painkillers, she seemed totally out of it — more so than usual. It was actually quite creepy. She stared off vacantly like a ventriloquist’s dummy, occasionally moving her lips to form some basic sentences. This is what nightmares are made of.

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LIVE FLIGHT BLOG: Let's Hear It For Newww Yorrrk!! (bound flights)

Guess what? I’m back on a plane again! Yes, I’m on yet another flight back to the East Coast, and I’ll be honest — I wasn’t gonna “flog” it. First of all, I’m a bit tired; second of all, I thought I might do real work; third of all, there aren’t even any celebrities that I’m aware of on this place, and fourth of all, I just wasn’t sure if I could get myself into the flog mindset.
But then someone spilled soda on me, and I knew I had to start writing. Details forthcoming. Click after the jump and refresh for live updates…

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JERSEY SHORE PHOTOCAP: Pickles & Bronzer â€” The Love Affair Continues

The anti-phenomenon continues. MTV aired yet another thought-provoking episode of Jersey Shore last week, despite controversy swirling around the series left and right. The big news was that Italian-American groups were upset that the show portrayed Italians in an unfavorable way. This, of course, was coupled with death threats to MTV — which may not be quite the best way to counter that whole negative-portrayal issue. The latest bombshell, however, is that after two weeks of heavily promoting Snooki getting punched in her bronzed noggin, MTV has suddenly decided to pull the footage from Thursday’s upcoming episode, citing the intensity of the violence (which, again, had been used as a PROMO). No one wants a girl to get punched in the face, but MTV can’t just dangle the carrot in front of us and then take it away. That’s just cruel. I suppose, however, the network was merely trying to stem the inevitable tide of animated gifs and callous comments that would surely burst onto the internet in the wake of Snookipus taking one in the pickle holder (what? She loves pickles!).
Anyway, I’m writing this on an airplane, and the jerk in front of me just knocked his entire can of PEPSI off his tray table, causing it to explode in a fizzy mess in the aisle and thus spraying my carry-on bag thoroughly. Must attend to this unexpected mess. Photocap after the jump…
(thanks to jash for sending me the media and the link)

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Remember To Vote For Jash!

As a friendly reminder, please don’t forget to vote for jash’s appetizer in Food2’s latest contest. Today is the last full day for voting (polls close on Tuesday), and he’s currently in second place by just a few votes. Help him win the competition. As an added bonus, if you vote for jash, you can see a picture of him AND Sly on the Food2 website. If that’s not an incentive, I don’t know what is.
Vote for jash here.