A Peck of Pickled Comedy
My new favorite comedy team, Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein of Portlandia, have supplied me with another gem. Where would my blog be without them? (Prolly back in perpetual hibernation with intermittent bursts of inspiration — like my life!)
But I digress. Feast your eyes on the Portlandia team’s lampoon of home-canning culture.
New “Portlandia” episodes pop Friday nights on the Independent Film Channel.
Empanada: Spanish for Super Bowl Snack
I love football, and I love food, so this is kind of a special week for me. I’ve written about clam chowder for those cooking for the big game, and New York-style pizza and Boston cream pie for those picking something up.
But just because New York and New England are playing doesn’t mean you have to eat their food. I stumbled upon this video, which combines my two favorite cooking show chefs, the PBS icons Christopher Kimball of “America’s Test Kitchen,” and Oklahoma City-native Rick Bayless of “Mexico: One Plate a Time.” Rick is showing Christopher how to make Mexican-style picadillo-stuffed empanadas. For me, this video was watching my two favorite teams play in the Super Bowl and share the Lombardi Trophy over Mexican Food at the end.
The recipe for these Minced Pork Empanadas is super simple, and I have no doubt the result is a game-winner. Check out the video, it’s the cooking show equivalent of Ron Swanson and Dwight Shrute stealing the same scene.
Local, Sustainable Comedy
It’s official, Foodieism is to the early 21st Century what Coffee was to the late 20th Century. Don’t believe me, watch the brilliant sketch above from “Portlandia.”
Nothing makes culture pop quite like satire, and “Portlandia’s” assault on foodies, complete season series addiction and wireless agreements are spot-on. Congrats to Fred Armisen and Justin Long-lookalike Carrie Brownstein for serving up the topical satire “Saturday Night Live” has swung and missed at for at least half a decade.
And thanks to chef Ryan Parrott to recommending the show. Can’t wait to see what names the fowl have at his soon-to-open farm-to-fork restaurant Local, which is set for mid- to late-February in Norman.
Also, this sketch is just part 1, be sure to check out the first season of Portlandia on DVD and Netflix to see the rest of the story, which is hysterical.
Dave & Buster’s: Food, Games and Glory
Dave & Buster’s opens its first store in Oklahoma City on Monday, which has gamers and arcadeniks rejoicing. I am neither, so I was pretty ambivalent until I was invited to swing by to sample some food and try out the games. I made it by for the food, but left the games to an expert.
Chef Richard Persky is Kitchen Manager at the new Dave & Buster’s, late of The Cheesecake Factory, oversees the kind of menu that will appeal to the masses. It’s a mix of American classics, ranging from burgers to spare ribs.
“We make everything in-house,” Persky said. “Nothing out of a box.”
This was refreshing to hear as large chains operations are notorious for short cuts. We tried out grilled chicken macaroni and cheese, which had the bread-crumb topping. The ribs were tender enough to practically drip off the bone. The Philly Steak Roll is a play on the egg roll served with melted cheese. The best thing I tried were the two salmon dishes. The fish was fresh and succulent, the seasoning bold but not overdone. The Fire Grilled Salmon was seasoned with Cajun spices the Chargrilled Atlantic Salmon was a mild Asian play. Both were good, and worthy of ordering before a long night of gaming.
We also tried the Double Stacked Chicken Parm Sandwich, which included lightly breaded chicken breast, marinara and Parmesan and Provolone cheeses. Between the chicken breasts was a hearty slice of tomato that gave the sandwich just enough perk to make it work.
This is exactly the kind of menu one would expect at an arcade on steroids. Chef Persky and his enthusiastic crew executed it perfectly. Before visiting Dave & Buster’s, I knew I would be required by my children to visit but I wouldn’t have thought I would choose to eat there. After my sampling, that’s changed. They also offer discounted gaming with various entrees called Eat & Play Combos. They start at $15.99 and include $10 in game tokens. This, I imagine, is the most common option people choose.
Dave & Buster’s is divided into a dining room, bar and game room. The bar is in the center, and includes large circular bar in the center with tables surrounding it. I didn’t try any cocktails, so I can’t speak to them.
Try Again, Space Cadet!
As for the games, I needed some help. Despite growing up during the dawn of the video game age, I’ve never been of much use with a joystick, controller, Wii wand or skeeball. While friends were dropping smart bombs in the Defenderverse or gobbling ghosts in Pacmandia, I stood by quietly — my roll of quarters long since ingested by Centipede, Tailgunner 2, Frogger, and Joust. While my best friend Ben was unlocking the final screen on Pacman, I was trying to graduate Space Cadet” status on Galaxian. On Mike Tyson Punch-Out, 
I was slightly less a tomato can than Glass Joe.
I did have a brief affair with Tecmo Bowl and its better-looking sister Super Tecmo Bowl, but it took such effort to get Warren Moon’s run-and-shoot Houston Oilers past Joe Montana’s 49ers that entire sleep cycles were skipped. It proved too high a price to pay, so I retired from gaming.
I will admit in the Xbox 360 Kinect age, I did stumble upon a certain degree of expertise in bowling and table tennis — but only if I play left-handed. In a fit of frustration, I used my left hand to finish out a game of bowling only to find that I had Earl Anthony potential. I even went on to bowl a 300 game. No matter how much
This is exactly what I look like when I play bowl on the Kinect.
I’ve tried, I’m completely unable to match my left-handed mastery with what I’ve always thought is my stronger hand. In fact, it’s made me question whether or not I might’ve been living my entire life using the wrong arm. Perhaps I could’ve been a left-handed, one-out specialist in the big leagues, drawing a minimum-salary contract in the Big Leagues for 15 years, which while not as much fun and Food Duding, pays a heck of a lot better.
But I digress.
While duty certainly bound me to try out the foods at Dave and Buster’s, I felt I needed to bring in an expert to try out the games. Enter Matt Clayton, who is responsible for the inspired designs you see on Wednesday food pages. Matt is a self-professed video game junkie.
Here’s what he had to say:
Mike Honaker has a pretty cool job at the new Dave & Buster’s in Oklahoma City. His title: Amusement Manager.
Sounds pretty sweet, right?
His job is to make sure every game in Dave & Buster’s works. All the time.
No pressure.
One of the big things that he strives for at D&B is that every game is up and running. I got the impression that his goal is to test every game to make sure it’s perfect. If it’s not, Mike and his team will get it up and running before anyone notices it’s not working.
On a tour of the game area, Mike showed off some of the newest and best options that they have to offer. The two best games would be Pac-Man Battle Royale and Typhoon. Pac-Man Battle Royale is a four player competitive Pac-Man arcade game where you eliminate your opponents by eating them and the last Pac-Man standing wins the round. Think of it as Pac-Man cannibalism.
Typhoon is a motion simulator that can take you to the bumps and drops of a roller coaster ride, to a race downhill or in a cave. There are several different levels to choose from, including the cave map that we tried. It’s certainly intense, so go easy on the fried shrimp before trying this one out.
There are the usual games that everyone remembers and loves, but don’t forget to try something new. I highly suggest you get “power card” while you are there. The card is a great alternative to stuffing your pockets with coins and dollar bills. Plus, you can store your winning tickets on your card until you’re ready to cash them in for prizes.
Drop us some feedback from your Dave & Buster’s experience.
Dr Pepper Dismisses Dublin
The Dr Pepper Plant in Dublin, Texas, will no longer bottle the beverage for the first time in nearly 100 years.
Really sad news out of Centrail Texas. Dublin, Texas, is on the route to my mother’s house and their Dr Pepper bottling plant is a regular stop for the CatheyExpress on our way to and from Brownwood, Texas.
Been through the plant where they’ve bottled Dr. Pepper for ages, checked out what has to be one of the world’s most impressive collections of Dr Pepper memorabilia and enjoyed a hand-pumped Dr. Pepper from the old-time soda fountain. Will have a hard time stopping in from now on, but it does appear there are two sides to this story. Dublin Dr Pepper was always one of Pops Route 66 Cafe’s top sellers.
Here’s how the Associated Press reported it late last week.
By Associated Press
DUBLIN, Texas — Dublin didn’t invent Dr Pepper, but no other place has embraced the soft drink quite like it has.
A mural just around the corner from the Dr Pepper plant in Dublin, Texas.
A dozen or so signs and murals around town tout the virtues of the local version of the drink, Dublin Dr Pepper, which was first bottled in Dublin in 1891, six years after it debuted in Waco. And a giant Dublin Dr Pepper billboard greets the nearly 100,000 annual visitors to the central Texas town — most who come just to buy the drink, which is made with cane sugar instead of high-fructose corn syrup and is sweeter than typical Dr Pepper.
Under an agreement with Dr Pepper, the Dublin Dr Pepper bottler will end production of the drink that Jeff Kloster’s family has been bottling for more than a century. Because of a legal settlement that led to the demise of the Dublin Dr Pepper brand and logo, the town’s name is being cut out, covered up or painted over on the signs, and many residents feel the town’s identity is disappearing along with it.
“You see somebody cutting your name out of something like it never happened, and that’s just gut-wrenching,” said Pat Leatherwood, vice president of First National Bank of Dublin. “You walk in stores all over town, and some people are mad. Some are upset. It’s like someone has died.”
Dr Pepper Snapple Group, which is based in Plano, announced this week that it bought all of the Dublin bottling company’s sales and distribution operations and related assets, as well as the rights to distribute Dr Pepper and its other brands in the six central Texas counties served by Dr Pepper Bottling Co. of Dublin, which has been renamed Dublin Bottling Works.
The company said it will still make the sweeter version of the fruit- and berry-flavored carbonated drink at another plant and distribute it in several Texas cities, including the Dublin bottling plant’s soda shop and museum. The bottles will have the same “distinct, nostalgic packaging” but won’t have the Dublin name or a new name, said Chris Barnes, a Dr Pepper Snapple Group spokesman.
Folks in Dublin are worried about the loss of the town’s namesake soda, which drew 95,000 tourists each year to the soda shop, museum and the plant’s birthday celebration, where the town was renamed “Dr Pepper, Texas” for a week. And many of the 3,800 residents are vowing never to drink any Dr Pepper ever again.
“I’m very concerned about my business in this economy, and now with this. What’s going to draw them to Dublin?” said Three Sisters gift shop owner Lisa Leatherwood, who gave away all her store’s Dr Pepper drinks on an outside table Thursday under a sign that read: “We no longer drink Dr Pepper products! Help yourself!”
Jeff Kloster, vice president of Dublin Bottling Works, said his plant will keep producing other soft drinks, including Triple X root beer, Sun Crest, Nu Grape and Big Red. But in the wake of the settlement Wednesday, he had to lay off 14 employees and was forced to remove all T-shirts and other products that said “Dublin Dr Pepper.” He said he is sad and disappointed in how things turned out but declined to comment about the suit or settlement.
Old Docs Soda Shop, which is adjacent to the bottling plant, will no longer sell Dr Pepper bottled next door.
“The good news is that we’re still here,” he said, fighting back tears as employees were selling the last cases to people lined out the door.
A day after hearing the news, John Brumett drove all the way from Dallas, about 150 miles northeast of Dublin, even though he wasn’t sure any Dublin Dr Pepper would be left. He was in luck but was able to get a case of 6.5-ounce bottles after he returned his empty 10-ounce bottles — a practice that locals and others across the state have been doing for years. The thick glass bottles have been used and reused since the 1950s or earlier.
“I am so disgusted that this Dublin Dr Pepper is not available anymore,” Brumett said Thursday. “There is no reason for a giant industry to overrun a small industry. I’m very disappointed.”
But Barnes said the company sued because the Dublin bottler would not stop selling outside its territory. He also said there was a trademark issue and that Dublin was not the only bottler selling the drink with cane sugar instead of high-fructose corn syrup, although many people have that impression because its name is on the bottle.
S & B Burger Joint Rocks On to 9th Street
A Theta slider and Heat slider with veggie patty from the new S&B Burger Joint on 9th Street.
The popularity of S & B Burger Joint is such a force of nature it’s already turned necessitated the takeover of Electro Lounge, next up: 9th Street.
Is that Iron Man getting firing up his heart light in the reflection of the new S&B Burger Joint on 9th Street?
That’s right, the best sliders in the city can now be had at two locations, the newest at 20 NW 9 St., directly across from the Iguana Mexican Grill, and it’s opening Friday Jan. 13. Lunch starts at 11, they’ll be open til 10ish, 11ish if the crowd warrants.
The last time I blogged about S & B, I said it was where the cool kids eat. Well, you have to have ice water in your veins and Mick Jagger’s swagger to open a new venture on Friday the 13th.
But when a concept you started on a lark evolves into a full-scale cultural and culinary monster ready to be unleashed on the masses, confidence comes a little easier. Co-owner Shannon Roper, who once opened Garfield’s Restaurants around the country, started cooking handmade burgers at the Electro Lounge to bump up ticket sales. It’s impossible to say Shannon and partner Bryan Neel weren’t ready for the response because of where they are now. But it’s no stretch to say demand has been beyond their imagination.
Take a good look at the backlit Kinks picture mounted on the left: It won't be there long if I have anything to do with it.
The new S & B looks like the S & B that always should’ve been. While the original is and always will be home, it evolved from one kind of concept into another. The new space looks like it’s all part of Shannon and Bryan’s rock ‘n’ roll fantasy. And their fantasy is mine: great burgers and cold beer surrounded by rock and roll heroes with a soundtrack to match. I’ve visited the new place twice the last couple days and the music I’ve heard during those visits is better than a month’s worth of local broadcast radio. And then there’s the backlit Kinks poster I’m going to have to figure out how to steal, not to mention the Sid Vicious.
“We’ve got more stuff coming in,” Shannon said while were talking about my poster envy. “Just hasn’t gotten here yet.”
Tabletops hearken to days when CDs were tolerated, MP3s a mistaken identity for the MC5, and the Gospel was written on vinyl. Ladies will find their restroom behind a door bearing Joan Jett; men step behind a young Keith Richards. Shannon said plans for live music have been discussed, more information to come. As for the food, you’ll find the same menu, with a few new additions to the slider list. Beer, Bloody Marys and a full bar are available.
The new place, it rounds out an impressive bit of land and culture development by Steve Mason. First it was the Iguana, then Sara Sara Cupcakes, then Pachinko Parlor and The Womb. S & B begins the rebirth of the south side of the little stretch of 9th Street between Broadway and the highway. Add Shop Good to the mix, and it’s easy to see this becoming the center of the local subculture universe. With the global appeal of The Flaming Lips, that universe could some day include a significant tourism niche.
I’ll have much more to write about S & B in the near future, but just wanted to give folks a heads-up that it had opened. If you’ve been, let me know what you thought.
The Impossible Dream: Chef Robert Irvine Coming to Town
St. Anthony Hospital’s annual Celebrity Chef event is January 17 and 18, and this year’s guest is Robert Irvine of Food Network fame.
Saints Heart & Vascular Institute, which is a bastion of healthy, delicious food, has brought in numerous well-known chefs from around the world in the past decade, including Bobby Flay, Tyler Florence, Rachel Ray, Sandra Lee, Giada De Laurentiis, Dave Lieberman, Curtis Stone, Ingrid Hoffmann, Matthew Kenney and Cat Cora.
Chef Irvine will showcase skills honed over 25 years, through Europe, the Far East, the Caribbean and the Americas, in hotels and on the high seas.
Chef Irvine won renown as host of “Dinner: Impossible,” “Worst Cooks in America,” “Restaurant: Impossible” and was most recently seen on “The Next Iron Chef, Super Chef.”
On Dinner Impossible, Irvine serves stunningly creative dishes for both intimate gatherings and huge crowds, all without warning and at a moment’s notice. On prime-time show, Restaurant: Impossible, Irvine attempts to save America’s most desperate restaurants from impending failure in just two days with a budget of only $10,000.
On January 17, Robert Irvine will take the stage at the Rapp Foundation Conference Center in the Saints Medical Plaza building at 7 p.m. Chef Irvine will share three special recipes all centered on heart healthy eating.
Cost is $20. Seats are limited and require reservations. To make reservations, please call 405-272-7383 or visit www.saintsok.com.
Goodbye Goldie’s
Goldie's Patio Grill at its original location on Broadway. It moved to Danforth in 2008, but closed recently after 25 years in business.
Traveling through far north Edmond on Wednesday, I stumbled upon the sad news that Goldie’s Patio Grill had closed. I hadn’t eaten there in years, so I was anxious to try it out in the location it moved into in 2008. Unfortunately, when I got to the door a small sign was taped to the door, thanking it’s longtime patrons for their support. The dining room was filled with boxes, the lights off.
Thus ends an era started in 1986 by former University of Oklahoma football coach and defacto King of Oklahoma Barry Switzer, former OU football player and gubernatorial candidate Ron Shotts, and Quail Creek Bank founder and Chief Executive Officer Dave Davenport, who opened the first Goldie’s franchise in the metro area, in Edmond, spinning off the Tulsa original founded by Goldie and Melvin Crow in 1962. The Tulsa-area locations are still opened.
Another location opened in Norman shortly after the Edmond store. That spot, too, closed in the last few years.
Goldie’s was home of the pickle bar, Angel Fire burger and happened to be the first place I ever worked that wasn’t in the employ of my parents. In the summer of 1988, I enrolled at Oklahoma Christian for my junior year and moved into campus housing. Not having taken a class yet, the only person I knew was my girlfriend, Mandy. But she was enough to keep me from wanting to spend another summer in the leather goods factory in Brownwood, Texas.
Problem was, I had to have a job to keep me in gas and Mandy in dinner-and-a-movie dates.
So, after a month of knocking around, I landed at Goldie’s. I told the manager I’d do what it took to learn how to wait tables, he told me he could teach me and he did. I spent most of the summer there, before a family illness drew me back to Texas in August with classes starting shortly thereafter.
What I learned was Goldie’s, which was more or less a tax shelter in those days, did a huge lunch crowd and a moderate to light dinner crowd except for Saturdays. We had two gentlemen that came in every Saturday and ordered steaks. They had the same waitress and were big tippers. There was a group from a local lumber company that came in at least once a week. They didn’t tip squat unless one of two gorgeous co-workers was taking care of them. But most importantly, I learned that I was a terrible waiter. Multitasking is total sanscrit to me, and the volume Goldie’s did at lunch turned my brain to mush. If not for a nice server named Joy, folks in my section might still be waiting on their lunch, which would be difficult since the place I worked is now an OnCue station.
Goldie’s in Edmond moved from Broadway to Danforth in 2008. Longtime operator Mickey Kern and general manager Jimmy Carlton bought the restaurant when it moved. I tried calling them, but got only a busy signal. Whatever future endeavors are before them, I wish them well. Goldie’s served Edmond and Norman dutifully and auspiciously for many years and they leave a wake of loyal customers, who thank them — if for nothing else — for not calling me and trying to convince me to return after the summer of ’88.
Did you ever eat at Goldie’s? If so, I hope you weren’t unfortunate enough to have me as your server.
Chuy’s is Coming to the Metro
The original Chuy's in Austin. A new location will soon open in Norman.
Tex-Mex purveyors beware, a juggernaut is coming from south of the border that will force you to either adapt or disappear.
And that juggernaut is called Chuy’s Fine Tex-Mex.
Anyone who knows me is aware that it’s difficult for me to enter a chain restaurant without holding my nose, but that’s not an absolute rule. Especially when it comes to the restaurant that saved Tex-Mex.
As a youngster growing up in Austin, Tex-Mex cuisine had, for all intents and purposes, run its course. The way of El Chico had proven a money could be made with recipes dumbed down and depleted by cheaper and cheaper ingredients. Buckets of beans and rice with a cheesy, greasy glob of what passed for enchiladas had become the norm, despite only a distant relationship to the root recipe.
Hubcaps adorn the ceiling at Chuy's restaurants.
But that alone isn’t a bad thing. Evolution is the way of things. However, what was being passed off as Mexican food in the late 1970s had turned the term Tex-Mex into a four-letter word that ended in u-c-k and started with y.
When Chuy’s opened in the early 1980s, the idea was to celebrate chili gravy, cheese enchiladas, crispy tacos and chili-bathed tamales and chiles rellenos. Instead of black wrought-iron grate work, red Naugahyde booths, sombrero-wearing guitarists and oversized votive candles, Chuy’s was adorned with papier-mache fish, hubcaps, and Elvis paraphanalia. The music was modern, the only thing cooler than the vibe was the margaritas. Starting in a tiny spot near Zilker Park on Barton Springs Road in Austin, the competition took notice — especially as the lines out the door at Chuy’s grew and expansion followed. Today, the original Chuy’s is in the same spot, which used to be a forgotten strip of road that connected the city park to the main artery that is S Lamar, and is the centerpiece of a hipster wonderland surrounded by trendy shops, restaurants and the Whole Foods of convenience stores.
A chile relleno from Chuy's.
Chuy’s is now a Tex-Mex dynasty with other concepts like Shady Grove and Hula Hut on their roster. What does it mean to the metro? At first glance, I’m it’ll have a Whole Foods effect on local Mexican restaurants. Just as local grocers had to up their collective game when Whole Foods arrive, so too will local cafes specializing in Mexican or Tex-Mex fare. This is not to say Chuy’s will serve the best Mexican food in town. But it will probably be the best Tex-Mex in town, and there are few enough folks who discern between the two that it will likely have a large ripple effect.
Fajitas at Chuy's.A chile relleno from Chuy's.
For places that already have good food, it’ll simply mean investing more in the decor and the bar. For those with mediocre food, it’ll be time to ramp up the menu, improve ingredients and take a step forward to distinguish themselves or look at a new career path.
Michael Hatcher, vice president of real estate and development for Chuy’s, said the Tulsa store will open on Valentines Day, and that their first site on the Western side of the state is under construction inNorman in the former Santa Fe Cattle Co, 760 Interstate Drive. Hatcher said the Norman location should open late spring or early summer and additional sites in Oklahoma City are being sought, but nothing is firmed up at this time.
Have you been to Chuy’s? What did you think? Are you excited to see it coming to town or do you think it’ll just clutter up the landscape.
Christmas Movie Munching
OK, I just dropped some top-drawer cookie recipes for Santa with more than a little help from my friends. But leading up to the big night, you’re going to want to watch some Christmas movies.
So here, in no particular order, are some movie pairings to go with cookie recipes for Kris Kringle.
1. Elf: Oatmeal Toffee Cookies. “Elf” is the Christmas movie the Cathey family watches on the Friday or Saturday following Thanksgiving. This instant classic from 2004 is easily the funniest Christmas movie ever made, with apologies to “Christmas Vacation,” ”Scrooged,” and “A Christmas Story.” Buddy answering the phone and asking the would-be caller their favorite color never ceases to make me laugh. This was the role made for Will Ferrell’s man-child schtick. Sheri’s cookies are sweet enough to satisfy Buddy’s palate and a plateful will empty on a single pass.
2. Love Actually: Soft and Chewy Ginger Cookies with Green Apple Martinis. ”Love Actually” is the film Lori and I watch to mark the start of the holiday season. It’s the most adult of the mainstream Christmas flicks. There are a couple of storylines that would be extremely difficult to explain to the tots. Best advice is to send them off to sugarplum dreams before mixing a couple stiff drinks, baking some appropriately themed holiday cookies.
3. Polar Express: Eggnog Cookies with Hot chocolate. Sure the human characters in Robert Zemeckis’ “Polar Express” cast vaguely creepy eyes, but the action sequences are breath-taking — none of which is more effective than the hot cocoa scene. It’ll leave you hankering for a cup. What better cookie to pair than Nichole’s eggnog cookies. Be sure and read the book to the kiddos afterward. It strengthens the long-held adage that books used as film source material always exceed their celluloid counterparts.
4. Christmas Vacation: Apricot Almond Rum Balls. This Chevy Chase classic is little more than a series of pratfall set pieces, and preposterous plot turns. But that doesn’t mean it’s not required holiday viewing. What better way to do it with some high-octane rum balls, which will help you overlook the thin spots and amplify high points like the fried pussy cat and any scene including Randy Quaid.
5. Miracle on 34th Street: Quadruple Chocolate Knuckle-Sandwich Cookies. The sugary sweet “Miracle on 34th Street” was actually released in the spring of 1947 and went on to win an Oscar for Edmund Gwenn as Kris Kringle and a nomination for Best Picture. A tiny Natalie Wood signals her significant star power at an early age. Maureen O’Hara flashes her classic Irish ire. The film also depicts divorce, mental illness and commercialism in a time when none were much discussed openly. It’s frank handling of those subjects, a clever script and top performance make it a work of art. To match the richness of the film, it’s my super sweet, super rich Quadruple Chocolate Knuckle-Sandwich Cookies.
6. A Christmas Carol: Chocolate Macarons with Figgy Icing. Whether you take your Dickens in ancient black-and-white versions, in Zemeckisian high-tech motion capture, with music or without or whether your prefer an actor better known as Tom Jones, George Patton, Alistair Sim, Jean-Luc Picard, Ace Ventura, Thurston P. Howell III, The Fonz, Carl the assistant greenskeeper or Miss Fritton taking the lead role of Ebenezer Scrooge (or some facsimile), some version of “A Christmas Carol” is likely to air on your television screen this week. Do yourself a favor, and take it with some classic macarons with delicious figgy icing. If you’re looking for something savory, consider potato soup. But, please, make sure the potato is properly cooked so as to avoid the onset of yuletide-bearing apparitions.
7. It’s a Wonderful Life: Caramel Chocolate Shortbread Bars: When this cornball classic from Jimmy Stewart and Frank Capra used to show up on every local channel within antenna-shot during the late 1980s and early 1990s, I was known to map it out so it would air on our home television every hour of the day. My mother is still sure Stewart is the one who got away. (And I think in another life me and Donna Reed would’ve had a chance.) Anyway, Alison’s super homey, super delicious shortbread bars are the perfect compliment to this very long but ultimately rewarding Christmas classic. Thanks to Capra’s fearless editing, you’re likely to finish a whole dish of these bad boys by the time Clarence gets his wings and George reclaims Zuzu’s petals.
Wait, what? No mention of “A Christmas Story?” Well, the truth is, when I watch the TNT fixture it’s neither sweets nor turkey I crave. It’s Chinese food. No matter how late on Christmas Eve we’re watching, as the “Chinese turkey” falls victim to the turk, I can’t help but wonder if my good friends at Fortune Chinese restaurant might still be delivering. Stay tuned for some make-at-home Chinese takeout later in the week.
