Winning the Future! With Cookies.

I know that each and every one of my readers is a civic-minded and politically engaged individual who watched the State of the Union (SotU) address last night. The theme of which was "Winning the Future." The acronym of which is "WTF." Wonky giggling.

Want a way to make sure the fun never ends? Do as Sarah and Shirley, two of our office fellows did, and make the experience a gastronomic one!

You see, working with three of the AAUW fellows, the young women who work at our organization developing public policy and government relations experience, I wrote up a "Making the State of the Union Interactive" sort of blog post for our org. The post listed a bunch of ways to enrich the SotU viewing experience, from a thinly-veiled drinking game (non-alcoholic punch, I promise) to wordclouding the speeches -- the president's as well as the official Republican response from Rep. Paul Ryan. And, I suppose, the officially crazy response from Michele Bachmann (if I lose readers over THAT comment, then I am sad).

The fellows were instrumental in making the post quite food oriented, and among their best ideas was the following. Behold: the Bipartisan cookies!

All that remained.

Note the different themes. Some are solid blue and solid red side by side, reflecting the way in which the two parties normally sit to hear the president's annual address. One is a ying-yang, which is crazy, because if there's ANYTHING that is truly unbalanced it's the U.S. Congress.

Others are red and blue spotted, which reflects the way the parties mingled last night at the suggestion of Third Way, a silly organization that thinks everyone should try to get along. Where's the fun in that?

Finally, I particularly like the closest cookie, which reflects the emotional state of our lawmakers as they were forced to sit next to one another and be civil throughout the proceedings.

Clementines: Nature's Tangerine-Flavored Candy

I forgot to tell everyone on Wednesday, but on Wednesday, Hungry Sam turned one. Which in blog years, means that Hungry Sam is a cranky and stressed out teenager. Or something!

To reward you all, I'm going to talk about clementine oranges. Which I LOVE.

Not true size. Or maybe, depending on the size of your computer screen.

Clementines are little oranges about the size of a large donut hole (or if you're from Canada, a large "Timbit"). They are easy to peel, generally seedless (although clementine FAILS occur; see below), extremely sweet, sold by the 5-lb. box, and are at their best in December, January, and February. I like them so much I may have eaten a whole box in 24 hours a week ago (although to be fair, I was doing the 13-hour drive from Maine to D.C. at the time).

I WIN

The best part about eating a clementine is peeling them (which I promise I wasn't doing while driving, mostly). It's like a challenge each time to see if you can remove the rind intact. I mean, it's not hard, so you mostly just feel like a failure when you can't, but there it is.

The second best thing about clementines is that they're wicked healthy, so I don't feel bad about about bringing six of them to work with me as snacks. Also, now my office smells GREAT.

The third best thing about clementines is that they essentially taste like candy.

The worst thing about clementines is clementine FAILS. These occur when the clementine isn't sweet enough, is too firm (and thus IMPOSSIBLE to peel in one piece), or when there are seeds. I mean, really -- I eat these little babies instead of giant citrus because they're so easy. But when each of the eight segments or whatever has like three seeds, that's the opposite of easy. It's hard.

OK, that's all I have to say about that. Go buy yourself a box of clementines -- you won't be disappointed, unless you are!

Chocolate Destruction!

I have...destructive...tendancies. My brothers and I would build then, more importantly, destroy Lego cities; I have a weird unconscious habit of tearing apart my dinner napkins and shredding paper in my hands; and I have the same fascination with knives, axes, fire, and small- to mid- range explosives as do many boys.

Given all this, the thought of a food the preparation of which entails a little physical violence inspires in me no small amount of glee.

Faced with this prospect, I may have overdone the chocolate orange.

I have, for years, seen Ferrara Chocolate Oranges in stores and chocolate shops, yet never have I tried one. So when my parents threw one into my Christmas stocking, I was delighted. Here was chocolate that didn't just benefit from, but straight-up required, the application of directed force.

Yet when the time came, and I slammed it once -- twice -- three times -- four times into surfaces of increasing hardness (wood to granite) -- the orange, wrapped in its foil, barely seemed to feel it.

Then I opened it -- I'd shattered half into tiny slivers and chunks, and maybe half had split into the desired wedges. Good enough!

Coming soon: Marination clarification and pictures/recipe for my family's Christmas Tree Coffee Cake!

When You Grocery Shop Hungry

I went grocery shopping last night hungry. Very hungry. It was...bad.

My hunger was compounded by having just worked out. My lack of self control was compounded by the snow. It's some sort of New England thing -- it snows, so you stock up on staples and you fill a pantry with dry goods and you prepare to batten down the hatches. I mean, there isn't that much snow yet -- but this same knee-jerk preparation is what got me through last year's snowpocalypse. (I sat inside and worked at my kitchen table and cooked chicken parmesan and chili for the week of epic snow.)

Maybe it's enough to say I was NOT capable of keeping to my grocery list. Or maybe you all need to see pictures. This is what I bought:

This is what I didn't need:

This is what I did need, the purchases for which I went shopping in the first place:

And this is, by NO MEANS, the most lopsided this ratio has ever been. I have been way more out of control in the past. This is just the most recent...incident.

Please Direct Your Attention to the Insane Gingerbread Houses

I almost drew blood biting my knuckle so I could avoid laughing hysterically while my colleague was on the phone. Thank you, someecards, for this majestic series of "The 6 most offensive and/or psychotic gingerbread houses we could find."

My personal favorite: The Gingerbread Asylum

It's funny 'cause they're crazy.

Now THIS is a Chicken Pot Pie

I think the photo speaks volumes, and requires no fuller context. Suffice it to say -- if you want an Epic Chicken Pot Pie the likes of which maketh my jaw to drop, hit up the Daily Grill on 18th and M NW.

Woah.

The gentleman consumer who polished off this beast, my boss Seth, said it was pretty good, although he was disappointed it didn't have a bottom crust.

Regardless -- impressive feat and impressive pie.

Oh, and if you ever take your lunch business to the Daily Grill, get the spinach artichoke dip. It was definitely among the best I've had in memory. My chicken cobb salad sandwich was good, not great, but most everything looked pretty tasty.

Friends, Readers, Foodies -- if you're rocking the Hungry Sam enjoyment, please consider following me on Google my clicking "join" over on the right, and sharing it on Facebook! Also, shoot me recipes! I'll make 'em and if they're awesome, I'll post 'em.

NOT KOSHER.

Thanks, WM, for this superb find.

IT'S A PORK-BASED NATIVITY SCENE!

Via Jezebel: http://bit.ly/ggF0Ts