Of all the wacky food trends from the past few years, this one might be our favorite: A company called Pop Pasta is debuting a spaghetti doughnut at a food market in Brooklyn this month.
Pop Pasta, the company behind the monstrous/brilliant creation, says the doughnut “is the perfect food to bring to picnics or to the beach, and it isn’t messy like pizza!” While we’re not sure we agree with it as a beach food, we are intrigued.
But how is it made? Pop Pasta says its similar to the Neapolitan tradition of spaghetti in which “spaghetti pie is a dish prepared with pasta leftovers combined with eggs and cheese and then fried.”
The company will sell several versions of the pasta doughnuts, including a red sauce pop, an aglio e olio pop, a zucchini pop, a bolognese pop, and a carbonara one.
Check out some photos of the tasty looking treat below.
Toasted grasshoppers aren’t replacing peanuts and Cracker Jacks anytime soon, and they certainly don’t come with a cool prize, but they are the hot new concession at Seattle’s Safeco Field.
The new stadium snack is courtesy of Seattle Mexican restaurant Poquitos, which will be offering concessions for the first time at Safeco, just in time for the Mariners home opener. The bugs (chapulines) have been a popular menu item at the restaurant for quite some time. And at the stadium, they’re only a buck more; $4 will buy you a cup of freshly cooked grasshoppers tossed in a chili lime seasoning.
Don’t like grasshoppers by the handfuls? You can use them to top your tacos, which Poquitos will also have on offer.
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According to Girl Meets Bug, 100 grams of grasshoppers contain upwards of 20 grams of protein and 6 grams of fat. And if it turns out you don’t like the taste of the crunchy little critters, you can always blow the rest of your budget washing them down with overpriced beer.
Not living within easy access of incredible world cuisine is a common complaint of those who flee urban locales. Living near incredible world cuisine in NYC sometimes gives me epic FOMO, watching people visit and share photos and stories from places around the corner from me. Can one eat out and want for nothing in a big city? Yes, but that person must also have the cash flow to pay for constant dining out.
Legendary Xian Famous Foods in my city is one of those places that pops up in my feed on the daily, and it’s both world class and affordable. Plate after plate of uncomplicated Chinese flavors shock your palette back into shape if you’ve been out of the pungent loop for awhile. Mission Chinese is another neighborhood staple that people are constantly putting on the gram, with intense Sichuan and eclectic flavors coming together to make food magic, it’s spicy enough to make you giddy, and when I eat there I’m always pumping with adrenaline.
They both have one incredible dish in common: Tiger Salad, the catch-all term for salads that use herbs as the main greenery, and it’s a real treat. Though I don’t think I’ll ever make a salad as good as the squad at Xian or Danny Bowien’s kitchen of dreams, I know I can reach for a pile of affordable herbs at the local shop and whip up something that reminds me of it. Putting my own twist on it with a cannabis infused soy-sesame vinaigrette turns it into party/study/Netflix/healing fuel, however you use cannabis in your life.
Photos by Maria Penaloza
Strong and Pungent Cannabis Tiger Salad
Inspired by Xian Famous Foods + Mission Chinese Food
Serves 2, 17mg THC estimated
4 stalks Chinese celery
1 bundle cilantro
4 basil leaves
2 scallions
1 birds eye chili
2 Tbs rice wine vinegar
2 tsp superior soy sauce
1 Tbs sesame oil
1 Tbs cannabis infused olive oil*
For Garnish:
Fried shallot
Black sesame seeds
Photos by Maria Penaloza
Wash all of your veggies really well, celery and cilantro in particular can be gritty, so get in there good and let them dry. Remove the tops and root bulb from the celery stalks and chop into 1½” pieces. Put in a large bowl with room to toss.
With cilantro, you’ll do the opposite, removing most of the tougher stems. Leave the tender stems behind, they will be yummy in the mix. Instead of finely chopping cilantro like most applications, give it a rough chop so the leaves aren’t whole but also aren’t in small pieces. Do the same with the basil. Finely chop the scallion and add half to the bowl, reserve half for garnish. Chop the chili last, keep the seeds if you want them, but chop the pepper finely so it is evenly distributed through the salad.
Photos by Maria Penaloza
Mix up your vinaigrette in a bowl, giving it a good whip with a fork to make a loose emulsion. This will mix everything well enough to coat the veggies just right. Add to the bowl with your greens and toss thoroughly. Serve in a bowl topped with more scallions, fried shallots, and sprinkled with black sesame seeds.
*Cannabis infused oil
Decarboxylate 3.5g of finely ground cannabis at 225 degrees for 20 minutes in a tightly sealed, oven safe container. Put in lidded mason jar or vacuum sealed bag with cannabis and four ounces of olive oil. Heat in water bath just under boiling for at least 1 hour. Strain and chill to use in recipes.
Photos by Maria Penaloza
Even if you can’t always make it to the exciting and renowned shops and sit downs of your nearest magnet city, you can whip this up at home and have a small taste of something either familiar to you or new altogether. Either way, you’ll be making this salad to accompany noodles and stir fry regularly.
You don’t have to take your top off on South Padre Island to find that spring break feeling again. Here are five bartender-recommended cocktails paying homage to the mid-term academia tradition of fleeing to Mexico. Vive le youth.
Kevin Burke, Beverage Director, Colt & Gray and Ste. Ellie
Denver, CO
His favorite spring break or Mexico memory: “Recently, I’ve had lovely experiences getting lost in the corners of Guadalajara, drinking beers and tequila with the locals getting by on what could be best described as ‘pidgin Spanish.’”
The wildest thing he’s seen a patron do: “Doctors have patient confidentiality, priests maintain the sanctity of a confessional, bartenders don’t kiss and tell. I like to think that I have seen people as their best selves, and occasionally at their worst and it’s always a privilege to be both a host and confidant.”
His ideal location for imbibing this cocktail: “The beauty of these recipes is that they lend themselves toward whipping up a batch of them, throwing them on ice and heading down to the pool on a Sunday afternoon with friends.”
Pennies from Heaven
Photo by Erin James
Makes 1 cocktail
1 ½ ounces tequila
½ ounce lime juice
½ ounce pamplemousse liqueur
½ teaspoon granulated sugar, to taste
1-2 ounce of dry sparkling wine
Garnish: ½ salted rim, grapefruit chunk
Method: In a mixing tin combine tequila, lime, pamplemousse liqueur, sugar if necessary. Add ice and shake briskly for 15 seconds. Strain into a coupe glass and gently float 1-2 ounce of sparkling wine on the drink.
Mattie Beason, Owner, Black Twig Cider House & Mattie B’s Public House
Durham, NC
His favorite spring break or Mexico memory: “I’m going to be boring on this one and say when I was 8, my parents took me to Isla Mujeres and told me I was going to have twin sisters. A magical trip with some of the best news I have ever gotten. I wasn’t drinking but I’m sure my dad was!”
The wildest thing he’s seen a patron do: “Put a pitcher of margarita in a porron [a Spanish wine pitcher with a spout] and then attempt to consume it.”
His ideal location for imbibing this cocktail: “Anywhere with sand and saltwater.”
Sean Penn
Photo by Erin James
Makes 1 cocktail
1 ½ ounces blanco tequila
¾ ounce Cointreau
¾ ounce lime juice
1 ¼ ounces Blake’s Hard Cider El Chavo, or another pepper-infused cider
Garnish: lime strip
Method: Mix all but the cider and shake. Strain and serve in a wine glass. Garnish with lime swathe. Top with the El Chavo.
David Shenaut, Bar Manager, Raven & Rose
Portland, OR
His favorite spring break or Mexico memory: “Oaxaca is my favorite city in Mexico. The market there is absolutely amazing; visit shops and taste through mezcals, chocolates, chilies and fresh cheeses. This is a place to stay all day, just eating and drinking all of the foreign fare.”
The wildest thing he’s seen a patron do: “I once saw a young man snort salt and squeeze lime into his eye as part of a new ritual around drinking tequila. Stupid.”
His ideal location for imbibing this cocktail: “This is a Pacific Northwest rainy day sipper that should inspire you to book a trip to sunny Mexico so you can wear something besides a hoody. At first sip, you are forced remember to take your time and enjoy your surroundings and not to be in a hurry.”
Caroline’s Fancy
Photo by Raven & Rose PDX
Makes 1 cocktail
2 ounces reposado tequila
½ ounce dry curaçao
¼ ounce demerara syrup (2:1 sugar to water)
2 dashes Scrappy’s Bitters cardamom bitters
Garnish: large orange peel
Method: Stir all ingredients with ice then pour over fresh ice, one big cube is best here to slow things down. Garnish with a big peel of orange.
Casey Robison, Spirits Director, Heavy Restaurant Group
Seattle, WA
His favorite spring break or Mexico memory: “In 2014, my wife and I got married in Oaxaca [and] the night before, we held our welcome reception at a restaurant in downtown Oaxaca called Los Danzantes. After the reception, my wife and I, with 40 of our friends, went up to the rooftop bar… We ordered four cases of beer and four bottles of Mezcal to share. We stayed up until almost 5 a.m., and it was an amazing scene, watching a bunch of restaurant workers, lawyers, bankers and business people all party down until the sun came up.”
The wildest thing he’s seen a patron do: “After 14 years of bartending, I’ve seen a bit. Twenty person brawls, dancing on the bar top, projectile vomit. About 10-years-ago, I was asked to tend bar at a private residence. It turned out that I was tending bar at a swinger’s party. That was… eye-opening, to say the least.”
His ideal location for imbibing this cocktail: “The ideal place to drink this cocktail will, of course, be at our new taqueria in [Seattle] opening this summer! Other than that, go to Mexico and order a Paloma.”
The Modern Paloma
Photo by Casey Robison
Makes 1 cocktail
1 ½ ounces blanco tequila
½ ounce Campari
¾ ounce fresh lime juice
2-3 ounces Jarritos guava soda
Garish: lime wedge
Method: Add ingredients in a shaker tin, shake and strain over fresh ice into a Collins glass. Fill with Jarritos guava soda. Garnish with a lime wedge.
Still want more? Bartender Beth Herron of Rosebud American Kitchen + Bar in Somerville, Massachusetts, offers up this simple sipper to transport you to sunnier times.
La Casa Azul
Makes 1 cocktail
2 ounces grilled pineapple syrup
½ ounce Genepy des Alpes
½ ounce citric acid syrup
Garnish: large orange peel
Stir ingredients with ice, strain over a large ice cube in a rocks glass. Garnish with a large orange peel.
If you plan on going out and drinking on St. Patrick’s Day, you should definitely wear something green. It could be a hat, pants, a shirt, a scarf—anything really. What it shouldn’t be—for a number of reasons—is a green t-shirt that says Drunk Lives Matter, especially if you plan on driving under the influence later.
Unfortunately, that’s just what 44-year-old Elwood Gutshall III allegedly did on March 19. WKBN reports that Gutshall was arrested in Newville, Pennsylvania just after midnight. Police say his BAC was over twice the legal limit.
He joins a long line of people arrested wearing unfortunate t-shirts, including the meth dealer who was busted wearing a Los Pollos Hermanos shirt from Breaking Bad.
Most people are surprised to learn in September 1910. New York was the first state to pass drunk driving laws. California soon followed with its own laws. However, these early laws merely made it illegal to drive while under the influence of alcohol. Drunk driving became illegal in all 50 states in 1988 when the National Minimum Drinking Age Act was fully implemented. The Act required all states to set the legal drinking age at 21 and also made it illegal to drive with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.08 percent or higher.
While it’s sad the final season of HBO’s Girls will end soon, thankfully Lena Dunham and gang gave us good indication where their characters would end up: in a retirement home together. The segment played on Wednesday night’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! and was a clear homage to The Golden Girls.
Though set in 2067, the characters’ aging hasn’t dulled their quirky habits and petty mannerisms. Yes, Marnie is still self-centered; yes, Jessa poses with hip ironic detachment; yes, Shoshanna still delivers Grade-A flustered tirades; and yes, Hannah gets naked. Would you expect (or want) anything less?
The visual gag comes when Andrew Rannells’ Elijah appears halfway through, not looking a day older. It’s a double joke, considering Rannells in real life is 38 years old. (He’s not the oldest male on the show—Alex Karpovsky, who plays Ray, is 41.)
Last November, Massachusetts overwhelmingly voted for Question 4, becoming one of eight states in the nation to allow for the adult use of recreational marijuana. Since then, the Bay State has been awash in questions about Question 4.
Originally, the sale of legal weed was supposed to begin on Jan. 1, but just four days before the new year, the state legislature voted to delay sales until July 1. Now the big question is where consumers will actually be able to purchase recreational marijuana.
According to the Boston Globe, at least 76 cities and towns in the state are considering restrictions on cannabis sales.
Question 4 was written to allow cities and towns to opt out of the retail structure, and many are exercising that right. The law clearly reads:
The proposed law would authorize cities and towns to adopt reasonable restrictions on the time, place, and manner of operating marijuana businesses and to limit the number of marijuana establishments in their communities. A city or town could hold a local vote to determine whether to permit the selling of marijuana and marijuana products for consumption on the premises at commercial establishments.
Although the measure passed with 53.6 percent of the vote — 1,769,328 votes — the residents is 91 communities did not support it. Now, those jurisdictions are fighting back.
Andy Gaus, spokesman for the Massachusetts Cannabis Reform Coalition, fears that illicit sales will continue to thrive in Massachusetts — and the state’s coffers will be denied much-needed tax revenue.
“If [communities] want control, the best thing to do is let the shops open and make adjustments as they go,” Gaus told the Globe. “They don’t have any control over the black market.”
Massachusetts is not alone in walking the fine line once voters have had their say. Colorado, California and Washington have also struggled with state vs. local issues.
The Massachusetts Department of Revenue estimates that recreational sales could produce $64 million in tax revenue in the first 12 months of the program.
You could spend your 4/20 — the holiest of days for cannabis enthusiasts — getting super high on your couch and baking the best munchies possible to celebrate.
Activists in Washington, D.C., however, would prefer to spend the day working to further their cause. On April 20, members of the group DCMJ plan to stage a “smoke-in” at the nation’s capitol.
Anyone over 21 years of age with valid congressional ID can get a locally-grown joint, including members of Congress, staffers, credentialed journalists and interns. It’s a small enough amount and done with proper screening that it’s legal to do so, DCMJ says.
But it doesn’t stop with that stunt. On April 24, things get more intense: They’re planning to openly smoke on federal lands, in order to invite arrest and challenge reform.
The 4/20 giveaway is an attempt to “destigmatize” the plant, while the “smoke-in” four days later is supposed to be a direct request for federal reform. The activists said they want marijuana rescheduled in the eyes of the federal government so that federal penalties are less harsh.
DCMJ co-founder Adam Eidinger said he fully expects to be arrested that day.
Sit-in were used as a peaceful protest during the Civil Rights Movement. The non-violent action of standing one’s physical ground can be a simple yet effective way to send a message about a cause, which is what these activist hope to achieve.
On the presidential inauguration weekend, DCMJ also staged a smoking sesh and handed out joints as protest and to raise awareness. Some marijuana groups have distanced themselves from DCMJ’s extreme direct-action approaches, calling it counterproductive to condone illegal behavior.
If you believe that the nascent cannabis industry is ready to skyrocket, you now have the ability to put your money where your mouth is. The Toronto Stock Exchange on Wednesday began trading the world’s first marijuana exchange-traded fund, allowing investors to buy shares of a portfolio of marijuana-related stocks.
“Canada is the birthplace of ETFs and has been home to many firsts in the industry. The Horizons Medical Marijuana Life Sciences (HMMJ) ETF is another made-in-Canada ETF milestone, the world’s first marijuana ETF,” said Steve Hawkins, president and co-CEO of Horizons ETFs. “At Horizons, we take pride in our innovation, so we’re very happy that for the first time, investors will be able to access a low-cost, diversified portfolio of companies that are directly involved in the rapidly growing medical marijuana industry.”
For those not familiar with ETFs, think of it as an index fund. Here is how NASDAQ defines ETFs:
Exchange Traded Funds are funds that track indexes like the NASDAQ-100 Index, S&P 500, Dow Jones, etc. When you buy shares of an ETF, you are buying shares of a portfolio that tracks the yield and return of its native index. The main difference between ETFs and other types of index funds is that ETFs don’t try to outperform their corresponding index, but simply replicate its performance. They don’t try to beat the market, they try to be the market. ETFs have been around since the early 1980s, but they’ve come into their own within the past 10 years.
In essence, investors can buy stock in the ETF, which removes the risk in investing in a specific company.
Cannabis sales in 2016 were estimated at $6.7 billion, a 25 percent increase year-over-year. As the industry matures, and the laws become more progressive, the market will skyrocket.
“The rapid growth of the medical marijuana industry, which includes the growth in the size of companies and the number of companies that are publicly listed on North American stock exchanges, has created enough market depth and liquidity to make launching an ETF with this unique theme possible,” Hawkins said in a press release. “It’s rare that investors get an opportunity to invest in what is essentially an entirely new sector of stocks.”
The HMMJ ETF will track a bucket of 14 stocks. The largest of the group include:
What do the words “man bun,” “bitchface,” ‘alt-right,” and “Kush” have in common? They are among the 300 new words added to the Dictionary.com database.
The latest update to Dictionary.com includes over 300 new words and definitions, reflecting everything from news stories to fashion trends. We’ve also updated several existing Dictionary.com entries.
Once again, many new words came straight from the headlines, from Black Lives Matter and Burkini to alt-right and clicktivism. Some words like 420 and Kush reflect broader acceptance of marijuana use and culture, as it’s becoming medically and recreationally legal across the country.
Jane Solomon, the official lexicographer for Dictionary.com says a lot of thought goes into what is added each year to the list of words.
“We also have lookup data,” Solomon says. “We can see what words people have tried to look up on Dictionary.com that haven’t led to a definition,” she told CNN. “It takes a lot of time and effort and thought, so as a lexicographer we give every word the same amount of respect and attention and care,” Solomon says.
Here is how Dictionary.com defines the new cannabis terms:
2. marijuana drug use: Police presence at the concert discouraged 420. The guys at the party were all 420-friendly.
3. the twentieth day of the fourth month, or the time 4:20, when referenced as a day or time for cannabis consumption or the celebration of marijuana culture: The head shop has a big pipe sale every year on 420.
1. marijuana, formerly specific to a strain of cannabis that originated from the Hindu Kush region.
The world of politics is well-represented in the list of new terminology: Black Lives Matter, alt-right, clicktivism and stochastic terrorism are among the words added.
“Our users turn to us to define the words they see, hear, and read — and in today’s highly politicized world, we play a necessary role in helping users dissect the meaning of words heard in this period of political discourse,” said Dictionary.com CEO Liz McMillan.
I’m sure you know what a man bun is. Don’t know what stochastic terrorism means? Look it up.
