OMGWTFBBQCANDY!!!!1!

OK, so firstly, this is Michelle Walkey-Thornburg:

She's an artist and she makes lollipops.
Really, really awesome lollipops.

In flavors like:

Smoked Salmon


Toast

Beef Stew
(Holy INCREDIBLE, Batman. If I ever decided to leave my husband and run off with some candy, this guy would be the guilty party.)


Chicken

Pepperoni

And many others.

We met at a First Friday event a couple weeks ago and have since spent many hours on the phone and one very lively dinner together. I have sworn to be her writer forever in exchange for free candy.

Trust me, it's worth it.

What I love about these things is that the flavors meld so well with the sugars contained in the lollies. Like, the Toast flavor tastes of the caramelized sugars in freshly baked bread. The Beef Stew one plays on the richness of the gravy and the sweetness of long-cooked carrots and onions, of melt-in-your-mouth meat...

Clearly I could wax poetic about the Beef Stew lolly all day long, but seriously - It's an amazing product and I'm really excited for her.

At Friday's dinner, Michelle showed us all the flavorings and colors and molds and stuff. We also got to check out some amazing sculptures by both herself and her husband Aaron. It was ultra-uber-cool.

I've liked all the flavors of lollies that I've tried so far and I'm looking forward to trying the rest!

Except for Cheeseburger.
Kinda nervous about Cheeseburger.

September 11th, 2011.

Yesterday was the tenth anniversary of the day the world ended.
Just ask anyone in New York.

It was the day everything changed.

The day even those responsible didn't anticipate.

They didn't think those buildings would go down.
It was just another hair-brained scheme that happened to succeed because of blind luck.

Because you can't sink the Twin Towers.
It's not possible.

... Everyone knows that.

3,000 people died.

But 20,000 people were saved.

And so, because of that -- and because of weeks of watching tributes, and memorials, and documentaries, and watching "Chess," and mourning this horrific event more than we've been allowed to do in a decade -- we celebrated being Americans by grilling out and listening to Lady GaGa.

We had this:

It's seared tuna with grilled brussels sprouts and some grilled cake.

I meant to make cannoli, but I lost control and grilled some cake...

It was really good.

Never.

If you're viewing this post, please read Julie & Julia by Julie Powell.

Thank you.

Dinner!

EXTREME CLOSE-UP!!!!

That's udon noodles with "exotic" mushrooms in a sauce made from the mushroom soaking liquid, ponzu, five spice powder, powdered ginger, red chili flakes, a tad bit of sugar, and a little corn starch to thicken. Topped with a mixture of toasted and untoasted sesame seeds, and some crystallized ginger.

I am damned proud of that sauce, and I'm not afraid to say it. I came up with it on the fly, and it was just what those noodles needed.

...Especially since there's no other food in the house.
How did that happen??

*Also, I should probably note that I didn't think to take a pic until I'd eaten half of it, and there was a smear on the camera lens. Soz. But it was just so yummy that I was compelled to share!!

Pilgrimage, Day Two.

(continued from previous post)

The Deli was open.

The Deli's almost always open.

But the first order of Sunday morning was breakfast.

We picked up an incredible cheese danish and an unbelievably dense, moist, and flavorful vanilla coconut macaroon from the bakeshop. Where we also picked up an olive oil coffee cake and four loaves of bread ( pecan raisin, brewhouse [beer-based], roadhouse [dense multigrain], and pumpernickel). Wish us luck with that.

After that, we bummed around the city's parks and hiking trails with the assistance of KITT (this trip wouldn't have been the same without him), before heading to the grand finale of our trek:

The Deli.

Oh my god - THE DELI.

(The sidewalk was under construction.)

(Eighty year aged balsamic on parmesan reggiano! For free! Just because!)

(Reubens!!!)

Then it was time to go. I'd be lying if I said I didn't cry a little. As Matt said, "I don't want to leave this place; I can only imagine how you feel..."

I feel like moving to Ann Arbor, that's how I feel.

Because, dammit!

Why do they get to have such a wonderland of edible delights??

But return home we must, and in the end we returned with the following:

A pound of corned beef; nicoise olives; emmenthal, raw milk stilton, and manchego cheeses; coffee cake (and coffee); tomato jam; german mustard; portuguese sardines; green zebra tomatoes; applewood smoked bacon; french lavender honey; a couple of books; a couple of Zzang bars - the best damn candy bar I've ever tasted; spanish picadillo peppers; pure lemon oil; violet sticky rice from vietnam; and the aforementioned four loaves of bread.

And a couple of t-shirts.