A Very Mustard Gift Guide December 18, 2012

Years ago, I read that one of the rules of blogging is to never start a post with “Sorry I haven’t blogged recently, I’ve been soooo busy yadda yadda yadda” and yet here I am doing it. Sorry I haven’t blogged recently! Things have just felt…busy. But 2013 is going to be a busy year, so I better get my multi-tasking butt in gear because I love this blog and am going to keep it up. So don’t give up on me, check back here often, okay?

If you are doing last-minute Christmas shopping for the mustard lover in your life, I’ve got some good stuff for you today!

This is a kids’ hoodie but they have it in adult sizes, too

Photo credit: Cafepress

This comes with short sleeves, too, but I just like long-sleeved tees

Photo credit: Cafepress

I love this, love the mustard-colored heart

Photo credit: Cafepress

Cute and clever

Photo credit: Cafepress

This is so cute – comes in your choice of a pillowcase or a duvet cover! I feel like a jerk for pointing this out, but it would drive me nuts that “viniger” is mis-spelled.

A bumper sticker for me, yay!

Photo credit: Cafepress

A bumper sticker for Schu, boo!

Photo credit: CafepressPhoto credit: Cafepress

This is a jewelry box but the image should be my personal logo…Cinco de MUSTARD is my birthday!

Photo credit: Cafepress

But I guess the best gift for a mustard lover would be…MUSTARD! I’d be darn pleased to receive any of these…

Photo credit: Amazon

Photo credit: Amazon

Photo credit: Amazon

Cheers,

Stephanie

We saw the Wienermobile! November 21, 2012

Yep, the Oscar Meyer Wienermobile was in my city! Anyone remember when I posted a pic of Schu in front of the Wienermobile before…here? Well, I got ridiculously excited about seeing it again so last week I dragged Schu and our friend Nate down to a Walmart parking lot on a gorgeous sunny day and there it was…

They had the nicest people working there who told us about the Wienermobile – turns out the one we saw this summer was the 1952 version! – and made us nametags…

…we got to check out the inside

They are back seats also that are super comfortable and a sweet flat-screen TV on the wall. We kind of wanted to move in.  It seems like a pretty good gig for the nice young people (I feel like a grandmother typing that, but it’s what they are!) who get the jobs driving this thing around the country doing marketing. Wish I was younger, I’d totally want to do this. They couldn’t have been nicer, and you should follow them on twitter to see when they’ll be in your area @Wienermobile. I’d love to hear if you go see them!

Happy Thanksgiving to the American readers (or as the Wienermobile kids would say, Happy FRANKSgiving…you think I’m kidding, but I’m not). I hope you have a lovely and relaxing day. I think our menu is going to be quite devoid of mustard but I love Thanksgiving food regardless and am looking forward to seeing family and friends this weekend. I’ll post some new mustard recipes soon!

Cheers,

Stephanie

As if mustard needed to be more fun… November 7, 2012

I mean, mustard is already pretty flipping fun all on its own, right? I sure think so. Mustard seriously makes my life more fun. No, that’s not a statement on how unfun my life is! It’s a statement on how bleeping fun mustard is!

But if for some reason, you think your mustard needs to be even MORE fun…well, I’ve found a few products for you. I suspect these are designed with children in mind but I don’t have kids. More importantly, why should kids get all the fun stuff?

You know who agrees with me? The aptly named PerpetualKid.com. Don’t fear, parents, they have stuff for actual kids, too. But a lot of the items on their awesome website are good for pretty much all ages. And mustard-friendly. Such as this…

Photo credit: Perpetualkid.com

Now this isn’t a political blog in any way, but posting here the day after a pretty divisive presidential election…well, regardless of who you supported, we can all agree that stocking up on this kind of gun is a good idea, right? If only the gun itself came in yellow. But I suppose the red could make for a good decoy, lulling the silly, delusional mustard-haters out there into thinking they are getting ketchup and then BLAMMO – MUSTARD!!!!

We’ll convert ’em, those poor souls who don’t realize the error of their mustard-hating ways. Even if it takes a bit of weaponry.

Moving on to a condiment fun-maker that is slightly less violent but a bit…grosser…

Photo credit: Perpetualkid.com

Mustard Marvin Spread Head. That’s his name. This guy goes on top of the mustard bottle and then, well, spews out mustard on demand. I can see this one appealing to the elementary school demographic. And also every adult I know. Schu might even like this product because Marvin’s face looks about like Schu’s face when he is confronted with mustard.

There’s evidently a Ketchup Charlie version, too. They’re demonstrated in this short video which also has a clip from the Rachael Ray show featuring…Joan Rivers with Mustard Marvin and Ketchup Charlie? Random.

I’d probably be one of those horrible, mean moms who wouldn’t buy this stuff for my kids because I’d be all “food should be eaten, not played with” and all that “manners” stuff (ugh, I know, it’s a good thing more people like me don’t have kids). Thankfully, Perpetual Kid has uptight-me covered with fun-but-not-violent-or-gross condiment holders to indoctrinate my hypothetical offspring into the world of mustard at an early age…

Photo credit: Perpetualkid.com

CraYUMS – how cute is that? Just have to hide that red one until the little darlings are old enough to make their own informed decisions regarding ketchup. But mustard? They’d be getting it mixed in their first semi-solid foods! In their sippy cups! Heck, even diluted in their nightly bottle!

Yeah, it’s probably a good thing I’m not having kids.

Cheers,

Stephanie

Happy Halloween! October 31, 2012

I’m not dressing up for Halloween this year, but if I was…

I wouldn’t be this, because I’m not a “sexy costume” kind of girl

Although, actually, this isn’t a very sexy costume

Photo credit: Newegg.com

I might be this

Look how happy this guy is! Behold the power of mustard!

Photo credit: Neighborgoods.net

But because I’m not a big costume person in general, I’d probably be this

Photo credit: Zazzle.com

If I had a dog, I’d make it dress up like this

Photo credit: Geekalerts.com

And if I had kids I’d make them eat this

Photo credit: Sippycupmom.com

And these

Photo credit: Damndelicious.tumblr.com

Good thing I don’t have a dog. Or kids. Although I think both those foods look pretty great, with more mustard, obviously.

Regardless, whatever you’re dressing as/dressing your dog as/eating this Halloween, have a great and safe one!

Cheers,

Stephanie

Un-recipe: Spam Hash October 9, 2012

Remember those yummy mustard-roasted potatoes I posted the other day? Well, as delicious as they were, there were a lot of leftovers. I was looking at them one morning and thought…mmm…breakfast. I love ham hash using Easter leftovers, but alas, no Easter or ham to be seen. And then my eye fell on this distinctly non-gourmet can in the pantry…

Photo credit: Spam

Ohhhhh yeaaahhh. This is pretty fancy-dancy. So, Spam hash it was. And it was really, really good.

This is an un-recipe because I threw it all together. Sauteed some chopped celery and onion in olive oil, added cubed Spam and the leftover mustard potatoes, some crushed dried rosemary, and let them whole thing cook a while longer until the Spam was a little browned on the outside. Topped with a couple over-medium eggs…

Don’t turn your nose up until you’ve tried it!

Cheers,

Stephanie

Recipe: Mustard-Roasted Potatoes October 5, 2012

Another side dish using mustard today! This one brought to you by Epicurious and it’s a good one: Mustard-Roasted Potatoes. Just as the recipe said, these came out creamy in the center while nice and crunchy-roasted on the outside. The mustard taste was definitely there but not in any way overpowering. I and my dining partners thought these were really delicious. I don’t think I’d serve them with an entree using mustard, or even something with a rich sauce – the flavor of the potatoes is so nice that they stand alone with a simple meal. We had them with grilled ribeyes and steamed broccoli.

The recipe called for whole-grain mustard and while you could use a creamy mustard and still achieve a nice flavor, I think the whole grain adds a nice texture to the potatoes that is really worth it. We used a Temeraire Dijon, not the smoother Temeraire Dijon that I used with the Pork Chops in Mustard Cream Sauce (and if you haven’t tried those, go do so now…I’m drooling just remembering how good that was) but a grainy version.

Strangely, I can’t find it online anywhere so maybe it has been discontinued or something? Regardless, it was great but I imagine any nice grainy mustard would do quite well. EDIT: The oh-so-helpful-and-awesome Nichole from Eating in Madison A to Z let me know that Temeraire is now Musette mustard! I still can’t find the grainy one online and even the creamy Dijon appears to be out-of-stock many places, but at least now we all know what we’re looking for. Thanks so much, Nichole!

This recipe calls for 3 lbs. of potatoes so it makes a decent amount of food. The leftovers are good heated up on their own, but I ended up turning them into a definitely low-brow but absolutely delicious dish a few days later…you’ll just have to stay tuned for that. I used a mix of small yellow and red thin-skinned potatoes for this. Definitely use thin-skinned potatoes, this wouldn’t have nearly the same results with a baking potato like Russets. I also omitted the lemon zest simply because I didn’t have a lemon and don’t care much for lemon in savory dishes. Otherwise, I pretty much followed the recipe – mine had to bake a bit longer because the oven was having some issues, but just stick a knife in them from time to time and you’ll be able to gauge when the centers are nice and soft.

Printable recipe

Mustard-Roasted Potatoes (Feeds 6-8)

Ingredients:

• Nonstick vegetable oil spray
• .5 cup whole grain Dijon mustard
• 2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
• 2 Tbsp. (.25 stick) butter, melted
• 2 Tbsp. lemon juice
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 Tbsp. dried oregano
• 1 tsp, sea salt
• Fresh ground pepper
• 3 pounds 1- to 1 1/2-inch-diameter mixed unpeeled red-skinned and white-skinned potatoes, diced

Directions:

• Position 1 rack in top third of oven and 1 rack in bottom third of oven and preheat to 425°F. Spray 2 large rimmed baking sheets with nonstick spray.
• Whisk mustard, olive oil, butter, lemon juice, garlic, oregano, and salt in large bowl to blend. Add potatoes; sprinkle generously with freshly ground black pepper and toss to coat.
• Divide potatoes between prepared baking sheets, leaving any excess mustard mixture behind in bowl. Spread potatoes in single layer.
• Roast potatoes 20 minutes. Reverse baking sheets and roast until potatoes are crusty outside and tender inside, turning occasionally, about 25 minutes longer.

I think these are good enough to be served to company, but also simple enough that whole-grain-mustard-loving-children would gobble them up. Great recipe, please do try it and let me know what you think. And check back to see how I bastardize the leftovers into a recipe that will appall food snobs everywhere!

Cheers,

Stephanie

Schu’s Soda Sampler: Zevia Ginger Root Beer September 28, 2012

Schu’s latest soda experiment…

Every now and then the health movement thing works. Mind you, it’s brief, but it works. And then I’m harshly reminded why I have no real interest in the health movement. Because the health movement has no regard for the health of my taste buds.

There’s a fairly new designer diet soda brand in some supermarkets. It’s called Zevia, and it’s “all natural,” whatever the crap that means. Because Zevia is an “all-natural” diet soda which proclaims ZERO calories and NO sugar in, yes, all CAPS on its cans, that means it can charge about two bucks more for a six pack than regular diet sodas with aspartame. Because you see, aspartame is bad, and therefore an all-natural diet soda is good.

Well, Zevia does have 20 mg of sodium, which admittedly is way better than the 35mg from a can of Diet Pepsi that is perhaps not-so-gradually deteriorating the pathways to my heart, but it also has 7g of something called erythritol. It’s this new cutting edge sweetener fad that some propagandists hope sweeps the world, just as it’s apparently swept China.

Zevia also has a Stevia extract in addition to citric acid, natural flavors (perhaps my favorite ingredient non-descript), wintergreen oil, anise oil, lemon oil, orange oil and ginger extract. I should note at this point those are the ingredients for Zevia’s ginger root beer. The company has other trendy health-nut flavors as well.

What’s perhaps the most remarkable given the company’s push toward trying to create a healthy, natural alternative to processed diet sodas, is that Zevia’s ginger root beer (and its black cherry drink, which I’ve also tried) tastes nothing like ginger, or root beer (or black cherry, for that matter), but it certainly tastes a lot like Clorox. Or, I guess, what I imagine Clorox tastes like, since if I actually tasted Clorox I probably wouldn’t be writing this blog, although it would be really cool and after-lifey if I did.

Zevia and the great stone monster Damaijin hanging out together

So to review: if one combines erythritol with the herbal sweetener stevia (proof that herbs might be okay for your bong, if you’re into that sort of thing, but a really bad idea for your soda—and no, I have no plans to try hemp in carbonated form any time soon—even if it’s to support some struggling up-and-coming pop manufacturer from Amsterdam), the mixture tastes like bleach.

Maybe Zevia will help freshen my clothes. It certainly did nothing to refresh my taste buds.

Aspartame, I’m coming home.

Schu

Recipe: Colman’s Mustard Rice September 24, 2012

New recipe today…a side dish! This recipe was posted by the nice folks at Colman’s Mustard on their Twitter account a week or so ago. You should follow them on Twitter if you don’t, they post lots of cool recipes and are very interactive if you say hi to them there. I’ve been a fan of Colman’s mustard for years, especially their dry mustard. You can add a pinch of it to pretty much anything savory – salad dressings, marinades, sauces, soups – for a nice hint of flavor.

Photo credit: Ninecooks.typepad.com

When they posted this mustard rice recipe recently, I was intrigued…never would have come up with this idea myself. We paired it with some simple kielbasa and veggie grilled skewers and it was really good! The rice is a little spicy from the mustard powder. I would definitely make this again.

It’s a drier rice because you sort of stir-fry it into the onions and spices at the end, which I really liked. My mom commented that it kind of looked like fried rice, and she’s right – but it’s not oily at all. Very nice and light. It should be obvious from the recipe but do keep in mind that this only makes 2 cups of rice, which isn’t a ton depending how many people you are feeding…adjust accordingly. This recipe calls for one onion and while I love onion, we only used half of a large one here and it was plenty. I’d say one whole onion only if it’s a pretty small onion. Also, we used white rice so that the color would show up and it tasted great, but I think this would be really good with brown rice, barley, quinoa, or whatever grain you like.

Printable recipe

Colman’s Mustard Rice

Feeds 3-4

Ingredients:

• 2 cups cooked rice
• 1 onion, chopped
• 6 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 Tbsp. Colman’s dry mustard
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. pepper
• 1 tsp. paprika
• 2 tsp. vegetable oil

Directions:

• Mix mustard, salt, pepper, paprika, and set aside
• Heat oil in a large saute pan over medium heat and add chopped garlic until slightly brown
• Add the onions to the pan and saute until they turn translucent
• Add the cooked rice and mustard mix to the pan and toss everything until the rice is well mixed with the spices

If you try this, let me know how it turns out for you! I’d love your feedback.

Cheers,

Stephanie

Schu’s Soda Sampler: Sarsi September 18, 2012

Today Schu is back with more soda miscellany…and accompanying stellar photography

I like the Philippines. Manny Pacquiao is from the Philippines, and he seems all nice and stuff, and the country considers him a national hero, so if the Philippines can like a world-class boxer who seems nice enough, then I can like the Philippines.

Furthermore, the Philippines makes some really crazy movies, and I like really crazy movies. Like the movies with Weng Weng, the Philippino midget who starred in two spy flicks that have been cult classics for years. Manny Pacquiao is a fairly small guy. Weng Weng was certainly small in stature. The Philippines is a relatively small country. With those things in mind, it makes sense that Sarsi soft drink would be small as well: 8.46 fluid ounces with the not-so-small price tag of 1.29.

Yes, that’s a stuffed Rally Squirrel, a stuffed otter, and only part of a Godzilla collection in the background.

That 8.46 ounces made me reconsider my happy thoughts about the Philippines, because me thinks the Philippines may not be straight up when it comes to marketing. Take as exhibit A, the Sarsi bottle and its Sarsi logo. Look at all similar to a certain much more well-known cola brand?

With a llama. Why, you ask? I ask instead, why not?

And in large letters, as one can clearly see, it says SARSI SOFTDRINK. I think it has softdrink as one word, but nevertheless, the print is larger, and it’s where the eye gravitates. Not to the ingredients just below, which would have tipped things off a bit. Sarsi’s idea of softdrink marketed to look like a cola is a bit different than the westernized definition of a soft drink that is a cola. Because Sarsi ain’t a cola. Sarsi is basically root beer.

Had I bothered reading the ingredients more carefully, the inclusion of sarsaparilla flavor probably would have tipped me off that the Sarsi definition of softdrink (one word) is not quite the same as mine. Now I don’t have any problem with root beer, or I guess more technically, sarsaparilla. Indeed, it’s one of the few parts of a plant that isn’t a fruit that can pass acceptably in soda form.

Unfortunately, when it comes to good sarsaparilla, I wouldn’t put Sarsi at the front of the line. It’s rather flat and generic. On the other hand, as a sarsaparilla drink that models itself as a soft drink with cola connotations, Sarsi is pretty tough to beat. Just like Pacquiao and Weng Weng.

Schu

Fun with mustard September 17, 2012

Quick post – just some pics from The Great Saskatchewan Mustard Festival of 2012 held on Sunday in Regina. Looks like so much fun! All of these pictures are from the GSK Mustard Festival Facebook page and these are only a few, so head over there for a better look at the festivities.

I will definitely make it up there for this event some year! Have you been to this festival? I’d love to hear your thoughts, see your pictures, anything!

Cheers,

Stephanie