7 Things You Didn't Know About Pumpkins

I found this on Countryliving.com. It is super appropriate being that Halloween is on Monday. I decided to share with you all. 

7. Pumpkin pie wasn't always sweet. Colonist used to fill the middle of a whole pumpkin with milk, spices, and honey and bake in ashes.

6. They used to be used as medicine in the 18th century.

5. Jack-o-lanterns weren't always pumpkins. Turnips, potatoes, and beets were the originals.

4. They come in more than 50 varieties. Some are more than 100 pounds.

3. The largest Jack-o-lantern weighed more than a horse.

2. Pumpkins are grown all over the world including Alaska.

1. They are made of 90% water. The world's largest pumpkin weighs more than 2,000 pounds.

Source: Country Living

Charleston: Food Truck Rodeo

On October 1st I stopped by the food truck rodeo in historical downtown Charleston where there was lots of people enjoying food from 10 vendors. 

The Food Truck Rodeo featured the Geechee Island Food Truck (faccebook.com/geecheeisland) 

Diggity Doughnuts (@diggitydoughnut)

Roti Rolls (@rotirolls)

Pot Kettle Black (pkbfoodtruck.com) 

Taco Boy (@tacoboydowntown)

 Strada Cucina (@stradacucina),Tokyo Crepes(facebook.com/tokyocrepes), Hello My Name is BBQ (@hellobbq), and

 Happy Camper Snoballs (facebook.com/happycampersnoballs) were also present, but I didn't get a chance to take pics of them. Sorry! 

The Rodeo also featured 6 live bands to entertain while you sampled from the trucks.

 It was a great event to enjoy on a beautiful fall day.

Check out the Charleston Food Truck Rodeo Facebook 

Facebook.com/charlestonfoodtruckfederation

Conducted by Yanet

Flava Tunes

It's Friday and we like to PARTY!! 

What do you think about Bey's new video? I love it! There's a lot of NYC locals in the video. I love that!

DMV: Truckerboo

If anyone goes, please leave comments, and let us know how it went.

Asian Flava: Chicken and Century Egg Congee

Chicken and Century Egg Congee

Congee (kanji, ganji, ghanji, juk, chao, jok, kayu, orjaou, or zhou) is a type of rice porridge eaten in many Asian countries. It is often eaten as a breakfast food or a late supper, but can also be used as a substitute for rice. Because congee is popular in so many cultures, over time, multiple variations of this dish have formed. The type of congee I made is one that is eaten in many parts of China and East Asia.

Ingredients:

1 lb of Chicken Breast

1 cup of Glutinous rice

3 Century Eggs*

10 Cloves of garlic

3 sprigs of green onion and salt/pepper to taste

1. Soak the rice in cold water for at least one hour.

2. Peel the garlic.

3. To make the broth, place the chicken breast, garlic cloves, and 9 cups of cold water to a large pot.

4. Boil the contents of the broth on medium high for 1 hour.

5. Remove the pot from the stove. Remove the chicken and garlic pieces. Use a colander or sieve to remove the floating particles and drain the broth into a slightly smaller pot.

6. Put the pot back on the stove and turn the fire to medium high. Drain the rice and add it to the broth. Cook the rice for 40 minutes. Make sure to stir the rice once in a while to prevent it from getting burned.

7. While the rice is cooking, use your fingers to shred the chicken. Stop when you reach 1 cup of shredded chicken. Reserve the rest of the chicken for another recipe (for example, chicken salad).

8. Chop the century eggs into small pieces.

9. Chop the green onions into small pieces.

10. When the 40 minutes for cooking the rice are up, stir in 2/3 of your chopped century eggs, 2/3 cup of the shredded chicken, and around 1 teaspoon of salt. Cook for another 15 minutes.

11. Remove the pot from the fire.

12. Garnish and serve with green onion, the remaining century eggs, and the remaining 1/3 cup of shredded chicken. 

*Century egg, or pi dan (in Mandarin Chinese) is an egg that has been preserved in a mixture of clay, ash, salt, lime, and rice hulls for several weeks (or months). Through this method of preservation, the egg white turns into a translucent, green-black, jelly-like substance and the egg yolk takes on a creamy texture. 

By Gillian

Flava Tunes

I found this funny video on youtube. It goes great with today's recipe. Parental advisory recommended. 

What do you think about this video?

Flava Tunes

Kabayashi consumes 32 eggs in one minute.

Flava Buzz

Restaurant Openings

Top chef alum, Hung Huynh is the chef at Catch, a seafood eatery in the Meatpacking District.

91 Ninth Ave., N.Y, N.Y 10014 212.392.5978

The Three Hens is a new eatery in Murray Hill, serving up Mac n cheese, potpies and meatball sliders.

115 Lexington Ave., N.Y, N.Y 10016 212.679.4713

Food Report

International Gourmet Kitchen on 8th ave. btw 36/36th is now open. They have a salad bar, burger grill, pasta, stir fry, burrito and sandwich stations.

Soldier based in Hawaii sues Burger King over needles  found in Triple Stacker burger.

Natural cereals are misleading and just as unhealthy as others.

Target is planning to sell sustainable and traceable seafood by 2015.

It's Harlem restaurant month! Yay $20.11 Prix fixe at select restaurants

For the rest of the menus click here 

Jersey Shore's "The situation" launches a $25 couture lollipop. The lollipop is held up by a faux jewel-encrusted stick in the colors of the Italian flag.

Gummy bears have been infused with alcohol to be smuggled into schools by students.

Ketchup is no longer available  in French primary and secondary schools unless French Fries are served in a effort to cut back on obesity.

Human chefs create a cookbook for dogs called The Culinary Canine. 

Candy manufacturer, Kalan LP, is selling marijuana shaped lollipops, rings and sour gummies. They come in a green package with a peace sign that says legalize. Beware parents! Halloween is coming! 

Would you eat off of Saddam Hussein's lavish dishes?

Starbucks may become a juice bar.

Occupy wall protestors are racking up the food sponsors such as Ben & Jerry's, Pepperidge Farm, Wolfgang Puck and Katz deli sandwiches.

A 44-year-old man from the U.K survived on roadkill for 30 years. He would pick up dead animals off the side of the road and cook them. uumm I don't know about this! What if the animal was sick? He claimed to not have any negative experiences.

A chicago woman was charged with a misdemeanor for attacking her husband with cupcakes and hitting him over the head. Wow!

Celebrity Chef Gordan Ramsey's restaurant in Dubai has ran it's course.  The restaurant will be closing at the end of this month.

Mcdonalds launches in store McTV.

Events

Smith Street Soup Festival-Sat 1-4pm

Smith St. Btwn Atlantic Ave and Carroll St.

Harlem Bar Crawl 10/25 6-10pm

Cider week October 16-23rd

http://appleproject.glynwood.org/ciderweek

It's Harlem restaurant week! Yay $20.11 Prix fixe at select restaurants

Brooklyn Flea on Saturdays 10-5pm

176 Lafayette Ave. (Fort Greene)

27 North 6th St. (Williamsburg)

Harvest Festival @ Brooklyn Bridge Park 10/22 10:30-1pm

2 Beautiful Ballerinas and Nicki Minaj on Ellen

This is amazing! It made me cry! Today's Hip Hop artists can be very inspirational. Did you see how she jumped into her arms?

Delicatessen

The word delicatessen usually conjures up images of salty cured meats, briny pickles, soft creamy cheeses and crusty breads from lands far away. This was not the case on Friday night, when I ventured out to one of Soho's staple late night eateries, Prince Street's Delicatessen.

Having walked past the restaurant a few hours earlier on my way to meet friends for a drink I was distracted by the huge line of people waiting to be seated. When we returned at 11:30pm I was glad to see the queue had dispersed and we were seated without delay. Their street level open plan dining area makes it a perfect choice for Summertime dining and watching the world go by. While en route downstairs to the rest rooms Delicatessen's true colours are shown as the space opens up to a small lounged area and self proclaimed 'Mini Bar' (complete with hotel mini bar bottles lining the walls), revealing it's capacity to dine as well as party.

The menu is deliciously simple offering a range of appetizers from spinach and artichoke dip and sliders to fried polenta squares, and mains ranging from traditional meatloaf and fried chicken to duck breast and foie gras. There's also a large selection of Tacos and pasta's, and a unique selection of everyone's favorite, the good old Mac & Cheese.

We sampled a myriad of dishes on the night all of which were substantial, tasty and made with high quality produce. The Hamburger Mac & Cheese was as cheesy, delicious and filling as it sounds. The fried polenta squares were crunchy and of a good consistency and came with a well-paired marinara dipping sauce. Their house cheeseburger was lean and juicy and came with a nice crunchy salad on the side, and the Spaghetti with clams was creamy and beautiful and contained a large portion of clams. The real star of the night was the decadent truffle and parmesan fries which were so moorish we kept nibbling at them long after our meals had filled us up.

When food sounds this good you'd expect a high price tag but Delicatessen is very reasonably priced for a Soho eatery ($10-20 for a main). With dim lighting, sleek decor and a nice bar to relax in after your meal this is a great place for an evening out or a simple Midnight snack on your way home.

DELICATESSEN

www.delicatessennyc.com

54 PRINCE STREET

NEW YORK, NY 10012

(+1) 212 226 0211
Price: $10-20

Conducted by Meredith 

Flava Tunes

Super funny!

5 More Unique Vending

Beer to liquor to sake and mixed drinks in vending machines.
Location: Japan
Price:150-200 yen ($2 U.S)

This awesome milk vending machines offers plain, chocolate, vanilla, caramel, and strawberry milk and dairy products for young students. 
Location: Europe
Price: 0.35 euros (0.45 U.S)

The MooBella machine blends, aerates, and freezes up to 96 varieties of freshly prepared ice cream in 40 seconds. An interactive touch screen allows you to "make your own" hard-scoop ice cream from a choice of 12 different flavors and mix-ins, in both premium and light ice cream versions.
Location: Northeastern
Price: Around $3 

Shoppers at Giant supermarket in Harrisburg can choose from the flagship machine's 53 available wines, from Argentine Malbecs to California Merlots. Brochures are also provided to aid the selection process.
Location: Pennsylvania
Price: Depends on selection

Precooked, preseasoned, and ready in minutes. This vending machine lets you select your desired dog, then splits the bun, warms both elements, and assembles your snack in a few minutes.
Location: U.S 
Price: $2 

Cinnamon Toast Crunch Marsmallow Crispy Treats

What you'll need

4 Cups mini marshmallow 

5 Cups Cinnamon Toast Crunch Cereal

5 Tablespooons unsalted butter 

1.In a large saucepan, melt the unsalted butter over medium low heat. 

2. Once the butter is melted, add the mini marshmallows. 

3.Put the marshmallows in the saucepan and stir until they’re melted.

4.Remove the saucepan from the heat and add in the cereal. 

5.Stir to completely coat the cereal with the marshmallow mixture.

6.Put the cereal mixture into a lightly greased 8 by 8 inch pan.

 7.Evenly spread it out and pat it down with a spatula.

8.Cut into squares and indulge

Conducted by Celeste 

Recipe adapted from Gingerbread bagels via Foodbuzz