premium densuke melons

Several news sites are reporting this luxurious watermelon sale in Japan today.

This is the highest price on record for a Densuke watermelon, and that probably means it’s the highest of any watermelon in Japanese history, said Kazuyoshi Ohira, a spokesman for the Tohma Agricultural Cooperative in Hokkaido.

This round, juicy melon sold for 6,100 US dollars today. READ THE STORY for more information.

This is sad

I know we’ve talked about making a food composter. Maybe we ALL should. This is disturbing, knowing all of the places in the world that does not have access to even basic nutrition.

“You’d never know it if you saw what was ending up in your landfill. As it turns out, Americans waste an astounding amount of food — an estimated 27 percent of the food available for consumption, according to a government study — and it happens at the supermarket, in restaurants and cafeterias and in your very own kitchen. It works out to about a pound of food every day for every American.”

Best beer evar?

I heard through the grapevine a while back that there was this beer that was a little hard to come by, and was VERY good. Said beer is called Strawberry Harvest Lager from Abita brewing company. It is from down south in Louisiana. I did a little research, and it only comes out once a year. I got a hold of the local distributor, who then passed me on to a local shop that sells this lovely libation. I ordered 2 cases last week. It honestly is by far some of THE best beer I have ever had outside of western Europe. Does not taste like an artificial Strawberry at all. No frou frou beer here, no-no.

Abita Brewing Company website. Look for your local retailer.

Travel chop sticks

Neat site comparing different travel, collapsible chop sticks. Some pretty cool ones.

6 Travel Chopsticks compared

Food Hacking

Check out the Food Hacking Wiki for, “[...] recipes in development, dining projects, kitchen hack labs, research on products and techniques, and other culinary writing.”

Steak and BJ day

March 14th is officially steak and BJ day. Well, I know where to find one of those, at least..

Everybody’s got their price

Top 50 Restaurants in the world

World’s best restaurants 2007 winners list:

1. El Bulli, Roses, Catalonia, Spain (Best in Europe)
2. The Fat Duck, Bray-on-Thames, UK (Chef’s Choice)
3. Pierre Gagnaire, Paris, France
4. The French Laundry, California, USA (Best in the Americas)
5. Tetsuya’s, Sydney, Australia (Best in Australasia)

FULL LIST HERE

http://www.restaurantmagazine.co.uk/

http://www.elbulli.com/

Saturday PSA

how to make jello shots

1. don’t use sugarless jello for jello shots.

2. go to McDonalds, Arby’s, Culvers or any other fast food burger chain, and go to the condiments section. Proceed to grab as many ketchup holders as you can grab, and walk out the door. For the win.

3. don’t make these unless you are a girl, or you know girls. girls like these, but you’re gay if you’re a guy and like these.

These are in my hands tomorrow…

I have looked for these for a year now, trying to purchase them. Finally a month ago I found an online store that had all four bottles. My friend Ogi is one of the artists, and I have 2 of his signed prints hanging in our bedroom. So i HAD to have these. $45 each shipped from Shoppersvineyard.com

On a side-note, I would absolutely shop with them again. The shipping manager there was fantastic to deal with after their department fucked up and sent me 3 of the wrong bottles the first time. So props to my homey Chip, over there.

The news it out! Bong Vodka just launched a gorgeous artist bottles series in collaboration with some of our favorite artists: Jason Thielke, Yosoh, Matthew Curry and Ogi. The limited edition bottles (and boxes) will be available in stores throughout Florida, Texas, New York, Las Vegas and California at the end of August. Check out the Spirit Of The Brand site to learn more about their unique program– they are constantly searching for artists for new bottle designs, boxes, t-shirts and music compilations.