meatloafing

This weekend was a little rough. We rode the Cyclone again and hurt ourselves. Dinner with our good friends at DiFara did little to alleviate the pain.

Meatloafing: i had a bad difara experience
it was sad :/
Slice: wha happen?
Meatloafing: out of cheese
romano or whatever
crumbly
also used sage instead of basil
and the son who sux was working
son w/ really bad posture had night off
and daughter wasn’t there
dom and son got in a tiff
son stormed off, started sweeping
idk

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Dear Meatloafing readers,

Although this website focuses mostly on food, self-empowerment, and breaking Midtown news, sometimes we like to hit the open road and explore new places. Here are journal excerpts from my recent trip to the Yucatan down through Guatemala City. —ML

Saturday, August 2: Cancun & Mérida

Yesterday we flew into Cancun (”Nueva Orlando”) and it was a little weird. Ate some delicious fast food—little soft corn pockets filled with assorted meats, cactus, etc.—and then walked around town. After awhile it was too hot and we boarded a bus to Mérida, an old city with the oldest (?) [maybe not, just read the link I guess] cathedral in Yucatán. [It is also the capital of the state of Yucatan.]

The bus ride was charming. We went through all these little towns where we saw folks enjoying their Friday night. Fond memories of a girl on a tire swing and three dudes just chilling under a stop sign. Each home was full of life, bright and welcoming. Our 2nd-class bus stopped a lot so the ride was long, but we (I) slept so oh well. Todd peed in a soda bottle and partially missed and then washed his clothes and blanket in the hotel bathroom. Our room is simple—three single beds [this was common; I think we only had a room with one regular bed less than half the time. Most rooms had 2 or 3 beds. We almost got a room with 4 beds but decided to look elsewhere.] but there is AC and a speedy fan.

I’m tall.

Sunday, August 3: Mérida

Ate an early lunch at a hole-in-the-wall place [El Cangrejito] where the pope ate during his visit in 1984. We had mini tacos with camarones, langousta y papas y lentils (?) or something brown. Heavily doused with lime, these were beautiful and colourful little pieces of art. So fresh and tasty! Fresca!

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Last weekend marked the unofficial (but basically official—get real) start of summer. We enjoyed a BBQ, a cutthroat game of Apples to Apples, a leisurely bike ride to Rikers Island, and beautiful weather. Meatloafing offers 7 tips for a sensational summer:

• Work on this season’s “it” muscle (according to Maggie, it’s the semitendinosus, the semimembranosus, and the biceps femoris, all of which make up what’s commonly known as the hamstring)
• Bike often and wear a helmet
• Don’t wear leggings as pants
• Make sun tea in your office windowsill if you cannot actually go outdoors
• Mollie’s Famous Lemonade
• Constantly over-meat
• Enjoy this timeless, yet often overlooked vegetable: Radishes!

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Continue for a vaguely NSFW video of good friend Pete “holding” an explosive at the BBQ (more…)

As cranes hover in the Williamsburg sky, prices at Dumont Burger have soared even higher. A regular burger now costs $13. What? Dumont Burger, get real. Hold your horses. The condos aren’t filled up yet, the economy is collapsing, and the neighborhood will always need an excellent, moderately priced burger. Don’t you already sell your burgers at a higher price at regular Dumont? And presumably an even higher price at Dressler? [We love both places. —Ed. ] And you guys just opened the takeout place next door. So I’m guessing you’re doing well, and I don’t see how jacking up the prices is really necessary. Respect the customer. But anyway, if you want to sell $13 burgers (formerly $11.50, I believe), allow us to make a few suggestions:

• Add a cup of finely shredded red-cabbage coleslaw to the plate
• Place one or two onion rings atop fries (or next to salad, if that option is chosen)
• Turn up the fucking heat in the winter so we aren’t forced to opt for takeout even thought we planned to eat there, and the drive to my house basically ruined the fries
• Buy some stools with backs
• Put lemon in your water without me having to ask

One of the few convenience stores in downtown Austin [Ben Lim]

Where to Eat: Cheese, Oysters, and (No)odles

Eating during SXSW is a bit tricky. Long lines and crowds can lead to a dinner of Cheez-Its, a granola bar, and a Frosty (mmmm). Fortunately, we arrived in Austin early to attend the interactive—and much less crowded—portion of the fest.

Our first meal was at the hotel TGI Friday’s, where the broccoli-cheddar soup and half a “club sandwich” (it’s served on an untoasted roll) with avocado met our needs. The soup had a robust cheesy flavor and the sandwich was mediocre ingredient-wise, but the combination really hit it. Grade: C+. Radisson Hotel & Suites, 111 E. Cesar Chavez St. → At Roux, a spacious “Cajun bistro” with memorably odd wall art, we sampled stuffed oysters, a peppercorn-crusted ribeye with fixins, and shrimp in brandy cream sauce—one of the best meals of the trip. (Read about the co–best meal in Part 2.) Grade: B. 214 E. 6th St. → The stark, empty, and depressing Mongolian Grille offered possibly the saddest, least appetizing collection of raw ingredients that has ever existed on a buffet line. The noodles, which they confiscated after realizing they weren’t supposed to be set out during lunch, were merely spaghetti and linguini. Around 20 different types of watered-down sauces—green curry, Asian blend, barely-white coconut milk, and so on—rounded out the selections. Grade: F.

Next: Bodegas Don’t Exist (a.k.a. Nodegas) & ATM Tips

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Meese? Cafe Zaiya, a Midtown lunch destination, sells a formidable array of cute desserts (not to mention cream puffs and fondant au chocolat at its a Beard Papa outpost). Our testers, Elizabeth and Karolina, tried a few of these: mango, raspberry, and chocolate mousse topped with assorted fruit and more chocolate. Here’s what they said. (more…)

You are a unique and beautiful snowflake.

• Our good friends over at Lunchboxr have started a Flickr group. When you add your photos to the group, your lovely lunch appears on the Lunchboxr home page. See, there’s my grilled cheese sandwich from yesterday. Fun!
• Snow is pretty, but wind and rain? No thanks! Get yourself a Nubrella, the revolutionary umbrella that won’t flip inside-out.
• Jesse L. Martin announces departure from Law & Order; the world cries. So much for my JLM–Jeremy Sisto sandwich. (But he’ll be playing Marvin Gaye in the upcoming biopic, so the world cries again, but the tears are made of joy, not sadness.) [Variety]

Sometimes I like to get fancy with ginger-infused syrups and mint leaves and stuff, but sometimes a basic punch is in order. If the weather is getting you down, throw yourself a party and enjoy a cup of this traditional and heartwarming punch.

Ingredients

• 2 liters 7-Up or a mixture of 7-Up and ginger ale (we prefer Canada Dry)
• 1 32-oz bottle pomegranate juice (hella cheap at your local C-Town or Food Dimensions) or cranberry juice
• 1 tub lime or rainbow sherbet

Directions

Combine chilled beverages in a cute glass punch bowl. Using a soup or ice cream scoop, gently plop half the sherbet atop the mixture. Add the rest of the sherbet when amount in punch dwindles.

This is my other mom’s recipe for cornbread. It’s airy and substantial all at once. I added seeded, chopped jalapenos (2 large ones) and about 1/3 cup of shredded cheese (could’ve used more…). Susan also likes adding nuts or dried fruit. I prefer a savoury cornbread, but to each her own. Anyway, it’s delicious, and best paired with Mollie’s Famous Chili, the recipe for which lives in my head and will be available soon.

CORRECTION: The recipe also calls for 2 teaspoons of baking powder. We apologize for the inconvenience. (more…)

Better than a random Midtown deli, worse than Burger Joint. It’s literally a good burger. Lunchboxr has the full report including my post-meal IM review. Here’s an excerpt:

Ben: mollie, please sum up your goodburger experience in a sentence or two.
Mollie: i was hoping for hand-cut fries. the meat itself was cooked as specified (medium-rare), but i had to remove the condiments and salt the patty.

[Lunchboxr]