Last time I bought toothpicks, I noticed that the package design seemed to be at least thirty years out of date, and I liked it. My thought must have caused a psychic disturbance at the Penley toothpick company, because they’ve redesigned. Check this out.
They seem to have gone from the 60s straight to the 90s. Not an improvement. Also, I wonder how the word “count” got added to the box. Was “250 round toothpicks” unclear in focus groups? Did people expect .250 gauge toothpicks?
Iris and I had fresh-baked croissants for breakfast. Seattle is lucky enough to be home to the world-class croissants of Cafe Besalu. This morning’s croissants weren’t in the same league, but they were better than any other croissants I’ve had in town: crisp and flaky, properly leavened, deeply browned, and not stomach-churningly huge. Here’s the arduous process by which I made them:
**10pm last night:** Take croissants out of the freezer and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
**7am this morning:** Preheat oven to 350°F.
**7:45am:** Place pan in oven.
**8:05am:** Remove pan from oven and transfer croissants to cooling rack.
**8:15am:** Eat.
These croissants came from Trader Joe’s, in a box of eight for $4. [Here’s what they look like.](http://www.flickr.com/photos/kateford/2292581551/) They contain no weird ingredients, no margarine, no preservatives. They’re billed as “mini-croissants,” though to me they’re exactly the size a croissant should be. (I did eat a second one later in the day for purely scientific purposes, and they hold up very well, just sitting out on a plate.) This is one of the greatest convenience products ever, if you can call a product that has to be defrosted for 7 to 9 hours “convenient.” It’s as if Red Baron came out with a new line of frozen pizza comparable to [Pizzeria Bianco](http://www.pizzeriabianco.com/), or Nalley’s chili won a cookoff.
Also available, dangerously enough, in chocolate.
While in New York, Iris and I were highly entertained by a muffin shop called Connecticut Muffin. It’s only in NYC and did not, as far as I can tell, originate in Connecticut, which leads me to believe that I should open a muffin shop called Alberta Muffin. Or that this is my porn star name. Or something.
Anyway, one morning I got up early and brought back actual muffins from Connecticut Muffin. They were not any better than the average Starbucks muffin, but oddly this didn’t sour us on the place at all, and we wrote them this jingle:
[Connecticut Muffin](https://www.rootsandgrubs.com/podcasts/ConnecticutMuffin.mp3)
If anyone from Connecticut Muffin is reading this: we will sell you this jingle at a bargain price, with the caveat that we kind of stole part of the tune from “American Woman,” so you’ll probably get sued by Burton Cummings.
This week on Serious Eats:
> So how do you keep a captive and potentially unruly audience entertained? In a word, snacks.
You’ve heard of semi-homemade cooking? Tonight’s dinner wasn’t it. I made refried beans from some leftover pinto beans I bought in Arizona. I made taco meat. I fried tortillas. I made salsa. And, because that wasn’t enough and they had some cute little cucumbers at Trader Joe’s, I made pickles.
Not kosher dills, of course–more like quick Vietnamese pickles. I combined 1/2 cup rice vinegar, 1/4 cup sugar, and 1 teaspoon kosher salt. I sliced the cucumbers into maybe 1/3-inch slices and let them sit in the brine until dinnertime, at which point I drained them and served them alongside the tostadas. If you’re wondering whether an Asian pickle can sit comfortably on a Mexican tostada, the answer is yes.
I have a couple more cucumbers in the fridge and they’ll probably end up in an improvised banh mi later this week.
Our friend Brandon is really into vinegar, and Laurie is concerned that he might inspect our vinegar collection next time he comes over and find it wanting. I said, hey, we have sherry, balsamic, cider, rice, and red wine vinegars. Laurie pointed out that we have no champagne vinegar. I was loudly skeptical that there’s any difference between champagne and white wine vinegar. Laurie pointed out that we have no white wine vinegar either.
Brandon, if you’re reading, what vinegar are we most in need of?