I love how when I walk into the front door of the Olympic Hotel on my way to the [bun bakery](http://www.belleepicurean.com/), nobody gives me a funny look. In Seattle, there are plenty of people who look just like me but can afford to stay at that hotel.
Spoonz-man!
We have a few Tupperware items in the house, but my favorite by far is the Spoonz spoon rest. (I didn’t realize it was called Spoonz until I asked Laurie’s sister, who sold it to us.) A lot of spoon rests seem to be made out of delicate things like ceramic. I’ve had a couple of those, and they were pulverized within days by heavy cauldrons and the like.
The Spoonz, on the other hand, is made out of indestructible hard plastic, it has space for two spoons, and is dishwasher-safe and also easy to clean by hand. It’s the last word in spoon rests.
The problem is, Tupperware doesn’t sell it anymore. Why would they discontinue their best product? Is Kitchenaid going to stop making mixers in order to concentrate on can openers? Perhaps the Spoonz never sold because it was ahead of its time, and only savvy early adopters bought one.
I cannot explain the decisions of our corporate overlords at Tupperware, but I can tell you there are a few Spoonz on eBay for less than five bucks. The caveat (other than the usual eBay caveats) is that there are two different models of Tupperware spoon rest, and eBay sellers don’t really distinguish them, so you have to look at the picture. This is the Spoonz:
This is not:
The Spoonz comes in several fetching colors, from basic black to harvest gold. And yes, I totally stole those pictures off eBay.
Now we’re in business
Click for a larger view:
Scarfer’s Index: Sushi
**Name:** Matthew Amster-Burton
**Age at first sushi exposure:** 9
**Verdict:** Hated it
**Age at subsequent sushi exposure:** 26
**Location:** Shiki Sushi
**Verdict:** Loved it
**Favorite sushi pieces:** Toro and mackerel
**Least favorite:** Uni
**Name:** Iris Amster-Burton
**Age at first sushi exposure:** 11 months
**Verdict:** An 11-month-old will eat anything
**Age at subsequent sushi exposure:** 23 months
**Verdict:** The rice was okay
**Age at most recent sushi exposure:** 2 years, 2 months
**Location:** [Blue C Sushi](http://www.bluecsushi.com/)
**Verdict:** Loved it
**Favorite item:** Cream puff
**Favorite non-dessert items:** Salmon nigiri, unagi, shrimp tempura roll, potato croquette, pickled ginger, soy sauce. And rice.
**Least favorite:** Mackerel
**Percentage of Iris’s mackerel eaten by Matthew:** 100
Bread and Jam revisited
A couple of weeks ago I asked for food-related children’s book recommendations. People came through in a big way, and I’d like to report in and tell you how Iris and I liked some of what you came up with. If I don’t mention your suggestion, it probably just means it hasn’t come in to the library yet.
* The Bake Shop Ghost. I flipped through this book and thought it might be too many words for Iris, and warned her as much. Then we read it, and afterwards she said, “That book not too long.” She likes to find the page where the ghost is eating all the cakes, if that’s not too much of a spoiler. The story is a little sentimental for me: I was sort of waiting for the new owner to say, “Get your undead ass out of my kitchen and let me get my cake on.”
* The Giant Jam Sandwich. I thought I hadn’t read this one before, but it turned out I had, as a kid. We just read it for the first time yesterday. It’s one of those books with lots of things happening on every page, so Iris sees something new every time, like, “That pink guy not dancing!”
* Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. How could I have forgotten this one? We read it and it didn’t seem to make much of an impression, but later Iris asked for the meatball book. She likes the giant donuts with sprinkles, especially since I promised we could get donuts with sprinkles next time we go to Pike Place Market. She also thinks it’s funny when a giant noodle falls on a guy’s head. People who think kids can’t make the distinction between cartoon violence and actual violence should watch Iris burst into tears when she sees another kid bump his head but laugh like a maniac when children are crushed to death by a giant pancake.
* The big winner, by far: Irving and Muktuk: Two Bad Bears. Two muffin-crazed polar bears keep showing up at the town of Yellowtooth’s annual blueberry muffin festival, wearing various disguises and attempting to steal the muffins. I wasn’t sure Iris would understand the idea of putting on a disguise, but she got it immediately. “Those are not penguins!” she giggled. She also loves the part where Muktuk drools. The first day we read this, I put her down for her nap and said, “Who loves Iris?”
**Iris:** “Dada, and Mama, and Grandma, and Pops. And Muktuk.”
Currently on hold at the library: Arnie the Doughnut.