Happy Halloween Everybody!

Yup...that's about all there is to that post. Eat a caramel apple. Pumpkin seeds too.

Distributing smallpox infested blankets to natives...followed by tea

Amherst College and the town of Amherst is named after Lord Jeffrey Amherst, commander of the British forces during the French and Indian wars, pioneer of germ warfare, and securer of Canada for England. Although the college has long since put away the china depicting mounted Englishmen chasing Natives, and has substituted smallpox infested blankets with cod nuggets in Valentine to make people sick, the British tradition of tea time lives on right here in the first floor suite of Jenkins dormitory. Thanks to my suitemate Katie spending her summer in London, and the fact that all of us are terrible snobs (and face it...if you're reading this shit, so are you) we have a fine assortment of teas to enjoy each day. Today was Twining's reserve afternoon tea, which is described as a traditional tasting tea ("traditional" of course joining "umami" as one of the lesser known taste receptors in the tongue). I decided to make a special plate of snacks today, for no other reason than the fact that I went to Trader Joe's yesterday.
Clockwise from the "top" of the plate: Pumpernickel cocktail square with manchego cheese and pumpkin butter, Grilled brie finger sandiwch, Rice cracker with roasted red pepper tapenade, almond biscotti, macadamia lacey.
Notice the extra fancy, scallop shell design plate, made of what the French call papier.

Gyoza and Guinness Shakes

I went to Trader Joe's while I was extremely hungry today. It's never a good idea to go grocery shopping while you're hungry, and this goes triple for Trader Joe's. I came away with pita chips, cookies, chocolate toffee almonds, pumpernickel cocktail squares (fancy name for little square pieces of bread), manchego cheese, and pumpkin butter (like apple...but pumpkin...you get the idea). The last three things, when put together, make an excellent tea-time snack. I also decided to buy a midnight snack. Seeing as the college night lasts until about 4 am, and I don't eat breakfast, a midnight meal is the equivalent of a light dinner. I decided on Trader Joe's chicken gyoza. The problem I've always had with their gyoza is that you have to brown them first in oil, then add water to the pan to steam them. This obliterates any crispiness achieved during the oil frying, and the gyoza turn into a mushy, muddled mess where it's impossible to distinguish the gyoza skin from the filling. I heard that Jacques Pepin recommends just throwing oil and water together in the pan and cooking them that way, but that didn't really work for me. It did, however, achieve a wonderful grease/water spray pattern all over the cooking surface. I decided to try an alternate method today. Using an electric (and illegal-in-the-dorm) skillet, I first browned two sides of the gyoza. After two sides had been browned, I moved them to one side of the skillet and flipped them onto the other side. I immediately placed a folded up wet paper towel across the skillet. Once the paper towel is in place, you can pour the water on the other side of the towel and cover up the skillet. The towel acts as a barrier and releases steam while the gyoza are on the protected side and the uncooked side of the gyoza fries up without being drowned in water. All three sides stay brown and crispy and the inside cooked through and moist. Deep fried goodness with only about a tablespoon of oil. Of course, you might not like your gyoza crispy, but that would make you a terrible person.
The perfect accompaniment to any food is the Guinness Milkshake. Take a bottle of Guinness Draught and blend up with a very generous amount of vanilla ice cream. It's a foolproof recipe, so I can't really imagine how anyone could fuck it up, but it's quite possible my sister will find a way. Before you spit on your miniMac in indignation my dear, I have two words for you: Boca Negra.