Secret Society of List Addicts: March 2011

Regional Foods That Make Me Never Wanna Leave My Favorite Places

I love food. It's just about the only thing out there that we can experience on a regular basis that engages all five senses ("What about smell?" you might ask, if you're a smart-mouth. To that I can only say, um, have you ever heard the hissing of a fajita and not loosed a few ounces of drool?), and it plucks the full suite of emotional nerves. Food is family, it's comfort and guilt and sadness and simplicity, it's birthdays and holidays and just plain ol' days. It's also just plain delicious.

One of my favorite aspects of food, though, is that it can tie you so strongly to a sense of place. Here are a few regional foods that I always carry with me:

Barbecue: I spent my youth in central coastal California, which -- little-known fact -- is the barbecue oasis in the grilled-meat wasteland of the Pacific states. In the little town where I grew up, tri-tip was the cut of choice, usually accompanied by an ear of sweet corn right from the grill, and none of this dry-rub stuff: we take our meat saucier than the secretary in a '60s film.

Sweet Potato Tacos: I'll be straight-up with you: when I lived in the Bay Area, sometimes I'd give myself a hangover just so I had an excuse to fully appreciate these little devils. Sweet potatoes! Caramelized onions! A slightly sweet, smoky salsa! They're candy in a tortilla.

Whoopie Pies: Some days these are the only thing keeping me in New England. Soft cakey cookies, sandwiching a hearty daub of frosting (preferably cream cheese frosting, for this dude). Um, why do people get so excited over mere cupcakes, when whoopie pies are an option?! And if you're asking yourself, "Wait, could those possibly get even better?!" Happy to inform you: YES! A little wiki sleuthing reveals they were originally called "hucklebucks". Did you -- did you just swoon a little from all the cute?!

Okay, my list is meager because I grew up in young upstart cities. Help me out, y'all! What are some regional foods you couldn't live without? The kookier, the better -- when I travel, the first (okay, okay, ONLY) thing I like to do is try the local cuisine. Give me a reason to visit every state on the map!

Posted by TKOG of Not That Kind of Girl.

And the Winner Is . . .

Honestly, I can't tell you how happy these photos have made me. There's been constant giggling.

The runners up:

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/lateenough/5520972193/" title="Even bears get cold by LateEnough, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5058/5520972193_d65475e5cd.jpg" width="374" height="500" alt="Even bears get cold" /></a>
By LateEnough

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/90972661@N00/5513586754/" title="Run Stork! by nonspleen, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5058/5513586754_d10c21a467.jpg" width="334" height="500" alt="Run Stork!" /></a>
By nonspleen

And the winner:

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shesuggests/5521548732/

" title="mad scientist hair by shesuggests, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5176/5521548732_889c9801e8_z.jpg" width="428" height="640" alt="mad scientist hair" /></a>
by SheSuggests

Oh, my WORD - look at that face!

Thanks so much for entering.

The next contest will be the first week in May with the theme: SPRINGTIME!

Because those fucking April showers are going to be good for something.

Pandora Features I Need To See, Like, Yesterday

Workin' a soul-crushing office job, 89-93% of the quality of my life is directly determined by Pandora's ability to discover a cheesy late-90s middle-school-dance song that I'd completely forgotten existed. A strategically placed boost of Tal Bachman's "She's So High" is the difference between chirping cheerily on the phone, or storming out for an "I QUIT!" coffee break. I -- I take my Pandora seriously. And, after much measured thought, here are a few features I think could make my life even better:

An "I need you never to play any version of this song again" button: Yeah, Pandora, it's not that I don't want to hear Jack Johnson's "Bubble Toes" -- I just want to hear it live.

Skip whole artist: I'm sorry, world, I'm just never going to like The Beatles. I do, however, apparently like George Harrison's solo work? (Don't tell Pandora, though. I finally got it to stop playing "Hard Day's Night".)

Commercials that won't make me sound like a pervert to my boss: Why do I have so many Trojan commercials advertised?!

"Great song but not for this station": When I get a song I love, I need to jump on it immediately, but it's led to some kind of weird situations. Like my current favorite '80s Pop Slash Middle School Dance Party Jamz. Clearly my love for Edwin McCain's "I'll Be" deserves its own station.

Toggle controls for objective song qualities: I know the whole point of Pandora is that we don't even know all the qualities that make us love a song, but there are a few things I'm sure of. I know I prefer: fast songs, male vocalists, and hilarious accents.

I guess what I'm really looking for is a station that plays The Proclaimers' "I Would Walk 500 Miles" on a permanent loop, broken only by the complete discography of Matchbox 20.

...no, seriously. What're you looking for?

Posted by TKOG of Not That Kind of Girl.

For the betterment of all. But mainly me.

You know how you're always trying to make yourself a more grown-up type person? By you, I mean me, but really, if people in general would just follow my rules, I think everyone would be happy. Wait, that's a whole different issue..

Anyway, there are things about myself that I think I need to start doing so that I can feel like a grown-up, but I just can't seem to get myself there. Maybe one day I'll be able to:

Fill up the washer fluid in my car. I love to use it to clean my windshield, but when the car tells me it's low, I stop using it until I get my oil changed and someone else can take care of that. Or the husband does it. I'm sure I could, theoretically, take care of this, but really? It's pretty dirty and I already wash my hands enough.

Open a credit card bill without wincing. This is not because I am a profligate spender, but rather because during an extended period of unemployment, we ended up charging things like food and gas. Still, I would love to be in a position where I can be a big girl and open the bill and not lose my cool. Maybe that's less being a grown-up than it is being completely apathetic. Hmmm.

Actually taking care of the back corner of the yard. Which has become a complete jungle. Seriously. Woodland creatures are scampering around in there. I know it wouldn't take too long to get it taken care of, but I feel like someone else is responsible. Some grown-up who is better skilled at getting in and doing what needs to be done. I wonder what my mom is doing?

Confess, friends, what would make you feel like a grown-up?

by Suniverse

Most Delightful Anthropomorphic Snacks

Sadako is a twenty-something New York City denizen. She enjoys children and YA lit, making fun of bad movies, and blogging at Dibbly Fresh.

My favorite snack foods are low on nutritional value but heavy on personality. And the best snacks are anthropomorphic. Here are some of my favorite ones.

Animal Crackers. This traditional anthropomorphic treat is the little black dress of the snack food world. Animal Crackers are what I turn to when I want to feel as timeless and classy as an Audrey Hepburn character. After all, Shirley Temple sang about them and the Marx Brothers used them for a title of one of their films.

Teddy Grahams. I eat them when I want to feel vengeful. Remember when their jingle was an "homage" to Elvis's I Just Wanna Be Your Teddy Bear (Just want to eat those teddy grahams!). Teddy Grahams singlehandly did more to violate the memory of the King than Uncle Jesse, Bubba Ho-Tep and Conrad Birdie combined. I bite off every appendage before finally putting the Teddy Graham out of its misery to make this Nabisco treat suffer for its rock 'n roll sacrilege.

Goldfish. Goldfish historically had no cute faces. So there was no sadistic pleasure of eating "food with a face." But the best part of eating a Goldfish cracker was unleashing the inner old school sideshow geek within me that normally stays dormant unless I'm reading Geek Love or watching Tod Browning's Freaks.

Keebler Elves. I do love me some Keebler. But the inner liberal arts college student in me does rear up, wondering if it's "problematic" to eat a cookie based on little people. (It also rears up when I watch Pit Boss or Little People, Big World. Damned Normal Sized Person privilege.)

Shark Bites. Remember the tagline: Eat them before THEY eat you. I'm a big fan of preemptive measures, whether in nuclear war or in the world of processed foods.

Dunk-a-roos. I love the Dunk-a-roo. Along with the Handisnack, it transforms the eating process into an assembly line that Henry Ford would have been proud of. Plus, the Australians are one of the few remaining cultures we can still stereotype with impunity. (That and my love of marsupials are why I still buy Aussome Hair Spray.)

What's your favorite anthropomorphic snack?