Tuesday, September 13, 2005

Gremo!

Today was a gastronomical sort of day. Thanks to being T-3 days from my cycle, I am compelled to eat my entire weight in food. Unfortunately, I'm also a workaholic, so I generally can't tear myself away from my desk until my stomach is loud enough to interrupt my neighbors, or I fear I might pass out. Just the other day I ate lunch at 4 pm. That usually results in these weird eating binges. Today it was a bag of carrots and two bologna sandwiches for dinner followed up by a scoop of ice cream. To counter the effects of my bizarre binges and my emotional instability, I exercise 5 days a week. As the days have gotten shorter, I've moved from my evening bike rides to evening swimming, from my summer exercise regimen to my autumn one. At one point, I'll start going to Pilates again.

After swimming a half mile (which takes me an embarassing 35 minutes), I was so t-h-i-r-s-t-y. I find it odd to be so thirsty after swimming since I was immersed in gallons and gallons of water, but anyway. I wanted nothing more than to pay 150 yen for one of those satisfying Active Diet beverages that I loved so much while I was in Japan. Instead, I bought some FUZE Green-Tea flavored drink to compensate. It tasted foul. Damn you Coca Cola for your demographic-based products.

In other gastronomical news, I have the results of the recent Pop-Tart taste test suggested by awu. I made two versions of homemade poptarts and bought two versions of the real thing.

In THIS CORNER:
1. Strawberry Pop Tarts with festive white frosting and sprinkles

AND IN THE OTHER:
1. Strawberry Pop Tarts with buttery crust (I tried to mimic the presentation with festive sprinkles). Ingredients: flour, sugar, salt, butter, water, Welches strawberry jam, and powdered sugar.
2. Strawberry Pop Tarts with not-so-buttery crust. Ingredients: water is replaced by Seven-Up Beverage (which is how my mother makes her pie crust).

The homemade tarts won hands down. My neighbor put it best when she said, "They taste much better because they don't taste like Pop Tarts." I had to agree. If anything, this helped me realize how disgusting Pop Tarts are. Thank you awu!

3 comments:

shannon said...

you gotta share the recipe! :)

i don't really care for pop tarts, but every once in a while a girl gets a craving. a homemade one sounds as though it would be gooo-ood

FemaleCSGradStudent said...

Erm. Recipe? I just made something up, as usual.

- 6 tblsp of butter, room temperature, cut into chunks.
- 1 cup flour
- Dash of salt
- Dash of sugar
- 1-3 tblsp cold water (or cold seven-up)
- Welches jam
- Powdered sugar
- More water

Mix together first 4 ingredients. You should have a crumbly meal-like substance. Add the water (or soda) a little at a time until the meal sticks without being sticky. Determining how much water is an art form that comes with making a lot of crusts. If you are new at this, just make sure to add less water than you think it needs.

Roll out the crust flat. I use saran wrap or a silpat to keep it from sticking, because additional flour can make the crust dry. Cut into little squares. Spread a tsp of jam onto one square. Place another square on top. Use a fork to seal the edges.

While the tarts bake at 400 until light brown, mix powdered sugar with water until you have a glaze. Drizzle on top of the cooled tarts. Add sprinkles for festive look. The glaze will keep them adhered.

shannon said...

that sounds DAMN GOOD!!! may have to make some this weekend. i've made a pie crust or two in my life so i totally understand when you say use less water than you would think! haha!!