Tag Archives: food

TWO BOOKS: Taste + The Storyteller

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The end of 2022 is fast approaching, and I’m happy to report that I should achieve my goal of reading about a book per month. I’m about to finish my twelfth book of 2022. Will I be able to make it a baker’s dozen (13)? I’m pretty sure I can squeeze in another book before December ends. I’ve also read about five or six comics/graphic novels this year, so far.

Last year (2021), I waited until the end of the year to post a short write up featuring the ten or so books I had read. I plan to go back over all of the books, but I first wanted to go into the last two books I just finished, since they have both had a big impact on me.

These two books:
(1) Stanley Tucci’s Taste: My Life Through Food, and
(2) Dave Grohl’s The Storyteller: Tales of Life and Music. 

Both are collections of stories, essays, and life lessons revolving around one central theme — Music for Dave and Food for Stanley. There are many similarities and differences between both books, but what ties them together is how they have both sparked my creativity in different ways — food and music.

TASTE – Stanley Tucci

As a kid, I was an extremely picky eater. I didn’t even like hamburgers. I thought of them as a meatloaf sandwich — but maybe my dad was just over-grilling and drying his burgers out.

It wasn’t until I watched the movie Good Burger in theaters, that I asked my mom if I could eat a burger immediately after the movie. She took me to Burger King and that’s when I added burgers to my basic list of food demands: hot dog, chicken nuggets, pizza, and now burgers.

It wasn’t until college where I began trying different types of food. This led to me trying new recipes in the kitchen. My early college diet was basically made up of simple pastas, fast food takeout, and frozen treats. Once I began cooking for myself and trying new things, I wanted to learn how everything was made. I went from, How do I make this myself to How do I make it better?

After college I continued to cook, learning and creating new recipes. I have always enjoyed creating delicious feasts that bring people together. Pre-pandemic I even held a few food parties where friends would send a set amount of money (via Venmo), so I could go out and purchase ingredients for a great big meal. It was a fun idea and made me feel like a contestant on a show like Iron Chef or Chopped.

The pandemic sort of slowed my creativity in the kitchen. I continued to cook for my girlfriend and myself, but it was mostly creating the same types of meals over and over again. I was still enjoying cooking, but not as much as before.

What makes Taste a unique read is that it doesn’t only include stories from Tucci’s life, it also features food and cocktail recipes sprinkled throughout. I’ve already made most of the cocktail recipes in the book (including countless martinis and old-fashioneds). Even though I love my cookbooks with photos, having a full story about a recipe is also enticing.

I’ve always been a fan of Stanley’s on screen work. There’s something calming about seeing him pop up in a movie. Even in The Hunger Games as Caesar Flickerman with that silly hairdo — still very calming. We just watched the new series Inside Man on Netflix this past week, where he portrays a man on death row for the murder of his wife. His performance still puts me at ease.

Stanley just seems like such a charming and sweet fellow. I would love to share a meal with him one day. Actually, I would love to cook an authentic Italian meal with Stanley Tucci.

THE STORYTELLER – Dave Grohl

In Dave’s book he’s mostly focused on music, although he does dive into some food stories — including Champagne and Fried Chicken, a Foo Fighters backstage staple. 

Dave Grohl is one of the most talented musicians of our time. Think about it, he was the drummer for one of the biggest bands and when tragedy hit he didn’t just become some other band’s drummer. He created the first Foo Fighters album on his own, before becoming the frontman and guitarist for one of the greatest (*my opinion) and the biggest bands in the world.

Dave has dealt with a lot of loss in his life. First, with the tragic death of Kurt Cobain, while Nirvana was huge. Later on, he lost his best friend since childhood, Jimmy. And the latest, which is not featured in the book because it just happened this year, Taylor Hawkins (best friend, musical brother, and Foo Fighters drummer).

I’ve read many biographies and memoirs by musicians in the past, but this is by far one of the best written ones. I compared the structure of Dave’s chapters to what a narrative piece in improv should be. He begins with a tidbit to give you a taste of the main story or point. Next, he jumps around into a few other short anecdotes — related ones. Finally, he takes you back to that beginning story for the payoff. By the time you reach the end of the chapter, you think, Damn, I totally forgot about that whole story.

What made Dave’s book so important to me was how music was the great commonality between all of these stories from his life. Even though I have always loved figuring out how recipes are made when it comes to food, for some reason I never felt that way when I picked up the guitar back in college (during my “Quarter Life Crisis”). Instead of learning how a song is made or why it works, I would just learn simple riffs and solos from different songs I enjoyed.

The Storyteller has inspired me to go back and actually learn how the guitar works. When visiting my friend in Minnesota a few weeks ago, I was reading Dave’s book and I came across a guitar book in my friend’s collection, VAIdeology. Once I returned home, I picked up this book by the great guitar god, Steve Vai. I even got to see him live a few weeks ago. I’m still on “Lesson One”: becoming familiar with all of the notes on the fretboard.

Since I wasn’t picking up the notes quick enough, I also added piano lessons at the same time. Since we have my girlfriend’s nice keyboard on display, I figured that could help my musical explorations.

Dave’s book made me realize how I missed playing guitar. There were also many stories of jamming and playing with other musicians. Some of my best music memories have always been playing with others.

*Side Quest:
I always remember a cold day in college, when my friend Scotty
(who sort of unintentionally introduced me to the guitar) brought
his guitar and amp over and we played together on the balcony.
There was another time, back when I had a drum set, where he
came over and we jammed with my fog machine. I also remember,
early on, trying to learn different parts of Metallica songs with my
friend Nick on guitar.

My current goal is to understand both the guitar and piano. This is all so that one day I could meet up with Dave Grohl for a jam session, which will take place after cooking with Stanley Tucci, for the perfect day.

The Books

I could have featured both of these books in separate posts, but as I read the second book (Dave’s The Storyteller) I started to notice many similarities. The main one being the way they made me feel a new creative spark towards two of my passions — food and music.

Both books are extremely well-written, in very different ways. It may also help that I had previously read a very poorly written book full of errors and typos. I’ve seen typos in books, but these were so bad and so many that it actually took me out of the story, in almost every chapter.

The common theme from Taste and The Storyteller, is how there are certain subjects that bring people together. Food, music, even books, and so many others. 

I was also inspired by both authors to explore the past. I would stop myself to write down bands to check out, movies or shows to watch, and search for old, simple Italian recipes.

Stanley and Dave have both had very successful careers, in film and music, respectively. Both have also seen a great deal of tragedy and loss, but have found ways to cope and overcome those moments. I didn’t do a deep dive into the stories and subject matter from the books, because I’m hoping you will go out and read them yourself. Or, if you’re more of a food lover or music fan, you can choose the one that suits you.

Florida Man Beer (& Ciders)

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Back a few years ago, I worked as a copywriter at an ad agency in Orlando. I was only there for about a year, but I still made a couple of life-long friends, worked on some cool projects (others, not so cool), and I even learned a few valuable lessons.

I’m not going to talk about any of the projects I worked on while at the company. Instead, I will talk about the “homework” project that got me hired. I was recently reminded of this project when my girlfriend picked up some “Hurricane Beers” for Hurricane Ian***.

This particular beer (Florida Man Double IPA from Cigar City Brewing in Tampa, FL) reminded me of that “homework” project, because I had to create a new line of ciders for another Florida brewery. One of my pitches was the “Florida Man” line of ciders, where each cider had its own name based on a specific “Florida Man” story.

*Side Quest: For those of you who don’t live in Florida, “Florida Man” is a made-up, infamous superhero (or villain) depending how you look at it.
Most of the outrageous news stories out of this “great” state begin with “Florida Man…” as in “Florida Man takes off his clothes and [does
something crazy].” I will add that most of these tales come
from middle of nowhere cities, not Miami.

Now that you’re all caught up, let’s check out this silly project I worked on to get hired at that ad agency:

Here’s the sketch I made to give a rough idea of each cider being showcased in a mugshot.

Each cider’s name came from an official “Googled” Florida Man news story:

  • Naked Trucker – Florida Man caught driving tractor naked through town.
  • Desktop Lover – Florida Man attempts to marry his computer.
  • Statue Executioner – Florida Man beheads statue.
  • Forgetful Nudist – Florida Man arrested for running naked outdoors.
    Forgot he wasn’t wearing any clothes.

*Side Quest: I’m pretty sure I’m allowed to share this project because I never signed any NDAs. Also, now that Cigar City has created something
so similar, I think that kills this project from ever getting made.
Lastly, I think the statute of limitations has passed.

I’m not sharing this to accuse Cigar City Brewing of any foul play. It was only a matter of time before some local Florida brewery came up with a Florida Man beer. In fact, I’m pretty sure I may have even seen something like it before, I just happened to try this one and it’s pretty delicious.

I decided to post about this for a few reasons, (1) this was a spec project that got me a job. So, I’m pretty sure that no one (including the client) saw this, except for my bosses. (2) I think it’s important to showcase the caliber of work I can help Cigar City Brewing and other cool clients and companies create. And (3) it’s been a while since I last posted here, and this is what I was able to come up with last night.

Wow, look how beautiful and delicious this beer looks right now. I took this with my iPhone, quickly before enjoying this tasty IPA. Imagine what I can do with my DSLR camera and it’s expensive lenses.

So, if you’re reading this (@CigarCityBeer) and you need help with some copywriting, design, photography, or any other creative endeavors feel free to reach out to me.

For now, stay away from the Florida Man. He’s coming for us all…
Also, is there a Florida Woman?

***Here in South Florida, we got lucky this week when Hurricane Ian decided not to hit us directly. Others in our state were not so lucky, so although this is a silly, stupid post I still wanted to share some way that we can help those who were not so lucky this time around.

Here’s an article from the Tampa Bay Times featuring ways to donate and help victims of Hurricane Ian’s terrible wrath.

Epcot International Food & Wine Festival 2022: Vol I • It’s A’Bao Time

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The Epcot International Food & Wine Festival has been a part of Walt Disney World for over 25 years (according to some light internet research). In the early years, the festival lasted about a month. Today, it spans from July to November (or five months) — that’s almost half of the year!

Epcot has also held new, seasonal Food & Wine-style festivals — Flower & Garden, Festival of the Arts, Festival of the Holidays — so now there’s pretty much some kind of food and drink event happening at Epcot, year round.

Epcot Events: Learnings & Tips

For the past ten years, I’ve attended these food and drink festivals multiple times each and I’ve learned a few valuable lessons along the way.

[1] Pace Yourself

Don’t attempt to eat and sip all of the food and drink in one day. It’s better to visit a festival more than once — if you’re able to — this way you can focus on a few items each trip. Make sure to take breaks throughout the day. If you plan to be in the park until close, it’s a good strategy to break up your eating into a day and night session. If you enter through the back entrance of the park (near France) you can even visit Spaceship Earth for a mid-voyage nap.

[2] Weekdays over Weekends

If you can swing it, visit Epcot on a weekday over the weekend. In fact, that should be a general Disney park rule. On most weekends the Food & Wine festival becomes the Food and Line festival. The lines can get long pretty much any day, but you can always save a busy stop for later. It will become less busy later on. If you have to go on a weekend, I find that Sundays to be a little less crowded than a Saturday.

[3] Too Hot to Handle

The Epcot Food & Wine Festival just began in mid-July — or mid-summer. I find the perfect Disney park days (weatherwise) always lie somewhere between October and April — you just have to get lucky and choose the right day. Instead of hitting up the Food & Wine Festival early on, it may be preferable to wait for the final months, or even the following festivals — Festival of the Holidays.

[4] No Sit Down Meals

I’ve attended Epcot Food & Wine with large groups in the past. The biggest mistake I’ve seen is when we spend the whole day eating and drinking, only to make our way to a restaurant for a 9pm reservation. Who wants to go to a restaurant after all of that? Plus, I don’t want to miss Harmonious (Epcot’s new firework and water projection show).

[5] Buddy System

Speaking of big groups, a great way to save some money (and room in your belly) is by developing a buddy system. Find someone with similar taste to share certain items with. If a country has two snacks you want to try, you can each purchase one and share.

It’s A’Bao Time

So, what did I eat during my first visit to the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival? This trip, I focused on the Steamed Buns and Baos of Japan, China, and Flavors of Fire. There were some other bonus snacks, but I definitely did not overeat this trip. Let’s talk a’bao(t) the three steamed buns first.

Item #1 – JAPAN Teriyaki Chicken Bun

The first steamed bun I ate was the Teriyaki Chicken Bun from the Japan market. This bun was soft and pillowy, and fully closed as opposed to the open-style, bao buns at my other stops. The bun was filled with a blend of chicken and vegetables in Teriyaki sauce. The filling was thick and saucy, instead of soupy (like a soup dumpling). I would have liked to see a second option for a steamed bun.

ITEM #2 – CHINA Mongolian Beef Bao Bun

The Mongolian Beef at Epcot Food & Wine Festival has been one of my favorite flavors over the years. I remember it being a closed bun at some point, like the Japanese one, but I may be wrong. Either way, I would love to have these delicious flavors inside of a closed steamed bun.

The open bao was also perfectly fluffy and doughy. I could have used some extra veggies or maybe some sort of spicy thin-sliced spicy peppers or crunchy topping. Still, that Mongolian Beef flavor is great with the onions.

ITEM #3 – FLAVORS FROM FIRE Bahn Mi Bao & Smoked Corned Beef with Crispy Potatoes

At this stop, we tried two items, the bao bun and the crispy, cheesy potato chip nachos. Of all three buns, this was the most complicated flavor-wise. The bao featured skirt steak, chicken liver aioli, pickled vegetables, and cilantro. The Asian skirt steak had a fire-roasted quality, which came from the fire grill. In fact, the whole area smelled amazing, like smoke and fire.

My buddy picked up the cheesy corned beef potato chips, which were like a smokey, cheesy potato nacho plate with smoked corned beef, cheese curds, pickled onions, and beer-cheese fondue. Flavors from Fire’s bun may have been my favorite due to the extra toppings and smoked flavor.

Bonus Snacks

BONUS #1 – GERMANY Roasted Bratwurst & Schinkennudeln

The Roasted Bratwurst is a great treat because although it comes in a smaller, slider-sized pretzel bun the bratwurst itself is still the size of a regular hot dog. So, it ends up being a pretty filling snacky. You also get some german mustard for dipping.

There are a bunch of hot cheese treats featured throughout the Food & Wine Festival. These are usually not something you want to eat while walking around in the hot sun. Most of them are delicious and the one that we did try was the Schinkennudeln, which is a cheesy pasta gratin with ham and onions. Other stations have hot cheese soup type snacks (like Canada’s Cheddar and Bacon soup), which would be better suited for the Winter.

BONUS #2 – HOPS & BARLEY Hot Beef Sandwich

I took a break from Food & Wine due to rain, and went over to check out Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge in Hollywood Studios. When I returned to Epcot it was almost time for the 9PM show, Harmonious, which also happens to be when everything closes.

At 8:55 PM I was able to visit my final station in America (Hops & Barley) to grab a Hot Beef Sandwich with horseradish cream, and topped with extra veggies and crunchies. I’m not sure if I got extra, extra crunchies for being the final order of the night or if that’s just how they do it. 

I also picked up my first drink, a small Kentucky Pumpkin Barrel Ale which paired well with the hot beef sandwich. I’m sure each beer option pairs well with that hot beef sandwich, it’s just nice to have any beer with a spicy sandwich.

My Food & Wine Misses

There were two things I did wrong, one that was my fault and the other I blame on the festival. (1) I did not have the chance to visit Brazil for their Feijoda (Black Beans and Crispy Pork Belly) and Pao de Queijo (Brazilian Cheese Bread). This one was my fault. I wasn’t ready for it earlier in the day, and due to the rain and visiting a second park, I returned too late to make it to Brazil before Harmonious began. I do remember that crispy pork belly being my favorite thing when I first tried it.

The second disappointment, and this one is Epcot’s fault, is that the Hawai’i station is not opening until August for some reason. The Kalua Pork Slider has been one of the top favorites at Food & Wine for a couple of years now. I was also excited to finally try the SPAM Musubi Nigiri, which is like a Spicy Tuna Roll with SPAM instead of Tuna. So, I guess I have to go back.

I plan to return to the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival some time before it ends in November, but if I don’t make it out there I will definitely return to cover some of the other festivals that follow. 

Do you have a favorite Epcot (or Disney Parks) snack? Share it in the comments, messages, email me, text me or any other way you’d like to tell me about it.

Stay tuned for more Ferdi’s Learnings coming soon.

Disney Snacks • Magic Kingdom: The Search for my Mickey Cake Pop

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A few years ago, while visiting Walt Disney World with my buddy (who lived in Orlando at the time), I learned about my favorite Disney treat — the Mickey Cake Pop. We were visiting Disney’s Hollywood Studios and there was a small bakery (or confectionery) inside one of the Sunset Boulevard shops (near Tower of Terror). That was the place to get cake pops and other sweet treats inside of Hollywood Studios — once upon a time.

From that day forward, any time I would visit a Disney Park with my buddy we always picked up some Mickey Cake Pops, except in Epcot. There is no confectionery in Epcot, but that’s fine with me. Epcot has tons of great snacks and treats to eat, and Les Halles Boulangerie & Patisserie (the French bakery).

Side Quest:
Today, that Sunset Boulevard Bakery no longer exists.
In fact, there is no confectionery inside of Hollywood Studios.
It’s very sad that I can no longer pick up a Mickey Cake Pop
inside of Hollywood Studios*
(*my most visited Disney Park in recent years).

Since the loss of the Sunset Boulevard Bakery, Mickey Cake Pops are now only available in 50% of Walt Disney World Parks — the two Kingdoms, Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom. You can also probably find them somewhere in Disney Springs.

During my return to Magic Kingdom last month I had a small scare. I planned on eating some good treats, including something I’ve never had before. However, I also planned on finally having another Mickey Cake Pop — which I hadn’t enjoyed in over a year.

I’ve compiled this short journal of my meals during my last visit to Magic Kingdom in April.
I only ate three things, and they all happened to be sweet treats or desserts.

Treat #1 • Dole Whip Swirl

This first treat had been planned out since the moment I booked my Magic Kingdom reservation. I have always heard great things about the Dole Whip, I just thought it wasn’t really for me, since I love chocolate over fruity sweets. My original idea of this snack was more complicated than it actually is. In my mind it was some sort of pineapple drink float with soft serve on top.

The Dole Whip is basically soft serve ice cream and you get to choose whether you want Vanilla, Pineapple, or the swirl. For my first ever Dole Whip I went with the swirl, and that was the right choice. I think the mix of Pineapple and Vanilla is the perfect combination. The tartness of the Pineapple is toned down by the Vanilla flavor.

I ate this around noon for my breakfast, and it was a great breakfast. The soft serve is not too heavy of a snack. The weather was also perfect for a cool treat like this. The whole day was cool (in the 60s), so I wore my sweater, but the sun was shining so it was a little warm too.

I ate my Dole Whip and proceeded to visit one of my favorite shows in Walt Disney World, the Enchanted Tiki Room.

Treat #2 • Marshmallow Pop

After moving from land to land, I arrived in Fantasyland to visit Big Top Souvenirs, which also houses some baked goods. I came in searching for my favorite treat, but this is where I received some disappointing news.

When I asked for a Mickey Cake Pop, the cast member behind the counter notified me that they no longer existed. I saw a snack that sort of looked like a Mickey Cake Pop, so I asked for one. She told me it was like a rice krispie treat version of the Mickey Cake Pop, so I said, “Sure, why not.”

There was actually zero rice krispie inside of this new pop. Instead it was filled with pure Marshmallow fluff, which was better for me since a Mickey Cake Pop has Marshmallow fluff for the ears. Although it wasn’t the Cake Pop I had wanted, it was still pretty close in shape and satisfied part of my cake pop needs with marshmallow fluff.

Even though the Mickey Marshmallow Pop was not exactly what I came looking for, I would definitely get one again. This was a really tasty snack. I also know they have different shapes and versions of these that I will most likely try out in the future. Some may even feature different flavors.

Treat #3 • Mickey Cake Pop!

At this point I was on my way out of the park. I stopped at a few shops on Mainstreet USA to pick up some goodies on the way out (I have to use my Passholder discount whenever I visit Disney Parks, usually to get a new mug).

I also decided to stop at the Mainstreet Bakery to pick up some Goofy gummies. These are another favorite, but more of a take-home treat. I also got some Disney gummies for my nephews.

When I got to the cash register to pay for these treats, I also decided to take home a giant Mickey cookie since I was feeling a bit defeated about the missing out on my Mickey Cake Pop. At this moment I saw the cake pops, I asked the cashier, “Are those cake pops, or more marshmallow fluffs?” and he assured me that they were the cake pops I was looking for.

I had found them on my way out. I was so excited that I asked for one and I still took that giant cookie home, for all of my troubles. If you’ve ever had a cake pop at Starbucks, it’s sort of like that but there’s way more cake pop to it. Also, there’s the added Marshmallows for ears.
__

Since I hadn’t visited Magic Kingdom for over a year I just wanted to eat some sweet treats. I do plan on doing more food related posts in the future, and definitely some Epcot Food Festival posts as well. So, be on the lookout for those.

Stay tuned for more learnings, and hopefully I’ll be back at Walt Disney World soon to write about more Disney stuff. I still have one or two more posts to go from my April trip.

What are your favorite Magic Kingdom (or Disney) treats? Let me know in the comments, on Twitter, telepathically, or any other way you’d like to reach out and tell me about it.

Ferdi’s Learnings 3.0

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Back in 2020 during the height of the pandemic, I launched Ferdi’s Learnings 2.0. I changed up the style and look of the site. I got back into posting a couple of times a month (sure, I planned on one or more posts a week, but things happen). I worked on my photo editing skills.

It is now 2022, and time for something new…

Ferdi’s Learnings 3.0 

What does that mean exactly? This year, I’m going to try all kinds of new stuff. This time it’s not about changing the look and feel, but instead it’s about adding more content.

A couple of weeks ago I added the “Events & Entertainment” category to the site, when I wrote about attending my first Live WWE event in over 20 years. And I will continue to add new “Events & Entertainment” posts (not just wrestling). In fact, I will be working on some later this week.

I plan to post more food stuff this year. Last year, I started my “Apples in Review” posts, where I was going to review every flavor of apple I could find. I did eat a bunch of apples last year, and have many photos of me eating apples now. I just quickly abandoned posting about apples. Yes, there are many different types of apples, but I learned that they mostly taste the same — or my apple palate isn’t very advanced.

Don’t worry, I will do something with those apple photos. Here are some pictures of me taking a bite out of some juicy apples…

I do however have a great love for “Sweets & Treats.” Hey! I think I just discovered another new category.

In the coming weeks I plan to start adding a few more, so stay tuned. For now, you can enjoy this post that talks about what I plan to do in the future. (This is what is called a filler post).

I will continue to write my regular learnings about dumb stuff I learn some weeks, but I’m also trying to grow. Aren’t we all? It’s important to continue to evolve. I’m not the same person I was seven or ten years ago when FerdingsLearnings began as a one off weekly post on a blog featuring a few of my Miami Ad School classmates.

Special shoutout to Wallace Cruz for creating this site as SCnA (Super Cool n’ Awesome people). And, for later handing it over to me for Ferdi’s Learnings when everyone else got too busy with their real work.

I will continue to write and post and explore and more just to make Wally proud!

Thanks, and see you real soon with some new stuff!

Bananas • The Perfect Food

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I recently came to the conclusion that bananas are THE MOST PERFECT FOOD.

Think about it. A banana comes ready to eat. All you have to do is peel it and eat it.
Let’s briefly go over some of the reasons why bananas are THE MOST PERFECT FOOD:

#1 GREAT AS IS

There’s no need to mess with the banana, but you can if you want to. You may also eat a banana just as it is and that’s fine.

You can use bananas as an ingredient to enhance many meals and snacks. You can make a StrawNana smoothie. Make an extra sweet treat, like a frozen Nutella-Banana, Banana’s Foster or Banana Split. I even once grilled bananas wrapped in bacon. I’ve had bananas on pizza!

Side Plug: I also make delicious Ferdi’s Nana Puddin’ which you can order anytime by messaging me via text message, email, or social apps.

#2 CONVENIENTLY PACKAGED

There’s no need to wash your banana. Plus, you can easily peel it, with your fingers. Oranges feature an outer layer that you don’t eat either, but you need some sort of tool (or knife) to get to the inside — unless your some kind of barbarian. Other fruits hit the floor and need to be cleaned before you put them in your mouth.

#3 NO WASTE

Although the banana does come in it’s natural “package” (aka banana peel), there’s no need to worry about pollution. The banana packaging (aka banana peel) is 100% biodegradable.

Side PSA: Let’s just keep banana peels off the streets and walkways. You never know what’s going to happen when someone drives, bikes or steps on a banana peel based on what we’ve seen in movies, cartoons and Mario Kart.

#4 NUTRITIOUS

Bananas are a healthy source of fiber, potassium, vitamin B6, vitamin C, and various antioxidants and phytonutrients. You can learn more about the banana’s health benefits right here.

#5 DELICIOUS

Also, Bananas aren’t just a convenient snack, they’re also a delicious one. But this leads us back to reason #1. Like I said earlier, bananas are great as is but may also enhance many meals.

Are bananas my favorite food? No, of course not. There are a million better foods out there. But they are a great choice and the most perfectly made food by Earth (or God, or whoever you believe is in control of everything). I’m just trying to say they are the most perfectly designed food for instant consumption.

Obsessed with Coconuts

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There’s something really weird going on in South Florida. Maybe it’s been going on for a long time and I’ve never noticed until recently. For my entire life I’ve lived on a small island connected to Miami — Key Biscayne (aka Island Paradise). You may have heard of it in the original Bad Boys movie, where they are told to go to Key Biscayne, but don’t actually go there.

Bad Boys (1995) • Not the exact scene where they mention Key Biscayne, but I had to include something.

Key Biscayne has also been featured in Christian Finnegan’s stand up comedy about Florida and Albert Einstein.

“If Albert Einstein Was From Florida” • Christian Finnegan

Key Biscayne is a wonderful place to go for a run. I have multiple routes that I run depending on the distance I’m traveling that day. I can run the loop around the residential part for 3 miles, I can run towards the lighthouse for up to 5 or even 6 miles, but lately I have stuck to running through Crandon Beach. That run can be anywhere from 2 to 10 or more miles (10 is my longest run, back a few years ago). During the entire pandemic I have stuck to 3 or 4 mile runs.

My run from earlier in the week.

***Side Note: I usually run with no glasses or contact lenses on. So, if you’re a fellow Key Biscayne resident who has seen me and waved at me or tried to get my attention on a run, I’m not ignoring you. I just didn’t see you. The loud music in my ears doesn’t really help the situation either. When running with no glasses all of your faces look like I’ve just been sprayed with Scarecrow’s Fear Gas (Batman Begins).

Batman Begins • Fear Gas

Let’s get back on track and talk about the strange thing I noticed lately. The weird thing I noticed lately is that people (most likely tourists) love trying to get coconuts to fall from trees. And they love trying to break them open to drink some coconut milk (or coconut water). I’m not even sure what’s inside of the coconut. Since they’ve always been around me, I don’t even think about them. I kind of forget they even exist.

This leads me to my main question: Do they not have Coconuts on trees in other cities, states, countries? Are we the only place with coconut trees? Palm trees? Are coconuts indigienous to Key Biscayne or South Florida?

This past week I saw one kid filming his friend trying to break a coconut open and drink from it. Is that that interesting? Last week, I saw a bunch of dudes trying to throw objects at hanging coconuts. Attempting to get them down.

Side Story: My Coconut Experience
I guess as a kid I had a friend with a machete once. Why? I don’t know, we were kids and we found a machete. We found a coconut on the ground and tried to break it open with our newly acquired machete. Once it was opened we saw there wasn’t much liquid or anything useful inside. After that, I was never really interested in a coconut again.

Maybe it’s a macho thing. It’s only dudes that I ever see trying to pull down and break open coconuts. Sometimes it’s a group or two guys. Most of the time it’s a guy trying to impress a girl. Don’t you know how stupid you look? Has any girl ever been impressed by a dude opening a coconut? Maybe on a remote island where there is nothing to eat or drink.

In Moana the people of Motunui depend heavily on the coconut.

“Consider the coconut (The what?)
Consider its tree
We use each part of the coconut
That’s all we need

We make our nets from the fibers
The water is sweet inside
We use the leaves to build fires
We cook up the meat inside

Consider the coconut
The trunks and the leaves
The island gives us what we need
And no one leaves”

from “Where You Are” • Moana (Original Motion PicTure Soundtrack)

But I did not grow up in Motunui (as much as I wish I had). I grew up in Key Biscayne. And we have a Winn Dixie, so we don’t need to live off of the wild coconuts and all of its parts. It’s more of a decorative thing for us. So, stop messing with our coconuts you tourists!

Dunkaroos are Back?

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Remember Dunkaroos from the 1990s? The purple packet with cookies (or Biscuits if you’re from London) and some cake frosting for dipping. Plus, there had that fun cartoon kangaroo mascot with an accent. Of course, every 90s kid remembers Dunkaroos whether you enjoyed them or not.

1994 Dunkaroo commercial

A few years ago, I heard Dunkaroos were back. There were rumors that they had made a comeback at wholesale grocery stores (Costco and BJs and Sam’s Club). You had to be a member of an exclusive club to get a box of Dunkaroos. I’m not sure if they were ever even there or if this was some sort of lie the grown-up 90s kids were spreading.

Yesterday, at Winn Dixie I did encounter one box of (NEW) Dunkaroos. New style, new look, new everything. The problem was they were on top of some random boxes in the middle of the frozen food section. They weren’t yet set up on display.

No one was around so I grabbed the box and tossed it into my cart. I later noticed a hand-written code on the box. I also noticed that this was a display box, meant to sell each packet separately (I noticed this when I got home). So I wondered, Wait, how much did I pay for this display box? And, when I checked the receipt I was relieved to find out that I had paid nothing for them. Unless they were under some super secret code.

I scanned my receipt multiple times and found no sort of Dunkaroos or Kangaroo secret code. The cashier hooked it up, probably because she sees me each week. I saw her attempt to scan the box, but she acted like everything was good and tossed them into a bag.

New Dunkaroo Review

These new Dunkaroos are not the Dunkaroos I remember from middle school. The only thing that remained the same is the Betty Crocker cake frosting for dipping, even though this was a funfetti-style frosting. I remember having chocolate or vanilla frosting (maybe a cookies and cream one later on).

These new cookies are too thin and small. I even broke some when dipping them in the frosting. They’re like the Jesus cookies you receive at church kind of thin. If you make a product that comes with a dipping sauce, part of the R&D budget should go into making it so your product doesn’t break and get left behind in the dipping substance.

New “extra thin” cookies (biscuits or crackers)

They don’t taste the same either. The cookies don’t have the same flavor, but that could also be due to them being too thin. Also, in the 20+ years since we’ve last seen Dunkaroos I’m sure FDA standards have changed. Maybe there was some strange ingredient in the old Dunkaroos cookies that’s no longer usable — something to make them extra addicting to kids. I also remember different cookie shapes (including a kangaroo, a kangaroo limb and head). Now, they all just look like cheap kangaroo coins.

I’m not saying these are bad, they just aren’t the same. Also, if you want to enjoy dipping cookies in cake frosting I have a better idea for you.

Step 1 – Buy your favorite cake frosting:
Chocolate, Vanilla, Butter Cream, Funfetti, Birthday Cake…

Step 2 – Buy your favorite cookies, biscuits and sweet treats:
Oreos, Chips Ahoy, Biscoff, Nilla Wafers, Teddy Grahams…

Step 3 – Go home, put on a movie and start dipping all of your cookies
and treats in the cake frosting.

I dipped some Biscoff Plane cookies in my Kangaroo frosting.

Congratulations you’ve just made your own (better version) of Dunkaroos in 2021.
You’re welcome…

Weight Gain Ferd-Thousand (Pandemic Edition)

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When the Coronavirus pandemic first began we were all forced to stay in our homes. Throughout year one everyone was talking about being lazy and gaining weight from all the snacking. I remember hearing Emily V Gordon say, “When we get out of this we’re all gonna be a little fatter,” on her and Kumail Nanjiani’s pandemic podcast, Staying In with Emily & Kuamil.

In the beginning of the lockdown I was still eating whatever I wanted, but due to no improv shows I didn’t have to eat dinner at midnight or one in the morning any longer. Before this all started I had a very strange eating schedule from Wednesday to Saturday, where I wouldn’t eat a full dinner before rehearsal or shows and instead would wait until I was done for the night. Also, the only food available after 11 pm or later is usually not very healthy.

At that time, with all of the late night eats I was still able to stay at a consistent weight of about 210-215. I was doing enough activity that it was fine for me to be eating so late at night. Probably not on the inside, but I looked fine on the outside.

So, when the lockdown started I was no longer eating my late night snacks/full meals (plus a late night beer or two). I was on a more regular eating schedule. I started to lose weight. Also, I was working out a lot more: running, boxing, swimming weights and anything I could do on my own outdoors or in the backyard.

Around the summertime I started eating a little more healthy, but kept working out like Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. Maybe not as hard as Dwyane, maybe like 25% of what he does, but that’s still a lot for a regular human. I even started losing weight.

When I saw the number on the scale going down slowly I thought of a new plan. I thought this is going to be funny, when we get back to shows in “a few months” — it’s now been over a year — everyone will be talking about how they gained weight and I’ll be that one dude that looks better than before. I wanted to be like people on sitcoms that come back in a later season looking thinner, stronger and younger than they ever have.

This plan was working. I made it down to under 200 lbs for the first time since I lived in Orlando, back in 2014-2015. I was dropping weight quickly and getting stronger with mostly boxing, running and some light weight training.

Let’s take a short break to check out my
Pandemic Workout Selfie Album:

But then something happened — the holidays. The pandemic was taking way too long to clear up. It’s still clearing up. I started working on side projects (blogs/sites) that took away from my workout time. I grew bored of working out so much, and I started eating more and more [Oreos and junk].

At some point during the pandemic I decided it was totally fine to eat cookies, chocolate, ice cream and desserts with breakfast. Sometimes I would eat these before breakfast. I’d eat them while cooking breakfast. And I’m still doing that.

My weight started to climb, because let’s face it — It’s much easier to gain weight than to lose weight. I bet Chris Hemsworth (aka Thor) has to lose weight for many roles, but it must have been a fun time to gain weight for Avengers: Endgame (even though that’s probably a fat suit). Christian Bale has done both for roles and I bet gaining weight (American Hustle) was a much better time than losing weight (the Machinist).

In the beginning of 2021 I reached my highest weight in years, possibly ever. This sucked after reaching my lowest weight just a few months earlier (mid to late 2020).

Since learning about this massive weight gain I started working out again. I’m not at 25% Rock output yet, but I hope to get back there soon (maybe higher than that). I’ve tried a few things to get me to stop eating so much cookies and chocolate and sugar, but it’s hard during a 1+ year long pandemic.

I still haven’t seen most of the world yet, so there’s still a chance of me getting back to where I was when this whole thing began. I guess that’s my goal for now. Get to where I started — around 210-215. After that I’ll go for under 200 once again.

It’s not as funny to hear people say, “Wow, you look the same” as it would have been to have them say, “How did you look even better than you did in March 2020?”

I definitely need to go down in weight before the late night eating returns. Perhaps I can change that habit too. I can just get rid of the late night eating altogether. Either way, I’m going back down and I’m going to keep working out, before I see you all in 2021 — or 2022.

Apples in Review: Vol 2 – Granny Smith

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It’s time once again for more Apples in Review. For the past few months, I’ve been tasting a new apple each week. I’m trying to get ahead for when I run out of apple varieties at The Fresh Market and am forced to visit actual farms or farmer’s markets. We’re now on to our second variety of Apple — the Green Granny Smith apple.

Green Granny Smith Apple just before taste test.

While the Red Delicious is the most famous apple, the Granny Smith Apple (aka Green Apple) is also a top-tier apple. Known for its sour taste, this variety is heavily featured in both the candy and adult beverage world. 

We’ve even seen Green Apple replace Lime Skittles. In the “original” bag of Skittles — if Green Apple replaced Lime just a few short years ago, does that make it still the “original” flavors? I don’t think so! Lime was always my favorite Skittles flavor. Did their license agreement with Limes end abruptly? #BringBackLimeSkittles! Come on, Marshawn!

“Original” Skittles flavors (although we all know that green used to be, and was better as, Lime)

Granny Smith apples are best known for their sour flavor. Although the sour flavor isn’t my favorite — eating too much gives you sticky Skittles/Starburst spit — I appreciate that they exist. If you eat a Red Delicious apple and a Granny Smith back to back, it’s kind of crazy to taste the difference between those two varieties alone. But who’s going to eat two different apples back to back? A Psychopath.

I was told (in a book, on a podcast and probably somewhere else) that Green Apples are great for heavy voice work (on-stage acting, voice over, singing). There’s some chemical in them, and only them, that clears your voice and throat. Or in gross terms — the Malic Acid within the Green Apple will clear mucus and the throat. Adding honey to ginger & lemon tea usually works for the throat, but just one bite of a green apple can do wonders.

Due to the sourness of the Green Apple it goes great with some smooth peanut butter (because crunchy Peanut Butter is for Ding Dongs). If you have a peanut allergy, which is common today, please don’t try this combo at home (or anywhere for that matter). 

Sour Apple face.

I find the Green Apple to be too sour at times and the skin to be tougher than most apples. I’m not a fan of a thick/strong skin on my apples. Now that I’m trying the whole apple and not just the inside parts, I much prefer a skin that blends in with the flavor, taste and texture of the rest of the apple.

My current Apple Ranking:
1. Red Delicious
2. Granny Smith

-based on flavors tried and written about so far

A Short History of Green Apples (according the the internet)

The Granny Smith Apple comes from Australia and was introduced to the market back in 1868. I had no idea that apples came from Australia, but I guess it makes sense for this backwards ass sour apple to come from upside-down Australia. It’s not sweet like other apples, instead it’s sour.

The name Granny Smith comes from it’s cultivator, Maria Ann Smith. Maria created this apple and was someone’s granny. The sour/tart flavors and crunch make this variety of apple good for everything from salads to pies and everything in between (candy and alcoholic drinks).

Once again I got this image from bestapples.com

While the Green Apple is not my favorite apple, it’s still a nice sour treat. I would enjoy it much more with some outside help — Nutella, dulce de leech, peanut butter. Let’s face it, I think every apple can be enhanced with “outside help.”