Thursday, May 23, 2013

Spekuloos and Spam


Had my first spekuloos flavored ice cream cone of the year from Wafels & Dinges. There's chocolate sauce inside the waffle cone.

Spekuloos Ice Cream Cone
As for the spam, here's one of the latest from an anonymous commenter on my book review blog:

"Hey There. I found your blog using msn. This is a really
well written article. I will be sure to bookmark it and come back to read more of your useful info.
Thanks for the post. I will certainly comeback" which was followed by a link to some crap.

Uh, please, don't. Thanks.


~~~o0o~~~

Thursday, May 16, 2013

TV Season Finales


Still fighting congestion from my week's stay with some cats. Ah, allergies.

I thought I'd weigh in with opinions on the season finales of some of my favorite shows. Here there be spoilers if you aren't caught up.

Castle
A nice, satisfying end to the season. Beckett's been offered a great job that would require her to move to Washington, DC. Castle, after a heart-to-heart talk with his mother, ends the episode by proposing to Beckett. The finale placed the show in perfect position to take the relationship of the two characters to a new level, or end it.

How I Met Your Mother
With one season remaining, we meet, at the end of the episode, the mother. None of the characters have met her yet. That will come next season. Nicely played.

NCIS
A nice change of pace from the everyone's in danger type cliffhangers we've seen from this show. A decade in, NCIS hasn't lost its mojo, and delivered a nice, thoughtful episode about actions and consequences. Team leader Gibbs has often cut corners to get the bad guys or find justice, as has his team, and an over zealous federal investigator has Gibbs in his sights. But a solution to make it all go away might not end well. The last scene jumps four months and we'll have to wait til next season to see what happened during those four months, as well as for the outcome. I can always count on NCIS to keep me guessing.

NCIS: LA
This spinoff of NCIS is still young enough to go for the jugular, with characters in jeopardy and a couple of old Soviet nuclear weapons in the wrong hands. The story had been built up over a number of episodes this season and there should be repercussions after the dust settles and the plot is thwarted come fall when the new season starts. Will someone be killed off? Will there be fallout from the kiss Deeks planted on Kensi? The only thing I'm sure of is that the bombs will likely be recovered or destroyed. I hope. ;)

Arrow
This new show, an adaptation of the Green Arrow comics, had a fine season, with many story threads coming together for a fine conclusion, while leaving plenty of fallout to fuel the start of the second season. A major death, a man-made earthquake that left major damage to the poor Glades neighborhood, some revelations, and some changing attitudes, mostly from Det. Lance, hold much promise. Probably my favorite finale this season.

Person of Interest
A real game-changer. The Machine is on its own! The major threat has been averted, but there's still more danger to deal with. And just what does it mean for the Machine to be independent? My second favorite finale. This is an intricately plotted show, like Arrow, being told in two timeframes. We finally learned how Finch's partner was killed and how he hurt his leg. Good stuff.

The Good Wife
Peter Florrick won the election for governor and Alicia Florrick decides at the end to leave the Lockhart Gardner law firm to go out on her own with Cary Agos to form their own firm. A game-changer, and an intelligently written series.

Elementary and The Big Bang Theory's season finales air tonight. Should be good. And there's the finales for Doctor Who and Orphan Black this weekend. With Warehouse 13 back on Syfy, along with the new show Defiance, and more shows returning in June and over the summer, TV is a year-round entertainment these days and a golden era for those of us who love our TV.


~~~o0o~~~

Wednesday, May 08, 2013

Huh


Got this priceless bit of spam as a comment over on my book review blog:

"In general, you should enjoy out for applied treadmills that happen to be much more than the usual calendar year aged."



~~~o0o~~~

Tuesday, May 07, 2013

Chocolate Grows in Brooklyn


This yummy chocolate twist pastry came from Bien Cuit, one of the bakeries I visited with friends in Brooklyn. It was nice and flaky, and encrusted with chocolate chips.

Chocolate Twist

These yummy brownies came from Baked, also in Brooklyn. I got the deep dark chocolate brownie and the sweet and salty brownie. They also had a blondie.
Chocolate Brownies
 These are the most acceptable truffles from Albanese Candy in Indiana. I got cherry, raspberry, and caramel truffles. All were yummy, and though I've had better chocolate, I do recommend these.
Chocolate Truffles


~~~o0o~~~

Monday, May 06, 2013

Chocolate in the City


A couple of friends and I went walking around Brooklyn on Friday, in the Red Hook neighborhood, where we had a chocolicious encounter with Baked, a bakery with a penchant for wondrous chocolate concoctions. I had a Brookster, which is a chocolate chip cookie brownie, and had a taste of a chocolate cloud cookie. Both were very yummy, with the cloud cookie lighter and airier, but just as chocolicious. There was seating and they serve some beverages as well as wraps and a couple of sandwiches if you want something more substantial besides yummy desserts.

Brookster from Baked
I brought home a couple of brownies -- more on them, later! -- and as we moved into another Brooklyn neighborhood, we stopped off at another bakery called Bien Cuit, which has a Greenwich Village shop as well as the one on Smith Street in Brooklyn and offer breads as well as dessert fare. But I'll save that for my next post, mostly because I need to have new things to blog about. ;)

If you're ever in Brooklyn, give these bakeries a try. You won't regret it.


~~~o0o~~~

Thursday, May 02, 2013

Albanese Candy


As part of my vacation in Indiana, my friend took me to the Albanese candy factory and store. I'm not a Gummi Bear lover, and that seems to be their main candy offering, but they also make good chocolate. Not the best I've had, but very tasty. Their dark chocolate covered pretzel balls are quite addicting. I also enjoyed their creamsicle bunnies, tiny orangy bunnies with vanilla cream inside. They also sell classic candies like dots and Bonomo Turkish Taffy and wax lips and candy cigarettes, etc.

Albanese Candy Selection
I still have a half dozen chocolate truffles to sample. And the taffy.


~~~o0o~~~

Sunday, April 28, 2013

Cat Post


I had help packing to come home from my visit to a friend who lives near Chicago.
Three Kitty Helpers


Kitty Inspects the Luggage

Kitty Gives the Luggage a Good Sniff

Kitty Gives the Luggage Some More Sniffs

Kitty Sits on Luggage


Kitty Declares Luggage Ready to Go



~~~o0o~~~