Looking for a book to read?

Well, look no further than Colum McCann's Let The Great World Spin. It was given to me as a response to my post about Philippe Petit's great feat in 1974 (thanks, Nic!) and it couldn't be more engrossing. I highly recommend it to everyone - not just New Yorkers!

For a teaser, click here.

Happy reading!

What could be better than bacon?

CHOCOLATE-covered bacon!

Admittedly that last post was a little, hmmmm, what's the word? Challenging? Hopefully we can manage to un-turn your stomach with this one....

While walking through the Essex Street Market the other day, my culinary partner in crime (a.k.a. my husband) suggested we sample the wares at Roni-Sue; in particular, he had heard rumors about their chocolate-covered bacon. Never one to turn down fried pork fat, I obliged.

And, boy, was I glad I did! And, yes, it's just as advertised: crispy bacon dipped in chocolate. Roni-Sue offers this bacon two ways (milk or dark) and, being the gluttonous individuals that we are, we partook of both only to find that (surprisingly) milk far out-performed dark. The contrast of the sweetness of the milk chocolate with the savory of the bacon catapulted it into the sublime.

So the next time you want to impress your bacon-loving special friend (or, really, any friend for that matter) bring 'em a box of these delectables. You can even order them off the Roni-Sue website - just look for the "Pig Candy"...yep, that sounds about right.

Lamb's face, anyone?

I consider myself an adventurous eater. I'll eat oysters (not truly so adventurous, I know), I'm not shy when it comes to sweetbreads (slightly more adventurous) and I've even been known to eat a tongue every now and then (pretty adventurous, I'd like to think).

So a couple of weeks ago, when my husband and I stepped into the tiny, relatively new location of Xi'an Famous Foods on East Broadway, I thought nothing of ordering Spicy & Tingly Lamb's Face Salad along with our Spicy & Sour Hand-Pulled Soup Noodles, Stewed Pork Burger and Savory Cumin Lamb Burger. Admittedly, I was slightly taken aback by Jeremy's confident ordering of said Lamb's Face Salad, but he assured me it came recommended by the trusted New York Times food critic, Sam Sifton.

The burgers were ready first. They were tasty and, being hungry, we ate them down to the paper. The salad was passed over the counter and, when we placed it down on the counter in front of us, I must say that my first reaction was one of true excitement and anticipation: it looked fresh and crisp; a welcome contrast to the remnants of stewed pork meat still lingering on my palate.

Mmmm, cucumbers! Mmmm, cumin! Mmmm....huh?

We both noticed them at the same time. Are those what I THINK those are? Yes....yes....yes, indeed....teeth. Little tiny teeth. Little tiny teeth that had clearly been extracted from the mouth of this lamb all in one piece - roots still intact - kind of like mini, extremely complete dentures.

I know what you're thinking: what did you expect when you ordered lamb's face, Tara? Well, yes, you're right, but in my own defense I must say that I really was not expecting the inedible bits would be included along with the edible ones.

As we ate our noodle dish, the lamb's teeth still commanded our attention. It seemed to me that the folks at Xi'an were simply reminding us that the food on our plate came from a mammal and that mammal had teeth that it used to eat food (irony, yes) until we decided to eat it. Clearly we need to get back to the farm.

Svetlana Loves America!

For all those readers who love America as much as Svetlana does - just click the play button and let the party begin!

The Merdjanoff Experience...a preview

Just click the play button below then sit back, relax and enjoy!

Say it ain't so, Duane Reade!!!

Excuse me, Duane Reade, did I hear that right?!?!?! Did someone say Walgreen's is buying you?!?!?! Does this mean that I'm going to wake up one morning in the not-too-distant future and all my lovely little Duane Reade stores are going to have turned into

WALGREEN'Ses...es?!?!?!!? THERE ISN'T EVEN A PROPER PLURAL OF "WALGREEN'S"!!!

Deep breath. One more. Better. Well, sort of.

I love you, Duane Reade stores, plain and simple. When I walk inside one of your 257 locations in the five boroughs, I feel not only completely certain that I'm going to be able to purchase everything I need, but really kind of special because I know that only NEW YORKERS can shop in your hallowed aisles. Why, just today I said to my cubicle-mate that YOU are my preferred drugstore!

Even worse, did you know, Duane Reade, that out of all the 24-hour drugstores in Manhattan (and there are 46 of them), only SEVEN are NOT Duane Reades?!?!?! Sure, we're "the city that never sleeps" but now we're really not going to be gettin' any shut-eye knowing that if we need some very specific item that cannot be found at a corner bodega there will only be SEVEN places on this island that we can go!

Oh, yes, Duane Reade, I'm sad. You can tell, can't you? Sad. Very sad. But something inside of me knew that this would happen one day. Your rapid expansion over the past ten years made me not only very excited to see you every time I rounded a corner and rather surprised to find two of you right next to each other on occasion, but also, frankly, a little nervous for your future. Now that future has come to us all.

Oh, dear, sweet Duane Reade, how I'll miss you. My only solace is that this transition will take upwards of a year. But after a lifetime of living with the security that only you can provide, that day will ultimately come too soon.

Yours truly now and forever,

Tara

Put down the floss and step away from that electronic toothbrush!

Well, folks, the inevitable has happened: Cleanest Mouth read my post from January 30th and promptly notified me that I pretty much had everything backwards. So in an effort to set the record straight, here are the steps in their proper order with links to the proper products sanctioned by Cleanest Mouth himself. Apologies to those of you who have already made purchases. Unfortunately we here at The Merdjanoff Report do not have room in the budget for any exchanges or refunds you might need to make. We can only offer our sincere promise that future teeth-related reports will be more accurate. Here's to clean mouths:

Step 1: Electric Tooth Brushing with Jason natural toothpaste

Step 2: Flossing with Oral B's Ultra Floss (NOT Super as previously reported)

Step 3: Rinse with homemade mouth wash (please note adjusted recipe):

1 capful hydrogen peroxide

2 teaspoons baking soda

fill with filtered water

two tbsps salt

shake well

Step 4: NOW comes the tongue scraping with Cleanest Mouth-sanctioned scraper

Step 5: brushing with manual toothbrush with baking soda (NB: only as needed in particular cases)

May all your mouths be cleanest mouths!