Here’s Dean Martin‘s recipe for Dean Burgers:

I am preparing this tonight for my dinner. Almost completely fits within my Dukan diet restrictions if I fudge a little on the Bourbon, which I shall.

Via New York Magazine:

I love it when folks are helpful, even when it’s at the end of the check at the end of the meal: Tipping Etiquette:

This is the bottom of a check at a restaurant. What do you think of this? Is it a good customer experience or presumptive?

I love it when restaurants get “presumptive” because if they were being presumptive, they would have gone higher than 20%.

Via Branding Blog

Thanks to a note from @sugarbakingblog on Twitter that pointed me to the Sugar Baking Blog proper, I was led to this lovely recipe that I will indulge this weekend for certain!

Organic Kale Crispy Chips …Oven Baked

Organic Kale Chips,  so easy to make.  Kale, when baked becomes a delicious crispy chip.

Ingredients

• 4 brunches of  Organic Kale
• 2 tablespoons Extra virgin olive oil for drizzling
• Any kind of salt  to your liking  ( I used HimalayanPink salt )
• Kosher or sea salt  is also flavorful

Directions
Preheat the oven at 250 degrees F. Remove the stems from the Kale leaves and cut away from the rib.Discard stem and other pieces.

Rinse the kale leaves and pat dry.  If you have a salad spinner, spin the kale several times and pat dry.    It is important that the leaves are dry to get a crispy chip.

Use parchment paper or foil and cover a baking sheet. ( cookie sheet )
Place the kale leaves in a large bowl making sure all the leaves are dried. Drizzle extra virgin olive oil on the kale and toss  to coat completely using tongs. Do not over use Olive oil or the Kale chips will be oily.

Place the Kale on a baking sheet loosely.

Bake for 15-20 minutes. Check to see if the Kale leaves are crispy,  do not let the Kale get over baked  or discolored, turn the Kale over using tongs.   Try to keep the leaves a green color.  The Kale will be done when the ends are crispy to the touch and the kale will feel dried. Add the salt  once the Kale is baked and removed from the oven. Salt can be added before baking or after.

Remove from the oven and sprinkle your favorite spices or salt.

Enjoy <3

Via Organic Kale Crispy Chips …Oven Baked

[Guest post by Stevie Wilson of the LA Story blog] If you aren’t familiar with me, this is Stevie Wilson and I post very intermittant posts here and on Marketing Conversation.com .

Chris Abraham has been on my blog many times–both in podcast and in reference (where have you been?). If you read this blog you know that Chris Abraham, attends– and speaks at– many major social media events and conferences. He’s an interesting person to know because he’s a multi-dimensional person with an inquisitive mind and lots of interests. If you want to know about the posts on my blog, head over there and do a search on my blog or head over to www.chrisabraham.com or marketingconversation.com and search for my posts there. This might be a bit redundant for this blog but hang with me people, it gets better!

Chris Abraham (looking pretty dapper here and he was dressed pretty much like this the night we had dinner)

Before we get into the podcast, you need a bit of back story. I interviewed Chris Abraham at least 3 years ago– about a statement he made about his life. (Like I said, it’s a podcast, hunt it down in my blog or his). I was able to connect to him and he was willing to talk to me and so began a series of irregular podcasts and contributions to blogs that sort of created a friendship of sorts. Given the range of topics, we have no problems laughing at each other’s jokes or finding out that we both like to do target practice. Yet during all this time, I had never met Chris. The only way I had seen him was his photos or if he was in a video–really– in at least 3 years.

So as Chris Abraham made this sojourn across the country, making pit-stops in all kinds of places (and being stuck in ice storms), we eventually put together a “meet-up” and when all was worked out, we met at the Beechwood Restaurant in Venice. Not the easiest place to find for an Angeleno who doesn’t know Venice but so much easier for someone from out of the area — he beat me there because I got lost and circled the area twice! Patient man that he is, he recognized me as I can flying in the restaurant door and we headed out to the patio for dinner — and to get me a cocktail.

We ordered up some appetizers– and this man has a taste for the exotic and I went with it. Great idea too! Fried edamame, fried spicy chickpeas (YUM!) and some sashimi type fish.

This podcast was done LIVE in a busy restaurant. I have tried to amplify and clean up the sound but parts might be a bit faint so turn up the volume or plug in a headset and turn up the volume. It is very very funny. We had a diverse range of topics to talk about.

We did order dinner– and you will hear it in the podcast along with 2 people who were sitting next to us. The person who mentions Steve Martin’s book is the wife and the man talking about dying his hair red is the husband.. and they were interesting people–VERY interesting people.

Here’s my dinner– and me! Photo by Chris Abraham.

(sparkly eyes thanks to the Jack and Jill cocktail and a lot of laughte. Recipe at the end. )

I didn’t take a photo of Chris because he was back-lit and he would have either been dark with a halo (hmmm Chris does that mean you are an angel in disguise?) or I would have/should have used my flash and then worked it a bit in photoshop! Why didn’t I ? I thought it would stop the flow of conversation and the people on the other side were listening to our conversation too. I guess we were pretty interesting or we were having a better time than them.

Beechwood Jack and Jill Cocktail

• Lairds Applejack
• Pomegranate Syrup
• Fresh Lemon Juice
• Orange Bitters

Served on the rocks, topped with Prosecco.
Yummy drink and the Prosecco adds just the right amount of fizz.

Thankyou to Chris Abraham for being willing to podcast in that environment. I think he may not remember all that was said. I certainly didn’t. Also the couple next to us were very chatty and very funny. Thanks to Chris for dinner too.. he was willing to fight me for the bill. So I deferred to his better judgement as he is over 6 feet tall and I am about 5’3″. We both have the similar taste in cars– fast, German and BMW are 3 key words. What they will be next year.. could be entirely different.

Chris Abraham has left LA now and headed north. So by the time he sees this I am not sure where he will be. However maybe, if we are very lucky, he will head back down into LA and I can corral him into another podcast about social media topics or affects or whatever topic he chooses. “The princessification of girls” is on facebook and his blog.

Thanks again Chris. It was really fun. Hope we can have coffee or show you something other than Venice as part of a tour of LA. I think you would like to see more of So. California.

Stevie Wilson, LA-Story.com

Even though Richard Laermer does not agree, I love the new Starbucks logo.

It boils it all down into the essence.

We have all been so completely inculcated in STARBUCKS==COFFEE that the only logo better than the minimalist 2011 Starbucks logo is the original 1971 Starbucks logo — with bare breasts and all!

Then, the 1971 logo circa 2011 could well have updated “Coffee Tea Spices” with “Coffee Hookers Blow” or whatever it evolves into — have you seen Idiocracy‘s take on the ‘Bucks?

Good luck, Starbucks!  I always look forward to a “Venti Mild” or a “Quad” any chance I get so I always want you to be ubiquitous and I hope I will be able to drink more Starbucks on my trip than I will need to drink Truck Stop or Dunkin Donuts coffee, both of which I hate with a passion.

Amazing dinner at Momofuku with Chris(f) and Aaron. Momofuku ramen, pork buns, Asahi, and cloudy sake. Delicious!

The reason why I stay at the Roger Smith Hotel? Well, Brian (@bsimi) and Adam (@adwal) and beer and their awesome appreciation for social media, community, and their friends!

I used to love Lipton drinks growing up. Lipton Green Tea Citrus tastes absolutely nothing like tea of any sort to say nothing of having any resemblance to green tea.

There are six things listed before “green tea”. High fructose corn syrup is the number 2 ingredient after water. Wow, it is 120% total crap. Should have gotten a Mountain Dew or Dr. Pepper instead.

In downtown Fort Wayne, Indiana, there’s a super-wee, family-owned, old-fashioned diner by the Fort Wayne Hilton.

It is called Cindy’s Diner and I highly recommend their #1, two-eggs as you like them and home fries and bacon, ham steak, or sausage patties; and their famous #8, called “garbage.”. You can find their Facebook Page on Facebook.

Tasty China is surely the best, the boldest, and the most delicious and succulent Chinese food I have every had, globally — though I have yet to visit China.  And celebrity chef, Peter Chang, is back! You have to go.  Also, it is BYOB so bring your beer, wine, and accouterments along with and you’re bound to have fun!  Reminder: one cannot buy alcohol in Georgia on Sundays so plan accordingly.

The success and majesty and frank deliciousness has everything to do with the presence — and return — of the famous and transient Chef Peter Chang, known for his culinary wanderlust.  Well, he is back and better than every in a super-modest scruffy strip mall in Marietta, Georgia, nearby to Atlanta.

Tasty China is well worth the visit not only from greater Atlanta but also the region, the south, the north, the United States, or glob ally. It is so hot and spicy it makes me cry but also with happiness too.

Thanks to Liz Marvel for constantly making visits to Atlanta and Tasty China something of an annual habit — she has her birthday feast there every year and so I get to eat there at least annually.

Oh, and if you noticed, I didn’t speak any specifics on food.  Well, I don’t know my Chinese food at all and let Liz and her husband Eric order for me.

Tasty China
585 Franklin Rd SE
Marietta, GA 30067
(770) 419-9849
www.tastychina.net

Some reviews so you can make up your mind as to what to order:

• Tasty China review on CitySearch
• Tasty China review on Yelp
• Tasty China on Google Maps
• Tasty China on Yahoo! Local
• Review on ChowHound: “Atlanta, Marietta, Tasty China. Full Report”
• Tasty China on UrbanSpoon
• Review on Take Thou Food: “tasty china (marietta, ga)“
• Mouthfuls forum review
• Tasty China on Zagats
• Review on FoodieBuddha.com: “ALL HAIL PHUONG: Tasty China Restaurant Review – Marietta, GA“
• Tasty China on TripAdvisor
• Tasty China on BooRah
• Review on Atlanta Restaurant Blog: Tasty China, Marietta, GA Restaurant Review
• Tasty China on Creative Loafing
• Review on Adventurous Tastes: Restaurant Review: Peter Chang back at Tasty China (for now at least!)
• Review on Creative Loafing: Review: Tasty China
• AccessAtlanta: On the trail of Peter Chang
• Chef Peter Chang on Wikipedia
• Review on Southern Foodie:  Tasty China

Gruyère and turkey breast crêpes for lunch spiced with sea salt and ground pepper.

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As I was monitoring the Fresh Air Fund campaign responses, I checked up on Dawn Smith’s Not Just a Mommy’s blog and I quickly and desperately fell in love with these cupcakes which use M&Ms, I assume, to make edible bugs — spiders, ants, and centipedes!  Love them!

Check out Real Cupcakes/Party – I Scream, You Scream

At Squat & Gobble crêperie and café on Haight in San Francisco, CA, the land of the awesome breakfasts. Also, all that juice on the omelette is hot sauce — those two Tobascos on the right. I couldn’t help myself.

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At least in Berlin, keeping a distance from your party in the Restaurant is a sign or respect.

It is considered rude in Germany for a server, der Kellner or die Kellnerin, to keep on bothering your chat, your time together, and your meal, to check up on you.

If you want something, flag down someone — German waiters are pretty good at seeing that you want something. Don’t whistle, just catch their eye or wave your hand.

German waiters generally won’t even ask how your meal is going or if you’re having a good time until they bus your plates, at which point they will ask something like “Hat es Ihnen geschmeckt?” or “Hat’s geschmeckt?” which both mean, “Did you enjoy your meal?”

So, the reason why you feel like you’re being ignored is because they think it would be appallingly rude for them to come up to your table every few minutes asking you how your meal is, if you want more wine or beer, or if you want anything else, or — heaven forbid — may I bring you the check.

So, while I can’t confirm that this is also what happens in other places around Europe and the world, I know that if you want another anything, you need to call for it; and, if you want the bill, you need to expressly ask for the bill, “Die Rechnung bitte” or “Bitte zahlen” or just make that “I am signing a check in the air” pantomime and they’ll come with your check right away.

The best Mexican restaurant in Berlin, run by a proper Mexican, called Maria Peligro (Skalitzer Strasse 81, 10997 Berlin), part of the year-old Maria empire of awesome Mexican restaurants, starting with Maria Bonita, in Berlin. Next, opening next Wednesday, I think, at 6-8, is Santa Maria on Oranienstrasse. On Facebook you can become fans of Maria Peligro and Maria Bonita as well.

I wanted Mexican food last night and since I was grabbing coffee at Nollendorfplatz in Berlin after dropping by the Winterfeldmarkt Schöneberg to pick up Mark Harrison’s letterpress business cards from Buchdruckwerkstatt Christian Schöppe I invited Frank, a life-long Berliner, to a Mexican dinner.  Where?

I knew about the tiny Maria Bonita, which was delicious, but Frank told me that the same guy who opened Maria Bonita recently opened a sit-down restaurant named something which was somewhere in Berlin-Kreuzberg.  Well, we locked out bikes up at the Nollendorfplatz U-Bahn and jumped on the U1 and Frank used his ESP superpowers to divine where the restaurant was — and he hit it in one: Maria Peligro at Skalitzer Strasse 81, 10997 Berlin — U1 at Schlesiches Tor.

We sat down outside and ordered a couple Corona beers and a plate of very fresh guacamole. Fresh avocado, sweet lime, koriander, and serrano chile.  Beautiful start. We then ordered our meals.  I just checked the menu and our meals aren’t on there but I ordered Tacos Adobo.

Then, when it got cold, we went inside to two new fresh and cold Corona beers with line in the mouth. When the order arrived (sorry, I forgot to take pictures, I was too hungry and it slipped my mind!), the Taco Adobo was basically three marinated meat tacos in soft, coaster-sized, corn tortillas. Very savory and the cuts of meat were perfect.

Frank had something else, but it was more like a proper taco, and I think it was chicken but the 3 taco tortillas were crispy and flat, rather than a typical American envelope-style taco shell. His tacos had more stuff on them and we traded our last taco and it tasted a lot more complex, with I think cheese and a sauce and I think shredded lettuce, maybe.

Both were delicious — until I asked for some hot sauce.  The waiter — and all the wait staff are generous, responsive, friendly, and very cool — brough me a salsa dish with a lot of salsa in there. He warned me that it was hot so I put only half a demi-spoon of the stuff on my taco… and after biting down, chewing some, heat exploded in my mouth, my face turned beet red (according to Frank) and tears started streaming down my face.  Awesome.  I would recommend that Maria Peligo maybe not serve so much in the salsa plate because I only used, total, one demispoon-sized 2 Euro-cent sized dollop and I almost died.  It must have been pure pureed and spiced habanero chiles.

We stayed on well past our meal — our waitress was cute — and had more beer and then ordered a couple margaritas, which smelled strongly of tequila — good tequila — and then the owner dropped off a couple shots of some very high-end tequila, wich we prosted to and drank gladly.

All of the folks who ate there alongside us were expats.  Most were American hipsters.  They all had the same desire that I had — that both Frank and I had — which was to find some awesome authentic Mexican food to replace a steady hipster diet of döner, noodle boxes, lentils and wurst.  If you come to Berlin and miss English and American and home-spun foodstuff, Maria Peligro is a perfect thing.  Oh, that and I made some videos of the Saturday nightlife at the bar at Maria Peligro…

There will be about 250 participants at TWTRCON DC on 10/22.  Below is a partial list of registered attendees who have given us permission to list their information on our web site; this list was last updated on Sunday, October 18th.  To add your name to the list, register today!

I have been curious as to how good the new premium Starbucks VIA instant coffee is — and I have not tried it yet — but I think it is a win, according to the gang at What’s Up Below Deck, Starbucks VIA instant coffee taste test. Is it as good as they say?

The VIA claim more or less stands up. In terms of appearance, aroma, mouthfeel, and taste, VIA is pretty close to the Ground Italian Roast and miles different and better than Taster’s Choice. Lots of body, no off-notes and no artificial flavor. We both agreed that sample #2 (the Ground sample) had a slightly richer and more distinctive taste than sample #1 (VIA) but nothing that either of us would have picked up without a side-by-side comparison. I think it’s fair to say that Starbucks has successfully reinvented the instant coffee category and shown what’s possible.