...nom-freaking-tasticness.

What? Beyonce can make bootylicious a real word and I can't say "nomfreakingtasticness?"

I acknowledge up front that this post has nothing to do with the house or neighborhood, however, I had to share. A few weeks back I read a post about this chocolate peanut butter stuff on the blog (never)homemaker* called Dark Chocolate Dreams. Ashley, of (never)homemaker, described it as, "It's basically vegan Nutella (with peanuts, not hazelnuts)."  Sold.

Mmm...fun to eat!

Skip to the third grocery store I looked in...found it! (Why I didn't just wait to look in Whole Foods is beyond me.) I somehow waited 48 entire hours before having a "good" reason to crack that bad boy open, but when I did - oh my!

It's chocolate...it's peanut butter...it's slightly out-of-focus chocolate peanut butter!

The first bite was straight off the spoon and unexpected - there wasn't that initial intense nutty flavor I'm accustomed to with peanut butter. Or even an overwhelmingly chocolate-y or sweet flavor...but then the peanut butter taste kicked in. YUM. 

The jar recommends eating it on a sandwich, or with bananas, or as an ice cream topping - all fantastic ideas in my book - but I really want to try and incorporate this into baking or cooking somehow (maybe monkey pancakes??). But since it was around 10pm, and I was not about to make cookies or pancakes or anything else that required cooking, I figured I'd try it atop some ice cream.  I heated up about two tablespoons and put it on chocolate chip ice cream (unfortunately I didn't have vanilla).

it puts the chocolate PB on the ice cream

nom nom nom

About 3.5 minutes later.

It was so good. Oh  the fun I'm going to have finding recipies to try this in. oh wait - THERE'S the new home connection! Duh.  Oh...wait a second....wait a second.....DARK CHOCOLATE DREAMS EBELSKIVERS!!!!!!

Hot damn, I think we have a winner for first use of DCD in a recipe AND first use of  the ebelskiver pan in new house. Perhaps I'll make a banana ebelskiver batter and put DCD in the middle - monkey pancake-esque, no?

 

*(never home)maker is a blog I stumbled upon via Apartment Therapy (or was it The Kitchn? Same difference.). It's full of great vegetarian/vegan recipes, some style & decor tips, and (if you're so inclined) some running tips. (All accompanied by pictures that my pictures aspire to look like.) I eat and I decorate. I don't run. Climb - yes. Lift - yes. "Yog" - yes. Run - not unless being chased. I digress - it's a really fun and upbeat blog that I've added to my reader. I suggest you do the same.

...Friday night pizza.

After my Thursday night, all I wanted to do on Friday night was come home, get some pizza, crash on my couch, and catch up on Burn Notice. (And why is it those are the nights I get multiple texts to go out?? Damn Murphy and his law. Damn it!) But the question was...where to get the pizza?? I've tried one pizza place, Key Pizza, because we drove past it the day I moved down here. The pizza was okay and I think they only have medium and up pizza sizes. I thought it was time to broaden my South Philly pizza horizons and share my findings with you, my dear readers. (what...no sarcasm there at all.)

I decided to walk a few blocks further than normal to try a new pizza place I've walked by before - Marra's on Passyunk. Apparently Marra's is some kind of South Philly pizza institution or something.

See how old-timey it looks? That's how you know it will be good. Right?

I went online to check out their menu, and was pleasantly surprised to see that they had personal sized pizzas!  I'm a big fan of "mini" pizzas (and almost all mini food) - pizzas that I won't be eating for days and days after I get it. My old pizza stand by - Pine Street Pizza - had mini pizzas for about $6-$7, it was perfect. So I was happy to find a potential replacement go-to pizza spot.

Anyway, I ordered a personal pizza with green peppers and picked it up about 30 minutes later. I wasn't expecting this:

The cheese goes blub blub blub...

It looked like they hacked up a green pepper into about six pieces and tossed it on the middle of the pizza. I mean seriously - I've never seen such large pieces of peppers on a pizza...it was slightly amusing.

Once I got past the oversized pepper pieces and unevenly cut slices (in small, medium, and large variety)...I tasted it. I have to say, it was pretty good. I have no deep insight to provide into the texture of the crust or the flavors of the sauce - it was just good, tasty pizza. The price point wasn't that bad either - I paid just under $8 with topping, tax, etc.

Okay, I lied. I do have some notes. The crust wasn't too doughy, but still crispy. Though I would have liked it to be a bit thinner. Oh, and smaller sized chunks of pepper. I would have liked to get some pepper with each bite instead of all at once.

Has Marra's become my new go-to? When I want a mini pizza, yes. Though I might pass on the green peppers next time.

...my first piece of "hate mail."

So apparently a complete stranger took enough offense to my last post to actually email me. Not just comment, mind you, email! Needless to say, this made my day.  (Although, I wish people would stop commenting everywhere BUT the comment section. Makes me look like I have no readers.)

Wow. Where do I begin? With point 1, 2, 3, or 4? Or the link to "the other side?"

None...I'll just say that it's a free country and if someone felt the need to get that off their chest, by all means, send away. That's the beauty of the social space that is the interwebs.  You can pretty much say whatever the hell you want...and if you can't take the criticism, then stick to writing in your diary. 

I'm going to continue to constructively channel my "anger" here.

…not being hip enough for my new ‘hood.

I am not a hipster. By ANY stretch of the imagination. I don’t even think I could pull it off for Halloween. I like heels and silk and handbags.  ---->

In addition to attracting urban girls who can't afford Center City, my new neighborhood also attracts hipsters. That being said, two friends came down on Saturday so we could check out some bars/hangouts in the new ‘hood. The evening was pretty uneventful, which was fine considering I got home around 3am the night before.

Bar #1 - Lucky 13:
I really liked this bar and will definitely be going back. It was small, but not overcrowded (even on a Saturday night), they had Magner’s cider, good music/jukebox selection, and a bunch of TVs (which were playing Tremors – always good for a laugh). We didn’t order anything, but the food that was being served looked tasty.

It was marginally hipster, but I felt neither old, nor lame. Added bonus – it’s about two blocks from my house.

Bar #2 - Stogie Joe’s:
Also about two blocks from my house, but not on my list of places to return. We didn’t even order drinks. As my friend K said, “it reminds me of a bar in Bensalem.”

NEXT.

Bar #3 - Pub on Passyunk East, a.k.a. POPE:
Hel-lo hipster mecca. I kinda knew this going in, but the sea of fixies out front sealed it. We walked in and BAM – into a wall of people. Correction – wall of hipsters.

We found a corner to wedge ourselves in and ordered drinks - bonus for them having Magner’s. (We attempted to sit down, but were shooed away by the wait staff.) Of course, someone next to us was drinking a token PBR. We finished our drinks and headed out, past a guy in a TNF ski jacket with its hood up.

I have mixed feelings about POPE. I think I’d go back and try the food (which I hear is good)…but I will probably not be going back on a Saturday night around midnight. I am just not cool enough and can't resist the urge to poke fun at the rampant skinny jeans wearing.

All in all, an enjoyable evening getting the lay of my new land, which is slowly growing on me. Slowly.