The Japanese The Price Is Right?

I'm not clear if this is a game show or a sitcom, but I know it involves Monkeys and Cake.

Foreigners. Maybe it's all one big Haldeman reference?

Cape! A Culinary Tour

People keep saying to me, "CRD, Welcome Back To NYC. What Did You Eat On The Cape?" Well, I'll tell you!

I already told you about all the ice cream. I had a cone every single day, sometimes two cones per day. And I mentioned the corn once too, even though mostly I think corn is gross. And of course we had chow-dah. BUT, that's not all I ate!

What did we eat every chance we got? HOT DOGS!

But also tasty salad and Blight-Free Tomatoes that Sarah's uncle grew.



I ate Fish & Chips most nights for dinner. YUM. Thanks, Fish.





Sarah had tasty Lobster two days in a row. I stayed away on account of that one bad lobster I ate eight years ago. One of my Signature Traits is holding grudges, especially against sea food.



Doug came over once for some Badminton & Hot Dogs. Swing!




And one day, Doug and Sarah and I went to the High School Reunion Stop & Shop and decorated a cake. Nice work, Doug!


I will always remember Cape Vacation 2009. And I will definitely remember it for the next few weeks since I gained 10lbs. Good thing Swimsuit Season is over!

A Cookie Of A Puss

Imagine my surprise yesterday when talking to a Canadian colleague to discover she had never heard of Cookie Puss.

Cookie Puss is a creation of Carvel, the ice cream chain that may or may not still exist, I'm too lazy to google. The name may make me giggle now, but back in the early 1980s when Cookie Puss first came to earth from space (why, WHY was he a space creature?) the name just made me hungry.

Some rather earnest Wikipedia writer (Nicholson Baker?) has this to say about the Puss:

According to Carvel lore, Cookie Puss is a space alien (his original name was "Celestial Person" and his initials, "C.P.", later came to stand for "Cookie Puss") who was born on planet Birthday. In his television commercials, Cookie Puss has the ability to fly, though he requires a saucer-shaped spacecraft for interplanetary travel.

Although the exact design and composition of Cookie Puss has varied over the years and even from store to store, his basic attributes have remained consistent. He is roughly pear-shaped and flat, with an ice cream cone nose and two round, bulging brown eyes made from Carvel Flying Saucers. He sometimes has arms and legs, but these are just icing decorations, not additional parts.

I love any sentence that starts out with "According to Carvel lore...," and especially anything that reminds me of Fudgie The Whale, another lost classic of childhood. The accidentally pervy name, and the phallic nature of his "ice cream cone nose" and "two round bulging brown eyes" are not discussed.

Here's a nice commercial that also advertises Cookie Puss Dolls, surely a collector's item by now:



And best of all? I was reminded of his foreign cousin (even though the Puss came from space, he had an Irish cousin, just like Kirsty MacColl), who would come once a year on St. Patrick's Day - Cookie O'Puss.



God Bless, Ice Cream Puns. Oh, and this is especially for all those internet pervs who land here accidentally after googling the P word.

A Happy Return

Slicin's Of The Lambs

As the winter of our despair gives way to the spring of hope, we celebrate life. One way to celebrate it is to have Kevin play Abraham to a Bundt Cake's Isaac. Happy Spring!

Friendly Neighborhood Sheen Brothers

It's still me, ALH, guest-blogging while CRD is Down Under. One of the topics he suggested I discuss with you was Sheen Brothers. The photo above is the view down East 10th Street, with the intersection of Avenue B in the distance at the traffic light. Sheen Brothers is the deli on the right with the blue awning. It was originally called Avenue B Farm. Although it changed management it remained the source of many a gastric delight for CRD and I: red & white, chips and salsa, Entenmann's cakes, cans of soup, soda, beer. You name it; they had it at Sheen Brothers.

The best thing about Sheen Brothers was its proximity to my couch. You could be sitting on the couch and suddenly think, "Boy, I would sure like some Popems." And then, lo! You could walk to Sheen Brothers in your pjs with flip flops and fulfill your wish. If I was on my toes, I could call CRD, who was one of the first people I knew that had a cell phone, and have him make a pit stop at Sheen Brothers on his way over. Many a roll of toilet paper was replaced in this fashion.

And when I move back to Avenue B and work at Kids Discover again and everything is just like it was in 2004 before I ruined it all, once again CRD and I will shop at Sheen Brothers.

When We Eat Cake, We Have Mirth

Cake for all at the John & Bonnie Surprise 60th Birthday Party.