Today's guest contestant on the 'Not My Job' segment of the NPR game quiz show Wait, Wait...Don't Tell Me! is the wonderful celebrity chef and humanitarian Chef José Andrés, whose World Central Kitchen provides relief food after disasters around the world -- and who pulled his restaurant from the new Trump Hotel in Washington, D.C. after Trump insults to Mexicans.  His enthusiasm with host Peter Sagal during  the interview is infectious and often hilarious, most notably his discussion of canned food -- which trust me is not what you think it is..  
​

We head back into the kitchen for another of the wonderful "50 People Try to..." videos from Epicurious.  And this one was particularly fun for me because it's one that I actually have wanted to do but have been uncertain.  It's "50 People Try to Peel and Chop a Butternut Squash."  The good news is that I was pretty close in my assumptions on how to best do it.  But it's still more involved, and most of the those trying were pretty amusingly lost.

It's time to head back to the kitchen for another of the fun "50 People Try to..." videos from Epicurious.  Today, we take a look at trying to crack open and then separate an egg.  Even if this is something you do, there still are some nice tips at the end.  Besides the fun of watching the 50 giving it their best...
​

Today we head back to the Kitchens of Epicurious for one of their fun "50 People Try to..." videos.  This time, they gathering of folk attempt to open a coconut.  Get your goggles and protective gear ready (and in the end, find out the surprisingly easy way...)
​

Let's jump back to another of those amusing Basic Skills "50 People Try to..." videos from Epicurious.  Last time it was 50 people trying to open a bottle of wine.  Today, we have 50 People Try to Slice an Avocado.

The other day, I discovered a series of videos from the Epicurious website.  They're funny, entertaining and actually informative.  As you see below, they're Basic Skills Challenges, which I'll try to post from time to time.  This first is a good example of them -- it's about how to properly open a bottle of wine, as they record a wide range of people trying their best, and then have an expert come in to show you how.

Some random Las Vegas thoughts.
​
Security at the Consumer Electronics Show is a joke.  It began after 9/11 when they started checking all bags coming into the show.  While I suspect that's fully unnecessary, I understand why they do it, so fine if it either gives the perception of safety or the reality of it.  But the actually checking of bags is borderline meaningless.

One day, they looked in my bag and passed me through -- great, except the bag had three additional compartments.  None of which got checked.  Another day, the guard did look  in several of the compartments.  But in  one of these I had some hardware in a smaller bag, which was clearly there to see.  But whatever was in that bag -- obvious as it was -- wasn't checked.  Another day, I just walked it.  In fairness, it's a tough deal -- maybe 150,000 people attend during the week.  But surface checks to appear you're doing something is just silly.  So, they get an A for intent, and a D- for implementation.

Several years ago on his Diners, Drive-ins and Drives show on Food Network, Guy Fieri visited a pizza restaurant in Las Vegas, Naked City Pizza.  I marked down the name at the time and figured I'd try it on a trip to CES if it was convenient.  As it happens, I had a free day, and one of their three or four branches was somewhat nearby, so I went.  The pizza was fine -- fairly tasty but nothing special, a fairly bready dough, a thin but tasty sauce, and basic cheese.  To be clear, I didn't get the pizza he ate on the show.  That was a pretty loaded one, and it may have been delicious.  But since I had the foundational pizza that overlapped what the special pizza had, I have a good tasting of how it was made.  And...it was fine.  The toppings combination may have taken it to another level, but this was not special pizza.  It was -- well, you know -- fine.

For many years, I've said there are pretty much only two things I like about Las Vegas:  buffets and free self-parking at casino/hotels.  Last year, a few Las Vegas casinos started charging for self-parking.  Most people I talked to -- visitors and casino workers -- disliked the inroad.  This year, it got ratcheted up: almost every casino on the Strip now charges.  I understand the reasoning.  But it still seems counter-productive.  Casinos dearly want people to stay at the casino and do everything to attract them and not leave.  When you charge people and put a clock on when they'll owe more, that pretty much defeats the purpose.  So, we're down to there's one good thing in Las Vegas:  lots of buffets

Today, February 9, is National Pizza Day.  Here's an article about special offers from a lot of national pizza chains and other places that have pizza (like Whole Foods).  It's possible, too, of course, that some local stores will have offers, as well.  Just click here.

While some have been blowing up their Keurig coffee makers and doing so on film, others have taken the path to tasty goodness.

As I said I would, today I was at the grocery store and made sure to buy ReddiWip -- in fact, two cans. (Fat Free, for those with a scorecard, keeping tabs.)  And I've tended to be a "whipped topping in a tub" guy. (Not because I haven't liked ReddiWip, I do, and *have* bought it occasionally in the past, but...well, just because.) But hat's off to them for pulling their ads from the Sean Hannity show.