My favorite new cat is the eat-anything apprentice chef and namesake of the Cartoon Network’s new show CHOWDER. The illustration/animation is really beautiful (and unique) and matched with clever writing that registers for adults without being overly ironic or cynical. It’s just plain funny. I’m especially fond of Mung Daal’s Ladies Man-esque quips and Shnitzel’s constant disdain and “radda radda”s. And well, Chowder’s enthusiasm over everything is the best. I laugh out loud all the time at this show which is saying something. Andrew is much much better at this writing stuff - so check out his 2 cents on Chowder over at KFR.

and i mean, how could i not love the show after this quick moment…

Over the weekend I stopped by the inaugural Brooklyn Flea. My visit was two-fold. First, I love flea markets and the prospect of strolling (as cold as it was) and browsing all morning was too good to miss. Secondly, I have been working with my friends at Three Birds Bakery on the branding and packaging of their Granola and wanted to see how it all came together. And I must say, it came together nicely and the ladies even SOLD OUT! Which, I might add, is not a surprise because their granola is absolutely delicious and freshly made. They have two kinds - one with fruit and one without - both are excellent.

Anyway as far as the flea market itself, there has been a lot of blogging and commenting on how “non-flea markety” it is (sometimes I get so sick of blogs and people complaining on them — like I am doing right now- um- anyway…) . For the record, I thought that the flea was perfectly lovely. It was spacious with a good number of vendors selling a nice variety of things. I thought there were plenty of vintage/antiques to satisfy my traditional flea market cravings and while I’m personally more into the “old” stuff, I really did enjoy seeing what people were crafting and making. I’ve got my eye on a bag from the Etsy table (different fabric than this link) and may just have to go back next week to pick it up. And to all the “haters,” don’t fret, I am sure the laws of supply and demand will, over time, adjust the offerings at the flea market to suit the shoppers. But isn’t it just sort of nice to see an event organized by a small community business/entity (brownstoner) bringing together other individuals and small business of the community.

In summary - go check out the flea this weekend and keep an eye out for that granola!

As mentioned in a previous post, I’ve had a bit of a bacon backlog. I had received the Bacon of the Month packages for February and March but hadn’t had any opportunities to cook them in someone else’s kitchen. This weekend I was able to cook up the March package at the Wall Street Poker Second Chance Tournament at Jamie’s place. I was hoping to cook both month’s bacon but the Saturday event fell through for me. So I still have another package waiting to be cooked up - any volunteers?

March’s bacon was a peppered country bacon from Missouri. This bacon was sweet and chewy and not as peppery as I expected. I was hoping the bacon would be a bit more spicy.

Cooking the bacon in Jamie’s Kitchen