3 experiments

Peapod
bryan and i ordered groceries from peapod on sunday. we had a coupon in the mail for $20 off, and we had been pleased with the now defunct webvan service years back in atlanta, so we though we'd give it a whirl. our ordering experience went rather well; the site is easy to use and has some nice "list" type features. they also accept manufacturer's coupons, which is pretty rockin' since i'm a coupon queen. :) while bryan and i enjoy shopping outside the home, as it's winter (and thus cold), we have a baby (who we prefer to keep on his schedule rather than dragging him all over town), plus we haven't had a chance to hunt down specialty markets to shop at, peapod seemed like a good option. in the past, we had been very pleased with the quality of the food we received from webvan. the meat was always very nice, and the produce outstanding. some of it may cost more than what is at the grocery store, but it's definitely a trade off for quality.

our order was scheduled to arrive anywhere between 3:30pm and 9pm monday. i can see how this wide time frame might be a turn off to some customers, but as bryan works from home, this was no problem for us. you may choose a narrower (2 hour) delivery window, but choosing this gave us a $2 coupon off the order (hey, a buck's a buck). the delivery man arrived around 5:30pm, and unloaded all the shopping bags directly into our kitchen. we were pleased with the service and the quality of the food we received. we're looking forward to eating it (see next post for some details on that)!

The Great Rice Krispie Treat Project
i love to bake. i love making sweets which can entice even the strictest gastronomic masochist to derail their diet plans. i am the cupcake queen. i am a cookie goddess. i can, apparently, make cake so good you eat half of it in one sitting (i'm not naming any names). unfortunately, my current co-workers have not been exposed to such delicious treats, and thus do not understand my baking. they do, however, LOVE rice krispie treats. so i am breaking them in slowly. i started a few weeks ago with cocoa rice krispie treats, and monday i brought in treats made with fruity pebbles (teeth jarringly sweet and technicolor bright). big hits, both of them. i am thinking of using chocolate marshmallows with cocoa rice krispies; strawberry marshmallow fluff with those new rice krispies with strawberrites; toasted coconut marshmallows; eventually using homemade marshmallows (an experiment i've been wanting to try anyways). so i'll continue to proceed, making them slightly more exciting each time, until they are ready for the glory that are my cupcakes. until then, i'm not going to waste 2 hours (which i don't have anyways) baking them. :)

Corned Beef
it's that time again folks! this one isn't so much an experiment (as we've done it before) as an exciting and delicious project - homemade corned beef! we picked up a big fat brisket at sam's club and cut it into 2. both are submerged in brine and will be until st. patrick's day, when we will boil and roast one for dinner, and smoke the other for pastrami sandwiches. oh the excitement.