Hebrew Nationals ... and Angelos

"Peter Angelos" and "American Friends of Lubavitch" have now been mentioned in the same sentence—with "Nationals Park" appearing in between. According to an item near the end of yesterday's "Reliable Source" column in the Post,

"Peter Angelos [was spotted] at Nationals Park, of all places, for the annual American Friends of Lubavitch benefit dinner on Monday. The Orioles owner joined Nationals owners Ted and Mark Lerner to honor team President Stan Kasten; Rabbi Levi Shemtov gave a shout-out for two kosher hot dog stands at the new ballpark."

I heard the Pope gave a shout-out for the kosher hot dogs when he visited Nationals Park, too. But my sources aren't reliable.

Empanadas and the Economy

From the Express:

Rise of the Empanadas: Economy Down, Prices Up
IT'S A SIGN OF THE TIMES. As global food prices continue the rise and U.S. consumers worry about inflation, the price of one reliably low-cost snack has increased locally.

According to signs posted at local chain Julia's Empanadas, as of Monday, the price of the meat- and vegetable-filled pastries jumped by 23 cents, the first such increase in three years. So get ready to dig out some extra change for a saltenas empanada with chicken, potato, green peas, hard-boiled egg, green olives and onion, or a Chilean-style beef empanada with raisins, hard-boiled egg, onion and olives.

Perhaps such a price bump was inevitable as the nation frets about the state of the economy. As MSNBC reported late last month, the price of cheap eats — from pizza to bagels to even the famous "Recession Special" at Gray's Papaya in New York City — has been increasing.
And now, too, the simple empanada. Still, the stuffed pastry remains one of the cheapest options out there.

Jones Hanukkah Pack Sodas

That's right, the company that brought you Turkey and Gravy soda for Thanksgiving now has Hanukkah sodas.

Your flavor options...

- Latke
- Apple Sauce
- Chocolate Coins
- Jelly Doughnut

They have a Christmas pack too which contains, among other flavors, Christmas Ham. Just like Bacon Salt, it's kosher.

More on the rivalry

The Wall Street Journal reports (on the front page, no less) that the Missouri-Kansas border war has roots in a Missouri-Kansas border war.

In other news, Aaron is going to buy me a crab cake if Missouri beats Maryland in basketball this evening. If Maryland beats Mizzou, I owe him an order of toasted ravioli.

Israeli Empanadas

Amy and I just returned from Israel, and on our first night at the kibbutz, we went to the kibbutz cafe with some fellow archaelogical dig participants. We discovered that the kibbutz cafe was actually a non-kosher Argentinian style restaurant specializing in empanadas. So the next time you're in Israel, stop by Kibbutz Revadim (about halfway between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv) for all your empanada bet payoffs!

Bacon Salt

Love bacon, but keep Kosher? Or vegetarian? Or watching your weight?

This could be the product for you.

Bacon Salt.


It's Kosher. It's vegetarian. It has zero calories. And it can make everything taste like bacon.

Someone really wanted that coffee...

An SUV crashed into a Baltimore-area Starbucks today, striking an outdoor table and then crashing through the front window of the store. I've heard of a "drive-in" restaurant, but I think this is taking that concept a little too far....

Someone must have drunk the ...

Mmm, it's close to lunch time, and all I can think about is a Kool-Aid dill. Maybe for dessert I'll dunk Oreos in Miller Lite.

Empanadas in Rockville

So I was off of work yesterday and Amy had a Professional Day, so we went to lunch at an Argentinian restaurant in Rockville, El Patio. We tried the empanadas (Amy had, somehow, never had an empanada in her life), and they were excellent. The rest of the food- tortillas, quiches, and other Argentinian dishes- is really good (and dirt cheap), too. And they accidentally gave us two free capuccinos (too bad I'm not a coffee drinker, but my maté was good). We definitely recommend this restaurant- Justin and Debby, it's right around the corner from where you're moving!

Quote of the Day

I was at the Nats' loss to Arizona on Saturday night in frigid temperatures. In the 5th or 6th inning, a guy hits a foul popup to first that Nats' first baseman Dmitri Young chases to the dugout area, but he only makes a half-hearted attempt to reach it and can't catch it. A fan near me yells, "If that was a buffet, you would've caught it!"

Man, Biten by Panda, Bites Back

A drunk Chinese migrant worker jumped into a panda enclosure, tried to pet the bear, and bit the bear when it bit him first. He claims he didn't know that panda bears could bite people.

No truth to the rumor that the Packers offered the guy a contract.

Team Sells Player for Meat- and Gets the Better Part of the Deal

A Romanian soccer team sold one of its players for 33 lbs of meat, and got the better part of the deal when the player promptly decided to retire. So now the other team has no player and no food. I wonder what type of meat it was?