The Little Black Box!

I've been wanting to stream Netflix to one of my televisions for a while now & after looking at all the different options (our DVD player didn't need replacing & it's not a room we wanted any gaming in), I decided to try out Roku, which bills itself as a the "highest quality streaming you can get anywhere..." Ooookay, that's a lot to live up to!

But at $79.00 retail, plus some coupons at my local Best Buy, I decided it was worth it to check it out. I was particularly interested because the Roku doesn't come with any monthly charges other than what I'm already paying to Netflix (or whatever other service you want to stream like Hulu or Amazon Instant Videos which is a big plus in my book. While that's true, I quickly learned however, that Roku has it's only little quirks.

Set-up was a breeze Plug it in, and you're almost instantly ready to go. You can either use your home's wireless network, or a connected ethernet port if one is available. I choose the wireless route as the room I was working with isn't wired in my house & it found my network without any problem (as well as the networks of several of my neighbors). Once it logged into my network, it asked me to "sync" the device onto roku.com which is where I found myself pausing as it asked for a credit card number. Why would service with no monthly charges, need to keep my credit card on file?

Ostensibly this is so that, should I want to download any pay channels, or pay content, it has the ability to charge me. The easier answer however, is simply to block my box from that content if I choose not to leave a credit card on file, isn't it? I read online about the issue, and it seems to be a new one. Apparently earlier versions of the Roku didn't made the credit card entry mandatory, but the newer ones require it. Having no intention of ordering any of the pay channels or content, I would have liked the ability to opt out of giving one more company access to my credit card. I understand several people have returned their Roku boxes for this very reason. That said, I was able to use a credit card that expires next month, so I met the requirement but no one will get very far with the card. Should it become an issue in a month when the card expires and no one has had any reason to use it, I might rethink the service & take the Roku back to the store.

All that aside, having used the box a few times now, it really is wonderful. The quality of the streaming is as if I were watching a DVD or streaming on my computer- which is a wired connection. I was able to pause a movie, go fold laundry & return to start the movie again without any pause for rebuffering even, which I expected to happen. It's great to have access to my entire Instant Queue and not take up a huge amount of space with yet another component sitting on the shelf.

So, while I can't give it a HUGE thumbs up because of the credit card information debacle, I can say that it's a great device that does what it says it will do & does it well. If you're looking to be able to stream movies without a PC or additional expensive component to your television for very little cost, the Roku will definitely get the job done.

Tainted Reviews?

Like half of America, I like to post reviews of places I've eaten/been/services I've used, etc on Yelp!. I think it's a great reference point when you're looking for information on a local service provider of any kind & I admit to getting frustrated when someone or something hasn't been reviewed. With that in mind, I try to do my part, as part of the collective mind & review places- good, bad & ugly- to help future consumers decide where to spend their hard earned cash.

Recently I posted a review of a local restaurant, located near the Mystic Seaport that wasn't a great review, but certainly wasn't a bad review. In fact, I gave it a resounded, "meh." That might have even been the title of my review now that I think about it. This is a restaurant that I have known people to gush about, wait up to an hour to eat at, & I simply said, "meh." It was edible, not fabulous, the service was lousy, & the food was overpriced for what it was. I hadn't eaten there in years & if it's years before I go back, I won't be disappointed. On the other hand, if a friend wants to go, I won't say, "oh I hate that place, let's not" either. It's just, "meh." So I posted my review- by no means the worst review that establishment has under its belt on Yelp! I might add, but certainly not its best either.

Imagine my surprise when within a week I had a message on Yelp, from the owner of the restaurant telling me that my experience must have been on an "off" day, offering me a gift certificate so I could give them another chance so they could try to change my mind. Huh? I quickly scanned the other reviews & thought, if they offer this to everyone who's given them a low review it's costing them a good deal of money. Even if they only offer this to people who claim to be local who've posted low reviews... yikes! Then I looked at their higher reviews & wondered how many of them had been bribed into going back & had subsequently changed their reviews (a free meal goes a long way to making food taste better, right?). I didn't read through them to see if any had mentioned gift certificates, but aside from the bad experience, this left a bad taste in my mouth so I never responded.

Now, 2 weeks later I've gotten a second message asking me again to email the owner to collect my gift certificate to go back & give them another chance, with more excuses as to why my meal wasn't what it should have been. I'm considering posting it to my Yelp review because it just seems so sketchy. I don't need or want to be bribed to review a restaurant. If I like it, I'll let you know. If I don't, I'll let you know. The time to comp a patron's meal is when they are in your restaurant, having a negative experience, not later, when they've written about it on the Internet. Frankly, my meal wasn't tragic enough for it to have been comped.

Yes, the service was bad- having to repeatedly ask for more water & coffee is a hassle, but something we could live with. It doesn't warrant a gift certificate or a free meal, so I won't accept one now. Next time I eat there, I'll judge it once again, on the meal itself & the service I receive- not on a bribe from the owner who is trying to make amends for lack of training, lack of staff, or the fact that she overcharges on her menu (or whatever it is she thinks her gift certificate will allow me to overlook). The restaurant is what it is & clearly there are people who adore it. I don't happen to be one of those people & I am entitled to that opinion whether the owner wants to face it or not.

Satay Today

Okay, the Satay was yesterday, but why quibble?

A while back I won a basket full of Stonewall Kitchen products & decided it was about time I started using them in all their delicious glory. I reached into the pantry & pulled out their Roasted Garlic Peanut Sauce. Now, I love a peanut sauce, but I wasn't sure how my kids would feel about it- they're good eaters, but I thought this might push them into a picky pickle. My first thought was to turn the sauce into a marinade- until I tasted it. So much flavor I couldn't bear to bury it underneath other flavors.

I decided instead to go with a Satay & let the peanut sauce do what it was supposed to do- be a peanut sauce. If the kids didn't like it, more for me! I looked up a few recipes for Satays & finally came up with something I could work with. Here's what I ended up making:

Chicken Satay:
3 tsp (or so) tamarind concentrate
3 tsp whole coriander seeds
3 shallots, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 Tbs grated fresh ginger
2 tsp brown sugar
1 tsp peanut oil
Salt & pepper to taste
1-2 lbs. chicken tenders (or beef, or pork...)

Grind the coriander seeds in a spice mill until they are well ground. Transfer to a food processor. Add tamarind- start with 2 tsp & add more if you want more flavor- shallots, garlic, turmeric, ginger, sugar, oil, salt & pepper. Pulse until it's a smooth paste. Add 1-2 Tbs of water if you feel it's necessary for consistency.

Pour the marinade into a ziplock bag & then add the chicken- massage the marinade into the chicken until it's coated & then refrigerate for at least 2 hours, turning the bag occasionally.

If you want to use skewers, skewer the chicken before cooking (make sure to soak the skewers if using wooden ones), or you can just cook in a grill pan or broil.

**If you'd rather not grind your own coriander, use ground coriander from the market- the flavor just won't be quite as strong.

**Most of the recipes I looked at either called for tamarind pulp or no tamarind at all. The pulp looked like a pain to work with & I found tamarind concentrate at the health found store where I buy my spices. I looked like a good alternative & I wasn't disappointed.

I served the satay with the Peanut Sauce for dipping & the family couldn't get enough! They loved it. When my kids start asking, "when can you make this again?" before a meal is even finished, I know we have a winner. I served it with couscous & some fresh crunchy carrots & hummus (super easy) & everyone was happy.

Stop & Shop- Scan as you go

So, I grocery shop. We all do. Sometimes, I feel like I shop every day (& there are weeks when I DO!).

Having just moved to a new community I've been checking out all the local grocers, finding a good butcher, figuring out who has the best produce, best prices, etc. While shopping at my local Stop & Shop I kept noticing people carrying little hand held scanners as if they were registering for baby or wedding gifts. I was absolutely mystified.
I did what any confused shopper would do- I came home & Googled it. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that Stop & Shop- some of them anyway- has instituted a program where you can scan your groceries WHILE YOU SHOP, bag them along the way & by the time you get to check out you just scan the handheld scanner, scan your Stop & Shop card, your entire grocery list rings up on the register, you pay & you LEAVE!

For someone like me who is, let's face it, obsessive about how the groceries are bagged, this is a genius solution. I get to bag everything the way I want it as I shop- produce all together (the easily bruised or squished items are always on the top-hurray!), cold items all together keeping each other cold, no more raw meats mixed in with my produce (ewww- why do they always do that?) & boxes neatly boxed together. And most importantly, my nerves much less frayed at the end of a grocery run!

Yes, it absolutely takes a little bit more time to scan everything & bag it yourself, but I'm also saving the 5-10 minutes of cursing & rebagging after I get to the car. Plus, I don't have to wait in a check out line- whether I have 5 items or 50 I can go through the self-checkout lines & it takes 2 minutes to check out. I figure it balances out.

The one glitch can be produce if you forget to check the scales before you weigh- it seems people like to play with the scales. I usually check the label machine first to make sure it isn't jammed. If it is, I clear it & then it works fine.

As an added bonus, if you're shopping with the kids, the scanner is a great way to get them involved- just watch to make sure they don't "add" extra items that you aren't buying. I also like that the scanner offers extra savings that I wouldn't get if I weren't using it. A bonus all around. If you're a Stop & Shop shopper, look for it- at my store it's not directly at the door- you have to wander inside a bit to find it. Well worth it though.