Although our VJ star (Bebe) called out sick, we were able to through our first recipe video together.

“Is that really how you say a VJ?”

I don’t know, you’re the human, you should!  Check out our first attempt to show how-to make some of our favorite recipes.

Here are a few things you should know before you watch:

Hello, welcome back to Opinionated Ant.
Hungry? I was so I nagged my Human into making her fresh summer rolls. Before she would let me eat them though we had to make a how-to video. Normally, Bebe the Concert Aficionado would be in her princess apron and lording over the kitchen, but she was excused since she handed in her doctors note. We can’t afford to get sick you know. And neither can you so before you start please wash your hands.

“End of Public Health announcement.”

I was wondering when you’d butt in Human.
Here’s our recipe sans video… if you’d prefer an audio demonstration go here.

Ingredients

Spring roll wrappers (softened in water)
Mint (cut, shredded to your desire)
Lettuce(large pieces to make “cups” or shredded if you prefer)
Carrots (shredded or sticks)
Cucumbers (sticks, it’s easiest to eat this way)
Vermicelli
Avocado (small slices)

 Directions:
Have softened wraps ready, my human does one at a time only because she forgets and puts them on top of one another (don’t do that- they’ll stick!).
Cut up all vegetables.

If you are using large pieces of lettuce place the vermicelli, carrots, cucumbers, avocado and mint inside it. Place the lettuce cup inside the wrapper and roll up.

(If you’re using shredded lettuce then you can just through it all together inside the wrapper.)

 
Remember to tuck in edges (HT usually does around halfway through) as you roll.

Serve with your favorite dipping sauce (fish sauce, peanut sauce, soy sauce, hoisin and or rice wine vinegar).

Since these are “fake” summer rolls the combinations are limitless. Some of our favorite ingredients are:
Crab meat, shrimp, leftover chicken or steak; Mint, basil, cilantro; bean sprouts, vermicelli… you get the idea.

Are you looking for an authentic (or other variation) recipe? Here are a few sites to get your stomach acids pumping!

*Rasa Malaysia~Goi Cuon (Vietnamese Fresh Spring Rolls) with Hoisin Peanut Dipping Sauce Recipe
*Passionate Eater~Fresh Summer Rolls (Goi Cuon)
*Eating Out Loud~ Healthy spring rolls with peanut sauce

Taken by stevendepolo on Flickr

As written by humanoid:

This isn’t about Taco Bell in general or it’s effect on your digestive system but rather one particular Taco Bell that is, well, slow.

No pointing fingers, no laying blame but the Taco Bell nearby is plagued with discontent. Employees, customers alike even the air is thick with strife. Why? It’s too slow. Fast food chains time each transaction (most retail stores do too) trying to squeeze every penny.

Human, people don’t want to hear statistics, they want the good stuff.

“The good stuff?”

Yes, like, “You stupid” or that crazy lady.

“Do you want to tell this story?”

Yes, it is my blog.

“Fine.”

Retold by Eliza Leigh, Mutant Ant:

As my human has insinuated, the nearby Taco Bell is slow.  So slow, that we rarely go there.  Somehow, a sleep-deprived human ended up in line and was pleasantly surprised at how short and fast the line was.
ERR (How do I make a record scratching sound?  Imagine that)!

“We get the idea, eL.”

As soon as she was next in line, Crazy Mama lost it in front of her.  At first, the six people behind Crazy Mama were very patient and understanding.  Someone else sent her in to get ten different kinds of tacos, that could be nerve-wracking for anyone.  It totally tipped Crazy Mama’s mind. 

She changed the order at least four times and who knows how many times before we started eavesdropping on her order. 

“That’s ten,” she kept telling the taco dude.

“No, it’s 6…8…12,” he continuously and patiently replied.  Finally, after an eternity, really about five minutes, the taco dude (who was manning the drive-thru as well) asked for help.  He called to his co-worker, “You stupid?  Can you count?”

The reply, no.  I think it was at this point the cute biker lost it, but in a silent, I’m not waiting here when I could have gone to Chipotles sort of way, and left.  Help arrived but sadly, it was too late for Crazy Mama.  After my human ordered she slipped into a booth with a view.  Crazy Mama stayed at the counter shaking her head and getting more agitated.

At last, the line started moving but wait, no food.  Fortunately, HT got her food before the next fiasco, but decided to wait until her friends had theirs as well.  BIG mistake. 

As Sqidward says, “5,000 years later.”  Looking at her receipt, Crazy Mama was overheard, “This isn’t right.”  She then opened her bags and told the taco people everything was wrong.  At this point other hungry people were standing at the pickup counter, shaking theirs heads and sighing.  Unbeknownst to HT, her giggles could be heard at the counter, thankfully her dinner and a show references went unnoticed.  Finally, Crazy Mama left, cheeks blazing, bags swinging and disgusted with this fine establishment. 

You could assume now that she was gone ideally things would return to there previous smoothness.  Wrong.  The staff must have got spooked because a comedy of errors ensued.  Tall goth man’s order was so fouled up he ended up behind the counter correcting it (verbally not literally).  He kept his cool, when another customer asked if his order was wrong he replied, “Invariably.”

“I love that word.”

Others; man on a date, guy with three kids and more showed great restraint as well as the employees who were very kind and patient with Crazy Mama.

What can we learn from this?
Don’t order food for others without a list
Don’t expect fast food to be served fast
Don’t tweak when your 99¢ taco has lettuce on it
Don’t get in line at this Taco Bell, ever

From MR+G on Flickr

Well, not literally, I’m not a dog!  I love all food in general but here are a few recipes I’ve found online that I salivate just looking at.

Desserts

Kahlua Cake- Third down in post.  Yum, Kahlua …

Pan Sautéed Nectarine Wedges with Coconut Ice Cream~ With Rum…

Orange and poppyseed cupcakes with passionfruit butter cream~ I like step-by-step directions, my human has a smaller chance of messing things up.

Where do I find my favorite recipes? Usually in my human’s mind, although 50% of the time her concoctions are terrible. Since she is an unreliable source, I have turned to books and websites.

Here are a few newly discovered food sites I can’t wait to investigate further. Now if only I can convince BeBe to cook for us it will be a guaranteed success.

Beach Eats~  The Diva on a Diet and she’s fierce!

Picky Cook~ Beautiful site, delicious food.

Lightbulb Cuisine~ It’s a Easy Bake Oven Blog, so intriguing and their Fudge is no joke.