Spicy Duck … What?? Nope, Can’t Do It Yet.

Posted on 17 January 2008 under Food Blogs, Gifts, Snacking | 5 Comments

I was going to title this post, “Beware of Asians Bearing Gifts”. Then I remembered … I kinda asked for these gifts.

Oops.

Back on January 7th the lovely Jaden of SteamyKitchen.com posted a blog entry she titled, “Friendship in the Form of Duck Necks“. She wrote:

In addition the duck neck and duck feet, I got dried squid, lots of seaweed snacks, duck tongues and duck gizzards. Anyone want to try? I’ll send you a snackity snack if you agree to try it!!!

I had the audacity to write a comment which read:

Me, I’ll try anything once! Sometimes twice. Often, manytimes. Who’da’ thunk it?

See, that was my mistake. I believe I meant what I wrote at the time I wrote it. Dear Jaden gets upwards of 400,000 page views each month on her blog, along with teaching classes in Asian cooking, cooking on the morning show on the local ABC affiliate station in Sarasota, and appearing in this month’s Sarasota Magazine. She gets over 100 comments on each blog entry she posts. What would be the odds of her shipping me some of …

Her email was almost instantaneous, as though my pinging her blog programmatically triggered a response:

email me your address! I’m sending you some.

On Monday Terry, our postmaster, told me I had a package. Smiling and rather sarcastically, I asked, “Is it Spicy Duck Necks?” Terry looked at the package and asked, “From Jaden?” Of course, I happily opened the back right there, dumped the mylar packages on the post office’s counter, and dramatically read the labels of the packagas for anyone within earshot. Some faces turned positively green.

I photographed the packages for the above photo, complete with Jaden’s lovely business card.

That’s as far as I got.

My stomach has prevented my hands from opening the things. The hands just keep putting them back in the package Jaden had sent them in.

I invited 13abc’s Zack Ottenstein for dinner Monday evening. I even went so far as to make every possible attempt to get him to try these snacks with me.

I’m not sure if he was laughing at me. If he was laughing with me, I know I wasn’t joining in.

So, here they sit. Still unopened.

Spicy Chicken Claws.

Spicy Duck Necks.

Spicy Duck Tongues.

Spicy Duck Giblets.

17-year-old John was in China this past summer. Just now I said, “John, you were in China this past summer. You ate a lot of stuff you’d never ate before. Why don’t you and I try these Spicy Duck Necks?”

His reply?

“Ummm … see, I ate that stuff because I made it a point never to ask what the name of it was. Ignorance is strength.”

Damn kid’s too smart for me …

So, they wait. Adam will be here this weekend. Maybe he’ll try them with me.

Why wait for someone else?

See, then I don’t have to eat all of it if I don’t actually like it.

Sigh.

Beware of Asians bearing gifts. At least, that’s what I’m doing for now.

Yeah, I’m a wuss. Deal with it.

Recipe: Old Millington Guys & “Nick’s Crowd Pleaser”

Posted on 21 December 2007 under Eat This Blog, Photos, Snacking | 4 Comments

It seems a couple of the Old Millington Guys, a bunch of old guys who live in Millington, had a recipe contest last year for “Best Looking Old Fart in an Elf Suit” … err … sorry, wrong photo … “Best Appetizer”. Nick’s take on Crocked ‘n Potted Little Wieners apparently won the lot, even though there’s no explanation of what he won. (Hopefully, enough solid German stout to wash these puppies down!) Click on the above photo for the recipe and be sure to follow the instructions … especially where it reads, “Ditch the grease”.