goes easy on the lips

can you guess what this is?

 

you can twist it off from the middle, and inside is…

 

lip balm! and it’s, you guessed it, apple flavored.

it’s actually very fun to carry around. and very tasty.

zongzi

duanwu jie just passed a few weeks ago, it’s a Chinese holiday also known as the Dragon Boat festival.

during the festival the main food is zongzi, which is sticky rice stuffed with sweet or savory fillings and wrapped in bamboo leaves, tied and then steamed. the result is a fragrant, neatly wrapped meal full of tasty goodies.

zongzi with red bean filling

it’s also the perfect “bag lunch”, since everything is wrapped so neatly and self contained. you just heat it up, take it with you, untie, unwrap and eat. the rice is sticky but you use the leaves to avoid getting your hands dirty. when you’re done, throw away the leaves–they’re biodegradable!

of course zongzi isn’t the only kind of portable food in the world. there’s also tamales, banh te, and onigiri. do you know of any others?

crisp packaging

*all photos courtesy of midtownlunch.com

the other day i finally decided to stop by the new midtown eatery that opened called CRISP. i have to say that during the time it was still under construction with only the sign outside installed, i would have sworn it was another salad joint. and interestingly enough, nowhere on any of its marketing materials, signage or website does it refer to what it really is: a falafel place.

unfortunately i did not take any photos (thus the shout out to Midtown Lunch–great blog btw), but the packaging for their sandwiches are interesting to say the least.

for one, they call their sandwiches “the handbag sandwich”, which is prepared and then sealed in a cardboard box with an orange tear tab in the middle. when you’re all snuggled up at your desk, the idea is to just pull the tab, lift off the top section and eat the sandwich holding the bottom section. which is helpful for people like me who are excellent at making a big mess.

going off on a slight tangent: the other interesting thing is their drink cups, which are made from “totally biodegradable” corn resin plastics. i’m marveling at this because it’s plastic. it’s durable. it’s corn. it’s hard to justify it now because the current economic troubles we’re facing now with skyrocketing food prices, but it really is neat stuff. here’s hoping we come up with a great compromise for everyone.

pret a manger

in the ever increasing competition of over-priced sandwiches in midtown manhattan, Pret A Manger is one of the joints that’s multiplying faster every day. just earlier today i noticed the Nine West store near my office gone and gutted, with scaffolding hiding the interior and large boards decorating the exterior heralding yet another pret.

i do have to say though, their boxed sandwiches, while not original, are fun to carry around and definitely convenient.

the round circle on the side is a sticker that seals the lid shut. you just unstick, fold the lid back and eat.

i didn’t see a recycling logo on the box, but it would be ideal if they find a way to use eco-friendly packaging. god know you’re paying enough to cover that already.

milk followup

I wrote an entry a while ago about the changing looks of milk gallon containers.

Well interestingly enough, the NY Times had an article recently talking about the very design change:

A simple change to the design of the gallon milk jug, adopted by Wal-Mart and Costco, seems made for the times. The jugs are cheaper to ship and better for the environment, the milk is fresher when it arrives in stores, and it costs less.