Christmas Wishes

Hi Retro Weight Watcher Pals!

I know I have been absent for the past few weeks from the Land of Blogger and Twitter as well as the Book of Face. And I know you have all been wondering, "Where is Mimi?" I am sure you have all been asking yourself the same question - "Has Mimi fallen off the Retro WW Wagon? AGAIN???"

So I just wanted to drop by to let everyone know that I am alive and well.

I have just been a little busy.

And I haven't fallen off the wagon. But I did gain 2.3 pounds.

Yes - 2.3 adorable, furry pounds of puppy love!!!

Meet Oakley!

I adopted a new puppy and he has been keeping me very, VERY busy! I really had no idea how much an 8-week-old puppy was going to cramp my fabulous style. Goodness gracious! But it has been totally worth it.

It is very hard to Tweet while holding a puppy

Anyway...I plan to get back to my regular blogging and Retro Weight Watchering in the early part of 2013. But in the meantime, I wanted to wish everyone a very Happy Holiday Season!

Mimi & Santa in 1972

Hope Santa treats you very well this year! Merry Christmas and all the best in the New Year!

In Which I Become a Food Stylist

Update: I still haven't met Jean Nidetch.

But recently I had the chance to meet and work with another really fantastic Weight Watchers Superhero, and that was almost as cool.

Last month, when the amazing Hungry Girl (Lisa Lillien) stopped in Pittsburgh on her book tour, I got a call from her publicist asking if I could help her out. Since I do some work at one of our local TV stations, the HG peeps got my name from a producer and heard I might be just the right lady to whip up some delicious dietetic food for her to display at her appearance on the local morning show - Pittsburgh Today Live.

That's right. I was Hungry Girl's "food stylist" for the day.

What a blast.

In many ways, Hungry Girl is a lot like Jean Nidetch.

• Jean started Weight Watchers in her living room with six friends. Hungry Girl started her HG empire with a small daily email service.
• Jean has lots of chutzpah. Hungry Girl has tons of spunk.
• Jean literally wrote the book on finding ways to enjoy your favorite foods in a diet-friendly way using lower-calorie ingredients. Hungry Girl takes it to a whole new level.

My experience as Hungry Girl's food stylist wasn't too much different than my usual food adventures. For example, I made some HG "Cowgirl Onions Rings" using onions, Low-Fat BBQ chips and Fiber One Cereal. As a Retro WW snack - I once made some French Fries out of Italian Green Beans. Also--For Hungry Girl, I made a cake from a box of yellow cake mix and a can of diet creme soda. My all-time favorite Retro WW cake was made of cornmeal and strawberries.

OMG. Hungry Girl is like Retro WW with a modern-day twist!

Anyway, the whole experience was terrific, and Hungry Girl couldn't have been sweeter or more appreciative towards me. And she even let me take a few pics at the studio...

Gratuitous Nerdy Fan Photo

Hell yes, I got my book signed. Holla! 

Girlfriend was NOT playing around with hair and makeup
 

Here is the final segment with all of the completed dishes all plated up nice and pretty. I made them all! You might even recognize some of the serving plates I used. I was soooo tempted to throw in a gelatin mold just to see if anyone would notice, but I thought better of it. Enjoy! And go buy her cookbook. It kicks ass!


Uh Oh! If you cannot view the video here, please click this link:
In The Kitchen With Hungry Girl « CBS Pittsburgh

Random Pre-Thanksgiving Thoughts

What does a Retro WW gal do when she doesn't have time to wait for her Jell-o to gel?

Let me tell you. There aren't many food options for the busy working gal who is on the go, and still wants to live the Retro WW way of life. I should know. Lately I have been so busy with work, life, the impending Holidays and other random projects, I can barely remember my own name -- let alone find the time to cook up elaborate dietetic dishes and write about them.

So really. What's a girl to do?

One Retro WW trick I learned from my mom is to slap a bunch of mustard on some tuna and gun it down straight from the can like a Rockstar. I'll admit, this one is not my favorite. It also stinks like a mo-fo.

Another quick meal is the Pineapple Cheese Salad. This one's pretty self explanatory. Salad greens, pineapple rings and cottage cheese - topped with some cinnamon to make me feel less sad about the situation. Oh - and a slice of toast is permitted with it too!

I can tell you are drooling.

By the way -  we Retro WW gals also munch on carrots and celery til the cows come home. It keeps us from stabbing someone.

And when it gets really bad, you might just see me eating some button mushrooms or string beans with my fingers while sitting in my car on the side of the road. If this happens, just drive by. There's nothing you can do at that point.

Being a busy working gal does have its advantages, though -- Like getting opportunities to meet cool and interesting people. In fact, one of the reasons I have been so busy recently is because I had the honor to do some freelance work for one of my food & diet heroes! And I can't wait to tell you all about it in my next post! Can you guess who it was?????

NO IT WAS NOT JEAN NIDETCH!

Here's a hint...

Here's another hint...

Just kidding. That second photo has nothing to do with anything. I just felt like posting a random picture of Jean Nidetch being grabbed by Dom DeLuise on Merv Griffin's couch. HOW FREAKING AWESOME IS THAT? You're welcome.

Anyway, you will all have to wait until after the holiday to hear about my latest spectacular foodie adventure, but until then, here is a word of advice from Jean Nidetch straight from Page 137 of the Weight Watchers Program Cookbook, 1966...

I love her hair.

 
Enjoy your turkey! Kick back and relax! Have a FABULOUS Thanksgiving!

And the Wiener Is...

With a whopping 57% of the vote...

The Wiener the World Awaited

Was there ever any doubt?

You voted. You now have to live with the consequences.

SPECTACULAR FOR PRESIDENT!!! SPECTACULAR FOR PRESIDENT!!!

As if this dish needed any more attention showered upon it, Frankfurter Spectacular has won your vote for the most popular Retro Weight Watchers Recipe of ALL TIME. For Pete's Sake - It is like Madonna, Cher and Liza all wrapped up in one. What a diva.

To view the original post where I prepared, ate and basked in the glory of this dish - please click here.

All I am left wondering is - who is the one singular person who voted for the Chilled Celery Log?

You are my hero.

Get Out The Retro WW Vote!

In case you hadn't heard, there is an election going on this week here in the good ol' US of A. That's right. On Tuesday we all get to go out to the polls and vote!

I happen to LOVE voting. It makes me feel super important.

So in the spirit of democracy, we are holding our own election over here at the Retro WW Experiment!

Ladies and Gentlemen...get ready, because now is your chance to vote for your favorite Retro WW Recipe of ALL TIME!

I have selected the 5 top candidates, and YOU get to choose the winner. Voting starts NOW and closes on Friday November 9th at midnight. The recipe that receives the most votes will be announced and shared with the world shortly thereafter. I will even write a very special post to commemorate the occasion.

NOTE: There is really no point to all of this. But it's sorta fun, dontcha think?

Anyway - cast your vote! Vote early! Vote often! Let's get all political up in here! May the best dish win!

Here are your candidates:

Fluffy Mackerel Pudding

Fishy, Freaky and Fun

Chilled Celery Log

A Solid Salad, Baby

Frankfurter Spectacular

The Name Says it All

Rosy Perfection Salad

Gelatin Power!

Crown Roast of Frankfurter

Strong, Sturdy and Strange

My fellow Retro Weight Watcher fanatics - it is your duty to vote in this election. All of my future gelatin molds and diet dishes depend on you. Do the right thing. Make your voices heard!

Use the voting button at the top right hand corner of the blog, and vote as often as you want. Check back for updates often! Also--Be sure to follow all of the exciting election results on Twitter using #RetroWWElection.

Thank you. May Jean Nidetch Bless You. And may Jean Nidetch Bless The Retro Weight Watchers Experiment of  the Internet.

Frankenpie

There is a lot of scary shit going on this week. A hurricane mega-storm is whipping our way. There is a cut-throat presidential election turning us all into frothing maniacs. It is also the creepy Halloween season.

And I made this:

The Pie of the Dead

That's right. I may have actually conjured up the most disgusting thing ever created in any kitchen since the beginning of food and time. My husband took one look at it, and declared it "The Necronomicon of Pies" and begged me to throw it away. I have been lovingly referring to it as simply, "Frankenpie". Jean Nidetch officially calls it...

Fluffy Chocolate "Pie"

Grand Illusions

1 envelope unflavored gelatin

1 1/2 cups chocolate flavored dietetic carbonated beverage

artificial sweetener

1/2 teaspoon chocolate extract

1/4 teaspoon imitation butter

dash salt

few drops brown food coloring

Dissolve gelatin over beverage in saucepan over medium heat. Add remaining ingredients. Chill until slightly set. Whip with rotary beater until thick. Transfer to 9 inch pie plate. Chill until firm. Makes 2 servings.

First of all - how funny is it that Jean Nidetch actually printed the words "Grand Illusions" under the title of this recipe in the 1972 Weight Watchers Program Cookbook? Like this recipe would actually fool anyone into thinking they are eating a real piece of pie.

A Slice of Hell

 If I served this to any normal person, they would look at me like I had totally lost my mind. They might even call the local authorities to have me committed. And they sure as shit would never eat it. Grand illusions? Um. No.


Also - There are two problems with this recipe.

1 - It is not easy to find dietetic chocolate flavored carbonated beverage in the year 2012.

2 - It is not easy to find chocolate extract in the year 2012.

So I decided to go with diet cream soda and vanilla extract. I wound up with a vanilla flavored Fluffy Brown "Pie" which actually turned out to be a sort of a khaki-grey color. And it really wasn't fluffy at all. And it was frankly upsetting to even have it in my fridge.

What a freaking nightmare.

It didn't taste too bad, but honestly I couldn't get past the horribly freakish color and the truly pitiful state of this dish. To call this a pie is really just a tragedy. I know I have made a lot of crazy-ass excuses for food on this blog, but this is where I have to draw the line.

Some things are just plain wrong.

source: arcaneimages

Have a creepy Halloween! Hope your treats are yummy!

PINK THING

A few weeks ago (or maybe months - I lose track sometimes), I won a very special prize. The Caker Cooking Blog held a giveaway, and the grand prize was a signed copy of Caker Brian's best-selling book, Natural Order, as well as a Caker Recipe hand-picked by the author himself.

Here is a reenactment of my reaction when I found out I had won:

source: Reminisce Magazine

First, let me say that Brian's book is beautiful. It is touching and funny and real. Everyone should read it. No really. Go get it NOW.

The recipe that Brian picked for me, however, is another story altogether.

Ladies and Gentlemen.  The recipe I am talking about is the always ubiquitous PINK THING.

When I announced to the Twitter Universe that I would be making the Pink Thing, I received many responses. Some where intrigued. (What is it??)  Some where amused. (It sounds dirty!) Some even had their own versions (Pink Fluff, Pink Sh*t, etc.), but most just wanted to know why. God WHY?!?

Now, when I saw this recipe, I had two immediate thoughts.

1. I would have to lighten it up. You know - Do it up WW Style.
2. I would have to invite some friends over to share my Pink Thing. Because this recipe makes a crapload.

Typically, my Retro WW recipes only make one or two servings. So I was surprised to see this recipe served eight! I had no other choice than to call up some friends and tell them to head over to my place for a Pink Thing party!

I even selected a beverage to go along with the Pink Thing.

Voodoo Doughnut Bacon Maple Ale FTW!

Luckily I remembered to prepare my Pink Thing the night before, because it really thickened up and took on a nice pink hue just in time for the party. When I pulled it out of the fridge, and popped off the lid, we all just sort of stood around it in a circle and stared for a moment. No one said a word.

Until one brave friend broke the silence.

"It's really... Um... Glossy."

Then I served it up. As you can see, I was really excited.

My husband and his friend gobbled up the Lion's Share of the Pink Thing. They really, really liked it. Of course, they had just done a Jager Bomb - so maybe that could've had something to do with it?

I should note that the Pink Thing came from the London Newcomer's Cookbook, 1983. Of course, I totally Weight Watchered it up by using all low-fat ingredients. I also left out the chopped pecans, because - frankly I forgot. 

So let us review. In summary: Jager Bombs, Bacon Beer, and Pink Thing.

Did we enjoy our evening? What do you think?