IKEA Monkey

A big rig carrying millions of bees overturned on an Interstate in Delaware. KYW has more.

Don't forget, everyone. Tonight is the series premiere of Fox's "I Want to Marry Harry" which features 12 women vying to win the love of a man they think is Prince Harry but who is really just a very convincing lookalike. It comes on at 9 p.m. EST. Set your DVRs to "RECORD AND NEVER EVER EVER DELETE."

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A California mayor is dealing with the fallout after he said bullied kids should "grow a pair."

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So unless you do not have the internets or are really really afraid of the gays, you know that yesterday a federal judge struck down Pennsylvania’s gay marriage ban. Do you know how much gay marriage throat cramming that makes? It makes so much throat cramming that we cannot even keep track any longer and had to go to Wikipedia to figure out how many states were going to make you get all gay married against your will. Short answer: non-homosexxicans, you are running out of room. Gays gonna be errrywhere soon.

With all the gay gayness happening, we’d kind of forgotten that the Pennsylvania decision was even pending, which is a shame since our boy Rick “Man on Dog” Santorum is one of Pennsylvania’s finest worst achievements, and you just have to imagine that he is on his knees trying to rip his own heart out and sacrifice it to God just to make all the gayness stop. But it will never stop. In fact, if any of you homosexxican commenters hail from Pennsylvania, it’s your sacred duty to go find Rick Santorum right now and force him to gay marry you this very day. Bring your dog, of course.

Adding insult to injury is the fact that the judge that made Pennsylvania go gay is one John E. Jones III, a George W. Bush appointee who has now disappointed wingnuts twice, which is unforgivable. Jones was the judge who found a law that mandated the teaching of intelligent design unconstitutional. And now he has betrayed them yet again, finding that gays can just get married all over the place. Can you imagine the deep level of sadness one must feel to be a homophobe Pennsylvanian right now? Haha no you cannot, because you are not jerk baby homophobes.

We couldn’t pass up the opportunity to mock poor sad awful Rick Santorum, but the true fact is that the Pennsylvania decision is lovely and moving. Apparently circuit court justices are now in the middle of a beautiful opinion contest, and you should probably read this one.

Today, certain citizens of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania are not guaranteed the right to marry the person they love. Nor does Pennsylvania recognize the marriages of other couples who have wed elsewhere. Hoping to end this injustice, eleven courageous lesbian and gay couples, one widow, and two teenage children of one of the aforesaid couples have come together as plaintiffs and asked this Court to declare that all Pennsylvanians have the right to marry the person of their choice and consequently, that the Commonwealth’s laws to the contrary are unconstitutional. We now join the twelve federal district courts across the country which, when confronted with these inequities in their own states, have concluded that all couples deserve equal dignity in the realm of civil marriage.

If you skip over the fact that he uses “aforesaid” without any irony, that is really beautiful, even though we are cynical as fuck up here in Wonkville. And we didn’t even mention the fact that each section of the decision, instead of being Part I, II, III, etc., is a part of the standard marriage vow:

For better, for worse
For richer, for poorer
In sickness and in health
Until death do us part.

Shut up we’re not crying YOU’RE crying at the “until death do us part” section.

When Mary Beth was diagnosed with inoperable Stage 4 lung cancer, Maureen left her job to care for her and to help run Mary Beth’s business until her death. Towards the end of her life, Mary Beth required Maureen’s help to get out of bed and to the bathroom, and to assist in self-care and administer medications. They were married in Massachusetts after Mary Beth fell ill, but because Pennsylvania does not recognize their marriage, the line for “surviving spouse” was left blank and Mary Beth was identified as “never married” on her death certificate. Maureen was listed as the “informant.”

Seriously, there has been so much gay marrying that there isn’t even all that much to lawsplain about this particular opinion. Basically, Jones says that gays should be able to get married because there is no compelling reason to stop them from getting married, and that preventing people from getting married causes them a multitude of difficulty and harm. That’s pretty much all there is to it.

Also, “because skygod says so” is not actually a reason, and neither is “it makes me feel icky,” and that’s exactly what Jones says, except way nicer.

Some of our citizens are made deeply uncomfortable by the notion of same-sex marriage. However, that same-sex marriage causes discomfort in some does not make its prohibition constitutional. Nor can past tradition trump the bedrock constitutional guarantees of due process and equal protection. Were that not so, ours would still be a racially segregated nation according to the now rightfully discarded doctrine of “separate but equal.” … In the sixty years since Brown [v. Board of Education] was decided, “separate” has thankfully faded into history, and only “equal” remains. Similarly, in future generations the label same-sex marriage will be abandoned, to be replaced simply by marriage.

We are a better people than what these laws represent, and it is time to discard them into the ash heap of history.

Did you catch that “ash heap of history” part? You know who ELSE used that? No, not Hitler, dummies. None other than Ronald Wilson Reagan, talkin’ ’bout communism.

What I am describing now is a plan and a hope for the long term — the march of freedom and democracy which will leave Marxism-Leninism on the ash-heap of history as it has left other tyrannies which stifle the freedom and muzzle the self-expression of the people.

Ain’t no way that Jones (or at least Jones’s law clerk) didn’t know exactly where that particular turn of phrase came from. It’s a beautiful little tweak at the nose of Reagan-loving bigots.

Although Jones doesn’t address it, we would be remiss if we did not note that presuming that if people who love each other can get married they will also too want to marry their housepets is also not actually a reason, because that is not a thing that really happens.

Suck it, Rick Santorum. The big gay truth is marching on.

[NYT/Whitewood v. Wolf]

A judge has ordered Russian potash-mining tycoon Dmitry Rybolovlev to pay $4.5 billion (4,020,555,987.80 Swiss francs, to be precise) to his ex-wife. The lady also gets millions worth of property in Gstaad and Geneva.

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Previously valued at $3.8 billion, after raising $200 million more, Pinterest has been revalued at $5 billion.

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We are fond of quoting the judge in the novel and film Nobody’s Fool, who said of a case in which an overeager cop fired his gun, “You know my feelings about arming morons. You arm one, you’ve got to arm them all, otherwise it wouldn’t be good sport.” For some reason we seem to have lots of occasions to think of this quote. Like today, when we read this story.

A South Carolina man who donned a bulletproof vest and asked a friend to shoot him was lethally wounded when his friend followed through on the request, authorities said.

Responsible gun ownership strikes again!

The shooting took place on Wednesday, when the victim, 25-year-old Blake Wardell, and a few of his friends were hanging out in a garage for some reason, like you do. Somewhere, maybe next to an old stack of Playboys or some broken ceramic flowerpots, Wardell found a bulletproof vest and got the idea to see if it worked.

Now, think about this. If you want to see if the bulletproof vest will stop a bullet, maybe prop it against something – preferably not the wall because if the vest doesn’t work and the bullet passes through it and bounces off the concrete and hits a bystander, you’ll really look like an idiot. Maybe some sandbags. Or take it outside and lay it on the grass and fire your gun at it there.

Just whatever you do, don’t…put on…okay, you’re putting on the vest.

This being South Carolina, of course someone in the group had a gun of a small but unspecified caliber. Wardell then asked his friend, 18-year-old Taylor Kelly, to shoot him. Which Kelly did. Unfortunately she missed the vest. The bullet passed through the material just above the Kevlar, striking Wardell in the heart and killing him.

Rule number two of testing a bulletproof vest: make sure the shooter is not the sort who would miss water if she fell out of a boat.

Anyway, Kelly is now charged with involuntary manslaughter and faces up to five years in prison. No word on what happened to the vest or the gun.

[WPTV]

Editor's Note: Marla Spivak is a distinguished McKnight professor in entomology at the University of Minnesota. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.

NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory recorded an unusually shaped, almost square, coronal hole on the sun.

Daisy has been the perfect puppy--sweet, cuddly, smart, funny, and, best of all, she doesn't chew on anything we don't give her. She loves all of her people but is mostly her mommy's shadow. She's a little shy when she first meets you, but treats change that right away.

Last night in New York, Netflix had a party for season 2 of Orange Is The New Black. The ladies swapped their drab beige prison uniforms for cool dresses and didn't hold back with the lipstick.

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Welcome to Pissing Contest, a weekly story sharing circle for the the ass-draggiest time of the afternoon on the ass-draggiest time of the last day between you and the weekend. Every week, we'll ask a question, you'll share stories, and we'll pick a winner that's featured in the next week's post. It's like a pyramid scheme of outdoing each other!

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Everyone knows amusement parks are a drain on your wallet — all those snacks to buy, the T-shirt in the gift shop your kid’s just gotta have or she will explode, not to mention the admission price. But police say some visitors to SeaWorld in Orlando saw their money walk away in a less fun manner, alleging that a worker was pilfering visitors’ belongings.

A SeaWorld guest complained that her purse had been stolen, leading to park security to tighten things up and keep a watchful eye out, reports WESH.com.

Police say that one worker was spotted going through guests’ bags, purses and strollers sitting outside Shamu Stadium, and was then arrested on grand theft charges.

One guest wasn’t surprised that the area would be targeted, flush as it is with strollers.

“Just in general, there are a lot of strollers in the parking area. It wouldn’t be uncommon to see 30 or more lined up,” she explained. “We would park ours there but we were always cautious to make sure we took our valuables with us.”

Police are staying tight-lipped about most of the details of the alleged crimes, noting only that SeaWorld had surveillance video showing her using stolen credit cards at a local restaurant.

“We’re working closely with investigators from the Orange County Sheriff’s Office,” said a SeaWorld spokesman. “Because this [is an] ongoing law enforcement investigation, I’m unable to give any more details.”

SeaWorld employee accused of stealing cash, credit cards from guests [WESH.com]

The Oklahoma City Thunder finally put the plucky but overwhelmed Los Angeles Clippers out of their misery last night with a 104-98 Game 6 win at the Staples Center. If there’s anything positive to take away from this loss in an otherwise terrible organizational period for the Clippers, it’s that Lakers superfan Jack Nicholson was either on hand to lend his support for the Clippers players during this bizarre Donald Sterling mess or to laugh maniacally as the dreams of the few Clippers fans that exist in his Laker oasis were once again crushed beneath the magnificence of MVP Kevin Durant’s 39-performance and sheer hideousness of Sterling’s every word. Whatever the reason may have been, it was nice to see Nicholson sitting courtside while Kobe Bryant lounges in the south of France.

ESPN on NBA, though, offered a very serious accusation toward Nicholson, asking if his new nickname should be “Traitor Jack,” because Lakers fans are probably the most excitable of the NBA faithful, especially when they’re just watching old games on ESPN Classic right now. The responses to that ESPN Tweet are downright enjoyable, a hearty serving of sheer assholishness, marinated with spoiled misery and stuffed to the brim with golden-baked sad trombone.

A small sample:

But I ask that all Lakers fans, no matter how irrational or stubborn you may be, to remember that Nicholson has always been the same guy. He didn’t want to be at this game, dealing with all these people, as much as he doesn’t want to be anywhere, dealing with anyone. Just look at how he treats these two kids like they’re the most meaningless specks of nothingness in our galaxy…

Jack Nicholson: Still the best.

(H/T to SB Nation for the Vine)

Filed under: Media, Sports Tagged: 2014 NBA PLAYOFFS, CELEBRITY BANDWAGON, celebrity sports fans, JACK NICHOLSON, Los Angeles Clippers, LOS ANGELES LAKERS, NBA, NBA Playoffs, OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER, PISSED OFF FANS

As if it being Friday could get any better, how about starting off the end of your work week with some free snuggles from puppies? [ more › ]

Comics don't always have the best track record when it comes to portraying mental illness. In superhero stories, mental illness is often associated with violence and villainy. There are, however, other, often personal, comics that can open your eyes to real human experiences with mental disorders.

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Good bread lies at the heart of New York City's culinary life. Sure, other cities also have their loaves (San Francisco sourdough and Dutch crunch, Boston and its brown bread) but New York's bread culture runs as deep and diverse as the history of our town.

Doughnuts first hit American shores with the earlist Dutch settlers to New Amsterdam. Waves of Germans, Italians, and Jews brought loaves of their own, once exotic immigrant specialties that have now made their way to every street corner.

Today, these breads are a ubiquitous but too often unnoticed part of our everyday eating habits. Few pay attention to the rye hoisting their tuna melt or the bagel on their trip to work. Luckily, the city is still home to dozens of neighborhood bakeries, both Old School and New Wave, where the owners respect both ingredients and traditions, and you can buy rich, fragrant, and deeply satisfying New York bread.

Babka

[Photograph: Robyn Lee]

The babka is pastry pretending to be bread, a classification it owes largely to the loaf pan in which it's baked. It's made from flour, water, yeast, salt, sugar, eggs, milk, butter, and more butter. Inside, you find a spiral of chocolate, cinnamon, or almond filling, and there's often a little streusel on top. Eat it with coffee for breakfast or dessert, and prepare to add a notch to your belt.

Where it came from: The original babka was a holiday treat baked by Jewish bakers in Eastern Europe (there are also Polish and Ukrainian versions). When the bakers moved to America, life got sweeter and richer, and so did the babka.

Where to get it: Fresh from the oven, nothing beats the babka baked by Breads Bakery, run by Israeli-Danish transplant Uri Schecht. If you're lucky, your local supermarket sells chocolate or cinnamon babka made by Greens Bakery, with almost more filling than dough.

Related:
Taste Test: The Best Babka in New York City »
Sugar Rush: Chocolate Babka, Loaf Cakes, and Canelés at Bread's Bakery »

Bagel

[Photograph: Robyn Lee]

We all know bagels, but how many of us know a great New York bagel? All it takes is dough mixed from high-gluten flour, water, malt syrup, salt, and yeast. After rising overnight, the shaped bagels are boiled in water mixed with malt syrup, then baked on wooden boards in the oven. The result is a fat torus with a crackly crust, a dense and chewy crumb, and a wheaty, slightly sweet, slightly sour flavor. How come the rest of the country keeps screwing up the recipe?

Where it came from: Bagels are Eastern European street food, originally sold by vendors for snacking on while you strolled. In the United States, the recipe was for decades a secret guarded by the bagel bakers' union. Only those cities lucky enough to have large Jewish populations got to try them. Then along came Mr. Lender, a bagel baker from New Haven, who perfected the art of freezing bagels. In 1965, his children leased the first bagel-making machine, which allowed their factory to make almost 5,000 bagels an hour. That let the genie out of the bottle, and we've been trying to put it back in ever since.

Where to get it: Start at Park Slope's Bagel Hole, where the smallish bagels are fresh every morning and the line frequently snakes out the door. Note that many good bagel bakeries will refuse to toast your bagel for you. A bagel fresh from the oven is perfect; toasting would only ruin it.

Related:
Serious Eats Finds New York's Best Bagel »

Bialy

[Photograph: Max Falkowitz]

The bialy is not a bagel without the hole. It's made from a flour, water, yeast, and salt for a dough that's shaped into a disc with an indentation in the center. Into this central well bakers usually put fried onions, often mixed with poppy seeds. A bialy should be eaten when it's just out of the oven, so it's soft and warm and bit flour-y, with just butter or maybe a chunk of herring.

Where it came from: Bialys came from Bialystok, a Polish city that once had a large Jewish population. Unlike bagels, they never found a foothold in the rest of the United States.

Where to get it: I buy my bialys at either New York's best old-style Jewish bakery, Chiffon Kosher Cake Center in Brooklyn, or best new-style Jewish (and more) bakery, Hot Bread Kitchen.

Related:
The Best Bialy in New York is at Hot Bread Kitchen »
Good Bread: Chiffon Kosher Cake Center »

Challah

[Photograph: Robyn Lee]

Challah is a Jewish bread that has spread from the Sabbath table onto New Yorker's breakfast plates. (It makes superlative French toast.) Challah's rich, slightly sweet dough is made from flour, sugar, yeast, egg yolks, and oil. After rising, the dough is separated into braids that are woven together, often with 12 folds to symbolize the 12 tribes of Israel. The loaf comes out of the oven glossy and golden and redolent of a warm, eggy aroma. Some people slice it, but I prefer to pull apart a fresh loaf with my hands.

Where it came from: Loaves like this were an integral part of Jewish, and Christian, holiday celebrations in Eastern Europe. For poor Jews, the Friday evening challah was often only taste of sweetness in their bleak lives. In America, the challah tradition remained strong even as Jewish immigrants shed many Old World customs.

Where to get it: Industrial challahs abound in New York supermarkets, but I prefer my challah fresh from the oven. Bakeries with excellent challahs include Breads Bakery, Hot Bread Kitchen, and Maison Kayser.

Doughnut

[Photograph: Robyn Lee]

Doughnuts are a fry bread,made from yeast dough that's been enriched with sugar, butter, milk, and eggs. Once the dough hits the hot oil, it sizzles and puffs up into fat golden rings that only retain a trace of grease (after draining). The earliest doughnuts were only seasoned with spices or fruit; today they've become magnets to hold all kinds of flavorings both sweet and savory, one weirder than the next. Many cities claim the title of doughnut capital, but New York, where the bread first landed, held the crown, even though neighborhood doughnut shops are largely a thing of the past.

Where it came from: Many European cuisines have a fried dough tradition. The Dutch variant, known as olie-koecken ("oil-cakes") landed in New Amsterdam in the early 17th century. By 1800, it had become known as the "dough-nut" and soon acquired the distinctive ring shape. As a schoolboy, Henry James bought his doughnuts at a bakery at the corner of 6th Avenue and 8th Street. The practice of covering doughnuts with all kinds of sweet glazes didn't begin until well into the 20th century.

Where to get it: My favorite doughnuts run the gamut, from traditional at Brooklyn's Peter Pan to Doughnut Plant's post-modern style to rustic apple cider doughnuts at various Greenmarket stands.

Hero

[Photograph: Robyn Lee]

A "hero" is the monicker for the New York version of an overstuffed sandwich on a long roll. It's made from a loaf of Italian bread, which is baked with a crisp crust and a relatively dense crumb to absorb drippings from the filling of mixed meats and vegetables, oil and vinegar. The classic place to eat a hero is on lunch break at a construction site, the beach, or in front of the TV on game day. Prepare to spend the rest of the afternoon digesting.

Where it came from: Hero sandwiches were probably invented in Coney Island during the 1930s. They were a perfect food for muscle-bound Brooklynites to eat after a day of showing off on the sand.

Where to get it: Until it closed, Manganaro's, which invented the six-foot hero, had a lock on the hero business in the city. These days, however, I prefer the bread, and the heros, made by Parisi, one of the last remaining Little Italy bakeries, or from Il Fornaretto in Midwood.

Related:
Taste Test: The Best Italian Combo Sandwich in Little Italy »

Kaiser Roll

[Photograph: Andrew Coe]

When you order an egg-on-a-roll in a New York coffee shop, the roll better be a Kaiser roll. Crisp on the outside yet soft on the inside, a good Kaiser roll is a high point of the New York baker's art. It's made from white flour, yeast, salt, and water dough that's been enriched with butter, sugar, and egg. The result is a delicate, slightly crunchy roll, often sprinkled with poppy seeds, that has a clean aroma faintly redolent of flour and butter.

Where it came from: Originally known as Kaiser Semmels (German for "roll"), these rolls take their name from the rulers of the old Austro-Hungarian Empire. Louis Fleischmann, a native of Vienna, brought the rolls to New York in 1876 when he opened his Vienna Model Bakery at the corner of Broadway and 10th Street. Fleischmann's rolls were so good that you didn't even need to put butter on them, and soon every other bakery was copying him.

Where to get it: New York's Jewish bakeries still understand the value of a great roll. My favorite Kaiser rolls come from Chiffon Kosher Cake Center.

Lard Bread

[Photograph: Robyn Lee]

Also called prosciutto bread, lard bread is the porkiest of our New York loaves. A specialty of city Italian bakeries, it's a dense white bread, often ring-shaped, flavored with lard, scraps of prosciutto and salami ends, and maybe also ham, cheese, and black peppercorns. The best time to buy it is typically on Saturday, when it's fresh out of the oven and tempting Italian families shopping for their big Sunday family dinners. Tear off chunks with your fingers, but bring a napkin to wipe off the grease.

Where it came from: Lard bread is native to Southern Italy, where it was prepared for feast days in order to make use of every bit of freshly butchered pigs.

Where to get it: At your neighborhood Italian bakery, preferably Royal Crown, Caputo's, or Mazzola in Brooklyn, or Parisi in Manhattan.

Related:
Our Favorite Lard Breads in NYC »

Pizza

[Photograph: Max Falkowitz]

The New York-style pizza slice came into being thanks to geometry, because the best way to divide a circle is along its diameter. It also didn't hurt that a pizza's crusty circumference proved a perfect hand hold for grasping a steaming hot slice. New Yorkers eat their slices belly up to the counter, walking along the street, even sitting at tables—but not (sorry Mr. Mayor!) with a knife and fork. Because a New York slice should be transportable, it can't be too thick, like in Chicago, or too thin, as in New Haven (where they don't sell slices anyway). An ideal slice is about a quarter inch thick, crisp on the bottom and on top soft under a blanket of mozzarella and tomato sauce.

Where it came from: Naples, where street urchins lived on pizza for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. In the late 19th century, it came to America with immigrants from Southern Italy and found its first stronghold in Little Italy before spreading around the country.

Where to get it: We have a whole guide answering this very question.

Pretzels

[Photograph: Robyn Lee]

For decades, the only fresh pretzel widely available in New York was the street pretzel—one of the city's original street foods, but today usually oversized, over-salted, and gummy. Then the craft beer boom led to growing demand for bar snacks, and what's better with beer than a lightly salted pretzel that's both soft and crisp? A number of small pretzel bakeries have opened up in New York over the last decade. The best of these follow the German style: relatively dark, dusted with a few fat crystals of salt, and twisted into a ring with one side soft and bulging and the other tapering down into two crisp edges.

Where it came from: The pretzel has been around for over a millennium in Central Europe. The original treat was probably invented in an early medieval monastery; the shape is said to resemble the crossed arms of someone in prayer. Eighteenth century Germany immigrants brought pretzels to Pennsylvania, and then a second wave from Germany carried them to New York beginning in the mid 19th century. New Yorkers discovered them in the beer halls and saloons of the Lower East Side's Little Germany and have been eating them ever since.

Where to get it: For a traditional German-style pretzel, I prefer the pretzels produced by the Bronx Baking Co. They also make a delicious bacon-wrapped pretzel.

Related:
New York's Best Pretzel is Made by an Italian in the Bronx »

The Rye Family

Plain Rye

[Photograph: Robyn Lee]

A New York rye bread, also called a "deli rye," is meant for sandwiches, particularly fatty piles of pastrami or corned beef covered with mustard. It's usually made from about 40% rye flour and 60% wheat flour, as well as yeast, water, salt, and ground caraway seeds for bite. It should be dense and chewy but also soft enough not to pull out your false teeth.

Where it came from: This loaf's ancestors back in Eastern Europe were 100% rye breads. In the New World, wheat flour was cheaper than rye, and Jewish immigrants found they prefer the lighter color and softer texture of loaves made from a rye/wheat blend. In doing so, they gave up the original bread's dark flavor.

Where to get it: For a New York Rye with gusto, go to Orwasher's. For a softer loaf, try the ryes made by Chiffon Kosher Cake Center.

Corn Rye

[Photograph: Andrew Coe]

A perfect corn rye is the Holy Grail for dedicated New York bread aficionados. It's a big, leathery boule encasing a moist and dense crumb with a wonderful nutty aroma. It's made from a mixture of rye and wheat flours, with caraway seed optional. If you manage to get one home still warm from the oven, lock the door, bring out a bar of good butter, and leave your cares behind. Unfortunately, the old-time bakers who remember how to make a great corn rye are fast dying out. Luckily, the younger generation recognizes this loss and is now making excellent updated versions of the bread.

Where it came from: Corn rye, originally called "Kornbroyt," was originally a specialty of Jewish bakeries in Poland and the Baltic region. "Korn" means grain; the only cornmeal in this loaf is a dusting on the bottom.

Where to get it: The best Old School corn ryes come from Russ & Daughters and Chiffon Kosher Cake Center in Brooklyn. For New School versions, go to Orwasher's or Hot Bread Kitchen.

Related:
Jewish Corn Rye Comes Back From its Death Bed »
Good Bread: Seeking Out the Best Corn Rye in NYC »

Marble Rye

[Photograph: Andrew Coe]

Marble rye is an optical illusion. It looks like a drunken version of the yin and yang symbol, with two opposing doughs competing for space in the same loaf. However, they're actually made from the same deli rye dough: the brown side is the same dough that's been colored to make New York style pumpernickel. No matter, marble rye on either side makes whatever we put between them taste better.

Where it came from: Marble rye is a specialty of the Jewish baking tradition. It will live forever thanks to reruns of "The Rye" episode of Seinfeld.

Where to get it: Chiffon Kosher Cake Center in Midwood.

Pumpernickel

[Photograph: Andrew Coe]

Pumpernickel is in the eye of the beholder. In Germany, pumpernickel is a dark, sour, and dense loaf made from 100% rye flour and whole rye berries. A New York City pumpernickel is essentially a New York deli rye that's been colored a chocolate brown and often comes with raisins and walnuts. The coloring is either made from a caramel blend or a mixture of molasses and coffee, adding a slight bitter-sweetness to the dough. As we know, taste is as much in the eye as in the mouth or nose, so this loaf tastes completely different than a deli rye.

Where it came from: Like all our "New York" ryes, this version of pumpernickel has its roots in the Jewish baking tradition of Eastern Europe.

Where to get it: Orwasher's is the place to go for both a classic New York pumpernickel and the raisin walnut versions.

10 Things Your Parents Were Right About

On Monday, a new season of The Bachelorette premieres and to drum up interest, ABC has released profiles of the contestants, as they do.

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And here travelers flying out of O'Hare and Midway Airports thought the weather would be a hindrance to their travel plans today. [ more › ]

Yesterday, Zack Snyder teased an image of the new Batmobile‘s ass with a promise of revealing the whole thing today. Which he just did along with Ben Affleck‘s new Batman costume albeit in black and white. And because I’m a giant, sexless nerd who just hyperventilated himself to orgasm, I clicked a bunch of filters I don’t understand on Photoshop to try and lighten it up gave up and used Google Image to find this:

That is definitely a Frank Miller-esque Batman costume. I’ll give them that. Now show me on the utility belt where Batman keeps his card-counter. Or does he make Robin crawl around the vents with an X-ray camera? Because small boys are good at into getting into tight spaces. Almost like they’re made for- *gets hit in the face with Chris Hansen-arang*

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