Category: Kitchen Gadget Reviews

When Jen first showed me the link to OctoDog, I squealed. I didn’t care if the toy was $16.95 apiece; I wanted one. A few weeks later, I squealed again when a box came in the mail and my red OctoDog was in it. I immediately wanted to try it, but to be honest, I don’t eat too many hot dogs at home. Off I went to the neighborhood grocery store where I spent several minutes in front of the frankfurter aisle trying to decipher which was long and big enough to fit in my OctoDog. From a quick glance, the OctoDog seems to be pretty thick. I knew that it wasn’t going to work for the skinny Sabrett hot dogs. I had to pick from what New York street vendors call sausages.

Back at home, I followed the easy instructions that came with the OctoDog. I took the OctoDog apart including the “eyes”. I then inserted the hot dog inside the “tentacles” and replaced the eyes which essentially held the hot dog in place. I pushed the hot dog in using the OctoDog base–this cuts the lower half of the hot dog into “tentacles”. I then pulled the base out and removed the “eyes” that held the hot dog in place. A little shake and the hot dog fell off the tentacle hold and voila! A hot dog with eight “arms”!

Why don’t you just go to their Web site and see the illustrated How-To? It sounds more appetizing without bothering with too many words.

I was thrilled to have made my own OctoDogs. I heated a small skillet with some oil, gently fried the hot dogs by rolling them in the hot oil. I served them with a couple of fried eggs and some fried rice for a Sunday breakfast, Filipino hotsilog (hot dog-siningag-itlog), or hot dog-fried rice-fried egg, style.

I don’t know any kid out there who needs convincing to eat a hot dog and I don’t know why any one would refuse to eat a dressed up hot dog with “legs”. At almost $20 including shipping and handling, it’s an unnecessary toy that’s fun to have in your kitchen for your child and your child at heart.

Related post/s:
Buy your own OctoDog!
It was timely that I had real baby octopus for a pasta dish I was cooking

Whenever I tell people that I don’t like sweets, they give me a funny look. Most men think that any living female must like her chocolates and desserts. I really don’t. Sure, I have my cravings from time to time, but I’m more than happy to let you eat the rest of that cheesecake or take that entire praline. I was that girl who liked the black cookie more than the white filling. I still am that girl who loves warm waffle cones more than the ice cream itself.

So when the new Crumbs Bakeshop in Wall Street opened and cupcakes were delivered to work, I was glad to share eight small and six larger ones to the rest of my group. The eight disappeared quickly because they were way too easy to pop in your mouth. The six lasted a bit longer, but once someone brought out the plastic knives, they were devoured, too.

I couldn’t get feedback from most of those who participated because they either had nothing to say but describe the cupcakes as “good”, or they felt too sick to talk from eating too many. Nonetheless, the most common description was, “It was better than Magnolia,” which in itself is a big compliment considering the West Village bakery still has a line out its doors from visiting tourists who don’t know any better.

I had the small red velvet cupcake. I think it may be the color that always attracts me to pick it whenever I crave one. I loved how cake-y it was, which is a big plus for someone like me who prefers the bottom part over the icing. I also tried one of the small chocolate ones and they reminded me of fluffy brownies. From those who were able to vocalize what they were thinking, I received:

I had the one with the cherry, white frosting with chocolate drizzle. It was very tasty but I did find it very sugary. Maybe it was me, but I found it too sweet. Otherwise very enjoyable.

I had the black and white cupcake. It was very good. The cake was moist and the icing was very true to the traditional NYC black and white cookie taste.

I had the Ding-Dong cupcake. (Crumbs calls it The Hostess.) It was too cake-y for me, but definitely better than Magnolia. (I guess, the cake is a matter of preference!)

I had the Oreo one. Very good.

Forget about dark cobbled streets after the banks and trading floors close in Wall Street; there are residential buildings going up in the area for those who can afford to stay downtown. With new tenants come demands for amenities like convenience stores and restaurants–now they can have their cupcakes, too!

The latest Crumbs Bakeshop location to open is at 87 Beaver Street between Hanover Street and Wall Street. You can visit their other branches around New York City or order online.