Our local Dominick's just remodeled and added a bigger international section right in the middle of the store. There's an endcap of Chio Chips* and of course I had to get a couple packs (the Paprika chips are a nice subtle spicy) but what really caught my eye were Taccos. I mean, who knows Texas barbeque like Germans.

Taccos are potato-based little poofy rings and they're... nothing. There's nothing there. They're as light as styofoam. The "Texas barbeque" flavor is barely a hint. I'm not a fan of the Doritos-style overwhelming flavors, but I like a flavor to taste like a flavor.

Of course, I ate the whole bag.

* Careful with the volume if you're at work or whatever: there are loud Chio jingles in store.

If you're going to make cappuccinos at home, you're going to need to froth some milk. The steam pressure on most home cappuccino machines is so weak, you're not going to get great foam that way. And if you're using an Aeropress or a stovetop Bialetti Moka pot, you don't even have that option. A couple years ago, I picked up a Bodum battery-powered milk frother on sale at World Market. It was alright, although it ate batteries constantly and the frother arm kept getting bent. And then I broke the beaker. I went to the store to see if I could find a replacement beaker and ended up getting a Bodum manual milk frother. It's great! If you start with cold, whole milk it just takes a few plunges to foam the milk all the way up the beaker. And then you can toss the beaker in the microwave for 30 seconds to heat it up for a cappuccino. I love my frother! And then I broke the beaker. Before I went back to the store, I thought I'd see if we had any glasses in the cabinet that would fit the frother. Our normal drinking glasses are too skinny, and pint glasses are too angled. But then I found a glass that fit just perfectly: A "Great Muppet Caper" collectable McDonald's glass from 1981. I'm never going to stick this family heirloom in the microwave, so I pour the foam into a Pyrex measuring cup to heat up. And I want to replace it, before I once again break the 'beaker'. But it's a great stop gap.

Drunk Monkeys - Episode 15 - Bonus Feature.

It's a pretty short episode this week, with Jen and Erica suggesting a mixed-drink based on episodes 11 (Bärenjäger) and 14 (Schönauer Apfel). And with this, we're going on a Drunk Monkeys hiatus until we can get back into the studio and film some more. We hope you'll join us for our third season, whenever we get around to it.

Drunk Monkeys - Episode 14 - Schönauer Apfel.

Jen and Erica are drinking Schönauer Apfel, a German apple schnapps or "Apfelkorn Liqueur". Please don't give this drink to your children. Erica was kidding. Mostly. But don't.

Drunk Monkeys - Episode 13 - Bitters

Jen and Erica are really getting into the "things you normally drink mixed with other things" spirit by tasting three different bitters: Angostura, Peychaud's and Fee Brothers' Grapefruit.

Erica mentions the Sazerac, one of our favorite cocktails, and Watershed, one of our favorite Chicago bars for cocktails. A bartender at Watershed introduced us to a remedy for the hiccups that seems to have worked for us so far: a half-shot of bitters followed by biting on a lemon wedge.

Erica notes that bitters are about 40% alcohol, but I learned from Hella Bitter that bitters are classified as a condiment, and so may be sold in grocery stores and the like.

As I've said before, I love popcorn. But I don't usually like strongly-flavored popcorns. Cheese popcorn, in particular, I'll always give a miss. Except when it's in The Mix. I'm sure it's not unique to here, but I first encountered The Mix as a Chicago thing. We have a number popular popcorn chains here, Garrett's and Clark's Nuts come to mind, and they all have The Mix—half caramel popcorn, half cheese popcorn. There's something about the combo that takes it to a warm, fatty, sweet, crunchy new level. My brother was visiting a week ago and came home from a day out touristing around with a big bag of Garrett's Mix. But, tragically, whoever had filled the bag had not done a very good job and it was at least 3/4 cheese, with all the caramel at the top. We ate as much mixed as we could, but then were left with a half-bag of just cheese popcorn, which my brother left behind when he went back to Texas. I was about to throw it away when Erica asked if I'd make some Cayenne-Caramel Popcorn. Not only would I, but I'd Fix the Mix! Our Cayenne-Caramel Popcorn recipe is from Smitten Kitchen (Erica tells me she has a cookbook coming out soon—looking forward to it). It's pretty much just standard caramel popcorn with a 1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper added, and it's very fast to make. But the pepper really takes the flavor up a level and it's proven to be a holiday dessert party favorite. And, I mean, Erica and I can eat an entire batch in no time flat. So, I whipped up a batch of C-C Popcorn and took a portion out to mix with the left over cheese popcorn. The only downside to my homemade caramel popcorn is that I don't achieve the smooth coverage of individual poppedcorns that you see in Garrett's popcorn (they use big tumblers to coat their corn—I use two spatulas frantically racing the cooling caramel). So I had to smash up the chunks a bit. Verdict—Success! Spicy and cheese is a great combination, if pepper jack has taught us nothing else, and so the sweet, spicy, cheesy mix is best of three worlds. I don't know if it's worth going out of my way to buy cheese popcorn to make this mix, but it's great to keep in the back of my head for all those times (?) I end up with a random bag of leftover Garrett's.

Drunk Monkeys - Episode 12 - Vermouth

Jen and Erica are drinking straight vermouth, both dry and sweet, so that you don't have to. Vermouth is, as Erica says, a fortified wine and the other ones that Jen mentions are sherry, port, and madeira. Jen first had madeira at the New York restaurant Hearth. Jen's shot glass is from El Jardin, 3401 N Clark, Chicago. The vermouths that the Drunk Monkeys are drinking are a Martini & Rossi Rosso Vermouth and Gallo Dry Vermouth.

Drunk Monkeys - Episode 11 - Bärenjäger.

Jen brought the German honey liqueur Bärenjäger ("bear hunter") to share with Erica for this episode of Drunk Monkeys. Here's a close-up of that label with the crafty hunter about to trap the leg of the bear who is going for the tasty honey.

Drunk Monkeys - Episode 10 - ChocoVine

Erica brings an exotic discovery to the Drunk Monkeys table: ChocoVine, a blend of "Dutch chocolate and fine red wine". Jen is rightly skeptical.

Drunk Monkeys - Episode 9 - 360 Double Chocolate Vodka.

Undeterred by their somewhat rocky tasting of 360 Cola Vodka last season, Jen and Erica are trying 360 Double Chocolate Vodka.