Easy Peasy Mac n Cheesy

I'd like to share one of the more relaxing and comfort foody recipes that's great for anytime!

Macaroni and Cheese:
It's such a comforting dish. It goes great with pretty much any main dish (many times it's great just on its own as a meal). Kids and adults love it.

The first time I had macaroni and cheese, I was in elementary school. I went over to a friend's home and for dinner we had mac n cheese from the box with chicken. It was glorious. The texture of the creamy cheese sauce and those little macaroni pastas were awesome! The chunks of grilled chicken that were mixed in added the perfect amount of savory protein to the meal.
Being raised in an Asian household, I never really started out eating the stuff that other kids my age would eat. Sure I'd have a hot dog or what not but never really those quintessential things that kids ate growing up. I got introduced to pudding and yogurt when I was in high school.
But macaroni and cheese really stuck with me. Out of that first taste, I became obssessed with cheese. I am still insane about the stuff and try to buy a different and new cheese every other week. I feel like Wakko from Animaniancs and his "Cheese from around the world" song.


Below is a basic recipe for Macaroni and Cheese, but before that, a couple things on the ingredients you're putting together...


For starters, this isn’t your average macaroni and cheese. The only thing that comes from a box is the pasta itself. Basic ingredients are generally pasta, cheese, butter, milk. I add sauteed onions and a little flour. The onions really add something to overall flavor. I abhor the use of breadcrumbs before you pop it in the oven. I understand it soaks up the oil that comes out of the cheese, but it's gross. It gets mushy, and the texture is not really my jam. But if you like them, sprinkle some panko breadcrumbs on top. They're the better choice, and don't overdo it. And for those that are lactose intolerant or vegan, there's an easy button for that.


Milk & Butter - 
I mix and match when it comes to the dairy used in mac n cheese. I've started to use skim milk because I use WAY too much cheese and feel like I'm making this slightly less heart-clogging. But, if you want decadent cheese sauce, I'd aim high and go with heavy cream. It really thickens the cheese which mean you can use just a tad less flour to get it nice and creamy. Otherwise, any grade of milk is fine, and on occasion when I ran out of milk, I've used half and half which does the trick nicely. Butter is essential. It's gross to think how much is used, but don't think, just eat. Any will do.
You can absolutely sub in soy milk for the real milk, but use ORIGINAL. Nothing is grosser than "vanilla" flavored mac.... blech. And if you're going that route, get vegan cheese and vegan butter. It actually works quite well. I love using vegan butter/spread. It holds up well, and I've started using it in everything that calls for butter. If only I could easily find it in sticks!

Flour - 
All-purpose flour works great. Though on occasion, you can use a bit of cornstarch. This is your thickening agent to turn your "cheese soup" into a yummy sauce (or roux if you want to go all technical). You can definitely add more or less flour, but be careful, too much flour can turn your sauce lumpy and it will have a distinctive mealy texture and taste.

Pasta -
I'm going to have to tout the macaroni as the ONLY pasta you should be using for this dish. It's called mac n cheese for a reason. Some people think they're cool using rotini, ziti, fusili, tagliatelle, orrechiette, and other pastas that usually end with me pronouncing them in a Mario Bros. voice. Macaroni is perfect. Small with a hole. It soaks up the cheese sauce, and it's easy to evenly mix the sauce in as well. Also, it's aesthetically pleasing. A friend of mine makes fun of the fact that I talk about plating a dish like it's important. Well it is. Sorry dude. If it looks like it was meant for a puppy, chances of it being consumed go from 92% to 19%. That goes for the cranberry sauce in a can... mash it up please! Don't just let it slide out of the can and serve it like it's some can-shaped Jell-O.... Anyways, nothing makes you think of home and good, warm, fuzzy times like a casserole dish filled with macaroni and cheese.
Any kind of macaroni is great. I love using ones made of rice. The upside is that they cook faster, the downside is that they get overdone if you're not paying attention. But, undercook them just a tad and then it'll soak up that cheese sauce like no one's business. Essentially, if you use rice pasta, you got yourself some homemade "Annie's" microwave mac n cheese.

Cheese - 
It is out of control awesome. I love cheese. I'll go into that in another post at another time. For mac n cheese you have to go with the staple cheddar. Yellow, white, sharp, mild, whatever. If you want a fast dish, just use the one cheese. But if you're feeling adventurous, mix it up. Gruyere is my add on cheese cause it is just soooo tasty and has that amazing smoky kind of flavor. Or add a little pecorino or something similar. It changes the flavor which is fantastic. I once, in a fit of indecision, bought some ricotta to mix in the sauce. Interesting flavor but tasty! Buy it pre shredded or shred it yourself. Try to keep the shredded cheese on the small side, like if you used a microplane. This helps it melt a lot easier, thus creating a creamy, fondue-like sauce. (In some instances you could probably make the cheese sauce from the recipe for fondue.) And as pointed out earlier, vegan cheese is good for those lactose intolerant peeps. 

Salt and pepper - 
I love pepper so am always quite liberal with it, but salt, oh salt, you salty salt. Be careful when salting to taste. One minute it may taste delightful, but you will be cooking down the sauce just a little bit and the cheese already has some savoriness in it. So, just a word of caution because your dish may go from glorious to "oh my god!!!! it's like eating a handful of salt!" and then your mouth will curl into your jaw and you'll look like that guy from that Indiana Jones movie.


Basic Macaroni and Cheese
(Serves 6-8 as a side dish)

1 box - Macaroni pasta
2-3 tablespoons - butter
1/4 cup - diced onions (preferably yellow)
1 1/2 Tb. - All-purpose flour
1/2 cup- 3/4 cup - milk
2-4 cups - shredded cheese + 1/2 cup for garnish (this is a ballpark amount as I add at will until I get the consistency I like)
Salt and pepper, to taste

1 large casserole dish or pyrex (around 9x11)

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. 
2. Cook the macaroni according to the instructions on the box for al dente.
3. When the pasta is al dente, drain and set aside in a large mixing bowl.
4. For the sauce: In a medium saucepan over a medium heat, melt the butter and then sauté the onions until softened.
5. With a whisk, slowly add the flour into the butter/onion mixture. Make sure you whisk constantly until all the flour is incorporated into the butter and there are no lumps. (You just made a roux! yay!)
6. Still whisking, add the milk. Continue to stir until milk is hot but not boiling.
7. In small handfuls, add the cheese. Whisk cheese into milk mixture until completely blended. (You may initially see clumping and sticking to the whisk, but just constantly whisk and it will all go away).
8. Continue to add cheese until it reaches a smooth consistency and the thickness of just made hot oatmeal.
9. Salt and pepper to taste.
10. Remove the cheese sauce from the heat and let stand for about 5 minutes to slightly thicken.
11. Pour cheese sauce over macaroni. Make sure to scrape all the sauce out, you don't want to waste any of that precious liquid gold.
12. Using a spatula or wooden spoon, mix the macaroni and cheese sauce. Make sure to break up any clumps of pasta that are stuck together.
13. Pour macaroni and cheese into the casserole dish.
14. Sprinkle 1/2 cup of remaining cheese over the top of the dish (you can now add some breadcrumbs if you'd like.)
15. Place dish in oven and bake for 20-25 minutes until the top is bubbling. (This gives the macaroni time to soak up all that delicious sauce.)
16. Remove and enjoy! But be careful it's wayyyyy hot! 

And there you go, some mac n cheese just for you. Overall timing for prep and cooking is about 35-45 minutes, you'll get faster as you make the dish more often.

Also, you can skip putting it in the oven if you like a creamy "just out of the box" mac n cheese. And play with cheeses, you'd be surprised at all the tasty variations you can make.

What are some of your favorite comfort-y foods?

You Will Die Alone, Partially Eaten by Cats

I'm in the mood to make more lists.

I was chatting with a couple friends the other night over copious amounts of beverages, and we were bemoaning the fact that we weren't in relationships. We joked about all the faults we had and questioned why it's so hard to find a guy in a city that is literally bursting at the seams with interesting people.

We laughed and cringed over embarrassing anecdotes that we had heard through other guys and girls. And, the idiotic things that we've done to somehow lose a guy in less than 10 minutes upon meeting them.

So, naturally liking all that I heard, I wrote them all down. Enjoy the richly ridiculous and sometimes lame actions that turned a number of male friends of yours off from a certain girl, be they friends that are girls or girlfriends or just a random girl they met in a bar. And yes, some of these things are from my own book of embarrassments. A few of them I combined because they made more sense as one general idea and whittled them down to the following (long) list:

How To Alienate Boys and Lose A Man in 40 Ways or Less:
For the New Acquaintances, Old Beaus and Man Friends in Your Life

(In no particular order)

1.     You have a man over, and your pet pulls out from the trash an utterly unmentionable object that it then proceeds to eat in front of the two of you.

2.     Vomit on him. This works especially well at any local establishment that sells alcohol.

3.     Call him, and then hang up when he answers. Except, it’s a cell, and he already had your name down in his contacts.

4.     Text him repeatedly with this symbol “?.” This is also your first text to him ever since you met him the night before.

5.     Drink too much. Then ask him if you’re pretty. When he says, “Sure” or “Yeah, I guess,” follow up with “Well then why won’t anyone go out with me!”

6.     Laugh hysterically at all your own horribly painful jokes.

7.     Playfully punch him one too many times in the arm.

8.     Confess your undying affection to him. Then, cry like a baby when he doesn’t respond the way you want him to. (This 99% of the time has to be in a public setting.)

9.     You have a man over, and your collection of granny panties are laying on the couch next to a pile of “clean clothes.”

10.  When a man talks about something he’s really into like MMA or video games, immediately retort that you hate that.

11. Write an anonymous love letter to him. Then, mail it, except you are required by the postal service to have return address on a piece of mail so now he knows it’s you.

12. Fake passing out to avoid all forms of intimacy.

13.  Tell him repeatedly that his friend is really hot.

14. When a man starts to appear interested in your flirtations and wants to get a little more serious, say you’ll be right back. But, you’re actually running to catch the last train home.

15. Upon meeting an interested man, ask him to dig your car out of the snow so you can leave the party.

16. Also, ask said man to ask all the other partygoers to move their cars. Then, leave without thanking him or catching his name.

17.  Lie about your age. Then, when you find out how young he actually is, tell him you could never date someone that young.

18.  Talk about your love of animals, especially cats and dogs. Showing him pictures of all your pets, or pets you’d like to have, also helps.

19. Maintain at least 10 stuffed animals displayed on your bed.

20. Have a trundle bed

21. Incessantly talk about things you hate about yourself like your thighs or cellulite.

22. Dress like a hobo and then attempt to be the “sexy” one.

23. As a joke, tell him you’re pregnant.

24. Try to push him onto your friends. Then, decide later you want him back.

25. Ignore his phone calls.

26. Trash-talk him to all your friends.

27.  Drink him under the table.

28. After a moment of heavy petting, don’t follow through.

29. Tell him he’s had too much to drink.

30. If/when he falls asleep, immediately leave. Army crawling is preferred.

31. After a night of fun, act like nothing happened if/when you see him again.

32.  Intimate that he is not allowed to hang out with any/all of his female friends.

33. Monopolize all of his time/life. Utilize tools such as Facebook, Gmail chat, AIM, Skype, conference calls, 4Square, etc.

34.  Encourage a new man to hang out with his friends. Then, become livid when he doesn’t call/text you in a timely manner.

35. Bring a new man to your place. Bring out your pet to show him. Kiss your pet and tell it that “Daddy’s home!”

36. Ask him to come with you to your babysitting gig.

37.  Invite him over for a movie night at your place. A double feature of movies based on Nicholas Sparks’ books.

38.  Ask him to read to you out loud. Criticize the way he pronounces words.

39.  Keep Elizabeth Wurtzel’s book Bitch out in your living room. Tell him you’re really into it and force him into a conversation about uneasy topics.

40.  Make him into a Murse (Man Purse). Have him store all of your personal belongings in his pockets. You shouldn’t have to haul around a purse that doesn’t match your outfit.

Well that's that. What are some moments in your possibly relationally challenged life that made you rethink whether you should start medicating yourself?

It's a New Year - With New Delusional Promises

Well hello 2011... into a new decade and life still keeps rushing by. It's like Ferris once said... I'm not going to quote it cause that's just ridiculous.

Anywho, in keeping with the spirit of a new year, I'd thought I'd go along and write a couple things down that are, I guess, resolutions for ye olde two thousand eleven. I'm not one to really go for these things as I NEVER keep any of them. Also, there is the need to drop some cash on these resolutions; I'm hoping that I can be frugal with everything without hurting myself.  If you have any suggestions, I'm all ears.
But, here goes:

1. Learn to draw - some people say that practice makes perfect. Well, I've been attempting to draw the same stupid cake design for the past few weeks to no avail. (I'm a nerd, I like to design things that I'll end up eating in tears) It still looks horrible. Depressingly horrible. In some instances, it appears to be a foot with a dying bouquet of flowers on top. I'm sure if I could even glean some basic sense in lines and perception and what not, I may be able to create some decent design to work off of. 
2. Learn to play the guitar - even if it's just a couple of chords and figuring out that darned TAB, it'd be nice to know what that crazy 6 stringed thing is all about. And, isn't it like the foundation of every metro/emo/bohemian to know how to play the guitar? Luckily the roomie has one so I don't need to make a possibly regrettable purchase. (I also realized that being good at Guitar Hero does not make me good at a real guitar.... *sigh)
3. Find a job - oh how I really need one!! With HEALTH BENEFITS for sure! (Not really helping my case by not really actively throwing my resume out there)
4. Get into shape - or at some semblance of a shape that's not a pear or apple. It's on everyone's list so might as well be here.
5. Do some yoga classes - never been but for some reason I own a yoga mat. What does that say about my sloth?
6. Learn to dance - seems like I'm leaning towards ballet as it would maybe mix well with the yoga, though I do have thoughts of grandeur to become the next Ginger Rogers so maybe some crazy ballroom lessons... but I think I'd have to find a partner for that. I've never been one for legit dancing. Except for that time (check it, 3 times) that my mother sent me to Cotillion dance classes where I learned how to waltz, jitterbug and macarena before that crazy macarena song came out. I am a macarena queen.
7. Explore NYC - it's funny how I hear from people that have lived here for a long time that they haven't gone to certain places in the city. I don't want to be one of those. I met a sweet elderly man once who every Saturday with his wife would pick a spot on a map of New York City and then they'd go there. Wander the day away. He joked that he couldn't remember half the things he saw or tried in those place, but he was happy to have gone and known that "hey, that's what Governor's Island looks like."
8. Clean the apartment - It seems trivial, but who has seriously done a DEEP clean of their place? Taken a whole weekend and scrubbed, swept, aired out the entire place? Not to mention the things that uselessly pile up everywhere. I know there are some posters that just sit waiting to be chucked. And those acres of dresses that I keep that I should let go of.
9. Speed Date - Yes, that's right. Speed Date. But not just any old speed dating. Speed dating where I'll create a ridiculous cover story then attempt to alienate every sketchy older man who decided that this was the place to pick up a chick. I'd love to really be in a relationship, but I'm gonna use this opportunity to be the worst possible version of myself. What can that be? Any suggestions? Maybe I'll find my ballroom dance partner. heh heh.
10. Read the Bible - seems lame to say this, but it'd be nice to read it cover to cover without giving up and stashing it away in my bookcase next to all my film books. Come to think of it, I should probably re-read some of those. I'm not a very religious person, though I am Catholic, so it seems like the right time to get back into something that I was once fully committed to.

There's a nice, tidy, realistic list of things... luckily, one of my friends is game for anything so she'll probably join me in most if not all of these. Always good to have a partner in crime to motivate you.

There will definitely be more things to do cause oh the vices!

Knowing my own nature as a lazy person, it may boil down to getting one or two things on this list completed. But, even accomplishing that much would be more than I ever did before.

Here's to a new year and hopefully less lame posts. 

Happy January! 

What Do I Care If Icicles Form... (A Grievance)

So what was supposed to be a fun and jam packed one week trip back to my hometown of Arlington, TX turned into a strained extra 4 days of me and a parent getting cabin fever and reaching our tippy top most limit of backhanded comments. This was all due to that wonderful white Christmas blizzard that swept across the Northeast. A major upside is I got to spend more time with friends I thought I wouldn't get to see. Downsides were having a bag lost on the way to Texas and then on the way to NYC, a cancelled flight, cancelled party and a general sense of "I bite my thumb at you" to anyone and everyone who works for or at an airport/airline.

I am now very happy. Happy that I'm back and doing whatever sad thing I do in my life. But in a new year!

That is until yesterday...

I love snow. I know from the sound of this post that I ardently hate it all. But coming from the South, I've always been partial to it all. The way it drifts and moves in the wind. How it goes from a fluffy downy substance to packed and hard and icy. The things you can build! Forts, people, weaponry, a veritable Eden in snow. I'm not bothered by the soggy boots, digging out your car, shoveling, dirty slush and the miserable sense that you're possibly going to die if you stand outside for any longer than 10 minutes. All of this is wonderous. It's so peaceful.

What really gets my craw is crap. Dog excrement and trash to be exact. 

It seems in the grand scheme of the OMG there's a huge snowstorm outside what do we do/day after tomorrow-esque weather pattern that came through Manhattan people forgot one important thing. Curb your effing dog. Just because there's wondrous snow littering the expanse of the city doesn't mean you can just let your dog squat anywhere and then walk off like the snow is just going to cover it up forever. I'm sorry if it's snowing so hard you can barely see. But, it's really not that hard to spot your dog's business against the backdrop of sheer whiteness. It will literally take you the 5-10 seconds it usually takes you any other time out of the year to pick up after your pet. Because you know what dog owner? When the snow melts, there's feces everywhere. And you're an unsuspecting person walking down the street with some other people and you think, what is all this? And then you step in it. And you realize you're walking in a minefield of crap. Literally. Then all day the next day that's all you see.  And you're scared to go outside cause it's all there. And that stuff doesn't get cleaned!

And the trash... like the dog business, when the snow melts away, you see all the insane amounts of trash that's been littered all over the street. Because snow "magically" recycles trash too right? WRONG! And then you trip over a plastic bottle and fall awfully close to what could be a pile of dog business while walking to the bus, and you curse the day that people stopped using a trash can.

So that's that. Lots of buildup in a post to rant on for just a paragraph. What's a grievance that you'd like to air about the past year? Something that really just bothers you that a massive amount of the population in your area seems to do?

Culinary Experimentation

I got home last night from a very pleasant (albeit somewhat scary due to the weather) car ride from Boston to New York. After I had thoroughly thrown my belongings all over the living room, I was famished. So I went into the kitchen and lo and behold there was nothing. Well, I shouldn't say nothing... just that there was less than something in the fridge and cabinets. With what little things I did find though, I made something akin to an ok and not too unhealthy meal (I hope).

Here's what I had available:
1 can of cannellini beans
1 sprig of drying rosemary
1 box of baby arugula
3 oz of chevre
3 small onions
1 shriveled lemon
2 cans of chicken stock
verge of being stale Ziploc baggie of crostini
an almost empty box of Kashi shredded wheat cereal
a half full box of oreos (Costco sized)
1 pint of cream
1 pint of milk (1 day away from expiration)
various condiments and spices and baking supplies

Needless to say, I've got a nice little beggared kitchen going on post Thanksgiving. I am also quite loathe to purchase any additional groceries cause I'll be going home to the Lone Star state next week... Anywho,

Here is what I made out of all of it:

Arugula and goat cheese salad with a sherry-mustard vinaigrette
Cannelini bean dip with crostini
Almost frozen cereal cookies n cream

This being a blog that starts with the word nosh, I thought I'd write out the little recipes as I've seemingly been lagging in "nosh" notes. Please bear with me as I just threw this together without measuring a thing... give it a whirl if you've got the time! And, I've got to take pictures of these things as proof!

Let's start from dessert:
Almost frozen cereal cookies n cream
I remembered this article I read about Momofuku Milk Bar's cereal milk softserv that they have there. It sounded so weird but also like the perfect treat. So I gave it a go with what little concept I had.

Ingredients:
5 oreos - crushed into bits
6-8 pieces of Kashi shredded wheat cereal - crushed
1 cup - milk
1 cup - cream
about 3 Tb of sugar
pinch of salt
dash of vanilla extract

Dissolve the sugar and salt completely in a mixing bowl with the milk, cream and vanilla. Add the oreos and cereal. Mix thoroughly.  Cover with plastic wrap and place in freezer. I did about 2 hours.
Mind you I have an ice cream attachment for my Kitchen Aid but sheer laziness for correctly making ice cream led me to just freeze the whole thing. I started freaking out a little bit as I realized this may taste like the worst thing in the world. Also, it looked a little weird when I pulled it out of the freezer, what with the lumps of shredded wheat.
VERDICT: Tasty, sweet, visually unappealing but holy jeez it was like eating breakfast for dessert which I have to say is awesome. I think next time I'd like to properly assemble it all with the ice cream attachment.

Cannellini Bean Dip
This was something I had made for Thanksgiving so I just went with the flow.

Ingredients:
1 can of cannellini beans (drained)
1/2 sprig of rosemary - leaves removes and minced
1/2 cup of chicken stock
about 3-4 Tb of onions - minced
about 1 tsp of lemon zest
about 2 tsp of lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste
olive oil for sauteing + a little for the end

Saute the onions and rosemary in a small pot until the onions are tender. Add the chicken stock and beans. Simmer on the stove for about 10-15 minutes until the beans are completely heated through and the stock has reduced a little. In a blender or with a hand blender, puree the mixture. Add lemon juice and zest and a dollop of olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Serve with crostini or sliced french bread.
VERDICT: Absolutely yummy! And very filling which is a good thing. If I had pita, I would have used it like hummus. This recipe is usually quadrupled for gatherings as an appetizer.

Arugula and goat cheese salad with a sherry-mustard vinaigrette
A very simple salad that combines all my favorite things - cheese, arugula, mustard. I like my salad dressings on the more acidic side so you can tone down the mustard and other tart things if you want.

Ingredients:
About 2 cups of arugula
1 oz of goat cheese (chevre)
1 Tb - mustard (preferably something grainy or deli style)
4 Tb - olive oil
1 Tb - sherry vinegar
1 Tb of minced onions
salt and pepper to taste

For the vinaigrette, combine the mustard, vinegar and minced onions with a whisk. With the bottom of a wooden spoon, mash the onions in the mixture. While whisking the mixture, slowly add the olive oil until fully incorporated. Add salt and pepper to taste.
In a mixing bowl, toss the arugula with the vinaigrette. Top with bits of goat cheese.
VERDICT: Seriously, how can you not like a good salad? The chevre really adds a little something to the arugula and dressing. It's so savory and filling!

Overall and in the end, I'm pretty happy with the random nature of the meal last night. And, I had leftovers of the dip for me to snack on at lunch the next day. I also can't wait to try some more of that Cereal Cookies n Cream tonight. I mean hey, I could have done worse. Like, ordering out. :)

What do you think? Could I have made it better? Worse? Different dishes all together?
What was your favorite impromptu meal?

And yes, I know I'm playing with fire when I make ice cream with milk that has one day to go....

Singles Ads

Ok Facebook, gmail, other sites I frequent... I know that you know in your smart HAL mind that I'm single. It's written everywhere. I should probably take it off my profile so you'll leave me alone. But wait... you won't cause now you know.

No I don't want love horoscopes and single meets at some place that I have to pay $30 to attend to chat with other poor saps just like me. I'm not in the mood for dating through religious websites such as "Christian Dating" and "Catholic Match" where the slogans read God Loves You and So Let Him Divine You A Partner.

I rather liked it when the only pop-ups and sidebar links were for things like clothes and tickets and movie reviews and the occasional porn link. But now... now you're just rubbing it in my human face with your digital palm the stink of loneliness. Well joke's on you internet cause I am happy in my world of friends and nights out and movie rentals. And even though you tempt me with sites like plentyoffish.com where the matchmaking is free, if I wanted to be matched, I would have asked Tevya to get the old lady in the village.
That's all.

You're the man, Steve Buscemi

Of all the people in the world of entertainment, I would have to subjectively say that Steve Buscemi is one of the best. (Right up there with my all time favorite Liev Schreiber.) His very unique features, voice and mannerisms are known to everyone who has seen a movie or TV show in the past couple decades. This may sound like a love letter to some. To those some, I say yes, you are correct. I love Steve Buscemi. Love the fact that he can play lowbrow characters in Adam Sandler films and yet also, the brooding, sad figure in others. Calling an actor versatile in this day and age is as common as hearing Kanye West freak out at someone. Apparently, there are Disney kids who are "versatile" for acting like a psycho patient in an episode of "Grey's Anatomy." Hmmm, I disagree. Buscemi, however, is, in true form, an actor with versatility. I mean seriously. From Reservoir Dogs and Con Air to Big Daddy and The Wedding Singer. Complete psychotic messes to drunken, silly fools. And, even though he's almost always a supporting character or bit part in a film, he always comes away as one of the more memorable moments in a show or film. He's one of those foils that either directly or indirectly spurs some leading character into action. Like a Rosencrantz or Guildenstern with a hint of Horatio in the mix. Unfortunately, like R&G, he usually ends up dead.

Below are a number of personal favorite moments in cinematic history that were made better by the addition of a Mr. Steve Buscemi:

1. Con Air (Garland "The Marietta Mangler" Greene) - First off, hooray! He lives at the end of the film! And, he's apparently a reformed psychotic serial killer. Aside from Nicholas Cage's flowing locks and semi-authentic Southern accent, this movie was a fun Bruckheimer film that made you believe that there are only 2 kinds of people who go to prison. The misunderstood "I was just protecting my pregnant wife from hecklers" ex-soldier, and the "I really am a bad guy, so bad I'm going to hijack this plane of other prisoners and then call it Con Air." With his Silence of the Lambs-esque entrance into the film and his comic relief ending (once you forget that he was sent to jail for extreme murders), Buscemi really helps flesh out this wild action romp that was pretty much the heyday of "Nicholas Cage super action superstar"-mania.
2. Armageddon (Rockhound) - Another Bruckheimer film? And he lives again!? Apparently Jerry's got some lovin' for Steve. As a perv, hypersexual drilling expert (for offshore oil rigs that is), Buscemi is again the comedic outlet to this doomsday via asteroid film that was notable for a few things: Bruce Willis bad assery and bad one-liners, Aerosmith theme music, it came out the same time as Deep Impact (which was less fun) and it marked the start of a very promising career for Ben Affleck as an actor... or did it? All in all, a good film for Steve and very enjoyable.
3. Living In Oblivion (Nick Reve) - A film school favorite that pretty much represents all the angst and frustration that any director is going to have with a film on any budget. As the beleaguered director, Buscemi gives a great performance as that "I'm going slightly mad" character that wants to throttle you with his bare hands while also trying to get the job done as nicely as he can. Everything about this film stands out from its excellent cast including Dermot Mulroney and Kevin Corrigan as DP and AC to the shooting style. A must for everyone. And, of course, Steve Buscemi is the lead!
4. The Big Lebowski (Donny Kerabatsos) - Talk about giving an amazing performance with the least amount of screen time. His role is minute in this film, but the way that Jeff Bridges and John Goodman's characters play off of Buscemi are hilarious. From Goodman's rants on just about everything to the quintessential "Shut the f*** up, Donny," Buscemi's character is probably one of the greatest (mostly silent) observers of human nature as he attempts to follow the combinations of his two cohorts. Fun fact: Buscemi has appeared in more Coen Brother's films than any other actor and has died in about half of them... this being one of them (spoiler alert)
5. Boardwalk Empire (Enoch 'Nucky' Thompson) - The fact that I pay over the internet to watch this show instead of biding my time for it to come out on DVD kind of says a lot. In it's first season on HBO, this show has really got something going. If you haven't seen the show yet, do it now. Maybe it's because I have a thing for period dramas/shows, but nothing says amazing like prohibition-era violence and power. At first I was a little skeptical that Buscemi could pull off leading man in a series. Especially a character that seems so corrupt and yet morally divided. But, after the first couple episodes I was hooked. He broods, he gets down and dirty and at the same time tries to fill a personal void with children and love. It seems cut and dry, but this show has its complexities that keep it stellar through each episode. Also, Steve's getting to show off a range of acting that one rarely sees from someone who played "Lazy Eyes" in Mr. Deeds.

I know I've left out a lot of good films and shows that Steve Buscemi was in like Reservoir Dogs, Fargo, 30 Rock, The Sopranos, Ghost World, The Hudsucker Proxy, Airheads... but if I did that then this would seem a little bit stalker-ish on my part.

Speaking of stalker-ish, I'll leave you with some random tidbits about Mr. Pink Steve Buscemi:

• He grew up in Valley Stream, NY
• Was a fireman of the NYFD. After the WTC Towers fell, he worked as a volunteer with the NYFD to sift through rubble and look for missing firefighters. He is still a volunteer fireman today.
• He originally auditioned for the part of George Costanza on "Seinfeld"
• In April of 2001, he was stabbed in the head, throat and arm at the Firebelly Lounge in Wilmington, NC. Actor Vince Vaughn was arrested for fighting back one of the attackers.
• In his youth, he was struck by a bus and also a car.

You'd think he was more taciturn in his early days.

What were some of your best moments of Steve Buscemi? Private Investigator from 30 Rock? Poor wood chipped criminal in Fargo?