Ah, you’ve gotta love the unintentional comedy. I mean, they’re lighthouses, right?
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This illustration by artist Jason Freeny finally sheds light on the inner anatomy of the wild Gummi Bear. No longer does science have to rely on primitive guesswork when diagnosing the rubbery candy’s common ailments.
Is there a Nobel Prize for candy research? If there is, Freeny deserves it. One can only hope that his next task is to apply his groundbreaking research to the Gummy Venus de Milo.
If you like the illustration, go order it as a print.
All of the McDonalds family is in mourning after the death of one of their beloved visionaries. Herb Peterson, the man who invented McDonalds’ most popular breakfast sandwich, the Egg McMuffin, died on Tueday at age 89.
The rebellious Peterson created the Egg McMuffin at a time when McDonalds didn’t even serve breakfast. While McDonalds president Ray Kroc liked the idea, Peterson was reprimanded for serving breakfast behind the company’s back. That’s the sort of thanks he got for creating the idea that now accounts for at least %20 of McDonalds’ sales.
Now, personally I hate the Egg McMuffin. If I’m going to eat breakfast at McDonalds it’s probably going to be the artery-clogging yumminess that is the Sausage McGriddle. That being said, I salute you Mr. Peterson, for giving us overeaters a morning outlet for our compulsive eating!
At the intersection of “geeky” and “culinarily handy” you’ll find these little gems: cookies-based pixels formed into an homage to the 8-bit glory that is Tetris.
Flickr user Eva Funderburgh has posted pictures along with instructions on how to make your own pixel cookies. Turns out the real secret is in standard Play Doh tools…
Check out all the pictures and instructions
When ESPN sent a crew to New Mexico State University to cover a football game they sent Rob Stone to shoot a little flavor piece for the broadcast. Unfortunately for Rob the flavor was OUCH. NMSU is where they grow the world’s hottest chili pepper, the Bhut Jolokia. Rob was game for trying one. So he did his lead in to the story, then casually took a bite of the pepper. Watch to find out what happened next…
Twisted, but funny…
I have no idea how they did this, but it’s funny anyway:
From our wacky friends in Japan comes what’s got to be the world’s least healthy pizza: The Pizza Hut Double Roll. It called your cheese-stuffed crust and raised you hot dogs. And pieces of hamburgers. And does the maple leaf mean there’s Canadian Bacon hiding in there somewhere? My cholesterol just went up from looking at the picture…
via Plastic Bamboo
So pissed that I didn’t think of this…
An enterprising entrepreneur in Winnipeg has come up with a brilliant idea. Here’s how it works: You call and order a pizza. Porno Pizza delivers your pizza. As you eat your pizza a pornographic picture is revealed underneath. This is simply genius.
The true American hero behind the Bob Evans restaurant and a very tasty breakfast sausage died today. Don’t worry, it was from complications from pneumonia, not heart disease. So don’t go blaming his super delicious pork product. Back off vegetarians. Let the man rest in peace.
via Houston Chronicle and Fark (with a great headline: “Bob Evans now permanently down on the farm. Abe Froman unavailable for comment”)
I’m not personally afraid of clowns, but now I understand why some people are… And yes, that’s Willard Scott as Ronald McDonald.
The Deli attached to our hotel was selling these sandwiches. In case you can’t read the little sign, they’re barbecue pork buns. Shaped and decorated like pigs. That. Is. AWESOME! There’s something a little twisted about it, which is what I love about it. What’s next? A chicken sandwich with a beak? Or maybe a cheeseburger with some udders or horns on top? The possibilities are endless!
In the underpass we took on the way to Wal-Mart there were dozens of restaurants and snack stands. Everything from noodle bowls to McDonalds. Plus these tasty little guys: Little baby bird kabobs. That’s right, baby birds, deep fried whole, shoved on a stick. With your choice of two seasoning mixes. Now what could be better than that?
Ok, so I didn’t actually try the baby bird kabobs. Instead I had a pork kabob with some kind of sweet & sour sauce. It was very good, and cost a grand total of $.08. Gotta love exchange rates…
Poor Howard. Hate to see him go that way. He was sure tasty though. Mmm mmm. He was very tricky to eat with chopsticks though. In case you can’t tell from the picture, it was a whole duck. I don’t mean a whole duck like you see in the States. I mean a WHOLE duck. Head, feet, bones, guts, and all. Hacked up with a cleaver and thrown into a wok with sauce, then served over sterno. It tasted very good, but the bones it very tricky, even for our Chinese guide.
In the “I like each of these things separately, but together?” category, the twisted folks at Nosheteria bring you Bacon Popcorn. The basic process seems to be frying up some bacon, then cooking the popcorn in the bacon grease, then crumble the bacon over the popcorn (with a little salt & pepper).
Popcorn is something of a blank canvas for flavors, so in theory this could be good. But for some reason it just seems wrong. Now maybe if you add some cheddar cheese powder to the equation…
via Serious Eats
(Note: even if this tastes terrible it’s good to have around just to irritate vegetarians. Hooray meat!)
It’s no secret to anyone that knows me that I love spicy food. The hotter the better. My burritos cause misery. My chili causes casualties. I even ate a raw habanero one time (but that’s a whole other story…). So I was very excited to hear that New Mexico State University has discovered the hottest chili pepper in the world: The Bhut Jolokia. Look at the thing. It just looks evil. All red and wrinkled like Satan’s nutsack.
For those of you not into the sado-masochistic world of spicy food, heat is measured in something called Scoville Units. It’s a measure of the amount of the heat-causing compound capsaicin. As a matter of comparison, green bell peppers rate a big fat 0 Scoville Units. Jalapenos come in between 2,500 and 8,000. Habaneros get up to 350,000. These Bhut Jolokias got a 1,001,304. Yep you read that right. On a different scale, jalapenos make you say “Huh, that was kind of spicy”. Habeneros make you say “holy fucking shit, I’m retarded for putting that in my mouth.” So I’m imagining Bhut Jolokias make you pass out. Bring it on! Can’t wait to mix up a batch of chili with these things. Who’s in?
Anthony Bourdain (chef, writer, and tv host extraordinaire) has posted his take on the current Food Network personalities. It’s witty and insightful, and as usual, it pulls no punches. He gives his views on everyone from Rachael Ray to Alton Brown to Bobby Flay. Here’s a snippet of his opinion of Emeril:
I’m actually grateful when I channel surf across his show. He’s STILL there–the original Behemoth. And I STILL find him unwatchable.
I think Anthony Bourdain is brilliant, and I generally agree with his take on the Food Network gang. If you’re the slightest bit interested in food and you haven’t read his books (especially Kitchen Confidential
Pastafarians, college students, and South Koreans are in mourning following the death of Momofuku Ando, inventor of instant ramen noodles, and founder of the Nissin Food Products Co.
The ubiquitous ramen noodles are more than a food. They are a touchstone of our culture, providing a link between people all over the world, sparking books, movies, and music.
For these reasons I think we should nominate Ando for a Nobel Prize in Cheap Food. Who’s with me? I mean, Norman Borlaug got the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970 just for growing rice and saving a billion people. Ando created ramen noodles which are much tastier than rice. Plus 44.3 billion packs were sold in China alone in 2005. There’s scientific proof that Ando is at least 44.3 times more deserving of a Nobel Prize.
The right-thinking individuals over at Serious Eats have posted a review of a restaurant that serves Deep Fried Pizza.
The idea apparantly comes from (you guessed it), the Scots, whose previous hits include the Deep Fried Mars Bar and hagis. Foods that inspired Mike Myers (as Charlie MacKenzie in So I Married an Axe Murderer), to say “I think most Scottish cuisine is based on a dare”.
I’m pretty convinced the deep frying is a good way to cook darn near anything (especially bacon). However, when I first saw this I was very, very skeptical. But the more I think about it, the more I think it’s basically a pre-dipped mozzerella stick. And that sounds very tasty. Very tasty indeed. Might be time to dig out the old deep frier…
Are you a fan of Taco Bell? Did you ever wonder where the Chili Cheese Burrito disappeared to? Well look no further than chilicheese.org a website devoted totally to the general disappearance of the Chili Cheese burrito from the Taco Bell Menu. In fact this website even goes so far as to chart which Taco Bells in the country still carry the product.
I will admit that while I’ve stopped eating fast food (and NO it has nothing to do with “Fast Food Nation“), I will still occasionally go to Taco Bell, and have sometimes wondered what happened to the Chili Cheese Burrito. As a teenager it was probably my favorite item there.
Also in the interest of full disclosure I have stopped at the Taco Bell in Fayetteville, NC when traveling in the area for the simple fact that they still serve the Chili Cheese Burrito.
As I said “This Place Has Everything”….. The internet that is.
The internet is fertile ground for the niche. Unlike print, radio, or TV, the cost of entry is next to nothing, meaning that more people are able to publish about their passions. In traditional media if you publish something and only a few people read it you won’t be able to meet the monetary requirements to keep publishing. But on the internet, a site that only has a few loyal readers can keep going for about the cost of feeding a starving child in Africa. This leads to a wide variety of niche sites, each perfectly suited to its small but zealous readers. All of this is just a long winded way of saying I found a site that speaks to me deeply. I now present to you, for your reading pleasure, A Hamburger Today. (Go ahead, go read it. You can come back and thank me later).
Reasons why A Hamburger Today is genius:
- Hamburgers have been scientifically proven to be nature’s perfect food.
- Quality of hamburgers varies widely from restaurant to restaurant. From piles of monkey puke (Fuddruckers) to steamed pillows of glory (White Castle), to the best damn burger on the planet (Mike’s Grill, Blacksburg, VA). Because of this, it’s important to have someone rate burgers at various places, so we know what we’re getting into
- Who doesn’t love looking at pictures of burgers?
Ah, Mike’s Grill. My vote for “Happiest Place on Earth” (screw you Walt!). I’m going to get you a little drunk on words before I show you the money shot. Mike’s opened for business in 1976 (ooh, me too!) and the smart money bets that they haven’t cleaned the grill since. That’s the secret. The waitresses wear shorts all year (ooh, also like me!), the prices haven’t changed in years, and if, for some reason, you’re not in the mood for a burger, you can get a calzone the size of your head. They allegedly have pizza also, but I’ve never been able to substantiate that. Ok, are you ready now?
Reasons Mike’s is the best:
- The grill. Don’t think they ever clean it. Don’t think they ever should.
- The prices. Two people can have burgers, fries, and sodas for about $12. Gotta love college towns
- The decor. Faux wood panelling everywhere.
- They serve the burgers upside down. I asked why one time. The waitress told me it so the grease doesn’t soak through the thinner bottom bun. I love this place
These things pretty much kept me alive for a year in middle school.
Note the “Artificially Flavored” disclaimer on the wrapper. Good thing that was there. Wouldn’t want kids to think they were flavored with actual mutant turtle.
These things had a lot going for them:
- They were a tie-in to a very hot commodity. TMNT was HUGE in 1990.
- They were filled with pudding. Not just pudding in fact, but Puddin’ Power!
- They came with trading cards. You can probably send your kids through college if you have a full set of them
- They were sold in our school’s cafeteria. Hmmm….wonder where my taste for junk food came from…
Sadly they don’t make these anymore. Haven’t for years. Another part of my childhood gone forever…
