For starters, Red Cat is not a burger, nor is it a sandwich of any sort. Red Cat is a wine. A delicious, delicious wine.

My first exposure to Red Cat was a few years ago when I lived in the Finger Lakes region in New York. The Finger Lakes are known for their wineries and are quite popular up and down the eastern seaboard. Finding any in Los Angeles is a challenge. Let me tell you about the wine, then tell you how I went about acquiring some.

Red Cat is produced by Hazlitt 1852 Vineyards in Hector, NY. Hector is a SMALL town along the eastern shore of Seneca Lake. If memory serves me if you blink you will miss it.

From the website: “Red Catawba and Baco Noir make this semi-sweet red an irresistable compliment to pizza, burgers, wings or a hot tub.”

The wine is a bright red and comes in a clear bottle to let that color shine through. To me, it has a nice but not too sweet taste. It is best served with comfort foods. It does not pair well with pastas or a nice steak. It does complement your Double Double or whatever you have picked up. C’mon, the label has a cartoon cat in a hot tub.

The winery will not direct ship to California, (Other NYS wineries do, by the way) so my only other recourse was to make the journey from the San Fernando Valley to Tustin and visit Total Wine.

I’ve long been a proponent of mass transit, and I saw that Total Wine was along a bus route accessible by Metrolink so I chose to depart from the Van Nuys train station for the voyage to Tustin. The train was running way behind due to a disabled Amtrak train further up the line. This pushed my whole timetable off. I had hoped to make a round trip via Metrolink since it is the most direct transit route. Ends up that with the delay I missed the last train back to LA. That meant a bus trip from Tustin all the way back to downtown LA and then the Red Line back to the SFV. Yeah. Thrilling to say the least.

My time at Total Wine was short. I knew what I was looking for, and it was right there on the shelf waiting for me. I had hoped to pick up some other Finger Lakes wines, but that was just a little too much to ask for. Took my three bottles of Red Cat to the register, gave the cashier a little story about how I used to live near the winery and how it is just impossible to get out here and I came from the Valley to get it. He seemed impressed.

Had some time to kill thanks to me missing the last train so I had my first McRib of the year. Haven’t had one of those in a long time. Review pending.

My travels back took me past several places I have not been to yet. I now know where Disneyland is. I’ve only been out here a year and haven’t been there yet. I’m more of a Walt Disney World type of person.

All-in-all, it took about nine hours to aquire $24 worth of wine. Worth it? Yes. Will I take mass transit again to get it? Probably not. Will I ask BevMo if they will order it? Yes.

Should you try Red Cat? Hey, I don’t review wines. Don’t take my word for it.

2910 East High Street

Cast in the eerie shadows of the twin towers of the Limerick Nuclear Power Plant lies the Philadelphia Premium Outlet Mall, a mecca for consumers that in just a few days will cast its siren song southward to lure Black Friday shoppers and welcome their efforts to spur the economy through ritualistic spending at Nike, Adidas, Jockey, Le Creuset and the thankfully curable Perfumania (not to mention food offerings such as the painfully punny Chinese stand called Asian Chao).

What was even just a few months ago a barren field now teems with activity, forever in the present with today’s hottest fashions and modern trends.  At the exit ramp off of Route 422 drivers are offered barely the chance to turn away from the mall, almost by centripetal force their cars are willed to turn left and ease into the acres of available free parking. But for those who can fight the potent inertia of drastically reduced prices on factory seconds and previous year’s stock (or perhaps more realistically forestall their entry into the maelstrom for a few moments) there is a reward for steering your car to the right at the end of the ramp – The Hilltop Drive-In.

In stark contrast to the not so accurately named outlet mall (anyone from these parts will know they are nowhere near Philadelphia, Google Maps pegs it at just over 29 miles from City Hall to the Wilson’s Leather Outlet), the Hilltop sits as a pink-hued reminder of a bygone era and the simple pleasures of a pre-fast food chain dominated burger landscape.

Make no mistake, this is not the best burger you will ever eat, but the overall experience makes it well worth the effort and miles.  Add equal parts classic architecture, hand-spun milkshakes and malts, black and white photographs and retro signage and you’ve got yourself the ideal destination for a lazy Sunday drive to the far reaches of the suburban Philly telephone area code.

On this my second trip to the joint I ordered the California Cheeseburger, so-named for the appearance of (gasp!) vegetables which, at a time in our country, must have been viewed as exotic and otherworldly, just like the Golden State.  Two perfectly acceptable fast food size and style beef patties were joined on the white, squishy burger bun by a piece of American cheese, sliced raw onions, tomato, shredded lettuce and mayo.  (I substituted the kaiser roll which this sandwich is usually served on for a regular burger bun due to my long held belief that a kaiser roll has no business being near a burger.)

I had forgotten the pure pleasure of eating a burger with heaps of mayo on it. Despite the results of A Hamburger Today’s “Favorite Condiment” poll back in August, far too few of the burgers we eat have mayonnaise on them.  Why not?  Adding more fat to a burger seems like a no-brainer, and at the Hilltop, which uses some brand that bridges the chasm between Hellman’s egginess and the sweetness of its arch enemy Miracle Whip, the gooey-ness continuum that is created with the inevitable mingling of the white American cheese and mayo is pure perfection.  That moment of self-questioning “was that the cheese or the mayo?” works well in the burger as grease delivery vehicle equation.

The Hilltop’s roots reach back to the 1950’s when it was a Carvel outpost and the shakes and malts served today are legit.  I had a chocolate malt on my first trip and it was perfect, deeply chocolaty with flecks of slightly bitter malt powder.  Soft-serve cones and sundaes are available as well and I can imagine in the summer time they do a fare bit of business cooling off the locals with these treats.

One of the great surprises of The Hilltop is that they serve Good’s Potato Chips from nearby Adamstown, PA.  An old-school producer of no-frills, fried in lard chips, Good’s have become a strictly rationed treat in our house (Philly area folks can get them closer to home at The Head Nut in Ardmore) and as served here are the perfect accompaniment to your burger.  They also offer pretty good french fries, McDonald’s style thin cuts fried up crisp and tasty, but when presented with the chip option they slip into second place.

Special mention must be given of their crab bisque soup.  With our proximity to Baltimore and the Chesapeake Bay, decent crab doesn’t seem like it would be too hard to come across, but it certainly wasn’t expected in this kind of setting and truly stole the show on our first visit.

Huge thanks to ModBetty of Retro Roadmap for bringing The Hilltop to my attention via her great post and pictures (special notice should be given of the early ’50’s black and white image she shares of the Hilltop as a Carvel -complete with a rogues gallery of patrons straight out of central casting).  Her site is packed with other great info and she is the rare Keystone state resident with actual duckpin bowling experience.

Keller’s Drive-In
Address: 6537 E Northwest Hwy, Dallas, TX 75231
Phone: (214) 368-1209
Website: N/A
Known For: Burgers
What I had: Special No. 5 with Grilled Onions & Tater Tots
Price: $4.68
Rating: 8.5 out of 10

I’m having a hard time remembering how I first heard about Keller’s Drive-In but thank you to whomever mention it. This place is awesome. It’s a good ol’ American Car Hop, matter of fact there aren’t even tables here. I think they may have a few benches somewhere but I didn’t actually see them. They bring your food on a car tray and you’ve got no other choice but to eat it that way.  I tried to walk up and they acted strange and a little uncertain on how to handle me. There is no place to order at the building, the car hop comes to you. You’ll see people eating it like Fred Flintstone from within the car or some place the tray on their trunk or hood adopting a more picnic-style dining experience (this is how I decided to eat).

They’ve got burgers, hot dogs, corndogs, french fries, tater tots & onion rings, and they’re ridiculously cheap. You can add bacon, cheese, patties, chili, etc. all for around $.50 each. You really could make any sort of burger that your tummy desires.

I ordered their “Special No. 5″ which is a double cheeseburger, with tomato, lettuce and their special sauce. Funny thing is there are not really other “No.”s, I think maybe there is a No. 8 but that’s it. I also got grilled onions which come free with any burger.

It was a fantastic burger, the meat was nice. It was two good old griddled patties and very fresh tasting. Obviously nothing frozen here.  The produce was extremely fresh. The special sauce was good, just your typical blend of various condiments (mayo, ketchup, mustard, etc). Now that poppy seed bun was awesome. I love a good squishy, fluffy bun and this was just that. I also hate when a bun is not substantial enough and disintegrates in your hands and this did not do that. Overall this burger was darn tasty. The tater tots were a nice addition that you can’t order just anywhere. They were cook perfectly crisp, not to oily.

I really like this place. This is quintessential American fast food from back in the days when it didn’t have such a negative connotation. This is what that national chain place (I’m not even going to mention names) tries so hard to be. If you need to be flung back to a simpler time when going to grab a burger was a treat and something a bit special this is where to head. If you’re anywhere near Keller’s be sure to drive on up, park and wait for a Hop to come your way. She’ll quickly bring you out a nice tray full of tasty treats.

Special No. 5 with Grilled Onions

Tater Tots

Burger & Tots

Further reading:
www.yelp.com/biz/kellers-drive-in-dallas
www.dallas.citysearch.com/profile/9620189/dallas_tx/keller_s_drive_in.html
www.tripadvisor.com/Reviews-Keller_s_Drive_in-Dallas_Texas.html

Sep 5, 2009 @ 12:00

Remember those German cheeseburgers-in-a-can?  The ones that were rumored to be extremely nasty?  Well, the one in my living room expired a week ago, which naturally meant that it had to be eaten.  Here’s a summary in ten pictures.  Conclusions follow.

Curiosity killed the cat.

Our incredible volunteer popping it open. Everyone gasped. We crowded around. Nothing spewed out screaming like in Ghostbusters.

Popped open the other side and shucked it out. Dry bread! Someone said his hands now smelled like meat. Someone else said they smelled like poo. Someone had better have been wrong.

No campfire, so into the microwave it went! Our volunteer requested the "nuclear" setting, but we just settled for "high" for 30 seconds...

...and it came out steaming! Appetizing, no?

Modern art: the empty can.

Oh. My. God.

I shuddered at this point.  (Click the photos to expand!)

What goes better with a cheeseburger from a can than a glass of fine French red wine, of course? No ketchup or other condiments were added, in order not to taint the subtle flavors carefully engineered using the best in German technology.

Chompin' down. He did his best.

He didn't finish.

Our excellent volunteer with a steel stomach concluded a few points about this thing:

1.  It’s better than Quick.
2.  The meat actually tasted like meat.
3.  The meat also tasted like paper.
4.  The “cheese” had plenty of something awful.
5.  If you were stuck in the woods somewhere and had this canned burger, you could eat it without dying.

So there you go.  Not good at all, but in the end, you could do worse.  Three cheers for German innovation!

It was Friday night in Ottawa and with nothing to do, I decided to try and top my nacho recipe from a few weeks ago.  I’m still getting emails, text messages and comments about it, so I figure it would be quite a challenge.

Tonight’s recipe? Nearly perfect cheeseburgers and poutine.  Why “nearly perfect”? Because it was 9 o’clock at night and I didn’t feel like making the burgers from scratch so I used frozen ones. Deal with it.

And for those not familiar with poutine — because maybe you’ve never been to Canada or live somewhere where only healthy food is served — it’s a French-Canadian creation that took “cheese fries” to a whole new level.  It wasn’t enough just to drown the fries with cheese, they added gravy to the mix.

For the burgers, I chose frozen Thick n’ Juicy patties courtesy of the folks at President’s Choice.  Say what you will about store brands, PC actually makes a surprisingly large and tasty variety of items. While Galen Weston gets on my nerves with his commercials and need to make everyone bring their own bags, the man makes a damn good burger patty.

Now on to the poutine. In keeping with the whole “Loblaws” theme, I decided to go back to the well and grab some noname sauce.  I also thought it appropriate to have the french side of the can facing the camera since we are making poutine.

And for the record, the curd cheese comes from St Albert, Ontario where each year in August, they have — I kid you not — a Curd Festival where they celebrate all things curd.  Mark the date now, kids.

The fries are just your garden variety frozen french fries, found in your local supermarket freezer, or chances are, somewhere in the back of your own freezer, probably holding up the ice cube trays. Cook them as per instructions on the bag — all good food comes with instructions on the bag — and then add the cheese curds and hot gravy.

I know the fries should probably be cooked in a deep fryer, but as luck would have it, that’s the one kitchen gadget I don’t have.  So if anyone has my name in this year’s gift exchange…

Burger toppings shouldn’t be boring — even though the patties and fries are — so here’s what you can do.  Chop some onions and mushrooms and saute them until golden brown.  Add them once the burgers are done.

Now, since last time with the nachos, I caught a fair amount of flack for not including jalapenos, I decided to make up for this time ’round with the cheese.  Monterrey Jack cheeses — with jalapenos.

It’s now time to make the burgers.  Drop your patties on a grill or BBQ and cook for about six minutes on both sides. Once the burgers are browned — and cooked throughout — add the cheese.

To get the cheese to melt evenly, place a bowl over them and let the steam do the rest.

Everyone knows that the bun does half the work when it comes to a burger.  If the bun sucks, then the burger will suck.  It’s simple logic.

I like to use Kaiser rolls from Golden Mill Bakery, which as some might know, is owned by Weston.  They are light and fluffy and add some taste, but most importantly, don’t distract from the burger itself.

By this time, your fries-in-the-oven will be ready and you can take them out.  Make your burger and top it the way you like, add curds and gravy to fries and there you go.  Friday night dinner!

Okay, I did take the cheap way out as most stuff was from a freezer or a can, so next time I’ll be more creative when it comes to making something to eat.

Quick dinner from a few weeks back when a 1/2 day at work gave me the opportunity to hit up two different farmers markets for ingredients.  A Le Bus Whole Wheat Burger bun was the perfect foundation for our burger mix of natural, (primarily) grass-fed beef and chopped bacon ends (oddly shaped, wildly fatty slabs of deliciousness from the Lancaster County Farmers Market in Wayne, PA).  Add blue cheese, a fire-engine red tomato and some extra whole bacon ends on top and the urge to go out to a restaurant and spend $15 for a fancy burger is officially curbed.  When possible serve your burgers on plates with pictures of surgeons on them – its a karma thing and it fights off the bad cholesterol.

Not too much to offer by way of recipe on this one, more along the lines of advice…we find the beef available at farm stands tends towards the lean side, so chopping up bacon and adding it to the mix prior to forming your patties keeps the burgers moist (in addition to adding flavor).  We tested a new (and cheap) cast iron skillet from Ikea and were happy with the results.

Additional Resources:

Beef from Hillacres Pride

Bacon Ends from S. Clyde Weaver

Tomato from Good Harvest Farms

Once you bite into that juicy cheeseburger you’ll fully realize that well… it’s a decadent cupcake!  Or is it a vegetarian cheeseburger? Or a patty cake?  You decide once you bake your own!  KateDW has created an entire step-by-step collection of photographs on flickr demonstrating…

“How to bake cheeseburger cupcakes”

These would make the cutest Superbowl snacks.

(especially paired with these tasty treats)

Photo Credit: KateDW

In-N-Out, Orem, UT

Hi, folks! I MUST report on  my visit to the opening night of In-N-Out Burger in Orem, Utah. Lines! That’s what I was dreading most but when I got there, last night around 6:30, it looked long but I moved through pretty quickly. I met up with some friends who had been in line and when I found out that Rachel wasn’t going to be able to make it in time for us to eat together, I had to get out of line and head to the end. That second move through the queue took about 25 minutes! Rachel arrived just in time for us to order and our friends were just getting finished so we sat at their table. I ordered a Double-Double with no onion or tomato. Rachel a hamburger with onion and no tomato. Wyatt a plain burger with just spread. We had two drinks and two orders of fries. Everything was great! “That is a TASTY cheeseburger!” Though not exactly a Big Kahuna, this is in the upper echelon of the burger kingdom! Both the Orem and the Draper locations opened yesterday and by 7pm, the guy at the door said they both had combined sales of over 8,000 burgers! The West Jordan location should open in a couple weeks and then the American Fork store should open just before Christmas. Yes, there is a lot of hype about what seems to be a silly burger joint, but let me just tell you: you gotta go there and give it a try, it’ll be well worth it!

With Christmas nearing and Thanksgiving at our door and local radio stations switching to all-Christmas Music, we start feeling that tingle! Sure, you can get all caught up in the Wal-Martization of the Season and feel like you’re in a tornado of commercialized greed and stress. Or, you can embrace the Season and all of the feelings and memories that are associated. To that end, KXRT wishes to enhance these feelings and memories by providing a soundtrack for all the gatherings, cleaning, preparations, cooking, parties and even those times you just need to hole-up in your room to escape it all. Currently, we interrupt our music to identify the station or promote our website or voicemail about 4 times an hour. Compared to some FM radio stations who seem to pop in after each song, 4 times is already very light. Starting midnight on the day after Thanksgiving, we will launch our 100% Christmas Music programming. We will cut the 4 interruptions in half, down to 2 per hour! We will discontinue our Sunday show, An Inspired Selection, for the duration of this special. 100% Christmas Music will continue through New Year’s Eve and on January 1st, we will resume our 100% Hits programming for 2010!

To further brighten our presentation, I’m asking you, our listeners, to call up our KXRT Listener Voicemail at 801-788-4916 and leave the world a Holiday Wishes message. When you call, leave your name or your family name and wish everyone or a certain someone a Merry Christmas, Happy New Year or any wish you might have. I will edit them and play them throughout the season! Here’s a simple example of a message: “Hi, from the Marini Family! We’re wishing you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!”.

Let me be honest here… I know to some Christmas Music is old and tired and to some, it’s background music – like wallpaper. But to a lot of us, it’s more than that and really enhances the feelings and memories that we have for the Season. By converting our station like this each year, we sincerely hope that if you are in either of the two latter groups, that you will find some value in setting your computers, laptops or mobile devices to KXRT all Season. We look forward to serving you and your friends and family this Christmas Season! If you have requests, ideas, suggestions, feel free to leave a message on our Listener Voicemail: 801-788-4916 or an email at kxrt-studio@marinifamily.org.

All of the information about KXRT is at http://kxrt.wordpress.com/. If you need help listening, go to our site and click How To Listen at the top!

Merry Christmas!

-Timmy

Cheeseburger Lowcarb

En regnig kväll blev jag sugen på riktigt god snabbmat. Köpte nymald nötfärs och jumboägg på Tansas. Regnet öste ner när jag handlat klart, så det blev buss hem i rusningstrafiken.

Jag var både trött och blöt när jag kom hem, då är den här typen av mat fint att ta till. Snabbt, enkelt och mycket gott.

Ostburgare LCHF

250 gr Nötfärs

Havssalt och nymald Vitpeppar

Eski Kasar eller Gräddost

Blanda färs och kryddor. Forma till två biffar, platta till lite så går de fort att steka.

Dressing

1½ dl Ekologisk Majonnäs

1 msk Heinz Ketchup

1 tsk Fransk Senap

Svartpeppar

Blanda allt till dressingen, låt stå och dra en stund, så kommer smaken fram mer.

Bryn 2 msk Smör och stek hamburgarna några minuter på varje sida. Stek 2 Ägg och lägg på några skivor ost som får smälta ner över hamburgarna. Servera med Sallad, Tomat, Cornichons och dressingen.

Banana Split with Chocolate sauce

En Amerikansk hamburgermeny avslutas ju ofta med milkshake eller glass. Min Banana Split blev betydligt nyttigare.

Visst är det en del kolhydrater i en banan, men den höjer inte blodsockret mycket i samband med en sådan här måltid.

Banana Split

1 liten Banan

2 dl vispad Grädde

Chokladsås

2 msk Kakao av bra kvalitet

3 msk Vatten

1 tsk Pinjehonung

Lite Havssalt

1 msk Smör

Koka upp allt utom smöret under vispning. Låt puttra några minuter på svag värme, rör under tiden så det inte bränner vid. Ta från värmen och rör ner smöret. Låt kallna.

Skär bananen i små bitar och varva med grädde och chokladsås i en liten kopp.

Johnnie’s Grill
Address: 301 S Rock Island Ave, El Reno, OK 73036
Phone: (405) 262-4721
Website: N/A
Known For: Fried Onion Burger
What I had: Fried Onion Cheeseburger, 1/2 Onion Rings 1/2 Fries and Chili on the side.
Price: $7.32
Rating: 8 out of 10

El Reno is known for their Fried Onion Burgers. There are several restaurants in the small town (pop. 16,000) that serve them and they all have their fans. On top of Johnnie’s there’s Jobe’s Drive-in, Sid’s & Robert’s Grill. They call it a Fried Onion Burger but really it’s just a big pile of onions cooked on the griddle that are them smashed into the burger while it cooks.

I walked in to Johnnie’s  just at noon and saddled up to the bar. I’m glad I came when I did because shortly after it got packed, and I mean packed. I thought it was a bit empty when I walked in but my fears were eased quickly. The phone was ringing off the hook and the drive thru was constantly going too. You can tell the locals really love this place.

Of course I ordered their famous Fried Onion Burger. I got mine with cheese, tomato and lettuce ($.40 extra), with 1/2 onion rings 1/2 french fries and chili on the side. The burger was great. It wasn’t the best I’d ever had but it was something a little different than usual. I enjoyed watching them grill the onions right on the griddle in front of me, and smash them into the patty. The grilled (fried) onions give the burger a nice distinct flavor. The only difference next time I’d make is to get it a double, as it was not quite enough meat for me, and skip the onion rings & fries. They were okay but fried a bit much. The fries were pretty thin and real crispy. The onion rings were super crispy and super salty. The chili, however, was really good. Maybe I should have made it a chili burger.

The staff was super friendly and a very funny mix of all demographics, from the old diner waitress to the teenage fast food employee, it was fun to see them all interacting so well. The atmosphere was great and the patrons were all having a great time. I love that they had SportsCenter on the TVs. If you’d headed down I-40 make sure you stop here.

Onion Cheeseburger

Open Onion Burger

1/2 Onion Rings 1/2 French Fries

Further reading:
www.roadfood.com/Restaurant/Reviews/124/johnnies-grill
www.yelp.com/biz/johnnies-grill-el-reno

Sep 4, 2009 @ 12:26

Having a full out “stop day” from business naturally equaled no business blogging.  So that left me with a bit of a hole.  Not often at a loss for words,  words wasn’t the problem.  The problem was which words.  But I decided.  And it all started with raisins . . .

Cooked a yummy cheese burger for lunch.  Quick seared on both sides to trap in the juices then baked in the oven to finish the cooking.  Topped it with, Colby cheese, ketchup, mustard, mayo, and Portabella mushrooms cooked in olive oil and a generous amount of garlic, sided it with lightly steamed broccoli and a pile of Bread and Butter pickles… Oh god, now I’m hungry again… As I munched I listened to Duma Keys.  After

My Kitchen Aid Mixer. Love her. A thing of beauty.

eating I decided to bake something.  Oatmeal Raisin Cookies.  Not for me, for John1 who loves them–that man deserves a batch of homemade cookies for how hard he works.  Listened to Duma Keys as I melted, blended, measured, splashed, and dropped ingredients in my Kitchen Aid mixer–I love my mixer.  I think everyone should have one.

Well, I never cook with raisins without thinking of my grandmother . . .

I enjoy cooking and baking.  I’m damn good with food.  Started in my grandmother’s kitchen.  Not by my doing.  But by watching.  That woman could cook anything and make it good.  Well except that she had an annoying passion for the raisin.  She managed to slip those things into what seemed like everything, including the occasional chocolate chip cookie.   Yup.  I’m serious.  And apparently she’s not alone.  I stood in a bakery last year and eyeballed that very cookie type sitting under a gleaming glass case, atop a snow white, lacy, paper lined tray, aligned in perfect rows.  There was a business card shaped linen sign proudly standing erect in a shiny metal holder with beautiful, swirly calligraphy announcing to their customers that these were their Chocolate Chip Raisin cookies.  I mean really.  Is this something to advertise to the world?  That they put raisins in their chocolate chip cookies.

I started surveying the shop.  This had to be a joke.  Convinced that if I got into my spiritual state deep enough I would find my grandmother’s ghost floating among the customers, eyes twinkling and her belly rolling with laughter.  So convinced that this was a joke from the spiritual side I asked the little worker bee, “So your owner seriously bakes chocolate chip cookies and puts raisins in them?”  Reply… “Yes she does, and they’re good you should try one.”  I laughed, shifted, and said, “That’s okay.  Thanks.  My grandmother used to say the same thing when she baked them.  I never agreed.”  Startled and wide eyed this young thing says, “Oh, wow.  I haven’t heard of this type of cookie anywhere but here.”  “Well,” I said waving my hand, “you didn’t grow up around my grandmother.”  At this point I quickly chose something, paid, and left.    The moment had grown just a little too surreal.  I, myself had never heard of them outside my grandmother’s kitchen.  And I made food one of my most intense creative outlets throughout my 23 year marriage.  Submerged myself into it, like an over steeped tea bag.   Where was I really??   Twilight zone moments should be left carefully and defiantly quickly . . .

Night, Love ya,
Theresa Jane
-hope you enjoyed my bit of history and humor

Nicht ohne Stolz möchte ich diese Plattform nutzen, um euch an einer brandheißen Neuentwicklung teilhaben zu lassen. Wir haben jahrelang recherchiert, an Kursen teilgenommen und, vielleicht am Wichtigsten, unsere eigenen Praxiserfahrungen gesammelt. All dies, kombiniert mit einem wachen Verstand und einem glasklaren Blick für das Wesentliche führte zu etwas Großartigem, das wir nur schlicht die Kämpfer-Diät nennen.

Intern haben wir lange diskutiert, ob wir damit ins big business einsteigen sollen. Eines ist absolut gewiß: Ruhm und Reichtum wären uns damit sicher. Aber wären solch schnöden Dinge es wert, dafür unsere Seele zu verkaufen? Nein !!! Tausendmal nein !!! Die Sache ist zu wertvoll um nur Wenige davon profitieren zu lassen. Hier und heute machen wir sie euch zum Geschenk.

Das Feuer, das Rad, der Cheseburger, wie immer sind die genialsten Sachen eigentlich ganz einfach. Die Kämpfer-Diät macht da keine Ausnahme. (Vielleicht habt ihr bemerkt, dass bei dem Begriff “Kämpfer-Diät” weder ein kleines c noch ein r steht. Ihr seht richtig, weder den Begriff noch die Sache haben wir uns schützen lassen. Nutzt sie nach eurem eigenen Gutdünken).

Doch zur Sache, wie funktioniert sie? Merket auf:

Man nimmt eine Scheibe Toastbrot (make-it-or-break-it-detail: es muss Vollkorntoast sein). Diese tränkt man mit Tabasco (dabei empfiehlt es sich, eine Gallone davon zur Hand zu haben).

Nur nicht sparsam sein mit dem roten Lebenselexir. Die Scheibe muss richtig gesättigt sein. Im Zweifelsfall lieber zuviel als zu wenig. Wenn man es richtig macht, sollte es etwa so aussehen:

Nun nimmt man die beiden vorbereiteten anderen Toastscheiben zur Hand. Die eine wird nördlich, die andere südlich der tabasco-flavoured-toast-slice angebracht. (Bitte beachten, diesen Begriff mussten wir uns aus rechtlichen Gründen doch schützen lassen, die Benutzung ist aber gegen eine geringe Lizenzgebühr möglich, bitte bei Bedarf um Kontaktaufnahme). Und nun? Herzhaft zubeißen und ein nicht zu beschreibendes Gefühl erleben.

Der Geschmack ist unvergleichlich. Sowohl Mund. als auch Speiseröhre und Innereien werden von einer wohligen Wärme erfüllt, die über mehrere Stunden anhält. Ganz nebenbei erhält man ein schönes Workout. Ich kann euch sagen, ich habe schon Trainingseinheiten erlebt, bei denen ich weniger Schweiß vergossen habe. Zum Frühstück vor einem Wettkampf oder unmittelbar vor einer Trainingseinheit genossen, erfährt man einen wünschenswerten Nebeneffekt. Der positive Aggressionslevel steigert sich um durchschnittlich 15% (in Einzelfällen wurden Steigerungen um bis zu 47% gemessen). Und das Schönste: Man kann so viel von den Warrior-Sandwiches essen wie man will.

Der Vollständigkeit halber soll noch ein Punkt angesprochen werden. Vereinzelt wurden unerwünschte Nebenwirkungen festgestellt, die jedoch frühestens am nächsten Tag aufgetreten sind. Stichwort: Burning south end.

Davon sollte man sich jedoch nicht abhalten lassen. Wohlan, versucht die Kämpfer-Diät, laßt euch begeistern und teilt euer Glück mit uns.

Wir wünschen euch viel Spaß.

Hinweis: Es liegen uns noch zu wenige Meßdaten aus dem Jugendbereich vor. Es wird deshalb darauf hingewiesen, dass sowohl Personen unter 18 Jahren, als auch Haustiere nicht an der Diät teilnehmen dürfen.

Tabloids have interpreted new advice that the public could increase calorie intake by 16% as a chance to eat an extra cheeseburger a day

It comes just weeks after Prof Nutt was sacked from another government advisory committee for publishing research in medical journals stating that alcohol and tobacco are more dangerous than ecstasy.

The SACN has produced the 210 page draft report; it states that there has been an underestimation in the level of physical activity people exert. It’s a pretty simple dilemma.

Eat more calories than your physical activity burns and you put on weight
Eat fewer calories than your physical activity burns and you lose weight.

If people are taking more exercise than initially thought, then they should be able to increase the calories in their diet whilst maintaining a balance.

Adults’ recommended daily calorie intake currently states that women should aim to consume 2000 calories a day and men 2500. The report says you could eat 16% more calories than the current recommended intake.

This sent the tabloids into a frenzy, the Daily Mail went with, “’You can eat an extra cheeseburger a day’ – say diet experts” as the headline for its article.

Technically no diet expert is encouraging people to eat an extra cheeseburger a day. Anybody with even a remote degree of knowledge on nutrition will tell you that calories are not the be all and end all for a healthy diet.

Calories in fact, in the prevention of disease can become an inadequate representation, most importantly because they don’t raise awareness of cholesterol content.

Coronary heart disease is the biggest killer in the UK . Hypercholesterolemia (a high content of cholesterol in the blood) is a major cause. Cheeseburgers are not good for maintaining normal cholesterol levels. Tabloids publishing articles stating you can eat an extra cheeseburger a day is therefore rather stupid.

Obesity is a huge public health issue in this country. This report has been accused of sending the wrong message out to people who are overweight by consumer experts and health campaigners.

Furthermore, this report opens up the debate. Even if there is scientific evidence to prove the truth, do the public need to be shaded from it to prevent the health of the nation deteriorating.

Is a little bit of knowledge a dangerous thing? Most people would say no, the public deserve to hear the truth, but I’ve grown up around people who dictate their lives by articles such as the one in the Daily Mail.

Unlike people with a scientific background the public may lack the ability to collect and analyse data to give a true representation of the evidence available. One report can be hugely misleading without counterbalancing evidence from the other side of the argument.

Image: Suat Eman / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I recently came across an article that appeared in the Chicago Tribune earlier this month. The article, called “16 Pearls of Cheeseburger Wisdom” was written by Tribune reporter, Kevin Pang. For the past six months or so Pang has reviewed a cheeseburger each week and kept a video blog about his delicious journey. He has decided to take a break from his cheeseburger project for a while, but with this story he has left us with a few tips that he picked up a long the way.

Cheeseburger cheese should always melt well. Photo by Jef Poskanzer/Wikimedia Commons

Pang’s Main Points

• Ketchup and mustard are overrated condiments
• Texture and mouth feel are very important
• The best patties are cooked on a griddle top
• Lettuce and tomato end up getting in the way

Molly’s Main Points

While I am certainly not an expert, I can confidently claim that I know my way around a burger. Here are some of my cheeseburger words of wisdom:

• The juicier the better
• Well seasoned patties are always tastier
• Cheese should be melted on top of the burger (not stuffed inside)
• While cooking, flip the burger once and do not ever press the patty down

Reader Question: What burger tips and tricks have you picked up along the way?

Well, this week was a long one. This Tuesday, I had forgotten to bring my clothes for Cross Country practice. However, the next day, I came in – Wednesday (though it’s supposed to be Tuesdays and Thursdays). The meet was nice: I came out 99th out of a 164 people. Not as amazing as before.

Well, anyway – I don’t remember quite what day (apparently I have Alzheimer and absolutely no sense of division of time), but this week, I got rejected. Yes – once. I don’t know what the hell it is, but it seems that I have the tendency to piss someone off or hurt them without noticing it. It is some abominable curse the tooth fairy has given me for not giving her any of my teeth: with a wave of her wand, she made it so my mouth would work inconspicuously against me.

But, as always, Abe’s anger had fled out. And I’m glad. I don’t like seeing him hurt, or me feeling like a total asshole.

See, today I had the TACHS test, and it was the easiest thing I had ever done (can’t wait for the results), especially comparatively juxtaposed with the SHSAT (can’t wait for those results either). I wasn’t able to finish either the Math section and the first two parts of the Abilities section, though. So I’m totally sucking right there.  I fail at math, so I put these types of answers instead, of course:

Math jargon isn't quite my thing..

But who the hell cares? Not that it’s not important. But it’s not like they’re going to make me do it again just because I fail.

They won't stoop to the level of this pic - ever. At least not up to the second line of words.

They’re not that considerate. They could care less. They want results relative to time. That, apparently, is the catch.

The language parts were easy – easy as hell (though hell is actually a difficult troubling stressful enclosed phobia-inducing rape-orgiastic nightmare, which is just slightly to the contrary).

And, no. My name isn’t Peter.

After the test, we went on this absurd trip – absurd because it was a trip on a ferry boat from Manhattan to Staten Island back to Manhattan – real absurd, to me. I wouldn’t waste money for it. All I did was eat and stand/sit on a boat and then go back home. Of course, the trip wasn’t too bad – but only because of the food and the friends I was with (like kawaii-pie Abe, who I could talk to quite easily). I really wanted to touch him, but apparently he has some restraining orders his hands are enforcing. They push me away, in general, when I try to hug him. I wish I could.

But of course, it seems we’re still in the “masculinity” box, huh? Real fancy. I want to admit my sexuality without such ramifications of getting out of the box! Sometimes I feel everyone is stuck in the masculinity box.

Death Note yaoi for those Death Note fangirls. Well, they're supposed to represent different people.

But, anyway, yeah. I still had a great time! With him, other people, myself, one of my teachers, and just with the sexy food on my plate.

Mmmm

Though, I didn’t eat hot gods. What I ate was a cheeseburger, a jelly-filled doughnut, and some fruit punch.

Darf's auch ein bisschen mehr sein?

Vermehrt bin ich im Netz über nicht mehr ganz so aktuelle Artikel gestoßen, die sich mit dem Portionsgrößen unserer Nahrung beschäftigten. Im Zeitalter der abnehmwilligen und adipositas-gefährdeten Bevölkerung, wundert es einen gar nicht mehr, dass die Leute immer voluminöser und dicker werden. Die Bilder aus Caroline’s Blog zeigen eindrucksvoll, was in unser ach so “ernährungsbewußten” Gesellschaft falsch läuft.

Wer kennt ihn nicht? Den Film “Supersize Me” , der zwar meiner Meinung nach einwenig übertrieben

...und das Gleiche nochmal aus der Moderne (850 kcal).

ist (nach zwei Tagen wegen Fastfood kotzen? Ein bisschen übertrieben, oder?), aber dennoch eindrucksvoll die Lage der Nation darstellt: die Portionen, die man vorwiegend im Fastfood Bereich erhält, wachsen proportional zum Bauchumfang ihrer Kundschaft und ein Ende ist noch nicht in Sicht, wie der anhaltende “Boom” zahlreicher XXL-Restaurants, auch in unseren Landen, belegt. Groß, größer, X-Tra-Large – und was kommt als nächstes? Die Büffelportion?

Zwei handelsübliche Pizzastücke (500 kcal) von vor 20 Jahren...

Natürlich will ich jetzt nicht die Keule mit der Moralpredigt herausholen – im Prinzip ist es ja eine lobenswerte Entwicklung, wenn man mehr für das gleiche Geld erhält, zumal ein aktiver Sportler ohnehin einen erhöhten Energiebedarf hat, klar. Grundsätzlich stellt sich dann nur die Frage, worin das “mehr” besteht. Eine Extraportion Gemüse kann man locker absegnen, doch wie verhält es sich mit Lebensmitteln, deren Energiedichte aus Unmengen Fett und einfachen Kohlenhydraten besteht?

Übergewichte Teenager unserer Zeit wachsen mit solchen Portionsgrößen auf und halten sie für selbstverständlich – wie soll ein normaler Mensch da noch abschätzen können, wieviel noch “normal” und gesund ist, wenn er nicht vorher ein Studium in Oekotrophologie belegt hat?

Tasse Kaffee mit Milch/Zucker aus den 80ern (43 kcal) trifft auf ...

Doch auch gesunde Lebensmittel können zu einer unerwünschten Gewichtszunahme führen, wenn die Zufuhr den Bedarf gehörig übersteigt, dummerweise habe ich noch nie irgendwo Werbung für einen “Extra großen Salat” oder die “doppelte Beilage” entdecken können – eine Entwicklung, die vielleicht noch auf sich warten lässt? Vielleicht, doch die Nachricht dürfte in etwa ankommen, oder?

...ihr Starbucks-Pendat von heute (330 kcal!)

In wiefern tangiert diese Nachricht nun den geneigten Ausdauer-/Kraftsportler der ohnehin zum großen Teil penibel auf seine Ernährung achtet? Insofern man nicht ständig Tupperdosen und vorbereitete Mahlzeiten mit sich führt, ist der Sportliche insofern davon betroffen, als dass er auf das zurückgreifen muss, was gerade da ist, logisch. Dazu kommt noch die Tatsache, dass niemand zu jeder Zeit die Nährwerte und Energiedichten sämtlicher Lebensmittel kennt, ja sogar kennen kann.

Und wenn wir ehrlich sind: Eine kleine Sünde hin und wieder liegt im Rahmen des Ermessens, sollte sogar wünschenswert sein, denn Genuss und Lebensfreude gehören hin und wieder ebenso dazu, wie eine knallharte Ernährungsweise vor einer Wettkampfperiode oder in einer Diät.

...und dickes Ende? Ein wahrer Koloss für den "großen Hunger" (590 kcal)

Kleiner Anfang: Cheeseburger mit 333 kcal von damals.

Wir leben in turbulenten Zeiten (naja, wann waren sie mal nicht turbulent?) in denen zumindest ein

Teil der menschlichen Bevölkerung einen Zustand erreicht hat, der mit dem in der Bibel häufig gepriesenen Land aus “Milch und Honig” zumindest ansatzweise korreliert oder vergleichbar ist. Zum ersten Mal, in der Menschheitsgeschichte, besteht im Okzident ein Nahrungsmittelüberfluss.

Essen zu jeder tageszeit in all seiner Form ist bei uns kein Problem. Sollten die Portionen dennoch weiter im Volumen ansteigen, ist eine Entwicklung der allgemeinen Bevölkerung zu einem stämmigeren Aussehen und mehr Leibesfülle nur eine Frage der Zeit.

Von ganz klein (399 kcal) bis "gib ihm" (776 kcal)

Der Bagel, Hauptnahrungsquelle agiler Serien-Cops aus den 80ern (140 kcal) ...

Den schlanken Sportler wird freuen – die übergewichtige

...und sein heutiger Bruder (350 kcal). Kein Wunder das die Seriencops immer dicker werden

Hausfrau, die sich durch eine Kohlsuppendiät quält und dabei hin und wieder einen Starbucks-Kaffee trinkt, wird sich lediglich wundern, warum sie kein Gramm ab- sondern im Gegenteil, noch ein paar Pfund zunimmt. Denn zahlreiche Studien scheinen zu belegen, dass mit ansteigender Portionsgröße auch die realistische Einschätzung ihres Kaloriengehaltes verloren geht. “Bigger” ist also nicht automatisch “better.”

weiterführende Links zum Thema:

Divinecaroline.com | Abnehmen.net | Extension.org | Circleofresponsibility.com

]]> http://klauerei.wordpress.com/2009/11/13/geduldsfaden-%e2%80%93-schnipp-schnapp/ Fri, 13 Nov 2009 13:36:21 +0000 klauerei http://klauerei.wordpress.com/2009/11/13/geduldsfaden-%e2%80%93-schnipp-schnapp/

Der Morgen begann nicht wie jeder morgen. Das Wunderbärchen und ihre zwei BESTEN Freundinnen durften heute wunderbares über Buchherstellung in Darmstadt erfahren. Um 9 startete der Roadtrip und die Gruppe Sonnenschein cruiste gen Osten. Auf dem Weg spendierte die Chef-Cruiserin ein Chococroissant für alle, wie lieb!!! Kurz vor Ankunft mussten wir noch einmal halbrechts abbiegen, bevor die Gruppe das Ziel erreichte.

Zurück auf der Praktikanteninsel wurde die Fotodokumentation auf den Rechner geladen, bevor es zu einem königlichen Mittagsmahl weiter ging. Die Magen knurrten! Und somit entschied die Gruppe Sonnenschein sich gegen Floskel 8 (mehrmalige Drohungen wurden ausgesprochen!) und verliess die Praktikanteninsel für ein üppiges Mahl bei Steiners.

Wunderbärchen bestellte einen Backfisch, die übrigen Teilnehmer der Gruppe Sonnenschein warteten heisshungrig auf Cheeseburger (einmal ohne Zwiebeln, einmal mit), Pommes (einmal ohne!) und Salat ( einmal mit Essig/Öl und einmal mit Joghurt, bitte). Das Wunderbärchen hatte sich bereit erklärt mit dem Backfisch zu warten, bis der Cheeseburger da ist. Schliesslich erreichten uns die Cheeseburger zuerst (beide MIT Pommes, der Rest der Bestellung wurde korrekt ausgeführt) doch der Backfisch blieb im Wasser. (??) Diskussionen über Angeln folgten.

Auf unsere Nachfrage (einmal) und weiteren Rufe aus der Küche (mehrmals) wurde der Backfisch serviet. EN GUETE!

Ratzfatz (zumindest in zwei der drei Fällen) wurde der Teller geleert …nur die Nachbarien ass genüsslich ihr Mahl, sie hatte auch 30 Minuten dafür eingerechnet. Diskussionen über Essgeschwindigkeit folgten, da die Nachbarien tatsächlich meinte, sie esse schnell!!!! UND WIR SEHR schnell???????????? (Ausrufezeichenabfolge à la Chefin) Kaum hatte die Nachbarien schliesslich den letzten Bissen runtergeschluckt, sprangen die restlichen Mitglieder der Gruppe Sonnenschein ad hoc auf und wollten UNDBEDINGT sofort wieder weiterarbeiten. floskel 1

Die überforderte Nachbarien konnte wegen Überbeanspruchung ihrer körperlichen Betätigungen (also essen!) kaum noch gehen und wir mussten ein Schneckentempo von 1 km/h (oder weniger???) einnehmen. Da hatte das Wunderbärchen gar keine Freude und drohte mit Gewalt. (sie wollte den Rest der Gruppe in die Käfige sperren… floskel 7, floskel 13).

Zurück bei der Arbeit hat Wunderbärchen darauf hingewiesen, dass sie ja eigentlich gar keinen Kaffee möchte, sie hat noch Tee. Pure Lust! Wie wird der Tag weitergehen? Die Reise gen Süden in die Schweiz steht endlich an. floskel 2!!!

For years fast food restaurants have been our nation’s go-to source for cheap, quick food we can eat on the run or take home to the family to avoid cooking dinner for the night.  I am betting that almost every person reading this blog has or will eat a product of the fast food faction at some point this week.  Well, thinking about our fan base…maybe not.  According to a 2004 study by the International Trade Leader, Americans are ranked number one when it comes to the purchasing of convenience meals—spending a total of $148.6 billion, more than our spending on higher education.  Among the top ten nations listed, the United States is responsible for almost two-thirds of the total spending on fast food meals.  Aside from the commonplace debate about whether to buy organic or conventional fruits or vegetables, there are an overwhelming amount of other choices made every day that can ultimately have both personal and global consequences.  What many people don’t realize is that our national diet may not only affect our waist sizes, but it may also lead to environmental, political, cultural, social and ethical repercussions.

People are now, more than ever, beginning to value those things in life that can be obtained fast, cheap, and easy—including the food we eat.  In the past five years, the fast food nation as we know it grew unexpectedly.  There is one major contributor, responsible for about 80% of this growth.  Two words: drive through.  Recently, our country has seen a rapid increase in the amount of drive-through lanes at fast food institutions.   More than half the money spent at fast food restaurants is received through a drive-through window from a customer tucked behind the steering wheel and hopefully a seatbelt.  Today, 90% of the 13,000 McDonald’s restaurants in the United States have a drive-through lane; Starbucks has picked up the pace and added drive-through lanes to many of their stores across the country; and one fast food business called Good to Go has 14 drive-through lanes at their Houston location alone.

Now, I would like to do something a little different here.  I am going to talk my way through a normal visit to a local fast food place—starting from the time you start your engine to the time you eat the last fry.

So, let’s say you are jonesing for a cheeseburger and french fries.  You decide to take a break from your television marathon and go to the nearest fast food joint to get some food.  You hop into your Ford Focus and drive about seven or so minutes to the restaurant (making the entire trip a total of 15 minutes, minus the time spent in the drive-thru lane).  It takes about 8000 litres of air, weighing almost 12 kg, to burn one litre of gasoline or diesel. Furthermore, for every litre of petrol you burn, you emit 2.5 kg of carbon dioxide.  Aside from carbon dioxide, our cars also emit carbon monoxide, lead and hydrocarbons while we are driving through the act of petrol combustion.  This has lead many to believe that driving a car is probably the most polluting act an average citizen can commit in their lifetime.  In recent years, emissions from passenger vehicles in the United States have increased thanks to the increase in vehicle usage and the nationwide preference for larger vehicles.  An average new vehicle in 2003 consumed far more fuel than its counterpart in 1988. So, what can you do?  Like Kirsten said in an earlier blog entry—drive less.  Both local and global pollution would be reduced if each car-driving person pledged to use their car 30% less starting immediately.

Since you just ran out of the house and you are still wearing your pajamas, you decide to order from the drive-through lane to avoid the embarrassment and save some time.  You pull into the line and notice four other cars in front of you—all burning around the same amount of petrol and releasing carbon dioxide into the air.  Many believe that avoiding the drive-through lane and parking your car is the greenest thing to do.  On the contrary, some researchers in Canada have claimed that a parking-only restaurant produces 20% more smog pollution and 60% more greenhouse gases than a restaurant with a drive-through lane due to the stopping and restarting of cooled-down vehicle engines.

Finally, you pull up to the speaker box and place your order—a cheeseburger with everything on it, an order of french fries, and a small coke.  When it comes to fast food restaurants, up to $1,000 a month can be spent on electric bills for one location alone.  Air conditioning and lighting account for 25% to 40% of the electrical spending, while refrigeration shares the majority with other expenses including powering the speaker box and indoor cooking appliances.

You drive forward to the drive-through window and wait patiently for your food.  One of the most overlooked energy users at fast food restaurants are the drive-through windows themselves. The window is oftentimes left open unnecessarily during the drive-through process, letting air-conditioned air escape.  The employee appears in the window and hands you your order.  Your total is $6.99.  You give them cash, they give you change, and you take a peek inside the paper bag to make sure everything is there.  You see your cheeseburger wrapped in paper and your fries sitting in its cardboard packaging, along with some napkins and a few packets of ketchup.  You grab your drink and take a sip of the coke from the straw protruding from the paper cup.  In general, fast food outlets are our country’s primary source of urban litter, which includes the paper, plastic, and Styrofoam packaging material.  The most abundant type of litter (not counting cigarette buds) is Styrofoam, which becomes a permanent fixture in our environment when littered.  Moreover, plastic is the largest source of marine debris.  In some areas of the Pacific Ocean plastic has become so concentrated, there is six times more plastic than there is plankton.  These materials from fast food restaurants have become a huge burden on the local communities.  Less than 35% of the waste from fast food businesses is diverted from landfills.  Every year millions of pounds of food packaging waste litter our roadways, clog our landfills, and spoil our quality of life.  Food packaging takes up 15% of landfills.  About three-fourths of all food packaging come from forests, with half of landfill waste being made of either paper or wood.  The Southern forests of North America supply 60% of United States and 15% of global paper demands. This demand for wood and paper products has led to deforestation, resulting in a total decline from 356 million acres in colonial times to 182 million acres today.

You give your thanks and drive off.  As you drive you start nibbling on some fries because they taste better when they’re hot.  In order to fry these delicious pieces of potato, fast food institutions use fryers, which ultimately requires a lot of oil and energy to operate.  There is now a new generation of fryers that supposedly allow restaurants to cook the same amount of product with approximately 40% less oil.  Furthermore, these low oil volume fryers use about 4% less energy than their standard counterparts.

Once you get home you turn the television back on and sit down to eat your meal.  You bite into your cheeseburger and slurp some of your coke.  According to the Economist, Americans eat as many as three burgers a week for a total of 150 burgers every year.  Believe it or not, the cheeseburger has its own footprint and global warming impact.  There is a ton of energy cost associated with a common cheeseburger, including what it takes to grow the feed for the cattle for beef and cheese, growing the produce, storing and transporting the components, as well as actually cooking the burger.  The total greenhouse gas emissions that arise every year from the production and consumption of cheeseburgers are roughly equal to the amount emitted by 6.5 million to 19.6 million SUVs.

Bon appetit.

This blog entry isn’t meant to scare anyone out of eating a cheeseburger or prevent anyone from going to a fast food restaurant.  It is meant to provide you with information on topics you may not know about, help you to open your eyes, and get you to think about the things you do everyday that can ultimately affect the world and the people around you.

Until next time.

Ashlie Lynn Chandler

###

By promoting cleaner energy, cleaner government, cleaner cars, and cleaner air for all Texans, we hope to provide for a healthy place to live and prosper. We are Public Citizen Texas.

Major caveat, I came in right after they had opened and new places always have small kinks to work out. I love that the space is more open. Chicory (the former restaurant) was always cramped and smoky/smelly. That wasn’t the only hot mess either. The food was always a hit or huge miss.

The burger ratio and overall freshness is a little off for my tastes. Their kimchee (a blend of three kinds), wow, it’s outstanding. The special sauce was pretty good too. I hope they do well but sense they will need to elevate the food a bit in order to go the long haul. Please don’t shoot the messenger. However, they are smack dab in the center of foodie central and although the neighborhood has been in desperate need of a good burger and hot dog spot, if the quality, thought, or inspiration isn’t there? Well, history has shown us that the people in this neighborhood aint having it. Does it need to be ultra fancy or ultra gourmet? No. Well thought, high quality, and uber tasty? Yes.  For example, grinding fresh meat in house has become an important aspect of a solid burger. Small changes like that would go a long way. Locals have started calling this place “ultimate diner”.  Maybe that was their intention. I just don’t think locals are feeling it though.

The hot dog and sausage selection looked pretty good, a pumpkin sausage caught my eye, tis the season and all. I have a feeling this is going to be their strong suit.

The prices and portions are good, you’re going to get full for under $10, even with tip.

Noticed a lot of dialogue online about a need for fries. Eh, really? Personally, I like the tator tots but thought they could be crispier.

243 Degraw St. near Clinton

Cobble Hill Brooklyn

A new study published  in Health Psychology by Jennifer Harris, John Bargh and Kelly Brownell of Yale says in so many words that whether we realize it or not every food ad we see on television (or in any other medium) is actually an ad for whatever food we have in the pantry at the moment:

“Children consumed 45% more when exposed to food advertising. Adults consumed more of both healthy and unhealthy snack foods following exposure to snack food advertising compared to the other conditions. In both experiments, food advertising increased consumption of products not in the presented advertisements, and these effects were not related to reported hunger or other conscious influences.”

What’s interesting about this is that the basic idea of food appears to be stronger than any specific suggestion made by advertising. The authors conclude:

“These experiments demonstrate the power of food advertising to prime automatic eating behaviors and thus influence far more than brand preference alone.”

In other words, much as we want our ads to be rifles, they are shotguns. Let those who claim otherwise be condemned to eat nothing but Milk Duds for all eternity.

I’ve never been really big into exotic toppings on my burgers. I tend to keep things simple: meat, cheese, condiments. I have never put mayonnaise or onions on anything and I have no plans to do so in the future. Recently, I have experimented with a variety of cheeses primarily because I eat Boca burgers at home and need something to add a little flavor. I won’t touch many of the “secret” sauces that are offered with many burgers simply because they are mayo based. (In-N-Out: I’m sure the spread is delicious. It’s not you, it’s me.)

So, what do I put on my burgers?
-Meat (burger patty)
-Cheese (traditionally American, but I’m open)
-Lettuce
-Tomatoes
-Pickles (depends on the restaurant)
-Meat toppings (bacon and such)
-Ketchup/BBQ sauce
-Mustard (depends on the mood and restaurant)

For those of you out there who say there is no place for ketchup on a burger I implore you to reconsider.

Happy eating!