Month: June 2010

Friendly’s: Not So Waistline-Friendly

Friendly’s Grilled Cheese Burgermelt + Nutritional Content

From Geekologie:

This is the BurgerMelt to end all BurgerMelts. We place a thick and juicy 100% Black Angus Big Beef Burger between two whole grilled cheese sandwiches, complete with lettuce, tomato and mayo. You’ll have to taste it to believe it.

This is stupid ridiculous.  Thanks to Crackers the Clown for the tipoff.

Foodies I Don’t Wanna Shut Up: John Martin Taylor

From Essay: The BP oil spill threatens the gulf’s bountiful cornucopia of life:

I’m the first to admit that I prefer the brinier East Coast oysters of the R months, if for no other reason than that’s what I grew up with. But, as Presilla noted, the plump, meaty oysters from Plaquemines that we ate on Saturday “beg to be cooked and sauced.” We ordered several dozen, both cooked and raw, tossing them back with champagne. (The best I had were the wood-fired ones at Cochon.) Wistfully, we snapped cellphone photos of what might well be among the last Gulf Coast oysters for a while. We walked back to the hotel in the rain.

I don’t get to the Gulf Coast often, but no food writer can ignore the bountiful cornucopia of the New Orleans table. There’s noplace else in the world quite like the Crescent City, with its Creole and Cajun cultures, its sultry weather, its magnificent architecture, its self-proclaimed decadence. Mardi Gras, Jazz Fest and Friday at Galatoire’s are no more excessive than an ordinary meal in New Orleans. Mounds of beans and rice, sweetbreads, vegetables swimming in hollandaise and oysters Rockefeller are mere side dishes or appetizers. Courses that follow are stuffed with crabmeat, garnished with crawfish and invariably sauced, followed by gumbo, jambalaya or fried soft-shell crabs with sauce Choron.

I would mock “bountiful cornucopia of life,” really, I would, except this piece is really, really good. See, it’s about the oil spill, and the Gulf coast food culture, and how we are all involved. And even a bit about how we are myopic and haven’t noticed the huge spills in other places, like the Niger delta, but only notice it when it cuts off our access to things we love—like juicy fresh oysters.

So, all purple prose is forgiven. Read it. Please.

Operation Frontline: Worthy

I admit that when I first started reading about Operation Frontline, a program that teaches families “how to plan, purchase, and prepare healthy, tasty, and affordable foods at home,” I was skeptical—because it is funded by the ConAgra Foundation. I assumed the classes would feature ConAgra brands like EggBeaters, Hunt’s, and LaChoy. But from what I can tell, they actually do what they claim to do, and judging by the recipe book [pdf], they make no reference to specific brands, just make generic references to ingredients such as “canned chickpeas.”

Operation Frontline is in its second year and is claiming good results:

  • 87% of Adults report improving their cooking skills after graduating from an Operation Frontline course, which means they’re better equipped to make healthy meals for their families at home.
  • 96% of kids who take Operation Frontline’s Side By Side course enjoyed cooking alongside their parents during class, an important element in continuing to prepare and eat healthy meals together as a family.
  • After participating in Operation Frontline, at least 69% of adults said they were eating more fruit and vegetables than before the course.

Somehow they did this without dumping vats of chicken bits in the town square or other histrionics. A little respect goes a long way. —Snacktime

Rise of the Targetocracy

Soon the developed world will have a new class division—those who have access to a decent Target store and those who don’t. We Target-challenged citizens will huddle in our generic clothing and poorly-designed cheap housewares, while the Targetocrats laugh in their Zac Posen clothes, sitting in their Liberty of London beach chairs, and eating their exclusive Ben and Jerry’s ice cream flavors.

—Snacktime, whose nearest Target is a 40 minute trip and by the time you get there the rest of Brooklyn has pawed through everything.

Shut Up, Bacon: Cheesed Off

Maybe it is the crazy week I’ve been having but what the hell? This guy bakes some cheese and calls it bacon? WHAT DARK MAGIC IS THIS?

I love bacon and i love cheese. I often throw 2 or 3 pounds of cheddar in the smoker and give it a nice hickory accent. If you want the taste of bacon but don’t want to eat bacon, try this. Heat the oven or toaster oven to 400. Line a baking sheet with foil that is then lightly sprayed with non stick spray. Lay slices of cheese in the center of the sheet pan. They don;t have to touch or overlap, just keep them close to each other. Put in oven 8-10 minutes. The cheese will almost “fry” like bacon. When the very edges start to get crispy, remove from oven and immediately pour off any accumulated grease. Let cool for a minute or two and then peel off the foil. Tastes just like bacon!

I have become so inured to gross bacon pics I couldn’t even find one for this post. Enjoy the mousie. —Snacktime

Have You Done Your School Lunch Homework?

I’m hanging out with my best nine-year-old friend this week while her mom is on a business trip, so I’ve been making her lunches.  Luckily for me, she eats just like I do—peanut butter sandwich and a snack on the side. Not every kid gets a homemade lunch, and school lunches have become a hot topic, taken up by Michelle Obama, Jamie Oliver, blogs like The School Lunch Project, and a vocal “mommy” political movement.

There’s a lot to keep track of—this website has a good roundup of some of the issues. If you don’t know the difference between the Child Nutrition Act and the National School Lunch Act, check it out.

Look at Me, I’m Sandra Lee

People, Sandra Lee eats your hate like candy and for that I applaud her. We are calling out a new class of foodies: FOODISTS! Much like rockists in the music world, foodists are incredible snobs and actually enjoy hating things like any music that isn’t “authentic” or food that isn’t cooked to their standards. Someone actually called Ms. Lee a prostitute in that NYT thread. Yeah, no one else makes recipes for their corporate sponsors.

Get over yourselves. The world is a big tent, plenty of room for everyone.

—Snacktime