It's hard not to like Adam Richman, an everyman who takes on an eating challenge in every episode of the Travel Channel'sMan v. Food. He isn't a competitive eater, just a food show host who happens to be astonishingly good at meeting the biggest eating challenge in a given city.
And yet it's easy to dismiss the travelogue/food show because of the oversized eating hook. Richman talked about this onThe Johnny Dare Morning Show on 98.9 FM back on September 2.
"There's great, great food in Kansas," said Richman, who hadn't heard of the Bacon Explosion but tried to make it clear that oversized foods are not what the show is meant to be about:
"People very often mention dishes we should have on a show. That's kind of the challenge to keeping the show. There's a fine line between doing something that is super indulgent and something that is super interesting that might be unhealthy for unhealthy's sake."
When 30 Rock recently introduced a fictional new hot pocket-cheese-filled hot dog hybrid -- Cheesy Blasters -- it was the kind of food that felt right up there with America's current fair food obsession.
Now, the duo behind Lunch Blog KC has brought the frank-enstein creation to life, complete with recipe and lots of pictures. Fat City caught up with Robert Bishop, one of the bloggers responsible for bringing Cheesy Blasters to life. How did the real-life version of Cheesy Blasters came about.
As soon as Liz Lemon sang the Cheesy Blasters jingle, my wife Kelly turned to me and asked, "You'd totally eat that, wouldn't you?" I didn't need to actually answer the question.
A couple of weeks later, Shaw and I were planning a college food guys' night with yard beers and frozen wings, burritos and pizzas, and discovered these Tyson Anytizers chicken nuggets that are stuffed with pizza. That set us on a hunt for the most Cheesy Blasters-like product possible, and when we were unable to come up with much, we got the inspiration to just make them ourselves.
For better or worse, what we eat as children defines a lot of our diet as adults. It always seems like those who weren't allowed sugar cereals have a Diet Coke habit that runs to a 12-pack-a-day.
But what about the children of foodies -- whom "Supermarket Guru" Phil Lempert has labeled as koodies:
koodie:-noun Slang. A kid keenly interested in food, especially eating, cooking, or watching reruns of Julia Child. A kid who has an ardent or refined interest in food; a mini-gourmet; usually trained by one or both parents to have an unusual, and sometimes fanatic, desire to eat unusual foods. Evolution from the now-defunct word foodie
Living without a refrigerator seems wrong on some level -- like having a hole in your living room where the television used to be. But one couple in Portland, Oregon, has been without a fridge for the past seven years in an effort to reduce their carbon emissions.
It's a difficult concept to grasp from my kitchen in Kansas City, where the day doesn't start until the milk and coffee concentrate is poured over ice cubes -- all of which come from my fridge. Although I'll admit that having an ice dispenser included with my fridge feels like luxury, I'm seeing refrigerated milk among my list of needs, not wants.
If you've been looking for a way to add pork to your bedside table, then this do-it-yourself bacon lamp could be just the ticket.
Whether this falls under home improvement or not is likely in the eye of the lampholder. In the Flickr account of how to build the light, inventor Kris Kelley suggests that it might not smell like other lamps.
When we noticed the Lunch Blog checking out King Buffet in Lawrence, Kansas, it only felt right to offer up a series of Do's and Don'ts for the buffet-goer. Because the wrong decisions can leave an amateur with a hurting stomach and a feeling that you have failed to eat $6.99 worth of food. These suggestions will guide you safely through the warming trays and sneezeguards.
Do walk though the buffet once before you load up your plate. Otherwise, you will spend all your available plate space on beef and broccoli, when there were piles of cocktail shrimp for the taking.
Do not fill up on pasta, rice or whatever carbohydrate is in one of the first two warming trays. This is the sucker play -- the equivalent of filling up on bread at a steakhouse.
You're about to start fighting over who gets to do the office work. J&D's has introduced bacon-flavored MMMvelopes.
The makers of Baconnaise and Bacon Salt (one of the few gimmick products to deliver on its taste promises) encourage people to Lick It. Love It. Mail It. The product's Web site breaks down the pork-like paper goods:
No longer will envelopes taste like the underside of your car. You can enjoy the taste of delicious bacon instead. That's right, bacon. It's not real bacon, mind you, so you won't have to start storing your envelopes in the refrigerator. But it really does taste
like bacon.
But the joy of bacon comes with a steep price -- a pack of 25 envelopes is $6.99. Buying in bulk helps a bit; 75 envelopes go for $14.99.
The beauty of Thanksgiving traditions is that they have to start somewhere, as The Washington Post discovered when it recently set out to discover the unlikely inclusion of sauerkraut as part of the Thanksgiving spread in many Baltimore, Maryland, households.
Although Baltimore can thank German emigrants for the popularity of sauerkraut this time of year -- in Germany, it was a dish traditionally prepared for special occasions -- the rest of us can thank the Byzantine Empire for introducing the world to fermented cabbage.
And now, as the Post story notes, sauerkraut remains one of the few foods that is not prepared in a very different fashion from when it was first tasted:
Though it involves only cabbage and salt, preparing sauerkraut at home requires a lot of planning. The process can take anywhere from three to eight weeks, depending on the temperature and a willingness to put up with the beery smell of fermenting leaves.
In just a few months we've gone from a server being fired for what she wrote on a blog to a server being fired for a Tweet about a customer.
Keep your eyes peeled for the waiter that is terminated following a Facebook status update or for participating in a Reddit thread about the parent company of their restaurant. Meanwhile, after the jump, there's a list of some of the weirder interactions between servers and diners that we found through a Twitter search.
The host, Alex Riley, is a skinnier Michael Moore with a keen wit that he has decided to turn on industrialized food production. In weekly installments he's taking on the practice of food labeling, using his incredulity to suggest to companies that manufacture processed foods that what they're selling is more processed than food:
"It's also a way of approaching companies that they're not used to," he says. "If you're coming to them with a Paxman style they're quite
well versed in dealing with that, but when you're coming at them in a
disingenuous approach and say: 'Well done for getting 47 per cent beef
into a beef burger' they're not quite sure how to take it."
To help you keep up on your random food facts -- and since Jonathan Lipnicki and fact-based toilet paper are sadly obsolete -- Fat City would like to point you in the direction of Learn Something Every Day.
The Web site's raison d'etre is to supply the world with a quirky illustration and a single fact each morning. Many of the facts are about food.
For example, apparently humans share about 50 percent of our DNA with bananas -- I'm not sure whether that says a lot for bananas and not a lot about mankind. The average person will consume 35 tons of food in his or her lifetime, which means the average Kansas Citian will likely nail down 20 tons of barbecue.
The fact for November 1 noted that ketchup was considered medicinal in 1830 (it was -- and still is -- the cure for eating hot dogs). It's fun to read the Internet equivalent of a Snapple bottle cap, and acquiring the kind of information that everybody should know in case of a lull in conversation or a sudden appearance on Jeopardy.
CNET recently profiled a new product that is capable of popping popcorn and roasting nuts at the same time: the West Bend Kettle Krazy Popcorn Popper and Nut Roaster. So with visions of the awesomeness that would be homemade Cracker Jack, Fat City tried to envision other products we'd love to see join the popcorn popper/nut roaster.
The Quesadilla Griller/Salsa Injector
A combination gadget that allowed for a quesadilla to be melted and then the salsa to be inserted into a pre-folded tortilla at the end of cooking. As it is now, the quesadilla must be dipped or torn asunder while adding salsa.
Shopping-cart handles are like seats: You never want to feel the warmth of the person who was using it before you. The Barf Blog considers how shopping cart sanitation has evolved over the past five years as grocery stores have sought to find ways to help prevent the spread of germs.
And now, in light of flu season and concerns over the communicability of the H1N1 virus, supermarkets and retail stores are taking preventative measures to lessen customers' exposure to germs. Some stores are offering hand sanitizers via wall-mounted locations or squeeze bottles. Others, like HyVee and Target, are placing sanitizing wipes near the shopping carts, so customers can wipe down the handles.
The New York Times blog You're The Boss is back with the second half of its "100 things a restaurant staffer should never do." And although author Bruce Buschel suggests that these are merely guidelines for his restaurant, the insinuation is that there's a lesson every server can learn.
It's interesting to watch Buschel's tone change slightly from what he describes as "a modest list of do's and don'ts" in part one (published earlier this week) to the end of the second post's introduction where he thanks the Internet for its helpful comments. Not to get too meta, but there's an etiquette lesson somewhere in this etiquette guide.
It's nice to see that mankind has begun using technology for critical purposes, like finally improving on the marshmallow gun. For too long we've been stuck with the homemade version, hastily constructed from PVC tubing and sold at craft fairs.
Neiman Marcus is currently selling the Executive Elite Marshmallow Blaster ($55, plus shipping). It's a jet-black, single-pump action, pneumatic marshmallow launcher that claims to be able to shoot a marshmallow 40 feet.
This is the natural evolution of The Marshmallow Shooter -- a red and white plastic marshmallow gun capable of launching mini-marshmallows 30 feet. The Marshmallow Fun Company also offers a marshmallow bow and mallow as well as a mazooka.
Liquid smoke feels like one of the magic tonics or potions from the crank doctors who used to advertise in Sears' catalogs and travel via medicinal road shows. But the all-natural food additive -- it's smoke-infused water -- is regaining popularity for people slow-cooking roasts inside of a crock pot instead of putting them on a grill.
The process of making liquid smoke is pretty cool to watch. It is distilled smoke, typically from mesquite or hickory wood, that's then often aged in oak barrels. Here, the process is compared to a water bong. You can buy it in bottles or attempt to emulate the Food Network's Alton Brown and build your own fire pit in order to harvest the liquid smoke.
For the past two decades, options for what to do with your old fridge have been limited to turning it into a beer fridge or, if you're a bit more committed and own some power tools, a kegerator. But instead of banishing it to the garage or hoping that somebody won't flake out after contacting you about your Craiglist ad, consider turning your old fridge into a cheese cave.
It's your first step towards getting off the cheese grid and becoming fully cheese independent. Kraft conspiracies aside, a cheese cave is the modern equivalent of those natural structures that are perfect for allowing cheese to age in a cool, humid place. By carefully monitoring the temperature and humidity levels, you can make your own cheese.
We've all got a mental checklist of things that servers can do to improve or ruin their tip. The New York Times blog You're The Boss has created a two-part list (the second half will run next week) of "100 things a restaurant staffer should never do."
The first 50 suggestions all seek to put the needs of the guest first, to keep the restaurant running smoothly and to avoid value judgments.
The list feels a bit like Miss Manners for restaurateurs -- a formal and slightly outmoded advice guide that still has some relevance and truth. It includes suggestions such as: plates should not be removed before everyone is done; the specials should be announced clearly; and personal recommendations should be held back, particularly if there's a special on lobster. These might fly in a white-coat steak house but would seem out of place in a fast-casual spot.
Chicken wings are typically multi-napkin, lip-burning affairs -- you have to plan for a messy dinner when you sit down for a bowl of wings at The Peanut. But Lifehacker links to a video from Food Wishes that shows the secret to deboning chicken wings and having a relatively mess-free dining experience.
To those who would say that this is blasphemy, I would say watch the video -- you're going to want to try this method. Chicken wings, like lobster, require a lot of effort in exchange for not a lot of meat. But what you get is sweet. And this method would appear to make sure that, by removing bones from the equation entirely, you don't leave any meat behind.
Cinnamon rolls are the tabula rasa of breakfast. With cinnamon rolls, the day starts off full of promise and anything seems possible until you eat your third one.
And as the weather turns cold, we begin to yearn for hot breakfasts. But since man can't live on steelcut oatmeal alone, Fat City presents you with a veritable smorgasbord of cinnamon bun options.
First, there's the basic cinnamon roll from the Food Network, which is as much about the cinnamon as the intense sugar glaze. It's only included so you have a point of comparison and an alternative to Cinnabon. If you've never seen how cinnamon rolls are made, this cooking-show video from an NBC affiliate in Rhode Island is a good guide.
In an essay somewhere between satire and poignancy, author Jonathan Safron Foer wonders why we don't eat dog meat.
Despite the fact that it's perfectly legal in 44 states, eating "man's best friend" is as taboo as a man eating his best friend. Even the most
enthusiastic carnivores won't eat dogs.... Our taboo against dog eating says something about dogs and a great deal about us.
Foer goes on to examine the cultural mores and history surrounding the cooking and eating of canines, in large part to get people to start to discuss the treatment of livestock in relation to their pets. Safron Foer's first work of nonfiction -- Eating Animals -- discusses his move towards vegetarianism in light of the recent adoption of his dog George.
"She changed things for me," Foer tells Guy Raz of National Public Radio. "This dog opened up the way that I thought about animals."
It's hard to believe that a sitcom could nail the major food issues in our life, but the past two episodes of 30 Rock tackled one of the major debates between foodies and offered an inexorable fact about life.
On the second episode of season four, "Into the Crevasse," an argument between two characters suddenly becomes about leftovers:
Devon: You know revenge is a dish best served cold, Jack, like sashimi or pizza.
Jack: You prefer cold pizza?
Devon: The morning after, it's the best.
Jack: Better than hot pizza? That's insane.
Devon: You don't tell me what kind of pizza to like.
As ridiculous as it sounds, whether you're looking for a significant other or a friend, whether a person prefers cold pizza to hot pizza can be as revealing as a person's views on any moral quandary. Cold pizza just evokes images of sweatpants and a failure to shave. Hot pizza at least means you made the effort to put it in the oven or microwave.
It sounds counterintuitive, but a new study suggests that living closer to fast food restaurants may actually reduce your chances for obesity.
The University of Utah discovered that people are less at risk for obesity when there are food options within walking distance, even if those options include convenience stores and fast food restaurants. On the flip side, people living more than a half of a mile from grocery stores or restaurants were more likely to be overweight.
"Having access to a range of food options in your neighborhood affects
both your energy input and output," said professor Cathleen Zick, co-author of the study.
Dinner can easily be the meal of least resistance. And if there's nothing in walking distance, it suddenly feels a lot easier to grab takeout or fast food on the way home.
Zick intends to further study the results from 500,000 residents of Salt Lake City, believing there is likely a connection between body mass index and whether there are retail food options within walking distance.
If she is successful, her work might find plenty of funding from fast food companies eager to prove that more franchises are needed in order to combat obesity.
Our culture tends to forget that food does have transformative powers when it is placed in a context and forms the underpinnings of a relationship.
It is Julia Child motivating Julie Powell to change who she was as a person. It is connecting with someone who is hungry when you volunteer for Harvester's. And it is the New York Times' story of Thomas Keller, chef/owner of The French Laundry, reuniting with his father late in life over the dinners Keller cooked for him:
Memories are what Mr. Keller strives to create with all his food. And food memories are something he said he cherishes about his last years with his father. Especially that last meal.
Keller also has a new cookbook, Ad Hoc at Home, that is earning praise for its casual and playful tone despite the fact that Keller is known for being exacting and focusing on food that requires extensive preparation. It is how the introduction ends that suggests why a meal can transcend the dinner table:
"When we eat together, when we set out to do so deliberately, life is better, no matter your circumstances."
So eat together. And cook together with your friends and family. It doesn't matter whether you cook well or opt for takeout, it makes life better.
Sadly, the best kitchen gadgets appear to be the ones you rarely see -- like the automatic butter spreader.
It's essentially a mechanized roller, the cousin of the hot dog roller at QuikTrip or 7-11, that allows for the even coating of toast or whatever you slide across the roller face. Both the warming and non-warming models have the capacity to hold one pound of butter.
The only time I've seen one in operation is at a grilled-corn stand at the Kansas State Fair, where butter was applied liberally to the corn they were selling. This was a serious bit of walking snack food.
You never know which retail food concepts that have been successful in other nations are going to find a foothold in the United Sates.
British supermarket giant Tesco's attempts to establish a mid-size, discount grocery store -- Fresh & Easy -- in California have failed to produce results the past two years, losing $206 million in the past year alone. Contrast Tesco with Canadian import Tim Horton's, which, following a merger with Wendy's in 1995, has embarked on an ambitious expansion plan in the United States, where it now has more than 500 stores, including its newest at Fort Knox.
I'm curious whether British chef Jamie Oliver's Recipease could succeed in the U.S. The new London store sells food and kitchen items, the idea being that you can come in and buy everything you need for a meal. You can also take classes on how to prepare a dinner and leave with the finished results.
Since we're tackling food labels today, it seems apropos that the Barf Blog again raises the issue of proper food safety stickers on take-out containers.
The stickers could be designed with information on when a prepared food was packaged and the proper guidelines for storing, heating and consuming. SuperMarket Guru believes that food safety labels could give supermarkets a competitive advantage, but could also be used to make people aware of potential food allergies.
Based on how take-out containers accumulate in office fridges, this could be a lifesaver. Why must office fridges become olfactory nightmares? Being able to see when something was packaged/purchased could lead to an easy decision about whether it survives the refrigerator purge -- without someone having the unfortunate task of smelling what's inside.
In honor of Halloween week and inspired by some scary tales we've been hearing around the office, we're devoting some Fat City space to Service Industry Horror Stories. Over the next few days, we'll share stories of kitchen hijinks and haunted customers that would make anyone run screaming from their job.
My kitchen horror story involves a regional pizza chain where I worked as a waiter. Those I served might have horror stories of their own -- I was an admittedly bad waiter -- however, this story is mine alone to tell.
In the first several weeks on the job, as I got to know the kitchen staff, I discovered that there was a pizza chef who believed that he could woo any woman via his signature pizza. Neither the recipe nor the ingredients mattered. What did matter was the shape. The pizza chef would fire up a heart-shaped pie several times a week in an effort to win over his latest love.
You've done it before -- now you just have a name for it. The Food Section offers a definition for that moment you decide to leave a store because it's simply taking too long to purchase what you want:
walk-a·ways (noun): Retail customers so frustrated by store checkout lines that they leave a shop without completing their purchases.
It's always a difficult decision to walk away because of the time you've got invested in a given errand even before you get to the register. If it's a big-box store, there's the drive over and then the endless trudge down the massive aisles. In some respects, it's easier to leave a smaller store because you're not yet committed.
Can fun motivate humankind to act more responsibly? That's the question behind The Fun Theory -- a viral advertising campaign/social awareness movement sponsored by Volkswagen.
The Web site features three videos, soundtracked with homemade electronica, that reward people for making socially responsible decisions with fun outcomes: the bottle bank arcade (seen above), a piano staircase (think Big meets the concrete stairs of a subway entrance) and a bottomless trash bin (that offers up the sound of an item falling a long way inside a conventional trash can).
While the theme is a bit Pavlovian, the concept is intriguing about how to effect change in people's ingrained habits. The bottle bank feels particularly relevant in light of the recent press conference at Ripple Glass, which has ambitious plans for reworking the glass recycling system in Kansas City and is expected to begin operations on November 2. You can follow Ripple Glass on Twitter as well.
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