Wilbur where art thou?

Matt loves coupons. When I say love, I really mean he'd probably rather have a coupon than a massage. Well ok maybe I'm over exaggerating; he'd want the coupon and the massage. Somehow he snaggled a coupon even I was excited about. Wendys was giving away (FO FREE) their new bacon sandwiches with a purchase of a small fries and a small drink. So not totally free, but these sandwiches are regularly being sold for $4-$6.

These bacon sandwiches appear to be following in the footsteps of McDonald's souped up burgers. If you recall, I was not fond of the idea and Matt was not fond of the burger. But if Wendys can do anything, they can perfect an idea McDonalds failed at achieving.

Like you can see from the pictures, these sandwiches look pretty impressive. They are on a nice seeded bun with fresh looking foliage and bacon. I'm not a big foliage fan on my burgers, but it looks pretty when they put it there. I got the Bacon Deluxe Single and Matt got the Baconator or the Bacon Deluxe Double. I guess they assume if you get the double you're only interested in the meat, because his sandwich was devoid of foliage.

This bacon came from one fine pig. It's thick and chewy. It doesn't squish in your mouth like most fast food bacon does. There was enough bacon on the sandwich that the single I had seemed to have as much meat as a double burger. I was full about half way through, but it wasn't that "ugh so much grease soooo muchhhh greaaaaaaaaaaaase" feeling one gets from visiting those double arches. I felt like I had eaten a burger twice the size at TGI Fridays (which I would have probably paid $10 for).

The burger wasn't extra large or anything fancy. Wendys makes good burgers; there was no need to fiddle with it. Matt was a new fan to Wendys Ketchup and Mayo on the burger. I was always a fan, but he was definitely basking in the deliciousness of it.

Would I have paid the price tag for this burger? Matt's double deluxe baconator with fries and a drink would run you $7.36. That's expensive. As I was considering the burger, I found myself much happier about it than I thought I would have been. The problem is, I got it for free. If I had paid the hefty price tag, I don't know if I would have been as thrilled.

Ok so lets take a step back. The burger filled me up just like a burger at a regular sit down restaurant. The fries were just a nice side, but completely unnecessary. If you're looking for a treat, but don't want to have to pay for tip and a drink ($7.36 for sandwich, fries, and a drink) I think it's a great option. This sandwich is going to fill you up. It really is a fresh tasting treat. You will be surprised you are sitting in a fast food restaurant when you open the box (yes it actually comes in a box).

I know I railed on McDonalds for making an expensive burger during a recession, but they just did it all wrong. Advertising was done with giant billboards; I didn't get a free coupon to try a sandwich. Their sandwich just didn't taste all that good, and it still gave you that ball-o-grease feeling.

Wendys made bacon burgers leave me feel full and not like my face was about to break out. That is impressive. They are a little pricey, but they'll fill you up. Bring them home and put them on a plate if you are worried you'll miss that "going out to a restaurant" feeling. You will be pleasantly surprised.

Happy Eating!!!

Emily

Mmmm cozy

I am cuddled up on my couch with a cup of tea. It's a Friday night. I lead an exciting life. You have every right to be jealous. For some reason I have had this uncanny interest in the term comfort food today. I was actually upset that I didn't know the origin behind this term. Somehow I'm having trouble picturing a little old woman (with a Babushka on of course) in Eastern Europe 100 years ago, saying, "Chicken noodle soup and homemade rye bread, ahhhh comfort food."

Turns out I was right. According to the Encyclopedia of Food and Culture, the term comfort food is a 21st century phenomenon. Their reasoning for the creation of such a classification was, that life got more stressful with additional technology, and people needed these homey feeling foods to calm them after a long day. I think I agree.

Let's go back to my babushka lady. I'm thinking Stone Soup, if you need a visual reference. Why would this woman who spends her day cooking a meal for her family (with no emails, phone calls, or text messages to compete with her attention) need to be comforted at the end of the day? Now let's picture my mom who wakes up, lets the dog out, goes on the computer to send out emails, starts my sister with school, goes back to the computer to grade essays for her online class, teaches my sister some more, takes the dog out, makes lunch, sees a few appointments, prepares for a lecture, and then makes dinner. If you got lost somewhere in the middle there, maybe you see the need for comfort food in our society.

Unfortunately the other thing that The Encyclopedia of Food and Culture brought up about the invention of comfort food as a term, was that it was convenient for marketers. A-HA I knew it!!! Behind ever cutesy phrase that embodies a feeling so perfectly is a brilliant marketer. I know this because one of my good friends is a marketing major; I've watched him ooze brilliance, and as my jaw dropped I realized everything I had ever believed was created by a marketer. Think of how much money "comfort food" has made over the years. I have bought at least 2 cookbooks simply because I was having a bad day and couldn't pass up the thought of a new comfort food recipe.

The funny thing about this whole comfort food thing is that it means different things to different people. I had a wonderful moment in the grocery store with a kind old Portuguese man today. He was scowling at the same chestnuts I was scowling at. Chestnuts are comfort food for me, because my great-grandfather had a giant chestnut tree. Every year we would go and pick chestnuts. I would peel them and eat them right there (sometimes finding out that at the middle of the chestnut I had worked so hard for and had eaten half of has another little something eating it too). The man I met today had the same emotional draw to chestnuts. When we started talking about them, his eyes lit up; and he told me how he loved roasting them.

Thankfully it doesn't matter why a food is comforting to you. The real joy in comfort food is biting into a warm fried perogie, closing your eyes, and imagining home (wherever that is for you). How else do you explain that feeling other than comforting. Ahh those marketing majors are just so smart.

Happy Eating!!!

Emily

You're Not Safe

I am sad to say that when I read in an article that a study has found unhealthy amounts of BPA in organic canned foods I might have giggled a little. Ok I'm not really sad to say it, more like I felt a twinge of guilt during the giggle.

In case you're wondering, BPA is the stuff in water bottles and plastic containers that's not supposed to be good for you. When the first studies about BPA came out, everyone was warned not to reuse plastic water bottles. I guess they use this stuff for? I'm really not sure, but it's used in canned foods too supposedly.

The manufacturers are telling us that BPA is relatively safe in small quantities, so I'm really not writing this post to make you run away to a vegetarian farm in Mexico. I guess this just made me realize that we don't know everything. More importantly we can't know everything.

That broccoli you buy might have e.coli on it just waiting to make your body sick. The cookie dough you sneak a bite of might be the healthiest thing you eat all day. You just really never know.

Organic food bothers me which was why I might have giggled a little when reading the article. The mass production of organic has pretty much left it in exactly the same playing field as the potato that makes those McDonalds fries. Yes Whole Foods was the end of the world as the small farmers knew it. I know they do bring in local produce every now and then, but the only thing that makes the bag of frozen broccoli different from the one at Shaws is the price tag.

This new study that shows high BPA levels in canned food just proves that the organic industry has become greedy. They came in when it became hip and cool to eat healthy, and have turned what might have been a good thing into what is still a harmful thing that makes a lot of money.

I didn't eat anything that was healthy or organic today. Hopefully it didn't have anything harmful in it. I made an omelet with cheese and ham and adobo. It was amazing and cooked and eaten in 15 minutes. Honestly it was the best idea I had all day.

Happy Eating!!!

Emily

What's your beef?

Well it looks as if we have another recall on our hands and my sources tell me that the meat was sold about a month ago. In case this is the first time you are hearing about it, ground beef is being recalled because somehow some e.coli decided to invade it. Of course I am being facetious when I use the word invade. It is not the e.coli's fault people; it just is not. Either way people are getting sick and even dying this time. Yes e.coli can be deadly, which is why you are to always be careful when you handle meat (and that medium rare burger is not safe, I repeat not safe). For right now it might be safe to avoid beef of the ground kind, and turn to turkey instead.

I am not a veghead and I do not, I repeat DO NOT support throwing meat out altogether. If you do it, I will try not to judge; but I might eat my bacon and eggs and comment on the tasty deliciousness of fried Wilbur fat. Call me cruel, insensitive, and non-environmental it really won't affect me. I wouldn't give up eating meat if I had to resort to wringing the chicken's neck myself. I might eat it less, or wring a few necks at a time so I could keep some in my freezer; but I would continue my delicious habit.

*Stepping off soapbox*

So since that option is out of the way, really the only option to avoiding ground beef is eating ground turkey. I grew up on ground turkey and really it is a wonderful alternative. I have heard from a few sources that it has the same amount of fat as ground beef has in it, but I dare those people to try to skim fat from the pan when cooking ground turkey. It's just not there. Maybe that doesn't mean it's not still in there, but I like to think it means that ground turkey is a tasty healthy alternative to ground beef.

Matt is a serious hater of ground turkey. When I say serious hater, I mean he is the president of the ground turkey haters club. I have to cook without him around and sneak ground turkey into his diet. Supposedly he has nothing against turkey in general; he just likes beef when it comes to burgers, meatloaf, and Chili. He also likes cooking his eggs in bacon fat, but that's a whole other story my stomach can't handle at the moment.

I am thinking that this recall might work to my favor when dealing with el presidente. It is possible that I can tell Matt that we have to eat ground turkey for a while, and he might come to like it. Then again Wilbur might fly away before I can get a roast out of him.

If you don't have a member of the club in your house hold and haven't tried ground turkey now is a great time. I am not a fan of ground chicken, because it is too dry. Also don't buy lean ground turkey. It will taste lean enough to you if you are used to ground beef. For the first time, you might not be ready for a burger. Try adding it to your favorite Chili recipe. It doesn't look the same as ground beef and it doesn't smell the same when you're cooking it. Don't let that deter you; the end result will taste just like chicken er beef. You won't be disappointed.

I guess the bottom line with all this food recall stuff is; food is not something you want to be flippant about. When you're cooking meat, be careful about temperature and times. Right now avoiding raw hamburger might be wise, even if you just found a great make-it-yourself steak tartar recipe. I think in our age of "here comes the swine flu let's invent a shot to save people from dying from it" we forget that all of the steps and precautions don't guarantee that what you are eating is safe. Honestly I hope they never come up with a way to make food 100% safe, because every time we do something like that to food we lose some of its nutritional value. Homogenized pasteurized milk anyone?

Happy Eating!!!

Emily

A peanut butter and jelly sandwich wow

"It tastes so fine just anytime on a plane in a car with a bowl of caviar. A peanut butter and jelly sandwich yeah, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, it's a meal so fine, it's paradise anytime, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich yeahhhhhh"

I think it was about 6 months into our relationship that I sang the Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwich song to Matt. When I was little, we listened to Patch the Pirate tapes in the car. My poor parents could probably sing every song by heart. This song was one of my especially dearest songs. I mean who could not love an ode to pb&j.

Unfortunately because of peanut free schools, many children don't even have the opportunity to squish a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and gobble it down during lunch time. This is a travesty. My brother ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches every day for probably 3 years. I am not that devoted, but there really is nothing like digging into your bag and seeing that sweet and nutty sandwich most likely a little squished waiting for you. It is the quintessential lunch time treat. I would go as far as saying that it is my favorite lunch.

There are plenty of debates as to how to make the perfect pb&j sandwich. Matt is a big fan of crunchy peanut butter. He also keeps his peanut butter in the fridge (yeah he's a weirdo). I grew up on smooth Skippy peanut butter. We kept it in the cabinets, so it was always smooth and spreadable. Skippy isn't too sweet and I just can't do crunchy. I like my sandwiches to be squishy and soft.

I grew up on grape jelly. Now I buy whatever happens to be in my fridge. Of course the good old grape and Skippy is the only sandwich that takes me back to those elementary school days.

Chips are definitely the only acceptable side to a pb&j. It is the perfect salty to the semi-sweet side.

I of course understand why some school are now peanut free, but pushing out the staple of American lunches is just so mean. Matt and I would probably be at a loss for lunch if we couldn't eat our lunches of pb&j. Not only is it probably one of the cheapest lunches, but it's also just so tasty. I'm terribly sorry if you don't get this. It's an acquired taste.

Happy Eating!!!

Emily

Hair does not belong in the food

Yesterday I was hanging out in Salem with Matt and Kate. Kate is a vegetarian, so lunch could have been a challenge. I despise people who make vegetarians feel like they are a bother when choosing a restaurant. It is more challenging of course than it would have been if it were just Matt and I. We would have probably eaten a hot dog and moved on. But that doesn't mean that their eating choices should be discussed for hours on the sidewalk. Thankfully we had a Salem visitors guide and I found a cute little sandwich shop that touted vegan and vegetarian options. Even better, the place was reasonable.

Kate ordered a vegetarian wrap. I saved the table, because the place was packed; Matt bought me a tuna fish sandwich and he ordered a chicken Caesar salad(see everyone makes healthier choices when hanging out with Kate). We realized how hungry we were once we started eating the food. Kate stopped 1/4 way into her wrap and says "that's not mine." She pulled a hair out that didn't match any of our hair. Kate was of course completely grossed out. I felt awful, because meals are completely ruined by hair. Kate felt bad going up and telling the owner. My big mouth wasn't.

"We found hair in our food." ~ Me
"Oh that's not supposed to be there." ~ Owner

OF COURSE IT WASN'T SUPPOSED TO BE THERE!!! The owner gave me a new sandwich completely embarrassed about the situation. It probably didn't help that I told him in a small sandwich shop full of customers that there was hair in the food, but hair doesn't belong in food. The first thing we learn in culinary school is keep your hair in a hat. I get grossed out if I find my own hair in my food. It's just really not appetizing and it gets stuck in your throat...bleck grossing me out just writing about it.

Today I received a industry magazine for chefs. I was a little depressed going through the magazine and seeing one article after another about how the restaurant industry isn't doing so hot. There were articles about ways to bring people in, basic marketing, ect. I think there should have been a piece about simple mistakes that will ruin a customers meal.

Hair in the food would be on the top of my list for an article like that. The economy makes things harder, but avoiding simple mistakes and cooking good food are the true keys to restaurant success.

Hope you enjoy the picture of Kate and me hanging out with Sam from Bewitched. Despite the hair in the food, we had a blast.

Happy Eating!!!

Emily

It's candy corn season

I say this in case you missed the one aisle of the store COVERED in orange and black. You know the one right before the 3 aisles of Christmas stuff (WAYYY creepier than the talking skulls).

Anyway Saturday is Halloween and regardless of how you feel about this ghoulish holiday, I hope you are going to at least enjoy our families Halloween tradition, Reeses Peanut Butter pumpkins. In my family we never got dressed up, and we lived so far out in no-wheres-ville that no one even came to our door. Right around Halloween, during one of our weekly grocery trips, my mom would pick up the Peanut Butter pumpkins. I really can't explain to you how much this moment was looked forward in my life. We never got candy all to ourselves. If my dad brought home a candy bar, we all split it. This might be why the day I was on my own at college I would devour bars of chocolate, like I had years of eating only a few squares to make up for it.

There is of course another candy that is probably a better representative of spooky season. Candy corn was invented in 1880 by George Renninger for a Philadelphia candy company. Yeah Philly does it again, or did it again. Anyway it was an instant hit, because it looked like corn, Renninger actually made it to be the same size as a kernel of corn.

8.3 billion candy corn are produced every year with an impressive 80% bought/consumed in September and October. The funny thing is though, I really don't think that many people actually consume candy corn. It's the candy I always equate to a candy dish, and not the candy dish candy that actually disappears.

Put M&Ms in a dish and they're gone by the end of the night. Put candy corn in and yeah they'll probably get dusty. Now I may be totally off on this and people may really like eating tons of candy corn. I'm a fan of eating one or two pieces and thinking YEAH FALL and then moving on to the Reeses pumpkins.

Because I took my ethics midterm today and could tell you the 3 parts of Kant's categorical imperative, I am feeling a little philosophical. So what is it about candy corn that makes me try one or two pieces and then move on. I guess I'm really not a huge fan of candy corn. It's not like Hershey's chocolate. I don't really crave it. I just feel the need to eat it, like it wouldn't be Halloween without crappy candy corn. Yeah I said crappy; it's so crappy that I need to eat it when it's sitting in front of me.

Ok it's a fact, all of this ethics stuff really isn't applicable. I mean if I can't figure out why I need to eat candy corn (the important stuff) then what in the world is it supposed to teach me? Oh yeah, how to be so stressed you scream while crying at Matt because he called you 45 minutes later than normal (stress oh stress). My poor boyfriend is a saint.

Well I hope you find a candy dish with candy corn in it this Halloween. And remember you're only required to eat one or two pieces; we all know they're gross.

Happy Eating!!!

Emily