When most people look at commercials for Klondike bars, I imagine that they see silly people doing fun, wacky things in return for yummy ice cream treats. Personally, I see cruelty, torture, and the dark side of addiction. Hunger is a harsh mistress; luckily, I've never been placed in a situation where I've had to do something embarrassing or illegal to get fed. To my shame, I have to admit that, under the right circumstances, I would probably humiliate myself for a Klondike bar. If the reward was a nice crême brûlée, there's no doubt: all bets would be off.
Because of this moral shortcoming, I can, to some extent, understand Tremayne Durham. A Brooklyn thug who was being held in an Oregon courthouse, Durham recently admitted that he did, indeed, kill a man in cold blood over a failed business deal. In return for his candor, he's probably facing life imprisonment.
What caused Durham to admit to his wrongdoing? Was it depression, guilt, a need for forgiveness, the first step on the road to redemption? No, Durham plead guilty to aggravated murder in return for a gargantuan fast-food feast. He received a bucket of KFC chicken, a bucket of Popeye's chicken, a serving of mashed potatoes, a serving of coleslaw, a slice of carrot cake, a pizza, two calzones, a tray of lasagna and a bucket of ice cream. The entire proceeding cost the state of Oregon a mere $41.70.
As Durham discovers that justice is sometimes served with a side of cole slaw, I'm going to start taking the idea of fast food addiction a lot more seriously...
Last fall, in the beginning of my first year in New York, I discovered the Vendy awards. Sponsored by the Urban Justice Center, the awards honor the city's best street vendors. I was particularly interested because of Mohammed Rahman, proprietor of the Kwik Meal cart on 45th Street and Sixth Avenue.
On some days, when I had a little extra cash, I'd grab my lunch at Mohammed's stand. While his menu was, ostensibly, the same as most other halal vendors, Mohammed had previously worked at the Russian Tea Room, and his classical background showed through. His genius lay in the little details, like the green papaya marinade that he used for his lamb, the basmati rice that he served it on, and the intricate spicing that made it truly unique. Although the 2007 Vendy ultimately went to Thiru "Dosa Man" Kumar, Mohammed still reigns high in my personal vendor pantheon. After all, he introduced me to the world of gourmet street food.
Michael Phelps' 12,000 calories a day notwithstanding, I'm dubious that the US Olympic teams are marching en masse to the Beijing Mickey D's for their pre-event chowdown. Still, that shouldn't stop you from pole vaulting on over to Facetheglory.com to download a coupon for a free Southern Style Biscuit or Sandwich today. Come armed with a hearty appetite and a color cartridge, 'cause the coupon is valid from August 15th through September 1st, and only if it's printed in color.
Yeah, I know that the analagous Chick-Fil-A sandwich tends to be the crowd favorite 'round these parts, but really, are you gonna look a gift chicken in the mouth?
*A reader just brought to my attention that a medium or large drink must be purchased to receive the freebie. I highly recommend the Sweet Tea.
Over the past few years, fast-food joints like McDonald's and Burger King have cashed in on nutritionists' advice that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. At this point, they all have a breakfast value menu. So, it's no surprise that food service businesses, such as Denny's and IHOP, which built their restaurants on the fact that they provide breakfast, are getting competitive with fast-food alternatives. An article from the Baltimore Sun explains that Denny's is going to offer breakfast skillets for $5.99. IHOP is now selling more to-go breakfast meals.
Restaurant analysts state that Denny's and IHOP will have to compete with the convenience, speed and low prices available from their fast-food competitors. Nevertheless, they should probably also realize that they may be targeting a different demographic alltogether.
Would you sign up for Denny's Real Breakfast Club? Signing up means that they'd send you emails with promotions, news, and offers.
Why shower at home when you can take a luxury bath in the sink at work? In a video from Break.com, a Burger King employee couldn't be happier to be celebrating his birthday in the Burger King sink. What's more disturbing is that the store manager doesn't even flinch when she finds out he's in there.
A follow up video on WDTN 2 News shows that several employees were fired after the incident. Mr. Unstable, as the Burger King employee calls himself, had to expect this outcome. Perhaps in addtion to being clean, his birthday present to himself was his brief moment in the Internet spotlight.
Next time, check closely... is that pepper on your burger, or body hair?
I don't know if it's all the summer produce that just happens to be filling the markets or if there's been some allignment of the planets, but it's been a banner week for food writing on the Weblogs, Inc. network. Over in the world of finance, Walletpop offered a couple of useful posts, exploring the relative value of in-store brands, and highlighting a free cereal offer from Malt-o-meal. Meanwhile, sustainability site GreenDaily offered some great suggestions for enviromentally-conscious summer cocktails, and an exploration of Pizza Hut's new quasi-organic vegetable pizza.
Over at ParentDish, Bethany Sanders questioned the bona-fides of supposedly healthy kids' snacks and Jennifer Jordan pointed out that (surprise, surprise!) most fast-food kids' meals are unhealthy. Speaking of health, That's Fit explored the benefits of tea, almonds, alcohol, peaches, spices, cherries, and even cake! They also waxed rhapsodic about the values of salsa, salad and beans, and even offered some suggestions for the healthiest kids' cereals!
A few months ago, a lot of McDonald's franchisees were complaining about having to advertise for the dollar menu. When the price of everything started going up, they didn't want to have to pay extra to advertise for items that bring in less revenue.
Well, it turns out that their complaints have worked. McDonald's is considering changing things up, starting with the double cheeseburger. The Consumerist is reporting that McDonald's is considering a couple of options. One option would be to take the cheese off the burger. The other option is to (gasp) raise the price.
I personally would pay more for the burger than have it cheese free, if I were to eat at McDonald's at all. I just think that two burger patties slapped together aren't very appetizing. They need the gooey-ness of the cheese. What do you think McDonald's should do?
It makes sense that NYC would follow LA's desire to ban fast-food. Just this past March, a report from the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene revealed that in just two years obesity and diagnosed diabetes increased by 17 percent while the rest of the nation experienced just a six percent increase. An article from New York magazine reports that, according to the Sun, NYC Councilman Eric Gioia wants to impose a one-year ban on new fast-food restaurants. Considering the gravity of this health crisis, this desired measure hardly seems as puritanical as New York magazine describes.
The BBC explains that local policians in LA want to implement laws that would ban fast-food businesses from opening up in South LA where 32 percent of adults are overweight. In cities with high rates of obesity, these measures seem crucial. Personally, I think these bans would encourage businesses to offer affordable healthy food. At the same time, it would bring back the traditional ways of enjoying and cooking food.
These days, product placement (especially when it comes to food) is a fact of life. We all know that when one of our favorite television characters is holding a Coke or Pepsi product in an episode of their show, the company paid big bucks to get it there. Same goes for any mention of Kraft cheese, Cheerios cereal or Tropicana orange juice. We've come to expect this from scripted and reality TV shows (think about all the products on Big Brother or even Jon and Kate Plus Eight).
You'd like to think that the news is incorruptible, miles away from the allure of food companies offering pay for placement. Apparently, journalistic standards are a little looser in Las Vegas, where at Fox affiliate, KVVU, morning anchors now display plastic cups of McDonald's iced coffee on the podium, where a station-branded coffee mug used to sit. They hardly ever touch these cups, and the printed-on labels are angled for best viewing. The station readily admits that it's a sponsored promotion and defends the practice by saying that they cups don't come out until they start airing the lighter morning news at 7 a.m.
What do you think? Is it appropriate for food companies to get product placement on the news?
A little over two years ago, my daughter was born. At the time, I was in moderately decent shape; although I smoked, I ate fairly well, walked all over the place, and generally kept my weight in an area that my doctor and I considered acceptable. However, my daughter's birth, my decision to quit the demon cancer sticks, and the fact that I spent an insane amount of time on the couch with her quickly bore fruit. Within six months of her arrival, I had packed on about 20 pounds.
After I had to buy new, larger pants, I decided that enough was enough. I started going to the gym, watching what I eat, exercising more, and generally trying to regain my svelte, pre-fatherhood body. I spent a lot of time looking in the mirror, looking at my measurements, and looking at my diet. When I moved to New York, however, my weight loss began to slow, sputter, and even reverse a little bit.
It wasn't too hard to figure out why I wasn't losing weight like I used to. While I was busy looking at the scale, I wasn't looking at my neighborhood. On the bright side, the Vietnamese restaurant near my apartment has several relatively healthy offerings and the taco truck a couple of blocks away is great if I don't order cheese, sour cream, and fried meat. However, the Dominican bakery, with its seductive tres leches cake, the Puerto Rican Cuchifritos stands, and the various pizzerias, Chinese food joints, and Gyro restaurants all taunt me with their wares. While I'm pretty good at avoiding the siren song of KFC, Burger King, and all the other fast food places, I am a sucker for homemade, high-fat goodies.
I've learned over the years that one of the vital rules when cooking for both meat-eaters and vegetarians is that you have to do everything you can not to contaminate your vegetarian cooking vessels and tools with anything meaty. I first awoke to this mandate when I found myself in charge of grilling for both camps of eaters at various potlucks and picnics. I would bring two sets of spatulas and tongs, so as to ensure that I didn't render food inedible for vegetarians.
Gallery: Bizarre objects found in food
However, it seems that KFC in Canada has not learned that same no-contamination lesson that I assimilated during college. They recently announced that they would carry a "non-chicken" sandwich in order to have a menu option available to vegetarians and vegans. However, according to Ecorazzi, they cook this meat-free patty in the same fryers in which they cook their meat-based meals, which renders it unappealing to the vast majority of the no-meat crowd.
I realize that it might be naive of us to think that KFC would have thoroughly thought out their vegetarian plan, but it seems to me that in order to keep offering these sandwiches, they're going to have to declare at least one fryer per store a no-meat zone.
Just about anywhere you go in the world, you can find a McDonald's. Burger King, Wendy's, KFC and Starbucks also blanket the country from coast to coast. It's once of the dubious mysteries of life that you can get the same thing to eat whether you're in Portland, Maine or Portland, OR. We take it for granted that these foods are always available. But all those chains had to start out someplace, with a single storefront and a little ambition.
The folks over at Walletpop have created a slideshow that documents the first location for many of your favorite food chains. Did you know that the first Dairy Queen was in Joliet, Ill? It opened in 1938 and by 1950 it had 1,446 locations nationwide. Bob Evans expanded a little more slowly, starting with a single location in 1948. Today they have 600 restaurants across 18 states. Want to know more about your favorite chain? Go see the slide show!
Today, 7.11.08, 7-Eleven locations will celebrate the company's 81st birthday by handing out free slurpees!
When I was in high school, I served as Editor-at-Large for my school's super intense newspaper, The Black & White. We'd publish about every two weeks, and spend every Tuesday and Wednesday of those weeks holed up in our cozy office until 10 p.m., when we'd pack up the school's computers (I'm not sure if our adviser knew that we did this) and take them to our houses to continue working for the rest of the night.
On the way home, we'd stop by 7-Eleven for late-night snacks. My one friend would always fill up a double-gulp of Code Red, and the rest of us would stock up on Slurpees and Swedish Fish. I can't drink one without remembering how cool we thought we were, zipping around in our parents cars at 10 p.m. on a school night, sipping slurpees.
In honor of the memory I'm going to swing by a 7-Eleven today for a Coke-flavored one. What flavor will you be getting?
Last Friday, the u-pick farm I like to frequent was offering a special 4th of July deal. If you were willing to sing the National Anthem, or recite the Pledge of Alligence, they'd give you a free bag of popcorn to take home along with the peaches, blueberries and plums you picked. I was more interested in the apple cider donuts, so I skipped the display of patriotism and paid for my snack.
However, if you're the type who likes to work for your meal and doesn't mind looking a little silly in the pursuit of a good deal, then you might like what Chick-fil-a offering up this Friday. They've declared it to be Cow Appreciation Day and if you dress up like a cow and go to one of their stores, you'll be rewarded with some free food. If you go all out and dress yourself from head to hoof, you'll get a free combo meal. If you just do a partial look, you'll be given a standalone entree. So what are you waiting for? Start planning your costume.
Recently, the AFA (American Family Association) launched a site announcing that it will boycott McDonald's for not remaining neutral on "culture wars," particularly the corporation's promotion of a homosexual agenda. The web site shows a television commercial from last year's San Francisco Gay Pride in which McDonald's announces its commitment of support to the gay and lesbian community.
But, just how gay-friendly is McDonald's? Besides airing that commercial, just this past March, Vice President of Communications Richard Ellis joined the Board of Directors of the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC). To me, it doesn't seem as though McDonald's has a "gay agenda." Instead, it appears that the company is part of an overall corporate trend: diversity in the work place.
Apparently, the AFA was set off by a simple letter written by Pat Harris, the Global Chief Diversity Officer, in which he states the corporation's respect for employees "regardless of their ethnicity, religious beliefs, and sexual orientation." In doing so, McDonald's has simply reiterated an all-inclusive policy that is more or less standard with most big companies, including The Walt Disney Company, Goldman Sachs and Coca-Cola. There is nothing particularly revolutionary about McDonald's stance -- it's certainly not the latest shot in some kind of "culture war."
Maybe the folks from the AFA have been eating too many Big Macs. It'll probably do them so good to lay off the meat. (Last thing we want is for them to use the junk-food defense to get away with any shenanigans.)
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When most people look at commercials for Klondike bars, I imagine that they see silly people doing fun, wacky things in return for yummy ice cream treats. Personally, I see cruelty, torture, and the dark side of addiction. Hunger is a harsh mistress; luckily, I've never been placed in a situation where I've had to do something embarrassing or illegal to get fed. To my shame, I have to admit that, under the right circumstances, I would probably humiliate myself for a Klondike bar. If the reward was a nice crême brûlée, there's no doubt: all bets would be off..jpg)
Last fall, in the beginning of my first year in New York, I discovered the 
Michael Phelps' 
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I don't know if it's all the summer produce that just happens to be filling the markets or if there's been some allignment of the planets, but it's been a banner week for food writing on the Weblogs, Inc. network. Over in the world of finance, Walletpop offered a couple of useful posts, exploring the relative value of 
.jpg)
A little over two years ago, my daughter was born. At the time, I was in moderately decent shape; although I smoked, I ate fairly well, walked all over the place, and generally kept my weight in an area that my doctor and I considered acceptable. However, my daughter's birth, my decision to quit the demon cancer sticks, and the fact that I spent an insane amount of time on the couch with her quickly bore fruit. Within six months of her arrival, I had packed on about 20 pounds.
Today, 7.11.08, 7-Eleven locations will celebrate the company's 81st birthday by 
Last Friday, the u-pick farm I like to frequent was offering a special 4th of July deal. If you were willing to sing the National Anthem, or recite the Pledge of Alligence, they'd give you a free bag of popcorn to take home along with the peaches, blueberries and plums you picked. I was more interested in the apple cider donuts, so I skipped the display of patriotism and paid for my snack. 
Chocolate-stuffed bananas on the grill
Tyler Florence welcomes new daughter
Beware kids' menus!
