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Happy International Sushi Day

Michael — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 14:56:53 +0000

Apparently today is International Sushi Day. It sounds like a made-up holiday to me but do you really need an excuse to eat sushi? So go out and get yourself some tuna maki or something. Just watch the wasabe.

Why do we eat turkey and all the fixings?

Michael — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 14:31:24 +0000

We all know what Thanksgiving dinner means. It means cooking a turkey, some stuffing, a variety of vegetables, probably some sweet potatoes and biscuits. Oh and don’t forget the cranberry sauce. Dessert brings pumpkin pie and maybe some egg nog to start off the holiday season.

You’ve eaten this combination every year of your life but do you know why? Check out this article on CNN to learn more about this holiday tradition.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Prost! – Happy Oktoberfest

Michael — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 01:01:11 +0000

Fall is finally here and Oktoberfest has begun in Munich. Even though I’m not a beer drinker, it’s a fun fall tradition and who could say no to a huge plate of traditional Bavarian food! I’ve never been to Munich, but you can check out the photos from when we went to Oktoberfest at the (now closed) Hofbrauhaus.

Then take a look at the real thing coutesy of Yahoo! News.

A Great Amish Buffet

Michael — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 00:42:36 +0000

A few posts ago I promised a brief review of the restaurant that I went to in Lancaster last weekend. The restaurant was an Amish buffet called The Family Cupboard. You can also order meals, but we went for the buffet. Most buffets are basically a smorgasbord of mediocre food. We were leery that this would be the same. We had picked it out randomly from the Internet.

When we walked in and saw that there was a fair number of Amish/Mennonite folks eating there, we became more confident that the food would be good. As it turns out, it was really good. I went back for three plates plus dessert. There was a delicious meatloaf, buttered noodles that were clearly homemade and definately from a PA Dutch/German recipe. These sat alongside glazed ham, stuffing and seafood, pasta lima beans and on and on. The salad bar was your usual salad bar. I was glad to see it was all fresh and crispy, but what really made it special was a delicious house dressing.

For dessert, there was Turkey Hill ice cream as well as an assortment of desserts, but but what really caught my attention was the pies. I had a piece of pecan pie (my favorite) which wasn’t so great, but I went back for another piece and selected shoo-fly pie. It was delicious!

You can view their menu and get directions at FamilyCupboard.com.

The father of the Egg McMuffin dies

Michael — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 10:39:28 +0000

Here in New Jersey when we think of a delicious breakfast, the mind immediately conjures images of a diner. I’m particular partial to a bacon and cheese omelet, with hash browns, some toast and a bottomless cup of diner coffee. However, sometimes you don’t have time to spend in a diner. That’s where my second favorite breakfast place comes into play. I like just about anything from McDonald’s breakfast menu, but the item that most people associate with McDonald’s breakfast is the Egg McMuffin. It was created by Herb Peterson in 1972. After 36 years and more sandwiches sold than he ever imagined, I’m sure, Herb passed away at the age or 89.

Some people’s legacy is on a headstone, Herb’s will live on on the McDonald’s menu board.

Read his obituary on CNN.

Cheeseburger in a can

Michael — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 04:18:41 +0000

I think the post title really says it all. What else can I say, really?

Check it out at the Emeril Blog.

I knew there was a reason I like coffee

Michael — Fri, 04 May 2007 02:32:45 +0000

Anyone who knows me knows I like coffee. No I’m not one of those fools who pays $8+ for a cup of lousy coffee at places like Starbucks. But, I’m definately addicted to my very cool Senseo coffee machine and love to stop at Dunkin Donuts anytime I think I can go in there without succumbing to the temptation of their donuts!

Now, according to this article on MSNBC, coffee might be good for you. It apparently can help ward off type 2 diabetes and may even help prevent certain cancers.

Hang from a crane and eat dinner

Michael — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 17:02:52 +0000

I enjoy trying new restaurants. Just last night I had a delicious dinner place that appeared pretty rough from the outside but had delicious food. However, I’m not sure I’d make it past the “front door” of the restaurant in this article from the Daily Mail. You are surved dinner while sitting at a table which is suspended 150 off the ground. It hangs off the boom of a crane. You and 21 other folks site with nothing but air under your feet as you eat a gourment meal.

The reporter who wrote the article couldn’t even bring herself to eat because of the height issue. There’s a good chance I’d have the same problem!

Know your eggnog

Michael — Sat, 25 Nov 2006 18:09:18 +0000

Just in time for the start of the holiday season, here’s an article about the history of one of my favorite drinks eggnog.

As usual, I saw this one on the place for random food facts, Emerils.com.

Which side of the foil?

Michael — Thu, 23 Nov 2006 00:05:57 +0000

As we all get ready to create massive amounts of leftover turkey this week, most of us will be wrapping it in aluminum foil. Ever wonder which side of aluminum foil is the inside and which is the outside. Well, the truth is, it doesn’t matter. They’re both the same. Just another nugget of wisdom from the Emeril blog.

Read the details at Chow.com.

Cranberries in Manhattan

Michael — Thu, 02 Nov 2006 21:48:49 +0000

The beginning of the holiday season at Rockefeller Plaza in NYC conjures up images of the Christmas tree lighting, skaters at the rink and, of course, cranberry bogs. Wait, maybe not cranberry bogs. But this year there is a cranberry bog at Rockefeller center. Ocean Spray built an artificial cranberry bog for Chef Ming Tsai at 30 Rock.

Check it out in NY Magazine.

I heard about this in the Emeril blog.

Fried Coke

Michael — Sun, 15 Oct 2006 00:39:14 +0000

OK, fried Oreos sound good. Fried Twinkies… maybe. But now something new has been born at the Texas Sate Fair. A guy created a new snack called Fried Coca-Cola. Now, it’s not really fried Coke, but it’s a Coke flavored batter that’s fried then drizzled with Coca-Cola syrup.

I think I’ll hold out for fried Moutain Dew, but you can learn more at WDSU in New Orleans.

Gnocchi are big in Argentina

Michael — Sat, 23 Sep 2006 03:16:17 +0000

And now the first new entry in the new category…

Gnocchi are one of the favorite Italian foods. They’re delicious in either a red sauce or my pesto sauce. I generally always request them as my birthday dinner.

After reading this blog entry on Emeril’s site, I learned something new. They are apparently very popular in Argentina.

New category – food

Michael — Sat, 23 Sep 2006 02:52:51 +0000

I figured that this blog doesn’t go in enough random directions, so I added another.

The new category is ‘Cooking/Food’. Cooking and food is one of my favorite hobbies. I just went back and added some of the old posts to the category, and i’ll be adding new ones in the future.

Onion Goggles

Michael — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 00:32:30 +0000

I have just about the most sensitive eyes known to man. I also love to cook. This poses a problem when I have to chop onions. Luckily my knife skills are decent so I wind up chopping with my eyes closed. This, of course, is a bad idea!

Enter a good idea… Onion Goggles. Why didn’t I invent these? Thanks to Emeril’s blog, I found these. Too bad I can’t order a pair before I chop 9 pounds of peppers tomorrow for the luau!

Ice cream stamps

Michael — Mon, 22 May 2006 00:39:37 +0000

Well, here’s something interesting. Licking stamps has never seemed like fun before, but now in Australia you can buy ice cream flavored stamps compliments of a deal between the Australian Postal Service and Haagen-Dazs.

What I Watch – Food Guru Moments

Michael — Tue, 14 Mar 2006 00:53:07 +0000

I love to cook, so this new video podacst is becoming one of my favorite short IPTV shows. It comes from an unlikely place. When you think of fine dining, Iowa is the first place that comes to mind, right? Ok, maybe not, but Peter Harman hosts Food Guru Moments and he is the owner and chef at Martini’s Grill in Burlington, Iowa. It’s a unique, fast-paced podcast that introduces one recipe per episode.

If I’m ever in Iowa (though I probably won’t be) I’d definately stop in and try his cooking!

Visit his site at www.foodguru.com.
Subscribe to the podcast at http://www.foodguru.com/podcast/xml.xml.

100×100 Burger

Michael — Thu, 16 Feb 2006 02:28:43 +0000

I’ve never had the pleasure if eating at an IN-N-OUT Burger. The closest one is about 3000 miles away. I did see some when I was in CA last year, but there just weren’t enough meals in the day.

Anyway, there is one group of people who have not only eaten there, but ordered a 100 by 100 burger. That is a cheeseburger that consists of one bun with 100 beef patties and 100 slices of cheese. This site makes me think of the classic days of the Internet when the web was in its infancy and every odd and eccentric person posted their adventures. You know, just like the Project:Denny’s or the Home Depot Bet.

Check out the 100 by 100 burger at WhatUpWilly.com.

Coffee soda is returning?

Michael — Wed, 07 Dec 2005 21:14:24 +0000

I doubt many of you remember Pespi Kona soda, but it was a coffee flavored cola that was test marketed in the Philadelphia region in the mid 1990′s. I though it was great, buta pparently I was alone because it never went into full production. (Learn more in this Honolulu Star Bulletin article from back in the day or from Wikipedia.)

Now, a new coffee flavored soda is coming out. Next year Coca-Cola will introduce Coke Blak. Read more here. I hope it’s nearly as good. (Even though I’m a Pepsi person.) We’ll see if they come out with a diet version.

Emeril’s restaurants are reopening

Michael — Sat, 05 Nov 2005 16:29:32 +0000

A real sign that New Orleans is getting back on it’s feet after the destruction caused by Hurricane Katrina is that Emeril Lagasse’s restaurants have announced an reopening schedule. The first one will reopen in December.

Check out the details here.

Jesse James, restauranteur

Michael — Sat, 05 Nov 2005 15:09:04 +0000

I just read in the Emerils Blog that Jesse James (of Monster Garage on Discovery Channel and proprietor of West Coast Choppers) is opening a burger joint in Long Beach, CA. To answer the obvious questions, yes the burgers will be shaped like iron crosses and yes the waitresses will all have tattoos. It will be called Cisco Burgers.

Nuts and blacktop?

Michael — Thu, 22 Sep 2005 23:32:08 +0000

Here’s a random fact I just read on Emerils.com. Both the macadamia nut and macadam road surface are named after the same guy, John Loudon McAdam. Yesterday he would have been 249 years old.

What I listen to – KCRW Good Food

Michael — Sun, 18 Sep 2005 18:01:06 +0000

You probbaly know that one of my interests is cooking (and eating for that matter). There aren’t a lot of good food podcasts out there but this one isn’t bad. KCRW is an NPR station in Santa Monica, CA. As you would expect from an NPR station, it tends to be dry at times, but that’s the beauty of a podcast. You can fast forward through those parts.

Good Food covers a wide range of topics from restaurants, to chefs, buying tips, etc.

Check out their site at http://www.kcrw.com/cgi-bin/db/kcrw.pl?show_code=gf&tmplt_type=Program
(The entire KRCW site is pretty hard to navigate and not all that user friendly. But again, there’s the beauty of podcasts… you never really have to visit the site!)
The feed is at http://kcrw.com/podcast/show/gf