Brian-food

Fall - with a twist

2008-10-07T19:23:00.001-04:00

Fall

Whilst driving through my local Starbucks I like to make fun of Sylvia's order. She gets a "Venti, skinny, vanilla, latte" but when I order it I like to say something like this.

first I'm gonna need a big ole honkin' venti, skinny, no-fat, no-sugar, no-fun, no-nothin' vanilla, latte...

WITH WHIP

Sylvia laughs when I do that, and that's half the reason. This time, the intrepid barista in the drive-thru says:

wow - with that twist at the end I thought I was in an M. Night Shyamalan movie

We applauded when we got to the window.

I'm not a big fan of Fall - as it has fully arrived here in West Michigan, but I do like the Pumpkin Spice Latte an awful lot.
...maybe it's just me?

Crabs!

2008-09-22T10:11:00.001-04:00

Crabs!

My friend Steve Wilcox invited a bunch of us over for Maryland blue crabs.

Sylvia and I had a great time and Zeke ate almost a whole hot dog.

Note about blue crabs: after you cook 'em, they turn red. Kind of a political statement, don't you think?

...maybe it's just me

Best Juice Ever

2008-09-05T16:55:00.001-04:00

Best Juice Ever

Many years ago, Ocean Spray made Cran-Blueberry. It was amazing. Then, they stopped making it. It was sad.

Today, I found this in the grocery store. It is fantastic. I've started hitting the juice pretty hard today.

If you've had someone else's Cranberry-Blueberry concoction, that's fine, but this is the best juice ever.

... maybe it's just me

Wild Stallion

2008-09-04T15:00:00.001-04:00

Wild Stallion

As if we needed one more energy drink - this is mango flavored. I found it on tap at a gas station.

When you think of wild stallions, raw power, rippling muscles, thundering hooves, and manes whipping in the wind as they gallop across the great plains - don't you just think "Orange Mango"?

... maybe it's just me

one please

2008-08-22T08:27:00.001-04:00

one please

There's got to be a way that I can set this up in my own kitchen.

I'd probably just end up sticking my face underneath and dispensing both barrels directly into my mouth.

... maybe it's just me.

Red Knapp's Dairy Bar

2008-08-20T22:00:00.002-04:00

Red Knapp's Dairy Bar

Rochester, Michigan is the home of Red Knapp's Dairy Bar. Until I was on the way there, I thought is was the Dairy Barn. Clearly, I'm a moron.

It's a 50's-style diner. It's been a 50's-style diner since the 50's.
That's actually really nice. Great burgers on homemade buns, shakes served in the can and fries.

You can't go wrong when those are all done well.
...maybe it's just me.
Thanks to Sylvia for taking me there!

Old Joke

2008-08-02T07:58:00.001-04:00

The Corner Bar

I have the privilege of serving on the Board of Directors for Greater Hopes, Inc. Adoption Agency and we had our first meetings this week in Rockford, MI - just around the corner from The Corner Bar.

Famous for their hot dogs and their hot dog contest. It seems if you eat enough dogs in a short enough amount of time, then you get your name on their wall. That's good fun!

When I ordered my hot dog I was reminded of this old joke.

Q: What did the Buddhist say to the hot dog vendor?
A: Make me one with everything.

...maybe it's just me

one pound of awesome

2008-07-30T23:13:00.001-04:00

1 pound...

One of my favorite places in Grand Haven is Pavilion's Wharf right there on Washington. It's a cute little place decked out like a red, green, and white cottage, but inside it's an awesome little restaurant and bar.

The burgers are clearly their best offerings. Cooked to order and available in 1/2 pound or... yes... Full One Pound options. Sylvia - posing with the One Pounder - and I split a big ol' Fiesta burger the other night. It has bacon, swiss, guacamole, and I encourage you to try the curly fries.

You won't go to bed hungry... and you wont wake up hungry the next morning either.

... maybe it's just me

Dairy Treat

2008-07-25T17:04:00.001-04:00

Dairy Treat

It's Summer time and that means ice cream. In Grand Haven, a lakeshore tourist community, that means you have plenty of choices. Today I'm talking about the Dairy Treat - at the request of my special guest requester - Brian.

Of all the gastronomic delights available, Brian had a hankering for a Rock Pile Shake. He said it was kinda like a blizzard but better.

When I arrived at the window I saw the slogan, "Home of the Rock Pile Shake". I was pretty geared up! You get a choice of peanuts or pecans. Brian asked for peanuts so that's what I got. I didn't know what else might be in there and I don't mind the adventure of an unknown. Brian hasn't ever steered me wrong before, so I received my first Rock Pile with salivary glands at the ready.

There were strawberries clearly visible. I like strawberries. I like ice cream, I like peanuts, what could go wrong? (see my food rules for examples of what could go wrong)

I like bananas, but not really in things. This was a banana split in a blender. I ate the whole thing anyway just because I love Brian so much and wanted to honor his food request.

nasty

Brian also wanted me to visit Butch's Beach Burritos (next blog post coming soon). I had to ask him if I should be worried about finding a banana covered in salsa hiding in there.

... maybe it's just me.

PS - got something you want me to eat and blog about? Add your comment and let me know!

Rick and Aedan

2008-06-27T23:42:00.002-04:00

Rick and Aedan

So what do you say to someone when you haven't seen them in 25 years? That's what my friend Aedan said this week when we met up for a visit. He's been living abroad for most of his adult life and lives in Finland now with his family. He found my website and recognized me by my toes.

He's kept in touch with our mutual friend Rick over the years and this week while I was in Chicago, speaking at a conference and recording a podcast and Aedan was in town visiting home - we all got together.

So - what do you say after 25 years?

Giordano's - that's what!

maybe it's just me...

Instantly delicious

2008-06-24T19:29:00.002-04:00

This is Jeff. Jeff wants his coffee. Jeff Parker is my oldest friend. He's actually about the same age as me, but I've known him longer than nearly anyone I know. Jeff moved to Chile about 15 years ago and we've been keeping in contact ever since.

This is the dark and robust Uruguayan Cafe de leche. After a couple days of that, I flew from Uruguay to Chile.

I was surprised to find that the Chilean coffee is all instant. In fact if you want brewed coffee you need to ask and pay special for it. Apparently they export all of their coffee.

However, this is like no instant coffee I've ever had. If you made it dark - and most places simply hand you the hot water or hot milk and a tin of Nescafe - it's really good. That was by far the strangest thing I ate/drank on my South American jaunt.

...maybe it's just me

Dids Deli

2008-06-06T13:08:00.001-04:00

Dids Deli

I had to run some errands at lunch and just before I went home I stopped in at a Deli, just around the corner from my apartment.

Sweet Fancy Moses!
That's what I call a sandwich.

I'm never leaving.

... maybe it's just me

Donut Day

2008-06-05T21:07:00.002-04:00

Donut day

Wednesday at the office is Donut Day.

It's a day devoted to donuts.

It doesn't get much better than that.

... maybe it's just me.

guest brian

2008-05-30T14:03:00.001-04:00

Brian Tol

Today I had lunch with Brian Tol. He and I used to work together at Gospel Communications and he's recently gone over to 5Q Communications.

We ate at one of my favorite places in Grand Haven, Pavilion's Wharf. The Wharf is right downtown, has great burgers, and is smoke-free. I'm pretty much done eating in places that allow smoking. Michigan is considering legislation that will ban smoking in public places, we'll see about that.

The Wharf has this one burger that bears mentioning - The Magnificent Stuffed burger. It's a burger - yeah, that's pretty obvious - and it's stuffed with bacon, cheese and jalapeño peppers - add curly fries and you're set for the day. I estimate the calories at around 400,000.

On a personal note - Brian and his wife Amy are preparing to adopt a child from Ethiopia. I wrote up a warm-fuzzy letter for them and hopefully it will help. When I heard they were looking at Ethiopia I said, "Hey, at least they won't each much."

... maybe it's just me.

Table Scraps

2008-04-30T01:00:00.002-04:00

Three Years of Brian-Food and 100 posts - a retrospective.

It was on June 8, 2005 that I first posted about breakfast cereal. I'd been blogging since 1995 with my Wacky Thing of The Week - before there were blogs. I first started with internet fun available on a shared drive for my co-workers, and then started putting them on the web in '97 when I learned how and registered mirthmobile.com. But Brian-Food was/is my first actual blog as we understand it today. I thought a great way to celebrate this milestone might be through reflection.

Some of my favorite food topics center on the elixir of life - Coca-Cola:
Zero
Black
Flavors
The Real Thing
I've switched over almost entirely to Coke Zero now, but now and then I have to get the good stuff.

I've used the word "joint" in 10% of my posts and "eatery" in 5%.

Fat Tuesday.

I also find oddities in my food:
Bones
Things
Stuff

I try to take pictures before or while I'm eating. This is one of my favorites.

One of my favorite posts focused on the story I made up about the guy at my local Taco Bell. For a while there "Chipotle Grilled Stuffed Burrito" was the #4 referring keyword to my site and MirthMobile was the #1 hit on Google with the words "Chipotle Grilled Stuffed Burrito". Now, thanks to the magic of blogs, it's #1 and #2. Give this post a couple of weeks and I'll have that #3 spot locked up as well.

I try to come up with catchy titles for my posts like:
Thank you very mocha
What up G
Unfortune cookies
and...
Shout out to my peeps
By the way, I still have some of those peeps drying nicely in my cupboard.

I also try to feature the gastronomic gyrations of my friends. Steve shows up from time to time, but his best work has to be the giant gumball in Mouthfull of pain. (not for the faint of heart)

Not everyone may agree with what I write, after all - I have my rules, but I hope the past three years have been entertaining and possibly enlightening for you gentle reader.

... on the other hand, maybe it's just me.

Coffee Refils

2008-04-29T17:39:00.004-04:00

I love eating at diners, drive-ins and dives.
In fact, about the only cooking show I can stomach is the show by that name, "Diners, Drive-ins and Dives". As much as I love the food and the great variations on the PEB theme (pancake, egg, burger) at the local place, there's something that those joints could learn from a national chain.

Coffee refills are too slow almost everywhere. Perkins on the other hand gets this right. If you order coffee, they give you the pot. That's what I'm talking about. They brew small pots, directly into this air-tight carafe so you can enjoy fresh coffee during your stay. Today, I spent about 2 hours in a Perkins and finished the pot. It was diner-coffee, that is to say, not great, but not bad. But I never had to wait for a refill and I never had to deal with the dregs at the end of the pot, nor the regular/decaf problem.

Perkins, you get a gold star.

... maybe it's just me.

PS - this is post number 99 on Brian-Food. I'm going to have to find something pretty good for #100. Stand by.

Movie Popcorn

2008-04-22T20:59:00.002-04:00

Just in case you haven't ever been to a theater with a refillable popcorn bucket, I need to explain.

Movie Popcorn

You see, you buy this bucket, then you fill it up with popcorn as much as you want until the bucket expires. I pretty much quit buying popcorn at the grocery store once I got my bucket. Although, I do keep a few bags of microwave corn around for emergencies.

There are two major buckets around these parts.

Bucket #1 - good at any of the theaters in this particular chain. Festooned with a recent movie ad, the bucket is good for about 5 months (December to April or May to November). This bucket goes for $37. That's pretty pricey, but you get a $20 gift card with the bucket and the last two times I've bought one the cashier asked if I wanted to redeem the gift card toward the purchase of my bucket... seriously. So, now it's $17. With that I also get $12 worth of coupons toward concessions, and I'm a sucker, so I get those over the course of time. So, at the end of the day, I'm paying $5 for 5 months worth of popcorn.

Bucket #2 - good at just the one theater in Grand Haven, where I live. It's $10 and good for 6 months this year, and 6 months next year. You buy another bucket to cover the other 6 months of the two years. So, $20 gets you 24 months of popcorn.

They've got you hooked.
OK... maybe it's just me.

Chili Cookoff Real Winner

2008-03-12T11:07:00.002-04:00

We had a chili cookoff at work. It was a lot of fun.

There were chilies of all flavors, concoctions, colors, and spice levels. The big winner was Kevin Kyser and his Chicken Chili. It was overwhelmingly fantastic with an average score of 4.17 out of a possible 5. Kevin won a 5lb Hershey Bar and $20 gift certificates to O'Charley's.

It turns out that Jody (pictured), Kevin's wife made the chili.

I've suggested to Kevin that he send Jodi to O'Charley's and he stays home with the 4 kids and each one gets 1/4 of the chocolate.

Maybe it's just me...

Now that's a coney dog

2008-02-18T08:38:00.001-05:00

That's a coney dog

Living in Western Michigan as I do, there's a huge hole in my diet. Namely, the Coney Dog. The Coney Island dog or chili-dog has somehow been perfected on the East side of the state and specifically in Detroit. Now, if you want a chili burger, you have to go to Los Angeles, but Detroit has cornered the market on the dog.
Next door to the American Coney Island, a poor excuse for a coney island joint, you'll find the best there is: Lafayette Coney Island.
The natural casing makes the hot dogs snap when you bite into them. The fries are fresh and hot, covered in shredded cheddar and a ladle of chili. The onions are zesty. The service is... oh what's the word... International, that's it. The guys that work there speak enough English to take your order, deliver it and talk about the Tigers, Lions, Redwings, Pistons, and how Joe Louis was the greatest boxer who ever lived.
They have Coke at the soda fountain, and everything else comes in cans, including Vernors of course. That's the Michigan state beverage.

... maybe it's just me?

Peanut Butter Banana dogs

2008-02-15T13:42:00.001-05:00

Peanut Butter Banana dogs

Mmmm...
So what you do is split a hot dog down the middle and warm it up. Bologna works in this, but bacon is best. The hot dog was a little improvisation.
Then a banana and put it all on a hot dog bun spread with peanut butter.
So good.

Peanut buttery, melty, banana-ey, salty, meaty...

... maybe it's just me?

Valentines Schmalentines

2008-02-13T15:20:00.002-05:00

Every year the Hallmarkiest of Hallmark holidays comes around in mid-February. Of course I mean Valentine's Day. People who are together feel pressure to do something grand and people who are alone get depressed. We all eat too much candy. Kids bring card-ettes to school and often lace them with less than flattering aphorisms.

In the USA Miss Esther Howland has credit for receiving and sending the first valentine cards in 1847. Commercially produced cards were introduced earlier in Europe right around 1800 – the first mechanical cards in 1840.

Then there are the candy hearts. How can anyone actually ingest those chalky, flavorless lumps with trite sayings tattooed in Red #6? The first conversation hearts were introduced in the 1860's by the founder of the NECCO Company founder. The hand-made candy hearts included lengthy entreaties such as,

"Please send a lock of your hair by return mail."

Finally they were tightened up and factory-made by the NECCO Company in 1902 and since then have sported favorite sayings like: kiss me, sweet talk, and be mine. 2004 brought the internet-based IM ME to the hearts.

The mind swims with the awfulness.

Over the years NECCO has eliminated sayings when they become out-dated, such as the funky "Dig Me" and the cheerful, "you are gay".
A full production run contains 1.7 million pieces and NECCO will sell about 8 billion candy hearts in six weeks. They have a shelf life of 5 years.

Thanks to the folks at despair.com there's a valentines candy heart for the rest of us.

... maybe it's just me?

Fruit Salad

2008-02-05T16:29:00.001-05:00

Brian's Fruit Salad

Is that a euphemism?
Sylvia says that I'm a good cook. I made up this fruit salad on the fly while I was at the grocery store picking up groceries to cook in my new groovy pad for the first time.

Ingredients:
2 Bartlet pears very ripe
1 Granny Smith Apple
1c red seedless grapes
2 blood oranges
1 starfruit
1 stalk of celery
1/2c roasted almond slivers

Directions:
cut it all up, mix with your (clean) hands, top with almonds. There's plenty of citrus juice to keep things from browning. Serve it up in piles or in bowls.

I also made, a green leafy romaine/spinach salad, baked potatoes, and rib eye steak.

Sylvia brought harvest medley pie (raspberries, rhubarb, apples, pears) and ice cream to the Super Bowl the night before, but we didn't have any then. It was really good for dessert the next day.

Anyway, I like to cook, and I like to make a nice presentation... maybe it's just me.

Leftovers again

2008-02-05T09:59:00.000-05:00

It's Fat Tuesday again - kind of a second Thanksgiving here on the brian-food blog.

Fat Tuesday.

Since we're still behind the picket lines of the writer's guild strike, here's a Phat Tuesday re-run, just like on TV.

Meanwhile, one of my co-workers brought in the Paczki this year - I need to go get one before they're gone!

I'd still like to know if anyone is making a sacrifice for lent.

...maybe it's just me?

Steve-food

2008-01-24T09:17:00.001-05:00

My friend Steve sent me this picture from a vending machine.

I'm pretty sure that I'm not going to trust this salad for a couple of reasons.
1) The window of opportunity for room-temperature mayonnaise is rather narrow.
2) Is it Bumble Bee or SweetSue Chicken?
3) Too much packaging... but mostly the first one.

... maybe it's just me... or Steve.

weigh-way-down

2008-01-17T10:25:00.000-05:00

I've been working on some things in my personal life to be a better me. One of them is my weight. I've been trying to follow the plan laid out in the weigh-down workshop and it's working pretty well for me. I'm at a bit of a plateau right now, but that's OK. Those things happen.
I've joined the YMCA and it's time to sell my own Elliptical machine.
You can bid on that over on eBay if you like.

Good news - thanks to the Elliptical - I'm down about 20lbs since Thanksgiving. I'll keep you updated on that as I go.

Have you lost any weight this year?

... maybe it's just me?