Tag: cheeseburger

searching for the best cheeseburger

I heard someone say:

A life spent in the pursuit of the perfect cheeseburger would not be a life wasted. I wonder if the same could be said of milkshakes…

That sounds good, in a way. I’ve pursued the best cheeseburger (and found it on my own grill), and I’ve pursued the best milkshake. One time in high school, my best friend and I had driven to the nearest city, and we decided we’d try milkshakes from all the places we knew about, to see which was the best. Looking back at that now, when I understand more about calories and fat grams, I wouldn’t do it again. At least, not all in one day. I still enjoy milkshakes just as much, but my metabolism is many times slower than it was then, so it’s just not a good strategy to have them often. But in high school, I could do that and not gain any weight. (I sure miss my metabolism!)

But thinking back to that philosophy of chasing the best, it’s not always the ideal mindset. There’s nothing wrong with trying to find a better version of something, and I encourage that to a degree, but I’ve learned that chasing perfection can lead to not enjoying what you have.

You can’t always eat at the best burger joint or the best steakhouse or the best seafood restaurant, and if your mindset ends up being, “This isn’t the best” and that makes you disappointed, that’s unfortunate. Then you have a lot of meals that you aren’t enjoying because they aren’t the best.

I’ve met people who became that way, where they were never satisfied at a restaurant nor with home cooking, because it wasn’t the best it could be. I felt sad for them, because they could be eating really good food that they used to enjoy, yet be disappointed and complaining about it.

I’ve learned to try to enjoy where I am. My meals today probably won’t be the best they can possibly be (although I will try to make them good within reason), but I will still choose to enjoy them.

Your mindset makes a huge difference in how much you enjoy it. Even if the taste is the same, how you think about it — your expectations and your narrative about the experience — play a large role in how you think and feel about it. I’ve seen children talk themselves into not liking chicken strips or spaghetti or mac ‘n cheese, even if it’s the exact same kind they had the week before and really enjoyed. Adults can do that, too. What we tell ourselves matters.

So choose to enjoy today. It won’t be perfect or ideal — it never is — but enjoy it anyway. Where you are right now is your actual life, and you will not pass through this day again. You can choose to make the best of it, or you can complain about it and not enjoy it. It’s your choice. (I recommend trying to enjoy it.)

caption contest, man eating big burger

Once again it’s time for our next weekly caption contest.  This week’s photo features a man eating a giant cheeseburger.  And he’s wearing a helmet.  Who knows why?  (Hopefully you do.)  Make up your best guess to explain this picture — or make a joke about it or even a pun (if you must) — and leave it in a comment.

(To see our other caption contests, click on the “Say What?” category in the sidebar.)

becoming a food critic

I think one of the best jobs ever would be a food critic.  You go to restaurants, your company pays for it, and you try all kinds of interesting food, then review it.  Unfortunately, most of us will never get that job, so I’m starting a series where we get to be a virtual food critic.  I know, it’s not nearly the same, because you don’t get to eat the food.  But it can still be fun.  Plus, if we discover a new dish that sounds awesome, maybe we’ll try it at one of our next “Adventures in Eating” nights (also called “Buffet o’ Bacon”, though not necessarily limited to bacon).  And maybe we’ll invite all the regular readers here to these events (as we have been discussing).

Here’s how this new series will work: I’ll post a picture of some dish, and then we discuss it.  If that doesn’t sound interesting, give it a chance.   I’ve been involved in numerous food-related discussions with the Buffet o’ Blog staff that were a lot of fun, and we’ve come up with many good ideas.

One limitation with these pictures is that there may not be a recipe included, so sometimes we will have to guess at the actual ingredients.   But if we aren’t sure what it is, we can always make substitutions (like switching bacon for an unknown meat or replacing non-potato vegetables with cheese).

In your analysis of the featured food dish, you can rate it from 1 to 10 (or any comparable scale), you can specify which ingredients / sides should be removed as well as which ones should be added, and you can explain why a particular dish would be awesome or horrendous.  And remember this is a humor site, so don’t get burdened down in seriousness.  This is supposed to be fun.   So don’t be afraid to get extreme or go way over the top in suggested improvements.

I’ll start this new series with something we’re all familiar with — a cheeseburger.  But to me, something about this burger just isn’t quite right.  What do you think about it, and what should be changed on it?

burger stacked with various items

(The future entries will all be filed under the category of “food critic“.)

man vs food – super burger challenge

The other day I saw a new show on the Travel Channel called MAN v. FOOD.  (BTW, that’s an awesome title, especially once you learn what it’s about).  The host, Adam Richman, goes around the country to various restaurants, and eats the spiciest foods, and he also takes on challenges at restaurants.  That’s my kind of show.

I’ve only seen a couple of episodes so far, but one I saw was at this restaurant in Boston, and it was voted the 2nd best place to pig out in the U.S.  They specialize in burgers.  They sell a monster burger with fries, and if anyone can eat it all within an hour, they name it after that person and then create a bigger one.  The current challenge is called the Eagle’s Burger Challenge.

eagles-deli-challenge-burgerThe challenge is a cheeseburger with 5 pounds of beef — but it’s not one giant patty, it’s 10 half-pound patties.  And it has 20 strips of cheese, 20 strips of bacon, and a LOT of fries — 5 pounds.   In fact, all that together weighs 12 pounds.  The owner estimates 1500 people have tried this one but no one has defeated it.

On the show, Richman competed against a former employee of that restaurant (who had obviously done some prior “training”).  Richman ate almost 7 pounds of it, but his competition ate a little over 7 pounds of it.  Before they got that far, though, they were sweating from processing that much greasy food.   Try to imagine how that would feel…

I wonder what the “Important Doctor” thinks about that burger, since he promotes a bacon and cheese diet and has other unusual views on eating…