When I was Christmas shopping last month, I saw some type of burger bomb sauce, which sounded intriguing, like maybe some chipotle-based sauce. (BTW, have you noticed that chipotle seemed to be the top food-related buzzword of 2011? But I digress…)
I looked at the ingredients, and noticed that the first 4 ingredients are mayo, pickles, ketchup, mustard. As we’ve discussed numerous times on the blog, pickles are not food, so they don’t belong in any sauce. (I can’t stand mustard, either, but will acknowledge it’s edible to some people.)
So maybe this sauce is marketed as a practical joke type gift, in that it will result in the destruction of your burger, from an edible point-of-view. I figured using the term “bomb” meant it would be the bomb, but obviously they meant it more literally.
Ironically, if someone had given me this sauce, I would probably blow it up… 🙂
As you know, bacon makes almost everything better. And for most guys, salads need quite a bit of improving. ThinkGeek.com has just what you need (again): Bacon Flavored Croutons. Here’s an excerpt from the site:
Bacon Croutons – Salads just got cool
Bacon Croutons are about to change the salad game. Remember the revelation you had when you realized that salads could be a vehicle for ranch dressing? You’re about to have a similar life-changing experience. And don’t limit yourself to salad! Bacon Croutons are great on soup, crushed up on top of baked macaroni and cheese, as breading for fried chicken, and of course, used in your favorite Thanksgiving stuffing recipe. Bacon on, friends!
Now, you may be thinking this is truly awesome, and, taste-test pending, just might be, but before the hype gets too big, there was a statement at the bottom of the page that might make you say hmm…
Weirdly enough, these are vegetarian.
That is a source of skepticism, for me. Veggie bacon just sounds… unnatural. But if they actually taste anything close like bacon, it would have to help salads (when I have to eat one). So I’d still like to try them, just to know. When I do, expect a review on this blog.
If you view this full-size, it looks somewhat like an alien blob. It may not be ALIVE! but it's obviously not food.
Recently I had several home-cooked Thanksgiving meals, and for there were lots of great traditional foods — turkey, ham, dressing, mashed potatoes, etc. But there is one traditional food that I just don’t understand — potato salad (or as some say, tater salad). Actually, let me call it “food”, because I’m not convinced it’s edible.
Normally I’m all about potatoes, in just about any capacity, but why ruin it with pickles and mustard? I just don’t get it. We’ve discussed at length that pickles are evil and should not be eaten. I don’t like eating mustard, but at least I can accept that some people like it. Pickles just aren’t food. Even just the smell of them is repulsive.
Fortunately my in-laws realized my dislike of it and left some of the mashed potatoes uncorrupted for my consumption this year. So props to them for that.
But why ruin good potatoes in such a manner when there are so many better uses for them? Nonetheless, I understand how tradition and nostalgia is important, especially this time of year, so if potato salad is a tradition that many people feel should be continued, let’s revamp it.
So here and now, let’s invent a new-and-much-improved “potato salad” (if one must exist). First off, no pickles or mustard. Let’s just start with mashed potatoes (with butter and milk, of course), then add cheese and bacon. Or we could go with bacon and gravy. (Or all 3 if you feel adventurous.) This will be a hundred times better than regular potato salad! (Actually, I’m not sure I could even put a number on the comparison, since in its traditional form it is inedible to me.)
If we make this change, it might be culture shock to a few people, but once they try it, there’s no going back. People will forget about the previous version, and everyone will be happier for it! If it makes you sad that family members will no longer say things like, “Grandma Bottlestopper made the best tater salad”, realize that now people will say YOU make the best potato salad. YOUR recipe will be written into the legends of Thanksgiving cooking, to be discussed for generations to come. How will you feel about that?
If you have any additional suggestions or have done research on this topic, feel free to share. Together we could invent the world’s best potato salad recipe.
The other day I watched a little bit of the TV show “Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern“. I don’t usually watch it, but it can be interesting (and quite gross at times) . In the clip I saw, he was in Cambodia, and he showed people who eat tarantulas. And of course he tried it. I don’t think I would try that…
Yummy... NOT!
The story of how this happens is unusual also. A husband and wife team go into the forest to catch tarantulas, then they de-fang them using a stick, a knife, and their hands, and they sell them for 12 cents apiece. Imagine if that was your job! It’s dangerous enough to find and catch poisonous spiders, plus the other dangers in a forest. Then they remove the fangs and poison. What could possibly go wrong? And to get only 12 cents per spider… I realize the economy is on a different scale there, but that still seems quite low for the amount of risk involved.
A woman buys the tarantulas, rinses them off, seasons them with a mixture of powdered instant chicken soup, garlic, salt, pepper, and sugar, then fries them. While cooking, they make whistling noises and popping sounds (like a small explosion). While frying the hair/fur falls off. Supposedly they are quite tasty, with a sweet and nutty taste. The woman sells them in town for 25 cents each, and makes about $25 a day, which is a really good living there.
Reading about it doesn’t do the story justice. You should watch this short clip to experience it a little closer.
To answer my original question: No, I would not eat one. I’m not scared of spiders, but I’d still rather not eat them, especially when they’re potentially poisonous. There’s plenty of other foods I would rather eat.
I looked at the ingredients, and noticed that the first 4 ingredients are mayo, pickles, ketchup, mustard. As we’ve discussed numerous times on the blog, pickles are not food, so they don’t belong in any sauce. (I can’t stand mustard, either, but will acknowledge it’s edible to some people.)
Buffet o' Blog 