I won't miss you. Not one bit.
For those of you not familiar, Four Loko is a brand of caffeinated alcohol, which, until recently, was a favorite among alcoholic college students.
The theory is that the caffeine in the product would dampen the effects of the alcohol, letting you drink more before you fell asleep or passed out.
Of course, this concept is nothing new, as people have been consuming the combo for as long as I have been alive (Heard of a rum and coke?), but because some irresponsible college kids got alcohol poisoning, the FDA and state legislators have lost their minds and threatened to ban the beverage.
As a result, Four Loko announced yesterday that it would remove all caffeine from its products, thus essentially putting themselves out of business.
Lets be honest here. Four Loko is one of the worst tasting products to ever exist. I enjoy cough syrup more. Seriously. The only reason anyone drinks/drank it was because of the caffeine. Even Stephen Colbert knows that.
So now, college students, return to mixing red bull and liquor, because your Loko days are over.
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
The spice of life
Homemade pizzas have been a staple of my diet since my roommate and I started being friends almost two years ago now. We would go to the store, buy a premade crust and some sauce and whatever interesting toppings we thought we should eat that night.
Needless to say, it has gotten to be a bit boring to have pepperoni and mushroom all the time.
This quarter, though, we've expanded our horizons and made some interesting creations. This week we tried the Taco Pizza. The funny part of this story is that we thought we were being creative and interesting, but it turns out that many other people before us had the idea of putting refried beans, taco meat and cheese on a pizza.
Regardless, it was one of the best ideas we've had in a while. A lot better than buffalo chicken pizza.
In our defense, the pizza tasted delicious. The problem is that we both like really spicy food, and the amount of buffalo sauce we used exceed what the crust could manage to hold together. It was a eat-with-a-fork kind of pizza, to be sure.
Jeff also made a chicken Alfredo pizza the other day that was pretty good, except the spinach part. The recipe itself was made up, but was really similar to this one, only it had broccoli and no tomatoes. Same basic principle though.
Needless to say, it has gotten to be a bit boring to have pepperoni and mushroom all the time.
This quarter, though, we've expanded our horizons and made some interesting creations. This week we tried the Taco Pizza. The funny part of this story is that we thought we were being creative and interesting, but it turns out that many other people before us had the idea of putting refried beans, taco meat and cheese on a pizza.
Regardless, it was one of the best ideas we've had in a while. A lot better than buffalo chicken pizza.
In our defense, the pizza tasted delicious. The problem is that we both like really spicy food, and the amount of buffalo sauce we used exceed what the crust could manage to hold together. It was a eat-with-a-fork kind of pizza, to be sure.
Jeff also made a chicken Alfredo pizza the other day that was pretty good, except the spinach part. The recipe itself was made up, but was really similar to this one, only it had broccoli and no tomatoes. Same basic principle though.
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Heading out
In just about a week, my roommate and I will be packing up and heading back home to Florida for winter break.
Normally, this would be a fairly simple process of packing some clothes and driving an hour or two back to our respective parents' houses, but living 15 hours away means that we have some other things to think about logistically, including food.
See, whenever I've gone home before, I just brought whatever food I had in my fridge home with me and fed it to my brother. The whole traveling issue complicates this.
Which means, going shopping for this last week has turned into a constant debate of whether or not we absolutely need the item and whether it will go bad before we go back.
So far on the menu for the week: pizza, salad and spaghetti.
So much for fancy cooking. I'll keep you posted on how it goes.
Normally, this would be a fairly simple process of packing some clothes and driving an hour or two back to our respective parents' houses, but living 15 hours away means that we have some other things to think about logistically, including food.
See, whenever I've gone home before, I just brought whatever food I had in my fridge home with me and fed it to my brother. The whole traveling issue complicates this.
Which means, going shopping for this last week has turned into a constant debate of whether or not we absolutely need the item and whether it will go bad before we go back.
So far on the menu for the week: pizza, salad and spaghetti.
So much for fancy cooking. I'll keep you posted on how it goes.
Monday, November 8, 2010
Iron Chef restaurant tour
I watch a lot of Food Network, but one of my favorite shows is Iron Chef. I consider myself a bit of a purist, in the sense that I don't really care for the new Iron Chefs much and would just as soon go back to the original four if I had my way.
Anyway, I am such a fan of the show that I have made it one of my goals to visit the restaurants of each of the original chefs. I'll go into a bit of detail about what is awesome about these places and why you want to go there, too.
Anyway, I am such a fan of the show that I have made it one of my goals to visit the restaurants of each of the original chefs. I'll go into a bit of detail about what is awesome about these places and why you want to go there, too.
- Mesa Grill by Bobby Flay. I was lucky enough to go here in August of 2009 when my dad took me on a trip to NYC. The menu is quite extensive, and we were super full when we were done. I got a Cuban Burger, which, sadly, isn't on the menu anymore.
- Kouzzina by Cat Cora. Located in one of my favorite places in the world, Walt Disney World in Orlando, this restaurant is Mediterranean-themed and has a menu of traditional items from that part of the world.
- Babbo by Mario Batali. Another restaurant in NYC, but one I did not have the time (or money) to visit. The menu consists of traditional Italian dishes -- not that kind of stuff you'll find at Olive Garden.
- Morimoto by Masaharu Morimoto. Sushi is my favorite food. I just need to put that out there before I end up writing 200 words on how extensive and amazing the sushi menu is at this restaurant. It is also incredibly cool looking on the inside (Check out the restaurant tour option on the site).
Friday, November 5, 2010
The Cooks Source controversy
Today is a double post day because I cannot help but pay attention to this story.
Cooks Source is a small food magazine in the New England area, which I had never heard of before this week.
And then, the Internet happened.
The background, as briefly as I can explain it, is that a woman posted a story she wrote about apple pie on her personal domain with a copyright notice attached. According to her, she found out from a friend that the story had been published in Cooks Source without her knowledge. She requested the typical freelance rate ($0.10 per word) be paid in the form of a donation to Columbia Journalism School, and got a smarmy response from Judith Griggs, the editor of the magazine.
Of course, the magazine's Facebook page is being overtaken by people who are unhappy about the editor's policies of essentially stealing stories off the Internet, and many say that they have contacted advertisers of the magazine, who have agreed to stop advertising.
The most impressive part, in my opinion, is the work of independent citizens to uncover other instances of theft by the magazine. A thread on the Facebook page started cross-referencing instances of exact copies of stories appearing in Cooks Source, as well as NPR, Food Network, WebMD and Martha Stewart. They even made a Google Spreadsheet so anyone can see the list of stories and photos.
It will be interesting to see how this all pans out, but if serious legal action is brought against the magazine, it will be because of some investigation by citizen journalists.
Cooks Source is a small food magazine in the New England area, which I had never heard of before this week.
And then, the Internet happened.
The background, as briefly as I can explain it, is that a woman posted a story she wrote about apple pie on her personal domain with a copyright notice attached. According to her, she found out from a friend that the story had been published in Cooks Source without her knowledge. She requested the typical freelance rate ($0.10 per word) be paid in the form of a donation to Columbia Journalism School, and got a smarmy response from Judith Griggs, the editor of the magazine.
Of course, the magazine's Facebook page is being overtaken by people who are unhappy about the editor's policies of essentially stealing stories off the Internet, and many say that they have contacted advertisers of the magazine, who have agreed to stop advertising.
The most impressive part, in my opinion, is the work of independent citizens to uncover other instances of theft by the magazine. A thread on the Facebook page started cross-referencing instances of exact copies of stories appearing in Cooks Source, as well as NPR, Food Network, WebMD and Martha Stewart. They even made a Google Spreadsheet so anyone can see the list of stories and photos.
It will be interesting to see how this all pans out, but if serious legal action is brought against the magazine, it will be because of some investigation by citizen journalists.
Foursquare
For those of you on Foursquare, I made a to-do list of cool places to eat in Athens.
Check it out, leave some tips, and let me know what you think.
Check it out, leave some tips, and let me know what you think.
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Key lime pie... gum?
During my normal Friday evening grocery shopping trip, I saw the new Extra Dessert Delights Key Lime Pie flavored gum.
The answer is yes -- I miss Florida so much that I bought Key Lime Pie gum.
and it was surprisingly delicious.
The Chicago Tribune reported that this is one of many new innovations in the gum industry, which has seen a 37 percent increase in sales in the last 10 years.
The gum also comes in Strawberry Shortcake and Mint Chocolate Chip flavors. If you're interested in trying it, but don't want to invest the $1 in a pack of gum, Extra is offering free samples on their Facebook page. Just "Like" the page, type in your name and address and which flavor you'd like to try and they'll send a pack your way.
The answer is yes -- I miss Florida so much that I bought Key Lime Pie gum.
and it was surprisingly delicious.
The Chicago Tribune reported that this is one of many new innovations in the gum industry, which has seen a 37 percent increase in sales in the last 10 years.
The gum also comes in Strawberry Shortcake and Mint Chocolate Chip flavors. If you're interested in trying it, but don't want to invest the $1 in a pack of gum, Extra is offering free samples on their Facebook page. Just "Like" the page, type in your name and address and which flavor you'd like to try and they'll send a pack your way.
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