Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Ripe Dandelions

I harvested my Dandelions last week for in order to make up some Dandelion Wine!



I'll get back to you in a year and let you know how it tastes. ;)

Happy Drinking!

Monday, May 12, 2008

Eat Off This

Don't buy place mats or tablecloths anymore! Make them!



This craft is easy for kids to do, so the next time you don't have any 4th of July tableware, have them (or yourself) create simple patriotic place mats.

Or not. I just enjoy these sorts of things.

Happy Place Matting!

Thursday, May 8, 2008

Next Food Project...

Making colored cupcakes.

Like these ones....




Thanks zophos for the wicked idea!

Happy Eating!

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Clarifying Words

pabulum

noun
any substance that can be used as food


place

noun
a particular portion of space, whether of definite or indefinite extent.


alliteration

noun
The repetition of the beginning sounds of words, as in “Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers,” “long-lived,” “short shrift,” and “the fickle finger of fate.”

Beltline

The Beltline Bar in Grand Rapids, MI is one of my favorite places to eat because they have the most amazing Brownie Sundae. It is HUGE, and, well, I'm a sucker for lots of chocolate, so I'll leave it at that.

On to the burger I had the other day... a good old fashioned Bacon Cheeseburger (I have a thing with bacon too, mmm mouthwatering).

THE TOPPINGS
American cheese, sheet of lettuce, un-cut dill pickle, and two slices of bacon. I wasn't feeling very green, so I did not try the lettuce or pickle (not a fan of pickles anyway). I can only imagine that the lettuce would get a little soggy after a while seeing as it was in sheet form instead of shredded.

However, the bacon and the cheese were absolutely PERFECT. The cheese was melted onto the burger and it was the most perfectly melted cheese I have seen to this day. There were no places on the burger where there was too much cheese or too little cheese, it may very well have been some sort of spreadable cheese it was so even on the whole burger (it did not, however taste like spreadable cheese, unless there has been a spreadable cheese miracle in the past few months that I know nothing about).

The bacon added crunch to the burger. It was cooked perfectly, there wasn't too much grease on it, and it didn't hang off the bun so that at the end all you had was a couple bacon ends. It complimented the burger so well in this case... simply superb.

THE BUN
A toasted Kaiser, also added some crunch to the burger. It didn't stick to my fingers, it was light and buttery tasting, and fit the burger well. It had some grain on it that you couldn't taste (used to keep the dough from sticking to everything, kind of like flour, but more granulated like sugar). What more can I say? I really enjoyed the bun on this one.

THE MAIN EVENT
This patty is typical for a restaruant patty. 3/4 in. (roughly 1.9 cm) cooked, and this sucker is charbroiled. It looks almost burnt when you take off the bun to add ketchup, mustard, and whatnot, but it really isn't. around some of the edges there was a little crispy part of hamburg goo that had gotten in the way of the burger, but for this burger, it just added more to the flavor. It was a little lighter brown in places, which is a big turnoff for people who like their meats very well-done, but I'm still alive and I've eaten a lot of meat in my day.

OVER ALL?
On a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being a shit burger to 10 being ultimate sensory delight burger, the Beltline Bar's Bacon Cheeseburger deserves a 7.8. We're close to sensory overload on this burger, but it is just sooo good.

Happy Eating!

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Birds, birds, birds.

This bird is incredible.

Well, all birds are incredible.

Happy Viewing!

Saturday, March 8, 2008

Oh! Charlies

Alright, Let's just get this out of the way. I like food. A lot. I like trying to be funny. A lot. So, Those are my goals. To be funny and enjoy food. I find comments enjoyable as well; your thoughts are strongly encouraged here.

I haven't met many burgers I didn't like. There are a few qualities that make a burger good. These are the qualities that I use to rank just how good a burger is. The toppings can make or break a burger. If the lettuce is not fresh, the onion not pungent, or the tomato not sliced thin enough, your burger will just plain suck. I personally am not a fan of tomatoes, but I do understand how they can ruin your burger.

The bun that the burger is served on is also an integral part of the burger experience. It could be toasted, sesame seed-ed, warm or just plain. The consistency of the bun is important too.

Now for the burger itself. Too greasy is a turn-off. Too thick or too thin can also work against a burger. A patty that is grilled has more flavor than one cooked in a skillet, but can sometimes be overwhelming.

Tonight I had O'Charley's infamous Three-Cheese Bacon Burger. Amazing as always.

THE TOPPINGS
This burger comes with shredded lettuce, two slices of tomato, and two onion rounds, along with Swiss, Monterey Jack, and cheddar cheeses and two slices of Hickory Smoked bacon.

The highlights are the cheeses and bacon, from which the sandwich gets its name. The bacon is crisp, but doesn't disintegrate in your mouth, and is not over seasoned/salted, so it doesn't take away from the burger itself.

All three cheeses kind of melt together before the burger is brought out, which is refreshing. It seems almost like there is just one cheese, no cheese is too powerful, and the blend is not bland. You may run into problems if you get a mouthful of cheese though, which is very possible with this burger.

The other topping I would like to point out is the lettuce. Not too many places have shredded lettuce. I admire some good shredded lettuce. It doesn't get soggy in the middle from the heat of the burger, because the middle is practically nonexistent. It is easier to portion the lettuce to your liking because you can just pull off some of it, instead of wrestling with ripping off a piece, which turns out to be too big of a piece so you put it back together so you get lettuce on your entire burger. Yeah, frustrating.

The last comment I will make about the toppings is that only what they advertise to be on the burger (the bacon and cheeses) are on top of the burger. The 'Extras' are all underneath the burger which is nice because then nothing gets stuck in the cheese.

THE BUN
This bun is perfect for the Three-Cheese Bacon Burger. It is plain. Simply a bun. No frills, nothing fancy, just a damn bun. It's lukewarm when the burger comes out. The only problem is that the top tends to stick to your fingers. Like, the bun crust. It comes off on your fingers. It is a little annoying, but its still a good bun.

THE MAIN EVENT
This half pound burger is not grilled. Grilling this thing would probably result in sensory overload. The patty is probably 3/4 in. (approximately 1.9 cm.) cooked. This is a good sized burger, people. It is not too greasy and cooked to perfection every time.

OVER ALL?
On a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being a shit burger to 10 being ultimate sensory delight burger, O'Charley's Three-Cheese Bacon Burger gets an 8. This burger comes highly, highly recommended.

Happy Eating!