Something Shiny

I’m sure the stuffed burger is not an uncommon phenomenon across this great nation. Many of you may have even tried to create your own at home, only the have forming and sealing issues which led to filling oozing out the side. Well, that’s about to come to an end my friends. Behold the Stufz.

I’m somewhat concerned that they never show anyone using the product in the commercial they have posted on their site. They do show someone throwing it on the ground though to demonstrate how durable it is though, so at least we know it’s good for that… Also, I’m not sure why they make a point of mentioning that Stufz is made in Michigan AND made in the USA. “Made in Michigan? I would really rather buy something made in the good old US of A.”

Ok, one last thing… what’s up with the picture? Is it on fire? Is it cooking? If so, why is it in a bun already? Is it an explosion? Is Stufz dangerous? Any time I see unnecessary explosions, I’m reminded of the old TV show “The Fall Guy.” I’m not sure why. You might ask, why not “Knight Rider,” or “The A-Team“? Well, that’s because the explosions in those programs were totally necessary.

Oh, and you can click on the pic, to go to the product page and buy your own Stufz.

Lake Street in Uptown Minneapolis has a lot of interesting restaurants. The west end is a little more concerned with trend than taste, but the east end has some great spots on par with “Eat Street,” Nicollet Avenue.

Taste of Lake Street is a good opportunity to sample from a variety of Lake Street establishments. You might even find a new favorite. And, as an added bonus, proceeds go to the local charity, Minneapolis Hunger Relief.

2nd Annual Rotary Taste of Lake Street For Minneapolis Hunger Relief
Taste some fantastic food, wine & beer from Lake Street Establishments
Sunday, October 4, 2009 – 1:00 p.m. – 5 p.m.
Midtown Global Market
East Lake Street & 10th Ave
Tickets: $25 advance, $30 Day of the Event
www.tasteoflakestreet.org

In roughly the order I ate it, here’s what I managed to devour while at the MN State Fair today:

• Corn dog
• Diet Coke
• Wine sampling
• Chocolate raspberry wine ice cream
• Cheese curds
• Papa pup (foot long pronto pup)
• Half a foot long hot dog
• Luigi Fries
• Vault Zero
• Chocolate covered bacon
• Pig’s cheek
• Deep fried Snickers bar
• Blue raspberry Icee
• Part of a turkey sandwich

I think that’s a comprehensive list…

About the Famous Dave’s items, the chocolate covered bacon (pig lickers) and the peach glazed pigs cheeks… neither are my new favorite. The chocolate covered bacon was, well, cold bacon with chocolate on it. It was ok, but not great. Might be better if you could get hot bacon with chocolate sauce instead? The pig’s cheek was borderline gross. One was very tender, one was very tough, neither was tasty. I ate maybe a quarter of one of them (the tender one).

On a non-food related topic, Heritage Village is nice. It’s got some historical displays and is tucked away from the crowds off to the side of the midway. I didn’t know it existed until today and apparently no one else knows it exists either as it was pleasantly less busy than the rest of the fair. It makes for a nice place to decompress for a bit before venturing out to battle the crowds again.

I’m heading to the MN State Fair today. I am going to eat like… like a guy who’s going to eat a lot. It’s ridiculous I pay to park or pay to take the bus, to pay admission to buy overpriced food at the fair. And I love it. I attribute it to a defect in my programing.

A few of the items on my to-do list include chocolate covered bacon, a corn dog, mini donuts, roasted corn, a pronto pup, peach glazed pork cheeks, deep fried snickers bar, cheese curds, and any other food stuff foolish enough to stray into my path.

The beverages are never as enticing as the food (probably because it’s tough to deep fry beverages), but this year I’m hoping to try the “Summit on a stick” (a Summit Beer sampler served in a paddle of sorts) and the wine tasting from the Agriculture Building.

On a related topic, the chocolate Conan O’Brien bust with bacon hair I’d mentioned earlier has a twitter account (@BaconCocoaConan).

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• Coming to a fair near you: Chocolate covered bacon – JSOnline (showpeople.typepad.com)
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• Pot roast sundae tops list of new food at State Fair – Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal: (showpeople.typepad.com)
• Food on a stick… (chicandcharming.com)
• New food at 2009 Minnesota State Fair (showpeople.typepad.com)

The Heavy Table has a nice round-up of things to eat at the MN State Fair. Every year I struggle with prioritizing the important food and make a valiant effort to consume everything on my to-eat list before the sadness sets in. Heavy Table offers this advice, which I will invariably ignore:

If there’s one thing that can be taken from even an exhaustive, four-person, semi-professional mission to mine the State Fair for edibles, it’s that you can’t possibly taste everything, nor should you attempt it.

Even if they are a bunch of quitters, the writeup is the best I’ve seen so far this year.

The Heavy Table Plans Your State Fair Day « The Heavy Table.

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ThinkGeek has taken it upon themselves to cram caffeine into yet another product I wouldn’t think needed it. Yet, I still want it. Sure, it’s $10 plus shipping and fondling for 5 tubes, but I’m sure the test tube shaped containers could be reused for something… right?

From ThinkGeek:

Dr. Timmy sat in his lab contemplating his youth, which grew more distant with every passing thought. Mainly, he reminisced about his favorite childhood candies. One in particular stood out. It was basically a paper tube filled with powder candy (we won’t mention names, but you know what we mean). Suddenly, Dr. Timmy threw back his head and began to laugh. He dashed about his lab, flipping switches and throwing levers. There was a crash of lighting and Dr. Timmy held in his hands a thing of beauty. A test tube filled with powder candy (like he remembered), but with a mad scientist twist: it was now loaded with caffeine. And thus, Caffeinated Nixie Tubes were born.

ThinkGeek :: Caffeinated Nixie Tubes.

Spooner is disappointing. Nearly every restaurant closes at 7, which is about the time we come through town if we leave for the lake after work on a Friday. We tried Nick’s Family Restaurant and were not amazed. They had a buffet and I suppose I shouldn’t be shocked that it was mediocre.

Julie’s Trailside Restaurant, just east of Winter on 70 was pretty darn good. They’ve got a nice selection of bottled beer and the hot wings were pretty good (for random bar food). We’ll be back there again.

We started the weekend with a buffet and closed it with another. Ironhorse Restaurant (somewhere between Ladysmith and Menominee on 27 (yeah, I know that’s not very specific) has a Sunday morning buffet which was tasty. Stay away from the pancakes and the ribs, but the rest was all good.

Beggin’ Strips’ tagline is “dogs don’t know it’s not real bacon.” Well, ok humans would know this isn’t real bacon, but it’s packed with bacon-like goodness. You can get all the products separately, but why? Go all in and get the gift pack!

Mmm… bacony. Click the pic to order.

Product Description:
J & D’s Baconnaise Ultimate Bacon Lover’s Gift Packcomes with
one 14-Ounce jar of Baconnaise
6-Flavers of BaconSalt
- Jalapeno, 2.5-ounce jar
- Original, 2.0-ounce jar
- Cheddar, 2.5-ounce jar
- Maple, 2.5-ounce jar
- Applewood,2.5-ounce jar
- Mesquite, 2.5-ounce jar
1 J&D’s Bacon Lip Balm

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Oh, if I weren’t already happily married, I’d say Erin is the girl of my dreams. Then again, being Aaron and Erin would probably be awkward, then funny, then weird, then annoying, then… well… over.

Ah, but I digress. Head over to serious eats to see Erin’s instructions on recreating the Choco Taco experience in your own home. I’m not sure how the crepe shell works out, but I’ve committed to trying it out some day soon. Come on summer!

I’ll never forget you Erin, or your devotion to the Choco Taco. Our time together was brief and entirely imagined.

How to Make a Choco Taco | Serious Eats : Recipes.

photo credit: helmet13

Bringing your own bottle of wine used to cost you $25 (plus the wine itself), but no more! In an attempt to figure out how to get more folks in the door during these rough economic times, they’ll let you bring your own wine for no additional charge.

They’re careful to point out that this ONLY applies to wine, not beer, or spirits (or probably even orange soda).

Very nice move Manny’s, I’m on my way.
http://www.mannyssteakhouse.com/
The W Minneapolis – The Foshay
9th & Marquette
Downtown Minneapolis

photo credit: shawncampbell

I wanted some blue cheese salad dressing and found some in the cupboard. It was unopened but was past the “best if purchased by” date. Technically, I’m relatively certain I had purchased the dressing before that date. Sort of like how technically, it’s perfectly healthy for guys to smoke as long as the warning label specifically warns against the dangers for pregnant women instead of something more all encompassing.

Anyway, while pouring (prodding?) my dressing from the little travel container into my lunch salad today, I started to have second thoughts about the wisdom of my decision, but come on, how much more rotten can blue cheese dressing get. It’s not like it was fuzzy or anything. I ate most of it and now it’s just a waiting game. Will there be repercussions?

So, the moral of the story is, perhaps the purchase by date should be accompanied by an expiration date. Although regardless, when the purchase by date is back in 2003, I should probably just know better.

Mmm… 2003…

How is this not called a “Pancake Pooper”?

Amazon.com: Jobar Handy Gourmet Pancake Batter Dispenser: Home & Garden.

For years, the computer geek has been able to order a pizza w/o actually moving away from the computer, now the TV dork can enjoy similar luxury by ordering pizza through their TiVo. Now you can order by phone, SMS, internet, and TiVo. Next, ordering by casually thinking about pizza.

via Gizmodo via Zatznotfunny

Slather evil with butter and jelly! Click on the pic to get your own Darth Vader toaster for $55. I’d like to set this next to a Hello Kitty toaster and just wait for the universe to implode.