When I was a freshman in college living in the dorms, one of my floormates enjoyed eating Campbell's Golden Cream of Chicken soup straight out of the can. No joke!

@GP - I was about to say the same thing about the salsa bar. If you order the Southwest Patty Melt and you find that there is not enough jalapeños to your liking, you can always go to the salsa bar and add as much as you like.

I have never been to Germany, but for reasons that even I don't understand, I am absolutely fascinated with currywurst! As I understand it, the dish was invented by Herta Heuwer in 1949. She patented the sauce which was made with tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, curry powder and other ingredients. Unfortunately, we don't know what those "other ingredients" are since she kept her recipe a secret and took it to her grave when she passed away in 1999. I was told by a co-worker who is German that using ordinary catsup is just fine for currywurst. There is something heretical about that. I hope someday to visit Berlin to visit the Currywurst Museum (http://www.currywurstmuseum.de/en/). Despite all of the culture and history that Berlin obviously has to offer, visiting the Currywurst Museum would be the highlight of my travels for me!

Anybody remember when the CFL had a few teams south of the border? I was a huge fan of the Sacramento Gold Miners which was the first U.S. team in the league. They later moved to San Antonio, Texas then dissolved after only playing a season as the Texans in the 1995 season. I still miss the Miners and I came to appreciate Canadian-style football after watching to a few games in Sacramento. I truly wish the National Football League would adopt at least some of the rules from the CFL as I find the NFL game to be horribly boring. I've heard that attending Gray Cup week in the host city is a total blast and is one of the things on my bucket list. With the Gold Miners gone, I suppose I should now cheer for the BC Lions since they are the team that is probably closest to my home here in Davis, CA.

Kenji - I'd love to see what your wife would do if you took her to BeauJo's in Colorado. BeauJo's is a Colorado pizza chain located primarily in the Denver area, though they do have one store in South Dakota. I personally have never been there, but an acquaintance of mine has and told me that when your thick crust "Mountain Pie" (thin crust pizzas are called, "Prairie Pies") is brought to you by your server, it is accompanied by some honey. What you are supposed to do is dunk any leftover pieces of pizza crust (a.k.a., the "bones" of the pizza) into the honey to be consumed as dessert! Obviously, if your wife eats her pizza outside in, she will be unable to do this -- or will she just cut away the outside crust with a knife and save for later and continue with her inverse eating ways? Hmmmm. Kenji, bring her to BeauJo's! Inquiring minds (namely mine!) want to know!

Couldn't you make a quick BBQ sauce with the root beer drippings instead of throwing it all down the drain? How about taking the root beer drippings, add some tomato sauce or tomato paste (your choice), a little vinegar for tartness, possibly some brown sugar (though I don't you'll need it), some onion and garlic powder, a little cayenne or crushed red pepper for heat to your taste, salt and pepper. Cook everything together until well-blended and strain. I THINK this would work, shouldn't it?

Thanks everyone! All of your suggestions were quite helpful. I appreciate everyone taking the time to answer my question!

@PoorOldMama - I am very pleased that the two of you liked my hometown! Please allow me to recommend daviswiki.org for reviews and comments about restaurants, businesses, services and other such things in Davis. I am also very, very willing to answer any questions you may have about the city though you have to realize that my reply will only be MY opinion! I'm very sorry that you found the Thai eatery to only be mediocre. I have to let you in on something - every now and again, Davis gets a glut of eateries of a particular type only to have many die as the market shakes out the inferior ones. Lately, we have had a glut of Thai eateries and no one knows why. For the longest time, we only had only one, maybe two Thai establishments. Now, we have seven or eight and it looks like we will soon have a Thai food truck on campus at the Silo Union! If you (and your son) are able to make a return visit, may I suggest the following places: Taqueria Guadalajara (located next door to McDonald's Express on Anderson Rd and Covell Blvd.) This place is without a doubt one of the more popular places to eat for college students. It is relatively cheap, the food is (generally) decent, and you will leave stuffed! You can order one taco and then stuff yourself with all-you-that-you-want tortilla chips and salsa bar. Yes, it is true that a few will say that the food is nowhere near as good as the ones "back home". But generally, during the school year, there will be a line out the door and staff hustling to clear dishes from departed customers to make as many seats available to their hungry visitors looking for a place to sit. The Graduate at the University Mall on Anderson Rd and Russell Blvd. is probably one of the first places a new student hears about as a place to drink, dance and party. They have a very good burger (fries are included with your order unless you say otherwise) and I love their sandwiches (ditto about the fries). However, I find their prices a bit steep for what you are getting. Still, for you as a parent, it might not be a bad thing to go and check out where your son might go to party after a day of rough exams! Crepeville is a place that serves wonderful food for a decent price. It is also a place that a student will take their visiting parents after s/he has been here a while. It is located on the corner of 3rd and B Street, across from Central Park and catty corner from Burgers and Brew which some students say makes the best burger in Davis. While B & B can be loud, Crepeville is a great place to sit, eat, and talk with a civilized noise level. Oh, and their home fries are to die for! YUM!!! While I of course hope he chooses to attend UC Davis, I wish him the best wherever he chooses to go!

@PoorOldMama - Yep! :-) (GO AGS!!!)

I TOTALLY agree with ESNY1077! Pizza! Yum!!! :-)

OMG!!! I want a Serious Eats frisbee plate!!! (or two or three :) ) I live on the West Coast. How do I get one (or two or three ;) )?

REALLY??? National Ice Cream Day is today? I didn't know that! Well then, I guess I really need to go out and pick up a dish (oh, all right - a carton) of chocolate chip ice cream! Hmmm. Alternatively, I could just purchase a good quality vanilla and then mix in some semi-sweet chocolate shavings! YUM!!!

AWWWWWW! :) Hi Hambone! (Editors: Can I work at Serious Eats, PLEASE????? PLEASE????? I PROMISE to bring tons of puppy treats everyday! *please?*)