Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

Another example of your tax dollars being flushed down the crapper.

I zoomed into my location to find I was indeed in a "food desert" even though I am within walking distance (since I walked to school in an adjacent center) of a Publix grocery store, an organic market, an Asian food market, a very nice meat market (Petty's) and my tract includes the downtown area with lots of very nice places to eat that fill the full spectrum of culinary choices from steak houses to Cuban to Indian, etc. as well as a number of fast food places where poor nutrition has always been a matter of poor decisions and a lack of moderation.

Within a reasonable public transit ride are Walmarts, Sams Club, BJ's and groves. I live in a coastal community with abundant seafood for sale or for the taking if you've the patience or desire to cast a rod or toss a net.

Imagine my surprise to see that the left coast, Chicago and the northeast corridor were the least likely to have "food deserts". CSA's, really!? Is there any other way to make limited access to really expensive food of mostly modest quality available to a more pretentious group of people? One pre-paid organic carrot delivered to your door (whenever) isn't going to do much if you are trying to feed a family when the same amount of money will put a whole bunch or two of carrots with the same amount of beta carotene minus the cache of a CSA or bogus organic label on the counter.

It's nice that Chick-fil-A is selling "spicy" chicken and I don't have a Bojangle's nearby, but CfA as well as most chain chicken including Popeye's these days pales in comparison to the original spicy chicken of Popeye's in the NOLA area. As for what's available these days, Wendy's has a kick-butt spicy chicken sandwich.

On the rare occasion of home grown fried chicken, I just get a looser wrist when shaking the ground red pepper and maybe a generous amount of the spicy salt-free Grill Mates Steak seasoning (mostly black pepper) finds its way into the flour dredge.

How large of a walnut do I need to only use 1/2 of it?

I like the lump charcoal; I use a compressed sawdust and paraffin "SuperMatch" to start it. But, I am finding more and more pieces of what appear to be dimensional lumber in the bags; mill scraps is my guess and hope more so that it isn't treated in any way before it is burned. Wish I had paid attention to where Mike Rowe worked at a charcoal maker so I'd know what to look for brand-wise. I am finding the burnt 2x4's in both the stuff I get at WalMart and Green Egg (Pinch-A-Penny).

@exfleitarian: More like we are waxing nostalgic....

This is a blog about food. Somehow I fail to see how ownership structure affects taste (physical not cultural). At what point in the hierarchy of equity instruments do you deign to cross the threshold: "S" Corporation, partnership, LLC, OTC, NYSE? My friends own a small diner and needed a loan a while back and I held partial ownership as collateral and choose to retain it rather than take the cash out. Should no one eat there now that it is no longer a true "Mom and Pop" as I am not a parent of either gender?

While I am a serious aficionado of local cuisine and always on the hunt for great Mom & Pop hamburger or hot dog stands, I think credit should be given where due even if it is a chain such as the surprisingly good Whiplash burger at Burger King. I have had much worse in greasy spoon diners.

I was in a hurry between appointments over the weekend and decided to pop into BK rather than choke down a 7-11 sandwich in a wrapper. I saw the sign for the Whiplash and remembered scanning quickly through the review that indicated it was worth a try, but it needed more meat. So I took a chance with the double combo (mediocre rings over those horrid fries) and--other than the rings--was pleasantly surprised. Wow, a burger with a good kick to it from the peppers and mayo. I really liked it. This, of course, is the curse of death. It's a promotional item and will be gone soon, but while it's available, try it. I did and was quite pleased with the burger...especially a chain burger (Hardee's is still my favorite, though).

@bjcolins: Blasphemer! While I love celery, I appreciate the thought and care God put into its quintessential function before form design. What is there better to stir a Bloody Mary or fill with cream cheese, peanut butter or pimento cheese? And yet, you are quick to destroy the integrity of the design by cutting it into unrecognizable bits to further some misguided prejudice of what does or does not constitute potatoe salad. By-the-by, I fully reject the evil of celery in chicken salad, too.

I do like the fingerling 'tater idea, though.

I'm in the same boat as Big Guy; what'd I miss on the skewering of sliced green onion whites?

This DOES sound delicious. I used to love--and pass off as my own--Albertson's deli's baked potatoe salad (sour cream in the dressing along with bits of bacon) as an alternative to white or yellow potatoe salad. My cousin makes a wicked yellow potatoe salad (mustard not just mayo) with sliced stuffed olives amongst the "secret" ingredients.

Burnt is burnt is burnt. I going with the "oops" coverup here. The analogy with grilling char is nonsense. I don't think all these pro-charring folk would eat burnt toast.

" I know I haven't eaten a real burger in a long time ..."

It's getting hard to take any of these types of reviews seriously when the reviewer has a limited frame of reference. Kudos for admitting it up front, though. I appreciate this is written by a vegetarian (for vegetarians?) which opens the whole new can of worms over why do vegetarians want to eat (fake) food meant to mimic an icon of the carnivore world?

I could tell you how much I liked or disliked a bowl of phở, but given I have had it exactly once twenty years ago would patently disqualify me from rendering a serious critique.

Had an adherent from the shrine Shake Shack been the reviewer, it certainly would have had more gravitas.

Hopefully it's seasonal and it will be a short season. Tried it tonight--was jonesing for some McD fries--and was totally unimpressed. Maybe if McD's went back to actually cooking the burgers in the restaurant? My standard for hamburger chains is Hardee's where thick Angus burgers--grilled right there behind the counter--have been de rigueur for quite some time and are done really, really well (but their fries still suck). There are only two reasons to go anywhere near McD's anymore: fries and McRib (which is quickly shrinking to "slider" portion size).

beef.
starch.
beer.
sugar.

its whats for dinner.

ChelleyD01 has it right. This is a meal for a man who will protect and provide for you. If you're trolling with wasabi encrusted talapia and brocolli rabe you'll likely catch a man who'll cry along with you watching the Sex in the City marathon on Lifetime and is quite unlikely to squish spiders and open stuck jar lids (the remaining reasons for the male of the species),

Debralu, the plunger is called the "dasher." My late Mother was a teacher and used to go around to other schools after retirement and show the kids antiques like a butter churn, butter molds and a meat grinder. The kids were fascinated; even with the Food Channel, Discovery and others all they knew of food production was industrial.

I do like Byard's Home Depot idea. I wonder if I could hook the dasher up to my reciprocating saw?

Remember, kathyvegas, a little butter imparts a whole lot of flavor and the "corn and chemistry set" alternative is spackling your innards. All things in moderation--unless the oatmeal is in cookie form.