Puffs with Vicks – Hooray!

Puffs Review
I was at the big store walking around the other day – and found myself mulling around the tissue aisle. Needless to say – I was pretty put out by how terrible the box designs were – but one thing did manage to tweak my interest in a moderately positive way. It was a box – sligtly unlike the other boxes . . .  it was almost like there was a slight glow – the glow of health and supremacy – coming from the box. I had to stop and investigate.

It was a box of Puffs plus . . . with Vicks. “They have gone too far!” I yelled in my head. “How many more things can they possibly add to a tissue?” I needled at myself. I then – while holding a box – looked at a lady – arched my eyebrow and said with measured incredulity “This is simply too much!” as I tossed the box back onto the shelf and went on my merry way. I am pretty sure that she agreed with me.

The only problem was that the gears, cogs and wheels in my head started spinning – as they often do with new products – and then I came to the conclusion that I needed to try them. So – on my way to the pencil factory – where we make the best pencils in the business – I picked up a box. My world has changed – yet again – this time for the better.

I love them so much. I just wave them around in the air – smelling the Vicks smell feeling my breathing get a tiny bit less constricted and getting slightly nauseous. Then – when it is actually time to use them – it is confusing bliss. The need to blow my nose gets all twisted up with the desire to breath in deep the aroma of health – and things get goopy. I am still working on the goopy part. I will overcome.

Next up will be tissues that have all of this stuff – but that are also connected to social networking sites – and that alert your doctor as to if you are sick and how sick you are – and that will call you a car service to go to the airport to get to the drier climates out west – where there are good prospects for hard working folk – and stuff like that. The future is coming – and ain’t she a beaut?!

Popeye's Loaded Chicken Wrap

Okay . . . Today – I went against one of my (poorly) self-enforced rules and ate lunch at Popeye’s.

Now – don’t get me wrong – they do serve up some tasty treats at the house of Cajun chicken and biscuits – but is the outcome – the pain – worth it??

I was intrigued by the loaded chicken wrap. It was loaded with rice & beans and a chicken strip – a potential yum treat – but in reality, considerably less than yum – significantly less than a treat.

When I managed to dig though the layers of grease, the saddest little (thankfully) lifeless lump of wrapped pudge was sitting there. Not really sure what to do – I stared to sprinkle a healthy amount of “Cajun Sparkle” (photo not available) around the lump – to bring it back from the brink a bit.

I tried it – and found that nothing about how it looked was a lie. It was extremely ugh. It was kind of a food disaster. I hope that you don’t ever eat one.

Ever.

All I can say is that the levees of my food rules have been shorn up – and hopefully the rivers of miserable food in the wold around me will be kept at bay.

Otherwise . . . Oh the horror – Oh the pain.

Taco Bell – Volcano Taco

This taco is the best!

My television recently came down from magic mountain with news of a product so wonderful and perfect – that they had me at red shell.

It all makes so much sense . . . different colored taco shells! Just think about it – our feet are now firmly planted on the way to a Christmas themed tacos – a July 4th taco – a President’s day taco!!!

Anyway – it is called the “Volcano Taco” and except for a bit of spicy orange goo. . . It is really just a normal meat, lettuce and cheese – taco.

Wait – did I just say that it is basically a normal taco?!? Well – it isn’t. It is a super-taco, it is the future and it comes in a red shell.

Seriously – I’m not even kidding around a bit . . . this taco is the best.

Daisy May's BBQ

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For my big style birthday secret party eating jam I was taken to Daisy May’s BBQ way over in the hinterlands of 11th avenue in Manhattan. While I had heard of it – I had never been there and was totally shocked to find out just how close to my work local that this gem of a restaurant is.

After a bunch of hemming and hawing with which kind of ribs to get – the nice girl behind the counter offered me the choice of an off the menu mixture of the two. My decision was made for me. I would be eating both the Kansas City Sweet & Sticky and the Memphis Dry Rub Pork Ribs (I ended up preferring the Dry Rub – as they had a nice spice to them) as well as the little army of sides that were must haves . . . the Rustic Creamy Corn with NY State Cheddar (the creamed corn had cheese in it – yum!), the Baked Beans with Burnt Ends (whoever invented burnt ends is on my short list of heroes, the Mashed Potatoes with Red Eye Gravy (you could probably put the gravy on a shoe and I just may eat it – or at least gum it a little bit) and the Golden Spicy Corn Bread (so – so tasty).

I had enough food to last for days – literally, I just finished it all today (three days later) – and I haven’t even gotten around to telling you about the sweet tea – that comes in a mason jar (that you get to keep!) – that has mint in it – that is the best sweet tea by far that I have had in many many moons.

The prices were kind of normal prices for a BBQ place in these and many other parts that I have been to and are pretty indicative of what I feel like I should be paying for food that is so time consuming to make – and which requires so much love to make . . . that cooking love is some expensive stuff. The only thing that was a bit rough was the $4.00 sweet tea – but again – since it was brewed in tea heaven in pitchers held by ancient gods that used cherub tears to get it to that perfect sweetness and sprigs of mint delicately harvested from the untouched (by dirty human hands) mint fields of legend to infuse the taste with an extra special level of depth . . . I really can’t complain – I mean criminy – how much is gas these days?!

Anyway – if you can get there – then go and eat as much as you can. Try not to fall into the boat that I did – which was going a little too far past my eating threshold . . . as you will have to walk quite a ways after your meal to get back to the mean streets of midtown – where I highly recommend that you maintain your wits at all times.

Because they are probably out to get you . . . that’s why.

Here is the info:

Daisy May’s BBQ

Restaurant: 623 11th Ave. (at 46th St.), 212-977-1500.
Cart: 50th St. between 6th and 7th Avenues, No Phone.
http://www.daisymaysbbq.com/

Burgers I've Made [#2]

Goodness – but I have been sitting on this for awhile (which – by-the-by – is not any kind of proper way to treat a tasty burger) – and now is the proper time to unleash this particular taste upon the planet.

Now – everyone doff your hats and bow your heads because – today is for “The United States of Burger.”

Here is what you will need.

  • Hamburger
  • Crispy Bacon Crumbles
  • Apples
  • BBQ sauce (make sure to get a good one – mine was smoky and crummy)
  • Grated American Cheese
  • Salt
  • Pepper

Alright – did you crisp your bacon? If not – my new technique involves cooking it on a rack in a cookie sheet in the oven. For 10-15 minutes – with the oven set to 400. Flip it at some point – if you would be a dear.

Peel your apples, core them and then cut them into little cubes.

Mix everything together – you kind of have to eyeball this to taste – and then throw a teeny tiny patty into a frying pan – so that you can get an idea as to what you have just made. Adjust the mixture accordingly, patty them puppies up and then throw them on the grill.