Tuesday, May 06, 2008
"Get to know Penny"
| Starting back about 2002 Mercer's Computer Science Dept. started having annual banquets to honor graduating seniors. All alumni were also invited to attend. That is the banquet I attended two weeks ago in Macon. In fact the CS Web Page still gives the details: All students and alumni in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Information Science, and Computational Science are invited to attend the end of year spring banquet to be held at 7:00 PM on Saturday, April 26th at the Woodruff House (located next to the Mercer Law School on Coleman Hill). The meal is free for all students and alumni. Recognition will be given to graduating seniors and UPE inductees. A great southern buffet menu is on tap including the following items. Southern Fried Chicken, Sliced Ham, Southern Style Green Beans, Garden Salad, Tomato, Onion, & Hot Pepper Tray, Corn on the Cob, Macaroni & Cheese, Rolls, and Banana Pudding. Friends & family are also invited to this event. We ask for $10 per guest. Hope to see you there! When I arrived at the banquet (late as usual), I noticed there weren't as many people as usual. It was quieter than usual. I also noticed the place wasn't set up. I started to wonder if I was early instead of late. I merged in with the group of alumni closest to my age range (Dave, Scott, Matt, Bobbie) to find out what was going on. I then found out that all the wonderful food discussed above was not there and was not coming. Apparently the catering had gotten screwed up. "If Penny was here she'd be pissed!" I said. "If Penny was here you know this would never happen" was the reply. This was greeted by a round of nods, because we all knew it was true. I first met Penny when she started at Mercer back in about 1992. It quickly became clear to me that Penny was important to know. She made things happen and she got things done. Sometimes she even made miracles happen. You need a pencil? a pen? paper? a floppy disk? a mint? chewing gum? three ping pong balls, a rubber band and a magic marker? Somehow Penny made it happen. I once saw a student ask Penny for help because the student missed a class. Somehow Penny was able to produce a photocopy of notes for the class. To this day I don't know how she did that. Penny taught me many valuable lessons over the years, but one of the best was that most people draw their organization charts upside down. They put the presidents, VPs, directors and deans at the top and secretaries and janitors down at the bottom. Those at the top feel they have the most important jobs. In reality if it wasn't for those "at the bottom" nothing would get done. Ever. I see it sort of like the tires on your car. Everyone takes them for granted. They mistreat them. They don't check the air pressure or the tread wear. They even kick them on occasion. Those "at the bottom" get no attention and no respect. Yet when they're not there, you're just stuck. When I was faculty at Mercer (a job I got in part due to Penny) I would always tell my students "Get to know Penny. She can get things done no one else can." If you ask me for something, I will forget. Penny never forgets. If you need me to do something for you, I'll screw it up. Penny doesn't screw up. And Penny enjoyed that part of her job. I remember one day I had a particularly complicated photocopy job. (Yes, there is such a thing!) I was in the copy room behind Penny cussing up a storm as I kept screwing it up. Eventually Penny walked in and took the papers from me. "You give these to me, and you go back to your office now." Five minutes later I had my copies, sorted, stapled, and perfect. Even after I left Mercer, Penny still got things done for me. I had been tyring to get a book for a class I was teaching. I tried to get the book from the school I worked for and making little progress. A week later, Penny handed me a brand new copy of the book. Penny made miracles seem easy. Penny did the impossible, effortlessly, every day. And she laughed, smiled, and joked the entire time. I would occasionally get forwarded emails from Penny. Not the stupid annoying ones that EVERYONE passes around the internet. Penny's were always thoughtful, wise, useful, interesting, and funny. Pretty much little electronic copies of Penny. I pray for Penny. I pray for Carol Ann. I pray for Penny's children Ricky and Amber. But I also pray for the Computer Science Department, and the students. I suspect the banquet was just a glimpse of the future without Penny. The Computer Science Department has lost a wheel. Which normally might not be that bad except I think, in this case, the department is a unicycle. |
Labels: Cheese, Macon, Mercer, Onions
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
DIY Pups, Part 1
Recently I had a hankering for some Chili Cheese Pups. Sadly, I'm stuck in Burgatory and can't drive down the street and grab some. Slowly the desire kept growing until I could stand it no longer. I decided that if I couldn't go GET some pups I'd simply have to MAKE some pups. In today's post I will be showing you how NOT to do it. Tomorrow I'll show you a better (though still not perfect) way to pup yourself up at home. Let's start with a quick survey. I remember the early days of Lunchables when all you got was like 3 or 4 crackers, and 3 or 4 round slices of cheese and ham. I think they also included a napkin. How thoughtful. I always knew over the years they'd really "beefed up" the product line (pun intended) but I never paid much attention. Who knew they had tacos, hamburgers, and hot dogs? You'll notice in the box above there is a tiny TINY window thru which you can see the "product." Well sort of. It's not until you get it home and rip it open you realize what you've gotten yourself into:  I unpack and unwrap everything and do my best at Mise en place. It is really quite amazing how much they can squeeze into that little box. I was waiting for a circus full of clowns to come cartwheeling out at some point.  FUN TO EAT...NO NEED TO HEAT!: Place Hot Dogs in Buns; top with Ketchup and Mustard. Enjoy! TO HEAT & EAT: Place Hot Dogs in Buns; wrap each in a paper towel. Microwave 3 hot dogs on HIGH 25 sec.; let stand 30 sec. Top with Ketchup and Mustard. NOTE: Hot dogs will be HOT.For starters, the idea of eating these things cold make me almost hurl immediately. Second, I had to pause for a moment and try and figure out if they had a 4 year old type this up. CAN WE Get A Referee's RULING on the abuse Of The shift KEY? Wrap EACH dog in a paper towel? It's not enough to have the big clunky waste of the cardboard box AND the plastic container, AND the shrink wrap for the buns, AND the the Capri Sun, AND the smaller packets, now I had to also waste a few paper towels? Obviously Oscar doesn't care about the environment much. Knowing that "Ketchup and Mustard" wouldn't be enough, I had planned ahead. I had a small onion diced very fine, a can of chili (no beans) warming on the stove, and shredded cheddar cheese at the ready. I dutifully wrapped my dogs and nuked my dogs.    I also got a free pack of "Mystery Flavor" Air Heads candy. It's still sitting on the counter. Mystery Flavor foods always make me a bit nervous. What if it tastes like butt? I mean I was in a fraternity. I've seen plenty of "Guess what this tastes like" stunts in my lifetime. I also wonder if "the new guy" was working in the flavoring portion of the production line, and the boss wasn't supervising very closely. The new guy says "Oops!" and suddenly they're selling "Mystery Flavor" Airheads. What other industry can get away with this? Come on down to Big Ed's Cars where you can buy a Mystery Car for $22,000! After you buy it and drive it you can try and guess what it is! If you guess right, congrats! If you guess wrong, who cares, cause you still own it either way! Bottom line: Put the lunchables back on the shelf! If your kids are pestering you for Lunchables Hot Dogs, you may want to put them in counseling. Or send them to school with a bag full of dirt. It's got to be better tasting. (and more nutritious!) Come back tomorrow for an imporved version of Do It Yourself Chili Cheese Pups.  |
Labels: Cheese, Chili, Onions, Pups
Monday, February 11, 2008
Spaghetti and K-sauce
| While cleaning up my Krystal files collection this past weekend I discovered a recipe with pictures from well over a year ago. I searched my archives and it doesn't appear I ever actually posted it, despite my great teaser in this post. I created this recipe well over a year ago, in Sept, 2006, and just never got around to posting it. I never got to posting it partly because I feel it isn't quite complete yet, and I didn't get all the pictures I should have. But it appears I may not ever get a chance to complete this, so you'll have to fill in the blanks on your own. I love Spaghetti. I can't ever spell it, but I sure can eat it. To be honest, it if has pasta, sauce, meat and cheese, I'm there. (Go meat!) One day as I was making a batch of spaghetti and meatballs, I realized that, once again, Krystals had done a lot of the work for me. Here's what you'll need: 
The recipe is incredibly simple. First you need to conduct a bun-ectomy on all 6 burgers, and stack up the patties. Try to retain as much of the onions with the meat as you can:       |
Labels: Cheese, Onions, Recipe
Friday, February 08, 2008
What's in a name?
Something new is coming to Krystal. But it needs a name. Tiffany posted this request up on the forum at Krystal Lover's Lounge a week or so ago. They've come up with a new sandwich and are taking name suggestions: Product Description: Its a 100% Black Angus beef chuck patty with melted swiss cheese and onions on mini toast.Obviously you can see the mini toast, the Black Angus beef chuck patty, the swiss cheese and the onions. But if you look a lot closer you'll find something that is NOT one of those four items. I can clearly see a yellowish and a whiteish color. I will assume the yellow color is Krystal's delicious mustard. While I personally would never have thought to put mustard on this sandwich, I wouldn't kick it I hate mayo. In fact hate is not really strong enough of a word. They need to make up a new word to describe my level of hate. Abhor, detest, despise, loathe, spurn, they all fail to reach the level of hate I feel towards mayo. Sadly it appears there may be mayo on this new sandwich. Either than or that's marshmallow fluff. (And yes, I'd prefer marshmallow fluff on my hamburger before I'd go for mayo.) Currently "The Krystal Melt" seems to be the favorite. It's short and sweet and to the point. There are also a lot of other suggestions trying to come up with creative abbreviations. The problem with doing the abbreviations is that it's just too complicated. I am quite sure Tiffany and Kenny know of the fable "elevator pitch." The idea is that if you are in an elevator with an executive, you have literally seconds to pitch your idea to the captive executive audience before one or the other of you gets out of the elevator. Often it is over simplified to a certain number of sentences or less. This is the reason that The Fair Tax, despite being a brilliant solution to the US Tax problem, will never pass. It takes too long to explain it to people. (The flat tax is not as good as the Fair Tax, but it's easily explained so it caught on quickly.) When I was teaching at Mercer I had a few theory classes and those tests often included long answer/essay questions. The problem with those is that some student who does not know the answer go with the idea that if they just keep writing they will either accidently stumble over the answer I am looking for, or I will get tired of reading it and give them credit. At one time I was working on a scheme that would allot a certain number of words for the entire test (5000 words?) and the student had to "spend" his words carefully among the various questions. Perhaps one day I'll revisit that idea. Speaking of revisiting, lets get back to the new sandwich, shall we? Being the sarcastic trouble maker I am, I have thrown a suggestion into the mix: The K-swiss, short for Krystal with Swiss. Of course I am unsure if Krystal's legal department is ready for the lawsuit they'd certainly get, and if they somehow were able to keep that name, you know people would compare the sandwich to a tennis shoe. And while we're at it, why do most tennis shoes have holes on the sides for ventilation, but K-SWISS, the one shoe that SHOULD have holes, does not? I have spent the last week dreaming about the deliciousness that is a BA burger. For those that missed it, you can see the ultimate example of what a BA can BE when I created the Holy Crap Burger™ and Oh My God Burger™ a year and a half ago. That post will also give you a glimpse into why abbreviations for foods are not a very good idea. If the cashier has to explain what the item is to the customer, then quite simply the item won't sell. History is flooded with products that simply wouldn't sell because of the name. So I start to think about what is really IN this new sandwich. I have to get past the whole Black Angus thing. First of all, the lead guitarist for AC/DC, Angus Young is not black, nor does he do any cattle ranching that I know of. He's certainly not Swiss either. After I got over that headache, I got back to work. Then the idea suddenly hit me from three directions at once. Its ground beef Chuck, right? And everyone knows Chuck is another name for Charles. I don't know WHY it is, but it is. I know this because in college, my fraternity big brother, Rich, believed my roommate, Brian looks like Charlie Brown, so Rich always called Brian "Chuck." (Brian was not amused.) There is also, of course the commercials for Charles Schwab that advise you to "Ask Chuck" or "Talk to Chuck." There's also everyone's favorite wine, Charles Shaw, or "Two Buck Chuck". Now Charles is a more grown up, almost stuffy name. We all know Krystal is far from stuff, and always young at heart, so Charles just won't do. But Charley will! (Or Charlie, Charlee, or whatever.) It's cute, it's fun, and it’s playful. But it's now so far from where we started, the elevator pitch will need at least 18 floors. But wait, there's more! What's the big difference between a BA Burger and a Krystal? OK, sure there are a lot of them: square vs. round, the meat, the toppings and of course the size. But the important one is the fact that unlike every other Krystal sandwich, the BA Burger is grilled. Char grilled. wait for it. YOU GOT IT! The Charrley |
Labels: Cheese, Mercer, Onions
Monday, February 04, 2008
Paul has cute little dogs.
When I start talking about eating at one of the many hot dog places around Wilmington, it is only a matter of time before my father with bring up Paul's Place. Sure enough, it's only a few miles from where my office is on North Campus, and I'd driven half way to Pauls on many occasions. There's an Andy's Cheesesteaks just north of campus, and if you drive past it you'll run into Paul's Place. Well as long as you don't blink. Paul's is very small, unassuming, and competely in the middle of nowhere:   Prior to making the drive up, I of course hit the Web Site to get the scoop. It's worth taking a moment to go see the site and read the history. Everyone talks endlessly about the relish at Paul's. It's apparently a love it or hate it type of thing. (I hated it!) This past Friday I went in to get some work done. I don't normally work on Fridays but it's so quite on campus I get a lot done! I decided to try and blend in like the natives and went with their 3 dog combo, BUT I only got one with relish. The other two I got chili, since the relish is supposed to be a chili alternative.  The relish dog is in the middle.  Looking around the place one of the things you just can't miss are the millions of jars of pickled, jellied, jammed, peppered, and sauced items   As you step up to the counter you can look down and see the hot dogs in the hot water right below you. They literally assemble your dogs within arm's reach. They place them on big squares of tissue paper and place them on your tray. Then you get your cup to go get your own drink. This is when you may notice one of the most amazing things I have ever seen. Since moving to eastern NC (the birthplace of Pepsi Cola) from Georgia (the birthplace of Coke) I have fallen repeatedly into the Coke/Pepsi conundrum. The first week or so everywhere I went I would order a Pepsi and be asked if Coke was ok. So then I'd ask for a coke and occasion get asked if Pepsi is OK. Frankly, you cannot win. I'd say there's an even Coke to Pepsi ratio here. Often it's a mad dash to scan the menu or look for the drink fountains to see if you are in a Coke or Pepsi place. As I walked in to Pauls I quickly saw the Pepsi fountains to the left of the counter. So I ordered a medium Pepsi with my lunch. But as I turned to my right to find a seat I saw Coke fountain to the right end of the counter. I then had to turn completely around to make sure I hadn't mis read something. I hadn't. Paul goes both ways, apparently. This is the only time I have EVER seen a place with both Pepsi products AND Coke products. Next time I go back I will certainly get a picture. I haven't figured out exactly where to stand to get them both in the same shot. While the cola wars is currently a cold war situation (get it? Cold Cola war?) I suspect Paul's would be the perfect spot for a taste-off. Lts face it, when they hand you your cup it's 3 steps to a Coke and 3 steps to a Pepsi. Come to think of it you also have the opportunity to "cross the streams" by mixing Coke AND Pepsi in the same cup at the same time. Oh yes, my next trip to Paul's will be an enlightening and entertaining experience for sure! But please, hold the relish. |
Labels: Cheese, Chili, Onions, Wilmington
Saturday, February 02, 2008
The Bee tries to beat the K
| Many years ago when the first Applebees opened in Conyers, it was a great hangout. Lovingly referred to as "The Bee." Then a few years later, a Chili's opened across the street and was immediatly dubbed "Gary's Olde Town Tavern." (If you don't get the joke, you need to watch more Cheers.) I have always been fond of Applebees. When I lived in Macon, there was an Applebees just down the hill from me. Made it easy to stop by on Monday for "Steak Night." Buy a steak and get your first drink free. Sounds like a good deal to me! Unfortunately I had a girlfriend who started working there, met her next boyfriend who tended bar there, and more or less ruined it for me. Thankfully they opened like 3 others Applebees in Macon so I could still get Steak Night. When I moved to Wilmington I didn't see any Applebees. I found it strange for such a big city to be without Your Neighborhood Bar and Grill. Then one day I found it, stuffed in between a Lowes and the Wal Mart. Not at all easy to get to, to say the least. A few months back I made my way up to see if there was anything new going on at the Bee and to my surprise, there was. It appears Applebees is trying to hop on the Mini Burger Express. You might recall that in my last week in Macon I reviewed Rudy Tuesday's mini burgers. I figured it would only be fair to put the Bee to the test. On the menu you'll actually find the "Mini Bacon Cheeseburgers" offered as both an appetizer as well as a full fledged burger dinner.  While we're on the topic of confusing things. Maybe someone can explain to my why, when I go to the Applebees Web Page and click on the "Investors" link in the top center, I am taken to IHOP's Investor Relations page?!?! (Go quick, they may fix it someday.) Is Applebees or IHOP trying to tell us something?   In a strange twist of alphabetical irony, I am going to have to give The Bee a Cee. I awarded bonus points because the onion rings were especially tasty and Krystal let us down this year with no Vidalia Onion Rings OR Onion Petals. The bacon was also a nice plus. But frankly the burger was weak and the bun a disappointment. Given The Bee and Ruby T's attempts, what I think we are slowly dicovering is that the Small Hot Steamed Square burger is an "everyman" kind of burger. When you try to "Glam it up" and make it "high class," you ruin it. Lets face it, when you are going for a tasty delicious mini hamburger and the hostess seats you and hands you silverware wrapped in a cloth napkin, you're so far out of touch with reality, you'll never get back to a good burger. And no, I have no intentions of going to try any mini burgers at Chili's. And yes they have them: BIG MOUTH BITES*That sneaky old Gary is always up to something and I don't want to fall victim to his trickery. |
Labels: Bacon, Cheese, Conyers, Macon, Onions, Wilmington
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Chihuahua!
| I have an idea for Krystal for this year's Cinco de Mayo celebration. But as usual I need to build up to it. (And no it has NOTHING to do with Mayonnaise!) Recently I was over at Trolly Stop getting myself a few hot dogs. (Isn't it sad that my blog post is about the only real online ad for Trolly Stop?) If they are willing to make such insane hot dogs as mayo and melted cheese, then you'd think they'd have figure this one out. I decided to go with a Mexican themed dog: all beef frank, salsa, onions, melted cheese, and jalapenos. I dubbed it "The Chihuahua" after everyone's favorite dog. The Mexican dog with a lot of attitude that will bite you when you least expect it. It also sounds like the sound I make after eating an especially hot jalapeno: Ai Chi Wah Wah! (How exactly do you spell that?!?)  So perhaps this year Krystal can really do Cinco up right. They already have the dogs, the cheese, and the onions. They usually have the jalapenos. All they need is some salsa and there they go! And even if Krystal doesn't offer this Mexi-dog you can make them yourself. Just buy a pack of dogs to go. (Get it? Pack of Dogs?) They'll even put them in a nice carry bag, like Paris Hilton's dog Tinkerbell. And when people ask what's in the bag you can tell them in your worst Paris impression, "It's hot!"  |
Labels: Cheese, Chili, Onions, Pups
Sunday, January 20, 2008
The Lost Post
| On Friday I decided to have lunch at one of my favorite places in Wilmington, Dub's Dawgs, which is technically in Wrightsboro. They have a fantastic menu of good stuff. The menu online is extremely out of date. It's my understanding that the place first opened being run by the children of the man who owns the property, but they couldn't keep it running so they decided to close it. Someone else stepped in, bought the place and it's been going full blast ever since. Some days if you don't get there early, you don't get a seat. On Friday I wasn't excited about their daily special (fried Flounder) so I went back to the standard menu. The first time I ever went to Dub's I got the Fat Man's Platter. It has never failed to satisfy.  As I sat there waiting for my lunch, I got to thinking that I knew I'd done the same basic idea with a Krystal before but didn't remember if I had ever posted it. Yesterday, I started digging around and found my pictures. I really do have a huge archive of pictures and stories that I've been meaning to post to Krystal Adventure, but never gotten around to it. I believe this one dates back to my Gravy Is Groovy week. Let's call this the "Little Man's Platter." You of course start with a few Krystals. Cheese is optional, but nix the mustard. I got mine with pickles, but ate them. Then you need some gravy. Since I don't normally have gravy sitting around the house, that meant a trip to the store. I'm not a big fan of sauces from a dry mix as they tend to be WAY too high in sodium, so I went with the jar gravy. If you have REAL gravy, go with that instead!   Next up is a big spoonful of hot gravy.  I used mushrooms, but Dub's does not. I'll talk to my waitress Tracy next time and see what we can do about that. But just cause Dub's doesn't that doesn't mean you can't! Everyone needs a little fungus now and then. |
Labels: Cheese, Onions, Wilmington
Thursday, January 03, 2008
The Last Krystal Thursday
| In about an hour I will be leaving Wilmington for a short trip. I will be headed down to the Krystal in Murrell's Inlet. While under most circumstances, a road trip for Krystals would be a happy occasion. Today's trip will be a sad one. Today's trip will be the last "Krystal Thursday" for me. Almost 18 1/2 years ago when I first starting going to Krystal on Thursday I never even imagined that 18 years later my Thursdays would still be filled with that delicious taste. I've been doing Krystal Thursdays for over half my life now. I wouldn't even venture a guess at how many Krystals I have eaten in that time. When I made the decision to leave Macon and move to Burgatory (Wilmington) I knew that might be the beginning of the end. I felt I had come to a workable solution by freezing sackfuls of Krystals for later defrosting and eating. They are good, but not even close to as good as fresh Krystals. That allowed me to survive, but not thrive. To be honest, Krystal Thursday is not any fun anymore. I don't have 10 stores in a 20 miles radius to choose from. Murrell's Inlet is my closest store at roughly 2 hours away. Krystal Thursday is now work, and can be stressful at times. I have missed more Krystal Thursdays since I moved here 6 months ago than I did in the previous 10 years. My teaching schedule this coming semester also does not lend itself to Krystal Thursday. I can no longer do "Krystal Thursday" the justice it deserves, so I have decided it is time to put it to rest. The past few trips back to Krystal Kountry confirmed that it's not really the food, but it's the people. I have met many wonderful people over the years. Many have worked for Krystal and many have joined me there. But when you are staring at your microwave in your kitchen on a Thursday evening, watching 3 week old frozen Krystals go round and round, you start to get the feeling that maybe it's gone too far. I have not mentioned this here before, but prior to leave Macon I had finally perfected making my own Krystals at home. If I absolutely had to, I could make my own. It does tend to give the place onion aroma that lingers for days, though. While being able to make my own Krystals is a unique experience, it really only serves to remind me of what I am missing. Or more specifically, who I am missing. On my long Christmas road trip I ate 7 times in 5 different Krystals and they all more or less confirmed it: even more than Krystal's food, I miss "The Krystal Experience" I have spoken to a few people about this since Thanksgiving and I know the questions that people are prone to ask. Let me address those briefly before I head out on my own trail of tears. First of all I am NOT swearing off Krystals. I will chow down on them any time I possibly can. I may start making monthly trips to Murrell's Inlet for my own "Square Off." Those trips won't be possible on Thursdays. But at least they'll quality as "Krystal Adventures." Second, if a Krystal does open in or near Wilmington then you can bet your bottom dollar Krystal Thursdays will resume. Depending on the timing I may be one of those nuts who camps out in front of the store for the opening. This is not, however, some twisted ultimatum to try and get Krystal to put a store here. I know and trust everyone I have met from Krystal HQ and I believe they will look out for what is best for Krystal. If that does not include a Wilmington store, then so be it. Third, I don't have any plans to start a new Thursday tradition. Or any day tradition. Wilmington has many many great places to eat, but nothing I have felt such a strong connection to as Krystal. Though if they set of a Central Park hamburgers, around here I may have to change my mind. I'm not sure you can understand how hard this will be for me, but then if you've been around here for a while maybe you do. And no I can't even contemplate on what the end of Krystal Thursday means for the future of this blog. I'll jump off one bridge at a time. |
Labels: Macon, Onions, Wilmington
Tuesday, January 01, 2008
Krystal Turkey
| Of course Krystal isn't open on Thanksgiving or on Christmas day, but as I learn from my Manny-time with Sean and Josh, we can always pretend. What would it be like if Krystal did serve Thanksgiving Dinner, or Christmas Dinner? Well obviously we'd have to have fresh, small, hot (not square) turkeys!    Guess what? Chicken Butt! Yes that interesting little triangular portion of the bird. While up at my parents there was plenty of discussion on that part. My parents call it a Parson's Nose, for various reasons. I learned years ago it was called the Whistle because when you're cooking them over a fire, you'll sometimes hear the bird make a whistling sound. That's the juices in the tail. When we would do barbecue chicken fundraisers for wrestling team in high school they cooked half chickens on big racks over burning coals. Obviously since these were half chickens only half of them would have the tail. When you saw one, you made sure no one was looking and twisted it off to eat. It is sinfully delicious containing a lot of greasy, oily, juicy fat, but you had to be careful of the occasional tiny bones.  |
Labels: Onions
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
I get ripped off (again) and Nancy tackles the pot problem in London.
| If you've been keeping up with Krystal Adventures for any length of time, you know I talk a lot about Nancy. I've known Nancy for a long time and I owe a lot to Nancy. Sadly (for me, not Nancy) she currently lives in London. Nancy's into art. Old art. Old dirty art. And apparently England has a lot of old dirty art. OK, well that didn't quite come out right. Here's maybe this will make more sense: Here are another couple of articles Nancy emailed to me Londinium bourgeoisie revealed in unique Roman find In other shocking email news, I received an emergency news dispatch from Chris today: Well if that's how they want to play it, I'll take it one step further! Their "Onion Goggles" cost $20 plus shipping and handling and take 2 to 4 weeks to get to you. You can go to Kmart and guy a cheap pair of swim goggles for about $5 and have them NOW. Point for Swim Goggles! How well will "Onion Goggles" work if you suddenly have to go swim a triathalon? Not very well! Point for Swim Goggles Do Onion Goggles have any mention of sizes? Just how well do these one size fits all goggles fit? Most swim goggles are infinitely adjustable. Point for Swim Goggles. So there you have it folks: Onion Goggles are a rip off of my idea. Onion goggles are also just an outright rip off as you can get the same benefits, cheaper with simple swim goggles. Both options, however, are lacking in comparison to the mask and snorkel. How can you do the Darth Vader impersonation without the snorkel? |
Labels: Onions
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
My dogs are barkin'!
| For those not fluent in Southern Redneck, the phrase "My dogs are barkin'" means your feet are sore/tired. Dogs means feet, and you can figure out the rest. I seem to recall my sister in law, Amy, refers to it as "my peats is crackin'!" but you'd have to confirm that with her. I suspect I'll get hit the next time I go visit. So why are my feet sore? Well yesterday I officially got my butt back in the classroom again. And for the record I never sit down while I teach a class. No offense to anyone else who teaches, but I find it rude to "teach" while you sit on your butt. Standing while I teach allows me to roam the room. This keeps sleepy students awake. (Unless they're in class in a roasting hot classroom on an Air Force base but that's another story.) It also allows me to quickly get over to a student who is having a problem to lend a hand if needed. As you might recall I have 3 classes on Mon/Wed. I got my rosters last Friday and the first class had 3 students. Second class had 4 students. Third class had 5 students. Those who know me know that just is NOT my dream class. on the flip side, I have 2 classes on Tue/Thu. First class? 21 students on the roster. Second class? 22 students listed. this is also not my dream class size. I prefer around 10-12 students. So I spend the weekend preparing myself for feast and famine. Yesterday, my first class had 1 student (one) my second class had 2 (two). Apparently a lot of students have't paid for their classes, or have dropped since I got my roster printed. Thankfully the 3rd class yesterday had some walk ins and sits at 6 students. Not great, but better than 1 or 2. Today's classes were around 15 and 18. The roster-run-around is supposed to be done soon. Yesterday was the last day to drop/add. If they haven't come to class at least once by the end of next week they get dropped automatically. While it sounds messy and confusing, it still feels really good to be in a class where I actually hand out a syllabus, review attendance and grading policies, and talk about tests. I've missed this so much! Back to my poor feet... five classes over the past two days wouldn't be too bad except I have had roughly a month off and my dogs aren't used to this kind of abuse. And yes, you know where this is going. In honor of PETA's posterboy, Michael Vick, I decided to go out and abuse a few dogs myself this evening. (For the record, I do not care for the way PETA tries to get their message across, however I do agree in principle with what they stand for.) For dinner this evening I returned to Trolly Stop for dinner. This time I brought my camera along.    Looking at the menu I decided to start near the top and work my way down.  I also got myself a drink and ate in for the free refills. I was unsure if the Surfer dog would go down without a fight, but I was quite sure the All The Way would be a struggle. And as of right now, I can feel that I have a small Michael Vick style dog fight going on in my tummy. Like Mike, I plan to drown them, except with a frosty bottle of Sundrop! In all honesty the Surfer Dog was unremarkable. The Bac-Os only provided minor crunch, but their flavor was overwhelmed by the cheese. Or in the spirit of a SURFER dog, I should say the Bac'Os were wiped out by the tidal wave of cheese. The All The Way dog was just strange. Normally when I eat a hot dog, I bite the toppings off in one bite then get the dog in the second bite. For this reason I usually put some "toppings" under the dog, and some on top. Even condiment distribution is essential for all foods. For the chili slaw dog I had to alter my normal eating style to try and get the "true" taste. I was, and am, less than impressed. Mentally I couldn't get past the idea that there was slaw on my hot dog. Gastronimically, the taste confusion was never resolved. My body was left unsatisfied, having been essentially jipped out of a chili dog, with a side of cole slaw. As you can see from their menu they have no fear of throwing slaw on anything. I can also produce menus from other places around here where they put slaw on hamburgers and barbecue pork sandwiches. For now I refuse to defile my Krystals with slaw to produce a "North Carolina Style Krystal." Slaw is a side dish, not a condiment. Ketchup is a condiment, not a side dish. Apparently they do not understand that up here. I am not against slaw, I happen to love good slaw. In fact this past weekend while visiting my parents, my grandmother made slaw. No one at the table put the slaw on anything and they're all from North Carolina. Must be all these people from out of state moving here and their first real plate of REAL barbebcue accidently got a little slaw on top of their barbecue, so they assume that's "North Carolina Style." I have not yet found a cole slaw pizza, so I hereby trademark and copyright that idea. Knowing my luck, one of those California pizza nuts has already done it. I am also thinking North Carolina should change from being The Tar Heel State and just give in and be The Slaw Heel State.  (I never claimed to be a graphic artist!) |
Labels: Bacon, Cheese, Chili, Onions
Tuesday, August 07, 2007
Bad Dog!
| First off, Krystal is apparently reworking their Chik'n Bites. I am excited by this because about 8 or 12 months ago they reworked their Chiks and they got bigger, crispier, and much much tastier. I have never been excited by the Chik'n bites, personally, but I suspect kids probably go for em. Of course, I happen to make the world's best chicken nuggets based on a top secret family recipe. No you can't have it. On the Krystal Lover's Lounge they're asking their fans to help pick a name for the reworked crispy chicken peices. Much like their poll for renaming their frozen Cokes, they chose to give a few names and we pick from the list. That's probably a good idea, since my first suggestions would have been: "Chik'n Pox" Sadly, that's only funny to people my age and older. Apparently kids don't get chicken pox anymore. Too bad, since that was always a few days out of school. Their choices on the web site are: Chik'n Dippers, Chik'n Dunkers, Chik'n Tots, Chik'n Dip'ns, NEW Chik'n Bites. Personally I think using the word "Tots" is just a bad idea. Along with using the word "Nibbles" is just BEGGING for people to substitute a letter and suddenly you have a "milk out the nose" level joke you'll never be able to get people to stop calling them. Since the current ones are perfectly spherical, I am thankful they didn't go with "Chik'n balls" as well. Now while we're dicussing bad names for food, I have a new one tonight. First off, let me say up front I have never been to Philadelphia, but given all I have seen or heard I don't think I ever want to. Emily's Toybox, who live a little ways outside of Philly, have a song on their latest CD that clearly gives their views on Philly. I can't put the title here, as it is as far from kid-friendly as it gets. Philadelphia sports fans are notoriously poor sports. I recall a Flyers game on TV as the first time I ever saw an entire crowd get censored. There's a miserable trend at hockey games that when the visiting team's starting line up is being announced the home team fans yell "Sucks!" after each opposing player is announced. And then when they announce the coach they yell "He sucks too!" Well ESPN has a Flyers game on TV and while the comentators were doing their pre-game thing, the visiting team was being announced in the background. The Philly fans were so loud yelling "Sucks!" that it disrupted the announcers and they eventually killed the crowd mic. Perhaps the only good thing to come out of Philadelphia is: The Philly Cheesesteak. I absolutely love em. And before you ask, yes I have made a Philly CheeseKrystal. I don't think it ever made the blog, but it was good. Also, the new Krystal on Brainer Rd in Chattanooga has a Philly Cheesesteak Toaster that I reviewed Back in February. Just around the corner from me is a place called J. Michael's Philly Deli. It's a rather long name and there's usually a rather long line. Tonight I figured I'd phone in an order, and see how their cheese steak is. I got the small cheesesteak, add mushrooms, and some fries on the side. It was all very good. The fries were excellent. I believe the only 3 stores are in Wilmington, though, so unless you're from around here or visiting, I guess you just have to trust me. As I was scanning the menu, though, I saw something rather disturbing:  I must admit, I had a fraternity brother in college who put peanut butter on hot dogs. He also put it on bologna sandwiches. I just kind of figured since he didn't grow up in the US he missed something in the translation. Needless to say I couldn't sit beside him while he ate it. I also had another fraternity brother who put mayo on his hot dogs. His logic was almost valid. He said you put mayo on turkey, roast beef, or ham sandwiches. You put it on hamburgers. So he figured if it was meat and bread it was fair game. I started to come up with a list of meat and bread combos that DO NOT qualify for mayo, but instead I moved so I didn't hurl. We already know I find mayo to be rather nasty. Warm mayo is even worse. In fact I am getting ill thinking about it. As if it couldn't get any worse, this guy actually makes peanut butter hot dogs. (Yeah, they're from PA.) I have searched the web for this "John's Island" in South Carolina and perhaps the background on how they came up with this insane idea. I have found nothing. There is apparently a John's Island, but no one there seems to want to take the blame for this hot dog. So now I am left to wonder: did someone in South Carolina REALLY come up with this? Are the people at J. Michael's trying to give their insane creation some artifical clout? Did some guy from Philly decide to create a disgusting food item and then blame it on the south, because people in Philly are jerks like that? Of course if you look up a bit you'll find yet again those crazy Carolinians putting slaw on top of strange stuff. In Georgia, apparently all it takes to make something "Carolina Style" is to drop a big spoonfull of cole slaw on it. Seems people up here believe that too. Speaking of hot dogs. I believe the closest dining establishment to where I live is Trolly Stop hot dogs over on Fountain Dr. I actually had read a little bit on this place when I was still in Macon, which was hard since they don't have a web site. Here's the best I can do: A review from some guy in Baltimore and A review in a local online magazine. I will try and get a picture of their menu one day so you can see just how many ways there are to do a hot dog. I usually go with the American (onions, mustard, chili) and add cheese. The fries are always good too. They also have a place downtown, about 3 blocks from the downtown campus I'll be teaching at on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Can anyone say LUNCH!?!? |
Labels: Cheese, Chiks, Chili, Macon, Onions, Recipe, Wilmington
