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Woah, What's going on???

So I'm like rushing to work this morning because I think I have to audit an orientation, but then it turns out the audit isn't until tomorrow. Then I am like OK what's on the ol calendar today and I find out that I have to post on OWFL. No problem... Wait, what website do I go to??? What special food celebration is going on today??? I know, I'll check the schedule. Where's the schedule??? What's going on here?? Am I awake or is this still a dream? Was I drugged?

So imagine yourself in a similar situation. You're Matt Damon and you wake up in a dusty room with no furniture. You know little about yourself except that you are highly trained in all sorts of spy skills and you're hungry. Or you're Tom Cruise and you've just had your retinas replaced with those of a dead guy, because you're a fugitive now. You wake up and can't see, but you're famished. Or you're Princess Buttercup and you come to in the hold of a ship, but you're famished and you have to figure out whether to search for a bite to eat or jump overboard and take your chances with the screeching eels.

You don't really know where you are, what's going on, how you got here or what any of it means, but your belly is grumbly and you want something to eat. What do you do for lunch? Do you sit and wait, hoping that some benevolent captor brings you some gruel and explains what’s going on? Do you search for bugs or rats to eat so you have strength to fight or flee, whichever the case may be? Do you roll over and ask the stranger in bed with you to quick whip up some omelets? What, oh What do you have for lunch when you have no idea what’s going on, but you know you’re hungry? What the hell is going on? What is for lunch today?

Spice Up Your Life

I am a chronic over spicer. If I ordered a glass of salt water I'd add some kosher salt for taste.

I add sugar to my chili, hot sauce to my spaghetti.

I add everything on the spice rack to my Bloodies.

I can't help it.

When I go to steak houses I am disappointed 75% of the time because my meat has "no flavor" to it.

And when I make steaks at home they marinate in just about every sauce and spice I can put my hands on before I put a spice rub on them.

I worry that my taste palate is dead.

But I have been told before that this is "over spicing" problem is common to Americans.

We simply can't let things stay pat, it doesn't taste right unless we add salty or sweet or smoky or whatever to give the meal and edge. I think that's why Bobby Flay is the greatest living American Chef. I kid, but it is true that everything he cooks is spiced up to the max and looks delicious because of it.

So today talk about your personal spicing stylings.

Do you think you overspice, or are you one of the rare breed who believe less is more?

What is your go-to spice when cooking?

What spice or flavoring can save an underspiced meal for you?

Are Americans overspiced in general?

And what is your favorite Spice Girls song? (Say You'll Be There)

Let these questions marinate in your brain a bit and then share your opinions with us.

And please don't forget to tell us, WFL?

Deep Freeze

So you are in the grocery store and you wander down the frozen food aisle and there it is...some sort of frozen food brand that is on sale for 10 for $10...you think ok..that's two weeks of lunch for $10. Hmmm....this could work and fit my budget, but the most important question is "but will it satisfy?". In my experience it typically leads to a big fat NO. The portions are ridiculously tiny and in most cases just don't taste very good. Sure, the lean cuisines only have 200 calories, but you need to eat 4 of them to equal a regular meal. Now TV dinners have come a long way from back in the day...but are they really worth it? I do admit, there are a number of frozen items that I am a sucker for like Marie Callendar's turkey broccoli mushroom pot pie, frozen cheeseburgers from Brown Street and Patio burritos. I will usually have something stashed in the freezer for the quick fix or when I am running late and need something fast to take to work. I just don't get how people survive on them day after day. I've noticed particulaly at the wrestling panda place that there are a number of people (typically women) who eat those Lean Cuisines EVERY day! All I can do is take pity upon them.

So what's your opinion on frozen entrees? Do you always have something in particular stashed away for emergencies? Have you found a certain type that actually satisfies AND tastes good?

And don't forget......WFL?!

Quick shout out to you Chicago peeps...stay warm in that 15 below weather over there! Brrrr!!

PeeP this.

So it's almost time to have made a decision about lunch, at least for those of us on the East Coast, but no PeeP Post yet. What up with that?

So in honor of the man, I will bring the discussion to Peeps The worst sweet treat I've ever had. Marshmellow covered in sugar. Thank God they only come out once a year during Passover.

Wait, what, they now have Peeps in the shape of Christmas trees too? Shit. I hate Peeps.

Peep is still ok in my book

So in light of gross foodstuffs (eg: peeps) What is your snack kryptonite? Can you live the rest of your life without eating one more Funyon? Would you rather get into a street fight with Mike Tyson than eat a Circus Peanut? Are you unoriginal enough to say that you hate Black Licorice?

I'll catch you around the lunch counter today folks. Stay warm out there when you get your lunch. Oh yeah, what'll it be that you're eating?

Repercussions

Sorry for the delayed post! Mr. E-que sends his regards, and please look forward to one of his typical eloquent posts in the near future.

Ok, so y'all should know the drill by now. It's the day after another eating fest day...so spill the beans and discuss what sporty delectables you indulged in yesterday. What are your favorite at-home game time eats? Do you make the pot of chili with all the fixins...or depend on your local pizza delivery to get it to you in 30 minutes or less?

And of course....WFL????

Happy Heavenly Hash Day!

My alternate title for today's post is The H is O, but that's only because I've had that SNL short with Ben Stiller, Jimmy Fallon, and Horatio Sanz playing opposite Will Ferrell as Glenn Frey on my mind lately. I decided, instead, to stick with Lady A's randomly assigned food celebration of the day. Of course, that decision led me to the next logical step: What the hell is Heavenly Hash?

Being an inquisitive young man who got to the office an hour and a half before anyone else, I decided to do a little research. Six and a half minutes later, I discovered the world doesn't really agree on the definition of Heavenly Hash.

"But, Earthquake, how is that possible? I know exactly what Heavenly Hash is!"

I know! Me, too! But, dig around a little in the realm of Heavenly Hashdom, and you'll find exactly what I found: you've been living a lie.

I was raised in the belief that Heavenly Hash was one of those creepy ice cream flavors that nobody I knew ever bought. (Mostly, because it had marshmallows in it, which are gross unless there is breakfast cereal or campfires involved and mostly only the breakfast cereal.) The only time I ever saw it was at the seedy end of the frozen food aisle and in the deep-freezer in the garage at that one kid's house whose parents were always "sleeping" or smoking or both but who I hung out with because we could shoot BBs at beer bottles in their backyard. In both cases, the ice cream carton was always covered with a quarter-inch of frost.

My cursory survey of the world's Heavenly Hash traditions turned up some new concepts for me. There are some people in the world who believe that Heavenly Hash is the combination of the Holy Trinity of dessert ingredients: chocolate, nuts, and marshmallows. (I know I just busted on marshmallows, but do you really think I could pass up an opportunity to drop "Holy Trinity of dessert foods?" Besides, who doesn't support dessert for breakfast? What's that, dietitians? Oh, go to hell!) Much like the Christian tradition, there are numerous sects and denominations that fall under this umbrella.

Then, there are the Recipe Traditions that assert Heavenly Hash is a magical concoction of fruit-saladish ingredients or an even more magical concoction of breakfast foods!

There is even a school of thought out there that believes that Heavenly Hash is one of the seed-bearing plants given us to use, according to Cypress Hill's interpretation of Genesis 1:12.

And, as evidence of the constantly deepening mystery surrounding the issue, one splinter group even, somewhat horrifyingly, construes this guy as Heavenly Hash.

The bottom line is that the world has as many visions of Heavenly Hash as it has of Heaven, and we all know how well that works out. (Don't we, Middle East?)

It seems February is all about learning for me. Yesterday I learned what Baked Alaska was. Now, Heavenly Hash, although I've raised more questions for myself than I've answered. So, let's continue this stream of education and debate. What other pitched battles about food definitions are out there? Anything, in particular, that you'll argue about until the cows come home? Or, at least until you engage in watersports with someone you met through an online singles ad?

And, of course, my fellow Heavenly Hash-hounds, WFL?

Baked Alaska Day??

So apparently it's Baked Alaska Day. Who knew? And who really wants ice cream in the middle of this cold snap, anyways? I guess that's the point of the baked part. There was some discussion recently about ruebens, which I've also never had. A friend is coming to meet me for lunch, so perhaps I will try to steer us to a deli of some sort & see if I can get a rueben (how is that spelled?). I would try to get a Baked Alaska, too, but a) that doesn't really seem like a lunch sort of thing, and b) where on earth would I even get one? Do they make them to go? On a cone? Huh. So wish me luck in my reuben hunt. And on that theme - eat something new! Even if you think "I've hated that since I was a child" b/c maybe you'll turn out to actually like it, b/c really, have you even tried it since you were a young 'un? Whether it's something new or an old favorite WFL?