Toliver

Thanks for adding to the discussion but it's your loss, IMHO. As I posted earlier, the sweet tea is quite good for a fast food chain offering. There was a time where chains stopped offering brewed ice tea because of some sort of health issue with the leaves and the brewing process. They switched to the horrible fountain "instant-like" tea or the raspberry tea which tastes like little more than Koolaid. I was taken by surprise at how good McDonald's sweet tea tasted.

If you click on the fifth picture on the brownie pan Amazon page and read the notes, you will see the side by side comparison of the two pans. Size might matter in this instance.

"McDonald's Bets Pricing Drinks At $1 Will Heat Up Summer Sales" Their dollar sweet tea last summer was a winner for me. It will be interesting to see how the other chains respond.

Doritos 1st Degree Burn Blazin' Jalapeño Another winner! I'm not a fan of the yellow colored bag, but the image of a melted bag of Doritos on a bag of Doritos is kind of funny. First off, the jalapeño flavor is most excellent. It's quite bold and got me thinking of what dishes I could crumble this chip into to take advantage of that flavor. The second thing is when they say "Blazin'" they ain't kidding. I am an avowed chilehead and this chip got me sniffling. It has more than a kick to it. This chip is not for the wusses out there. Thumbs up!

I once had a "pot roast" burger at Red Robin that was quite delicious and total comfort food. It certainly didn't qualify as a true hamburger, but oh my, it was pure genius. Alas, it's no longer on their menu in my area.

Once a month, my 80 year old mother lunches with her lady friends at a local restaurant chain called "Jimmy's" that serves a mean broasted chicken. My mom has dreams about that chicken. After they lunch they move to the back room and play Skip Bo. Though not quite the adventures everyone else in this discussion seem to be having, their group is growing as there seem to be a lot of Skip Bo fans out there. Go figure.

This is interesting... I stopped by a local MickeyD's for breakfast to find that they were no longer selling the chicken biscuit for breakfast. It's still listed in the official menu on McDonald's web site so they must be available somewhere. Is it still around at your McDonald's?

Kent, I'm surprised no one has piped up with suggestions. I would have suggested a place with fish tacos since it originated just over the border but you don't want Mexican food. I don't know how it compares to LA but have you ever had Guamanian food? Islander Grill is on Park Blvd. and is two (big) blocks down from the zoo and qualifies as a dive. My brothers and I enjoy their hot sauce condiment (fina'denne) that's quite fiery. Some of the dishes remind me of Filipino food (Chicken Kelaguen, lumpia, etc). It seems to be a mom & pop place so their hours can vary and service sometimes suffers because it just seems to be family members doing working all positions. But that being said, we've liked the food.

Thanks for the warning. I have a dear friend who returned from a trip to Egypt where she went wild in a spice market and didn't know that she was buying an extraordinarily large amount of saffron. The bill floored her, to say the least. She gifted me a half a small spice jar of saffron which is a huge amount. I've never used or tasted it before so I am eagerly absorbing the comments in this discussion.

I think it's the Taco Bell Syndrome. Reconfigure the usual ingredients you have on hand into something different and call it "new". Sometimes it works...but not in this instance.

It's not fair. My mom in San Diego has already ordered hers. A coworker said her sister in Oklahoma has hers. But they're not on sale here until next month. I hear they're doing something different this year in that you get your cookies when you order them...no waiting. If true, that's quite an improvement in satifying that Girl Scout Cookie jones!

If berries are in season, they go in my smoothies. Out of season, I use frozen berries/fruit. I've been using a banana, kefir and some pomegranate juice (the tartness provides a good balance against the sweetness of the fruit) as a base. The rest varies depending on what I have on hand (or is on its last legs, so to speak).

Case in point: The Veg-o-Matic. If you do a search for one on eBay today it can cost up to about forty bucks. Or you can buy the new Williams-Sonoma version for about the same price. Everything old is new again...

There is help available.... I didn't think there was room for such a high horse in a discussion about the Hall of Shame for food. That being said, I, too, consume hot dogs with ketchup on them. So there... I have also been known to add tuna to my blue box mac and cheese and once in a rare while will get a hankering for those horrendous tamales in a can and eat every last one of them.

Once I've cut open the avocado, if I am going to mash up the avocado meat, I use a regular table knife to pre-dice it in it's "shell". Because my table knives have a rounded tip (unlike, say, a steak knife), I can slice the avocado without worrying about the knife cutting through the skin and into my hand as I hold the avocado. And yes, I do have knife skills but have found that using a table knife is my best way to deal with avocados.

It turns out Subway may have a secret Rainy Day menu... Subway’s secret rainy day menu special It's nothing official...just a post on a blog. Has anyone gotten this special? I've never heard of it being offered (which makes sense since it's supposed to be a secret )

Hie thee to the discussion: The Tater Tot Topic

"Taco Bell founder Glen Bell Jr. dies" I think it's interesting that Taco Bell and Der Wienerschnitzel came from the same man.

For those who are interested, the eGullet Onion Confit thread: Click here

I have an atomizer filled with a bit of vermouth to help my martinis stay a little on the dry side.

I'm sure others will weigh in but for breakfast, you can't go wrong with the Hash House A Go Go on 5th. There's always a line waiting to get in and the portions are huge. It's a little pricey but good.

I hate it when I get a bunch of celery that has a really bitter taste (it usually has a white core/layer inside the ribs). I find only one kind of celery in my local grocery stores but it's sourced from different areas/countries depending on the time of year.

Two food-related passings of note... Before Sam's Club and Super Walmarts, Costco's and Price Clubs and Gemco's there was the FedMart chain founded by Sol Price: "Sol Price, Who Founded Price Club, Is Dead at 93" I recall as a child going on shopping trips to FedMart stores in San Diego. It was a great concept: Groceries and household goods sold under one roof. Super Walmarts are nothing new to me. Been there, done that, thanks to FedMarts. The other food-related passing of note is: "Curtis Allina Dies at 87; He Put the Heads on Pez" I was never a fan of Pez. That being said, I do have a couple of Pez dispensers sitting on my desk at work. Culturally pervasive little suckers, aren't they?

Insert something here about "laughing all the way to the bank": "It's pancakes. In a can. It's made $15 million." From the article: The new color idea sounds like what Heinz(?) did with different colored catsup (which can't be found on store shelves anymore). Has anyone else tried Batter Blaster?

McDonald's is upping the ante in the morning by adding a breakfast value menu: "McDonald's to expand breakfast Dollar Menu in 2010" I think it's interesting that sausage seems to be the only meat choice offered with the value breakfast items. The article also states that Burger King already has a breakfast value menu. I wonder how the rest of the fast food companies will respond to the McD's breakfast value menu. And will the new breakfast value menu at McDonald's sway you to eat there more often in the mornings?