Confession Time: Share Your Culinary "Sins"

[Jason Perlow]

Here's one which I am sure most others do not share -- I use Coffee Mate in my coffee most of the time. Although this is primarily due to a dairy allergy, I really like the taste of the stuff -- and the powdered version is great because it doesn't cause your coffee to get cold.

Also, will anyone else confess to liking the "Cappucinos" and "Cafe Mochas" that come out from those automated coffee machines at the office? Or similarily, the circa-1973 General Foods International Coffee powdered stuff that comes in a tin and about half a dozen flavors?

EDIT: Holy crap, they have 17 flavors now. and ICED versions, no less!

[Verjuice]

Grade B maple syrup and a tablespoon.

You've got the right idea. In the "Snacking" thread, I confessed to being a Grade B maple syrup imbiber myself. There truly is no other.

For me, it's always the tbsp measure I reach for. I suppose I'm tricking myself into thinking I'm showing some restraint/ measuring portion control, or some such nonsense.

[Devilkitty]

Peanut butter (*must* be Skippy Super Chunk) and chocolate chip sandwiches, with a liberal sprinkling of salt. Even better on garlic bread.

Nauseating the Mrs. since 1987!

[Susan G]

I think any food (except for drive-through/takeout) eaten from their plastic wrappers while you're hunched in the drivers seat has *at least* the same shame quotient as anything eaten by the refrigerator light...........

Blood sausage (deli meat) sliced thin, consumed slice by slice in quarter pound quantities. No bread. No mustard. No pickles.

I alternate between shame and pride after eating...........

[LaurieB]

I got y'all beat.

About once every other year I get a hankering for cheese in a can.

But I put it on whole wheat crackers -- that makes it healthier.

[jhlurie]

Grade B maple syrup and a tablespoon.

You've got the right idea. In the "Snacking" thread, I confessed to being a Grade B maple syrup imbiber myself. There truly is no other.

For me, it's always the tbsp measure I reach for. I suppose I'm tricking myself into thinking I'm showing some restraint/ measuring portion control, or some such nonsense.

Hah. Maple syrup is hardly a deep dark confession! You can't be ashamed of maple syrup. I mean at least by the table spoon. If you were chugging it out of a two liter soda bottle, MAYBE.

[jilli42]

Prepare to be horrified.

ok, here goes......

* sharp cheddar chunks wrapped in turkey bacon, sometimes with peanut butter.

* ramen, preferably beef flavor, after cooking dump the water, add butter, flavor packet, hot sauce, Sazon, pepper etc. Stir & eat.

* 7-11 HOT Jamaican beef patties; often consumed in the wee hours of the morning, after a night on the town.

* saltine toffe (?) saltines, chocolate, sugar, butter, baked. A co-worker makes this & brings it to work. At first I was horrified & refused to eat it, but now...

* Jose Ole frozen mini tacos. Just "meat w/cheese" and corn tortillas. So greasy, so unauthentic, but so good.

* I too love pigs in a blanket. Have to use the crescent rolls and add a slice of American cheese.

* Hamburger Helper, the man of the house makes this on nights when mommy works late & mommy is often too tired to make better by the time she gets home. The beef noodle & lasagna flavors are not too bad.

* Little Debbie Zebra cakes, my mom used to pack these in my lunch. I still love 'em.

* Chili cheeseburger & fries from Checkers.

(Please forgive me...... )

[jhlurie]

After nine pages I STILL don't think I've seen anything as embarassing as eGullet founder Jason Perlow's vending machine bagel dog obsession.

A few weeks ago though, in a fit of late night desperation I had one of those "taquitos" they have rolling around with the hot dogs at 7-11. And by definition, pretty much ANY prepared food from 7-11 is embarassing/dangerous/disgusting.

[Basilgirl]

Oh here's a gross thing.  Balogna with cream cheese spread on it and rolled up.

To get really fancy, like my mom did in the '70's, LAYER the cream cheese and bologna (at least 4 layers of each) and then cut the resulting "cake" into triangles. Secure with frilly toothpicks.

[hjshorter]

Or similarily, the circa-1973 General Foods International Coffee powdered stuff that comes in a tin and about half a dozen flavors?

EDIT: Holy crap, they have 17 flavors now. and ICED versions, no less!

I love those.

[Bombdog]

Fried Spam sandwich on white bread with LOTS of mayo.

I cannot for the life of me figure out why they put a screw top on those mayonaise jars.

[hjshorter]

After nine pages I STILL don't think I've seen anything as embarassing as eGullet founder Jason Perlow's vending machine bagel dog obsession.

Jon, how about frozen Patio burritos, or whatever version they sell at Costco in the 25 lb. bag.

What is it with me and bad Tex-Mex? A gene mutation maybe?

[misstenacity]

Or similarily, the circa-1973 General Foods International Coffee powdered stuff that comes in a tin and about half a dozen flavors?

EDIT: Holy crap, they have 17 flavors now. and ICED versions, no less!

I love those.

Yep. I'd have to say that Jason is on the right track with the "I can't stop eating this thing that I KNOW is horrible for me, because it tastes so damn good!"

I used to go through a French Vanilla Cafe tin about every 3 or 4 days, now I've cut back significantly and instead add maple syrup and imitation vanilla flavor to my half-n-half. Works pretty well, and at least half-n-half is real food.

Don't even get me started on when CostCo started selling "tins" that were 40oz of the stuff!!!

[Ling]

Grade B maple syrup and a tablespoon.

You've got the right idea. In the "Snacking" thread, I confessed to being a Grade B maple syrup imbiber myself. There truly is no other.

For me, it's always the tbsp measure I reach for. I suppose I'm tricking myself into thinking I'm showing some restraint/ measuring portion control, or some such nonsense.

Hah. Maple syrup is hardly a deep dark confession! You can't be ashamed of maple syrup. I mean at least by the table spoon. If you were chugging it out of a two liter soda bottle, MAYBE.

Is this a confession of sorts? Do you drink maple syrup from the bottle?

[Ling]

A few weeks ago though, in a fit of late night desperation I had one of those "taquitos" they have rolling around with the hot dogs at 7-11. And by definition, pretty much ANY prepared food from 7-11 is embarassing/dangerous/disgusting.

Dinner last night:

-one Buffalo chicken taquito from 7-11

-one spicy cream cheese taquito from 7-11

-bites of my bf's 7-11 hot dog, all covered in their watery chilli and cheese sauce

(I actually thought the cream cheese one was pretty good.... )

[misstenacity]

Now that Jason has outed we GFIC fans (I actually call the stuff 'crack' because of my seeming inability to stop).....

I will add some more items (things that are 'bad' for various reasons, at least in my mind; and I'm one of those "sugar=bad" people.)

BAD BECAUSE OF SUGAR:

Crystallized ginger. Whatever amount of this I buy in bulk from Whole Foods at a time is eaten before I get home. Mmmmm, sweet sweet burn.

Dates (!) Who woulda thunk that these puppies have a glycemic index to rival white bread?

Boba tea. A new discovery.

Haagen Daz. When I get my ice cream maker I'll be putting Splenda in there, thank you very much.

BAD BECAUSE OF CHEMICALS:

Diet Coke / Vanilla Diet Coke.

BAD BECAUSE I CAN'T SEEM TO EAT A NORMAL PORTION:

Grapes (1-2lbs seems to be usual)

Tostitos Hint of Lime chips.

Are my weaknesses just..... weak? I hope the GFIC entry helps in the gross-out factor.

Andrea

Cedar Crest, NM

[Al_Dente]

I'm a big fan of the various cheap frozen burritos. In order to incorporate some food snobbery into making them, I never microwave. Always use the oven and add a slice of cheddar on top at the end.

Also, those frozen pierogies-- with good EVOO and any fresh herbs I have around.

Ah, the luxuries of the bachelor life.

[JPW]

Well, my secret vice is SweetTarts.

But my disgusting food habit involves dried pasta. I like to taste my ingredients. So, if I'm making pasta using store bought, there's nothing like chomping on a few strands of dry linguini or penne. Rotini is my favorite dry pasta for chewing.

Hmm.........

[nessa]

7-11 Nachos with lots of those pickled Jalepenos, drowing in that weird cheese product.

Duncan Hines etc icing, kept in the fridge and doled out one cold spoonful at a time.

Snack machine burritos. Those huge, spicy ones that are kinda mushy. I used to get them in Jr. High at the snack bar and have been hooked ever since. You can find them at 7-11 too.

Chocolate covered gummy bears.

hostess snowballs.

[balmagowry]

Peanut butter (*must* be Skippy Super Chunk) and chocolate chip sandwiches, with a liberal sprinkling of salt.  Even better on garlic bread.

Nauseating the Mrs. since 1987!

Chocolate and garlic. Wow, I am impressed. You must really be some kind of pervert!

I was also pretty deeply impressed by GG Mora's reference to peanut butter and tunafish - but I think this trumps that.

[dankphishin]

awhile ago, i was broke and had really no food except for summer sausage. slices of that, with ketchup.

also:

ramen, crushed in the bag with the seasoning packet dumped in.

totino's pizza rolls, microwaved.

also, i rarely cooked canned soup. i eat it out of the can, with a spoon. this includes chef boyardee's offerings.

cereal with a lot of sugar and no milk

supermarket sushi

vienna sausages

the worst, in my opinion is a convenience store hoagie. crappy, smelly onions, sickly meat, soggy lettuce, clear tomatos, and soggy bread. you smell like nasty-ass onions until you take a shower.

hard is it may be to believe, i actually like good food also.

[balmagowry]

After nine pages I STILL don't think I've seen anything as embarassing as eGullet founder Jason Perlow's vending machine bagel dog obsession.

OK, look - I'm sorry, I'm really not trying to increase Jason's humiliation or anything (though BTW I notice that Jason himself doesn't seem much embarrassed by it all), but I've gone back to the top of the thread and I've read all the posts related to this, and I have simply got to know more about this bagel dog thing. Who knows, it might lead me to join in Jason's iniquity. Anyway, I gotta SEE it. I gotta SEE the vending machine. I gotta... yeah, I gotta TASTE it. I just gotta.

Please, someone, tell me there is one to be found in the NY - or tri-state - area. Please! This is going to haunt me.

[beans]

After nine pages I STILL don't think I've seen anything as embarassing as eGullet founder Jason Perlow's vending machine bagel dog obsession. :smile

Pepperidge Farms Black Pepper Parmesan croutons -- I can eat the whole box in one sitting, including any of the filmy remaining crumbs at the bottom of the bag when I discover they are all gone.

Rice Krispy Treats -- either homemade or now easily found in a box of any grocery store. I know to put a blind eye to the whole section of those boxes of carbo goodness.

When I worked for Disney, my coworker General Manager and I obsessed over squeeze cheese (from the aerosol can) on Wheatables while doing physical inventory counts. Both of us would be there to the early morning hours, clipboards in one hand and with the other hand: I carried the box of Wheatables and she had the can of cheese. Yikes! That is actually a unique, fond food memory trigger too! Perhaps I best drop by her house outfitted with red wine, squeeze cheese and Keebler's Wheatables sometime soon....

Edited March 30, 2004 by beans (log)

[Jason Perlow]

After nine pages I STILL don't think I've seen anything as embarassing as eGullet founder Jason Perlow's vending machine bagel dog obsession.

OK, look - I'm sorry, I'm really not trying to increase Jason's humiliation or anything (though BTW I notice that Jason himself doesn't seem much embarrassed by it all), but I've gone back to the top of the thread and I've read all the posts related to this, and I have simply got to know more about this bagel dog thing. Who knows, it might lead me to join in Jason's iniquity. Anyway, I gotta SEE it. I gotta SEE the vending machine. I gotta... yeah, I gotta TASTE it. I just gotta.

Please, someone, tell me there is one to be found in the NY - or tri-state - area. Please! This is going to haunt me.

They were called "Bagel Cheese Dogs" and they were in the vending machines in the dorms at American University. I'm not even completely sure if this particular brand of bagel dogs is avaliable retaiil.

This is going back to circa 1987, so who knows if the company is still in business.

Oh joy, you can apparently buy them from AMAZON!

<iframe marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" width="120" height="150" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?o=1&l=as1&f=ifr&t=egulletcom-20&dev-t=D68HUNXKLHS4J&p=6&asins=B000055358&lt1=_blank"><MAP NAME="boxmap-p6"><AREA SHAPE="RECT" COORDS="1, 140, 83, 150" HREF="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm/privacy-policy.html?o=1" ><AREA COORDS="0,0,10000,10000" HREF="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect-home/egulletcom-20" ></map><img src="http://rcm-images.amazon.com/images/G/01/rcm/120x150.gif" width="120" height="150" border="0" usemap="#boxmap-p6" alt="Shop at Amazon.com"></iframe>

[cakewench]

Okay, I haven't quite had the time to make it back all the way through this thread. Perhaps tomorrow. But for now:

General Foods 'coffee'!! French Vanilla! Just those comments took me back to community college, tossing back cups of that (and possibly with added sugar ) with one of my best friends after a night of ... being out too late. mm good times.

Hey, and a memory from that same time period, same friend: we used to go to Giant (local grocery store) and buy one of the tiny rectangular birthday cakes they had (in 'normal' portions, possibly meant to serve 4 people. Very small for a birthday cake, clearly just meant for people like us, celebrating things like 'Tuesday'), and share one over the double-shot of MASH the local FOX station would show at midnight.

This sort of memory leads to my current username. cake