Scrabble Junior CHEEZ-ITS

I should start by saying that I am not a fan of CHEEZ-ITS. I know, shocking, right? They are comprised of three of my all-time favorite flavors: salty, cheesy, and crackery…but for some reason, CHEEZ-ITS are just not my thing.

So, when my Step Mom Wendy brought some down with her on her last visit, I gotta tell ya, I was a little wary. Then, I looked closer at the box. These were no ordinary CHEEZ-ITS, amigos…these were tiny Scrabble tile Scrabble Junior CHEEZ-ITS. Wendy and I are huge, insanely-competitive Scrabble nerds — don’t even get me started on Lexulous! — so suddenly, this gift from the north made a whole lot more sense.

And for some reason, these CHEEZ-ITS tasted a whole lot better than usual. I don’t know if it was the fact that you could spell fun words with them before you ate them or whatever, but, man alive, these crackers tasted awesome!

Anyway…I have no idea how long the Scrabble Junior promotion will last, so, if you love word games as much as we do, then hurry on down to the store and pick up some of these rocking little CHEEZ-ITS for yourself.

Oh yeah, and just for the record, they do not have blank tile crackers…I checked.

31-Cent Scoop Night @ Baskin Robbins (2009)

Believe it or not, it has been a whole year since Christine and I celebrated 31-Cent Scoop Night at the Baskin Robbins in Glendale with my brother and sister-in-law, which means…ta da…the second best deal in the ice cream biz is happening again tonight between 5-10PM. Yay!

I know we’ve enjoyed many discounted and free meals and such during the past year, but honestly, nothing in God’s green Earth beats paying 31-cents for a scoop of freaking primo ice cream. So, check out all the pertinent details here and see ya in line, amigos!

Ben & Jerry’s newest flavor: Cake Batter Ice Cream!

I know it’s been a while since we posted anything new in our “eat” category — I guess you could say the steady diet of McCain campaign lies has been keeping us both pretty full up! — but lest you think we’d stopped blogging about food entirely, here is a new ice cream flavor for the ages, amigos!

As you know, we loves us some ice cream, and though I remain a steadfast Baskin Robbins devotee, Ben & Jerry’s has been churning out some pretty rocking new flavors this year, and their 30th Anniversary Cake Batter Ice Cream is another home run from the hippies in Vermont!

The concept here is very simple: yellow cake ice cream with chocolate frosting swirled in for good measure. Baskin Robbins had a similar flavor a couple years back with actual chunks of cake in the mix, but this is much less, well…lumpy.

It tastes exactly like that first wonderful beater you mom let you lick clean when she was making your cake as a kid, except, you know…colder!

And the addition of the chocolate frosting swirl gives the whole thing a warm and fuzzy birthday cake flavor that will leave you jonesing to lick the frosting off the freshly-blown-out candles. Seriously, the memories will flow with every bite.

And though I was tempted to eat this shit on a beater, I think a spoon is much more practical in the long run…

Here’s to another 30 years of Ben & Jerry’s deliciousness!

Southern Style Chicken Sandwich @ McDonald’s

Hooray! After weeks of longing to try the lunch and dinner counterpart to the delicious Southern Style Chicken Biscuit at McDonald’s…we finally tried the Southern Style Chicken Sandwich, and all I can say is…wow!

Though nowhere near as lip-smackingly good as the breakfast biscuit, this is a truly tasty chicken sandwich for the ages, amigos. Seriously, this shit is delicious, and could that chicken breast be any bigger? Whoa, love to see the juicy-ass chicken that came from!

Anyway, as with the Southern Style breakfast biscuit, the key to this bad boy is simplicity. There is no mayo, no special sauce, hell, there’s not even any lettuce on this thing. Just a pickle, a bun and the best damn fried chicken breast money can buy. Really, that chicken was so juicy you didn’t need mayo. Delicious!

And did I mention the size? I actually thought that our gigantic chicken sandwiches were some kind of anomaly or something, but after carefully scrutinizing the chicken breasts of our fellow diners, I am happy to report that big old chicken breasts are the norm now at McDonald’s. Yeah!

And even though the initial flood of free chicken sandwich coupons have expired — many thanks again to Tevana and Natalie for keeping us so well-supplied with those things! — the legacy of this crazy good Southern Style Chicken marvel is just starting to spread…so, watch your back Chick-fil-A!

UPDATE: Southern Style Chicken Biscuit @ McDonald’s…with honey!

After carefully considering everyone’s advice on the subject, I did finally try improving upon perfection yesterday by adding some honey to my Southern Style Chicken Biscuit @ McDonald’s. And let me tell ya, it was amazing!

Since I wasn’t sure if my local McDonald’s would have honey on hand for the experiment, I brought my own in a tiny plastic container that Christine picked up at The Container Store.

Now, I gotta admit that when Christine bought these little containers a few weeks back, I kinda gave her a hard time about them: “What could we possibly need those for?” Well, now I know what we needed them for…those little guys are the perfect vehicle for transporting my honey to McDonald’s! Yeah! So, I am happy to admit I was totally wrong about your containers, sweetie. Sorry…

Anyway, yesterday morning, while the guys at the register stared and laughed — I try to pretend I’m not a breakfast regular now, but I think they’re on to me — I whipped out my ghetto-ass container of honey and my camera and got to work.

And though it is kind of crazy messy — I had honey everywhere when I left, including the steering wheel of the car and mysteriously, my cell phone! — I gotta tell you, the addition of honey to the mix is pretty damn spectacular! I shit you not, amigos, this is heaven on a biscuit. You gotta try it…

I should also mention that they are now playing cool Stax-style Southern Soul at my McDonald’s in the morning too. Man, they are really selling the Southern experience hard right now…and I, for one, am truly loving it. Yee-haw!

Southern Style Chicken Breakfast Biscuit @ McDonald’s

Even casual readers have probably noticed that Christine and I are anything but food snobs. And while we totally enjoy eating and making high-end food stuff, we also have a deep, abiding love for some tasty low-end food fare as well.

So, when I heard the steady stream of cheesy, borderline offensive radio ads for the new Southern Style Chicken Biscuit and Sandwich at McDonald’s, I figured I had to try that shit out! Not because the ads were so Uncle Remus-offensive, but because the food those “po’ Southern folks” were shilling sounded so damn good.

And, man alive, was it ever! I have not tried the lunch version yet, but, I kid you not, the Southern Style Chicken Biscuit is the best thing to happen to McDonald’s breakfasts since the Egg McMuffin. Seriously, this thing is amazing!

Fans of the Southern fast food staple Chick-fil-A will probably say that Ronald McDonald — who I just found out was co-created by NBC’s resident hambone, Willard Scott! — simply stole their idea.

And while that might be true, I gotta say…that scary-ass clown has also greatly improved upon Chick-fil-A’s concept in the process. Sorry, Tar Heels, but it’s true…the clown has trumped your beloved Chick-fil-A again!

Deceptively simple, the breakfast biscuit is literally just a super moist, insanely flavorful wedge of fried chicken plopped onto a piping hot biscuit. When I asked the chick at the counter what else was on it, she shrugged and said: “I dunno, maybe a little butter.” Nice answer. But a quick check under the hood of my biscuit proved her to be correct.

My only complaint is that there is not enough butter on that tasty breakfast creation. I know, like I need the extra butter, right? But, in this case, you kinda do. It’s not too dry or anything, but I think more butter or perhaps a little side of dipping gravy would really jazz the whole thing up.

So, until I sample the lunch menu chicken sandwich — which, like the original one at Chick-fil-A, comes with pickles on the bun — see y’all at the drive thru.

Actually, I kinda hate the drive thru. If you really wanna find me, look for me enjoying my biscuit and morning paper with the rest of the blue-haired mall walkers and homeless people in the restaurant.

That’s right, I’m loving it…Que viva McDonald’s!

Downtown L.A.’s “Ciudad”

On their very cool website, Ciudad invites one and all to “experience the bold and seductive flavors of the Latin World” and last night, we took them up on it!

Located in the heart of downtown Los Angeles, Ciudad is the brainchild of world-renowned Chefs Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger and though a little pricier than their fare at the similarly-themed Border Grill in Santa Monica and Las Vegas, Ciudad is worth every penny you pay. Seriously…it’s kind of magical.

Although Christine has eaten at Ciudad a number of times over the years — her workplace, downtown’s Central Library is practically across the street from the restaurant — I had only been there on one other occasion, but the memory of that meal has stayed with me ever since.

So after enjoying the sunset from the rooftop bar of The Standard nearby, we hiked on over to Ciudad for a late dinner with some of Christine’s co-workers. And seeing as the late night happy hour at Ciudad had begun just minutes before we walked in — incredibly enough, they have house mojitos, sangria and a number of other rocking good cocktails for only $4 a pop from 9-11 on Friday nights! — we could not have planned it better!

The only hitch to the late night happy hour is that you have to enjoy your drinks literally at the bar and cannot move to your table until after you’ve settled your tab. Fine by us! So we drank ourselves silly at the bar, settled the tab and stumbled to our table around 10-ish.

And the food? Wow…word’s cannot do this place justice. Fusing delicious new and classic authentic dishes from Spain, Mexico, South America, Central America, Cuba and even Portugal, the menu is almost as rich, colorful and varied as the crazy hip decor and art work inside.

We started with some incredible tapas-style dishes. And though the Peruvian Ceviche with plantain chips and Argentine Empandas (with wild mushroom, warm chipotle sauce and swiss chard!) were fantastic, I gotta say that my favorite of the three appetizers we shared was the Fried Spanish Brie. Dios mio, that stuff melted in your mouth…it was incredible.

And this from a man who is not a huge fan of the Brie…don’t get me wrong, I love me some soft cheeses, but Brie has never been my favorite. Until now!

And dinner was even more amazing! Not only were the hip, mid-century dishes super groovy to look at, but the plating of this food was out of this world. Beautiful culinary art on every plate…just gorgeous!

I had the slow-roasted Niman Ranch Carnitas with mashed yuca, organic black beans, fried plantains and grilled corn salsa. Wow, even just typing those words is making me drool. It was probably the best carnitas I’ve ever had anywhere…and that mashed yuca is something I wanna make at home, like, every night. I loved it!

Christine had a huge crusted pork chop from the “Specials” menu that not only tasted like heaven, but rivaled the Brontosaurus bone on “The Flintsones” in heft. That thing was enormous!

And that lovely pork chop was not alone in the size department, because, unlike other hipster haunts downtown, the portions at Ciudad are authentically gigantic. That’s right, they don’t eat dainty in any of the countries listed above, so why should we do it here? Sí se puede, indeed!

I don’t have any pictures to back this all up of course — Christine forbid me to photograph my food in front of her work friends — but you’ll have to trust me when I tell you that even the heartiest eaters out there will not leave this joint hungry. It’s just not possible…

So next time you find yourself downtown on a Friday night between 9-11PM — gotta hit that happy hour, I mean, come on, regular-priced Supremo Mojitos are $15! — check out Ciudad! Sure, it might cost you and arm and a leg, but I swear to God, the food you eat here will flash before your eyes when you die.

Yep, it’s that good!

Taco Truck Night, 2008

Two weeks ago, Los Angeles County Supervisors, led by the apparently self-loathing-Latina, Gloria Molina, passed a law that could spell the end of an era for our city’s world-class taco trucks. According to the new law, taco trucks must change locations every hour or face misdemeanor charges carrying a $1,000 fine and/or jail time. Jail? Wow…that bruja must really hate tacos.

Or maybe Molina is in bed with the East L.A. restaurants that pushed so hard for this ordinance in the first place. Either way, last night was declared “Taco Truck Night” throughout the city of Los Angeles. And judging from our firsthand experience, the event was a pretty rollicking success.

Embracing the simple yet profound credo that “carne asada is not a crime”, the save the taco truck movement was started by Highland Park residents, Aaron Sonderleiter and Chris Rutherford. Former college roommates, the pair say they often sought comfort in the steamy embrace of a piping hot street taco while in college, and continue to do so now.

Their point is that taco trucks are a part of the very fabric of life here in Los Angeles and rather than being pushed aside by some greedy restaurant owners, they should be embraced, if not for their cultural significance, then surely for their rocking good food!

So, in honor of Sonderleiter and Rutherford’s burgeoning movement — their petition to save the imperiled taco truck has received upwards of 5,000 signatures to date! — Christine and I enjoyed a tasty taco truck dinner last night with our friends Patty and Mike.

Using the map feature on the guy’s website, we were able to locate a taco truck in North Hollywood called Tacos La Fonda.

And while the tacos were fantastic and totally comparable to our usual taco truck in Hollywood, the real star here was the gigantic quesadilla (pictured above). Stuffed with Mexican cheese, a meat of your choice — we very wisely picked carnitas, which was amazing! — and lightly fried, that thing must have weighed at least a pound and, man alive, it tasted like heaven…delicious!

And the atmosphere at this taco truck could not have been better. Located in the far corner of a car wash parking lot on the busy intersection of Vineland and VanOwen, the place was so close to the airport runway that you felt like the planes were literally landing on top of you. Kind of scary, but kind of cool too.

So, while the official Taco Truck Night 2008 has come and gone, there is no reason not to make every night Taco Truck Night. All you gotta do is check out the saveourtacotrucks.org website, sign the petition while you’re there and use the handy mapping feature to find a taco truck near you.

And if you see Supervisor Gloria Molina out there, tell her to back the “f” off and for the love of pico de gallo, buy that bitch a taco already!

Que viva los taco trucks!

The French Pastry Shop, Santa Fe

OK, I know it sounds like all we did in Santa Fe was eat and that’s probably because, well, aside from drinking — gotta love that high altitude buzz! — that is all we did. Literally.

At one point Christine and I were plotting out our day and realized that everything we wanted to do involved food. Of course, we eventually found plenty of other some awesome things to do and see, but, wow, with all that good food they got cooking, why not eat your way through Santa Fe?

And a great place to start your culinary day off right is at the rocking French Pastry Shop located inside the historic La Fonda Hotel downtown. Now, I should mention that my first visit here — yes, I went just about everywhere more than once…but, hey, I was in town for six weeks, what do you expect? — with Ginger was not that great.

I ordered a dry-ass crepe with ham and gruyere cheese that was way overpriced and, like I said, dry as, well…ass. Not my favorite breakfast. But when Christine and I went again a week later, things were much more to my liking.

To start with, they have no menus, so you have to stare at this chalk board hanging up by the register and pick out what you like then sit down and order. I didn’t do this the first time and simply ordered what the skinny waitress suggested…not a wise move at this place, as what I got was, no offense, skinny waitress food.

So this time, I studied that menu board HARD and, man alive, what a difference! Christine and I shared the tasty looking quiche-type deal with ham, cheese and spinach and wow…just wow. I think the picture below says it all.

For “desert” we ordered a fresh blueberry and raspberry crepe with whipped cream and here again, we ordered correctly. I kind of wanted to marry that thing…you know, if I wasn’t already married.

But the topper was a cold coffee drink made with two shots of espresso poured over homemade vanilla ice cream and lots of ice. I am not kidding…that just might have been the best cold coffee drink I ever consumed…and this from a former Peet’s barista!

All I can say is thanks again to “Santa Fe Sarah” for insisting that Christine try The French Pastry Shop when she came out, because had she not, I would not have gone back. Muchas gracias, Sarah…you were right, I was wrong.

Oh yeah, and one last thing, The French Pastry is a strictly cash-only enterprise, so bring some green, and don’t forget to study that chalk menu board up front, HARD. You won’t regret it…

Cafe Pasqual’s & The Shed

While we tried tons of super cool restaurants in Santa Fe, these two were, hands down, our favorites of the bunch. And, trust me, with the caliber of kick-ass food being what it is in Santa Fe, that is really saying something.

Probably best known for their spectacular mole sauce, Cafe Pasqual’s has been one of the premiere destinations for gourmet Old Mexican and New Mexican dishes alike for the past 28 years. And while the prices are a bit higher than some of the other places in town and the lines are known to stretch down Don Gasper Avenue at all hours, once you’ve eaten at Cafe Pasqual’s, it all makes sense.

Ginger and I had an early lunch there one day where I sampled that legendary mole sauce on some of the finest chicken enchiladas I have ever tasted anywhere…including Mexico. The mole was dark as night, awesomely spicy and best of all, not too chocolate-y. I was in heaven…

The next time I went was with Christine for dinner and once again, the food was downright dazzling. I had some of the tastiest skewered filet mignon I’ve ever had and the bright green cilantro rice on the side was crazy good. In fact, we were so impressed with the food that we actually bought the newest of the two Cafe Pasqual Cookbooks they had for sale up front.

I should also note that I learned later from our friends James and Amy that if you ask nicely, the chef will add a fried egg on top of any of the dishes on the menu for the low, low price of $1.00. I don’t know that I necessarily needed the egg, but hey, I’ve done stranger things for a dollar…so, maybe next time!

But while we both loved Cafe Pasqual’s, The Shed is the place we’ll dream about in the years to come…huge thanks to Christine’s co-worker, “Santa Fe Sarah” for recommending it to us, you rock! Located in a cool little hacienda dating to 1692, The Shed has been serving some of the finest, Spanish, Pueblo, and New Mexican food known to man since 1953.

Housed inside the thick adobe walls of the hacienda, the dining area is spread out across a series of small, brightly colored rooms linked by narrow doorways and halls adorned with some of the coolest art in town. The place actually felt more like someone’s house than a restaurant, and with little round fire places up front and an intimate, low-ceilinged feel throughout, you could have sworn you were eating in Yoda’s pad on Degobah. And yes, that is a good thing.

And the food…my God. Amazing! Christine ordered the Chicken Enchilada Verde which is made with traditional New Mexican blue corn tortillas and bathed in a roasted green chile sauce that will leave you begging for more. Literally! I went back two days after she left and ordered the exact same thing…and it was even better the second time.

The other thing we really dug about The Shed was the garlic bread. Instead of chips and salsa — which you can still order separately if you like — every entree is served with this amazing, piping-hot basket of French Garlic Bread. I know it sounds kinda weird, but when you’re sopping up that spicy green chile sauce, that bread is exactly what you wanna have on hand. Whew…awesome!

And for desert, you gotta try the mocha cake. I’m not kidding, I actually woke up a couple of times craving that thing. Probably one of the best coffee-infused, chocolate mouse cakes I’ve ever had. If you like chocolate…you will die!

Anyway, like I said before, there were plenty of killer dining spots in town, but these two…wow…if you ever find yourself in Santa Fe, don’t miss them.

Todos Santos Chocolates

OK, first off, I kinda want to sue Frommer’s for leaving this place out of their “Santa Fe, Taos & Albuquerque” guidebook. I lived and died by that book when I was in New Mexico — not to mention last summer when their “Nashville & Memphis” guide never left my sweaty hands — so I was stunned to find someplace as cool as Todos Santos Chocolates & Confections missing from their hallowed pages.

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Ginger and I stumbled upon Todos Santos one afternoon and returned at least one more time, but Christine and I made this joint our home away from home in Santa Fe. Seriously, we made a beeline for this place every time we went downtown…and well, that was a lot.

Located just a short walk up Palace Avenue from the main plaza, Todos Santos is nestled inside the heart of the historic Sena Plaza directly across from the legendary La Casa Sena restaurant. Never got around to trying the restaurant (like many eateries in Santa Fe, they keep kind of odd hours) but the gourmet chocolates at Todos Santos are truly out of this world.

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In fact, owner Hayward Simoneaux — who was spectacularly friendly and actually started to recognize Christine and I as “regulars” after a while — was named one of the 10 best artisan chocolatiers in the country by Chocolatier magazine in 2001. And man, does he deserve the title. Everything we tried in his shop was downright magical…

Our favorites were a dark chocolate mouse number with reddish fleur de sel on top and a dark chocolate morsel filled with homemade peanut butter that literally melted in your mouth. You never had peanut butter this velvety! Also good was a little dark chocolate horn filled with red chile cream…amazing!

And the chocolates are just the beginning, as the interior of the tiny shop itself looks like some crazy-cool fiesta scene from the Golden Age of Cine Mexicana. Beautifully decorated with colorful paper flowers, masks, Virgen de Guadalupe ornaments and tons of gold and silver (and even chocolate!) milagros, the place was breathtakingly cool.

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And the packaging was even cooler. Simoneaux’ bold, vivid boxes and wrapping were just as amazing as the chocolates inside…and, best of all, shockingly affordable. The funky little glass and silver box we bought below was like $10-12 and was filled with three or four of our favorite chocolates to boot. Hell, you’d pay almost twice that much for the chocolates alone in Los Angeles.

Cooler still was what happened my last day in Santa Fe. Knowing I had one more shot at securing some tasty take-home treats for Christine, I headed down to Todos Santos alone and was delighted to find the store completely changed for Easter. Everywhere you looked were bright spring colors, chocolate bunnies and a dazzling new array of handmade chocolates. Man, I wanted to buy everything…

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Luggage weight restrictions being what they are, however, I narrowed down my selections to a few individual pieces in another super cool box and two small bags of Easter goodness. One was filled with dark chocolate covered almonds lightly dusted with cocoa, and the other was filled with individually-wrapped caramels infused with chipotle pepper spice, that were even better than they sound. As Ginger would say: “Yummers!”

But perhaps my favorite thing about Todos Santos was the smell. If you could bottle that shit, it would sell like, well…chocolate-scented hotcakes. The aroma in that place was positively otherworldly, and I swear, if you stayed in there long enough (as we did on several occasions) you started to smell like chocolate…which, all things considered, is a pretty tasty way to start your day.

So, gracias, Todos Santos…your chocolates will live on in our dreams!

Herb Peterson (1919-2008)

I’m sure you’ve all heard the news by now, but for those who haven’t…earlier this week, Herb Peterson, inventor of the McDonald’s breakfast staple, the Egg McMuffin, passed into immortality at the age of 89.

A former McDonald’s executive and owner of a whopping six franchises in Santa Barbara alone, Peterson said he was inspired to create the McMuffin in 1972 by his deep, abiding love for another rocking breakfast classic, Eggs Benedict.

Ironically, I had the rare treat — I say rare, because I am hardly ever awake in time to buy one — of a McMuffin for breakfast two days ago and, as always, it was f-ing amazing! Although I’m not a huge fan of the classic McMuffin (sorry, Herb) I have been a devotee of the Sausage McMuffin with Egg (not to be confused with the dry-ass Sausage Biscuit with Egg, which I seriously loathe) for years.

And knowing that my favorite fast food breakfast sandwich is a direct descendant of Herb’s original McMuffin, I gotta give the dude props for making mornings a whole lot more tolerable for me. Seriously, whenever I am called upon to get up early, I actually think to myself: “Cool, I can get a #8 (two Sausage McMuffins, hashbrowns and coffee) at McDonald’s!”

I know, the breakfast of champions, right? Well, luckily for me…I don’t get up early very often. But next time I do, I’ll salute you, Herb Peterson. Before you came along, McDonald’s was strictly a lunch and dinner business…you revolutionized the way the world eats breakfast, dude.

Que viva la McMuffin revolution!