Duluth Soup

I have eaten a lot of food in my life. With this experience, comes many happy outcomes.

There are also some terrible stories.

A hair here, a hair there and God knows what else.

A few weeks ago, I went to one of may favorite places for lunch: The Duluth Athletic Club Cafeteria.

They had a pasta bar going. I believe it was situation where you tell the chef what you want and they make it in front of you. I didn’t get it.

It’s a good thing I saw the supposed chef making the pasta dishes.

While he was making some pasta, I noticed he was eating food. Gross, just gross!

I am not sure what it was, but does it matter?

If he sticks the food in his mouth, his lips will once in a while touch his fingers. If he was using a utensil, than it would be a different story (still not right).

Needless to say, I will never go there again.

I don’t care if he is a licensed chef, I will never consider him one after observing that behavior. If he is doing that in front of patrons at the DAC, imagine what he’s doing behind the scenes.

It is not the grossest thing I have ever encountered at a restaurant.

In a previous blog, from many months ago, I bit into a rock  in my hash browns. This did not occur locally, but rather at a restaurant in Vegas.

Some may ask me, what would I rather find in my food, a rock or hair?

With some deep thought, I have to go with a hair.

There is just something about finding a hair in your food that makes you stop eating like a "deer in headlights."

It’s one thing if you find it on your plate (I would still definitely return the food), but it’s another thing to have that hair swimming in your mouth after taking a big bite of roast beef.

One tip for making sure your restaurant experience is more pleasurable, is checking your silverware before eating. Dried food on a fork is gross, but finding it early isn’t.

Share your favorite food horror story.

The best bagged popcorn in the world, in my opinion, is by Popcorn, Indiana (www.popcornindiana.com).

Their sea salt popcorn is delicious and very salty which I love. I enjoyed that variation very much, just not quite as much as their Movie Theater Popcorn.

I swear it tastes like movie theater popcorn. I was shocked when I first bit into it.

SportsCenter and movie theater combination = incredible.

Vikings football and movie theater popcorn = paradise.

It is that good.

They have many different flavors: Original Kettle Corn, Smoked Cheddar Cheese Kettle Corn, Chili Con Queso Kettle Corn and Summer Picnic BBQ Kettle Corn.

I have only tried the two varieties mentioned above, but if that is any indication, wow, do they have good popcorn.

So where do you get this divine palet pleaser?

Visit their Web site to find the nearest location.

I got mine at Mt. Royal Fine Foods in Duluth.

Leave a comment with a similar popcorn tale, or tell me how you liked Popcorn, Indiana if you have already tried it. And which movie theater in the Twin Ports do you think offers the tastiest popcorn?
 

Custard election voting results mirror current national trend

Prairie Du Sac, WI (Grassroots Newswire)- Call it an accurate prediction, a coincidence, or just plain crazy – the results of Culver’s Restaurants 2008 Custard Election are on track with the presumptive outcome of next week’s presidential election.

Culver’s guests participated in the Custard Election by purchasing their favorite candidate’s sundae in-store or by voting online at www.votecustard.com. Results from in-store purchases made up the electoral college vote and online ballots were tracked as the popular vote. Votes were collected from Sept. 29 through Oct. 26 with a record-setting 103,000 online voters – 99,500 more votes than were cast in the 2004 Custard Election.   

Heath Toffeebits, the Democratic sundae candidate, clinched the popular vote with 51 percent of total online votes. With liberal scoops leading the popular vote, in-store electoral college votes took a different turn. Reese E. Buttercup, the Republican sundae candidate, out-sold and therefore won the in-store vote with 53 percent of the 70,700 total votes. This outcome begs the question – are guests voting for flavor or political party?

"The disparity between the winner of the popular vote and electoral college proves that anything can happen," said Chris Contino, vice president of marketing for Culver’s.  "Our guests are so passionate about this presidential election that their preferences took shape in our custard election. We’re pleased with our custard voter numbers and hope that guests’ enthusiasm is reflected in a high voter turnout on Nov. 4."

Voting in Culver’s Custard Election was strong from the start. Just two weeks after the polls opened on Sept. 29, nearly 73,000 votes had been cast online. In-store votes were up as well, especially with Culver’s attempt to "buy votes" during its second annual $1 ButterBurger Customer Appreciation Day held on Oct. 7.  

The limited time sundae flavors, available at all participating Culver’s restaurants through Nov. 4, include:

• Republican Reese E. Buttercup – Vanilla Custard with the traditional toppings of hot fudge and Reese’s peanut butter cup chunks. 

• Democratic Heath Toffeebits – Vanilla Custard with the alternative toppings caramel and Heath^® bar.

To view Heath Toffeebits acceptance speech, online results, weekly opinion polls, and the custard debates, including "The Fudge Crisis," "Global Custard Warming," and "Pecan-Cashew Conflict," visit www.votecustard.com.

— Press release

I just had a gyro, with some Greek potatoes and a piece of spanakopita from the new Greek restaurant in Duluth, Grape Vine Café.

Leave a comment on your favorite Greek restaurant in the area.

I just had a bad grilled cheese.

I think the bread was toasted and then cheese was slapped on and it was put in the microwave.

(I can’t prove it, but that’s how it tasted.)

It was purchased at Duluth Athletic Club Cafeteria at the Medical Arts Building.

It reminds of what a good grilled cheese is.

Use a cheese you like that melts well.

One cheese product I don’t mind is Velveeta. It’s good for grilled cheese, but I don’t like it with pasta.

Others include American and cheddar or a spicy cheese like pepper jack.

I once saw Alton Brown of the Food Network’s "Good Eats" put mustard on a grilled cheese.

He put some type of grease on the outside of the bread, to create a golden brown and delicious crust and then he put mustard on the bread with the cheese.

This is a great idea. I tried it and I loved it.

Another thing I like with grilled cheese is ketchup. I dip the grilled cheese in it after I’m done.

I also like bacon inside of grilled cheese. The saltiness and grease from the bacon meld well with the cheese and the crunchy outside crust.

Leave a comment. How do you like your grilled cheese?

Recently I made my first trip to the Anchor Bar in Superior.

Even though I have lived in the Northland all of my life, I had never been there before.

I ordered the California cheeseburger. It was good. The meat was tender.

Still, I felt it was a bit under seasoned. I added a pinch of salt to the top of the burger. The lettuce for the burger was huge. I believe it was a large chunk of romaine lettuce. I took it off. This type of lettuce is very unappetizing for a burger.

The fried onions on the burger were very good. They were carmelized.

The bun was average.

The fries were excellent. Some of the best I’ve had.They were homemade. They were crisp and salty, perfectly so.

Overall, I would give the burger and fries a combined score of an 8 (on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the best).

The cleanliness of the restaurant was a different story.

Throughout my meal (I sat at the bar) I was sitting in front of a pile of dirty dishes.

This was not good. I thought the server was friendly and the food came in a timely manner.

The menu prices are off the wall. My burger, with fries, came to about $5. That is unbelievably cheap.

Overall, I give the dive bar a five. If it wasn’t for the cleanliness issues, it would have gotten a much higher score.

Honey mustard is one of my favorite sauces. It’s No. 2 on my list of sauces, right behind the king: tarter sauce.

I have purchased honey mustard in the store, but I usually don’t like it. I usually find quality honey mustard at a restaurant.

I really enjoy the honey mustard at Applebee’s. I think it is somewhat bland, but if you add a lot of salt, it becomes very good. It’s tangy and I think the salt makes the flavors of the sauce pop.

Get the honey mustard with the chicken fingers platter at Applebee’s.

Another place to get good honey mustard is at Red Lobster. You read it right, Red Lobster!

I don’t have to add anything their honey mustard. It’s tangy and strong in flavor. It’s not too mustardy, which I like … especially when it comes to honey mustard.

And when considering food, it’s best to go with your gut instinct.

I know that sounds odd, but that’s the way I feel.

Get the honey mustard with the chicken strips meal, which are on the lunch menu, or get the strips as an appetizer for dinner. You can also get the strips with the create-your-own appetizer. This is when you choose two or three of your favorites (from select choices) to create your own appetizer.

In this case, I would go with the crispy calamari and vegetables, clam strips and the chicken strips.

One key to ordering any sauce, if it’s one of your favorites, is to order a lot of it. When I go to a restaurant, I always order two cups of sauce for items such as chicken strips or fish.

I don’t always use the second cup, but it’s nice to have. If you just get one cup, you are regulating yourself to an average meal, rather than a great one.

What’s your favorite type of sauce? Leave a comment.

I just ate a hot dog and this question came to me: What makes for a good hot dog?

There are many different hot dog brands out there, but the one that I prefer is the Ball Park all beef franks.

They are well rounded in seasoning, stay juicy and are good sized. That is the definition of a good hot dog to me.

There is nothing unfamiliar about the Ball Park frank, which is usually a good thing for a hot dog.

What do I like to put on my hot dog?

I like some cheese and white onion. That’s it.

Sometimes, when I put cheese on a hot dog, people look at me funny.

They say "What are you doing, we should put you in a straight-jacket."

I don’t care what they think.

To me, it is good and I am not going to change my hot dog eating habits.

It is a beef frank. You can put cheese on a burger, so why not a hot dog?

The onion I put on it is white, because I feel white onion goes better with hot dogs and burgers.

Red onion is sweeter, which lends itself more to salads.

Leave a comment. How do you like your hot dog.

Sidewalk days in downtown Duluth is a time to indulge in many rich foods.

It is just like going to the fair. They have many deep-fried delights.

I had a corn dog and a funnel cake at the recent sidewalk days. That was too much deep fried goodness.

I was really excited to get both items … but once I was done, I regretted it. Sometimes your stomach has some bad ideas.

These treats don’t come around very often. I have never eaten a funnel cake outside of a festival or fair.

I have eaten corn dogs outside of these events.

I actually hadn’t eaten a corn dog in years. It was an incident many years ago that got me off corn dogs.

One of the last times I ate a corn dog, before recently, it looked good on the outside, but when I bit into it, the hot dog was cold in the middle.

Gross!

One of the worst food experiences of my life.

Thursday, the corn dog was better. The hot dog was hot, but it was sort of doughy in the middle.

It’s probably the last corn dog I will ever eat.

The funnel cake was good, but too rich.

I would get one again, but not for a while.

Share what you like to eat at a festival (how about a deep fried Twinkie) by leaving a comment.

I decided to go old school for lunch today.

I bought myself a box of Chicken in a Biskit.

Those crackers are nice. They are very hearty for a cracker and have a good flavor. Of what, I don’t know.

The box says it has onion powder and dehydrated cooked chicken, among other things.

I say, it’s possible it has those ingredients, I guess.

Dehydrated cooked chicken you say!

That’s right, and it’s tasty.

The only thing bad about the Chicken in a Biskit is the aftertaste. The flavor lingers in your mouth all day.

The Chicken in a Biskit cracker is a meal in itself. I don’t think I could eat it with a soup. It’s best to be eaten straight. There is some protein in it.

It is definitely a far-out-there cracker. It’s by far the strangest flavored cracker I have had. Strange doesn’t mean bad, however.

Another thing nice about the Chicken in the Biskit is that it’s a club cracker.

It’s buttery, but crunchy at the same time.

Share a comment with what your impression is of Chicken in a Biskit.