Fast Food - - Page 3

by ML

Possibly the Worst Sandwich Name Ever

This is worse than the Shake Weight. Spotted at Dash In

Pic courtesy of Keonte

by forkitude

If You Can Get Joy Out of This, Life Isn’t So Bad

Each time I visit one of the five Shake Shack locations in New York City, I get an anxious feeling. It is a much different feeling than when I go to Chipotle or, dare I say it, McDonald’s (not that I have set foot in one in years). Why? It’s just a hamburger. It’s just a hot dog. Big deal, right? Why does this particular fast food restaurant attract mobs of people like some sort of tourist attraction?

McDonald’s has saturated planet Earth with mediocre food and substances that could be categorized as something other than whole food. It takes a special talent to open a fast food joint that attracts tourists.

So what exactly makes Shake Shake a fast food joint that has brought so many seasoned food writers to their knees?

Plate It or Hate It

Recent food world discoveries the ES crew is loving and hating…

Plate It: Stacker Mallows

We’re usually not partial to Rachel Ray-esque products that dumb down food to the lowest common denominator, but anything that gets s’mores in our mouths quicker is fine by us.

Hate It: Paula Deen’s Butter-Flavored Lip Balm

If you felt the need for a taste in your mouth to remind you all day long that you are an insatiable glutton. (Photo: Holly Bailey, via Grub Street)

Plate It: Ramen to the Rescue

Imagine There’s No Pizza

Mr. and Mrs. O still get points for all their D.C. burger eating adventures, but Herman Cain just took a BIG lead in the race for the coveted Endless Simmer presidential endorsement.

in Politics 0 comments

by Jessica

Top 10 Things I Ate in College That I’ll Never Eat Again

I don’t consider myself a gourmet chef or anything, but I can make some pretty delicious magic happen in the kitchen now and then. I will admit that in the four years I spent away at college, I made some pretty questionable food choices. Often. And not just when I was inebriated, although I will admit that three flaming Dr. Peppers and a few Malibu and pineapples (and possibly a shot of Aftershock from an ice block luge) will lead to some horrifying 2am take-out orders. So this list isn’t comprehensive by a long shot — but I can guaran-freakin-tee you that I won’t be eating any of these things any time soon. Meaning ever, ever again.

10. Bread in a Can

Okay, maybe this one isn’t that bad. I mean, it’s not like I was eating the plain variety, because that would just be gross — I only ate the raisin. With cream cheese. But it’s bread — in a can. The ingredients themselves aren’t that heinous, but the idea of canning bread just seems, kind of, wrong? Okay so maybe I’d eat this one again. After a bottle of Strawberry Hill (like anyone drank that after 12^th grade, pshaw).

9. Spray Butter

The label is misleading — show me one person who actually has a hard time believing this isn’t butter. But you’ve got to make choices in life. If you want to avoid gaining the dreaded “freshman 15,” you can either make healthy choices and eat real food, or go with hydrogenated spray oil masquerading as butter to save some calories. Or cut out the alcohol and eat actual butter. Either way. This is best when sprayed on some Light Wonder Bread with a slice of Kraft Singles Fat-Free American “cheese” and then nuked in the microwave for 10 seconds to make a lovely “light grilled cheese sandwich.”

8. Congealed Nachos

Fast food nachos are all fine and well, I’m not saying I’d never eat them again (because I totally would). I’d just never eat them 3 days after their inception, cold and congealed in a Styrofoam container dug out of the back of the fridge. Because money’s tight. Meaning you’re out of cash and the credit card machine at the pizza joint is down so you can’t use mom’s Visa. My nachos of choice were from Freebirds (no BBQ sauce!), so they definitely qualified as delicious before their demise. An empty jar of leftover pickle juice makes a great complimentary beverage here. (photo by Newbirth35)

7. Copiously Frosted Fast Food Desserts (Choose Your Poison)

Cinnabon® rolls, Dunkin’ Donuts fritters, Winchell’s donuts – choose your poison. Sometimes a tooth-achingly sweet, gooey confection is in order — when you’re downing 3 cups of coffee an hour to pull an all-nighter studying, you just need the sugar rush. And the trans-fat. My artery-clogger of choice was Woodstock’s Cinnabread™ – basically a cinnamon roll on pizza dough, slathered in frosting and served with an additional cup of frosting to dip into. This doesn’t fall into the “That’s so gross I can’t believe I ate that” category, more in the “How did I eat that regularly and not have a coronary?” category. Because this 18-year-old wasn’t too familiar with the term “moderation.” (photo by hullam)

6. Frozen Broccoli in Canned Cheese Soup

This was a favorite during my “vegetarian” period – a bag of frozen broccoli, nuked in the microwave, topped with a can of Campbell’s Cheddar Cheese Soup. And yes, the ingredients in this one are terrifying. Commonly consumed with a can of Diet Cherry Dr. Pepper.

The Top 5: Ice cream, tacos, and a truly sinful serving of Mac and Cheese

in Cheese / Desserts / Drinks / Featured / Lists / Personal / Top 10 Lists 16 comments

by gansie

What Not to Buy Your Child for Christmas

Just Like Home McDonald’s Drive-Thru with Play Food [Toys R Us]
(And please check out the video from the link above)

(Photo: Toys R Us)

in Holiday 4 comments

by Miss K

Eat This, McDonald’s

My husband and I have been reading Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser, which, for those of you have not heard about it, breaks down the evils of fast food generally, and McDonald’s specifically, point by saturated point . Each chapter is more disturbing than the last, from factory farms to exploited workers’ rights on down the digestive tract to e. coli tainted meat. Ugh.

But among all this, what really knitted my eyebrows was the role of the self-titled “flavorists” in the McManufacturing process. These chemists are responsible for nothing less than making that flash-frozen, shipped, thawed, deep-fried potato stick taste (well, smell, actually) like a McDonald’s French fry. These highly educated men and women have managed to create something so deceptive that the author, upon smelling a slip of paper laced with these chemicals, had to open his eyes to make sure there was no one in the room actually grilling a burger. Yet the only shout-out these alchemists receive (at least publicly) is a mention of natural (that’s right, natural) or artificial flavors at the end of a very long list of Mcgredients.

And therefore, as I explained to an understandingly confused friend, it was a compliment for my husband to say that my apple tarts tasted “as good as McDonald’s apple pies.” And no pHd in taste-manipulation required. Here’s the recipe so that you too can feel like a “flavorist.”

Apple Chutney Tarts