NIP - IT IN THE CHEDDAR BUD - CHEEZ-IT vs. CHEESE NIPS Taste Test.

I suppose I am going to be heavy on the Cracker Snacking for the next week or two as it goes against ALL Logic to have So Many Crackers open but I will look at it like I had a big party here with 30 guests and these are the leftovers.

I was texting with my friend Renee and she brought up Chocolate Pop-Tarts but she also mentioned something else, here is how the conversation went Verbatim.

Renee - I have had so many pop tarts today, it's kind of sickening

Me - Did you toast them or right out of the box ?

Renee - I need to add chocolate pop tarts to the list of foods I should never buy like cheez-its. I love cheez-its

Me - I love Cheez-its too, Cheese Nips too, one is supposedly better in taste tests

Well, I know me and once that light bulb goes off God Help Us All.

So, I got me some Cheez-Its and Cheese Nips, we need a photo here, I will figure something out.

(Top to Bottom - Cheez-Its, Cheese Nips, Better Cheddars, Cheez-Its Tabasco)

Cheez-It - The Taste I Love, Especially the aftertaste but these seem very Unsalty.

Cheese Nip - These seem a bit Saltier and with more of an after gift.

secondary runners.

Better Cheddars - Much more Airy or Cracker like and less dense than Its or Bits, more of a Cracker aftertaste.

Cheez-It (Hot & Spicy with Tabasco Sauce) - Lots of Salt and Spicy, a bit of an "ouch" aftertaste, I knew I would Love these.

This is a Very Close Call, Cheese Nips appear to be the winner but only by such a small amount. It is So Close, I think I am going to go with Cheese Nips, still almost unperceivable.

Final Call, Almost a Tie, I really can say give me either a Cheez-It or a Cheese Nip and I will be happy.

11/17/14 - Cheez-It - White Cheddar - Milder Flavor and aftertaste.
Do I Love them ? of course.

CHEEZ-IT ONLINE

GYRO IT BABY 9/14/14

Amongst the mortal species called humankind there are many concerns in Life. 

Health, Happiness, Love, Security, Peace of mind and of course a really good Gyro. 

The other week I awoke with Gyro on my mind, I bet I even dreamed of it but it was the other week and Dreams like Gossamer wither away like clouds, preferably clouds made of Gyros.

I pondered for awhile on where my nearest Gyro spot was and to no avail, possibly on fifth avenue and 86th street but the bus fare alone would almost surpass the price of the Gyro intended. After work one evening I was dumbstruck, my local corner store of which I have frequented for years does simple sandwiches includinding a Chicken one and a BANG !!! The Gyro, Idiot I am !!!, so I got my first Gyro from my local place ($5.00), there was even a Big sign in the window that said "GYROS"

This as pictured above is the Gyro Meat of the frozen kind but I was quite pleased, typically its Meat, Lettuce, Tomato and Cucumber Dressing (or so I believe) but my man also added sliced Onions and as opposed to the street fare there was 2 or maybe 3 of the Lamb slices instead of just one.

9/20/14 - Fort Hamilton Diner - ($5.50) Not as good as my corner store, actually not even close but still passable and once again maybe 2 or 3 Lamb slices. This being a Greek Diner as most are they should be ashamed of themselves, however the Tzatziki sauce was served in a solo cup on the side, this was a good sign and they "gave" Coleslaw.

9/18/14 - Anonymous Food Cart - This is not quite a Gyro but it is the same base Ingredients. This is Lamb Over Rice ($7.00) That I purchased after having my face melted off post King Crimson at the Best Buy Theater in Times Square and it was done just right, I asked for Extra Sauce and Extra Hot Sauce, I guess thats what I got, The cart guy was friendly and so was I. The Rice is underneath folks, hence "Over Rice".

TACO PIZZA - 9/9/14

This was one of those my roommate had some leftover Pizza in the fridge and offered me to have a slice if you care too and I have always been a fan of Taco Pizza. Its Pizza but its Also a Taco. Actually its usually a Slice of Pizza with Ground Beef (preferably with Taco Seasoning) with Lettuce and Tomato. This appeared to be missing the Taco seasoning but was oddly Baked with American Cheese and No Mozzarella.

Against ALL Pizza Logic I quite enjoyed the American Cheese but alas the Pie went bad in the fridge, Hey how long can this really last anyways ? but I did have a few Slices before its timely death.

No those are not bite marks, it was my first slice.

BK AT 3 - 9/8/14

I took a late night excursion on covert operations to my local Burger King and Oh do I prefer Burger King so much more over that McDonald's place for so many reasons, OK let me count the ways.

1.) - BK is Flame Broiled and not Pan Fried

2.) - BK has Larger Burgers, McDonald's might as well be White Castle, no offense to White Castle which I also Love but their whole schtick is small Burgers

3.) - You need two hands to eat a Whopper, A Big Mac can be eaten with tweezers (Thanks Rodney)

4.) - Burger King has a better name, Who The Hell is McDonald ?

5.) - Burger King is the underdog

6.) - McDonald's Sucks

7.) - BK is Flame Broiled and not Pan Fried

8.) - The Whopper Kicks the Big Mac's Ass

9.) - You actually get satisfaction from a Whopper as opposed to that empty feeling after a Big Mac, this empty feeling is called "I Am Still Hungry"

10.) - There is a BK on the Dark Side Of The Moon.

This is called eating Al Fresco in Brooklyn, New York. 

On some anonymous persons stoop.

It being the wee hours when I stopped by and the doors being locked the police officers within waved me over to the left to the takeout window, Hey it worked and I got what I needed, namely BK satisfaction.

OH what a Glorious sight.

BURGER KING ONLINE

LENNYS PIZZERIA 8/28/14 Brooklyn, New York

Lenny's Pizzeria is a mainstay along the 86th street strip running between 18th avenue and Well past Bay Parkway and have been around since 1953 yet their name never comes up amongst enthusiasts of Brooklyn's remaining Great Pizza places and perhaps for a reason. I did in fact Very Much enjoy my Plain Slice from Lenny's but it was No Biggie, I did appreciate the Cheese which was a bit gummier than other joints and in a good way, However, Nothing special.

Almost a typical Slice as it goes these days, I have yet to try other goodies from Lenny's but the Simple Slice is the way to go when checking out the pedigree of a Pizza Place. Someone dropped the ball, Very Good but Not Excellent.

Lenny's reputation was transmogrified by the fact that in the opening scene of that John Travolta film "Saturday Night Fever" he was in the place and made his own Pizza Pie by Squishing two slices togeher Sauce side down and created the Stuffed Pizza in one fell swoop, amongst friends we all disagree but this is how Pop Culture saw it first.

LENNYS PIZZA ONLINE

"FREEZE YOU CHILI CHOKING PEPPER BELLIES" - TACO IN A BAG

As my tenure of seasonal employment at MCU Park drew to a close this Summer of 2014 I kept in mind the Edible riches that I was afforded as an employee and my employers were quite generous in their offerings, Eat what you shall (within reason of course) before or after the customers arrival and departure to the venue, after all who needs or wants to be paying a cashier who has a Hot Dog hanging out of their mouth.

I lied awake numerous nights pondering this and then one morning in my sleeping wake I had a "Eureka" moment and the light bulb 5 inches above my head went off.

OF COURSE !!!

CUCHIFRITOS.

Well, Turns out CuchiFritos is something else entirely (Spanish Pork Dishes of varying nature) but I knew what I was thinking name unseen, I wanted to make a Pepper Belly, after all we had Gehl's Cheese Sauce and Chili on tap which the leftovers could not be re-used and they went the way of the wastebasket at the end of the night. I did some research prior to my workday only to find that the "Taco In A Bag" was also known as a "Pepper Belly" and to add to that my oft used line from one of my Favorite films "Cheech and Chong's Up In Smoke" was where this line was derived from, the title of this entry "Freeze You Chili Choking Pepper Belly" is a Direct reference.

First you need a Bag of Frito Lays Corn chips, This is what all Recipes call for, Dipsy Doodles or some such Do Not come into play here so I searched 4 stores at which on the third one I did find Frito Lays Corn Chips, I saw Dipsy Doodles at store one and passed them by. 

The main idea is Chili and Cheese atop the Corn Chips IN THE BAG eaten with a fork. Many toppings are used in variation but the main idea is Chili and Cheese atop the Corn chips IN THE BAG. 

This as you can see I did accomplish. She may not be pretty but she was Delicious

PEPPER BELLIES ON WIKIPEDIA

INTERESTING SOFT DRINKS

The Soft Drink. People Worldwide indulge in them but sometimes there are unique Flavors and when there are I am always intrigued. I did perform these Taste tests with some forethought, out of the bottle Ice cold and a small serving in a cup at a less than icy temperature as the Flavor comes out a bit more much like a Cheese served at closer to room temperature.

Sidral Mundet Apple Soda tastes pretty much exactly like I thought it would,... like Apple Soda. A little on the sweeter side and not too much Fizz to distract from the Flavor like in a Ginger Ale as I perhaps expected. Better from the Bottle, quickly loses its carbonation in the cup.

12/14/15 - So far as I know a "Shirley Temple" os a non-alcoholic drink served in bars to minors and tea totallers so when I saw this bottled by the Boylan company of New York it did indeed pique my interest, this has also been sitting in my fridge for some time so time to give it a shot. I have no idea what to expect.

Almost a biting Ginger Ale flavor which I did not expect, this looks in color as a syrupy Sweet Drink. Quite unlike anything I've had, almost medicine but not in a bad way.

Very Different.

I was quite excited fro see this, Canada Dry makes my favorite Ginger Ale and this appears to be a Peach Soda, no mention of Ginger Ale on the bottle. 

Nice Scent and interesting Flavor but there is something here, hmmm ???

I think its the Peach Skin flavor, Different.

The Lipton's Green Citrus Tea is just plain Delicious and I would have told you the same years ago when I first had it and I will tell you again. Mild Green Tea Flavor with a Citrus overtone, I was also impressed that I could see little flakes of Tea floating around in the mix, either that or I was hallucinating. A True Winner.

10/3/14 - Not ten minutes before did I mention I was looking for Lipton Citrus Green Tea and there I was with Nestea Green Tea right in front of me, lets have a Taste.

Oh Boy, Not the same stuff at all like Lipton's. Overbearing Citrus and plastic Flavor, no way am I going to like this as much as Lipton's. OK now that I know what to expect let me try again. Nope, I tell you theres a plastic taste, the sad part is thats probably the Green Tea.

Its about an hour later and I had a few more sips of it, This is so not so good that I am wondering if it has gone bad ? I'm going to the fridge to check the date. The bottle did not appear tampered with as there was air pressure, well you know what I mean, going to check the date. I can't read it, the month is completely smudged off, it does say 2014 though, ugh.

21 HOURS LATER

OK, I found another bottle of Nestea Citricos Iced Green Tea, Lets see what happens,..... While this is still no match for Lipton's version this is quite good and whatever I purchased last night was indeed spoiled.

11/11/14 - Just a Really Good Lemonade, Heavier on the Raspberry side.

11/19/15 - Salvavidas Lime Soda sets out to achieve what it purports to be.

It's a Lime Soda.

And served in a particularly heavy glass bottle.

It is interesting to note that there a quite a few Mexican Lime Soda's but no American one that I know of. Sprite doesn't count, thats Lemon/Lime.

11/19/15 - Mountain Dew with a classy old timey look.

More of a 7-Up flavor and not nearly as Sweet as Mountain Dew, I can almost guarantee this is off the market already. Not Bad, Not Great.

11/26/15 - 

11/27/15 - 

11/22/15 - Crush Orange Soda made with Sugar. 

less Super Sweet than Sunkist and a welcome that is.

12/14/15 - My roommate is from Michigan and he spied this bottle in my fridge and was rather surprised but he did confirm my suspicion that it is a Grapefruit Citrus based Soft Drink and I have indeed been on a Grapefruit kick. Made with Sugar.

The lightness of a 7-Up or Sprite but with a bit of a Grapefruit zing, very tasty.

12/17/15 - Just a quality Strawberry Soda, not the most common Flavor yet not extremely common either. All Jarrito's Soda's are quite good in my opinion. Made with Sugar.

SOFT DRINKS ON WIKIPEDIA