BLOGHUNGRY

Bloghungy On: Rich People Food

Since I've been in Los Angeles, I've been to some pretty fancy-pants restaurants. Overall the food has been very good, but the menus are also filled with dishes straight out of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. It seems that being a cultured foodie is a survival challenge filled with fish heads, organ meats, and bone marrow. To order sweet breads is to eat the thymus gland or pancreas of a young animal. The popular "pate de foie gras" is a gelatinous loaf made from the fattened livers of force fed geese. Whatever happened to a nice cut of beef and a buttery pastry. Rich people are so desperate for cuisine to separate themselves from lower classes that they have decided to eat the inedible. My guess is that this organ-eating drive is the same force that motivates the them to vote republican.

Cherry Chocolate Diet Dr. Pepper

This is really gross.

Bad Ice Cubes

My refridgerator as an adult makes the same ice cubes as my childhood refridgerator. The cubes are long, flat on one side, and rounded on the other. Their unfortunate shape creates the perfect dam on the side of your glass to block your drink until you tilt it to the point it spills all over you. I hate these ice cubes.

Home Town Buffet

A few weeks ago Popmuse and I were running some errands and trolling for a hot breakfast in the valley. We finally landed at the Home Town Buffet. You should know that in my youth I was no stranger to my neighborhood buffets. My dad used to call them "food troughs". "Let's go to the food trough tonight", he'd say with his gruff excitement. We went to the local trough at least once a month or more if there was a baseball, football, or soccer banquet. However, even with my history with sneeze-guarded food, I was not prepared for the Home Town Buffet.

Atmosphere: You enter the doors into a crowd-control railway not unlike a theme park. The room opens up to booth seating and rows of bars lined with bulky dark green drapes caked with dust and topped with plastic plants. Around you, top 40's music from the 90's to today plays like a set list for American Idol. However, all of this fades into your peripheral vision as you come up on the oversized vats of food on the bars. The general vibe is that of a crack den for emotionally void suburbanites looking for a fix.

Clientele: church goers, large families with tons of kids, overeaters who have long stopped tasting their food

Food: The food is processed and in bulk. It lacks the flavors and freshness you would get with fresh meats and real produce, but for $7 all-you-can-eat dehydrated frozen food it was pretty decent. It should also be noted that there was a taco bar and nacho bar with enchiladas, mashed potatoes and brown gravy, and a full dessert/ice cream bar at 8:00am.

Bloghungry's Top 10 Candy Choices

As you can tell I'm a big list maker and the trip to Chicago was a long one. Here is my list for my favorite candy choices. Also, it should be noted that Milky Way midnight would have been higher as would other caramel-filled candies if they hadn't changed their caramel to "Better Tasting" caramel that is more sweet syrup than buttery creaminess. I'm onto you Milky Way/Mars Co.!

1. Harbo Gummi Twin Cherries
2. White Chocolate Covered Lemon or Lime Peel
3. Chocolate Covered Orange Peel
4. Reese's Peanut butter Eggs
5. Fast Break
6. 3 Musketeers
7. Red Vines
7. Twizzlers
8. Milky Way Midnight
9. Heath Bar
10. Buttercream-filled Chocolates

Bloghungry's Top 10 Dessert Foods

Here's my second desperate airplane activity list. This was a difficult list for me because I love so many pastries and dessert flavors. I am a huge fan of fruit flavors, cinnamon, and caramel. I almost went to pastry school a couple years ago to explore my love further. However, after some soul searching I settled on more classic homegrown standbys for my list. A pear custard tart with salted caramel glaze and sherry cream reduction just isn't satisfying my inner child as much as chewy cookie. There are two #9's because I really can't choose between my favorite childhood cookies.

1. Southern Caramel Cake
2. Hot Fudge Sundae with Salted Peanuts
3. Fudgy Browne with Ice Cream and Hot Fudge
4. Key Lime Pie
5. Apple Pie a la mode
6. Ice cream Sandwich with chewy cookies
7. Southern Banana Pudding
8. Apple Turnover Coated with Chunky Sugar
9. Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Walnut Cookies
9. Chewy Buttery Sugar Cookies
10. Fudge with Pecans or Walnuts

Bloghungry's Top 10 Comfort Foods

I've been really overworked the past couple weeks, but now I am on vacation in Chicago for a few days and thought I'd share a few lists I made while trying to contain my contempt for the woman sitting next to me on the airplane. This is the list for my top 10 favorite comfort foods. If you feel like inviting me for a home-cooked dinner all of these would be a safe bet. I am a big fan of a carb with a juicy/sauce factor involved. There was a tie for #'s 4, 5, and 6 so I guess the list is really my top 13 comfort foods.

1. BBQ Sandwich on Thick Garlic Toast with Fried Okra
2. Chicken and Dumplings
3. Meatloaf Sandwich with Mashed Potatoes and Gravy
4. French Dip Sandwich with Melted Gruyere
4. Chicken Pot Pie
5. Chicken Noodle Soup
5. Batter-dipped Fried Chicken with Mashed Potatoes and Gravy
6. Chicken Tikka with Aloo Gobi and Jasmine Rice
6. Grilled (stinky or sharp) Cheese with Creamy Tomato Soup
7. Swedish Meatballs with Egg Noodles
8. French Onion Soup covered with Gruyere
9. Lasagna with Rich Tomato Sauce, Sausage, and Bechamel
10 Prime Rib with Jus and Gorgonzola Mashed Potatoes