GastroSquad: The 40 Person Tactical Eating Team

So I was driving home from my networking meeting this morning and my thoughts were a mishmash of both Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 and lunch. I usually start thinking about lunch around 9 AM. What to eat, where, if anywhere to go. I had also just come off an evening of watching the Travel Channel's Man Vs. Food which featured an incredible double-dipped roast beef sandwich from Brennan and Carr in Brooklyn, NY. To die for, or so it would seem, as I have never actually eaten one personally. But I digress.

My kids had been watching Man Vs. Food and they saw an episode featuring an eating challenge that involved consuming a 190 lb. hamburger. Apparently, the host Adam Richman could get together a team of 40 people to consume this gargantuan burger (which apparently required 16 hours just to cook the meat. Unbelievable.) Adam got together a collection of people to help him with the challenge including some roller girls, a pro wrestler and, for some odd reason, the band KISS. They all failed to eat the burger.

Which got me to thinking. In order to really conquer a challenge like that, you need to assemble the right people. A team, if you will. So I decided to illustrate this said team, and call them GastroSquad: The 40 Person Tactical Eating Team. I am looking for input from the internets on who would be on this team and what their specific class and skillsets would be. I would be happy to draw the best ideas and make them part of this team. So feel free to comment here or on Twitter and Facebook and help me assemble the GastroSquad!

Dig This Crazy Bacon List

I would so buy the briefcase. And some of the other things on this list. Thanks much to Daryl for the link.

Ode to Bacon

I've been going through a bit of a bacon renaissance the past few weeks. I've been frying up some bacon and making some delicious turkey clubs. I've been sharing bacon with my in-laws at Sunday brunches. I just can't get enough bacon. Bacon is one of those quintessentially politically incorrect foods. The kind of food that- according to health experts - everyone should avoid. Yet the growing consensus is that bacon cannot be resisted. It seems to be more accepted than shunned these days. Take the Bacon Alarm Clock. What better way to wake up than to the smell of frying bacon? I went online while researching this blog post to find some poetic verses about bacon, but was sorely disappointed when only finding the poetry of this hack.

So I will share with you my own Ode to Bacon:

Ahem.

Bacon,
Crispy and brown.
Fried to perfection.
You exist to harden my arteries.
Yet, you make my mouth water at the thought.
We are in different worlds bacon, you and I.
But we're both
dipped
in
fat.
Eggs!

Discuss.

Applebees: Ad Vs. Reality

Scott Johnson sends this one in:

"I went to dinner at the Applebee's in Woodland, CA a couple nights ago and ordered their bruschetta burger. As soon as I saw my order, I immediately took a picture and thought Consumerist needed to see it because it fits so well in the ad v. reality posts. The burger itself was a bit sloppy, but still looked similar to the menu picture. The fries, however, were a different story. In the menu photo, "garlic parmesan fries" are served in a ramekin and look quite tasty. Instead, I was served a cylinder of slimy, greasy fries with a couple pieces of parmesan cheese on top."

Nora and I are convinced that everything at Applebee's is microwaved. See the whole story here.