My Views on Soup and Cereal: a Manifesto
I link the two in my mind: soup and cereal. Because they can both be tasty, but are usually a complete waste of time.
Oh, I don’t mind a good bowl of soup as the first of many things to be eaten during a meal. But when it’s supposed to BE the meal? Well… that’s just outrageous. A bowl of hot broth with a quarter cup of “goodies” at the bottom is not a meal. I don’t care how much you pretend it’s so.
And don’t get me started on the “hearty” soups, either. That’s often the justification: well, it’s very hearty. Ha! That just means my stomach will collapse in thirty minutes, instead of twenty. Like a goddamn volleyball with a hole in it.
That goes for chili, too. Chili is just soup taken to the next level. I’d have to have one of these things full of the stuff, to adequately fill the void. And that wouldn’t be good for anyone.
Man, I’m starting to get angry here, just thinking about soup… Talk about arrogant. Wow!
Cereal as breakfast is also a complete scam. Again, it’s OK if it’s incorporated into a long parade of other foods, but by itself? Don’t make me laugh. May as well skip breakfast altogether, like I do.
Toney: Aren’t you hungry?
Me: Yeah.
Toney: Why don’t you have a bowl of cereal?
Me: It’s OK, I took a deep breath a few minutes ago. That’ll hold me longer.
The only time I eat cereal is at 2:30 am, when I get home from work. Usually I’m not really hungry, but feel the need to shovel something into my mouth. And cereal is something, right?
But even though I rarely eat it, I still have strong opinions on the subject. Go figure.
When it comes to cereal, I have to keep it simple. I like Corn Flakes and Rice Krispies, and that kind of thing. I eat the same stuff they were eating in 1926. And I don’t add sugar or anything, it’s just milk and whatever’s in the box.
The only really sweet cereal I like is Cap’n Crunch. (That’s right, Cap’n.) It’s all sugared-up, which usually disgusts me, but for some reason the standard-issue Cap’n Crunch appeals to me. It’s uncomplicated and straightforward, and tastes like nothing else.
Anything that changes the color of the milk is automatically disqualified. Because that grosses me all the way out. And on a related note… When people snorkle-down all the cereal, then drink the leftover milk across the lip of the bowl like it’s a giant glass — that causes my whole body to go rigid.
Even as a kid I only ate Corn Flakes and Rice Krispies and occasionally Cheerios. I remember having Quisp and Quake too, but those were also simple affairs. Everybody else was eating Count Chocula and Frankenberry and Apple Jacks, but not me. That stuff was blecch.
I know this might come as a shock to some of you, but I don’t think I’ve ever had a single bowl of Lucky Charms. Those little marshmallows bother me… I always viewed it as Alpha-Bits with a dusting of multi-colored pencil erasers. Plus, that little heel-clicking Irishman always rubbed me the wrong way, which didn’t help matters…
So, tell me where I’m wrong. Or, to be more precise, tell me where you think I’m wrong (even though I’m completely right). Use the comments link below.
Also, since we’re talking about cereal — which is often considered kid food — tell us what kind of lunchbox you had in grade school.
I had Hot Wheels, which never fully satisfied me. I was always jealous of kids who had cooler lunchboxes, like Land of the Giants and Planet of the Apes. What about you? Tell us about it, won’t you?
And I’ll be back on Wednesday (my Friday!).
See ya then.
Filed under: Daily
Cheerios!! With gobs of sugar and whole milk. Yep.
Put it down the old “Cheerio Hole” every morn!!
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Word!
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LOVE chili as a meal. And soup, and cereal. If I’m wrong in this, then I don’t wanna be right.
Quisp and Quake need to be brought back. Any cereal that can scar your palate is all right.
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Re: luncbox – BOBBY SHERMAN, baby, with the matching thermos and all! Beat the snot out of the brown paper bags my kids tote their lunches in…no excetiement at all in that, is there?
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Hello.
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Lunchbox – Peanuts with a mis matched thermos b/c I kept breaking them.
Back when you could still bring a PBJ into the lunchroom.
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I haven’t eaten cereal since I lived in the Arctic (everything else there was too disgusting). I ate it dry because milk which cost $14 a jug came out in own big clump. When I was a kid my Mom used to buy that big huge humungous bag of puffed wheat. I used to get so excited when we almost reached the end of the bag only to see a replacement bag to quickly follow. I don’t shop for cereal but don’t recall that it’s sold like that anymore – that stuff is only good as packing material.
Wed used to brown bag it. When we got kolbasa sandwiches for lunch, you good smell garlic coming out of my locker. On the upside, never had to worry about vampires.
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Lunchbox – Rambo
I agree with you 100% on your views of soup and cereal. I just skip breakfast all together. If we are having soup, we better be having sandwiches. A bowl of hot flavored water will not fill me up.
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Lunch Box- A plaid colored gay looking thing, fuck
Chilli is a meal, if it ain’t you need to work on your chilli
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I am pretty sure I had a Hot Wheels lunch box as well.
I was always jealous of the kid in my class who had a Charles Manson lunch box.
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I got a different lunchbox every year as a kid… He-Man, Transformers, GI Joe… this was in the 80′s, so we’re not talking the military-grade lunch boxes that kids had in the 50s and 60s. Mine were probably made of plastic.
I’m trying to remember when I switched over to using the brown paper bag for lunch… maybe 8th grade or so.
Now that I’m old and have a job and stuff, I eat out with coworkers most of the time… on days when I do bring my lunch, I usually just toss the Tupperware container in my laptop bag.
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If there were every ANY doubt that Jeff Kay is a pussy….this manifesto leaves NONE. Chili is a FANTASTIC food–by itself complete or with added onions, cheese, and crackers. It’s just a stew of deliciousness that IS hearty and IS filling. By the way Jeff, that’s not a “thing”, it’s a freaking concrete mixer. Clearly you didn’t know–and showed your skirt by doing a poor job of trying to veil your ignorance.
You ain’t a man if you ain’t slurped the sugar sludge milk over the brim of the bowl. Just sayin’.
As a boy I was so rough on luchboxes, I would get a new one every year because I would always wear them out. I recall having a Peanuts lunchbox shaped like a mailbox. I find out now it’s a freaking collectors item worth a mint. It came with a thermos that had one of those breakable glass interiors. Yeah–I blew that shit up on day one.
Others I had, and my mother still has in various degrees of conditoin, Emergency 51, Adam 12, The Incredible Hulk, Spiderman, Superman, and a weird one called “The Wild West” –that had a game on the back with a built in metal spinner–you used pennies for game pieces. The spinner eventually broke and the kid who broke it had premature loss of his 12-year old molars due to that unfortunate incident.
I also ate peanut butter and jelly smeared on white bread. I never knew a kid with a peanut allergy, but if I did, I’m sure we would have done all we could to open the sandwich and terrorize him with it…it’s just how I rolled in second grade.
Buck Out
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Peanuts!
This one to be exact:
http://bit.ly/1EAWhA
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Ok this is pretty gross but I LOVED to have Cheerios with chopped up bananas and cheese in it! I also had a Garfield lunch box that I freaking loved! I was always so damned embarrassed when my Mom would pack “ethnic” food in my lunch, just wanted PBandJ like the other kids. Now I crave that food but live 6 hours from my folks…
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“(Cereal is) OK if it’s incorporated into a long parade of other foods…” And you wonder why you are, um, hefty……
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My mother was a Nazi when it came to cereal. We weren’t allowed to eat any type of sugar cereal, only the “healthy” ones like Raisin Bran and Grape Nuts. Once a year, on our birthdays, we were permitted to purchase one box of the cereal of our choice. I almost always chose Honeycomb.
I had a Happy Days lunch box with a smiling, thumbs-up waving Fonzie on the front. Wish I still had it.
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Not only did my fambly’s poorness put a damper on my perceived social status in the 3rd grade, but said poorness led to complete rediculousness that further complicated things. While all the other kids had Godzilla and Dukes of Hazard, I had a “Waltons” lunch box, complete with all characters, some without shoes and lots of overalls.
See here: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270408740411&indexURL=0&photoDisplayType=2#ebayphotohosting
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Always paid and ate the school lunches. Never had a need for a lunch box. Where else could you plop down 40 cents and eat 37 new potatos?
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I was a Cocoa Puffs/Cap’n Crunch fan until my little brother was diagnosed with Hyperactivity. Not only did my mom put the cabosh on sugared cereals, but we lost our Wonder bread, too. Nothing but whole wheat. Never forgave the little bastard. HE got to take ritalin, as well. Me? I just suffered.
Lee Harvey Ramone, if I had known someone that had a Charles Manson lunchbox, I would have beat them up and taken it.
I had Banana Splits.
Happy Tuesday, Surfers!
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Not a big cereal or breakfast fan – rarely eat either. The only cereals I will touch are Cheerios, Corn Flakes, or Frosted Flakes. The only thing I ever put on/in cereal was strawberries – no sugar on top, that’s nasty.
I had a fabulous purple Jem lunch box that was later turned into a first aid kit for a Girl Scouts project – sat in the trunk of my mom’s car for years. I miss Jem…
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I don’t eat cereal. Never have. I was thinking the other day that cereal made out of tiny fortune cookies would be cool, I’d probably try it.
I had a Dukes of Hazard lunch box.
Chili is a meal, I don’t give a shit what anyone says. I make a giant vat for every Super Bowl. No beans!
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Same here WVUL with the one box of sugar cereal on your birthday. My birthday cereal was ALWAYS Lucky Charms. I would try and eat the non-marshmallow bits first so I would end up with a bowl of marshmallows and milk. (Yes, I am a bit of a sugar fiend.)
One question I always had (and still do) however: When Lucky Charms marshmallos are fresh, hey are hard and when they get stale, they get soft. With regular “campfire” marshmallows, it’s the opposite.
But I digress…
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Lunchbox: this is embarrassing as hell. Mine was a lime green Peter Pan plastic thing from Disney, only slightly less gay than my sister’s hot pink Barbie one. I was sooooooo happy when the thermos broke and then the box began to tear – I was a brown bagger after that, and better for it. All the other kids had Batman, the Monkees, etc. Way cooler stuff.
Years later, in grad school, I was insanely jealous of another guy’s metal KISS lunchbox. Best I counter with was Felix the Cat, which I found, sans thermos, at a novelty store for $14.
Cereal: My kids do Apple Jacks, Lucky Charms, and Cinnamon Toast Life. I loved all three in my youth, but I don’t do cereal anymore, for no reason I can think of offhand.
Now, slurping the (deeply colored) milk down after a huge bowl of sickly sweet breakfast offerings, that is living large. If I could go straight to the sweet slurpy milk part, I would do it every day.
Prior to the Peter Pan lunchbox, I was also a brown bagger as I recall. Once my mother, who was an immigrant unclear on the concept of Wonderbread PBJ’s and the like, put these nasty looking overcooked brown sausages between two pieces of toast and called it “lunch”. It all fell apart in the brown bag and the sausages looked exactly like cat turds. I was so embarrassed I ate in the boys room in a locked stall. To this day she denies ever preparing it. Scarred for life, I tell ya.
Soup is okay as a snack and especially if you are coming in from the cold. Hearty is good but plain old Campbell’s tomato with a few slices of dry toast is also acceptable. I agree with Jeff that soup is like Chinese food (or women) – 20 minutes later you’re ready for more…
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Move along folks, nothing to see here, just marking my spot.
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I am so glad you posted an surf report today! really needed it! The Man is seriously limiting my internet access and the minute I can’t view this site from work, I may walk, dammit.
but, re: soup and cereal –
Soup must be accompanied by at least half a sandwich. There are times when nothing will do but a bowl of cereal. I’m a big fan of the frosted mini-wheats. I also like the non-frosted kind with orange juice instead of milk.
I heard about a french toast recipe calling for ground up Cap’n Crunch to coat the egg-dipped bread slices. Anybody tried that? heard of it?
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In the 70s I used my brother’s Hot Wheel lunchbox (I was a tomboy, so this was cool) and a red Snoopy thermos. Dunno what happened to the Hot Wheels thermos; my brother must have broke it. Wish I had the Snoopy thermos still.
Sweetened cereal was verboten at my house, so as soon as I moved out I overindulged (like Squidward when he gave in to the pleasures of a crabby patty….and like Squidward, it went straight to my thighs). Found that I like Cap’n Crunch and Honeycomb the best. But I eventually returned to plain Cheerios, sometimes with blueberries but never with sugar, which I have just about every morning.
Love soup. I find that you’re either for it or against it. My husband is unfortunately against it, so we don’t have it as much as I would like. However he does like my “baked potato soup” as long as it’s chunky and thoroughly smothered in cheese, bacon and chives.
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I was surprised when Jeff said he found relish to be nasty, but I let it slide.
However, I will not stand for anybody hating chili and cereal!
Holey Moley!
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I remember having a “Happy Days” LB too.
My mom was a cereal Nazi too, but a little different. She had no problem with the sugar content, but the prices of all the cool cereals. So instead, we got the bottom shelf “bag” cereals. So we got Fortified Puffed Rice (Rice Krispies), Honey Wheels (Honeycomb), and Puffed Wheat featuring a non-nutritional cereal varnish (sugar smacks). I’m not altogether sure, but I think this stuff cost around $1.25 per hectare and lasted about 1 school year.
The memory of those hideous tastes put me off most of the fancy cereal. I like cheerios and fruity pebbles (or as my nephew calls them, Fruby Petals).
Chili is a meal, when cut in thin strips (not the sissy ground up stuff – lave that for sausage making) and made fresh from something that was eating corn, breathing and walking on all fours earlier that day. Add lots of onion and tomatos and whatever hot peppers you like, serve with cornbread and that is a freaking meal, mister. Oh and BEANS are a separate dish, they have different spices and DON’T go in the chili.
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I love soup but agree it’s only an appetizer, or at most a snack, never a meal unto itself. As a kid mom would never buy sugar cereal. My choices were: Rice Krispies, Corn Flakes, Shredded Wheat, Puffed Rice, Shreddies, or hot cereal. Hot cereal was actually her preferred option and my choices there were Quaker Oatmeal, Cream of Wheat, and Red River Cereal. Because my dad was not “in the picture”, I spent a lot of time with my grandmother (when mom worked). Grandma lived under the delusion that you were anorexic if you were slightly thinner than Nell Carter so breakfast consisted of: cold cereal, eggs, toast, glass of milk, a grapefruit or orange, glass of orange juice, hot cereal, and occasionally pie.
I grew up in the days when most kids went home for lunch, and I lived right across the road from my school, so I never got to use a lunch box that often. I did have this G.I. Joe model: http://www.tibranch.com/beachhead/graphics/webpg2_gijoelunchbox.jpg that my mom picked up at a yard sale, but I probably used it less than 10 times.
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Oh, breakfast w/grandma also had bacon and sausage. Not one or the other, you had to have both.
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I never did the lunchbox thing, always had the “hot lunch”. We do own several lunchboxes now however that are collectors items. We have Planet of the Apes in mint condition, with the thermos,The Monkees- no thermos, Lost in Space-w/ thermos, Star Trek – 1968, Kiss- 1977, Rat Patrol and The Munsters.
About 15 Years ago, we were at a rummage sale and they were selling all their kids old toys and stuff because apparentlky the now-grown kids didn’t wnat any of it. We bought all kinds of stuff including the Planet of the Apes(got a garbage can too) and Munsters lunchboxes. We knew they were worth somthing, but had no idea how much. After that we started looking for them cheap and have quite the little collection now. Eventually we will sell them and take a vacation or somthing.
I always have soup or chili for meals. They make a nice, light dinner without tons of calories or fat.
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Lunch Box: Peanuts – it was yellow and it was shaped like Snoopy’s house. When you opened it, the thermos was in the lid, leaving lots of space for all manner of goodies.
Cereal: I am, at the age of 42 finally starting to like the stuff. Only time I ate it as a kid was while camping. Mom would give us our choice from the multi-pack, and we would work hard to break it open into a little bowl. There were “perforations” marked on the box, but they must have been ink because it would NEVER tear correctly. Mom always used a butter knife to surgically open hers! I only ate the Corn Pops, which left me hungry on day 2, because there was only one in the pack!
I currently enjoy: Honey Bunches of Oats with Almonds. But I agree with Jeff – doesn’t fill you.
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A friend of mine’s Mom used to make him sardine sandwiches for school – that’s just cruel – can you imagine opening your locker to a warm sardine sandwich for lunch? He told me he tried to get rid of them in anyway possible and once stuffed one into a barrel of monkeys. He stuck it in his closet and found it years later when they were moving. Either those contrainers must have been pretty airtight or there were some other foul things in his room to cover the smell.
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I had a Hogans Heros lunch box that I wished I still had. I got a new one every year and the thermos’s never saw the second day of school.
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Breakfast at our house consisted of the three hot staples, oatmeal, cream of wheat (farina) and mush. Fast breakfast, (you woke up late and had to run to school) was a glass of Tang or Carnation Instant Breakfast and a slice of toast. Eggs, bacon, sausage, grits and fried potatoes and toast were the weekend breakfast items with an occasional twist of french toast or pancakes. No lunch boxes here, my parents did not fall for that crap. Lunch was a brown bag and you better hope it wasn’t a grocery bag. No orange juice either, we always drank Tang. I can’t drink the stuff today because of that.
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I must be Jeff’s antithesis. I eat soup for lunch every day at work. Soup that I make once a week and divide into individual daily servings. Never owned a lunch box in school–either ate in the lunchroom or in high-school, out of the vending machine. Adore cereal. Don’t eat it much these days but will eat nearly any kind except General Foods varieties and Corn Puffs or Pops or whatever those blown-up barley looking things are.
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Lunchboxes—Journey To the Bottom of the Sea, a Major League Baseball licensed box, and GI Joe.
As far as Soups go Jeff, I understand your point. Rarely does the soup for a meal go by without a sandwich to accompany it. Then I go dunk the sandwich in the soup. Yum.
I must disagree on the chili part though. Nothing like a good bowl of chili or two for supper. MMMMMMM.
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Now I am absolutely sure someone needs some counseling, and for God’s sake, eat some god damned breakfast.
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Oh good lord.
Jeff, you’re my favorite internet crackpot, but I swear if I had to follow the Jeff Kay diet-o-blandness I would just call it a life and blow my brains out.
First off, Chili is not soup. Chili is a stew really, and it should take no less than four or five hours to prep and cook correctly. Crock pots don’t count here either. Chili must be monitored and adjusted until it is perfect.
There are a lot of opinions on what sort of stuff belongs in a chili pot (beans seem to be very controversial in some places) but if a bowl or two of chili doesn’t set you up after a day of deer hunting then you may as well just give up the pretence and buy yourself those new heels with the matching purse you’ve been wanting for so long.
Anyone who makes chili on the stovetop in 20 minutes will be fined heavily as soon as I am elected Emperor. That’s not chili, it’s chili powder flavored soup and it must not be tolerated.
Second; cereal. I like the store brand apple jacks that are cheap as hell and taste the same as the regular kind. And if you do it right there should be no more milk left after the last spoonfull of apple-y goodness. If there is, then you drink it.
Finally, I think I had an Emergency! 51 lunchbox and one with indy cars. There may have been others but I don’t remember.
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This is my first time posting, although I’ve been a fan for quite some time!
Oh, the memories! Yes, I had a few glorious metal lunch boxes until everything went plastic mid-80′s. I remember my first… Mork and Mindy! Yes, it was fabulous. However, my favorite lunch box EVER was the Muppets “Pigs in Space!” Damn, I wish I still had that thing, but sadly I think I carried it until the lid fell off and it was pretty scratched up.
As far as cereals go… I can no longer eat the sugar-laden ones. Fortunately I outgrew my taste for them, but as a kid my favorite was COOKIE CRISP! Yes, mini chocolate chip cookies, and I would eat them with or without milk! Cookies for breakfast… who could ask for anything better!
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Corn Flakes and Rice Krispies are my favs also.
I like Cheerios and Shredded Wheat, but they turn
me in to a methane factory. Serious contributions
to global warming occur when I eat those.
I make a lot of great soups in the Winter, but they
can’t fill you up without a fresh loaf of crusty sour dough
bread to go along with it, and a glass of Merlot.
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I am also not a huge cereal eater, and rarely eat breakfast unless painfully hung over. I do love soup, but agree that it must be accompanied with something else in order to be filling.
Chilli, however, is not soup. It is heaven in a bowl. Deer chilli is the best.
Lunch boxes: I had Strawberry Shortcake, Barbie, and My Little Pony. Yeah, I was a girly-girl. What of it?
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OK, here’s the deal on chili. In most parts of Texas, yes, ground meat, beans, and chili powder are mixable and perfectly edible, you just simply can’t call it chili.
Hand us (or a border mexican) a bowl of that stuff and tell us it’s chili, and you might get your ass handed back to you.
Give us a goat or a deer and a couple of onions. Come back in a few hours. You will be full, baby.
Barbecue is also a touchy subject as I understand. Around your neck of the woods, pork is put on a fire, shredded and mixed with a surgary sauce??
Here, you’d better not serve BBQ pork or brisket in anything other than slab-form – and if you’re caught putting anything in the sauce besides pepper, tomato, onion, worchestershire, tobasco, lemon, or mustard, you’d better run or you might find yourself swinging from a tree.
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@ Garrett…thanks for schoolin’ these guys here on the real deal with chili in Texas, yes it can be a meal…and hell no there better not be beans in it…
As for cereal I don’t eat it much anymore, but we used to eat Sugar Smacks “Digg Em”! as kids.
I’ve had a Care Bear lunch box as well as a Strawberry Shortcake and a She-Ra (He-Man’s Sister..I think)…all plastic of course. But I dumped the lunch boxes in about the 5th grade and moved on to brown bags…mainly because when you turned 11 there didn’t seem to be anything cool enough to put on a lunch box, or at least it wasn’t offered at the time.
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Does anyone remember a “peanut based food” called Koogle? I used to love this stuff.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koogle
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more random entertainment to be posted soon:
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I must confess I prefer plain cereal as well. However, my morning ritual is oatmeal and a muffin.
I had an orange lunch box as a kid that was my dinky cars storage box. I lived down the road from my elementary school so I ate at home pretty near everyday and had no use for a lunch conveying device. In highschool, a dollar ten bought you a full on meal prepared fresh. That is until the big cafeteria food conglomorate took over the cafeteria and we ended up with what amounted to vending machine food. Glad that was only during my final year. I didn’t start brown bagging it until I got a real job, and the costs of eating out went through the roof. These days I use a tradeshow freebie ‘Sanyo’ cooler to haul my lunch time groceries.
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Two thumbs up for the real chilli! Meal by itself Mr. Kay.
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@Garrett, for being on your high chili horse, you admit to eating something called Koogle, must have been sold in the Texas market I don’t recall having ever seen it.
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@WB in OH – yes, I suppose it’s kind of like my wife – who refuses to eat barbacoa (look it up) because it’s gross, but will turn around and eat a can of potted meat with a fork [ughhhhhh].
I think the mexicans influence many foods here to the point they are wildly different than the rest of the country. I try not to be a snob, I will eat anything, pretty much. But Chili and BBQ may not be messed with.
I remember ordering fajitas in florida (mistake). They brought out my FAH-GEE-TAAS, lukewarm and without tortillas or salsa or onion. When I asked, the waitress looked at me like a mouse just crawled out of her meatloaf. She said that TOR-TILLAS are for TACOS, not FAH-GEE-TAAS.
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@ Garrett, I just remember Koogle by the commercials and I think we were force fed it once in a while. Was it peanutbutter with chocolate? I think it’s similar to that stuff still around my nephew eats it – nutella – except that’s hazelnuts and chocolate.
@Shiny Rod, I can so relate to Tang and hoping your lunch wasn’t packed in a paper grocery bag. Wish I had pictures of those days though woulda been something to put on my fridge.
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@garrat: Koogle was awesome! Loved that as a kid.
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Whoops, sorry. “Garrett”. My typing skillz have been off today. Too much Koogle as a child. Shoulda said “Hot Wheels” up there earlier too.
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Garrett I totally forgot about that stuff! “With the Koo-Koo-Koogalie eyes!”
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In NC, “pork BBQ” is redundant. Pulled, stringy pork from a whole pig that’s been cooked about 8 hours in a proper cooker that you need a trailer hitch to tow. Q: Does the pig cooker require a license plate? A: only if there is a pig in it!
Sauce is usually vinegar, sugar, onions, cayenne, salt and peppercorns, maybe some pimento or red bell pepper for color. Takes a while to get used to it, but I now crave it, all the time.
As you travel west and north from the Carolinas, BBQ leans toward sweet, tomato-based sauces and beef over pork. Chicago saw a great migration of both styles, so it is possible there to get truly outstanding babyback ribs with awesome sauces of all varieties.
I was once flipping through an in-flight magazine that ranked the best BBQ places in America – I was tickled to find I live within a 25 mile radius of 3 from the top 11.
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Only one cereal existed when I was a kid, Frosted Flakes.
Now, I only like Granola or Raisin Bran, on occasion. But it must have half-n-half milk on it. No pussy skim milk or 2 percent with my cereal.
Brown bagger until third or fourth grade. After that, the county supplied hot lunches for 35 cents or something.
Big soup fan, chili, NE Clam chowder, home made veg. beef, all good stuff.
Gretchen, I would love that Baked Potato Soup recipe. Had it once at a restaurant, and it was mighty good. Please post recipe.
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Here’s the lunchbox I had.
http://www.hakes.com/item.asp?AuctionItemID=28093
Holy crap! They want nearly $300 for that puppy.
I am envious of the Bobby Sherman lunch box mentioned earlier. He was dreamy. Swoon.
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Half-n-half over cereal? Wow.
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I love chili!
Chili & cheese, please.
Beef chili, no healthy substitutes (turkey?) thanks.
I love both hot & cold cereals, but prefer oatmeal or grits.
I agree with Jeff about the Lucky Charms, though.
Dried squashed marshmallow bits shouldn’t be floating in my cereal.
That is all…
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My lunch box was adorned with b/w monster movie characters. Frankenstein, The Wolf Man, Dracula, The Creature from the Black Lagoon, Phantom of the Opera, Tarantula.
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Jeff, here’s a very simple recipe for a soup that will definitely fill you up, because you will probably eat 4 bowls of it. Well, maybe not, but *I* love it.
Taco Soup – http://halfdillo.blogspot.com/2009/02/note-to-self-what-hell-goes-in-taco_25.html
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@hardoxdan: I got the recipe from a food blog called bitchincamero.com. The only change I made to it was using russet potatoes instead of creamers and sour cream instead of Greek yogurt (where the eff does one get Greek yogurt?):
http://www.bitchincamero.com/mel/2008/09/loaded-baked-potato-soup/
Doesn’t it look SOOOOO good? I love that we’re now defeating Jeff’s anti-soup manifesto with posted recipes. HA!
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Garrett, couldn’t resist taking a poke. I’ve seen enough food TV to know better than get in the middle of 3 guy’s from TX, Kansas City and Noth Carolina when they are discussing (arguing) BBQ. One of these days (perhaps after winning a 100k in the lottery) I plan on taking a month long motorcycle tour of the aformentioned areas and make an educated decision.
Barbacoa sounds pretty awesome.
And finally I’m sorry to say I like my beans inside the chili, and I will call it chili with my yankee head held high!
Koogle sounds like a female exercise!
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Love cereal. Raisin Bran, Raisin Bran Crunch, Rice Krispies, Frosted Flakes, Corn Pops, Weetabix, Shredded Wheat, Alpen, Corn Flakes, Raisin Bran Extra, Honey Nut Crunch… there’s normally half a dozen of some of those in the larder at any time. I try to eat a bowl every day. How can anyone not like cereal?!
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I remember two lunchboxes, but am sure I had more than that – Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (still love that movie to this day and wish I had the kickass model that had wings that folded out) and then some striped soft bag thing for 8th grade when I didn’t have to carry the thermos of milk. We were rewarded in the 8th grade by being able to buy the half pint of milk (mere pennies back then).
I love cereal and early we were allowed sugar cereals, but then Mom started buying corn flakes by the gross (which she denies although all five of us remember it) along with the store brand plastic bag puffed rice and other such CRAP cereals. Mostly Cheerios (original) for me, although I’ve decided within the past month that Cocoa Krispies are quite a fun snack.
As for soup – it’s food. I love soup, however, I hate chili.
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We had Koogle in Michigan, and it came in a variety of flavors…I remember a peanut butter and banana one. It was short-lived, sadly.
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Soup becomes a meal when it crosses the line and becomes stew. Homemade pinto beans (a spoonfull…or two…of green chile on top optional) and some cornbread or a good bowl (…or two) of homemade chili and cornbread…MEAL!!!
Haven’t had cereal for over forty years (please don’t do the math….mmmk?) Trix as a kid and then the athletic testosterone kicked in about the fourth grade and I was a Wheaties ‘man’. Now..oatmeal now and then. Usually skip breakfast.
Lunch box…had one of those barn looking/ worker looking kinda box. Black, two latches and held a mid-sized thermos up in the lid. Mom kept sending chicken noodle or vegatable soup in the thing, when even as a kid I knew coffee belonged in a thermos.
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I appreciate all forms of well-prepared food. That includes Carolina-style pulled-pork BBQ with the vinegary sauce, Memphis-style BBQ with the rubbed-in seasoning, Texas-style BBQ with that great smokey beef, and all of the variations in-between when they are made with a love of good food. I like chili with beans, chili with beans and meat, Cincinnati-style chili with that slight sweetness (and cinnamon) served over spaghetti with onions and cheese, or Tex-Mex chili with just meat (chili Colorado) and no beans. What’s not to like?
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My best friend growing up was not allowed to have sweet cereal so when she came to my house she would grab my Lucky Charms and sit in front of the tv (also not allowed in her house) and eat the marshmallows out of the box. As a wedding gift to me, she gave me a box of Lucky Charms with ONLY the marshmallows!
The only lunch box I recall was an Evil Kneivel. I remember launching it down the hallway before going to lunch recess and always landing right it at my classroom door.
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Greek yogurt is regular yogurt that is strained through a cheesecloth bag to drain out the excess water.
Once it’s thickened nicely add fresh dill and finely diced cucumber.
That’s greek yogurt.
Greeks call it tzaziki
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I used to love Lucky Charms, and probably still would if not for the lactose intolerance. Never drank the leftover milk/cereal mixture. Cereal is a meal for breakfast, but not lunch or dinner. I gues cereal could also be a snack, as Jeff implies, but when I want a snack, cereal does not come to mind.
Soup is not a meal, it is part of a meal. Chili is a meal. And as can be seen by some of the sur report posters, chili is also a religion.
Brown bag (PB&J) for school lunches.
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Jorge you forgot the garlic! Why the hell would annyone forego Bacon,eggs,sausage,hot buttered toast for a bowl of cereal? Soup as a meal? sitting at the end of the dock in Edgartown on a chilly fall day eating new england clam chowder from a styrofoam bowl as the sun went down and truly thinking I had died and gone to Heaven!
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Jorge, you forgot the most important ingredient of tzaziki:
Garlic
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DTO, That type of lunchbox just reminded me of a kid story. My Dad was in construction and had one of those type lunch boxes. I don’t recall this (I was about 4 or 5) but was told when I would see him come home up the driveway after work I would sing “Here he come’s, Here he come’s – with a lunch box at his bum.” (To the tune of knick knack paddy whack). That was the only entry in my song writing career..
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I rarely eat cereal. When I do, it’s simply plain cheerios or Peace (brand) Ginger Hemp cereal. Otherwise, I’m pretty okay with toast or just plain coffee.
Usually just coffee…followed by many bottles of water.
When I was a kid, I had a Holly Hobbie Lunch Box. I switched to paper bags in middle school.
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Cereal – Quisp was the simply the best there ever was!
Lunch Box – Speed Buggy. Not the most popular choice, but it’s sturdy construction served me well for years.
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@Gretchen:
Irony. Jeff pissin’ and moanin’ about soup, and we are exchanging soup recipes like old hens.
Can’t wait to make that baked potato soup, with extra cheese and lots of bacon. Good low calorie stuff, right there. Already printed out the recipe.
Thanks.
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@Jorge: So I can just make my own Greek yogurt. K, thanks for the tip. I thought it was only to be had at a specialty store.
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@Hardoxdan: You’re welcome! It’s really good stuff. I also use turkey bacon for extra leanness. But I realize admitting such a thing could get me drawn and quartered in some parts.
Cluck cluck.
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Like many others here, I had a metal Peanut’s lunchbox. My Mom was from England and always put butter on our sandwiches…lukewarm bologna with butter and mustard gaaaa. Sometimes I would get the sardines or salmon on toast as someone mentioned. I thought that was a normal thing to eat! I went to Catholic gradeschool no yummy hot lunches for us. I was so envious of the kids who got to go to the dairy luncheonette and eat burgers and fries!
I like Trader Joe’s Honey O’s better than Cheerios Honey Nut O’s. I like Frosted Mini Wheats and Granola, Cap’n Crunch and Peanut Butter Crunch yum, and Honey Bunches of Oats. Cereal makes me ravonous an hour later though…. have to eat meat and eggs for a lasting breakfast.
When I make chili I usually include two pounds of quality ground beef and a two pound steak (Sirloin or Chuck) that I would braise until tender cut up and incorporate into my tomato based chili. The thing that really makes the chili a meal is to put a dollop of lovely mashed potatoes in the side of the bowl along with cheese and raw onions. If you have never tried this I highly recommend it. You would not believe how good the mashed potatoes taste along with the chili. I only use one 13 oz can of beans. That is enough. I make a great Ham corn chowder that will fill you up! Has anyone here ever had Burgoo? It is an awesome stew we had in Kentucky on one of our trips.
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I love cereal. I think I could live on it. I usually eat the store brand frosted mini wheats. Sometimes I like Cocoa Pebbles.
I’m not a big fan of soup, but there are some Thai soups that I adore.
I like chili. Growing up, my mom always put beans in it. I’m not sure if it was because we lived in Indiana or because beans were cheaper than meat and made it go further.
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I had the coolest “Wild Wild West” lunchbox!……the excitement often dulled because of the bologna sandwiches and carrot sticks my mom packed me….carrots “because they are good for you”…bologna to turn me into the overweight cholesterol laden behemoth that I grew into….thanks mom.
And yea, soup sucks
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Oh, and the only lunch box I remember having was Raggedy Ann & Andy.
I mostly ate in the cafeteria because I was on the free lunch list (my mom was a widow with 4 kids….we was po’).
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I love chili as a meal (with kidney beans), but regular soup usually requires a sandwich. Bionic Woman lunchbox.
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Here’s my luchbox. At least the only one I remember.
http://cgi.ebay.com/1968-Aladdin-DISNEY-SCHOOL-BUS-DOME-LUNCHBOX-Exc_W0QQitemZ400055988803QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item5d2531f243&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=65%3A12%7C66%3A2%7C39%3A1%7C72%3A1205%7C240%3A1318%7C301%3A1%7C293%3A1%7C294%3A50
I remember pushing it through the snow as I waited for the bus to come man if I had only known that it would be worth so much!!!!!!
As far as what I got for lunch I remember sandwishes normally bologna, cheese and miracle whip. I still can taste them you know sitting there half a day marinating in that metal box. Everything kinda melted together. I never got anything fancy and would watch as other rich kids as I thought opened their boxes and they would have store bought cakes. My mom would make cakes then cut me a piece cut it in half then put icing side upsidedown on other piece and wrap it in Saran wrap. One girl use to bring mini marathon candy bars and I thought that was fantastic.
I love soup!!!! Tomato with grilled cheese is a must!!! My hubby wont eat it either. I love chili my hubby does as well but he is banned from eating it. Nothing worse than climbing in bed at night espeially in the winter and being unable to escape the mounds of blankets before the gases escape.
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Gretchen, yes you can make your own greek yogurt.
But for goodness sake, don’t forget the garlic. Mince it up and mix it in.
I kind of thought I should have added it , but then I got lazy.
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I completely agree with Jeff on the subject of soup. I actually think it’s one of those foods that was brought about by the Industrial revolution, nothing’s cheaper to serve your workers than a bowl full of water and horse meat. In fact, the whole cooking things in water grosses me out.
I kind of missed the whole tin lunchbox with famous people on them, by the time I was bringing my lunch to school it was in a cool 90′s insulated Rubbermade lunchsac. Don’t worry I definitely plastered it with Teckdeck and Pog stickers.
Oh yeah, I just wanted to say Jeff I’ve been a fan for awhile and actually found your blog through seaching for the product Alli (stellar post btw) just to find out what the hell it was and been reading ever since. Digging the new site and logo, keep up the funny!
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Cereals as a kid: Kellogs Corn Flakes, Rice Krispies, Sugar Frosted Flakes, a few Cheerios, then, started jonsin’ for shredded wheat, the BIG pillows. Two in a bowl. Always loaded them all up with lots of sugar, then drank the sugary milk from the bowl. It was required.
As a kid in Catholic grade school, we had to attend Mass every first Friday (of the month) and that meant fasting from midnight until after you recieved Communion (the host). So, once a month, we would have to each breakfast during first period in school, after 8:00am Mass. Mom always fixed a couple of scroungy hard boiled eggs, and threw in a cardboard mini-box of dry cereal, with the waxed paper lining to prevent leaks when you opened the box and poured in the milk, which was in the thermos.
Aaaah, but the lunchbox: Steel, mailbox-shaped, totally Roy Rogers, with a matching Roy Rogers thermos (with a replaceable silver coated glass liner). It was only used for that after-Communion breakfast. Boy, would that thermos stink when I forgot to bring it home the same day, and the leftover milk festered in the thermos for a day or two. Lunches were always at school or home. After I got though using it, it sat on a shelf in the basement for years until my Mom had a bad cleaning attack, and got rid of it. God, it would be worth millions today!
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Jorge, I never forget the garlic. ;o) I know it’s the most evil of ingredients in Jeff’s Palette O’ Bland world, but not in mine!
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Recently, I’ve actually been considering joining (or starting) a Bring Back Buc Wheats political organization.
But I suspect my memory of their deliciousness is far sweeter than their actual flavor was.
I used to wash them down with Zarex, which apparently they still sell somewhere!
For the record, I also love chili, and am not a snob about beans. Brunswick stew can also be Heaven in a bowl.
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I had the Peanuts/Snoopy lunchbox that Mrs. Bangs described. My younger sister had the Disney bus one.
Shiny Rod, I remember many a Fast breakfast in my house. If you were lucky, you sometimes got a PopTart as well.
As a child, I pretty much ate any cereal I could get my hands on. Honey Comb, Alpha Bits, Crunchberries, and Cookie Crisp were favorites. Don’t know if it was because of the cereal itself, or the prizes found inside the box. Today, my tastes have refined a bit. I prefer Cheerios, Rice Krispies, and Corn Pops. Once in a while, I will pick up a box of Cap’n Crunch or Cocoa Pebbles for old times’ sake.
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I know I’ll probably be waterboarded for this, but it’s fast, easy, bread bowl is optional, but, damn, it tastes good! It’s Mr. Food’s Bread Bowl Chili. Ready in a half hour. Here’s the link:
http://www.mrfood.com/recipe_detail.aspx?item_guid=4e46e5e5-647a-425c-ba0a-d1a4d1f8101e
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Hey, Retrollama – did you know that Crunchberries are not real berries? LOL
http://consumerist.com/5279181/alert-crunchberries-are-not-real
Man, some people are just too stupid to be alive….
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So, when I was a kid, my mom didn’t think twice about sending me to school with a bologna or egg salad sandwich…to sit, festering at room temperature in my “bookbag” or locker for hours. Back in those days, I don’t think anyone thought of “safe handling” of food, or correct “holding temperatures”.
Of course, my mom also cross contaminated everything with raw chicken juices too. It’s no wonder I didn’t die from salmonella. To this day, I’ve caught her trying to put cooked meat from the grill back on the same plate she brought the raw stuff out on. Eeww.
What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger….haha.
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Had the Evel lunchbox. Had the baseball lunchbox, although not sanctioned by Major League Baseball. It had generic players in blue hats and red hats in action on it. Although it’s suppressed from my memory, I also think I had an Archies lunchbox.
Regarding the glassy innards in the thermos, I always seemed to break those. The first time, I had a grape drink in my thermos and thought, “Hey, cool, Mom put crushed ice in my thermos!” Yep, I drank it, but soon realized the ice was not melting. Lucky I didn’t ingest any glass that day.
Soup is filling if you put about a half box of crackers in it. Chili has to have cheese, onions, jalapenos, crackers and a bottle of Death sauce in it. Then it’s filling and it keeps you regular.
Cereals- Ate all the sugar based cereals- Sugar Smacks, Sugar Pops, Sugar Frosted Flakes etc…. however, the continued pussification of America dictated that the word “sugar” must be removed from these cereals and now it’s just “Smacks, “Corn Pops” and “Frosted Flakes (what are they frosted with now, I don’t trust that goddamn Tiger one bit) . Had some cereals no longer around like “Freakies” and “Clackers”. Would get so pissed when Mom and fake Dad (Happy Father’s Day, fake Dad) would buy Cheerios and Kelloggs Corn Flakes, just because they liked them. What about ME??
Had the Koogle. I don’t think Nutella comes close in comparison. Tried Nutella as an adult and it was okay, until Kobe the rapist endorsed it. Would never buy it again.
When did wheat bread start happening? Everything was on white bread when I was a kid. I just don’t remember when they started sneaking wheat bread onto the grocery shelves.
Did you know- A key ingredient in Nutella is horse penis?
On IPOD right now- “Heroes”- David Bowie
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Oh yeah, and the words “turkey” and “chili” should never be used in the same sentence.
Did you know- Kobe Bryant is raping a young, blonde white woman at this very minute? (Yes, I am bitter about the Orlando Magic loss)
On IPOD right now- “Whiskey in a Jar”- Metallica
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My lunch box was a full size A&P paper bag with a Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwich usually with an Apple crushing the Jelly side. So embarrassing.
My wife works part time in the local school cafeteria and they use to give the kids who forgot their money a Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwich. But today no peanuts are allowed in school (peanuts are the new cigarette). Now the deadbeat lunch is a Government Cheese Grill Cheese on Wheatbread.
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OMG… I LOVE soup! It is a staple for me. Since I love to cook, I have some great recipes. My Wedding Soup is killer! I make it every year when we host Steeler play off games…..with warmed hard rolls and butter (real butter not shitty potted stuff)… I make an awesome chili too. NO BEANS!!! Add fresh onions and cheddar to the top with a dollop of sour cream….SCRUMPTIOUS!! Other goodies I make are French Onion and Clam Chowder….MMMMM!
No cereal is a different story. Can’t do it. I really have to have a hankering for it, which isn’t often. But as a kid…Captain Crunch was the shit! Even though it tore the roof of my mouth to ribbons….you know…all those little thingys hanging down your tongue keeps playing with?
Lunbhbox….Brady Bunch (God what a nerd…it want along with my buck teeth)… and Hot Wheels! Such a tomboy!
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Lunchbox – Zorro, baby.
Cereal – Cheerios with brown sugar instead of white.
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And what’s up with the aversion to sugar? What are you, from one of those Stan countries where they stand around in rags and watch their sheep die? I’m wondering if you can be trusted.
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Never said I don’t like cereal, never said I “hate” chili, never said I have an aversion to sugar… Some of these comments are baffling. I’m sitting here scratching my Duke.
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Never had the money for real lunchboxes in our family, we always brown bagged it. One year my mom bought one of the plaid suitcase looking lunchboxes from the neighbor’s garage sale for me. Needless to say I stuck with the brown bag.
Chili is definately a meal. Anyone who says it is not is a pussy or making tomato soup with chili powder.
I kind of remember Jeff going on and on about how great bean soup is in the past. Did I dream that?
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Jeff, it’s pretty funny to see how skewed the comments can get.
Bikerchick-It must be nice to have a special soup that you serve for playoff games, fuck I need a new team!
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@Lee Harvey – Ohhhhhh! chili on top of spaghetti?? I never thought of that before. I’m SO trying that. I don’t know about the cinnamon, though…..
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Jeff; I didn’t think for a minute that you hated soup and chili and cereal. I just figured that that they made you mad, and you needed to get that off your chest. You are probalbly just waiting for a sincere apology from soup and cereal.
As a self-appointed defender of “soup” (actually saw this on a Dariy Queen marquee once: WE NOW HAVE “SOUP”), I would like to submit that chicken gumbo, chicken perlew, brunswick stew, Vietnamese noodle soups (i.e. Pho), and Thai soups (i.e. Tom Kha Gai and Tom Yum) make life somewhat more tolerable for me. Not that I am going to engage in any sort of soup jihad or anything like that. Well, maybe just a little soup jihad. Yet another great band name.
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@ WB in OH… HA!! Not a Steeler fan, huh. That’s ok. Nobody’s perfect! The soup is a superstition thing. The first time I made it for the crowd, they won. I just continued the trend…so far so good!! They the Champeens!! Not only that…but the Wedding soup is a true pain in the ass to make. (Which is why it is only made once or twice a year) Rolling those little meatballs busts my hump every time.
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No Lucky Charms?
But the little marshmallows are so much fun! You can lick them and stick them all over yourself….Fun! Fun! Fun!
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Sounds to me like Jeff is flip-flopping more than a waterboarded Liberal. Chili can be a meal if you have a whole sleeve of saltines per bowl. And no tomatoes please…no one puts tomatoes on chile except maybe Martha Stewart…or Dinah Shore (but I think she’s dead so it’s a moot point.)
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Ok, now I’m all hungry – my tiny little nipples are tingling and aching to go to France. It’s soup for dinner the rest of the week -
Wed – Taco soup (see recipe post above)
Thurs – Baked Potato soup (see above, Gretchen)
Fri – Mushroom Bisque
Sat – big pot of deer chili with beans (on the side)
Sun – leftover chili on Spaghetti (nod to Lee Harvey)
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I with whoever on the Buc Wheats crusade!!
Bikerchick JCIII and I are from just north of the ‘Burg
I went to the Pens parade Monday…what a great day for hockey!!
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Lunchbox = football helmets. AFC on one side, NFC on the other. Steel. Back when nannyism didn’t force kids in to soft sided cooler bags. Back when you could actually hurt yourself on playgrounds & household items. Yes – the good old days.
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I’m just north of the ‘Burg too!!
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Lucky Charms is the greatest f***ing cereal in the world. Bar none. Jesus Jeff – live a little!
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Tammie, you are awesome, as always! I’m going to buy a box of Lucky Charms and lick and stick the magically delicious marshmallows all over my wife’s inner thighs tonight. Great idea, Blonde Goddess!
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Gretchen Bikerchick JCIII we should have a beer sometime. I met JCIII last year and had a few..nice guy who ended up helping a friend buy a car from his dealership.
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Not a fan of the soups…If I can’t stab my dinner with a fork and knife I don’t feel like a man.
Cereal on the other hand…big fan. A cut up banana in bowl of frosted mini wheats is a meal. Those little wheats arent imposing but they soak up like twice their weight in milk and whatever else you throw at em’
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Partridge Family lunchbox..oh how I wish I still had it. A busted up rusty one is running around 80 bucks on eBay: http://cgi.ebay.com/The-Partridge-Family-Metal-Lunch-Box-by-Thermos-1971_W0QQitemZ350213156110QQcategoryZ1410QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp3907.m263QQ_trkparmsZalgo%3DSIC%26its%3DI%252BC%26itu%3DFICS%252BUFI%252BUA%252BIA%252BUCI%26otn%3D12%26po%3DLVI%26ps%3D54.
And Cap’n Crunch is the worst..it cuts the roof of my mouth open…I think it has razor blades in it or something. =)
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Son of Sam….wouldn’t that be a hoot if we hang at the same wateringholes? Small world fer sure!
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A few notes on today’s topics…
Cereal – Can always go for a bowl of Captain Crunch. Or as a snack right out of the box. Vanilla and Peanut Butter flavored Crunch only as a snack though.
You can still get Quisp cereal, but not Quake. You may have to hunt around a bit to find it though. My niece gave me a box last Christmas.
Although I love Cheerios I can’t eat them as they rip my ass apart.
Don’t care for that nasty-assed fruity cereal like Fruit Loops or Trix. And you can keep that marshmallowy gunk like Count Chocula, Frankenberry, Booberry and Lucky Charms.
Watching someone drink that gunk at the bottom of a bowl of cereal sets off my gag reflex. Nasty.
Lunch Boxes – I had a Yogi Bear lunch box. From third grade on, I brown bagged it.
Soup- Most soups are not a satisfying meal by themselves. It must be accompanied by a sandwich to get the job done.
I love Wedding Soup, but I agree it’s a pain in the ass to roll all those little meatballs.
Chili – Yes, a hearty meal. If you’re ever in the Cincinnati area, try some of the local versions. The secret ingredient is cinnamon, which at first thought you’d think wouldn’t work. But it’s tasty. Ladled over spaghetti.
A note about one of my previous posts. I made an inspired typo on the ipod shuffle topic when I meant to type Be Bop Deluxe. Instead I typed Bed Bop Deluxe. That is a great name for a band! If I ever get back to playing music in a group I got dibs on that name!
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Last one to the party here…but at least I brought beer.
Lunchbox: Assorted Hanna-Barbera cartoon characters, only got to use it in Head Start (pre-Kindergarten) as from then on most of us public schoolers were on the school lunch program which was less than a dollar a day in the late 70s/early 80s. Only a few kids brought lunches from home, unrefrigerated as some here have mentioned.
Cereal: I’ll still eat a bowl or two of Frosted Flakes about twice a year, but mostly skip breakfast.
I agree that chili can be a killer meal. Coarse ground beef, deer meat, home-mixed chili powder (Anaheim chile powder, paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, cumin, etc) and some good stock and you don’t need the tomatoes or beans. I also make homemade seafood gumbo and get a lotta compliments on that one. Either of those, with a couple beers or six, and you’re gonna be full.
I’m in PGH too…cheers!
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@dcinCinci
I grew up in Loveland. Clifton Skyline on the corner there, kitty corner to the old (old…1880′s) fire house is the bomb. The other ones around town too. Gold Star is ok and that place there in Blue Ash…”Blue Ash Chili” down there by Graftons ani’t too far from a tie for second. Nothing like a Skyway 5-way and two cheese coneys at 3am. There is always steam on the windows at a proper chili house.
I don’t get back often enough but when I do…that’s where you’ll find me. Oh…don’t buy the canned chili stuff they sell. It blows big coney winnies!!!
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I hear ya DTO!
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