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Canned Bacon (Tactical Bacon)5 Vote

You know, I’m no marketing genius, but give me an item like canned bacon, and I’d be all like, “Dude.”

Then I’d come up with something pretty damn amazing and catchy. Like..

Wait for it…

BaCAN. Cuz… It’s bacon. In a can. Bay-can.

The ad copy practically writes itself.

“Now, you can enjoy the farm-fresh taste of… like.. bacon… Anywhere, on the go… As long as you have a can opener. Introducing BaCAN, the… stuff… that’s… well, it’s fucking bacon… in a can. Get ya some! UNGOWA! Snap into a Slim Jim!”

Though, I think there may be a non-compete with the Slim Jim people. Maybe instead of Macho Man, we could get the Iron Sheik. He’s not really doing much these days, except… well, going insane.

So there’s that.

Oh! Carrot Top. He loves bacon. No… Wait. Not Carrot Top. Jim Gaffigan. I always get those confused. Jim Gaffigan, now that dude loves bacon.

So here’s the pitch. Jim Gaffigan fights Carrot Top and The Iron Sheik in a cage match. Winner take bacon. In a can. BaCAN.

Yah? Yah?

Shit.

Day job maintained.

Anyway, so yah. I have some freaking canned bacon on my desk here, courtesy of my good friends at http://www.thinkgeek.com. (Full Disclosure: they’re not actually my friends, and I had to pay for the bacon in a can, so it wasn’t really courtesy of them, they just sold it to me. Just sayin’.)

Here’s the can…

BaCAN!!!

BaCAN!!!

Here’s the wittyness on the backside… (Band name?)

Funny, my hands are still wet...

Funny, my hands are still wet...

Oh! The government said it’s OK to eat as well! Bonus!

Uncle Sam wants YOU... To... Eat... This?

Uncle Sam wants YOU... To... Eat... This?

So… Yah.

Then the unveiling… At which point, well… Just watch.

A few greasy, awkward moments later…

And here’s the final product in all it’s bacony glory…

Regrets...  I've had a few...

Mistakes... I've made a few...

And then I ate it. Because, obviously. Shit.

Texture: For all the grease found in/on the can, the bacon itself was suprisingly not-super-greasy. Not like good, thick-cut stuff either, really had the consistency of maybe day-old half-warm microwave bacon. Which is to say, not completely horrid, but not amazing either. Definitely on the chewy side. Way chewy.

Taste: It tastes like… Bacon. Mostly. Little bit heavy on the artificial smoke flavor, and somewhat saltier than most bacon I’ve had (all of it). I do keep finding myself snacking on a piece here and there while I finish this entry, so it must not be too bad… but again, that’s one of the intrinsic qualities of bacon; the addictiveness. Also, I’m kinda hungry right now. So I’m sure that’s not helping.

JK Score: 4/10 That’s a hard call. If I’m judging it strictly against other canned items I’ve had in my life, it’s… well, it’s freakin’ bacon, so it gets points based on merit alone. If I’m judging it against actual food? It’s not great. It’s not horrible, make-me-vom either, which I’m honestly pretty damn suprised at given the can opening. So, you know, I’d definitely take it hiking/camping/Apocolypsing. But I’d rather nuke up some crappy microwave bacon for my own personal use any day of the week.

Update: I had to go back and knock it down to 4/10, because 20 minutes, a beer and a cig later, I still have the FaCon (fake bacon!) flavor in my mouth. And it sucks.

Ok, now to de-grease my camera/hands/desk/apartment.

Mo’s Bacon Bar7 Vote

You got your bacon in my chocolate!

You got your chocolate in my bacon!

Two great tastes that taste great together… Right?

Right?

Right!?!

Hell if I know. I’m just a simple man, born and raised in Corn Field, Illinois.

So, by association, I apparently like the simple things in life… Trucks… Corn… Meat… Cheap… beer… Dammit. I like those things. Stupid upbringing having an affect on my personality and preferences. My simple taste buds couldn’t handle such sophistication as “applewood smoked bacon”, “alderwood smoked salt”, “deep milk chocolate (45% cacao)”, and some pretentious font up top that I can’t identify… because I’m a hick… And don’t care to look it up.

mmmm... pretentious

mmmm... pretentious

Picked this bad boy (do howdy, yah buddy) at one of dem dere Hole Foods for $2.00.

Of course it was in the checkout lane. Because bacon-infused chocolate is an impulse item if there was ever one.

Don’t judge me.

So, sliding the overpriced .5 oz of hippiefood out of it’s protective box, reveals a foil-wrapped lovefest, that’s very well-labeled:

I shall call him... Mini-Bacon-Candy-Bar Me

I shall call him... Mini-Bacon-Candy-Bar Me

Well, that explains the .5oz weight anyway. It’s Mini. Duh.

Snapping the badboy open reveals…

The glory and the light.  And the pork.

The glory and the light. And the pork.

Ok, so… The thing smells like bacon, but with this really weird twinge to it. Not sure if that’s the chocolate talking (smelling?) or what. It’s almost bitter-smelling. If bitter can be a smell. In which case, it is, because I don’t feel like being wrong tonight.

So, here we go:

Texture: Well… It’s chocolate. With MOTHER FUCKING BACON PIECES IN IT. Seriously though, you’d be expecting like baco-bit crunchy stuff (I was, anyway). The pieces are really pretty soft, and almost-melty. It’s weird. Because it’s bacon, and bacon doesn’t/shouldn’t do that. But again, what do I know. Maybe it’s some awesome hippie-food bacon that I’ve never tasted, from pigs who read Vonnegut and hang out at coffee shops. It could happen.

Taste: It’s definitely chocolate with bacon in it. Has that whole sweet/salty thing going, which is pretty awesome in my book, any day of the week. Fortunately, the bacon isn’t amazingly overpowering though. It just sort of works. And that smell I was getting? Yeah, there’s a bit of bitter in the chocolate too, which really keeps throwing me off my game.

JK Score: 7.5/10 Definitely something novel, I couldn’t eat more than .5oz of this in one sitting, you get sick of the whole thing pretty quick, be it from awesome overload, or something altogether different.

By the way, this officially introduces our newest category, “Bacon!”. Because bacon is awesome, and deserves recognition. And bacon. It’s cyclic like that.

Vote or Die3 Vote

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Yay.

Ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-changes…1 Vote

Migrated everything over to Wordpress over the weekend. Still playing with themes/photos and trying to get everything completely situated, so “pardon the dust” while I get things a little more settled and awesome.

Also, I’m sure some links and stuff are broken, which I’ll go back and fix, but otherwise, let me know if anything is hosed up.

-JK

Bacon Pancakes (Yes… Bacon MotherEffin’ Pancakes)4 Vote

I don’t even know how I could sully such a glorious item with inane banter.

So I’m gonna shoot straight. The Original Pancake House (http://www.originalpancakehouse.com/) has THE BEST stuff on earth.

They’re pancakes. WITH MOTHER EFFIN’ BACON IN THEM.

You following me on this? This isn’t pancakes with a side of bacon, or bacon ON pancakes. This is bacon… INSIDE of pancakes.

Allow me to illustrate.

20090625-IMAG0040

See? Awesome. They rule. Find some. Then eat them. Then tell me how awesome they are. Because I’ll agree with you.

Texture: They’re pancakes… WITH BACON IN THEM.

Taste: They’re pancakes… WITH FREAKING BACON INSIDE OF THEM.

JK Score: 10/10 THEY ARE FUCKING PANCAKES, WITH FUCKING BACON IN THEM.

Also, the staff at The Original Pancake House in Denver’s Tech Center location were very nice, attentive, and awesome. And gave me an extra PANCAKE WITH MOTHER LOVIN’ BACON IN IT.

The Original Pancake House
8000 E. Belleview
Greenwood Village, Colorado 80111
303-224-0093

Doritos Flavor Shots3 Vote

Editor’s note: Seriously, this is my last Doritos entry for a while. I can’t help it if they keep raising the awesome/stupid bar, though.


You know what I love? Jeff Goldblum in “The Fly“. Willem Defoe, no matter how creepy he is normally, in “Spiderman 2″, and kinda 3. Kevin Bacon in “Hollow Man“. Kevin Bacon in “Flatliners“. Whoever played the green guy in those shitty Incredible Hulk movies.

And you know why?

Power-drunk insanity makes me hot. And I love Kevin Bacon apparently.

All these dudes take something potentially awesome, go power-crazy, overdose, and fuck it all up for your entertainment.

Ugh. I already hate the premise I picked, because I know what’s coming up.

Alright. I have no clue if these are new or not, but I’ve never seen them before this morning:

20090612-doritos

So, they’re Doritos, right? And there’s a flavor packet inside. Think about that for a minute, while we do the photo tour.

Take a peek inside the bag there. We’ve got some Doritos… And wait, what’s that? Is that a prize?

20090612-inside

Booya.

20090612-packet

and inside this packet of love…

20090612-flava

And the chips, for whatever reason are standard-issue Nacho Cheese Doritos.

20090612-chip
Ok, tour’s over. Have you considered what we have on our hands here?

DIY Mother-Effing Doritos. We’ve reached a new level as a civilization today, people. This is the single most empowering invention in the history of man.

Every man, woman, and child can decide EXACTLY how much flavor they want on their Doritos. (Except for the pre-defined amount of Nacho for whatever reason)

This could be the answer to world peace.

….

….

I should probably, you know, put all the flavor one one chip. It would be flavor of the purest form. Flavor nirvana. Flavor Flav. I can handle it. I’ve been doing like, research and stuff. CSI dramatic science music music played the entire time, so I know it was legit.

To be completely honest with you, there’s absolutely zero indication on the bag explaining how the innocuous flavor packet is actually supposed to be used. Maybe dump it in the bag and toss it like a salad? I dunno.

Since I’m an idiot…

20090612-loaded

Just to test the waters, I pinched a little of the love powder off and put it on a single chip. It was actually hot for a Dorito seasoning. I also apparently got some in my nose because I sneezed like crazy. I also figured out that consuming the entire packet in one shot would probably make me puke my ass off. So I decided to baby step bite through it.

Bite one…

HOLY.. GRAPACHAKJSF. Very powdery, very buffalo-y. My mouth went instantly dry. I cried.

Bite two…

I decided to just man up and finish the fool off. On video because I care.

About 10 minutes later, I have heart burn. I never get heart burn. This sucks.

To top it all off, I didn’t get any kick-ass super powers or go completely insane. :( (even though it looks like I may have started to in the video)

Texture: (with a little bit) It’s a flippin’ Dorito. With extra powder on it.

Texture: (with the rest on it) It’s a flippin Dorito. With ungodly amounts of hell on it. That sucks your soul and all the liquid from your body instantly. And you’re left chewing on powder. And DEATH.

Taste: (with a little on it) Basically a Nacho Cheese Dorito… With a small kick to it. Pretty nice, actually.

Taste: (with the rest on it) Basically a Nacho Cheese Dorito… WITH THE FIRES FROM HELL UPON IT. Seriously, it was hot. And I like hot shit. And there was more cheese flavor in there for some forsaken reason.

JK Score: (averaged): !DIVIDE BY ZERO I suck at math. It’s an 8 with normal-people amounts, and -489 with the rest of the packet on there. Whatever that works out to. =

Doritos Diablo Enchilado0 Vote

Ole!

Check it out. I’m keeping things semi-seasonal-related still. Cinco De Mayo is just around the corner, and I happened upon some awesome-looking Doritos at my local store, so I was all “hell yah”.
20090421-IMG_0903

Seriously. Hell yah. There’s a DEVIL on the bag. And he’s ON FIRE. Because he’s a BADASS. Oh, and he looks happy too, for some reason.
20090421-IMG_0904

And can you blame him? I mean, if I were Beelzebub (not to be confused with BeetleJuice from the Stern Show), I imagine I’d be pretty sick of the standard wheelin’ dealin’ for souls, keeping house in Hell, and making sure Ashton Kutcher somehow stayed relevant.

I’d be ready for a freaking Doritos bag spot.

Obviously much more coveted than the front of a Wheaties box, how many people get to be on the front of a Doritos bag?

I’ll tell you how many.

NONE, BITCH.

Unless, of course, you’re willing to get your nuts crushed and are Japanese. Then they make exceptions, apparently:
20090421-doritosnuts

But let’s remove them from the stats. Because really, who wants to be spun around by their legs with a foot firmly planted on the family jewels just to make the cover of a bag of Doritos?

Not Satan, I’ll tell ya that. He’s got a good agent. No need for such tomfoolerly. Make Doritos work on your terms, that’s hardcore, and I respect it fully.

Let’s see how I respect the chips.

According to my 4 years of high school español (Thanks, Bonita!), I’m looking at some “Devil Enchilada” Doritos.

Well, that explains the devil on the bag at least.

Upon cracking open the bag, you get Doritos. Duh.

THE REDDEST DORITOS ON THE FACE OF THE EARTH!

20090421-IMG_0907

Seriously. So red. Or, should I say… “rojo”? Que lastima!

Texture: Seriously? It’s a Dorito.

Taste: Oddly enough, pretty much like an enchilada. Dorito’s mad scientists have perfected the art of making things taste like things for the most part. As far as Diablo goes… It’s pretty hit or miss. For the most part, there’s not much heat at all to them, but once in a while, you get one that’s a scorcher.

That’s most likely Old Scratch screwing with ya.

JK Score: 7/10 Honestly, not too shabby. I couldn’t rip through a mass of these like I could some Cool Ranch, but they’re pretty tasty. If I run across them again, I’d be apt to pick em up.

Double Bypass (at the Heart Attack Grill)2 Vote

Where to begin…Let me say that I took on this assignment based solely on the fact that The Heart Attack Grill is known for really good burgers. The staff had nothing to do with it. That being said…thank you JK for forcing me to go out an get a burger with one pound of beef, a regular coke, and some fries that are “deep fried in pure LARD”.

Usually to get a ton of photos of food here…and for good reason. But, I thought a few establishing shots would serve this review well. While the food (burger/fries/coke) is the star of the show at the grill, there are a few side dishes too!

20090308-heart attack grill

The building is pretty unassuming until you get to the front door.

20090309-caution

then inside
20090309-inside

From there the fun begins..Much like In-N-Out Burger the menu is pretty straight forward and simple to remember. Single, Double, Triple, Quadruple Bypass 1-4 patties (duh) all of which are half pounders and are smothered in cheese.

Once you’ve settled on your “procedure”..your nurse sets the meal in motion. While waiting for the burger to arrive, if you so choose, you can treat yourself to a helping of “Flatliner Fries” as the sign states…”Deep fried in Pure Lard”

20090309-flatliner fries

If soggy fries that have been deep fried in pure lard are your cup of tea…you may just die before the bypass. If you are a real glutton for punishment garnish the fries with salt and a man sized portion of mayo.

20090309-fries

Now as much as I wish I could say that I was a real man and decided to try to clog my heart in one large burger soaked shot..I couldn’t bring myself to try to demolish a Triple or Quad Bypass…so I went with the Double..and upon arrival, I almost cried. It was amazing.

20090309-mmm

Now in true TJE fashion I decided that the next best step would be to show off the grandeur of this meat mountain. Did I mention that the patties were half pounders? Well, they were and when you try to pick up the burger you feel like you are actually working through the meal!
20090309-presentation

Speaking of the meal if you are the guy (like I am) who will go out and order copious amounts of meat and pasta and sugar filled desserts and still settles for a Diet Coke…tough. Here you have a few choices but the word Diet appears nowhere. Coke, Water, Jolt, Corona, Bud…and a full bar at the back are the limits of what you can order (there is also a $21 Margarita on the menu). But i settled for the simple Double, Flatliner Fries, and a Coke
20090309-the meal

As big ass burgers go…the weight of the double makes it a two hand job. I have no idea how I would have even attempted the Quad Bypass! (FYI–Joey Chestnut polished off a Double in 1min 47 seconds)

20090309-1st bite 2

A lot longer than 2min later I finally made it to the last bite and was able to sit back and think about what had just happened. I had just put a pound of meat, two cokes, and god only knows how many fries into my body. Now I am a big boy (280lbs) but thankfully I didn’t qualify for the free meal program (350lbs and up eat free all day every day). The strange thing was that I felt full but I also didn’t feel like I had stuffed myself. Granted I think I would have exploded if I had even one more fry. I didn’t feel like I thought I was going to die. The thought did cross my mind when I walked in..but that was a heart attack of a different sort.

Before we get to the ranking…two last photos to share..one of Elise…our (I got my father to join in the fun) nurse.

20090309-nurse

the other of the Heart Attack Grill’s “Diet Program” The best part is the fine print at the bottom that says, “Arizona State Law requires us to notify you that members of our staff are not actually certified Nurses.” Really!!!!
20090309-diet program

Starting off with the ambiance:
10/10 — there is something to be said for taking the “Diet program/nurse thing” to the limit. From the outfits to the fact that there are mirrors under the counter. Not sure if they are there to give the customers another look at the wait staff…or if they are there for the nurses to keep an eye on the wierdo customers who are always there with cameras a plenty.

Food:
Burgers 9/10 — As the burger itself goes…perfectly done. Not under done, not over done, but just right. The slight over toast on the bun even worked. The only reason that I can’t go to a full 10 is that Bacon wasn’t even an option! Only down side is that I had to run through a full brick of napkins…apparently when you get upwards of a pound of beef you also get the same volume of grease.

Fries 8/10 — They are so good that they could actually be deadly. Deep Fried in Lard = Mmmmm. Personally I am all for the soggy fry, but there is also something to be said for having a little crunch in the fry basket. But, at $1.85 for all you can eat they were really good.

Drink N/A — Can’t really rank a coke..especially since I am really a Pepsi guy at heart.

All in all $9.25 for Burger, $1.85 for Fries, and $1.85 (x2) for drink. Not too bad. Give or Take $20 with tip. For a complete collection of Full Sized photos and some that didn’t make the cut…check out my flickr page.

Ice Breakers Iced Tea Mints2 Vote

If I could have one of my wildest wishes come true, it would be to have a fifth nipple. I’m already good on nipples one and two obviously, being a normal human. Nipple three, was something that just randomly showed up later in life when I needed it most. Just like how sometimes, in your darkest hour, you see the figurative light, and things suddenly make sense, and that wave of calmness and serenity sweeps over you, in my case the figurative light was a literal third nipple.

The fourth one… Well, I drew that one on with a red sharpie. And have to refresh it once a week or so. I named it Billy. I’d get a tattoo, but really, a tattoo of a nipple? That’s just crazy.

So really, I’m just gunnin’ for that fifth nipple. I think it would be great, and probably get me laid constantly. It’s a great ice-breaker. Just to be able to swagger up to some hottie at the bar and go, “Hey baby… How many nipples you got?” Being normal humans, they’d either slap me, walk away, or answer “Two”.

That’s my cue. I grab a cocktail napkin, jot the number “5″ on it, and slide it towards them upside down.

“Here’s what I got, baby”.

It would be glorious. The best part is, even if they slapped me or walked away, I’d still do the napkin thing. Constant tail. That’s a fool-proof play. Maybe I can find someone to print me up a bunch of “5″ cocktail napkins I could take with me on my booty-seeking missions. I’d have to get some sort of bitchin’ leather case for the napkins, though, because I don’t wanna be that jackass who carries their own set of custom-printed cocktail napkins into a bar. I hate those guys. Maybe a briefcase. That I’d handcuff to my arm. Because that just screams intrigue and mystery (beyond the 5 nipples, of course) like a dude with a briefcase handcuffed to his arm.

Sweet.

Dude… You know what would be even better? While I’m layin the groundwork, breaking the ice with my multiple nipple negotiations, chatting up the beautiful babies? If my breath smelled like fucking Iced Tea.

That would make me an unstoppable booty-gettin’ force to be reckoned with.

And damn it, you’ll reckon with me. Between the Iced Tea breath, the suitcase handcuffed to my arm, and of course, the 5 nipples? Bra, I’d be getting reckoned with all night long.

Bow chicka bow wow.

While I may never have my multiple nipples, I can always get the Iced Tea breath I always desired finally. My time is nigh.

20090129-IMG_0780

Anyone who knows me, knows I love mints. Anything minty, mint-like, or otherwise mint-inated… I’m down with it. So, when I saw these, I thought… “What?”

So I bought them.

They’re standard IceBreakers mints in that they’re in the same plastic (though shit-brown instead of mint-blue) case, and have the neat little pseudo-retsin spots (though shit-brown instead of mint-blue).

So really… I have great expectations.

Opening up the lid and taking a whiff…

It’s… Tea. It smells like I just opened up a box of Lipton. WTF. There’s probably a tea-bag joke somewhere in there, but I wore myself out on the nipple banter. Happens more often than you’d think.

20090129-IMG_0783

Oh, they’re Sugar-Free too… So you won’t get fat popping Iced Tea mint after Iced Tea mint. Indulge!

Texture: If you’ve ever had a mint before, you’re close. It’s exactly the same as every other IceBreaker mint ever.

Taste: It’s…. Iced Tea. Kind of. You don’t smell it, but you taste hella fake lemon when you pop one. It’s…weird. If you’ve ever had Lipton bottled iced tea with the lemon flavor, it’s like that, only much, much more intense, and lemon-tastic.

The tea flavor disappears after the first 20 seconds or so, leaving that weird fake lemon taste afterward, but with the occassional hit of weird fake tea. It’s… Weird.

Weird.

JK Score: 2/10 The weird fake flavors are odd enough. The fact that there’s an Iced Tea flavored mint alone is weird enough. Add those two weird things together… And it’s weird. Seriously. I’m still working on this first one, and I’m just… Confused. Why the hell do you want your mouth to smell like a box of Lipton powder when you could just rock the fifth nipple?

Reindeer Paté0 Vote

It’s like Christmas in December… On the 25th. It’s CRAAAAZY!

The stockings were all hung by the chimney with care, in hopes that I’d get some screwball tin of mashed meat made of parts of Rudolph and his buddies. Which was apparently made in Sweden. Nothing is more traditional, really. I’m sure killing/packaging/eating Santa’s sleigh crew is probably illegal in other countries. Or at least immoral. If there’s one things the Swedes are known for, it’s killing reindeer and subsequently making children cry.

The one apparently very good thing about Reindeer Paté is it’s long shelf life. In Swedish. This particular sample is “BÄST FÖRE 24 MAY 2011″. If that’s not hardcore AND Swedish, I don’t know what is.

bork bork bork

bork bork bork

This stuff comes from the UK food joint edible.com, the same place where the Chocolate Covered Ants came from.

The packaging is a little awesome and sadistic:

hardcore

hardcore

Click through for the vid of the unveiling.

The smell is weird… We ultimately decided it smelled like a pineapple-glazed ham. Which makes zero sense, but fits in with the theme of the day appropriately.

squishy.  kinda.

squishy. kinda.

The can suggest that it’s “Best served spread on hot buttered toast with a glass of mulled wine or a shot of gold vodka!”

I’ve got some crispy buttered baguette wafer thingies and beer. Close enough.

nom nom nom

nom nom nom

And of course, Boris was interested.

dogfood?

dogfood?

Texture: My best approximation is Braunschweiger, which really is the poor man’s paté. Nothing too bad, really. A little less whipped than the poor man’s version, with appropo tiny chunks of Blitzen, etc throughout. Also, kinda dry.

Taste: Oddly sweet, very salty, but still that same Braunschweiger-esque flavor, but a little bland and more reindeer-ish. Which to my Midwest-raised taste buds, taste like regular deer.

JK Score: 3/10 Oddly un-eventful. Not bad, just not as awesome as I’d expect magical, flying mammals to taste.

 

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