Burger King - A Review

     Page Two Hundred Seventy-Nine.
     I recently went to Burger King for a quick bite. I hadn't eaten fast food in over a year. Let me tell you about it.
     I ordered a basic, little burger, plus I asked for tomatoes, lots of 'em and lettuce, lots of it. Additionally, I purchased a small order of French Fries. I wanted a cup of water too, but that would have cost me one dollar and we're talking water from the sink here. On principle, I decided against the $1.00 tap water. My bill came to almost $3.75. They charged me .15 for the extra tomato and .10 for the extra lettuce.
     The burger was exactly what I remembered: small and cardboardy on a mushy bun. There was one very small slice of tomato and one small leaf of lettuce, plus, of course, the ketchup, pickle and so forth. The fries were slightly stale and weren't very hot. Also, there were fewer fries in the pack than there used to be. The best part of the meal was the ketchup. (I love ketchup.) 
     It was a very poor value, particularly in a restaurant chain which plays up value as one of it's assets. The quality was also very low. American fast food has been losing market share for the last few years and the company executives wonder why. In one article I read a couple days ago, the writer declared that Americans are finally waking up to the fact that fast food just doesn't taste very good and it's not worth the money. How true... how true.
     My rating 2/10.

    

Soul Food

     Page One Hundred Sixty-Six.
     I had an interesting conversation with my co-workers recently. It was my birthday so they treated me to lunch from a nearby soul food spot which allegedly serves the best in town. They got me a Polish Boy Special. That's a Polish Boy sandwich with cole slaw, fries and honey mustard right on the sandwich plus more fries on the side. It was tres tasty but hardly African-American in nature. And I said so. Most everybody agreed with me except for one co-worker who said, "but it is soul food. It came from Lulu's Soul Fixin's". I said, "that doesn't means a thing".
     I proceeded to give this co-worker a brief history of soul food. The level of irony here is beyond the outer edges of the universe. But no matter. (For you newer readers: I'm the lily white, Jewish, part-time manager of a busy, somewhat high-end, African-American beauty salon.)
     Soul food has it's origins in a couple of distinctly separate roots.
     1) Much of it started out as food which the slaves ate. The slaves, of course, ate what the masters gave them; primarily, the throwaway bits and pieces of  meat which were considered unsavory for the white plantation owners. Jowls, feet, intestines and so forth. Also, weeds like dandelions would've been considered "good enough" and, substantially cheaper than, say, asparagus or broccoli; food, again, grown for the white family. So, over time, the slaves figured out how to make their allotted food taste really good. As decades turned into centuries, black cooks learned more and more by experimentation and trial and error how to deal with what they had and how to make it not only palatable but in fact really delicious. (Eastern European Jews did the exact same thing during the middle ages as a result of their own persecution. Kishka and chitterlings are very similar concepts. Kishka is stuffing-filled cow intestines and chitterlings are pig intestines with spices added. Different animal - same food.)
     2) The trans-Atlantic cargo ships brought not only Africans but also African food to the states. Sweet potatoes, watermelon, peanuts and certain beans are not indigenous to the Americas. They were introduced  simultaneous to the slave trade. Those were some of the foods that the Africans were used to eating back home while living free and they continued that tradition after arriving here. That tradition still continues today.
     So, I'm giving this soul food history lesson in the middle of a busy black beauty salon with all the old ladies and younger highly educated professionals agreeing with what I'm saying. "Amen Brother!" And this young thing is just looking at me like I have potatoes growing out of my nose because I'm saying that a polish boy and fries doesn't count in spite of the fact that it was purchased at Lulu's. It was very yum-yum, don't get me wrong, but I was expecting my birthday meal to be a bit more authentic. Oh well. Maybe next year.

Dieting While Attending The Feast Of The Assumption - How I Did

     Page One Hundred Twenty-Six.
     Per one of my blogs last week, I was determined to attend the feast and still remain on my weight reduction diet. So... how did I do?
     Okay. I attended three times: Thursday mid-late afternoon; Saturday evening and late Sunday night for the fireworks. 
     Thursday: I deeply soul-enjoyed the one slice of sausage pizza which I purchased. However, afterwards I was still hungry and didn't have the defenses in place to protect myself from the Devil's wares. I purchased a small order of fries (which was huge) but was only able to eat about 1/3 or so before I was full. Then just prior to leaving I bought a pound of cinnamon pralines, but ate none while walking. Later that night, I ate about 1/2 ounce.
     Friday: ate about 1 more ounce of the pralines.
     Saturday: no pralines that day. At the feast had one more slice of pizza. An hour later purchased one single meatball. Then got a lemonade.
     Sunday: no pralines at all. At the feast had one more slice of pizza. An hour later purchased one single meatball. Then got a lemonade. Enjoyed the stunning fireworks.
     So, I'm moderately pleased with my performance. (But, I'm stuck with almost a pound of the Devil's pralines on my kitchen shelf. Do you want them? I'll mail them to you. Seriously.)
     On Saturday, in the middle of this whole thing, I got some good news. At my gym they tested my percentage of body fat. The preferred fat content of gentlemen my age should be 22% or below. I'm at 21.6%. This is with a loss of ten pounds, ten to go. If you ever hear me complaining about my fat, tell me to be quiet.