Food For Thought, but mainly food

[miner2049er]

Following my latest visit to the US I made a few notes. Kindly address the issues and fill in the blanks.

1- In between your houses, or newer ones anyway, you don't have any fences/ bushes. Do you not want the privacy or do you just shoot anyone that even comes close?

2- I went to the Florida Mall and there were 2 Gamestops in the same Mall. Is that common and if so why?

3- Arctic Ice Dentyne. I love the taste of Root Beer and I picked up a packet of Arctic Ice flavoured Dentyne which had the same taste. Over here the taste / smell would be referred to as wintergreen. What do you call it?

4- Arizona Iced Tea. I bought a big can of this stuff and I really liked it. In Walgreens I saw big plastic containers of it. Do people like it so much they buy a gallon tub or would you make your own?

5- Making Iced Tea. I assume you brew the tea from bags with boiling water then remove the tea bags and leave it to cool or would you stick it in the fridge and cool it more quickly? Would you have some chilled in the fridge ready to go or do you just brew it as you want it and wait for it to chill?

6- Sticks of butter are sh1t. Like it says, butter in sticks is just stupid. You make toast, get your stick of butter and run the knife along the top to scrape some off then spread it. Trouble is, it always wears down in the middle first and you wnd up with 2 triangles of butter at each end. Get a grip America. I did like how the packaging was marked out like a ruler so you could slice a tsp of butter off for cooking. Tubs of butter are the future. Use them.

7- When I was in Australia we ate in a Lone Star Steakhouse and it was one of the best meals I had there. I had a ribeye with a baked sweet potato. I didn't know they had them in the US too and I tried it out. Again it was the best meal I had there. Conclusion: Lone Star Steakhouse is very good:- discuss.

8- One of the less pleasant meals I had was from Taco Bell. I had a Big Black Taco Box which had 3 different types of sh1t inside and cinnamon twists for dessert. It was $5.99 and I got what I paid for: cheap food. Conclusion: Taco Bell is very bad:- discuss.

9- I really wanted to try out Arbys and Carls Jr but I didn't se a Carls Jr and only saw 1 Arbys after we had already eaten so I didn't get to try either. On the bright side I did have the finest burger of all those I tried from Wendy's. Conclusion: Wendy's do very good burgers:- discuss.

10- I saw an Olive Garden but chose to eat at Chili's instead. 2 for 1 on beer and Margaritas: Good Times. Food that was average at best: Bad Times. Conclusion: Sit at the bar in chilis and have bar snacks with your free drinks:- discuss.

[chronodev]

2- I went to the Florida Mall and there were 2 Gamestops in the same Mall. Is that common and if so why?



Only 2? In a mall near where I live there are 3 Gamestops. And 5 minutes drive from that mall, there are an additional 2 gamestops for a total of 5 (no kidding)

Why? I think part of it is that there used to be Electronic boutique and EBGames and other chains that eventually got bought by gamestops so theyre now all gamestops...

[SubaruBrat]

#1. Developers have decided that by putting houses close enough you can hand your neighbor toilet paper if he runs out then they can build 20% more houses on a portion of land and make more money.

#2. Haven't been to a mall since high school

#3. Wintergreen

#4. Throw a jug in the fridge and pour it cold when you want it. I occasionally but the green tea sugarless.

#5. Varies, some people do that, others place the bags in a jug and let it brew in the sun. I like tea hot usually.

#7. Its allright, but I could take you to local places that are much better. Places not to go in the US are Outback and iHop, both steaks taste like liver which may be a plus in the UK but is a negative here.

#8. If you lived to tell about eating that much Taco Bell count your blessings and consider every day after that a colon cleansed gift.

#9. Wendy's is so bad I can't describe it well. The cheese is fake, the meat is soy and cardboard. If you want a great burger you have to go local.

#10. Chilies and the rest of the chains are OK for a lunch but not a nice meal. Again you have to go local to the one of a kind nicer restaurants.

[miner2049er]

#1. Developers have decided that by putting houses close enough you can hand your neighbor toilet paper if he runs out then they can build 20% more houses on a portion of land and make more money.

I get that, but this was on houses not that close together. Yours for example, from pics I saw (some time ago) is not that close to your neighbours but you still have no fence between you.

If you were my neighbour I would install a moat.


#7. Its alright, but I could take you to local places that are much better. Places not to go in the US are Outback and iHop, both steaks taste like liver which may be a plus in the UK but is a negative here.

Yeah, I got warned about iHOP.

I rarely eat in chain restaurants over here and try to go local, but I wanted to try out some of the named ones during my stay.

During my last visit I walked into and then immediately out of a Dennys. The place was just plain old dirty.


#9. Wendy's is so bad I can't describe it well. The cheese is fake, the meat is soy and cardboard. If you want a great burger you have to go local.

It did taste good though, even for cheese slices.


#10. Chilies and the rest of the chains are OK for a lunch but not a nice meal. Again you have to go local to the one of a kind nicer restaurants.

Yeah, I got outvoted, I wouldn't have gone there through my own choice.

[SubaruBrat]

I think fences and hedgerows have gone the way of pubic hair, just not in style anymore.

As for Dennys, true, but let's put it in terms you will relate to. After downing a jug of Scrumpy, might you find a basket of really greasy fish and chips really tasty?

[andyuk]

3: Artic Ice .. HmMMMMmmmmMMM, though not quite as nice as Dentyne Fire, Cinnamon in a stick. But damn, good all the same.

Frankly amazed me to see that many flavours of 'Chuddy' in one go. Not so sure about cappaccino flavour??

9: Wendy's isn't THAT bad. Cheap and cheerful and their 'Daddy' burger was plenty filling. I mean, where else can you buy the "Baconator" heh. Not overly keen on the 'cheese??' they use though. On the plus side, it's at least yellow..

Tell you what I'll send over a few Kilo's of good cheshire, and you send me some of that Maple bacon.. UuuuUUhhh Maple bacon, pancakes and syrup!!!!!

[SubaruBrat]

Sticks of butter are sh1t. Like it says, butter in sticks is just stupid. You make toast, get your stick of butter and run the knife along the top to scrape some off then spread it. Trouble is, it always wears down in the middle first and you wnd up with 2 triangles of butter at each end. Get a grip America. I did like how the packaging was marked out like a ruler so you could slice a tsp of butter off for cooking. Tubs of butter are the future. Use them.

Try taking a slice of the end in a vertical fashion. Would you scrape your knife along the top of a loaf of bread to get a slice? Even in American society it won't do to loudly complain about the difficulties of operating a stick of butter.

[miner2049er]

Try taking a slice of the end in a vertical fashion.

Being an incredibly ingenious individual I did try that, but straight from the fridge it is nigh on impossible to cut a slice thin enough to be spreadable.

Sticks of butter? Designed by committee.

[SubaruBrat]

We got that problem solved too:

http://www.macys.com/catalog/product/index.ognc?ID=425535&cm_mmc=GoogleShopping-_-6-_-77-_-MP677

And here http://www.oneclickbuttercutter.com/butter-cutter-with-waffles-small.jpg

Another design: http://recipegal.com/shopping/images/pr_14537.jpg

The right tool for the job: http://www.luxuryhousingtrends.com/kitchenart-butter-cutter-dispenser.jpg


The future is stick butter, with the right tools you can sling slices of savory spreadables. Don't sit there dipping out of that tub, go modern and modular. They may have taken you guns but you can still strap up two butter dispensers six-gun style and go modernize England one breakfast table at a time.

[GameGavel]

Following my latest visit to the US I made a few notes. Kindly address the issues and fill in the blanks.

1- In between your houses, or newer ones anyway, you don't have any fences/ bushes. Do you not want the privacy or do you just shoot anyone that even comes close?

2- I went to the Florida Mall and there were 2 Gamestops in the same Mall. Is that common and if so why?

3- Arctic Ice Dentyne. I love the taste of Root Beer and I picked up a packet of Arctic Ice flavoured Dentyne which had the same taste. Over here the taste / smell would be referred to as wintergreen. What do you call it?

4- Arizona Iced Tea. I bought a big can of this stuff and I really liked it. In Walgreens I saw big plastic containers of it. Do people like it so much they buy a gallon tub or would you make your own?

5- Making Iced Tea. I assume you brew the tea from bags with boiling water then remove the tea bags and leave it to cool or would you stick it in the fridge and cool it more quickly? Would you have some chilled in the fridge ready to go or do you just brew it as you want it and wait for it to chill?

6- Sticks of butter are sh1t. Like it says, butter in sticks is just stupid. You make toast, get your stick of butter and run the knife along the top to scrape some off then spread it. Trouble is, it always wears down in the middle first and you wnd up with 2 triangles of butter at each end. Get a grip America. I did like how the packaging was marked out like a ruler so you could slice a tsp of butter off for cooking. Tubs of butter are the future. Use them.

7- When I was in Australia we ate in a Lone Star Steakhouse and it was one of the best meals I had there. I had a ribeye with a baked sweet potato. I didn't know they had them in the US too and I tried it out. Again it was the best meal I had there. Conclusion: Lone Star Steakhouse is very good:- discuss.

8- One of the less pleasant meals I had was from Taco Bell. I had a Big Black Taco Box which had 3 different types of sh1t inside and cinnamon twists for dessert. It was $5.99 and I got what I paid for: cheap food. Conclusion: Taco Bell is very bad:- discuss.

9- I really wanted to try out Arbys and Carls Jr but I didn't se a Carls Jr and only saw 1 Arbys after we had already eaten so I didn't get to try either. On the bright side I did have the finest burger of all those I tried from Wendy's. Conclusion: Wendy's do very good burgers:- discuss.

10- I saw an Olive Garden but chose to eat at Chili's instead. 2 for 1 on beer and Margaritas: Good Times. Food that was average at best: Bad Times. Conclusion: Sit at the bar in chilis and have bar snacks with your free drinks:- discuss.

Housing - depends on where you live. Most homes in the suburbs of most cities are usually fenced in or on larger plots of land maybe not using fences. Inexpensive housing tracts sometime are sans fences.

Multiple GameStops. Not the norm. They bought out Software ETC., Babbages and some others so maybe they kept the stores open and elected to have multiple stores in one mall. Was it a big mall? I've never been in a mall with more than one and we have some big ones here in Cali.

Wintergreen = Root Beer? These are two entirely different flavors in my mind.

You really missed out missing Arby's. It's a very good place to eat and fills niche - roast beef. Taco Bell is really not that bad in my book, but certainly not authentic Mexican in any way, shape or form. Carl's Jr. good, but nothing special. Wendy's is decent in my opinion. Next time try:

http://www.chick-fil-a.com/#home and http://www.in-n-out.com/

Chili's is normally quite good in my opinion. We sit in the bar and usually snack on appetizers and drink :)

Agreed, Lonestar is a great place for a steak. We have then in Southern California as well. It's def a treat to eat there!

Sticks of butter are KABOOM!KABOOM!KABOOM!KABOOM!. Agreed. Unless you are cooking.

I am not a big iced tea drinker to no comments there.

[miner2049er]

Was it a big mall? I've never been in a mall with more than one and we have some big ones here in Cali.

Allegedly the biggest in Florida but I don't know how true that is.


Next time try:

http://www.chick-fil-a.com/#home and http://www.in-n-out.com/

I saw 2 Chick-fil-a s and one was right near us but from the outside they looked nasty so I didn't try it.

Didn't see an in-n-out.