YumSugar

Taco Bell Promotes World Series With Free Tacos Again

YumSugar — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 09:00:57 -0700

When it comes to the World Series, it seems everyone is rooting for a different team, but there's one thing that all of America can get behind: free tacos.

Mexican fast food chain Taco Bell's "Steal a Base, Steal a Taco" campaign is back again this year. The promotion, which the fast food chain first launched last year, gives out free Crunchy Seasoned Beef Tacos to all customers if and when a player from any team during any game captures the first stolen base of the 2008 World Series.

There's only one way to find out if this year's World Series will crown a new Taco Bell hero. Will you be tuning in and rooting for your free taco?

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What Is Your Favorite Ballpark Food?

partysugar — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 09:00:45 -0700

Tonight I'm off to a Giants game, and I'm already trying to figure out what I will eat while watching the game. Garlic fries? Nachos? Chicken strips with ranch? Oh, the possibilities are endlessly delicious! What do you like to eat at a baseball game?

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Would You Rather Eat Peanuts or Cracker Jacks?

YumSugar — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 01:30:25 -0700

Celebrating America's birthday got me thinking about America's pastime, and unfortunately, that means that "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" is stuck in my head. Though the lyric demands peanuts and Cracker Jacks, which one would you pick if forced to choose?

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Taco Bell Hypes World Series With Free Tacos

partysugar — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 13:45:26 -0700

Taco Bell is adding to the annual hype surrounding the World Series by launching its "Steal a Base, Steal a Taco" promotion. After the first base is stolen in the championship series, the company will give a free taco to anyone in the United States who wants one. According to the article from Reuters:

There has been at least one stolen base in every World Series matchup since 1990. When the first base is stolen, the unit of Yum Brands Inc. will announce a Tuesday afternoon when consumers will be able to walk into the chain's participating 5,800 outlets and ask for a free taco.

Technically no one will be stealing any tacos, as the fast food giant will be giving them away. I haven't had a Taco Bell taco in years, but looks like I'll be making an exception in the near future. What do you think? Will you steal a free taco?

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Catching Up With Chris Cosentino

partysugar — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 13:04:20 -0700

Since he competed in the Next Iron Chef two Summers ago, San Francisco's acclaimed offal-chef, Chris Cosentino, has been a very busy guy. He's worked nights at his head-to-tail rustic Italian restaurant, Incanto, opened a salumeria, Boccalone, at the Ferry Building in SF, and filmed a new television show, Chef vs. City, for the Food Network. Last week Chris took some time out of his hectic day-to-day to show me the graffiti-style "Shut Up and Cook" mural in the kitchen and to chat about everything from his 4-year-old son's eating habits to why he actively tweets. Find out what the chef had to say and read more.

On the Aug. 7 debut of Chef vs. City: It's very exciting, but it makes you nervous. We've already shot the entire show, but I don't get to see any of the final edits. I am what I am.

On food trends: I don't think food is trendy at all. I'm not reinventing anything here at Incanto. I'm just reintroducing. It's a realization of the past. Folks are more connected to where their food comes from. People are more interested in food - they're sharing with their neighbors, they're joining meat co-ops. They feel more connected to food because it's the ethical thing to do, not because it's trendy. You could say that Korean food is trendy right now, but to me a trend is something that comes, gets really popular, and goes away. Korean food isn't going to go away. It's just that more people are aware of Korean food. It's becoming mainstream, but it's not a trend. It's like bacon, people aren't going to stop eating bacon. Ever.

On his love affair with offal: Working in restaurants you see all the meat come in. Sure, there's always foie gras and sweetbreads, but when I came to work here [at Incanto] I wanted to cook rustic peasant food and the basis for this type of food is using every piece of meat. Using the whole animal. I've started harvesting my own animals and that changes your perspective.

On the one thing he won't eat: I eat everything. The only item I ever disliked - it turned my stomach - was balut.

On what's next for Boccalone: We just launched the mortadella hot dog. I like to do a hot dog during baseball season. We already make mortadella, but now we are just packaging it in a different way. I plan to continue rolling with what we are doing. I like to make really good consistent products. This is what we strive to do on a daily basis.

On how the Internet has changed the role of the modern chef: I have a lot of fun with Twitter. It's only 140 characters, so you really have to think about what you are saying. These sort of things are important because people want to communicate. People want to be in contact with chefs. They want to know how to cook, they want to ask questions. With my website, I try to bridge the gap. It gives me direct contact with the people. The Internet, Twitter, blogs have broken down a barrier. There is more exchanging of information occurring. I try to answer all the emails I get.

On raising a foodie son: My son will eat anything. He's had tripe, he's had beef heart tartar. At the Ferry Building last Saturday, he ate a dozen oysters by himself and he's 4 years old!

Source: Lisa Hamilton

Not Your Regular Nachos: Potachos

partysugar — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 11:15:32 -0700

What do you get when you cross potato skins with nachos? Potachos! The best of both worlds, this tasty invention uses the base of nachos (crunchy potato chips) with the topping of potato skins (cheddar cheese, bacon bits, sour cream, and green onions).The recipe is simple and like all nacho recipes, easily adaptable to your personal liking. These fabulously named (seriously say potachos out loud, it's fun!) nachos make a wonderful appetizer for a baseball watching party. For the recipe, read more.

Potachos
Original recipe from PartySugar

Ingredients

1 small bag potato chips, about 2-3 cups of chips*
salt, pepper
3/4 cup sharp cheddar cheese, grated
4-6 slices cooked bacon, chopped
2 green onions, dark green and white ends removed, minced
sour cream for serving

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Cover a cookie sheet with foil. Scatter the potato chips over the foil, forming a single layer. Season chips with salt and pepper.

Evenly sprinkle half of the cheese over the chips, being careful to make sure each chip has some cheese.
Top the cheese with half of the bacon bits, once again evenly distributing so each bite has bacon.

Cover with another layer of chips, cheese, and bacon.
Bake in the oven until cheese is melted, chips are crispy, and bacon is heated through, about 12-15 minutes.
Remove from oven and evenly top with the green onions. Dollop a heaping tablespoon on the middle.
Enjoy immediately with more sour cream for serving, if desired.

Serves 2-3.

*I used Kettle brand unsalted potato chips.

Print recipe with images | without images

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New McDonald's Uniforms: Love It or Hate It?

partysugar — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 00:29:03 -0700

Earlier this week McDonald's revealed the looks of their new British uniforms. Designed by couturier Bruce Oldfield, the uniforms - in a mocha, biscuit, and white color scheme - consist of collared shirts, baseball caps, and suits. The uniform update is part of McDonald's ongoing efforts to modernize the style and feel of the fast food experience. While I think it's an interesting idea, an ill fitting suit is never attractive and I can't imagine that the suits will be tailored to fit all 67,000 employees. How about you? What do you think of the uniforms?

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Iceberg Lettuce is Given the Cold Shoulder

YumSugar — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 13:13:38 -0700

Plastic wrapped, large round balls of iceberg lettuce were always present in my childhood fridge. However as I got older my beloved iceberg was replaced by romaine, spinach, arugula and even bitter greens. Turns out I'm not the only who turned their back on iceberg. Although it is still the nation's most prominent lettuce, iceberg has taken a back seat to other varied greens instead.

In 2006, 174,600 acres of iceberg lettuce were harvested in the United States, down from 198,500 acres in 1998, the first year for which U.S. Department of Agriculture statistics were available.

During the same period, the amount of harvested romaine lettuce increased from 36,450 acres to 61,000 acres. Green and red leaf lettuce harvests increased from 46,220 acres to 71,100 acres.

So why the sad slide into lettuce oblivion? At one point, iceberg was the only lettuce robust enough to make the supermarket journey without being damaged by ice. In fact, it actually received its name from the ice-filled train cars which shipped lettuce out. However, now that transportation and farming technology has advanced, more delicate greens - which once had to be consumed closer to home - can make the journey as well.

To entice customers, the country's largest lettuce supplier (Tanimura and Antle) is packaging its iceberg lettuce in plastic patterned with baseball stitching and including recipes for wedge salads printed on baseball cards.

Source: Topix

If You Had To Give Up One Food, What Would It Be?

partysugar — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 08:26:42 -0800

The other day I received an interesting email from one of my older brother's best friends, the handsome baseball coach, Matt. In the email, Matt described how he and his fellow coaches recently decided to give up certain foods for the entire baseball season from January until June. Matt is giving up all fried foods (healthy and doable), Scott is giving up cheese (I could NEVER in my entire life give up cheese), and Buddy is giving up bread (another tough one). Now I'm all for giving things up every now and then (to change the pace of your diet), and with Lent starting next Wednesday I applaud and encourage Matt and his team's willpower (I am going to give up shopping - not food related but I will definitely need your support readers!). If I had to give up one food I think it would be potato chips, I get weak in the knees whenever I'm near a bag and know I'd be better off without munching on them. How about you? If you had to give up one food, what would it be?

Foodie Flashback: Space Food Sticks

YumSugar — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 07:28:11 -0700

For some reason I assumed energy bars were an invention of the 90s. However, I just discovered that back in the late 60s, Pillsbury developed "many special foods" for the space race. The first one was called Space Food Sticks and it was a "compact, nutritious, high energy food." And it was apparently good for everyone from astronauts - who strangely have a hole in their helmets for their space food stick to go through - to baseball playing tykes. And hey, it's only 44 calories.

They disappeared for a while, but now they're back in a slightly different format. You can get an entire case for about $30. Now you can blast off into outer space!

To check out the fantastic commercial for this fantastic flashback product, read more

If you're looking for more bizarre flashbacks, be sure to check out GiggleSugar.