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The Cereal Report

May 19, 2009 in Reviews, Silly Lists | 1 comment

As part of my constant mission to advance science, I have been testing various cereals. I ate a lot of cereal when I was growing up. A LOT. For breakfast, lunch and dinner. I was known around the neighborhood for eating cereal. Just ask Nicole and Pauli, who lived across the alley. My favorites as a kid were Sugar Corn Pops, Sugar Smacks, Cocoa Krispies, Lucky Charms and Moon Rocks (long discontinued). I also liked Grape-Nuts, Shredded Wheat (big biscuits) and Rice Krispies — all with many spoonfuls of sugar. As I got older the amount of sugar involved in this cereal consumption became, well, sickening. But I’ve been getting back into the cereal game. The ranked results of my testing follow:

1. Equal parts Kix, Sugar Corn Pops and Captain Crunch. Great combination. The Kix lightens the sugary punch of the other two. Captain Crunch is the secret ingredient.

2. Captain Crunch. My new favorite cereal. Not with the peanut butter (I like peanut butter but…disgusting) and not with the crunchberries.

3. Sugar Corn Pops. Not as sugary as they sound, which is good at this point in my life.

4. Honeycomb. Was never big into Honeycomb, probably because it is also somewhat less sugary. Oddly enough, I was introduced to it on a trip to Yale during college. So whenever I eat Honeycomb, I think of Yale. The brain is freaky.

5. Kix. Somewhere between sugared and non-sugared cereal.

6. Equal parts Kix and Sugar Corn Pops. Doesn’t really work.

I haven’t had the courage to try Fruit Loops, Sugar Smacks, Cocoa Krispies or some of the other cereals that seem more sugary. I don’t know if I can face the milk at the bottom of the bowl.

Yeehaw for Banana Peppers

April 23, 2009 in Silly Lists | No comments

It’s been too long since I updated my top five lunch spot rankings. There have been some noteworthy changes as Chipotle, Schlotsky’s and Wahoo’s have fallen out of the rankings:

arrow 1. Taste of Philly. The Broadway location. It’s near work so I eat there a lot. Great sandwiches. Secret weapon: the chicken in their chicken cheesesteak.

arrow 2. I {heart} New York Pizzeria. Leetsdale and Holly. I don’t eat there as often as I would like because it’s closer to home than it is to work. But I {heart} their freshly baked calzones. Secret weapon #1: banana peppers in the calzone, which adds so much flavor the side marinara sauce is rendered moot. Special shout out to E for suggesting I add banana peppers. I love ‘em but never thought of adding them to a calzone. Secret weapon #2: their Ms. Pac-Man stand-up arcade game. I took my nephew there once and he loved the game more than the pizza.

arrow 3. Mr. Lucky’s Sandwiches. At 6th & Washington, Mr. Lucky’s is not quite close enough to work to eat lunch there but if I’m driving by for one reason or the other I try to pick up a sandwich. At first it seems like a run-of-the-mill deli, but then you bite into it. Secret weapon #1: the bread. I’ve talked about the importance of bread in a sandwich before in my fastfoodography. Under no circumstances should the bread in a sandwich be overlooked, and it too often is. Secret weapon #2: the peppercinis. Sometimes you can get peppercinis on the side of a sandwich. Mr. Lucky’s chops them up and put them on the sandwich. They should get Edison-like recognition for this innovation. Like the banana peppers in the calzone, with this much snap in the toppings, who needs mustard or mayo?

arrow 4. Tokyo Joe’s. My only other good option near work. Getting kind of tired of it but keep going back for more. Secret weapon: addictive peanut sauce.

arrow 5. Anthony’s. My third in a series of Anthony’s, this one out near DU. This is a distant 5th place. Secret weapon: good place to watch football while eating pizza.

Underrated Discoveries

January 21, 2008 in Quotable, Silly Lists | No comments

There was an interesting piece in my latest Stanford Alumni Magazine. They asked a number of people what each thought was the most underrated discovery of their lifetime. Some of the answers were: the TV mute button, wheels on luggage, the memory stick, the discovery of REM sleep, and the rediscovery of other people in “the frenetic Information Age.” But the most intriguing response was this one, from a Stanford MBA graduate named Elise Bauer:

Ibuprofen is the only truly effective drug for menstrual cramps. Before ibuprofen, millions of women were completely debilitated with pain at least one full day every month. No wonder women didn’t truly take to the working world en masse until the late ’70s, early ’80s. This is the drug that allowed them to function reliably in the corporate world.

So, readers, what do you think is the most underrated discovery of your lifetime?

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