Category: Foodstuffs

Recently, McDonalds re-introduced their McRib sandwich (available for a limited time only!). I can’t remember the last time I had one, although if I had to guess, I would say it was somewhere around six years ago.

I always wondered why the McRib would disappear and then come back a random number of years later. ChicagoMag.com recently published an article solving many of the mysteries surrounding the McRib. Turns out, it disappears because the sandwich’s availability eats up the supply of the nation’s pork trimmings.

In what should be a surprise to no one, there are no ribs in the McRib.  Rather, the McRib is more like a frankensandwich:

Restructured meat products are commonly manufactured by using lower-valued meat trimmings reduced in size by comminution (flaking, chunking, grinding, chopping or slicing). The comminuted meat mixture is mixed with salt and water to extract salt-soluble proteins. These extracted proteins are critical to produce a “glue” which binds muscle pieces together. These muscle pieces may then be reformed to produce a “meat log” of specific form or shape. The log is then cut into steaks or chops which, when cooked, are similar in appearance and texture to their intact muscle counterparts.

And those lower-valued meat trimmings aren’t always what one would think of as meat. Rather, they’re comprised of things like the heart, tounge and other internal trimming. This is also pretty much how McDonalds makes their Chicken McNuggets.

I agree with the author of the ChicagoMag article- knowing this doesn’t gross me out. In fact, I wish I weren’t so squeamish about eating the non-traditional (to us Americans, but traditional to everywhere else in the world) animal parts. But I think it’s the whole process involved in making the McRib that puts me off.

A few summers ago, inspired by a visit to the Ohio State Fair, I started making porkburgers. I use ground pork (and the guy at the store told me it was freshly ground from pork butt (which is actually the shoulder)), and grill it. And I have to say my version is better than the ones they sell at the fair. And if I ever get the hankering for a McRib, all I have to do is make one of my porkburgers and add some onions and pickles.

Last year, for our first spring/summer in our new house, I planted some beets and peppers in our backyard.  Despite planting the seeds late in the season (I think I planted the beets in late May and the peppers in mid-June), by fall, we had a number of good beets and small, if not decent-sized peppers.

Well this year, I’m slowly expanding the backyard garden.  I’ve bought beet and pepper seeds, and have decided to try out artichokes.  Even though artichokes usually are grown in California, the seed packet says they can be grown (and will even come back for a second year) in Ohio.

It’s been pretty rainy and cold lately, so I haven’t planted anything outside yet.  I did have a small pot and just enough dirt to start something inside, so I started some of the artichoke seeds.

I put those in the pot maybe two and a half weeks ago.  I hope the weather clears so I can plant these, as well as some beet and pepper seeds soon.

I know I can do peppers and beets.  It would be great if the artichokes work out.  Although I should mention that I may not be the only one eating the beets when it’s harvesting time.  Last weekend, Hope had some beets and went crazy (in a good way) over them.  It’s a good thing I know a few ways to cook them.

I was in the rare books section of a local library when I saw this:

Naturally, I was interested.  I wasn’t allowed to touch the book (I’m surprised I was even allowed to look at it), but I wanted to learn more. The book is available on archive.org, and after checking it out, I’m sad to say the spine is a case of false advertising.

Last week, I went to a n Italian place here in Columbus and was befuddled by an item on the sandwich menu:

I don’t know what’s more odd- the melting cheese or the salsa on a meatball sandwich that clearly has none. It’s probably just a case of false advertising. After all, salsa is America’s favorite condiment.

GEORGE: Why don’t they have salsa on the table?

JERRY: What do you need salsa for?

GEORGE: Salsa is now the number one condiment in America.

JERRY: You know why? Because people like to say “salsa.” “Excuse me, do
you have salsa?” “We need more salsa.” “Where is the salsa? No salsa?”

GEORGE: You know it must be impossible for a Spanish person to order
seltzer and not get salsa. (Angry) “I wanted seltzer, not salsa.”

JERRY: “Don’t you know the difference between seltzer and salsa?? You
have the seltezer after the salsa!”

One of the great things about owning your own place is you can do whatever you want to your house and property.

Since moving in back in March, The Civee and I have already made some modifications to our house.  As for our backyard, it has needed a lot of work-when we bought the place, there was nothing in the backyard other than a big patch of grass.  No fence, no garden, nothing.

In just a few months, the backyard has come a long way.  The grill stands proudly above an herb garden.  We’ve successfully grown some tasty strawberries.  And while we want to grow our own vegetables, for our first year, we decided to start small.  I had a packet of beet seeds left over from when I thought we’d do some gardening back in our apartment days. The seeds went in the ground early last month and they’ve already grown quite a lot.

We have a nice patch of beets, although they’re growing a bit close together and have to be separated. Separating them is a pain and I have to admit, some of the ones I’ve re-planted haven’t survived.

Hopefully, some of them will survive to be eaten (by the Civee and I, not bugs or animals).  Beets are among the most versatile of all vegetables.  In addition to eating the roots, you can use the greens (also known as chard) also.  You can grill the roots, roast them, shred them and eat them raw with some olive oil and lemon juice.

Next year, I’m sure we’ll plant a few other vegetables and use what I’ve learned this year to make next year’s beets even better.  But hopefully, this year, even with the beets being as crowded as they are, we get enough to do some interesting things with this fall.  Or whenever the beet harvest is- I’m not exactly Dwight Schrute when it comes to beet farming.

Awesome Town is getting a new gas station/mini mart.  They’ve been building the place for the past few months, but put signs up last week and decorated the inside this week.

While walking past and peeking in the windows, I noticed something- three quarters of the shelves in the place are already filled with foodstuffs–chips, twinkies, candy, etc.  They haven’t said when the place will open, but I’m guessing it’s another week or two away.  This got me to thinking- that’s a lot of stuff that will be sitting around before people even get a chance to buy it.  But somehow, because of all the chemicals contained within each item, they will still legally be able to sell it and people will be able to eat it.

I’ve had a lot of junk food in my day.  But this got me thinking- with all this stuff in there sitting around, waiting to be bought and eaten, it can’t be that nutritious, or otherwise good for you.

So welcome to Awesome Town, new gas station.  I may stop to fill up my car.  But after seeing all that food sitting around, I probably won’t be stopping to fill myself up.