Bar none, best you've ever had

Here ketchup is usually sweeter than what you find in the US so the most popular US brand is Hunts. I remember one of my aunts buying a bottle of green Heinz ketchup years ago. The color put me off Heinz for a while.

When I was five I thought Heinz tasted and smelled too much like McClelland Tobacco
Bottles used to say Catsup. Now that is called the Canadian Spelling.
Hunts was our favorite. I still use it. There was a brand, I think went national, called Brook's Tangy. Used to be made across the river in Illinois. Drive b by the town and you would see a thirty foot Brooks Tangy bottle. Still around, but made elsewhere. Not quite the same.
Over the years I have started putting McClelland Tobacco on my burgers

I really like how Butterfinger tastes but it loses points for getting stuck in my molars. Does this happen to you too? I know I'm on the wrong side of this issue but I've been a loyal Pepsi drinker since I took the Pepsi Challenge when I was 8. The fact that they gave out superhero trading cards when I was 11 kind of sealed it. What is it about Coca-Cola that makes it so popular worldwide?

I used to have a lot of liquor "Best Ofs". Old Weller 107 was one of the better ones. Mostly have liked Heaven Hill Bourbon.
Vodka, Suntory. The rest are just alcohol
Gin, though Bombay may be more exotic, for all around drunken purposes it's Beefeater. Best Martinis, Gibsons, Bloody Marys.

Pulled pork bbq and ribs:

Southern Soul BBQ. St Simons Island GA

I agree. It's up there with the smoked meat from Schwartz' in Montreal for my favorite sandwich.

Here's the thing for me about vodka and gin. I don't drink them by themselves so it makes little sense that they be particularly better than the rest of the ingredients in whatever cocktail I'm making. In that sense It really comes down to bang for your buck which is why I really like Oso Negro vodka. I'm not saying there aren't better vodkas in the world, but I doubt there's one with as much quality at the price anywhere. In terms of gin I feel somewhat similarly about Beefeater although Gibsons and Gordon's/Tanqueray are just as good if slightly different flavoured. I'm usually drinking vodka tonics and gin & ginger with those two.

On "The Hill" in Saint Louis, home of Yogi Berra and Joe Garagiola, there's a place called Gioia's Deli that serves a Hot Salami Sandwich. The only one of its kind. It's kept in a water bath until slicing, very soft, almost a head cheese feel, though not as gelatinous. The store went back to 1919 or so, and though they claim it's still family owned, I am quite positive that is wrong. I recently saw an image of the family in a book on "The Hill" and was surprised to see "Old Man" Gioia as a kid. We delivered meat to him for many years. Nice guy. 

Howard Johnson Chocolate Chip ice cream
Ardbeg Provenance
Ben & Jerry's Cherry Garcia
Padron Anniversario Series cigars
Fuentes Opus X
Mondavi Opus One 1986

+1 on that... special trip to Safeway for 3 today...

Popcorn made with cocoanut oil.

Back in the 1980’s some holier than thou folk with a fax machine spread the word that cocoanut oil consumption was going to be the end of the world as we know it. Theaters shamefacedly ran from the oils to save us from ourselves, and supply us with the chemical-tasting-by-comparison popcorn that they now dispense.

A few years ago, some of us smelled a rat and went back to cocoanut oil... the popcorn far surpasses anything available at a theater, and paired with real butter, the stuff is still as fresh days later and much more flavorful.... I won’t even order theater popcorn now, nor will my kids... tastes like crap by comparison.

The last few years have seen a resurgence in the discovery of cocoanut oil, but true to form, those with an agenda, fund studies to tell us that we are facing death by ignoring them.

observer.com/2017/06/new-study-coconut-oil-ldl-cholesterol-levels/


6 Tbsp cocoanut oil
1 cup popcorn
1 stick butter

In a stock pot under med-high heat throw a few kernels of corn, and when the bubble around the edges throw the rest in. Keep the lid cracked for steam to escape, and shake on the burner occasionally until popping slows to every few seconds a single pop. Layer with butter, salt to taste.

Kettle corn is phenomenally better also with cocoanut oil if you have a sweet tooth.

That's what I've heard, that corn liquor or moonshine can substituted for vodka in many cases. Also heard it is being used more by many bars. But the person who told me that was a tour guide from a distillery in Kentucky, (FWIW). 

I'm surprised to hear that; I always thought that Whataburger's selling point was their mustard.