Feasting on Waves

The next installment of Alton Brown's Feasting series is coming!  Feasting on Waves begins airing in September on Food Network.  The first episode will run Sunday night, September 7th, at 10:00pm EST.  Not a very good time slot for a new series, but it will air again on a more reasonable Wednesday night (10th) at 8:00pm.  After just watching Feasting on Asphalt 1 and 2 a few times; I'm pretty geared up for this one.


Food Network link to FOW show information

Alton Brown site link for FOW linkage

Feasting on Asphalt 2 Map

I've been working on a Feasting on Asphalt 2: The River Run map in Google Maps.  So far I have made it from the Gulf Coast to Popeye's statue plotting all of Alton's stops along the way.  I'll try to trace their road course when I find a little extra time, though judging by the Memphis to Chester leg I'll have to do some guessing in parts.  Please feel free to check it out and add any comments/suggestions for improvements or things I left out.  FOLLOW THIS LINK TO THE MAP

P.S.  I'll start working on an FOA 1 map when i finish this one.  I started with the second season since all of the places were listed int eh book along with their GPS coordinates.  I'm currently watching FOA1 again and jotting down notes and coordinates.

Family Size Pricing Rip Off

I learned a lesson in deceit tonight at the grocery store: buying family size packages do not necessarily mean you are saving any money.  In fact, it was just the opposite.  The principle of buying in bulk is that it costs less per unit for a manufacturer to produce and ship a larger package than a 'normal' size package.  Thus, the price per unit should be cheaper for you.  A kind of reward for buying in bulk.  I found the opposite to be true when I scrutinized the pricing of my Kraft Mac n Cheese!

Single box (normal size package): 74 cents
Family size (basically double the quantity): $1.99!
So, it costs 51 cents MORE to buy the family size than to buy two regular size boxes!  That's a pretty significant difference.
But wait, it gets better!  How about the bulk package?
Five box bulk package: $4.19
Five individually priced boxes @$0.74: $3.70!!
So, it costs 49 cents MORE to buy in bulk!  What the heck?

I only had time to check one other item since I was almost finished with shopping and my little angel was waking up.  I instinctively went to grab the largest box of Cheerios but remembered my pasta lesson.  I checked the price per ounce and found that it was the same scenario; it was cheaper to buy the regular size box instead of the huge 'family size' box!  I'll definitely have to pay more attention next time I go to the store.

Luckily, there is a quick and easy way to tell what package is the best buy!  If you look at the shelf price tag it shows the price per whatever standard unit the item is measured in.  For example: my Kraft Mac n Cheese shows a cost of 10.7 cents per ounce (7.25 ounce regular package size at a price of 74 cents).

Feasting on Asphalt: The Lost Road

When Alton Brown says that you will never see anything worth stopping for on the Interstate he may be close to the mark, but then again there may be things you don't want to get caught up in on the back roads.  I ran across this article on Yahoo news this morning about a town having to institute a 24 hour curfew; apparently they are plagued by drug deals and random violence from assault rife toting criminals.  The town is Helena-West Helena in Arkansas.  I sat for a minute trying to figure out why that sounded so familiar.

Finally it hit me; wasn't that where the drive-through donut shop was in Feasting on Asphalt?  Or was it Ray's Dairy Maid?  I'm pretty sure that was one of those.  Whether I remember the correct place or not, it is an interesting additional perspective on Alton Brown's Mississippi journey.  It serves as a reminder that while it can be a great experience to hop off the freeway and explore some new territory, you might not find exactly what you are looking for.  Living near Detroit I know this all too well.  You had better know what exit you need to take to your destination in that city or you might end up on some street where the locals are hostile to you.

Here's a link to the Yahoo article

Good Eats: Frozen Cache

Frozen Cache will be airing Monday, August 11th at 8pm.  For all of you lucky souls, like myself, who have fresh local fruits and vegetables in season and need some inspiration on storing them well into the winter.  I'm seriously considering the purchase of a dedicated freezer to keep a few batches of grape juice and peaches for those icy days in January.

Feasting on Asphalt 2 Makes a Comeback

After my initial disappointment with the lack of director's comments or much additional material in the FOA2 box set I have returned to view the series in its entirety.  Why the change of heart?  Well, I have been reading the companion book and gazing longingly at the pictures of roadside food joints. Feasting on Asphalt has also become a new influence on my lifestyle this week.

When my daughter was born fifteen weeks ago we quickly discovered that my Saturn VUE was not quite up to the task of hauling her and her gear along for anything other than a trip to Target; and even that was pretty cramped if my wife wanted to sit next to the car seat in the back.  Reluctantly I have began shopping for a larger vehicle.  In what was a boring task of looking at bland hulking SUVs, minivans, and crossovers I, for the first time, could not get excited about car shopping.  Then it all changed....

After a good dose of FOA and planning for future cross country trips to out of the way places I drove by the Ford dealer and something caught my eye.  There was a new Ford Flex parked out front.  The first thought that entered my mind was 'road trip!'  It's sleek lines and old wagon looks spoke to me.  I could picture myself rolling up to a donut shop in Mississippi in that thing.  The next day I was back with my wife and daughter in tow.  We looked it over, took and drive, and are ready to order one.  The nostalgia of the FOA series just opened up a new adventure for me.