Why I Oughta...

A few weeks back, I posted a SNL sketch featuring Will Forte doing a halftime dance.  Hilarious stuff .  Last week, I was reading an AMA with Will Forte and there were a few sketches that were mentioned that he pointed out that I had not see before. They're both hilarious.  And while I've always liked Forte, these both make me appreciate him even more. Maybe you've seen them already?  They were both new to me. First up?  Trick-or-Treat Sex Offender: And second?  Fartface.  Yeah...Fartface.

Love this new Android video spot called "Handshake".  It is part of the 'Be together. Not the same.' series. I first saw it on the final episode of Parks & Rec last week.  Seems like we're seeing quite a bit more of the little green guy these days and that's a good thing.  While I'm an Android Fanboy, I think they've found a nice message there by talking about the sameness of the competition. You can take the boy out of Google.  But you can't take the Google out of the boy, I guess.  

Brace yourself folks.   There are Dole Whips to be had in Glen Ellyn.  At a place called Skinny Sweet Frozen Yogurt . Don't know what a Dole Whip is?  Well...that's too bad for you.  But, if you've been to Disney World, you likely know what a Dole Whip is and like me, you probably can't wait to get another one.   Well...there's good news if you live out in the Western Suburbs.  This guy dropped me a line yesterday to share the good news. Hey Jake,   I stumbled across your blog, I am reading back and have really enjoyed it.  I also live in Elmhurst, and own 3 yogurt shops (skinnysweet) and I see you're Disney obsessed - we are currently running Dole Pineapple Whip in our Glen Ellyn store, which Disnerds go crazy for.   Take care,   XXXXX Here's the quandary I'm in:  we have a Disney trip planned for this Spring.  Do I hold out and go for the original at the park and NOT spoil myself?  Or, should we make a family outing over to Skinny S

I'm one of those guys who have totally bought into the In-N-Out narrative.  Every trip to California includes a stop for some chow.  This past trip, I made a stop and ordered Animal-style fries for the first time.  They were awesome.  Gross.  But awesome. I've had a few meals that I can recall at a moment's notice in my mind like Buddy's in Detroit or John's Pizza in NYC and now I think this double Animal-style'd meal is on that list.

I was on a flight home from the West Coast a few weeks back and I had seat 3A.  In the armrest was this tethered 'remote' and in front of me was this touchscreen (below).  On it, was a series of movies on demand, some tv shows and it seemed even games. I spent the time ONLY in the movies section and watched two pretty great movies:  Whiplash and St. Vincent. The plane I was on was one of the 'new' American jets and it was pretty nice.  Seats were comfortable, clean and the technology was nice.  I didn't get to look around, but I'm guessing that these screens are in *every* seat?  The movies were free, which was great, but not sure of the experience elsewhere. I usually travel on longer flights with a movie or two pinned to my tablet.  And because I don't know when/where I'll get one of these new AA jets, I'll probably keep doing that.  But...when luck shines on me and I get this setup, I'll enjoy it.  It was preeetay, preeetay, prettay n

Admittedly, this song  sure is a slow starter , but when the chorus kicks in, there can't possibly be a person in this here world who doesn't want to sway back and forth to the tune and get a smile on their face, right? Just pure gold, Steve.  Gold. But...the reason for this post is to point out a major rift in our house.   I don't actually think there's a more divisive artist in our household than Steve Winwood.  Nat thinks he's all synth and sounds sooooo specific to a period of the 80's.  I, on the other hand, love just about everything he puts out.  #SynthFTW.

For the past few years, I've been toying (well...a little bit more than toying!) around with a Detroit-style dough formulation that was based solely on this formulation from PizzaHog on the PizzaMaking.com forums .  But, the dough was never quite 'enough' to fill the pans to all four corners. So, over the past few months, I've taken to the baker's percentage calculator (Thx, NYU!) to 'up' the size of the total dough ball in volume, but keep the percentages equal.  So, I've take the flour up from 273 grams to 300 grams and the calculator factor'd the rest.  With the extra 25 grams, the skin flows out to the corners and fills up the pan all the way. The past few times I've made pizza at home, I've had to turn to the calculator each time I wanted to make pizza.  Now, I'm planting this here on the blog, so I can turn to it when necessary.

The layers of this Howard Stern Show-related exchange on Twitter make me smile.

That's what the folks at Little Caesar's are touting this week. A pizza 'encased' in bacon . Here's what it looks like courtesy of USNews : From the looks of it, they've topped the pie with even more bacon and pepperoni.  I make a Detroit-style sausage/pepperoni (or soppressata).  And...I really like the ' meat lovers' pie from Home Run Inn (the restaurant version more than the frozen version). So, it seems that this is something I should be trying to make, right?  I typically employ a two cheese process on my Detroit-style pizzas.  And...I do a cold rise with the skins.  I wonder when you put the bacon in?  Maybe you take the raw bacon and weld it to the side of the pans and allow the dough - which when started is almost like pancake batter - kind of 'grow out' to the sides and get to the bacon?  What about the charred/carmelized cheese that normally graces the sides of these pies?  You know the kind...like at Peaquod's/Burt's?

Unlike my trip to Denver a week back , this trip I was able to spend just a/bit more time taking it all in.  Didn't hurt that we walked to a few meetings in the city.  Oh...and as I'll post soon... I house'd a gross yet awesome burger/fries combo, too.