Slurpee-licious!

Once in a long while, 7eleven gives birth to a Slurpee flavor that far surpasses that of their traditional cherry and cola flavors, and today was that day. At first, I passed over the SpongeBob SquarePants Slurpee placard for the simple fact that it was SpongeBob. However, upon further examination I realized that Mr. Pants was advertising a delicious Pineapple flavored Slurpee today! Although it is rainy today, I decided to get a 40 oz. of Pineapple Slurpee and a Welch's Strawberry Soda to top off the Slurpee during the slurping process. It was gooooooood! And it still is, well, the the Slurpee is now about 73% Strawberry Soda now.

So far my all-time Slurpee flavors are...

- Grape (they need to bring that back)
- Sour Green Apple
- and Pineapple

When none of the above is available, I default to the traditional cherry or cola flavors. The ultimate is to have a Sour Green Apple Slurpee with a Green Apple Smirnoff Twist topper, yummy!

I need to stay late at work for a 3 on 3 basketball tournament tonight, it should be a quick and easy gig. I wonder what I should grab for a quick dinner... fried chicken from Albertson’s, maybe a value meal from Carl's Jr.? It is pay day, perhaps a dinner from that BBQ joint on Hopyard. The choices are endless and I have 2 hours to decide.

In related news, I wonder what kind of food will be at Lily’s birthday party tomorrow. I am quickly starting to learn that food is a low priority for most party givers and I am getting DAMN sick of it! I just hope that Lisa and I don’t make a big ‘ole trip for her niece’s birthday party only for me to be disappointed in the food. Last time I took a trip up to Petaluma for a family outing (Fathers Day 2004), the return on investment was WAY low, but I did grill the hell out of some short ribs that day. I’m not big on traveling long distances to cook, clean and serve only to come back home and clean the stuff I just dirtied two hours ago. The only exception is a camping trip where folks are chillin’ for a good amount of time. Ah well, what will be cool about going up to Petaluma tomorrow is, well… umm… I guess I will just go and see what’s cool because I am at a loss here.

Yes, Yes, Begin the Buffet Renaissance!

Ah, the buffet saga continues. In all fairness, there were MANY factors that tainted the Paris experience, and thank you for reminding me of Larry’s lascivious antics that night, that was worth its weight in gold. That boy has a dead eye for hot chicks and ample bosoms. He beats me in bosom appreciation, my mom often reminds me that I started at the age of two watching National Geographic; Larry is a true prodigy.

Dustin does make an excellent point with meat products and recommendations from friends. Buffets are like relationship, you have to kiss a few frogs. As you can tell, Dustin is quite the culinary connoisseur and I MUST respect a man that responds in the passionate fashion that he did... plus he likes some of my cooking.

Now, allow me to address the salad buffet. This is, in fact the ONLY time I really love salads. I will eat salad and veggies like crazy at a Sweet Tomatoes. Don’t tell anyone, but I have actually gone to Sweet Tomatoes in Pleasanton for lunch by myself several times. That feels good to get off of my chest. I was fearful that my fellow carnivores would look down on me, scared that my Creole ancestors would come to haunt my dreams and culinary endeavors. So no, my friend, I do not consider salad buffets blasphemous, again buffets are a lifestyle and I will “yes and” any buffet’s efforts (well, maybe not a tofu buffet, that's just sick).

Stay tuned…

What's the "beef" with buffets?

About 3 years ago I was a huge advocate of the buffet restaurant. It was a fantastic concept for me to pay one price and eat anything I wanted after that. I was such a soldier for buffets, I even came up with an idea for a comedic guide of buffet etiquette; ya' know, an almost mini Frommers of buffet Dos and Don'ts as well as buffet highlights around the world. In fact, as I type, I think I need to bring that idea out of its coma and let it have its day.

Back to the point, I have several friends that are NOT okay with the buffet. Why not? Speaking as an eating hobbyist, I have been to buffets in several states in the US, Turkey, Japan, Korea and Greece and I can tell you that there are enough buffets out there to tickle everyone's pallet. My friend Dustin is a pretty outspoken culinary enthusiast speaking out against buffets. While he has a point with the long lines (which I am not a fan of), I often beg to differ with him on the taste of what he describes as “mass-produced, cafeteria style” fare. Buffets, like any other eateries, are as diverse at the people that patronize them. One group of restaurants cannot to judged by a select few, much like people. Let's take a "Crash-Course" in buffet appreciation, shall we?

First, one cannot use Hometown Buffet as the buffet "Measuring Stick". I admit, when Hometown and Country Harvest Buffets popped up in the Fremont and Newark area in the mid 90's, I was excited! My family would make weekly trips to strap on the feedbag... ah, there it is, "feedbag". Hometown Buffet satisfied my urge to eat a lot in one place at one low price; that was it. In this case, mark one point for Dustin. What Hometown lacks in taste, they make up for in volume and not charging it's patrons for what they don't eat. Places like Hometown aren't worried about taste, they just want to get you guys in there.

To find a good buffet, find a type of food you like. I LOVE Japanese food, and I was jazzed to learn of a great Japanese buffet call Todai (like toe-dye). Todai serves up lunch and dinner with a variety of traditional Japanese dishes. Narrowing your food type will help you in your buffet search.

Finally, Buffet within your comfort zone. Let's start using buffet as verb for this example. When me and Lisa got married in Las Vegas last year, Dustin and his family accompanied us to the Paris Las Vegas buffet, Le Village Buffet. An amazing buffet (in my opinion) and probably the best I have attended to date. After about 25 minutes in line, it was obvious to me that Dustin was not "Buffeting" in his comfort zone. He and his wife had their young, yet tired son, Dustin had strong opinions about buffets in the first place and, we were coming off of a pretty exciting and exhausting day of wedding festivities. One must ask themselves several questions when defining their "Buffet Comfort Zone":

1. Do I even like buffets?
2. How long am I willing to wait in line?
3. How long can my child(ren) wait in line?
4. Is the food worth it?
5. How long am I willing to wait in with the person(s) I am going with?

Find your comfort zone, weigh the options and have fun.

My next post will include buffet Dos and Don’ts in order to enhance your buffet lifestyle.

Happy buffeting!