The McDonald's Project

To decompose or not to decompose, that is the question. The Internet is loaded with stories about decade old twinkies that stay perfectly preserved inside their cellophane wrappers. A recent post on Yahoo.com highlighted a McDonald’s Hamburger which did no decompose at all over 180 days. McDonald’s of course said this was ridiculous and the project must have been tampered with. Curious as I am, I decided to test this for myself: do McDonald’s hamburgers and fries decompose?

Some Background

My project was inspired by artist Sally Davies’ experiment photographing a Happy Meal for 180 days in order to document its breakdown (or lack thereof) (The Happy Meal Art Project). Davies kept the food on a plate and reported that after 180 days the “food” became hard and did not develop mold or even smell after the first 24 hours. McDonald’s said that their food is made with real ingredients and even provided a scientist to affirm the fact it is real food and thus, would break down just like food should. http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_upshot/20101012/bs_yblog_upshot/mcdonalds-happy-meal-resists-decomposition-for-six-months

I had read at an earlier point in time about Karen Hanrahan’s McD’s hamburger from 1996. Hanrahan, a wellness/nutrition counselor, kept the hamburger in a plastic container. According to her website, it looks just the same as when she purchased it and the bun has begun to break apart. Unlike Davies’ burger, Karen reports hers has a funny smell. http://bestofmotherearth.com/2008/09/24/1996-mcdonalds-hamburger.html

My Hypothesis

So who is right, McDonald’s and their scientist or these two ladies with their experiments? I have a hard time trusting what is written or published on the web unless the source has been vetted. Likewise, I have a difficult time trusting fast food companies whose very existence depends on the validation of their product—of course their going to defend their product.

After consultation with a friend who is a scientist, I decided to try the experiment. It was recommended that a homemade burger and fries should be left out with the McDonald’s version in order to provide comparison. This is an excellent idea but one that I am unable to perform at this time (perhaps at a later juncture). At this point I am going to test a McDonald’s Happy Meal, just like Davies. No pickles, mayo, ketchup, or mustard, just the hamburger, bun, and fries. I will house the project in the kitchen (much to my mother’s chagrin) and take pictures of it everyday in the morning for 2 weeks. My hypothesis: If I leave the food out on a plate for 2 weeks, then it should develop mold, smell, and/or show further signs of decomposition. In other words, it will behave just like McDonald’s says it should.

Each day I will blog the results; I’m not sure how to time stamp the pictures but I will provide that as well so it can be verified. I will have a house full of witnesses to validate what I am doing.
At the end of the 2 weeks, I will evaluate and report the final results, drawing my conclusions. Who said science is boring?

http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project_scientific_method.shtml

Groupon: 1st Annual Audubon Beer Festival

Groupon has daily deals and this one came through as a potential steal! Since it is the first annual there is no knowing how good the event will be but for $11 for unlimited food and drinks it'd have to be pretty bad for it not to be worth it.

Today's Big Deal:
$11 for Unlimited Food and Drinks at Audubon Beer Festival ($25 Value)

You Pay: Only $11.00

You Get: $25.00

You Save: $14.00

Expires: 11/20/10, 6pm

Details: Must be 21 years of age or older, must show proof of age to enter event with certificate. No cash value. No Refunds. All sales final.

ACT FAST! After 10 am on November 9, this deal will no longer be available!

Please note: When purchasing this printable item, you will receive a printable PDF, allowing you to print your gift certificate immediately. No physical gift certificate will be shipped to you.

Overview:

1st Annual Audubon Park Beer Festival to Benefit Audubon Park - The Garden District
Saturday November 20th: 1pm to 6 pm
In The Beer Garden Behind Big Daddy’s and O’Stromboli’s, Where Corrine Dr. Meets Winter Park Rd.

Live Music, Food Sampling and Unlimited Beer Sampling

This is a 21 and up event and proper ID is required

Craft Beers, Imports, Micro Brews and Domestic

Beer from these fine Breweries: Starr Hill, Southern Pier, Victory, Blue Point, Widmer, Terrapin, Kona, Red Hook, Effenheimer, Orange Blossom Pilsner and More!

Bring a canned Good for Second Harvest Food Bank. Rain or Shine event.

Location and Details:

3001 Corrine Dr
Orlando, FL 32803
Saturday November 20th 1pm to 6pm

Chipotle Halloween 2010

Chipotle was doing their annual burrito fest; instead of free burritos, tacos, or bowls if you dressed like one of their products, it was $2 for one of these if you dressed like a gross, processed food product. Money from the night is going to Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution.

Of course, lovers of Chipotle and cheap food, our entire family dressed up for our $2 meals. We got out the construction paper, glue, and cardboard, setting to work with our scissors and imaginations. The results: a gaggle of freaky processed food waiting in line! It was a blast and the food was fabulous, too.

Best (and cutest) M&M you've ever seen!

Candy Corn and Coke! Scary processed foods, lovely couple!

Human Ice Cream Sandwich!

Cutest donut around!

Now for the food! A decent line had formed but nothing too terrible. The workers were clearly pros as they kept customers moving through. Last year, the food was ok, kinda skimpy; but I wasn't going to complain since it was free.

This year we went to the same location at the Waterford Towers and the serving sizes were ridiculously huge! I haven't gotten the sized portions we did even when I pay full price. We did arrive shortly after 6 pm which is when the $2 burritos began which may have had something to do with it (perhaps the portions get smaller as the night goes on). I got so much rice and guacamole in my bowl; my brother's was so large, the lady wrapping it offered to put it in a second tortilla! Obviously, we were all impressed that our meal came out to $14 dollars; I got two meals out of my one meal!

Gargantuan Burrito Bowl!

The Burrito that needed a second tortilla!

It's as big as she is!

What a great day!

Closed: Johnson's Diner

I was crushed today to read in the Orlando Sentinel that Johnson's Diner, the icon restaurant full of soul and food, has closed. I had heard of its legendary food and sweet desserts. It is a regular winner in the Orlando Sentinel Foodie Awards, snagging the soul-food category. Unfortunately, financial woes forced the family to close the diner's doors for good.

I never got a chance to visit, though if you look to the right hand side of your screen under "Next Bites", you will see that it is on my list of places to go. I couldn't wait to make a trip and struggled to decide between the smothered chicken or meatloaf or, maybe, jerk chicken. But I knew without a doubt, I wanted a slice of the famous sweet potato pie.

A variation of the sweet potato pie recipe is the "I Thought You Would Never Ask" recipe for today which is what told me the diner was closed. Hmmm, I guess I should cut it out...it's as close as I'll get to Johnson's Diner now.

Orlando Sentinel story on Johnson's Diner closure: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/breakingnews/os-johnsons-diner-closes-20101018,0,3003228.story

Ritter's Frozen Custard

My dad promised me a frozen dessert for my birthday in August. Due to the incredible amount of sweets consumed around my birthday, I wanted to hold off a bit but it took a while for a free day to open up. Finally, we had an open Sunday afternoon to get my dessert of choice: frozen custard.

I love frozen custard and Ritter's somehow came across my path as a good choice. I checked out their website before our road trip but was having a tough time deciding what to get. Part of me wanted just pure vanilla custard (my personal favorite) or something called a Glacier, similar to DQ's Blizzard.

The Ritter's location in Cleremont, FL was empty when we were there. Only two ladies were working and I wondered if the one answering all of our questions wasn't one of the owners. I got a sample of pumpkin frozen custard and my dad got a sample of an almond, chocolate, coconut frozen custard. All the custard and Italian ices are made on premise each day, never re-frozen. The waffle cones are made fresh each day as well.

In the end my dad got two scoops of vanilla frozen custard in a cone cup as I hemmed and hawed over my selection. I got a small Glacier with chocolate chip cookie dough mixed in and they were kind enough to sprinkle some Reese's peanut butter cups on top (they said I could create my own!). With treats in hand, we headed outside.

(Glacier with cookie dough and Reese's peanut butter cups)

I am glad that I got the Glacier; it brought the simple vanilla great flavors. I really enjoyed the added Reese's peanut butter cups. I was a bit disappointed by the flavor of the plain vanilla. It was very creamy but did not have enough vanilla flavor. I actually thought Rita's tasted better. While my dad thoroughly enjoyed his frozen custard, and even said it was comparable to the famous Ted Drewe's frozen custard in St. Louis, I'm not sure I would make the trek from East Orlando to Cleremont when I have Jeremiah's Italian Ice and Rita's in my backyard. Nevertheless, I enjoyed my birthday treat and the company thoroughly.

Graffiti Junktion -- American Burger Bar

My brother and I checked out Graffiti Junktion back in August. It had been on my mental visit list since it was highlighted in the Orlando annual food awards. The burgers were the draw and always game for a good burger, my brother offered to take me there (and supply the pictures!).

As this is a few months ago, my memory could be tainted; the restaurant is situated in chic Thornton Park on Washington St. From all the reviews I read, GJ is a neighborhood hangout, a place to grab a drink or three and chill, to see and be seen. Since I don't drink nor do I really care about being in a "hip" spot, I was going with my eye on the food.

When you walk in, the name of the place takes full meaning. Spray paint is everywhere: the walls, the floors, the picnic tables...picnic tables??? That's right, most of the seating is picnic tables; there are chairs at the bar and I can't remember if there were actual tables outside or not.

We were told to find a seat wherever; the place has no air conditioning and since it is going for the whole, rough and tough feel, the roof leaked a bit but it all added to the ambiance. Picking the nearest picnic table, we were soon addressed my one of the servers. He supplied us with GJ's simple menu (mostly burgers) and took our drink orders (water).

We had studied the menu ahead of time so we knew exactly what we wanted. I ordered the Iron City, a behemoth of a burger with Canadian bacon, a fried egg, American cheese, onions, and French fries; my brother ordered a plain burger and added mushrooms and blue cheese (I had read online from another review that in some cases adding the toppings you want is cheaper than buying the burger with the toppings already on it--which is completely true). We intended on splitting our burgers and each came with a side of fries so we had more than enough food.

The Iron City

Mushroom and Blue Cheese

The Iron City was by far the better hamburger; the entire thing was one sloppy, delicious mess. My only qualm is that it had too much Canadian bacon; somehow I ate out the burger but still had a sandwich left with two thick slices of the bacon.

Both burgers had a nice grill char on them and were cooked to order (medium well). The buns were supposedly homemade but I don't remember them being outstanding. The fries were not very good either; I ended up using ketchup which, for me at least, indicates that the fries need some help. The mushroom and blue cheese burger was adequate but nothing to return for.

Overall, we both thought it was a fun place, definitely not a typical wateringhole. I wouldn't return for the food and since I'm not into drinks, I wouldn't return for the bar. Nevertheless, I was glad we went.

When you can't eat out: Cuban Sandwiches

(Many thanks to my brother for the photo)

Though I love to explore the culinary terrain in Central Florida, I cannot do it as often as I would like. However, my family is kind of enough to allow me full range of the kitchen and this past Friday, after being stumped as to a dinner menu, I recommended Cuban sandwiches with broccoli slaw.

From what I have read, Cubans are set apart by the special bread and the unique press used to get the bread toasted and warmed. I had to just use a milk bread recipe I had made in the past for the bread though I would love to try true Cuban bread.

Working with what I had, we layered the Cuban sandwiches with yellow mustard, ham, Canadian bacon, Swiss cheese, and dill pickles (quite the international sandwich!). To get the look of the pressed bread, I used our panini press / griddle. Instead of putting in the panini grates, I simple used the griddle ones and pressed down good and hard to make that flat, crispy outside.

They were a bit heavy for me but the boys loved them so that always makes me happy. I think they tasted even better cold the next day. Who says eating in can't be an experience, too?