I’ve been hooked on falafel ever since I had my first taste of the the Middle Eastern staple about four years ago. Made from ground chickpeas and spices, falafel is crispy, savory and downright addictive. It’s one of my favorite items on the menu at Tapas, which was always our go-to takeout place at courant.com.
A while back, I bought a box of Casbah brand falafel mix in the natural-foods section of Stop n’ Shop. I figured it was worth a try. My first attempt at homemade falafel was a mess. I’m not sure if it was because I had no food processor in which to blend the chickpeas – or because I forgot the baking soda, causing the lumps to fall apart in the deep fryer. Moving on…
File this one under “random.” Yesterday, I went to get some grocery necessities for our dinner of handmade turkey burgers. I picked up a bag of garden-salsa flavored Sun Chips. The bag emitted a noise so surprisingly loud that I jumped. The HELL was that?
Then I remembered that Sun Chips recently announced a commitment to make their chip bags from compostable material. And then recalled a Facebook discussion between some eco-minded buddies, who couldn’t believe that anyone would have the gall to complain about the bag’s decibel level.
In full disclosure, I would not call myself an environmentalist. I try not to do anything really egregious, like use too many plastic water bottles, drive a Hummer or club seals. And I give Frito-Lay a lot of credit for coming up with this new packaging. Apparently there’s something in the makeup of the new material that causes the noise.
But there’s no getting around it: this thing is loud. Loud enough to drown out normal conversation or television noise, depending on how vigorously you open it and grab for chips. Forum posters describe the bag noise as “like a goddamn thunderstorm” or “a car crash.” Yes, hyperbole is funny. But they’re not that far off.
Will the volume of the bag affect sales? Who knows. Personally, I like Sun Chips enough to deal with it. But I wouldn’t bring a bag to a quiet office, or a library, or anywhere near sleeping babies…
For those unfamiliar with Connecticut, the town where my husband and I live, Enfield, is a bizarre blend of contrasts. While certain sections of town are overdeveloped with chain restaurants and big-box stores, it also retains much of its beautiful working farmland. The majority of the farms grow tobacco, but several focus on dairy products.
We’ve been hearing for years that one of these farms, Powder Hill, was home to Collins Creamery. And as an entertainment website producer at the Hartford Courant, I kept seeing Collins come up in the “best ice cream” polls and forums. It was always on my local bucket list of places to visit.
On Monday I helped orchestrate a KFC Double Down taste-test in the Courant newsroom, enlisting about 12 reporters, editors and producers to try the ridiculous sandwich. (If you’ve been living under a rock, it’s the monstrosity created with two fried chicken breasts, cheese and bacon.)
Where’s the bread, you might be asking? Well, that’s what the fried chicken fillets are for, naturally. Because how else would you hold the cheese, bacon and sauce together.
According to KFC’s nutritional information, the “original recipe” Double Down is only 540 calories. A grilled-chicken version is about 460. You know, in case you’re watching your figure.
No need for any social commentary on this one. America loves its ludicrously fatty foods, and I don’t think that’s going to change anytime soon. That’s why pop-culture phenomenons like This Is Why You’re Fat and “Man v. Food” exist. It’s why we celebrate competitive eaters like Joey Chestnut and televise hot-dog eating competitions on July 4. It’s just no fun to watch people shovel down broccoli.
Memo to KFC, though: maybe not the best timing, sending the news release on April 1.
This disaster in San Bruno is one of the scariest things I've ever seen. Of course that could be my irrational fear of fire talking.about 2 hours agofrom ÜberTwitter
I’ve been hooked on falafel ever since I had my first taste of the the Middle Eastern staple about four years ago. Made from ground chickpeas and spices, falafel is crispy, savory and downright addictive. It’s one of my favorite items on the menu at Tapas, which was always our go-to takeout place at courant.com.
Leeanne Griffin is a freelance writer and food enthusiast.
