Halloween Shakes from Steak n Shake

Of all the Halloween flavors, a recent study found that nearly 80 percent of Americans crave chocolate and caramel apples most this spooky season.

To that end, the Steak n Shake chain of restaurants is offering two new flavors to its line of ice cream shakes:

• Dark Chocolate Double Fudge Sundae Shake - A lush dark chocolate milk shake with a double shot of hot fudge, topped with chocolate whipped cream, sprinkled with chocolate chips and topped with a cherry.


• Caramel Apple Sippable Sundae Milk Shake - A decadent taste of crisp tart apple milk shake, caramel, whipped cream, drizzled with more caramel, and topped with a cherry.

These new flavors, dubbed the "Halloween Sippable Sundae Milk Shakes", will be available at all Steak n Shake restaurants from September 14 to October 31, 2005.

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Betty Crocker Warm Delights

It's like the old Easy Bake Ovens, but for adults.

General Mills' new "Betty Crocker Warm Delights" are single-serve cakes that come in microwaveable bowls. Just add water, stir it around, and then nuke it. It's all done.

There are five flavors to choose from: Hot Fudge Brownie, Molten Chocolate Cake, Molten Caramel Cake, Fudgy Chocolate Chip Cookie, and Cinnamon Swirl Cake.

And they're only $1.99 each.

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Peanut Butter & Jelly Popsicles

That's the suggestion of one little girl in Martinez, Georgia. Her idea came in response to Nestle's call for the "World's Coolest Frozen Pop". They received suggestions from over 4,000 kids, and Nestle's judges whittled it down to ten:

• PB&J POP (Emma B., 10 years old, Martinez, GA) -- The sweet, gooey, kid-friendly flavor of a PB&J sandwich moves from the lunchbox to the frozen pop. The tart flavor of raspberry jam sandwiched between two layers of smooth, creamy peanut butter definitely makes this snack a chilly classic.


• HIP HOP BUTTERSCOTCH (Dylan R., 11 years old, Wodbury, CT) -- Bebop with a frozen pop that mixes the creamy candy taste of butterscotch with the smooth sweet flavor of vanilla.


• CHERRY CHERRY BANG BANG (Brian H., 8 years old, Jackson, NJ) -- Terrifically sweet and undoubtedly crunchy, this pop certainly packs a mega cherry punch. One bite through the crunchy candy coating into the cherry sherbet center will make your mouth cheer.


• BLUEBERRY SYRUP BREAKFAST WAFFLE (Raymond D., 11 years old, Monroe, MI) -- Hot off the griddle and right into your freezer, get the taste of breakfast any time with this wild waffle-flavored combo. Big blueberries swirled with the taste of syrup make this frozen pop a great snack all day long.


• STOP POP (Haley H., 8 years old, Thousand Oaks, CA) -- Stop traffic with your very own fruit-flavored frozen stoplight. Tiers of sweet cherry, zippy lemon and luscious lime are sure to cause a traffic jam.


• CARAMEL APPLE CARNIVAL POP (Rhiannon T., 10 years old, Abbeville, SC) -- From the fairground to your freezer, this frozen pop has a juicy apple core surrounded by a smooth caramel coating.


• BANANA SPLIT ON A STICK (Shannon L., 10 years old, Cypress, TX) -- This banana-shaped treat has all the yummy ingredients that made the banana split famous. Lick up layers of creamy banana, rich chocolate and sweet strawberry.


• SPARKLING JEWELS POP (Hailey M., Coeur d'Alene, ID, 7 years old) -- Make your taste buds sparkle with this glittery flavored pop. A runway-worthy bubble gum flavored pop decked out with edible pink glitter makes this perfect pop almost too pretty to eat.


• FRUIT CONFUSION (Amber B., 12 years old, Silvis, IL) -- Half of this pop is purple, but tastes like pineapple. The other half is yellow and looks like lemon, but when you take a lick it is actually green apple. This confusing mystery pop will keep you guessing!


• STRAWBERRY LIME SLIME (Ivanna S., 7 years old, Greenland, NH) -- A splash of red slime (strawberries) and a cup of green ooze (orange juice and limeade), mixed together for a crazy frozen pop concoction that's out of this world.

Each of the ten kids above won a $1,000 U.S. Savings Bond and a year's supply of Nestle kids frozen snacks, as well as a special box of their winning frozen pops (made especially for them in Nestle's Flavor lab).

But one of the lucky ten will be named Nestle's "Frozen Pop Flavorologist", and will enjoy an all-expenses paid trip to visit the top secret flavor lab (never before open to the public!) at the Nestle Ice Cream factory in Southern California where they will sample one of the tastiest jobs in America.

The lucky young soul will also get to try some of Nestle's outlandish frozen pop flavors in development, which include "hot bubble gum" and "macaroni & cheese".

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Best Dang Chicken on the Planet

Captain D's Seafood is launching a new menu item today, "Batter-Dipped Chicken", which they're saying is "the best dang chicken on the planet".

These are chicken tenders hand-dipped into the same batter they use for fish, served with french fries, hush puppies, and a 22-ounce drink for just $3.99.

Batter-Dipped Chicken is available across at participating Captain D's Seafood restaurants for a limited time.

Via Press Release

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Harry Potter's Cockroach Clusters

Designed to tie into the delicacy featured in the movie, "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire", the new "Harry Potter's Cockroach Clusters" is a new candy from Cap Candy, the makers of several lines of innovative confectionery.

Each roach has a juicy gummy underbelly and is covered with a crunchy candy shell, just like real cockroach wings. Each giant Cockroach Cluster measures about 2 inches long and 1 inch wide.

The new candy is scheduled to hit stores in October.

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Cereal, It's not just for Breakfast anymore

A new restaurant is set to open its doors in early this Fall called, "The Cereal Bowl". It serves only cereal.

The location will be in Miami, Florida, at the Rivera Plaza, located across from the University of Miami and next to the Shops at Sunset Place.

Guests will be able to make their own cereal creations or pick from one of many unique combinations created by The Cereal Bowl Team. With over 35 cereals both hot and cold as well as 50 toppings the possibilities are endless. The experience does not end with the bowl. Cereal bars, oatmeal smoothies known as Oaties™, and cakes will take cereal to a whole new level.

There will be Wi-Fi Internet, couches, televisions, newspapers, and periodicals will add to the ambiance of The Cereal Bowl.

Founded in 2004 by recent grads Kenneth Rader, Joshua Rader, and Michael Glassman, the inspiration for The Cereal Bowl was a product of their college days when they noticed that the average diet of a college student often times consisted of a bowl of cereal as a quick and appetizing alternative. The Cereal Bowl expands on this enticing snack by offering to South Florida a whole new way of partaking in one of America’s favorite eating pastimes.

The Cereal Bowl plans on opening its second location at University Corners in Gainesville, Florida directly across from The University of Florida sometime next year.

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Red Lobster Brings Back "Endless Shrimp"

Red Lobster is bringing back its popular promotion, "Endless Shrimp", with a selection of shrimp dishes.

You can get free refills of shrimp from a variety of dishes. Even more cool, with each refill, you can try a different dish.

Among the dishes to choose from: Shrimp Scampi, Garlic Alfredo Shrimp Pasta, Fried Shrimp, the restaurant's famous Popcorn Shrimp, and Coconut Shrimp Bites -- shrimp hand-dipped in coconut batter, flavored with Captain Morgan's Parrot Bay rum, cooked to a golden brown and served with a pina colada dipping sauce.

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Milk Revealed as Main Cause of Osteoporosis

All these health food fads just make me laugh. First we were led to believe that drinking milk makes our bones strong. Now, we're being told that drinking milk causes Osteoporosis. At least the claim of this new book, "The Milk Imperative".

In fact, it even goes on to say that consuming calcium actually feeds cancer. Great!

I can't tell you off hand if the author of the book has an agenda against milk, or what. I know that the "militant vegans" out there have unleashed propaganda trying to get us to stop consuming animal matter. This just could be more vegan propaganda.

Nonetheless, the fact is that everyone dies sometime. So why bother turning yourself crazy trying to follow every freaking diet fad, or trying to maintain a balanced vitamin regimen? Just eat what you want!

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Choosing a Wine for your Junk Food

"Might I suggest a 2003 Vina MontGras Cabernet Sauvignon Syrah Reserva for your Taco Bell Burrito Supreme, Sir?"

The Washington Post published an article that makes matches up some fast food faves with some favorite blends of old grape juice.

Via Fast Food Fever

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White Castle's Honey Chipotle Chicken Sandwich

White Castle announced today that they're coming out with a new sandwich, the "Honey Chipotle Chicken Sandwich". Sorry no photos.

The Honey Chipotle Chicken Sandwich is built on a new honey wheat bun and with their crispy all-white meat chicken breast. It'll be layered with Monterey Jack cheese and smoky sweet chipotle sauce.

The company expects to start serving them up in September, meaning right now, and continuing only through October. Too bad we don't have White Castles out here in the west, or I might try one.

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Panda Express to Launch Salty Snack Foods

Panda Express, the chinese fast food chain, has partnered with Poore Brothers, the maker of potato chips and other salty-wonders, to launch a new line of salty snack foods to hit store shelves as early as 2006.

It's not known yet what we'll be seeing, as Poore Brothers will be fielding consumer feedback to see what kinds of chinese-style goodies people would like to see. Could be salty fortune cookies, vinegar & salt almond cookies, who knows!

Under the agreement, Poore Brothers will be making all the stuff with the Panda Express brand on it. The new products will be sold in grocery stores and in Panda Express restaurants.

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Wild Bunch Wines for Wild People

Montevina Winery, a California-based wine, is now bringing us a new lineup called "Wild Bunch".

It's really nothing more than a fancy label. It's being marketed to those people who have a flair for the "wild side". According to Montevina...

Imagine if you could bottle The Boss. Or decant James Dean. Maybe snag a good Hendrix riff and have it ready for a live show at the twist of a screw cap.

Funny, the guys I know who like to listen to Hendrix probably wouldn't touch this stuff. To me, this is more like something those "rich urban bikers" might try, as a way to reassure their free-spirit persona.

Wild Bunch comes in two varieties:

• Red - 69% Zin, 25% Syrah and 6% Barbera


• White - 41% Chardonnay, 38% Chenin Blanc, 9% Pinot Grigio, 7% Muscat, and 5% Sauvignon Blanc

Wild Bunch began shipping out to store shelves on September 1.

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Tofu that Tastes like Human Flesh

Hufu is the name of a tofu-based product designed to resemble the taste of human flesh. Billed as the "Healthy Human Flesh Alternative", it's designed to provide connoisseurs of people-eaters with a legal way to please their palates.

The Hufu website provides a variety of recipes that originally called for human flesh, but now uses hufu as a replacement.

So what does human flesh taste like? According to the website:

If you've never had human flesh before, think of the taste and texture of beef, except a little sweeter in taste and a little softer in texture. Contrary to popular belief, people do not taste like pork or chicken.

The makers are also planning to create similar products, "Hufu Healthy Hearts" and "Hufu Doctor Lecter's Liver".

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Jack in the Box Launches New Breakfast Sandwich

This morning, devout masticators of clown food discovered a new item on drive-thru menus, the Ciabatta Breakfast Sandwich.

Since inventing the world's first fast-food breakfast sandwhich in 1969, Jack in the Box continues to take its breakfast customers into uncharted waters. The new sandwhich contains two eggs, Black Forest ham, American cheese, bacon and hollandaise sauce on a ciabatta roll.

The Ciabatta Breakfast Sandwich is the latest in a line of ciabatta-based menu items offered at Jack in the Box. Earlier this year, the chain introduced chicken sandwiches and burgers on the Italian-style bread known for its crispy crust and soft, porous interior.

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Red Robin's New Chili Chili Menu

Beginning today, Red Robin Gourmet Burgers is offering a few new chili items to heat up your mouth as Fall temperatures start cooling down.

• Chili Chili Cheeseburger - A fresh beef patty served open faced with chipotle mayo, cheddar cheese, diced red onion and topped with a heaping portion of Red's Homemade Chili Chili


• Loaded Chili Chili Cheese Fries - Red Robin's Signature Steak Fries with a heaping portion of Red's Homemade Chili Chili, cheddar and pepper-jack cheeses, sizzling bacon, jalapenos, sliced green onions and side of ranch


• Red's Homemade Chili Chili - Fresh ground beef and red kidney beans with a perfect blend of fresh poblano and chipotle peppers, and plenty of seasoning. Topped with cheddar cheese, diced red onion and tortilla strips

The "Chili Chili" items will be offered through October 30 at all Red Robin locations.

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