While I might trade someone else’s soul for a Reuben, I gave up mine long ago for a beer, so my trading days are over. Reubens are one of the many dishes that have made their way into dip form. This time of year, with “The Big Game” right around the corner, salty, cheesey, rich dishes are often the order of the day. A big crock pot full  of dip is the easiest way to bring your own thing to a party. Making a dip from a popular dish can be your ticket to a bowl of something super.

In addition to reuben dip, there are a number of other recipes that are easy conversions to bring along with you.

Chicken wing dip seems to be at every pot luck or party I go to nowadays. Wings were already a party food, particularly around a football game, so why would they need to get transformed for a party?  No mess. Thats what I’m talking about. Now I won’t pretend that chicken wing dip gives you that same crispy chicken skin awesomeness that you get with wings but it packs a ton of flavor and you can make it as hot or mild as you like. It also gives me an excuse to eat Chicken in a Biskit crackers.

If you have never opened a box of these things and gorged yourself, go get some, now. And yes they have some form of actual chicken in them.

Pizza dip is another one that has spun its way into my world. It reminds me of my days in a  pizza shop as a kid, putting a pile of Mozzarella onto a pan, topping it with whatever other ingredients I might want and baking until the cheese was brown and crispy on the edges. (Pardon me, I need to wipe up some drool)

I like mine with crackers (Ritz please) but it you want to fancy it up, feel free to slice up some baguettes and spread it on the bread. Though if you are going to go that far you might as well make pizza.

How about some Philly cheese steak dip?  All of your favorite flavors from a cheese steak ready for scooping, preferably with soft pretzels as a vehicle for shoveling it into your face.

Last but not least, another classic sandwich as a dip, BLT dip. Everyone has been soundly beaten over the head with how amazing bacon is. Needless to say, I’m a fan. Outside of eating it alongside eggs, a BLT is the dish from my childhood that cemented bacon as a staple in my cooking. Once you hit that perfect ratio of bacon, tomatoes, crispy lettuce and toasted bread it is tough to beat. It is a challenge to get that ratio right for a dip that is invariably far more cheesy than a sandwich would be. Try serving it with some melba toast or another cracker that will bring that flavor into the mix. Or skip the crackers and scoop it up with some bib lettuce.

So this Super Bowl weekend, or any weekend, try turning one of your favorite dishes into a dip and enjoy.

In a new attempt to kill us satisfy our demand for cheese and things inside of things, Domino’s now has Stuffed Cheesy Bread. The new cheesy bread is just like the old, except with things inside of it. There are three new ways to increase your cholesterol: Cheese Only, Bacon and Jalapeno, and Spinach and Feta. Each one costs $5.99. I’ll take three!

I decided that it would be best to get multiple sets of taste buds to try these new flavors, so I got together with a few friends to do some tasting, a la Sam’s Artisan Pizza Review. Each box included eight pieces of Stuffed Cheesy Bread, and one cup of marinara dipping sauce. It looks like a calzone with cheese on top, which, when you think about it, is exactly what it is. On to the tasting.

Cheese Only

This one is exactly what it sounds like: there’s just cheese inside. I started with an end piece, which was a mistake, because it was just dough. The cheese didn’t make it to the ends. For a more accurate picture of what Stuffed Cheesy Bread is, you must eat the 6 middle pieces. So now instead of 8 pieces for 6 bucks, you’re getting just six. I pulled off a piece, hoping it would be like the commercial when they take one and the melty cheese stretches, unable to decide whether it should stay or go, because it is incapable of making decisions being that it is an inanimate object. That did not happen.

The overall feeling was that it lacked flavor. It’s a lot of dough and some cheese. Supposedly there’s some sort of garlic seasoning, but I didn’t taste it at all. It probably would have been much better with said seasoning. I dipped it in the marinara sauce, which improved it somewhat, but at that point you’re really just having pizza.

Bacon and Jalapeño

This one was the overall winner. They did not skimp on the jalapenos, each piece having a couple slices. There was also plenty of bacon, although some thought it was more like ham than bacon.

The reason we liked this variety best was because it had the most flavor. After the lack of pizazz in the Cheese Only, this provided a good pop. As I already mentioned, bacon makes everything better. The jalapenos had a good bit of heat, but it wasn’t so much that you were unable to taste anything else. They also had a nice crunch, adding a good textural element. The marinara sauce was necessary for my weak palate, as it neutralized the jalapenos somewhat. I dare say we actually liked this flavor.

Spinach and Feta

Personally, I was not all that excited to try this one. I can’t say I care much for spinach or feta. But for your sake, So Good reader, I pressed forward. There was a good bit of spinach inside, at least one leaf in each piece. The feta, however, was not so easy to find. My piece had three tiny crumbles, from what I could see. The overall flavor was very mild. The spinach didn’t really come through at all, but I kind of liked what the feta added. It was a subtle but sharp flavor tone. One person got a large chunk of feta in theirs, and was put off by the saltiness. The general feeling about this variety was not a great one, but I thought it was decent.

In all, this is a decent offering from Domino’s. Stuffed Cheesy Bread is really just a calzone with less stuff inside. It won’t blow you away, but as long as you stay away from the Cheese Only, you might enjoy it. I think this product would benefit greatly from some seasoning, possibly of the garlic variety. If you can handle the heat, Bacon and Jalapeno is for you. If not, give Spinach and Feta a go.

What do you think? Have you tried it? Will you?

I’m sure you don’t have to be a twenty-one day Jeopardy Champ to deduce how “Nuttier than a Fruitcake” or “Easy as Pie” came to stand the test of time in the pantheon of frequently used one offs.

Of course my idea of how a particular phrase came to fruition is almost always way off the mark once you dig deeper into its roots. Ok way off. Ok, Ok, a History Professor could bring me up on charges for factual injustices against the world.

Just for kicks, I have compiled for you, five of the more popular sayings which have stood the test of time in our fast paced world with my musings of its origins, followed mercifully by the real one.

And no, “Where’s the Beef?” will not be making an appearance.

Don’t Put Your Eggs in One Basket

Andy: Back in the day, when Styrofoam had yet to be invented, many a villager purchased their eggs locally from market, deposited into one basket and as a result of transporting on badly constructed roads or flatulent donkey, ended up with their dozen being downsized considerably. I also think the Farmers who sold eggs conspired with local basket weavers.

Factual: This phrase is often attributed to Miguel Cervantes, the contemporary of Shakespeare and author (in 1605) of the world-famous “Don Quixote.” However, in fact Cervantes’ original Spanish doesn’t use this phrase; various English translators have used it to convey his meaning. Historians note its first recorded use is in a 1660 text, where it is clearly already a well known proverb. After this it appears frequently, always with the same meaning of “Don’t put all your resources (money, time, energy) into the same project, in case that project fails.

Selling Like Hotcakes

Andy: Wasn’t this coined in the 50’s by a green line cook at Denny’s who didn’t realize pancakes and hotcakes are pretty much the same thing?

Factual: “Hot cakes cooked in bear grease or pork lard were popular from earliest times in American. First made of cornmeal, the griddle cakes or pancakes were of course best when served piping hot and were often sold at church benefits, fairs, and other functions. So popular were they that by the beginning of the 19th century ‘to sell like hot cakes’ became a familiar expression for anything that sold very quickly effortlessly, and in quantity.”

Full of Beans

Andy: I think this term was used as a PG alternative to when someone would call another person out on being full of it. Well something that rhymes with it.

Factual: This term was first used to describe a race horse that possessed lots of energy and was in tip-top condition. Nobody really seemed to question when exactly beans had become the staple diet of horses. Gradually it moved onto Humans around the beginning of the Nineteenth Century. It did gradually over the years move from noting one of vigor and health, to one who exaggerates a bit too much.

Saving your Bacon

Andy: A common practice amongst business savvy Farmers would be to horde all their Pigs until the competitors had sold out on their stock at market. Once he was in sole possession of an Oink monopoly, he could butcher accordingly and sell at an inflated cost.

Factual: As the only meat readily available to a large amount of the population for hundreds of years, bacon was a much sought after commodity on dinner plates. Bacon was cured and dried to ensure sustenance through harsh winters. Saving you bacon from any form of loss or damage amounted to an almost life saving act. Therefore the term gradually evolved to mean you were saving yourself from injury or other type of life changing disaster.

Talking Turkey

Andy: In Pilgrim days of early America, bored families would sit around the fire entranced by the ventriloquist act put on by their eccentric, most likely insane elder. This would entail a freshly plucked turkey dressed up in baby clothes and worked like a puppet. The “Talking Turkey” would be eaten shortly after the show with much guilt and crying by younger members of the kin. The use of turkeys as prop humor has been passed down over the years. Please refer to Mr. Bean Christmas Special, and the episode of Friends which blatantly rips off the same gag in which Joey gets one stuck on his head.

Factual: This term originated in America where it was commonly used by mid Nineteenth century. It means talking business or talking seriously. It does in fact come from the early days of the colonies when the turkey became an important trading commodity between the Native Indians and the Pilgrims. Whenever a colonist showed up on the wigwam step to do some type of trade, inevitably it almost always revolved around a turkey. So, Indians coined the phrase “You come to talk turkey?”

H/t to Eater for the top picture.

P.S.  Strangely enough, this is not the first instance of meat-inspired fragrances, as reported here.
P.P.S.  There is also a 17.6% chance that this product is bunk.

Via Ads of the World.

Baconfreak.com, the same company that brought you Bacon Floss (don’t try to order it you greedy bastards, they’re out of stock ZOMG!) had sent Eick some interesting coffee, for free of course. This was no ordinary coffee.  It has to have bacon in it, right? It just has to.  Baconfreak sends me not only coffee but a press kit in which the word “bacon” is misspelled. I went from kind of irked by bacon’s continual cultural “it” factor to wondering if this isn’t some elaborate prank, where Eick is trying to bring on my bacon-fueled emotional collapse.  However, it’s free and we ran out of our grocery store brand.

The bag smells like sugary coffee, but in a special, very putrid way. My wife tried to sum it up into words but she stops short upon viewing the label on the bag. To wit:

I am once again led to ask if I’m the only person terrified by a biker with the head of a tiny pig.  Also, this illustration reminds that every animal on God’s great earth deserves a soul patch.

Upon opening the bag and grinding the beans, the strong sugary smell diminishes.  I throw it all into my french press and wait for the smell of bacon.

And wait.

It doesn’t come.  Confused, the wife and I pour a mug each and continue sniffing and sipping the coffee.  A slight flavor of maple comes to mind, but nowhere in this dark caffeinated brew do I sense the essence of swine.  The coffee is fine unto itself, albeit a little sweet for my taste.  The disappointment is palpable.  They didn’t put a maple tree on the bag wearing sunglasses, a leather jacket and soul patch.  They put a pig.  I feel betrayed.

We give it a couple days and one our friends comes over.  We offer maple bacon coffee and he is disturbed but interested.  Upon making a stronger batch than last time in hopes of bringing out the bacon, I hand him a mug and he slugs it down.  He agrees.  No flavor of bacon whatsoever.

I don’t admit to having the best palette in the world, but I’ve worked in a fine coffee shop where all of the beans were roasted on the premises.  They made flavored coffee too, although I won’t divulge their secrets.  All I can tell you is that Boss Hog Maple Bacon Coffee tastes like decent coffee beans with light maple sugar flavoring.  There is unfortunately not a hint of bacon to be found, save for the name on the bag.

If you are a bacon lover, I would think this coffee may disappoint.  It’s not that it’s bad coffee, it’s just that its taste does not attain the lofty heights its name implies.

Also, A Hamburger Today made a Pop Tart burger.

The sandwich you see above contains bacon, bananas and peanut butter, served on French toast. Heavy? Yes. Messy? Yes? Absolutely freakin delicious in every bite? You bet.  If you ever go to EL Ay Si, my advice is no matter how much apprehension you have, man up, order this sandwich and enjoy the experience.  Just ask yourself WWEO (What Would Elvis Order)

The meal wouldn’t have been complete without another extravagant, bacon themed side dish, so we made sure to order the bacon mac ‘n cheese to accompany our meal.

Yummy.