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Monday, February 8, 2010
A new ketchup packet design for the new decade
I always feel a little bit guilty when I grab a fistful of ketchup packets at a fast food restaurant. I shift my eyes around quickly to make sure that no one is observing my packet gluttony—and if they are, I toss a packet or two back into the bin. Here’s the thing, those ketchup packets were made for unrealistic portions. I need at least three packets squirted onto my hamburger wrapper to achieve a good fry dunk.
Heinz recently announced that they are releasing a new ketchup packet design, Heinz Dip and Squeeze. It’s bigger and offers the option to dunk or squirt. Two options in one packet? It’s made possible by the very smart addition of a perforated end on the packet so the user can squeeze it like a tiny plastic ketchup bottle, and a removable lid so the user may also submerge their food into a small pool of ketchup.
This is the first ketchup packet makeover Heinz has done in 42 years. It’s got to be big news. I was a bit apprehensive about the new design at first, but that first dip into the deep reservoir of ketchup made all of my worries go away. It’s nice to have the ketchup confined to a pack for easier cleanup, and its great for maximum fry to ketchup coverage. Also, one packet equals three of the old guys, so for me it means grabbing less packets. The new ketchup also features reduced sodium. The flavor isn’t noticeably different. Overall, I think the new packets are more user friendly, and I look forward to seeing them at fast food restaurants soon.
Permalink | Comments (3) | Categories: Food in the news, Playing with your food
Trailer tour brings together hundreds of Austin’s food-obsessed
Eat, tweet, trailer, repeat.
It was the same scene at trailer after trailer on a sunny Saturday afternoon: foodies — some 300 of them in total, plus at least a handful of four-legged friends, on a trailer tour organized by blogger Jodi Bart and me — devouring some of Austin’s best food while mingling with familiar and not-so-familiar faces and capturing it all to share on mobile devices. (Check out the #tastyup hashtag on Twitter for a tweet-by-tweet account of the day.)
We started the day at two trailers — La Boite and Trailer Perk — to hand out nametags and grab breakfast and coffee, but after that, it was a choose-your-own-adventure of 16 mobile food vendors that sell everything from sushi to samosas.
(Bikes were the favored transportation method for dozens of East Austinites on the tour.)
I stayed mainly in East Austin, hitting up Old School BBQ and Grill, Franklin BBQ and Lucky J’s with both old and new friends, before a jaunt south for a pepperoni and black olive pie at Spartan Pizza.
Between bites, Jorge Sanhueza-Lyon shot the video at the top of the post, which really captures the energy both in front of and behind the sliding glass window.
(Here’s another video from Sara and Cassiday from the JB and Sandy Morning Show.)
It didn’t take long for folks, including the hard-at-work bloggers Natanya Anderson of Fête and Feast, Kristi Willis of Austin Farm to Table and Jenna Noel of Edible Austin, to figure out that trailers are the quintessential place to BYOB.
Six hours, countless calories and at least one nap later, the true gluttons for punishment reconvened at East Side King, an Asian trailer located inside the Liberty Bar, for one last round of incredible bites.
By the end of the day, everyone was swapping stories, but it all came down to the food: “What was your favorite dish on the tour?”
The crispy and freshly fried fries at Old School definitely stood out, as did the overall carnivore-friendly ambiance of Franklin BBQ.
One of my favorite parts of the day of chumming it up with trailer owners like Aaron Franklin, who was cutting into the last brisket of the day when we showed up around 2 p.m.
I was bummed that I ran out of time (and room in my stomach) to hit the South Lamar favorites Odd Duck and Gourdough’s, as well as G’Raj Mahal. Austin is lucky to have so many wonderful trailers to chose from every day of the week.
But this won’t be the last trailer tour. By the end of the day, lots of people were asking about a Tasty Up Trailer Tour 2.0. I’m thinking it might be time to pay homage to the originals: the trailers who broke ground in Austin for this new wave we enjoyed Saturday.
Stay tuned to the Facebook pages for Jodi’s Tasty Touring and my Eat-Ups for details.
Thanks to all the wonderful people who came out on Saturday and the trailers who participated! Your enthusiasm for Austin and its awesome food is what makes hosting these events truly worthwhile.
Permalink | Comments (4) | Categories: Playing with your food
IHOP, Denny’s bring back free breakfast days
There were hundreds of more interesting moments during last night’s Super Bowl than the silly chicken ads from Denny’s announcing free Grand Slam breakfasts on Tuesday, but a free meal is a free meal, and come Tuesday, hundreds of thousands of folks across the U.S. will be lining up for theirs.
A year ago, both Denny’s and IHOP scored major press by giving away food during two days in February. This year, IHOP’s National Pancake Day celebration is also a fundraising venture for Children’s Miracle Network. From 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 23, IHOP will be giving away one short stack of pancakes per customer, and in return, it is asking customers to make a voluntary donation to support local children’s hospitals.
Rather than go the charity route, Denny’s splurged on several ads during the Super Bowl promoting Tuesday’s deal: one free Grand Slam breakfast per customer from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The commercials also reminded folks that they can get a free Grand Slam on their birthday, which unless it is Feb. 9, will be a whole lot less crowded than Tuesday.
Permalink | Comments (1) | Categories: Eating out, Food in the news
