James Kew

From A Hamburger Today

Adventure Time Happy Meal toys [Images: McDonalds]

Six new Adventure Time Happy Meal toys are coming to McDonald's, starting on January 17. There are bendable Jake and Finn figures, a BMO with five different expressions, and an Ice King toy that shoots an ice dagger. As Happy Meal toys go, they're pretty cool, but the decision to produce only male characters (and not-so-subtly steer girls towards an assortment of items featuring Paul Frank monkeys) is a bit of a head-scratcher.

Adventure Time and Paul Frank Happy Meal toys [Images: McDonalds]

Gendered Happy Meal toys are nothing new, as this Appalachian University article points out (and debates), but I've always thought of Adventure Time as a show that appeals to boys and girls equally. Besides, some of the strongest characters are female, from Marceline the Vampire Queen to Tree Trunks, a diminutive yellow elephant with a penchant for apple pie, not to mention the infinitely quotable Lumpy Space Princess, whose best moments can be viewed in this clip:

[Video: Best Lumpy Space Princess Lines on YouTube]

Nothing is stopping girls (and grown-up, 33-year-old women *cough*) from selecting the Adventure Time toy in their Happy Meal (or boys opting for a Paul Frank toy, for that matter), but I still think McD's flubbed this toy release. How about you?

[via Television Blend]

About the author: Erin Jackson is a food writer and photographer who is obsessed with discovering the best eats in San Diego. You can find all of her discoveries on her San Diego food blog EJeats.com. On Twitter, she's @ErinJax

Love hamburgers? Then you'll Like AHT on Facebook! And go follow us on Twitter while you're at it!

Mega-tease and huge flirt HBO has released the trailer for Season 4 of its hit series "Game of Thrones," which looks every bit as exciting as fans imagine it will be. King Joffrey is still evil and arrogant (he believes he has won the war!), but Daenerys Targaryen has a new world and everyone else needs to accept that or die, basically, and all the while a great danger is awakening North of the Wall.

As Tyrion Lannister puts it, "things are a bit tense right now."

"Game of Thrones" Season 4 premieres on HBO April 6 at 9 PM EST.

Continue Reading...

Looking to purchase an indoor Remote Control (RC) helicopter or place.

I have always wanted a small indoor remote control (RC) indoor helicopter (or even airplane) that I could use in my house (living room) or at the office. I always thought it would be fun to bring it in on a late Friday afternoon and buzz people before we knock off for the weekend!

Anyway, I know there are a lot of them available on eBay and other sites, so I am looking for some recommendations from the people here. Does anyone have any suggestions of what I should buy or what I should avoid?

Again, indoor use is what I am aiming at. IF it can fly outside....bonus. But I can't seem myself going to the park at this stage (maybe I would work up to that). I am a beginner (pure novice) at this, so ease of use would be a bonus. Budget is my biggest concern. The lower price, the better, as I was hoping to spend certainly less than $100 on it. This could be a gateway into a hobby (who knows), but I don't want to spend any more on it at first, in case I don't take to it and it just sits there on my desk.

Does anyone have any recommendations of helicopters? Planes? Bimps, etc that would suit my needs. Just curious. Thanks,

P.S. I know there have been a couple of older posts on ask before, but I figured that since they are 5+ years old, there might be some new products or developments since then?

Whether you want fancy or no-frills, the East Bay’s got a doughnut for you. Here’s five of my favorite places where I get my fried dough fix, and feel free to share in the comments your own personal go-to spots.

Doughnut Dolly
482 B 49th Street (between 49th and 51st Streets) [map]
Oakland, CA 94609
Ph: (510) 338-6738
Hours:
Wed-Thu 8 am – 3 pm
Fri-Sun 8 am – 4 pm
Facebook: DoughnutDolly
Twitter: @doughnutdolly

Enter the elegant confines of Hannah Hoffman’s Doughnut Dolly shop in Temescal Alley, and you’ll get to savor one of the best doughnuts in the Bay Area. Light, airy, dusted with sugar and plumped up with fresh fillings right on the spot, it’s worth making the trek to North Oakland to indulge in one of Doughnut Dolly’s exquisite treats (and get there quickly as they sell out fast!) Doughnuts are $3 each and they sell a small selection of drinks and products as well.

Donut Savant
1934 Broadway (between 19th & 20th Streets) [map]
Oakland, CA 94612
Ph: (510) 972-8268
Hours:
Tue-Fri 7 am – 3 pm
Sat 8 am – 2 pm
Facebook: donut savant
Twitter: @DonutSavant

If you’re not in the mood for an entire doughnut (hard to believe, I know) and just want a few nibbles, or are in the mood to sample a variety of flavors — then Donut Savant is the place for you. Laurel Davis’ “wholes,” or doughnut holes served in mini-cupcake liners, are a delicious way to have just one bite or a sugary bingefest. Prices range from a mere 50 cents to a dollar, and they serve coffee, tea and assortment of other drinks.

Pepples Donut Farm
6037 San Pablo Avenue (between 60th & 61st Streets) [map]
Oakland, CA 94608
Ph: (510) 338-6319
Hours:
Tue-Fri 7:30 am – 3 pm
Sat-Sun 9 am – 3 pm
Facebook: Pepples Donuts
Twitter: @vegan_donuts

Spot the giant hot pink doughnut parked on the sidewalk on San Pablo Avenue near 60th Street, and you’ll find the entrance to Pepples Donut Farm. This bakery is one of those local gems that will make you think, “I can’t believe these donuts are vegan!” when you bite into one of their rich, decadent confections. And you’ll find no stale doughnuts here; all of their baked goods are prepared fresh daily from organic ingredients. If you’re in the mood for something more substantial, they serve up excellent lunches and weekend brunch, too. Try their breakfast burrito ($8) or a bowl of their homemade granola with fresh fruit and your choice of soy or hemp milk ($6). You can also find their doughnuts at select locations in the Bay Area.

Dream Fluff Donuts
2637 Ashby Avenue (between College & Benvenue Avenues) [map]
Berkeley, CA 94705
Ph: (510) 649-0471
Hours:
Mon-Sat 4 am – 6 pm
Sun 6:30 am – 2 pm
Facebook: Dream Fluff Donut Shop

When you step through the door of Dream Fluff Donuts, you’ll feel as if you’ve taken a trip back in time. Reminiscent of a small-town diner from back in the day, you can sit down at their lunch counter and scratch off a lottery ticket while you snack on your doughnuts (prices start at $1.55.) They’ve also got a wide array of other cheap eats, including burgers, sandwiches and breakfast items.

King Pin Donuts
2521 Durant Avenue, Ste A (between Telegraph Avenue & Bowditch Street) [map]
Berkeley, CA 94704
Ph: (510) 843-6688
Hours:
Mon-Sun 7 am – 2 am
Facebook: King Pin Donuts

Located right near UC Berkeley since 1939, this cozy doughnut shop caters to the student crowd with its late night hours. You can watch their freshly baked goods being rolled out around the clock through their main plate glass window, or if you’re inclined to save a few bucks, pick up one of their bags of day-old doughnuts for just $3.

From Sweets

[Photographs: Erin Jackson]

If you've been browsing the chip aisle lately, you may have noticed a few new flavors from Pringles: Pecan Pie and Cinnamon & Sugar ($1.52 each at Target). After hearing excited buzzing around the internet, I slammed a can of each in my cart, confident that their sweet flavor profile would appeal to my full mouth of sugar-craving teeth. Worst case scenario: I'd be out just over $3. It's like I couldn't lose.

Except: I did. Big time. These were some of the weirdest, least successful snacks I've had in years.

In both cases, the promised flavor wasn't delivered. When I popped the top on the cinnamon and sugar flavor, I was hoping for something like a buñuelo (fried flour tortillas dusted with cinnamon and sugar), but the cinnamon was so sparse that I could barely taste or smell it. Likewise, the Pecan Pie didn't have the toasty nuttiness that makes pecan pies so delicious, just an artificial buttery tinge that tasted like table syrup (at best) or butter-flavored cooking spray (at worst).

Weirder still, though these chips were supposed to be sweet, they still have 95 mg of salt per 28 gram serving (compared to 150 mg of sodium in the same size serving of Original flavored Pringles). What you're left with is a chip with an identity crisis: it's too salty to land within dessert territory, and too weakly flavored to make any sort of impact, other than a dent in your small change. Save yourself the $3; this limited-time item isn't worth it, even for the novelty factor.

About the author: Erin Jackson is a food writer and photographer who is obsessed with discovering the best eats in San Diego. You can find all of her discoveries on her San Diego food blog EJeats.com. On Twitter, she's @ErinJax

Did escape artist Harry Houdini die from a ruptured appendix caused by his being punched in the stomach?

From Sweets

[Photographs: Erin Jackson]

Target has a pretty great track record when it comes to exclusive product releases. Take Ben & Jerry's Peanut Butter World, as an example. It's one of my top 10 favorite foods of all time (and the best Ben & Jerry's flavor by a mile, in my not-so-humble opinion).

So, when I spotted another Target exclusive—a collection of new Lindt chocolate bars—I was optimistic enough to immediately try one of each of the four flavors: Nougat Crunch, Caramel Brownie, Strawberry Cheesecake, and Cookies and Cream. All of the flavors are available as a 1.4 ounce chocolate "sticks" (99 cents), 3.5 ounce bars ($2.79), and multi-packs of mini sticks ($3.99).

If you're a fan of Lindt's smooth, milk chocolate, all four are worth trying, but some are quite a bit sweeter than others.

Close-up of the Caramel Brownie bar

Go for the Caramel Brownie if you have a high tolerance for sugary chocolate. The smooth, cocoa-tinged caramel inside is sweet enough to cause an involuntary flinch. I ate this bar slowly, spacing out pieces over several days. It wasn't so much out of necessity, but more because I was trying to avoid a sugar coma. If you want to gorge, this probably isn't the best choice, but a bar that satisfies one tiny bite at a time is still a good thing.

The Strawberry Cheesecake is the most unusual flavor. Peel back the foil and the scent will hit you immediately. The aroma is sweet, like strawberry candy, but the flavor itself is more balanced. The cream cheese tang really comes through, but every time I broke off a square, I wished the chosen fruit component had more depth. I'd love to try a version made with black cherry or blackberry instead of strawberry. Even so, I'd buy this bar again, but like the caramel brownie, it's one that you eat a square or two at a time to avoid flavor fatigue (and sugar-overload).

Cross-section of the Lindt "Hello!" bars (L-R: Caramel Brownie, Nougat Crunch, Strawberry Cheesecake, and Cookies and Cream)

Typically, Cookies and Cream bars are white chocolate studded with crunchy cookie bits. They always end up tasting like a block of butter, so I was excited to see a milk chocolate interpretation. The flavor of the filling in this bar doesn't scream "cookies and cream", the taste is similar to the chocolate itself, but sweeter, with a different texture (creamy, with crunchy bits). This bar is a wise choice if you want something different, but not radically so. Compared to the caramel brownie and the strawberry cheesecake, it's not quite as sweet, so it's better suited to prolonged munching.

My favorite was the Nougat Crunch. It's not groundbreaking—Lindt already has several bars and chocolate confections with creamy ganache inside—but it was the most successful. The filling is balanced, not overly sweet or cloying, and the crisp texture of the crunchy bits whipped into the filling is totally addictive. While the caramel brownie bar stuck around in my cupboard for a week or so, this bar was demolished within 24 hours.

Since my initial visit, the collection has been expanded to include white chocolate versions, like Coconut Kiss (pineapple and coconut) and Berry Affair (blackberry and cherry), along with Coffee Blast (milk chocolate with coffee-flavored filling).

Have you tried any of the Hello bars? Let us know which one was your favorite in the comments.

About the author: Erin Jackson is a food writer and photographer who is obsessed with discovering the best eats in San Diego. You can find all of her discoveries on her San Diego food blog EJeats.com. On Twitter, she's @ErinJax

From Drinks

[Photographs: Adam Lindsley]

Pumpkin spice is back with a vengeance. Tweaking drinks to take on the properties of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, and allspice—plus, sometimes, a dash of everyone's favorite orange squash—has become a tradition that millions look forward to every year. Starbucks has sold over 200 million of their pumpkin spice latte over the past decade. But the coffee behemoth's competition just got a little stiffer, with America's biggest fast-food chain, McDonald's, getting in on the action with a pumpkin spice latte of its own. If that's not grounds for a head-to-head comparison, I don't know what is.

We tasted each company's latte directly after ordering for maximum freshness. While both versions are made with espresso, water, whole milk, and some kind of pumpkin spice-flavored syrup, the differences between the two are vast enough to warrant plunking down your cold hard cash for one over the other.

Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte

Let's start with the veteran in the lineup. The coffee at Starbucks comes with a noticeably bitter bite that some crave and some find off-putting. That bitterness does rear its head here, although you first have to get through the top layer of whipped cream and ground spices that garnish the beverage by default. Those first few sips (and sniffs) strongly recall a slice of warm pumpkin pie, a flavor profile that changes sharply once the cream dissipates.

The color of Starbucks' pumpkin spice latte is alarmingly orange, with a greasy sheen on top.

At that point, the espresso becomes much more prominent, backed by the considerable sweetness of the pumpkin spice syrup. But then something else happens: the syrup starts to take over, lending an unnatural, almost medicinal aftertaste to every sip. Luckily the notes of cinnamon and allspice don't fade, so if the pumpkin spice flavor is what you're after first and foremost, you'll get it all the way to the bottom of the cup.

McDonald's McCafé Pumpkin Spice Latte

Even though this is McDonald's first foray into the lucrative pumpkin spice market, Mickey D's is no stranger to flavored coffee beverages; a quick perusal of its McCafé menu reveals such options as an iced caramel mocha and a chocolate chip frappé. Adding a pumpkin spice latte to its lineup was a no-brainer.

Minus the foam, McDonald's version more closely resembles a 'coffee & cream' shade of tan.

If only a little more R&D had gone into its creation. A pumpkin spice latte should taste, if nothing else, like pumpkin spice, and McDonald's version does not. What it does taste like is sugar, vanilla, and chemicals, with only a loose sense of cinnamon and cloves on the back of the palate. The sweetness from the proprietary syrup overwhelms every other aspect of the beverage, especially the coffee notes, which are present in the drink's aroma and nowhere else. If you focus you can pick up a hint of espresso bitterness behind all the sugar, but it takes some effort. You won't mistake this drink for another on the McCaf&eacute menu, but I think you'd be hard pressed to identify it as pumpkin spice without a prompt of some sort.

Which Drink is Your Pick??

Barring factors beyond our control (the influence of the individual barista cannot be discounted), we feel pretty safe in saying that we find the Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte to be superior in just about every way to the one McDonald's is serving. If it's more pumpkin spice and coffee flavors that you seek, Starbucks is the clear winner, we think.

Have you tried both? Which do you like better?

About the author: Adam Lindsley is a Pacific Northwest-based writer, musician, and the author of the pizza blog, This Is Pizza. You can follow him at @ThisIsPizza on Twitter. He is currently searching for the recipe for Boneyard Beer's RPM IPA, so if you have a lead, get in touch!

From Sweets

[Photographs: Erin Jackson]

If you're someone who wrestles with the ultimate dessert decision at McDonald's—Oreo or M&M McFlurry?—I have the answer for you: Pralines & Cream. The newest flavor (a limited-time, seasonal offering) features candied pecan pieces and hot caramel topping blended with vanilla soft serve. It's available in two sizes: snack ($1.99) and regular ($2.79).

Blending the warm caramel topping with the soft serve gives the McFlurry a different, and all-together delicious, texture. The topping doesn't stay warm once it's mixed in, but it does affect the surrounding soft serve, making most of the ice cream a few noticeable degrees more melty.

The sweet caramel combined with the pecan pralines (which have a similar flavor profile: sweet and buttery) may seem like an overkill, but it absolutely works. In fact, it works so well that I'm deeming this the next-level caramel sundae. Two of the three ingredients are the same (soft serve and warm caramel topping), but by blending it up and adding those small bits of crunchy, candy-coated pecan pieces (instead of the standard-issue peanuts, which I've always found strangely waxy), McDonald's has created something good. You should try it.

About the author: Erin Jackson is a food writer and photographer who is obsessed with discovering the best eats in San Diego. You can find all of her discoveries on her San Diego food blog EJeats.com. On Twitter, she's @ErinJax

From A Hamburger Today

[This photo: Wendy's; All others: Todd Brock]

In almost four years of being a professional cheeseburger reviewer (and even longer being a damn serious cheeseburger eater), I'd never seen as much advance hype for a fast-food burger rollout as I did for the new Pretzel Bacon Cheeseburger from Wendy's. Now it's available all summer long...although if this thing makes the splash that the chain is counting on, you can probably expect to see it added to the permanent menu. And maybe more so than with any other limited-time offering in memory, how you feel about Wendy's Pretzel Bacon Cheeseburger will likely boil down to how you feel about Wendy's, period.

After product testing in Cleveland, Miami, and Sacramento earlier this year, the new burger ($4.59 at my local shop) reportedly scored off the charts with tasters, "outperforming any other promotional hamburger in recent Wendy's history," according to the company's press release.

Mine had all the promised accoutrements: the signature squared-off Wendy's beef patty atop cheddar cheese, then topped with more cheddar (in sauce form), a spring mix of greens, applewood-smoked bacon, tomato, red onion, and honey mustard sauce, all crowned by the element that some in the fast-food biz are actually calling a "game-changer," the hand-cut pretzel bun. (That means expect to see copycat versions from other chains.) But as burgers-in-a-box go, this one had legitimate heft and bright, colorful toppings and looked awfully tasty. And this is coming from a guy who is admittedly not a Wendy's fan. (I know they always do well in the surveys, and there are Wendy's diehards already flexing their typing fingers and preparing to crucify me in the comments section below, but the pigtailed girl and I have just never warmed up to each other, at least not over her burgers.)

Given a choice, I'll pick almost any other fast food outlet over Wendy's, and when I don't have a choice, I'll usually order one of their chicken sandwiches over their burgers. As a paid cheeseburger reviewer, I should probably be able to put my finger on precisely why I don't traditionally care for Wendy's hamburgers, but I can't. I just know that I prefer Burger King and Hardee's and Jack in the Box and Culver's to Wendy's when it comes to beef.

That said, my Pretzel Bacon Cheeseburger was good. Very, very good. It's easily my favorite Wendy's burger, as blatantly backhanded a compliment as that now sounds. My point is, if you totally dig Wendy's burgers, you'll totally flip for this. And even if Wendy's burgers don't do much for you as a rule, you'll probably like it pretty well.

The bun is obviously the star of the show, and deservedly so. It's substantial, dense, chewy, and internally airy all at the same time. According to the chain, the buns are made using "the same authentic process of traditional soft pretzels," and it's unmistakable from your first bite. The large-grain salt is all that's missing. But the coarse honey-mustard sauce does a wonderful job of playing up the pretzel theme and is a welcome addition that adds integral lubrication to this burger.

The red onion and spring mix (nine different greens!) are nice add-ons, too, elevating this to almost "fancy burger" status. Wendy's literature describes it as "pub-style," which I think goes a touch far, but still, this is a serious step up from a 99-cent Junior Bacon Cheeseburger.

At the end of the day, though, this is an ordinary Wendy's burger served on a special bun. That's what sets this apart. The bun. It's the bun that's in the name of the sandwich. It's the bun that they're praying brings you in to Wendy's. (When was the last time anybody in the fast-food industry put that kind of pressure on a bun? That black-bunned Star Wars thing from Quick in France?)

I hope the Pretzel Bacon Cheeseburger lights it up for Wendy's. I hope they add it to the full-time menu, because I'd absolutely order it again. But I also not-so-secretly hope they branch out with those pretzel buns and create some new chicken sandwich choices. Because it may be Wendy's best burger...but it's still a Wendy's burger.

About the Author: Todd Brock lives the glamorous life of a stay-at-home freelance writer in the suburbs of Atlanta. Besides being paid to eat cheeseburgers for AHT, pizzas for Slice, and desserts for Sweets, he's written and produced over 1,000 hours of television and penned Building Chicken Coops for Dummies. When he grows up, he wants to be either the starting quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys or the drummer for The Gaslight Anthem. Or both.

Love hamburgers? Then you'll Like AHT on Facebook! And go follow us on Twitter and Pinterest while you're at it!

Adventure Time is probably the best cartoon currently running on TV. Here's a sneak peek at the forthcoming book, Adventure Time Encyclopaedia: Inhabitants, Lore, Spells, and Ancient Crypt Warnings of the Land of Ooo Circa 19.56 B.G.E. - 501 A.G.E., by Martin Olson, the voice actor of The Lord of Evil on the show, who narrates the book in character. (Martin is the author of the wonderful Encyclopaedia of Hell by Satan, too!)

It’s July and it feels like 100 degrees outside so naturally I made something light and refreshing to cope with the heat.

Sticky Toffee Pudding.

Okay, not so much a summertime treat. But hey, I did add ice cream. I should get points for that.

I’ve been wanting to make this for the past several months after I saw the recipe in Martha Stewart Living. I ripped the recipe out to save and this picture has basically been begging me to make it every since.

So Sunday was the day. Mainly because I finally came across the Medjool Dates at the Fresh Market that are recommended in the recipe.

Whoppers! Just slice them open, remove the pits and coarsely chop them up for the batter.

I love that this dessert just calls for a few ingredients.

And that the dates get soaked in steaming hot coffee. Again… so summery.

And then after the cake comes out of the oven, you pour warm, cozy toffee sauce all over the top.

The sauce is super easy, too. Three ingredients easy.

Simmer down now.

Poke the cake with a toothpick or skewer and pour the sauce all over.

I went all lollipop stick on mine for greater saturation.

Help.

Let’s look at that again.

The cake is gloriously drenched and just delicious all by itself.

But it looks kind of lonely, don’t you think?

There. That’s better.

Sticky Toffee Pudding Topped with Toffee Sauce -

Here’s the recipe from Martha if you want to make it too. I mean if you want something hot to cool you off.

From Sweets

[Photographs: Carrie Vasios]

Teddy Grahams are a genius snack. They hit the intersection of tasty, carb-y, cute, and, most importantly, sweet but not too sweet (i.e. you can eat 100 without thinking twice). The honey and cinnamon flavors have kept me from losing my lunch on more than one car trip as a kid, and saved my sanity when I was a counselor on long, hot bus trips with overexcited little campers. Original Teddy Grahams: geared towards children, play well with adults.

And let's be honest, Mom and Dad are much more likely to buy cookies they like nibbling on than some sweet-of-the-moment which little Bobby will eat for a week then get sick of. Yet the two newest flavors on the market—Apple and Strawberry-Banana—immediately struck me as being for-kids-only. A dangerous move.

Top row: Apple. Bottom Row: Strawberry-Banana. Good thing they don't come in a mixed box.

Both these new cookies have strong smells. Opening the box of Apple Grahams felt like walking into a first grade classroom. I can almost taste the fruit juice, hear the scratch of crayons on cheap, thick yellowish paper, and feel the sticky fingers. Funnily enough, the Grahams themselves are a little sticky, like they've been coated in an apple veneer. Luckily, the flavor is more mild than the smell. These cookies don't taste like a bright crisp Pink Lady apple, but they don't taste like fake sour gummy apples, either. They have a clean apple juice flavor with no lingering fake aftertaste, meaning, like their forebearers (wah wah), they're easily gobbled up by the handful. My one suggestion? A hint of cinnamon would be nice. Bottom line: they'd get a B+ in the survey class I'll teach one day on childhood snacks.

Strawberry Banana, on the other hand, fails the class. They taste like a pink Starburst mixed with children's Tylenol. The whole point of Teddy Grahams is that you can eat a few handfuls without having taste-bud overload; these are in your face with fake fruit flavor. I shudder to think how they'd pair with a glass of juice.

Overall, I'd definitely stick to the old flavors. And please, Nabisco, don't come out with any ice cream flavored bears.