America Is Bacon Obsessed

Andrew Zimmern said it best: "There isn't a food on Earth to which to addition of bacon doesn't make it taste better". Now, I'm not sure if I can 100% agree with that statement since bacon is only recently something I've come to enjoy, but apparently others do. Take, for example, Baconaise. Spreadable bacon. A bacon flavoured mayo that is more bacon tasting than mayo. Unhealthy? Perhaps. Tasty? Most likely. Scary? Absolutely. I can feel my arteries vibrating already.

How about Uncle Oinker's Bacon Flavored Mints from the Archie McPhee catalog? Or bacon ice cream? I admit I would try the ice cream, but mints flavoured with bacon? No. Probably not.

Grease Trucks Round 2..........And 3!

Grease Trucks, again. Twice in one day for that matter. Not that I'm complaining, I'm just saying. I went there for lunch today with my friend Alex. I had the same thing I had last time, the Fat Moon, and Alex had....a beast wrapped in wax paper. The Fat Russian. A monstrosity of a sandwich consisting of cheese steak, burger, fries, onion rings, chicken fingers, and hot sauce. If my sandwich could kill a man with one blow to the head, Alex's could have caved a mans skull in completely. Terrifying. Later on that evening, we went BACK to the trucks, this time with Paul and my good friend Vick. Again I got the Fat Moon, but after sitting through the 2.5 hour monster that was Shutter island, I was too tired to even notice what anyone else got.

The Grease Trucks started in the early 80's as food trucks around the Rutgers area. They have since evolved into the Fat Sandwich Mecca that they are today. Seriously, where else could a broke college student get an extremely filling meal at midnight for less than $6? Not many places, but at the trucks...have at it. Stay tuned! Somewhere in the very near future my friend Alex will be attempting the 5 Fat Sandwich, 45 Minute challenge!! Paul and I will be there snapping pics and getting some video, so it should be plenty of fun :)

Grease Trucks Greasy Goodness

Tonight we went to the Grease Trucks on the College Ave campus at Rutgers. As usual, my sandwich was great. This time, I went with the Fat Moon. A demonic sandwich consisting of chicken fingers, fries, lettuce, tomato, fried egg, bacon, pork roll, mozzarella sticks, ketchup, and I don't even know what else. You could seriously kill a man by beating him over the skull with this sandwich. Paul got.....the Fat Brian, I think. It was more or less the same as mine but instead of the chicken fingers and egg, his had a veggie burger. A veggie burger that, I'm sure, was deep fried.

So if you ever find yourself on the College Ave campus and you want something delicious, filling, and cheap (sandwiches cost around $5), check out the Grease Trucks. If you're feeling particularly crazy, take the Grease Trucks Challenge: 5 Fat Sandwiches of your choosing, eaten in under 45 minutes. Man Vs. Food host Adam Richman tried and failed. In fact, in the last five years, only 16 out of about 250 people were able to do it. Can you?

I Heart Dunkin Donuts Coffee

I love coffee. Paul and I are coffee fiends. My favourite has to be Dunkin Donuts though. Starbucks coffee is just bitter and nasty and generally unpleasant. My coffee consumption is pretty high, especially lately with the stress of moving to a new place coming up and general problems and fights with Paul. America runs on Dunkin, Chris lives on Dunkin. Some of my best conversations with Paul have been over coffee, and I love showing up at his place with a cup of it for him when he's not expecting it. Clearly since I haven't cooked anything or gone anywhere to eat, this is purely a filler post :)

Wine Tasting At Laurita Winery

Yesterday Paul and I went on a wine tasting at Laurita Winery in New Egypt, Nj. I've been on a tasting before, but it was Pauls first time. The winery and vineyard itself were pretty nice, and the staff was very hospitable. For $6 each, we both sampled 7 wines: Tailgate White and Tailgate Red, a Pinot Gris, Down The Shore Beachcomber Blush, Relaxing Red, and Windswept White, and finally some other red that I can't remember. The Tailgate White and Windswept White were great, the Tailgate being my favourite of the two. The Pino Gris was bitter and nasty. The reds were nothing special to me because I don't like red, although, the Tailgate Red wasn't too bad and somewhat sweet. Paul preferred the red.

After the tasting, I got a glass of the Tailgate White and Paul got a glass of the Tailgate Red and we strolled around the main building, finally heading upstairs to go sit at a table. Neither of us had eaten anything at all that day so we got pretty tipsy between the tasting and the full glasses.

We also went to Kona Grill later in the evening to take one of Pauls friends to dinner for her birthday. I can't really say I had a great time, since I was never really included in any of the conversations, but I got a word in here and there. The food wasn't bad, but, it wasn't great either. I had Pad Thai noodles with chicken and shrimp. Honestly, I now know that if I want GOOD Thai food, I'm better off going to an actual Thai place. The pad thai at Kona just didn't have whatever it is that makes Thai food taste like.....Thai food. At least my drink was good :)

Laurita Winery is located at
35 Archertown Road

Their hours of operation are:
Thursday & Friday 3pm - 9pm
Saturday & Sunday Noon - 5pm
New Egypt, Nj 08533

Wine Tastings are $6 per person, and private tours of the Winery are available for just $10 per person, with free tastings of all available wines. Free tours of the Vineyard are also available.

First!

Hey there. I've never been much into the whole blogging thing, but recently my boyfriend has urged me to blog about my cooking and our trips to different places to eat. My name's Chris and I'm a 28 year old, unemployed former retail manager and I happen to love to cook. Whether it's a simple meal for just my boyfriend and I, or a backyard bbq for my friends, I love it. I also love new dining experiences and trying foods from different cultures. Some figures in the culinary world that I look up to are Andrew Zimmern, Anthony Bourdain, Guy Fieri, Mario Battali, Nobu Matsuhisa, Alton Brown, and as much as I hate to admit it, Bobby Flay.

I chose to name my blog "It's A Texture Thing" for a pretty silly reason. I hate onions, but I love onion rings. When people ask me why, my reply is "it's a texture thing". It's true. I cannot stand the way an onion feels, whether it's raw or cooked. But in onion ring form, that I can stand. Kinda odd, I know.

My most recent creation in the kitchen was a sort of south-western (I think) styled salad. It had the basic ice burg lettuce and carrot mix, with mandarin oranges (not very south western, I know), corn, taco seasoned shredded cheese, grilled chicken, cilantro, and ranch dressing. I had also bought an avocado to put in it, but it wasn't ripe enough. Paul, my boyfriend, insisted on adding crushed tortilla chips to it. They pretty much just got soggy and soft, but still added an extra bit of texture to the salad. It was pretty good! I suppose that's it for now. Until next time...


That's Paul making a very valiant attempt at being remotely domestic. Kinda funny, completely hot.