H is for Hoo Dat?!?!?

Hoo Dat!! Who Dat!! What's the difference? Really. Tomato, tomahto. Might as well be H is for How late?? Too late. A little black and gold for the N'awlins famo. Had to support a great city. Was there in 2000 for Mardi Gras and I really don't remember much, but I know we had a good time. Drinking apple Boon's (Ghostface would be proud) outside the Boot at 11 am. It doesn't get any better. Plus do you really think I'd root for an Indiana team? You my friend must be bugging. As in "shall we daaaaaaaance" bugging. That's how I was taught the term back in 7th grade by my classmate Jersen. I must say that in hindsight, his example was spot on, though at the time I thought HE was bugging.



Yes, the hat is fly. Thank you. There's really no denying it. Shine blocker status for the H-aters. Ooooooweeee. Black sheen with the gold stitch Olde English H and majestic purple trim. Fuck a Saint, I'm a king in this shit. Crown Royal on the rocks please. 2 cubes.



And the Egyptian silk lining??? Seriously? Hawaiian flag Hermes scarves covering the cranium. It's that crazy. "H is for High sadity" is more like it. A Fitted Hawaii exclusive and probably the most expensive cap I ever copped. "A man's wealth is determined by his headwear," as muttered by Howfresh on February 18, 2010. This cross country and then some shipping is not a good look for my carbon footprint. Need to work on that. Strap a waterproof pack to a humpback whale as he's about to migrate east. I'd prefer a Panama Canal crossing, but if he chooses the Chile and Argentine scenic route, who am I to tell a whale how to swim?



H is also for HSIFWARC. While we're bigging up N'awlins it's an appropriate time to pay homage to one of my favorite things- crawfish. I'll admit that they've been few and far between this season. Had them only once in fact. At Mara's of course. Shipments have been sparse since the weather's been a bit too cold down south. The mudbugs stay bugging in the mud. Might need to plant some up in Inwood Park just so that I won't be lying when I brag about my locavore lifestyle. Yeah, I love this planet more than you.



So let's take a stroll down memory lane. It's May 24, 2009 we're on the east side- 23rd and the FDR- Solar 1 (the City’s first solar-powered “Green Energy, Arts, and Education Center,”) and the boil is boiling. The official 2009 Crawfish NY NOLA boil. $60 beans for Six Point kegs and all the crawdoggies one could dream of. Believe it or not- this glustacean resulted in No Mas status. The white flag had to be raised. Pinching, twisting, sucking, and chomping had to come to an end.



In total 4 heaping table loads of the delectable fresh water treat were delivered by the time the sun set. Some with corn and potatoes, other had potatoes and sausage. Mushrooms, garlic and onions were also part of the mix. The combos were endless. Factorial that shit and let me know the math. When people saw we were potatoed up they tried to swipe a spud, but we weren't having that. Get your own fucking potato.



Just mad fun- social even if you're Hermit the Crab. See how we stick to H's and shellfish. Keep up with me. Don't get dusted. Wound up meeting some good peoples that turned out to be fellow Partners in Grub. P.I.G. status. Don't judge them by their offensive t-shirts. They mean well. And mad Asians- they love crustaceans. For realz. Gnawing on the tiny claws to get out any ounce of meat. I have since incorporated that into my own playbook, so good looks.



Jackpot.



Crawfish Carnage in all its glory.

HowfreshEats Stacks (Potato) Chips Like Hebrews Vol. 8- The Road Trip Edition.

Ocho Chippo up in this bitch. Having tapped out all local tuber sources I needed to hit the road in search of more fried taters. You think I travel cause it's fun or relaxing?? Never that. Always an agenda. What we have here are 6 samples of chips west of the Mississippi. There was a bag of chips purchased in Pittsburgh- Giant Eagle I believe, but there was a BBQ going on and I couldn't go empty handed. I wish there could be more representation here, but we'll make due. Chips were purchased in Montana and Iowa, one of those 3 shitty states in a row that start with the letter "I". This time around I included images of the ingredients rather than comment on them. It's just the natural progression of things. I've already started to amass a lineup for Vol. 9 so stay tuned.

You can check out the previous 7 "Stack (Potato) Chips..." installments here: Vol. 1, Vol. 2, Vol. 3, Vol. 4, Vol. 5, Vol. 6, and Vol. 7.

Tim's Cascade Style Sea Salt & Vinegar Extra Thick & Crunchy

A mid-sized chip with nice crunch. Too sweet and salty however. Fingers look like you dipped them in a salt shaker. Caught a brief case of agita (Jersey Shersey up in here) after a couple. Doable in small doses but too intense after a bunch. Too many bent chips for my liking. Sweet aftertaste reminiscent of pie crust. Based out of Algona, WA, Tim's seems to do the right thing by both their employees and the environment. Peep more HERE. 8oz for $2.99.

Hawaiian Kettle Style Terriyaki Crispy & Crunchy

Terriyaki? Not in the least bit. More like sweet BBQ. This is out of my comfort zone but sometimes you need to try new things. The sweet makes sense since pineapples are all over the bag. Similar to the previous chip, bite-sized with a nice crunch. If you like those hokey type weird chips, you might dig this. These are part of the Hawaiian line under the Tim's umbrella.

Tim's Cascade Style Wasabi Extra Thick & Crunchy

Does it really matter how these taste when you're dipping your dogs in the Great Pacific? Stinson Beach, stand up.

I ate these months back so my recollection might be a bit weak. It was my beach bum summer days so you know I enjoyed them. Again, a nice sized chip with a strong crunch. That wasabi hits the nasals like wasabi does. Need to eat in doses. OD might be OD.

I'd like to take this time out to thank the following for providing the material in the second half of this post. Iowa's own Hiland Chips available at your local Kum & Go.
Pause.

Hiland Kettle Cooked Dill Pickles

Listen, I was in Iowa. What do you want from me? Maybe I was missing a Katz pastrami out in the great midwest and needed a reminder. First off, dill pickles are nowhere to be found in the ingredients. Neither is a pickle. And neither is dill. Those green specs on the chips are Parsley. I fucking hate parsley. Damn Iowans, get your shit straight. Majority bite-sized, yet thinner than most kettle cooked chips. Decent crunch. Off-putting after taste. Never again.

Hiland Kettle Cooked Salt & Pepper

Cardboardy. Way too much pepper, as is evident by looking above. Some chips were saltier than others. Tiny chips with minor crunch. Dare I say these might have tasted better with more ingredients, namely preservatives.

Hiland Kettle Cooked Original

Pretty good chip. Not too salty. Scratch that- super salty after a bunch. Lip numbing salt in fact. Thin chip, as noted before with a decent crunch. Feels like it's going to be a boring chip, but ends nicely. Fairly addictive if you can withstand the pain.

I wish the road trip garnered more than this but nope. Just 6 lousy bags of potato chips. I'll have to do it again once summer hits.