Taste This, Slappy!

My taste buds have shifted considerably in the last 15 years. At some point, the same set of receptors which craved endless quarts of chocolate Yoo-Hoo and heaping bowls full of Lucky Charms slowly crept towards consumables with far more complex palates. Chocolate drinks and marshmallow cereal lost their appeal against a growing appreciation of robust red wines and delicately prepared bouillabaisse.

Even the sugar in my coffee began to ease up, until a steady diet of café espresso led to simple bold, black coffee. A monolithic sweet tooth had eroded to silt, perfectly sated by a fun-sized York Peppermint Patty or a Hershey's Kiss.

Yet, the single thought of batter-driven breakfast foods accompanied by maple syrup will bring me to a halt. French Toast? Oui, s'il-vous-plaît. Waffles? Want 'em. Pancakes? Grab a spatula. Best part is: nowadays, most everywhere you can order them offers an option of whole wheat batter/breads.

Two other things I really enjoy are travel and kitsch. Many trips (business and pleasure) have comprised of long drives to witness and taste some great, out of the ordinary stuff. A beanery I just found out about yesterday combines pancakes, travel and kitsch all in one: Slappy Cakes in Portland, OR

How's this for fun? You can order from a menu of made-from-scratch pancake batter and add-ins. These are are brought to your table, which is equipped with a built-in griddle, to begin preparing your very own pancakes as you like them. Observe the young lady's demonstration below on location at Slappy Cakes...

Photo © and courtesy of Anthony Rush Ledbetter

Note: she actually doesn't work there. That's Janey Ellis, proprietor of the "Atomic Redhead" blog. Janey is a very lovely, creative proponent of things vintage. As you can see from the pic, she's quite enthusiastic about mid-century fashion (and modern-day pancakes).

So now I gotta put together a trek to the great Northwest. So far, I know in Washington, it's coffee and seafood in Seattle, and a trek to Mt. Rainier. Then onto Oregon for Slappy Cakes pancakes in Portland, followed by a visit to Grants Pass to honor Carl Barks (who I understand also liked his pancakes). Carl might enjoy it if I could visit his resting place after imitating our mutual friend pictured below.

"Breakfast of Tycoons" by Carl Barks

 Image © 1996 The Walt Disney Company

Chili à la Mobile

This will be the first post via Blogger's mobile app for iPhone, which is free via the App Store and utilizes a very simple interface. The tech takes a backseat to the vital message I want to convey.

As winter grudgingly creeps off to his drafty old boarding house, he takes with him one of the few pleasures the unholy frigid one possesses. Yes, Panera Bread will soon be placing their seasonal Steak Chili back into a deep freeze, until we too, are placed back into a deep freeze at the end of 2012.

They first offered this savory bowl of warmth in late 2010, and the item proved to be exceptionally popular: popular enough to return for the colder months the following year.

What do I find so unique about Panera's Steak Chili? Unlike most quick-serve chili, Panera's chili features the unique addition of slow-cooked beef brisket. This creates a unique flavor when combined with ground beef, onions, bell peppers, kidney beans and garlic, all simmered together with cayenne and ancho chili powder. The chili is served up in your choice of a bowl or cup, and generously topped with coarse chunks of lightly-sweet cornbread. This goes great with their fresh lemonade or iced tea.

Yeah, ya can't go wrong (unless you're vegetarian, then you can order a nice salad at Panera). Point is, get there SOON! I went tonight and the Manager told me there's not much time left before the chili goes into 6-month hibernation. I plan to go back for a few quarts to store in my own deep freeze, and enjoy a bowl in June/July with some blue corn tortilla chips. I can see it now: full of chili, warm from the summer sun, quietly giving Old Man Minter the bird. Best of both worlds, Old Man.