Chris Pirillo » breakfast

L’eggo My Eggo!!

Chris Pirillo — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 08:09:05 +0000

Wait. Back up. Hold the phone. Rewind a moment. PAUSE! STOP!!!! What the hell is going on?! No more Eggos?! Someone has lost their freaking minds!!

Kellog’s has had to close their Atlanta plant – the second such closure in recent days due to operational issues. They claim to be working hard to re-stock all of the stores that carry their famous waffles. But for now… there is actually a shortage. Many thousands of people are going to have to go through painful withdrawals every morning! This, folks, is a crisis of epic proportions!

Breakfast without Eggos is like… macaroni without cheese… peanut butter without jelly… Bert without Ernie! It just doesn’t work. It’s not cool. It should be illegal!!! I think I need a paper bag. So this is what hyperventilating feels like!

How are you going to survive your Eggo withdrawal? Will you replace your old standby with something new, or simply starve every morning until they return to your grocer’s shelves?

Losing out on Eggo’s isn’t even the only newsworthy event that has been written about in our community today. People are talking about all kinds of things. I hope you haven’t missed any of them!

Even the downloads center has been busy today! We have a few excellent new Apps for you to check out!

[awsbullet:eggo shirt]

L’eggo My Eggo!!

Have You Ever Tasted McSpam?

Chris Pirillo — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 09:06:20 +0000

Have You Ever Tasted McSpam?

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So I was told that while in Honolulu, I had to eat a traditional “Local Breakfast” at the McDonald’s. Ok, so let’s do this. I can handle it, right? It won’t kill me, right?

The “Local Breakfast” includes white rice, eggs, Portuguese sausage, and Spam. You read the correctly – Spam. Honest-to-goodness… SPAM. What the heck. When in Rome…

The Spam actually tasted good, as did the rice. It is very Hawaiian tasting, with maybe a hint of Connecticut thrown in. The Portuguese sausage, well, I’m not so sure. At least now I know what it tastes like.

Thankfully, they had the normal old fruit punch to wash it all down with. I thought maybe it would taste better in Hawaii, but it’s just the same old punch as I get here in Seattle.

Have you ever eaten Spam? Where did you have it? How was it cooked? Most importantly.. did you like it?

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Have You Ever Tasted McSpam?

Fruity, Cinnamon, Banana, Honey Cheerios: Cereal Extravaganza!

Chris Pirillo — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 19:03:40 +0000

Fruity, Cinnamon, Banana, Honey Cheerios: Cereal Extravaganza!

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Growing up, I ate Cheerios all the time. I eat Multi Grain Cheerios every morning, as part of my nutritious breakfast. When I went to the store to get more recently, I noticed that Cheerios is going bonkers with new flavors! I remember when Honey Nut Cheerios were introduced to the market – it was a huge deal! In addition to the old standbys, we can now choose from:

Fruity Cheerios – They want a sweetened cereal, but you want to give them the whole grain goodness of Cheerios. Helping your kids eat right doesn’t have to be a struggle.
Apple Cinnamon Cheerios – Flavored with real apples and a touch of cinnamon, here’s one breakfast cereal with the whole grain goodness of Cheerios that your kids will love.
Banana Nut Cheerios – Heart-healthy Banana Nut Cheerios cereal delivers nutrition you can trust and whole grain goodness in every serving, along with great taste your entire family will love.
Oat Cluster Cheerios – Enjoy the unique taste combination of five lightly sweetened whole grains and crunchy oat clusters. Cheerios Crunch cereal is the perfect balance of the nutrition you want and the taste you’ve been looking for!

The Oat Cluster Cheerios is throwing me off. They have sullied what would normally be a pure Cheerios experience. I’m not too sure of it yet, but I’ll try it. I thought I’d try all of the new ones here on a video with all of you. Granted, there are many other flavors of Cheerios. I just bought these four to test out the newest flavors of Cheerios.

I poured all four types into a bowl all at once. I’m a sucker for tasty cereals. I doubt that General Mills expected someone to mix them all together, but why not? Cheerios should be cross-bowl compatible, shouldn’t they?

The Apple Cinnamon one, I didn’t even wait for it to get into the bowl. I shoved my hand in the box, and popped a mouthful in! You can definitely taste both the apples and cinnamon. Once I poured in my Soy Milk, I had to mix it all together. Something about the Clusters was bothering me, even before I tasted my concoction.

And the result of my madness is YUM! I taste Fruity… I taste apples and cinnamon… I had to keep trying, but I finally even tasted some banana! I don’t see how anyone could not like Cheerios! If you know of other yummy new cereals, let me know in an email. I’ll try it! Or – blog about your favorite cereal on Geeks!

Cereal is Geek food.

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Fruity, Cinnamon, Banana, Honey Cheerios: Cereal Extravaganza!

Gnomedex Will Feed You Dinner

Chris Pirillo — Thu, 15 Jun 2006 17:52:17 +0000

Gnomedex Will Feed You Dinner

Okay, it’s not enough that we’re giving you breakfast and lunch at Gnomedex, but Ponzi just told me that we’re also giving you dinner on Friday and Saturday night!!! It’s not going to be a three-course layout either night, but should prove to be something substantial (far beyond carrot sticks and dip). She says: “it probably won’t look like dinner, but it’ll be filling.” I’ll have the menus posted soon enough so you can decide for yourself, but we’re basically telling everybody that we treat all Gnomedex attendees like VIPs. This includes all Cove Gnomedexers, too. Now you wonder why we’re still looking for sponsors – this food extravaganza is killing our budget!

Gnomedex Will Feed You Dinner

Food Seattle

Chris Pirillo — Sat, 27 May 2006 23:44:10 +0000

Food Seattle

Got a note from Kevin Freeman the other day. Don’t know if I can help him directly, I think I can help him indirectly:

Chris: As we climb the search engine ladder for the key words “seattle restaurants” I always see your name so I thought I would introduce myself. My name is Kevin Freeman and I have Chron’s disease and have created this new concept to help others like myself dine out with special dietary needs. Here is a recent article done by the Vancouver Sun. We are entering into a new market in Seattle and need assistance. Mainly in the way of word of mouth or a blog entry also we do require photos of restaurants. If you do know of anyone that would want to be paid to go and cold call restaurants in Seattle, take photos and fill out information on our free sign up page that would be great. We are a start up company and cannot pay a lot but for part time work it pays ok. Thanks and hope to hear from you soon

There are so many great restaurants here in Seattle. Sometimes, we just don’t know where to go. Ponzi likes to try new restaurants all the time – but if I’m not in the mood for something, it’s difficult to make an unfamiliar choice. Sushi is our trump card.

Food Seattle

Seattle Restaurants

Chris Pirillo — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 12:08:17 +0000

Seattle Restaurants

I received an email this evening from a friend who’s visiting Seattle in a few weeks. She wanted to know what I recommended for restaurants in the area. I started to scribble a couple of names, but the effort soon ballooned into a full-blown list. I’m sharing it here for your digestion (pun intended). This way, if anybody else ever asks me for good “local” food, I can just point ‘em here.

For seafood, I’d recommend Salty’s on Alki – great view of downtown seattle and the Sound at night. Great food, too. :) I like their seared ahi, but (then again) that’s pretty much all I get there. Ponzi always seems to enjoy the salmon or white fish. The valet parking is nice.

For fondue, try The Melting Pot. If you’ve never been to a fondue restaurant before, it’s worth trying. Ponzi found out about this place while she was visiting Thailand (!) – so we went there last night and really enjoyed ourselves. Be prepared to stuff yourself silly. This is a “must” for any cheese lover. I’d recommend going as a couple, but not as a double-date – because everybody pretty much shares the same pot of everything.

For sushi, I’d recommend Chinoise on Madison. I personally love sitting at the sushi bar and ordering “Omakase,” which you should be able to do at any sushi bar. That’s when the chef makes whatever he things is good – and you get to experience great flavors that aren’t on the menu. We also like Toyoda, Ototo, I Love Sushi (Bellevue, NOT Seattle), Saitos, Maneki, Rain, and Kozue (Kozui?). I’ve heard “Wasabi” is great, but it sounds overpriced and too trendy.

For dim sum, it’s all about Top Gun. Let me put it to you this way: I’m usually the only gringo in the joint when we go. We’ve tried a few places in Chinatown, but they weren’t as nice. Sunday mornings at Top Gun are a madhouse. Worth doing, even if you’ve never had dim sum before (which is more of a breakfast/brunch meal).

For pho, it all depends on your taste. “What the Pho” in Bellevue is a pretty safe flavor. “Pho Bac” is also good in the International district, I hear. If you’ve never had Pho before, it’s pretty much soup with a lot of noodles and a meat of choice. There’s a lot of pho out there. Try the young coconut juice if you go.

For doughnuts, try Mighty-O Donuts. They make ‘em without hydrogenated oils, so they’re “healhtier” for you. I can’t eat any other donuts in the city, so this is pretty much it for me. If you’re gonna be decadent in the morning, you might as well minimize the artery damage.

For coffee, Zoka beats the hell out of Starbucks. I don’t drink it anymore, but Ponzi would make me drive all the way across town just so she could have something from Zoka – passing a million Starbucks en route. The one in Tangletown (north of the Wallingford district) is across the street from Mighty-O.

For steak, I’ve always had an awesome filet at the Pampas Room (which I believe is downstairs from El Gaucho). I’d probably recommend a chain like Morton’s or Ruth’s Chris, too. The Keg also has a pretty good steak, if you’re into the “down home” atmosphere.

For online dinner reservations, by the way, I’ve been using OpenTable. You don’t need to sign up for an account, and it’s got a great range of tastes for you to choose from if you’re in the mood for something new or different. I found out about it when I was looking to make reservations for a place in Las Vegas. Wonderful free service here.

For slightly “trendy” dining with good flavor and good prices, try the Black Bottle in downtown Seattle. Their potato and cauliflower dish is awesome (and I hate cauliflower), as is their bread with sundried cherries… oh, and the hanger (?) steak is also amazing. I was quite suprised – and judging from the crowd, this is a real winner.

For Italian, Machiaveli’s. It also happens to be across the street from “The Chapel,” which used to be a funeral home – where Bruce Lee lived and (subsequently) had his funeral. How’s that for a little bit of history? There’s also a nice Italian place kitty-corner from the Seattle Public Library, but its name escapes me at the moment.

For Pizza, it really depends where you are. I’ve personally fallen in love with All-Purpose Pizza – “Ked’s Fave,” in particular. It may not be close to where you’re staying, though – and the concierge may be able to recommend something a bit closer that might be just as good. Just avoid Pizza Hut if you can at all help it – or any nationwide chain, for that matter.

For late night dining, try the reuben sandwich at 13 coins. We’ve been there a few times when we were feeling like having comfort food. Decor hasn’t been updated since the late ’50s (or so it seems). If you’re hungry at 3AM, this is pretty much the only game in town I’d recommend without reservation. We’ve been there a few times, but only once “after hours.”

For Ethiopian, get over to Queen Sheba. If you’ve never tried Ethiopian, it’s very spicy (and very tasty). I’d recommend getting the meat and veggie samplers, and you’ll be set for four people. For two, I’d likely choose one over the other.

For casual dining for lunch or dinner, try BluWater in Leschi (not the other one). It’s always filling. Even though we kinda live down the street from it, we don’t go there as often as we could – largely because there are so many other great restaurants in Seattle for us to try. We’ve been here for a year, and probably sampled 1/100th of what’s out there.

For burgers, it’s Dick’s Drive-in. They’re not gonna be gigantic burgers, but for fast food, this is excellent. Try one while you’re here, if you can. Kidd Valley is also pretty good (and Ponzi likes their garlic fries). For Hot Dogs, go to Diggity Dog Hot Dogs – which is near Zoka and Mighty-O.

For Russian, go with My Favorite Piroshki. They’re like sandwiches, with many of them comprised of ground beef and potatoes. If you’ve never had one, they might be worth trying – just to say you had one.

For Greek, you must go to the Mediterranean Kitchen. We found this place on accident and fell in love with it instantly. The baba ganoush is out of this world. Great prices, greasy spoon atmosphere. When we’re doing something in the neighborhood, we always stop by – if only for the baba ganoush. Did I mention that I love their baba ganoush?

For Mexican, we’re happy with any Taco Del Mar. ;) I haven’t heard of many great Mexican restaurants up here in Seattle. Everybody seems to be disappointed. Then again, many of us have never had authentic Mexican – so we’re happy with whatever we find. Again, stay away from chains.

For Chinese, you must go to Bamboo Garden. It’s Chinese cuisine – with no meat. You’d be surprised at how realistic the sweet and sour chicken tastes. We don’t really eat a lot of Chinese, but when we do, this is typically where we go. I’ve also heard that Seven Stars is also unique.

For something unique, try Coastal Kitchen. Every few months, their menu changes to highlight a different culture! Right now, they’re serving Portugese. The Chow Foods restaurant family has always had great food, including the 5 Spot. This would be a great choice if you’re not sure what you want to eat.

For Thai, Thai Ginger or Wild Ginger are pretty good. If you want authentic Thai, I’d recommend Thai Heaven. Ponzi’s really picky when it comes to Thai – because she’s had the real deal. She doesn’t like Racha Thai at all, but I think it’s great.

For a general dining experience, we found McCormick & Schmick’s to be good (and they’re the ones who cater Gnomedex). Some might find it a bit stuffy, and some younger friends of ours said that it seemed to cater to the 60+ crowd, but I would certainly go back if given the opportunity. We had lunch there, but I’d imagine the dinner would be just as nice.

For fusion, try Seastar restaurant for lunch or dinner. Try the deviled eggs – topped with Tobiko! This is over in Bellevue again, but I get a kick out of the lamps – which remind me of the miracle of birth. You have to see it to really understand what I mean. Anyway, Seastar is a good choice for a good meal – alebeit a little overpriced, IMHO.

Seattle Restaurants