Our New York-style Pizza Experience

Pizza - one of the most wonderful things ever made. =D I'd eat pizza any day! :) If you wanna know what my favorite is, I couldn't give you a straight answer. I'd honestly have a hard time choosing! Each pizza restaurant has it's own amazing specialty - and I have my own personal favorite on each one. Today, I craved for Yellow Cab Pizza. My favorite from their menu? The New York's Finest.

I was with my brother this afternoon. We went to the mall to have my mobile phone fixed at the Nokia Care Center. (If you haven't read the story about my phone's near-death-experience yet, please click here.) The service man told us to come back after 3 hours, and my phone will be all set by then. So while waiting, we roamed around and did some window shopping... and headed to Yellow Cab! Guess what? We ordered the 18" New York's Finest Pizza. Yup! And there were just the two of us. haha For comparison, seated on another table, was a family of three (mom, dad, and a child). They ordered the 14" size... :) The 10" size is good for 2-3 persons. The 14" size is good for 3-4. The 18" is probably good for 5-6 people. haha We didn't finish everything off, obviously. I only ate 2 slices and a half (if I remember it correctly). My brother ate 5 slices and a half. haha We brought the rest home (there were 4 slices left), for our mom, dad and two for our sister. We were soo full! And very thirsty! At the end of the day, my phone's back to it's normal working condition, and we realized we just gained more calories than what we've lost in the gym these past few days! ^^ Good thing we can eat a lot without worrying too much on becoming fat. Maybe it's a genetic thing...

Do you like pizza? What's your favorite? :)

Photo of Yellow Cab Pizza Box on top, courtesy of Gita Asuncion

The Beer Barrel Belly Bruiser

One fine day, 100 miles northeast of Pittsburgh in Clearfield, in a local pub called Danny's Beer Barrel Pub, a hungry man came in, and was welcomed happily by a waiter...

Waiter: Hello, Sir! Welcome to Danny's Beer Barrel. May I take your order?
Man: I want a Beer Barrel Belly Bruiser, please.. and Coke.

Ha! I don't think I have the guts to utter those words if I'm sitting in a restaurant all alone. But Brad Scuillo, 21, from Pennsylvania did take the meat marathon challenge last Monday Oct 13, under a five-hour time limit. It took him exactly 4 hours and 39 minutes to finish the burger! I wonder if he stood up and roamed around a little bit, went to the comfort room, etc. Or did he stay seated and munched all throughout the 4-hour and 39-minute period. hehehe

If you're wondering what's in the burger... it included a bun, tomatoes, lettuce, onions, cheese, mild banana peppers and a cup each of mayonnaise, ketchup, mustard and relish - with a total weight of 20.2 lbs! Sounds good, but I prefer to keep my burger normal-sized.

Brad was surprised he finished the sandwich, but said: "I wanted to see if I could." And he absolutely did! For completing the challenge, he won $400, three pieces of t-shirts, and a certificate. If I were him, after having eaten that size, I would probably stay away from burgers for a few months. =) But Kudos to you, Brad!
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/

Warning: Star Fruit (a.k.a.) Carambola

I got an email earlier about the dangers of eating a star fruit. With the vast number of email scams going around, I did not immediately believe in it. But since it's food, and it looks familiar (I must have eaten it once, or twice, or a couple of times in the past), I am concerned and wanted to see if it's real. So I did my search, and voila! Apparently, there's truth behind it.

The Starfruit or Star Fruit, a.k.a the Carambola, is a popular tropical fruit throughout Southeast Asia, Trinidad, Malaysia, and parts of East Asia. It is also commercially grown in the United States in South Florida and Hawaii for it's fruit. A website said it is gaining popularity in the United States. Is it true? Let me know, I'm curious.

Despite the fact that it is a seemingly harmless fruit, it is not entirely safe - especially for individuals with kidney trouble. The presence of the oxalic acid in the fruit can cause hiccups, vomiting, nausea, and mental confusion. The symptoms in patients with chronic renal failure or end-stage renal disease vary and include insomnia, intractable hiccups, agitation, muscle weakness, confusion, consciousness disturbances of various degrees, seizures, and cardiorespiratory arrest. Uraemic patients have had fatal outcomes after ingestion of star fruits. Drug interactions could also be fatal.

The various star fruit subspecies contain different toxins, including a powerful neurotoxin that is suspected to accumulate in blood, cross the blood-brain barrier in chronic renal failure patients, and eventually cause irreversible damage.

Star fruit intoxication is a neglected but serious fruit intoxication frequently observed in patients with chronic renal failure. Because no effective treatment is currently available, patients— especially those who are newly diagnosed with chronic renal failure or end-stage renal disease—must be warned not to ingest star fruit, even in small amounts.

- www.foodreference.com

There are, however, recipes all over the internet on star fruit. Some people believe it's safe for healthy individuals... but I believe prevention is always better than cure. If it's bad for those with kidney trouble, then maybe there's a slight, unnoticeable effect on the healthy ones - the kind that builds up, and would eventually come up after several years. Would you risk it? The next time I'll be offered a piece, I think I'll have to pass...

The Salivating Effect of Space Burgers

I've been craving for Space Burgers since Tuesday, and I'm very happy I'm getting my hands (and mouth) on one tonight! I might even eat two. haha

Space Burgers are flame grilled, err, burgers.. that smell sooo good, and tastes sooo good! One bite will keep you asking for more. There are different kinds.. but I like the one with tomatoes, lettuce, mushrooms, bacon.. uhh.. yah, just put everything in it.

It's definitely the best burger in town!

It could easily be mistaken for the SpaceBurgers company in Florida, though. I was browsing the net earlier, in search of their website, but I didn't find one. I saw a SpaceBurgers site that's Florida-based instead, and it said it isn't a franchise organization. So it's not the same company.

Anyway, I'm eating one tonight. Ha! I'm sooo looking forward to it. =)

Photo courtesy of bonkaris.