One Man's Blog

A Visit to the Boudin Bakery in San Francisco

July 30, 2009 By John P. 6 Comments

Today I went down to the Boudin Bakery on Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco to get some fresh baked sourdough and some of their delicious clam chowder.

When I arrived, there was a group of people huddled around the window where they are usually making the bread. Only this time, a nice young lady was actually talking to the crowd through her wireless microphone system, and taking questions as well.

I was carrying my camera, so I flipped on the video mode and captured the following video. In it, you’ll see how she makes a special bread loaf in the shape of a teddy bear. Very cute, and extremely tasty! Enjoy.
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Filed Under: Food, The Man's Videos, Travel Tagged With: Boudin Bakery, California, Food, Photography, San-Francisco, The Man's Videos, Travel

How to Open a Banana Like a Monkey

July 20, 2009 By John P. 10 Comments

Whoever said that humans are more evolved than our hairy little cousins in the monkey kingdom is probably the same idiot who taught you how to open a banana… WRONG!

I don’t know about you, but for at least 3 decades I’ve been opening bananas like a, well… cro-magnon. When I should have been opening it like a primate! Here, just watch the video and you’ll see.
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Filed Under: Food, Tutorials, Videos Tagged With: Food, Tutorials, Videos

I Can’t Believe Amazon.com Has Groceries!

April 13, 2009 By John P. 11 Comments

I have a love + hate relationship with Amazon. I mostly love them, even though occasionally they do really stupid things. Anyway, I got an e-mail from them reminding me that they actually have groceries for sale. I was like… “what?”

In my mind I was imagining one of those old failed grocery services where they’ll bring stuff right to you. Milk, eggs, whatever! Well, they don’t seem to have that stuff… but they DO have just about everything else.

According to their description of Grocery beta (don’t know why it’s a freaking image):

We offer more than 45,000 non-perishable grocery items–and our selection is growing every day

We can ship many products for free, via Super Saver Shipping, Amazon Prime, or free standard shipping

We have great everyday prices plus Sales & Special Offers on your favorite brands

We make it exceptionally easy to find products you buy routinely, or to discover new items we think you’ll like

So, whatever you order you can get shipped for FREE (especially if you are a PRIME member like me), plus remember that you don’t pay any sales tax on Amazon stuff…
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Filed Under: Food Tagged With: Amazon, Food, Groceries, Shopping

Tutorial: How to Make Deviled Eggs

March 9, 2009 By John P. 12 Comments

I’m not sure where Deviled Eggs got their name, because they taste like they came from heaven! Anyway, for those of you who don’t have a clue how to make these tasty little suckers, I’ve got your hook up!

The hardest part of making deviled eggs is simply boiling the eggs. Seriously. That’s it. So here is the easy way to hardboil the eggs:

Place a dozen eggs in a large saucepan. Yeah, I said a dozen. Trust me, you’re gonna want them.
Add enough cold water to cover the eggs by 1 full inch.
Turn the stove top on high, and bring the water to a boil.
Remove from the heat source, let it sit for 2 minutes, then cool the eggs with cold water to stop them from cooking.

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Filed Under: Food, Tutorials Tagged With: Cooking, Food, Recipe, Tutorials

Funny Foods From the Asian Market

February 13, 2009 By John P. 11 Comments

Ok, ok. I know what a bunch of you are going to say, so I’ll get it out of the way so you don’t have to…

This blog is racist! What have you got against Asian food?
Um, since there are like 2 billion Asians and only a few white people, did you ever consider that maybe YOU’RE the one eating strange food?
You don’t even eat vegetables do you?

Well, you can comment all you like, but it’s going to fall on deaf ears! I went to the Vietnamese grocery store with my very, um… Vietnamese, sister-in-law, and I snapped these photos of strange foods with my trusty iPhone.

I bet you can’t even identify half of them!
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Filed Under: Food, Photography Tagged With: Food, Houston, Photography, Travel

The Weber Grill Grillmeister

January 15, 2009 By John P. 5 Comments

This evening I ate a 16oz. New York Strip, along with a bunch of other stuff, at The Weber Grill in Chicago. Mmmm! It was tasty.

But as good as the meal was, half the fun was the entertainment value. You see, my buddy Chris from Layered Tech and I braved the -10 degree temperatures and snow to walk 3 blocks to eat there. And when we got there we sat in the bar at a counter overlooking the Grillmeister!

The following photos came from my iPhone while he was preparing our, and many other, steaks. So, here’s to you o’ master of the flames! Budweiser should make a commercial about you.
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Filed Under: Food, Health & Fitness, Photography, Travel, Wordpress Tagged With: Barbeque, Chicago, Food, Grill, Illinois, Photography, Travel, Weber

How to Make Bacon Cups

December 23, 2008 By John P. 3 Comments

This little post goes out to Neal and Cali, the biggest bacon fans I know. Yes Greg, even bigger than you.

So, you’re sitting around one Saturday afternoon, when suddenly your stomach begins rumbling. But you know that it’s no ordinary rumble. It’s the kind that can only be cured with a massive bacon fix! Not a problem.

Here is what you’re gonna do. First, you’re gonna get a muffin pan and turn it upside down and line it with aluminum foil. Or for those of you in the UK, you can use al-u-MIN-ium foil.

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Filed Under: Food, Photography, Tutorials Tagged With: Bacon, Cali Lewis, Food, GeekBrief, Neal Campbell, Tutorials

Aerial Photos of Cargill’s Solar Evaporation Salt Mine

December 14, 2008 By John P. 4 Comments

Months ago when flying into San Francisco, our plane was diverted into a holding pattern a little ways outside the airport due to traffic, and as I watched from the window I noticed that we were circling some sort of massive pools of colored water. They were so vibrant in color that I was amazed, and I took a bunch of photos (and posted them).

What I didn’t know at the time was, that was the Cargill solar evaporation salt production facility. I actually just learned it by watching the TV show “Modern Marvels” that was specifically on salt production. As soon as they began describing the location of the facility I instantly knew what I had seen months ago!

Anyway, the rich colors that you can see in the ariel photography are supposedly due to the microorganisms that live in this heavy concentration of salt water called brine. The brine contains a concentration of about 25% salt, which is about the maximum amount of salt that can actually be disolved in water.
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