Saturday, September 29, 2018

Exotic/Disgusting Foods and Beverages Forum--Couscous

     I first had couscous about 20 years ago, while visiting a friend in Seattle (Hi Anita!).  We went to a Senegalese restaurant, and couscous was, as I recall, a side dish/rice substitute for many of the entrees.  I had some (perhaps with lamb?) and really loved it.  Then, when I saw there was a couscous-based dessert I ordered this too, and also enjoyed it.  But, several years later I was in a soul food restaurant in Harlem (in Manhattan, of course) when I saw couscous on the menu again.  I eagerly ordered it, fondly remembering my first experience with it.  However, this second time it wasn't very good--it was kind of dry, and not very flavorful.  Over the years, I occasionally saw microwavable frozen couscous-based dishes in groceries, and tried some of them.  (This was back before I had this blog.)  Usually they were okay to pretty good--much better than the second time I had couscous, but not as great as that first time.  And then, a couple of months ago, I saw microwavable pre-made couscous again, from a company called Wild Garden.  I'll discuss this one below.
     I was a bit surprised to learn that couscous isn't an exotic and different kind of grain.  It's actually a subspecies of wheat, called durum.  "Common wheat" is the most popular species in the world, while durum is a very distant second, comprising 5-8% of the world's wheat production.  Durum wheat was artificially selected by humans long ago, around 7000 B.C., from a species of domesticated wheat (emmer) grown in the Middle East and Central Europe.  Couscous wasn't developed until the 7th century, in Northwest Africa, in what's now the nations of Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Mauritania, and Libya.  The traditional method of making couscous is very labor-intensive.  The hardest part of the durum wheat plant, what's called the "wheat middlings," the part most resistant to grinding, is pounded, sprinkled with water, and hand rolled into small pellets.  These pellets are then kept separate using a flour dusting, and are sieved.  Any pellets that are too small and go through the sieve are recollected, and the total process is repeated, until all the wheat is in pellet form.  In modern times this process has been mechanized.  The most likely origin for this food's name is that it comes from the Arabic word kaskasa, meaning "to pound small."  Since its invention, couscous has spread quite a bit, especially into Mediterranean and Middle Eastern countries.  It's popular in France, Portugal, Spain, Greece, Italy, and Israel.  It's also a major part of Palestinian cuisine.  Couscous is often served in a broth or stew, with vegetables and meat (anything from chicken, lamb, fish, camel, or beef, depending on where it's being made).  Alternately, it's also common as a sweet dessert, and mixed with things like nuts, honey, cream and sugar.  Some cultures even use completely different grains, like farina, barley, corn meal, millet, or sorghum, but still call it couscous, or one of its alternate titles, such as maftoul.
     I wasn't able to find out much about the Wild Garden company.  The official website doesn't include any sort of history about the company itself.  Just a statement that they're dedicated to providing Mediterranean food to the world.  Some of their other products include pre-made shawarma, rice & lentils, bulgur (another durum wheat product), a Persian marinade, spices made for Turkish kebobs, hummus, and some snack boxes.  For those who care about such things, only some of their wares are gluten-free, kosher, and vegan.  Also, they state that they are not GMO-free at the moment, but they are pursuing this.  Finally, the couscous I ate, and maybe the other Mediterranean specialty dishes produced by Wild Garden, was made in....India, for some reason.
     But on to my impressions of the Wild Garden couscous.  It came in a 250 g. (8.8 ounce) bag, and was microwavable.  The ingredients were a vegetable stock made from water, carrots, cauliflower, green beans, tomato, onion, cabbage, cilantro, and salt and spices, along with chick peas, couscous, sunflower oil, and tomato paste.  It had the small couscous lumps, along with visible chick peas, and was a dull brownish-orange color.  The taste was kind of similar to the other pre-made microwavable couscous I've had over the years--okay, but not great.  I had no problems finishing it, but I didn't love it like that initial encounter.
     So this post topic was a little unusual in that I've had it several times, over the decades, both professionally made in restaurants, and from heating up pre-made dishes from supermarkets.  It appears I like couscous in general.  However, as the cliche goes, it evidently depends on how it's made.  Clearly, the best results were when it was professionally made, in a good restaurant.  In closing, it's been a long time, and I'm not positive, but a good candidate for the Seattle restaurant I had such a sublime dining experience in is La Teranga.  I looked at some recent reviews of it, and they were fairly glowing, too.




























Saturday, September 22, 2018

Exotic/Disgusting Foods and Beverages Forum--Alcoholic Waters

     So, recently I was wandering around the alcohol section of a Shaw's supermarket in Vermont, and saw something new--alcoholic waters.  Specifically, "spiked & sparkling" water from the Truly brand.  Obviously, alcoholic alternatives to beer/wine/liquor have been with us for some time--the 1980's brought wine coolers, and after that customers saw various malt beverages like Zima (see July 21, 2018 post).  Of late I've noticed even more varieties, including alcoholic teas, lemonades, root beers, and other different flavors of soft drinks (or "hard" soft drinks, now).  But I was unaware that there were alcoholic versions of water.  Therefore, I bought a sampling of the Truly line--the pomegranate kind, the blueberry & acai kind, and the raspberry & lime flavor.
     As it turns out these were all hard versions of seltzer.  Readers may be curious, as I was, what is seltzer, exactly, and how does it differ from mineral water, club soda, and tonic water?  In brief, mineral water is from natural springs, has naturally occurring minerals (of course), and is usually naturally carbonated.  Mineral waters are also usually rather expensive.  Seltzer is essentially a cheaper version of mineral water.  It's water that's been artificially carbonated, and sometimes has flavors added to it.  Club soda is basically seltzer water which has had minerals added to it, for a slight taste difference.  And tonic water is also artificially carbonated water, but it has a distinct bitter taste, because it's had quinine added to it.  (Quinine is also useful to combat malaria, although the amount currently found in tonic waters isn't enough to do so, alas.)  The name seltzer comes from the German town of Selters, which is famous for its natural springs.
     Truly is made by the Hard Seltzer Beverage Company, which in turn is an affiliate of the Boston Beer Company microbrewery, most notable for their Sam Adams beer.  According to the website the makers wanted a light and refreshing drink, which was low in both calories and sugar.  For occasions when cocktails are "too complicated," and wine is "too heavy," and beer is "too bloaty."  "The perfect post-workout, hang out drink."  So they came up with a hard version of seltzer which has 100 calories, 1 gram of sugar, and 5% alcohol per 12 ounce (355 mL) can.  Truly comes in 8 different flavors.  Besides the three I already mentioned, there's wild berry, colima lime, grapefruit & pomelo, lemon & yuzu (a Japanese citrus fruit), and Sicilian blood orange.  They're also proud to be gluten free, and with no artificial flavors or sweeteners.  The ingredients for the ones I got, and presumably all of them, are filtered water, alcohol from cane sugar, natural flavors, cane sugar, citric acid, carbon dioxide, and Mandarina hops.  Some of Truly's competitors include Henry's Hard, Nauti, White Claw, Smirnoff, and the originator of alcoholic seltzer, Spiked Seltzer (who developed their creation in 2013).

1) Truly hard seltzer, blueberry & acai flavor.  Color of this was clear, and had a slight berry odor.  Tasted like seltzer, which to me is not a good thing.  Some berry taste, but very little.  Not good.  Hides its alcoholic content well, though.

2) Truly hard seltzer, pomegranate flavor.  Same color, and same slight fruity smell.  As with all three kinds, this one had a slight head which dissipated almost instantly.  Some flavoring, but once again, not enough to make it good.  Disappointing to say the least.

3) Truly hard seltzer, raspberry & lime flavor.  Same odor and color as the others.  Some ghost of a fruity flavor, but very slight.  Not a pleasant drink at all.  Fail!

     In summation, then, I really disliked these beverages.  But, to be fair, I hate seltzer waters in general--both the plain and flavored kinds.  Which is maybe odd since I like many carbonated soft drinks, and other carbonated beverages like beer.  But something about carbonated water puts me off, even ones with alleged flavors.  I think the writing on the Truly cans was accurate, when they said, "with a hint of " the listed fruit flavor--you could barely taste anything.  Suffice it to say that I won't be buying any of these again, nor will I be trying any of the other Truly flavors, or any other brands of hard seltzer.  But, if you like seltzer water, you might enjoy these, I guess.
     Finally, I thought I'd end with a little info about the Boston Beer Company, and microbreweries in general.  Although there seems to be some differences in definition, most organizations recognize a brewery as being "micro" if it produces less than 6,000,000 barrels of beer (or 700,000,000 liters, or 190,000,000 gallons) in a year.  As of 2015 7.8% of the beer sold in the U.S. was from microbreweries, aka craft breweries.  As of March 2018 the 10 biggest microbreweries in the U.S. were:

1) Yuengling
2) Boston Beer Company
3) Sierra Nevada
4) New Belgium
5) Duvel Moortgat
6) Gambrinus
7) Bell's
8) Stone
9) Oskar Blues
10) DeSchutes

     And starting this year, and up until 2025 Sam Adams is the official beer of MLB's Boston Red Sox, replacing Budweiser (see my May 25, 2016 post for a short snippy rant about this brewery).


























Saturday, September 15, 2018

Exotic/Disgusting Foods and Beverages Forum--Roman Supersnacks

   I'm being a little overly dramatic and vague with the title of today's post.  It's ripped off from the tagline of the products I bought--lupini bean snacks, from the Brami company.  Their logo is even an anthropomorphic bean wearing a Roman-style helmet, equipped with a sword and shield.
     Lupini beans (aka lupin beans) are an ancient food for humans.  They've been used since at least 4200 years ago, as they've been depicted, and their remains found, in tombs of the 12th Dynasty of Egyptian pharaohs, and even earlier.  Over in the New World, ancient Peruvians were cultivating them as early as 2700 years ago.  The Incas later utilized lupini extensively, as did the Romans.  Thanks largely to the Roman's influence this food spread throughout the Mediterranean basin area (Southern Europe, Northern Africa, parts of the Middle East).  Lupini are especially popular in Brazil, Greece, Spain, and Portugal.  Also, in what's now the American state of Arizona, the Yavapapi tribe also enjoyed them.
     As usual, the "super" description is probably a marketing exaggeration, a la other so called "superfoods" (See my May 1, 2014 post), but they are undeniably nutritious.  Lupini are very rich in protein and fiber, have only a moderate amount of fat, and are bereft of starch, which is rare for this kind of food.  They also contain the full complement of amino acids, and are more tolerant of cooler growing temperatures than are many crop staples.  Lupini are often pickled, and eaten as snacks, or even as bar food--the equivalent of pretzels and peanuts in the U.S.  Sometimes the beans are ground into flour, and added to wheat flour to add some flavor.
     There is, unfortunately, one major drawback with lupini though--prepared incorrectly they are poisonous, even fatally so.  They contain bitter alkaloids that are extremely toxic.  To be rendered safe, they must be soaked in salty water for several days.  There are traditionally two main varieties, the "bitter" and "sweet" kinds, but both need to be soaked before eating.  Recently an Australian version has been created which is actually free of the alkaloids, with no soaking needed.  But some folks still prefer the traditional, potentially dangerous kinds.  Also, lupini are technically legumes, and are related to peanuts.  So people with peanut allergies may also have adverse reactions to lupini.

1) Brami lupini snacks, sea salt flavor.  Came in a 150 gram (5.3 ounce) resealable pouch.  The beans look like fat, light brown roundish beans.  I tried some with the shell on, some with the shell removed.  (The shell is very soft, and is edible.)  Not much of a taste difference, so I ate most whole, with the shell on. They were okay, but kind of bland.  Rather  "meh" overall.

2) Brami lupini snacks, balsamic vinegar and herb flavor.  Same size bag, and the beans were similar in size and color once again.  These were slightly better than the sea salt kind, as the herbs and vinegar added some zest.  A solid snack, but not awesome or anything.

3) Brami lupini snacks, garlic and herb flavor.  Same package, bean appearance as the other two.  The pick of this litter, for sure.  I like garlic in general, so this makes sense.  Yet again, though, while this snack was good, it wasn't great.

     All in all, then, I thought that lupini beans were decent, but nothing more.  So I would give them a slight recommendation.  With one important caveat.  As with bamboo (see my July 14,  2018 post), make doubly sure that the lupini you're eating were prepared correctly--this is not the type of plant you can just casually grow, harvest, and then eat.  Even a "supersnack" isn't worth dying for!   



 




















Saturday, September 8, 2018

More NFL Players Who Also Acted

     Since the 2018 NFL season just started (with my Eagles winning, barely, yeah!), I thought I'd do a post that was football-related.  I decided to do a sequel to my post on November 25, 2017 about NFL players who also acted on a big time stage, either in television shows or movies.  Admittedly, many of the guys listed weren't Brando or anything, but I tried to only list those who had at least one acting role where they weren't playing themselves.  And as for their relevant playing details, bear in mind that up until fairly recently many stats weren't kept very well, especially defensive statistics like tackles (sacks weren't even officially tabulated until 1982!).

1) Rick Moser.  I'll start with an obscure one.  IMDB lists Moser with 10 acting credits, including roles on TV's "Mr. Merlin" (1981) and "The Facts of Life" (1985), and in movies such as "Lovely But Deadly" (1981) and "Dazed and Confused" (1993).  In the NFL he was a backup running back/special teamer with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Kansas City Chiefs, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Miami Dolphins from 1978-82.  In 49 games (0 starts) he accumulated 54 rushes for 190 yards (3.5 average) and 1 touchdown, and 3 receptions for 10 yards (3.3 average) and 1 touchdown.  His Wikipedia page says that he set the Super Bowl record for special teams tackles, with 5 in Super Bowl 14 with the Steelers.  (I couldn't confirm this, but just throwing it out there.)  He was on 2 title winning teams, with the Steelers in Super Bowl 13 and 14.

2) Joe Klecko.  Klecko was apparently a friend of Burt Reynolds (RIP), as his roles were in movies with Burt--"Smokey and the Bandit" (1977), "The Cannonball Run" (1981) and "Heat" (1986).  In the NFL he played with the New York Jets and Indianapolis Colts from 1977-88, as a defensive end, defensive tackle, and nose tackle.  He accumulated 9 fumble recoveries and 24 sacks in 155 total games, and 145 starts.  He was named to 4 Pro Bowls and 2 All Pro teams, and is listed as the only man to make the Pro Bowl at his three positions.

3) Tony Gonzalez.  Gonzalez was on TV's "NCIS" (3 episodes, in 2014-16), the TV movie "A.I. Assault" (2006), and movie sequel "xXx:  The Return of Xander Cage" (2017).  As a player he was a tight end, and will surely be named to the Hall of Fame very soon.  He played with the Kansas City Chiefs and Atlanta Falcons from 1997-2013, and started 254 of 270 total games.  He caught 1325 passes for 15,127 yards (11.4 average) and 111 touchdowns.  He also rushed twice for 14 yards, and completed 1 pass for 40 yards.  He was named to 14 Pro Bowls and 6 All Pro teams.  Tony holds the all time tight end records for receptions and yards, and is in the top 10 for overall receptions, receiving yards, receiving touchdowns, and games played.

4) Joe Namath.  Namath has 21 acting credits on IMDB.  His notable TV roles were on "The Waverly Workers" (1978), "Fantasy Island" (1981), "The Love Boat" (1980-81), and "The A-Team" (1986).  In movies he was top billed in "C.C. & Company" (1970) and "The Last Rebel" (1971), and starred in "Norwood" (1970) (which wasn't about doomed Bills kicker Scott).  In the NFL he was a Hall of Fame quarterback with the New York Jets and Los Angeles Rams from 1965-77, starting 129 out of 140 games.  He completed 1886 of 3762 passes (50.1%), for 27,663 yards, 173 touchdowns, 220 interceptions, and a quarterback rating of 65.5.  Joe also rushed for 140 on 71 attempts (2.0 average) and 7 touchdowns.  He was named to 1 All Pro team and 5 Pro Bowls.  Joe's most famous for winning, and guaranteeing Super Bowl 3 versus the heavily-favored Baltimore Colts, of course.

5) Roman Gabriel.  Gabriel has 6 acting credits--on TV's "Gilligan's Island" (1966), and in movies such as "Skidoo" (1968), "The Undefeated" (1969), and "Khan!" (1975) (which despite its name isn't a Star Trek prequel).  He was also an NFL quarterback, starting 157 out of 183 games with the Los Angeles Rams and Philadelphia Eagles from 1962-77.  Roman completed 2366 out of 4498 passes (52.6%), for 29,444 yards, 201 touchdowns, 149 interceptions, and a 74.3 quarterback rating.  He also rushed for 1304 yards on 358 rushes (3.6 average) and 30 touchdowns.  Honors-wise he was named to 4 Pro Bowls, 1 All Pro team, and was named League MVP once.

6) Howie Long.  Long has 14 acting credits, in TV's "King of the Hill" (2000), and in movies such as "In 'n Out" (1984), "Broken Arrow" (1996), "That Thing You Do!" (1996), "Firestorm" (1998), and "3000 Miles to Graceland" (2001).  Howie played with the Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders from 1981-93, as a defensive end and nose tackle.  He started 151 out of 179 games, and intercepted 2 passes for 84 yards, recovered 10 fumbles, and sacked the quarterback 84 times.  He was named to 2 All Pro teams and 8 Pro Bowls, and won Super Bowl 18.  He's also a Hall of Famer.

7) Brian Bosworth.  Among Bosworth's 23 acting credits were roles on TV's "CSI: Miami" (2005), and in movies such as "Stone Cold" (1991), "Virus" (1996), "Three Kings" (1999), "Mach 2" 2001), and "Rock Slyde" (2009).  As a player he's renowned for being one of the NFL's most infamous busts, as he was a great, controversial college football star while playing only 3 years (1987-89) in the NFL, with the Seattle Seahawks, before injuries ended his career.  He played in 24 games (all starts) at linebacker, and achieved 4 sacks.  Alas, he's best remembered for being embarrassingly run over by Bo Jackson on a touchdown run in a game versus the Raiders.

8) Bob Golic.  Golic is best known for a role on TV's "Saved by the Bell: The College Years" (1993-4), but he also appeared on TV's "Coach" (1993), and "Dave's World" (1995), and in movies such as "The Taking of Beverly Hills" (1991), "Da Vinci's War" (1993), and "Dreamboat" (1997).  He was a nose tackle/defensive end/defensive tackle/linebacker in a career lasting from 1979-92 with the New England Patriots, Cleveland Browns, and Los Angeles Raiders, starting 160 of 187 games.  He intercepted 1 pass for 7 yards, recovered 5 fumbles, totaled 22.5 sacks, and was named to 3 Pro Bowls.

9) Don Meredith.  Meredith accumulated 19 acting credits, including roles in TV movies such as "Terror on the 40th Floor" (1974), "Mayday at 40,000 Feet" (1976), and "Undercover with the KKK" (1981), and on TV programs such as 8 episodes of "Police Story" (1973-76) and "Evening Shade" (1992), and in the 2002 movie "Three Days of Rain."  He played as a quarterback with the Dallas Cowboys from 1961-68, starting 83 out of 104 games.  Meredith completed 1170 out of 2308 passes (50.7%), for 17,199 yards, 135 touchdowns, 111 interceptions, and a 74.8 quarterback rating.  He also rushed for 1216 yards on 242 attempts (5.0 average) and 15 touchdowns.  He was named to 3 Pro Bowls, and played in the famous "Ice Bowl" game versus the Green Bay Packers before Super Bowl 2.  Don was best known as a television commentator, particularly as Howard Cosell's comic foil.

10) Michael Strahan.  Stahan's acting has been mostly on TV programs--"Chuck" (2008), "Brothers" (2009), "Are We There Yet?" (2011), and "Black-ish" (2015) among others.  Movie roles include "Magic Mike XXL" (2015) and "Ice Age: Collision Course" (voice) (2016).  In the NFL he was a Hall of Fame defensive end, playing from 1993-2007,  and starting 205 of 216 games.  He intercepted 4 passes for 124 yards and 2 touchdowns, forced 24 fumbles, and recovered 15 fumbles.  He accumulated 659 tackles, 192 assisted tackles, and 141.5 sacks (6th all time) including the single season record (which is controversial, for many reasons, including Favre's flop in the final game).  He made 4 All Pro teams, and 7 Pro Bowls, and won 1 Super Bowl.

11) Deacon Jones.  Acting credits include turns on the TV shows "Bewitched" (1969), "The Brady Bunch" (1971), "Wonder Woman" (1978) and "Good Vs. Evil" (1999).  Movie roles include "Heaven Can Wait" (1978) and "The Norseman" (1978).  Jones played at defensive end from 1961-74, with the Los Angeles Rams, San Diego Chargers, and Washington Redskins starting 168 out of 191 games.  He was named to 8 Pro Bowls, and 5 All Pro teams.  He's an excellent example of how statistics of the past don't tell the full story of a player's skill. He "only" accumulated 2 interceptions for 50 yards, and 15 fumble recoveries, officially.  However, he was unquestionably one of the very best defensive ends ever, and even coined the term "sack" for tackling a quarterback behind the line of scrimmage. Also, football historians estimated he achieved over 170 sacks, although this is unofficial, of course.

12) Fred Biletnikoff.  Fred had a brief acting career, appearing on the television shows "Vega$" (1979) and "Matt Houston" (1982), and the movies "The Norseman" (1978) and the disturbingly named "A Knife for the Ladies" (1974).  On the field, Fred was a Hall of Fame flanker/wide receiver, playing 190 games (160 starts) with the Oakland Raiders from 1965-78.  He caught 589 passes for 8974 yards (15.2 average) and 76 touchdowns.  He was also the MVP for the winning Raiders in Super Bowl 11.

13) Ray Nitschke.  Ray's acting career is incredibly brief, and not very challenging, as he played football players in "Head" (1968), and "The Longest Yard" (1974).  In the NFL he was a Hall of Fame linebacker with the Green Bay Packers from 1958-72, starting 150 of 190 games.  He intercepted 25 passes for 385 yards and 2 touchdowns, recovered 23 fumbles, returned 6 kickoffs for 53 yards (8.8 average), and caught 1 pass for 34 yards.  He was also a starter on 5 NFL title winners--3 NFL championships and 2 Super Bowls.

14) Brett Favre.  Another Hall of Fame Packer with a small acting resume.  Favre acted on TV's "Arli$$" (1997), "KaBlam!" (1998), and in the movie "Reggie's Prayer" (1996).  He also played himself in the movie "There's Something About Mary" (1998).  On the field he started 298 out of 302 games, mostly with the Packers, but also with the New York Jets and Minnesota Vikings from 1991-2010.  He completed 6300 out of 10169 passes (62.0%), for 71,838 yards, 508 touchdowns, and 336 interceptions, and a 86.0 quarterback rating.  He also rushed for 1844 yards on 602 rushes (3.1 average) and 14 touchdowns.  Given his long career, he's been the all time leader in passing attempts, completions, touchdown passes, yards, etc., although some of these have been broken, or probably will be by Drew Brees and/or Tom Brady soon.

15) Michael Irvin.  Irvin has 8 acting credits, including TV's "One on One" (2002) and "Burn Notice" (2009), and in movies such as ""The Longest Yard" (2005), and "Slamma Jamma" (2017).  On the field he played wide receiver for the Dallas Cowboys from 1988-99, starting 147 of 159 games.  He caught 750 passes for 11,904 yards (15.9 average) and 65 touchdowns, and also rushed 6 times for 6 yards (1.0 average).  Irvin was named to 1 All Pro team, 5 Pro Bowls, and was part of 3 Super Bowl titles.  He's also a Hall of Famer.

16) Mark Schlereth.  Mark has 3 acting credits--12 episodes of TV's "Guiding Light" (2007-9), TV's "Ballers" (2015-17), and a role in the movie "Red Dawn" (2012).  He's also been a producer.  He played offensive guard and center for the Washington Redskins and Denver Broncos from 1989-2000, starting 140 out of 156 games.  He recovered 2 fumbles, was named to 2 Pro Bowls, and won 3 Super Bowls.  He's also allegedly not fully house broken--I'll leave it to readers to find out one of the reasons he's nicknamed "Stink."

17) Dan Marino.  Among Dan's 5 acting credits include the movie "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective" (1994), and TV's "The Magic School Bus" (1996) and "The Simpsons" (1999).  (To be fair, I think he only played himself, so not much of an acting challenge.)  In the NFL he was a Hall of Fame quarterback with the Miami Dolphins from 1983-99, starting 240 out of 242 games.  Dan completed 4967 out of 8358 passes (59.4%), for 61,361 yards, 420 touchdowns, 252 interceptions, and a 86.4 quarterback rating.  He rushed 301 times for 87 yards (.3 yard average) and 9 touchdowns.  He was notoriously hard to sack--he holds the all time record for lowest sack rate (3.13%) with Peyton Manning.

18) Bill Romanowski.  Bill has 8 acing credits, including the movies "The Longest Yard" (2005), "Wieners" (2008), "Get Smart" (2008), "Bedtime Stories" (2008), and "Blended" (2014).  His playing career lasted from 1988-2003, with the San Francisco 49ers, Philadelphia Eagles, Denver Broncos, and Oakland Raiders.  He started 222 out of 243 total games.  Bill intercepted 18 passes for 98 yards and 1 touchdown, forced 16 fumbles, recovered 18 fumbles, and totaled 964 tackles, 154 assisted tackles, and 39.5 sacks.  He also played on 4 Super Bowl winners, and was named to 2 Pro Bowls.

19) Roy Jefferson.  He only acted once, but it was a starring role in the movie "Brotherhood of Death" (1976).  On the field he played from 1965-78 with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Baltimore Colts, and Washington Redskins.  He started 144 out of 162 games at wide receiver/ split end.  Overall he caught 451 passes for 7539 yards, (16.7 average) and 52 touchdowns, while rushing 25 times for 188 yards (7.5 average).  He also returned 5 kickoffs for 91 yards (18.2 average), and returned 58 punts for 436 yards (7.5 average) and another touchdown.  Honors-wise he was named to 1 All Pro team, 3 Pro Bowls, and was part of 1 Super Bowl winning team.

20) Bo Jackson.  8 total acting credits.  He appeared on TV shows such as "Diagnosis:  Murder" (1995) and "Married with Children" (1996), and movies, including "The Chamber" (1996), "Fakin' Da Funk" (1997), and "The Pandora Project" (1998).  Jackson is most famous for being a great college football player, and a decent Major League baseball player.  His NFL career was short, only lasting parts of 4 seasons (1987-1990) due to his baseball commitments and then injury.  Playing running back, he started 23 out of 38 games.  He rushed 515 times for 2782 yards (5.4 average) and 16 touchdowns, while catching 40 passes for 352 yards (8.8 average) and 2 more touchdowns.  He also made 1 Pro Bowl.

21) Mike Ditka.  Among Ditka's 13 acting credits were roles on TV shows like "Cheers" (1993), and "3rd Rock from the Sun" (1997), and in movies/shorts like "UP Michigan" (2001, "Kicking and Screaming" (2005), and "Madzilla" (2014).  In the NFL he was a Hall of Fame tight end, playing with the Chicago Bears, Philadelphia Eagles, and Dallas Cowboys from 1961-72.  He started 118 out of 158 games, and caught 427 passes for 5812 yards (13.6 average) and 43 touchdowns.  He also was All Pro 2 times, and a Pro Bowler 5 times.

22) Bernie Casey.  Casey has 80 acting credits, including movies such as "Guns of the Magnificent Seven" (1969), "Boxcar Bertha" (1972), "Cleopatra Jones" (1973), "The Man Who Fell to Earth" (1976), "Never Say Never Again" (1983), "Revenge of the Nerds" (1984, and several of its sequels), "I'm Gonna Get You Sucka" (1988), "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure" (1989), and "In the Mouth of Madness" (1994).  On the field he played halfback/flanker/tight end/wide receiver from 1961-68 for the San Francisco 49ers and the Los Angeles Rams.  He caught 359 passes for 5444 yards (15.2 average) and 40 touchdowns, and also rushed once for 23 yards.  He started 92 out of 105 games, and made 1 Pro Bowl.  Therefore, it seems to me that Bernie has the distinction of having the most balanced dual career out of all the players mentioned.  Most fall into 2 camps--either they're great players who acted a little bit, or solid actors who played briefly.  Bernie had decently extensive careers at both.

23) Woody Strode.  92 acting credits for Strode, including movies like "The Ten Commandments" (1956), "Pork Chop Hill" (1959), "Spartacus" (1960), "Sergeant Rutledge" (1960), "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" (1962), "The Professionals" (1966), "Once Upon a Time in the West" (1968), "Kingdom of the Spiders" (1977), and "The Quick and the Dead" (1995).  He was also nominated for a Golden Globe award for "Spartacus" which I think is unique for ex-NFLers.  His NFL career was very short, but important:  Along with teammate Kenny Washington, and Marion Motley and Bill Willis for the AAFC's Cleveland Browns, they were the first men to break the pro football color barrier, which lasted from 1933-45.  In 1946 Strode played in 10 games for the Los Angeles Rams at end, catching 4 passes for 37 yards, and returning 1 kickoff for 6 yards.

24) Frank McRae.  Frank accumulated 63 acting credits, in movies such as "Shaft in Africa" (1973), "Dillinger" (1973), "F.I.S.T." (1978), "Rocky II" (1979), "Norma Rae" (1979), "48 Hrs." (1982), "National Lampoon's Vacation" (1983), "Red Dawn" (1984), "License to Kill" (1989), and "Last Action Hero" (1993), along with a turn in TV's "ER" (2003).  His playing career was very short, lasting 6 games with the Chicago Bears in 1967 at defensive tackle.  No stats were listed.

     Finally, the last two are near misses, or honorable mentions.

25) Donald Gibb. Among Gibb's 93 credits are roles in movies like"Stripes" (1981), "Bloodsport" (1988), "U.S. Marshalls" (1998), and "Hancock" (2008), and in TV show like "Cheers" (1992) and "Seinfeld" (1995).  He's best known, though, for playing "Ogre" in the "Revenge of the Nerds" movie and TV movie series.  As for football, he's listed as being with the San Diego Chargers in the mid 1970's.  I couldn't find out any information, though, as free agents and practice squad members' names aren't listed anywhere I could find.  So presumably he was on the preseason roster and/or practice squad, but he never played in a regular season NFL game.

26) Gary Klar (sometimes listed as Klahr).  Klar was on TV's "Law & Order" (1995), and in movies such as "Trading Places" (1983), "Legal Eagles" (1986), "Three Men and a Baby" (1987), "Married to the Mob" (1988), "Big" (1988), "Cadillac Man" (1990), and "Quick Change" (1990).  But to horror fans such as myself, he'll always be best remembered as "Private Steele" in the George Romero classic "Day of the Dead" (1985).  Football-wise, he played college ball at the University of Arizona.  He was drafted by the New Orleans Saints in the 11th round of the 1970 NFL draft.  However, in the preseason he tore his Achilles tendon, and ended his playing career.




 


































  




































  

Saturday, September 1, 2018

Exotic/Disgusting Foods and Beverages Forum--German Cookies

     We're heading back to Europe for this week's post, and back to cookies (aka "biscuits" in some parts of the world).  I located three varieties of German cookies from the Hans Freitag company--Noblesse, Desiree, and Noblesse Noir.  Evidently, the part of East Central Pennsylvania I was in, again near the town of Jim Thorpe, has a large percentage of population with German heritage, or at least an appreciation of this country's cuisine.
     The Hans Freitag website was a bit inconsistent.  In some ways, in was incredibly precise, yet in others it was vague and not especially helpful.  For an example of the former, the website outlined that the company sells exactly 130 products, and employs 330 people.  Furthermore, the company's property consists of 55,000 square meters, with the factory production area being 27,000 square meters.  Most company websites don't go into this degree of depth on these matters, I've found.  However, the history of the company, and its product line isn't nearly as comprehensive.  I did learn that the company was begun by a man named Hans Freitag, not shockingly, on August 12, 1946.  It was a combination confectionary (candy-maker) and bakery.  The big breakthrough came in 1949, when they acquired a steel belt oven.  Somewhere down the line they abandoned the candy making, as now they appear to only make biscuits/cookies.  The website's Frequently Asked Questions section noted that Hans Freitag is committed to only using sustainably-grown palm oil and chocolate, and only using eggs coming from cage-free raised chickens.  However, their products are emphatically not gluten-free, since wheat is the main ingredient in everything they make.  Their foods are suitable for vegetarians, but definitely not for vegans, as their cookies are made with eggs, and sometimes dairy products.  The importing company is American, and also a guy's name, Carl Brandt.  This company, which has been around since 1989, specializes in importing specialty European foods, and items from Egypt.

1) Hans Freitag Noblesse assortment of biscuits and wafers.  Came in a 400 g. (14 ounce) bag.  The chocolate-covered pretzel was tasty.  The roundish cookie with a raspberry-gel dollop was plainer, and just okay.  Then there were flat yellowish cookies with chocolate patterns on them--one looked like the Purina-logo, one with a bowtie-like pattern, and one with a cross.  These were all kind of dull.  The one that looked like a spiral-etched rod with chocolate dipped ends was good, as were the various wafers, which had both vanilla and chocolate fillings.  The shell-shaped cookies with chocolate drizzled on them were just plain, kind of boring butter cookies.

2) Hans Freitag Noblesse Noir assortment of biscuits and wafers.  Came in a 300 g. (10.6 ounce) bag.  There were some differences in cookie types from the Noblesse kind.  There were the chocolate-covered covered pretzels again, wafers, round doughnut-shaped cookies with chocolate drizzling, and chocolate-drizzled shell-shaped cookies.  As the name suggests, this time the chocolate was dark chocolate, as opposed to milk.  In past posts about chocolate, I've noted how I usually prefer milk chocolate to its dark cousin.  Oddly, though, this time I had the opposite reaction.  All of these were okay, with the wafers being pretty good.

3) Hans Freitag Desiree assortment of wafers.  400 g. bag (14 ounce) once again.  Some repeats--the spiral, chocolate-ended rods were represented again, along with a variety of wafer shapes--some square, some rectangular, some with both chocolate and vanilla filling, some with only vanilla, and some chocolate filling with a chocolate outside.  I pretty much liked all of these the same, and thought all were good.  This was my favorite of the three types.


     Therefore, to sum up, I found the Hans Freitag cookies/biscuits to run the gamut--from below average, to average, to above average.  I had a definite preference for their wafers over their other kinds of cookies.  I would consider buying the Noblesse Noir and especially the Desirees again, and would try other Hans Freitag products if I see them for sale.