Review: Giant Eagle Maple & Bacon Baked Beans

I don't expect this to be a regular feature here, but I can only hope that the Google will pick this up somehow, and others can be spared the absolute can of shit that is Giant Eagle brand Maple & Bacon Baked Beans.

Giant Eagle label products are, in my experience, basically fine - sometimes better, sometimes worse, but rarely actually bad. So I figured I'd save a few cents compared with the national brand. Holy shit, what a mistake.

These things are so larded with maple flavoring and sugar that they smell nauseatingly like maple candy - no exaggeration. I was unable to finish a serving of them, and the plate sat near my desk until I had to carry it down two flights of stairs to put them in the kitchen trash, so sickening (and strong) was the smell. And the flavor was just as bad.

I don't know what the hell is wrong with whoever formulated this crap, but for the love of God: DO NOT BUY GIANT EAGLE MAPLE & BACON BAKED BEANS.

Caloric Information on Menus

Ezra Klein has written a lot about various initiatives to introduce calorie info on menus - generally on menus for chains, so that every hole in the wall in the country doesn't have to send off samples to labs. There's all sorts of accusation of nanny-statism and such, but the bottom line is that, when eating out, we don't have a crucial piece of decision-making information.

So, just as an anecdata point, I was at a Steak n Shake yesterday (I was out beyond the suburbs and had to get lunch), and was trying to decide whether to get a shake (IMO the burgers are meh, but the shakes are pretty good). At first I thought I'd save some money and just get a soda*, but the sodas there are crazy expensive ($1.79!), so I figured, "Well, for an extra buck...". Then I started to think about calories (especially in winter, when I hardly get to ride my bike, I try to ease up on intake). I would have loved to know exactly what the hit was on the milkshake, since it's not like a 20 oz. soda is low-cal, but the menu didn't tell me, and so I just went with the Coke. But I wished I could have made an informed decision.

* I really don't enjoy that kind of food without a highly caloric beverage; that's just how it is

The Most Important Event of My Lifetime

This has arrived in my city.

You know all the cupcake hype of the last few years? Fuck that shit. It's all about the donuts. I will now be biking down to the Strip at the drop of a hat.

UPDATE: I have been, and it's all it's cracked up to be. The small donuts are tiny, delicate little things - probably weigh less than a traditional "donut hole." Even the large are small - less than half the size of even a modest donut. But it's all good.