Jack’s Old & Busted Blog

For when that 3G iPhone falls out of the sky and hits me in the head. link

I bought my limited-edition print of Amy Crehore’s Roaming Tomcat Rag, and so should you (if only to drive the value of mine up).

Here’s an interesting analysis of “The Effect of Boing Boing on Amy Crehore Buzz.”

Had a great time in LR yesterday and today visiting friends, even though the Hogs lost, largely due to Houston Nutt’s incompetent coaching. Good ride back along Highway 10 and 23. Played tag with an Alfa Milano for a while. Lots of bikes on the road. There was a rally in Hot Springs this weekend, apparently. Glad I missed it. Never understood the generic rally thing, although I would like to camp at one of the BMW meetups. At least they go to bed at a reasonable hour.

Blanche is indescribable, but I like them. Latest is on emusic.

I should start with the caveat that this is the regular-sized pot pie, not the one-pounder glutton versions from the last two nights. Stouffer’s is what I bought in college. Like a lot of things from college, that’s where it needs to stay.
Cooking Ease: 6/10 Cooking time calls for six minutes, which seems reasonable given the smaller size, but that caused the crust to blacken in the center.
Crust: 4/10 Hard to make a fair judgment given the cooking problems, but the majority of the crust was intact. Bland, gritty texture made this pretty unpleasant. Huge space between crust and actual pie contents, which is completely not like the photo on the box.
Broth: 5/10 Glue-like consistency. Salty. Tastes like really strong cream-of-chicken soup. “Made with real cream.”
Meat: 3/10 This was the most disappointing aspect. Smallish chunks of meat had a very odd texture, like they had somehow been puffed up larger than they should have been. Yech.
Vegetables: 6/10 Okay quantity of peas, carrots, celery, and onions. Carrots are stick shaped. I didn’t notice onions, but I read it on the box.
Overall: 24 Another “product of Canada,” but definitely nothing the Canucks should be proud of. I’m trying to be objective here, but I’ve eaten chicken pot pie for three nights in a row. Don’t take my word for it, though. Here are some other opinions.

Recommended beverage: Warm Budweiser or Meister Brau (Will!). Water in a tin cup.

Kudos to the Sin City BMW Car Club for hooking us up with a reputable independent mechanic. Colli had a problem with the auxilliary cooling fan not shutting off, which would run the battery down. It’s hard to know which shops are decent in a new place, and - trust me here - you don’t want to start with the dealer if your car is out of warranty. I placed a few early morning calls to club officers from a list on their website, and within a short time had two callbacks. Both recommended European Motorsports, and I would, too. Nice folks. Clean shop. Shuttle service. Ain’t this the whole reason for the Internets?

My mom’s middle name was Marie, and I have to admit, before I’d tried Pepperidge Farm, Marie Callender’s had always been the gold standard for chicken pot pie. Her ConAgra’s offering in the CPP arena has a few advantages, but runs abut a furlong behind PF.

Cooking Ease: 10.5/10 I gave PF’s CPP 10/10 for their cooking instructions. I’ll have you know that Marie comes in a full 30 seconds quicker to the table with 9-and-one-half minutes cooking time in the microwaver. You still have to add 5 minutes “wait” time for those nuclear particles to settle down, but you get to eat a full commercial faster than with PF. You cook the pie in the box, taking full advantage of the built in “atomic mesh” material that browns the crust (See photo. No, you’re not in the new Tron remake. That’s screen door material.)
Crust: 8/10 The crust had a nice flaky texture, and even made a crinkly noise when I first dove in, which was nice. However, there was a significant air gap between the actual pie-stuff and the crust, which made me feel a little ripped off. Crust held up well from start to finish with no big changes in texture.
Broth: 7/10: Salty and bland, with a slightly chemical plant smell. Not too great, but OK.
Meat: 6/10: The package says “White Meat Chicken.” If crayons had a color called Scalded Breast Meat, this would be it. Pale and small-to-medium-sized pieces of chicken. Kind of rubbery.
Vegetables: 7/10 Upon “opening” the crust “dome,” you’re greeted with big smiling carrot slices, as well as what appear to be green caterpillars and their missing heads (celery and peas, maybe?). Flavor is good, although carrots had inconsistent texture, like they had slight freezer burn.
Overall: 38.5 A good choice if you can’t find Pepperidge Farm. You get to eat 30 seconds faster.

Recommended beverage: A hoppy German beer, like Bittburger, will help cut through the salty broth.