The Brain of Shawn

The Thinks I Think

Archive for category Food

I Didn’t Buckle

Feb 17

Posted by Shawn Powers in Food, General Thoughts, Silly Things | 6 Comments

This is like a nicotine patch for Coke drinkers, but without the nicotine. So, I guess that means it’s like a pointless sticker that resembles a nicotine patch.

I think the gold label is an attempt to make Diet Caffeine Free Coke resemble something valuable. Fail.


At the very least the Coke company could make caffeine free Coke Zero — which would probably taste fairly good. Sadly, I’m not the guy they turn to for suggestions like that.

Burnt Coffee

Jan 4

Posted by Shawn Powers in Food | 17 Comments

With all apologies to my friends from the Pacific Northwest — y’all burn your beans. I have tried, over and over, to enjoy dark roasted coffee. I love that they call dark roast coffee “gourmet” coffee. What the heck?!?!

If you cook your bread until it’s black, that’s called burnt toast.

If your pancakes are “roasted” until they’re black? Burnt.

If your marshmallow catches on fire and turns black — it’s BURNT.

Here’s the secret: Roasting coffee is like roasting marshmallows. It’s precise. It takes patience. Too little, and your mallow is cold and firm in the middle. Too much, and it tastes like the campfire that roasted it.

And don’t get me started on French Roast. It’s like the French roasters must say, “Oh look, zee beans are perfect! We have achieved the best possible flavour from our amazing roaster! How great we are. These roasted coffee beans will have better flavour than any beans in the history of histories. We are such great roasters of… Oh crap, they burned. Oh well, it’s just a little burned. We’ll say that’s how we like it.”

Medium roast. Brewed REALLY strong. That is all. You’re welcome.

Truck Cam: Sitemeter Eats Crow, I’m Impressed

Sep 15

Posted by Shawn Powers in Food, General Thoughts, Podcasts, Silly Things, Writing | 10 Comments

I’m impressed with Sitemeter. But don’t take my word for it, you can hear me talk about it… ;)


Click Here to Download Video

McDonald’s Premium Roast Coffee

Mar 31

Posted by Shawn Powers in Food | 25 Comments

Incredibly awesome and tasty, or too tainted by being from McDonald’s?

I’m still undecided, and usually have 2 or 3 cups of it a day…

Computer Generated Coupon Problems

Mar 25

Posted by Shawn Powers in Family, Food, Humor | 5 Comments

Our local grocery store has a machine that prints coupons for you as you check out. It bases the particular coupons on the things you buy, and has a fairly good track record of choosing appropriate products. I just went to the store to pick something up for dinner for the kids. Our purchases were:

  • (1) Bottle of sparkling grape juice. (The kids like to pretend its wine)
  • (2) Bags of Doritos (they’re on sale buy one get one)
  • (3) Kid Cuisine TV dinners.

And this is the coupon that printed out for me:

coupon.jpg

Don’t get me wrong, $2.00 off seems like a good deal and all, but I find the demographics a bit off…

I Really Do Like Cinnamon

Feb 28

Posted by Shawn Powers in Food, Humor, Podcasts, Silly Things | 9 Comments

Carlie mockingly quoth thus:

Since you like cinnamon so much, try the Cinnamon Challenge. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2y2KMMk0Row

So I did. :)

And on the Diet Front…

Jan 22

Posted by Shawn Powers in Food, General Thoughts | No Comments

I accidentally ate a whole bag of Chex Mix. And yeah, it really was an accident. I sat down on the couch after work, and sitting on the coffee table was an open bag of Chex Mix. Without thinking, I grabbed it, and proceeded to eat the whole thing. (Not the actual bag, I don’t want to be that guy…)

So yeah, little bump in the road. It was a tasty bump too, but oh well. Garfield is currently dieting too, this made me laugh today.

And Kate — yeah, I’ll post on your blog regarding my process. Maybe we should all be the Whatever Refugee Weight Loss Regime. Or something else that has a cool acroynym. Because acronyms are awesome. ;)

My Pants are All Shrinking…

Jan 21

Posted by Shawn Powers in Food, General Thoughts | 13 Comments

OK, so here’s the deal: I’m currently claiming more than my fair share of matter in the universe. I’ve had this struggle before, and it’s usually due to stress at work. (Well, ok, it’s indirectly due to stress at work, it’s actually due to eating lots of food and being a lazy SOB) It’s not that I’m terribly vain, and need to look like an Olympic swimmer to impress my wife, but I still need to lose weight. Here’s why:

  • My wife deserves to have a man that looks good. This is largely because she is way out of my league, and she loves me anyway. That’s the kind of woman that you want to look good for.
  • My heart tends to not like me a whole lot. It insists that if I’m even slightly overweight, that I must want my blood pressure to be dangerously high. No amount of fatty foods and couch sitting can convince it otherwise. I’ve tried.
  • I kinda want to be alive. Ya know, not dead and stuff. I don’t have the luxury of being mildly overweight and remaining relatively healthy. My body, my blood pumper specifically, has very strict guidelines under which it agrees to keep me alive for the long haul. This, by the way, sucks.

SO, if you see me walking down the street eating a cupcake, slap it out of my hand. Actually, most of you live quite a ways away from me, so if you see me walking down the street, it likely means I’m stalking you. Call the police.

That said, if I seem particularly grumpy in the near future — it’s not anything you’ve done. Except that you haven’t fed me. And that’s a good thing. Anyway, wish me luck. I need to lose about 25-30 pounds.

(Oh, and those of you thinking I look a nice healthy weight in my videos and such — you’re very kind, but unfortunately, I carry my weight well. Very few people guess that I’m pushing 200 pounds, but in fact, I am.)