Super Size Me

The BEST American food this year

2011-04-26T12:55:00.000-07:00

During this year a lot of food has ended up in my stomach. I've sometimes felt like I am a Volkswagen Beetle consuming gas as a Jeep Wrangler.

But it is (and has been) fun to live this eating dream of mine. I will miss my beloved American food so much when I'm back home in Sweden. I want to thank all hamburgers, fries, pizzas, fried chicken, tacos, burritos, pastas, milkshakes, ice cream, chips, candy, caramel- & peanut covered popcorns (well, you get the point) so much for this great experience.

The majority of all the food I've tried here in USA has been fantastic. As always, what kind of food you prefer at a particular time depends on your mood, what you ate yesterday, humidity, temperature etc (I'm serious!).

However, I think I've found my absolute favorite food.

Nothing has ever been so tasty, sweet and salt at the same time, yet so crunchy as Applebee's Boneless Chicken dipped in Honey n' Barbecue sauce. There is nothing like it.

For those of you who haven't tried them, visit Applebees in Cedar City, order the chicken and enjoy a moment of pleasure. It's impossible to describe them by words, so - try them out!

By the way, what is your favorite food?

50 states, 50 breakfasts

2011-04-20T22:00:00.000-07:00

Last week I got a really interesting, tasteful and disgusting link from my social media professor Ben Wyeth.

50 states, 50 breakfast. If you want to learn more about Americans and their yummy/awful breakfast habits, watching this is a must:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/about-us/50-states-50-breakfasts/pictures/index.html

I had a hard time to choose just one favorite, so I'll just give you three really good examples:

Arizona, makes me crave bacon!

California, who does NOT want to try French toast dipped in cinnamon-sugar egg batter AND cereals?:

Kentucky, reminds me of Sweden:

My examples was just three of them. Visit the link and pick your favorite! And remember, you are allowed to choose many. :)

Here's the link again: http://www.foodnetwork.com/about-us/50-states-50-breakfasts/pictures/index.html

Happy Easter!

I've become addicted to Man vs. Food

2011-04-13T14:55:00.000-07:00

Living in USA definitely make you think more of FOOD. All the time I see commercials of burgers, pizza, fried chicken, fried everything. And wherever I go I bump into huge ads with taco's for 99 cent etc. In other words, all these different meetings with food makes it really hard for me to resist. I just eat, all the time.

This post is about something unusual (for us swedes) but at the same time wonderful. In Sweden we actually have quite many tv shows about food and cooking. A professional chief usually makes something delicious and you can download their recipe on their website etc. Quite boring if you ask me. BUT here in USA, the food shows are way different. They're actually about eating, which of course makes them way more entertaining.

Me and my roommate only switch between two channels basically; ESPN and Travel Channel. On Travel Channel you can watch shows like Bizarre Food, No reservations and my favorite one, Man vs. Food.

Man vs. Food is basically a show where a man, Adam Richman, travels around America to eat different types of american food. And he eats A LOT. In each show there's always a contest where he tries to beat food. The portions are huge, the crowd goes crazy and it's USA in a nutshell.

I hope I can find the episodes on a DVD box or something before I leave, because I know that I'll miss the show so bad when I'm back in Sweden. Well, I'll not let you wait anymore: Here's an example of how Man vs. Food can look like:

Tasting the Americone Dream?

2011-04-07T20:55:00.000-07:00

I wonder what this little fella tastes like.

Soon, very soon, I'll know.

And something tells me it's going to be delicious. Especially when I get it for a fourth of the price I have to pay in Sweden.

Fiesta!

Super Size Me goes Fat Head instead?

2011-04-06T21:38:00.000-07:00

Do you remember the documentary Super Size Me? About the guy, Morgan Spurlock, who only eats McDonalds food for over a month and gains 24.5 pounds after 30 days. Doctors in the documentary advised him to stop the McDonalds diet because of damages on his liver etc. But he didn't, of course.

A week ago I found out about a new fast food movie called Fat Head. This time it's Spurlock's big enemy Tom Naughton who created this documentary - to prove that you actually can lose weight by eating fast food. As a heavy consumer of this type of food I of course ask how, how, how? The answer is given in the documentary that I find very interesting, to say the least.

I usually don't like to raise expectations by saying what parts in movies that are great and so on. And I will not do that this time either. So, lets just say that I recommend it to all of you out there. And especially to everyone who feels like me. How can I keep my body intact without having to give up one of the best food inventions ever made - The Great Hamburger?

Here's a trailer for Fat Head: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWZq0bx8cXA&NR=1
And for you with Netflix accounts, just search for "Fat Head" and you'll find it.

Enjoy your burgers fellas!

Casey Heynes - Bully victim who stood up for himself

2011-03-30T21:56:00.000-07:00

Besides from Rebecca Black's "Friday friday" song, there are a couple of other Youtube clips that are trending right now. I want to share one of them.

15-year old boy Casey Heynes has been bullied his whole life. One day he thought it was enough, and fought back (see video clip below).

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isfn4OxCPQs&feature=related)

Casey's father sums it up pretty well I think:
"It's nothing to be proud of, but I'm glad that he stood up for himself."

Casey has become an hero out there, and thousands of people from all over the world comment the videos and support his action. A victim who stood up for himself.

The Australian current affairs tv-program (ACA) have made a touching interview with the "Bully victim who fought back.":

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_4HDyhnDO4)

1st bank commercial.

2011-03-25T00:25:00.000-07:00

I saw this commercial on american TV today. I'll send a light warning to you americans reading this, it's a relatively old commercial, so you might have seen it already.

:: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0L5zG58Nekw ::

What's Your favorite commercial?

Chicago's TOP 10.

2011-03-22T12:55:00.000-07:00

To experience as much as possible during our Spring Break in Chicago we had two goals:
1. Go up early each morning
2. Come back late during night.

Long days, lots of fun.

MY TOP10 THINGS TO DO IN THE WINDY CITY:

10. AL'S ITALIAN BEEF #1
If you like really meaty, juicy and sloppy sandwiches - this is the place for you. I personally didn’t like it, but because both the place and food is so American, it qualifies for my list.

9. JOHN HANCOCK CENTER
If you think Sear’s Tower is too tall, visit The John Hancock Center. In terms of design and architecture, it is one of the coolest skyscrapers in the entire US. Tall, black and powerful it reaches for the sky contributing to Chicago’s beautiful skyline.

8. ANDERSONVILLE
This relatively small neighborhood north of Downtown Chicago is interesting for everyone. But if you are a Swede in America, it’s a must! Many Swedes emigrated here in the 19th and early 20th centuries, so a lot of Swedish restaurants and shops remains in the area.

7. CHICAGO BULLS GAME
If I would have been a bigger basketball fan, this would probably have been top 5. But still, watching a Bulls game live was awesome. Almost 23 000 people in the audience in United Center created a great atmosphere, and Bulls won the game against The Washington Wizards confidently. The only sad thing was that they scored 98 points and not 100. That would’ve given everyone in the arena a free Big Mac, even Aretha Franklin who we spotted on the first row.

6. THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO
Impossible to enjoy the museum with a time limit of 60 minutes? Not at all. Bring your jogging shoes and prepare for some running in this large museum. We focused on the most famous paintings and enjoyed Monet, Van Gogh, Picasso, Hopper and Chagall.

5. PEAQUOD'S PIZZA
From one of our trusted Chicago sources (Thank You Brita!) we’d heard that this place was amazing for Chicago’s famous Deep Dish Pizza.
And. So. It. Was. Go there! That’s the only thing I have to say.

Taryn & Julia at Peaquod's Pizza.

4. TRE KRONOR RESTAURANT
As the patriotic Swede I am, Tre Kronor Restaurant (Tre Kronor = The Swedish National Hockey Team) must be rated high in this list. They serve delicious Swedish’ and other dishes from the nordic countries. The memory from the ”Toast Skagen” + mix of two desserts; swedish pancakes + chocolate mousse, will stay with me as long as I live. (And thank you Julia for extraordinary service!)

Me and the Double Dessert Special.

3. SEAR'S TOWER
If you’re looking for a tourist experience with a thrill, visit Sear’s Tower. It’s the tallest building in North America letting you enjoy and understand the size of Chicago. Don’t miss the excitement of ”walking out in the air” in one of Sear’s Tower’s built on glass boxes at the top of the building. I promise you, it’s a crazy feeling knowing that only a thin layer of glass saves you from falling more than 1400 ft (425 m) to the ground.

Rebecka finally got there.

2. JOHNNY ROCKET'S HAMBURGERS
As many of you understand, I’ve eaten many hamburgers in my life. To say the least. So when I find places that make hamburgers taste in a way that I’ve never tasted before, I enjoy it so much.
That was the case with Johnny Rocket’s Hamburgers. They served juicy hamburgers with 100% beef (never frozen), tasty cheese, fresh salad and a delicious ”special” dressing. With that, you could choose of various fries and also traditionally made milkshakes. I’m not lying when I say that this probably is the best hamburger place I’ve ever been to. Don’t miss it if you go to Chicago!

Best hamburger in the world?

1. CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS GAME
As I’m a big fan of hockey, watching NHL live is without doubt the most entertaining thing I like to watch. So, when Chicago Blackhawks hosted the San José Sharks, there was no doubt that we were going to watch it. And what a great experience it was. Even though Chicago Blackhawks not is my favorite team (Vancouver Canucks is), I must give credit to their fans. United Center is called ”The Madhouse on Madison” for a reason. The fans were incredible and made this one of my best hockey experiences ever! Just look at this video below containing the National Anthem and Blackhawks tying goal 2-2 by Marian Hossa. Great memory, I get chills watching it.
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_sKAK73KlA)

Spring Break in Chicago

2011-03-08T23:02:00.000-08:00

Three mid term exams done.
Two assignments remains.

Then, an airplane from Vegas will take me and Rebecka to Chicago. In other words one week of shopping, NHL, NBA, cool food places and hanging out with Rebecka's friend Julia.

So here is a teaser what Chicago seems to be all about :)

Chicago is located south west of beautiful Lake Michigan. Chicago is the third largest city of USA (after New York and Los Angeles). Almost three million people live in Chicago, and about ten million in the whole metropolitan area.

For a sports fan like me, I'm really excited going to Chicago - the city that has been voted as the Best Sports City in 1993, 1996 and 2010. It's the home of Chicago Blackhawks (National Hockey League), Chicago Bulls (National Basketball Association), Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox (Major League Baseball), Chicago Bears (National Football League) and Chicago Fire (Major League Soccer).

Chicago Blackhawks are the Stanley Cup Champions of 2010. On monday 14/3, they'll host the San Jose Sharks in the United Center - the largest arena in the United States. We got tickets!

The day after, tuesday 15/3, Chicago Bulls will be hosting Washington Wizards. I don't know much about Basketball, but after two months of ESPN and SUU Basketball I'm starting to fall in love with the sport. But, if the game somehow get's boring, You can always rely on the pause entertainment between the quarters. Just look at the picture below.

These guys, "The Matadors", are regulars in the United Center in Chicago. We'll see if we are "lucky" enough to see them on tuesday. I really hope so!

Based on the pictures, the distance between "The Matadors" and food don't seem very long. So, let's talk about that topic.

Chicago has all types of food you can imagine. In the Swedish Part of Chicago, Andersonville, there are almost no Swedes left. Important though, is that all the restaurants and shops remains. As typical Swedes, I can guarantee that we'll spend many hours there.

Finally, here is a list of three restaurants/food places (some based on the tv show Man vs. Foods) that we're going to visit:

3. Tre Kronor Restaurant (www.trekronorrestaurant.com)

2. Hot Doug's (www.hotdougs.com) (Btw, I hope their food looks better than the website)

1. Al's Beef (www.alsbeef.com)

Less than 72 hours until departure now. So excited.
What's your favorite city in USA? And why?

ps. Check out these blogs from two of my classmates:
http://wouldyouandwhy.blogspot.com
http://www.thebestsongsyouveneverheard.blogspot.com ds.

...Europe can produce great commercials too!

2011-03-01T19:43:00.000-08:00

This is not meant to be a blog about different commercials. But since I praised american movie- and commercial producers in my last blog post, I have to show you this one.

In my opinion, this commercial even qualifies for the Super Bowl. But hey, let's not raise expectations too much. One thing is for sure though. When I see it, I really miss my "funny" homeland Sweden.
Sweden equals integrity.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PN1PqRn5kI&feature=player_embedded

Ps. Don't let the environmental perspective at the end of the ad bother you, for once... :) Ds.

"You see, it’s the hottest fires that make the hardest steel."

2011-02-26T00:04:00.000-08:00

When it comes to creating powerful and emotional video productions, no other country is even near giving USA a fight. Watch, and enjoy.

Goosebumps. Every time.

There's always time for pizza...

2011-02-22T15:29:00.000-08:00

After soon two months in the states, I've almost become a professional fast food eater. Hamburgers, subs, pizzas - they're everywhere and they're amazing!

I was extraordinary happy last week when I found a pizza place so much more unique than Pizza Hut, Domino's or Papa Joe's etc. (with all respect). It's called "The Pizza Cart" and is run by a guy named Jason Murray. Jason has built his own pizza owen with help from a website, and thanks to the incomes from the pizza making, he's able to finance his total college tuition on Southern Utah University. He makes the pizzas by himself in this "different" looking pizza owen.

I think Jason and the Pizza Cart idea is great. And I think the pizzas are even greater.
If you haven't visit the Pizza Cart yet, I definitely recommend you to. Jason is on Main Street, Cedar City (near Steve's Shell) during mondays, wednesdays and fridays.

And my favorite one? The Italian Cowboy (the only one I've tried).

Let me hear what you think about his pizzas. And if you are one of The Pizza Cart's regular customers; which one is your favorite pizza?
I better have it.

The Pizza Cart on Main Street.

Some pizza making skills.

That's my Italian Cowboy in that box..

Delightful Days in Denver

2011-02-16T21:23:00.000-08:00

It's always fun to explore new cities in USA, in my opinion the most versatile country on earth. This weekend me and Rebecka drove almost 1250 miles (about 2000 km) in our Mini-Van (!) From Cedar City, Utah to Denver, Colorado.

Mini-van for two? The american way!

Incredible nature on Interstate-70...

I've been to New York, Boston, Miami, San Francisco, Los Angeles and other big cities in the states, and I must say that Denver qualifies as one of my top three favorites (San Francisco and New York are the other two).

Why? Well, Denver is a big city that offers shopping, nice restaurants, museums and a lot of good sporting events. At the same time, which makes Denver unique, is that you get to know the heart of the city in only one day. We visited Denver for only three days, and we're already familiar with the best clothing stores, the nicest baristas and the most delicious noodle place in town.

The view from our nice Ramada Hotel.

Denver Art Museum.

DAM is big, seven floors of art in two buildings.

An other thing that makes Denver so fantastic is the nature. It's hard to imagine until you go there, but the surrounding mountains are incredible. To see the skyscrapers downtown go well with the huge white mountains makes you fall in love with the city:

Bad picture, but gets the point across.

We celebrated Valentine's Day with...

... out Pepsi clothes and...

..watched NHL! Flames @ Avalanche (9-1) without Forsberg :(

Driving through Colorado is beautiful, don't you think?

Thank You Colorado for a memorable weekend!

But hey, you can't leave without trying their burgers! Mmm..

Super Bowl commercial #1

2011-02-09T00:13:00.000-08:00

Super Bowl 2011 was fun. I knew before that the advertising business during the Super Bowl is huge, but I could never understand that it was this big.

In my opinion, there was a lot of good commercials as well as bad ones.
This one right here, from CareerBuilder, is my favorite. Which one was yours?

I can't stop watching it.

Speaking of humor, check out this funny top 10 list by a class mate of mine, Ramell Taylor:
http://ramelltaylor.blogspot.com/2011/02/top-10-list-10-cars-that-you-cant-pick.html

USA - Sweden 1-0

2011-02-08T09:57:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I was having a discussion about license plates with on of my class mates. He said he preferred the Swedish one, which is wider and less colorful than the american one.

I totally disagree.

You americans should be proud of your license plates. They are really good looking, and most important - they communicate from which state you're from, something that I really miss about the Swedish ones. Every state has it's own design. I'm actually really jealous. Why can't we come up with anything like that in Sweden?!

Anyway, which one do You prefer?

Swedish version

American version

Maybe it's just one of those "the grass is greener on the other side" cases ... The americans thinks that the european plates are more interesting than the american version and vice versa.

But in this blog I decide.
The American license plate outscore the Swedish one.

USA 1.

Sweden 0.

Thanks for the ride!

2011-02-03T10:36:00.000-08:00

Coming to America from Sweden is a big difference in many ways. Today, I'll cover something quite unusual here in the states. It's called walking.

A warm and sunny day last week, me and Rebecka decided to go for a 30 minute walk to Walmart.

In Sweden we're used to walk instead of taking the car everywhere, so for us 30 minutes of walking is not a big deal. But here, people almost get offended hearing that we're going to walk "that far".

So for us, just start walking wasn't really an option. First after four or five discussions about why we actually wanted to walk, instead of getting a ride, we took our first steps towards Walmart.

The funny thing is that we after only 10 minutes was stopped by a car. The guy sitting in it was one of our class mates. And guess what he did?

Right, he offered us a ride. "Oh, you're not gonna WALK to Walmart! Can I give you a ride?".

We thought it was nice of him of course, but we tried to explain in a nice way that we just wanted to walk and breathe some fresh air. He was a little bit confused but still okay with it, so we continued our walk to Walmart.

When we finally reached our target, we got a strange feeling of guilt. We almost had bad conscience not getting there by car. Kinda funny, isn't it?

So when we were done shopping, the cashier asked us about the weather. When we told her it was chilly and windy outside, especially when walking, don't you think the guy in the line next to us heard - and of course offered us a drive home?

At that time, we did'nt have the power to say no.

Bon vivant.

2011-01-31T18:24:00.001-08:00

I can already sense the feeling of when I'm on the airplane in June, on the way back to Sweden. Leaving USA, the country that, like no other, is so good at enjoying good parts of life.

Of course, Sweden has a lot of things I will be glad to see again, BUT in terms of eating (which tends to be the frequent theme in my blog) America is outstanding. Just look at the two products I found during this weekend.

Most swedes are satisifed with just oats or just popcorn. Americans are not.
Me neither.

Everyone's craving for the bunches, right?!

If you can put an extra caramel layer on (and peanuts), do it!

How to NOT treat lunchtime favorites!

2011-01-27T10:56:00.000-08:00

This blog is NOT a food blog, even though it might look like that many times.
Like this time.

Anyway, I went to Walmart the other day. It's like the best store ever. Their policy makes sense:
"If we ain't got it, you don't need it."

A food maniac like me do have some serious problems in there. They've got so much good food and so much different super mega big packs to choose from. However, after one large bag of Ruffles cheddar chips the day before, I wanted to find a more sustainable relation between me and my chips. So, when I found "Pringles Lunchtime favorites!" I was so excited. It was like the perfect solution for me. 18 mini boxes with lovely Pringles chips in different flavours. Instead of eating a large bag and feel bad, I could enjoy one or maybe two mini boxes a week.

Some times an idea is so much better until you try it. It did not turn out the way i wanted.

30 hours later...

Conclusion: Mini boxes are very good, but not for me.

Freshman Fifteen

2011-01-26T17:23:00.000-08:00

You don't have to gain weight at school. Yeah right?!

Don't worry. I'm NOT gonna report everything in the report showed above. But - the expression "Freshman 15" (15 pounds = 6,8 kg) is quite interesting:

"College freshmen are particularly vulnerable to gaining weight their first year, notoriously dubbed the "Freshman 15".

An ordinary meal in the cafeteria.

One thing is for sure - it's definitely justified to present the "Freshman 15" at the entrance of the university cafeteria. So much good food are waiting for you. Temptations. So much to gain weight from.

It's a good and interesting paper, seems like good advices of what you should and not should eat. I'll definitely read it carefully. After this semester.

3...2...1. First post!

2011-01-22T14:36:00.000-08:00

Hi and welcome to my blog!

To make clear, this blog is about USA and what makes this country so unique. From a swedish perspective I'll try to cover different topics that comes up on my mind - the american food, people, stores, tv-shows, sports, cities etc.

In short, different things that make America so great.

I hope this blog will be interesting for my fellow countrymen and -women in Sweden, seeing what America is all about. I also hope that native americans will appreciate reading about my thoughts and how I perceive the american culture.

Ha det gött så länge!