I ordered from Papa John’s last night.  I requested a large pizza with sausage and green pepper.  What I got was sausage and pepperoni (an understandable mistake, albeit totally unacceptable).  So I pouted for a minute, but I can roll with just about any pizza topping, so I was ready to dive in.  Then I looked in the fridge and realized I had my own green pepper in there.  So i started slicing the green pepper up in hopes of topping my own pie.  I was so proud of myself.  Then I realized that raw green pepper isn’t the same as oven-baked green pepper.  That’s when I had a stroke of genius.  I warmed up the oven, applied my green peppers, and threw that baby in for another 6-8 minutes or so.  What I got was a revelation.  The peppers were perfect, and that thick, hand-tossed crust had gotten perfectly crispy.  I turned a doughy mess into a perfect pie.

Now, I know people who will only use the oven to warm up leftover pizza (Spanky), but I’ve never seen anyone throw a freshly delivered pizza in the oven.  I’m converted.  I may only order cheese pizza from now on and dress it up myself.  That would conceivably save at least a buck or two on each order.  Plus, your pizza will always be fresh out of the oven (instead of being fresh out of this dude’s hatchback):

I don’t think this plan would work well with something like a Pizza Hut thin crust.  You’d end up with plywood.

I don’t know how to go about plugging food that most Trumpet readers don’t have access to…but Jalino’s is easily the best pizza I’ve ever eaten. I don’t know what else to say about this place. SOOOOO $$$$$$$. I was riding around Boulder with 4 people who were: (1) probably sick of hearing me talk about pizza and (2) not as excited as I was to pick one up. Then they ate it…all were amazed. These pizza-makers are ambitious enough to put out a special Thanksgiving pizza with turkey, veggies, carmelized onions and other goodies. Apparently, people drive for hours to get their hands on those in November. Pizza gourmets. I could go on, but you gotta do this yo-self.

Long story short…if you’re ever in Boulder, look up Jalino’s. Tell ‘em the Gooch gives a shout.

PS–don’t order a large for yourself…it will take 3 days to eat it.

Apparently in Iowa City somebody felt the need to graffiti up a brick wall in a bar with the words “Pizza Hut is Awsome” in Sharpie. I love the enthusiasm, of course the Sharpie / jank handwriting, and the fact that “awesome” is misspelled only adds to the value.

This was sent to me via (what the kids are calling) text messaging from Spanky and Griff. I love it.

Also I do love Pizza Hut for their jackpot wings, best-in-the-business thin crust sausage, and the fact that they serve Mt. Dew from the fountain. That being said, they are the most ridiculously overpriced mainstream pizza chain in the business. Can we get a little moderation please?

Spanky would like to add that this is written on one of the humongous brick pillars at the Yacht Club, which is discussed in:
http://soupytrumpet.com….

A couple years back Subway broke my heart by removing the Steak and Cheese from their menu.  Since then they have been trying various versions of replacement sandwiches and finally they may have hit a homerun for me.

Going back as far as I can remember, the meat of the sandwich was tossed in with diced green peppers and onions, kept in a hot well with au jus, and tonged onto the sandwich.  The onions and peppers were a slight problem for me but I worked around them.  Then came the days of pre-portioned microwave meat.  This was still fine (although less meat than usual) because it was the same sandwich we had all come to love.  Then one day it went away and re-emerged as some chopped up meat with bigger onions and peppers and in my opinion tasted like nothing I wanted to eat again.

Last night I went to grab a late night $5 Subway footlong and saw a sign for the “Subway Big Philly Cheesesteak”.  I looked at the meat and it looked like the old school sandwich I had loved.  The girl told me it was not eligible for the $5 deal because it includes double meat and double cheese already.  The 6 inch sandwich was $4.99 and the footlong was $8.79.  I decided to go with the little fella with American cheese and a ton of pepper.  It was no philly cheesesteak, but it was close to the sandwich I used to love.  Admittedly I kind of miss the onion and pepper flavoring that I used to hate.

I am going back right now to reconfirm that this was not a dream.  Thank you Subway suits gods.  I knew you would come back to me.

Wendy’s, the third most popular burger chain behind McDonald’s and Burger King, was bought by the shaved roast beef chain Arby’s today for $2.34 billion. The family of Dave Thomas, founder of Wendy’s, is not happy about the deal.

“It’s a very sad day for Wendy’s, and our family. We just didn’t think this would be the outcome.”

That is what one daughter had to say about it and “Wendy” herself is said to be taking it very hard as well.  I am cautiously rejoicing for the simple fact that Wendy’s picked up and left town (2 locations) without really letting me anybody know not too long ago.  I am hoping that since there are too many three Arby’s locations here, maybe we will see a Wendy’s brought back.  I will continue to rock the Dane Cook BK Lounge and Mc’D’s until the Spicy Chicken makes its way back into my life.

Also note to Spanky… If you ever wanted to start a fast food restaurant, now is the time to strike.  Triarc is apparently buying up all the fast food joints that end in “y’s” so if you could  get “Spanky’s” ready, maybe you could cash in too?

Have you ever wondered how much real gold is in a bottle of Goldschlager? Pumpkin doesn’t drink and isn’t a Kanye West’esque Gold Digger, so I never have pondered on that or any gold. However some people took it upon themselves to answer that question and I stumbled across their findings at cockeyed.com’s “How Much Is Inside”.

The results are not that surprising as there is very little gold in a bottle… $1.38 worth in the test bottle. The link above is worth a short read. It’s pretty funny and they offer alternative “schlagers” like “coinschlager”, “cornschlager”, and “googlie-eyeschalger”. I would love to see some other ideas… possibly some photoshops??? hmmm stay tuned.

So yesterday Fessy and I hooked up some awesome hot dogs from Yesterdog, a local joint in Griff’s hometown of Grand Rapids, Michigan. Now, normally Grand Rapids is known for old Dutch people, Republicans (e.g., Gerald R. Ford), Amway, Calvin College, and other such conservative delights. However, Yesterdog transports one back to the good ol’ days, where you paid 10-cents for a dog and a pop. (Here you pay between $1.60-$2.10 for a dog, which still isn’t bad.) Hanging on the walls are old advertisements and posters, antiques of various sorts, and pictures of people wearing Yesterdog pareph with famous people or in famous places.

Yesterdog offers six kinds of dogs, with varying combinations of toppings. I devoured two yesterdogs (chili, pickle, onion, ketchup, mustard), while Fessy hooked up a couple of ultradogs (ketchup, mustard, onion, pickle, cheese, chili, and kraut).

Combine those with some Pepsi, a cup of tasty chicken noodle soup, and some cheese curls, and you got yourself a damn nice meal for about $6.

There’s only a couple of drawbacks. One is that going through the line to order your dogs is like a visit to the Soup Nazi: You damn well better know what you want when you step up, or you’re going to hear, “NEXT!” These dudes have no patience for slow deliberation (which proved difficult for Fessy). They even have rules posted on their website. On the other hand, these guys are incredibly efficient, and crank artisan dogs out like none other. Plus they still use the old-school cash register from the 20s. They also stay open past bar-close for the drunk crowd - so I give these dudes some credit.

Second, the dogs themselves are not big. They’re buried under a ton of toppings, but once you get to the dog itself, it’s pretty minimal. Now I like this school of thought, but others seem to dig the gignormous (the second “g” is silent) Chicago beef franks. Honestly, the less ground-up leftover animal parts I’m digesting, the better. (Though I know several of you Soupy Trumpeters will disagree - that’s why your trumpets are so soupy.)

All in all, the trip was successful, and I would recommend anyone traveling to this conservative bastion take a break in East Town and check out the dogs of yesteryear. Or just check out the documentary:

Here’s another Soupy Trumpet daily-dose of internet finds to enjoy:

• video game inspired tattoos gallery via G4tv
• creator of Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) Gary Gygax died today
• rapper Lil’ Wayne and R&B singer Lloyd are discussing making an album together called Best of Young Worlds
• Bulls*** star Penn Jillette gets off on girls asking him to curse
• play Rockband with pencils by modding your drumkit
• the actor known as Angelina Jolie’s ex koolaid, Billy Bob Thornton is going on tour with a live band
• Steve-O got arrested without a shirt and was allowed to leave with stole sheets from the LAPD
• OpenMoko has opened up the Neo mobile Linux phone up for design customization for developers
• Jeff Gordon wants the retaining wall fixed in Las Vegas before he and his Hendrick Motorsports teams returns there to race
• gallery of the world’s biggest cheeseburger found by Fast Food Fever

Here’s another Soupy Trumpet daily-dose of internet finds to enjoy:

• So Good Blog found a person willing to eat all the McDonald’s Value Meals if they get 100,000 Facebook friends
• crazy Gary Busey picked on an 11 year old interviewer at an Oscars after party (who invited his crazy ass?)
• you can now buy overpriced Shell gasoline with your fingerprint that is linked to a credit card
• the Cubs have been for sale for awhile, now the naming rights to Wrigley Field are for sale as well
• more than half of US teenagers did not buy a CD in 2007… album sales are down, legal downloads are up
• Paris Hilton is dating Good Charlotte’s Benji Madden aka the brother of Joel Madden aka Nicole Richie’s baby-daddy
• DARPA’s Crusher, a real life military vehicle, is controlled by an Xbox 360 controller
• Star Magazine tried to make the perfect face by mixing celebrity features with Photoshop… it is a mess (IMHO)
• inappropriate cell phone picture taker and sports analyst Sean Salisbury is looking for a job after ESPN let him go
• you can buy a big foam hand throwing up “The Shocker” … apparently this is not news since the site is from 2004 doh!

Here’s another Soupy Trumpet daily-dose of internet finds to enjoy:

• a hilarious fan blog dedicated to former Cleveland Cavaliers - current Chicago Bulls guard Larry Hughes urging him to stop taking bad shots (site is no longer being updated because Hughes has been traded and the writer is a Cavs fan so his “work is done” - http://heylarryhughespleasestoptakingsomanybadshots.com/
• this question was actually asked and responded to: “Is it considered sexual harassment if a midget walks up to you and tells you your hair smells good?” (see response #9 and #10)
• the best pound for pound boxer in the world “Pretty Boy” Floyd Mayweather will make $20 million dollars at WWE Wrestlemania when he wrestles The Big Show - the man whose nose he just really broke
• IGN breaks down the new Mass Effect downloadable content (DLC) called “Bring Down the Sky” that will be available on Xbox Live for $5 on March 10, adding 90 more minutes of gameplay and 50 achievement points
• play “Fatboy Frogger” on the website for Simon Pegg’s (Shaun of the Dead) new movie Run, Fatboy, Run
• trailer for the upcoming possibly never to be released by MTV DVD box set of “The State” featuring some of the Reno 911 crew back in the day
• all 7,100 US Starbucks locations closing for 3 hours today and Dunkin Donuts is running a $.99 latte special all day
• a video of the funny highlights of Jon Stewart hosting the Oscars by Complex
• a comic strip of Garfield that removes Garfield, leaving Jon Arbuckle looking like a schizophrenic - GarfieldMinusGarfield
• highlights of the 24 hour Jackass MTV takeover