Weird Eats

10 Junk Food Cookbooks

Who ever said cookbooks had to be all fancy and high-falutin'? Here's a list of works that are the perfect antidote to that sort of thing.

The Magic of Peanut Butter: 100 New & Favorite Recipes - by Skippy
The Magic of Jelly: 100 New & Favorite Recipes - by Welch's
The Marshmallow Fluff Cookbook - by Justin Schwartz
The Twinkies Cookbook - by Hostess
Brownie Mix Bliss - by Camilla V. Saulsbury
Cake Mix Cookies - by Camilla V. Saulsbury
Cookie Dough Delights - by Camilla V. Saulsbury
Complete Cake Mix Magic - by Jill Snider
Cake Mix Magic 2: 125 More Easy Desserts ... Good as Homemade - by Jill Snider
Spam: The Cookbook - by Linda Eggers

Deep Fried Weirdness

I can't say that I have any particular weakness for deep-fried stuff. In fact, nowadays I pretty much steer clear of it altogether.

If you're keen on this sort of thing, here's a pair of Web pages you might find to your liking. First up is a pretty detailed step-by-step guide to making Fried Oreo Cookies. Which sounds really appalling to me, but what do I know?

Speaking of appalling, here's a page that features a photographic guide to the various stages of concocting a Beer Battered Deep Fried Bacon Double Quarter Pounder.

If you need some additional deep-fried inspiration, check out this article from ABC News about "Chicken Charlie" Boghosian, who has made something of a reputation for himself by deep-frying nearly everything imaginable.

Hendrix Liquid Experience & Earnhardt Candy

If you've been keeping track of Jimi Hendrix's "career" since 1970, you'll know that he's put out quite a few albums, even though this was the year he left us for rock and roll heaven.

Now, some 37 years after his passing, the influential guitarist has lent his name to an energy drink, of all things. Voodoo Vibe is the first in a planned line of beverages known as the Jimi Hendrix Liquid Experience. Clever. According to the Web site, "This new energy drink is a tribute to Jimi's legacy." Umm...

Those tireless tasters at BevNET recently reviewed Voodoo Vibe. For more on their verdict, look here.

Speaking of lending, NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. is now lending his name to a line of candy bars. They're called Dale Jr.'s Big Mo' and are available in creamy caramel and peanut butter flavors. More at the Web site, including a sweepstakes.

Kolacky Capital of the World

If you have no idea what kolacky is, you’ve probably never been to Montgomery, Minnesota - Kolacky Capital of the World. The town has been trumpeting the praises of this traditional Czech fruit-filled pastry at its Kolacky Days celebration since 1929. This year's celebration just passed, but here's the Web site if you'd like to plan for next year.

In the meantime, try some recipes here and here. Here's Wikipedia's take on kolacky, along with a few more resources.

Weird Chocolate

Looking for some pointers on How to Eat an Exotic Candy Bar? Vosges Haut-Chocolat offers a few here. They can also supply you with the exotic candy bar itself - made with Applewood smoked bacon, alder smoked salt, and deep milk chocolate." Sounds pretty exotic to me. More here.

For the lowdown on Bubble Chocolate, which is actually chocolate with bubbles in it, check out the manufacturer's Web site.

For perhaps the ultimate in chocolate-related weirdness, have a look at this BBC article from a while back about a chocolate billboard.

And then there's our previous post, right here at Weird Eats, about a chocolate Jesus.

The Mayhaw

If you thought kumquats were near the top of the Obscure Fruit List, you may or may not not be aware of the mayhaw, a tart fruit that grows mostly in the wild in southern U.S. swamps. Mayhaws are most often used to make jelly and there’s always plenty on hand at mayhaw capital Colquitt, where Georgia’s National Mayhaw Festival is held every April.

For more information about the mayhaw, start here.

For mayhaw jelly, go here.

Image: Hillside Orchard Farms

Elvis Cup & Twinkie Analysis

The King is dead (play along). Long live the King. To commemorate the 30th anniversary of the death of Elvis Presley, Hershey Foods has come up with the Elvis Cup, a limited-edition Reese's peanut butter cup that includes an extra layer with banana creme. The Baltimore Sun has more.

The Hershey Foods site features the product rather prominently and the Hershey's Gifts site offers this.

Just exactly what is a Twinkie? The answer to that question could be quite brief, unless your name is Steve Ettlinger. A recent ABC News article - The Secret Behind the Twinkie - takes a look at Ettlinger's book Twinkie, Deconstructed, an impressive work which was written without the cooperation or assistance of the treat's maker.

Fry Mania

The passion for frying things. Has it gotten out of hand? Is there anything that can't be deep-fried and consumed? Even spaghetti and meatballs? The New York Times briefly considers the matter here.

Not so long ago a Brazilian housewife got into hot water for frying something you may never have thought of. ABC News tells all about it here. Do not try this at home, kids.

While you're at it, why not hearken back to our previous report on frying stuff?

Lutefisk

Lutefisk, typically made from codfish, is a Scandinavian delicacy that’s been described as a "tasteless glob of fishy Jell-O." As acquired tastes go, it ranks with Limburger or haggis, but lutefisk "feeds" are a tradition in Minnesota and Wisconsin, most notably in lutefisk capital Madison, Minnesota, at the annual Norsefest. While you’re there, don’t miss the statue of a giant cod named Lou T. Fisk. Clever.

Fluffernutter

I've eaten my share of peanut butter - and then some. But I can't say that I've ever eaten a concoction known as a Fluffernutter. For the uninitiated, this a sandwich that's made with peanut butter and a gooey confection known as Marshmallow Fluff.

As one might expect nowadays, there's at least one Web site devoted to singing the praises of this sort of thing. Actually there are probably a lot more than one, but the one you'd probably want to start with would be the site maintained by the makers of Marshmallow Fluff. There are also links to Fluff history and to their recipe collection - The Yummy Book.

Image: Durkee-Mower Inc.