Bad Reuben Sandwich MOBI Photo From Reader Chris Norton

We are awaiting more info from Mr.Norton regarding this bad sandwich. The only communication given was this was bad. We hope that our regular MOBI contributor has not gotten ill. Stay tuned for more details as they come in.

Doritos Sour Cream & Cheesy Enchilada - New Collisions Line Flavor!

Oh man. We were happy to find this new offering from Doritos & their "Flavor Collisions" line of chips. Having previously tried all the others and found most to be pretty darn decent - we had big expectations on these as sour cream & enchilada are natural partners in flavor.

These will not disappoint. They nailed it on this one. Eaten together the coolness of the sour cream chips blend right in with the cheesy enchilada chips. You can actually taste the infusion.

Best Doritos Collisions Bag Yet!

Mongo's Mongologues #7: The Wonders of the Uzbek Melon

Dear FPT Readers,

Today I impart something very unusual (and it's not a wamagranate). Once again, I am unable to proffer the source of this extremely unusual fruit. Just allow me to say that my source is in Glendale, and there are a lot of Armenians in Glendale, and Armenians run the refuse business in Glendale.

Certainly for the first time on the FPT, and possibly west of the Mississippi, we bring to you the wonders of the Uzbek melon. In collaboration with the FPT, we are happy to bring to this close-up photo of the inside of this Uzbek Melon:

Uzbek melons are in season from August or so until about now. This special melon was developed in an Experimental Agricultural Laboratory (EAL). Top qualities of different melons that grow in Central Asia have been combined in this melon. The first Uzbek melon was planted and harvested in 1992, just after the fall of the Soviet Union.

The geneticists who developed this melon say the following about this rare treat: "Its birthplace was on the EAL field in Central Asia and proved to be a delicious success. The melon turned out to be everything we thought it would be and was admirably approved by EAL experts. Its fantastic qualities have no rival. "Renowned for its unmistakable fragrance, this exceptional melon is encased in a pale green rind with dark green contrasting stripes. A hint of a golden hue overshadows the thin but hard skin."

As a connoiseur of melons and vegetables of all types, I would not go so far to say as the geneticists do; the Uzbek melon is indeed rare, but may not be everything portrayed thereby. We here at the FPT strive for excellence in journalism. Therefore, this author must state that the Uzbek melon is indeed unusual and offers our readers a very unusual sensation for the palate, but descends from the lofty stata from which the geneticists at the EAL babble.

There we have it. Stop by the FPT soon for this author's analysis of a rare citrus fruit that has recently come into season, and is adored by those in the know.

I am Mongo

Reader Review: Hardee's Thickburger

Thanks to reader Skiwalker for test-driving the Hardee's ThickBurger and sharing his take on it:

I went to Hardees in Columbia, SC

I ordered the 1/3 lb. Bacon Cheese Thickburger

Very good, plenty of bacon and cheese, the name says it all. The bacon was thick, and not overcooked, but a cross between crispy and soft. The patty had a unique taste compared to other Hardee's burgers, similar to that of the 6 Dollar burger. Including all the extras, lettuce etc. it was a great burger, will order again. However the only improvement I could be made upon it is adding grilled onions. Grilled onions in my opinion go great with bacon and extra cheese, and would just complement them perfectly.

All in all a great burger, but could use additional toppings: 4/5

John Daly Golfing While Shoeless & Shirtless - "Classic Big John"

From the YouTube User - Cardsplayer4life:

"PGA golfer John Daly is interviewed while he plays a round of golf at Murder Rock Golf Club in Branson, Missouri. Shirtless and shoeless, with a cigarette in his mouth, of course. Classic Big John."

7-11 Hot Dog Condiment Station - This Location Sets The Gold Standard!

Almost everyone has had a hot dog from 7-11 at one time or another. From our experiences up and down the west coast - we have seen some pretty gnarly condiment stations with either things not stocked or just plain dirty. I have seen a couple myself that put me off my meal.

7-11's are franchised - and the quality of their food and condiment arenas are a reflection of each individual store's owners. This picture was taken with a MOBI device in the state of Oregon - and all 7-11 owners should strive to be more like this.

Frosted Mini-Wheats Strawberry Delight

There has never much cereal eating going on at then FPT kitchens, however we found this box on sale for 2.00 and decided to give it a run. After pouring up a bowl of these suddenly we forgot that milk goes with cereal, and we did not have any.

So we decided to eat these lil guys by hand - like a chip bowl. Worked out great - these guys are tasty with the strawberry frost layer on them. As a bonus, it turns out they are high in fiber - which should help anyone out there with 'movement' issues.

The FPT has never recommended a cold cereal in our 5+ years of writing - but we are pleased to say that "Frosted Mini-Wheats Strawberry Delight" is one fine foodstuff. We never did try them with milk - that will be on our agenda for the coming week. Also they got some free DVD offer going if you save boxtops - and you know the FPT is always interested in coupons/rebates/etc.

Loud Food Packaging - Mobile Media

The staff here felt that the previous post about loud food packaging may not have conveyed the seriousness of this issue with just words. Last night, Steven (from our front offices) took said bag of Sunchips - the new one made of all re-newable materials (which in itself is a good thing), and made a video from his MOBI device. This was filmed from app. 2 feet from the bag with normal volume settings.

If you find yourself in a similar situation - please use your MOBI device to capture loud packaging and help us identify those products which are not 'sneak a snack' friendly.

Loud Packaging - A Serious Major Issue For Snack Sneakers

This has been a pet-peeve of ours for many years, and a recent item's new packaging was the final straw. This is a serious issue and action must be taken by our community. Loud Packaging is the phrase we use at the FPT for snacks that when you open them or re-enter them for more make loud noises. This can be a major problem when snacking in public arenas or when you are trying to snack on the down-low. Sometimes you just do not want others to know you are eating - and why manafacturers have overlooked this is beyond us.

The new Sun Chips bag is the loudest we have come across and it is off the chart. Made of all-renewable materials (which is a good thing), this bag sounds like you are breaking glass when you handle it. It can be heard perhaps 30 feet away even with subtle background noise. Good luck trying to sneak snack on some of these at the office or home.

SunChips is not alone here in the ongoing loud packaging problem. Keebler cookies and their flimsy plastic tray - sounds like a freight train when you try to push tray back into the bag. The new Oreos package which has this rip-flap deal on the top is also a noisemaker.

There are many others and the staff here at the FPT is compiling a database and noise scale chart that will be posted here shortly. In the meantime - speak out against loud packaging - sneaking a snack should be a quiet personal moment.

Michelina's Fettucine Alfredo With Chicken Frozen Dish - Does Box Photo Match The Meal?

As you regular reader's know, we here in the FPT test kitchens are strongly opinionated about food matching the photos used to represent it. Usually, when we post about this it is to call attention to a food item that looks nothing like how it is depicted/advertised.

Michelina's Fettucine Alfredo With Chicken - is a small frozen entree that comes in a microwaveable box and we decided to put it to the test.

Here is a close-up of the picture on the box front:

This is how it looked after cooking BUT before stirring as the directions recommended:

Now - WOW - look at this after stirring it up - we have an almost exact match to the photo on the box. Plus this little snacker meal was tasty and affordable at 1.00 on sale!

Vitamin Water Now Available At Carl's Jr. - The King Of Beverage Options

Carl's Jr. which recently introduced Monster Energy drinks to their menu now adds the popular Vitamin Water as well. "Carl’s Jr. will feature three flavors of the great-tasting, nutrient-enhanced water: vitaminwater xxx, vitaminwater revive and vitaminwater essential. Each vitaminwater variety provides a range of functional benefits to address whatever life throws at you." We are big fans of their current fountain drink dispensers, which offer maybe 20 or so options. Hopefully, they will soon have the 100 flavor new coke fountain dispensers as well - look at our older posts for a cool video showing off this off the hook 100 flavor soda fountain.

Pork Roast Recipe & Pix - From Reader MOB

Our readers have moved on from turkey left-overs and bellyaches. While most folks probably are not cooking pork roasts at the end of Thanksgiving weekend - our people just keep on going. Our friend MOB spent tonight preparing and eating massive servings of an impressive pork roast. He was kind enought to not only send us media -but also his recipe as well.

2.5 pound pork roast
1 sprig thyme
1/2 cup white wine (something you'd drink, not cheepo)
1/2 cup water
3 garlic cloves
2 bay leaves
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
Celery Stalk
Carrot
1/4 Cup olive oil
1/2 small onion

Preheat oven to 375. Score fat side of roast. Rub with olive oil. Pepper and salt to taste all over. Place in roast pan on top of celery stalk and carrot, fat side up. Break up Thyme and bay leaves, crush garlic spread on top. Pour wine and water around the outside of roast. Cut up onion and place in wine and water. Roast for 2.5 hours at 375, basting every 15 minutes.

Gravy: 1 cup milk 1/2 cup flour

Remove roast and strain drippings. Heat to boiling stove top. Mix milk and flour, milk should be very cold. Strain any flour lumps… needs to be smooth. Add slowly to boiling drippings. This relies on the temp difference between the milk and drippings to work well. Stir constantly till fully mixed. Serve with large egg noodles and a vegetable of your choice.

Turkey Cooking - The Paper Bag Method - From Brainwreck

This year's winner of the FPT Turkey Cook-Off is Brainwreck. His bold move of using the "paper bag" method has unseated reader Jackball's 2006 entry as the all-time champion. The excellent photos above speak for themselves.

We asked him how the whole thing went, "First time cooking a turkey using the paper bag method, and it turned out awesome. Turkey was stuffed with onions, carrots, celery, garlic, butter, and potatoes. Chunks of butter were also inserted under the skin in strategic locations."

Runner-up respect to Black2oof for his entry.

Cheetos Green Color Changers - Availability?

We have discussed the Cheetos Blue Color Changers here and even posted a video from some nice ladies showing how they work. The unusual thing here is that on the west coast we have not seen the blue cheetos anywhere. However, we have noticed that there still are bags of the green color changers on the shelves as of today. Does anyone know about the distribution of these? There is very little on the web regarding the green ones, but the blue kinds has all kinds of info. Are these green color changers Cheetos rare? Should we send staff out and buy all we can find?

FPT SAFETY ALERT: $60,000 Going Rate For Gallon Of Fat On Black Market

News of gangs murdering those of the largess to drain their fat and re-market it have come in from Peru. The going rate is $60,000 a gallon. Just a heads up people - lets all be a little more street smart right now.

Portobello Mushroom Melt Thickburger - New at Hardee's

Always offering new unique items, Hardee’s has done it again with the new Portobello Mushroom Melt Thickburger.

The Portobello Mushroom Melt Thickburger features a third-pound of charbroiled 100% Black Angus beef, topped with Portobello mushrooms sautéed in a garlic-butter sauce, caramelized grilled onions and two slices of Swiss cheese, melted all together between toasted sourdough bread.

Always on the hunt for coupons or special deals - we recommend anyone heading to Hardee's join their Facebook/Twitter groups as they are always posting coupons and special deals. We just checked and there is a 'Get What You Deserve' button on their facebook page which gets you a dollar off this new item. Now go get one - and send us your take!

Deer Rump Roast - The Magnum Method

Regular reader Magnum recently acquired an app. 5 pound deer/venison rump roast and truly went all out with it. He tells us "it had minced garlic, onion, carrots, potatos, green pepper, and beef broth and i cooked it on 230 for about 9 hours".

Photos above are before and after.

Thanks to Magnum for yet another unique and creative culinary adventure.

Homemade Chili Pot - Recipe & Photos From Etathed in West Virginia

Our embedded reporter from West Virginia went wild and made what appears to be a rather unique and tasty Chili Pot: Etathed's Chili Pot - This is one of my most favorite meals to make. And like most of the meals i make this one is easy as can be, and super tasty. First lets talk ingrediants, this recipe works with: - 2.25 lbs of lean ground - Veggies of your choice (here i am using chopped up jalapenos, chopped yellow onion, chopped green onion, and garlic. - 2 Cans (16oz. per can) of Chili beans, and 2 cans (7.3oz per can) of El Pato Jalapeno Salsa. -Hot Sauce -Chili Powder Now lets get this chili pot started. First thing we need to do is to start cooking the ground beef in a pot. As we do this we can chop up our veggies and toss them into a skillet to cook them up a bit. When the beef is almost fully cooked check to see how much grease has accumulated in the pot, you may need to drain the beef as we are not interested in any excess grease. Next toss them veggies into the beef and add some hot sauce ( I am using original Cholula Hot sauce) and chili powder. Let the beef and veggie mix cook for a couple minutes so their flavors meld together. Next add the 2 cans of chili beens ( in this pot i am using Bush's Chili beans in a Mild sauce, i prefer Joan of Arc Chili beans in a SPicy sauce, but they were sold out. ) After adding the beans, Add the 2 cans of El Pato Jalapeno salsa. This is not salsa like you would dip chips in, it is more like a tomato sauce made with jalapeno and other stuff.

Mix it all up, cover the mixture and leave on the stove for at least an hour or two on a low heat setting. This is key as the chili gets better the longer it sits on the heat. Be sure to stir and sample at regular intervals.

Thats it! This chili is great served in a traditional style, in a bowl with some cheese mixed in. It is also a great topping for nachos, alongside some cheese, jalapenos and sour cream. You can also roll it up with the above ingredients in a tortilla to make a decent chili cheese burrito. For such a simple meal to make, the options of consumption are numerous! You can eat from this pot over the course of a day or two and not have the same "meal" twice!

Thanks Etathed - nice work as always. Think you have a meal worthy of posting - send it in using the email link in the right column of this page.

Jalapeno Poppers - The FPT Team Recommendation

Jalapeno Poppers can be bought by a variety of makers, and the FPT staff is here to help you make the right choice. For the make at home style, there truly is one brand that dominates. They go by the name "The Original Poppers" brand - as there are so many people trying to ride their coat-tails. Our favorite is the cream cheese filled, but every style they offer is excellent.

Look at the picture above closely and when shopping look for their brand name - there are many pretenders out there.

Carls' Jr. 6 Dollar Cheeseburger - A "We Just Had To Try It Now" Review

After learning of the great price earlier today for the new Carl's Jr. 6 Dollar Black Angus Cheeseburger, we went MOBI and sampled this great deal. Photo above is of our sample burger - this one was ordered plain with just meat and cheese. Ranks right with the other six dollar burgers at Carl's. Excellent black angus meat as we expected - only thing that we found skimped on was the price!

We also saw the Big Carl combo gift cards given out with every Big Carl combo offer - each card having a value of 1 to 100 dollars of food credits! In addittion we found a coupon in our bag for one dollar off your total when buying a Vitamin Water with any 6 dollar burger. Lots of good stuff happening at Carl's Jr. right now.