QUICK AND DIRTY DIPS

Jack Scalfani shows you two quick & dirty dips that can be made in minutes and taste GREAT!

CLOSED FOR THE WINTER

I have lived in California my whole life. I have only seen snow fall once in my life and it was only about six inches total. I don't know what a real thunderstorm sounds like even though I got a sample of it last week in Orlando, FL. And I am not sure what Grits really is or are or whatever. There are many things I don't understand about other parts of the country.

The one thing I can't understand the most is why the east coast doesn't use BBQ sauce in the winter. The east coast literally shuts down certain things during the winter. Using BBQ sauce is one of them.

Most of you know my company GiveMe Foods, sells "The Best Barbeque Sauce You'll Ever Taste" and we get orders all over the US. The weird thing is, the east coast stops using BBQ sauce in the Fall and they don't use it again until Memorial Day. The east coast literally stops using BBQ sauce after summer is over.

I didn't think it was true until I spoke to a lady yesterday from NY. She just pulled my sauce out of her cupboard this week. She bought it back in November 2008 but didn't use the sauce until now. What??? Are you serious? Was there not an opportunity to use BBQ sauce in the past 7 months?

So I decided to give you all some ideas on how to use BBQ sauce, even in the Winter months.



1. Meatloaf: What a great idea. Put the sauce inside the meat with seasoning and then top off with BBQ sauce.




2. Meatballs for potlucks: how many times do you have a pot luck at work. This is quick and easy. Get a bag of frozen meatballs from Costco and dump them in a crock pot.









3. Baked Beans: just get store bought and spice it up with BBQ sauce for more flavor.








4. Hamburger patties: you can make hamburger patties with bread crumbs and BBQ sauce. Just fry them in a pan and have an amazing burger.




5. As a dip: you can dip your chicken McNuggets, french fries, or onion rings in BBQ sauce instead of ketchup. It is a great dip for many foods.




These are just a few great indoor ideas on how to use BBQ sauce during the winter months. Be like the west coast and enjoy all foods all year round.

EATING IN ORLANDO, FL

Nothing irritates me more than going on vacation and eating in restaurants that you have back home. Why travel 2000 miles to go eat at Black Angus Steakhouse when you live down the street from one. So I completely avoid Olive Garden, Outback, and Red Lobster.

Most of you know I have been in Orlando, FL for about a week now on vacation. Most of you know how much I didn't want to come on this trip, since I live 5 minutes from Disneyland, Knotts Berry Farm, and 60 minutes from Six Flags Magic Mountain. Orlando is just like So. Cal. with humidity, thunderstorms, and downpours of rain.

On a positive note, Orlando has more food places than anywhere I have ever been. It's really all about eating out here. It was almost wall to wall restaurants for about a mile.

We went to Angels Seafood restaurant for all you can eat lobster and crab. As you can guess, I didn't eat anything other than Lobster and Crab. One of the locals said that Red Lobster is better than Angels. The reason I chose Angels over Red Lobster was because it was "all you can eat". I must have had 50 crab legs. Now, before you call me a pig, realize that when it's all you can eat crab, you don't fight for the little pieces. You eat the main thick part of the leg and the claws then move on to the next leg. Man that was awesome. You had to have been there. My brother, Jim and I filled three buckets up with cracked crab legs. We were like kids all over again. Laughing and cracking shell pieces across the restaurant. Good times....... Good times.

Another eating place that I liked was at the Epcot Center. If you have never been to Epcot, it's pretty cool. It made my trip worth it. There is a restaurant that serves food that was grown right there on the premises at the Epcot greenhouse. They grow all their own produce. It's an amazing process.

They also have the Epcot World Showcase where they have built 11 mini countries. You can walk into any country and visit their restaurant and store for that country. Everyone working in the restaurant and store is from that particular country and had the accent for that country. In fact, they are all here on working visas.

So for example, if you went to the pub in England, everyone there really lives in England and had the accent. All the food in the gift shop was from England (chips, chocolates, etc.) Even the colognes and perfumes in France were from France. The Italian wines are imported straight from Italy.


Don't even get me started on the
Bratwurst with Sauerkraut in Germany. OMG, you could smell it as soon as you entered the country. It was like traveling the world in one day. I didn't spend to much time in Mexico. I have that pretty much all over Southern California. But the rest of the world was amazing. The food was amazing. I will let you know how Italy's chocolates taste when I get back to the OC.

Last night we went to Perkins restaurant. They had some of the best looking pies. I fell in love with this caramel apple pie. This pie has fresh Michigan apples baked into a flaky crust with a crumb topping and drizzled with rich caramel icing. Hold on. My heart just skipped a beat. I didn't have any, but I might sneak off tonight and meet the pie for some coffee.

I still have to figure out where I am going tonight for dinner. I believe we
will try a steakhouse. I have Lonstar and the Ponderosa to choose from. I should check out Yelp! to see what other people are saying about them.

If you have a favorite place in Orlando, FL please leave a comment below. I gotta go. My tummy is grumblin'.

PROPANE VS. CHARCOAL

Michael B. wrote me a question asking me which do I prefer, propane or gas BBQing.

Here was my reply.

I love both here are the reasons why.

Propane is great when you need to cook right away, which is most people's situation. We tend to start cooking 60 minutes before dinner. It's also good when you have to cook a lot of meat for a family bbq. We will do pork first, then beef, then chicken, then hot dogs/hamburgers.

Charcoal has a better taste. If you have the time to prep the wood chips or charcoal or wood chunks and you don't mind cleaning out the ashes, then go with the gas.

Unfortunately, I never have the time. In fact, I have so little time I paid to have my BBQ hooked up to my natural gas and now it's like a stove top. I can run it all day and not have to go fill up my propane tank.

Thanks, Mike for the question. If you have a question please email me at: info (at) givemefoods (dot) com.