A thing that most of you may not know is why my blog is called The Pizzle. While “pizzle” is a fun word to say, it is also a culinary delight. The word “pizzle” is actually the term to describe the penis of an animal. Apparently, according to this Wikipedia article, the term “pizzle” is most commonly used in Australia and New… Read more →
I was out shopping for an Easy Bake Oven one day when I stumbled upon a cookbook, called Quick & Easy Dump Cakes. It’s by a lady named Cathy Mitchell. Many friends on Facebook and on Twitter have been regularly sending me photos of this book. It says a lot about my childish adult life that at least four people thought I should… Read more →
Call me a sap, but I have a soft spot for Valentine’s Day. Before everyone goes into a tirade about how Valentine’s Day is some bullshit made-up holiday by Hallmark and card companies, it’s really an ancient holiday. The romantic part started during the High Middle Ages, supposedly having something to do with Geoffrey Chaucer. But right now none of… Read more →
I’ve mentioned it before, but I don’t generally watch much football. You may not believe me because my last recipe was The Chicago Italian Beef Combo Bloody Mary, aka Coach Juice, which is simply a dumb coincidence. But, every year, I do go to Superbowl parties because if I don’t, I’ll spend that Sunday as I do most Sundays, which… Read more →
Medieval Times Dinner and Tournament is basically the greatest place on earth. It’s dinner theater (how much of this luxury even exists anymore?), with medieval-style games, including jousts, swordfights, horse dancing, and more. I’d been shouting at the castle every time I’d driven by it on the highway. It was finally time to visit as an adult. I’d been when I… Read more →
Fusion cuisine glues multiple types of ethnic food together and creates new dishes, merging the flavors of one region with another. One of the more popular things these days is smushing anything with Mexican food; Los Angeles has a famous fleet of trucks called Kogi (“kogi” is the Korean word for meat). They were the guys to put Mexican-Korean tacos on… Read more →
When I was growing up, my sister and I were small and we didn’t eat very much. My parents were concerned, so they started sneaking extra food into things to get us to load up on calories. They mainly used American cheese to do this. One example includes Cream of Wheat, the ol’ breakfast staple made of farina — basically wheat gruel. Life is… Read more →
Growing up in a Korean-American household, pie wasn’t something I really ate. The pies I did eat were those little hand-pies from Hostess, which were always good — but I knew deep inside, in my secret place, that those Hostess pies weren’t actual pies. I mean, they were a strange approximation of pie, I could just tell, even when I… Read more →
I’m originally from the north suburbs of Chicago, and I’ve been living in the Ukrainian Village neighborhood for about a billion (ten) years now. And I think I was probably the last food nerd I know to go to the lonely-looking Calumet Fisheries on the 95th St bridge. Yes, it’s located on an actual bridge, which certainly makes it unique.… Read more →