Categories
Toronto (a.k.a. Accordion City)

Burger Quest

A.G. Pasquella’s Burger Quest logo

Ex-pat Texan A.G. Pasquella, whom I’ve known since 1992 (we went to Crazy Go Nuts University together) is searching Accordion City for the perfect burger — “the burger of his youth”. He’s visiting burger places and writing reviews at his new blog, Burger Quest.

In his introductory post, he writes:

I’ve got a craving for a hamburger, and not just any hamburger: the Texas-style hamburger of my rapidly receeding youth. There’s a line in the movie Barcelona about “this delicious hamburger of memory,” and that’s exactly what I want. It might be intangible– it might be impossible– but over the course of one summer I will scour the streets of Toronto on a Quest for that elusive Perfect Burger. I will leave no burger unturned: chain restaurant burgers, gourmet burgers, burgers from the greasiest of the greasy spoons… I will try them all, hoping to catch a taste– just a taste– of my Texas Childhood.


If blogging by Texans living away from home seeking the food of their youth appeals to you, check out the Homesick Texan, whose blog I pointed to in my earlier entry about chicken fried steak.

Categories
Toronto (a.k.a. Accordion City)

Oral Fixation Disposal Device

Here’s a combination gum disposal and ashtray I saw just outside the CHIN building in Accordion City’s Little Italy neighbourhood

Gum and cigarette disposal at the CHIN Building, Toronto
[Photo taken by Joey deVilla]

Categories
Uncategorized

Cause and Effect, Together at Last!

“White Spred-‘N-Fil But-R-Creme™” is a would be an even more apt name if the last bit was spelled “Butt-R-Creme”:

A fat butt on a tub of Wal-Mart But-R-Creme
Photo courtesy of Miss Fipi Lele.

Categories
Uncategorized

And If You Hit Him, It’s Worth 500 Points

Watch for Vanilla Ice
Photo courtesy of Miss Fipi Lele.

Categories
Uncategorized

“Aisle 6 Needs Restocking!”

Preview photo of giant supermarket
Click the photo to see a higher-quality version at full size. It would make a decent desktop background image. Photo courtesy of Miss Fipi Lele.

Categories
It Happened to Me

Blast from the Past: “Worst Date Ever”

Group photo from
A scene from Worst Date Ever, Part 4, just before it all went to Hell. I’m the guy with the only unblurred face; in the front row are Crabs, The Waitress and me.

Old Blog Entries? Why?

One of the downsides of switching domains (from accordionguy.blogware.com to joeydevilla.com) and blogging tools is that all the links to my old blog entries have changed completely. I’ve received a number of emails from readers who’ve bookmarked old entries of mine only to find that when they visit those bookmarks, they hit the “can’t find it” page.

So, over the next couple of weeks, I’m going to point to some of my best entries over the past six or so years. If you’re a long-time reader, go enjoy them again! If you’re relatively new to this blog, I think you’ll be in for a treat.

The Best Christmas Present Ever and Worst Date Ever

The first set of stories I’ll point to is Worst Date Ever, which took place around the spring of 1999. It starts with a bout of loneliness and turns into a story complete with strong language, adult situations, a bar brawl, butterscotch schnapps, iambic pentameter and ABBA.

Start with The Best Christmas Present Ever, which features my friend Crabs, who figures prominently in the Worst Date Ever story. While it’s not likely to ever be turned into a Hallmark Cards Christmas Special on TV, I think it’s a pretty good story about the true meaning of Christmas, and the only Yuletide story featuring crab lice.

Then, you can hit the Worst Date Ever entries…

I hope this provides you with some entertaining weekend reading. Enjoy!

Categories
Uncategorized

Chicken Fried Steak Recipes

Chicken fried steak is an occasional guilty pleasure of mine, and I’m pleased to share Chris Street’s recipe with you. The image below is a preview — click it to see the full recipe, complete with written instructions.

Be aware that there is a debate over which gravy truly belongs on chicken fried steak: brown gravy or white gravy. I myself prefer the brown, but be prepared to fight over this issue with chicken fried steak purists out there.

Preview for the chicken fried steak recipe graphic
Thanks to Chris Street and Miss Fipi Lele for the image!

Here’s a link to another chicken fried steak recipe from the blog of the Homesick Texan, who got the recipe from her dad.

Another chicken fried steak