Grandma Arbuckle’s Sweet Potatoes!
In Garfield’s Thanksgiving, Grandma saves Jon’s disastrous date with Liz by covertly preparing Thanksgiving dinner. It’s the best part of the TV special, which should go without saying since Grandma Arbuckle is the best part of anything in which she participates.
While Jon entertains Liz in the living room, Grandma whips up everything from turkey croquettes to “split second” cranberry sauce. My favorite dish, though, had to be her sweet potatoes — made with a cup of butter, a cup of brown sugar and enough marshmallows to play checkers with.
I’ve spent thirty years dreaming about Grandma’s sweet potatoes, which is impressive considering that I’m not a sweet potato guy by any stretch. It’s just the power of Grandma Arbuckle, y’know? Total influencer!
Cutting to the chase, this weekend I decided to recreate Grandma’s sweet potatoes, even if it’s more of a sweet potato casserole. If you’d like to do the same, follow these instructions:
You will need:
– 6-8 large sweet potatoes
– Butter
– Brown sugar (dark, I guess)
– Jumbo marshmallows
Before we begin, I gotta state for the record that I was striving for Grandma Accuracy, here. Which meant that I wouldn’t adjust her given quantities, nor would I add any of the spices typical for this dish. While the final results were indeed delicious, I can’t claim that there isn’t room to “edit” if you’re more about balanced flavors and less about deifying Grandma Arbuckle. Read More…
Happy Halloween!
Happy Halloween, everyone! (What’s left of it, anyway.)
I hope you’ve had a great season, and I hope Dinosaur Dracula’s 2019 Halloween Countdown made it a little more special. Here’s a quick video that basically says the same, but also features a giant demon rabbit:
I always end these Countdowns wishing I’d done more, but hey, there have been plenty of articles this season, plus some videos, on top of the spooky podcasts me and Jay started publishing back in August. NOT BAD, I’d say?
As for the season at large? It’s been a little weird, but mostly excellent. From junk food to decorations to movies and beyond, there’s been plenty of spooky fuel to carry us through. What’s been the highlight of YOUR season? Speak up, in the comments!
Dino Drac kicks off another holiday celebration next week, so if you stray over the next few days, just don’t stray too far!
Enjoy one last night of horror movies and fun-sized Snickers. You’ve earned it.
Five Random Action Figures, Part 46!
We’re now stuck in a weird situation where Halloween feels like it’s already happened, but clearly hasn’t. Pretty much everyone I know did their big celebrating over the weekend, and now we’re kind of puttering toward the finish line.
Hey, whatever. We’ve all done plenty these past two months. You’re allowed to take it easy this week, if that’s what you want. There are no rules to Halloweening, except to have fun in whatever form “fun” takes. Go big, go small, doesn’t matter. By this time next week, you’ll be eating Stove Top.
…but I’m not giving up on the black-and-orange until October 31st, so here’s another thousand words about spooky junk. Get set for the latest edition of Five Random Action Figures, which isn’t normally a Halloween subject, but magically becomes one when I feature nothing but ugly monsters:
Serpentine King Hssss!
Masters of the Universe Classics (2015)
You don’t need to know a thing about Masters of the Universe to recognize this living pile of snakes as a Very Cool Creature, but that’s only the half of it. The vintage King Hiss figure was one of my childhood favorites, and this extreme take on his “snake form” would’ve been beyond my wildest dreams as a kid.
The general line on King Hiss (here stylized as “Hssss”) is that he’s at least equal in rank to Skeletor and Hordak. I love the fact that a guy with eight snakes replacing a proper head and torso is actually a brilliant tactician who gets to ussse big wordsss while ordering everyone else around.
Bonus points: I don’t know what this figure originally sold for, but I got him for just five bucks during one of GameStop’s “we have too much shit in our storeroom” sales. Read More…
2019’s Best Halloween Junk Food, Part 3!
I suppose there isn’t much value in spooky junk food reviews this late into the season, but whatever, I’m doing this one just for me. I mean, the idea of a whole Halloween Countdown slipping by without any coverage of Ghoul-Aid Popping Candy? Shit makes me sick.
Sooo, here’s the third edition of 2019’s Best Halloween Junk Food, featuring everything from Skittles that taste like vomit to pizza that thinks it’s a pumpkin.
The Ghost Whopper!
(Available at Burger King)
We spent the whole season wondering if Burger King would come through with another huge Halloween promotion, and the answer is… um, kind of?
Meet the GHOST WHOPPER, with its deathly pale white cheddar bun. It’s only available at 10 locations in the United States, which is cool if you live near one and absolutely soul-destroying if you don’t.
Me and Jay drove all the way into Philadelphia to try these, but if you wanna hear that story, you’ll need to listen to this month’s Purple Stuff bonus episode. For the purposes of this review, I’ll just say that Ghost Whoppers are really, REALLY good, and totally deserved a nationwide release.
The white cheddar bun isn’t just tasty, but also softer than Burger King’s norm. (Which I appreciate, as I’ve always found Burger King’s regular bread to be pretty cardboardy.) I guess I can’t claim that it’s as visually striking as the Halloween Whopper or Nightmare King, but man, basing a cheeseburger on a goddamned SHEET GHOST hits all of my sweet spots.
GRADE: A+. (And that A+ is strictly for the execution of the sandwich. BK’s new lean on this “10 restaurants only” gimmick is icky, and I hope they stop doing that.) Read More…