Who Are the A and W in A&W Root Beer and Restaurants?

A&W is a well-recognized brand in North America, best-known for its root beer but also for its branded chain of fast-food restaurants: A&W Root Beer and A&W Restaurants. But what does "A&W" mean? Does it stand for something, or for someone? Someone's initials, perhaps?

The "A" and the "W" in A&W are, indeed, initials: the initials of the two men who created the brand way back in 1922. But one of those guys was far more important that the other — the "A" is the one who made the root beer famous.

In 1919 (and this is why the "since 1919" appears in the logo), Roy W. Allen created the root beer business. He opened a roadside root beer stand in Lodi, California, in 1919. Allen didn't invent the A&W Root Beer formula, he bought it from a pharmacist, but he's the one who took the formula and ran with it.

Allen start expanding and within a year had drive-ins in Stockton and Sacramento, too. And that's when the "W" enters, briefly, the picture.

The "W" is for Frank Wright, the man with whom Allen partnered, and whose name, along with Allen's, provided the A&W branding for the root beer. But Wright wasn't around for long. In 1924, Allen bought him out. But the A&W Root Beer brand was established by then, so he stuck with it.

In 1924, Allen launched the A&W Restaurants chain, one of the first in the United States. Interesting note: the restaurants were franchised and franchise owners had a lot of leeway to sell whatever food they wanted to. But they had to stock A&W Root Beer, of course, and they had to follow, exactly, the A&W Root Beer formula. Within a few years, there were 170 A&W Restaurants selling A&W Root Beer.

So that's the answer to the question in the headline: The "A" in A&W is for Roy Allen; the "W" in A&W is for Frank Wright.

Allen remained in charge of the company until he sold out in 1950. At their height, there were more than 2,000 A&W Restaurants in the United States and Canada. There are still several hundred today. And A&W Root Beer remains one of the best-known root beer brands. A&W Root Beer and A&W Restaurants are no longer under the same ownership, however.

Browse A&W Root Beer products on Amazon (affiliate links used in this post)

How Long Does Rice Last?

How long will rice last in storage? How long will it keep before it goes bad? Many people have the impression that white rice will keep almost forever. Not quite! But white rice does have a long shelf life. Brown rice, on the other hand, lasts a far shorter amount of time.

Whenever I'm having rice, I think of the old joke by comedian Mitch Hedberg. "I like rice," Hedberg would deadpan. "Rice is great when you're hungry and you want 2,000 of something."

The Shelf Life of White Rice

You can keep white rice in your pantry, in the packaging in which you bought it, for around five years before it starts to lose flavor and nutrients. But there are ways you can get a lot more shelf life out of that white rice.

If you take it out of its packaging and transfer the white rice to an airtight storage container, especially one that allows you to pump oxygen out of the container, your white rice will last around 10 to 15 years.

Want an even longer shelf life? Make sure your storage container allows you to remove all the air, and will seal airtight, then store your rice at 40-degrees Fahrenheit (around 4.5 degrees Celsius) or lower. Now, that white rice will last for around 30 years.

So, no, the shelf life of white rice is not "forever." But it will keep for years or, with the right storage method, for decades.

How Long Does Brown Rice Keep?

Brown rice is a whole different ballgame compared to white rice. Brown rice grains contain oils, and oils go bad. So you should always think of the shelf life of brown rice as around six months.

How Long Can You Keep Cooked Rice in the Fridge?

Have leftovers? Want to store that left-over rice in the fridge? Treat it as you would any other leftovers: Eat it within three days, four days tops.

Dunkin Donuts Adds Grilled Chicken Flatbread

Grilled chicken has arrived at Dunkin Donuts. The chain has announced the introduction of the Grilled Chicken Flatbread sandwich, which is available now at participating locations.

"Shake up your taste buds," DD's website proclaims about the new offering. The grilled chicken is served inside a multigrain flatbread. It is topped with a slice of reduced-fat cheddar cheese, and an ancho chipotle sauce tops it off.

Nutritional info: One Dunkin Donuts Grilled Chicken Flatbread has 360 calories, 12 grams of fat (3.5 saturated), 1020mg of sodium, 3 grams of fiber and 28 grams of protein.

We really loved the Turkey Breakfast Sandwich that DD had on its menu a while back, so we're looking forward to trying the Grilled Chicken Flatbread. If you've already tried one, let us know what you think of it in comments.

New Shake at Red Robin Includes Wine, Vodka

As a non-drinker, I can't really tell how this will sound to its intended audience: a soft-serve ice cream shake that includes wine and vodka. Are you interested?

It's now available at burger restaurant Red Robin. They call it the Mango Moscato Wine Shake, and it's a menu item at least through Sept. 1, 2014. "Dessert menu, meet the wine list," the Red Robin website declares.

The Mango Moscato Wine Shake will be served only to Red Robin customers ages 21 and over. The wine shake is a combination of combination of Alice White Moscato and SKYY Infusions Moscato vodka with mango puree and creamy vanilla soft serve.

The shake's creator, Red Robin's master mixologist Donna Ruch, calls the wine shake "another playful twist on an American classic that raises the bar on our beverage innovation and captures our guests' imaginations."

What do you think: can't wait to try it, or sounds like something you'd rather not try?

They Eat WHAT for Breakfast? Breakfast Staples Around the World

Here's a cool video from Buzzfeed that takes us around the world and shows us what typical breakfasts are in various countries. The video is titled What Does the World Eat for Breakfast? In the United States, as an example, the video shows us pancakes, eggs and bacon. That doesn't mean that such a meal is the favorite or most common breakfast in the USA, just that it is representative of American breakfasts.

As an American, I can confirm that pancakes, indeed, are typical breakfast fare. Or, in my case, lunch fare and dinner fare. (I loves me some pancakes!)

I guess pho is to the Vietnamese as pancakes are to me, because pho makes the video for Vietnam. Watch and see what else is served for breakfast around the globe:

Quiznos Bankruptcy Reminds of Some of TV's Weirdest Commercial

Quiznos has filed for bankrupty brings back memories. Not memories of eating at Quiznos — I've never been a big fan — but of some of the weirdest commercials in TV history.

Remember them? The Quiznos "hamster commercials"? They featured one or two of what most people believed were hamsters (but were actually referred to by the ads' makers as "spongemonkeys"), but with giant googly eyes and with a humanish mouth replacing their own mouths. One "hamster" strummed a guitar while the other sang mostly absurdist lyrics in a grating, awful, high-pitched voice. It was one of those so-bad-you-can't-turn-away efforts at advertising.

And they worked! Those strange ads generated a lot of publicity for Quiznos, which was riding high at the time with plans to challenge sub sandwich leader Subway. Those plans later crashed and burned, as we now know. But the commercials live on.

New Wendy's Salads: Asian Cashew Chicken and BBQ Ranch Chicken

Wendy's has been introducing a ton of new menu items recently. Now the fast food staple is shaking up its selection of salads. Gone are the Baja Salad and the Chicken BLT Cobb Salad; replacing them on the Wendy's menu are the Asian Cashew Chicken Salad and the BBQ Ranch Chicken Salad.

Asian Cashew Chicken Salad

Wendy's knows what you're thinking: an "Asian salad" from a fast-food burger place means ginger dressing and canned fruit slices. Wendy's response: "Wendy's has gone beyond the predictable canned fruit and ginger dressing found in other Asian-inspired salads in favor of more contemporary, on-trend ingredients like fire-roasted edamame and red peppers sliced fresh in every Wendy's restaurant."

The field greens are "topped with fire-roasted edamame, spicy roasted cashews, warm, grilled chicken and Marzetti Simply Dressed Light Spicy Asian Chili Vinaigrette." At full size, the Asian Cashew Chicken salad has 380 calories, 13 grams of fat (2 saturated), 970mg sodium, 36 grams protein and 6 grams fiber. It can also be ordered in a half-size that has 240 calories.

BBQ Ranch Chicken Salad

It you want something a bit bolder (or just aren't as concerned with calories), there's the BBQ Ranch Chicken. "Inspired by the tastes of a good old-fashioned backyard barbeque, the savory BBQ Ranch Chicken Salad uses premium ingredients often found around the grill," says Wendy's.

This salad's field greens are "topped with fire-roasted corn, applewood smoked bacon, warm, grilled chicken and Marzetti Simply Dressed BBQ Ranch Dressing."

The full size (it can also be ordered in half size) version carries 580 calories, 29 grams of fat (9g saturated), 1,460 mg of sodium, 41 grams protein and 5 grams fiber.

Let us know what you think if you've tried either of the new Wendy's salads.

Milk Shots: Milk Served Inside a Chocolate Chip Cookie Cup

It seems like only a few months ago that the cronut was driving foodies to distraction. Now, the cronut creator has something new in store: milk and cookie "shots." Step 1: Create a shot glass that is made of chocolate chip cookie. Step 2: Fill said cookie cup with milk. Step 3: Enjoy! Here's what Chocolate Chip Cookie Milk Shots look like:

(Photo: @dominiqueansel/Instagram)

Pastry chef Dominique Ansel is the madman behind both the cronut and Chocolate Chip Cookie Milk Shots. He'll be debuting his milk shots at SXSW in Austin on March 9.

Quick Review: Dunkin Donuts' Eggs Benedict Sandwich

The newest breakfast sandwich at Dunkin' Donuts is the Eggs Benedict sandwich. Traditional eggs benedict is served open-faced - English muffin halves topped with ham, a poached egg and Hollandaise sauce.

All of those elements are there in the Dunkin' Donuts version (the egg is the typical fast food version, rather than poached), but it's a put-together sandwich rather than open-face.

I enjoyed the one I tried, but there was one issue: not enough Hollandaise. Basically, what I had was a ham and egg sandwich on an English muffin. A good one - the ham and egg were tasty, the muffin was flavorful and very nicely toasted.

There just wasn't enough Hollandaise. There was so little that the sandwich barely had any of the expected tang. If my Dunkin' Donuts gets a little more liberal with the Hollandaise sauce, then I think they'll have a real winner with the Eggs Benedict breakfast sandwich.

Until then, I give it 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Nutrition: 300 calories, 9 grams total fat (4.5 grams saturated), 790mg sodium, 7 grams fiber, 15 grams protein.

Have you tried one? Share your thoughts in comments.

New Breakfast Sandwiches at Starbucks Include Veggie Fontiago

The Starbucks.com homepage includes the news of three additions to the coffee chain's selection of breakfast sandwiches. The three new sandwiches are the Slow Roasted Ham & Swiss, the Vegetable and Fontiago, and the Egg & Cheddar. They all look delicious ... but, then, fast food items always look delicious in the promotional photos, don't they?

Vegetable & Fontiago Breakfast Sandwich

This is the one I find most interesting. Let's face it: there's not much originality in breakfast sandwiches. This one offers something different. Starbucks' description of this one: "Spinach, sundried tomatoes, caramelized onions and Fontiago cheese on a multigrain ciabatta bun."

Nutritional info: 470 calories, 17 grams total fat (9 grams saturated), 910mg sodium, 5 grams fiber, 18 grams of protein.

Slow-Roasted Ham & Swiss Breakfast Sandwich

This one is a ham and egg sandwich - never a bad thing - with Swiss cheese and served on a croissant.

Nutritional info: 490 calories, 25 grams total fat (12 grams saturated), 830mg sodium, 2 grams fiber and 20 grams of protein.

No, these are not "light" sandwiches; they are heavy on calories, fat and salt. And if you pair one with a flavored coffee drink, watch out for your waistline. But if you love Starbucks, you already know that.

Egg & Cheddar Breakfast Sandwich

A very simple sandwich, and nothing wrong with that. Some of the tastiest foods are the simplest. This one is egg and cheese, served on toasted multigrain bread.

It's also the lowest-calorie option among the three new 'wiches. Nutritional info: 400 calories, 17 grams total fat (7 grams saturated), 730mg sodium, 4 grams figer, 15 grams protein.

If you've tried any of 'em, let us know in comments what you thought.

Jim Gaffigan Is Not Surprised By This Hot Pockets Recall

Nestle USA has announced a voluntary recall of "of HOT POCKETS® brand Philly Steak and Cheese in three different pack sizes and HOT POCKETS® brand Croissant Crust Philly Steak and Cheese, in the two pack box," the company announced on Feb. 18, 2014.

OK, in your best Jim Gaffigan inner monologue vogue, altogether now: "Hoooooooooot Pockets!"

The Hot Pockets recall is not due to any problem within Nestle, but rather with a supplier of meats. Nestle's recall is due to an abundance of caution; the manufacturer doesn't believe any of the supplier's bad meat got into the recalled Hot Pockets, which is why the recall is voluntary. But why take chances? Which is why there is a recall notice at all.

Comedian Jim Gaffigan's Hot Pockets routine, which appeared on his Beyond the Palecomedy record and TV special, has become one of the best-known comedy bits in America. Suffice it to say Gaffigan is not a fan of Hot Pockets. Here's the bit:

Here is an appearance on Letterman that predates the Beyond the Pale recording; it contains many of the same jokes about Hot Pockets but also some differences, and the delivery is a bit different:

How much you want to bet that Gaffigan eats Hot Pockets all the time?

New Krispy Kreme Doughnuts: Mocha Kreme and Caramel Coffee Kreme

What could make a doughnut even better? Aside from adding even more icing, sugar and fat, of course. I'll tell you what: doughnuts that incorporate the flavors of coffee. Because what goes together better than coffee and doughnuts?

Krispy Kreme has a couple new, limited-time doughnuts on the men: Mocha Kreme (left) and Caramel Coffee Kreme. The names alone set my mouth to watering.

Krispy Kreme describes the Mocha Kreme doughnut this way:

"A moist yeast doughnut filled with a tasty blend of chocolate and coffee flavors, topped with mocha icing, a milk chocolate swirl and decorated with milk chocolate icing."

And the Caramel Coffee Kreme (right) gets this description:

"A decadent glazed treat topped with smooth caramel and coffee flavored icing, a mocha drizzle and dollop of coffee Kreme."

What about the nutrition? Do you really want to know? Seriously, do you really want to know? OK, here you go: the Caramel Coffee Kreme has 330 calories and 14 grams of fat; the Mocha Kreme has 350 calories and 16 grams of fat.

How to Use an Iron to Make a Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Say you're stuck somewhere without a kitchen. Like a hotel room. But, boy are you craving a grilled cheese sandwich. How are you going to make one without anything to cook it on? Not to worry! The popular YouTube producer CrazyRussianHacker has you covered.

Just gather your ingredients and grab that hotel room iron. A few minutes later, you'll have grilled cheese:

Jack In the Box's New 'Bacon Insider' Has Bacon ... Lots and Lots of Bacon

Do you like bacon on your burger? Yes? Then you might want to check out the newest burger from Jack in the Box. It's called the Bacon Insider, and it has lots and lots of bacony goodness on it and in it:

Jack in the Box announced the Bacon Insider burger today as a limited-time special menu item. Here is how the burger is described on the Jack in the Box website:

Jack’s newest creation is a bacon triple threat. A juicy beef patty mixed with savory pieces of bacon. This new bacon and beef patty is sandwiched between hickory smoked bacon and topped with creamy bacon mayo, lettuce, tomato, and American cheese. All served on our new soft warm brioche bun. This burger is sure to make you want to “bring home the bacon”.

To reiterate, the Bacon Insider has strips of bacon on top of a beef patty infused with bacon, accompanied by a mayonnaise infused with bacon. The price (which could vary by location) is $4.99.

Here is an advertisement for the Bacon Insider:

Nutrition? The Bacon Insider burger has 729 calories, 44 grams of fat (15g saturated, 1g trans), 1,399mg of sodium, 37 grams of protein and 3 grams of fiber. As if that matters! Bacon!

Wendy's Calls new Ciabatta Bacon Cheeseburger 'Mediterranean-Inspired'

Here is the newest premium, limited-time offering from Wendy's - the "Mediterranean-inspired" Ciabatta Bacon Cheeseburger:

It's "the perfect combination of contrasting flavors and textures you would expect to find in an upscale bistro," Wendy's says. But what makes the Ciabatta Bacon Cheeseburger "Mediterranean-inspired"? Here's how Wendy's describes it:

"No typical marinara and mozzarella here – the Ciabatta Bacon Cheeseburger smells and tastes like it was crafted under the Italian sun. It features Mediterranean-inspired ingredients, like tangy, creamy rosemary garlic aioli and sweet, mildly tart, roasted chopped tomatoes. The tomatoes and spring mix made from nine different greens give a burst of cool freshness against melty, naturally aged Asiago cheese and a hot quarter-pound patty of fresh, never-frozen North American beef*. Applewood Smoked bacon gives the cheeseburger extra crunch, and toasted authentic ciabatta bread makes the perfect bun for these complex, rich flavors."

It's a limited-time burger; no word on how long it might stay on the Wendy's menu. The suggested price is $4.79, but that could vary a bit from market to market.

It looks and sounds tasty. What about nutrition? The Ciabatta Bacon Cheeseburger comes with 670 calories, 39 grams of fat (13 saturated, 1.5 trans), 1,260mg of salt, 32g of protein and 4g of fiber.

If you try one, let us know what you think.

Get the Poop on Civet Coffee

What is "civet coffee"? The civet cat is not actually a cat at all, it is a member of the Viverridae family (which is comprised almost entirely of civets, genets and linsangs). One of the civets is the Asian palm civet, and that civet loves eating coffee cherries, inside of which are coffee beans. It then, well, naturally, poops them out. The bean is still intact, and that pooped-out coffee bean is collected, roasted just like any other coffee bean, ground, and turned into coffee. Voila - civet coffee, or, in the Indonesian language, kopi luwak.

Civet coffee is the most expensive coffee on the planet, with prices ranging up to $700 per kilogram, according to Wikipedia. Why would anyone pay that much for coffee that is derived from civet poo? Well, why are any delicacies as expensive as they are? Scarcity, coupled with demand driven by a desire by humans to experience what few others have experienced. It supposedly tastes phenomenal, too.

And no, it doesn't carry any scent or flavor of the civet or the civet's droppings - the coffee bean is protected inside the coffee cherry as it makes the digestive journey through the civet.

As explained in this video, the civet cat is known for being very choosy about which coffee cherries it is willing to eat - it selects only perfect examples, which contain the very best coffee beans:

Here is a longer (approximately 10-minute) clip produced by JW Coffee that follows civet coffee from ingestion by one of the "cats," through excretion to collection and on until a cup of coffee emerges (there is no narration, alas, but the story is well-told visually):

Much more about civet cat coffee is available in a post entitled The World's Most Expensive Cup of Coffee on the site TodayIFoundOut.com.

Would you be willing to sample civet coffee?

Behold: The Perfect Bacon Bowl (Because Who Doesn't Want an Edible Bowl Made of Bacon?)

What if you could take some bacon strips, arrange them around a mold of a bowl, cook them up crisp so that they formed a bowl, fill that bacon bowl will other good stuff - maybe even more bacon! - and then ... eat it!

That's the American dream, my friends. The American dream.

And perhaps the dream of the bacon bowl is here. For - behold! - it's the Perfect Bacon Bowl:

This is an as-seen-on-TV gadget whose infomercial I haven't actually spotted yet. Aside from on YouTube. But once you stumble across something like the Perfect Bacon Bowl, it's hard to turn away.

It's basically an inverted miniature cake mold. You drape and wrap the raw bacon around it, as in this publicity image:

The photo above, by the way, gives you a sense of how small it is. But then you pop it in the oven. The bacon grease drips down the sides of the mold, away from the bacon (settling into the "grease moat"), allowing the bacon to crisp up.

Then you take it out of the oven, invert the mold, and, voila, you have a bowl made of bacon. You have, the product makers would have us believe, the Perfect Bacon Bowl. One that, once you fill it with other stuff, will look this good:

I haven't tried the Perfect Bacon Bowl, but you can bet I'll be on the lookout for one in my local stores' bargain bins.

But color me very skeptical. I'm skeptical the bacon would stay on the mold rather than sliding off, and cook into that shape and actually hold together. I'm skeptical that even if it did, it wouldn't fall apart completely with the first bite. I'm skeptical that you actually need a separate product to create this, if it even works, rather than using, say, an inverted muffin tin or individual-sized pie tins or mini-cake mold.

Have you tried the Perfect Bacon Bowl? We'd love to hear how well it worked.

See also:
Perfect Bacon Bowl passes TV reporter's test

Review: Pizza Hut's New Hand-Tossed Crust

Pizza Hut has introduced a new crust for its hand-tossed pizzas that focuses on a lighter (as in less-dense), airier dough, combined with a finishing brush of garlic-butter sauce and a sprinkle of mozzarella.

I just finished one off, ordered online for the introductory price of $10. Pepperoni, black olives, extra cheese.

Here's what the new crust looks like in a screen grab from PizzaHut.com:

Disclosure: Pizza Hut has never been my No. 1 (or even No. 2) pizza chain for delivery. And the main reason for that was the old crust. It was bland, it was boring, it was too doughy around the rim, too chewy around the rim - it had too much chew and too little bite.

Pizza Hut's new hand-tossed crust definitely changes that. My pizza arrived with a distinct garlicky smell that was prominent before I opened the box.

The new crust was eye-pleasing, with more textures obvious, and also with the little gratings of Mozzarella cheese obvious.

The garlic-butter sauce that is brushed on helps the edges crisp up, and the more "airy" dough retains the right amount of softness on the inside. Some crunch and some chew, rather than all chew and no crunch as with the old crust.

The bottom of the new hand-tossed pizza is very greasy, as one would probably expect if its been brushed with garlic-butter sauce.

And you better like garlic, because it's prominent, and there's a pronounced garlic aftertaste.

The conclusion? Pizza Hut's new hand-tossed crust is a big improvement, in my opinion, over its old crust. Keep in mind what I said earlier, though: I didn't like the old crust. If you did, then your opinion of the new crust may well be different.

However, it seems a bit imitative - a good imitation - of the garlic-butter-brushed crust introduced by Domino's a couple years ago. And I still think the Domino's crust beats the new Pizza Hut crust, although it's close.

We give Pizza Hut's new crust, with its garlic-butter-Mozzarella trio and its crispier-but-with-good-chew, more interesting, texture 4 out of 5 stars. It's a clear step up from the chain's previous crust.

Have you tried it? Let us know what you think.

Review: Sweet Potato Fries from Jack In the Box

"Sweeten your combo" Jack In the Box urges in promoting its new side, Sweet Potato Fries. Well, all righty, then! I'll give it a try.

Here's what the Sweet Potato Fries look like on the Jack In the Box website:

They are touted as "crispy, sweet and savory," and the waffle-fry (or "waffle chip") shape is called "Crisscut" (which, Jack's website points out, is a term trademarked by ConAgra Foods - presumably Jack In the Box buys the fries pre-cut and frozen from ConAgra).

When I got my side of Sweet Potato Fries, they smelled great - a yammy, peppery smell while still in the bag. Sure enough, upon removing from the bag, the fries showed little black pepper flakes.

The exterior was crispy, but the interior of each fry was soft. The sweet potato flavor is somewhat muted by the frying, but it's still there. The sweetness is easy to miss, except in comparison to a regular white potato french fries.

The slices were thicker than I was expecting (a good thing), and the "Crisscut" nature of Jack In the Box Sweet Potato Fries provides an interesting texture, a nice change from typical french fries.

These Sweet Potato Fries aren't going to win any prizes in sweet potato cooking contests, but as a change of pace from typical fast food fries I rather liked them. The individual flavor components don't really shine, but as a whole they are enjoyable, and the texture is nice.

We give the Jack In the Box Sweet Potato Fries 4 out of 5 stars.

Don't make the mistake of thinking these are a health-food item, however. The Sweet Potato Fries have more calories and fat than small-size french fries from Jack In the Box. Compared to medium Jack french fries, the Sweet Potato Fries have roughly the same amount of fat, more sodium, but a little bit less calories.

I'll definitely order these again next time I visit Jack.

This Is Your Brain on Coffee

How does coffee affect your brain? How does coffee "work"? How much coffee is too much coffee? Is coffee truly addictive?

Here's a short video that answers those questions as it examines how coffee affects the human brain: