Monthly Archives: April 2016

Baked Crispy Gochujang Chicken Recipe

 

 

Baked Crispy Gochujang Chicken Breast

Baked Crispy Gochujang Chicken Breast

Gochujang is just delicious! It’s a savory, Korean paste made from fermented soybeans, rice, and chilies. If you like Sriracha you will Love Gochujang. It’s far more complex and interesting. I had an idea of what flavors went well with gochujang  so I wanted to marinate chicken in it to make it delicious. I also wanted to add a crispy texture simply baking the plain boneless breast of chicken. So I thought of the kind of American Crispy Chicken recipes where Corn Flakes are used for a crispy texture. So I used Asian thin crispy rice crackers, crushed them and applied them to the marinated chicken and they stayed on and more importantly tasted great. This really did come out amazing. This is something you will make over and over again!

Ingredients for 4 servings

2 lbs. Chicken Breast – Mine were two large breast that I cut in half and pounded Makes 4 servings

The marinate

3 Tablespoons lite soy sauce

1 Tablespoon shaohsing rice cooking wine (looks black..)

1 Tablespoon minced garlic

1 Tablespoon gochujang

1 teaspoon red chili flakes

2 Tablespoons canola oil

1 Tablespoon sesame oil

2 Tablespoons fresh ground ginger

1 teaspoon black bean  sauce (Lee Kum Kee Brand fermented black beans and garlic)

2 Tablespoons sugar

Directions

Put your chicken in a gallon zip lock bag. Mix all the ingredients together and pour into bag with chicken. Squish it around a little and let sit in your refrigerator for an hour. Now make the sauce.

Ingredients for sauce

3 Tablespoons lite soy sauce

2 Tablespoons rice wine vinegar

1 Tablespoon shaohsing rice cooking wine (looks black)

1 Tablespoon minced garlic

2 Tablespoons gochujang

1 teaspoon red chili flakes

1 Tablespoon fresh ginger minced

1 Tablespoon honey

1 Tablespoon dark brown sugar

1 teaspoon black bean sauce (Lee Kum Kee Brand fermented beans and garlic)

1/2 teaspoon sesame oil

Directions

Mix together and set to the side.

Ingredients

30 Asian Rice crackers

Non-stick spray

Directions

Get rice rackers and crush up in a sandwich bag and set to the side and preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Get your non-stock spray and spray a baking sheet.

Get your marinated chicken out of the marinate and blot dry. Throw out the marinate. Place the chicken on the baking sheet. Sprinkle with the crushed rice crackers. Roast till done. Should be done in 20-25 minutes.

Decide if you want to use some of the juice that released from the chicken and add some into the sauce if desired.

Immediately before serving for sauce over chicken add chopped scallions if desired.

Baked Crispy Gochujang Chicken Breast

Baked Crispy Gochujang Chicken Breast

This is FORKING Delicious!

It’s a rollercoaster of flavors in your mouth. Incredibly scrumptious!

(your welcome)

This is Forking Delicious and that's The Forking Truth!

This is Forking Delicious and that’s The Forking Truth!

 

 

 

New, Weird or Forking Different Foods Out There – April 2016

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There is always new, weird or different food out there and I never know WTFork I’ll see at the stores. Here is some kind of build a flavor Key Lime Pie Gum.

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Hot Cocoa Chips Ahoy Cookies.

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Interesting varieties of Dessert Flavor Lindt Chocolate Bars.

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Brookside Mango-Mangosteen Flavors.

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Peppermint yogurt?…..I almost picked this one up because I love mint.  I saw you had to add cookies to it so I left it on the shelf because I like my desserts full strength and not soured and thinned down with forking yogurt.

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Key Lime Cookies.

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Excuse the POOR photo but MORE Key Lime Cookies

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Coconut chips in Sriracha and Wasabi flavors. That’s kind of weird to me and I like all those flavors.

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Key Lime Pie marshmallows? ……..Guess I might have to forking write a part two to Key Lime is the new chocolate.

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Bacon Egg and Cheese already in your Breakfast Sausage ???? And other flavors.

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Isn’t a forking apple chip safe from being FORKED UP?

Forking Birthday Cake Apple Chips. Who the fork wants Birthday Cake flavored Apple Chips?

Now that takes the cake.

Now that was New, Weird, Different or Special Edition Foods I saw in April 2016.

 The Forking Truth

The Forking Truth

Garlic Dill Pickle Recipe

 

Garlic Dill Pickles

Garlic Dill Pickles

These pickles come out delicious and crisp and might be your favorite!

Ingredients makes around 24 servings

3 1/2 lbs pickling cucumbers – whole or halved and trimmed (slice the ends off)

1 sweet onion – sliced thin

3 cups water

3 cups white vinegar

3 cups rice wine vinegar

4 Tablespoons kosher salt

3oz  fresh dill

1 teaspoon celery seeds

1 Tablespoon +1 teaspoons mustard seeds

1 Tablespoon +1 teaspoons red pepper flakes

4 bay leaves

20 garlic cloves smashed

1 Tablespoon+1 teaspoons black peppercorns

Everything except for the cucumbers and onions bring to a boil and reduce to a slow boil for about 20 minutes. Place the cucumbers and onions into sterilized jars or containers and pour the hot mixture over them. Place in refrigerator and enjoy in about a week.

Garlic Dill Pickles

Garlic Dill Pickles

Crunchy!  Very Good Pickles!

These are Great and that's The Forking Truth

These are Great and that’s The Forking Truth

 

Forking Dining with Dogs April 2016 with Special Edition Dog Safety News

Where're on our way to Bahn Mi Bistro in Phoenix AZ

Where’re on our way to Bahn Mi Bistro in Phoenix AZ I’ll have to have a chat with the youngster about something  forking important.

Dining with DOGS is not full blown reviews on restaurants. This is a fluff story about taking my dogs out to eat.

Many restaurants around Phoenix have outdoor patios but not all patios are dog friendly. I also recently found out that some restaurants start out dog friendly and suddenly change and are not dog friendly any longer….so it’s a good idea to call the restaurant before you arrive with your furry friend..There are some rules with dining with dogs.

1-Dogs must not sit on chairs or eat off the restaurant’s plates and you must keep your dog near you.

2-Most of the food you eat isn’t safe for dogs to eat and can do harm to a dog. You must review a dog-food-friendly-list that is easily found online or from your veterinarian.

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We went back to a local favorite Bahn Mi Bistro. This is a small casual Vietnamese Eatery that doesn’t serve Pho. The specialty of the house might be the Bahn Mi Sandwich. The rolls for the sandwich are Vietnamese Style Baguettes. They are made with rice flour in addition to wheat flour and have a crunchy exterior and a soft center. The inside is filled with cucumber, cilantro, pickled carrot & daikon radish, jalapeño, house made aioli and your choice of about a half dozen fillings.

BBQ Pork Banh Mi

BBQ Pork Banh Mi

My husband had the BBQ Pork Banh Mi. I enjoy the banh mi sandwiches because they have that savory, sour, sweet and spicy thing going on and are also a much lighter easier to eat sandwich because of the light rice flour bread.

This is the second time I ordered the chicken and rice plate.

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This is a newer item on the  Banh Mi Bistro menu. It’s just so tasty. The dark meat chicken is caramelized and so tender and so flavorful with lemongrass. It’s just delicious. The salad is light and crunchy and nicely seasoned.

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Some of the other items you can get at Banh Mi Vietnamese  Eatery are-Lotus Root Salad, Green Papaya Salad, Pot Stickers and Noodle Bowls.

For More information on Banh Mi Vietnamese Eatery please visit www.BanhMiBistroAZ.com

We noticed in the parking lot that LaMar’s Donuts are in the same lot with an outdoor patio so we walk across the lot and I purchased two donuts.

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The dogs decided that the donuts smell good.

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So they get to forking eat some donuts. LaMar’s Donuts have 27 locations in 6 states For more information on LaMar’s Donuts please visit www.Lamars.com

We're on the way to AJ's Patio but had to leave and Went to Leo's Island BBQ

We’re on the way to AJ’s Patio but had to leave and Went to Leo’s Island BBQ

AJ’s Fine Foods Outside BBQ in Glendale AZ Patio has been closed for winter and recently re-opened so we were planning on dining there but to our surprise they weren’t ready to open yet and were running late. So we’ll go back another day and re-routed ourselves to Leo’s Island BBQ. It’s one of the few non-chain restaurants in the area that specializes in the Hawaiian Plate Lunch. They offer around thirty choices that come with steamed vegetables, a double scoop of rice and macaroni salad for around $8.00 served in a styrofoam container.

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We sat at a table in the shade and my husband got the Spam Loco Moto that’s two eggs, slices of Spam, over steamed cabbage, two scoops of rice and some creamy macaroni salad.

I went non plate lunch and got the Island BBQ Chicken Salad. It was somewhere around $6.00 and is much better than any fast food you can get anywhere.

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The Dogs enjoyed the chicken very much.

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For more information on Leo’s Island BBQ in Peoria AZ Please visit www.LeosIslandBBQ.com

The following week with filled with…rare …for…. Phoenix… rain so we just took the dogs through the fast food Jack in the Box drive through.

"What are they giving us through the window?"

“What are they giving us through the window?”

They weren’t very enthusiastic about the new butter burger. I reckon that some humans might be less picky.  I won’t get that for them again.

We are on our way to SEE FOOD at Oscar's Pier 83 in Glendale AZ

We are on our way to SEE FOOD at Oscar’s Pier 83 in Glendale AZ

Oscar’s Pier 83 is a small casual seafood restaurant that specializes in fried fish. You order at the counter and someone runs the food to you.

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I had the combo with cod and salmon and picked mixed vegetables as my side. My husband also ordered salads for us.

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Both dogs thought the fish was very tasty.

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The fish was nicely battered and seemed oil free. Both fish seemed fresh tasting.

My husband ordered the Cod and Shrimp Combo with fries.

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It seems very small compared to my Cod and Salmon Combo…????

The dogs didn’t get any of that.

For more information on Oscar’s Pier 83 in Glendale AZ please visit www.op83.com

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“I hate to tell you this Kiddo but someday this back seat is going to be all yours.” In a few days I’ll be fifteen years old.” “The Doc says that I have some sort of doggy Alzheimers.” “You know like when I bark to myself sometimes and I’m good now but back in September they gave me six months to a year because of the cancer.”” Don’t get me wrong, I’m not going anywhere yet!”  “Maybe I’ll fool them all.””I still have a FORKING Bunch of Eating to do!

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“I’m going to forking see you next month!”

The Forking Truth

The Forking Truth

*************Dining with Dogs EXTRA****************

I recently purchased a cute dog toy from Big Lots and it a Licensed Mr. Bubble Stuffed Doll that made bubble noises when you squeezed it. They sell many licensed cute Dog Toys that have Voice Boxes. Other Toys I saw were Gumby, Rocky and Bullwinkle. I’m certain there’s more. DON’T BUY THIS KIND OF TOY FOR YOUR DOG!

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My dog bit a small hole in the toy and small watch batteries fell out. I am so lucky she didn’t swallow a battery. But another dog might not be so lucky. Don’t purchase this kind of toy for a dog. It’s not safe. I contacted the store where I purchased this toy and asked them not to sell this toy because of what happened. They told me that they will sell the toy with a warning.

Forking Truth

Grassroots Kitchen and Tap of Phoenix – Scottsdale AZ is worth a Fork

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The decor and the cuisine is rustic American that’s slightly modern and slightly Southern American. The cuisine isn’t fancy but is well crafted and always delicious. Craft beer and wine are also on tap.

There are two locations of this restaurant. One in Phoenix AZ and one in Scottsdale AZ. I’ve been to both. The experience is similar except that the Phoenix location has a patio.

It was a perfect day for outside dining so we were seated on the comfortable patio. I ordered the Scottish Salmon with a half salad.

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The salmon had a tasty char and was flaky and moist. The salad was an interesting chopped  salad with a lot of crunch textures and flavors.

My husband had the BBQ Brisket with Jalapeño Cheddar Grits. It’s one of his favorites here he’s ordered it a few times.

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Jalapeno Cheddar Grits

Jalapeno Cheddar Grits

I tasted a piece of brisket and it was tender and moist with the right amount of smoke. It seemed succulent but wasn’t too fatty. It was seasoned just right. The grits were cheesy with a little heat and a LOT of flavor.

One of the specialties of the house are the house made pies. They offer a pie of the day and always offer the key lime pie.

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The key lime pie here is not too sweet but just sweet enough. It’s smooth, tangy and creamy with a great mouth feel. The crust is nice and tasty. It thin and made with graham cracker. It’s the best key lime pie I ever had.

Other plates we tried at The Grassroots Kitchen and Tap were-

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Roasted Chicken Waldorf Salad – A very detailed salad with lots of ingredients such as, arugula, spinach, apple, radish, cranberries, raisins, onion, candied pecans. This salad eats like a meal and is very satisfying.

Blackened Fish of the Day Sandwich (Ono)

Blackened Fish of the day (Ono) Sandwich with Fancy Tri-Color Cauliflower Salad.

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On another day  the Blackened Fish Sandwich was Maui Maui Fish with a green bean salad.

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Shrimp Po Boy with Jalapeño Cheddar Grits.

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Pumpkin Pie…(forking YUM!)

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The Apple Pie was just as Good!

I like that this restaurants offers many fish dishes, lots of salads, interesting side dishes and they offer an assortment of meat entrees too.

Nothing is too fancy that I had so far but everything was prepared well and seasoned nicely.

Service was friendly and efficient on each visit I had.

Grassroots Kitchen and Tap is Worth a Fork

Your most likely not going to drive across town to dine here but if your in the neighborhood this place is suggested.

If you don’t have anything decent near you then you might drive across town to dine here. If your in the neighborhood this place is suggested.

For more information on Grassroots please visit www.Grassrootsaz.com

The Forking Truth

The Forking Truth

Make Yellow Squash More Exciting with Hawayej Spice Blend

Yellow Squash with Hawayej

Yellow Squash with Hawayej

Yellow squash has little flavor on it’s own. To make the yellow squash tasty I usually broil the squash on both sides till it chars with a light sprinkle of extra virgin olive oil. When it comes out of the oven the squash gets fresh ground sea salt and pepper. Then I added a light sprinkle of the Hawayej spice and now I have more exciting squash!

Hawayej is a Yemenite spice blend that is used for meats, soups, stews and vegetables. It is believed to promote good health.

I looked at many recipes for Hawayej and decided to try Yotam Ottolenghi & Sami Tammy’s recipe since Ottolenghi is considered to be one of the most respected chefs in the world.

Ingredients

1 teaspoon black peppercorns

1 teaspoon coriander seeds

1 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds

4 whole cloves

1/2 teaspoon ground cardamon

1 1/2 teaspoon turmeric

Heat up a small fry pan with the black peppercorns, coriander, cumin and cloves till fragrant on medium heat for thirty seconds-up to one minute. Remove from heat when cool grind and then stir in the cardamon and turmeric.

Hawayej sure makes yellow squash more interesting. You can bump this up one step further by adding some creamy fresh feta cheese and some fresh chopped parsley.

Yellow Squash with Hawayej

Yellow Squash with Hawayej

Squash is better with Hawayej and that's The Forking Truth

Yellow Squash is better with Hawayej and that’s The Forking Truth

WTFork is Marmite?

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Marmite is a salted yeast based paste that’s edible, savory and pungent. It’s made from brewery by-products and happens to be vegetarian. The main ingredients in Marmite are yeast extract, salt, vegetable extract, thiamine, spice extracts, riboflavin, folic acid and celery extract. Marmite is a very healthy food and is naturally rich in vitamins, especially b complex but additional vitamins are added.

Some of the ways to eat Marmite are to spread it thin on a cracker.

Spread it thin on buttered toast.

Spread it thin on bread with cheese.

Use it as a vegetarian base for soups.

Make a “Chippie Sandwich” Marmite & Potato Chips.

Marmite is added to rice congee (rice porridge ) in Malaysia.

Marmite is can also be used in cocktails.

According to www.IBTIMES.com Marmite can be stored at room temperature and won’t decompose for years.

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I decided to try it. The Marmite isn’t as paste-like as I imagined. It’s more like a thick syrup.

I spread some very thin on toast crust with butter and melt some munster cheese on it for my first try..

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I can taste something is there and it isn’t terrible. It just something unknown in the background.

I decide maybe I can be more bold and try how it really taste.

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I try some straight on a small piece of crust.

Ick!

WTFork is it?

I think I taste a combination of soap, hand lotion, burnt something, coffee grinds and some other kind of funk mixed it.

It doesn’t taste like food to me.

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I’m not sure that I can try it again……my stomach is turning now. I think the after taste is bitter hand lotion.

For some people Marmite might be for weight loss. It’s hard to eat after trying it.

Millions of people forking enjoy Marmite…….so..I’m thinking. Either they have very unusual taste or…….

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Maybe Marmite is one of those foods that you have to eat a certain way like Hawaiian poi made from taro root. Poi taste awful eaten straight but when you add it to roasted meat it compliments the meat.

Well I didn’t always like broccoli either but with the right cooking technique or sauce it can be delicious. Maybe something or someone can make Marmite delicious? I don’t know.

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That’s a little WTFork about Marmite.

 The Forking Truth

The Forking Truth

references www.Wikipedia.com

www.IBTimes.com

 

Michael Symon’s Pickled Chilies for Steak Recipe

Michael Symon's Pickled Chilies for Steak

Michael Symon’s Pickled Chilies for Steak

I was watching The Chew TV Show and Chef Micheal Symon said he serves a pickled chili salad over his steaks at his restaurant. I never thought of pickled chilies with a steak. I usually do something traditional like slow cooked onions or mushrooms. So I thought I’d try it since a had a bunch of Anaheim Chilies that I wanted to do something with. In Michael Symons recipe he uses Jalapeño peppers, Fresno Chilies and Shallots. I used Anaheim Chilies and one large Red Onion. I have to say the pickled chilies and onions are really great with steak. It seemed to lighten the steak up. These chilies would also be great on sandwiches. You might want to give this a try. Use whatever chilies you like!

Ingredients for 8 servings

1 cup white wine vinegar

1 cup rice wine vinegar

1 cup water

2 Tablespoons kosher salt

1/4 cup sugar

1 small onion pealed and sliced

1 head garlic slice off the very top so the cloves are exposed

1 Tablespoon black peppercorns

1 Tablespoon coriander seeds

2 bay leaves

8 oz chilies jalapeno and fresno (they were left whole in his recipe I sliced mine) (I used Anaheim  Chilies)

8 oz shallots sliced thin (I used a red onion)

Directions

Leave your chilies in one sterile container and your shallots in another sterile container. The rest of the ingredients put in a medium sauce pan and bring to boil and then reduce to simmer and let it go till it reduces some. Strain and pour over your chilies and shallots.

Michael Symon's Pickled Chilies for Steak

Michael Symon’s Pickled Chilies for Steak

Yum a new favorite!

This was good and that's The Forking Truth

This was good and that’s The Forking Truth

 

 

Forking New, Weird, Different and Special Edition Cereals Out There April 2016

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There are always new, weird, different and special edition cereals on the shelf at the stores. I never know WTFork I’ll see. Here is finding Dory Cereal. I never forking heard of Dory but the box is cute. I would try this if I was a kid.

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Here is Marvel the Avengers Cereal. I think this is the same forking cereal as the Finding Dory Cereal just in a different box. The cereal looks very similar.

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This one is either Ice Cream Pebbles or is it Pebbles Rainbow Sherbet? Where is the Forking Pebbles character any who?

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A variety of Mini Wheats stuffed with fruit and topped with frosting. This one sounds tasty to me but I doubt I’ll try it.

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Odd picture for a box of cereal. It looks like either the Penguins are praying for you or the Penguins are forking daring you to eat this cereal.

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The Panda is kind of cute but that forking cereal looks like a forking bowl of panda turds.

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Doesn’t that Shrek Cereal look like forking Fruit Loops?

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A marshmallow graham cereal called Smorz. It’s all fun and games till the kids get out the matches to make the marshmallow sandwiches unsupervised.

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Is it me or does that Leprechaun forking look like he’s on speed and farting a rainbow.

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I don’t know WTFork this is about. Go diego Go cereal forking sounds like Diego is forking constipated or something.

There is always something new, weird, limited edition or different. I never know WTFORK I’ll see next. Let’s see what I see next time.

 The Forking Truth

The Forking Truth

Have you Tried Organ Stop Pizza in Mesa AZ?

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Organ Stop Pizza is an attraction in Mesa Arizona that houses one of or the biggest Wurlitzer Organs in the world.

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The organ and music playing is the main attraction that’s included when you come in for dinner.  They even provide request cards so you might hear your special song or have Happy Birthday Played for someone special.

Dinner is budget priced and family friendly. You pick from pizzas, salad bar or pasta. They also have an ice-cream stand too.

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The Salad Bar

The Salad Bar

You order at the counter…………

Grade "A" Health Inspection

Grade “A” Health Inspection

pay, get your drink and silverware, seat yourself and look to a giant board on the wall for your number to show up.

We made salads at the salad bar to go with dinner.

Everything was crisp and fresh. My salad was similar to a salad I might make at a budget steakhouse salad bar. The only real difference is that everything was fresh. It was kind of fun to sample potato salad, macaroni salad and cole slaw. The salads lacked a house made taste but they tasted very fresh.

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At Organ Stop Pizza is plenty of seating. Downstairs is seating for around FIVE HUNDRED PEOPLE on benches and it’s very loud. Upstairs is seating for around two hundred people and isn’t as noisy. All over the restaurant you will see plenty of family party celebrations. You will also see children laughing, singing and dancing along with the organ music.

Our pizzas came.

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These pizzas have thin crisp crusts that are coated in cornmeal or semolina flour. The cheese is melted and ok. The sauce could use some flavor because it reminds me of frozen pizza from the super market.

I watch the organ music.

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The organ rises swirling up from the floor. It’s loud and powerful. It is in many pieces all around the restaurant. You see drums, tinkering things, all kinds of pipes everywhere. There is a piano hooked up, something else that loos like a piano but makes a different sound maybe it was a harpsichord and a whole lot of horns.

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Glass panels open and close to the music. There is so much around that didn’t photo well for me. It’s all this plus 10x more.

The fist tune I heard from the mighty organ was the theme from Star Wars. Next was the Star Trek Theme. Patriotic American March Songs were next and were followed by a bunch of Disney Theme Tunes.

If you get board from organ music you can wander off to the arcade and play some games. They have a small gift store too filled with lots of stuffed animals and recorded music of the organ playing.

We had a fun time here. This place should be on everyone’s Metro Phoenix Bucket List.

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Have you tried Organ Stop Pizza in Mesa Arizona Yet?

Your most likely not going to drive across town to dine here but if your in the neighborhood this place is suggested.

Your most likely not going to drive across town for the food here but if your in the neighborhood you should enjoy the show!

For more information on Organ Stop Pizza please visit www.OrganStopPizza.com

 The Forking Truth

The Forking Truth