SPEAKER_01 0:03

Welcome millions upon millions practical millions of faithful podcast listeners. We are your hosts, Jason Kimber and Dave Simmons. We'll bring you along with us as we share life stories from our experiences living in small towns, or in Jason's case, an unincorporated community.

SPEAKER_02 0:18

That's true. Along with genius suggestions for solving world problems and a whole lot of laughs. This is the Small Towns Podcast. Welcome to another episode of the Small Towns Podcast. I'm Dave Simmons, joined here by I gotta come up with another one besides incomparable.

SPEAKER_01 0:32

I know, but it's I appreciate that. It's very flattering. Yeah, but the the wonderful how about quarter Belgian stallion. Okay. Do we have to throw the stallion on there?

SPEAKER_02 0:41

I think it helps. Yeah. Seems appropriate. The Quarter Belgian stallion, Jason Kimber. Welcome, Jason. Thank you. It's good to be here, as always. As always.

SPEAKER_01 0:50

Um feel okay? Yeah, I feel great. This is without a doubt, uh for sure. I mean, we a lot of times we record more than one at one time, but for sure the best 30 minutes of my week. Love it. Love it.

SPEAKER_02 1:02

It is fun just to visit with you and you know, kind of shoot the what do they say?

SPEAKER_00 1:07

Well shoot the stuff. I don't think it'd shoot the duck anymore.

SPEAKER_01 1:11

No. But uh just to visit. Yeah, it is. And and to think that we're recording these for posterity.

SPEAKER_02 1:16

Yeah, I I I've always said I don't have to write down anything in a journal now.

SPEAKER_01 1:21

Yeah, you don't, and what I would like to do, and this is just a thought popped into my head, uh, what do we have to do to get into like the Library of Congress?

SPEAKER_02 1:28

Oh, I don't think you have to do anything.

SPEAKER_01 1:30

We can just be submitted to all these digital records.

SPEAKER_02 1:32

They find it. The government, they know where it is.

SPEAKER_01 1:34

The government, they know where it is, they find everything. Um you and I've talked a lot where we sometimes just have a have a topic. Uh I would like to just start things off today by asking you a simple question that I think will just that will just grow and take kind of uh a story of its own. Are you a foodie? Would you consider yourself a foodie?

SPEAKER_02 1:55

Now tell me what what would define a foodie. Well in your mind. I mean, because I'm sure there's the correct definition and then there's what you think it is.

SPEAKER_00 2:03

Because I think like No offense.

SPEAKER_01 2:07

There's the correct definition, and then whatever ridiculous thing you're going to say. Um, I think a foodie is somebody who has a sophisticated palate and enjoys good food, maybe strong tastes, strong flavors. So that's one part of being a foodie that I like. But the other part of being foodie is like I just enjoy eating. It's one of my favorite things to do.

SPEAKER_02 2:27

Okay, in that case, then sure.

SPEAKER_01 2:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 2:29

I'm a foodie because I enjoy eating just as much as the next guy. I've been trying to the whole idea of um intuitive eating lately. Ah, yes. Turns out my intuition tells me to eat more than it really should.

SPEAKER_01 2:42

Yeah, I get uh the intuition. At like midnight. Yeah, 10.30 p.m., 12 30 to have like a Big Mac with cheese.

SPEAKER_02 2:49

Yeah, I had a couple pieces of toast at 11 30 a couple nights ago. That can't be good.

SPEAKER_01 2:53

It can't be good for you, because I think obviously that is providing fuel for when you're sleeping, and you don't need any fuel for when you're sleeping.

SPEAKER_02 2:59

But you know, but but I'm trying to do this. So yesterday you and I went and grabbed some lunch at El Torre Viejo. Which means the bull's the bull's viejo.

SPEAKER_01 3:10

I think that's what it's like. Like the raging bull, yeah. Great place.

SPEAKER_02 3:14

So that's the only thing I ate yesterday. That's the only thing you ate all day? Well, the hot chocolate we had later that night.

SPEAKER_01 3:21

That's it. I mean, that's pretty good intuitive eating because that was a heavy meal, and we talked about this afterwards. I ate that meal, and then I was I was kind of done for the day. I was clogged up.

SPEAKER_02 3:30

I mean, I don't we know I don't that's a little bit more than people want to know, but it was it was a good 20 hours later before I felt like I was ready to eat again.

SPEAKER_01 3:39

We don't sugarcoat things here, buddy. So we tell the truth. We tell the truth. The difference between you and me though is that you I also felt I was very tired. It was a hot lunch, which is not I don't if I have a hot lunch, I feel like I need to have a nap afterwards. I'm not a napper. But even though it was lunch, when it was dinner time, I put on my big boy pants, buddy, and I had dinner.

SPEAKER_02 4:00

You just well, I didn't. I I just wimped out and I waited, and I don't know. I I'm ashamed of it.

SPEAKER_01 4:10

People probably wouldn't refer to me as a foodie because one of my favorite places to eat, although I'm still a foodie, is McDonald's.

SPEAKER_02 4:16

Yeah, look, don't mock McDonald's. No, I no, you're not hearing any mock from here. No, I I like a McDonald's. Now, an hour later, McDonald's rears its rug ugly head. Like it it it's it's a problem about an hour later.

SPEAKER_01 4:30

I think if you eat it enough, like you've kind of got to develop and and kind of like train your system to handle it.

SPEAKER_02 4:37

Well, I mean if I haven't trained it by now.

SPEAKER_01 4:40

Well, there's it's there's still time, buddy.

SPEAKER_02 4:42

There's just a lot of reward points on my app right now just because of the visits to the McDonald's.

SPEAKER_01 4:48

First of all, this morning I had a large Coke, extra ice, sausage egg McMuffin. Perhaps one of the best breakfasts out there.

SPEAKER_02 4:55

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 4:56

The day turned a little crazy. I had a lot of appointments and I was on the road, and lunchtime wasn't going to happen, but I was still hungry because you know that sausage egg McMuffin's not gonna stay with you forever. So I drove through McDonald's again. Oh my gosh, this is awesome.

SPEAKER_02 5:10

I want you please to finish the trifector. Keep going.

SPEAKER_01 5:13

I'm gonna I'm gonna throw you off by this, but guess what I had?

SPEAKER_02 5:17

Um, let's you didn't have another sausage egg McMuffey.

SPEAKER_01 5:20

No, well, I I they don't do the breakfast all day like they used to anymore. Well, that's a shame. It is a crying shame, it's one of my favorite things. I had something that I rarely A McRib. Oh, don't tease now. If it was McRib season, I would be all over the river.

SPEAKER_02 5:34

Those are I can't go, I can't eat a McRib. Are those really ribs? Does it matter? True.

SPEAKER_01 5:41

It doesn't really matter. It's delicious like rib meat pressed into the form of. I mean, I don't know what your ribs look like, but that doesn't look like any ribs to me.

SPEAKER_02 5:50

I can't see my ribs anymore.

SPEAKER_01 5:52

I had a fillet of fish.

SPEAKER_02 5:54

Oh my gosh. I I've never wanted to get up and leave as much as I want to right now.

SPEAKER_01 6:00

Listen, it's uh it felt a little lighter. It's because it's fish. It's disgusting. I think it's kind of into the same camp of uh of the McRib. Not sure. What kind of fish is that? Yeah, I don't know. I think it's fish pieces. Yeah. That they mush together into is what it is.

SPEAKER_02 6:16

They've got chum and they put it in the fryer and they called it a fillet of fish.

SPEAKER_01 6:20

You know, it's you it's pretty good. I'm not gonna get that every day. I get one, I get a filet of fish about, I'm gonna say only two or three times a year. That's two or three times too many. No. If I'm with my sister-in-law Jenny, she's actually the one that introduced me to the filet of fish. I love her for it. So, Jenny and then her uh younger daughter, Olivia, she also is a fan of the filet fish.

SPEAKER_02 6:41

Oh, I'm gonna have to have a word with those two.

SPEAKER_01 6:43

Yeah, you know them. I mean, it's a good thing.

SPEAKER_02 6:44

I do know them, and there needs to be some conversation. I they're so good. Well, obviously, they still sell the filet of fish, then obviously it's people out there are people out there that eat it.

SPEAKER_01 6:55

And yes, for sure, like me. And and people that are listening to this podcast, if they are a true foodie, they might be saying, Jason, if you eat a fillet of fish, you're not a foodie. But I am, I am, I like strong flavors. You know and unique flavors.

SPEAKER_02 7:09

So what is it if you have like when I had uh did you ever have COVID? No, I never did. Well, congratulations. Thank you. That's coming, just say no. Well, I had it and lost the smell for a while. Yes. Now before that, I had really good sniffer. I mean, I I I could smell things that nobody else was smelling. Like a dog whistle, but it's a smeller for me. That's unfortunate in some times. Yeah, well, it went away for a bit. Okay. And when it came back, you know how most like Susie's has never fully come back. I didn't you said Heather's.

SPEAKER_01 7:42

No, she still, it's kind of ebbs and flows with the taste and smell.

SPEAKER_02 7:46

I think my nose is more potent now than it's ever been. Really? Yeah, like superpower. I got super I got superpower from COVID out of my smeller.

SPEAKER_00 7:54

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's the sniffer.

SPEAKER_02 7:57

That's me. I can smell crazy things, and it's you know, it's a blessing and a curse.

SPEAKER_01 8:01

Yeah, it could be. Um, you yeah, I mean, if if if we're trying to find Jimmy who fell down a well, I'd smell it out.

SPEAKER_02 8:08

Just I'd say, give me his blanket, you and Lassie. I'm gonna smell it out and we'll go find him. Um but so I can't say that I'm a foodie, but because I'm kind of a baby. Like I I I'm persnickety.

SPEAKER_01 8:21

Okay. First of all, do you like that word? I do like that word. Um I'm assuming in in context, you mean that you're kind of a picky. Picky.

SPEAKER_02 8:30

Persnickety. Yeah, I'm I'm uh I'm not gonna eat a green bean.

SPEAKER_01 8:33

We've gone through that. We've gone through that. But you'll eat a Cheeto out of bath water. So I'm I don't know. You tell me.

SPEAKER_02 8:40

You tell me. So I can't claim to be a foodie because I really don't trust my own judgment.

SPEAKER_01 8:46

What do you have a favorite food? I want to I want to two questions. Favorite food just in general, and then do you have a favorite food that you've eaten at a restaurant?

SPEAKER_02 8:56

Hmm. I like if you were to say what is the only if you had to have the same food for the rest of your life, yeah, you you'd probably go pizza, right? Just because there's a lot of different things you can do with pizza. Not me. Really? You're not a pizza guy?

SPEAKER_01 9:08

I love pizza, but every I mean I would have to go traditional. Can I can can beef be an answer?

SPEAKER_02 9:14

Yeah. Because you can get hamburger, hamburger. I mean, if you if we're gonna say it that way, then you're probably right. Okay. But if it has to be like a particular kind of beef, like you have to have a hamburger or you have to have a steak.

SPEAKER_01 9:27

I like I like a good steak. I do like a good steak. I mean, and we've talked about this before. You tease me all the time. You want to know what goes real well with steak? Applesauce.

SPEAKER_02 9:37

Jeez, Louise. Who goes who goes to and and orders applesauce?

SPEAKER_01 9:42

Well, I'll tell you why I did that.

SPEAKER_02 9:44

Their teeth are real, right? My teeth are real. You actually have to chew your food.

SPEAKER_01 9:49

Listen, we may have talked about this, or maybe this was a secret that I've held up until this moment. First of all, I can't remember. It might have been after a podcast that we went to have a steak at Texas Roadhouse. Yeah. And it was delicious. Sure it is. But I may or may not have already eaten. But when you suggested that we go, I am a go-with guy. Yeah. So of course I'm gonna go. Well, that's nice of you. Even though I had dinner just like an hour ago. And so I ordered a steak, of course, because if you go to Texas Roadhouse, why would I mean you're gonna order the steak, but I'm like, you know what? Let's go a little lighter, let's do a salad and an applesauce. Made me feel better about myself.

SPEAKER_02 10:23

Well, that's what you need to do. You know, but but that kind of makes me think it people who are like steak connoisseurs, if they hear of us enjoying a steak at Texas Roadhouse, I think they're rolling their eyes.

SPEAKER_01 10:36

They might be, but I and I could identify with that a little bit because I do I do love tech. They gotta make they got a great steak there. But I also love to go to fine dining, and again, maybe there's an eye roll here. I'm not quite as sophisticated a palette as I'd like to be, but I go to like uh uh Ruth's Chris. Ruth's Chris. Like that's I love to go there and get a steak. I think it's got one of the greatest steaks around. Delicious.

SPEAKER_02 10:59

Well, you've got to remortgage the house and pull some equity and worth every penny. Yeah, well, so that it is really, really good. Yeah. But here's another thing why I'd think I'm not a foodie. I can't do the medium rare like you guys, like everybody that likes a steak says if you're ruining it, if you do anything more than medium rare. Well, I can't get past the texture of the bloody that's called tenderness. It's called raw. No, listen, it's sushi, is what it is.

SPEAKER_01 11:27

I don't care if my steak like crawls over and takes a bite out of my mashed potatoes.

SPEAKER_02 11:34

But I do, I need it sufficiently dead.

SPEAKER_01 11:37

But you would say, would you go medium well?

SPEAKER_02 11:40

I it's funny because I'll I I'll say because I don't know what I want. I want it between medium and medium well. Yes. But they can go too well. But then it's I I if they're gonna err on one side, I have to err on the medium well side because if they go to instead of medium to medium rare, I just I just can't do it.

SPEAKER_01 11:59

Maybe they just need to turn the lights down in the restaurant because medium rare is delicious. If you go well done, you would probably be better off to just stop at Maverick and get a slim gym. I do like jerky.

SPEAKER_02 12:11

I do like jerky.

SPEAKER_01 12:13

Slip into a slim gym! Um, so the reason that I asked that question, and we obviously we've talked about a couple of restaurants, but I I just had I think I've told you this story before, but it's one of my favorite stories because I don't think it's odd, but as as I have discovered, when I tell stories, people be like will be like, that's weird. My brother-in-law Steve, he and I were doing some work several years ago in Denver. So we flew into the Denver airport and uh did it was just there a couple of days. We're on our way home, and we had some time to kill in the airport. There's a restaurant called, I think it's called the Timber the Timberline. I think it's called the Timberline um steak and grill, and it is so delicious. It's in the airport? It's in the airport. Okay. It's in the airport. And so I actually got there when I was when I was there. I ordered a side of chili.

SPEAKER_02 13:06

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 13:06

Dave? Which is weird. I don't know if I've ever ordered chili in a restaurant. Look, chili done right is awesome. Yeah, I agree, because I love it, but I typically just I'm good with galies.

SPEAKER_02 13:18

But what is that? Like a canned chili? Well, I I'm not buying canned chili. I'm not I'm sorry. Well, Nahu's the foodie.

unknown 13:28

Good point.

SPEAKER_02 13:29

Well, okay, so uh you're gonna finish this story. Yeah. But but I want the fact that you were prepared to eat chili before loading up onto a plane, boarding a plane. Ooh, that's that's as long as I've got that's gutsy.

SPEAKER_00 13:43

As long as the super sniffer isn't there, everything should be just fine.

SPEAKER_02 13:47

I don't know. I don't think it takes much of a super sniffer to and not only that, but not even for the others around you.

SPEAKER_01 13:54

Yeah, your own comfort, yeah, yeah, because obviously they don't let you crack a window on an airplane.

SPEAKER_02 14:00

No, no, you'll lose papers and stuff like that.

SPEAKER_01 14:04

Uh I mean this story actually has a lot of pieces to it, but that was the best chili I've ever had in my life.

SPEAKER_02 14:10

Okay, so if we ever you and I are in the Denver airport, yeah, you're gonna take me to that place.

SPEAKER_01 14:15

Fast forward a couple of months, we were back, found ourselves back in Denver, and I was like, I can't wait for this chili. And I forget which terminal it's in. I think there's three terminals. I don't know the airport very well, but it you've got to land in the right terminal, or else you've got to go there. But I'm like, I don't care where it's at, I will find this chili. So I got the map, I went there, had the chili again, it was so delicious. In fact, this was I remember this, this was December 22nd, I want to say uh 2016. It was whatever year uh The Greatest Showman came out because I love that movie and I happened to watch it while I was on that trip.

SPEAKER_02 14:48

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 14:48

Okay. Well, I thought, Dave, this chili is so good, and I in absence that only made the heart and the taste buds grow fonder.

SPEAKER_02 14:56

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 14:56

And I just wanted this chili so bad, so I had it, but I thought, you know what would be make this chili even better? If I could enjoy it in the comforts of my own home. So we went to the restaurant, get ready to board the plane, I ordered some chili. Um I'm gonna put a picture on the gram on this because we took a picture of this exact moment. And uh the night before, right across from our hotel, was a container store. So I walked over there and I bought what I was hoping and was promised to be a leak-proof container.

SPEAKER_02 15:26

This is okay. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:28

So I finished my chili, it was delicious. It's not gonna end well. And then then the cute waitress, she came up to me, she's like, Is there anything else I can get you before you go, before I bring you your check? And I said, I'm glad you asked that. And I reached down into my bag, my trap, my carry hound. I'd already obviously been past security, so it's fine. It's not duty-free chili. Exactly. And it's not like you know, only two ounces of liquid.

SPEAKER_00 15:49

I put it. That's gonna be duty duty free. It won't ever be duty-free. It will never be duty-free.

SPEAKER_01 15:56

I pulled out this Tupperware with a screw-on lid that I'd purchased the night before. Well, the screw-on lid's a good very small lid. You would think, yeah. Absolutely. And I said, How many bowls of chili do you think this would hold? I said, I'd like you to charge me for that. I said, I think you could probably take five. Oh my goodness. So she's like, she was so nice. She's like, I'll just take it back there. Because I was gonna order five bowls of chili. I didn't think they'd take my container into the kitchen. You wouldn't think so. You would think this was pre-code, all that type of stuff. Sure. So she's like, no, I'll just take it back there. So she took it back. Turns out to be about five bowls. It's the most expensive chili I've ever purchased. I mean, five bowls of it at the airport. And then I very gingerly put that into my carry-on. It was just a backpack, and I made sure that it was standing upright because I didn't want to like I mean, they said it was leak proof, but there's no sense testing it, right? Well, yeah, why why are we gonna test that out? Exactly. So I gingerly put it down in my backpack and I kind of pack my uh my delicates around the chili, and then I get on the plane, and it's gotta go in the upper head, uh, you know, uh bin overhead.

SPEAKER_02 17:00

They let you keep it between your feet.

SPEAKER_01 17:02

Well, I I gotta have some leg room, buddy. Yeah, you you are tall. I'm a tall guy. Yeah. So I put it up top, and I gingerly, again, that'd be the key word of this whole story, very carefully and delicately, placed my backpack upright in the bin over my head. Well, we're getting ready to take off, and I'm thinking this is gonna be fantastic. Um I was a little nervous. I mean, I think it's a pressurized airplane, of course, but I didn't know how five bowls of chili would would ride in the overhead container, overhead bin of an airplane.

SPEAKER_02 17:32

And they tell you that things tend to shift a little bit up there.

SPEAKER_01 17:36

Well, not only do they tend to shift, I'm getting ready, they're closing the doors, and one of the uh flight attendants, he's walking down the aisle, and you could tell he's looking for space to put maybe one extra. Oh no, and yeah, it happened. I couldn't believe it. All of a sudden, he grabbed my backpack, just manhandled it, threw it in the bin across the way from me, is upside down. Oh, and I was just like, well, I I mean there's nothing I can do. No, the damage has been done, I'm belted up, we're taxing, so there's nothing I could do, except now I'm really counting on that seal to hold. Yeah. And then I thought, because if you have something leaking out of an overhead bin and it's chilly, I mean, at least it wasn't gonna drip on me, it was gonna drip on the guy across the eye. Um, long story short, we get to Salt Lake, of course, I inspected it. Uh I'd like to say that that was not leak-proof. Got all over much clothes. Your delicates. All over my delicates somewhat ruined. I mean, I it was awkward to have to like suck the delicious chili. Yeah, you get a little bit on your lapel. It's so yummy. But I brought it home and it was delicious. And then I spent the next uh few months looking online, trying to figure out uh what kind of chili this was. When we went back again, I actually said, Would you mind the same, not the same wedge, same place? Take a picture of the label. It's actually called Whitey's Chili. I've ordered it before. Online? Yeah, ordered online, shipped 20 pounds of it here. Very expensive to ship 20 pounds of chili. I did five four-pound bags, no, four five-pound bags.

SPEAKER_02 19:08

You might have a chili problem.

SPEAKER_01 19:10

I might have a chili problem, but then I had one bag and it was delicious. We took it up to a chili cook-off. Did you win? Uh, second. Dang it. Uh somebody was paying the judges. So good. I went back again just recently. I get ready to enjoy the chili. I go in, I said to the wait, wait, new waitress, of course, is I love this chili. She's like, Oh, you're gonna love it. We've we've we've even we've made it better, we've doctored it up, and I just almost threw my spoon at her. Why mess with greatness? The coordinates. So I I'm guess gathering from your facial expression, you've never done something similar.

SPEAKER_02 19:38

I'm not gonna try to transport chili over state lines.

SPEAKER_00 19:44

You want this chili, it is so good.

SPEAKER_02 19:46

That's I was gonna say, I've never run into a chili that I thought that needs to be a part of my life in 20-pound bags.

SPEAKER_01 19:55

It's so good. One of the girls left the freezer open and it ruined everything in it. Uh yeah, so I only hope you grounded her. Yeah, I mean, for sure. I made her eat all the rest of that chili. It's a long night. I can't wait to get it. But I love, I mean, it was worth everything, and I I do love food.

SPEAKER_02 20:11

It does bother me though when people mess with the coordinates. Like when you've got it, you've got it. Don't mess it. Don't fiddle. It's don't quit fiddling. Quit fiddling. It's and early in one of our earlier podcasts, I said something about mint brownies. Yes. Brownies on their own are great. I would agree. Some people like them mint. Stop putting it in there because everyone likes them normal. Everybody does. Don't mess with the coordinates. The coordinates are fine the way they are. Who thinks, oh, I think I'm gonna put some toothpaste in my uh brownies? Doesn't make any sense at all.

SPEAKER_01 20:42

Yeah, I'm actually gonna give you that. I think that makes a lot of sense. And maybe what they could do is they could just put a little bowl of mint frosting to the side. Sure. And then frost up your own.

SPEAKER_02 20:51

Frost your own dang brownie with mint. Like today, I I I intuitively eating hadn't eaten anything, and it was at about 11:30. Okay. But I knew I had a one o'clock lunch appointment. Okay. So I'm not gonna eat something at that point that's like I mean, I'm gonna have lunch at one. Yeah. I happen to open my desk drawer at work, and how there is a trail mix little bag in there, I have no idea. But there is. And I dump them all out and sift through the mix of trail and pull out every single raisin that's in there.

SPEAKER_01 21:27

To eat or to throw away? Throw it away. Oh, thank you. Yes, throw those away.

SPEAKER_02 21:31

No, I don't know why anybody would put I think it's a filler. Like, hey, look, we don't want to put that many MMs in there. Let's just throw some M some some raisins in there. They'll fill up the bag. Would it would it kill them to put just a couple extra MMs?

SPEAKER_01 21:43

I know, because there were like three in that entire bag. Raisins are nasty. Have you ever thought to yourself, hey, let's just see what happens when we let this grape rot. Let's eat it. And then let's eat it.

SPEAKER_02 21:55

Well, it's like mutton. You were talking about mutton the other day.

SPEAKER_01 21:57

It's just an old sheep. Nobody wants just eat a nice.

SPEAKER_02 22:00

Yeah, just eat the little guy.

SPEAKER_01 22:01

Nice little nice lamp job with some mint jelly, perhaps.

SPEAKER_02 22:05

Yeah, something that's a little better than that.

SPEAKER_01 22:07

What about chicken wings? You chicken wing fans?

SPEAKER_02 22:09

Yes, I do like chicken wings, but you know what? Lately, they've been the skin has been creeping me out. Is that weird?

SPEAKER_01 22:15

No, that's not weird because uh I'm very picky on my chicken wings as well. I love a Buffalo Wild Wing. Me too, but kind of that's where I'm gonna do it.

SPEAKER_02 22:23

Did you have a little bit of a few years? Just recently, but I'll I'll get through it. Give it another try. I'll get through it.

SPEAKER_01 22:29

Give it another try. I I love um a chicken wing. Um I remember one time I went somewhere and somebody made him in a crock pot. Blew the I mean nasty.

SPEAKER_02 22:37

Yeah, I'm not for that.

SPEAKER_01 22:38

This is too mushy. Um this doesn't have anything to do actually with a chicken wing, but I think I've told you this before. But I was helping a dear friend here in the neighborhood move, and we had a bunch of uh young guys help us as well. One kid by the name of uh Clay Clayton, Goodegg. Good egg, good kid. I shouldn't say that. He's a he's a young man now, you know, early twenties, I think. But he was probably only 14, 15 years old at the time. Eight o'clock in the morning, we're finishing up, kind of just milling around this empty family room now, and he looks at me and he starts staring in my neck region. In the neckle area, and he's like, I said, You see something, buddy? Have I got, you know, did I spill a little sausage egg McMuffin or something? Yeah, and he's like, What? And he and he starts to approach me and he reaches for my my neck, and I'm like, what's I I just froze because I thought, is it a spider? Like, what's going on? And then before I know it, he actually grabbed something off of my neck and pulled. Uh spoiler alert, it was a mole. He ripped it right off your neck. Ripped it right off my neck, right off my neck, bled profusely. I was like, ow. I said, buddy, that was attached. That was attached. And he said to me, he said, I'm sorry, I thought it was a chicken wing crumb. I mean, of all things. I mean, who doesn't eat chicken wings at 8 a.m. in the morning?

SPEAKER_02 23:56

Yeah, and leaves the crere there crumbs from chicken wings? I don't think so. I think there's sauce schmutz, exactly, but I don't think there's crumbs.

SPEAKER_01 24:03

You can rub that in if it's on your neck. But he might have done you a favor. He actually did me a huge favor because every time I would shave, I try to avoid it, but sometimes I'd nick it and it would bleed profusely, but it would always kind of like grow back. But since that day, Dave.

SPEAKER_02 24:20

Well, I I'm looking at your neck right now, and it's fantastic. I mean, I don't think it maybe it was more of a skin tag. I don't know. Well, that must have been a decent size, because I don't know if some like somebody can come up and grab it. I mean, I it wasn't as big as you would think.

SPEAKER_01 24:34

Like I'll pull up some pictures maybe if we can see some. See if I can see if you can check out your dermatic. But and so I I I tease him about it. Uh he's such a good guy, and and so I said, buddy, I don't know if I should like cry and maybe punch you in the face or if you should send me an invoice. Yeah, send him a bill. Yeah, no, he should send me one because he said a trip to the dermatologist.

SPEAKER_02 24:58

No, I think you might owe him lunch at McDonald's. Actually, we'll get him some chicken wings. Chicken wings, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 25:04

Chicken wings. And then just when you eat them, try not to let the crumbs crumbs get all over your face. I don't know. I I just think about these these different stories when it comes to food. Going back, let's do a throwback. Okay. Any favorite treats or kid when you were a kid, going down to the where where would you go? Was there like a little market in Providence? Yeah, the country shopper. Oh, we've talked about the country shopper before. So you save up, you go to penny candies?

SPEAKER_02 25:30

Yeah, penny candies, big league chew. We'd buy baseball cards and have that really terrible gum on the inside there. They'd have a little piece of gum. They'd like to be able to get it. Yeah, and they're hard, like they're breaking apart. Um that kind of stuff. The uh little the little diner connected to it, um some greasy burgers and stuff like that was good. And then but like if getting home from school, yeah, it's PBJ.

SPEAKER_03 25:56

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 25:56

Plenty of PBJ. And yeah. Um, I used to when you're a teenager, you can eat huge quantities of food. For sure. And I remember getting home from basketball practice and making four peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Four. And I'd cut them in half and create this fortress around the plate, and on the inside of the there, it's like the moat, and on the inside was full of potato chips.

unknown 26:21

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_02 26:22

And go down and watch Save by the Bell.

SPEAKER_01 26:24

Well, it's a good late afternoon. Yeah, I was gonna say you just described my perfect evening. Yeah. Um, I'm not proud of this. I don't know if I've ever admitted this to anybody in my life, but I remember one time, same thing. Came home from school, got off the bus, made myself a PBJ, poured myself a nice glass of milk, and then I thought I dip Oreos. Oh I dip uh, you know, cookies. Why why why wouldn't I dip this delicious PBJ? I did that, it was I was a phase. You so you did it more than once? Yeah, I did it more than once. I still might do it if it's a toasted PBJ.

SPEAKER_02 27:01

Well, hey, a peanut butter, peanut butter toast and cereal. Delicious awesome. Delicious. And I'll dip that. Fruit striped gum, do you remember it? Yeah, but did you know that there's two different versions of fruit striped gum? Are you kidding me? One of them's great. The other one that's got more of a darker looking package, okay. Not good. Maybe it was sugar-free.

SPEAKER_01 27:18

That must be the one like you, you again, you chew it twice and all the flavors gone.

SPEAKER_02 27:22

Yeah, fruit striped gum was awesome.

SPEAKER_01 27:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 27:26

And Big League Chew. That was good stuff.

SPEAKER_01 27:28

That reminds me of Big League Chew. It's like, what are we trying to kind of replicate here? You ever uh indulge yourself in some candy cigarettes?

SPEAKER_02 27:38

I I remember candy cigarettes down at the country shopper. And I remember feeling a little bit bad, like dirty doing and and I just I don't even know if I actually did it or I saw other kids doing it and thinking, ugh, I don't think we should do that.

SPEAKER_01 27:51

I listen, I take that pack of candy cigarettes, I'd roll it up in my t-shirt sleeve. You're born in the 60s? You and John Travolta? Exactly. That's how you pack a pack of it.

SPEAKER_00 28:00

Pop a couple buttons on the front of your shirt. And just all just that hair just flowing freely.

SPEAKER_02 28:04

And I guarantee at 13 or so you had hairy chest.

SPEAKER_00 28:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 28:08

I saw the mustache. You saw the buttons. Seen the pictures of the mustache.

SPEAKER_01 28:11

Exactly. Once again, you're seeing how the sausage is made. Um I don't really know if that means what I I think it means exactly what I think it means.

SPEAKER_02 28:18

I think it does too. Um, you really don't want to know, but you just found out.

SPEAKER_01 28:23

I guess we're gonna have to know now. There was a cookie, though, that was introduced. Well, I'm not introduced as a kid. They were called heyday bars. I've told you about these before. I don't remember you talking about heyday bars. Oh goodness, I they are. What's in a heyday bar? It's like um it's like a wafer, and then it got some chocolate drizzle, and then I think they like do some caramel drizzle, and then they sprinkle it with peanuts, and they were kind of like in a bar, it was a heyday bar. Okay. And you would bite them so it's a bit of a crunch, but then you'd have a little bit of the caramel pull, you know, pull, you know, like on the You're painting a beautiful picture. Yeah, and it's making me hungry right now. I actually went to some great lengths recently to find a copycat recipe for these heyday bars, which I did find. But I wish I think Nabisco made them. I mean, listen, if any um senior executive at Nabisco is listening to this right now, which I'm sure they are. Bring the heyday bar back. H-A-Y-D-A-Y? Yeah, I think it's uh heyday, H E Y D A Y. Heyday bar. You'll see uh there's gotta be an image there.

SPEAKER_02 29:20

I think you're making it up.

SPEAKER_01 29:21

No, I'll find it.

SPEAKER_02 29:22

All we're finding on here is actual bars called heyday.

SPEAKER_01 29:25

Maybe just just Google like heyday, like heyday. Like H-A-Y. I'm gonna do it for you. Because I need you to. It's hey.

SPEAKER_02 29:34

Yeah, I think I think you're making it up. No. If the Google doesn't have it, it doesn't exist.

SPEAKER_01 29:38

No, listen, maybe it's H-E-Y. I mean, now we're getting now I'm getting off of the weeds here. Oh, yep, yep, yep.

SPEAKER_02 29:43

Heyday bars and abisco, H E Y. H-E-Y. Well, it doesn't look that appealing.

SPEAKER_01 29:48

Are you kidding me?

SPEAKER_02 29:49

Well, those are copycat ones.

SPEAKER_01 29:51

Yeah, I that I took a lot of time to find those actually. But they are delicious. Um you know what, you know what?

SPEAKER_02 29:58

Uh say what you want. But a Twinkie is wonderful. I will agree. Uh Twinkies, I like cupcakes, anything hostess besides the um Careful. Okay, I'm gonna be careful. Oh, we talked about this recently. Yeah, I'm afraid what you're gonna say. Well, the pies, the fruit pies, I love the pies. I'm not eating those fruit pies. Everything but cherry. I don't like the texture. The zinger, if it's chocolate, is good. The other day, folks, we we went to the Maverick, which we do every once in a while to get the hot chocolate and and some and Jason gets some zingers, and I thought, okay. But then I looked and he got the pink ones, the reddish pink ones. They're like tiger tails, but they're still they're called zingers. Yeah, I didn't know zinger made a bad one.

SPEAKER_01 30:42

Like I didn't know that they made a I made him try it too, folks, and he was like a baby. You thought he was like eating a string bean or something. I'm not a coconut guy overall. I'm not either, but you you put them on a zinger tiger tail, raspberry. Oh, they are delicious. They come in packs of three though, and I can only eat like one and a half, and then then I'm done. And you and they're unstorable. They're unstorable, unstorable. I mean, I think if you leave them in the package, they would actually last through the zombie apocalypse.

SPEAKER_02 31:06

I think so too.

SPEAKER_01 31:07

But um, yeah, once once you've cracked the seal, you forget about it.

SPEAKER_02 31:10

How many Twinkies do you think you could eat? Like in one sitting. Like, give me a box. Well, uh I bet I could eat a whole box. A whole box? I bet I could eat 12. If you I need to check out the box, I mean come in a box, but I bet I bet there's about 12.

SPEAKER_01 31:23

I would think 12. Can I can I substitute ding dongs? I could eat a whole box of ding dongs. Sure. Yeah. So good. We should do that one of these days.

SPEAKER_02 31:31

When I'm in when I'm intuitively thinking I could go for an entire box of Twinkies right now.

SPEAKER_01 31:35

That would be our lunch for the day.

SPEAKER_02 31:37

I also I'm also a uh I I like donuts. I got a bit of a problem with those Lee's Marketplace.

SPEAKER_01 31:44

Okay, so do you like a cake donut or like a Yes. Like a yeast donut, what do you call them? Like a raised donut?

SPEAKER_02 31:52

I don't think they're called yeast donuts. I just think they're called regular donuts. Like a Christmas bowl. It's a donut and a cake donut.

SPEAKER_01 32:00

Exactly. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 32:01

I like them both.

SPEAKER_01 32:02

I would choose just a regular donut.

SPEAKER_02 32:04

Me too. I mean, when I go and I have the whole counter in front of me.

SPEAKER_01 32:07

Choose and glutes.

SPEAKER_02 32:08

And choose, ooh, they are good. But but a chocolate bar?

SPEAKER_01 32:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 32:13

Oh, mama, those things are so good.

SPEAKER_01 32:16

So good. You ever put a slice of bacon on a maple bar? Well, no, I've seen people do it, but that's what those are worlds colliding. That is worlds colliding. My brother-in-law Mark, like, he says, you've got to try this one time. And I'm like, okay, I'll try it. I've but it had like a whole slab of bacon, which I couldn't bite through the bacon, so it kind of grossed me out a little bit. But if you put bacon bits on it, then then that's delicious. Crumbled up bacon. Yeah, it's good, but that's okay. I I probably take it or leave it and I'd probably leave it.

SPEAKER_02 32:41

Yeah, me too. Well, it that brings up a good thing. Bacon on your cheeseburger? Ah, it's too overpowering. Exactly. I like bacon. But when I have bacon on my cheeseburger, I feel like I'm only I can only taste the bacon. Just the bacon.

SPEAKER_01 32:54

Yeah, I would leave it off.

SPEAKER_02 32:55

Yeah, me too.

SPEAKER_01 32:56

Um let me ask you this. This is kind of like dinner and a show.

SPEAKER_02 33:02

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 33:04

La uh laffy taffy. No.

SPEAKER_02 33:06

What am I, six? When you're a kid? I uh uh Susie still loves that kind of stuff. The laughing taffy. The gummy stuff.

SPEAKER_01 33:14

Yeah, so is Heather.

SPEAKER_02 33:15

Yeah, I she likes those uh peach rings.

SPEAKER_01 33:18

Oh yeah, those are sick.

SPEAKER_02 33:19

Those are sick.

SPEAKER_01 33:20

Those are gross.

SPEAKER_02 33:20

When you open those in your car and you feel like you just opened a uh air freshener and it's peachy. I'm not I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 33:27

I got TMJ first of all, which is some sort of yeah, like I can't chew gummies, I don't really love them. Yeah, I can make my jaw pop right now. That's not healthy. Don't do it. Really? But the best thing about Laffy Taffe's, I actually did um a little bit of search because I the best thing about laughing taffies are the jokes that are on the I'm gonna give you a couple of my favorites. Okay. See if I'd like to see if you can answer these. Okay. Why did the student eat his homework?

SPEAKER_02 33:51

Why did the student eat his homework?

SPEAKER_01 33:55

I don't know. The teacher said it was a piece of cake.

SPEAKER_02 33:58

Oh, that's funny.

SPEAKER_01 33:59

We're not gonna go through all these. Uh I love them. These are great dad jokes, by the way. Yeah, I think that's where the dad joke must have got started. Which came first? The chicken or the egg, or which came first, laffy taffy or the dad joke? Yeah, I think it was right there. Yep. What did the horse say when he tripped? Um I don't know. They're sometimes so obvious, but you just can't think of it. Yeah. Help, I've fallen and I can't giddy up. Oh, giddy. Classic, why do fish always sing off key?

SPEAKER_02 34:28

Cause they're I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 34:32

Because you can't tune a fish.

SPEAKER_02 34:34

You can't tune a fish. You can't tune a fish. Oh my goodness.

SPEAKER_01 34:39

Uh you hear about the fire at the circus?

SPEAKER_02 34:41

Oh.

SPEAKER_01 34:42

It was intense.

SPEAKER_02 34:43

Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_01 34:44

Last one, what's the best way to carve wood? Whittle by whittle.

SPEAKER_02 34:51

Oh, you buy so it sounds to me like you're pretty much buying the laffey taffy for the jokes.

SPEAKER_01 34:56

Yeah, and I don't really like the banana ones, the banana flavored ones, but I'll take a strawberry laffy taffy. You bet it's delicious.

SPEAKER_02 35:01

Um, just chew it? Do you just chew on those?

SPEAKER_01 35:03

Yeah, you gotta chew on it. You gotta and you gotta I think I'd use it like a uh sucky candy. Like a lifesaver or something?

SPEAKER_02 35:09

Yeah, I'd I'd just kind of suck on it.

SPEAKER_01 35:11

Yeah, depending on your dental work, you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_02 35:13

Yeah. You don't want to lose a feeling. No. Unfortunately, I don't have any. I don't I've told you before I don't have any cavities, so it's probably because I don't eat laffy taffy.

SPEAKER_01 35:22

Listen, this has been kind of a fun podcast. This is random. I just wanted to quiz you about foods and foodie. I thought the world needed to hear. If anybody needs any um like best practices about hauling chili in a plane, please, I'm open. I would do so many things different this time.

SPEAKER_02 35:40

Well, you pr the fact that you have a case study on that says something about you. Just try not to try not to transport chili over international or state lines. Chili hater. Thanks again, folks, for listening to another episode of the Small Towns Podcast. We're pretty sure we've changed your life for the better. If not, well, we'll try again next time.