Carrot Cake

It would be a poor reflection of my typical diet if one of the first three (substantive) entries didn't focus on a dessert. So here we are.



WITHOUT RED PEPPER

What we have here is your typical store-bought carrot cake with extra cream cheese frosting and sprinkles. For those who wish to re-create the experience at home, the store was Albertson's, the frosting was Pillsbury Creamy Supreme, and the sprinkles were both colorful and plentiful. As store-bought cakes go, this one wasn't bad. It also had the advantage of functioning as a birthday cake, which imbues it with +2 deliciousness.

WITH RED PEPPER

Here's the thing. My hypothesis was that this experience would be unpleasant. Not burning-to-death-in-a-flaming-dirigible unpleasant, but not the sort of thing I would enjoy. It defied this expectation. In a positive way, I must add. There's something to this "spicy and sweet" combination. Science should get on this. No, I don't care that they have better things to do. Have video gamers do that other stuff - this is the TOP PRIORITY!

THE VERDICT

Not better with red pepper, but not worse either. It's a different dessert. In fact, someone ought to bake a carrot cake with the red pepper baked into it. I would pay money for that product. (NOTE: This is not unilateral contract, nor is it an offer of any kind.)

Is carrot cake "Better With Red Pepper"?
	Yes! BETTER WITH RED PEPPER!
	No, but no worse either.
	No; it's a step in the wrong direction.
	No! It's like that fiery-death-by-dirigible thing you mentioned!
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Fresh Banana

Today, we venture into the fruit kingdom. (Why should only animals get "kingdoms"? Seems unjust.) And so I give you a banana! Bananas have many uses. Consumption of raw bananas is one of the more conventional employments of the fruit, and is the one to which I address myself today.



WITHOUT RED PEPPER

I trust that I need not explain to you the flavor of a fresh banana. This one was slightly overripe to my taste. (But then, I prefer slightly underripe bananas. Hence the common man’s “ripe” banana is this author’s “overripe” banana. But I digress.) Still, it’s a banana.

WITH RED PEPPER

At first, I failed to note any difference. “Should I add more red pepper?” I wondered to myself. But then I caught the faint hint of spiciness. Spicy banana. That worked for me. Then I finally got some red pepper flavor. That did not work for me. The flavors of banana and red pepper are not, shall we say, complements. (Nor, would I think, are they compliments – if someone says “You’re so red pepper flavor!” or “You’re so banana flavor!” they aren’t likely to be offering a statement of praise. I may be wrong on this, though.)

THE VERDICT

A fresh banana is NOT better with red pepper. Worse, actually. Spicy fresh banana = good; red pepper flavored fresh banana = bad.

Is a banana "Better With Red Pepper"?
	Yes! BETTER WITH RED PEPPER!
	No, but no worse either.
	No; it's a step in the wrong direction.
	No! It's a DISASTER!
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Healthy Choice Sesame Glazed Chicken

The inaugural entry!

Today, I christen the blog with sesame glazed chicken. Healthy Choice Sesame Glazed Chicken, to be precise. (For what I hope are obvious reasons, this christening is unlike a ship christening (i.e., I did not break a bottle of sesame glaze against my monitor) or the christening of a child (i.e., there is no theological component to this post - if you see one, you're missing the point badly)).


This photo shows the entree's original "clothing" as well as the red-peppered compartment (right) and non-red-peppered compartment (left, for those lacking even modest deductive reasoning skills).


PRE-RED PEPPER

The dish is not without its charm. Fresh-seeming vegetables, decently tender chicken, whole grain rice. Not your grandmother's frozen meal. That is to say, it is unlikely to be confused with cardboard in blind taste-testing. The sauce though, it tastes like sweet. Not just "tastes sweet" but "tastes like sweet. There's not much else going on, flavor-wise. It's missing a certain je ne sais quoi. But perhaps I do sais quoi.


POST-RED PEPPER

At last! Flavor! Spice! Now this sauce has something to recommend it and is worthy of a lunch.


VERDICT

This is not a close call. Healthy Choice Sesame Glazed Chicken is BETTER WITH RED PEPPER. Yes, yes, I know. An Asian-themed entree is better with red pepper. Shocking. But it's a starting point for the blog; not every entry will be so obvious.

Is Healthy Choice Sesame Glazed Chicken "Better With Red Pepper"?
	Yes! BETTER WITH RED PEPPER!
	No, but no worse either.
	No; it's a step in the wrong direction.
	No! It's a DISASTER!
pollcode.com free polls

Welcome!

Welcome to Better With Red Pepper?! That's an enthusiastic declaration, not an incredulous question.

Many claim that everything is better with red pepper. Our mission here is, rather straightforwardly, to determine whether this is true. No, this isn't apt to bring about world peace or even accomplish the much more modest goal of ending hunger. But it will answer a question I've had for some time now.

Here is my tentative vision for the blog. From time to time, I will consume food. First, I will consume the food without red pepper. Then I will consume the food with red pepper. Based on these two experiences, I will rate the food as "Better With Red Pepper!" or "Not Better With Red Pepper." How, very scientific, now? And then, as a purely pandering, populist gesture, I will offer a poll, allowing you, the huddled masses yearning to breathe free (or should that be "fire"?), to offer your own opinion.