Guilty pleasures

Another light post... just stretching the rusty blogging muscles. I have to say that I do have a soft spot for so-called bad food. I don't eat "bad food" often and I recognize that they're certainly not the best in their breeds, but I like them because they're tasty. They may not be scions of amazing technique or ingredients, but that's why they're guilty pleasures.

May I present... the Disneyland churro. It may have been fried at some point, but to warm it, the staff member puts it through one of those bagel toasters. The ones with a conveyor belt that you find in cafeterias.

After they complete their journey, they drop into a pan of cinnamon and sugar. He tosses the mixture completely over the churro and then wraps it in paper.

It ends up fairly crispy and full of sugary goodness.

Next up is a creation from The Cheesecake Factory. Hey, even Ruhlman had a meal there... his comments echo how I feel about the place. The food's not bad if you order the right dishes (it's not easy, considering the menu is a literal book), but as he puts it, the chain is "simply a company responding to the demands of America, and the demands of America were helping us to take our food one step backward rather than one step forward, and I don't think we have time for backward steps." I also agree with his friend LJ, "It's a guilty pleasure, liking bad pasta." Something about certain dishes at CF (mine is the Thai Chicken Pasta) hit a spot.

They cooked up a red velvet cheesecake. I ordered it without having seen it in the display case at the front of the house, so I was a little worried I'd get cheesecake dyed red or something. However, their take on it was rather nice. Decent layers of fluffy buttermilk-y red velvet with creamy cream cheese-y cheesecake (kept much creamier than their usual) in lieu of the usual cream cheese frosting. I took the slice home and ate a little of it at a time.

Of all of their creations, I think this one is one of my favorites.