Stuff I Didn't Know

Learning is good for you. Yes, it really is, and I try to learn new things as often as possible. Often they tend to be just stupid, simple things that I didn't previously know or understand. The Internet is often my tool of choice to tackle these issues, and that was the case tonight.

Item #1 - What does being an at-will state really mean?
It turns out that my state, like many others, is an at-will employment state. I always pretty much understood that to mean that at any point in time myself or my employer could tell the other to hit the road, with paychecks ceasing. I was not sure however how this all played into severance and potential litigation after a termination. I now know the answer:
http://research.lawyers.com/Iowa/Employment-Law-in-Iowa.html

Item #2 - How do you really distinguish between a muffin and a cupcake?
This question came up during dinner, as we were discussing some tasty insomnia cupcakes I ate at work. I still don't think I really have a satisfactory answer after searching a bit though. I'll go with Shannon's definition of cupcakes having frosting, and muffins not. Here was another guy's take on it (and I like his statement of having a "Seinfeld moment"):
http://calderonline.blogspot.com/2006/10/seinfeld-moment-muffins-vs-cupcakes.html

Food Thoughts

I don't think anyone has ever accused me of making this blog too highbrow or intellectual. I try to make it as thoughtful as possible usually, but that's not the case at all today.

Today we start with food. BBQ is pretty much my favorite, so let's start there. I tried out a new place called BBQ This! in Cedar Rapids on Thursday. Very good stuff. A little more money than your standard fast-food lunch, but well worth it. Large portions of tasty meat, and the two sides that I got were both very well-portioned. The apple crisp as a side is awesome. I was especially impressed that they keep all 4 of their BBQ sauces heated. Classy.

Last night, we ate at Old Chicago, a perennial favorite. Since nobody else was getting pizza, I went with a sandwich instead. They had a new Chipotle Pulled Pork sandwich, so I tried that. Freaking incredible. Maybe the best sandwich I have eaten anywhere. Plus, we had a cool waiter who told me that even though they aren't on the menu, he could make some Jamaican Jerk fries for my side. Those were extremely good too. At first it just added a bit of spice, but after eating a few the jerk flavor was very obvious. I love finding one-off menu items like that.

Finally, from the dislike side, I learned today that I don't just slightly hate Walnuts, I thoroughly hate them. We have some new oatmeal that is raisin, date, and walnut. Upon making it I was nearly sick from the walnut smell. It has continued to piss me off the rest of the day smelling it in the kitchen. I always knew I didn't like them, but I never realized just how nasty I find that smell.

There, your food blog of the day. Eat your heart out Rachel Ray.