"They've All Gone to Look For America..."

Spent this morning vacuuming, airing out rugs, and watching Feasting on Asphault. This is another Alton Brown/Food Network show, although it's really more like a mini-series. In this four-part special, Alton and a crew of bikers and trucks drive across the US, looking for fabulous, little-known road-side good eats. They visit all kinds of places, from diners to lunch counters, ice cream shops to high school gyms, and even people's homes and under their own vehicles.

I enjoyed this more than even Good Eats in some ways. I've always been fascinated with the history of America's tourism past, from the elaborate hotels of the 18th century to the roadside diners of the 20th. Probably comes from growing up in Cape May, America's oldest seaside resort. Here, they discussed the creation of Kentucky Fried Chicken (and the real Colonel Sanders), Duncan Hines (who started as a restaurant critic, not a cake mix guru), some of the now-well-known foods that first stepped into the limelight at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair, the Harvey House restaurant chain, and authentic Navajo foods, among other things. It was well worth poor Alton's broken arm in the last part - a wonderful journey into the heart of American cuisine and culture.

Work wasn't nearly as interesting. In fact, it was steady-to-dead for most of the night, with no major problems.