Author: GoneTrending

Dan Orlovsky, a former NFL quarterback who works for ESPN as a football analyst who is good for breaking down film in a way that even a dimwit like myself can understand, is known for saying some occasionally wild stuff on Al Gore’s internet about food (examples: “potato chips are gross,” “soup is gross,” “lobster is gross“). We’ve all shared a food take or two in the past that isn’t popular, as humans have their own unique palates and everyone experiences things differently. Ok, fine, it happens!

Having acknowledged that, Dan, my guy, we gotta talk. The Sicilians, centuries ago, came up with a really good dessert called “cannoli” that literally every single person I have ever met who can eat fried dough and cream enjoys. ESPN producer Dominique Collins had one for breakfast today, which, I’ve never done that but shout out to Dominique for this it sounds perfectly acceptable.

When you really think about it, cannoli and chocolate chip pancakes with whipped cream have some similarities, so no harm in this, not even a little! Now we get to Orlovsky, who cursed my timeline with this:

Dan Orlovsky, what in the name of all that is holy are you doing. All this tells me, a person whose last name ends with the letter “o,” is that you’ve never had a cannoli by a person who knows how to make one, preferably one that is fresh. It’s a light, crispy shell stuffed with a sweet ricotta cream and has stuff like chocolate chips in it! This is very tasty! Seeing as how hard sheep’s milk cheese is a newer thing for Orlovsky, I would go as far as to say that he’s just never had really good Italian food, although previous statements indicate that is not the case, at least when it comes to chicken parmesan, even if I would quibble with that being “the best Italian dish ever gifted to us humans.”

I would like to formally invite Dan to join me in either Little Italy in Lower Manhattan or on Arthur Avenue in the Bronx, where we will go on a bar crawl, only with cannoli. A cannoli crawl, if you will. I will fly to New York on my own dime to make this happen. God as my witness we will find you one (1) cannoli that Dan Orlovsky will enjoy.

The moment I knew I would love Yellowjackets, Showtime’s slow-burn piece of splatter art, was four minutes into the first episode when one of the main characters is listening to “Today” by the Smashing Pumpkins. The pilot also includes songs from Liz Phair (“Supernova”), Salt-N-Pepa (“Shoop”), Hole (“Miss World”), and PJ Harvey (“Down by the Water”). Yes, Yellowjackets is partially set in the 1990s, why do you ask?

Yellowjackets is an extremely good show with an equally good soundtrack, including an addictive theme song from Craig Wedren, the lead vocalist of Shudder to Think, and Anna Waronker, formerly of that dog. It’s not to the level of the Succession theme (what is?), but if you press Skip Intro while the song is playing, well, you know what happens in the first scene of the show? That’s where I’m going to throw you.

“For the theme, we aimed to channel our off-kilter ‘90s roots into something that felt like ‘then’, but could only have been made NOW, just like the show,” Waronker and Wedren told Brooklyn Vegan. “Our respective pedigrees as front-people for that dog. and Shudder to Think made it eaaaasy, like a nice warm bloodbath.”

You can listen to the theme song above, and the official Yellowjackets playlist below.

The Yellowjackets soundtrack comes out on Lakeshore Records on January 21.

While we’re not adherents to “dry” January, we do appreciate slowing things down a bit as the year resets. Enter the lower alcohol cocktails. And the absolute mountaintop of great lower ABV cocktails is the iconic Americano. It’s devilishly easy to make and packs a wonderful flavor punch.

The Americano is a Campari-based cocktail that pre-dates the Negroni by about half a century. The original mix of Campari, sweet vermouth, and sparkling water dates back to the 1860s and became a huge hit among American tourists in the early 1900s. That drink was so popular amongst those tourists, the barmen in Milan’s famed Campari bar renamed the drink after them in the 1920s.

Beyond the history, this drink is super easy to make. You don’t need any fancy equipment or skills really. You just need a little booze and a glass. So, let’s get into it!

Also Read: The Top Five Cocktail Recipes of 2021

• The Long Island Iced Tea Is Our Official Cocktail Of Summer 2021 — Here’s A Classic Recipe
• The Whiskey Smash Is A Summertime Dream — Here’s How To Make It
• It’s Time You Learn To Make A Real Old Fashioned — Here’s Our Recipe
• Here’s The Iconic Sazerac Recipe From Mads Mikkelsen’s Oscar-Winning ‘Another Round’
• The Black Manhattan Is Our 2021 Thanksgiving Cocktail, Here’s The Recipe

Americano

Ingredients:

• 1.5 oz. Campari
• 1.5 oz. sweet vermouth
• 3 oz. Sparkling water
• Ice
• Orange peel

This is pretty straightforward. You’re going to need some Campari, obviously. I’m using Carpano Antica sweet vermouth because that’s what I have in the fridge. I also have some San Pelligrino around, so that’s the water I’m cutting this with. That’s pretty much it.

What You’ll Need:

• Highball glass
• Jigger
• Barspoon
• Pairing knife

Method:

• Fill your glass with ice.
• Add the Campari and sweet vermouth then top with sparkling water. Stir once.
• Cut a thumb-sized section of peel from the orange and then express the oils over the drink.
• Drop the peel in the glass and serve.

Bottom Line:

This is everything I want right now. It’s light yet bursting with flavor. It’s slightly bitter in the sense of dry botanicals next to a floral sweetness that’s bright and delicious. There’s a plummy fruit depth that’s nice, with the orange really adding a bright counterpoint.

There’s also a smoothness at play that just works wonders right now. You feel like you’re drinking something substantial without a massive alcohol kick. It’s an eye-opener that really takes the edge off, kind of like an average-ABV beer. Which, I’d argue, is just right for January sipping.

Roddy Ricch is fresh off the release of his second album, Live Life Fast, which debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard 200 albums chart. So, it’s only right that he is also Saturday Night Live‘s first musical guest of 2022, helping to kick off the remainder of the season when the show returns on January 15. The show will be hosted by Ariana DeBose, who was recently nominated for a Golden Globe for her portrayal of Anita in Steven Spielberg’s adaptation of West Side Story.

While Roddy is only weeks removed from the release of his latest album, it doesn’t look like he wants to rest on his laurels at all. He’s already begun promising that a new mixtape, Feed The Streets 3, will be released sometime this year as well. However, that may not come soon; he’s still promoting Live Life Fast, for which he’s released only a handful of singles, including “Late At Night,” which dropped last summer, and “25 Million,” which followed up the release of the album. Roddy’s known for slow-playing his rollouts — the video for “The Box” didn’t come out until weeks after it had dominated the charts — so fans will have plenty of opportunities to revisit the new album before the mixtape drops… including, of course, his performance on next week’s SNL.

Plant-based burgers have officially made it. It’s been a little over a decade since the world was introduced to the Beyond Burger but in 2022 the idea of a plant-based burger appearing on fast food menus feels less like an experiment and more like common practice, with fake burgers slotting right alongside milkshakes and chicken sandwiches nationwide.

Plant-based chicken on the other hand? The jury’s still out on that one.

There is a reason for that, it’s not quite as easy to make a convincing chicken product. The texture of ground meat and sausages is easy to mimic (I say that simply as a person who loves food, not as an engineer who understands the science of mimicking meat), but whole meat products are another story. Burgers also have the benefit of layers of toppings that can help to mask the ways plant-based meat differs from the real thing — you have sauces, juicy tomatoes, lettuce, and cheese all competing for your attention. Fried chicken is a lot more… naked. Once you bite into it you have only the flavor of breading before you hit the texture of meat, and texture is the biggest hurdle plant-based meat brands face.

Leave it to KFC to attempt to figure it out. Over the past two years, KFC and Beyond Meat have been working on a plant-based chicken product that replicates the same familiar flavor we’ve all come to expect from KFC in a plant-based product that actually looks, tastes, and chews like real fried chicken. Over the years the two brands have attempted multiple test launches in select cities to great success, but now they’re finally at a point where they’re ready to bring the KFC Beyond Fried Chicken nationwide.

Beginning Monday, January 10th, KFC’s new Beyond Fried Chicken will be available at all KFC locations nationwide for a limited time. The chicken was created to mimic the taste and texture of whole muscle chicken, but how well does KFC deliver on that promise? We headed to an early tasting in Hollywood California to find out if KFC is about to drop a game-changer on the world or if this misses the mark.

KFC Beyond Fried Chicken

If you’re already a fan of the Beyond brand or other plant-based meat products, you’re probably scratching your head at what makes KFC’s Beyond Fried Chicken any different, but as we mentioned, this was a project that took multiple years of research and development to pull off. The goal here was to create a product that didn’t just taste or look like chicken, but create something that actually pulled apart like real meat.

Many plant-based chicken products suffer from a chunky “put-together” quality that makes them come off as, well, artificial. I’m happy to report that the Beyond Fried chicken is the closest product to actual chicken that I’ve yet to experience. Once I bit through the nugget I marveled at the stringy layered texture that actually looked like a piece of white meat chicken. Now take that with a grain of salt — and a whole bunch of additives *wink wink* — because KFC isn’t giving us something that will replace a piece of their Original Recipe fried chicken, the Beyond Fried Chicken is essentially a chicken nugget. Having said that, it’s one of the best chicken nuggets currently on the fast food market, real or fake.

Not the best, but one of the best for sure.

The texture here is totally on point. Chewing through the nugg gives a bite that falls in line with the other top of the line chicken nuggets (think more Chick-fil-A than the McDonald’s McNugget) housed in a batter that tastes distinctively like the flavors you’ve come to expect from Kentucky Fried Chicken. Black pepper, salt, onion, and garlic powder, it’s all here, and you’re able to take multiple bites of each nugget without the breading detaching from the “meat” like a sleeve, which is a real unappetizing problem that other plant-based fried chicken products suffer from.

Once you dop this in one of KFC’s dipping sauces (I go KFC sauce every time), it’s essentially identical to chicken. I’m excited to try this in a blind taste test but won’t be at all surprised if it trips me up.

It’s worth mentioning that I had the benefit of eating these “chicken” nuggets piping hot and prepared fresh from a Beyond Food truck in the middle of a slow January afternoon. I realized that this won’t be everyone’s experience, so decided to give this chicken a timed test to see how it holds up to a 20-40 minute delivery or drive.

Sadly, once my nuggets cooled down a bit (exactly 20 minutes) they took on a density that wasn’t present when they were hot. I wouldn’t say that it tasted any less like actual chicken, but the denser more laborious chew I had to give each nugget was a dead giveaway that I was eating fake meat. That’s a problem that I think is remedied with a healthy dip of your favorite sauce, but you definitely don’t want to let these nuggets sit in a bag for very long if you want the best experience. It’s not a big enough issue that I think KFC and Beyond Meat need to head back to the lab, but it’s the next problem plant-based meat needs to solve if it truly wants to replace people’s preference for the real thing. (That said, real-life nuggets aren’t great when cold either — no fried fast food is.)

Finally, it should be mentioned that technically, because KFC fries its Beyond Fried Chicken in the same oil they use for their regular chicken pieces, the Beyond Fried Chicken isn’t prepared in a truly vegan/vegetarian manner. It won’t be a deal-breaker for everyone, but some people will definitely take issue with that. If this dish is a mega-hit — which it very well could be — I think they might just move to separate fryers for these (they could be fried in the same oil as fries, obvs).

The Bottom Line:

The closest any fast food brand has come to capturing the magic of fried chicken in plant-based form. The KFC Beyond Fried Chicken isn’t the best chicken nugget in the entire fast food universe, but it comes pretty damn close and competes from a flavor standpoint to other real chicken offerings out there. In fact, it beats many of them.

While even die-hard Donald Trump supporter like Ted Cruz have denounced the January 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol building as a “violent terrorist attack,” Republican representatives Matt Gaetz and Marjorie Taylor Greene are taking a different approach by proudly embracing their actions during the failed insurrectionist plot. During a Thursday appearance on Steve Bannon‘s podcast (of course), Gaetz and Greene did not look back on January 6 with regret, but instead, with a swell of pride for championing Trump’s Big Lie.

Via The Hill:

“We’re ashamed of nothing. We’re proud of the work we did on January 6th to make legitimate arguments about election integrity,” Gaetz said during an appearance Thursday on Bannon’s podcast. “We’re actually going to walk the grounds that patriotic Americans walked from the White House to the Capitol, who had no intent of breaking the law and doing violence.”

Naturally, Gaetz and Greene’s view on January 6 clashes significantly with that of President Joe Biden who delivered a fiery speech on the one-year anniversary of the attack. While refusing to call Donald Trump by name and simply referring to him as “the former president,” Biden blasted the MAGA rioters for their assault on democracy and the police officers they claim to care so much about.

“To state the obvious, one year ago today, in this sacred place, democracy was attacked — simply attacked. The will of the people was under assault,” Biden said on the steps of the Capitol. “A crowd that professes their love for law enforcement assaulted those police officers. Dragged them, sprayed them, stomped on them.”

But, hey, nothing to be ashamed of says two of Congress’ best and brightest.

(Via The Hill)

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit: Season 23 (NBC, 8:00pm) — Mariska Hargitay, Ice-T, and the rest of the crew return to investigate a wave of Christmas Eve hate crimes. On a personal note, Rollins is dealing with a repeat visit from an old flame.

Law & Order: Organized Crime: Season 2 (NBC, 9:00pm) — Dylan McDermott recently returned, and Chris Meloni’s beard has been getting lost. This week, Stabler joins forces with an informant with a surprising identity after a notorious cybercriminal goes on the lam.

Ghosts: Season 1 (CBS, 9:00pm) — Is Sheryl a ghost now? That’s what Sam and Jay seek to find out, all while Sassapis is angling with his fellow ghosts about an overheard conversation.

The Wasteland (Netflix film) — A horrible creature begins to wreak havoc upon society, beginning with a family who chooses to live away from society in tranquility, which is suddenly in more jeopardy than it’s ever been before this story began.

In case you missed this streaming pick from last week:

The Lost Daughter (Netflix film) — Olivia Colman portrays Leda, a vacationer who becomes obsessed with a young mother and daughter who also hang on the beach while their extended family isn’t so idyllic. Leda also becomes consumed with her own past, which arrived with a difficult bout of young motherhood, and she falls into an impulsive act that rocks her inner world. Maggie Gyllenhaal finally becomes a first-time director here with her adapted script of the Elena Ferrante novel of the same name. Expect to also see plenty of Dakota Johnson, along with Jessie Buckley, Ed Harris, and Peter Sarsgaard.

As much as the internet and social media have been boons to the music industry — especially those artists in hip-hop, who can use these digital tools to build fanbases without the resources afforded to major artists — it can also be a detriment. This is mainly in the form of unsubstantiated and often ridiculous rumors that can spread online like wildfire in the time it takes the artist to leave their studio sessions.

NLE Choppa has found that out a few times, most recently this week, when a headline claiming he’d been hospitalized surfaced and circulated until he was able to call it out. While rappers getting hospitalized is unfortunately not all that unusual, in this case, the reason for his supposed medical emergency was so outrageous he couldn’t help but posit that “If you believe this, you just slow.” According to the headline, was actually from a satire page on Instagram, he’d been laid low after guzzling human breast milk, of all things.

It’s easy to see how his predilection toward homeopathic and alternative remedies might make him a ripe target for parody. In the past, he’s embraced vaccine conspiracy theories, offered chlorophyll as an alternative to lean, opposed McDonald’s’ collaboration with Travis Scott to promote vegan diets, and threatened to quit rap to become a full-time herbalist. Of course, there’s a limit to satire — and despite the page’s rather large disclaimer, there will always be those who are either incredibly credulous or who only hear the information second or third-hand. Remember, folks, always check the original source.

The last two E3’s have been odd, to say the least. With E3 2020 being cancelled completely and E3 2021 being a digital only event there was a hope for some that E3 2022 would be able to go back to being an in-person event. There were reports that it could be a digital and physical hybrid event of some kind, but there were definite hopes that 2022 would have the event return to being an in-person affair in some capacity.

However, it appears that will not be the case. On Thursday, the Electronic Software Association that hosts and runs E3 said in a statement to GamesBeat that due to concerns with COVID-19 the event would once again be digital only. While obviously last year’s showing was just fine doing that, it does mean that the ESA will not be able to make the likelier higher profits it would have received had the event been an in-person showing.

“Due to the ongoing health risks surrounding COVID-19 and its potential impact on the safety of exhibitors and attendees, E3 will not be held in person in 2022,” the ESA said in a statement to GamesBeat. “We are nonetheless excited about the future of E3 and look forward to announcing more details soon.”

For some people, this is going to be unfortunate news. There’s a desire for the world to return to some sense of normalcy, and while many will argue that there just isn’t a need for giant stage show events like E3 anymore, a digital only event just isn’t the same. What we do wonder however is how much longer an event like E3 will be able to continue operation.

Further reports from IGN’s Rebekah Valentine only contributed to the idea that E3’s future is in doubt. It’s being reported that E3 potentially gave up on the idea of having an in-person E3 as recent as fall of 2021, and their lack of communication in regards to not only a physical E3 but a digital one is leaving many wondering if an event will be happening at all.

This effectively means that currently, E3 2022’s very existence is uncertain. With no dates set and no physical event planned, that would theoretically leave a possibility for a digital showcase. But in a follow-up communication with IGN, the ESA added that it could not confirm at this time whether or not there would be a digital event this year instead of the physical event, as there was in 2021.

…

Other industry sources suggested that while they would typically have heard about formal plans for E3 by now — digital or physical — the ESA’s silence on the matter had been deafening, and they are unsure what the plan is at all, if any.

We’ve seen the importance of E3 shrink over the last few years. Major publishers like EA and Sony have pulled out of the event in some capacity, Nintendo has been hosting digital only directs instead of stage shows for years, and in this technological age, many of us aren’t sure what the purpose of E3 is anymore. Is it a trade show? An event to show off cool games? A convention? Does the ESA even know anymore? We’ll just have to wait and see what more information the ESA will have to share about whatever E3 is going to be. If there even is an E3 anymore.

Jill Scott recently rang in the new year by “speaking specifics” about her resolutions and “manifesting like crazy.” But unless the famed R&B singer was manifesting a sex tape rumor, it looks like her manifestations may not have been specific enough. The internet’s rumor mill was working overtime this week when Twitter lit up with speculations that Scott had a NSFW video floating around somewhere. But even the best sleuths couldn’t come up with any evidence the video existed before Scott caught wind of the talk.

Hours after Twitter lit up with rumors of her sex tape, Scott herself took to the app to shut down the gossip — and she had the best response. Rather than getting mad at people for believing the lie, Scott said she expects her fans to bring the same energy to supporting her actual career. “Say word!?! I expect this energy when my new movies, albums and tv show drop,” she wrote. “Ya’ll too much. #headedbacktowork #hydrate”

Of course, her mention of “movies” caught the attention of some.

While the rumors aren’t at all true, it’s not the first time Scott broke the internet. Back in 2020, Scott’s Verzuz battle with Erykah Badu broke the show’s previously-held viewership record by raking in over 750k viewers and garnering one billion impressions across the internet.