Topical Tuesday 33 - Chili Cheese Fries

I spent most of the day Sunday waiting to get word from my sister that she was in labor and going to the hospital. On a day full of false alarms that call never came. As Alycia and I waited, though, she went out to get some lunch. At my request she went to The Hat and got a cheeseburger for me and we shared an order of chili cheese fries.

I know chili cheese fries are unhealthy; there is nothing redeemable about them other than their taste. But, in that moment of weakness, that’s what I wanted and that’s what we got. There are a lot of foods that are bad for me yet offer no temptation. There are other foods, though, which are bad for me and tempt me to no end. Here are some of those foods.


Chili Cheese Fries
The aforementioned chili cheese fries from The Hat are delicious. What’s not to love about French fries piled high with chili and melting cheddar cheese? The best part about The Hat’s chili cheese fries is that when the order is up, the shredded cheddar cheese isn’t melted. But by the time the fries make it to the table, the cheese has completely melted and transformed into one calorie-infested mess of tastiness.


Chick-fil-A Sauce
I don’t know how the Cathy family invented Chick-fil-A Sauce but am I glad they did. I think Chick-fil-A is closed on Sundays so people can go to their places of worship and praise their deities for Chick-fil-A Sauce. It’s kind of like honey mustard but it has a smokier, BBQ-like flavor that is hard to comprehend. I think I have a better shot at understanding the expanding universe than wrapping my mind around what makes Chick-fil-A Sauce so amazing.


Coke Zero
I gave up soda for almost five years. I was drinking 20 oz. bottles of soda like children drink Frappuccinos but then quit cold turkey. For five years I basically drank nothing but water and iced tea until I visited the Coke museum; in Atlanta five years of soda sobriety came crashing down. When I first started again, I mostly drank Coke; I never had a taste for Diet Coke. Then I got introduced to Coke Zero and my world was forever changed, like when I saw Paula Abdul’s Coldhearted video and realized I liked girls. I have no idea what chemicals make Coke Zero taste so good without any calories, but I like them, even though I probably shouldn’t.

I normally eat better than chili cheese fries and Chick-fil-A sauce but sometimes I just want to be bad. We shouldn’t make poor food choices frequently, but when we do, we should make them count. Don’t waste a bad food choice on a Big Mac or Hostess apple pie; save it for a Double-Double or a piece of pecan pie.

What foods tempt you the most?