As I peruse through my blogroll and my emails, I’ve noticed how deeply food is becoming intertwined with this upcoming election. Silver Diner, a restaurant you may or may not have in your area, has jumped onboard with a breakfast special for each of the canditates.

Then as I was reading through Serious Eats (it’s on my blogroll too). There was this article from A Hamburger Today. It looks like Silver Diner isn’t the only one on this food bandwagon. It seems the trend has gone as far as Paris where they’re offering burgers inspired by each of our candidates.

Obama and McCain Burgers in Paris
Posted by Robyn Lee, September 30, 2008 at 5:30 PM
If you live Paris and want to get in on some Presidential election-inspired foods, head to the Hotel Concord La Fayette in Paris for Obama and McCain burgers. Chef Laurent Belijar modeled Obama’s “O-Burger” after Obama’s birth state of Hawaii by making a curried patty topped with pineapple carpaccio and a mix of coriander-flavored shrimp. McCain’s “Elephant Burger” is southwest-themed, made of a tomato-flavored patty mixed with grilled lamb and guacamole and served with tomato salsa and nachos.

Photograph taken by Harald Gottschalk

These burgers are available until November 4 at the La Fayette Bar and cost €22 each.

The trend spans the globe. . . from Paris to Maryland. Read on.

Obama and McCain Burgers at the Burger Joint in Maryland
Posted by Robyn Lee, September 25, 2008 at 4:00 PM
The Burger Joint in Bethesda, Maryland is offering special burgers named after Obama and McCain through the first week of November. The Obama burger is modeled after a Chicago-style hot dog and is topped with relish, pickles, tomatoes, peppers, celery salt and a Vienna beef hot dog. The southwest-themed McCain burger is topped with poblano and chipotle peppers, black bean salsa, and pepper jack cheese.

And Serious Eats continues:

If Obama and McCain were food… What food would they be?
Posted by Boscompb, June 10, 2008 at 9:20 PM
I’ve heard several old cliches, some NOT so nice. Personally, I’d say that McCain would be “salt”, and Obama would be “pepper”. What’s your take?

You really should check out the comments on this last one. They’re pretty funny. You’ll get a good laugh, no matter which side of the fence you’re on.
What do YOU think?

Since I own about a gazillion cookbooks (I can’t help myself.  It’s a crazy sickness.), I do have several favorite “Go-To’s”.  And I want to share one of my favorites - The Red Hat Society cookbook.

Now, I’m going to digress just a wee bit for a sec and tell you about the first time I’d ever even “heard” of The Red Hat Society.  My boss and his wife and I were meeting for lunch at our local Olive Garden.  When DeWitte (boss) and I got out of the car, there was a . . . rather rotund woman. . . wearing a very shocking purple dress and a very pronounced red hat.  It looked like good old Southern “Sunday-Go-To-Meetin’ clothes” meets SHOCKING OMG!  Yeah, I was looking at DeWitte like “Have you EVER?”  And DeWitte being DeWitte looked like he didn’t possibly know what I was referring to.

When we got inside and met Jamie, we saw MORE.  A lot more!  They, in fact, were EVERYWHERE.  Shocking purple clothes and RED hats of all shapes and sizes were everywhere!  Jamie, being the smarter, more well-rounded of the group, knew exactly who they were – The Red Hat Society, of course. (I knew that)  She tried to snap pictures with DeWitte’s cell phone – incognito.

Now I’d never heard of The Red Hat Society at this point, so imagine my surprise when I saw a recipe book put together by none other than The Red Hat Society in the markdown bin at my local grocery store.

WELL . . . let me tell you.  I perused this book for days and even weeks oohing and aahing, and I still return to it when I need a good ooh or aah.  It is full of all the old time recipes from way back when your grandmother was learning to cook. 

I will be featuring my favorite recipes from that book here from time to time.  There were so many recipes that caught my eye.  I saw recipes in there that I’d only ever seen in my mom’s recipe box.  Like her Peanut Butter Cornflake Bars.  OMG!  So yum!  The ones I made for every First Day of School snack.

PEANUT BUTTER CORNFLAKE BARS

2 cups Sugar
1 1/2 cups Karo syrup
2 cups Peanut Butter
12 oz box Cornflakes

Put sugar and Karo into a large pot, mix and let come to a boil on the stovetop. Remove from heat immediently. Add peanut butter and stir until smooth. Pour box of Cornflakes into the mixture. Mix very rapidly until Cornflakes are coated.
Spread into a 12 x 16 greased cookie sheet.
Cut into bars while warm.

NOTE: The “cut into bars while warm” is no joke. If you wait until these puppies have cooled, you’ll need to bring some serious muscle with you.

These things are the bomb-diggity!  A huge family favorite.  And just a side note – I gain three pounds every time I make a batch.

I always carry a notebook to jot down brilliant thoughts or ideas that come to me while chillin’, a Sudoku puzzle book, a technical manual of some sort (usually something about SQL Server, but lately books on wordpress and building websites), a cookbook (cuz I’m a freak like that and can’t seem to leave home without one), and a novel (right now, it’s Sandra Brown’s Ricochet).  You see – I’m all over the place.  But I AM ready for whatever whim strikes me.

Ooops – how did THAT get in there?  Sneaky Miller Lite.   No, it’s not a book.  But yes, Miller Lite most always accompanies the books too.  (He doesn’t like being left out)

So what are you reading?  Any recommendations?  Because I’ll be finishing Ricochet this afternoon and I need another novel so my beach bag stays balanced.