a bacon sundae thursday

When I heard Burger King was doing a Bacon Sundae as part of their summer menu, part of me was completely grossed out, and the other part of me was kind of excited--yet none of me was surprised.  Our nation has become obsessed with nachos, bacon and fro-yo, though popsicles and cupcakes are trending hard by now.

Of course, this is the same company that had this in their window for a
day or so

Naturally, I had to have one.  I stopped at The BK a week or so ago just for this purpose, but there was a sign on the door that said "closed for store meeting", or something to that effect.  Naturally, my hopes were dashed...

So today,  I stopped by during lunch, and lo and behold, they are open.  They have these great video menu boards, kinda like The Rave Motion Picture Theater... the BK videos change and show new stuff, but no mention of the bacon sundae. 

I ordered my #1 meal, a Whopper with cheese, mayo, mustard and ketchup only, and patiently waited.  She asked me if I wanted a small, medium or large, and I've learned at BK, and also at Arbys and a few other places, you say "SMALL", or you will be given a 32+ ounce drink that poses for a medium, maybe even a 40+ ounce drink as a large--and these don't fit in your typical cup holder.

Before I paid up, I asked, "I reckon you don't have the bacon sundae, do you?"  She said, "Yes, we have it."  And without haste, I immediately said, "Yeah, gimme one of those!"

I got my food a few minutes later, and then stood in the drink line... they have one of those new fangled big Coke machines that only has one single dispensing spout... but 110 or more different flavors, with a touch screen so you can select the kind of Coke or Sprite or Fanta or Mello Yello or Dr. Pepper or Grapico or whatever you want.  I preferred Vanilla Coke myself, one of my all time favorite beverages. 

It took a while to get to it, though, as what usually happens at these machines was happening here... an older couple was standing in front of it, trying to figure out how to get a glass of Coke.  And they stood, fidgeting, pushing buttons for several minutes until they finally got what they needed--by that time, the line was seven or eight people deep, like we were at the dining hall of Shocco Springs BCM retreat or something.

I waited patiently for my Bacon Sundae, and finally she brought it over.  Looked delicious scrumptious tasty interesting.  Sat down at the little bar counter by the window, bit into my Whopper with Cheese, mayo, mustard and ketchup only, and found that it was just a Whopper with mayo, mustard and ketchup only.   Not deterred, and really not bothered by it, I just went to the counter and simply said, "Ma'am... can I have a slice of cheese?"  She said, "They forgot to put it on your sandwich?" and I nodded, with a smile, "Yes ma'am.  You can just hand it to me on a napkin or with your own hands, I don't really care either way."  As she went to get my cheese, the lady behind me grunted, "You paid fo' it, you should be gettin' it..."  And I did.

I had already eaten most of my fries while standing at the counter awaiting my Bacon Sundae, so I got through my burger quickly... and then, the dessert.  I opened up the lid of the sundae container, and stared at it.  It was simply soft serve ice cream with mocha sauce and caramel sauce drizzled all over it... and with some chips of bacon sprinkled on top and just under the ice cream surface, and to top it off, one strip of bacon standing straight up, like a pole waiting for a flag of obesity to be raised.

My first bite didn't have any bacon in it at all--it was a "Control" bite.  Having seen Mythbusters enough, I knew this was important to have a starting point for comparison.  My next bite, however, had the bacon bits in it.  And it was this strange mix of a hot summer day's dessert relief and an early morning visit to Waffle House.  I don't know how else to describe it.

Another bite, than another, as the bacon, the chocolate, the caramel and the ice cream all blended together and it suddenly became a harmony, albeit unexpected, of flavor.  Finally, about 1/3 of the way into the sundae, I pulled out the bacon strip and used it as a scoop for some ice cream, much like it was a fry diving into a Wendy's Frosty. 

Its interesting to note that I think it would have been better if the bacon itself had been better. I rather enjoyed the mixture of odd flavors, but had this been a Cracker Barrel, or even a Waffle House, where bacon is something they do like no one can, it would have been magnificent... as it was, it was pretty good.

It runs about $2.50 or so, only one size, and tops out at around 510 calories, 18 grams of fat and 60 grams of sugar... lucky for me, though, I wasn't going to gorge myself, so I only ate a little less than half... giving me around 190 calories, 7 grams of fat and 27 grams of sugar. 

I win! 

Excuse me... I have to visit the bathroom.

The July 31 Day Five