McCopycat

What is the deal with McDonald's lately? Are they having an identity crisis or what? First they go and create a smaller and greasy copy of the Chick-Fil-A chicken sandwich, even going so far as to include those "two crucial pickles"...at least when they make the sandwich correctly. I doubt that Chick-Fil-A has been affected, as it is a poor copy at best. It tastes okay, but the original comes with greater service and doesn't really cost that much more.

Next on the agenda was to try and tap the Starbucks market with their new McCafe products. If you've eaten inside McDonald's recently, you may even notice a similarity in their interior design to Starbucks. I'm sure it is no accident. I haven't tried their McCafe products, and don't really plan on it. Even if it's cheaper than Starbucks, I never really bought into the whole overpriced coffee experience. If I wanted that, I'd head down to some hip bohemian coffee shop downtown, where I get more than just plastic yuppie ambiance.

And today, I happened to pass McDonald's, only to find that they are selling pumpkin pies for the fall season. I was tempted to try one, and even considered picking up four of them (one for each member of the family), but I fortunately came to my senses and realized that I would much rather bake one of my own. So, I've been surfing the net for the tastiest recipe I can find for pumpkin pie.

It's funny. I guess I'm not the typical "guy", since I actually enjoy cooking meals for my family. In fact, we've almost gotten to the point where I cook more often than my wife. Part of it probably stems from watching my mother slave away in the kitchen as a child, with her efforts often resulting in very little appreciation. Holidays, in particular, usually required more than a day of culinary preparation. And in many cases, we'd all end up fighting at the dinner table over something menial and ridiculous, all the while taking the food for granted. This year, my wife and I plan on sharing the brunt of the kitchen work for our holiday dinners. And because we will cook and bake as a family, I'm actually looking forward to it.