Before You Eat a Cicada...

I was in Middle Tennessee this Memorial Day weekend, and the cicadas are out in full MF'in effect. They're swarming everywhere (is swarming a word?) and they are so loud I feel like I'm losing my mind.
So now people are eating them. This article from Nashville highlights how two adventurers decided to throw them on the grill and eat them like popcorn:
"You know people really eat them,” she recalled, talking over dinner recently. “One of our relatives even said they taste really good with tempura batter and buttermilk.” Later that evening, they were in the yard with a pair of tongs, and then over a skillet of butter, garlic and red-eyed critter.
Surprisingly, it turns out the cicada comes from the Arthropoda group of creatures along with lobster, shrimp, crayfish and crab. Leading the Tennessean to share these tips:

Before you eat a cicada

CHECK WITH YOUR DOCTOR. The University of Maryland recommends consulting with your physician before consuming cicadas. Pesticides and other chemical accumulation is possible, though it should not pose a problem unless large amounts of the insect are eaten. The nutritional content also is unknown, so please take special caution if you have other food allergies such as soy, nuts, or shellfish, or contact allergies to other insects.

CHOOSE WISELY. Newly hatched cicadas called tenerals are considered best for eating because their shells have not yet hardened. Collect them in the early hours of the morning just after they have emerged, but before they have time to climb out of reach. Simply scoop them into a brown paper bag.

BLANCHE OR BOIL. Cicadas should be blanched (or boiled for 4-5 minutes) before eating and soon after they have been collected. Blanching helps their insides solidify a bit and will reduce the chance of any soil bacteria that could be living on or in them.
Source: Jenna Jadin and University of Maryland Cicadamaniacs, 2004.

Let me just point out that when cicadas shed their exoskeleton, they leave this shit behind on tree branches everywhere:


I think I'll sit this one out.

I Love Sweet P's So Much I Want to Take it Out Behind the Middle School and Get it Pregnant

Sweet P's BBQ and Soul House at 3725 Maryville Pike is aptly named because yes, there is BBQ, and yes, it will soothe your soul and make you want to build a house made out of BBQ where you eat it and your soul gets covered and drowns in BBQ sauce and you die and your soul goes to BBQ heaven, which you find out when you arrive is just another Sweet P's in the sky. I'm pretty sure that's what the name implies.
What you see before you is a picture that does not do justice to the deliciousness it represents. I wanted to eat this so bad, I couldn't even wait to take a proper picture before diving in, and when I finally took a break, this is what was left. For a second, before I ate the rest.
This plate was overloaded with pork burritos, tater salad and macaroni and cheese with a side of fried pickles and PBR tallboys to wash it all down. Does it get any better? No, it really doesn't. Well, it might - we didn't have room for the banana pudding, which is really regrettable. So let's examine the evidence:
Exhibit A: Pork burritos. Fat. Delicious. Look at those beans.
Exhibit B: The macaroni and cheese. I don't know what they do to this shit, but it's amazing. Did you see the cheese blanket? Look at that cheese blanket.
Exhibit C: The tater salad. That's what they call it. I call it heaven. Look at that tater salad.
Exhibit D: Fried pickles. Everyone knows spears beat chips, but Sweet P's has it all figured out. Did you notice the perfectly golden fried exterior? Look at that perfectly golden fried exterior.
Exhibit E: The ramekin of orange sauce. I don't exactly remember, but I think was a chipotle something for the fried pickles. I prefer honey mustard, but let's stick with the theme. It was delicious. Look at that ramekin of orange sauce.
Exhibit F: The outdoor environment with PBR. They have a patio. Overlooking a marina. They offer musical entertainment. And they cater. And one of the guys who works there looks like a young Jason Lee.
Case closed.

TV's Ron Swanson references Eat Me on Jimmy Fallon!

Check out 1:35 of this video - he gets our name slightly wrong, but everyone agrees "it's a great food blog."

Basically, Ron Swanson is the best thing ever and Eat Me's best spokesperson. Here's further proof:
Would you like to sample our vegan bacon?
Give me ALL the bacon and eggs you have
Salad is for rabbits
I love Food n Stuff
You had me at Meat Tornado
A true American hero. We salute Ron fucking Swanson.