The other night, not being able to fall asleep, I turn on the TV in search of a late night baseball game.  It was late so I knew my chances of finding a baseball game were pretty slim.  That’s when I stumbled on the US Paintball Championships on ESPN2.  Yes, that’s right paintball!  Never in a million years would I have tuned into a sport where people run around trying to shoot other people with little balls filled with paint.  It’s not so much the sport itself, it’s just that the way they  "twiddle" their fingers to fire the gun faster that makes it look pretty stupid.

As a kid, I was a big fan of playing war.  We had "the gully" right behind my house which was a wooded area great for wartime simulation.  We would setup forts, booby traps, and have the time of our lives pretending to kill each other all day long.  You would figure that paintball would be right up my ally.  Yeah… not so much.

One day while over a close friend’s house, we were playing some war games in his backyard.  We were dressed up in full camouflage and running around with our toy guns killing every imaginary "bad guy" we could find.  All of a sudden my friend shrieks in pain and drops to the ground.  I look and there is an orange spot on his back.  He yells for me to get down.  I have no idea what is going on and all of a sudden I’m a little scared.  He yells, "It’s my dad, he’s in the window, get down!!".  I look up at the second story window where my friend’s dad is poised with his paintball gun tracking my every movement.  I’m only 10 and have never even seen a paintball gun before but from the sound that my friend made on the way down I figure out pretty quick that it’s gonna hurt.  So, screaming like a little girl, I started running around the back yard jumping and flailing about like a krazy person.  He misses his first two shots, I imagine because of how hard he was laughing at how I was acting.  The third shot is right on and hits me in the upper thigh.  I fall to the ground in pain thinking, "Real war sucks!"  What I should have been thinking is, "What kind of dad shoots his kid and his kid’s friend with a freakin’ paintball gun.  I’m gonna sue this bastard for everything he is worth."  Needless to say my taste for paintball ended at an early age.

While paintball surely isn’t my thing, I did find watching it slightly addicting.  Funny thing is that you can find the current standings and schedule on the official National Professional Paintball League, but there is no information on ESPN whatsoever.  I guess they are too busy keeping up with "real" sports like poker.

Oh my God!! You actually eat that??

Oh hell yeah we do!!  Anyone from Rochester, NY knows that there is nothing like a Garbage Plate from Nick Tahou Hots.  I make it a point to have one every time a go back for a visit.  The one shown is a hot dog plate with everything.  My order was always the cheese burger plate with everything, in addition I would add ketchup and Redhot.  A big hunk of bread is also included to help sop up the grease left on the plate after consumption.  It’s a taste of heaven. Or maybe it’s a quick way "to" heaven with the fat grams I’m sure well over a hundred and the calories pushing a thousand.  Oh, and the carbs you ask?  I’m not even going there.  Regardless, it’s just damn good!!

I was 16 when I lost my Garbage Plate virginity.  By the time I was 18 I was a regular, so much so the girl behind the counter knew my order and would push it ahead of other people waiting.  You might be saying, "Come on, how many people could be waiting?"  Well, on a weekend, at two in the morning, it wasn’t unusual to see the line out the door and having to wait 30 plus minutes for your order.  It became a regular after-hour hang-out, both with high school kids and college students.  

If it’s your first time make sure you don’t settle for one of the impostors that started showing up after Nick Tahou Hots became so popular.  Nick Tahou’s has two locations, one being downtown on Main St. and the other located on Lyell Avenue in the Gates (a suburb of Rochester).   The Main St. location closes at 8:00pm but the one in Gates is open 24 hours.  I would recommend going after a good night of drinking.  You might gain five pounds but you will wake up the next day feeling great!

While blogging about White Hots, I thought about some other great tastes from my hometown.  There are quite a few famous Rochester native restaurants.  One such place is Country Sweet Chicken and Ribs.

My first experience with Country Sweet came at the age of 14.  My best friend and I made a trip one night to the most ghetto and I believe the original location on Lake Avenue.  I remember feeling a little scared but still very eager to try the infamous sweet and spicy, finger lickin’ good chicken wings.

UPDATE: I was wrong about the original location being on Lake Ave.  Thanks Dave for pointing out that the original Country Sweet location was on Monroe Ave.

As we walked in I spied some shady looking characters, but they paid us no attention for they were too busy partaking in their own Country Sweet goodness.  We walked up to the counter, and this nasty, fat, sweaty, greasy, hairnet wearing guy looks at us and says "Yeah?" not "What can I get you?" or  even "What’s it going to be?" just "Yeah?" and not in a very nice way.  We were determined that nothing get in our way even this bitter bastard.  As my best friend started to order I observed something about our sweaty friend that would be burned into my mind forever.  While he was wearing a hairnet, clearly to prevent any foreign hairs from getting into our order, he had stuffed his spatula under his armpit so he could take our order.  A little disgusted but still determined, I pressed on with my order.

Seven minutes later I was sitting in front of a dozen wings, an order of fries, and a large Coke.  What happens next is only blur.  When I come to, I’m staring at only chicken bones, and licking my fingers one by one trying to savor every last drop of that sweet and spicy sauce. 

There will be many more trips to Country Sweet during my teenage years.  Never venturing back to the location of my first encounter.  Why, I’m not sure.  It could have been the rough neighborhood.  Or maybe because the guy put the spatula under his armpit. I think it was because I wanted to always remember my first Country Sweet experience, going down as one of my most disturbing yet wonderful teenage moments.

Something famous from my home town.

The White Hot is Rochester, New York’s variation on the hot dog. This edible is comprised of uncured and unsmoked pork, which allows it to retain a naturally white color.

Zwiegles, the company that made this dog famous, sells both the white and red hots.  The originals are made in natural casings making them more like traditional German sausages.  The natural casings hold in all the juices and flavor as they cook.  They do sell the skinless variety as well, but if you have never tried a "Pop Open" hot dog you don’t know what you are missing. 

Grilling, is probably the most popular and best way to prepare them. They don’t need much, maybe a little mustard and you are good to go.  Or, if you are ever in Rochester, swing into one of the three Don’s Original locations, but before leaving don’t forget to try the frozen custard.  You will definitely not be disappointed.

If you would like to buy Zwiegles products, they are available from New York Style Deli.  They sell over 35,000 pounds of Zwiegles products per year.  That’s quite a testimony to why Rochesterians take their dogs so seriously.

Read more about white hots.