Bronco Bites

The Bay Area has an incredibly rich history with all of the technological innovations and countless events that have happened since European settlers began to record history here. Among the first non indigenous people that made up the population California and the Bay Area were the Spanish. Colonizing and spreading forcing their religion to the local tribal groups of the Bay Area in the mid/late 1700's, these Franciscan missionaries changed the course of the entire region.

Many of the cities and towns of the Bay Area don't have much left from their earliest settlements.  The land is precious and expansion often pushes out the old to make way for the new, especially in a region that has been occupied for hundreds of years. While the recorded history of the Fremont ties itself to Mission San José, one portion of what is now Fremont, Niles has it's history built around a massive flour mill that serviced the farmlands on the other side of the foothills that the town butted up against.

Originally called Vallejo Mills, a small settlement sprung up at the end of a canyon, who's other end lead out through Sunol and into the south end of Pleasanton and into the San Ramon Valley, where massive farms grew wheat and other crops and the town acted as a depot for these supplies thanks to an extension that fed off the Transcontinental Railroad.  Within a decade that traffic somewhat dried up thanks to a shorter line that came over the top of the bay through Benicia, but the railroad was still a vital lifeline for years to come.  The town didn't die, but it did change it's name thanks to the Central Pacific railroad, who renamed it Niles after Addison Niles in 1869.  Originally a lawyer for the Pacific Railroad, Addison Niles became an Associate Justice in the California Supreme Court and served from 1872-1880, passing away a decade later in 1890.

Niles eventual claim to (current) fame is that it housed one of the first movie studios on the west coast, EssanayStudios who shot hundred of films in Niles Canyon and the surrounding areas from 1912 through 1915. Some of these films included Charlie Chaplin's The Tramp which thrust his most famous character 'Tramp' into the spotlight and Broncho Billy the first western cowboy star.  The studio moved south to Los Angeles in 1915 but they opened the door for west coast movie making, not only in the Bay Area but for the everything that came to be in LA soon thereafter. 

Niles still has it's main street with many of it's original buildings that are now mostly antique shops, though a number restaurants and other stores are also on the main drag.  In town on a lazy Sunday afternoon, I wandered the antique shops not knowing what I'd find (a crazy personalized Hot Wheel with a kids face on it and a 20 year old X-Men coloring book were bought for friends) and as I walked back down the street towards my car, I passed by Bronco Billys Pizza and the sign I saw in front of the restaurant just called for me to have a late lunch/early dinner of appetizers.  I've had mac n' cheese bites before, but always from the comfort of my own home with varying levels of success. I hadn't had mac n' cheese bites at a restaurant in years,


The Review

Brand:
Bronco Billys Kids Meals Mac & Cheese bites



A few tables are outside and are great spots to eat if the weather is good or it's busy inside.



Hopping To It

I've really prided myself on the fact that every mac that I've reviewed I never had to buy more than the one container/serving/order of (hopefully) cheesy pasta.  All those frozen meals are individual purchases.  Same with all these just add water cups and bowls I've reviewed, only one container to purchase.  Restaurants won't only sell me two orders of mac n' cheese unless I'm crazy enough to order them so unless I'm making a big a big casserole dish of the stuff at home, I don't have to worry about lots of extras either.  In the end this means that I'm not saddling myself with multiples of a cruddy variety of mac. 

That is of the utmost importance with this blog.  While some would want to begin to hoard their favorite versions, I'm here to review them all (darn you 'gotta catch em all, Poke-Cheese' mentality), not stop at the best or give up on the worst.  In my regular wanderings looking for the next meal to add to the review pile, I have really only come upon a scant few macs that I consistently keep saying "Nope" to and that's exclusively because of quantity that I need to buy in order to review them.  Target has a whole grain pasta just add water cup that only comes in a four pack and Annie's Homegrown microwaveable options only are sold in 5 single servings boxes.  I don't know why I decided to pull the trigger, other than it was most likely the sale that Target going on at the time, but I broke down and bought two of the three options (the gluten free wasn't on sale and was much more expensive so behind it stayed).

While I've had Annie's very yummy Cheddar Bunnies a number of times, I have yet to try any of their many varieties of mac n' cheese.  Their just add water version is just as good as any to start with and since I've got a box of five to eat/give to others at work, I best get started.


The Review

Brand:
Annie's Homegrown Microwaveable Mac & Cheese with real white cheddar

Now the only REAL difference between white and yellow Cheddar is that there is a coloring agent annatto, used to give it the orange we're used to seeing today. The coloring doesn't affect the taste of the cheese, that all comes from the aging process.

Bringing Bacon Back

I've gotten to dig my fork into a fair number of mac n' cheese meals these last 10 months.  The one thing that at first thought didn't scare me a bit, but now scares me quite a lot is the addition of meat to a meal (that isn't a frozen meal).  My Archer Farms real bacon experience taught me that it's potentially a very dangerous thing. So much so that I think even Target/Archer Farms is having a difficult time with them because I've not seen those bacon carbonara bowls on shelves but for one or two days every few months at any local Target since I did my review.

Finding that another brand was giving bacon the ol' college try had me very cautious about the potential outcome.  Armed with a camera phone and their customer support 800 number I was ready to give Kraft's bacon bowl a shot.

The Review

Brand:
Kraft Macaroni & Cheese Homestyle Sharp Cheddar Cheese Sauce And Oscar Mayer Bacon

Big money, no moldy.... STOP!

Yee-Haw!

I love cheese.  While most of us get out cheese from a grocery store, either buying store brands or the national brands like Kraft, Sargento and if we feel like springing for it Tilamook.  Some stores are have small sections near deli's with more craft cheeses in them and if you're in an area with a good dairy supply, you'll possibly be blessed with local artisan cheeses!  With the rise of the organic and explosion of local and specialty shops, there are a number of towns that now have specialty cheese shops springing up once again, selling local and fancy cheese varieties.  Here in the Bay Area, one of the bigger and better known producers of local artisan cheese is the Cowgirl Creamery. 

Located in Pt. Reyes Station (an hour north of San Francisco) the Cowgirl Creamery started making cheese in the early 90's and today sells cheese at two shops, the Tomales Bay Foods location in Pt. Reyes Station and at their cheese shop at the San Francisco Ferry Building.  They've also got a milk bar and cafe right next door to the SF shop and they've got their cheese in Whole Foods stores across the country and if you've got a local cheese shop, they may carry some of the Cowgirl varieties as well. 

As I had mentioned before in my most recent adventure in San Francisco that it was my second mac meal of the day.  This, was my first.

The Review

Brand:
Cowgirl Creamery's Sidekick Cafe Macaroni & Cheese 

That horse and rider silhouette sure doesn't look like any superhero sidekick I know.

Half The Cheese It Used To Be

Instant cups are a really easy on the fly meal snack for those craving some quick mac n' cheese.  One thing that we do have to worry about (well those of us who seem to eat mac n' cheese with wild abandon) is the caloric and fat intake that the cheesy goodness brings to our arteries and midsections.  A number of national cheese makers have begun making cheese using 2% milk rather than whole milk like cheese is normally made from.  While it cuts down on the fat, some of these 2% cheeses also seem to cut down on the taste.  While Velveeta isn't remotely close to a natural block of cheese, but that doesn't mean that they can't get in on the reduced fat craze.  Now all I'm left to wonder is if this reduced fat cheese affects the taste compared to it's high octane cousin. 


The Review

Brand:
Velveeta Shells & Cheese: 2% Milk Cheese

You don't look any thinner than a regular mac cup.