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.



Every Day Is Friday

I've been relatively lucky so far with this blog.  Not too many of the meals that I've had (or picked up and am sitting on for review) have ceased to exist.  I know we've lost the Four Cheese Hot Pocket and menu items have changed at homeroom recently (fresh review of new mac coming soon!) but the losses are much shorter than the new additions.  It's sad that things get dropped, but sometimes sales don't dictate keeping something around or that the costs to produce it have become too high.  But today, this is a blog first.  The return of a long lost friend.

T.G.I. Friday's has gone through some rough times of late and locally (SF Bay Area) has shuttered a good number of their restaurants.  One thing that they had on their menu for a number of years starting in the late 2000's, was a fried mac & cheese appetizer.  There would be six breaded wedges of mac and cheese that would come out on a long plate that was drizzled with some kind of cheese sauce and a little bit of parsley (for color!).  Sadly they disappeared off the menu probably two years ago.  It was better for our midlines that they weren't there, but the blog lost a potential review and I lost a tasty appetizer. 

At the store not to long ago, I did my check of the frozen food aisles and what did I see, with a *New* burst on it's box, but T.G.I.'s frozen appetizers had gained an old friend back, the mac wedges.

Brand:
T.G.I. Friday's Mac &Cheese Wedges - Three Cheese

Back from the dead. This calls for a celebration, the party starts at 8!

Baked Mac Must Mean Healthy Mac, Right?

We Americans really love appetizers.  Restaurants offer up these huge appetizers meals before we're served the huge meals that we've actually ordered (not to mention we order appetizers in droves) and they are mainstays of dinner events and parties because of their ease of serving and quick preparation.  Swaths of restaurants have the standard fare including mozzarella sticks, potato skins, buffalo wings, chips & dip a number of other small finger foods sitting on their menus, but as culture pushes towards healthier foods newer options like fried mac n' cheese disappear.  I've already reviewed Target's attempt to bring fried mac n' cheese to the masses, but what happens when a food maker has their eyes on our midsections and offer us a 'baked' solution to a normally fried meal.

The Review

Brand:
Hot Pockets Snackers Baked Mac & Cheese Bites


See! Baked! Totally healthy! Eat the whole bag!



There's No Party Like A Mac N' Cheese Party

People love parties and reasons to celebrate.  When people gather you can almost guarantee that food will be a central part of the experience.  Events that have lots of attendees usually start off with appetizers before the main meal.  I can't say that I would be serving mac n' cheese at a party I'm hosting (though I'd try now that I've got this blog running), but I may try to find a way to squeeze it in as a side dish or as some kind of appetizer. 

While wandering the frozen aisles today I stumbled onto some potential options that could be great additions to your next party, that is of course if they rate good enough.  Let's find out!

The Review

Brand:
Market Pantry Macaroni & Cheese Bites