Free Fry Day 8-24-2007

Hardee's(R) Launches New Natural Cut French Fries

New Thicker Fries with Potato Skin Left On Are Better Complement to Hardee's Thickburger(TM) MenuGuests Can Sample New Natural Cut Fries During "Free Fry-Day" Promotion Friday, Aug. 24

ST. LOUIS, Aug. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- After a three-year search -- and an extensive amount of testing and consumer research -- the perfect French fries to complement Hardee's Angus-beef Thickburgers have been found. Beginning today, guests who order a combo meal or a side of fries will be treated to Hardee's new Natural Cut French Fries -- thicker fries with the potato skin left on them to mirror the kind of premium-quality fries found at sit-down restaurants.

To help celebrate the launch of its new Natural Cut Fries, Hardee's has declared this Friday "Free Fry-Day" at all U.S.-based Hardee's restaurants. Guests who stop by any Hardee's restaurant this Friday, Aug. 24, will be treated to a small fry on the house.

"When we first introduced our line of premium quality, Angus beef Thickburgers at Hardee's four years ago, we also began working on the rest of our menu with the goal of matching the quality of food found in sit-down restaurants," said Brad Haley, executive vice president of marketing, Hardee's. "That work led to the subsequent introduction of such popular menu items as our Hand-Scooped Ice Cream Shakes and Malts, but our search for French fries good enough to be served next to our charbroiled 1/3-, 1/2- and 2/3-lb. Thickburgers proved to be a bigger challenge than we thought. After many tries, we're pleased to be able to offer our guests a great fry that is the perfect complement to our great Thickburgers. And, now we can say with confidence that we believe we have the best burgers, shakes and fries in the business."

The new Natural Cut Fries will be sold at all Hardee's restaurants in small, medium and large sizes for $1.29, $1.49 or $1.69, respectively. Prices may vary. As previously announced, the chain will begin cooking the new Natural Cut Fries, and all other fried items, in zero trans fat, 100 percent canola oil starting in January.

Hardee's Food Systems, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of CKE Restaurants, Inc. of Carpinteria, Calif. As of the first fiscal quarter ended May 21, 2007, CKE Restaurants, Inc., through its subsidiaries, had a total of 3,022 franchised or company-operated restaurants in 43 states and in 13 countries, including 1,101 Carl's Jr.(R) restaurants, 1,905 Hardee's restaurants. For more information, or to find a Hardee's near you, go to http://www.ckr.com or http://www.hardees.com.

French Fry Grease Helps Nab Thief

French Fry Grease Helps Nab Thief

Teen tries to rob the wrong food stand at Wyalusing carnival, police and owner say.

August 16, 2007

By George Osgood
gosgood@stargazette.com
Star-Gazette Wellsboro Bureau


WYALUSING -- There are all kind of non-lethal, high-tech ways to apprehend suspected criminals these days: Tasers, shotgun-propelled beanbags, pepper spray, stun guns, flash-bang grenades, even ultra-quick-drying epoxy.

Now you can add another one, though perhaps not so high-tech: greasy french fries.

At least that was the weapon of choice when a 17-year-old from Lake Winola, near Clarks Summit, tried to run off with the cash box from the french fry concession at the Wyalusing Firemen's Carnival Tuesday night, police said.

Thanks to quick action and an "instinctive" heave by Marvin Meteer, a retired English teacher, the bold juvenile ended up in handcuffs instead of a getaway car. It's also a good example proving once again the adage that booze and fries don't mix.

Meteer tells it this way.

"Tuesday is the first night of our Firemen's Carnival," said Meteer, who, though he is not a firefighter, runs the fry booth with wife Maxine, daughter Melissa and several friends.

"This was close to 10 o'clock," he said. "We had been really busy for hours, but things had started to taper off. Normally, we sell a ton of french fries. But business was dwindling. A guy had come up to the stand and just kind of stood there," Meteer said. "Our helpers had gone, so it was just my wife and me and Melissa. She asked him if he wanted anything, and he said he was just thinking."

He left. Maxine was talking with the carnival manager, and the youth returned, accompanied by another boy this time.

"They didn't stand together, though," Meteer said. "The other guy just stood off to the side. And she asked him again if there was something she could get him, and he said, 'Yeah. I'll take an order of pierogis.' She said, 'Well, we don't have pierogis here. That's another booth.' The other guy said he would take an order of cheese fries.

"So she gets the cheese fries for him, and I'm looking at this other guy from the back of the tent, and I'm thinking, 'What does he want?'

"All of a sudden, quick as a flash, he ducks under the front counter and slams his hands down on the cash box and takes off to the side," Meteer said.

Melissa tried for a handful of shirt, but the youth was big and strong, "really rugged," Meteer said.

"I think he intended to go out an opening in the back of our booth, and I was headed around that way," Meteer said. "So instead of going out that way, he went to duck under the back counter and when he did that, I don't know, it was just an instinctive thing. I took one of the baskets we cook our fries in and I threw the fries at him, but not the basket.

"So anyway, he had the cash box at that point, and when he came up on the other side of the counter is when the fries rained down on him," Meteer said. "He hit those fries and they were just greasy enough that he started to slip and slide, and that gave me enough time to get around the end of the counter and a couple of guys who were there began wrestling him to the ground."

The youth threw the cash box. Maxine scooped it up. And began screaming.

"That was exactly the right thing to do," Meteer said. "That got the attention of many people. A lot of people came running, thinking that maybe one of the fryers had blown up and I had gotten burned. We all worked together and wrestled this guy to the ground and pinned him there. The first thing he said was, 'It wasn't me. I didn't do it.' I just said, 'Right.'"

Cheese-fry-guy had parked a car just behind the fry booth and waited there with the passenger door open, police said. When his buddy went down, he took off. A bystander got his license number, but no charges had been filed against him Wednesday.

The 17-year-old smelled of alcohol (and fries). The fire company president called state police.

"The guy said, 'My friend talked me into it, and I'm just a blankety-blank,'" Meteer said. "It was an interesting evening."

When State Trooper Brian W. Atherholt arrived, the crowd applauded. He handcuffed the youth and searched him, then took him away, embarrassed, in trouble and greasy. But it could have been worse.

He could have tried to rob the pierogi stand.

How to Cook Chips

How to make chips, close to the last entry, but still darn tasty! This one is from "The Daily English Show."

How to Cook French Fried Potatoes

Decent but basic recipe. Either way, darn, they look tasty!

Technorati Profile

Cooking with Dave: Fish and Chips

Amusing, but don't try it at home... at least not like this...

.