Devin Alexander - Fast Food Fix: 75+ Amazing Recipe Makeovers of Your Fast Food Restaurant Favorites

DEVIN ALEXANDER

To my grandmother, Florence DeLess, who has been my culinary inspiration as long as I can remember.

I LOVE YOU, NAN.

McDonald's Big Mac In-N-Out Burger Double-Double with Onion Wendy's Big Bacon Classic White Castle Slyders Jack in the Box Bacon Ultimate Cheeseburger Carl's Jr. Six Dollar Burger Hardee's 1/3-Lb Western Bacon Thickburger Back Yard Burgers Black Jack Burger Original Tommy's Burger Fatburger Turkeyburger

McDonald's McChicken Sandwich Wendy's Spicy Chicken Fillet Arby's Chicken Cordon Bleu Sandwich Burger King Original Chicken Sandwich Hardee's Charbroiled Chicken Sandwich KFC Original Recipe Chicken Breast Church's Chicken Southern Fried Chicken Legs Chick-fil-A Chick-n-Strips Burger King Chicken Tenders KFC Popcorn Chicken

Chapter 4:

Popeyes Popcorn Shrimp Po' Boy Long John Silver's Crunchy Shrimp Basket (shrimp only) Long John Silver's Lobster Crab Cakes McDonald's Filet-O-Fish Burger King BK Fish Filet White Castle Fish Nibblers Jack in the Box Fish and Chips

Chapter 5:

Subway Meatball Marinara Subway Chipotle Southwest Cheese Steak Subway Turkey Breast and Bacon Melt Wrap KFC Twister Sonic Country-Fried Steak Sandwich Sonic Grilled Chicken Wrap Steak 'n Shake Frisco Melt Arby's Big Montana Hardee's Big Hot Ham 'N' Cheese Blimpie Beef and Cheddar Wrap

Arby's Curly Fries Carl's Jr. Chili Cheese French Fries Popeyes Cajun Battered Fries Sonic Tater Tots McDonald's French Fries Del Taco Crinkle-Cut Fries Burger King Onion Rings Jack in the Box Onion Rings El Pollo Loco Macaroni and Cheese

Pizza Hut Supreme Personal Pan Pizza Pizza Hut Meat Lover's Hand-Tossed Style Pizza Domino's Crunchy Thin Crust Cheese Pizza Domino's Ultimate Deep Dish America's Favorite Feast Pizza Sbarro Stuffed Pepperoni Pizza Papa John's Hawaiian BBQ Chicken Original Crust Pizza

El Pollo Loco Cheese Quesadilla Taco Bell Soft Taco Supreme Taco Bell Double Decker Taco Supreme Taco Bell Mexican Pizza Del Taco Macho Beef Burrito Taco Bell Nachos Supreme

McDonald's Egg McMuffin Burger King Enormous Omelet Sandwich Jack in the Box Extreme Sausage Sandwich Del Taco Macho Bacon and Egg Burrito Chick-fil-A Chicken Biscuit McDonald's Bacon, Egg, and Cheese Bagel McDonald's Hash Brown Burger King French Toast Sticks Dunkin' Donuts Cranberry Orange Muffins Dunkin' Donuts Corn Muffins

Cinnabon Classic Cinnamon Roll Starbucks Pumpkin Pound Cake Starbucks Banana Pound Cake Subway Oatmeal Raisin Cookies Steak 'n Shake Chocolate Malt Shake McDonald's Vanilla Triple Thick Shake Dairy Queen Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Blizzard Starbucks Mocha Frappuccino Blended Coffee Dairy Queen Brownie Earthquake

ressed in their best on Sunday mornings, most Catholic teenagers of my generation went to church; I went to Wendy's.

As a child, if I was too sick to go to church on Sunday, I had to make it up by attending mass during the week. If my brother and I fought, my mother dragged us to weekday services. You must not be close enough to God if you're acting like that," she'd say. And though I weighed in excess of 175 pounds my freshman year in high school, I was dying to make the cheerleading squad. So my mother suggested I go to church to say a novena (9 consecutive days of attending church to make a specific plea to God through prayer). Though I had never liked church and I was the furthest thing from a morning person, I was desperate. Not having had the foresight to consider that even if I had made the squad, I wouldn't have fit into the uniform, I woke up an hour-and-a-half earlier than usual (the sun wasn't even up) to attend mass before school for 9 very long and tiring days. When I didn't land a spot on the squad, I was mad at my mom; I officially hated church; and I was convinced that God had it in for me.

Soon thereafter, my brother, Brent, my little sister, Leslie, and I started walking "to church." Our scheme was simple: We would figure out a subtle way to confirm that our parents were going to attend the noon service, and then we would announce our plan to "attend" the 10:30 one. We'd arrive on the church steps just in time for us to send Leslie inside to listen to the sermon and pick up a church bulletin (the evidence required to satisfy our parents). She'd then skip out on the rest of the service and rejoin us for our weekly jaunt to Wendy's, which happened to be conveniently located just behind Sacred Heart Church. Leslie would relay the brief overview of the sermon and identify the priest as I religiously ate my sacred Frosty and french fries.

Of course, my devotion to fast food wasn't limited to Wendy's alone. Because my dad traveled on business a few days a week, my family enjoyed fast food nights regularly. Though I loved my dad, I remember looking forward to his trips, because that meant there would be a fast food menu in my immediate future. And speaking of memories, I'll never forget the first time my mother drove her new Mercedes convertible through the McDonald's drive-thru. Before then, we didn't have a lot of money, so I remember her giggling with a childlike spirit, as if she was getting away with something. She thought that because she could afford a Mercedes, she should no longer be buying 99-cent cheeseburgers.

Heck, fast food was such a part of my childhood that the only picture that exists of all my grandmother's grandchildren is in front of a statue of Ronald McDonald. All eight of us still have a copy of the photo, as do our mothers. My cousins all want to return and retake the same picture, now 27 years later. I'm torn.

By my junior year in high school, I was officially a fast food junkie who needed a daily fix. Lucky for me, juniors and seniors were allowed to leave during our halfhour lunch period, so we'd pile into the cars of anyone old enough to drive (I was only 15) and rush to McDonald's, Burger King, or Wendy's to avoid the soggy pizza and french fries our cafeteria offered.

Shortly thereafter, however, my love affair with fast food came to a screeching halt. I was attending a precollege summer theater program at Carnegie Mellon University, when I experienced my first real crush. His name was Matt, and his feathered hair and gorgeous smile melted me. It seemed that he had a crush on my roommate and best friend-a perfect-looking, thin girl named Audrey. She swore she wasn't interested. I believed her ... until the night the three of us went to McDonald's after a James Taylor concert. I knew my affection was one-sided when Matt reached across the table and started hand-feeding his french fries to her. Horrified, I didn't know what to do, so I tried to distract myself by eating more than usual that night. When I looked up and saw that they were kissing, I was ill. I don't think I said another word all evening.