Wine and Eggs

Weird Diet, McDonald's kind of brings back a fan fave, hushpuppies and more!

McDonald’s Bringing Back Chicken Strips

No, not Chicken Selects. Not even the second rate but fine, Buttermilk Crispy Tenders. Sigh. Many customers have been lamenting the loss of Selects back in 2015, but will their new offering measure up?

On April 24, McDonald’s announced they would soon be dropping McCrispy Strips and a new sauce, Creamy Chili Dip. They will be available at all participating restaurants nationwide by May 5, the first new permanent menu item they’ve launched since 2021.

Alyssa Buetikofer, McDonald’s chief marketing and customer experience officer, says that customer demand for chicken strips has been “remarkable to see.” These demands were given via several online petitions, as well as my social media accounts.

Like Selects. McCrispy Strips feature white-meat chicken coated in “crispy golden-brown breading” but McCrispy’s add a new black pepper flavor. Add that with the new Creamy Chili Dip and we’re getting some spicy additions to the McDonald’s menu. Well, McDonald’s spicy.

McCrispy Strips will be sold in a three-piece with one sauce or four-piece with two sauces.

Also making a return? the Snack Wrap. Earlier this month, McDonald’s posted: “snack wraps 0x.14.2025.”

Chris Kempczinski, McDonald’s president, chairman and CEO, said in February that the Snack Wrap “has a cult following,” and that he gets “so many emails ... about this product.” This product was discontinued back in 2016, and yes I’m excited for its return.

The Wine and Egg Diet

I’m always fascinated to see old fitness and diet advice, so of course lost it the first time this diet went around on social media.

It’s the (one bottle allowed per day) for me. People couldn’t believe it was real but many people who grew up pre-2010 knew it was all too real. Not saying things were perfect post 2010 just FYI, but the awareness of diet culture seemed to increase at least. A little bit. Or maybe it’s just called bio-hacking now.

Whatever the case, this diet was insane even amongst the most insane diets.

The diet came courtesy of famed editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan, Helen Gurley Brown and was first introduced in her 1962 book, Sex and the Single Girl: The Unmarried Woman’s Guide to Men. In the book she advised that people survive on only wine, eggs, steak, and black coffee for three days straight if they wanted to drop five pounds. The diet was reprinted by Vogue in 1977.

Obviously this is not a nutritionally balanced diet and some have wondered if Helen was actually mocking fad diets. But is it honestly any weirder than most crash diets? I can respect the fact that you need to be drunk to do this. But also don’t do this. Even for three days.

The thing about fad diets is they all rely on having a ridiculous gimmick to get people talking and what could be more ridiculous than having chablis for breakfast? And lunch, and dinner, if you have any left.

History of the Hushpuppy

The hold hushpuppies had on me as kid is unmatched. What’t not to love? Deep-fried balls of cornbread? Keep ‘em coming!

Typically served as a side with fried fish, because you can never have enough deep-fried items in a meal, hushpuppies are a Southern culinary staple. Embarrassed to say a majority of the hushpuppies I ate growing up were from the seafood fast food chain Long John Silver’s, but they still hit. When I moved up North as a kid, hushpuppies were nowhere to be seen, and I almost felt embarrassed bringing them up. I was already the hillbilly hick of Queens and the last thing I needed to bring up was something called a hushpuppy. But I never forgot. It was one of the foods I craved whenever heading back to the South on a trip.