Move over Outback Steakhouse bacon and ranch cheese fries - the Baskin Robbins large chocolate Oreo shake is the new Worst Food in America, according to Men's Health. This diabetes-bomb has 2,600 calories, 135 grams of fat (59 of them saturated), 263 grams of sugar and 1,700 mgs of sodium.

Check out the link to see a full list of "worst" sandwiches, "worst" Mexican foods, "worst" pizzas, etc. The "worst" burger, Chili's Smokehouse Bacon Triple-The Cheese Big Mouth Burger with Jalapeno Ranch, has more than 150 grams of fat, the equivalent of eight 6-ounce steaks. While anyone can probably guess that massive milkshakes and burgers with more than more than three adjectives in their names are probably not great for you, Men's Health also uncovers a few presumably healthy foods that are actually not much better than sucking down melted margarine with a straw. The "worst" salad is T.G.I. Friday's Pecan Crusted Chicken Salad, which has 1,370 calories (more than half most people's daily need) and an undetermined amount of fat - T.G.I. Friday's refuses to disclose full nutritional information for their foods.

As the weather turns chill and the holidays loom dimly upon the horizon, one's thoughts begin to turn to comfort food. But who's able to take the time to prepare lengthy, old-school recipes or ready to pack one's gut like a hibernating bear?

Luckily, Sonic has combined the flavors of a favorite old-fashioned, homemade dessert with the speed of the drive-thru in their new Banana Pudding Shake. The shake is made with genuine Nilla Wafers, just like the it should be (seriously, without the Nilla, it is not banana pudding), as well as vanilla soft serve, bananas and something called "pudding-flavored syrup," topped with a scoop of whipped cream the size of a monkey's head. A large monkey.

The chunks of banana and Nilla render it a bit chunky to suck through the straw, but when you savor a mouthful of shake and a crunch of cookie, it's a truly delightful moment. I personally wish the puddingshake tasted a bit more strongly of banana and packed a bit less vanilla-ness, but it's still a welcome coming attraction for one's post-Thanksgiving desert hoedown. And I will battle unto the death anyone who has the temerity to argue with the brilliant idea of a pudding-flavored shake. Unless, of course, they can hook me up with a few gallons of pudding-flavored syrup.

In honor of a friend (who shall here remain nameless) whose guilty secret is that she likes the Oreo shakes at Jack in the Box, I thought that I would mention that the popular fast food chain will be offering a Chocolate Oreo Cookie Shake for a limited time. It is a twist on the regular Oreo shake, which is made with real vanilla ice cream and Oreo cookies and is widely reputed to be one of the best milkshakes in the fast food sector. The restaurant will still use the same vanilla ice cream, but will be adding bittersweet chocolate syrup to the mix for an extra-chocolaty kick.

So, if you like the shakes from Jack in the Box (you know who you are!), you might want to consider giving one of these a try before the limited time offer expires. Or just start carrying chocolate syrup in your car so you can make your own from the regular ones.

In the Pacific Northwest, there's a place called Burgerville. The beef is always free-range and the salads always sport local hazelnuts. But nothing compares to you, seasonal fresh strawberry milkshake. And nothing says summer is coming! like a strawberry milkshake sparkling, dripping in the sunlight as you pull away from the drivethrough. Ahhhh ... life is good here in Portland.

[Photo Sarah Gilbert]