Stand Up for Men's Health

This month I have donated my face to a charity called "Movember", where I will be growing a moustache to raise awareness and funds for men's health, specifically prostate and testicular cancer research.

For more information, visit here: http://us.movemberfoundation.com/

And here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTuKOgHI7GA&feature=player_embedded

And DONATE HERE: http://us.movember.com/mospace/136583/

If you decide to donate follow the link and click "Donate to Me". Men everywhere will thank you.

Cheers,

Rob

The Final 5

As Robby was out for a run the other night, he had what experts would call an epiphany. Robby and I have tried to enjoy as much quality food we can afford during our last semester as students. We have attempted to cook our food but we soon came to realize that we are not great cooks. Attaining edibility was easy but achieving delicious food is way harder than the Barefoot Cantessa makes it look. Since we have accepted our mediocrity in the culinary world, we have decided to leave it to the professionals as we finish the semester.

Robby's epiphany was to visit five of our favorite Auburn restaurants that we would be deprived of in the future. This journey will begin on November 1st with Maestro 2300's Walk about Wine tasting. We have already been to one Walk about Wine tasting at Maestro and it was the best money I have spent on food in my life. For $25 we had ten different foods paired with its own individual wine. We also could go back for seconds. The phrase "All you can eat" took on an entirely new meaning for Robby and myself that night.

Maestro 2300's Bruschetta and Taste of Spain

The next four restaurants are tentative but we are planning on visiting Amsterdam Cafe, Zazu, and Mandarin House. The fifth restaurant could be something like Locos or Laredos. Locos is in the running because of how many "Big Gun" lunches I've had there laughing with my past roommates of The Edge. Truly one of my favorite places but it isn't technically localized to Auburn. Laredos is in the running because it's local and it is the best Mexican restaurant in Auburn but it holds no emotional connection for me. Maybe Pannie George's? Any suggestions???

Pumpkins ftw!

 If pictures say a thousands words, then posting these three pictures saves me tons of time writing.

Cheddar&PepperJack cheese burger inspired by the black&white cookie

This weekend was exciting to say the least. For those who don't live in the southeast and/or despise the religion of football, Auburn defeated Clemson in such a way that Auburn fans with pace makers were at serious risk. A missed field goal was the only thing standing between incorruptible joy and bottomless despair for thousands of Tiger fans. But of course, Auburn left the victor and Toomer's Corner was over run by exuberant students and Alumni ready to camouflage the famous corner with toilet paper.
After watching this exciting game from the comfort of my couch with some close friends, (The Elmers and Mrs. Hannah Webb) we walked downtown to enjoy the tradition of Auburn. But since I am entering my mid-twenties, the thought of going out after ten hours of tailgating was too much. I was too exhausted to enjoy all the revelry of downtown Auburn after a win, exciting as it was.
But this of course led to something way better anyway. My friends, Josh and Tanner, and I went to visit with the newly wed Elmers to talk and laugh into the night. We relived funny stories of high school that I had forgotten until the friendly reminders and talked about our hopes for the future. Always good to see old friends.
That led to even more fun with the Elmers. We had a conversation lasting until almost three in the morning leaving me thinking of sophomore year nights where being up at three either talking about what was on our minds or breaking into buildings was an average night.

So as the excitement of the weekend subsided and I watched the NFL games with Robby all day today, my main concern, beside whether or not Peyton Manning can throw eight touchdown passes and have over 1000 yards passing, was my dinner. I spent a majority of my afternoon on Stumbleupon.com in hopes to find something that looks simultaneously delicious and simple. After many hours of actively not writing a paper and searching for this dish, I think I found it. http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/AaqfAG/thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2009/10/chicken-parmigiana/ I came across this blog that had a chicken parmigiana recipe in it that looked feasible so I decided to tackle this obstacle in hopes that I could eat something that wasn't handed to me while I was in my car. My dinner didn't look as good as this particular woman's blog but I am not ashamed of my effort. I think it was mostly her camera though. I bet mine tasted every bit as good as hers. At least that's what I will tell myself tonight as I fall asleep.

Auburn Football and Younker Jam '08

As everyone on the plains of Auburn is aware, the opening game vs Arkansas State was afoot but there was something much more pressing on my mind... tailgate food. I am sure that I will receive death threats from the millions of readers of this blog as they attempt to stamp out my blasphemy but the message of this weekend's food must be spread.

First off, I must give credit to the wives of Tommy Webb and David Elmer. Hannah and Laura brought a woman's touch that made passerby's crane their necks to look back at what our tailgate was cooking up. The men of the group didn't think passed meat, bread, and beer. And before this weekend I would ask "what else is there for a tailgate?" Well Hannah and Laura educated this group of young men on the art of dip. There was artichoke dip, seven layer dip, and Younker Jam. Now I am sure you masses of readers are thinking "What is Younker Jam?". Well, I fear my words won't do it justice but I will do my best since not every reader was able to taste it. There was a top layer of jam, a creamy layer of some kind of cheese, and in the mix of the entire dish was Cheyenne pepper. If you are like me, this mix of taste and texture was intimidating but too intriguing to not try. My curiosity was rewarded in Hannah Webb's magnificent dip. It first hit your palate as a sweet dish then became more savory with the cheese and right when you thought the flavor was done, the Cheyenne pepper kicked in to give your taste buds some heat. I loved it! And I wasn't the only one. ConeZone (Matt Barberio) and Will "T-Bone" Hart agree that this was the dark horse victor of our tailgate. While everything was quite delicious, this stood out as the most memorable dish. So thank you Hannah Webb for the newly named Younker Jam '08. And I am sorry that once  you have read this (and I am sure that you will because of how popular this blog is) that you will feel obligated to bring Younker Jam to every tailgate. 

Special thanks to David Elmer for PBR, Ryan Tufts for stories, and Tommy Webb for the Jameson

Now that I am done sucking up to Hannah to score more Jam, I have to pay respects to the queen of tailgating, Mrs. Karen Parker. For those who have had the pleasure of a Karen Parker tailgate, you will know exactly what I am talking about. I have been going to the Parker's tailgate for the past 5 years of college. Ever since I was welcomed with a "Come on in, brother" by the incomparable Rusty Parker I haven't thought about another tailgate. Even as their biological son, Jeff Paker is on the other side of the globe, the Parkers still welcome me and the hungry masses that are my friends to come devour food way too quickly to be polite. The fellowship with the Parkers and the other elite alumni of Auburn would be enough to return but the food cannot be ignored. There has not been one tailgate that I have attended that couldn't also double as a Thanksgiving dinner. There is usually a spread that is so extensive that one bite of everything available will push your stomach to the limit. Sadly on this weekend, we were running late because of our aforementioned tailgate and all the responsibilities that come along with growing up. This is shameful to me since I and my life eating partner, Clay Collie have usually shown up early to scope out how we were going to clog our arteries that week. Even though we were too late and too full from our tailgate to "locust" all the Parker's food, we were still willing to push ourselves to the limit to truly enjoy our comfort food and the Auburn family. I took great joy in seeing Matt Barberio lick the apple crisp dish so clean as David Elmer did 5 years ago. I loved seeing Grace Henderson and Sara Beth Terry throw caution to the wind and dig into the peerless Parker food. 

So even though Jeff Parker, Clay Collie, Matt Tufts, Tim Tidwell, and Walter Kearns have been lost to the world that exists outside the Auburn bubble, we have a new generation of tailgaters willing to enjoy the Parker's food with me. Thank you Rusty and Karen Parker for feeding me for so many years!

Oh and on a side note unrelated to tailgate food, Little Italy now has Killians on draft which means it is $5 dollars for a pitcher! This is where the true super fans spent our game time.

Night Cap

Sick Day

Sore throat, drainage, aches, and chills. Today is a day off to rest and recuperate from this mysterious illness that has plagued me. The remedy: antibiotics in the form of a z-pack (seemingly the cure to any ailment), and cups of green tea loaded with antioxidants to destroy these free-radicals. While I'm just laying around all day, I've decided to use this new found free time to start a new book. The past two years or so I've really only read biographies or novels set in the 1920s, so I've decided to go with something more current. The Road by Cormac McCarthy, which I've heard good things about, hopefully I won't be disappointed. This wouldn't be a post by me if I didn't make any music recommendations for such a day, and today I have three albums to add to my day-off soundtrack. The Eraser by Thom Yorke, and Boxer by The National are two mellow albums perfect for a lazy day. And When This Is Over by Shad, one of my favorite hip-hop albums with intelligent and socially conscious lyrics, and clean hooks and beats that make any day awesome. Hopefully all of these elements combined will aid me to a speedy recovery...I just hope I don't have mono...

The Weekend of Breakfast

This weekend was about indecision and gluttonous breakfast. As college "kids", we either get up for class and skip breakfast or sleep through to lunch so the joys of an over starched breakfast is a rare pleasure. So to fix this food imbalance of our lives, we planned to have a huge breakfast cooked by everyone who wanted to cook and eaten by anyone willing to wake up at 10:30 to come hang out.
The indecision of the weekend came as a not so silent partner to our inexperience. When I went to kroger, I just started grabbing all the breakfast foods I passed. I grabbed english muffins (cinnamon raisin and regular) Bread for toast, bread for french toast, bacon (turkey and swine) a dozen eggs, frozen hashbrowns, orange juice (high pulp and no pulp), bananas, pancake mix, waffle mix, and even champagne in case anyone wanted mimosas.
And that was just what I bought or Doug already had at the house. This list doesn't include the watermelon ConeZone brought over the Elmers' Grits enriched with garlic, paprika, cheyenne, and the incomparable butter.
Needless to say, the kitchen was packed with both food and friends. In our hilariously small kitchen, I counted 7 people at once contributing to this breakfast feast or walking through the human traffic jam to acquire coffee.

Will Hart kept energy up with coffee and a shared passion of bananas foster. Matt Barberio powered through Mario 64 keeping the kitchen free of even more foot traffic, Doug was overseeing my bacon making insuring I didn't burn down our luxury home while making his own sausages, David shamelessly promoted a brand called Oxo and after hearing his sales pitch, I am now in the market for a vacuum sealed coffee mug. Laura Elmer was all over the place being abundantly patient with boys whose passion for this breakfast far outweighed any organization. She kept the kitchen clutter free and clean which made the small kitchen usable by the shortsighted rest of us. I also believe I saw her with some chocolate infused waffles at one point but everything was a blur so I can't be sure.

So even with minor grease burns, lack of personal space and not eating until noon, breakfast was a success!

A Hangover Cure

A night filled with overconsumption of various intoxicating beverages has severely inhibited proper function of the systems of my body. Alcohol has dehydrated me and impaired my liver’s ability to compensate for a drop in blood sugar, the energy source for brain function. Results: headache, light sensitivity, nausea. After a night of forgotten memories and a morning of ones to forget, my brain and other bodily functions are slowly returning to normal. A remedy I’m using to speed up my return to normalcy: vinyl records and a bottle of wine water. Michigan by Sufjan Stevens and Sigh No More by Mumford & Sons. Two of my favorite albums of late, delivering beautiful melodies and poetry to stimulate my mind, hopefully sending oxygen and nutrient rich blood to my frontal lobe to end this headache. The artistry of this indie folk music is great for any occasion, so I recommend picking up these records and giving them a listen…on vinyl. Cheers!

p.s. – When you go out with your friends, remember, everything in moderation.

Lowest Common Denominator

As I power through the "half off" bottle of wine that Robby and I bought recently, I felt it necessary to talk about my newest discovery in the cooking world: butter. I ignorantly didn't understand that too make good food you didn't need to add too much but to make delicious food you need butter. I bring this up because I made a couple of burgers tonight (because that's what a 6th year does instead of going out) and it was the best home made burger I've ever had. I say this in no way worried that I will come off arrogant because all credit goes to the butter and not by ability to cook. 

I bought the cheapest ground beef I could find as well as the cheapest hamburger buns (Kroger brand). I also bought an onion and some kroger brand sharp cheddar. Ok anyway. Back to butter and it's glory. I made a burger the way I always do but this time when the burgers were just about done I put some butter on both sides. I also put butter on the delicious kroger brand buns and put them on the frying pan. Guess what? More delicous. I guess it wasn't hard to guess that butter was the super secret answer to that quick rhetorical question since I am taking time out of my busy schedule of watching Jimmy Fallon to write just about butter and its affect on my life. 

So as my heart struggles to maintain my regular bodily functions, my taste buds and pleasure center of my brain still relish in my earlier meeting with butter and how my life will never be the same.  

Pesto Pasta and Burnt Offerings

Robby and I have made our second dinner/dessert and it was a success. At least to us. Our journey to culinary mastery is a slow and humbling one but with each meal we eat without having to visit the hospital and get our stomachs pumped is a victory. Tonight we ventured passed the safe world of sandwiches into the slightly less safe world of pasta. I know making pasta can be intimidating to some what with all the boiling water and pouring the pasta in a pot but we met this challenge with great enthusiasm. While boiling Robby's organic Fusilli pasta, I attacked the chicken with a vigor that would make Anthony Bourdain shudder. I put too much oil in the pan and it essentially worked out for the better because it turned out to be a form of fried chicken which was quite good. The pasta was then mixed with diced tomatoes, sauteed mushrooms, chicken, and of course pesto. The pasta was better than we had anticipated so we got cocky and of course hurried through dessert with an undeserved arrogance.

We attempted to make the perfect chocolate chip macadamia nut cookies but ended up burning half of them beyond repair by placing them on the lowest part of the oven. But there was still a silver lining in the charred remains of our second dessert attempt. The first tier cookies above the charred cookies used their burnt brethren as a makeshift shield to make themselves edible, albeit deformed. We salvaged them before it was too late and if they were not that too delicious, our friends lied to us to make us feel better or once again Robby's french press coffee saved the day.

Oh yea, Robby and I found $12 bottles of wine for $6! This of course made all the shortcoming of dessert slowly fade away from our memories as friends helped us enjoy the half priced wine. Thanks Kroger!

Seasons & Nostalgia & Music

I hate summer. I hate the scorching heat and when the air feels as if it’s as thick as the ocean. Winter is by far my favorite season, and it can’t get here quick enough. Maybe I’m drawn to winter because it is the season in which I was born, saturated with memories of family, friends, and celebration. But mostly it’s the feeling of cold air, burning lungs with each inhalation, and watching it fade into the air like smoke with each exhalation. It’s heavy coats, scarves and knit hats, deep starry nights with snow and coffee. All romantic images that stir my soul. But here, now, it’s hot. With no end in sight. I need something that offers nostalgia that will send my mind into deep freeze. Music. For me, there is nothing more nostalgic, bringing with it a rush of memories of times and places. I have one album in particular in mind, For Emma, Forever Ago by Bon Iver. Melancholy beautiful. Acoustic guitars, high falsetto, and heartfelt lyrics that remind me of midnight strolls in January through the campus of Auburn. So tonight I put this record on and send my mind to a place I’d much rather be in this season.

I highly recommend this album. Listen to it! In the slight chance that anyone reads this and the even slighter chance that anyone listens to this record, you will love it, I promise. And if you don’t, you have terrible taste in music…just kidding…maybe. This being a blog about how pretentious we are about the things we love, you have to listen to it on vinyl. It’s the absolute best way to listen to music, and it makes you appear cool and sophisticated when people find out you listen to records. If not, at least put on some music that makes you super nostalgic. It’s good for your soul. Cheers!

French Pressed Coffee

If you’re like me, and have a passion for good coffee, the most pretentious way to show others that you’re passionate about coffee is to own a French Press. Why is the French Press method of brewing coffee the best? Three reasons: complete saturation of the coffee grounds, proper water temperature for steeping, and no loss of oils and flavor from a paper filter.

The coffee tastes better because the grinds are allowed to steep in the water for at least five minutes, and since the coffee grounds remain in contact with the hot water longer, difficult to extract flavors are more concentrated in steeped coffee than in drip coffee. French press coffee drinkers can manipulate the temperature of the coffee by the amount of time spent boiling the water. Drip brewers, depending on the brand, yield different results with respect to temperature. Lastly, when you brew coffee using a filter, all of the wonderful oils and sediment that occur naturally in coffee beans is filtered out. With a French Press, the coffee is filtered through a metal plunger that allows for maximum flavor.

As for the best coffee to use when brewing with a French Press. Expensive. The more expensive, the better. Also, grind your own beans. All of this may make you appear to be a pretentious coffee snob, but that’s the point. Cheers!

The Three Cheese Sandwich

In the heat of buying food at EarthFair, Robby and I decided that we should try to document our exploit somehow. We quickly thought of a blog because I think we are the last people on the planet to have one. So we decided whenever we get excited about making any kind of food, we are going to document it here.

Tonight, we decided we wanted to make a sandwich because of its simplicity and it would compliment our beginning status as "cooks". We bought the cheeses first because we decided that was the most important ingredient for the sandwich as it is in most dishes. We got Cotswald Gloucester, Perrano, and Port Salut because of the differing firmness in all three. For the meat, we bought Soppressata mainly because we had never had it before and experimenting with stuff you already know is boring. For the bread, we decided on a simple Focaccia. We basically just put melted down butter to spread on the bread along with some artichoke pesto that I was pretty jazzed about. We let it bake while we sliced up the cheeses then we put the meet on the bread for a few minutes and topped the meat with the three delicious cheeses.

For dessert I tempered some chocolate and just basically poured it over a croissant which wasn't bad but it was heavily overshadowed by Robby's french press coffee. I'll let him talk more about that since I only enjoyed it without ever seeing him make it or even what kind he used. All I know is I liked it

We must say, although it wasn't hard and felt like anyone could do it, we felt accomplished. It was totally edible and on top of that, pretty tasty as well. Of course anyone who reads this knows that it was the ingredients that were delicious and we didn't do much. But as I said earlier, we wanted to start out simple and work our way up. We have our sights set on a risotto recipe I found of google today and hope to tackle that next obstacle soon.

Our First Meal

The cheeses for our first meal