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...