Wait? More Mexican food?

Just a few days ago I was mourning the passing of my great love, the Mediterranean food cycle. Well it's safe to say I have moved on thanks to a new, special food cycle in my life-- South and Central America.

Is it too soon? Who knows? Some might say it's just a rebound. Who knows? In any event, Mediterranean would have wanted me to seek happiness elsewhere, and for now I have found it.

So my mornings now are pretty much like a visit to a delicious Mexican restaurant. You start with some chips and salsa, move on to a tasty appetizer (or two), and then finish with a main event of your choosing. It's free...unless you count a $41k tuition fee...and for the most part it's all-you-can-eat.

Once again, I lead a *pretty* tough life...

Salsa-- delicious, fresh, and when you're making your own chips out of corn tortillas just minutes before service it only tastes better. I made the Black Bean and Mango Salsa. I'd rather sub the beans for tomatoes, and I would probably put a bit more acid in it (either lime or lemon juice). It's just pretty heavy for a fruit-based salsa. The hodgepodge Fruit Salsa was OK. I wouldn't say it was worth writing home to mom about though (HI MOM!).

I made Refried Beans for the first time in my life. And yes...there is absolutely NO FRYING in Refried Beans. You cook kidney beans in water for a while, transfer them to a cast iron skillet with enough of the cooking water to cover and just reduce, reduce, reduce. All the while you are essentially over cooking the beans to death --a mush-like status-- and you finish the job with a potato masher. This recipe from Chef had me render bacon in the skillet beforehand, remove it, cook some ham and onion in the remaining fat and then add the beans. I then sprinkled cheese over the top to melt and garnished with the bacon I removed earlier. I'm not one to eat Refried Beans by themselves, but these were pretty tasty.

I would consider the Caribbean Black Beans a salad...or possibly just a side. It's FREJOLES NEGROS (yeah, Spanish class paying off) and some zesty flavors to make them pop. I'd probably go with these over the Refried Beans if I had a choice. The citrus in the Caribbean style makes the dish a bit lighter.

The Apple Quinoa...I haven't got around to trying it yet. I'm pretty sure every vegetarian in the world wants me to, as Quinoa (keen-wa) is the trendy vegetarian alternative right now in restaurants. To that I say, "Thanks for helping me with my food costs, people. You just paid $5 for $0.50 worth of rabbit food."

Whereas I'm not upset I passed on the Quinoa, I am mad at myself for not getting a taste of the Mexican Meatball Soup today. I like Soup. I like Mexican flavors. If this is tasty and I'm missing out on it then I am a fool. Hopefully they kept the leftovers and I can try some tomorrow. Soups, like salsas, only get better with a little age in the fridge.

I made Tostones today. You take a plantain, cut it into 1" to 1 1/2" segments, fry them, crush them, then fry them again. Salt the plantains when they exit the fryer the second time, and you're in business. Mmm...banana-ish chips. Nothing wrong with those.

Empanadas are pretty much Mexican pizza rolls in my eyes. They were much better today than they were yesterday, when Chef had the person who made them stuff a wedge of a hard boiled egg in with the meat. They were noticeably dryer than today's example, which was just meat. Both were not as good as the pork/spicier version we made at the Enthusiast Course.

The Tamales we had today were also not as good as the ones we made at the Enthusiast Course. I usually steer clear of Tamales because they are almost always disappointingly dry. The ones at the Enthusiast Course were not...the one I had in class today absolutely was. Mmm...dry corn meal with some meat involved...no thanks.

Both the Jerk Chicken and Beef Chimichurri are delicious. Big flavors + Meat = Happiness. I think I learned that in 3rd grade Math. It was either there or the cafeteria. My memory is fuzzy.

The Mole Poblano con Pollo is one of those dishes you know is going to be good (possibly), but great? Absolutely not. Rick Bayless, the GOD of authentic Mexican food in America, said on the first season of Top Chef: Masters that it took him 20-odd years to perfect Mole Sauce (a chocolate based Mexican classic). His version has something like 26 flavors balanced perfectly in it.

Sorry, Le Cordon Bleu-- we can't match that. The Mole Poblano con Pollo is edible, sure, but I'm not overly impressed with it. I also don't get why people are so put off by a sauce that incorporates (Mexican) chocolate, which is more bitter, and peanut butter. We're cooking like the Aztecs here, people! Expand your minds!

Who doesn't like Enchiladas? Oh, you don't? WHY MUST YOU TURN THIS BLOG INTO A MEDIUM OF LIES!? Ahem...anyway-- my notes of Enchiladas. I prefer chicken (or just cheese) over beef. Ours were beef. I want them to be swimming in a tasty sauce and smothered with cheese. Ours were light on both, and the sauce was OK but not great. Are they delicious? Sure. Is it safe to say I would make mine completely different? Absolutely. But that's the joy of this culture of food-- the variations are endless.

Last week in Spanish I had to give a report on Peru which involved choosing a recipe giving a good example of a native food specialty. I chose the "Old Clothes," Ropas Viejas, because it sounded delicious, and not a week later here I am making it in class. Talk about relevance!

The Ropas was very good. It had the texture of say, the tender meat that has been cooking all day in a stew. When you first get a hunk of the meat you're like...OK, it's tender, but where's the flavor? Not a nanosecond later you're bombarded with flavor. It's just awesome. I will absolutely make this again, as it's not hard to do. You just marinate the meat overnight, dump that mixture into a sauce pot with a cup of water and simmer away until the meat is cooked and falling apart.

Falling apart like say...old, tattered clothes? WaBAM! I just blew your mind! Lol...

I didn't get any of the Curried Lamb. I'm a bit curried out right now, and I could say the same about lamb. Between the Asian and North African food cycles...I get it-- lamb and curry mix.

Now the Maltambre (sorry about the fuzzy pic) is one of those dishes you're really interested in seeing how it turns out. You take a huge, marinated hunk of flank steak and stuff it with various garnishes (hard boiled eggs, carrots, etc). How it is trussed up is unique to the dish and helps with service in regards to portion sizes (so I'm told), but man those portions are enormous!

What's disappointing here is I didn't really care for the dish, for one reason and one reason only. This hunk of meat is marinated in some mixture that heavily relies on vinegar. I don't know if whoever made the marinade screwed up or what...but a bite of this meat and all you get is vinegar, vinegar and vinegar on the tongue.

It's...well...gross.

OK, that's it for now. KEEP SENDING IN NAMES FOR THE MASCOT! I will post the supplemental food pics and comments when the cycle wraps up early next week, and I will work on a post about the three job interviews I had this week sometime in their too.

This weekend is exciting because Molly is in town to run the Pitt half marathon. This is but a step in her training for a full marathon in San Diego in a couple months. She is still fundraising for that, so please stop by her blog and contribute. It's for a good cause!

Hasta la pasta!

MmmEDITERRANANEAN Round Up!

Sigh, all good things must come to an end. Three days of all the Spanish, Italian, North African and Greek food you can eat-- I will miss you. Here's the supplemental pics and comments:

The Avgolemano...yeah. Didn't try it. Why? I dunno. Wanna' fight about it? I had a hard enough time even remembering what it was (dang you weekend!). I know a girl in my group made it. I know it's an extremely simple soup working with a handful of ingredients (chicken stock, rice, eggs, lemon juice, lemon zest, salt, pepper, parsley). I'm going to assume it's a creamy chicken-ish soup with an acid zip. That's my culinary degree at work. Don't judge me...

Stracciatella-- it's hard to spell. I don't know how to pronounce it. And I made it today! It's an interesting dish. You heat up some chicken stock to a simmer, drop in some lamb meatballs and let those poach in the liquid. Once those are cooked you crank the mixture up to a boil and start swirling the water whirl-pool like with a spoon or something. In the middle of the vortex you pour an egg/Parmesan cheese/flour mixture. This creates almost a bed of egg on the top of the soup. I guess this is common in Italian soups. It's a bit...weird...but it tasted OK.

I discussed the Tapas in my previous post. Most are meat-on-a-stick variations (and yes, there's still time to NAME. THAT. MEAT!), so again-- what's not to like there?

Veal Romano is simply veal, pounded flat and dredged in a Parmesan cheese/flour mixture before pan frying it. You could do this with pork. You could do this with chicken. You could do this with lizard probably. If it's flour and Parmesan cheese, than it's Romano. Tasty-- those Romans were alright.

Veal Satimbocca (which literally translates to "jumps in the mouth") is pretty awesome. Before you cook it up you line a side with sage and prosciutto. The sauce is a citrus, beef stock, wine reduction. Whew...just delicious.

I think I missed trying to Lamb Tangine. I don't overly fret over this because actual Tangine is made in a thing called...well...a tangine. We don't have a tangine, so I can imagine some of the allure of the dish is lost. I'm going to have to chalk this one up on the To-Eat List. I'm sure there's probably a restaurant in the greater Pittsburgh area that serves an authentic version of it. Hmm...

The remaining dishes (Gnocchi, Risotto, homemade pastas) were more lessons in technique that anything. Gnocchi is a complicated beast to make correctly. Risotto is a more difficult medium to technically master (a lot more hands on than say, a rice pilaf). Both require you to make it a couple of times to get the methods down, but it's worth it-- both are big on menus across the country.

This is just a quick pic I snapped at a recent Enthusiast Course at school. Cinco de Mayo was the theme so people attending got to make everything from Sopapillas (fried Mexican flatbread coated with cinnamon and sugar) to homemade Enchiladas.

Aside from a free Mexican-themed lunch, I really enjoy attending and helping out with these courses because it's always fun to be surrounded with people that are interested in food. There's also a bit of fun role-reversal to know more than someone in a kitchen setting. Not it an elitist way, mind you, but in a 'fun to be the teacher,' not just spouting, "Yes, Chef/No Chef," kind of way.

Besides, when someone who doesn't know a pepper from a pepperoni finishes the day with say, a delectable vegetable chili...because of you...well-- it's a good feeling.

Keep sending in those names for the blog mascot (aka Mr. Meat On A Stick...for now)! I'm getting quite the chuckle and will probably put a few of my favorites up for a vote when a healthy amount of entries has been met. I don't know what the next cuisine is and I'm too lazy to look right now, so surprises for us all in a couple days! See you then!

MUSICAL INTERLUDE -- "Bana Nah Nah Nah"

What kind of food blog would I be if I didn't post this?

PENS WIN IN OT, ADVANCE PAST SENS!

NAME THE 'MEAT ON A STICK' MASCOT CONTEST!

Ha, I guess I'm in a silly mood and decided there does indeed need to be a meat-on-a-stick related mascot for this blog. Here's my most recent photo of him on his summer vacation.

This guy needs a name. I'm putting this responsibility on YOU! THE BLOG READER! You are going to name him! Shoot me an e-mail, text me, call me, hit me up on Twitter, post in the comments or on my Facebook wall-- whatever works for you, just do it.

I will decide the closure of this contest when I feel like it. For now...eh...let's say a week? So get those entries in ASAP! And may the best name win...

Now you're speaking my (food) language...

After the delay yesterday, I think everyone in Cuisines Across Culture kitchen was ready to make some tasty food and scarf it down today. That includes me because when you start throwing Italian, Greek and Spanish food my way I start drooling all over myself uncontrollably.

Don't worry-- that's why we carry side towels.

Both soups were tasty. I was the hand behind the Minestrone Genovese. What makes this version of the soup in the style of Genovese is that a basil pesto, grated parmesan cheese and extra-virgin olive oil is added as a garnish to the dish right before service. It gives what I would call a typical vegetable soup a but more pop, for sure; the garnished bring everything together for sure.

Gazpacho. Whenever I think of it I think of 'The Simpsons' episode where Lisa becomes a vegetarian and tries to peddle "tomato soup served ice cold" at Homer's BBQ. She is mocked out of the room, including a quip from Barney to, "Go back to Russia!" Well, the dish is Spanish in origin, so while the line is hilarious, it is indeed inaccurate. I can only say my first experience with it ends with the conclusion it tastes like salsa. Refreshing...but a soup? Eh...more a dip.

The Stuffed Grape Leaves...not bad. Not great. I think the filling needed a bit more...something? It tasted overwhelmingly of grape leaves, which is OK at first-- I couldn't make it through an entire one though before just getting sick of the flavor.

TAPAS! Talk about the best part of Spanish cuisine and a favorite theme of many restaurants across the United States. Go to essentially a bar, order five or so different appetizers and split them amongst your group. What's not to like about that? I know I enjoy them. We had the Garlic Shrimp (self-explanatory), Andulasian Pork Rolls (delicious) and Ham/Mushroom Brochettes (essentially meat on a stick-- the official mascot of this blog).

The Lasagna con Bolognese (BREATH!) e Mascarpone (BREATH!) e Telagio was a very different take on any Lasagna I have ever seen. We used a cheesy Bachemel sauce instead of Ricotta, and a Ragu Bolognese as the meat and sauce combo. The pasta was homemade and fresh, which always makes for a good dish. You layer that up, put some oven-roasted tomatoes and parmesan cheese on top, then bake to perfection. It's a very light Lasagna-- not overly saucy. I like that.

What's to hate about Gyros? Homemade Pita bread-- check. Roast Lamb-- always delicious. Hummus, Baba Ghanouj, Tzatziki-- I would bathe in all three. Add in some fresh veggies, combine everything into what is essentially the best street food ever? YES, PLEASE!

I've mentioned Chicken Vindaloo when I made it in a previous post. I didn't taste any of it today but will get at it tomorrow, probably. Chef keeps tweaking the recipe.

I also didn't get to the Paella today, which was probably a mistake. It will be made again throughout the week, and I'm for sure not going to pass on the smorgasbord of spiced rice, lobster, shrimp, chicken, sausage, mussels and clams twice.

PS-- When there's live lobsters in the kitchen, it's always a good time. Chef was showing up how to make them pass out (so they can be humanely killed, not just for our amusement). I have to say again, lobsters are ugly bastards. Weird, ugly, bug-like ocean bastards.

OK, as usual I will update with dishes that are supplemented into our cooking routine as the week progresses. I need to get going on a project for Spanish tomorrow though, and I've already written quite the book in this post. Hope you made it this far and enjoyed!

Chef demo...

All I have is a pic to show off what a visiting Chef demoed for us today in Cuisine Across Cultures. Chef came all the way from Ottawa, Canada, and is visiting the school for a couple of weeks. We got graced with his presence as he demoed Stuffed Rabbit with Ratatouille and Palenta for sides.

I had never had rabbit before. All in all, very interesting...and tasty. Then again, you stuff anything with bacon and chicken and you have a recipe for success.

Side notes: Dude was *very* French. This is obviously a huge plus to see the French style of cooking play off of what we are being taught in school, and this is obviously a huge minus because I could barely understand every-other-word he was saying.

Also, despite being from Ottawa he had no idea what the Ottawa Senators...or hockey...are (though that's probably because they're now down to the Pens, 3-1, in their NHL Playoff series).

A Canadian who doesn't know what hockey is? Yeah-- he's *THAT* French.

PITT EXPERIENCE -- PNC Park/Pirates game

I figured it would be worth it to chronicle my first PNC Park/Pittsburgh Pirates experience with a lament and a few pics from the evening. Sure, it was a 30-degree, misty rain kind of evening, but it was still a good time.

With Molly in town and Irish Night in full effect, there was no reason *not* to hit up the game, even if the weather was questionable. Our $15 seats still provided a great sight line of the game, and we missed the second foul ball of the game/a flying hot dog by about a row or two. Plus front row seats to the Perogies post-race and the post-game fireworks-- SCORE!

As for the game itself, the Buccos won on a walk-off double in the bottom of the ninth inning. The Pirates entered the inning trailing by a run before the Reds pitcher walked the bases loaded, walked a run home, then gave up a near-home run to center field, which sealed the victory for PIT. The crowd was quite full despite the weather conditions, and very into the game as it came to its dramatic close.

PNC is a gorgeous park. The weather conditions and my blurry cell phone pics don't do it much justice, that's for sure. I do think you'd want to sit down the third base line for the best skyline view, so perhaps the next time I attend I will shoot for that.

Good times though, and the Buccos are 7-5 at the time of this post. Could I be witness to the first above .500 Pirates team in recent memory? That would be exciting to follow as summer progresses...

Putting the Asian (food) in Caucasian...

OK, I did my best to fill in the blanks in my memory of dishes that were added throughout the week to our Asian rotation in Cuisine across Cultures. The two dishes in quotes...well...I forget entirely what they were called. We were working outside of our recipe packets sometimes so I don't have anything to reference to try and remember them.

Dim Sum and Shrimp Tapura qualify as the appetizers in this group. By the end of the four-day cycle I have had Dim Sum poached (in chicken broth), steamed and fried. All are delicious in their own right. Tempura is just a light batter used in the Asian style of frying. Sweet and Sour Pork? General Tso? Shrimp...uhh...Tempura? All of these dishes use the same batter. Tasty.

I didn't get into either of the soups. I have had Sweet Sour Soup before (good stuff), but I just forgot to get around to the Shiru. The Dashi in the Shiru Soup was also in the dipping sauce for the Tempura, so I have an idea of the flavor profile.

Side note about Dashi-- think making seaweed and "fish flake" tea. Sounds delicious doesn't it? Mix in enough soy sauce and white vinegar and it is-- trust me.

The rest of the dishes taste pretty much as you would expect. The Lemon Chicken (a favorite of mine) was a good recipe, and all of the vegetable/pork/chicken/beef stir fries turned out equally tasty.

Side note about the Lemon Chicken-- the bubbles around the chicken are there because the sauce was poured on a smoking hot sizzler to create some "action" for the dish (think fajitas at Chili's if you must). Carrying an aromatic, steaming hot plate of that out into the dining room would turn some heads, for sure. Good stuff.

I think we head to the Mediterranean region next, so check back for pics from that. I'm still working on watching some documentaries here and there for that post I mentioned previously, as well as a post on my first trip to PNC Park for a Pirates game.

Oh, I MUST mention that, after losing game one, the Pens are now up, 2-1, in their opening NHL Playoffs series against the Senators. Fingers crossed they put the squeeze on the Sens in Game 4 and take the series back in PIT Thursday. GO PENS!!!

The Asian invasion...

We've moved on from Europe to Asia this week in Cuisine Across Cultures. While I long ago tired of those fast food and seedy restaurant staples like A-B-C Chicken and General Tso, the stuff we got into today is the stuff I still crave whenever I'm in an Asian establishment.

Sushi. Pure and simple you can't go wrong with Sushi. I've never met a Sushi I didn't thoroughly enjoy, and today did nothing to change that opinion. Sushi is a bit liberal of a term here, however, as fish wasn't present in our presentations. We mostly delved into vegetables, pork and shrimp. We presented both close-rolled and reverse-roll styles (the reverse is rolled in black sesame seeds to finish). All were delicious. Very crisp and fresh flavors here.

Optimizing that crisp and clean flavor were the Spring Rolls. Call me easily amused --many people do-- but I love Spring Rolls. I don't need meat present to enjoy food, and if I could eat Spring Rolls for lunch every day, I'd probably die happy. And what a sweet, tasty death it would be.

EDIT-- There was fried tofu inside the Spring Rolls. A-MAZING!

Won Ton Soup-- Mmm, mmm. If it's an available appetizer or side to a meal at any Asian-inspired restaurant, I'm getting it. I prefer them in the poached fashion, as they are in this soup, over the fried version. That's just because I do what I can to protect my girlish figure.

The Sirloin was an epic fail. I don't know if it wasn't sliced back across the grain properly, or if it was just an exceptionally tough piece of meat, but it was impossible to chew. And when it starts becoming hard to chew...you start to realize you're chewing on raw meat. I made a feeble attempt, said, "NUTS TO THIS!" and tossed my piece away. No use crying over poor product...at least not in a school setting.

Pork on a stick. 'Nuff said about that epic win.

Now Lumpia looks a lot like an egg roll...and it essentially is. This also makes it delicious. I had a friend once refer to egg rolls as the "Asian Hot Pocket." Yeah, the fried stuff isn't great for you, but it's not going to stop me from wanting to woof down five of them. Today I showed restraint and settled for two. The Lumpia is on a bed of fried rice. Our recipe was actually pretty solid...I could see myself getting down with it at a later date.

The Chicken Vindaloo (LOOOOOOOOOOooooooo...sorry, just makes me want to yell it) isn't an Asian dish at all. Chef got his wires crossed and had me prep product yesterday to make it today. As I was happily cooking away today the Chef started laughing before divulging to me his error-- Vindaloo is an African dish. To this I say oh well, because it was quite tasty.

Vindaloo tasted similar to the Curry Chicken and Lamb, probably because Tumeric was involved in each. Each had very nice Earthy tones, a spicy kick and all-around-awesomeness to them that made me quite happy to tuck a piece of each away. A bonus was involved with the chicken dish, which sat on a bed of Net Bread. Think half egg noodle, half Crêpe. It's better than plain white rice, that's for sure.

Last, but not least, up there is Sweet and Sour Pork. It tasted like any you have ever had in your life, just a bit less on the sweet-- let's call it more balanced. I don't detest the dish, but I'm looking to be more adventurous if I'm dining out at a good Asian establishment.

I'll update with pics of added dishes as the week progresses in Asian cuisine, so be sure to check back frequently!

Side note: NetFlix has me on a documentary binge as of late. I will probably create a post in the somewhat-near future to talk about some highs and lows, and about my overwhelming nerdiness for enjoying documentaries. Keep your eyes peeled for that!

Ode to Spanish -- "Mueve, Mueve"

PITT FOOD EXPERIENCE-- Fatheads

Care of Fatheads in Pittsburgh's Southside, this is the "Southside Slopes." That's kielbasa topped with perogies(!), caramelized onions, American cheese and a horsey sauce. At one time, this sandwich was ranked the No. 5 sandwich in America.

It was delicious...just in case you were wondering. Utterly and simply delicious...

I was out at this fine establishment with Joe and Krista. They were in town on their way back from a brief, five-park roller coaster tour during Krista's spring break. The meal also included some different (and tasty) wing varieties for appetizers, and there were some stellar home brews involved as well (also award winners).

This is why I'm not in a hurry to leave Pittsburgh. There's so much to experience here...at least more than I can as a poor college student at the moment.

PS-- there's one of these in Cleveland (N. Olmstead area). Do yourself a favor if you live in the area and go. You won't be let down...

NHL 10 Tourney -- RECAP

As I mentioned in my previous post, Mcfadden's Restuarant and Saloon held a NHL 10 Tourney last night. Seese, Kevin, Brick, Zack and myself headed over to pick up the sticks and try our luck. Here's how it went down...

We got to McFadden's around 6:15pm because the event info said 6:30pm was the beginning to registration and that spots to play were limited and on a first come, first serve basis. It looked like we timed our arrival well with about 25 'teams' in before us but plenty of space remained for the five of us to enter.

Our event coordinator's name was Christmas. I'm not kidding.

Anyway, the bracket gets drawn up, and I take a peek. Zack, Kevin, Seese and Brick are all on one side of the bracket...I'm all by myself on the other. I immediately start bragging to them about seeing one of them in the finals after eliminating an entire bracket's worth of pasty doughboys, then realize that I myself am one of those pasty doughboys.

Zack plays...wins handily. Brick plays...loses handily (he had never played before so I suppose that's understandable). Seese has to play Kevin in the first round...and Kevin's never played ether. That's a win for Seese cloaked in sadness as one of our five drops immediately. 'Dems the breaks, I suppose...

In the meantime I'm just waiting, and I'm pretty nervous at this point. Because Zack and Seese have won (my fellow heavy hitters), I'm feeling the pressure to do people proud. The last time I participated in a videogame tournament I'm pretty sure I was 10-years-old, the game was 'Doom,' and when I lost (taking third place!) I cried. I had a lot to make up for...

Finally, I get to play.

The way the rules work is there's a coin flip to decide which team gets home ice. This is important because the home team "goes up" twice...which is directionally the most familiar to the 'Be A Pro' mode most people play online. I know this seems ridiculous, but it's the difference between flicking the stick up to shoot, or flicking the stick down to shoot. I've played enough games to be fairly comfortable at both, but you still want to go up twice. It's a comfort thing.

Anyway. I lose home ice. Then comes picking teams. Each player gets to hit "random" twice and then pick which team they want out of those two. If you hate both options you can hit "random" once more for a new option, but you are stuck with what you get. For the life of me I can't remember who I was...or who he was. I think Chicago was involved...

I go up 2-0...dude I'm playing eventually ties it...then he goes up 4-2. There's two minutes left in the third period and things are looking bad. But Seese and I play to the whistle (this is why we are in the top 200 in the online league, we own the third period), and I happen to sneak one in quickly to *at least* make it interesting.

With :45 left in the game this dude ANSWERS A PHONE CALL! No joke! As soon as he picks up the phone his friends and crowd around us are like, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" He keeps saying he's fine, he's fine, the game is over-- blah, blah, blah. And he was fine...until :20 left when I scored to force OT. Everyone was on that dude's case immediately. I just took a breath and prepared for OT.

I delivered the win in OT. The dude sulked off, pissed. I secretly laugh and insult his face.

Zack wins his second game. Seese wins his second game. In my second game I draw the Columbus Blue Jackets with my third pick and was stuck with them against New Jersey. Thankfully Rick Nash (and my Ohio pride) delivered a 3-1 victory.

This puts the three of us into the Sweet 16! The field was originally 64 teams.

Zack and Seese win...and are rewarded with having to play each other in the Elite Eight. Sadly I didn't get a ticket punched to join them, losing 3-2 (hit two posts with :25 and :05 left!) to a nice guy who happened to Ovechkin me to death. I'm pretty sure he scored twice from impossible angles with the man...but that's Ovechkin for you.

Seese feels my pain when he plays Zack and gets shut down by Ovie and the Caps too. It's a tough team to beat.

At this point Zack is our horse and looking to get into the title game. Sadly he runs into one of "those guys" who is a bit too douchebag. I'm not saying this because he won...he's good at the game...but the way he carried himself was a bit much. A fist pump after a goal, sure. A fist pump after your fourth goal a period into the game-- that's douchebaggery. I mean it was pretty clear he had Zack's number...and the game was in hand early (I think he "mercied" --winning by five goals-- Zack halfway through the second). I dunno, it's tough to explain but let's just say there were five or six dudes we didn't know standing with Seese and myself, and everyone was making comments about how this must be the kid's proudest moment in his life.

Side note-- this kid was fat. I'm just saying...

Anyway, I made the top 16, Seese made the top eight, and Zack made it into the final four. You have to be happy with that. Sure, we didn't take home the signed Lemieux jersey that was auctioned off, or the $300 cash prize for first, but it was fun. I'm used to playing NHL 10 on X-Box Live where you either don't talk to your opponent or they're obnoxious because they hide behind the cloak of the Internets. Face-to-face was a nice change of pace.

Wow, even I kinda' lost interest in this halfway through typing about it. Really the only story worth telling other than Seese and Zack's success was the first game for me. But hey, you've read to this point...and aren't you glad you did!?

Next post will be more exciting, and 1/4 less nerdy-- I promise.

Back for the...uhh...fifth time?

Hello, all! Yes, you can believe your eyes-- A POST! I took a week off from the swanky blogging lifestyle to relax with family and friends for the Easter holiday. I wish the break was about a month longer, but what can you do?

A new month means a new mess of classes. I'm in Cuisine Across Cultures for my kitchen, a Nutrition class and a Spanish class. There's not much to say about Nutrition and Spanish thus far, so I will jump right into what I'm guessing you're all here for-- THE FOOD!

I've waited for the conclusion of the first week of kitchen before throwing up some pictures and thoughts because we essentially cook a whole mess of dishes in four-day cycles. This means that this whole week has been dedicated to the dishes you see above. It's done this way because it gives everyone a chance to make a variety of dishes, and the chef has been good about throwing in an extra dish here and there to keep it interesting.

I've been directly responsible for the Irish Lamb Stew, Colecannon, Black Pepper Spatzles and the Cream of Chicken and Dumpling Soup. I've also had a hand in other dishes my group has been involved with, including the Medallion of Veal with Fines Herbs, Hungarian Goulash and Chicken Paprikash. We also prepped homemade Perogies...but those are for Monday.

Each of the dishes I've had a hand in have been enjoyable. Who doesn't like soup? Who doesn't like a soup involving chicken and dumplings especially? Adding a considerable amount of pepper to Spatzles is a simple, but delicious twist on an old favorite of mine. And when you see Goulash and Paprikash on the menu...

Well...omNomNomNom...

The Colecannon is my favorite dish thus far though. It has cabbage, potatoes, onions and parsnips with some thyme, butter and parsley involved as well. You layers these, put some salted water over top and simmer, simmer, simmer. Everything breaks down into a mushy, one-identity kinda' state...and it's delicious. Whenever corn beef is on the menu at my house ever again, this will be the side. I'd probably add some carrots in there too for some color, but it's fine with just the ingredients listed above.

Another favorite thus far I haven't had a chance to make is the Rinder Roladen. You take thin slices of beef and wrap them around what is essentially meatloaf. Stick a pickle in the middle of the roll and braise the dish to Tasty Town-- population: You. Our class has been serving it on potato pancakes made from "old" baked potatoes. Mmm...

Speaking of potatoes-- take a red (or new) potato, take a knife and cut it as though you were going to slice it into chips...only don't cut it all the way through. You're essentially making an accordion out of it. Dip those in butter, top with bread crumbs and then roast until cooked. Garnish with more butter and parsley. It's fantastic. Take my word for it...

Be sure to check back for more food as the weeks continue. I won't leave you hanging, promise!

Other news...Seese is in town this weekend. By some crazy coincidence a local establishment is putting on a X-BOX 360, NHL 10 tournament sponsored by the Mario Lemieux Foundation. He (Mike, not Mario sadly) and I, as well as a couple of my other friends here in the 'Burgh, will be out doing our best to take home the $300 first prize tonight (we actually have a decent shot at this...crazy as it sounds-- Seese and I have a team ranked in the top 200 in the world).

Fingers crossed...

Also, check out Shereen's blog about a recent, uncommon surgery she underwent. She's trying to spread information about it and it's an interesting read to say the least...