Mood:  lazy
Now Playing: Bob Mould - First Drag of the Day
Topic: Tailgating at Home

Monday Night Football has come and gone again, but not without certain culinary highlights worth mentioning to you in this space. After the big steak blowout last Monday night, this Monday was about a return to simplicity, and as such, was originally scheduled to be a return to hot dogs and chips. Now while hot dogs and chips are certainly a fitting football meal, and one that we enjoy several Monday nights a year, it wasn't all that I hoped for on this particular evening. Now what, you might ask, could be better than for an evening of football than hot dogs? Certainly a legitimate question, for the hot dog has become the quintessential sports food (except for maybe nachos, but I digress).

Bratwurst was just the thing. A variety of brats, that is. A trip to Moody's (our local butcher shop) by the wife (good work, honey) netted us eighteen of the finest brats available in our surf side hamlet, in four varieties, no less. The varieties were represented as follows: Three "Awesome" brats, five German style brats, five pork brats, and five jalapeno and cheese brats. I can say without fear of contradiction that although favorites may vary, all of the varieties are of high quality and excellent flavor, but I would have expected nothing less from Moody's Quality Meats. Taste was really all on Moody's, because the preparation and cooking of the brats was about as simple and basic as it gets: Take brats out of package; throw brats on George Foreman grill until nice and cooked. That's all there was to it, and it worked like a charm. Of course, since I had not previously used the grill to cook brats, I had to test it on the three "Awesome" brats before everyone else got there. They were great and I'm sure everyone else would have liked them had they the opportunity to sample them. There are benefits to being the host.

Now, I know the following is probably blasphemy in some brat lovers circles, but we will tolerate no food snobbery here. The brats went on hot dog buns. It's true. No scratch made brat buns to make up for the impossible to find commercial variety available almost exclusively in Wisconsin. Just good, old-fashioned hot dog buns. In all honesty, it is obvious when eating a brat in a hot dog bun that the hot dog bun is not really up to the task of providing for a brat and it's condiments, but any port in a storm really is the adage for the moment. Perhaps next time a submarine bun would be a good substitute. We shall see before the season is out, I'm sure because the brats were good enough that I'm sure they will make a return trip to my kitchen.

Mood:  lazy
Now Playing: Gas Giants - You're Absolutely
Topic: The Nightlife, Baby.

Well, after dinner on Wednesday, it was time to head out into the night and see what I might find, or at least go out and shoot pool with the guys while staying out of trouble with the wife. I can hear your laughter right now, but in all earnestness, the wife is a good sport and Wednesday has long been pool night.

Now while not specifically dealing with food, pool night definitely deals with beer, which as everyone knows is really an unrecognized food group anyway. Pool night consists of heading out of the house and down the road to a pool hall called Theo's. Now, there are a couple of nice things about Theo's: firstly, they have free pool on Wednesday night, and that's always a good thing, and secondly, the waitresses are attractive (you know they are, beautiful wife, but never as attractive as you), easy going, and quick to bring you an ice cold beer. Let's face it, there isn't much else that you can ask for from a waitress.

More to the food tie in, my beer of choice while on my diet (at least when I am pretending to adhere to the diet) is Budweiser Select. At ninety-nine calories it's hard to beat, and it has some flavor which is a nice change from some other light beers I could name here, but won't. Ok, you talked me into it, Miller Light, Bud Light, etc. Anyway, I had three Bud Selects with my pool, and a good time was had by all. I also managed to win quite a bit, which always adds to the good time.

Mood:  lazy
Now Playing: Counting Crows - Holiday in Spain
Topic: The Restaurant Review

There has certainly been a change in the tastes of the average American diner over the past fifteen or so years (maybe a little further back if you live on one of the coasts) and to meet the new tastes, new restaurants have risen forth. In this particular area, several Thai restaurants have opened over the past five years, which has been just a delight for me as Thai food is one of my favorites. Now, my favorite place to have a nice Thai meal used to be Mon's, but they have since packed up and moved off to San Antonio. A major disappointment, to be sure, but into every life a little rain must fall. Speaking of favorites, the whole point of this post in the first place was to talk about my lunch on Monday, or more specifically the restaurant that I got that lunch at on Monday, Thai Spice.

Now, Thai Spice opened up originally in a building that had housed one of the local favorites (Vietnam) before they moved downtown, so the location wasn't bad. Even such, it was a while after they opened that my brother (younger than I) and myself first discovered the delicious joys that were contained inside this new Thai place. Of course, like the good sons we are, we immediately spread the news of our discovery to my mother and grandmother, who then proceeded to make Thai Spice their near daily luncheon place. Not that I can blame them. Shortly there after, Thai Spice follow the example of their predecessor and moved downtown as well, and in an incredible twist of fate, right across the street from the building I work in. Not a bad move at all, if I do say so as an obvious beneficiary.

So, taking advantage of my luck, I ventured forth to meat the women of my family (the wife, mother and grandmother) for lunch at Thai Spice on Monday. Lunch was, as always, wonderful. I had the Chicken with Lemon grass (highly recommended). The meal started with a cup of spicy vegetable soup with a side of fried wantons (or their wrapper to be more presice), followed by an order of freshly made chicken spring rolls. Even though the lunch special always comes with a little appetizer (spring roll, pan fried pot sticker, etc.) I always like to get an order of fresh spring rolls. They are excellent, no matter what the wife says. The lunch special included a spring roll, jasmine rice, and fresh fruit for desert. Everything was fantastic, and, as usual, my eyes were bigger than my stomach and I ended up taking two spring rolls home.

Overall, I couldn't have asked for a better lunch experience, and it has always been that way each time I have been there. The food is excellent, and the people are nice. There isn't much else that one can expect or want for that matter. Try it yourself, if you find yourself in Corpus Christi.

Avast Ye Scurvey Dogs, It Be Time For Lunch
Mood:  lazy
Now Playing: Counting Crows - Hard Candy
Topic: The Midday Meal

Due to the whole "weight loss" thing, I usually try to keep my midday calories to a minimum. Sure this usually means sacrificing taste, but most creamy pasta dishes aren't on the diet plan, as might be expected. Either way, my usual fair for lunch tends to be a pair of frozen dinners from the "low calorie" selections available at my local grocer, probably much the same as the selection available at your local grocer. Recently, my discovery of Lean Cuisine Spa Cuisine Classics has changed my view greatly of what frozen "diet" meals can be, especially the Lemon grass Chicken meal. Sure they aren't the greatest gourmet meals of all time, but they are a damn sight better than most.

Now that I've gotten that bit of something out of the way, the whole point of this is I didn't actually eat any frozen meals for lunch on Tuesday. Instead, it was leftover burgers (see the post on Monday night's meal) and some of my favorite french fried potatoes from Wing Stop. Can't forget the ice cold Dr. Pepper to wash all the naughty indulgence foods down, that would be a crime in itself. Ah, the joys of a bit of leftovers with a bit of something fresh and new, it can make the whole day just a little bit better, and that's really what food is about anyway, making the whole day, and life for that matter, just a little bit better.

Monday Night Mania
Mood:  lazy
Now Playing: The Sex Pistols - Revolution in the Classroom

Ah, the first Monday night of football season brings out the urge to cook in the heart of many a man and woman, the urge to eat a staggering amount of food that is dubious for one's health at the very least. I am one of those people, and as last night was indeed the first Monday night game of the season, it was time to have enough burgers to choke a camel. Now football fans might be quick to point out the the boys of Monday night officially kicked off the season last Thursday night with the official season opener in New England, but I would be quick to point out to those folks that while they may have a valid point, Thursday is still not Monday and as such, doesn't count.

Now, the confession: Because of time constraints between work and kickoff, I had to take the lazy way out (well, had to or not, that's exactly what I did, but who doesn't like a good excuse?) Anyway, the hows and whys be damned, I made a quick stop at my local H.E.B. (I would say my grocer of choice, but in fact it is my grocer of convenience. I prefer Sun Harvest) and acquired the items that would be needed: pre-formed and fabricated hamburger patties (eight steak flavored patties, eight jalapeno and cheese flavored patties shaped like Texas, and eight chipolte and cheese patties), hamburger buns, some nice colby jack cheese from the deli sliced on number 2 (I feel that number 2 is the perfect thickness for hamburgers, not too thick to melt gently over the patty, but not too thin to require two slices of cheese), and some nice, ripe, red tomatos. Oh, and a cold Dr. Pepper for the drive home. Shopping is hard work, you know.

Now, under more leisurely circumstances, I prefer to use the grill to make burgers, but by the time I had returned from the store, it was already seven and that left me only a single hour before the kickoff at eight. Not a lot of time at all, considering the staggering amount of work to be done. Ok, not really. It isn't like making burgers is the most time intensive thing in the world, so I won't pretent it is here, but grilling, as anyone knows, takes time, and really, pre-fashioned burgers aren't worth it. One day, we will speak of homemade burgers on these pages, and discuss the joys of grilling said bugers, but this is not that day. So out comes the giant, non-stick skillet of my choice (Having a mother that does Pampered Chef comes in handy sometimes) and in go the burgers.

Now pre-formed burgers don't take any skill at all to cook, just basically a timer. Ten minutes on one side, flip, five minutes more on the other, and they are all done and ready to go. Unfortunely, I couldn't fit all twenty four patties in the frying pan at once, so it did take about an hour and a half to finish them all. That did give me plenty of time to slice up the onion (purple, of course), the aforementioned tomatoes, and to set out the various other odds and ends (spicy brown mustard, yellow mustard, mayonaise, ketchup, etc.). The wife pitched in as well, washing off the leafy green lettuce we had purchased a few days earlier, and drying off each individual leaf with love, and a paper towel. Luckily, my friends are always fashionably late, or just plain late, depending on how you look at it.

All in all, everything turned out as well as it could, considering some of the shortcuts I took, but that's the way life is sometimes. We just don't have all the time we would like to do everything we would like. So I have a ton of food ready, at least enough for the ten or so people that said they were going to show up. Not a large celebration, but football with the guys. Then the cancellations start, at least those that bothered to call and cancel. Not a big deal though, there are always a certain amount of people that cancel out on any given gathering. At the final tally, there were five or so people that showed, and a good time was had by all. The only downside is that I may be eating burgers for dinner for another day or three. Such is life.

Mood:  lazy
Now Playing: Opeth - Ending Credits

Last night ended up being the wife's night to cook. Unfortunately there aren't any pictures of the proceedings since the batteries for the camera aren't recharged yet (I'm sure this is a devastating development for all of you) but there is a post or two.

The circumstances that let to the wife being in charge of the kitchen last night are fairly straight forward. During our ride home from work (the wife and I carpool), I received a call from my good friend and workout partner. He was leaving work early, thus our workout was pushed forward from it's usual seven-thirty, eight time period. Thus a pre-workout snack was in order, but what to have? Probably should have been a protein shake or nutritional item, so the wife and I settled on fries from Wing Stop. Wing Stop, for those of you not in the know, is a place that serves buffalo style wings in a variety of flavors, but the best thing on the menu is the fries. I need to set out on an experiment that will result in at least getting close to matching their seasoning at the house so I can stop giving them so much of my money.

So, we get to the house, fries in hand, and I can't wait to eat them. Ah, the pure goodness of well made fries, not helping my diet to be sure, but certainly well worth the extra pounds. By the time I finish making a pig out of myself with the fries, it's time to hit the gym and make up for my culinary indiscretion, so off I go to workout, leaving the poor wife alone in the kitchen. Luckily, for me, I have a good wife. Does she sit around watching the TV and wait for me to return? No. She dives right in to the kitchen and begins to cook.

When I return home, it is to find the house full of the fantastic smells of frying bacony goodness. B.L.Ts are on the menu and this makes me happy, very happy. Not only did she cook up the bacon, but she also sliced up the ripe, red tomatoes and provided a bowl full of crisp, green lettuce that we had picked up for just such an occasion. She had even waited for me to come home before she started eating. Probably a good thing, because everything was so good that if she had started before me, there may not have been anything left by the time I made it home (just kidding love). :) Anyway, we quickly made up some sandwiches. I had three. Nothing quite like a pure B.L.T., just bacon, lettuce, tomato, and a small amount of mayo. A satisfying meal.

The Big Introduction
Mood:  lazy
Now Playing: Opeth - Windowpane
Welcome to the Everyday Home Chef. Really, this is more of a space for me as I go through the trials and tribulations of weight loss and changing eating habits, but it's also for any of you that are interested in broadening your culinary horizons while cooking at home and keeping a more healthy outlook on food and eating. This is not to say that there will be nothing but "healthy" stuff here. I don't adhere strictly to a healthy diet, just like many of you, and thus the "everyday" label. I'm just an everyday guy, trying to make it through each day the best I can, and still trying to find time to keep my wife and future baby well fed.

So, now that we have jumped through the hoops of confusing and pointless introduction, what is it that will actually be found here? Well, the answer to that is fairly simple and straight forward: anything interesting about food that I find and want to share, recipes that I use, pictures of me actually preparing said recipes, and any other tidbits I can think of or feel like sharing that have to do with food or eating. Also, it can be a place for discussions about food, sharing recipes, or any other food related activites that you, the reader, would like to share in. Have a nice time, and eat well.