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That above quote is a claim from Wendy’s about their food.  I’m skeptical of any establishment that offers mustard packets to be perfectly honest.  My conclusion from today’s burger fix:  cooking it yourself is more satisfying, healthier and potentially less expensive if you have some of the ingredients lying around.  It will take about 800% more time than the drive-through though… so unless you are Really looking to procrastinate on your homework, you might reconsider.

Note: I Was really looking to procrastinate on my homework… so not only did I make this, I wrote about it too.

The pepperjack burger:

Ingredients:

• a slice of pepperjack cheese
• black pepper
• onion powder
• Worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 lb. of ground beef
• a couple slices of bacon
• a sesame seed bun

Process:

1. Get your ground beef patty (and bacon slices) cooking on a medium/medium-high heat.
2. Sprinkle on some onion powder, black pepper, and Worcestershire sauce.
3. Throw the slice of cheese on a minute or two before you take the burger out of the pan.
4. Throw it all onto the sesame seed bun.

The pepper fries:

Ingredients:

• 1 large potato cut into 1/4″ rectangular blocks
• 1/2 cup or so of peanut oil, vegetable oil, olive oil, or what have you
• black pepper
• ground red cayenne pepper
• 1/2 cup of flour
• celery salt, salt, garlic salt, or some combination thereof?
• a pinch of paprika
• some beer! (however much you need to make this a paste + however much you need for yourself)

Process:

1. Mix all of the dry ingredients together in a bowl.
2. Pour in enough beer so that when mixed, it becomes a paste.
3. Coat the potato blocks in the mix by putting them in the bowl, covering it, and shaking!
4. Place the potato sticks individually into the hot oil. (you don’t want a large clump together)
5. Cook the fries until they’re golden brown.
6. Remove the fries and dry them in paper towels.

Sam Adams:

Left-to-right: Irish Red, Winter Lager, Cherry Wheat, Summer Ale, Cranberry Lambic, Holiday Porter, Old Fezziwig Ale, Cream Stout, Boston Lager, Octoberfest, Black Lager

I’ve also tried: Light, Hefeweizen, Brown Ale, White Ale, and Pale Ale

Love/Hate: I love the Cherry Wheat, Summer Ale, Octoberfest and Black Lager.  I hate the Cream Stout and the Holiday Porter.

Magic Hat:

Left-to-right: Circus Boy, Odd Notion, Wacko, Howl, #9, Hocus Pocus and Vinyl.

I’ve also tried: Roxy Rolles and Lucky Kat

Love/Hate: I love #9, Circus Boy and Vinyl.  I really disliked Howl and absolutely hate Odd Notion.

Leinenkugel:

Left-to-right: Honey Weiss, 1888 Bock, Oktoberfest, Red Lager, Fireside Nut Brown Ale, Creamy Dark Lager, and Sunset Wheat

I’ve also tried: Summer Shandy, Berry Weiss, and Classic Amber

Love/Hate: I love the Berry Weiss (tastes like juice), Oktoberfest, and the Honey Weiss.  The Fireside Ale was pretty good and unquestionably reminds you of the holidays.  The Sunset Wheat tastes like Fruity Pebbles and is pretty good in small doses.  I like all of them!

Flying Dog:

Left-to-right: In-Heat Wheat Hefeweizen, Snake Dog IPA, Doggie Style Pale Ale, Tire Bite Golden Ale, Road Dog Porter, and Old Scratch Amber Lager

I’ve also tried:  N/A (yet…)

Love/Hate: I love love Love their Hefeweizen. It’s the best one I’ve ever had… by Far.  The Amber Lager is pretty darn good too. I liked all of these a lot except for the porter, which was meh.

Red Hook:

Left-to-right: Longhammer, Extra Special Bitter (ESB)

I’ve also tried:  Copper Hook, Winter Hook, Double Black Stout (with coffee), Blackhook Porter, Blonde

Love/Hate: I’m a pretty huge fan of all of these beers. Especially Copper Hook and the Double Black Stout, although locating either of these outside of New Hampshire has proven damn near impossible. The brewery tour in Portsmouth gives you a nice sampler of several different kinds. I went as many times as I could before I moved. :)

Blue Moon:

Left-to-right: Honey Moon, Blue Moon, Full Moon

I’ve also tried:  Harvest Moon, Rising Moon

Love/Hate: I love Honey Moon, classic Blue Moon and Rising Moon but absolutely detest the Harvest Moon.

Saranac:

Left-to-right: Adirondack Lager, India Pale Ale, Pale Ale, Brown Ale, Black Forest

I’ve also tried:  Black & Tan

Love/Hate: I didn’t love any of these… nor did I hate them. I found them all to be rather uninteresting.

Harpoon:

Left-to-right: Celtic Ale, Cider, IPA, Octoberfest

I’ve also tried:  Ale, UFO Hefeweizen

Love/Hate: Harpoon’s cider is my favorite American cider I’ve tried.  The Celtic Ale was delicious and so was the Octoberfest.  I haven’t disliked any of there beers and will shortly be trying the Leviathan Imperial IPA.

Guinness:

Left-to-right: Guinness Extra Stout, Guinness Draught, Smithwicks, Harp Lager

I’ve also tried: Guinness 250th Anniversary

Love/Hate: I <3 all of these.  I prefer the Extra Stout to the Draught.  Smithwicks is my “go to” for ale at any bar… and Harp is again one of the better lagers I’ve ever tried.

To be continued (as I have time to post them):

** There are a Lot different beers waiting to get posted up here. Below is just a start. Check back later for updates!

1. Yuengling Lager, Black & Tan
2. Becks, Becks Dark
3. Pete’s Wicked Strawberry Blonde, Ale, and Rally Cap Ale
4. Peroni
5. Three Philosophers
6. Mountaineer Lager
7. Cobra
8. Duff
9. The Raven
10. Stone Pale Ale
11. Hop-ocalypse IPA
12. Tap Room #21 Lager
13. American Amber Lager
14. Blithering Idiot
15. Heineken
16. Victory Festbier
17. Penn Dark
18. Landshark Lager
19. Labatt Blue
20. Blackened Voodoo
21. Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale
22. Corona
23. Bass
24. Red Stripe
25. Dos Equis
26. Pabst Blue Ribbon
27. Smuttynose Old Brown Dog Ale
28. Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA
29. Long Trail Ale
30. Shipyard IPA
31. Boddington’s Pub Ale
32. Shock Top
33. Rogue Dead Guy Ale
34. many, Many more…

I find it impossible to summarize Alex in one article… and contrary to his wish that he gets his own mini-series, I’ll do my best and you’ll just have to take it on good faith that this kid kicks some serious tush.. tight tush… which is Alex’s self-appointed nickname.  None of us have ever questioned his choice and would prefer to Not know at this point.

We’ll start with some random facts…

• Alex buys his shirts at Wal-Mart.  (not really, but telling Alex this used to induce a fit of childish rage)
• Alex can snowboard… just at 25% of the speed of someone skiing.
• If you are going to Alex’s house, there is a 90% chance you’ll have pizza.
• There is no faster way to turn a horror movie into a comedy than to invite this kid along.
• Alex is a die-hard fan of the Juggernaut x-men video on YouTube.  Anyone who frequents his company will testify that if you mention the word “mustard”, it’s immediately followed by him yelling, “mustard?! I’m Ketchup motha f—a!”
• Alex can do an uncanny impression of Shaggy from Scooby-doo.
• Spiderman’s “Bonesaw McGraw” is one of Alex’s main role models.
• Alex and I spent an entire afternoon re-watching the same crash-dummy commercial and laughing until we both had headaches.
• He is making all of his future children wear shirts that say, “I have the greatest dad”. Every day.
• Inspired by children at amusement parks, Alex and I have perfected something we call “Scream Crying,” where what appears to be mournful sobbing quickly turns into a tantrum quality scream and back again.
• One afternoon we tracked down beyblades (a battle of top-like toys).  Alex chose his toy, named it “wolfy-boy” and brought a level of enthusiasm typical of a die-hard fan at the super bowl.
• Alex and I used to play heated battles of Yugioh in his basement and scream out slogans from the show as if our lives literally Did depend on the outcome of the match… yea, “used to.”
• Alex and I are currently planning on becoming roommates after I finish graduate school and either heading to California or New York to achieve stardom.
• There is a waiting list to be our neighbors.

Comedy (haha):

I met Alex Tercero in my homeroom class in 7^th grade because we both owned the same blue fleece sweatshirt and thus secretly hated each other.  We didn’t become friends until 9^th grade when we had Spanish together and started getting laughs by using comical Spanish names with over-dramatized phrases like, “Yo te veo… Pepe!”.    We also worked together on short educational  stick-figure sketches in English to serve as visual definitions and memory keys.

Alex and I are famous for our revolutionary type of humor I’d like to call “Implausible Comedy”.  This consists of a hypothetical and often absurd situation that is a framework for endless comedic elaboration. Some examples include: The many deaths of Alex Tercero (a children’s book), sadistic parenting, unconventional prison tours, friendly but over-zealous waiters with pepper, making your wedding unforgettable for the wrong reasons, rage-aholic ex-bosses, and countless more.

Once we constructed a list of funny complaints on a sheet of paper so that we could read them back to mimic what little kids sounded like at amusement parks.  Unfortunately we left this lying around and my mom found what she thought was serious cause for parental concern.

We’re bi-lingual. English… and Simpsons:

I have only met one person in the world with knowledge of the Simpson’s on par with my own… Alex.  Between us it isn’t a pastime, it’s a way of life, a language, a means to express ourselves, and a tool for explaining the world around us.  So when I get woken up from text at 2:30 am that says, “Que malo, once again I must sugar my own churro.” (Milhouse) I know Alex is probably sitting alone in his apartment and could use a laugh.  Without this outlet, I think we’d both go crazy from all of the people around us not understanding our references.  We also know the lyrics to many of the songs from that show and can trade off lyrics fluently.

He be rockin’ them beats:

He is an aspiring musician.  You can catch him rocking out on his electric guitar or wailing away on the drums.  More importantly, he can play both of these instruments in the video-game world of rock band just as well.

Alex, or Dr. Lex in the rap world, has released 3 rap songs including, “best rap ever”, “pank in the sank”, and “what’s wrong wit them hoes”.  These tracks feature original beats, catchy choruses, and even a segment featuring Alex free-styling about a bar fight and an auto-tune section in likeness to T-Pain. Obviously these songs were released as a joke… but you’d be surprised how rap-like they actually sound.  He has also released a few electronic songs on myspace under the name, StarDeathNebula, quoting influences like Ratatat and Horse.

Directed, Written, and Starring…:

He’s also a filmmaker! We produced our  first video in 10th grade on the topic of “Sparkling Glacier Springtime Water”, an envisioned water beverage that promised the world and delivered murky gasoline-flavored refreshment.  Only one copy of this video exists and it will be worth millions when Alex is famous.  Our water commercial had a commercial drug-styled disclaimer at the end that warned viewers of potential side effects including, “…heartburn, sneezing, and pregnancy”.  This commercial also featured a cat meowing at random intervals. Alex has since pursued a degree in Media and Film at Towson University and released several videos.  His latest work, “Cool-enomics 101: How to be cool” is nothing short of a masterpiece.

Ohhh memories:

Alex and I were in Marching Band together in high school.  One of the best memories of my life is a 24 hour bus trip from Maryland to Disneyland in Florida. Alex, Tasha Tully, Rachel Bartlett and I stayed awake the entire trip.  Among the highlights are word for word recitations of John Basedow’s infomercial for “Better Body Basics”, an unforgettable game of “what would you do for a million dollars” where Alex practically volunteered to kiss a toilet seat without compensation, and the blowing of a whoopee cushion in Sam Vannoy’s face while he was sleeping. Disney was also the site of a near panic attack in the Mission Space ride as Alex pleaded with us to stop pressing buttons because it would somehow dislodge the ride from its virtual course.

I visited Ireland for a week this past August because Alex’s 21^st birthday was coming up and he was doing a study abroad in Dublin.  We enjoyed a pint at the top of the Guinness Brewery, took warm shots of Jameson at the distillery, visited Kilmainham Gaol prison, and arm wrestled an Irishman (or in Alex’s case, a woman), choked on hot peppers in a gallon sized bowl of Ramen at an authentic Japanese restaurant, and rocked out to a 90’s power hour with Duff Beer.  This entire week holds a spot in my life’s top 10.

Alex posing as a prison warden at Kilmainham

“Rapping” it all up:

As a person, Alex is hands down one of the most genuinely nice guys anyone could ever hope to meet.  He’s got a killer sense of humor, a terrific work ethic, unbounded creativity and yep… he works out too.  He’s also the only other guy I know that shares my chivalrous classical viewpoint of romance.  So sorry ladies… those pants are staying on.  Alex has Never failed to cheer me up when I needed it and unless you start talking about his Wal-Mart t-shirts… he is the Last person you’d ever get in an argument with.  So, ladies and gents… the bottom line… international man of comedy, most likely to get famous on the internet, most eligible bachelor, and best person to be stuck on in handcuffs with… I give you, Alex “tight-tush” Tercero.

Anyone wishing to be added to my list should unquestionably notify me. In no particular order…

1. Bill Rosen “American BG”
2. Alex “Tight-Tush” Tercero
3. Stephen Kolacz III “Steve-O”
4. Garrett Partridge “Garebear”
5. Tim April “Timbo”
6. Sam Vannoy “Gramma”
7. Jackie Taylor “Bosco”
8. Jason Brandt “Putty”

The "winner's circle" at beerpong

If you’re playing a drinking game… there is one person you want on your team… and that’s Bill Rosen.  I have had the honor many a time to share an end of a beer-pong table with Bill and it usually results in a streak long enough that we run out of willing opponents and we have to split our team up.  At foosball? We’re undefeated.  Once we were challenged by 2 strangers at a bar and somehow got ourselves down 2-7.  We won 10-9 and the two gentlemen promptly went away to lick their wounds.  I’d like to take credit for this… but my foosball skills are a joke compared to Bill.  Any 1v1 match would illustrate it as such.

Musically?  If there’s a more rockin’ rendition of Norman Greenbaum’s Spirit in the Sky, I’d like to hear it.   I might go so far as to make that song an Exclusive Bill Rosen track on Rock Band.  For you Bill trivia fans, his rock band character currently rocks a white t-shirt and monstrous afro.

How many people can you name that have stripped at a Christmas party?  …by popular demand?  Bill has.  Following another beer pong victory, the opposing team and some onlookers cranked up some dance music and cheered on Bill as he proceed to remove his shirt and swing it wildly above his head.

Bradley

As for Bill’s family… well, it turns out the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree at the Rosen household.  I can’t remember a visit to Bill’s house that didn’t result in delicious baked treats or something being barbecued.  He is the oldest of 4 children, and his next youngest brother is worthy of a page on this blog by himself.  Bradley Rosen is nothing short of an entertainer.  But it doesn’t stop there.  While visiting for a football game, Bill’s dad decided to partake in a not-so-friendly game of beer pong against Bill and I.  After getting annihilated 3 or 4 times in a row, Mr. Rosen proceeded to carve his name in the table as “Big Daddy”.  Well played, sir.  Well played.

Speaking of football games… if you look up “team spirit” in the dictionary, you’ll see a picture of Bill… drunk off his ass and screaming.  WVU football wouldn’t be the same without him.  I have a quote here that captures the experience in a nutshell.  (On the topic of me being sober at the football game) “You didn’t win this one… you’re GONNA win the next one!”  That’s classic Bill.  The only stipulation here is if anything related to Penn State is involved.  Then Bill transforms into a creature of rage and hatred.  Be it football player, cheerleader, or trumpet player in the school band… he will boo them until his voice gives out.

He’s a man of the outdoors.  Not many people love camping on the river like Bill does.  And when it comes to building and maintaining campfires, there’s no one I’d sooner trust than… oh wait… right… the kerosene accident.

In high school we had a gang of sorts.  Four white socially awkward guys that enjoyed rap music.  During a trip to the movies we found ourselves stopped at a red light next to some other cars.  Bill rolled down all of the windows and cranked the stereo.  Thug life!

Our gang

Some of the best memories I have from my years in Maryland are sledding down a monster hill on the golf course near Bill’s house.  Alex Tercero, Bill and I would gear up and spend the whole day sledding.  A typical sled run would involve Bill screaming, “For Gondor!!!”, a mid hill collision, and Alex getting dragged behind and under our sleds until we reached a stop.

Plus let’s look at the facts.  Bill was captain of the varsity soccer team in High School, remains an avid skiier, will be graduating with a dual major in Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering next fall, and is holding solid with his awesome girlfriend Tanya of many years. Impressed yet? I am.

So I leave you with this.  A picture of Bill voluntarily, enthusiastically, and successfully stuffing himself into a dryer.  Here’s to you, sir! And I don’t think anyone is as excited as I am for us to be roommates next fall.

"Quick! Shut the door!" - Bill Rosen

]]> http://unovita.wordpress.com/2010/02/19/jesses-people-edition-1-bill-rosen/feed/ 1 JT flag heart bradley us the_gang dryer http://unovita.wordpress.com/2010/02/19/shepherds-pie-lets-get-biblical/ http://unovita.wordpress.com/2010/02/19/shepherds-pie-lets-get-biblical/#comments Fri, 19 Feb 2010 17:54:45 +0000 Jesse Taylor http://unovita.wordpress.com/?p=265 ]]> This is easily a top 10 food for me.  I’m a firm believer that if your ingredients are good… you can combine them in virtually any fashion and the resulting amalgam will be delicious.  There could be no clearer example than Shepherd’s pie. Vegetables, mashed potatoes, and seasoned hamburger meat.  What’s not to like?

I first tried this recipe during a cooking date with Miss Tully, one of my friend’s mom.  That’s right. This is one of those things that only I can pull off and have it not be awkward.  I tried it again last semester by myself and it was equally as amazing…. although without the witty company.

This is one of those recipes that doesn’t really have a recipe.  You just play it by ear.  (this expression really has No bearing in the kitchen) The core ingredients are as follows:

• ground beef (seasoned)
• mashed potatoes
• mixed vegetables
• gravy

If you’re the type that needs to be spoon-fed every minute detail, I’ll break it down for you below.  A few quick comments before I jump into the recipe:

• If you’ve got Pyrex glassware, now’s the time to use it.  When it’s done cooking, just put the lid on it, and throw it in the fridge.  No cleanup required. Check… mate.
• This food reheats Really well, but the mashed potatoes can start getting hard after a few days.  I’ve found that mixing them up with a fork quickly before reheating helps a lot.
• Use fresh vegetables, people… That frozen nonsense is embarrassing to our entire civilization.
• Any time you’re using vegetables like this, if you want to preserve the full flavor, try dropping them into a pot of boiling water for a few seconds and then rinsing them.  Trust me.

Ingredients:

• 1-1.5 lbs. of ground beef
• 1 small onion (diced)
• 1-3 cups of vegetables (carrots, green beans, peas, and corn are your best bets)
• 3-4 large potatoes
• 1 stick of butter
• Salt, pepper, and whatever else you want to season your meat with.
• 1-2 tsp. of Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 cup of chicken broth (or gravy, or beef broth, or whatever you find…)

Process:

The potatoes:

1. Peel and quarter the potatoes and add the to a pot with enough water to cover them. Add a pinch of salt to the water.
2. Bring the potatoes to a boil and then reduce the heat and simmer until you can jam a fork through one with ease.
3. Drain the potatoes, and mash them with butter and milk, adding as much milk as you want to achieve your desired consistency.

The other stuff (I know, my titles are pure Genius):

1. Saute the vegetables in butter (or olive oil for your health-conscious folks) using a medium heat setting.  You’ll want to do the onions/carrots first and hold the green beans, peas and corn until a little later due to the differences in cooking times.
2. Cook the ground beef until it has browned thoroughly and add the Worcestershire sauce, any seasonings (salt, pepper, etc.) and broth.
3. Add the vegetables to the ground beef (or vice versa) and turn the heat down to a low setting and cook for another 5-10 minutes.

Putting it all together:

1. In your baking dish, place the ground beef & vegetable mixture at the bottom and place the mashed potatoes evenly on top.
2. Use a fork to make rows (grooves) in the top of the mashed potatoes.  This will make the peaks turn brown and make you look like a Pro in front of all of your friends.  Maybe you don’t need browned mashed potato peaks to impress your friends… well I do.
3. Cook at 400 degrees or so until you start seeing the mashed potatoes starting to turn brown. This will take around 25-30 minutes.
4. Serve while it’s hot.   It tastes decent when reheated, but when the mashed potatoes are freshly baked? We’re talking mucho delicioso.

CAT 5E Cable

One day during my undergraduate at UNH, my buddy Garrett came to school only to realize he had forgotten to wear a belt.  Anyone having experienced this themselves knows how it can easily ruin your day.  Well Garrett was determined not to let the circumstances drag him down (at least not his pants).  Spying an Ethernet cable in our student lounge, he unplugged it from the computer and wrapped it around his pants.  So the rest of the day, Garrett is walking around by himself (because I wouldn’t be caught next to him) wearing a bright yellow cable wrapped around his mid-section.  This story only gets better when we had an evening study session in the library and he needed to connect his laptop to the school network.  Yes… he did.  He removed his belt, plugged it into the laptop and began browsing the web.

Naturally, Garrett and I were fantastic friends.  And hey, who knows?  Maybe fashionable networking media will be the next big hollywood fad.  I wouldn’t bet on it, but you never know!

Garrett purchased this outfit to match the the hallway in Kingsbury. That's dedication.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of finely chopped onion
• 1 celery rib, chopped fine
• 1 Tbsp minced garlic
• 1 carrot, chopped fine
• 1/2 cup of finely chopped scallions (can substitute onion)
• 2 Tbsp unsalted butter
• 2 teaspoon salt (use 1 1/2 teaspoons if using Italian sausage)
• 1 1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
• 2 tsp Worscestershire sauce
• 2/3 cup ketchup
• 1 1/2 pounds of ground chuck
• 3/4 pound of spicy ground pork sausage or Italian sausage (a mix of sweet and hot if you are using links)
• 1 cup fresh bread crumbs
• 2 large eggs, beaten slightly
• 1/3 cup minced fresh parsley leaves

Process:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a large heavy skillet cook the onion, celery, carrot, garlic, and scallions in butter, over medium heat, stirring, for about 5 minutes. Cover the skillet and stir occassionally until the carrots are tender, about 5 more minutes. Stir in salt and pepper, Worcestershire sauce, and 1/3 a cup of ketchup. Cook for 1 more minute.
3. In a large bowl, combine the meats, eggs, vegetables, bread crumbs, and parsley. Form into a loaf and put into a rectangular baking pan with 2-inch high sides. Cover the loaf with remaining ketchup.
4. Bake the meatloaf in the oven for 1 hour.

Maybe it was the package of Andes mints in my freezer taunting me every time I went to get ice… or possibly that I haven’t baked anything in 3 days… I don’t know.  But when I got home today the Only thing on my to-do list was to bake these cookies.  I’ve never actually tried my hand at this recipe and it proved quite straightforward.

The only downside (if there is one) is waiting around for a couple hours while the dough chills.  This is a necessary step, however, because dealing with sticky dough is no fun for Anyone.  Your patience will pay off though.. in cookies! They taste absolutely Godly when warm out of the oven.. and still taste great after they’ve cooled.  This recipe makes about 3 dozen… so bring ‘em to work and make some friends! …or have a girl named Cari come over and eat all of them (see picture) :P

Ingredients:

• 3 cups flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 cup butter (2 sticks)
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 tbsp. water
• 1 package of mint wafers (Andes)
• 1 tsp. vanilla

Process:

1. Sift together the flour, salt and baking soda.
2. Cream the butter into the sugar
3. Blend in eggs, water, and vanilla into the butter/sugar mixture.
4. Gradually mix in the dry ingredients.
5. Cover the dough and refrigerate for a couple of hours.
6. Enclose half of a mint wafer in 1 tbsp. of dough.
7. Place the dough on a cookie sheet
8. Bake 10-12 min at 375 degrees or until edges begin to turn brown.