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Food version of the Sweet 16

Sunday, March 23rd, 2014

Congrats to the Wisconsin Badgers and the other 15 teams that made the NCAA Sweet 16. Let’s replace the basketball players with foods/beverages that are representative of the university, city or state of the team. You’ll now have the following as a bracket:

Florida Key Lime Pie    Arizona Prickly Pear Cactus
UCLA Pink’s Chili Dog San Diego State Fish Taco
  
Dayton Cincinnati Chili    Baylor Brisket
Stanford Google (Synthetic) Burger Wisconsin Babcock Ice Cream
  
Virginia Country Ham    Kentucky Burgoo
Michigan State Cherry Pie Louisville Mint Julep
  
Iowa State Sweet Corn    Tennessee “Meat and Three”
Connecticut Quahog Michigan Blimpy Burger

Based on these food items, I have UCLA over Florida, Dayton over Stanford and UCLA over Dayton in the South bracket; San Diego State over Arizona, Baylor over Wisconsin (sorry!) and Baylor over San Diego State in the West bracket; Virginia over Michigan State, Connecticut over Iowa State and Virginia over Connecticut in the East bracket; and Louisville over Kentucky, Michigan (barely) over Tennessee and Louisville over Michigan in the Midwest bracket. In the Final Four, I have UCLA over Virginia and Baylor over Louisville. In the national championship game, I give the nod to Baylor over UCLA in a tough matchup.

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St. Patrick’s Day checklist

Sunday, March 16th, 2014

Time for a challenge: complete all the stereotypical St. Patrick’s Day tasks below. Have fun and good luck!

  • Watch the St. Patrick’s Day parade on the Capitol Square
  • Eat at least two of the following items at a local restaurant:
    • Corned beef and cabbage
    • Irish soda bread
    • Irish stew
    • Shepherd’s pie
    • Lucky Charms (bonus if you can find them)
  • Consume at least two of the following drinks at a local bar:
    • Green beer
    • Irish car bomb
    • Jameson, 2 Gingers or Red Breast (shot, neat or on-the-rocks)
    • Guinness, Murphy’s or Harp beer
    • McDonald’s Shamrock Shake
  • Have at least one drink before noon (anytime during the week)
  • Take a picture with someone wearing a “Kiss Me, I’m Irish” T-shirt
  • Wear a green St. Patrick’s Day T-shirt with some other funny slogan
  • Participate in an organized walk/run of any length (e.g. Shamrock Shuffle, WJJO .10K Race, etc.)
  • Wear green beads. Bonus if they have a shot glass attached to them.
  • Spot someone dressed as a leprechaun
  • Listen to live bagpipe music. Bonus if the song is something other than “Scotland the Brave”
  • See any other live band
  • Don’t wear a jacket when you go out because it’s March and should be a lot warmer

Consider yourself someone who really gets into the “traditional” St. Patrick’s Day celebration if you can complete at least  75 percent of this list.

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MadTown Shakedown preview

Saturday, January 25th, 2014

I’m looking forward to being a “celebrity” judge for the inaugural MadTown Shakedown, a bartending competition taking place at 7 p.m. Monday, Feb. 24 at HotelRED.

The event is open to the public. Tickets are $10, which includes tasting and judging, and can be purchased at HotelRED. All proceeds go directly to REAP Food Group.

According to a release, the competition will have a format similar to the show “Chopped” in which contestants do not know the ingredients until just before they’re on the clock. The other judges and I will rank the drinks on appearance, aroma, flavor, balance and originality, and ticket-holders will vote for their favorite as well.

The brainchild for MadTown Shakedown came from Bar Consultant and Mixologist Dy Godsey, who approached HotelRED Executive Chef John Bauer about organizing the event together.

“I like to put on cocktail competitions and wanted to do one with an element of surprise for the bartenders, and to do all this for the benefit of a local partner,” Godsey said. “I approached Chef John Bauer about this idea, and he understood it immediately. We started working together to make the MadTown Shakedown happen.”

A reception from 5-7 p.m. precedes the event and includes live music by Patrick Ferguson. Contestants so far hail from Forequarter, Merchant and Nostrano.

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