Saturday, October 31, 2009

Rainy Saturday

I did grill bacon cheese burgers last week. However, I never got the pictures posted. With another busy travel the week was gone before I knew it. Today we have picture scheduled for the kids. We have not finalized plans for trick-or-treating but have several different ideas. The weather will dictate which one we choose.

There are a couple of good games today. I probably will not to get to watch much but it should be a good day with family.

Ole Miss @ Auburn. Should be the second best game today. Auburn, after losing three straight, really needs a win. They won't get it this week. Ole Miss looks good after their big win against Arkansas. Ole Miss 24- Auburn 13.

Georgia @ Florida. The heat increases on Richt after this week. Florida has had two weeks with close wins but look for them to win by a comfortable margin today. Florida 31- Georgia 17.

Eastern Michigan @ Arkansas. Eastern Michigan has not won a game. Arkansas will let lots of players get on the field for homecoming. Arkansas 48- E. Michigan 0.

Mississippi State @ Kentucky. The two schools I attended square off. Both teams are 1-3 in conference. Kentucky needs two more wins to become bowl-eligible. However, UK's rush defense is poor. Look for the bulldogs to run all day. Mississippi State 26- UK 14.

Georgia Tech @ Vanderbilt. Georgia Tech has shown they are a legitimate team. Vanderbilt has four straight losses which they scored 10 points or less. Don't look for them to score 10 this week either. Georgia Tech 34- Vanderbilt 9.

South Carolina @ Tennessee. Tennessee played great last week and should have beat #2 Alabama. If South Carolina wants to be more than a second-tier team in the eastern division they need to win this game. South Carolina 24- Tennessee 20.

Tulane @ LSU. Tulane is win less in Conference USA. LSU knows that if they can win-out they will play in the SEC Championship game and possibly the BCS national championship. LSU 34-Tulane 3.

My picks last week were excellent. Two really tough games this week. Auburn/Ole Miss and South Carolina/Tennessee. Probably won't grill tonight but do have a couple of experiences from last week to post.

Friday, October 23, 2009

Weekend Fun

Tomorrow morning we are headed to a local pumpkin patch to have fun and pick our pumpkin for the year. We are going early so we will certainly be back in time to watch the bulldogs and fire up the grill. With family visiting from out of town we might try to do something nice. Check back later this weekend to see what we cooked.

My football picks last weekend were fairly good but doubt that I can do it again this week.

Arkansas @ Ole Miss. The first game of the day and a hard one to pick. Both teams have shown themselves to be good teams. Which Snead will show up? Will Arkansas rebound from last weeks tough game with Florida. Think Arkansas leaves Oxford with another close loss. Ole Miss 24 Arkansas 17.

Tennessee @ Alabama. Tennessee had a big win two weeks ago against Georgia. Lane Kiffin has shown that his team can play strong defense. I think that this could be a low scoring game but Alabama win. Alabama 23 Tennessee 13.

Vanderbilt @ South Carolina. Hard to believe Vandy was in a bowl game last year. South Carolina 34 Vandy 6.

LA Monroe @ Kentucky. As Kentucky looks at their remaining games they will probably be favored in four of their six games including tomorrows game. The LA Monroe Warhawks are actually a good Sun Belt team...however, a bad SEC team usually wins against a Sun Belt team. This game is going to be closer than UK would like. Kentucky 31 LA-Monroe 26.

Auburn @ LSU. Is Chris Todd hurt? Sure looks like it. Auburn, after starting 5-0, now just wants to get that 6th win to be bowl eligible. LSU does not have the offense to blow out any team. Auburn does not have the offense to hang with LSU. LSU 20 Auburn 14.

Florida @ Mississippi State. Hard to believe that Florida has lost their last four trips to Stakville. Spurrier had to move to South Carolina to get a win in Davis-Wade Stadium. The line on this is way to large at 22. Mississippi State, other than the loss to Auburn, has played their nationally ranked opponents close. Florida is ranked #1 for a reason and will leave Starkville with a win. Florida 38 Mississippi State 28.

Monday, October 19, 2009

Pizza Burgers




In an effort to try a variety of flavors in hamburgers I recently grilled "pizza burgers". In the burgers I added Italian bread crumbs. I also added a little oregano, salt, and pepper. When the burgers were on the grill I added some tomato sauce. Finally, when the burgers were almost finished I added some shredded mozzarella cheese.
On the side, I grilled diced mushrooms and onions. These were cooked in an open foil pack on the grill with a little extra virgin olive oil and salt.
I thought the burgers were excellent but my wife thought we should have bought a better cheese. I can't wait to prepare these again!

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Football Saturday

Alright, I neglected to post my picks. Last night I grilled a great "pizza burger" and hope to have pictures and recipes posted tomorrow.

Though two games are at the half, neither are surprises.

Georgia @ Vandy. My wifes Commodores are not even an average team when you take away an excellent QB. Chris Smith may develop into a solid QB but until then, Vandy will continue to stink. Georgia might be playing for Richt's job. If he goes 6-6 this season then he may be shown the door. Georgia 31 Vandy 17

Mississippi State @ MTSU. MTSU is favored. They shouldn't be. They may have upset a poor Maryland team but State will be too strong for them. If Mississippi State can avoid turning the ball over they win big. Turnovers might make the game close. Miss State 38- MTSU 21

Arkansas @ Florida. With another week of healing from his concussion Teabow comes back sharp and Florida wins big. Arkansas may score some points but it won't be enough. Florida 29-Arkansas 9.

UAB @ Ole Miss. UAB is not a good team. Ole Miss is much better. Even if Snead has the same type of game he had last week against Alabama, Ole Miss still wins. Ole Miss 31- UAB 0.

Kentucky @ Auburn. Though my track record of picking games is poor this appears to be one of the more challenging games to pick this week. Kentucky probably can't win at Auburn. Auburn has a better team and should win. Auburn 26 Kentucky 24.

South Carolina @ Alabama. Alabama jumps to #2 in the national rankings this week. A solid South Carolina team comes to town. USC has only lost once, to Georgia in Athens, and should play a close game with Alabama. South Carolina will probably leave Tuscaloosa with a second close loss. Alabama 31-USC 27.

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Grilled Rib Eye

I grilled some rib eye steaks on Friday night. The recipe came from all recipes.com

Ingredients

1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup sliced green onions
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon pepper

The steaks were very flavorful. Maybe too flavorful. I marinaded them for about four hours and am glad I did not soak them longer. Don't misunderstand, they were very good but I would probably not cook them again.

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Saturday football

Lot of good games on at 11:00 this morning. However, we are going to have a picnic. Anyway, onto my fearless predictions.

Auburn at Arkansas. Auburn jumped to #17 this week. Arkansas should give them a good challenge at home. Is Auburn truly one of the top teams in the country. They will have a real test this week. Arkansas 27 Auburn 21.

Vanderbilt at Army. Vanderbilt goes on the road to a place they should win. Vandy 29 Army 9.

Georgia at Tennessee. Will Tennessee lose for the second week in a row at home? What team will show up for Georgia? Tennessee will slow the game down again but in the end Georgia will have no problem taking down the Vols. In a low-scoring game Georgia 20 Tennessee 13.

Houston at Mississippi State. Can my bulldogs get a win? Houston wants to show their loss last week was a fluke. I have truly no idea which way this will go. My head says the smart money is with the Cougars. My heart says the dawgs have enough. Mississippi State 31- Houston 28.

Kentucky at South Carolina. Hard to believe that UK once had some decent teams. South Carolina 33- Kentucky 20.

Alabama at Ole Miss. One of the two big games this weekend. Alabama is slightly favored on the road and should have enough to win. Ole Miss knows if they can somehow win-out they still have a shot at the BCS national championship. Those hopes end this weekend. Alabama 31 Ole Miss 17.

Florida at LSU. Night games in Baton Rouge always favor LSU. This should be a great game. Hopefully, after the kids are in bed, I can catch the second half. I don't really see Florida blowing out LSU but I don't think LSU is the 4th best team in the country. Florida 30 LSU 24.

Seven games in the SEC today. Would not shock me if I went 2-5 in my picks.

Don't have any plans to grill tonight but did grill a great rib eye last night and hope to have those pictures and recipe posted tomorrow.

Friday, October 9, 2009

College Memories





Earlier this week I decided to cook a chuck roast in a crock pot to make barbecue. I seared it on the grill for about a minute on each side. Then put in the crock pot with a bottle of barbecue sauce. If I was feeling industrious I would have made my own sauce but store bought sauce was good enough for me.


I let it cook all night on Wednesday and had it Thursday for lunch. On Friday I had memories of going to Sonnys. It was a hole in the wall type place. In fact, in the middle of the floor there was literally a hole to the dirt underneath. Sonnys was only open on Friday and Saturday so Friday after class was an unofficial assembly place for my fraternity and many others. There were no menus and I don't remember anyone ordering anything except the barbecue plate. Two pieces of white bread and sweet tea with a heaping pile of barbecue. Delicious.

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Grilled Fajitas



I had a nice sized flank steak. It was almost two pounds and we had been craving fajitas. I searched for a recipe and could not find anything that did not involve marinading the steak for a couple of hours. So I decided to do a dry rub.

I rubbed two table spoons of extra virgin olive oil on the steak and then prepared my rub. For the rub I used:

2 teaspoons of paprika
2 teaspoons of chili powder
1 teaspoon of brown sugar
1 teaspoons of Kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon of pepper
1/2 teaspoons of cumin

I combined the above ingredients and rubbed them into the steak. I would like to have let them season for a little while but we were hungry!


After grilling for about 7 minutes on each side I cut the steak into strips. We also had leftover chopped onion and green pepper from something we cooked about a week ago. Earlier this year my wife planted a pepper plant in the backyard along. There was one red pepper on the plant.


The peppers and onions were put into a skillet along with the flank steak. After cooking together for about five minutes the fajitas were ready. Next time I may try to marinade the meat but given the short time I had to cook, they were great!

Saturday, October 3, 2009

Travel

For much of the past month I have been traveling. Lots of nights away from home. I am happy that the busiest part of my travel season is over. Though I will leave before 8am most days I should be home before five. I don't know who is more excited...my family or me!

I probably won't get to grill at all this weekend for the family. Though I grilled for a couple of hours this morning at the farmers market that doesn't count since the food wasn't really for me! We are headed to a birthday party later this afternoon so cooking tonight is out. Tomorrow Renie has "sorting" at kids market so I doubt there will be any grilling.

However, the rest of this week I plan to grill lots. I have a flank steak defrosting that I plan to make fajitas with later this week. I also have a roast that I plan to cook. Stay tuned!

Right now I am watching Alabama-Kentucky and ready for some more good football today.

LSU-Georgia. LSU barely escaped Starkville last weekend. Georgia has looked good so far this season. I expect Georiga to win. Georgia 27 LSU 14.

Mississippi-Vanderbilt. How will Ole Miss respond after their loss last weekend to South Carolina? Though their SEC title hopes are almost gone I expect them to come back strong. Vandy, who beat them last year in Oxford, always plays them strong. Ole Miss 31 Vandy 22.

South Carolina State- South Carolina. Yawn. USC wins 33-3.

Arkansas- Texas A&M (in Dallas) Should be a good game. If I weren't headed to a birthday party this would be the game to watch. Arkansas has shown they have a fairly good offense. I see A&M winning a close one. Texas A&M 35 -Arkansas 31.

Georgia Tech @ Mississippi State- Last year both teams put up lots of yards but only Tech put up points. That should chance some this year. I hate to pick against my Dawgs but I don't see them winning this game. Georgia Tech 29- State 28.

Auburn @ Tennessee- Both teams fired their coaches last year after poor seasons. Auburn has more talent right now than UT. UT hired the coach that everyone wanted and Auburn hired a coach that only Auburn wanted. Auburn wins. Auburn 24-UT 14.