Adventure Log 201501

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VeggHead BeerCyclist      3.10

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Title: Adventure Log 201501
Daily Ride: Definitely
•
This will be a live updated/edited blog. 
•
I somewhat spontaneously planned this adventure. This will be the first of many outside adventures this year. And I am super excited. 

My objectives:
•Ride my Trek HulkRip over a wooden bridge that was originally built in 1863
•I want to create and also enjoy a few Arcadia Ales Sky High Rye cans in some key placed check-ins. 
•I want to enjoy the weather as the high is claiming to be 14* C.
•I want to have a great ride, do a bit of elevation gain throughout, take some awesome pics and update this blog as much as possible. Which I always write on my Notes iPhone app and then copy and paste with magic.
•I also somewhat planned a Vegan lunch that I’ll pack and enjoy at The Red Covered Bridge Park.




-Due to heavy, dense and extremely wet airy fog, I’m going to depart via bicycle at 1100. 
•To Be Continued/Updated/Edited
RIDE CANCELLATION DUE TO FOG AND FEAR OF NOT BEING SEEN.






Those Vegan sandwiches I packed for lunch are amazing! 

I used:

-Leftover “Corned Beef” Seitan, charred, and diced

-Veganaise combined with celery seed, paprika, cayenne, mustard and garlic p. 

-Sliced onion, tomatoes and cucumber

-Kale

-On toasted Rye bread

•

I decided to try my luck doing a bit of hiking. I knew it was gonna be messy at Starved Rock State Park, so I brought a few beers. My goal was to hike to this cave/crevous that is roughly (muddy & icy) eight kilometers from the lodge. Nothing crazy, but a decent hike. I did not succeed in hiking to the crevously cave, due to an error in timing with my pickup ride. It was fun and challenging in a few spots that I chose to venture Lewis and Clarke style. I took a bunch of pics and here are a few.









Winter Conclusion

Posted on by jeffreylatty

VeggHead BeerCyclist    3.06

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Tags: cycling, potatoes, music, measurement, funny, story, winter, spring, vegan, vegetarian, st, Patrick’s, day, paddy’s, patty’s, veganvriday, Chicago, weekend, craft, beer
Title: Winter Conclusion 
Daily Ride: Yes

I’m confident that yesterday was the last super cold day of winter. Yesterday was frigidly in the single digits almost the entire day in Fahrenheit units of temperature measurements. Which I don’t even have to try. It is an amazingly hilarious joke on its own. I knew spring was approaching soon a few weeks ago when I had slight allergies attack. The attack was defended strongly with smiles. I don’t know if the groundhog still exists, but my allergies prediction was correct. Leave the groundhog be. 

I was on the fence doing backflips yesterday contemplating a ride. It was super cold, but it hopefully should be the last super cold day of winter. Should I tackle it and ride into the sunset. Death Rides A Horse. I do not have any horses, just bicycles. I decided to continue my not planned cycling hiatus and wait for the weather to turn for the better. I think today has a high of -1 * C. That’s almost ZERO. I love the Celsius Zero and it should be a superhero! 

I do have a ride planned with a friend. Really just a paid acquaintance to help me seem more normal to the crazy people who read these bloggings. I do not actually have any friends. Animals like me. Anyways, this paid “friend” and I were gonna do a decent distance. He wants to ride miles and I threw a slight fit and made it clear that I wanted to ride kilometers. Not sure how we will come to a conclusion on that. Sounds like a job for the Celcius ZERO! 

I had this beer last night. It was a literal beast. I’ve enjoyed many beers of theirs. The actual brewery is Mercury Brewing Company out of Ipswich, MA. The beer line is Clown Shoes. I’m not exactly sure what that means, but it’s a good beer line. The beer I had was a Russian Imperial Stout bottled on 02.06.15. I love when they put this date on beers. I’m skeptical when I cannot find and ultimately know how old a beer is. If it’s a beer above 8% ABV, you don’t have anything to worry about. The beers below that ABV are the ones that will spoil. The name of this beer is Blaecorn Unidragon. It is a literal beast at a not so nice Clown Shoes 12.5% ABV. Two middle fingers up!

I’ve loved this band muchly for a good 5-6 years. And I’ve also enjoyed other bands that are tied to the band Russian Circles. They are an instrumental post-rock/ post-metal Chicago based trio. They are very talented. I’ve only seen them live once, but it was amazing. All of their sound greatness is awesome. They play heavy yet light and blend it well. 
Yesterday I bought ten pounds of potatoes. This was my adrenaline rushed tweet:

I ate some potatoes yesterday. And today is my #VeganVriday, so I will be enjoying more potatoes for sure today. I’m working on my St. Paddy’s Day meal and my bullshit of an excuse of a recipe. Really it’s just a grocery list that says beer a few times. 

I plan on making and somewhat mapping a “recipe” of VEGAN Corned Beef & Cabbage and Colcannon in honor of St. Patrick’s Day and my somewhat recent discovery that I am 1/16 Irish. That is coming by the death penalty deadline 3.12.15. I did already make a batch of Vegan Colcannon. It was to live for! 
As for the Northern Illinois Winter, I’m not scared of you, but you are a bitch.
And for the Northern Illinois Spring, welcome. I love you! 
Happy Friday! Happy VeganVriday! Have a great weekend!

Easy Chinesey

Posted on by jeffreylatty

VeggHead BeerCyclist   03.05

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Tags: sobriety,mlb,chicago,cubs,writing,smoking,addiction,amc,movie,food,dessert,recipe,cycling,music,beer,craft,story,winter,vegan,vegetarian,netflix,apple,apps,social,media,tv,pics
Title: Easy Chinesy 
Daily Ride: Probable, cold but sunny

I’m not going to go over a specific Chinese recipe. I just want to share a few essentials which create my make-shift Chinese food. Military time is always an easy way to depict the time. Good thing it’s not Japanese food I’ll be going over otherwise I’d have to get nuclear with a joke or two. I also have a Root Beer Floater concoction that was very good on Super Bowl Sunday.
My last beer was at 2100 on Tuesday March 3rd and today, March 5th, my first beer was at I’m gonna guess noon on Thursday. Nothing like a little mid week sobriety to boost your next binge. IVCA (Illinois Valley Cycling Association) usually does a night canal ride every Wednesday on the I&M Canal with drinks afterwards. It’s usually around 40 km. I did not participate for a few reasons. The last time I was down there on the towpath there were sections of pure ice that even on four inch FatBike tires is like a tightrope balancing act without a safety net on a 35 pound bike. I’m ready for spring and have ridden my lower end FatBike 450 miles this winter according to Strava. My last ride was five days ago and I’m going through withdrawals. A bit of a cycling hiatus due to weather, cold and lack of motivation, unfortunately. Addictions can be healthy and not so healthy. Cycling is healthy. No comment on the booze. If ya can’t make it to work because of booze abuse, you have a problem. As of this year, I’ve been cigarette free for five straight years. I am super proud of this and try to influence others to quit as much as possible. 

It took me a good eight years to actually complete the process, but it worked. I unintentionally started to quit in high school. First of all, I started smoking at age 12 with friends and continued until the college years. I used to smoke a few cigarettes before school. My sophomore year of high school I had algebra II first thing. I was always good with mathematics and my teacher was in his mid twenties and decided to call me out in front of the class and asked me if I smoked an entire pack of cigs before school. I got nervous and replied, “No, it was two”. But it got me thinking. I probably smell horrible in the morning after a cigarette clam-baking session before school. Chicks don’t usually like smelly dudes, so I quit smoking before school. I still smoked at lunch and basically established a personal code of no smokes before noon. And no cigarettes in the morning helps weaken the addiction and urge for the “fix”. When I was 20, I tried quitting and couldn’t quit while partying and drinking. I then quit smoking unless I was drinking. I soon after started day drinking to have a couple of cigarettes during the day. It makes me laugh, but it’s true. I didn’t know it at the time. I still love some good day drinking. Is there ever some bad day drinking. Just without the nastiness filthy impolite cigarette habit. In 2010, my girlfriend at the time and I quit. She failed and I haven’t smoked since. The difference being that I actually had the will and she did not. 
HOW TO QUIT SMOKING:
1.) Obtain a strong will. Whether it be for health or for others, you’ll need it.
2.) Quit smoking in the morning. If you can quit cold turkey, do it.
3.) Cut down and give yourself days completely without.
4.) Pick a day like January 2nd and QUIT. 

It took my two days to finish the movie K-PAX on Netflix, but I discovered Aaron Paul was in the very last scene. 

I saw an AROD AB yesterday. It was a good AB and he drew a walk. Not sure how I feel about AROD, but he needs to retire. I did want him to hit a homer or strike out. I cannot wait for baseball to start. The Chicago Cubs dynasty has begun. WATCH OUT! 

I do not know if a Chicago Cubs addiction is good or bad for people. There is still hope and has been forgettable hope for many upon many of decades. There is always next year, but there isn’t always next century. Planets are aligning and things are looking good on both sides of Chicago’s baseball plate. 
Easy Chinesy 
Essential Chineses Ingredients:
-Fresh Ginger
-Rice Wine Vinegar
-Sesame Seed Oil
-Balsamic Vinegar
-Ramen Noodles
-Soy Sauce
(For years I’ve only bought Ramen just for the noodles. Most of them have meat traces in the seasoning packs.)

Additional ingredients:
-Garlic, diced
-Onion, diced 
-Mushroom, quartered or halved
-Cayenne 
-Various other Veggies
-Use your imagination and do it right, not over cooking all of the veggies

This was the batch I made for Christmas. Everyone loved it. Fra ra ra ra ra, ra ra ra ra. 

Root beer Floater, named after On-One Floater FatBike Tires:




Ingredients:
-Badass beer mug or chalice
-Dad’s Root Beer is cheap and good 
-Quality Vanilla Fro Yo or Ice Cream
-Almond pieces
-Whipped cream
-Maraschino Cherries, seeds and stems
-Good Vanilla extract, the stuff I used was 10% alcohol
Stairs:
-You do not want to use the vanilla to obtain a buzz. If that’s the case, add whisky or rum and run.
-Add a splash of Vanilla Extract to awesome mug or chalice 
-Put desired amount of Vanilla Fro Yo or Ice Cream. Leave room for the root beer!
-Add Root Beer almost to the top 
-Throw a little cream on top
-Stab the cream with a few Almond pieces and pop that Cherry with a maraschino cherry
-Take a pic and you might need a spoon or fork if you’re that talented
I’ve been monitoring my storage memory for my iPhone closely since my MacBook is still out-of-order, but by deleting and re installing my Facebook and Twitter app, I cleared almost a whole gigabyte. Taking up that much memory boggled my mind. And I feel like that might have to be a every-so-often procedure. 
Incorrect vegetarian labeling:

Worcestershire Sauce usually contains Anchovy.

Also, took me a few days, but I watched LEGIT season one on Netflix for the second time.
“billy rolled away”
It’s a darker comedy with heartfelt situations. Check it out!

Season two is on YouTube for free. I haven’t finished it yet. I had a playlist that I copied and was awaiting pastement, but I discovered it required payment. Bummer. 

YouTube is and always has been a great free way to do various things. It’s there for educational purposes, entertainment visually and audio and broadcasting. I’ve watched movies, even. And with the correct technology, it’s available for your big screen. It allows R rated language, but unfortunately not porn. Yet. Apple TV, roku and good wifi are my tools for watching YouTube and other things more comfortably. 

Masters of the Universe on tubitv app on my roku was an interesting film. Paste some whiteout over that on the bucket list.
I remember watching the cartoon in the 80’s, but I’ve never seen this movie that I know of. Within the first five minutes, it seemed like a rip off and heavily influenced by various popular 80’s movies. The opening credits and theme reminded me of the Superman sagas. And then Skeletor’s men look awfully like stormtroopers except they are completely black. And Skeletor’s confines reminded me of an early Indiana Jones’ temple. To make things worse the voice track isn’t synced 100%, not even 85%, with their lips. Gwildor gives me a combination of Yoda from Star Wars meets the luck dragon, Falkor, somehow from The NeverEnding Story. A nice sense of memories of movies I grew up with. And then there’s super young Courtney Cox. The sitcom Friends was entertaining and funny when I was ten years old. A couple of months ago, I attempted to watch the Friends pilot episode on Netflix, but only made it five minutes through. And then there’s a school stage with instruments on it where Courtney Cox is attacked and there’s a Back To The Future reference, to me anyways. Dolph Lundgren is He-Man. And when he swords Skeletor into a shaft, reminds me of something just can’t think of it. Is it Die Hard? 

Snowy cycling visibility is still something I cannot defeat. I have not tried actual skiing/snowboarding goggles yet. I will next year. I did try chemistry goggles and they only lasted for 15 minutes. 

A band, Pianos Become The Teeth, has a newer album that is very listenable to all listeners in KEEP YOU. Check it out!

Bologna Rigatoni

Posted on by jeffreylatty

VeggHead BeerCyclist 3.03

Bologna Rigatoni
It Saul Goodman
Yesterday was a partial total failure. My plan was to ride a bike outside and make my pasta. I did not do either. I was a little tired and hungry after work. And a majority of my winter cycling clothes were left in the wash for over 24 hours. I washed the load again and later hung them out to die. Do Not Dry your cycling clothes unless you’re drunk. 

I did drown myself in Lagunitas’ Sucks whole quart UnaBomber. I did not die. It is always a euphorically delightful DIPA. My liver died a little. Also, one quart is 32 ounces. All of those ounces equate to only ¼ of my recommended daily percentage of alcohol, but what can ya do. Lagunitas opened a brewery in Chicago that I cannot wait to visit and terrorize calmly. Try it if ya can.
One thing that has always pissed me off and strangely boggles my mind and my heart. What is with these Japanese Beatles or lady bugs. I love how my phone corrects both “japanese” and “beatles” as it should be because of the threat level significance. They just keep appearing. And flying drunk? I do occasionally leave empty beers in my sleeping quarters and sometimes trap these thugs in Kleenex and put them into an empty bottle. I think they’re that sneaky and annoying that they escape and continue their mission of pissing me off. Last night I caught three and put into an empty water bottle basically as an experiment. Do they need oxygen? What do they eat? Will one eat the other two? Will they die? Will they escape? 
And they all seemed very much alive inside the water bottle this morning. I threw them away and didn’t give them the chance of a respectable recyclables burial. Like the annoying buggers they are, they will be smashed at least once with the garbage and invaders that they are. 
I watched Big Top Pee-Wee on Netflix. I have this obsession with going into my IMDb app to check out a bit of info on there while I miss part of whatever I’m watching because I’m not a multitasker. It ranks that movie less than 5/10. It was corny, funny and overall a 6 in my opinion. Yeah, ok. Tim Burton directed Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure in his debut directing gig and it was definitely better than Big Top Pee-Wee, but Big Top is definitely watchable. It has Benicio Del Toro and Screech in it to name two actors. I am sleeping with Netflix. 
A few interesting Vegan or Vegetarian people I came across inline online:
Gandhi 
Hitler
Forest Whitaker 
Paul McCartney
Herschel Walker
Tom morello
Christina applegate
Elizabeth Berkley
Kevin Nealon
Sarah Silverman
Eddie Vedder
Rob Zombie

It is supposed to be icy today. Ice and bicycles don’t usually mix. Even FatBike tires show a weakness to ice. If I go for a ride it will be solo and it’ll be earlier than later. I guess I never ever ride alone because if zero humans ride with me I jam those earbuds close to my brain. It’s not the safest thing to do, but it always sounds better than wind. I do toggle the volume and sometimes pause the wind. Traffic is danger. And danger is bad only when you’re on a bicycle. 

Perhaps a beer r(un)ide 

Cold wetness is not good. Snow is much tolerable. No go on a ride. I put my Garmin Edge 1000 and NightRider Lumina 700 on their USB and left them charging on my little charging hub. After changing a few settings on the Garmin, its battery life is outstanding. I do not use the three sensors that it came with and turned off the Bluetooth. With all of these things going if was if my Garmin had a battery life of ten hours. It did never die on me, but I did shut her down after I completed my century ride. I didn’t record some km, but nothing was missing from my data. 
I made some killer food today. And ate it to my lonesome while watching the latest episode of Better Call Saul, an outstanding prequel to Breaking Bad. And it’s shaping up to be better than breaking bad. CHECK IT OUT
I did get a few ingredients from my grandmother before her trip and I was told the plastic film had cauliflower, but it was actually cabbage. Which I’ll try and save for St. Paddy’s day at Paddy’s Pub. Did you know that it is always sunny in Philadelphia? No cauliflower, but the Brussels sprouts were the main ingredient anyways. 
I made an experimental Baked Potato and a pasta that I named Bologna Rigatoni. They were a bit time consuming, but I impressed myself. 

Experimental Baked Potatoes
Baked Sprouty Spuds ingredients:
-Potatoes, stabbed with fork
-Brussels Sprouts, roasted
-SeaSalt/Pepper/Cayenne/Onion p/Garlic p
-Avocado Cream
-Corn, roasted
-Cheese, grated
-Garlic, sliced and lightly roasted
-Fresh Dill for garnish 
Avocado Cream:
-Sour Cream
-Avocado
-SeaSalt/Pepper/Cayenne/Garlic p/Onion p
>Mix
Steps:
-Make Avocado Cream and refrigerate
-Bake Potatoes at 375 for 75 minutes
-You do not want to over cook the potatoes
-If everything is prepared, it is a waiting game and good beer drinking time
-When potatoes are baked enough, give them some Visine before taking them out where everyone can see them
-Cut them In half longways leaving the skin to keep both halves attached. 
– I them placed on parchment paper, potatoes open and broiled cooking while adding color at the same time, remove when done
-Add cheese generously and broil again, melting the cheese nicely, yet meanly
-Now just top
-I put Avocado Cream, Roasted Corn, Garlic, Brussels Sprouts, more cheese and garnish with dill. ENJOY with AMC’s finest programming.
This Will Destroy You
God Is An Astronaut 
Explosions In The Sky

Bologna Rigatoni ingredients:
-Non rinsed cooled Rigatoni
-Brussels Sprouts, prepped for surgery and then halved longways
-Garlic, diced and roasted sliced
-Onion, big chunks
-Corn, roasted and lightly season
-Butter, REAL
-Dill, fresh chopped and a garnishment
-Potato, sliced 
-SeaSalt/Pepper/Garlic p/Onion p/Cayenne
-Cheese, grated
-Carrot and Celery, diced superbly 
-Oil and Rice Wine Vinegar
-Thickening Agent

Organization and preparations:
-I first prepared the Rigatoni noodles. I boiled them stirring constantly like eight minutes maybe nine. I decided to not rinse the noodles which changes the noodles compared to rinsed noodles. I do not know the correct term, but it leaves the starch. I under cooked them a little under al dente because they need to cool and until the cooling process is finished they still cook. I put them in the freezer away from anything else for 3-4 minutes before putting them into the refrigerator until I needed them again. They turned out very well. As I confidently expected.
-Cut everything and discard the shit
-Toss potatoes, Onion and Brussels Spouts with vinegar, oil, salt and pepper
-Put on parchment paper and bake 35 ish minutes at 350*
-I removed onions when I flipped potatoes and then turned oven to 425*
-Combine Butter with Dill, SeaSalt, Pepper, Garlic p and Cayenne and simmer barely 
-Add butter to lightly caramelized diced Garlic, Celery and Carrots
-Throw in some Dill and Dill ‘Em All
-When butter is melted and your veggies are close to be or are done add enough flour or corn starch to thicken 
-Add Rigatoni and get warm while seasoning
-You can do whatever ya want. I topped the pasta with cheese or throw it in with all of your roasted goodness 
-Live a little, enjoy! 
I read on Twitter that the drinking age will change back to 18 this summer. Is this true or one of those hoaxes?
I just realized it should be BEETLES. Good day. 

DIPA 

Posted on by jeffreylatty

VeggHead BeerCyclist 3.02

DIPA
I have had the best (DIPA) Imperial India Pale Ale ever. 102 IBU 
AVERY BREWING CO
The Maharaja 

If I were rich, I would pre bathe and post bathe in this DIPA with nothing but smiles in a long, long swimming session in a Olympic sized pool of The Maharaja until, of course, I would drink it all.

My grandma left town with two of my aunts and I volunteered last night to check on her new cat, Mel. Before I cracked (The Skye) open a Big Sky Brewing Co. Camp Robber, a seasonal coffee porter, I could not find my awesome bottle opener. Enjoying good beers helps me to write ridiculous sentences. So, the bottle opener is essential. It’s a decently good beer. It has a nice balance of coffee and porterness. Meeting Mel for the first time, he was shy at first and seemed like an active cat, but the first thing I noticed was his fur. I’ve seen plenty of calico cats as I do attend cat watching with my two friends every Sunday after church with big hats, sunscreen noses and binoculars. Occasionally we see cats attacking and eating birds. We call those episodes, “Jeff’s made-up story out of his ass”. I don’t have any friends.
This cat is mostly white with enormous patches of like grey and black striped cat and red/orange with tan spots cat. Next time, I’ll snap a pic. I was too busy enjoying an Arcadia Ales Hop Rocket and getting the cat water and food. Very hopolicious beer by the way. 

WordPress likes to erase pics I’ve uploaded. Or am I that idiot who screws up his pic uploads and uploads his post and then because his MacBook is dead and his iPhone space is limited he deletes “finished” pics. 
Crack The Skye is a 2009 Mastodon album. I already consider it a classic.

I very much dislike Walmart. I rarely step foot into that voyage of annoyance. My reasoning for abusing myself through a visit was that I needed parchment paper and these cheap energy shots, B12 made by Stacker 2, that I’ve seen there once and always an empty fucking shelf since. They are less than a dollar and better than 5-Hour Energy.
Customers at Walmart seem to be out to get me. Or maybe it’s Walmart. Probably the combination that perseveres toward driving me towards suicide. Why are aisles congregated talk zones, mostly end-aisles taking up two paths? Why do you have to defensively block an entire aisle while slowly determining if you need to further down the aisle? Why isn’t there painted center lines for the lawlessness of cart traffic? 
Usually when I go to Walmart, I always try and disguise myself with shades on and antisocial myself with my earbuds and tunes. I walk fast and I do not excuse myself. 
I should have worn my heart rate monitor to document my Walmart suffer score. 

I took the day off from cycling. My legs are sore from the 35 km ride and the FatBike ride I took over the weekend. I hope to ride after work today. 
Also at Walmart, I picked up some cheese, rigatoni, jumbo russet potatoes and garlic powder. I plan on making a unique pasta today after work. It involves Brussels sprouts. 
A newly discovered liked food in my palate arsenal. I only like them when I make them. This was the dish I made on thanksgiving that was ontrial with my jury of tastebuds.




Cauliflower is also in that category. And I plan to include cauliflower in the pasta. Let’s hope I have time and motivation for both a ride and a little cheffing. 

Try either one of the DIPAs that I mentioned and go for a bike ride.

History of Me

Posted on by jeffreylatty

VeggHead BeerCyclist 2.28

History of Me

My name is Jeffrey. I turn 30 next month (March starts tomorrow). Life has been a turbulent roller coaster of a ride for me thus far. I wish I would’ve gotten a FatBike much earlier. I’m not going into my life story. I would like to go over my cooking, cycling and beer history. 

I just went for a 35 km ride out of town, around town and then back in where I stopped at the liquor store for a few beers. I bought seven beers and a bottled water because my water froze again. I need to start holding a bottle in my pack when I bring my pack with me in the winter. There is a rumor that a little whisky in your water keeps it from freezing. I disagree. I’m all for it as it does add life to your water before it dies a frozen temporary death and I love (good) whisky. Canadian Club is forever the cheapest best whiskey out there. Today’s ride was super sunny, not too windy and not too bad traffic-wise. 

Here is my ride:
Another thing I’ve been working on is becoming more familiar with the metric system. Celsius makes much more sense and so does the measurements. I love the USA, but we’re kind of dumb and just want to be different. Zero degrees Celsius is freezing. Simple. 35 kilometers is 35,000 meters. Simple. One mile is 5280 feet and 63,360 inches according to Google. Now, tell me how many feet and inches are in 1.5 miles without Google. Good luck. Did someone mention ketchup. Probably. 

A few months ago, I switched my Garmin to metric.  
The Fire In Our Throats Will Beckon The Thaw
Spring is approaching and that is a great album from the band Pelican. They are instrumental (until their new album?) post-rock post-metal. Good music!

I learned how to sauté from Pizza Hut. That was my first job and I worked for them for a total of 14 years. I did leave for school, but returned. In 2007 ish, the regular falling apart Pizza Hut built a new building and converted into an Italian Bistro Pizza Hut. It was really cool and actually gourmet until they started cutting costs and ingredients. I did not maintain that understanding of sautéing much. I do not remember much of the style. The ingredients were great! That is where I was first introduced to a chef hat and chef coat. White is an awful idea unless you get like five. The Pizza Hut Italian Bistro also had gourmet pizzas and sandwiches. They quickly began believing in the opposite of what I believe in, QUALITY OVER QUANTITY. 

I started at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale in January of 2009. A friend hooked  me up with a cooking gig at a hole-in-the-wall Italian pizza place called DiMaggio’s. There are actually quite a few in Southern Illinois and one or two in Indiana. I believe all are connected and actually within the same family. My boss, Sebastian, was born in Sicily and lived in France before crossing the pond. He is an awesome guy and knows how to chef it up! They actually made a transformation into a more legitimate sit-down restaurant in 2011. Before that, Sebastian kept it simple. From scratch pizza, pizza by the slice, pasta, sandwiches, salads, etc. we did grind our own cheese, but didn’t make much other than pizza from scratch. 

DiMaggio’s moved into an old Godfather’s building in early 2011. I was working as a seafood clerk and helping moving and prepare the building for three months before DiMaggio’s was ready to open. I learned a lot during my time as a seafood clerk. DiMaggio’s offered me a pizza kitchen management position with very good pay. I accepted and quit the grocery store job and dropped out of school. The way the entire kitchen was set up was the pizza kitchen was in front close to the dining room and the line kitchen behind it more in the BOH and hidden. I soon took over the entire kitchen and worked 60 hours a week, making schedules and prep lists, food orders, and dish creations. This is where I first learned to cook. It was my most favorite job. 




I then grew cocky and homesick after most of my friends graduated and moved on. I took a job back home in charge of a kitchen of a restaurant that I’ve always enjoyed. It was also Italian and taught me more of a northern Italian style. Unfortunately, it became a horrible job and I had to quit. From there I went back to Pizza Hut. Recreational cooking has not stopped. 




As for my love for Cycling, I’ll need to mention college and Carbondale. Carbondale, IL is a great cycling town. I bought a cheap “mountain” Schwinn bike mostly to participate in Tour de Carbondale. 




The Tour de Carbondale was just a drunkiness bike ride with 4-6 stops with a different theme of booze each stop. And my house was the first stop! Margaritas at 11:00 am are the way to start off a drink fest. 
We had a beer stop, a jungle juice stop, a wine stop and then the completion stop. Apologies for the quality of pictures.

I then continued to ride my Schwinn as much as possible. I rode it to commute and for fun. In late 2013 I bought a 2014 Trek CrossRip. I became a part of the Strava community in mid 2013. I joined a cycling club in 2014. I have not yet competed in racing or organized rides/races. I love riding with others and I like to go fast and far when I can. 
I’ve always been trying to document my experimenting with Beers. And then came Untappd. I became a member in 2012. I’ve always extremely enjoyed photography. I like beer. I’ve had three since I’ve started writing this. They are on Untappd. 
My MacBook Pro stopped charging late last year after I quit my job. I’ve been writing these blogs on my iPhone. 

I found this picture a few months ago. It was in 2005. Just a little #ProveIt. Strava.