Food TV

I know it’s been a week since I posted, but I am back now, with the renewed vigor of one who thought they were on the verge of death only to be granted a last minute reprieve. That being said, todays blog is not specifically about AB, rather it is about a wonderful community of people known as the Briners over at the Good Eats Fan Page. When I published my interview with Nic Skrade of Uptown Tattoo, I got introduced to this wonderful community. What I found in the forums was a group of very close friends, almost family. They laugh together, cry together, and support each other at the hard times in their lives. They are young and old; Christian and Pagan (and probably any other faith you can think of…); Republican and Democrat… They are as diverse a group I have found online. And I love them.

This Christmas, I had only been a part of the group a short time, when I found that they have a fun gift exchange with each other over the holiday season. According to Shawn Banks, the site moderator and organizer of the gift exchange, the purpose behind it is “a fun way for foodies to get at least ONE foodie gift, put together with them in mind, and lots of love”. And that is exactly what it is. While I did not fit the criteria of being a member of the board for at least 6 months or 100 posts, I was still allowed to participate. I appreciated the confidence and trust put into me even though I had just joined their group. What I found out, is that while trust is a key issue in a group gift exchange with what amounts to a bunch of strangers across the country, it is not wholeheartedly relied on. Unfortunately in the world, some people are out to get something for nothing. And sometimes life happens, and what was intended as a gesture of goodwill is no longer possible. Knowing this, ChefShawn instituted what is known as the “gypped fund”. This is to cover a secret santa gift for those that are screwed out of the gift that they deserve, having given one of their own. Everyone who joins the gift exchange is encouraged (but not required) to give a gift of $3 to go towards this fund. Before the gypped fund was instituted there were several volunteer secret santas to cover those that did not recieve their gifts, simply out of the holiday spirit…

Of course, all hope is that the fund will not be needed for the purpose intended. And so, it was decided that the money would go to a worthy cause if it were not needed for Briners whose Santa’s abandoned them. Where to send the money you ask? Why to Alton Brown’s charity of choice, of course!!! Heifer International, dedicated to helping underprivleged families in rural areas and third world countries, by providing them with livestock and the knowledge of how to care for it and use it to feed their families. Each donation to Heifer International comes to families in the form of cattle, pigs, goats, etc… It worked. Last year the Briners were able to donate one animal to the cause. This year, however, there was a different spark to the group. This year, several Briners said that they would be a replacement santa to those who did not receive the gifts that they were promised. The reason for this, was that they would donate another set of wonderful and amazing gifts to someone, simply so that the fund was not touched. Because of the goodness of the hearts of these people, and the generosity of one who has said that they would double whatever was donated by the group as a whole, the Briners are going to donate an amazing $1200 to Heifer International this year. It seems that they will be able to donate a cow, a pig, and several chicks, “and then some” according to ChefShawn.

I am proud to be a member of this group!!! Kudos to all the members of the Good Eats Fan Page, and Kudos to Alton Brown for inspiring his fans to donate their hard earned money to such a worthy cause!!!!

Although originally aired in July 02, this is the very first time I have seen this entertaining hour long episode of Good Eats. All I can say is, WOOHOO!!! I loved every second of it. From the comical reference to Gilligans Island, and the way the crew was trying NOT to wake him up, to the fun “disposal” of his coconut friend Coco, (in a man made oven… insert evil laugh here…).

The episode starts with AB writing in a journal by candle light, how he became trapped on this deserted island, and what foods he made to survive the ordeal. Writing out the recipes so that they might one day be included in survival packs. How very noble of him… The scene shifts to the accident that left him stranded in the first place, as well as him landing on the beach. In desperate search of something to drink he wanders inland. Without his glasses, finding something to drink may be difficult, but then he crashes face first into a coconut palm. After a long and difficulttime of trying to get the hard outer shell off the coconut, he stumbles onto a box left by the army. Amongst other various and sundry supplies he finds a hand grenade. With a gleam in his eye he looks back at the errant coconut… Several seconds and one loud boom later, we see the singed outer husk of the coconut, and the interior falling to the ground. And then we get the instructions to drill into 2 of the three “eyeholes” and drink. And a little bit of interesting history. Coconut milk is so pure that is was used as an intravenous nourishment solution in WWII soldiers. Weird…

What follows next is (mostly) typical Good Eats, but in a “hovel” rather than a kitchen. Recipe after recipe for coconut dishes, followed by papayas, mangoes, and eventually pineapples. He even made his own chocolate from cacao pods that were growing there too. Strangely, mangoes and cacao do not naturally grow in the same areas, and AB takes note of this fact, but is grateful to have found the mangoes nonetheless. And I, for one, have to say that I am really pleased at the section that teaches how to peel and cut a mango, as I once spent a good half hour, and got my hands very sticky, and very nearly lost a finger, trying to make a mango smoothie from scratch. In the banana grove, AB runs into a wild pig, and gets chased up a tree, (that is in fact how he discovered the papayas). Finally, craving a protien rather than seafood, he uses a final hand grenade to dispatch of said pig and makes a lovely sweet and sour pork. I shuddered a bit when he started the sweet & sour sauce with ketchup, but in the end it looked awesome!!!!!

After what is protrayed to be months and months on the island, AB steps out of the hovel to find a man with a surfboard. He is thrilled and throws himself at the man with enthusiasm, grateful beyond words to be rescued. The man looks at him with confusion and eventually tells him that they are on the island of Oahu, just outside of Waikiki… Silly Alton!

All in all, I really enjoyed Down & Out in Paradise, and wish that there would be more hour long episodes of the wonderful show that is… GOOD EATS.

Good day all, and until next time, why don’t you go see if anything’s up at the Hogwarts Herald…

That’s right, I was so frustrated that I couldn’t find a single photo of AB’s new tattoo, that he got on the season finale of Feasting on Asphalt, that I wrote to the artist. And he wrote me back… With his permission I have his photo of that tattoo. As far as I can tell, this is the first copy of this photo anywhere on the internet!!! And isn’t it an awesome tattoo? I told you, didn’t I? I believe that the artistry and detail work on this tattoo is amazing and beautiful.

Well, Nic, being a wonderful (and might I add, patient) man, not only sent me this amazing picture to use, he also agreed to an interview with me. So, this being my very first interview ever, I made a few mistakes. Most notably of which was trying to set it up on IM, and then realizing that my IM doesn’t really work at home. Thank you very much $40 Wal-Mart wireless router… So rather than the lively conversation I was hoping for, I sent him some questions, and he sent me his responses. Here they are now, along with some of my thoughts after reading his answers…

Tell me a little about you… How long have you been tattooing? Are you married? Any Kids?

I have been tattooing for 16 and a half years, as long as I have been with my wife, we have been married for 15 years. We are both 36, we have 2 children a boy and a girl. This answer seems kind of dry, sorry, I cant think of anything to spice it up, I am kind of a white picket fence guy. I work, and go home and I coach soccer and volunteer at my daughters school, and I own a tattoo shop.

Actually, I don’t think this to be dry at all. As a matter of fact, I think it’s a great way to show the general public that tattoo artists are people too. They are husbands and wives, and soccer coaches. Really just like the rest of us, making a living, and hopefully having fun while they’re doing it…

What is your favorite of all of the tattoos that you have done?

That is a hard question, as I am fortunate to do lots of REALLY fun tattoos, so it would be hard to have a favorite, as the new fav’s supplant the old ones, but are still favorites one and all… does that make any sense? I realistically do a true favorite every couple months.

It seems like you truly love your job. If only everyone in this world could be that happy!!!

What are your hobbies?
I work out (which is what I am gonna do right after I am done with this!), I run (marathons!), I play video games, I paint and draw, I hang out with my kids and wife, and go scuba diving.

Wow! You’re a busy guy…

Are you a Food Network fan?
Yes, though not as big of a fan as my wife and son are! They love Iron Chef.

Well, who doesn’t?

What is your favorite show on the network?

Probably the original Iron Chef, I saw it in San Francisco like 11 years ago and loved the concept and program ever since.

I was a fan of the original Iron Chef as well, although I must say I like the American version much better. The secret ingredient in the original almost always grossed me out, and the dialogue of the judges seemed a bit cheesy. Mostly due to the dubbing of the voices, the overlays were always a little over the top for my taste…

Have you seen Feasting on Asphalt, before Alton Brown came to your shop?

No, but my wife and son love his other shows and were stoked when I told them he was at our shop. I had seen him a couple other times on Good Eats and Iron Chef America.

Of all of his shows I think Good Eats is my favorite…

Did you recognize him right away?

Yes, he is unmistakable

What was he like?

He was super nice and respectful, it was amazing considering they had been on the road for like a month at that point (I think it was that long, maybe just a couple weeks). His personality was pretty much the same or similar to the guy you see on TV.

That is so fantastic to hear. So often these days we hear that our favorite stars are jerks in real life. I’m glad that he really is what he seems to be…

His coming up to the shop was very spur of the moment in the show, was it actually? Or did he have an appointment?

It was totally spur of the moment and had us scrambling to open up space to get him in! They called a couple hours before they were coming down, but I am usually booked 5 months ahead of time so it was a little stressful, but worth it, for sure!

Who thought of the design, him or you?

He thought of the design, I drew it up.

Is there anything else you would like me to include?

Not that I can think of. It was a great experience and has been really fun running into people I know who have seen the show on TV. I wish I have been able to engage him more during the tattoo with cooking talk, but I am not much of a cook (though I can grill with the best of them!)

Thanks so much for your time Nic, I really appreciate it, hopefully I will be able to get a better wireless router before my next interview… heehee… You are awesome, and I really appreciate you sharing your art with us.

And to my readers in the Twin Cities area, when you want your next, (or first…) tattoo, be sure to get in touch with Nic, and the folks over at Uptown Tattoo. From the looks of what he’s done to our favorite food geek, it’s totally worth the wait for his next appointment!!!

So it seems to be reruns of Good Eats this week. I DVR pretty much every episode, because I have a sick, SICK fascination with Alton Brown. He is very possibly my favorite F.N. personality. So today I watched every episode I DVR’d this week, and it looks like most of them were from Season One. This is a good thing for me because I never saw the first season.
In the Behind the scenes episode of Good Eats, A.B. explained that the first episodes of Good Eats were actually filmed in a home kitchen. Eventually they had to get an actual soundstage and set, but those first episodes were indeed in somebody’s house. I didn’t think I would ever notice, but watching those first episodes I was struck by two things…

1) Boy does A.B. look young!!! He looks more like his nephew that makes so many appearances these days, than he does himself. Now for the most part, I must say I am a greater fan of his current look, but it was shocking to see how much he has changed in the last few years.
2) The sound quality of that first season is not the greatest. It really was a very amatuer show in the beginning. And I don’t say that in a negative way. Rather I say it in astonishment that it has come as far as it has. With the television industry being what it is, and awesome show’s like Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip being canceled in less than 2 seasons, it does my heart good to see that Good Eats has made it as far as it has.

In the Pantry Raid episode we saw A.B. go into a pasta factory and talk to an actual pasta maker. While they were recording the gentleman was tossing instructions to his staff, and the machinery of the factory was nearly overpowering their conversation. And yet it was fascinating. It was the stuff you rarely see anymore. In Let Them Eat Foam, we learned about Angel Food Cake, and I saw how much A.B. has grown as a narrator of his show.

I also saw This Spud’s for You, parts One and Two. Well nobody loves potatoes more than I do, so I loved the different recipe’s and ideas in the shows. But I also really loved the contrast between the two episodes. The first being another from that first season, when the show was … not polished … The second, being one of the most fun, if not strangest stories that I have seen on the show. Along the lines of Stephen King’s Misery, the show followed a bedraggled Alton who found himself in the clutches of his Number One Fan, who happened to be dating a potato farmer. She keeps him captive, making him help her make him meal after meal.

The first season of this show has very few of these mini stories, while somewhere along the line, we got an entire episode that was a story… These days we have a fantastic mixture of the two. Each show has a theme, with several short sketchs, and a lot of time in the kitchen. A cavalcade of strange characters populate the kitchen of Good Eats these days, but we love them all. I think they found a balance that makes the show damn neat perfect. I hope that it shows for many years to come…