Greg Nilsen

Ok, last cake post for a little while, as I’m all caught up and there aren’t any more family birthdays for a few more months…

So, with my sister’s birthday being just a few days ago, I decided to try my hand at making a cake from scratch.  All my life I’d made cake from a box, and it’s just not very satisfying to spend the time decorating knowing that there’s box cake underneath (maybe it’s just me, I dunno).  Anyway, I went with just a plain white cake for my first attempt, and it went pretty well.  It smelled great when baking and after coming out of the oven, but it was a bit dry (IMHO).  I’ll likely be tweaking that recipe in the future to make it moister in the future, but for a first attempt, I was very happy.

As far as the decorations go, I decided not to go too crazy, but to do something nice and spring-like.  I couldn’t make up my mind what colors I wanted to use until I sat down to decorate, but I came up with the following:

The yellow/green/pink combination really screamed “SPRING”, and then I tried to harness the letters to make them stems with little flowers.  I also made my first attempt at combing the side of the cake, which turned out ok, but would have been a lot easier with a turn-able stand.  Oh, well, it still turned out nicely!

As a bonus picture, so you can get a better shot of the combing, here is a shot of my son helping his aunt blow out her candles!

Ok, so it’s been almost three months since I made them, but I just realized I never posted pictures of Graem’s First Birthday cakes!  And yes, I made two so there were plenty for all our guests.

Here they are:

Not too bad if I do say so myself!

One of the great things about Pittsburgh is that it's a true melting-pot of cultures, in large part thanks to the communities that had built up around the mills back in the day, and the influx of foreign students in the major universities today.  What that means is there are many non-chain options for food in almost every community, even in arenas such as pizza where the mega-chains dominate so many other regions.

One of the local pizza places that clearly rises above the rest is Mineo's Pizza House, with two locations, one of which is thankfully within walking distance of my house!  Mineo's offers up a hearty and tasty pizza, which can be a little pricey (around $17 for a large), but is well worth it.  They load you up with cheese and toppings, and we have never been disappointed.  And it goes further than you think.  A large should be able to feed 4 hungry adults, which is further than any large chain pizza will get you. 

In addition to my high praise, Mineo's has also won numerous local awards in their 50+ years in the 'burgh.  And if you can't make it to Pittsburgh, or our house for dinner, then you can always order a pizza from them to be FedEx-ed overnight so you can try it yourself.

If you're a lover of pizza, then I highly recommend trying Mineo's at least once (especially the pepperoni!).  You definately won't be disappointed.

Well, even though our retailers have jumped straight from Halloween to Christmas, I wanted to take a few minutes to reflect on one of the most American of holidays that is coming up next week: Thanksgiving.

I've always enjoyed Thanksgiving as a day of gathering with family around some great food that we usually only make once a year, and be a little more carefree and thankful for all that we have.

There are a lot of great things about this oft overlooked holiday, and I wanted to see what your favorite part was.  Please take a second to vote in the poll below and let us know what you're looking forward to next week.

I came up with this great Mac & Cheese recipe earlier this week and thought I'd share with everyone.  If you like cheese, then this is the dish for you!

Ingredients

• 1 lb. box uncooked elbow macaroni
• 1/2 stick of butter (1/4 cup)
• 10 oz. Half & Half
• 1/2 lb. sharp cheddar cheese
• 1/2 lb. Velveeta
• 1/2 lb. sharp American cheese
• Cooking spray
• Italian breadcrumbs (optional)

Directions

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. In a large pot, boil macaroni until it is al dente.  Drain, and put in a greased 9″x11″ glass dish.
3. In same pot, melt butter into Half & Half.
4. Once butter is melted, slowly add cheese and melt until sauce is smooth.  Continue this process until all cheese has been incorporated.
5. Once all cheese has been added and sauce is smooth, pour over macaroni and stir to coat.  Top with Italian breadcrumbs and spray with cooking spray (optional).
6. Bake for 30 minutes, or until bubbling.  Serve warm.

Try it out and let me know what you think.

Came across this interesting breakdown of the changing price in food from last year to this year. 

The Price Of Food: 2007 Versus 2008

It's pretty amazing to see how much the price of field crops (like wheat and lentils) have jumped in comparison to most fruits, vegetables, and meats. I'm sure most of it is due to the rising price of fuel, but it can't explain all the price jumps, can it?  After all, there are some foods whose prices have actually gone down while fuel prices have risen.

Either way, the breakdown is definitely some interesting food for thought.

Back when I was in high school (which was a decade ago now…yikes), the Damon's in Hilliard, OH was the place where we went to hang out and get dinner.  We went there so often that one of my friends only asked for Damon's gift certificates for Christmas and his birthday.  Back then, we would get plates of sloppy food (including the fabled Onion Loaf), and we'd huddle around the NTN trivia unit to compete against all comers.  We'd then follow that up with a movie, pool, or any other mischief we'd get into.  Lots of fond memories of that place.

Well, tonight my wife and I went to the Damon's by us in Pittsburgh, and it will suffice to say that the place was barely recognizable.

Now, we had been to several other Damon's restaurants in the past, and we had gotten pretty much what I expected.  I hadn't walked away disappointed from a visit…until today.

Today, we were greeted by a new menu (not sure how old, but it had probably been a year since we were last there), with many un-Damon's like options.  Their pulled-pork-like sandwich was covered with extra crap like jalapenos and cheese, with no plain pulled-pork sandwich option.  The ribs, a former feature item, were buried in the menu.  Even the Onion Loaf was missing…replaced by the mysterious Onion Tower (???).  Heck, they didn't even have a plain hamburger on the menu.

Even my Buffalo Chicken Sandwich was not what I remembered, as I got a piece of chicken about a quarter-inch thick which I barely even noticed when I took a bite.  It left me yearning for the former hearty cut of chicken breast that was once used.

As I told my wife, they appeared to have “Tyler Florece-ed” the whole menu, with staples being replaced by more “interesting” but less appetizing entries.

Damon's, you were once a fun and enjoyable part of my life, but you've changed.  I'll always cherish the memories, but for now it's probably best we got our seperate ways.