free rice.

so i just found this site on another blog. and its a good idea and worth your time to check out for at least 10-15 min. you just play the word game and every question you get right the site will donate 20 grains of rice to the United Nations World Food Program. this site started in october and on wed the 29th they donated 369,007,280 grains.
a total of 4,933,763,490 grains in 2 months. it should me so much more. we all know this.
my guess is about 800-900 grains are in a serving. it may be more.

lets give the hungry people of this earth some useful rice:


the site is freerice.com

i will follow you lord, and cover you in grape jelly.

so i have this idea for a toaster that burns the face of jesus into every piece. dose anyone know how to make this? im tellen ya this is a gold mine. it would sell itself. urban outfitters would jump my bones to sell them-as long as i had another toaster that burns conner oberst into toast(hes their jesus).
and yess jam.
salvation straberry.
orange you glad he died for your preserves.
anny ideas people?

chicago: drink this coffie, or tea.

my new home away from home away from home. star lounge is quite nice. it reminds me of aroma, and is very comfortable. the staff are great, and some of the first chicago poeple i've met and liked talking to. it makes me miss my times at the old merry anns. thoes days were allot like my times now, i rarely spoke out loud. except to order coffie. and was very content in doing so. so ya, my new refuge. the star lounge cafe.

"Home is not where you live but where they understand you." ~Christian Morgenstern

if i could save the world, i'd start with you.

not many people like beets. my friend liam had his first beet this week. and liked it. i was proud of him. beets are good for repairing the liver, producing stomach acids, and they help prevent cancer. not a bad deal if you can get people to eat them. its all about preperation.
here are some easy and delicious ways to get the masses to "beet it"


beet chips are a great way to get a junk food junky to enojy. the biggest problem is slicing them thin by hand.
slice about 3-4 beets as thin as you can(you can leave the skin on to make it easier-just wash them)
toss them with oil salt and pepper
bake on a sheet at 350 untill crispy.
mix some cream cheese and goat cheese to dip them in.

its cold out now and soup is a MUST. this is a very easy soup that i like chilled or hot.
1 cup carrots
1 cup onion
2 cups beets-all chopped.
1 spring fresh rosemary
vegetable stock

cook onions in oil till soft.
add carrots and beets cook with the onions 4 like 5 min.
add rosemary and veg stock till liquid just covers.
cook till veg is soft.
blend all, using the liquid to keep a good consistency.

pickled beets sound scary but you can pickle them with whatever you want. some countrys have whole meal courses of pickled foods. its an amazing way to eat.
my pickling liquid.
1 cup water
1 cup white wine vinegar
2 cups sugar
add all, in pot heat up till sugar is disolved.

*u can use many things to pickle with, this is a simple pickleing liquid. some people just use lime juce.*

my pickled beet mix.
dice 3-4 beets kinda small-1/2inch by 1/2inch. the smaller you dice the faster they pickle.
3 whole clove garlic
2-3 small jalapenos sliced in rounds.
1/2 red onion chopped
star anise(4-5 if you can find whole, 1 tablespoon if pieces)
salt/pepper
wait about a week and it will be ready.

mike doughty rocks my world. even if dave mathews is on his new cd.

turkey day eve, and turky day.

this was a great couple days. it all started with shopping and long bus rides in cold, rainy weather. then yes, we drank.



i woke up at like 730 hung over but ready to cook. i put third eye blind on in the kitchen, and started cuting stuff. it felt good to cook among friends and "ok" music. it was like being on stage(god i miss it). then the food was ready. and yes PBR was around.

the roast.



more drinking and laughing and general thanksgiving sillyness. it was fun. and lots of food.



we put the roast in around 12:30. and started to realize that we had a lot of food, and a lot of PBR. people started showing up the food was close to ready, and i was 1/2 drunk.
we took the roast out and got ready to eat.



i must say the above picture is hot.

we ate food, joked, ate more food. then just sat around and did nothing........... well, we drank more. and looked like a apple comercial.



but all in all it was a greeeeeat day. i miss my family, but i spent the day with people i love and good food. i could not have asked for anything more. i am very thankfull for my life and friends. i am feeling very happy, and content for the first time in like 2 months. i feel a change in the winds of backpack. i love you all. and hope you had a wonderfull day.
and now...............................

thanksgiving made possible by: third eye blind.

so i think i figured out thanksgiving. mostly.
pork tenderloin marinated overnight in red wine, chix stock, and sage.
then im roasting it with beets, parsnips, red onion, carrot, sweet potato. adding roux to leftover juce for gravey.
and a butternut squash/potato/goat cheese bake.
ill have actual written recipes later if you would like one.

god i love 3Eb.

and on the eighth day john hughes created josh

so i think my life was writen by john hughes. he is my god. and the jerk did not make me a judd nelson type. so just immagine anthony michael hall in cheff whites. thats how my weekend was. but no happy ending for the dorky kid yet. no riding in a convertable. or kissing the girl. just the pre-pubescent yelps and movement. i bet its entertaining from from the throne of john hughes.

just plain sexy.

is it bad that this makes me sexualy excited? i need a good knife that will last me some years. and i think iv found it. yumy.

a missinformed line cook. who grins like he has a secret.

"My books are like water; those of the great geniuses are wine. Fortunately, everybody drinks water" -mark twain.

school is very diffrent from what everyone at kendall told me. so far my cooking classes have been easy. and my gen ed's are just annoying.
every day we get the idea that our life is over pounded into our heads. 70-80 hour weeks, working on every holiday, no time for friends, and a family? haha forget it kids. i know that they are useing scare tactics on us. trying to weed out the kids who are at culinary school because they saw rachael ray on a box of triscuits(couldn't tell the diffrence between their ass and a doughnut hole.). but the reality is its alot of hard work, dedication, and time consuming. i understand that, and have decided to say "no thank you".
just because the chefs above me did it and chefs before them did it and so on...dosent mean its the only way a person should go in this profession. im not trying to be chef che or anything but food has seen some amazing changes in the last 20 years. chefs are more respected. have tv shows. organic farming. and fast food is at least attempting to be healthy. change is around the corner again. and i think if my generation will see this we could do great things.
i have an idea of what i want to do out of school, it will keep me close to music. with a knife in my hand. more to come.

im trying to figure out what im cooking for thanksgiving. venison, lots of root vegitables, and wild turkey.-its just not thanksgiving without turkey juce!

yes its funny. why? well, if you dont know. sorry.

well, well, well.

welcome to St. jacks diner.
the not so wild adventures of backpack.
the place were i wll write dumb stuff about food, culinary school, food, and beer. I dont expect it to be all that interesting. im no markel. but this will keep me occupied and maby you will like somthing. and eat it.