2011 NL All-Stars

I haven't posted much about sports lately, but that doesn't mean I haven't been following. Actually, in my last sports post, I predicted the Heat to win the NBA Finals but I said I liked Dallas if the series went 6 or 7 games. I think that's the best incorrect prediction I've ever given. I was glued to the TV last night for the first game of the College World Series Championship round between South Carolina and Florida and I was pulling hard for the Gamecocks (because I don't want UF to win anything) and hope they can close it out tonight and complete the repeat.

In addition to the championship match-ups that have been taking place, I've been following the first half of the MLB season. I'm rooting hard for the Braves to stay healthy enough to remain within striking distance of the Phillies, and I hope we see some competitive division races for the second half of the season. Since the deadline for filling out an All-Star Ballot is approaching and we now have a substantial chunk of the season to rate players, I decided to cast my votes over the weekend. Here are my picks for the National League:

Prince has played like royalty.

1B: Prince Fielder, Milwaukee Brewers: If there was a mid-season MVP award, Prince would be a strong candidate to win it. He has proven why he will demand a huge contract in the offseason and has dominated opposing pitchers while leading the Brewers to first place in the central division. 
2B: Rickie Weeks, Milwaukee Brewers: Weeks was on his way to having a breakout year last season, but had a knee injury that sidelined him for most of the year. He has returned this year, and has provided that rare combination of power and speed to the Milwaukee lineup. It also doesn't hurt that the 2B position in the National League has been rather weak this season, with Chase Utley being injured and Dan Uggla being historically bad.
SS: Jose Reyes, New York Mets: After struggling with injuries during the past couple seasons, Jose Reyes is healthy and back in form. He has weathered criticism from his owner and dealt with trade talk all season long and has kept the Mets competitive with a .500 record. Reyes is doing what he does best - getting on base and creating havoc with his speed.
3B: Chipper Jones, Atlanta Braves: Chipper hasn't really played like an all star this season, but neither has anyone else that plays 3B. And even though he is constantly battling injuries and always seems to be a step away from the DL, there's not a 3B that means more to his team than Chipper. He is the leader of the Atlanta clubhouse, which is still quite young, and has come up with a number of timely hits this season.
C: Brian McCann, Atlanta Braves: I think McCann has been the best catcher in the game this season. I'm not glad Buster Posey is injured, but I do hope that McCann receives the attention he deserves because he was outperforming Posey before the injury anyway. McCann has been excellent with the bat and he's been extremely consistent and durable, which is quite unusual for a catcher.
OF: Matt Kemp, Los Angeles Dodgers: Dude has been a freak. It seems like I read a "Matt Kemp gets game winning hit" headline once a week and he's been crushing the ball lately. He has triple crown-like numbers and is carrying a Dodgers team that is dealing with a ridiculous amount of distractions. It appears that Kemp has shed the "lazy" label and is showing his potential as a complete player.
OF: Justin Upton, Arizona Diamondbacks: A couple years ago, people were talking about B.J. Upton being one of the next great young outfielders in the game - they were talking about the wrong Upton. Justin Upton has been one of the keys to this turnaround year for the Diamondbacks and deserves to have a spot on this year's All Star team.
OF: Andrew McCutchen, Pittsburgh Pirates: It feels like someone from the Pirates belongs in the starting lineup and I think McCutchen has earned it. He's unbelievably fast on the bases and in the outfield, and he's improved his plate discipline and power. The Pirates have been one of the great stories in baseball this year and McCutchen is one of the exciting pieces they are building that team around.

*You only vote for 3 outfielders on an All Star Ballot, not specific positions (CF, LF, RF)
**There is not an option for voting for pitchers, but my choice for the SP for the NL would be Jair Jurrjens.

Free DMB!

I'm typically not into getting the newest CD's or figuring out the best new music, but I am a fan of free music. I try to download free songs that are available on iTunes or Amazon.com whenever they are available and keep an eye out for free promo codes that are out there. Usually, this gives me the opportunity to download some mediocre music by bands no one has ever heard of. So when I heard about a free sampler from the Dave Matthews Band Caravan Tour, I was excited to get that download.

The DMB Caravan Tour is a very small tour in terms of locations, but a HUGE show. The Dave Matthews Band sets up in a city for a weekend and they play 3 straight nights, and he's got some awesome bands along with him including: O.A.R., Ray Lamontagne, The John Butler Trio, Bela Fleck, Amos Lee, and many more. I've never been to a DMB show, but I've heard he is an amazing live performer and those other bands would be great to see as well. Too bad they will only be playing in Chicago, New York, and George, WA.

Since I'm unable to make it to the show, I will gladly take a free sampler featuring some of the bands from the tour. For the link to redeem on iTunes, click here. The code is available until October 5. I found out about this promotion from The Shoptimist, a blog through The Roanoke Times that focuses on deals and discounts. I've been listening to the sampler for the past couple days and I'm really enjoying it. I love DMB and O.A.R. and I like being exposed to some other new bands. Download the sampler and check them out!

No Place like Home

The Homeplace. I really don't think it gets much better. It's delicious southern comfort food and hospitality in a beautiful location. My family has been going to The Homeplace for 25 years, and the quality has remained the same all those years.

Welcome home...

Everything about this restaurant is the epitome of southwest Virginia and the Blue Ridge Mountains. It's located in an old southern plantation style home at the foot of the Appalachian Trail and the Blue Ridge Mountains and it's surrounded by farms and horse pastures. It feels like you're having a meal in someone's home. They have porch swings, benches, and gazebos for waiting outside, or there's a lobby where they occasionally have live bluegrass music being played. The tables are set in different rooms of the house and the decor is nice, but there's nothing too fancy about it. It's the type of atmosphere that is comfortable for people who have been hiking on the trail, or people who are celebrating a special occasion.

You're greeted by the same two men who have been working the front table & cash register for the last 20 years and you usually have to put your name on the list to be seated. Lately, I've noticed that when they say it'll take 30-40 minutes, it usually means more like 10-15. And I can't help but smile when he comes on the loud speaker and calls your last name and number in your party with that slow southern twang.

I assume the waitresses are treated well because many of them have worked there for years. When I was little, I remember my family going to The Homeplace every Sunday for lunch after church and the waitresses learned all our names and treated us like we were family. They take care of you and make sure your drinks stay refilled and that you get plenty of food - and if you leave hungry, it's your own fault.

Free refills!

The menu isn't complicated and your choices are pretty simple. You get to choose two meats out of a selection of fried chicken, roast beef, and country ham. Pork bbq is also a selection only available on Thursday nights. We usually pick the fried chicken and roast beef. Along with the meats, they bring an assortment of southern style vegetables: green beans, macaroni & cheese, mashed potatoes and gravy, pinto beans, coleslaw, and homemade biscuits. I think I forgot to mention that everything is all-you-can-eat. It's served family style, so they just refill your bowl when you finish something off until you ask them not to bring any more food, and then you move on to dessert. For dessert, they serve homemade cobbler (the flavor depends on when you go, but they seem to rotate between peach, cherry, & different types of berry) and homemade ice cream. Dessert is also all-you-can-eat but I've never seen someone have more than one. I believe they offer Pepsi products as a drink, but they have pitchers of lemonade and sweet tea on the table, perfect for this type of meal.

Cobbler & Ice Cream? Yes please!

If I were writing a "Best Thing I Ever Ate" post, I think The Homeplace would win in at least four categories: fried chicken, green beans, biscuits, & cobbler (coleslaw makes a push for the 5th category). My preference with fried chicken is for it to be darker and crispy, and The Homeplace has this down. It has beautiful color and crunch and I think it tastes amazing. I also don't think you can find green beans that taste any better. The beans are sweet and tender and are with cooked pieces of ham, which creates more delicious juice and flavor. The biscuits are fluffy and not too dense and sop up all the juices from the other food perfectly - it helps me completely clean my plate. And the peach cobbler with the homemade vanilla ice cream...heavenly. The way the glass bowl is hot on the bottom with the hot cobbler and then cold on top with the ice cream is just magical.

I could go on and on about The Homeplace. At $14 per person, it's a very good value for all the food you get. I think the food is some of the best in the area and the service is excellent, and it just has southern charm. Whenever we have guests from out of town, we always make it a point to take them to dinner there because I don't think you can beat the experience. I have shared many great memories with family and friends at The Homeplace and I hope to be able to do so for many years to come.

Joe Knows Dough

People always say breakfast is the most important meal of the day. I've never really jumped on that bandwagon because I'm not a big fan of most breakfast foods and I have to make myself eat in the morning. Since it is an important meal in regards to getting your metabolism started, I usually try to eat something healthy like fruit, granola, toast, etc. Starting the day with a doughnut, or having a doughnut at any point during the day, isn't the healthiest thing in the world - but it's almost impossible to pass up when the doughnut is from Blue Collar Joe's.

Blue Collar Joe's is a family owned doughnut and coffee shop located in Daleville, VA, which is about 15 minutes from downtown Roanoke. Instead of constructing a new building, Blue Collar Joe's sits in what used to be a gas station, and they offer a drive through for people who might be in a hurry. The store has received numerous local dining awards for their doughnuts and coffee and they have been featured nationally on Fox News and Food Network for their creative flavors. While Joe's has gained more and more attention around the nation, they still haven't lost their neighborhood-doughnut shop mentality.

Brian Regan would be amazed!

I've been to Blue Collar Joe's multiple times, and I'm always impressed with their selection of doughnuts. They don't have a set menu, as the doughnuts are made fresh daily and they offer different varieties on a daily basis, but they do seem to have some regular staples. Because they do a great job of promoting themselves in the community and offering coupons, we have been able to try and enjoy many of their crazy flavors. Some of my favorites are: the Botetourt Bog (chocolate, chocolate, & more chocolate), German Chocolate Cake (chocolate, caramel, nuts, & coconut), Chocolate Cheesecake (yeah...it is filled with cheesecake), Turtle (chocolate, caramel, & nuts), and the Blueberry Pancake Breakfast (a blueberry doughnut with candied pieces of bacon sprinkled on top). It's pretty obvious that I'm a little partial to the chocolate flavors, which I don't deny. I prefer their chocolate cake doughnuts to any of the other flavors I've had and I love the flavor combinations they pair with the chocolate. And the blueberry, pancake, bacon combination is just awesome.

I got two boxen of doughnuts.

It seems like most of the doughnuts at Joe's are of the cake variety, making them more dense and filling. It doesn't really help them on the nutrition scale, but anyone who is looking for a healthy doughnut is wasting their time. The prices are a little more compared to Dunkin Donuts or Krispy Kreme, but this is a local business producing an excellent product. And I believe they offer a special happy hour during their final hour of the day, which means half price doughnuts! Blue Collar Joe's is also involved with the 3/50 Project, an initiative designed to encourage people to support local companies. I wish they weren't so far away because I can't justify driving an hour for doughnuts, but there are rumors they will be opening a location in downtown Roanoke - bad news for my wallet and my waistline. This place is a true gem in the Roanoke Valley and I hope they continue to succeed.

Chipotle Night!

Courtesy of The Roanoke Times

Chipotle night is over but a great time was had by all! The weather ended up being great for camping out, our tents were relatively easy to set up, there were plenty of snacks and games, and we had visitors stop by all night. The time went by surprisingly quick and I think all of us really enjoyed it. There were games of cornhole, ladder ball, frisbee golf; snacks of pretzel M&M's, Chick-Fil-A, Late Night Cheeseburger Doritos, and Starbucks; a seven week old chocolate lab puppy that came by for a visit; even reporters from WBDJ7, WSLS, and The Roanoke Times came out to talk to us! For the record, the reporter from WSLS did a great job and really seemed to know what he was doing - and he's one of the few people that managed to correctly pronounce the name of the restaurant. It's funny how so many people claim to be "THE BIGGEST FANS" but can't even say the name of the place. It's Chipotle! Not Chipolte! Only six of us ended up spending the night, but it was exactly what I was hoping for when I first thought about camping out for the opening. A big shout out to Nicole, Brent, Mom, Hunter, & Parker for joining me in this crazy adventure and staying the night!

Hanging out on Monday night and Tuesday morning was a lot of fun, and we were excited once Chipotle actually opened. A line started to form while we were taking our tents down and cleaning up, but we still managed to keep our spots at the front of the line (pretty sure we earned that even though some people appeared to be trying to cut in front of us). The general manager came out and announced they were opening five minutes early because everyone was so excited, so we ordered our first burritos at 10:55am! I had a burrito with carnitas (pork), black beans, rice, pico de gallo, corn salsa, lettuce, & cheese. Delicious! After finishing my massive burrito, I rushed over to the Roanoke YMCA (that place is awesome) to take a shower and then headed over to work at the Roanoke Visitor's Center. In all, it was a great day and experience and something I'll never forget. Here are the links from the news coverage:

Chipotle opens in Roanoke - WDBJ7
Mini-fiesta greets opening of Roanoke Chipotle - The Roanoke Times

The Welcome Committee

When I came back to Roanoke a few months ago, I was stunned when I saw the signs for a Chipotle that was under construction. They are taking over the old Hollywood Video store at Towers Mall on Colonial Avenue and they are scheduled to open on Tuesday, June 7. Ironically, I wasn't a big fan of Chipotle after my first visit because I thought the food was too spicy (some of the spice on their meat is no joke). Now, I think I've tried everything on the menu, figured out the milder items, and it has become one of my favorite places to eat.

In what has become a growing industry of tex-mex/fast food burrito companies, I think Chipotle is the gold standard. It's comparable to Moe's, QDoba, Barberitos, Willy's, & other chains, but Chipotle focuses primarily on burritos and tacos - that's it. Everything is cooked fresh and they talk about how they teach their employees how to cook, not just press buttons and make cookie cutter recipes. The company is also founded on principles of finding fresh ingredients that taste great and aren't harmful to the environment. They do everything they can to serve organic and hormone free ingredients while keeping prices as low as possible. I think it's a great formula: quality ingredients that are freshly prepared by people that know how to cook for a reasonable price (~$7). The chain has exploded over the past few years and new locations are popping up all over the country, including Roanoke!

When I drove by the new location a few weeks ago, the thought crossed my mind of camping out for the grand opening. I know people who've participated in Chick-Fil-A grand openings to receive free food for a year, but I didn't know if it would be something that would work with Chipotle - especially without the promise of any free food. I told some family and friends about the idea and people seemed interested, so I decided to see what store management thought. I told the manager about my idea and the interest of others and he was extremely excited about it and encouraged me to get as many people as possible and throw a party. So....that's what we're going to do!

Camping out at the Blacksburg location.

We are camping out in front of Chipotle on Monday night for their grand opening on Tuesday, June 7. The store is scheduled to open at 11am and there is supposed to be a ribbon cutting ceremony beforehand and we'll be there for the celebration; not to mention, first in line for some burritos! The weather is supposed to be great and we've had some great response on Facebook from people who are interested in coming. We've also invited the newspaper, local tv stations, and radio stations in the hopes that they'll come out. We are excited about welcoming Chipotle into the Roanoke community and excited about being able to eat there ALL THE TIME!

And I'm quite certain of what my first order will be: Carnitas Burrito with Rice, Black Beans, Cheese, Lettuce, Pico de Gallo, & Corn Salsa. I can't wait!

Best Thing I Ever Ate: Strawberry Shortcake

I have had many strawberry shortcakes in my life. It's a rather popular southern dessert, a dish you see at picnic/potluck meals, and something that most people like - which makes it a dessert that is frequently made or served at restaurants. I wouldn't consider myself a strawberry shortcake connoisseur, but I have tried many different varieties in many different places - some good and some bad. I've had any number of combinations between store bought angel food cake cups, homemade angel food cakes, white cake mix, homemade shortcake, fresh strawberries, prepackaged sweetened strawberries, strawberries in sugary syrup, vanilla ice cream, fresh whipped cream, canned whipped cream, cool whip, and any other ingredient that seems like it would fit. I've sampled strawberry shortcake at church lunches, the famous Beaches & Cream Soda Shop at Walt Disney World, The Cheesecake Factory, and many other places, but I'm pretty sure I've found the best one...the version my wife makes.

Cheesecake Factory Strawberry Shortcake

Since we've been married, my wife has become a very good baker. She practices making all sorts of things - cookies, cakes, breads, cupcakes, muffins, and she appears to have mastered strawberry shortcake. She is always looking at different blogs and websites for recipe ideas and found this version of strawberry shortcake from a site called Vintage Victuals, which is full of awesome and creative recipes. Nicole has made the strawberry shortcake numerous times for different people and everyone loves it, including me. It's a simple list of ingredients and simple to make, but I don't think you can beat the flavors. Put together an amazing shortcake biscuit, fresh strawberries that macerate in sugar, vanilla ice cream, & whipped cream and you have an outstanding dessert, especially when you get the biscuit hot out of the oven. We had it as our dessert for Memorial Day and it was a big hit, even though the Bisquick was a little old. Nicole made another batch the next day with fresh Bisquick and everyone was extremely impressed.

The ingredients list is pretty small and consists of things we normally have sitting around the house:
 -Strawberries

Nicole's Strawberry Shortcake

 -Sugar
 -Bisquick
 -Milk
 -Butter
 -Vanilla Ice Cream & Whipped Cream

Here's the link for the rest of the recipe: strawberry shortcake and I encourage you to check out the other things on the site. Major props to Ellie at Vintage Victuals and to Nicole for making the best strawberry shortcake I've ever had.