Braunschweiger

What great food is best described as the food of the Gods?

There are many really great eats out there that are epic, or shall I say "Legend- Dary" including: Pizza, Beer (not a food, but if consumed enough, can become major source of vitamins), Sushi, Peanut Butter, and Hot dogs. But of all those great eats, there is one item that always wins my heart over:

BRAUNSCHWEIGER
BRAUNSCHWEIGER
BRAUNSCHWEIGER

Anywho, Braunshweiger is a liverwurst with pork liver, pork, and bacon. It tastes great on just about anything as long as it hasn't been heated. What is also great about this meat that derives from the Gods' Bosoms is that it is a rare meat that few people are aware of. On an extremely rare occasion, you may come across it at a sandwich joint.

My father first introduced me to Braunschweiger when I was a child; going on nice hikes in the countryside and enjoy a thin slice paired with some crackers. When I eventually got around to college, I rediscovered my passion for this meat fulfilled with JOY and dead unicorns. With its relatively low price and its great peering with peanut butter I started making masterpiece meals. This leads me to my top five list for....

TOP FIVE BRAUNSCHWEIGER MEALS OF ALL TIME

5. Braunschweiger Sushi roll: I have never made it nor tried it, but I can still dream

4. PB & B: Peanut butter and braunschweiger sandwiched between toasted bread, preferably rye bread. Simple cheap and easy. Pico Pica optional

3. Classic on crackers: cut quarter sized slices place them on some RITZ (Must be RITZ). Maybe add some cheese and paired with a bottle of wine.

2. Horsepower Wrap: A tortilla wrap with Braunschweiger of course, bacon, avocado, swiss cheese, peanut butter, smothered in Pico Pico. I just created this tonight, and I was so proud of it that I had to share.

1. The Triple-BLT: This is by far one of the greatest things I have ever created. Sure the Horsepower Wrap has a lot going for it, but that is its flaw; too much competing flavors. The Triple-BLT has Braunschweiger, Bacon, and Bologna toped with thinly sliced lettuce and juicy tomatoes drizzled with olive oil, salt, and pepper. I hope I go down in fame for this one.

The Plan

Well here is the plan: To summit The Tooth within two weeks.

For obvious reasons, I would like to make an epic summit in a day of clear skies and clear crowds: both of which are hard to come by in Seattle. So the goal is to leave work early on a weekday, roughly 2:30-ish and get to the summit of The Tooth before sunset for a relatively safe decent in dim light. The Idea is that weekends are notorious for obnoxious crowds, and there are only a couple of days a week that are sunny (even though it is mid-June, the NorthWest does not realize that it is summer); so a supposedly sunny weekday evening run up the mountain will definitely give me my fix of Nature's mountaineering blissfulness.

This week I will head up after work and hike to the base of the climb to assess the approach and climbing route. That way I will get an idea of how long of an approach and how difficult of a climb The Tooth will be. If this turns out in my favor, I will make an afterwork summit attempt next week when the weather is more agreeable.

In other news. I have been a weekend warrior climber. Roughly 50/50 sport/trad. I have been fortunate enough to be the lead climber for this season except that I had to top-rope a route this weekend in order to clean the chains. I have been working as an accountant with the Red Cross and a Sales representative with REI putting in roughly 46 to 65 hours a week. Over the next couple of months I might either become really crazy, or I will be too busy to think about it.

Piece.

NewBelgium

I know this blog is in much need for an entry, but I just want to point out how sad I am that:

A.New Belgium Brewery has removed the artwork from a small portion of their beers.

B.It was my worst ski season ever. Living in the Northwest equals Wet snow if your lucky if it snows at all. I got four days in this season; my worst since I started at age nine. The bright side is that climbing season starts really early here, so climb on.

Peace.

This Winter's Plan

The best birthday gift ever (next to Carrot Cake) is a climbing gym membership. As a gift to myself I signed up for a membership at Vertical World. It was either this gym with mostly top-roping and lead climbing, or I could have bought a membership with the bouldering gym - Stone Gardens. Wow and am I out of shape, both my forearms and calves (from the bike ride) are extremely sore. I at least plan on going the majority of every week and hope to be climbing at a 5.12/V6 level by late December, but maybe that is me being just a little bit too optimistic.

On another note here is a list of some flicks that I am definitely looking forward to watching:

• Steven Soderbergh - The Informant - 09/18
• Jonathan Mostow - Surrogates - 09/25
• Coen Brothers - A Serious Man - 10/02
• Ruben Fleisher - Zombieland - 10/09
• Spike Jonze - Where the Wild Things Are - 10/16
• Grant Heslov - The Men Who Stare at Goats - 11/06
• James Cameron - Avatar - 12/18
• George Romero - Survival of the Dead - 2009

-- Well I have been blogging too much, so I will find something better to do with all of this time on my hands.

Ski Season is Aproaching

I do not want to say much, but the a new ski season is upon us. Hopefully I ski more mountains and gracefully carve the most fluffy powder this year than I ever have done before. What the great Warren Miller once said, "If you don't do it this year, you'll be one year older when you do."

Here is the trailer for Powderwhore's next film "Flakes"

The Seattle Life

Well I am living in Seattle Washington! Exciting it is. Besides the fact that I need money to do just about anything (I must be living in a city), the lifestyle here is great. I am currently living in a decent studio located in Lower Queen Anne. Within a three block radius of where I live there are five Thai restaurants, six bars (real ones, not like the so called "bars" of Utah), five cafés, two Indian Restaurants, two Pizzerias, a Real movie theater which in comparison to Westates Theaters (a monopoly in Utah that typically leans towards an LDS audiences i.e. movies that are non-independent and are G-rated), and three grocery stores that have a vast varieties of products (but are a little pricier from what I am used to).

I just got a job with REI at their flagship store which is just about three times the size of any other REI store in the US. For right now I am only a seasonal sales person for winter sports, but I hope to become a full-time employee and possibly go even further up the corporate cooperative ladder.

For those of you that do not know what REI is, Recreation Equipment, Inc. is a cooperative retailer based in Seattle that sells outdoor recreational equipment (hunting rifles, soccer balls, and snowmobiles are NOT outdoor recreational equipment). The way the co-op works is by becoming a lifetime REI member for only $20, one becomes a lifetime "shareholder" of REI and receives dividends depending on how much you spend at REI and its annual profit. REI has been on Fortune's 100 Best Companies to Work For for twelve years in a row (ranked 12th this year). I get great benefits and incentives, and there is a lot of potential for progress.

I also have an interview with Pyramid Brewery today.

Once I start making a self-sustaining income I will hopefully do the following:
1. Get a membership at a local climbing gym
2. Finally purchase a brewing kit to brew some delicious beer by the holidays
3. Join The Mountaineers and partake in their outdoor activities including Sailing!
4. Get my Avalanche certification as well as Wilderness Responder certification
5. Summit Mt. Rainier by the fall of next year