Men Free Blog

Bourbon balls not your thing? Try a Derby Pie instead, a fudge-sweet chocolate and nut confection invented at Prospect, Kentucky’s Melrose Inn. Traditionally served around Derby time, the treat typically calls for walnuts or pecans and a splash of Kentucky bourbon. The Inn’s former owners, the Kerns, have been trying to protect its rights to the name “Derby Pie” by filing various lawsuits over the years - even Bon Appetit was no match for the Kerns, losing the right to print recipes using the name in 1987. So if you’re looking for a good recipe you may need to try searching “chocolate chess pie” or “Kentucky bourbon pie” or “Thoroughbred pie” instead.
Epicurious has a nice-looking one, for a “chocolate pecan chess pie.” I’m planning on making two a little later, to take to a Derby party this afternoon. Now, all I need is a giant hat…
Lisa, over at My Own Sweet Thyme, has a lovely post with a recipe about her aunt’s “brownie pie” - supposedly her aunt once worked for the Kerns and was afraid of being sued!

Read

It’s my final semester of college, and I’m taking Literature of the Great Depression to finish my English major. I think that my professor often feels badly, though, about assigning texts that are just so darn depressing, so she often opens class with a cheerful question like, “What’s your favorite type of pie?” or “What’s your favorite breakfast?” Recently, she asked us what our favorite thing about Spring is, and I knew instantly that mine is the delicious new food and produce that Spring brings. Clearly, there’s no better way to celebrate these bright new ingredients than with entire festivals dedicated to them! This weekend, we have homages to asparagus, seafood, beer, more seafood, seafood and (my favorite) maple.

St. Michaels Food and Wine Festival (April 24-27) - If you’ve never been to this beautiful town on the Chesapeake Bay, there’s no better time to visit than this weekend. The festival attracted thousands of people last year, and given the line-up of events, I’m sure they’ll be no shortage of foodies looking for cooking demonstrations, mixology classes and alcohol seminars, just to name a few. And of course, don’t forget to eat crabs — many of the events focus on this local gem of a food.

Stockton Asparagus Festival (April 25-27) - I wouldn’t visit the portable toilets there, but don’t miss the Asparagus Festival in Stockton, CA this weekend. In addition to food-related events, you can visit a crafts fair, listen to local music, and attend a home and garden expo. Tickets are only $10 for adults, and the festival boasts “the best deep fried asparagus found anywhere.” That’s something special.

Pompano Beach Seafood Festival (April 25-27) - If St. Michaels is too far to go for crabs this weekend, consider heading to Florida instead! While you’re scarfing your seafood, visit vendors and listen to tribute bands — the festival features tribute singers to Bob Marley, The Doors Daily, Southern Rock and The Ladies of R&B. Admission is $10, but if you’re hardcore you can buy a 3-day pass for only $20.

Astoria Warrenton Crab and Seafood Festival (April 25-27) - But say you live on the West Coast, and St. Michaels and Pompano Beach are both out of reach! No worries, just head to Oregon for your seafood fix. It’s all about the flavors of the Northwest, and for $5-10 (depending on the day) you can get a pretty good sampling of them.

Vermont Maple Festival (April 25-27) - Oh how I wish I could attend! Maple syrup and maple sugar candy both probably rank highly among my favorite foods ever, and both are featured prominently at the festival. And to make matters even worse/better, cotton candy ranks tops my list as well, and the festival is serving MAPLE COTTON CANDY! It’s practically torture for me to write it without being able to taste it. Go for the parade, go for the face painting, or go for the many other awesome events, but be sure to taste the maple cotton candy — for me.

Tap New York Craft Beer and Fine Food Festival (April 25-27) - Leave the kids at home (no one under 21 allowed) and taste fine craft beers at this annual festival in the Catskill Mountains. There will be over 90 beers to try, and breweries compete for “Best Beer” and “Best Brewery” in the state. Once you are full of beer, you can attend other events like cooking demonstrations and collect stamps at the brewery booths to bring home free stuff — woohoo!

Read

Competitive eating has always baffled me. I must be missing something, because it sure is a popular sport.

The winners are never who I’d imagine them to be. A slight girl like Sonya Thomas can often out-eat some of the biggest guys, ones you’d imagine have stomachs 5 times her size.

So what’s the trick? How does she manage to put these big burly men in their place, over and over again? Technique.

These four steps will help you win a hot-dog-eating contest. Step 1 involves preparing your stomach by stretching it out. In step 2 you will develop an eating method and refine the tricks that best work for you. I can barely read these training instructions without feeling my gag reflex kick into action, but step 3 explains why you would want to learn (with supervision) how to control this important survival reflex. Finally, like training for any other competition, you’ll want to time all your practices. Continually set new records, and work towards breaking them with each attempt.

Intimidated by the competitive hot-dog-eating techniques? Why not train for a pie-eating contest instead? Now that’s something I could get into!

Read