Posts Tagged ‘Rob’

Servery Challenge: Fall Edition

Exciting news! At a recent THE 434 reunion, we had a servery challenge!! And for the first time ever, the presentations were filmed!!

Rules: Participants had 15 minutes to cook their “fall” themed dish and think of a name. Voting is done by secret ballot to try to keep Rob from gaming the system, although even this is not fool-proof.

Entries
Rob

Dish Name: Fall Surprise
Ingredients: Pastry shell, chocolate raspberry cranberry mousse, pumpkin granola.

It turns out chocolate-raspberry-cranberry isn't a popular combo for a reason

It turns out chocolate-raspberry-cranberry isn’t a popular combo for a reason

Rachel

Dish Name: Falliage Soup
Ingredients: Pumpkin spice latte, Harris Teeter-brand maple cookies, decorative pumpkin and leaves

Points for presentation

Points for presentation


Cynthia

Dish Name: Fall Appetizer
Ingredients: Indian corn, pimento cheese, crackers

This one would be good IF you like pimento cheese (I do not)

This one would be good IF you like pimento cheese (I do not)

Patricia

Dish Name: Leaves on a Log
Ingredients: Honey crisp apple, peanut butter, Reese’s Pieces

Colorful!!!

Colorful!!!

Matt

Dish Name: Pumpking of Heaven
Ingredients: Pumpkin beer, chocolate almonds, “holy” water

Most interactive!

Most interactive!

Here is the exciting results video!!!!!

Previously: North Carolina Edition
Art museum scavenger hunt

Servery Challenge: North Carolina Edition!

It is with great confusion that I report our strangest servery challenge to date. Everything with edible?? There was no clear winner? Rob’s didn’t shave a few years off my life?? Yes, all true. Usually these cooking competitions feature one entry that is the worst thing you’ve ever had in your mouth, one that seems good by comparison, and the rest just various brands of mediocre. But this time…? Maybe it was that we each got 25 minutes to cook. Maybe it was our new and improved kitchen set up. Maybe it was Brian Reinhart. Maybe the theme, THE SPIRIT OF NORTH CAROLINA, made everyone strive for greatness.

Rob's was definitely the most surprising. In that it tasted good

Rob’s was definitely the most surprising. In that it tasted good

Rob
Time: ~22 minutes
Dish Name: Stick it in Your Mouth
Description: Southern-style biscuits with bacon cooked in pepper jelly with pimento cheese

For someone who grew up in Syracuse, Rob definitely understands North Carolina food. The bacon was the main issue with this one–it was chewy and hard to eat in pieces. But I’ll take it over strawberries mixed with pickle juice any day.

Brian went all out for his first servery challenge

Brian went all out for his first servery challenge

Brian
Time: ~20 minutes
Dish Name: Sheesh-Carolina
Description: Sausage, Shallots, and Cherry Tomatoes on a stick, cooked in Cheerwine

These were actually pretty tasty! I feel like it could have done a little better highlighting the Cheerwine, the main thing that makes this dish North Carolina-related. Brian had never tried it before buying it to make this challenge, so he was trusting in North Carolina to make something great. Of course, his trust was not misplaced.

Awww yeah

Awww yeah

Patricia
Time: ~12 minutes
Dish Name: Shakalacky
Description: A Cackalacky milkshake made with Carolina Creamery vanilla ice cream and Mapleview milk

True to my usual strategy of making something quick and easy, I went for a dish with only three, beautiful, entirely local ingredients. Cackalacky is a sweet potato-based hot sauce made in Chapel Hill, and the key to success was using just enough of it to give the milkshake a little kick.

Also, ridic plating. Very important.

Also, ridic plating. Very important.

You KNOW Steven went overboard. It's pretty much a servery challenge given

You KNOW Steven went overboard. It’s pretty much a servery challenge given

Steven
Time: ~45 minutes
Dish Name: Shrimp N’ Grits
Description: Wild-caught shrimp, North Carolina grits, a roux of mushroom and ham gravy

Steven’s was legitimately what we had for dinner. Dude pretty much ignored the time limit because “I’m hungry.” Shrimp and grits is more of a South Carolina thing?? But these were delicious. But can you really still be considered if you took almost twice as long as everyone else? Time limit was 25 minutes…

Deliciousness v. time, the perennial Steven debate

Deliciousness v. time, the perennial Steven debate

Anyway, in the end we had a four-way tie with each of us getting one vote. So maybe it’s up to you to decide?? Cast your votes now!

Science Museum Scavenger Hunt

This happened back in February so I don’t know why I’m only talking about it now. Maybe because none of the pictures look that great due to me being completely unable to make normal expressions in selfies. It’s a curse. Anyway, I wrote this scavenger hunt for the science museum:

I don't know how you visit museums, but it's probably way less fun

I don’t know how you visit museums, but it’s probably way less fun

Scavenger hunt completion depended on taking a selfie with all the things listed. I know it was a little unfair, since I wrote the hunt in the first place, but I totally won. Here’s how:

#1: T-Rex Head!

#1: T-Rex Head!

You can tell it is the past because of my hair: both its color and the fact that I haven’t chopped it all off yet.

#2: A live animal

#2: A live animal

There is totally a fish back there. It was harder than it looks to maneuver some of these things into a selfie with you.

#3: A dead animal

#3: A dead animal

That’s a taxidermied bird if you can’t tell.

#4: Something in the gift shop you wanted as a kid

#4: Something in the gift shop you wanted as a kid

Leopard shark whatttt yes! I still want this.

#5: A museum employee

#5: A museum employee

This was definitely the most difficult item to get. For Rob because he fears strangers and for Rachel because guys who work at museum cafes hate their lives. Steven and I lucked out and met awesome people, though!

#6: A butterfly

#6: A butterfly

The butterfly dome was super hot and I got sick of trying to get a live one to land on me. Butterflies don’t know anything about selfies.

#7: Something trying too hard to make learning fun

#7: Something trying too hard to make learning fun

This was probably the hardest picture for me to finagle my way into.

#8: Something that terrifies you

#8: Something that terrifies you

That’s my scared face

#9: North Carolina

#9: North Carolina

This was probably the easiest one. North Carolina is everywhere in the North Carolina Science Museum. Of course I went for the biggest one.

#10: A sea creature

#10: A sea creature

I have no idea what this expression means.

#11: Something purple

#11: Something purple

Rob and I both spotted this purple thing at the same time, but I was faster/more willing to elbow children out of the way.

#12: A globe

#12: A globe

Another easy one

#13: Where you would sleep if you were secretly living in the museum

#13: Where you would sleep if you were secretly living in the museum

This is a tunnel showing you the ~underwater world~ of prehistoric North Carolina. It would of course be the coolest place to sleep if you were Mixed Up Files of Basil E. Frankweilering it

#14: Something you want to steal

#14: Something you want to steal

Giant ground sloths are my favorite prehistoric creature!! But I promise not to really steal them, NC Museum of Science. I know that’s been going around lately.

#15: Creepy child statues

#15: Creepy child statues

There are actually more than one set of creepy child statues in this museum.

#16: A map of North Carolina highlighting where we live

#16: A map of North Carolina highlighting where we live

This one probably got me the most stares from other museum-goers. Probably just jealous they weren’t having this much fun

#17: ROCKS ROCKS ROCKS

#17: ROCKS ROCKS ROCKS

If you’ve ever been to the geology section of the NC Science Museum, that expression makes total sense

#18: Someone else doing this scavenger hunt!

#18: Someone else doing this scavenger hunt!

Rob was unaware I had taken this picture somehow. SCAVENGER HUNT NINJA!

I’m excited to write one for the history and/or art museums! Just one more reason to come visit me.

Watercolor Round 2

Turns out, flowers are way easier than vegetables!!!

STEP ASIDE, MONET. There's a new flower-painter in town

STEP ASIDE, MONET. There’s a new flower-painter in town

Sorry, Rob, but Monet is literally the only painter who does flowers I know, and that is only because once I ended up at his house.

Go Big or Go Home

I may have mentioned in my post about my plans for 2013 that my motto for this year is “Go big, or go home”. I may be behind on all my other 2013 goals, but at least I’m living up to that.

I have wanted pink hair for pretty much the last ten years, and finally that dream is a reality!!! And so much more pink and amazing than anything I had imagined!!! Probably because I didn’t try to do it myself. First, bleached a little of the color out, which wasn’t bad because it was already pretty light. Though nothing like this:

Yeah, I look like a long lost Malfoy.

Yeah, I look like a long lost Malfoy.

Or possibly a Khaleesi. I waited a day in between this step and the dyeing. My workout class was impressed, but commented that it was “a little bright”. GET PSYCHED FOR MONDAY, GUYS, because this is coming at you:

I checked, but sadly I don't glow in the dark

I checked, but sadly I don’t glow in the dark

The dye they used is called Elumen, and the hairstylist told me “it works magnetically”. Which sounded kind of sketchy, but then I searched for it online and totally found a brochure with diagrams of ions, so I guess that is accurate, even if I still don’t understand it. Unlike every other hair dye I’ve ever heard of, it is oxidation-, peroxide-, and ammonia-free, so my hair still feels as soft as ever. TAKE THAT, ROB. He thought encouraging me in my dream would be his path to victory in the Soft Hair Wars (stalemated since 2008), but I am still killing it. Your move, Robert the RoughScalp.

Expect more pictures/tales of pink hair glory/mournful comments from my mom in the days to come!

Servery Challenge: Condiments

I know how you feel. It’s been almost six months since our last servery challenge! How can this be? How have we gone so long without seeing blurry pictures of questionable concoctions? Don’t worry, that streak is now at an end!

You all know Servery Challenge rules. 10 minutes. 4 competitors. 1 victor. The others face the dual risk of shame and food poisoning. This time the challenge was to create this best condiment (tested with french fries). It had to have at least three ingredients, and voting took place by secret ballot. Here are the entries:

Taco Frito by James

Name: Taco Frito
Creator: James Fox
Ingredients: taco seasoning mix, Mexican 4 cheese blend, ketchup

It may look like a mutated French fry whose brains are exploding out of it, but this actually didn’t taste that bad if you could get over its texture and appearance. James learned the hard way that some kinds of cheese are just not made for melting.

Dillpocalypse by Steven

Name: Dillpocalypse
Creator: Steven
Ingredients: oil, raw egg, salt, pepper, dill, season salt

So Steven apparently tried to kind of make his own mayonnaise, and it ended poorly. It had the consistency of soup and the added excitement of wondering if you were about to get salmonella. No one wants to dip their fries in salmonella-dill-water, Steven.

Presto Pesto by Patricia

Name: Presto Pesto
Creator: Me
Ingredients: mayonnaise with olive oil, basil, garlic

I admit to being a little disappointed with myself for going with the easiest thing I could think of. My first thought was to go with a dessert-themed dip, but then I remembered the horror of the SquidStache and was too scared. I think I got the proportions a little off, and some people might say it was “too garlicky”, although I have yet to see scientific evidence that this concept even exists.

Hunka Hunka Burning Love by Rob

Name: Hunka Hunka Burning Love
Creator: Rob
Ingredients: vanilla yogurt, curry powder, chili flakes, hot sauce

This one definitely won most creative, and maybe even most surprising? When I was watching Rob make it, I was skeptical, but it wasn’t as bad as your taste buds imagined! I think if he had used regular instead of vanilla flavored yogurt it would have been more of a contender. As it was, the dip was definitely not unpalatable, but featured a strange aftertaste and a confusing mix of sweet and spicy.

After tallying the votes the winner was… Read the rest of this entry »

Moving!

Steven and I are moving again! Pictures and a bullet-point breakdown of the pros and cons of our new place later! Right now I am too busy boxing up all of our stuff and eating weird meals that use up the food we have. Like this strange soup thing Steven made on Sunday:

He called it chili but I don’t think so

It was like… chicken, potatoes, hominy, black-eyed peas, green chilies, onion… I don’t know, it was pretty good, but also sort of strange.

Anyway, while packing up all my files, I found some exciting pieces of paper that I have, for some reason, been saving:

Oh, Professor Derrick, how are you real?

This is a paper I wrote for English 300, which was one of the few classes required by my major. It involved interviewing Rob for his juicy season-spanning knowledge and then watching a lot of clips of America’s Next Top Model on youtube. Here’s probably my favorite part:

For this reason, each season “the bitchy girl” always seems to avoid being eliminated for longer than one would have thought possible, just to maintain the level of stress and drama between the contestants. Much of this, obviously, is the editing job done after the show has been taped. For instance, in the current cycle… Monique was surprisingly quickly voted off, but, as one experienced viewer described the situation, “a bitch-vacuum was created and a new bitch was forced to emerge tot take her place, and that bitch was Melrose.”13

And, if you even have to ask, that footnote says:

13 Rob McAuliffe, American’s Next Top Model expert and avid reality television viewer

I’m sure Rob was only too excited to be featured in my bibliography. Needless to say, I got an A on this paper. And wrote Professor Derrick the most eloquent course evaluation ever.

Also squirreled away with some old Threshers reviewing my one acts badly were the original course information sheets from my student taught course, WIESS 101: Zombies in Fiction and Film. Rice has been referencing this on its latest give-us-money mailers, which is sad because it’s been five years, and you’d think in all that time another student taught course would manage to be at least as exciting, but whatever. That’s not what we’re talking about right now:

Of course that last one is Josh Langsfeld. You probably already guessed.

Here are some other highlights:

What is your past experience with zombies?
2 words: zombie. babies.–James Fox
One time I attacked Patricia pretending to be a zombie–Rachel

Why did you sign up for this course?
I feel the defensive techniques may be applicable to Baker 13–Roque
Distribution credit–Rob

How useful would you be in case of a zombie attack?
I keep a fully loaded shotgun on my person at all times. If that’s not useful I don’t know what is.–Joe Dwyer
On a scale of 1 to 10, about a 9. However, I would need to be convinced I was actually fighting zombies. Once that happened, I would be a merciless killer.–Josh Langsfeld

Servery Challenge: Whipped Cream Chocovine

At this point, I’m pretty sure Chocovine only comes up with new flavors to challenge me. I mean, who else is buying this stuff? So I have to say, they didn’t try very hard with whipped cream flavored Chocovine. It tastes far less horrible than any other flavor of Chocovine I’ve ever tried, and Rob even admitted that he would “totally drink it normally” after testing it pre-competition. It should be noted that this was Rob’s first ever Chocovine servery challenge, so he lacked the other competitors’ bitterness on the subject.

Also this time I took notes during the competition so I don’t have to guess about what was in each thing!!! Instead, I have to decipher my own abbreviations, which is perhaps just as difficult. Also for the first time, I decided we would vote by actually writing our choice down on secret ballot instead of blurting it out one by one. This was to keep Rob from trying to game the vote so that he wins, despite forcing us to drink pickles and strawberries or whatever. I think it worked out pretty well!

The Entries

Berry Good Time by Megan


Berry Good Time by Megan
Ingredients: Milk, strawberry syrup, “a little bit of the chocovine”, sprinkles, whipped cream, colorful straws arranged in a pattern

Megan’s entry tasted pretty much just like strawberry milk, which is delicious. And nothing is ever hurt by the addition of whipped cream and sprinkles. It also had the added interactive component of having to figure out which straw hadn’t been used when it was handed to you. Fun AND educational! Megan’s strategy of using as little chocovine as possible definitely helped in the taste department, though I’m not sure how much it “makes chocovine palatable” as per the rules. I guess she could be showing us that the best way to drink chocovine is not to.

Chocolate Cherry Surprise by Rob


Chocolate Cherry Surprise by Rob
Ingredients: Chocovine, kirsch cherry liqueur, maraschino cherries, whipped cream, the contents of cookies and cream milk straws, and vanilla salt

Rob claimed that this was “the least prepared” he’s ever been for a servery challenge, which, thinking back to when these actually took place in a servery, I can’t believe is true. Instead of just throwing random things from my cupboard into a cup, he at least tried to go with a theme. Unfortunately, that theme was fake cherry flavor, so to me his drink tasted kind of like cough syrup. I know other people are more a fan of that, though, so I don’t judge. The whipped cream and the kirsch mixed made the whipped cream go a little globby and gross-looking, and the tiny balls he cut out of the milk straws didn’t fully dissolve. Still, everyone agreed, WAY better than strawberries and pickles.

Fuck, What's The Name of Mine by Steven


Fuck, What’s the name of Mine? by Steven
Ingredients: Chocovine, ice cream, chocolate syrup

Steven made a kind of chocovine milkshake that turned out to be surprisingly tasty! In fact, many of us asked for seconds! I think it helped that it was served chilled, thanks to the ice cream. The intense cold blocked out a lot of the gross aftertaste you often get with chocovine, and let you just concentrate on the chocolate. He decided on the name moments after remembering that you needed a name, and I think it shows.

ChocoPuddingVine by Patricia


ChocoPuddingVine by Me
Ingredients: Instant Chocolate Pudding mix, chocovine, milk

Since this was my fourth chocovine challenge, I decided I had to go for something different to really set mine apart. Instead of making a drink, I decided to just replace half the milk in instant pudding with chocovine. So a lot like my blue raspberry/instant potato strategy, but not completely crazy and disgusting. I was a little surprised that the pudding was able to set fairly well just sitting on our table within the 10 minute time limit, and it pretty much tasted like normal chocolate pudding with a little kick. I was gratified to see that some people ate more than the required taste!

The Judging
After a process of secret ballot, Steven was declared the winner!!! This puts him at a 75% Chocovine challenge win rate. Clears his emphasis on presentation and meticulous attention to detail is giving him some kind of unfair advantage.

Rob won Most Improved

Megan won Least Like Chocovine (which is totally a compliment)

And I won Most Innovative possibly at my own insistence.

Overall, I’d say this was the most pleasant Chocovine Challenge ever! No one’s entry was so disgusting that I couldn’t swallow, and nothing will haunt my taste buds for all time. I’m pretty sure that’s never happened before. Seriously, we should have a competition where Original Chocovine’s Squidstache by Rachel and Espresso Chocovine’s The Rob by Thomas duke it out for Most Nauseating Thing Ever.

Also, since everyone always leaves the ingredients they brought to compete with in my kitchen, we’re eventually going to have to have “using up past servery challenge ingredients” servery challenge. Stay tuned.

Our celebrity guest judge was annoyed by the secret ballot process, being unable to read

Past Chocovine Challenges:
The Original
Raspberry
Espresso

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