"I don't believe what I just saw!" (Photo by tree & j hensdill) What is the rabid sports fan to do, once he or she leaves the home territories -- the "Friendly Confines," if you will -- of their favorite team? When you become attached to a team, you want to -- you need to -- follow its exploits and discuss its chances with like-minded fans who are eager to praise it or damn it -- as necessary. But what to do if you're a member of Steeler Nation who moves to Seattle, or if you're a Packer Backer in Pensacola? Fear not, for the sports bar has made it possible for you to gather with your fellow fanatics and root, root, root for the home team -- even if that ballclub is a continent away. The tavern dedicated to athletic endeavors is not a new phenomenon; saloons such as Toots Shor and Jack Dempsey's in Manhattan were all the rage in the 1920s. But satellite TV, the collaborative nature of the Internet, and the leagues themselves have made it possible to watch far-away games as they happen. So while you may not be able to find a place where "everybody knows your name," you can certainly find a watering hole where everybody knows that that idiot on the sidelines needs to be fired. Suggested Sites... SportsTavern.com - find a sports bar near you. SportsBars.com - broken down by state or zip code. Soccer Bars.com - for watching the other kind of football. ESPN: Baseball's Top 10 Bars and Grills - the best of the best for the horsehide crowd. Didital City: Best Sports Bars in America - the fans have spoken!

Directory categories: Bars, Pubs, and Clubs, Fantasy Sports, Sports TV Networks, Sports News and Media, Sports Chats and Forums

Archived under: 1920s, Athletes, Baseball, Basketball, College Basketball, College Football, College Sports, Communities, Entertainment, Fanatics, Fantasy Sports, Football, Hockey, MLB, NASCAR, NBA, NFL, NHL, New York, Restaurants, Soccer, Sports, Sports Bars, TV, United States

Post a comment (0) | Email this posting

As autumn rolls in, we've been stocking our web pantry (a.k.a., the Directory) with great sites to help you out this season. Here’s a selection of the freshest choice sites: Best-selling author James Patterson has put together a site where he offers recommendations for kids' books, sorted by age group. It's a wonderful resource for teachers, librarians, and for parents of kids heading back to school. You can browse book lists by type, read and listen to author interviews, and view lesson plans. Now that "Reading Rainbow" is no more, this is just the kind of site we need! We're already looking forward to Halloween. The California Science Center must be, too. Their latest exhibition, "Goose Bumps! The Science of Fear," is traveling all over the country, and has a great interactive online exhibit to get you in the mood -- or at least explain the mood. Explore how fear works in the brain, in the wild, and in the media -- and find out how to deal with it. Fall is a season for cooking. But when you're ready to take a break and eat out, you may want more than "just" a restaurant review. Dishola allows users to review specific menu items at local eateries, and upload photos of their meals. For those who are trying to live green (a good idea in any season), Project Label provides "nutritional labels" for companies, revealing their social and environmental impact based on public info and user input. Suggested Sites... Read, Kiddo, Read! - the world of kids' books, according to James Patterson. Goose Bumps! The Science of Fear - online and traveling exhibit explains why our hearts race, our knees shake, and our bodies sweat when we're scared. Dishola - reviews for individual menu items at local eateries. Project Label - company "nutrition" labels rate impact on the planet, community, and workers.

Directory categories: Children’s Literature, The Brain, Restaurant Reviews, Green Product Reviews

Archived under: Authors, Autumn, Books, Children, Children´s Literature, Consumer Advocacy, Eating, Education, Food and Drink, Green Living, Green Products, Museums, Parenting, Psychology, Reading, Restaurants, Science, Society and Culture, Yahoo! Directory

Post a comment (0) | Email this posting

To paraphrase Groucho Marx, "we don't want to belong to any club that would accept us as members" Yesterday, we shared some of the things that Yahoo!s have never done -- and don't care who knows it. While the first round of confessions dealt with television shows we've never seen, today's round concentrates on travel and food. Pretty much everyone has a place they've always wanted to visit, or a location they return to over and over. But there are places that we've never been to -- and couldn't care less if we did. In my case, it's Walt Disney World. I know there are millions who share a fervor to visit the Magic Kingdom and who go annually -- or even more than once a year, but I can think of fewer places that hold less interest than the greater Orlando area. Other than heat, humidity, and crowds, I can't see what they offer. But where do Yahoo!s long to not travel to? Sarah: I have never been to Las Vegas, even though I grew up just off the 15 freeway in Southern California. Despite how glamorous it looks in the movies, I have no interest in gambling, buffets, or rooftop amusement parks. Richard: I’ve never been to Canada Eugenia: I’ve never gone camping! Mitzi: I’ve never done any traditional camping (tent, sleeping bag, etc.). Never been to Walt Disney World/Epcot (although I’ve been to Disneyland many times).(Editor’s note: Ditto and good for you!) Now, there are plenty of us who don't own a television or who never travel, but one thing we all have in common is eating. Some of us may have more limited menus than other, but we all need sustenance -- excepting, of course, those things we've never eaten or restaurants we don't want to visit. Myself, I've never eaten lobster and have no desire to. Those giant waterbugs just look disgusting and the whole process of cracking open the shells is repulsive. Anyone else? Mitzi: Never eaten at the Olive Garden (and don’t plan to). Ali: I really don't consider this to be noteworthy, but since you're being so inclusive ... I have never had a cup of tea or coffee. I'd never really thought about that in the "never" sense, so thank you for the opportunity to feel incomplete. Lydia: I’ve never eaten a bagel. At first, it was because bagels pale in comparison to the sweeter pastries that my palate demands for breakfast. Now, it’s more so I can say “I’ve never eaten a bagel” on random occasions -- like in a blog about random things people have never done. What say you, gentle reader? Anyplace you have no desire to visit? Is there some delectable dish that turns you off? Tell us about it, and we'll be back tomorrow with more stuff we can't wait not to do. Suggested Sites... I Hate Disney World - ...and so do her kids. I Hate Las Vegas - and he's the editor of a travel magazine! Why I Hate Camping - all of these only prove we're right not to have done this stuff. I Hate Coffee - you wonder why we don't want to try it? The Spark: Don't Forget the Jellied Eels! - a whole bunch of foods we don't want any part of, from pork brains in milk gravy to cheeseburger in a can.

Directory categories: Walt Disney World, Camping, Las Vegas, Bagels, Camping Equipment

Archived under: Amusement Parks, Camping, Canada, Coffee, Disney, Disneyland, Eating, Food and Drink, In Character, Italian Food, Las Vegas, Outdoors, Recreation and Travel, Restaurants, Tea, The Spark, Tourist Attractions, Travel, Yahoo!

Post a comment (3) | Email this posting

The finished products -- a carnivore's delight (Photo by jessbess1) Two chefs were born on August 15, but one couldn't have reached his television stardom without the trailblazing work of the other. Last week. I celebrated the birthdays of my two favorite chefs -- Julia Child and Tom Colicchio -- by hosting a steak cook-off in my apartment using recipes from each chef. I usually don't need much excuse to eat steak, but I haven't actually ever made it myself because the smoke alarm system in my studio apartment likes to go off at any semblance of real cooking. For Tom and Julia, though, the risk of smoking out my apartment (from the amount of butter used in each recipe) was well worth it. Tom Colicchio is famed for his Craft restaurants and steakhouses, and in the past few years, he's reached heartthrob status with fans of the Bravo television show, "Top Chef." His recipe for steak with potatoes, which I actually found in the "Esquire Recipes for Men" (and don’t get me started on that questionable title), calls for hanger steak. But since there's only one hanger steak on each cow (hence driving up the price), I opted for a ribeye cut instead. Tom had me sear the steak in canola oil and baste it with butter and thyme. Think that's overkill? Never. Tom then instructs us to cook bacon in the same skillet and fry the potatoes in the delicious combination of fat. It seemed like the butter bath in Tom's steak might be hard to beat -- it gave the steak a beautiful, brown crust. But when my three tasters cut into Julia's pan-broiled steak, the decision was unanimous. Julia also had me sear the steak in a combination of butter and oil, but the crowning glory of her steak was a simple pan sauce deglazed with beef broth, white vermouth, and (what else?) unconscionable amounts of butter. The pan sauce was smooth, beefy, and luxurious. The best part was that it took only about five minutes to make the sauce. We raised our glasses to Julia and Tom -- and to the smoke alarm that miraculously stayed silent through our whole meal. If you want to have a steak-off of your own, check out Tom's and Julia's recipes for steak au poivre. In Julia's words, "Bon appetit!" Suggested Sites... Julia Child: Lessons with Master Chefs - official site for the PBS series, with videos, recipes, and cooking tips. Top Chef - from Bravo TV. Season recaps, updates, news, and blogs. How to Order a Great Steak - interview with Tom Colicchio. How to Run a Restaurant - Tom Colicchio explains. Out of the Kitchen, Onto the Couch - Michael Pollan discusses the influence of Julia Child.

Directory categories: Julia Child, Tom Colicchio, Steakhouses, Beef, French Recipes

Archived under: Authors, Bacon, Beef, Birthdays, Celebrities, Chefs, Coincidence, Cooking, Eating, France, Homemade, How-To, In Character, Meat, Men, Recipes, Restaurants, Steak, Women

Post a comment (0) | Email this posting

The perfect meal: an In-N-Out "Double-Double" with fries (Photo by Elliot) On July 28, 1900, a hungry customer rushed into Louis Lassen's luncheonette in New Haven, CT, and asked for something that he could eat on the run. Lassen slapped a broiled beef patty between two slices of bread and invented the hamburger. Or did he? There's an old saying that "success has a hundred fathers, while failure is an orphan," and nowhere is that adage truer than in the question of exactly who invented the hamburger. Given its phenomenal success (Americans alone consume some forty billion per year), it's not surprising that there are at least three other claimants to the title "Father of the Hamburger." The earliest contenders seem to be the Menches brothers (Frank and Charles), itinerant sandwich vendors who traveled the state- and county-fair circuit at the end of the 19th century. In 1895, they ended up at the Buffalo Fair at the Hamburg Fairgrounds. Local butchers were unable to provide the boys with their usual pork sausages, so they substituted ground beef flavored with "coffee beans and brown sugar, and other ingredients that remain a secret" (yum!). The sandwich became a hit and took its name from the venue, which would seem to end the controversy. Except that, also in 1895, Charlie Nagreen was trying to sell meatballs at the Seymour Fair in Seymour, WI. The fair was a hit, but Nagreen was not. Meatballs are tasty, but aren't necessarily easy to eat while walking through a fair. Charlie was seized with the idea of making them more portable by smashing them between, yes, two slices of bread, and they immediately became a hit. Since loaves of ground beef, known as "Hamburg steaks," (named after the city in Germany) were a popular meal, Nagreen named his invention the "Hamburger sandwich," which was soon shortened to "hamburger." The least-likely innovator was Fletcher Davis, who owned a lunch counter in Athens, TX (the self-proclaimed "Black-Eyed Pea Capital of the World"). Davis, according to oral reports, had been serving a ground-beef sandwich as early as the 1880s. He claimed to have sold the sandwich at the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis (where the sandwich was undoubtedly served -- the New York Tribune wrote about the sensation it caused), but unfortunately, there’s no hard evidence to prove that Davis was the man serving them. (Though McDonald's does give the St. Louis fair credit for serving the burger, in spite of the earlier documented examples.) Regardless of who invented the hamburger, it's become as much a part of American culture as, well, apple pies and the hot dog (and don’t get us started on who invented that) -- from backyard cookouts and drive-ins to such noted fanciers as J. Wellington Wimpy and Forsthye P. (Jughead) Jones. The sandwiches range in size from normal to large to beyond jumbo to ridiculous, and while some of us are satisfied with just one, there are some folks who can finish off 103 sliders (in ten minutes!) or a 9-pound giant in less than half an hour. But if you don't mind, all this burger talk has made us hungry. We'll take ours medium with ketchup, tomatoes, lettuce, mayo, pickles, and a touch of mustard, please. Suggested Sites... Louis' Lunch - where the hamburger was invented. Menches Brothers - news about the other inventors of the hamburger. Home of the Hamburger - another place where the hamburger was invented. Home of the Original Hamburger - and yet one more. A Hamburger Today - burger blog with ketchup, mustard -- and opinions.

Directory categories: Hamburger Recipes, Hamburger Restaurants, Fast Food Restaurants, Food and Drink Blogs, Fast Food Calorie Counters

Archived under: American History, Anniversaries, Cooking, Creativity, Eating, Fast Food, Food and Drink, Hamburgers, History, Invention, Inventors, Restaurants, Sandwiches, Tourist Attractions

Post a comment (0) | Email this posting