Dad Time: Take A BBQ Class

One of the cooler Christmas gifts I got this year was a Groupon for a class in proper BBQ from my wife. I signed up for a Saturday class this past Saturday at Rub BBQ in Chicago’s Rogers Park neighborhood and couldn’t recommend it more. Even if you’re not in a place like Chicago, cooking classes can be cool, especially if centered around dadcentric stuff like BBQ.

Now, I’m a pretty decent BBQ chef. I have one signature sauce and rub and tried a habanero sauce this past summer, which rocked. The ribs fall off the bone which of course is not the “proper” way to do it but that’s how my wife likes them and if she’s giving the green light for a ribs weekend.

The class focused a lot of time on Brisket which I don’t BBQ because it takes so long but after this class I think I’ll give it a try. There were also a few tips for pork shoulder aka pulled pork that will be applied next time we make some sandwiches.

But the class itself was really cool. There were about a dozen other folks there, it was BYOB – I brought Hinterland Amber Ale – and it took three hours. We all had a chance for hands on duties prepping meat and then at the end had a huge tasting of brisket, ribs, pulled pork, corn bread and mac n’ cheese.

Then you’re sent home with recipes and three of their sauces. I also confirmed how to pack my own sauce to keep, store and give as gifts, which I think, will be the way to go for Holiday Season 2012.

If you have a birthday coming up you might want to forward this post to your better half as a subtle hint.

I might also have to get a smoker…maybe the wife didn’t make such a wise gift purchase after all.

Why 'Underworld Awakening' Was Number One

First off, I didn’t see the new Underworld movie yet. I probably won’t see it until it hits cable or Blu Ray. But I’ve seen the rest of the series and I think I have a good idea why it was number one at the box office this weekend.

See above image.

I’m actually not a big Kate Beckinsale fan but put her in a skintight black outfit, sword, gun, vampire teeth and above average action movie making and you have a recipe for success.

Put Scott Speedman in the movie and you have a sci-fi/fantasy movie my wife will actually watch. I’m sad to see he’s not in this one or I might have been able to convince her to go to see Underworld Awakening in the theater.

Is It Wrong To Take A Staycation From Your Children?

Every year my wife and I try to take the week between Christmas and New Years off to visit family or recover from visiting family and the holidays. This year we ended up with the entire week between the holiday with nothing to do and a week of daycare already paid for. What are two burnt-out parents to do?

You probably guessed it. We sent the kids to daycare all week and took the four workdays to ourselves. This involved a few projects around the house like taking down all the holiday decorations, laundry as well as some errands like returning some gifts, grocery shopping, dry cleaner. Routine stuff.

The wife and I also got to see a movie together — Young Adult with Charlize Theron, highly recommended — had lunch together four times and breakfast once, and even took a nap one afternoon. It was an extremely relaxing week but there’s a tinge of guilt because we still dropped the kids off all-day when they could’ve been home with us. However, all the places you’d take kids for the day like the Children’s Museum are packed this week. We saw a line at LegoLand out the door that probably equaled an hour wait.

Our kids at daycare basically play and do arts and crafts all day with their best friends. They love it there. It’s probably a better week for them there rather than spending it with us. Plus we have two long weekends on either end of the week to spend extra time with them.

OK, I’m done rationalizing, I’m ready for the stream of chastising from other parents in the comments…

No Assembly Required: A Christmas Miracle

I’m sure a lot of blogs are quiet this time of year and I apologize for not updating more after the burger-palooza of reviews.

In my house like many others we’re recovering from Christmas/Hanukah and the kids are back in school while the wife and I are taking a few days “off.”

The one thing I will say with my two kids at the ages they are it is amazing to see a bit of wonder at Christmas and all it entails. They obviously know Santa Claus brings them gifts and we did the mall Santa and asked and asked them over and over again what they wanted Santa to bring them.

Luckily, neither of these toys, or any others required ridiculous amounts of assembly by Santa’s top elf in our house, Daddy. A Thomas the Train set and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse set were pretty easy.

There weren’t even many gifts that required a screwdriver to remove form the package or to insert batteries. Crazy talk I know.

As for Hanukkah, it was interesting to see how the kids took to it. The first night I came home from work late and the kids came running up the steps to see me shouting “let’s light the candles!”

Christmas is pretty easy to get toddlers excited for. Hanukkah candles? That’s another story.

As another year winds down and the kids get older I hope we get this kind of excitement, unadulterated cuteness and just a hint of wonder for at least a few more years. Since I became too old for Santa myself, this truly was the best Christmas

Five Guys: Burger Joint Review for Dads

By far, the burger joint we’re most familiar with – and likely our readers – is Five Guys. Heck, the President eats there.

I’ve blogged about how many calories I’ve consumed before at Five Guys but the one thing I learned from my “research” into the other burger joints is that despite the greasy feeling of Five Guys’ food, can actually be better in terms of calorie count, but only on certain items.

When I used to go I would get the regular burger, or double patty, but now I get the single patty “Little Burger” with bacon and cheese. It’s just too filling to get a double, plus it’s harder to pick up in your hands and eat without making a complete mess of yourself. That’s also when you realize how thin the napkins are. But it’s a good burger even though it tastes greasy and the fries are probably the best of the three and always piping hot obviously.

The double will cost you 920 calories and 29.5 saturated grams of fat, much more than what you find at the other two places. Step down to a Little Bacon Cheeseburger and it’ll run you 630 calories and 18 grams of saturated fat or right in the ballpark of the other two joints.

There aren’t any special burgers either with fancy or spicy toppings. It’s a basic burger with 15 possible toppings all free with the order. I do like getting grilled onions though.

The fries are made fresh so that’s why it seems to take so long to get your order. They come in a huge cup and one order can easily feed two or three people. Which is good because half an order has 310 calories and 3 grams of saturated fat calories, but that far surpasses Meatheads and SmashBurger’s fries in terms of calories.

There isn’t a kids burger per se, they’ll have to get a Little Cheeseburger which has 550 calories and 15 grams of saturated fat, much more than Lil’ Meathead but on par with Smashburger’s Kids Smashburger. Plus they won’t be fighting over fries, there will be plenty of them to go around.

There are also no kid’s meals or meal options for parents, which impacts the wallet.

A dad-only visit will cost $11.70 and you’re stuck with way too many fries. A family of four with two Little Cheeseburgers and two regular cheeseburgers and two orders of regular fries and four drinks (no kids drinks available) will run you around $35 the most expensive of the three with Smashburger winning on price.

The Winner?
It’s a tough call to say which of the three is the best but I think because of the options for the kids and the menu variety I’d go with either Meatheads or Smashburger with the family. And if it’s just me, I’m going to Meatheads because I leave the place not feeling like I just finished an episode of Man Vs. Food.