MEAT ME on a Date: X Bar

So like many active singles out on the dating circuit I have run into a select few of the good, the bad, and well… The less fortunate. This again is only my opinion, so it listen up! I have been on dates all over this city. There are a lot of problems one might face when trying to get to know someone.  It’s loud, it’s busy, the seating arrangement creates space between you and the other person. There is nothing on the menu that both of you like, or the food is just BAD.

I may have found just the solution. My current date works in the Westwood/Avenue of the Stars area. Between the UCLA college students and the high brow restaurants, it’s hard to find a place that has just the right food and ambiance to get to know someone. The X Bax found me they are located at the Hyatt Regency Hotel on the Avenue of the Stars. This place is quite, very open, delicious, and most of all the perfect place to sit down and intimately get to know someone.

Last Friday I brought my date in around 5 pm, 30 minutes after they opened. We started off with a Chimay and few appetizers on the menu. She’s not really big on spicy foods so we got the Chicken Lettuce Wrap, Meatball Sliders and took a chance with the Fiery Chicken Morsels. Everything came out looking beautiful not to mention the service was top notch, here it’s all about the details.

We were seated by a large fire pit; while the heaters kept us warm and cozy. We started taking bites of all the food and with out question, it was delicious. I pulled out my microphone to start taking notes about the food, being the profession writer she is, she playfully started poking fun at my description of the chicken – I called it “twangy”. She asked me about the spiciness of the chicken. I gave it a 1 out of 10. She takes a bite and looks at me as if she no longer has feeling in her face. I guess when you are constantly trying food your mouth gets a little used to it.

At this point, aside from setting her mouth a blaze, the date is going pretty well. Even though most dates might get annoyed that you’re taking pictures, tweeting, instagraming, face-booking and constantly making comments on every little thing; she was actually starting to get pretty into it. She started hamming up the role of “I on a date” with a MEAT blogger.

When it came to ordering burgers she went took the healthier route. I went with the, “What are my taste buds going to love” route.  I can say both burgers were equally delicious, if not just as good as some of the best places I’ve eaten at. Now with both of our stomach’s full we got a chance to sit down with the chef Julie Picco and find out what was behind all of this delicious food.

MEAT ME: Is there an overall goal with the menu here at X Bar?

Julie Picco: All of our outlets are California style cuisine. Over here we try to do everything shareable with the exception of our burger. So nothing comes in oversized pieces we try to make it a little fancier than just your average bar food. We have Latin and Asian influence because that is essentially California. Beyond that it’s whatever Chris (Kitchen Head), and I (She runs the kitchen at night) try to collaborate on the menu.

MEAT ME: How often do you guys change the menu? Is it seasonal?

Julie Picco: We were changing it once a year over here, but we leave it vague so we can bring in seasonal ingredients when we feel like it. We were doing specials as well. We changed it about 6 months ago and now we just changed it again, got rid of some items that weren’t selling and switched a few things out. We have been trying to do it about twice a year now.

MEAT ME: I noticed with your Build-A-Burger that you have the Meyer’s Natural Beef. Where are you guys sourcing your beef?

Julie Picco: Meyer’s is the name of a farm. It is a Hyatt standard that they use at all Hyatt hotels. I think it is a company that has naturally raised cattle. It is not just one farm but it’s a company that makes sure all of it’s beef is up to certain standards. Every Hyatt you go to, especially a Regency should have Meyer’s natural angus patties. It is a company wide standard. – The veggie patty we make here with brown rice and beans we didn’t want it to just be a garden burger, which a lot of places do. We do that in house. The other items we switch up when we feel like it, like the King’s Hawaiian bread, that was something we decided to do as a sweet option.

MEAT ME: Yea that was great. That’s what I got, it was my favorite.

Julie Picco: Yea this one we don’t change the menu as much on the other side we change it 4 times a year religiously so seasonality and being local is what we strive for.

MEAT ME: So the Meatball Sliders, how are they made cause I noticed they were very delicious. I was expecting “meatballs” and it was way different?

Julie Picco: Oh yeah. They have been making those meatball sliders since before I even transferred here. We have been making those forever. I think it might have been way back when Chef Manny redid the menu years ago. Chef Manny is amazing, he is the Executive Chef here at the hotel and he has been all of Southern California for a long time. It has 3 meats in it.

MEAT ME: Really? Wow!

Julie Picco: It has veal, pork, and beef. It’s really good, we make them in house in small batches and are simmered in a red sauce. It’s probably one of the least So Cal items on the menu.

MEAT ME: Yea it’s funny you mention that, the only other time I had heard of that was when I was in Mississippi and I met with a USDA approved Halal butcher, Two Run Farms, who prepared special mixtures of ground beef for local restaurants. Each restaurant had their own mixture.  Cause when I read meatball sliders I thought that name was an insult to what I just ate.

Julie Picco: Yea it makes me think of Italian Grandmothers. I am from Chicago and I was like I know this… I understand this.

MEAT ME: Yes we also had the Fiery Chicken Morsels…

Julie Picco: Yes the spicy boneless buffalo wings?

MEAT ME: Yes. (I look to my date) That’s basically what you had called it?

My Date: Yea.

Julie Picco: The fiery ones have always been the most popular, but now we have different flavors. With this last menu change we decided why not give them some other options cause we would have people say, ”I don’t want it to be spicy.”

My Date: One a 1 to 10 spicy scale what would you call this?

Julie Picco: This one for me, our buffalo sauce I would consider to be a 6 or 7. It’s not spicy.

MEAT ME: I was thinking it was a 1 or a 2.

Julie Picco: It’s more salty and vinegary than spicy to me.

My Date: Thank you, that’s what I thought.

Julie Picco: See for me I don’t like buffalo wing’s, I am not a buffalo wing person. I like a milder heat. We have our Chipotle BBQ which is actually pretty spicy, and then we have our Garlic Herb which is for the “lover” of non spicy foods. It’s light.

MEAT ME: It was very good and then we had the Chicken Wraps.

Julie Picco: Yeah, the Chicken Lettuce Wraps, we had them on the menu last time as a cold item and it just didn’t sell. So we had them heat up the chicken and add a few mushrooms, which keep it moist. Yea we changed it up, we try and change up everything when we can. Our Tacos are really popular too.

MEAT ME: So what is your favorite item on the menu?

Julie Picco: Mine?

MEAT ME: If you had friends in town visiting, what are you making for them?

Julie Picco: If I got friends coming in I am making the Sausage Brocollini Flatbread, that’s a new one that I think is really great. I also really like the Short Rib Taco’s, I am a big fan of them.

MEAT ME: Damn it’s really hard to get everything. I guess I’ll have to come back on another date.

Julie Picco: Yea you can’t order everything that’s totally understandable. Oh, and the Pork Belly Crostini’s. They are really good. We never really put any pork on the menu, we had pressure to put this on there… We get in the whole pork belly with the skin on, then we braise it in hard cider, and then regular apple cider, spices and all of that good stuff. Then we take the skin off and make it in to Cracklin.

MEAT ME: That’s what I thought.

Julie Picco: Yes so the bottom is still soft and sliceable and we slice that and warm it up in a sauce so you can eat it. It hasn’t been selling because people don’t understand it, but it is really good. Everybody here wanted it on the menu.

MEAT ME: I always recommend pictures. Sushi Restaurants have it down. How do you explain a California Roll to someone who has never had one? That usually does the trick.

Julie Picco: Yea we have been trying to figure out a way to explain it to people, may be we just need a giant poster up on the wall.

Now back to my date, I wanted to find out how I did and if bringing her to the X Bar met her expectations.

MEAT ME: So what did you think of the X Bar?

My Date: It is fabulous, wonderful experience, so happy I came (she blushes and laughs). What? What am I supposed to say?

MEAT ME: Compared to other places I have taken you to… Would you recommend it to someone as a good date place?

My Date: Hummmm. I mean you are asking the wrong person…

MEAT ME: We’re on a date? Right?

My Date: (laughs) Haha. Yea, I guess I would. I am not the best person to ask. Dating? I mean lets go shoot some things, or vandalize stuff so something like that is an AWESOME date.

MEAT ME: So compared to the extreme dates I have taken you on, how does this compare? On a mediocre level…

My Date: Yes, on an average human level? It’s an 8… May be? On a scale of 10.

MEAT ME: Really?

My Date: Yeah! It’s nice, it’s very pretty, it’s not cold, it’s spacious. The music is not too loud. It’s not like obnoxious, R&B, Little Wayne bumping in the background it’s like actual music. So that’s exciting. Everyone is really nice, that works here, customer service is A+.

MEAT ME: So what did you think of the chicken wrap?

My Date: I thought it was really good. It was my favorite?

MEAT ME: How did you like the lettuce?

My Date: (Laughs, smiles) Crisp and green.

MEAT ME: What about the Fiery Chicken Morsels?

My Date: I thought it was quite “Fiery”. Spicy.

MEAT ME: What about the taste?

My Date: (Laughs) It tasted like successfully made chicken wings without the bones.

MEAT ME: Really?

My Date: Yea.

MEAT ME: It was like a party in your mouth?

My Date: Yea it was “twangy”. (She mocks me)

MEAT ME: What a great description!!! That is brilliant!!! (I return the mock) You should be a writer.

My Date: Funny you should say that…

MEAT ME: (we laugh) What did you think of the Meatball Sliders?

My Date: I didn’t have any but based on your reaction I would say they were delicious.

MEAT ME: Would you like to try a cold one, and not judge the temperature? Were you intimidated?

My Date: I forgot. I had all that food and my burger, so I am full now.

MEAT ME: You know what? We’ll skip it. What did you think of your burger?

My Date: It was good. It was MEAT like. (Laughs) It was a successful hamburger! I mean they didn’t fuck it up… I don’t know what you want me to say? (Laughs)

MEAT ME: That was a great description!

My Date: I mean it wasn’t over cooked or under cooked. Bread was fluffy. (Laughs)

MEAT ME: You got excited, but didn’t climax?

My Date: Exactly! Pretty much. The fries were really good, and delicious.

MEAT ME: Would you recommend this place to someone else for a date?

My Date: Yes I would.

MEAT ME: Well, did you at least enjoy your date?

My Date: I mean aside from the guy that was on the date, who was totally retarded.... He kept drooling all over me... (Chuckles & smiles)

MEAT ME: All right. This is ALL totally going be in the post.

My Date: (Laughs out loud and smiles) Other than him, it was totally a great place to go on a date.

There you heard it. Right from the source, I am a trophy as well as wonderful food companion. I would consider this a success I was not physically harmed, the police weren’t called, and I still have not received a restraining order. I would consider myself lucky. She’s a comic, she’s endearing, she’s a profound intellect and not to mention the obvious… She’s stunningly beautiful.

I am no master, but if you want to make it easier on yourself and eliminate half the problems you might face on a date, I would take them to the X Bar.

You can check out X Bar at the Hyatt Regency in Los Angeles at http://www.xbarla.com/index.html

Live, Love, Eat MEAT,
Sean Rice
aka MEAT ME

185 Uses For A Pig Including The Regenerating of Human Body Parts

If you’re like me and you thought that pigs were only for human consumption, you were wrong. It turns out pigs have tons of commercial uses – from the hair and hide to their internal organs and bones. This isn’t anything new, humans have been doing this type of recycling since pigs have been domesticated, now-a-days it is just a little more industrialized.

In 2004 Dutch artist and author Christien Meindertsma started tracing the fate of a single pig that was slaughtered and spent 3 years tracking down where each piece went and how it was used. It was followed into 185 different products, which she mentions in her book Pig 05049.

Recently I received 2 different kinds of soap that were made by the Amish from Pig Fat in the state of Kentucky. My friend Amy Sipes from John’s Custom Meats does business with the Amish and was able to get me some of the fine soap that they make. It smells delicious and is just as good, if not better than regular soap.

Here are some examples of a Pigs uses:

BEER: One of the most used products from pigs is gelatin – this is composed of hooves, bones, and connective tissue. A dry powder form is made from the gelatin and mixed in with the beer towards the end of the brewing process. It purpose is to remove tannins (a bitter substance found in the hulls of grains used to make beer). This can be seen as it removes the cloudy substance that is created by yeast and proteins from malt.

SHAMPOO: Fatty acids from pig bones are added to shampoo to give it that very shiny, pearly look. It also serves the same purpose in paint.

FABRIC SOFTENER: Now we are talking main ingredients. When fabrics become negatively charged they create static cling. Coating fabrics with processed pig fats, which are positively charged and cling to fabric surfaces, result in feeling soft and slippery. This allows your iron to glide over the fabric smoothly and make it less prone to wrinkling.

BRUSHES: Pig bristles are a huge global business. In China they are used to make every kind of brush imaginable: hair, coat, and paintbrushes just to name a few. A special machine collects the bristles during the slaughtering process.

BREAD: L-cysteine is a natural amino acid found in MEAT. It benefits the our bodies by keeping our stomach linings nice and healthy. It is used in the process of bread making because it results in softer dough. Today it can also me made synthetically, but more often the not comes from pigs’ bristles.

HEPARIN: This anticoagulant drug comes from the mucus lining of pigs’ small intestines. It is used to stop blood clots from forming.

CHEMICAL WEAPONS LABS: Pigs ears, because of it’s similarities to human flesh, is often used to test the physiological effects of chemical weapons.

MATCHES: Proteins found in pig bones are used to make and adhesive called “Bone Glue”. When combined with flammable chemicals like phosphorus it can be used to make strikable friction matches.

TRAIN BRAKES: Pig bones are incinerated and processed to form a very fine powder of uniformly sized particles. Bone ash is added to a wide variety of products, fine china, artists’ paints, polishing compounds, and fertilizers. Their is a factory in Germany that uses the power for making train brakes.

Below is a list of other fine products that are made from other parts of pigs:

Safety gloves, beauty masks, energy bars, licorice, chewing gum, breath mints, lollipops, marshmallows, mougat, cupcakes, vanilla pudding, chocolate mousse, ice cream, pet food, surgical sponge, paintballs, inkjet paper, X-ray film, jigsaw puzzles, book covers, wallpaper, sandpaper, shoe leather, chia figurines, chondroitin tablets, insulin, heart valves, cadmium batteries, injectable collagen, and bullets.

CELL REGENERATION: The lining of a pigs bladder is know to possess special “cell regeneration’’ qualities and is currently being used in combination with human stem cells to regenerate actual human body parts.  When a finger is cut off the immune systems natural response to cell death is inflammation and scar tissue. It is believed that when “extracellular matrix” is applied to the wound it stops the natural process and causes the cells to start repairing the damage like they would in a developing fetus.

Here are 2 articles referencing examples of cell regeneration:
Can humans regrow fingers?
How Pig Guts Became the Next Bright Hope for Regenerating Human Limbs

The uses for a pig may be endless we may never know.

All information in this article were referenced from page 91-93 in Uncle John’s Heavy Duty Bathroom Reader

Endless Pigabilites,
Sean Rice
aka MEAT ME

Health, Hamburgers, and Heart Attacks: My Diet and How I Lost 60 Pounds

I've delayed putting this post together for awhile now, but felt as though the sooner I did it, the odds of helping/motivating those of you that might be struggling with your own weight problems and resulting health issues/concerns, will increase exponentially.

Let me first start out by saying that, NO ONE hates to hear the words "Health, Hamburgers and Heart Attacks" lined up together in the same sentence, more than I. However,  as many know all too well, the only real certainty in life,  is death. It doesn't matter if you love lettuce and broccoli, or the 100% Bacon Burger at "Slater’s 50/50," or the Triple Bypass Burger at "The Heart Attack Grill" in Sin City, at some inevitable point in time, we're all going to kick the bucket.

In fact, just last weekend quite tragically, John Alleman, the spokesperson for the aforementioned Las Vegas establishment, "Heart Attack Grill," passed away at the much too early age of 52. Though he was never officially on their payroll, almost everyday, he could be found coaxing customers into the restaurant and immensely enjoying the delectable food they offer. He frequently appeared on the menu  and promotional T-shirts, becoming somewhat of a representational icon, showcasing what was truly great about the eatery.

In the vein of promotional enthusiasm, I, like Mr. Alleman, have done similar things with places like "Currywurst" on Fairfax. One day last sumer, they were giving away 100 sausages to the first 100 people that followed them on Twitter. Out of support, respect, and my borderline problematic obsessive love of sausages in general, I went down to "Currywurst" that day dressed in my sunday best; and by "sunday best," I of course mean, a hot dog suit and a sign that read: “FREE SAUSAGES." I wasn't doing it for the classiness said ensemble radiates, or the hoards of ladies it attracts either. No, I did it for my love, my deep deep (borderline problematic) LOVE of Sausages! And of course, in gratitude and support for the owner, Kai Lobech, whose wonderfully delicious food struggles to survive in the heart of a Jewish neighborhood. Proof that the commercial relators in Los Angeles are assholes, but... that's another blog post altogether.

At the time of the sausage give-a-way, I weighed in at a waif like 238 pounds. Now, for someone 5’11” my ideal weight should be in the 168 to 188 pound range to be considered "healthy" as a 32 year old male. With the constant consumption of unhealthy meals I was eating for my blog, paired with simply not giving-a-shit, my self-esteem and drive were taking a major nose dive. Not to mention, I also have a heart condition known as "Atrial Fibrillation"(an electrical issue, not plumbing). Atrial Fibrillation causes my heart to race irregularly, from 180 to 230 beats per minute, when placed under any kind of strenuous activity. I can't die from this directly, but if I stay in “A-fib” longer that 24 to 48 hours, I run the risk of forming a blood clot in the left atrium of my heart, and if that sucker travels to my brain, stroking out is usually the end result. That, I can die from. Don't worry though, I'm on constant blood pressure medication, mild blood thinners, as well as a beta-blocker to help prevent and treat my Atrial Fibrillation.

Now, as I'm sure you can imagine, being in a state of less than optimal health like I was last year, doesn't exactly help my situation. The horrible eating habits I had acquired made me feel completely hung-over after large meals, and on a general whole, feeling like shit most of the time. Enough was enough, I was tired of waking up and feeling awful everyday, so I went to see my cardiologist, get some test done, and try to figure out what the hell was wrong with me. While getting a treadmill stress test, echocardiogram, and EKG, I also was told by my family, that every male on my Mother's side has died before the age of 33; always due to some type of heart complication. The last male to pass on, was 5 years ago and he died at 23.

That's when it all hit me: “I'm the ONLY remaining male on my Mother’s side of the family, and I need to make a choice as to whether I'm going to continue down this destructive eating path I'm on while resigning myself to the family curse, or am I going to step it up, change the game, and be the one who out lives them all?"

In September 2012, with the desire to change course boiling in my blood, I buckled down, and reconfigured my diet immediately. No more giant meals that left me immobile after completion. No more eating an entire pint of "Ben and Jerry’s" before bed. I had been wasting money every month on a membership to 24-hour fitness that I rarely used, and made the executive decision that needed to change as well. During this time, I also decided to take on the responsibility of being the live-in caretaker for my 83-year-old Grandmother (some of you know her as Olga or Baka). This was a new start, and I wasn't going to let anything stop me from being the best that I could be. At this shaky and uncertain moment of transition, I realized, there are guarantees in life. I would I never be at the wonderful and hopeful age of 32 again, and not only did I WANT to make the most of it, I NEEDED to make the most of it. I owed that to my friends, my family, and most importantly, I owed it to myself.

I broke my daily diet down to:

Breakfast: (200 to 250 Calories)
Protein Drink
Banana or Apple

Snack (180 Calories)
Nature Valley Bar
Granola Bar

Lunch (200 Calories)
Tuna Sandwich *tuna out of a can, with mustard on wheat bread
Soup *anything under 200 calories
Salad *dressing on the side dip the tip of your fork in the dressing before each bite

Snack (200 Calories)
Yogurt *fat free
Granola Bar
Banana

Dinner (200 to 350 Calories)
Turkey Patty *I get these frozen at Costco with a wheat bun
Hamburger Patty *I get these frozen at Costco with a wheat bun

Vegetables *quarter to a half a cup of frozen eat with breakfast, lunch or dinner

Snack/Dessert (100 Calories) *eat no later than 12 hours before the time you will wake up
Popcorn *100 Calorie Packets
Peanuts * 1 Cup of Shelled Peanuts
Dark Chocolate Raspberry Bars *Weight Watchers Brand only 80 Calories

Vice: 1 to 3 Diet Cokes before 4pm (basically for me to avoid any heart issues I couldn’t have caffeine in my system while I was working out)

***CHEAT MEAL: Make sure you have a fucking cheat meal on either Saturday or Sunday (whatever day it’s up to you). I am not going to lie I had times where I would sit at a BJ’s and eat the Ahi Tuna Tar Tar appetizer, half an everything pizza, and a pazooki for dessert. That is almost 2,000 calories in one meal. I DO NOT recommend this but if you are like me and you are trying to break a food addiction this is one way to wean yourself.

For Exercise: 

For the first month I only did 4 days a week.
For the second and third month I tried really hard to get in 5 days a week.
For the forth month till now I only do 3 to 4 days a week.
*If I couldn’t get to the classes even sticking in 30 mins of running or playing Dance Connection or Zumba on XBOX will make a difference, than just doing nothing at all.

Monday: Turbo Kick @ 7pm or Zumba @ 8pm
Tuesday: Bodypump @ 5pm AND Zumba @ 7pm *I didn’t start doing back-to-back classes until after the first 35 days.
Wednesday: Zumba @ 7pm
Thursday: Bodypump @ 6pm AND Zumba @ 7pm
Friday: Zumba 6pm
*This worked for me, I hate being on a treadmill cause I get bored as fuck an time goes by slow as shit, these classes seem to blow by so fast. Each one was always different and I found the instructors VERY motivating.

What Worked For ME!!!

In the first 30 days I lost 18 pounds. *1 month
In the next 30 days I lost 30 pounds. *2 months
In the first 90 days I lost 50 pounds. *3 months
In the last 90 days I only lost 10 more pounds. *6 months = 60 pounds total.
- Everyone is different; you will each lose weight at your own rate.

CAUTION: I was told that losing weight this fast was not healthy, but when you stick to the diet and the workout routine; the rate at which you lose weight is what your body wants to do (I don’t get how you control it). To each their own…

Things To Keep In Mind!!!

• Learn to eat until you are not hungry any more, DO NOT eat until you are full. Eating till you are not hungry is NORMAL, eating till you are full is your body setting off an alarm tell you, YOU”RE AN IDIOT for eating so much and it’s going to make you carry the extra food it has to process.

• Your stomach is roughly the size of your own fist, so your meals shouldn’t be any larger than your fist.

• You will feel like shit/death for the first 30 days of working out. I thought I was going to die trying to keep up. It wasn’t until day 30-35 that working out actually made me feel amazing and happy. You are never too old to do these classes. I am fighting with 80 year old Asian men in these classes for floor space. Don’t be embarrassed being a noob in these classes we all had our first day. Plus everyone is looking at the instructor and not you. Trust me (My first day I had a long beard, head band and Kermit the frog shirt on), they don’t give  a shit about you.

• You are going to plateau!!! You are going to work the shit out of yourself and be at the same fucking weight for 3 weeks. Do something to shock your body. It has gotten used to your new routine and is now holding on to your fat cause it thinks you’re a camel and going on a long journey. If you work out in the evening wake up early one day and double your work out time, or go on a 2 to 3 hour hike. Change it up and in the next day or so you will see 8 to 10 pounds vanish like your scale was broken.

•This is not an ALL or NOTHING game. Baby steps mother fucker. If you miss a day or 2, or 3, or a week: make it up the following week or don’t. Go at your own pace. It’s not a race. I personally just got tired of my hip fat running into my back fat. You can do what ever you want. There is no guilt in weight loss you are doing this for yourself.

• EAT MEAT at least once a day. I did, there are no carbs in MEAT. Have a different piece of meat everyday. I am not talking about pulled pork sandwiches on a French Roll dumbass. I am talking Rib Eyes, NY Strips, Chicken, Turkey, and Pork Loins. You can eat BBQ for your once-a-week cheat meal, but during the week you can eat all the lightly seasoned MEAT you want.

THE BIG PAY OFF!!!
This was not easy by any means, but once you start seeing results and feeling good about yourself it will become even easier. After the first 25 to 30 pounds people will notice the HOT n’ SEXY you that was underneath all of that fat. They will compliment you and they will encourage you to keep going. Your family and friends will give you more love and attention. People you don’t know on the street will start checking you out and hitting on you. You will get more ATTENTION than you could have ever imagined, you might even get free stuff.

LAST WORD OF ADVICE!!!
I am not a doctor. I am not a nutritionist. My diet is actually very high in fiber and my cause some people constipation and in some extreme cases hemorrhoids. This diet worked for me, and all my blood work has come back perfect. Sooooo snack on that for lunch.

Good Luck Fatty’s
Sean Rice (former fatty)
aka MEAT ME

Super Bowl Sunday Give Away: GREAT MEAT COOKBOOK by Bruce Aidells

Here is the challenge. I need you to post your greatest Super Bowl Sunday MEAT's to http://www.facebook.com/meatmeblog and the image with the most likes by Midnight on Tuesday February 5th will receive a FREE copy of the Great Meat Cookbook by Bruce Aidells.

Hurry before it is too late!!!

Good Luck,
Sean Rice
aka MEAT ME

Duck Commander Recipes: It Ain't No Quack, Jack!

I love it, you love it, we all really need to love it! If you haven't seen the show Duck Dynasty on A&E get on it. You are missing out. It's probably the best damn family show on TV. They always end each episode with a prayer and giant family meal that is made from animals off of their own land. Now as I strive to eventually live the same type of life style I need recipes to hold me over in the mean time. 

If you followed me on my road trip last year to New Orleans you would know that there really is anything better than good Cajun, Southern Food. No one, and I mean no one makes it better than Miss Kay from Duck Dynasty. She has a COOKING VIDEO on Amazon that you can buy that has a lot of her recipes on it.

I would literally donate an organ if I had an opportunity to spend a week learning how to cook from this woman. Not only do people flock from all over the city just to eat her pies, the entire family functions off of her cooking.

Now, they actually have a link on the Duck Commander website that has a lot of Miss Kay's recipes on it. I could not wait to share this with you, let alone try them out myself.

If you don't have Dove, get some! You are gonna need it for this recipe. I can't imagine it getting any better than this. Here is a link to the Bacon and Jalapeno Wrapped Dove.

You can check out all of their recipes here at Duck Commander Recipes. I promise you will not be disappointed. There truly isn't anything better than authentic southern food.

Go be one with your food and enjoy the delicious treats this planet has to offer.

Happy Happy Happy,
Sean Rice aka MEAT ME

Grade School Meat Correspondent: Matthew Borbon

MEAT ME's very own Grade School MEAT Correspondent Matthew Borbon discusses the current state of nutrition in our public schools. Matthew talks about the good, the bad, and the ugly as well as how we can improve the current system as it stands now. Don't be fooled this kid knows what he is talking about.

Much Respect,
Sean Rice
aka MEAT ME

The American Royal featuring El Fuego Fiasco - Day 6

And so here it is... The very final and last episode of The American Royal featuring the California BBQ Team El Fuego Fiasco. I am truly sad that it is over. It was one of the most enjoyable experiences of my entire life. Like all of us who struggled last year they were one of the ones who didn't quit, no matter what.

They came all this way with monstrous obstacles coming at them left and right, and not for a single moment did they say, "forget it". Aside from the challenge of competing in the biggest barbecue competition in the United States they were faced with; a trailer hitch that was too low, the trailer almost got stuck in the airport parking lot, the hotel told them to park in a garage that didn't allow trailers risking a tow, being on time to pick up Josh and Chris, they had no storage containers, they had never cooked in 30º weather, someone was parked in their spot, they didn't order a port-a-potty, they had no way of washing dishes, one of the turn in boxes was built upside down, the chicken wasn't completely thawed when they needed to start cook it, the fire went out 20 mins before turn in's, the briskest and pork shoulders were an hour behind schedule, and they used a fucking inflatable mattress blower to finish the chicken in time so they could come in 35th in the Nation. 

In 5 years I won't remember who the fuck won The American Royal in 2012, I'll remember who came together as a team and made sure that not one man would let the other one down.

I don't know about any of you, but I know if I had the chance to do this all over again but had to choose between Big Poppa Smokers or El Fuego Fiasco, with out a doubt I would have gone "El Fuego"!!!

There is no WRONG in team,

Sean Rice

aka MEAT ME