opening weekend

It's official, football season is here. Saturday was every man's dream. More football than can be imagined and it won't stop for about 13 more weeks. (And that doesn't include Pro, which I'm not a big fan of. So I only count college) Mississippi State had their Season opener against in state school Jackson State University. Because of our decision to not have cable in the house I'm always forced to head to a local bar or friend's house who has cable to catch one of the few games MSU gets broad casted. Luckily our season opener was one.
I headed down to a local favorite, Sunset Grille, to catch this walloping the bulldogs put on JSU. I arrived on time for kick-off and was dismayed that I couldn't immediately find the game. It was delayed due to weather. So kick-off was about 40 min late. But who cares when you get to watch your boys play, right? The first period was about typical of MSU football. Which confirmed my feelings for this season. (I will be totally happy with a .500 season) The boys played sloppy ball to start the game. Miss handled hand-offs, missed cues, missed easy tackles. but I've been a State fan long enough to know that this is how we start. Not to mention most of our team is VERY young. we are playing many freshmen this year. But by the end of the first quarter it was MSU 7 - JSU 0.
Just as the second quarter was getting started I was called back to fatherly duty. My loving wife very graciously let me, a father for just a few days, get some time to enjoy my favorite passion. Who wouldn't love a wife for that. So I left expecting the game to end with us at about 14 or 21 and JSU 7. Upon finishing my call of duty I got the computer turned on to catch the last few min of the game. To my surprise the score was 35 - 0. I guess ole Dan Mullen pulled the boys together and found a rythm. We put up 21 points in the 3rd quarter alone. The downfall to watching games on the computer is you don't get to see the action, just the result. So I can never assess how well we play just kinda guess at it. But The final score was 45 - 7.
I'm pleased with this outcome. I fully expected us to win this game but not by such a margin. I'm glad Dan got a win on his first outing. Now we look forward to Auburn next week. This will be more of a test to the program as Auburn is a conference school. But I'm hopeful. After next week I'll reassess my prediction of a .500 season. Below are a few pictures courtesy of a friend and the Mississippi State Football Facebook page.

I love our new helmets.

NEW ARRIVAL

On Monday morning at around 2am the Wife woke me to say it was time to head to the hospital. After many hours we were able to meet our new son Caleb Heath. He was born Aug 31 at 12:25 PM. He was the most gorgeous thing I'd ever seen. Even now when his eyes are open and looking at me I get lost and forget all else. After a 2 day stay at the hospital we were allowed to bring our little man home. (by the way, if any of you are in Durham, I highly recommend having a child @ Durham Regional Hospital. The staff was amazing and they made us feel so comfortable and gave amazing support). We have now been home for 2 days. And have just returned from our first doctor visit. Caleb is in good health and only one ounce away from returning to birth weight, which is amazing. Our sleeping hasn't been totally out of whack (or at least I don't feel that way.) We'll see when I return to work next week exactly how true that statement is. But so far so good. And if you haven't seen enough pictures here's a few more.

Such huge feet. Maybe he'll be taller than mom and dad. We can only hope!

WELCOME BACK

Well I've been absent for a long time. But I'm going to try and make a return. It has been a long year since the last post. And frankly the only thing worth talking about is that this week I will become a father. Caleb Heath Busbee has been long awaited and if he doesn't decide on his own to show up, we've scheduled to have him primed out on Friday. My wife has been a charm through this pregancy. I've heard so many horror stories through these past nine months of how women's hormones change and it effects their moods and has most men walking on eggshells. But I have to say I haven't gone through that. Mel has been very level headed about most things. there are hiccups but nothing major. So I will try and be better about communtication here. I will post pictures and such of Caleb when available.

It's good to be back

The Game

So I know this is a little late but I had promised a good friend I would.

It was the day after Thanksgiving and all through my house I was thoroughly exited. I donned as much maroon and white as I could get on. And yes it was obnoxious. The reason you ask? Well if you know me at all you know why. It was Miss St. vs Ole Miss. THE GAME of the year. Records don't matter at this game. It's anybody's game. Or so I thought. I was unable to watch the game for two reasons. 1) I was at work and the game was going on during lunch time. 2) the game is not as popular here in the TarHeel state. (And the ACC for some reason doesn't particularly like the SEC - go figure). So my good buddy Sam, and an Ole Miss Grad/Fan [I do forgive him for this lapse in judgement often], had agreed to text me results as they happened.

We had talked earlier in the week about the game. I had expressed my concerns based on our season to this point and Sam expressed his based on the fact that this is a rivalry game and anything could happen. I assured him that he would be pleased with the outcome.

Well about 20 min or so after game time I hadn't heard from Sam. This gave me some pleasure as I thought he's to embarassed to text me. WRONG. I should have been to embarrased to ask. As of the end of the 1st quarter it was clear this was to be a lopsided game. And it was. I was humbled to say the least. My boys in Maroon didn't even make it respectable.

But as anygood fan always says about now. So how's your Baskeetball team shaping up?? Yeah we'll get a new football coach and see what lies in store for next year.

Beautiful Rocky Top

Two weekends ago I made a trip to Knoxville, TN to watch what I'd hoped to be a good football game, MSU vs UT. As it turned out it wasn't. UT made a mockery out of all that we did on the field that day. It had been about 8 or so years since I had been to watch MSU play. I was excited for the fact that both teams were struggling and had an unattractive record. This is what gave me what turned out to be false hope for an evenly matched good game. I won't rehash the game since by now it's old news.

On the brighter side the guys I went to the game with and I were able to play golf at one of Knoxville's finer courses. It offered great golf with tremendous mountain views. I will say that up until this point I'd only driven through Knoxville on I-40 in route to other places. From 40, Knoxville is an obnoxiously orange place that I'd never wanted to spend any time. After my most recent, trip my mind has changed. Once you get off of 40 and around the outskirts of the city it's not so bad. (Downtown is disgustingly orange though). And the people are very nice. Except for the handicap of wearing orange a lot, they were great people.

MMMMMM ........... Pork

If you are a follower of the Wife's blog you'll recall that 2 weeks ago we went to a wine tasting at my restaurant. While we were there we tasted a wine called The Oratoire St Martin Cairanne ’06 Rhone. While tasting this wine I had an instantaneous light go off in my head as to what special I would run to match the flavors in this wine. Pork. I had done a dish a few years back that just came rushing to the forefront of my mind.

Braised Pork Shank
Three Cheese Mac n' Cheese, Collard Greens
Jalapeño Coca-Cola Reduction

This dish is so upscale Southern it's ridiculous. My boss at first said it wouldn't sell that much, but I ran out of it sometime late Saturday and didn't have any for Sunday. And let me just tell you it's soooo good!! You need some type of bread to clean the plate.

Beer Dinner

First off, If anyone still reads here, sorry that I haven't posted in forever.

Now onward. Last weekend the Wife and I hosted a Beer Dinner. This is exactly like our wine dinners however each course is paired with a crafted beer. This idea was spurned on by the Wife and I discovering a little hole in the wall called Sam's Blue Light. From the outside it looks just like any other almost ghetto quick stops. On the inside though is the largest beer selection I've ever seen. And it has a very knowledgeable staff to match. The dinner was a new venture for me so I had to enlist help. I have a good friend, Katy, who is very knowledgeable in the field of beverages and she helped me out.

With it being Fall I wanted to feature Fall tastes. So pumpkin was definitely a flavor I wanted. I also wanted to use butternut squash, sweet potatoes and duck. With my general interests found, it was now time to write the menu.


First Course:

Pumpkin Gnocchi
with Frisee Lettuce, Spicy Pecans, Gorganzola, Brown Butter Sauce

Beer: Dogfish Head - Punkin Ale

Second Course:

Duck Con Fit
House made Ravioli stuffed with Butternut Squash and Goat Cheese
Sage Cream Sauce

Beer: Unibroue - La Fin du Monde

Third Course:

Pan Seared Duck Breast
Beer Braised Red Cabbage, Sweet Potato Risotto, Cherry Duck Sauce

Beer: Dr Fritz Briem - 1809

Dessert:

Pumpkin Bread Bread Pudding

Beer: Omegang - Three Philosophers

As always the dessert course is made by the Wife. The diner was amazing and the beer matched very well with each course. I'd have to say my favorite was the 2nd course. All of the flavors were extremely well balanced. And the beer chosen to go along with it was perfect. And then the dessert course was amazing. The bread pudding was cooked to perfection and such the perfect combination of flavors to end the night on a great note.