World Series Sustenance

There is nothing quite like winning the World Series. It turns men into boys, and boys into men. It connects generations with nothing else common. It makes friends into enemies, and enemies into friends. Think I'm exaggerating? I'm really not. Yes, in case you hadn't heard, the St. Louis Cardinals are the 2011 World Series Champions for the 11th time!!

from Dalil America

Nothing quite like Baseball in the world, and there's nothing quite like this series that I've ever seen before. It went a full 7 games, and the Cardinals were down to their last strike twice. But they came from behind, winning in spectacular fashion. This is the second World Series victory for the Cards that I remember, and the third that we've been to (Curse the Sox!) Our MVP was David Freese, and boy did he earn it. The best part is that he grew up a Cardinals fan, and got to deliver for his actual home team.

From Time

But my favorite part was that in the 7th inning of the final game, I got to Skype with my parents who were visiting my brother. That means that my Parents, my brother Curt, and David and I all got to be 'together' (more or less) when the Cardinals won it. That doesn't necessarily mean much to most people, but Cardinal baseball is one thing that connects us more than just about anything else. My Dad and I don't always have a lot to talk about, but there is always Cardinal baseball. My Grandpa, who passed away almost exactly 2 years ago was a huge Cardinals fan. I miss him more than I can say, but Cardinal baseball is still there, to remind me of him. In fact, some of my favourite memories are going to his house, while he grilled Pork Steaks, Burger, Hot Dogs, whatever while we watched the game.

Ah, yes. Baseball food. Despite the fact that it is below freezing here today, Baseball is actually a summer sport. Which means lots of grilled foods. Dave and I grilled burgers for Game 7 (here's our recipe: http://ktcarleton-cookingwithnothing.blogspot.com/2011/08/bacon-and-cheddar-stuffed-sliders-and.html This time we made them bigger though.) And for Game 5 We grilled Brats, after boiling them in Root Beer first. And for Game 1, we put a pork roast in the crock pot, covered it in root beer, and set it to low for 8 hours. When it was done, we pulled it and added some barbecue sauce, and bang, pulled pork. Yum. We put them on our home made buns, which are below. There are no real recipes for these, so it's kind of a waste of a blog, but I had to brag about the series. Besides, everyone knows the classics.

from Indiana Insider

But We did make buns using a modified version of Dave's mom's recipe for bread. I don't feel right sharing it, since it's not mine to share, but I did get to style them which is fun. And I'll share that with you. Just start with your favorite bread recipe (though you may want to halve, or even quarter it.) When you get to the part where you would be putting them into loaf pans, pinch of a tennis ball size worth of dough and roll out to look like a snake.

Then go to tie a knot with the dough, like you would the first step of tying your shoes. But because it's dough, it doesn't really look like that, but one length of the dough will be folded in, like so.

Take the remaining length, and fold under the center of the dough to form a knot.

 We added some oil to the tops with poppy seeds and voila, home made hamburger buns that look pretty nice! They were delicious, too.  So, I know not everyone is a baseball fan, or even a sports fan, but I do hope everyone has something like that the brings the whole family together, gets rid of the petty squabbles and the worries, and helps them relax and enjoy the company of their family. I did forget to mention that we made chocolate chip cookies one night, too. Here's my favourite that Dave made for me. :) Enjoy!