A Year of Food

Well, here we are. A year minus a day after starting this food blog, here we are. We made it. I've successfully documented all the food I ate this year. Literally all the food I ate in 2016 is contained in the pages of this blog. It's been a year of gains, hugeness, emancipation, leanness, swoleness, scrawniness, educational grinds, graduations, national travels, and human and bro experiences. So as we reflect on a Year of Food, let us finish it off once and for all.

As Sidney and I headed to my parents' house for New Years, I finally finished off the remaining scraps of those lemon heads that I've had for a while now.  

And when we got to my parents' house, I found some alma mater-themed M&Ms.

This would be significant foreshadowing for what was still to come. In the meantime, however, I passed some time with some chips and salsa.

And since passing time by eating is the best way to pass time, I did some more of it. It is New Year's Eve, after all! I'll never get the opportunity to eat in 2016 again! I must take advantage of this opportunity.

We had some roast beef with Italian cheese blend and Hawaiian buns. We also had  some cheesy artichoke dip. Festive!

Unfortunately, for the first sandwich I attempted to construct, I absolutely and completely mangled the bun. I proceeded as if nothing unusual had happened.

I then piled on some meat and cheese.

And, you know what, by making this more of an "open face" "sandwich" than I had originally intended I reckon that I actually got more meat and cheese than if I had been successful in constructing a more traditional sandwich. And yes, I used a fork to eat this. I am slightly ashamed, although it tasted too good for me to really care.

I went back for seconds, and this time I was more successful in splitting the bun in half. Therefore, I was able to more successfully stack the ingredients on the bun. Therefore, I ended up eating less this go around.

But no worries. I went back and got some more straight meat and cheese to make up for any deficits present in my second go around.

We then sat down to a nice, relaxing game of Trivial Pursuit.

I was on a team with my dad, Sidney and my mom were a team, and some friends of ours were the other team. Needless to say, but what should have been a relaxing game quickly turned into one of the most competitive experiences of my life. My dad and I started off very strong with a lot of sports-related questions. We then hit a lull, during which time the other two teams passed us by in the wedge count. We came roaring back, though, to win in an unlikely and unpredictable manner. It was glorious, and it was hard-fought. And, honestly, everyone did far better than they were anticipating. It was a lot of fun. Also, we had a gummy snack buffet!

Right toward the end of the game, midnight and 2017 were approaching very quickly, so we paused to welcome the New Year with cheering and fireworks.

And cake.

My wonderful mother went to the trouble to make me a KU-themed graduation cake! She said there was a surprise inside, so I was eager to cut into it. And when I did, this is what I found:

It's Crimson and Blue with Yellow accents! It was actually a very beautiful cake, and it was beautifully decorated, as well! To compliment this cake perfectly, we also had some Jayhawk plates.

And so I got a slice. It's a "white" cake with cream cheese frosting. Oh my, yes!

And what is better with cake than ice cream?! Well, nothing, perhaps. Or maybe whole milk is...

The thing about whole milk is that, while it doesn't taste like ice cream, it still tastes really good. The other thing is that it's easier to get the cake:dairy ratio just right. I mean, it's a whole lot easier to take a bite of cake and then a small sip of milk than it is to take a bite of cake and then a bite of ice cream. By the time you get the ice cream in your mouth, the cake is already dissolving. This obviously limits the combination's effectiveness. That is also why I might actually prefer cake and milk to cake and ice cream. But I'll still accept ice cream with my cake. I'm not stupid!

And when 2017 finally came, we toasted our thankfulness and our hopes. Instead of the customary champagne, I toasted with some sparking grape juice.

It just tastes better.

I also had a cookie that Santa had left for me on Christmas. It was a little old by now, but it was still good.

We also had some little smokies, because tradition. And a perfect compliment to little smokies seemed to be puffy Cheetos.

And do you remember those Oreo/chocolate cookie/brownie cupcake thingies? Well, apparently my mom had some left over cookie dough, but instead of scooping out countless cookies, she baked it all at once in a pan. I say good choice!

They were delicious!

This baking method affords a slightly different texture than traditional cookies, and it really is more similar to the texture of brownies. And maybe I just think that because they look like brownies (except for the color), but there was something different about them. At any rate, they were a good addition to all the good food we had to start the new year off right.

I'll see you in 2017!