Sweet & Sour Chicken: An Epic

Over the past few years, Pei Wei has become the staple of my carryout life. Not only do I enjoy the ambrosial flavors and the friendly faces of the local Green Hills establishment, but I dare say I relish the challenge of chopsticks. While I may not boast the ability to snatch flies out of the air (yet), I'm certainly on the plane of mastering the art.

Going back as far as I can remember, sweet & sour chicken has hands down been my favorite Asian inspired dish. So, not surprisingly, it is my most beloved dish on the Pei Wei menu. In case you've never had the joy of experiencing the sweet & sour chicken, allow me to paint you a delectable story, an epic journey on the road to taste bud euphoria.

First, and foremost, you must begin with the bed of white rice. It can be easy to overlook the significance of this prologue, but the white rice is a key ingredient in bringing this flavorful adventure to life. The calm taste and gentle texture of the white rice provide a landscape for your journey into savory bliss.

Next, chopped green bell peppers, sliced onions, and strips of red ginger fall about the snowy white fields, adding a crucial crisp to the dish while providing lovely refreshment to your palate. These fresh veggies pave the road for this cuisine crusade.

Crispy chicken is quick to follow suit and join your quest. This is the core of the sweet & sour dish, filling you up and never letting you down. This protein packed ingredient is the perfect companion with just the right mixture of crispy texture and mouthwatering flavor.

At this point in the expedition, the action is rising and our dish is really taking aesthetic form. Atop the bed of white, we have greens and reds mixed in here and there to make you feel festive, but something is still missing. Now comes the pinnacle of Pei Wei's sweet & sour experience, the chopped pineapple. As these dashes of tropical fruit parade their way onto the dish, the flavor really comes to life, exciting all taste buds. Welcome to the peak of the meal.

Last, but not least, comes the application of the mind-numbing Cantonese sweet & sour sauce, the catalyst of the dish. This magnificent sauce rushes over the crispy chicken like the mighty Yangtze River, carrying your taste buds downstream to an unforgettable dining experience. This is the yin and the yang, providing an unsurpassed balance of both sweet and sour. My mouth is watering at the thought of it.

As our tasty endeavor comes to a close, be sure to top your meal off with a fortune cookie and you have the complete Pei Wei experience locked down. I hope I have painted a beautiful picture in your mind, one that inspires you to go out on a limb and reach for the sweet & sour chicken on white the next time you enter the golden halls of Pei Wei. It is an unforgettable experience. Trust me, you won't regret it!

And at the end of the day, it's sweet AND it's sour. What's not to like?

New Background!

Judging by today's high of 40, December has officially arrived. So, to celebrate the accession of the new month, I've changed my background to something a bit more festive. Enjoy!

Let The Festivities Begin!

To Cheer, Or Not To Cheer?

Last Sunday, I found myself in a strange position. With the my beloved Titans down 10 to 19 at home against the Eagles, we were desperate for a spark. Kerry Collins had faced two quarters of relentless pressure as his receivers couldn't find any separation from opposing defensive backs with stud wideout, Kenny Britt, sitting on the bench for off-the-field misconduct. Just before half time, Britt entered the game for his first snaps. With an obvious one on one mismatch against a defense that refused to place less than 8 or 9 men in the box, Collins went to work with Britt, finding the former 1st round pick in the endzone for a touchdown that can only be described as "beast." Rumor has it that Titans radio wiz, Mike Keith, overheard Britt yell, "That's my ball, Mr. Hobbs!" before snatching it from the air, but I have no proof of this allegation, which is coincidentally the same situation Britt is facing in an "alleged" bar fight. I digress.

At this point, Titans fans knew that if we were going to make a comeback, it would either take a few huge Chris Johnson game breakers or Kenny Britt would need a huge day. The only problem? My opponent in fantasy this week started Kenny Britt. Ugh...

Here lies an excruciating fantasy conundrum. What does one do in the situation that you're playing against one of your favorite players, especially when that player could, and probably will, determine the outcome on the field and on the fantasy gridiron. It's fantasy vs. reality. What is a boy to do?

After the first Britt TD, I was hoping that the defense could make a few plays and then perhaps Chris Johnson could make quick work of the Eagles. Not entirely the case. The defense held, but Britt's number would be dialed up again the 4th quarter on a play that resulted in an 80 yard touchdown reception, and again later in the quarter for another touchdown reception. At the end of the day, Britt's 7 receptions for 225 yards and 3 touchdowns were pivotal to the Titans victory over what is possibly the NFC's best team. On the flip side, Kenny's 7 receptions for 225 yards and 3 touchdowns resulted in a 40 point performance, which buried my fantasy team. In the end, I walked away from LP reminding myself, "If Kenny Britt's the one that beats me, then I'm ok with that." In fact, my only two defeats this season have come against outstanding, game changing performances from Titans' stars Chris Johnson and Kenny Britt. I can live with that.

In another story, a Cowboy's fan found himself in the same situation Monday night as Tony Romo went down hard in the first half against the Giants. Quickly after, I received a text from this fan pondering, "Is it bad that I kinda hoped Romo got slightly hurt in this game so I could beat *name disclosed*?" Unfortunately, Romo was more than slightly hurt, and his crushed collar bone opened the door for my 2008 deepest fantasy sleeper, John Kitna, to take the stage en route to a Cowboys to defeat. The bright news here? Cowboys fans have to believe that just over the horizon lies a Wade Phillips' firing, which could be good for both fans and fantasy owners.

In both of these situations, including countless others around the fantasy nation, we find people forced into conflict where they have inclinations to cheer against their favorite teams, which raises the ultimate question: "To cheer, or not to cheer?"

It's your right to form your own opinion, but someday you'll be faced with a very similar situation and you need to be prepared. What's it going to be? Do you cheer for your team? Or your fantasy team?

Or, in the end, do we hold our brothers to a higher standard, expecting that they bench players in matchups that they know will cause this agonizing conundrum?

Nah.

Passion Photography Church: Beauty

Photography Passion Church: Worship

Tuesday night worship at Kairos in Brentwood, TN.

Photography Passion Church: Creation

Ethos Photography Passion Church Assignment #1: Creation

For this first assignment, our church was asked to meditate upon the following verses:

• Job 38:1-7
• Psalm 24:1-2
• 2 Corinthians 5:17

As I sat in my den, reflecting upon these words, a torrential rainstorm snuck up outside my sliding glass door. I took a moment to pause, walk outside, and listen to the monsoon, when like lightning, inspiration struck! I quickly ran back to my room and popped a roll of 35mm film into my Minolta. As I removed the lens cap and unscrewed my polarizing filter, I took a gaze at my desk. Resting atop my place of work was my life pot, a glazed piece of pottery I painting in summer of '09. So I picked up the life pot, snagged my camera, and got to work. By this point, the heavy rain had saturated our hanging tomato plants, so water was cascading from the suspended pots. I instinctively knew I wanted to capture the falling water, so I placed the small life pot on my balcony rail and began looking around for shot ideas. Much to my delight, the large tree overlooking our balcony volunteered itself to be the perfect viridian background. I framed the shot, played with the focus, and adjusted my aperture to create a shallow depth of field. The rest was 35mm magic.

Sometimes we find it easiest to focus on what's directly in front of us, but in doing so, we can miss out on the full scale of God's beautiful creation.

The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters.