The Top Ten of 2021

Year two of a pandemic in the books and it feels like we're just getting started. 

Personally, the first half of my year was defined by a lot of healthy cooking and weight loss progress. And the second half of my year was defined by a lot of great travel experiences. (Which meant gaining some of the weight back, so it goes.)

Before we get to the top ten posts of 2021, here are some other notable posts that missed the cut:

Honorable Mentions

Big Ten Champs

Deep Dive on Big Ten Championships

Chicago Sights

Disc Golf Resurgence

The Poblano Incident

10. Hot Carnitas Hoagie
While the whole collection appears later, had to recognize my signature recipe I created this year.

9. Pasta Journey
This was short lived, but paved the way to a bigger cooking project.

8. Moments to Hang Onto
Capturing feelings from trips to Chicago and Asheville.

7. Mark Fever 2021
Mark bought me the best steak of my life and didn't win a single disc golf hole. What a guy.

6. Niraj Fever 2021
Just like the Lions, Mark comes up one notch short of Niraj. 

5. Living My Best Life
Keeping track of all the ways I'm trying to live well.

4. Remastered Vacation Pics
I went back and gave new life to old international photos. 

3. Daily Favorites: The Collection
My pandemic project was creating over 50 easy, healthy recipes to help me lose weight. I'll be using these forever.

2. Work Trip to Rome and Greece
Truly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. 

and the best thing I accomplished this year: Number One

Ironman Fantasy Football Champion - Inaugural Season

Mark and I have competed in a head-to-head weekly fantasy contest since 2018. Every week we pick different players but can only use a player once per season. It closely resembles our first fantasy football experience, NFL Home Team Challenge, that we started in 2003. Each week you get the chance to pick a new lineup and the challenge is predicting who's got a good matchup, when's the best time to take elite players, etc.

At the Owner's Meeting in August, we discussed the possibility of a second league that could scratch the itch that the first league doesn't quite cover: planting your flag on players for a whole season, specifically  having to find gems outside the known elite players. 

The solution was to do a head-to-head league with 2 key restrictions: You have a salary cap to spend for the draft AND there are no pickups after the draft. The 16 players you draft in August are the only players you can use the whole year. You have to plan ahead for bye weeks and injuries. Since you need to draft players with the endurance to last all year, I christened this the Ironman League. Here were the rosters we drafted, with their salary cap price.

Head to head weeks were the only thing that mattered. With an 18-game season, I made Week 17 worth double. The idea was that after 16 weeks, if it was 8-8 it would act as a Super Bowl or if it was 9-7, it would give the trailing team a chance to tie it up and turn Week 18 into a winner take all. 

Here's our week 1 scores:

After 6 weeks, I was up 6-0 and none of the games were close. Derrick Henry, Cooper Kupp, Justin Jefferson, Mahomes and Kelce were all lighting it up.

But in Week 7, I started having running back availability issues. Gus Edwards was out for the season. Chris Carson was now hurt. And Robinson was on bye. Derrick Henry was my only healthy running back. And he would soon get injured, out for the season.

Mark would win 6 of the next 7. So after 13 weeks, I was up 7-6. 

In Week 14, I had zero healthy running backs. But Lamar got injured and put up a zero for Mark. 

In Week 15, Mahomes and Kelce combined for 71 fantasy points on Thursday and basically clinched the week for me before it started. I was extra excited when Kelce made these moves to win the game.

So heading into Week 16, I was up 9-6. But job's not finished. 

If Mark wins the last three weeks, he takes the title. 

By 12:45 on Sunday, my only healthy RB James Robinson gets carted off with an Achilles injury. Which means that for the rest of the season, I've got no running back points. If he wins 16, he'll be favored in 17 + 18. 

In the last game that mattered, Mahomes came through for me and Stafford let Mark down. Poetry.

Never Count Out the Chiefs: Big Thursday Night Win vs Chargers (10-4)

In a season with only 17 games, one week can take a #4 seed to the #1 seed. If the Chiefs lost to the Chargers on Thursday night, they would be #2 in the division. Instead, they're the only team in the AFC with 10 wins and control their destiny for homefield advantage in January and the crucial only team to get a bye. 

There were many points in the game when it seemed like the Chargers were going to win. 

When Mahomes throws a 4th and 1 pass into the dirt.

Or when the Chargers pick off Mahomes inside the 5.

But really on the final drive, the Chargers caught this pass to get 1st and 10 at the 43 and only need a field goal to win.

And on this pass, if the red throws a flag, the Chargers win and the Chiefs would currently be the 5th seed. 

The biggest missed opportunity of the night was right here:

Ekeler just scored making it 20-13 pending the conversion. If you go for two and get it you make it a two-possession game. If you don't get it, you're still up 7. A Chiefs TD will only tie you. If you go for one, a Chiefs TD can still tie you. This is a beautiful risk/reward situation for LA and they don't take it. 

Instead, KC finds themselves down 21-13 with under 9 minutes to go. So what happens?

Touchdown Hill. 

Touchdown Kelce.

Touchdown Kelce in OT.

On the game winner, Kelce catches the ball at the 30 with three unblocked defenders nearby.

He gets by them and then has another unblocked defender to deal with.

Gets by him too.

Ballgame.

What a great win. What an important win.

This is year 4 of Mahomes as the starter. Which means he's played 12 divisional games on the road. 

12 wins, zero losses. Not a single fan of the Chargers, Raiders or Broncos has been able to go to a game  in Los Angeles, San Diego, Oakland, Las Vegas, or Denver and see their team beat Mahomes.

King on the Run

The last time I used the chess tag on this blog was in January 2007. This probably sets a record for longest times between tag uses. In this game, I was white and looking for a way to attack and capture the black queen.  

The move? Queen to h8. Black moved the king to f7 so I respond with knight to d6, forcing king to f8. Good start. So how do I get the queen from the board below?

Bishop to h6. Again puts the king in check so he has to move to e7.

From there it's simple. Bishop to g5, again putting the king in check. Allowing a queen capture without sacrificing anything.

Four moves in a row where black had their king on the run, ending with a queen capture. From here, easy to close out.

Bucket List Progress

I've always been one for pursuing new endeavors, but in 2014 I started a legit bucket list. Entering 2021, I had accomplished 13 items on the list. Some notable ones include cooking a 5-course dinner, making a cookbook, and moving to Kansas City. 

And then in the last 5 months I checked off 5 new items on my list:

• go zip-lining
• lose weight and take new work pictures
• take photos of the stars
• visit Greece
• take a Mediterranean cruise

Three of the things were work trips that fell into my lap (and of course the Greece cruise is a 2 for 1). For context I've currently got about 20+ more items left on the list, but most are travel destinations to visit. (So my current line of work seems fortuitous.)

So yeah, things are working out pretty well.

Raiders Karma

Sometimes you don't even have to say anything.

Work Trip to Cancun

I wrote some commercials and had to go to Cancun to film them. Tough job but somebody has to do it.

Okay, so the food wasn't very good and the pictures make the resort look nicer than it actually is. But I'm not complaining.

Good Birthday

This was one of the better birthdays that I can remember. So I wanted to take some notes so I don't forget. 

My birthday happened to land on a Monday this year, and I now think it's the best day for a birthday. Let me explain. 

We had a nice, full weekend with the kids where went out to Texas Roadhouse (mainly for the rolls) on Friday night, then had a fun day of shopping and eating on Saturday. Got some Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory. Played a lot of chess with the kids (we're now a chess family apparently.) On Sunday, I took H to his basketball game and then came home and the Chiefs beat the Cowboys. From Friday to Sunday felt like a long, full family weekend. 

...and then I got to take Monday off work for my birthday. I woke up to a Q39 gift card from my sister-in-law.

Dropped the kids off at school and had a whole day with not much to do. Started by cleaning my closet which had been a giant mess since the cruise while I listened to Simmons and Sal discuss the Chiefs beating the Cowboys. Then, Devastating Lobster published two videos that were just shot in October.

Then Mrs. Hoagie Central was available so we got to go out for Potbelly lunch, walk the dogs, get a car wash, play chess, and pick up the kids together. They then gave me a TON of presents they picked out from the Made in KC store. A lot of glassware, coasters, t-shirts, all either Kansas City or Chiefs themed. Plus, some KC-made sea salt chocolate caramels. 

Then we took the kids out to a feast at Q39 and used up that gift card. 

My favorite move is to get the ribs and the Mr. Burns sandwich that comes burnt ends. Then I eat some of the delicious burnt ends from the sandwich straight up and supplement the sandwich with some delicious rib meat. 

Having a bonus Monday off work, with the kids in school, after just having had a big full family weekend...doesn't get much better than that. (Chiefs 4-game winning streak helps a lot too.)

Peanut Butter Cookies

So this is not a daily favorite. 

Real talk, since the cruise, knowing I have my birthday and Thanksgiving coming up, I haven't been eating with healthy habits in mind. And yesterday and I wanted to make cookies. Although chocolate chip is the gold standard, I didn't have any chocolate chips on hand and didn't feel like going to the store. But I  remembered peanut butter cookies that can be made with pantry staples plus an egg. 

- - -

In doing some google searches, I found three levels of peanut butter cookies. 

The simplest only had 3 ingredients: peanut butter, sugar and egg. 

A medium one had 5 ingredients: peanut butter, brown sugar, sugar, vanilla and egg. 

And another had 8 ingredients: peanut butter, flour, butter, sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, egg and baking powder.

I opted to make the 5 ingredient version but with a couple slight changes. The recipe called for 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 cup brown sugar, but I went 3/4 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup sugar. Brown sugar is better than white sugar. Nobody denies this! 1 cup peanut butter, 1 egg, 1 splash of vanilla. 

I didn't get out the electric mixer, was easy to stir with a wooden spoon. Formed into rounded hockey pucks and then flattened further with a fork. 8 minutes at 350F. I absolutely LOVE to underbake cookies and brownies. 

When it came out, it barely held together. I had a few last night, warm and soft. But they set up perfectly overnight and I thought they were even better tonight. Very soft, rich peanut butter flavor. If I had chocolate chips it would probably be pretty good with them in this dough too.

Chiefs Back On Track

For a while, this has been a football blog. It turned into a food blog during the offseason this year. And then, over the last month, it's become a travel blog. 

But it's time to get back to basics. The Chiefs are back in 1st place in the AFC West.

- - -

Leading up to the game, Carr and the Raiders were getting some buzz as having the Chiefs number. The nice thing about numbers is that I actually have them:

With Reid, Chiefs are 14-3 vs Raiders
With Mahomes, Chiefs are 6-1 vs Raiders

The Chiefs have a winning record vs the Raiders all-time.
The Chiefs have a winning record vs the Raiders at the Oakland Coliseum. 
The Chiefs are 2-0 vs the Raiders in Las Vegas.  

- - -

Weird scheduling quirk: the Chiefs have one remaining road game in 2021...and two in 2022. Chiefs back on track to finish with 11 or 12 wins. Then the question just becomes how are you playing in January. Are you good enough to go into Tennessee and Buffalo and win a playoff game on the road if you need to. The answer for the team that showed up last night is yes.

Remastered Vacation Pics from the Vault

Recapping my recent work trip to Rome and the Greek Isles made me realize something. Back in the day, Brit and I took four international vacations and I never properly posted recaps with pictures. Sometimes I did recaps without pictures and sometimes I posted links to a kodak or snapfish gallery as I was prioritizing prints. But I use this blog a whole lot more than I open up old printed photo albums. 

Plus...my new Google Pixel 5a has great and simple photo enhancing tools that make it easy to take washed-out photos and bump up the contrast/brightness. So I went through and properly recapped what I remember, with our old photos with some quick retouching. 

Here's a quick example of what I mean. On the left is what my camera took in 2008. On the right is with a one click enhance on my Pixel:

This was a fun project, to breathe new life into pictures from 15, 14 years ago. I backdated the posts to be accurate, but here's a collection of links here so I can see them all.

Paris (December 2006–January 2007)

London (2008)

Italy (2009)

Rio + Buenos Aires (2010)

Work Trip to Greek Isles

Work sent me on a 10-day cruise to the Greek Isles for research. Well, I did the hard research and my findings are that a luxury cruise to the Greek Isles for 10 days is amazing.

DAY 1 + 2

We boarded the ship in Athens. Didn't actually get to see the Acropolis or anything in Athens, but we made it on the ship and that was the important thing. The ship is incredible. 8 total decks, but it's a smaller ship than most cruise ships. Not that many guests. Very easy to walk around, get food and drinks, get on and off the boat. Loved the size of the ship.

Our first night we went to the steakhouse on board called Candles. Steak was awesome but I didn't take a picture. This is the caramelized lemon tart with honey on greek yogurt.

Day 2 we were at sea making our way to Limassol, Cyprus. Enjoyed getting to know the ship, try out different restaurants, make our excursion plans, etc.

DAY 3

We only had a few hours in our first port, Limassol. Basically we walked through the old town and down along the beach, and got lunch. 

Crystal clear water of Limassol is my new lock screen.

We had dinner back on the boat at the Spanish restaurant Cuadro 44. This was my first time getting to taste Jamon Iberico, which has been on my list for a while. Amazing. For me, I feel like I'm consistently disappointed in prosciutto. Jamon Iberico didn't disappoint at all. The octopus was also a delicious surprise. They said they simmer it for two hours to be tender. My main was lamb chops. Everything was excellent. 

DAY 4 

With a morning at sea,  I use this time to get a hot stone massage on board the ship. Then we got to Rhodes in the afternoon. The theme of the destinations is that most cities had an "old town" part with charming alleys full of shops and cobblestone streets, as well as a modern part where locals live and shop.

Walking along the coastal road we found this restaurant Aktaion and had dinner there.

My food was good and on a whim I ordered the baklava for dessert.

I've never been a baklava guy...until this moment. I wrote an entire article about baklavas in Greece.

DAY 5

Rhodes was the only port where we docked overnight. So we had a morning and afternoon to keep exploring.

We rented a white Fiat convertible and drove to Kalithea Springs.

There we walked through their gardens...

and took a swim in the freaking Mediterranean Sea. It was chilly at first, but got used to it. Very wild stuff.

When we got back on the ship, I was already in my swimsuit, so figured it was a good afternoon to spend in the hot tub.

Hot tubs, actually. There are two on board, and I tried out both.

For dinner on board, I had some delicious chicken tikka.

And at all hours of the day, I was walking up to the bar and getting a Coke Zero with lime.

DAY 6

This was our day in Crete, the largest island in Greece. We were in the town of Agios Nikolaos.

After exploring the town for a bit, we decided to take a 40 minute walk to this olive oil farm. Made sure to buy souvenirs to make it worth the trip.

We took a taxi back to the lake town where I had gyros, Cretan cheese, and bread with tzatziki. 

There were lots of shops here as well.

But my favorite thing in town was the view from the top of the hill. You can see our cruise ship docked at the port in the background.

For dinner we went back to Cuadro 44. I got more of the same tapas, went for the pork belly instead of the lamb chops as the main. But for dessert I got this instead of the churros:

A cheese course including Manchego, dried figs, candied orange strips and a serving of honeycomb. Absolutely unreal.

DAY 7

The excursions we picked out through the cruise ship happened to be on days 7, 8 and 9. So after six days of exploring on our own, we had morning adventures planned for us. We started with a sailing adventure in Santorini.

For the second time in a few days, I was swimming in the Mediterranean.

They served us lunch on the sailboat and then it was time to explore Santorini.

I loved the views and it was nice to be there from daylight through sunset and twilight.

Didn't have time to do a whole lot besides eat some disappointing food and browse some shops. We asked one shopkeeper if he was from Santorini and he said "No one's from here." Arguably the most beautiful island, Santorini was also the most crowded and overpriced. Everyone wants to visit but it's not the best experience.

Also, this happened to be Halloween so this was waiting to scare me in my suite.

DAY 8

Mykonos had some of the same vibes as Santorini without the crowds. Our Mykonos excursion started with a guided walking tour through town and visiting a bakery.

They gave us an almond cookie sample and I had to try the baklava here as well.

Then the excursion took us on a bus ride to this vineyard for a wine tasking with snacks. There was another stop at a church, then a cafe for an ouzo tasting with more snacks.

Later we visited a cafe for lunch.

We weren't the only ones.

Back on the ship, there was a Signature Deck BBQ where I got to try another food item on my bucket list: a whole suckling pig.

It wasn't actually any better than normal roasted pork, but it was fun to try. Also got crepes suzette for dessert.

DAY 9

We had a few hours in Monemvasia and it started with an excursion to an Olive Oil Factory.

This was some of the best bread I've ever had. Amazing olive oil, and with the feta and wine, just delicious.

Back on the ship for dinner, lobster tail with risotto. Just wow.

DAY 10

Our last day was in Nafplio.

We followed the ship's chef shopping for vegetables in the market.

Then we explored the town streets.

Had to try another baklava and ice cream.

Back on the boat, I made sure to try to the room service burger and it was awesome.

And then dinner was back in the steakhouse where we ate our first night. Clam chowder, filet mignon, dark chocolate ganache bar.

Honestly an incredible trip of a lifetime that fell in my lap. If you ever have the chance to take an all-expenses-paid luxury cruise, I recommend it.