The Outback Steakhouse : Dinner With Dad Giveaway

 
 I was thrilled when I was contacted by a representative of the Outback Steakhouse to do a giveaway for an Outback dinner.  I have always loved the Outback, even from when it first opened.  I remember marvelling about the beauty of the Bloomin' Onion, both in appearance and taste, and I don't even eat onions on a regular basis!  Also since I am on a low carb diet right now, the complimentary steak dinner that comes with this post will be most welcome!  Of course I am always interested in promoting a product that I believe is good, and there is no question that Outback is a quality meal and is family friendly as well.

     My three daughters have been to countless dinners out with us in the eleven years we have been parents.  For the most part they are pretty darned patient while waiting for their food at the restaurant.  There are a couple of meals that stand out in my head as over the top in one way or another.  The first was at a restaraunt called the Sugar Shack in Thornton, New Hampshire.  This is truly one of the best breakfast places I have ever attended.  If you are lucky enough to make a trip to the Sugar Shack when maple syrup season is going on, you are able to watch the boiling maple sap while eating your breakfast.  My kids loved reading the placemats on the table that explain the whole process of maple syrup production.  Also the place is basically a "sugaring" museum with all kinds of old photos, and artifacts on the walls pertaining to maple syrup season.  Watching the steam billowing out of a 500 gallon vat of boiling maple syrup is bound to make any kids chocolate chip pancakes taste a little bit better, even when they are loaded up with fresh maple syrup!
     I also remember a time when we only had 1 daughter, Abigail.  She is our first born and was always a little tentative with fire and loud noise and the like, still is actually, eleven years later.  Well one night we decided to go out to a local hibachi style Japanese grill where they cook the food right in front of you.  We never thought about the repercussions of bringing our fearful little Abby to a place like this.  Of course everything was fine when we sat down.  They sat a couple of young couples next to us, God bless them!  Everything was fine until the chef came out and started winging kifes around, spraying fire on the grill, and the whole nine yards.  Abigail was horrified.  That kid was howling with fear, and the young and hip couples sitting beside us got a true lesson in birth control! I think we ended up letting the cook finish up and we ate our meals at home much to Abby's delight!
     Also something I remember from my own childhood at meals was the fighting over the bill.  In an Italian family it is basically tradition for the patriarch of the family to pay for the meal, but it is also tradition for the son to fight like hell about paying the bill.  This was our tradition anyway, not to stereotype or anything.  As a kid I was always a bit of a wiseguy.  I used to sit patiently waiting for the bill to come so I could watch the battle royale that was going to take place.  I remember some real beauties when my grandfather said he would never eat with us again, etc, unless he was allowed to pay the bill.  Of course in the end he almost always won, since he used to make such a scene that the police would have been called if my father hadn't acquiesced.  I silently delighted in this ritual, and still enjoy doing it today.  Now my father is the one making the noise, and I am the one trying to pay my fair share.  I love it!  The great thing about this giveaway is there doesn' have to be a brawl over the bill.  Outback is willing to give you a $45 gift card to Outback Steakhouse for a night out with the family.  Why not give this contest a shot and make some new memories Outback style!

Here are the rules:

1.  To win the gift card you must share your wacky, fun, whatever, dinner moment as a comment on this blog.  I reward people with the wackiest story as a rule so make it a good one!

2.  Every tweet you make about this contest will help you win the prize.  More tweets = more chances to win.  You can cut and paste the following tweet the following.

Visit Wacky Dad to Win a $45 gift card from @Outback & @Wackydad http://goo.gl/nc2Jt  #DinnerWithDad #dadstalking #giveaway 


3.  The contest ends on July 7th at midnight and the certificate will be awarded within 24 hours of the contest closing.

***Please note that this gift card does not cover alcohol, gratuity, or, tax.

Good Luck!

Wacky Dad

Bloody Knuckles

Bloody Knuckles Addict! 8 yr old Ailey!

OK you know you're daughter is a meathead when she is enthralled with the game bloody knuckles.  Does everyone here know what that game is all about?  I used to play this game in elementary, junior high, and high school.  I always thought of it as a boys game until I played it with my middle daughter Ailey last night.  Here is a not so brief description so you know what I am talking about.  This info came from the official bloody knuckles website http://www.bloodyknuckles.org - which I never knew existed until right now.

Bloody Knuckles is the exciting game of wacking your opponents knuckles with your knuckles! The object of the game is to wack your opponents knuckles without getting wacked yourself.
The two basic moves include the STRIKE and the DODGE. The STRIKE is the act of wacking the knuckles, and the DODGE is the motion made in attempts to avoid the pain!

On the surface, Bloody Knuckles appears to be a painfully brutal game. After all, you are essentially just rapping each other's knuckles (or trying to avoid it). However, at closer examination, Bloody Knuckles is a true test of one's quickness and reflexes. Surprisingly, physical strength is not a factor in becoming a skilled Bloody Knuckles player. Players of all sizes and sexes have become proficient at playing. In fact, one of the largest draws to Bloody Knuckles is that it's one of the few sports where brawn is a non-issue.

TOURNAMENT RULES (Turn-Based)

Beginning The Match
The referee will begin the coin toss to determine which player will get to call their first move (Strike or Dodge). The player who wins the coin toss is allowed to decide whether they would like to Strike or Dodge first.

[The Starting Position]
Opponents must stand facing opposite each other with one outstretched arm, slightly bent (we recommend a 120 degree bend). Hand in fist position, players butt their fists up against their opponent's. The player's hands must remain in fist position at all times during play. Players knuckles must be touching, (but not pushing) their opponent's knuckles.




The player's inactive arm (or “dead hand”) must rest behind the back or at the player's side during play.

[Beginning Play]
Play may begin after the players agree to being "ready". The referee will count "1, 2, 3, Break". After the word "Break" is spoken, play may commence.

[Taking Turns]
In turn-based tournament play, players will alternate the roles of Striker and Dodger with each turn. Each player will have chance of landing 5 successful Strikes per round (there are 3 rounds per match). One player Strikes while the other player Dodges. In a turn, a player will have 30 seconds to perform a Strike.

Example (in a nutshell):
The player who was chosen to Strike first during the coin toss will be referred to as Player 1, the other player will be referred to as Player 2.
Player 1 has won the coin toss and has decided to Strike first. The referee has asked both players if they are ready, and the players have confirmed. The referee gives the countdown and the play begins.
Turn #1: Player 1 attempts to Strike while Player 2 attemps to Dodge the Strike.
Turn #2: The players switch roles; Player 2 will Strike and Player 1 will attempt to Dodge Player 2's Strike.
This alternating continues until each player has had 5 chances to Strike their opponent.

[Points]
If either player lands a Strike, the Striking player gets a point. There are no points awarded for Dodging or any other moves. The player with the highest number of successful Strikes wins the round. Three rounds are most commonly used in most professional level play. The player who wins the most 5 point rounds is the winner of the match.

[Moves]
After “Break” is called by the referee, the Striking player may move.

STRIKE
A Strike is characterized by swiftly drawing your fist upward above the other player's fist and rapidly bringing your lower knuckles (located along the middle of your fingers) upon the hit zone of Player 2's upper knuckles. 1 point is rewarded to Player 1 upon successful completion of this move. The key to the Strike is speed…completing it before your opponent can withdraw her fist from your fist's downward path.

1. 2. 3.

1. Starting Position: knuckles to knuckles


2. Draws Fist Up


3. Hits Downward



Diagram 1 above illustrates the ‘at rest' position of the fists - knuckles to knuckles. When a player attempts a Strike, she must bend her action arm at the elbow, raise her fist above the top of her opponent's knuckles, then bring her fist back down upon her opponent's. The player attempting a Strike cannot bring her fist above her chin level. As players better their skills and begin to develop their own styles, they will learn that a Strike is more successful when the distance between opponents knuckles are shorter. A shorter distance results in a faster execution of the Strike.

The diagram below illustrates the desired hit zone when performing a Strike. Should your Strike fall short of its target and land on the fingers of you opponent, this is referred to as a “Wif” and is not counted as a point. Similarly, an overshot Strike that lands behind the nuckles onto the hand is called a “Hand” is not counted as a successful Strike either. No points are awarded for Wifs or Hands. If an opponent misses the hand altogether and lands her Strike on her opponent's arm, that's probably a big indicator that he needs to practice more.




Ok that is enough.  They go on for about 30 pages about the game but this is it in a nutshell.  Basically you try to smack the crap out of your opponents knuckles.  Here is the thing though.  Ailey really stinks at it!  She almost never dodges, and invariably gets a good wrap on the knuckles.  She just laughs like hell and tries again, and I whack her again.  More laughter!  The damned kid loves it!  I had to make her stop last night because her knuckles were starting to swell.  Now I would expect this behavior from a boy, lets face it we're a bunch of dumb shits, but my daughter Ailey is as smart as a whip.  The kid literally came home with a perfect report card yesterday.  Absolutely perfect, yet the kid loves to get her ass kicked at bloody knuckles.  She is so much like her father that it is scary.  I always think I can win, even if I am getting my ass kicked.  My reasoning, and I think Ailey's too, is that eventually my opponent will get tired and I will whip them!  I am not sure if the world can handle a female Eric Costantino but it has definitely got it's hands full with my wacky little daughter Ailey!  I love you Ailey for being the meathead you are!  Keep up the good work and always have fun and keep that killer instinct!




Love,


Wacky Dad

Five Wacky Father's Day Projects!

I always have a few wacky projects rolling around in my head.  On most days these projects are way to meaningless to attack, but on Fathers Day, we get a day of leisure to do whatever stupid thing it is that we would like to do.  Here are five moronic projects that I would love to tackle tomorrow.  I know that I won't get to all of them, or even one of them, but I sure would revel in the moment of completing one of these projects.


1.   Install a point driven well in my yard - The Costantino's are invariably cheap.  It has always been my dream to install a small point driven well that could take care of watering the grass, sprinkling the kids on hot days, provide snowmaking water, and maybe even providing water to the toilets.  I am sure that this endeavour would probably end up costing me more than water bills but it is just so damned cool!  Here is a diagram of a point driven well.  I want one.  I might actually be putting one of these bad boys in tomorrow.  Already have the pump!

I know this seems like great fun huh!

 2.  I have an obsession with utilizing the stream in my front yard for something.  This small stream probably has no real practical use, but in my twisted mind it is a treasure trove of electric power, and of air conditioning for my house.  My wife will not let me use the water fall to create power because she says the contraption I have devised to do so is ugly.  What the heck does she know!  An old bike chain, some gears, and an old squirrel cage are all beautiful in my mind!  I also have a plan to use the cold water (57 degrees) to cool my house by means of an old car radiator.  Definitely a nice addition to the living room.  

Great minds think alike.  Dad admiring my beautiful invention.
I really am an idiot!

3.  Create a windmill.  My latest idea is that the windmill and the stream power would work in tandem to drive a small air compressor head.  This compressed air would be stored in my large compressor until it gets to about 140 psi and the would automatically vent to an impact wrench that would spin a small permanent magnet motor that would be capable of producing enough electricity to store in a bank of 12 volt deep cycle batteries.  By means of an inverter I would probably be able to power a 2 watt light bulb for 5 seconds and of course this would elicit tears of joy and pride from me after spending 24 hours labor and $500 bucks to make the damned idea work.  Oh yeah and the windmill would be powered by an old ten speed bicycle wheel with large heat shrink tubing that covers the spokes at an angle.  You know the great thing about a blog is that I can write all of my stupid crap down and pretend that people actually care about what I'm writing.  There must be some other moron out there who has ideas like these right?  His name is Leo Costantino!




4.  I have had an idea for a long time about utilizing the swaying action of trees to collect power.  This idea really comes from the fact that I have a backyard full of trees that would require me to build a 100' windmill to get over the treetops to gather any real wind.  I do have a plan about how to build this, but it is so damned stupid I am not sharing it.  Also somebody from Exxon-Mobil might steal my idea and I don't want those shitheads getting rich off me!  I really don't want to add to their record profits!


5.   I would love to get the damn shit tank fully operational on my boat.  I have a very carefully devised jury rig all purchased and ready to install, but my busy schedule hasn't allowed me to put it together yet.  I am going to beat the marine industry at their own game and have a fully operational holding tank built out of parts from my existing tank and of course Lowes.  I will let you all know the first time I successfully pump the shitter on my boat!


Well there are five dumb projects.  In reality I will probably end up hanging out with my wife, my kids, my mother, father, and grandfather.  We'll probably drink some cheap box wine, tell stories that we've heard a hundred times, and have a good old fashioned barbecue.  You know I can't think of anything I'd rather do!  Not even repiping the shitter!


Happy Father's Day!


Wacky Dad   

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Harvesting Memories With Your Kids!

My oldest edible wild plant hunting daughter!  This photo
of Abby was taken at a school play she took part in.   

It is that time of year when I head out with my kids in search of natures best wild edible plants.  Yesterday Abigail and I got some time alone together so we headed out with a couple of old ricotta cheese containers in search of whatever the woods would yield.  One of our main goals was to scope out one of our favorite blackberry spots to see how they are coming along.  Another week or two and they should be ripening.  There are literally thousands of unripe blackberries that will be waiting for us!

My Little Bear!

My middle daughter has been nicknamed "Little Bear" since she was three, due to an incident with a wild blackberry patch and a completely purple face she took home that day!  Man does she love those things!  Good fruit and good memories, and all for free!  Since there were no blackberries available yesterday we decided to search for some other late spring favorites.  We call them prickers, but they are properly named Common Greenbrier.

Common Greenbrier, Bullbrier, or "prickers"

These little beauties are one of the tastiest greens in the woods, and it doesn't get much more organic than this!  The picture to the right is what they look like.  We found plenty of these right alongside our favorite blackberry bushes and easily stuffed a container full of them.  I used them to top off a delicious salad tonight.  In an age when produce prices are shooting off the charts, it is really a breath of fresh air to take an enjoyable walk in the woods and come home with something you can eat for free.  This time of year these abound in the woods.  Simply find a greenbrier like you see in the picture, and snap off the tender shoot like you see in the photo.  These can be eaten raw, or cooked like spinach or asparagus.  My favorite is raw though.  We eat them like candy as we walk through the woods.  They are truly delicious, and are awesome as a tasty and beautiful garnish on your salad.

Tonight's Salad

To me though the best part about searching for these plants is the chance to connect with my kids in the quiet of nature.  They all think that picking and finding wild plants is pretty cool.  Abby told me yesterday while we hunted edibles "Dad your awesome".  I didn't have to buy her any fancy video game, or take her to any flashy amusement park to gain this unprompted comment.  As always I answered back "yeah, I'm all right", but inside I am beaming from ear to ear that my 11 year old thinks I am awesome. 

   

I think I'll call him Bugs!

As a bonus we ran into this little baby rabbit while we were out exploring.  I was literally about 5 feet from this guy, and I believe if I had a carrot I might have had him eating from my hand.  If you haven't been out searching for wild berries or plants with your kids I highly recommend you give it a shot.  They will love it and so will you!

Happy Hunting,

Wacky Dad