Hi! I'm Eric.
I grew up in Stuarts Draft Virginia, where I spent my childhood, like most kids in small towns in the early 70's, running around in unsupervised packs doing things that parents today would send their kids to a psychologist for doing.
Growing into the teenage years my friends and I started looking for things to do to fight the perceived small town boredom, including partying and traveling to anywhere I heard there was party, even if an hour or more away. I thought we were normal at the time but looking back I was a bit wild.
I applied to several top engineering schools because my guidance counselor told me "You're good at math. You should be an engineer. They make a lot of money." Princeton did not accept me. Harvey Mudd was too small. Atlanta was too big a city. Our campus guide at UVA (where my dad went to graduate school and why we were in Virginia) was a pompous ass. Duke seemed overpriced for the engineering degree. The older friends I stayed with in O'Shag when visiting VPI&SU showed me a great time. So I became a Hokie.
I more or less partied my way through undergrad, chased the Grateful Dead around the country, and thought I was living the life. The summer before my senior year my future wife introduced herself to me at The Cellar. After a rocky first month where she put with several no shows on my part we hit it off and were living together soon after, following a problem with her apartment.
A hated senior design in ME (no desire to pay attention to detail) but stuck it out for the degree. I attended graduate school in education (after taking a summer of graduate level math classes to get a minor and pull my grades up to get in) and worked at the Sycamore Deli so I could stay with her. We eventually moved to Roanoke where she worked as buyer for Heironimus while I taught high school alternative education to at risk high schoolers. We took our vacations with her parents at their time-share in Myrtle beach or visiting our families, and I cooked every meal (pescatarian at the time).
When we had our first son, my wife said she did not want to go back to work (Heironimus had been sold to a family out of Texas who was running it into the ground, and the environment had turned toxic), so I decided to man up and look for a career that paid more than the $30K I was making teaching school, summer school, an after school program, and tutoring higher level math. After every technical sales job I looked at required extensive overseas travel I hit the easy button and went to work for the real estate company where my dad was a partner, as his assistant. We provide real estate services to the trucking industry, which was the industry he had worked for previously.
By the time our second son was born I had proved myself in the business, but had to move to a bigger city if I wanted to move up, so we moved to Kernersville, and opened the Greensboro office, which is where we live today. I coached the boys in about everything sport there is growing up, and then found other interests when they grew older. They are both grown and starting their own careers now.
My passion is still for cooking, and that is my creative outlet. I come home from work and cook dinner to relax, and spend the weekends when we are at home trying new food ideas. I play tennis a few times week for exercise but it's more social than serious, and garden (mostly exotic peppers in pots) as an extension to the cooking. We love to travel, and like it even more when we can travel with others.
I think that about covers it, but if there is anything you would like to know, Ask Me Anything.....
Comments
What is your parenting philosophy? Has it changed over the years?
The best thing that happened to our parenting was a Sunday school class we took when they were young. I'll pass on the gist of it, as it really worked for us. There are three rules:
1. Get your kids attention, look them in the eye, and tell them the consequence of their action.
2. Never make a threat you are not willing to keep.
3. If they do the action, make the consequence happen.
Their full time job is trying to figure out the rules of like. If you are smart, they are likely smart. If you offer consequences and they do not happen they will constantly try to figure out the "real" rules. When do mommy and daddy mean it? Is it when daddy stands up? Do they always give a warning or a last chance? Is it when mommy uses her really mad voice? Is it always what they say it will be?
If you make the answers to these questions easy, they will understand them and quit trying to figure them out.
Say "if you do this, this will happen when we get home" once in a soft voice when looking them in the eye. If they do it, you just remind them of what will happen and let it go. When you get home, calmly make it happen. We were shocked at how fast it changed their behavior. And when something really bad was happening (running away in a busy parking lot) and we did yell, they got as scared as we were instead of thinking it was funny, because we did not yell over the small stuff.
When they got older we treated them like adults, and were more lenient than most other parents. We set hard rules that made sense based on what would screw up your future (drinking and driving, becoming a parent, not getting into college, using drugs) and had honest conversations about it before their friends were involved. Let them know they will never get in trouble in asking for help, or a ride, or asking questions, but doing the stuff they know they should not will take away privileges until they show they are mature enough to make good decisions.
this is great stuff! Thank you :)
As a soon-to-be-dad (August sometime) I appreciate this, and all the other parenting advice in these threads! It's very encouraging.
Congrats- one of the best and most rewarding experiences in life-even with the challenges it provides.
Thank you!! I'm very excited to meet her soon.
I have another football watching buddy this fall!!
That's awesome. Always good to have another fuller in the world.
The world keeps getting...fuller
Ba dum tss
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Adding to that- you shouldn't count to 3 (or 10) before expecting/getting compliance or consequences- if you do then they will push it to that all the time(and it will raise your anger/frustration level making it more likely to lash out in anger -verbally or physically- rather than measured discipline. As you said -lay out the consequences-one chance to stop, and then calmly follow through. Easier said than done? Certainly. It's far easier in the short run to "let it go" (especially id it means canceling out on something you really wanted to do yourself(e.g. a concert or vacation) but for the long term, it just makes it worse (and builds in a tendency for them to "break the rules/laws/morals" later in life if they haven't faced the consequences while still kids.
Exactly. Had to turn the car around and go home once when we are leaving on vacation. The other part that is hard for the parents is to understand when a change in routine (no nap, excess stimulation, etc) is the cause of the issues, and your child is not capable of being rational. You made the choice to get them off schedule, you're the one who should deal with the consequences. They are not throwing a fit to get what they want, they are throwing a fit because they are not able to process what they feel.
This was a hard lesson I had to learn.
Is this from the same Bible study that says "If you don't like the painting, you blame the artist not the canvas?"
painting=your kids behavior
artist=the parents
canvas=the kid
If I had to guess I think it was growing kids God's way, but really do not remember. That was a long time a several churches ago. Content does seem similar. Still not sure where the God part was in it, but it helped us a bunch.
What is your go-to meal plan for quick and delicious?
What is the latest new dish you tried making and how would you polish it up for next time?
Add a -ski at the end? (ducks)
I really do not have just one, but maybe sausage and peppers. Boil salted water. While it comes to a boil cook sausage in a little olive oil. When the sausage it cooked add sliced peppers - or rinses pickled banana pepper rings. When hot add jarred no salt tomato sauce (from the veggie aisle, not pasta sauce). Add powdered garlic, Italian seasoning and simmer. Add linguini to the salted water and cook. When still a little firm in the middle add a cup of the now starchy salted water to the sauce, and stir in the drained pasta. Finish cooking the pasta in the drained sauce until the right texture and the sauce is absorbed into he pasta. Garnish with shaved parm and basil to serve.
I tried making a gluten free dairy desert for a supper club dinner. I made orange cherry preserves with some cherries that were getting soft. I blanched almonds and put in a food processor with white sugar to make almond paste, whipped almond extract and vanilla into eggs whites and folded into the paste. I chilled the dough, shaped into tarts, filled with the preserves, and baked. They tased good, but the texture was off. I boiled the almonds for too long and they absorbed too much water making the dough soft. I processed in to big a batch and did not get smooth enough. I did not plan enough time for the dough to chill. I added an orange with too thick a zest and it overpowered the cherries. I cooked the preserves to too high a temperature and they overset. I shaped the crust to thick. Live and learn. At least it tasted good.
Sausage and peppers is also a go-to in theMattBoard household, though usually on a roll instead of in tomato sauce. I've started doing mine in the sous-vide with a little beer before finishing in the pan instead of boiling in skillet (assuming me or Mrs MattBoard is home to get things started).
I always have issues when I try and do gluten-free doughs for just about anything and usually end up going for a curd, crumble or other flour-free fallback instead. On the plus side, i usually experiment on my game group (all bachelors) and they are a pretty friendly audience when it comes to culinary mishaps.
Gluten free dough is tough bc the gluten is what helps to give a nice crumb and hold things together. Using almond flour etc just doesn't do it for me. Lots of recipes will say to supplement by adding a little xanthan gum or guar gum to thicken and hold-- I've found that bob's red mill 1:1 gluten free baking blend is basically the same texture as flour
The 1:1s are great. My wife worked out a few good mixtures using a kitchen scale to ensure ratios but in the end yet 1:1s are almost as good and a lot less work.
I too grew up in Stuarts Draft, how long has it been since you have been back and what is your favorite part of the area?
I visited for a high school reunion about 4-5 years back. The oak tree I help plant is 40 foot high. The pine forest I got poison ivy from head to toe in by Coiner Springs park is gone. I spent a lot of time cruising the Advance Auto parking lot as a teen. Partying on the ATT tower past the Holiday Inn on the mountain, or on the Coal Road past Lyndhurst, or in the train tunnel that they have now opened to the public. Learned to ride a bike around the Broadmore Plaza when they building it (lived right behind it).
As someone not from Stuart's Draft, the answer is the Cheese Shop. Though the relocation, expansions, and other changes have made it less cool over the years.
Tell us more about the "exotic peppers in pots". What are you growing, what uses do you have for them, and what is your spicy tolerance level? Any advice for somebody who is considering growing their own peppers for hot sauces?
I have been doing it for about 10 years now, and have maybe 70 varieties. People know I do it, and bring me seeds or trade with me and I order a few new ones from Baker Heirloom or Etsy every year. This year I have Sugar Rush Peach, Lemon Spice Jalapeño, white Habanero, Habenada, Anaheim, African Rain Forest, Chara Pita, three varieties my neighbor brought back from Greece that I can't read the names of, one a friend got from her vietnamese nail girl, Tweety, Marconi, and a few others I can't recall right now. My tolerance is higher than most, and much higher than my wife's, so I grow a variety. I won't bite a reaper, or scorpion, but i do pickle with them for heat. Ghost peppers taste like mud, so I don't grow them. I look for fruity flavor for sauces. Habanero are easy to grow, have a huge yield and manageable heat. Plants with smaller peppers give a bigger yield. Last year I made sauce with tabasco and Calabrian chillies, and bacon jam with 7 pot pink peppers. Get a home fermenting kit to mellow the sauce. I tried using the fermenting top to old brewing kid, but the kits are much easier for this.
To follow-up on hot sauce - I halve and seed the peppers (wear gloves), add 3/4 tablespoon salt for each cup, and let sit overnight, stirring a few times. If you are preserving/making hot oil, cover in vinegar for ten minutes and drain well ( I use a salad spinner and use the liquid for hot pickling veggies). When drained cover with olive oil and it will stay shelf stable for a long time and make a great hot oil for Nashville chicken or kicking up anything else. If making a sauce just put in the fermenter with other flavorings, cover with water per fermenter instructions, and let sit for weeks until you like the heat and taste. Blend, strain, add vinegar and sugar to taste.
At home looking at the pots in the rain while watching our "grand dog" we are sitting while my eldest and his girl friend are at a music festival in Michigan do his business and got the names of of some others. One is Egyptian. It was on several of the dishes we had in Egypt earlier this year, long thin and mildly hot, so I stopped at a road side stall and bought one for 5 Egyptian Pounds (5 cents) and cut out the seeds to take home. Also Real Deal, Jigsaw, Mycelum, and Poblano.
You are transported back to the 1400s and get to choose a position in the court of some European king. What role do you choose (area of responsibility in parentheses) and why? Other is an acceptable answer if explained.
General (army/conquests)
Admiral (navy/exploration)
Foreign Mijister (diplomacy)
Archbishop (religion)
Royal Alchemist (science/magic)
Chief Steward (food/parties)
Have to go with Chief Steward, though more toward the chef part. Love watching shows or the parts of palace tours where they talk about what they ate at those parties.
What's the soundtrack to your life?
What is your favorite story (about you) to tell?
Grew up recording breakfast with Beatles on UVA public radio to listen to during the day. Switched to Pink Floyd -The Wall for middle school. Heavy metal in High School - Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, Judas Priest. Pretty much Grateful Dead live (with Jerry) for the most part after that. Lately I've been asking Alexa to play some funky music I would like while I cook, or Bob Dylan songs sung by someone who can sing.
I assume Pink Floyd The Wall grabbed on to you like it did me during those formative years. For a good 2 year stretch my personality was Pink Floyd The Wall.
I used to sit in Algebra and doodle stuff from the animated film all class. I am not sure I can still name all the songs in order, but can definitely still sing along to them. Something about the dark undertones of Hitler and war really grabbed me.
Yeah, I was already into military history by 6th grade so the WWII themes were interesting, and the first time I listened to it was late at night on my dad's truck riding from Chicago to St. Louis. As we rode he explained what was going on in the movie and it captivated me. It was a few years before he let me watch the movie. When he let me watch it he made it sound like it was because I had proven myself as a real fan by memorizing lyrics and Pink Floyd knowledge, but I think he wanted me to be older to watch a movie with such "adult themes".
My favorite story tends to change based on the audience, though a lot of them are old stories involving being wild. Got any prompts?
Yes, a young/wild story is what I am looking for.
I go with a less incriminating one. We were hanging out in a meadow in the woods behind my house late on a Saturday night drinking Everclear and grape kool-aid in front of a fire, quickly getting rowdier. We ran out of cigarettes and decided to walk to 7-11. It's about 5 miles via roads, but about 1 mile cutting across cow fields (where the P. Buckley Moss museum is now). We get to the electric fence, which is usually off, and start to climb through. One of my friends yells and screams that it is hot. I am standing there holding it in one hand saying no it's not. We proceed to take turns touching and holding it before it gets through our drunk heads that if you touch only one wire and nothing else with rubber soled shoes you don't feel much. But touch anything else and you get zapped. After managing to get though the fence we start across the field, and hear something snort from under a tree. We then realize why the fence was hot. The bull is in this pasture, not the normal cows who would run from us. After a short discussion on what to do, we decide to back up slowly rather than go across or try to outrun it. We get about halfway back before the bull starts coming our way. One of my friends panics and starts strumbling, (running when you are too drunk to go straight) and we all break and flee. The first one shows us where the fence is by running into it and falling back. Another falls and cries for help. We get to the fence, get through, and let our fallen friend who is now crawling through the grass to get away know that the bull is still just standing a few feet from where he started. Now being safe, someone says they have to piss, starting a discussion on if you are wearing rubber soled shoes, could you piss on the fence without getting shocked? No-one wanted to test it, but one guy tried to trick us by pissing near the fence while saying he was pissing on it to get someone else to try. Unfortunately his buzz kicked in, he lost his balance, swayed, and grabbed the fence while peeing to steady himself. Not sure where he got shocked, and he certainly sprayed himself, but we all lost it laughing at him. We went back for another round to decide on another plan, but I ended up puking and sleeping in a lawn chair by the fire.
Did you ever make the brisket using the recipe I gave you in my AMA?
Not yet. Have not even found time to get to Costco and see if they still have them, not to mention finding the time to put the rest of the brisket on the BGE. I appreciate the recipe though, and am looking forward to trying it. The Almond tarts took way too much time weekend before last and my kids came in and made me butter chicken for Father's Day this past weekend.
What's the dumbest thing you have ever done?
Whats the nicest thing you have ever done?
What's your favorite sound?
What's your guilty pleasure?
Whats the oddest/strangest thing you have ever seen happen, where you literally said to yourself: 'I cant believe that just happened right in front of me?
If you could remove one thing from existence in the world, what would be? It could be a person past or present, a thing, an emotion, .....anything.
I have done a bunch of really dumb things I regret, but will have to go with picking up smoking lucky strike filterless cigarettes at 14. Moved down to Reds, and eventually lights, before fighting the addiction for years. Ended up with a trip to the ER with a blood pressure of 250/125 to finally get me to give them up several years ago, but I still have enough of addiction I'll have odd dreams about smoking or cravings around people who smoke.
Nicest was probably getting rear ended by a young adult while working in Columbia driving a then less than one-year old truck in a rain storm. I told the kid not to worry about, did not report it, and took care of it myself. Minor damage, only took $250 to repair, but I could tell it was going to be big deal to him.
My wife's "I am really having fun laugh." Brings a smile to face just thinking about it.
Guilty please is definitely fine dining. Eating something I could only dream about making as well as they did.
I'll go with the time my wife pulled me back off a crosswalk at Lawrence Joel Coliseum because a car was flying down the street and ran a red light. Clipped the corner of low front car coming through the light and did an 180 in the air to land on its roof right in front of us. No deaths.
I like that one better than when my neighbor died when a 3-4 foot diameter oak tree he was chainsawing split, closed on his arm, and fell on him.
While my wife's Lymphoma is in remission, hopefully for a very long time, it is still not curable. I'll just say all cancer to make it sound like it is not just personal.
fuck cancer. that is all
^^ THIS^^
If I were ever to get tattooed (which is NOT going to happen), one that I would get would be cancer on my middle finger to express this sentiment.
Seconded. I have a custom shirt in hokie colors that says that, and shows a 'Scorecard' with me leading 1-0.
Edit: added pictures
So happy your wife is in remission. My best bud is in the middle of 6 rounds of chemo for lymphoma in his liver.
Favorite Dead show?
Favorite Dead show you saw in person?
Favorite iteration of the band post-Jerry?
Craziest thing you've seen in the lot?
1 and 2 would be same, but hard to pick.. The Warlock Shows in Hampton, The Cap Center in 88 when they finished with Ripple was awesome. 12/31/89 in Oakland was great experience.
I thought they were better with Brent than at any point after he died. That wail, vocal and electric organ, just added depth you could feel.
Went to Chicago for the last show tour. Great time, brought back good memories because it had been a while. Saw Dead and Co with my kids (including earlier this month in Charlotte with my oldest and his girlfriend). They rocked out some songs, and have better sound and more production, but less emotion than I when I put Through the Years on U-tube while working around the house. Makes me feel old.......
They used to let you camp at the back of the lot at the Cap Center. We would early go for a three or four day stand and pitch a tent. People losing it on LSD, all night drum circles, people bathing with a hose in the morning, everyone walking around hawking whatever. With no designated "shakedown street" everything was everywhere, and lots of vendors brought it you. You could chill at your car and buy a sandwich, beer, T-shirt, book of LSD, grocery bag of mushrooms - whatever walked by. I did see a guy eat half a sheet of acid once to prove it was fake.
Was it fake?
No clue. Never saw him again. I hope so........
Warlocks in Hampton must have been a time.
I caught a Ripple closer in Bristow earlier this month. Seemed like a fitting denouement if this is in fact the last tour with the current Dead and Co lineup.
Went to Bristow with my college roommate last year. Nice venue. Same guy I went the Warlocks with. He was from VABeach, so made it easy then. Those old mail order tickets were cool. Have a bunch framed in a collage behind the bar. $20.
What are the top 3 reasons why OShag is the best dorm?
It has the best residents.
The fine Irish name inspires great culture.
If you are on the upper floors on the side near main street the wind comes in the hall window, under your door and out your window, vacating any aromas you would rather not share, and in a related note they are high enough no-one can tell what is growing in the pots on the window.
What are your favorite cookbooks?
I am old enough to have over 50. The ones I use the most are BH&G New Cook Book and The New Spanish Table. The Dinner Party Cookbook and Essential Fingerfood would be next. Though these days I mostly use google for recipes and U-tube for technique.
Got a nominee for next? Also have HOAT and Frosty's dad on the sideburner-
HOAT it is (as you said in nerf's thread).
Paging HOAT!
What are 3 things that really grind your gears?
What's your dream soup and a sandwich combo?
To ad to topher's list...
have you ever seen a bare knuckle hooker fight?
Depends on your definition of a hooker.......
When I taught at the alternative school in Roanoke we had a guy who was court ordered to school for selling drugs offer to buy a girl new tennis shoes if she gave him a BJ. Another girl decided she wanted to earn the shoes, and the girls got into a fight over it. One was trying to scratch the others face with her nails, but the other threw "bare knuckle" punches and was winning when we broke it up. Loser got a long vacation when she tried to come back into the school with a box cutter.
Not sure if either or both got the shoes.
What's the closest you have seen to a bare knuckle hooker fight?
Nah. We can't all be hokietopher levels of lucky.
To be fair, I've had plenty of unlucky in my life too. Funny how things have a way of evening themselves out that way....
discussion bordering karma is getting too close to philosophical discussion
When people create drama that need not be there just get attention.
Bad engineering of any product.
"News"shows where people have to shout to make their facts true.
Lobster bisque and pastrami on rye with mustard, Swiss and sliced cabbage slaw. The bisque with huge chunks of lobster. Still hot off the smoker pastrami, not the packaged deli stuff.
Nice!
While that's not my favorite combo, that's damn hard to beat.