Perhaps I should preface this by explaining the name of this segment. The Lush Life refers to my quest to discover for myself the 12 pillars of the American Dream. One who has achieved the Lush Life (it's kind of like the Buddhist's enlightenment) is one who has realized in their own lives the 12 pillars and has achieved or attained them. The pillars are much like Maslow's hierarchy of needs in that some are more difficult to attain than others. They are also broken down into categories with 4 pillars occurring in each level of the hierarchy. The first four pillars are all physiological dreams, the second four pillars are relationship dreams, and the final four pillars are self-realization dreams. I will write about one pillar per month with the final pillar being revealed on August 28th, 2011 which will be a few days before one-year anniversary of this blog.It should not be surprising that the first Pillar of the American Dream revolves around food. When people often think of the Lush Life as it is described by the opulent they think of caviar, filet mignon, and Cristal. However, one does not have to have opulence to live the Lush Life. The Double - Double refers to a delicious treat that can only be found a select few places on the 
planet. Those from the Midwest and the East Coast who have never ventured further west than Chicago have yet to experience it. You must cross the Mighty Mississippi River and trek over the Rocky Mountains but once you reach the sunny valleys of Arizona and California you will find there an eatery known fondly as the In-N-Out Burger. The Double - Double is the probably the best burger you will ever taste. Even Drew Bledsoe thinks so. A Double - Double consists of two 1/8 lb. beef patties cooked "medium well" and served on a toasted bun with cheese, tomato, leaf lettuce, and secret "spread". Raw or grilled onions can also be added. When you kick in the In-N-Out Secret Menu, you can also get your burger served Animal Style, Chopped Chilies, Extra Toast, with Pickles, or even 3x3 and 4x4. In my mind there is nothing more delicious.
planet. Those from the Midwest and the East Coast who have never ventured further west than Chicago have yet to experience it. You must cross the Mighty Mississippi River and trek over the Rocky Mountains but once you reach the sunny valleys of Arizona and California you will find there an eatery known fondly as the In-N-Out Burger. The Double - Double is the probably the best burger you will ever taste. Even Drew Bledsoe thinks so. A Double - Double consists of two 1/8 lb. beef patties cooked "medium well" and served on a toasted bun with cheese, tomato, leaf lettuce, and secret "spread". Raw or grilled onions can also be added. When you kick in the In-N-Out Secret Menu, you can also get your burger served Animal Style, Chopped Chilies, Extra Toast, with Pickles, or even 3x3 and 4x4. In my mind there is nothing more delicious.However, the Lush Life is about more than just my mind. You may have never been to the West Coast. This does not mean that you are not living the Lush Life. The Double - Double is simply my gold standard for food. However, the Double-Double as a Pillar of the American Dream does not refer to this delicious burger. 
It refers to one's ability to enjoy great food. If you live in Philadelphia, PA you can enjoy the "Double - Double". It just comes in the form of a fully-loaded Philly Cheese Steak from Pat's. If you live in Kalamazoo, MI you can enjoy the "Double - Double". It just comes in the form of a Prime Rib dinner with Raspberry Cheesecake from the Great Lakes Shipping Company. If you live in Cincinnati, OH you can enjoy the "Double - Double". It just comes in the form of a Pork Chop and Ribs combo dinner from the Montgomery Inn. Truth be told: you don't even need to leave your house to enjoy the "Double - Double". Part of achieving the Pillar of the "Double - Double" is being able to achieve it on your own stove top. You should be able to provide it for yourself. For years I lived the "Double - Double" because Patricia Dwyer is one of the finest unpublished culinary masters on the planet. Fortunately, she taught me just enough of her tricks so that I might provide the "Double-Double" for myself and those who enter my abode.
It refers to one's ability to enjoy great food. If you live in Philadelphia, PA you can enjoy the "Double - Double". It just comes in the form of a fully-loaded Philly Cheese Steak from Pat's. If you live in Kalamazoo, MI you can enjoy the "Double - Double". It just comes in the form of a Prime Rib dinner with Raspberry Cheesecake from the Great Lakes Shipping Company. If you live in Cincinnati, OH you can enjoy the "Double - Double". It just comes in the form of a Pork Chop and Ribs combo dinner from the Montgomery Inn. Truth be told: you don't even need to leave your house to enjoy the "Double - Double". Part of achieving the Pillar of the "Double - Double" is being able to achieve it on your own stove top. You should be able to provide it for yourself. For years I lived the "Double - Double" because Patricia Dwyer is one of the finest unpublished culinary masters on the planet. Fortunately, she taught me just enough of her tricks so that I might provide the "Double-Double" for myself and those who enter my abode.Obviously, this Pillar is about quality. But that doesn't mean that it isn't about quantity as well. 
Food is to be savored and enjoyed but, food is also an enemy that must be defeated. The Lush Life is about asserting your dominance over food. Every time you go to an eatery and see a wall that will bear your photo should you complete a food challenge; you must accept that challenge. This is why I must announce my intention to get myself on Orochon Ramen Wall of Bravery when I return to Los Angeles. I will attempt their Special #2 with 10 kinds of chilies and conquer the heat that is the Hot Ramen Challenge. Whether it's eating a seven pound burrito or eating hot wings that chart a 15 Million on the Scoville Scale (roughly the same as taking pepper spray to the face) you have to get on that wall and conquer that food. The Ultimate example of this comes from the home of the Double - Double itself. Behold the 100x100 (at right).
Food is to be savored and enjoyed but, food is also an enemy that must be defeated. The Lush Life is about asserting your dominance over food. Every time you go to an eatery and see a wall that will bear your photo should you complete a food challenge; you must accept that challenge. This is why I must announce my intention to get myself on Orochon Ramen Wall of Bravery when I return to Los Angeles. I will attempt their Special #2 with 10 kinds of chilies and conquer the heat that is the Hot Ramen Challenge. Whether it's eating a seven pound burrito or eating hot wings that chart a 15 Million on the Scoville Scale (roughly the same as taking pepper spray to the face) you have to get on that wall and conquer that food. The Ultimate example of this comes from the home of the Double - Double itself. Behold the 100x100 (at right).However, I must say that unfortunately the "Double - Double" is coming under fire. Instead of becoming ever easier to attain the "Double - Double", it is getting a little more difficult.
You can still get your fill of the Lush Life at many wonderful eateries around this great country of ours. However, it's becoming rarer that one can partake of the "Double - Double" in one's own kitchen. I would like to blame Generation U. If you don't know what Generation U is then I'm sure I will explain it further in some future post. However, Generation U stands for Generation Useless. It has come about due to our progressive nation's insistence on doing away with gender roles. Girls have been told that they don't need to learn traditional skills and boys joined in on the whole let's not learn any useful skills movement. Therefore, you have girls who can't cook or sew and boys who can't change their car's tires and oil or fix a leaky sink. This lack of usable skills is harming your quest for the Double - Double. People used to take pride in their ability to cook...sometimes too much. I once had a hibachi chef get third degree burns after falling onto the grill and yet he still finished the meal. That may have been the manliest thing I have ever seen.
You can still get your fill of the Lush Life at many wonderful eateries around this great country of ours. However, it's becoming rarer that one can partake of the "Double - Double" in one's own kitchen. I would like to blame Generation U. If you don't know what Generation U is then I'm sure I will explain it further in some future post. However, Generation U stands for Generation Useless. It has come about due to our progressive nation's insistence on doing away with gender roles. Girls have been told that they don't need to learn traditional skills and boys joined in on the whole let's not learn any useful skills movement. Therefore, you have girls who can't cook or sew and boys who can't change their car's tires and oil or fix a leaky sink. This lack of usable skills is harming your quest for the Double - Double. People used to take pride in their ability to cook...sometimes too much. I once had a hibachi chef get third degree burns after falling onto the grill and yet he still finished the meal. That may have been the manliest thing I have ever seen.Women find it extremely offensive when they are told their place is in the kitchen. And they 
should because this is made with the implication that they can't achieve elsewhere. However, there is nothing wrong with knowing how to cook a decent meal. It shouldn't be a gender thing. Both men and women have to know how to cook. I love to cook and if feminists ever convince women to march out of kitchen in protest...I will march in and claim it for men. And then a woman's place won't be in the kitchen and they'll want it back when I tell them they can't have it. My point is that people don't know how to cook anymore. And if you can't cook for yourself then you are not living the Lush Life. Man or Woman: if you can't cook then get in the kitchen and learn. Or take cooking classes. Cooking classes are a great place to pick up chicks and/or dudes. Knowing how to cook and feed people great food is important. The Double - Double is depending upon you.
should because this is made with the implication that they can't achieve elsewhere. However, there is nothing wrong with knowing how to cook a decent meal. It shouldn't be a gender thing. Both men and women have to know how to cook. I love to cook and if feminists ever convince women to march out of kitchen in protest...I will march in and claim it for men. And then a woman's place won't be in the kitchen and they'll want it back when I tell them they can't have it. My point is that people don't know how to cook anymore. And if you can't cook for yourself then you are not living the Lush Life. Man or Woman: if you can't cook then get in the kitchen and learn. Or take cooking classes. Cooking classes are a great place to pick up chicks and/or dudes. Knowing how to cook and feed people great food is important. The Double - Double is depending upon you.The other thing that is harming the status of the "Double-Double" in America and the world at large is the new Style over Substance movement in the culinary hierarchy. Food 
has always been about taste. Aesthetic is nice but it should never be allowed to interfere with taste. I blame much of this on food critics. Just as I implied a few posts ago that I think many movie critics are bad to the point of being detrimental to their art form...I think that doubly of food critics. When I watch Top Chef, Hell's Kitchen, and Master Chef it is constantly about the look of the food. During Master Chef's Mystery Box challenges they don't even try all of the dishes. They only taste test the three dishes that look the most appetizing. Whenever somebody overcooks a piece of chicken or tries to fry any meat, Gordon Ramsey will look at, throw it on the floor, and tell the person that they're serving him god damn Chicken McNuggets. Gordon, have you ever had a Chicken McNugget? They are fucking delicious. Top Chef is even worse. On this show a contestant's perfectly-cooked filet can't compete with another contestant's nitroused gazpacho because the judges are so impressed by the food science. When you are needle injecting tasteless nitrogen gas into your foods to make them puffier and more appetizing...there is an issue. Let your food's taste speak for itself.
has always been about taste. Aesthetic is nice but it should never be allowed to interfere with taste. I blame much of this on food critics. Just as I implied a few posts ago that I think many movie critics are bad to the point of being detrimental to their art form...I think that doubly of food critics. When I watch Top Chef, Hell's Kitchen, and Master Chef it is constantly about the look of the food. During Master Chef's Mystery Box challenges they don't even try all of the dishes. They only taste test the three dishes that look the most appetizing. Whenever somebody overcooks a piece of chicken or tries to fry any meat, Gordon Ramsey will look at, throw it on the floor, and tell the person that they're serving him god damn Chicken McNuggets. Gordon, have you ever had a Chicken McNugget? They are fucking delicious. Top Chef is even worse. On this show a contestant's perfectly-cooked filet can't compete with another contestant's nitroused gazpacho because the judges are so impressed by the food science. When you are needle injecting tasteless nitrogen gas into your foods to make them puffier and more appetizing...there is an issue. Let your food's taste speak for itself.The Substance over Style movement in the culinary world can most readily be seen at Chalk, Jean Robert de Cavel's restaurant in Covington, KY. I am not going to rip on the food at Chalk. It wasn't bad...but it wasn't great. However, it would so elegantly done, especially the desert. The two deserts that I remember vividly were the Flight of the 
Cupcakes and the Deconstructed S'mores. The Flight of the Cupcakes was a plate of six miniature cupcakes that were so well-decorated and plated they looked like they came from Ace of Cakes. However, I don't know if any of them would go down as a spectacular cupcake. They were quite average and a little dry. The Deconstructed S'mores was high concept also. It was a chocolate ganache with graham cracker flavored ice cream and homemade marshmallows. Once again, it looked super fancy but failed to stun in the taste department. I would have rather had an actual S'more. And I could have fancied it up by replacing the Hershey's with Twix...so suck on that cutting edge cuisine artists. We have to hold these "foodies" accountable and protect the concept of the "Double-Double". If you accept the responsibility to make and eat good food then you're on your way to the Lush Life.
Cupcakes and the Deconstructed S'mores. The Flight of the Cupcakes was a plate of six miniature cupcakes that were so well-decorated and plated they looked like they came from Ace of Cakes. However, I don't know if any of them would go down as a spectacular cupcake. They were quite average and a little dry. The Deconstructed S'mores was high concept also. It was a chocolate ganache with graham cracker flavored ice cream and homemade marshmallows. Once again, it looked super fancy but failed to stun in the taste department. I would have rather had an actual S'more. And I could have fancied it up by replacing the Hershey's with Twix...so suck on that cutting edge cuisine artists. We have to hold these "foodies" accountable and protect the concept of the "Double-Double". If you accept the responsibility to make and eat good food then you're on your way to the Lush Life.
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