Because Penn State was playing the Purdue Boilermakers, there were several roads this blog post could have taken. Most obviously, I could make something. I could have also boiled something. Or I could use the chicken. But then I thought 'no.' I will do some research.
Instead, I e-mailed Carl Behnke, a chef instructor in Purdue's Hospitality and Tourism Management department. He hooked me up with a recipe for Purdue Black and Gold salsa, which brings the flavor in a Purdue-colored package, or Steelers black and gold, if you run that way.

The recipe calls for grilled vegetables, but I opted out of that, being corn-on-the-cob-less and not wanting to fire up the grill for just poblano peppers and onions. The oven sufficed.

I needed roasted garlic and was not sure how to get that. A little Google legwork told me that to roast garlic, one must peel off the white papery stuff covering the bulb and cut the cloves so most of them are exposed.

Next dunk the exposed garlic in olive oil and let it soak for a bit. Wrap the bulb in tin foil and drizzle some more oil on top. Close the foil and put it into the oven (different recipes gave me different times and temperatures for the roasting. I went with 425Ëš Fahrenheit for 45 minutes, which seemed to work well for my purpose).

Now to grill the onions and peppers. I gave the onion the ol' chop and put each half in the oven. The peppers went in as they were. The recipe figures I'm grilling on a grill, so I needed to find out how to grill the vegetables in an oven. Again, some research turned up a variety of methods, but most seemed close enough to 425Ëš Fahrenheit (the temperature at which the garlic was roasting) that I thought the onions and peppers would be OK. I kept the peppers in for about ten minutes and the onions for 15 or 20 minutes.

Onions and peppers in the oven, I set to chopping the tomato and preparing the corn and beans, the two ingredients that would give the salsa its black-and-gold color. The recipe called for a peeled tomato, and who am I to judge? So I peeled, seeded and diced it.

I also cooked the frozen corn, cooked the beans and rinsed and drained both of those. When the onions and peppers were ready, I diced those, and when the garlic was ready I put that in a blender and blended it. I also chopped some cilantro. Many kitchen verbs later, I was ready to mix.

Crying tears of joy as I chopped the onions this, anticipating how good it would be.

After preparing the vegetables, the recipe becomes very simple. I mixed the garlic, peppers and onions together and added the cilantro, lime juice tabasco, and corn, tomatoes and black beans, plus some balsamic vinegar and salt. The recipe says to chill for four hours, but there was no way the photographer was sticking around that long, so I dug in.

The salsa has plenty of vegetables and looks authentic with those little cilantro bits. It's got some heft, too, and would make a filling tailgate dish. It also doesn't require strict adherence to the recipe, leaving room for interpretation. Pur-do try this recipe sometime.

Purdue Black and Gold Salsa - Makes about 1 quart

• 4 Each Corn On The Cob -- Grilled in husk
• 2 Each Garlic Bulbs -- Roasted and pureed
• 1 1/2 Each Poblano Peppers -- Grill, peel, seed
• 1/4 Each Red Onion -- Grilled
• 2 Tablespoons Cilantro -- Chopped
• 3 Tablespoons Lime Juice -- fresh
• 1/2 Teaspoon Tabasco Sauce
• 3 Each Yellow Tomatoes -- Peel, Seed, & chop
• 1 Can Cooked Black Beans; drained and rinsed
• 2 Tablespoons White Balsamic Vinegar
• 2 Teaspoons Salt
• 1/2 Teaspoon Black Pepper
• To Taste Ground Cumin

Directions:

• Remove the corn from the cob.
• Blend the roasted garlic, diced poblano, red onion, cilantro, lime juice, and Tabasco.
• Fold the corn, tomatoes and rinsed black beans into the liquid mix.
• Adjust the seasoning with the Balsamic, salt, pepper and cumin. Chill for 4 hours prior to service.

Serving Ideas : Served as a topping with grilled fish or chicken, or else with crisp gold tortilla chips Note: 3.5 cups roasted frozen corn may be substituted for the fresh corn For added flavor, grill the tomatoes before peeling, seeding and chopping -- Courtesy of Carl Behnke

(Photos by Chris Donadio/Collegian)

Insomniacs, wake up. After hearing of a wandering freshman searching the State College streets for cookies for her friend's birthday, I figured all sweet-toothed wanderers should get the 411.

If you're looking for a sweet treat from Insomia Cookies, it's now located at 421 E. Beaver Ave., Suite G2, instead of tucked away in Calder Alley where it used to be.

For you night wanderers, this location's a little easier to find and doesn't involve the use of night goggles, flashlights or pepper spray (hopefully). You could always take the safe route and order online from the comfort of your PJs. If you don't 'got milk' Insomnia sells it for only 2 bucks, making the milk and cookie combo a one stop shop.

In doughnut news, Food Services recently switched from Dunkin' Donuts to Krispy Kreme doughnuts, perhaps indicating a shift in the donut/doughnut paradigm on campus. On Oct. 1, Krispy Kreme took its place as doughnut of destiny at Penn State. Sisu assistant manager Jennifer Krise cited customer service with Dunkin Donuts as the impetus for the change.

Oh, Pennsylvania. With one foot in the Eastern seaboard and the other in the Midwest, who can blame you for an identity crisis now and then? Then they go and put you in that decidedly Midwestern athletic conference, the Big Ten, which doesn't even change its name. It's like you don't exist.
This week, in an effort to better understand the conference we call home, DNETB goes all Midwest and cooks up a regional specialty, deep-fried cheese curds.

Before cooking, I had to find the curds. Few people knew what they were. While asking if one store had cheese curds, a manager asked me what I was going to do with them. Deep-fry them, I replied, at which point a man to my left nodded knowingly. I later saw this same man receive a large number of bills from someone at the information desk and then quickly walk away.
I located the cheese curds in Wegman's, tucked at one end of the dairy section. For as ubiquitous as these are in places like Wisconsin, (where every citizen must meet a daily deep-fried cheese consumption quota), they were difficult to find here. Maybe for good reason -- the curd name is scary. Anything 'curd' sounds mildly unappetizing. But these tasted like I would imagine something called cheese bites would taste. Just very cheesy. Get a better marketing team, cheese.

Notice the Heluva Good cheese; I get a kickback every time I give them a plug. You don't need all the things shown here to make a basic deep-fried cheese curd. The bread and spices were luxuries, adopted from another recipe. The deep-fried curds I made used the basic instructions from one recipe, with the addition of spices and breadcrumbs suggested in another recipe. A note on the peanut oil: it was suggested in the second recipe for its high smoke point ("the temperature at which heated oil or fat starts to break down and burn," according to dictionary.com). So, congratulations, I now own three different kinds of oil.

Deep-fried cheese curds turned out to be easy to make. Step one: Sift flour and add baking powder and salt. I also added some bread crumbs and spices. Then add milk and eggs and combine. Add more milk if it's too thick. How easy is that?

Coating the cheese curds with the batter. They don't all look well coated here, but a quick dunk in the batter before deep-frying seemed to work well.

From there it's just drop, scoop out and drain. The oil was hot at first and as it cooled I was able to keep the curds in longer without burning them. This seemed to work better than when the oil was really hot.

And that's it.

Deep-fried cheese curds move to the Main Line. What you see here is punishable by death in Wisconsin.

Cross-section of the cheesy treat. The taste reminded me of a mozzarella stick, but not quite. The recipe imparts some valuable lessons. Every place, from central Pennsylvania to south-central Wisconsin, has a culinary addition to the national table. And despite the deliciousness of this morsel and the unique culture of the Badger State, our way of life is still better, by about 41 points.

Mouths were filled with a plethora of spices at the third annual Chili Cook-off and Salsa Festival Saturday afternoon, part of the 9th annual Downtown State College Fall Festival.

On what I would call the most beautiful day of the year, locals and some students gathered on the 200 block of South Allen Street along with horses, fresh produce and pots of chili for tasting. For $5 patrons could taste all four chili recipes and vote for their favorite.

Lonny Shawver's hot and spicy blend of beans, ground beef, tomatoes and onions was the first one I tasted. As someone who's just beginning to like spicy foods, this one hit the spot dead on. Shawver brought 30 gallons of the good stuff, he said.

I got the last drop of Younglife's Cincinnati style chili - a recipe that included finely chopped beef, Hershey's cocoa powder, cinnamon and chili powder. This one was surprisingly hot but not as tasty as Shawver's. For those whose mouths are still watering for a taste of chili with chocolate in it, try this recipe at home:

Cincinnati Style Chili, Courtesy of fabulousfoods.com

2 pounds ground chuck

2 medium onions, diced

3 cloves garlic, diced

2 cups beef stock

1 cup water

1 can (16 ounces) tomato sauce

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

1 large bay leaf

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon paprika

salt and black pepper to taste

1 cinnamon stick

1/2 square (1/2 ounce) unsweetened chocolate

1 can (16 ounces) kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 small onion, chopped for garnish

1 cup grated cheddar cheese for garnish

3 cups cooked spaghetti

Instructions:

1. Simmer meat, onions, and garlic in a large stew pot over low heat. Meat should lose its red color but not be overcooked while vegetables soften. Stir frequently for about 15 minutes. Spoon off and discard excess fat.

2. Add stock, water, tomato sauce, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, and bay leaf. Stir well for about 5 minutes, keeping heat low. Add chile powder, cumin, oregano, paprika, salt, pepper, cinnamon stick, and chocolate. Stir until everything Is mixed well and chocolate has melted in. Add beans and mix well.

3. Simmer 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally so chili doesn't scald on the bottom of the pot. Add water if it seems to be getting too thick.

4. Remove bay leaf and cinnamon stick just prior to serving.

5. Serve hot, garnished with a bit of chopped onion and some cheese. In Cincinnati the chili is served over hot spaghetti.

Texas Roadhouse prepared 25 to 30 gallons of a beanless, chunkier chili that was darker and thicker than the others, making it heartier and more filling.

While I waited along with patient and anxious patrons for Andrea Singer's chili to cook, I indulged in some delectable banana goo from the dessert table, which included samples of recipes from kids, teens, and adults. If I had voted in the dessert competition, I'd give the banana goo four big gold stars for taste, but it's best eaten with your eyes closed. Though not pleasing to the eye, it was a good treat to turn down the heat inside my mouth.

After some more browsing around and a conversation about sandwiches in State College, finally Singer's chili was ready for action. The veggies were very pronounced: onions, tomatoes, and peppers were largely visible throughout, maybe because the pressure was on to cook it quickly there wasn't enough time for full chopping. The cooks suggested topping this one with sour cream and cheese to cool it down, which gave it a creamy consistency. The creamy cool-down was a good idea in theory, but I'd rather take chili full force - heat and all - than try to make it something it's not.

I voted Shawver's as the best; it was well-made, fresh and tasty. What's better to eat on a sunny summer-like day than four steaming hot, spicy cups of chili? Rita's had Italian ice on hand for those needing relief.

I don't plan on indulging in chili for a long time. That is, until I come across another chili contest that involves awesome yellow wrist bands.

- Beth

P.S. - Check out a video from the Chili Cook-off on the main Collegian site.

If April is the cruelest month, then October -- April's mirror on the calendar -- must be the kindest. This particular October has been especially kind. We've got an exciting presidential race, Penn State is three days from stomping Michigan and -- ARE YOU SERIOUS -- the Phillies are going to the World Series. Could life get any better?

Well, how about if I was to eat a traditional meal from a Jewish feast holiday?

That's what I was hoping you'd say.

I met with Annie Schneider and Michal Berns to cook tzimmes, a fall classic of another kind.

Oh, Ohio State. If only you hated us as much as it seems we try to hate you. But as long as you have your core-deep loathing of Michigan, we'll always be just someone you dislike on the side, won't we -- won't we??!?

You with your I-need-to-be-different flag. Your special little "The" in front of your name, like people care about that. Your insistence on claiming the Wright Brothers as your own. We could hate all these things, and yet, you don't give a damn about us. Which is maybe why we keep coming back, College Gameday after College Gameday.

We are technically Big Ten rivals, you know!

You know what, forget it.

Sigh, I just, I, I just ... forget it. Here, I made these for you. As you well know, they're buckeyes, a delicious, if exceedingly rich candy popular in Ohio.

Buckeyes are relatively simple to make, only four steps from start to sugar-packed finish. Step one: mix together peanut butter, butter, some vanilla extract (it's optional) and a Tony Montana share of confectioner's suger. Mix this. I quickly grew frustrated with using a long-handled spoon and switched to my hand, which seemed effective, if a bit messy.

Roll the mixture into balls and spear each with a toothpick. Then it's into the freezer for about thirty minutes.

When the peanut butter balls are frozen enough to work with, remove them from the freezer and dip them in chocolate. This is the hardest part of the process. I tried improvising a double boiler with two pots, which was unsuccessful. If you have a slow cooker, use that to melt the chocolate. My slow cooker gave it a nice consistency, viscous enough for good dipping. In any case, leave a small cicle of ball undipped, to give the treat its signature buckeye look.

Then it's back into the freezer for about two hours. When they're ready, the chocolate should be hard and the peanut butter inside should be a little hard, but with some give.

The result is tasty, thick and creamy and sugar-laden.

This is an important memo to anyone venturing out for Halloween this year: candy and alcohol do not mix.

I know this because of a Halloween surprise I received during a party in my apartment two years ago: a lovely arrangement of M&M bits and vomit adorned my Beaver Hill balcony. Lesson learned: beer and chocolate together is the root of all evil.

Party throwers: save the candy corn and chocolate for a weekday or a non-drinking get together.

Party goers: if given the option of candy and alcohol, choose one or the other. Either it's a drinking night or a crazy hyped up sugar rush night (elementary school style).

Whatever you do, don't be a party puker.

- Beth