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Okay, I’ve been wanting to make one of these things ever since I discovered a “Beer Can Chicken Roaster” at Safeway. Reid was pretty enthusiastic, so we gave it a go.

I’m really inexperienced when it comes to cooking, and this was my first time cooking a whole chicken, so I wanted something easy and non-discouraging to make :) This recipe was super easy to follow, and the resulting chicken is super juicy and delicious.

Get a can of beer and drink half of it. (Don’t you like this recipe already???) Fill the can of beer with some spices mix.

Rub spice mix under the chicken skin.

Place on the roaster and into the oven at 350 degrees for 2 hours.

Make tomato basil hummus while you wait!

Remove from oven. Pose chicken.

This chicken looks like it is “on the can” HAHA! Pun totally intended.

Delicious dinner for ~$10: SUCCESS. This chicken gave up its life for my stomach—a worthy sacrifice.

Today’s ridiculous heat wave made for a lazy Saturday. Some friends threw a “Puppy Party” to meet their new puppy, but all the dogs and people attending were lethargic from the heat. Poor Chowder!

The one attending cat was okay though. +1 for cats!

It’s finally cooled down to 75-degrees at 11PM, so I can finally clean my room without suffering from heatstroke!

Okay, I’m blogging about food because I’m trying to avoid blogging about the recent episode of altitude sickness associated with the past weekend’s overnight hike in Yosemite… When did blogging about fun recreation activities become a chore?

On a whim, Reid and I decided to make cookies. Onward, thumbprint butter cookies! These cookies are ridiculously easy to make from a recipe I found on Buttered BlasphAmy, and I had all the ingredients on hand, save butter. Make the dough, fill the wells with preserves, place into the oven…

…freeze banana pops while you wait…

And voila! WIN.

To celebrate Anthony’s 27th birthday yesterday, we went to the California Academy of Sciences Nightlife event in SF’s Golden Gate Park, catered to a 21+ crowd. Perusing science/animal/environment exhibits with a couple of beers and cocktails in hand is a pretty good combination of “hip” and nerdy, which is exactly how I would describe Anthony, albeit much more of the latter than the former. Now, I had visited the Academy when it first opened last year and spent a Saturday afternoon avoiding kids and tripping over strollers; yesterday, I spent the evening avoiding A-Z-N ricer boys and tripping over drunk wannabe-hipsters. I can’t tell which one is worse.

It’s pretty difficult to see any of the exhibits while navigating your way through so many people; at least with kids you can just punt them out of the way (just half-kidding; chill out). Additionally, mingling with new people isn’t really an option because it’s such a large venue and not designed to facilitate that sort of interaction. So, it’s probably the worst of both worlds, whether you’re trying to meet new people in a bar/club-like setting or trying to see the all the exhibitis. Luckily, I wasn’t trying to do either, so I had a really good time with old friends in an awesome venue.

Alright: GMAT has been taken, and my stash of chocolate has dwindled significantly, but I’m ready to get on with my summer.

That’s why, last night, a couple of nerdy friends and I stayed up until 3 A.M. playing, of all things on a Friday night, TypeRacer.

I can’t believe that 107 WPM puts me in 4th place, and that at certain times, the others were getting upwards of 120 WPM. I need friends who type more slowly so I can feel superior in comparison :P Even for such a fun activity, I was getting nervous and my stomach started to cramp up from the fun-induced stress—something tells me I need to learn to relax!

[Update: Eric just hit 150 WPM. FRIENDSHIP OVER.]

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Reid and I hit up Aziza again last Sunday, since they are participating in the SF Dine About Town this month. I am persistent in being adventurous and trying their various dishes—the duck, the shrimp-chicken-lamb coucous—despite overwhelming consensus from Yelp and other friends that the lamb shank is THE dish to order. Reid only ever orders the lamb shank, and I think I have to finally concede. Rick Astley will give you up for this lamb shank.

We also made Spicy Mississippi Chicken Cakes from the Google Cookbook! They were pretty darn delicious.

Backpacking to Young Lakes in Yosemite next weekend with the Asparagooglers! Any excuse to shop at REI and Sports Basement is a good one.

When I was younger (and still today), my mom always teased that all my birthday gifts should go to her as gratitude for bringing me into this world. (For the record, I didn’t ask for it!) But thanks anyway, Mom and Dad. I turned 3 years old in the picture to the left, which was taken in the house in which I currently reside. (That’s right, I moved back in two decades later!)

Thanks for all the calls, texts, tweets, IMs, and, of course, Facebook wall posts! And since we all know that the number of Facebook birthday messages received is a direct one-to-one positive correlation to your popularity factor, I can now claim that I am approximately 5% more popular this year than I was when I turned 23. w00t! (But that’s not saying much.)

No, really, thanks everyone! :) I’m officially in my mid-twenties now, and next year, I’ll have to start rounding up to 30-years-old!