You probably thought this was going to be another article recapping the Arkansas Razorbacks baseball team’s epic collapse against LSU on Wednesday night.
How-duh Hell does that even happen?
It’s been recapped a thousand times already, but the 9th inning the other night completely sums up all Razorbacks sports from the excitement of going up by 2 runs in the top of the 9th to finding a way to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
In a true calamity of errors, it took a combination of a hit batter, an errant throw, a walked batter, the SEC player of the year choosing to force an out at 3rd instead of attempting an easy double play, our left-fielder slipping when making a routine pop fly out and the ball doinking 60 feet away from him, not intentionally walking their hottest batter on an open first base, and then the last hit tipping off our second baseman’s glove and squirting into the outfield.
It truly was the most Arkansas thing to happen.
I will note that as gut-wrenching as it was, I don’t think we could have beat LSU in the rubber-match on Thursday when facing Kade Anderson again who was completely unhittable the first time we played them in Omaha. So the way it happened hurt, but the outcome of the season was likely the same.
Or maybe you thought this would be about the kickoff times being announced for the Arkansas Razorbacks football season?
How-duh Hell do we only have one night game at home?
And that one is against Missouri in late November, when a little sun to keep us warm would actually be nice. Having to play at Texas and Tennessee at night will be tough. We got lucky with an 11 AM kickoff at Baton Rouge. But I was most disappointed to see the Notre Dame game at home getting the 11 AM kickoff. That could have been one of the most epic days of tailgating and raucous night-time crowds ever seen in Fayetteville.
Oh, what could have been…
Or maybe you thought this would be about Arkansas Basketball Coach John Calipari announcing the updated schedule for the 25’-26’ season in which we play the entire Elite 8 from this year’s NCAA Tournament.
How-duh Hell are we supposed to get wins when almost every game will be against a ranked opponent?
Besides the conference opponents listed in the graphic above, here’s what we know about our non-conference schedule:
Nov. 11 - Central Arkansas - Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville, Ark.
TBA - TBA - Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville, Ark.
TBA - TBA - Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville, Ark.
Nov. 27 - Duke (CBS Sports Thanksgiving Classic) - United Center in Chicago, Ill.
Dec. 3 - Louisville (SEC/ACC Challenge) - Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville, Ark.
Dec. 13 - Texas Tech - American Airlines Center in Dallas, TX
Dec. 20 - Houston - Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NJ
TBA - Baylor - Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville, Ark.
TBA - at Michigan State - Breslin Center in East Lansing, Mich.
Dec. 13 - Texas Tech - American Airlines Center in Dallas
TBA - TBA - Verizon Arena in North Little Rock, Ark.
We will add 3-5 additional opponents. Calipari has been rumored to be working on a home and away game with Gonzaga and a mult-team tournament around the holidays. He has never shied away from having his teams play the best to get ready for post-season play, but this looks like it could be brutal.
Enough negative Hogs news, the real genesis for the title of this article is that I was today years old when I found out I had been pronouncing gouda cheese the wrong way.
I’m a foodie. I cook a lot. I read cooking magazines and watch cooking shows. But I learned something new. I was watching Season 8 of Somebody Feed Phil on Netflix this weekend and on his trip to Amsterdam he visited another city in the Netherlands about 50 miles south. It’s spelled Gouda, but pronounced “How-duh”.
Gouda is one of the oldest European cheeses, dating back to at least the 12th century. Holland is a big dairy producing region and cheeses had been made for years, but it wasn’t until around 1500 that people started calling the cheese from this region of Europe “gouda”. That’s when the city of Gouda passed a law that all cheese sold in the. county had to be weighed, inspected, and sold at the Gouda cheese market.
So folks from all over the world started to hear about cheese from Gouda or simply Gouda cheese. The market is still open each year from April to August. The European Union has a Protected Designation of Origin for Gouda Holland cheese. This is similar to products being labeled as Champagne having to be produced in Champagne, France.
Now, Gouda. Ah, Gouda. It's not just a cheese, folks, it's an experience. If there’s a better cheese I dare you to prove it.
Flavor-wise, you're looking at something that starts off as a mild-mannered, buttery whisper when it's young. It's got this subtle nutty sweetness, like finding a perfectly ripe pecan in your backyard – a real treasure. But let that Gouda sit for a while, let it age, let it mature like a seasoned veteran, and oh buddy, that's when the magic happens. It deepens, it intensifies, and suddenly you're hit with these rich, almost caramel-like notes. It gets pungent, a little sharp, maybe even a crystal or two forming, giving you that delightful little crunch. It's the kind of flavor that sticks with you – satisfying and memorable.
And the texture? Oh, it’s a beautiful thing. When it’s fresh, it's smooth, pliable, almost a little bouncy. You can slice it thin, shave it over a salad, or just grab a chunk and go to town. It melts like a dream, too, making it a MVP on any grilled cheese sandwich. But with age, Gouda firms up, gets a bit crumbly, develops that wonderful, almost flaky characteristic like a great parmesan. It’s got a density to it, a satisfying resistance when you bite into it.
So there you have it. Gouda: a cheese that grows, evolves, and always delivers. Just like The Pig Sty, you might say.
What did the Gouda say after the last day of school? "I'm feeling a little grate-ful for the summer break!"
Friday, June 20, at 9:42 p.m. marked the official start of summer. And it’s largely a dead period for Hogs sports, so it’s the perfect time to start working on new tailgate recipes for football season.
I’ll stick with the theme of the day and hit you with some…
Smoked Gouda Mac and Cheese Muffins
Ingredients
1 lb. Cellentani spiral pasta
½ c. Kerrygold butter
½ c. flour
4 c. milk
6 c. freshly shredded smoked gouda cheese
½ T. Kosher or sea salt
½ T. pepper
2 T. butter
½ c. panko bread crumbs
Instructions
Boil pasta in salted water according to package directions.
Melt butter in large saucepan over medium heat. Sprinkle in flour and whisk and cook 2-3 minutes. Add in salt and pepper.
Slowly pour in 4 c. milk whisking until smooth and heating to a low boil until thickened. Do not stop whisking and cooking until thick. Remove from heat.
Grease a 9x13" baking dish and add the hot pasta to the dish. Over the top sprinkle 6 c. of freshly shredded cheese.
Pour the thickened cream sauce over the hot pasta and cheese and let it sit until the cheese melts. Stir everything together.
Melt 2 T. butter over medium heat. Add in panko bread crumbs, stirring constantly 3-5 minutes or until golden brown.
Spoon about 1/2 cup pasta and cheese mixture into each muffin tin cup, filling the cups completely. Sprinkle the breadcrumbs over the mac and cheese muffins.
Bake at 350℉ for about two cold beers (15-18 minutes) until tops are lightly golden browned.
Let stand in the pan for 10 minutes. Then run a knife around the edge of each muffin to loosen. Use a fork to lift muffins out of the pan and place on a serving plate.
*The muffins can be topped with crumbled bacon and chives for serving.
Now that we are all feeling cultured and hungry, just know that I’m still going to pronounce the cheese “Goo-da,” because this is ‘Murica and we speak ‘Murican.
Have a Gouda Summer!
One trip to Amsterdam will fix that “Howda” pronunciation right up.
One of my favorite things on that trip was the Heineken VIP tour. They took us into this private bar buried in the facility and gave us beer you can only get in that room and each one was paired with a Dutch cheese.