The Easiest Dish I Can Think Of

Bruschetta is by far one of the simplest dishes to make and it tastes amazing every time, so I always have it as a go to dish for Italian meals. Start the night out with these toasts, move onto a green salad, and finish with a pasta dish (following the pasta basics of course), and you will have yourself a complete Italian feast.

What You'll Need:

For the Toasts:

• A crusty baguette, preferably Italian, or a Focaccia loaf


• Extra virgin olive oil


• Salt and pepper


• A single clove of garlic, peeled

For the tomato topping that will be placed on the toasts, I strongly encourage a store bought substitute. You can find bruschetta "sauce" in most supermarkets these days. I personally prefer the Trader Joe's brand. However; if you want to make the topping yourself you'll need to buy a few more ingredients.

For the Topping:

• 3 or more heirloom tomatoes depending on size


• 2 cloves of garlic minced (chopped finely)


• 7-10 leaves of basil laid on top of each other, rolled up like a cigar and chopped into thin strips


• Salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 Degrees Fahrenheit


2. Slice the baguette into 3/4 inch slices. Arrange slices and a baking sheet and brush with olive oil using a pastry brush


3. Season the toasts with dashes of salt and pepper
   


4. Bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes, watching to make sure they don't burn.


5. Allow them to cool for a minute then chop the garlic clove in half and rub the toast with the exposed garlic (it transfers the flavor and leaves an amazing taste)


6. Chop the tomatoes into bite-size chunks and toss in a bowl with the garlic, basil, and some extra virgin olive oil


7. Season the topping with salt and pepper and spoon onto toasts (you can also let your guests spoon it themselves so they can control their portions)

Enjoy!

How to Make the Perfect Party Mix

Pictured: You.

Lets face it, parties can be just as stressful as they are fun. Despite the companionship, good times, and fun that comes with throwing parties, the host will always have a long list of worries and concerns that come along with it. Your background music should not be one of them, but surprisingly, it can be sometimes. This guide should help you make the perfect mix for any kind of festivity!


Know Who's Coming

You would never bump hardcore gangsta rap for grandmas birthday (unless your grandma rules) and likewise you wouldn't play Frank Sinatra at an abandoned warehouse rager. You have to know who you're playing to. If it's a kids party keep it as clean and as much as a background sound as possible. If it's a frat party make sure it's danceable and dirty. Failure to do so can make you look irresponsible or just overall lame.

Avoid Awkward Pauses

If you've ever been to a club or school dance you know that unlike your iPod, the music never stops. The sudden lack of background noise can really spoil a moment. A true DJ will make sure that this does not happen by mixing songs together. Since CD's, iPods and iTunes by default pause in between songs you will want to put all of the music together and mix it correctly. A good, easy program to use would be Audacity.

You Can't Please Everybody, So Please the Majority

A common mistake most people make is to try and make EVERYONE happy with their own individual song. A good idea is to put songs together than flow well, don't throw in a Metallica song right after Beyonce just to please your friend Mike.
Don't Save the Best for Last

One of the biggest music buzzkills for me is having all of the best songs either be played right away, or only at the end. This kind of inconsistency will throw people off and generally doesn't go over well. To truly make the music last through the night you need to keep a good mix of killer and filler songs.

I hope these tips will make your next party a blast. Good luck DJ.

Quick Grooming Tip #4

Coffee then Strawberries: So some people love there teeth and would like them to be or to remain pearly white. If you are a coffee drinker (like me) you know or have heard that coffee stains your teeth. Well that is really lame, so my dentist told me to try to eat strawberries after I have my morning cup because the acid in the strawberries will remove the coffee stain on my teeth Try it for a couple of weeks and tell us what happens.

GF & BF Of The Week 9.27.09

Taylor Swift
Age: 19
Heritage: Caucasian-American
Passions: Singing, Playing her guitar, Writing Songs, and making You Tube videos

About: Taylor Swift is so famous it is ridiculous. She has become the new princess of country music and he soft flowing curls falling over her guitar have stimulated audiences all over America. She is based in Nashville, TN and stays out of the Hollywood scene. She is a guy’s girl and enjoys hanging out and writing songs that are on The Billboard Charts forever and happen to be in the top 10. With millions of fans and millions of dollars I am sure you and Taylor could have a good ol’ country time on a date. So my pal Taylor is for sure sweet enough to date but I warn you that if you are bad to her she will write a song about you and everyone in the world will know, actually. “ I need to call her and see when we can chill.”

BF
Drake
Age: 20

Heritage: “Afro-Canadian?”
Passions: Acting & Rapping

About Drake: Drake is the hottest new Rapper on the scene with the release of his new single “Best I Ever had”. The “Best I Ever Had” has been at the top of the charts since it was released and we can’t wait to hear the rest of the album. He broke into the music biz on the sagging pants of Lil Wayne but now he is super famous and he has also collaborated with Mary J on her hot new single “The One.” We don’t know about you but we know him better as Jimmy from the Canadian national treasure Degrassi: The Next Generation. With all this fame and a face meant to be on camera he would be a really satisfying BF. “ So does all this rapping mean he is no longer Jimmy?”

October Movie Month

Just because I walked out of the cinema twice in a row does not mean I have a sour taste in my mouth for good. I am taking a break and waiting until October before the movie going commences. Although I did not enjoy the films I saw (and subsequently walked out of them) I did love trailers. I love trailers. So watch out for these on the big screen:

Where the Wild Things Are: Yes, one of the movies that hipster douchebags will either love to love or love to hate or love to be indifferent about. Hipster douchebags will love it because of its indie-film qualities, the Arcade Fire playing in the trailer, and because it was a children's book. Hipster douchebags will hate it because they, along with many other sorts of people, will say that it ruined the book and are already planning their "It Ruined the Book" posts on their Tumblrs. (By the way the story was only ten sentences long, give Spike Jonze a break, douchebags) Or, hipster douchebags will be indifferent because they are about everything. I think I'm going to love it.

Whip It: I can't wait to see this one. It has the ultimate indie-film babe (that girl from Juno, or Shadowcat if you prefer) to make the ultimate indie film about roller derby. This film is directed by Drew Barrymore, who I am surprised to see still has some semblance of a career. The film has an almost all-star line up that includes Kristen Wiig (famous for her Björk impressions on SNL), Juliette Lewis, that stunt double who played herself in Deathproof, and Eve. Ya, Eve. So go watch it and I'll be sure to write about it in the blog,

Zombieland: This one stars that curly-haired indie protagonist from Adventureland, Abigail Breslin, and some other people I don't know. I love zombie stories. I can't get enough of them. I've seen all the zombie films ever made, and I am thrilled for this one. I love the idea of a rag tag group of people fighting the masses of undead and trying to survive, I hope Little Miss Sunshine gets a gun. But yeah, I expect this to be funny, Sean of the Dead style, and I expect it to be super indie, because that guy from Adventureland is in it. By the way isn't it funny that he went straight from Adventureland to Zombieland? What's next, Frontierland? This one comes out at about the same time as Whip It, try to catch both as soon as you can.

I guess I am an indie movie snob and will only go see ones that have that quality to them, and almost hardly see the big studio mainstream films. I avoid AMC and go straight to a Landmark nearby, and I think that's pretty rad. Support your local indie cinema, and if it's a Landmark, you get a student discount ALL THE TIME (if you're a student) not like that "You're only a student on Thursday" bullshit AMC offers.

See you guys at the cinema!