Author Archives: Nik Bronder

Sausage King leaves the farm for good.

Bob Evans

Today a great man of sausage passed away: Bob Evans of Bob Evans Farms.  I’m a devoted fan of Mr. Evans’ Sausage even after his lame restuarant inflicted second degree burns to the side of my face courteous of a flaming hot coffee pot.  I’m not one to hold a grudge when it comes to sausage.  Besides, Mr Evan’s seemed like my kind of man:

Evans complained that he could not get good sausage for the restaurant he started after World War II in Gallipolis in southeast Ohio.

Starting with $1,000, a couple of hogs, 40 pounds of black pepper, 50 pounds of sage and other secret ingredients, he opted to make his own, relying on the hog’s best parts as opposed to the scraps commonly used in sausage. He began selling it at the restaurant and mom-and-pop stores, and peddled tubs of it out of the back of his pickup truck.

The state of sausage had to be at an all time low if a guy from Southern Ohio could sell a better link out of the back of his (one is to assume non-airconditioned) pickup truck.

Here’s to you, Man of Sausage.

Epic Journey: New York to Chicago.


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Julie and I set out on Friday morning halfway across the continent with our two co-pilots; Nick and Patty. Nick and I managed this journey in ‘The Penske’ while Julie and Patty lead the way in the Civic. Considering the nearly 800 miles we decided to spread the trip over two days spending one glorious night in Youngstown, Ohio.

Truckin' It.

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Along the way we acomplished the following:

  1. Toured Barley Creek Brewery
  2. Drank 32 ounce beers for $4.25
  3. Never ate at Wendy’s
  4. Spotted 42 of 50 U.S. License Plates
  5. Spent 1 crime free night in Youngstown
  6. Issued 1 last NYC Parking Ticket
  7. Managed to get parking spots for ‘The Penske’ directly in front of two apartments in 2 of 3 of the most populus cities in the United States.
  8. Survived over 16 hours in a car with only an AM/FM Radio.
  9. Listened to an entire 30 minutes of a Blues station that played nothing but fishin’ songs.
  10. Trucked two wall unit air-conditioners over 800 miles to discover our new apartment has Central Air.

Barley Creek Brewery in Tannersville, Pennsylvania:

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Thanks to both Nick and Patty for their Navigational Skills and their desire to eat red meat for nearly every meal.