Band of Brothers

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It was the day after the Super Bowl in 2004. The Patriots beat the Carolina Panthers 32-29. It was mid morning and I was ready to head to school. This was after my career as a football player at BYU ended due to knee problems and I was still trying to stay in school and get my Computer Science degree. Meagan had a shift the night before at Ruby River steakhouse and we both stayed up late which was common for us as we had no kids at this point in our marriage. We would stay up way late and get up late. I remember we would get frustrated when our siblings would call us at 9am with kids yelling in the background and we would think to ourselves, “man, so glad we don’t have to wake up with yelling kids so early”! Man have times changed!

Many backyard brawls happened here between some big boys.
(Left to Right) Dave, James Eastman (a brother from another mother), Kent, Matt

Anyways, it was February 2, 2004, a day I’ll never forget. I can’t remember the exact time but it was in the morning and I was preparing to head to school for a late morning class. I was in the hallway of our condo in Orem Utah on 1030 S Orem Blvd #24. Funny how I still have that memorized…I guess not, we lived there for a while. A phone call came to my cell phone. The caller ID said it was my parents. I remember thinking to myself, “man I can’t pick up otherwise I’m going to talk for far too long and be late for my class”. It was customary for my dad to have what Kent affectionately described as “diarrhea of the mouth”. I reluctantly picked up the phone. It was Jim. Strange that he would call me on my parents phone. His voice was shaken. For those who don’t know Jim he’s a big strong man, much like the rest of us Griffith boys. He’s hard headed (he won’t admit it), strong willed, and not easily shaken. So it surprised me to hear him so shaken up. I said “hello”, and he said “Matt, Kent is dead”, I said “what?”, he said “Kent died”. I could hear my mother in the background crying. I collapsed to my knees as my body gave out on me, and began to sob, “what? no! no! no!”. He then handed the phone to my mother who described what had happened. As we were talking I couldn’t help but recollect on the fun times Kent and I had together and the fun times we would not be able to have together. I truly felt we had an unbreakable bond that was broken that day, not by my choice, not at all.

(Left to right) Kent, Grandpa Griffith, Matt, Dad, Dave, Jim
MAN! Look at my FULL head of hair!

The unbreakable bond I speak of is the bond that brothers have and create over a long period of time. Now of course this is not all brothers but for me, Kent, Dave, and Jim I felt this bond, this relationship. Kent was a great example for Dave, Jim and me to follow. He set the tone for how to grow up, albeit sometimes against his own will in order to honor our father and mother. Kent always honored and respected my parents. My dad gave him guidance on career path, sports, and many other things. At times Kent was reluctant and sometimes regretful for the decisions he made, but in the end he was glad he honored his parents. That’s something that has always stuck with me about Kent.

I love this old school Kentridge High School helmet. This is Kent with one of his coaches.

Kent set the tone for how to grow up, sure he made mistakes and was so far from a perfect life that it was funny, from flicking putty in wood shop to breaking perfectly good chairs. One of the famous Kent stories (and there are many) was when he was caught flicking putty in wood shop at Meeker Junior High which ended up in Kent getting a beat down from my dad (it turned out that Kent wasn’t the one flicking putty), a funny story that can only be told so eloquently by Kent, no one else could tell it like he did and bring out so much laughter.

One of our last family photos before Kent passed away

Kent was a great student, a great athlete who went on to earn a scholarship playing football at BYU. He served an honorable LDS mission in Germany, and married a beautiful woman in the Salt Lake Temple. He has four beautiful children. From my perspective he had achieved everything, was a great son (though that depends on what day you ask my parents Smile ), a great husband and father. He was a great storyteller, always had a joke or something funny to tell. Loved to tease. There are so many stories and great memories I have of Kent. I could go on for days.

Kent and I dressed up as WWF wrestlers Sting (Kent) and Hollywood Hulk Hogan (Matt) at a church Halloween party in Las Vegas before my mission in 1997.

Growing up in a house of 4 boys that were all big enough to be WWF heavyweight champions! Smile We didn’t get a long most of the time, in fact we beat the hell out of each other quite often, whether it was the “stand up, sit down” “game” or on the sport court in the backyard arguing and fighting. We would fight (brotherly love fight) to the point of my mother going through at least 15 telephones, the ones that would hang on the wall in the kitchen and had a long swirly cord, she would threaten to call our dad if we wouldn’t stop fighting. She’d pick up the phone and one of us (whomever was in trouble) would come over and place our hand over the base to hang up the phone, my mother would then proceed to pound our hands with the other end of the phone, to the point of breaking ~15 phones over our knuckles.

Me and Taelor (aka SP)

All four of us boys have been close and have also grown apart at different points in our life, whether it’s because we needed space or were too busy with our children, work, church, or whatever. However, there isn’t anything that would prevent me from helping my brothers out if they needed it. Kent needed us to all come together as a family when he passed away and help his wife and children and comfort them. One of the things I look forward to is giving Taelor a big hug when Meag and I go to Utah to visit the family. I can’t help but think that my hugs are like Kent’s and I enjoy giving her that comfort. Maybe some day Jim or Dave or myself will need help in some way and I know for a fact that any one of us will swiftly come to the aid of each other. That is brotherhood, that is what a band of brothers is all about.

Band of Brothers
(top left) Kent’s BYU photo
(top right) Dave’s famous block shot @ Big Bend C.C.
(bottom left) Jim’s Kentwood HS Photo
(bottom right) Matt’s BYU photo

Today in honor of Kent I will be eating some yummy food, and wearing one of his favorite t-shirts, orange Ralph Lauren. This isn’t his exact shirt, it’s mine, but he loved his orange shirts.

The Ultimate Lasagna

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I’ve had my fair share of lasagna’s. When I served a 2 year mission for my church in Missouri one of the staple foods was lasagna when we went to visit with members of our church for dinner. I don’t eat lasagna nearly as much as I used to, partly because it’s not the healthiest food in the world. So when I do eat it I want a fabulous lasagna. I’m a bit of a foodie (i.e. food snob).

Meag and I found this Italian restaurant in Renton WA a few years ago and much to our surprise they shut their doors. They had one of the best lasagna’s I’ve ever had. It was a butternut squash lasagna with toasted pumpkin seeds on top. It was delightful.

I had some vacation time stored up for the Christmas break. Typically during that time I cook a bunch of goodies and hand them out to friends. This year we came down with a nasty cold so I avoided doing that so that I wouldn’t spread the nasty bug. With that extra time that I had I decided to make a lasagna. I came across a recipe on Food Network’s website. The Ultimate Lasagna by Tyler Florence. I decided to make that recipe. The recipe says 2 hours total time and only 20 minutes prep time…well it took me around 2 1/2 to 3 hours, probably cause I took my time.

I opted for top shelf Red Wine for this recipe. I have never drank Wine myself but have always understood that you should cook with what you would drink as it tastes better. So I bought a $17 bottle of Red Wine.

I mistakenly picked up breakfast sausage instead of Italian sausage as the recipe says but it still turned out wonderful and you couldn’t tell it was breakfast sausage.

One of the more interesting things I found with this recipe is that it uses cinnamon in the meat sauce. Next time I would probably leave out the cinnamon. It tends to give me heart burn and I don’t care much for the flavor. Although I still added (ONLY HALF) of the cinnamon to the recipe. It turned out delicious anyways, next time without the cinnamon I think it will be that much better.

TIP: I had quite a bit of meat sauce left over so I decided to pack it and freeze it and it will be delicious on some pasta at a later time.

Here is my result, looks good huh? Smile

The recipe can be found here.

Here it is in full:

Ingredients

2 pound dried lasagna noodles
Extra-virgin olive oil
2 pounds ground beef
2 pound ground Italian sausage
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, sliced
3 carrots, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
1/4 cup finely chopped Italian flat-leaf parsley
1 tablespoon chopped oregano leaves
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups red wine
2 (28-ounce) cans tomatoes (recommended: San Marzano)
3 tablespoons heavy cream
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 quarts ricotta cheese, (2 containers)
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 pound mozzarella cheese, shredded
Grated Parmesan and mozzarella, for topping

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Cook the lasagna noodles in plenty of boiling salted water until pliable and barely tender, about 10 minutes. Stir with a wooden spoon to prevent sticking. Drain the noodles thoroughly and coat with olive oil to keep them moist and easy to work with.

Coat a large skillet with olive oil, add beef and sausage and brown until no longer pink, about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. In a food processor, combine the onion, carrots, celery, garlic, basil, parsley, an oregano. Process until pureed, add to the pan with the ground meat and stir to combine. Stir in the flour. Add the wine and cook until it has reduced by half. Stir in the tomatoes and add the heavy cream and the cinnamon.

In a mixing bowl, combine ricotta and the parmesan. Stir in the eggs and season with salt and pepper.

To assemble the lasagna: Coat the bottom of a deep 13 by 9-inch pan with olive oil. Arrange 4 noodles lengthwise in a slightly overlapping layer on the sauce. Then, line each end of the pan with a lasagna noodle. This forms a collar that holds in the corners. Dollop 1/2 of the ricotta mixture over the pasta, spread to the edges with a spatula. Spread 1/2 of the meat mixture over the ricotta. Sprinkle 1/2 of the mozzarella on top of the ricotta. Top with a ladle full of sauce, spread evenly. Repeat with the next layer of noodles, ricotta, sauce, and cheeses. Top last layer with noodles, sauce, shredded mozzarella and Parmesan. Tap the pan to force out air bubbles. Bake for 1 hour. Remove from oven. Let lasagna rest for 30 minutes so the noodles will settle and cut easily. Cut into 2-inch squares and serve.

A quick phone call

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Today while I was at work I received a phone call that I thought was from my dad as he is always the one to call me and see how things are going…for the most part. I was surprised to notice it was my mother making the phone call. For those who know my mom, she hates talking on the phone. It was a pleasant surprise to hear her voice and talk to her for a few minutes about life, grand kids and such. I attribute all the good qualities I have to my mother. One quality that stands out in my mother is passion. To steal a line from football she really “gives it 110%” when it comes to things she’s passionate about. It reminds me of the countless thoughtful handmade gifts she’s given to family, friends, and young women that she mentored over the years.

One of the great lessons I’ve learned from my mom is the lesson of giving to others. I can remember the countless times I would drive around with her dropping off gifts to people she knew. I would be the one to walk up to the door and drop it off as her Parkinson’s prevented her from delivering the gifts to the door herself. It really helped me develop social skills but also helped me learn the value of giving of your time and talents to others.

It’s crazy to think that she’s had Parkinson’s for 30+ years. Amazing…

Mom, if you read this I love you and thanks for the quick phone call.

Sweet Potato–Sausage Soup

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Meag made this amazing soup the other day. She used kale as the mixed green. This is similar to an italian wedding soup. It’s a fantastic fall recipe and one to keep on hand as the winter gets cold outside.

Sweet Potato–Sausage Soup
serves 6 // active time: 20 min // total time: 40 min

If you like a little heat, swap in spicy Italian sausage for the sweet.

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large yellow onion, diced large
2 cloves garlic, minced
salt and pepper
3/4 pound sweet Italian sausage, casings removed
2 sweet potatoes (1 pound total), peeled and diced medium
4 cups chicken broth
3/4 cup small pasta shells
4 cups roughly chopped mixed greens, such as kale and Swiss chard
grated Parmesan, for serving

1 In a large pot, heat oil over medium-high. Add onion and garlic and cook until onion is translucent, about 6 minutes; season with salt and pepper. Add sausage and cook, breaking up meat with a wooden spoon, until browned, about 5 minutes.

2 Add sweet potatoes, broth, and 2 cups water and bring to a boil. Add pasta and cook 3 minutes less than package instructions. Reduce to a simmer, add greens, and cook until pasta is tender and greens are wilted, 4 minutes. Serve with Parmesan.

Kent’s Birthday

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I woke up this morning headed to the computer and opened my work email. I had a reminder come up “Birthday – Kent”. I then paused a few minutes and contemplated his life. I often find myself thinking of my brother. Even though it’s been 8 years since his passing I think about him at least every other day. I think of how much fun we could have had together had he still been here.

I often think of how proud he must be of me in coaching high school football at our alma mater. Part of why I coach is because I know he loved to and would love to do it again. During this offseason when I was adjusting some of the blocking schemes for our plays I was pounding my head about it and sat back and thought “Man! I wish I could pick Kent’s brain on this”. Kent was a student of the game, he LOVED football. He loved the impact he had on young kids. I too feel that same feeling of having a positive impact on young men and helping be a role model and a good example of what hard work will get you.

I remember as a kid watching WWF wrestler Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant with Kent. Then later on when WWF became popular again I remember watching Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock. Kent loved the big egos of these wrestlers and had a great talent of imitating their acts. We could both relate to these athletes. I know some may roll your eyes or think this is ridiculous but these guys are athletes and truly bust their buts to be in the shape they are. Kent and I both played at BYU 10 years apart from each other. We both had fond (or not so fond) memories of killing ourselves to get in the best shape we could possibly be to be able to set foot on a field where you’d find 60,000+ fans cheering. The electricity of that experience is what drove us both to be the best we could be. That is one of the reasons we relate to these wrestlers.

Recently I watched Wresltemania 28, the “Showcase of the Immortals” as they call it. Yes to this day I still watch wrestling, partly because it fills a void of the many voids Kent has left. I thought a lot of Kent and how he would have loved to watch this with me. One of the promos was with one of our favorite wrestlers The Rock. I don’t care who you are if you watch this video and don’t get excited to go to the gym and workout you have a screw loose! Ok, maybe that is more directed at anyone who has played sports.

Of all the men in my life next to my father Kent has had the greatest impact on me as an individual and in whom I have become today. He helped in showing by example and also teaching me about hard work and how determination and passion can help you go a long way. I will always hold those memories of him close to me.

So to Kent, I know I’m a day early on this but happy birthday you old fart! Smile I miss you my dear brother, I can’t wait to see you again! God be with you til we meet again!

Boston Red Sox Disability Awareness Day

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Meag was born and raised back east and grew up in Red Sox nation. A few years back when the Red Sox won the World Series for the first time in a very long time I remember we both were glued to the seats watching their clutch play coming back down 3-1 to the Yankees to win the series and go on to win the World Series. Since Griffey was with the Mariners (back in their glory days) back when I was younger I have never watched so much baseball. It was a fun time to watch the Red Sox win the World Series.

This weekend I was reading some feeds through a cool iPad app called Flipboard that a friend of mine recommended. I found a link to this video that is very touching. I never knew that any baseball team held a Disability Awareness Day. Having a daughter with special needs makes me feel grateful for people/organizations who setup events like this. This video is touching especially when the young man stumbles with singing the national anthem and the crowd joins in and helps finish the song. Very cool.

Spaghetti and Meatballs

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Meag loves Italian food, almost to the point of wanting it every meal. For a few years it felt like that was all she would make. I commented a few times about the frequency of the pasta we would devour. She has since toned down the times we eat pasta, almost to the point of not eating it.

Meag’s cooking skills are far superior to mine, and recently she discovered a recipe for a spaghetti and meatballs. When she used to make spaghetti she would put ground meat in the sauce, it was good, but nothing like these meatballs.

There are a few key things to keep in mind when making this recipe. First, adding butter to increase the richness of the sauce is key. Second, don’t worry if you think the meatballs look burnt, that’s a good thing and don’t rinse out that pan, you want to mix the pan and those yum-yum’s on the bottom of it with the meatballs and sauce. Third, drain your pasta, you work on a sauce and meatballs this hard you don’t want it watered down. Fourth, and most important, go buy the canned crushed or whole San Marzano canned tomatoes, they are expensive ($5 per can) but SOOO worth it, in the Seattle area you can find them at Whole Foods, and I believe QFC and possibly Fred Meyer. Fifth, if you don’t have time to make the sauce, that’s too bad, but you can use a canned sauce instead and it’s still very good, just not as good.

I’m telling you right now, you could eat this off a car bumper, it’s that dang good!

(This is what ours ended up looking like. We had some blanched asparagus with it.)

Ingredients

1 small onion, grated
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 large egg
1/4 cup dried bread crumbs
3 tablespoons ketchup
1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
1/4 cup grated Pecorino Romano
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 pound ground dark turkey meat
3 tablespoons olive oil
26 ounces Simple Tomato Sauce, recipe follows

Directions

Add the onion, garlic, egg, bread crumbs, ketchup, parsley, Parmesan, Pecorino, salt and pepper to a large bowl and blend. Mix in the turkey. Shape the turkey mixture into 1 1/4-inch-diameter meatballs. Place on a large plate or baking sheet.

Heat the oil in a heavy large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the meatballs and saute until browned on all sides, about 5 minutes. Turn off heat. Transfer the meatballs to a plate. Pour off any excess oil. Add the marinara sauce, about 3 cups. Return all the meatballs to the pan. Turn the heat to medium-low and simmer until the sauce thickens slightly and the flavors blend, 15 to 20 minutes. Season the sauce, to taste, with salt and pepper.

Transfer the meatball mixture to a serving bowl. Serve with toothpicks.

Simple Tomato Sauce:

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 (32-ounce) cans crushed tomatoes
4 to 6 basil leaves
2 dried bay leaves
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, optional

In a large casserole pot, heat oil over medium high heat. Add onion and garlic and saute until soft and translucent, about 2 minutes. Add celery and carrots and season with salt and pepper. Saute until all the vegetables are soft, about 5 minutes. Add tomatoes, basil, and bay leaves and simmer covered on low heat for 1 hour or until thick. Remove bay leaves and check for seasoning. If sauce still tastes acidic, add unsalted butter, 1 tablespoon at a time to round out the flavors.

Add half the tomato sauce into the bowl of a food processor. Process until smooth. Continue with remaining tomato sauce.

If not using all the sauce, allow it to cool completely and pour 1 to 2 cup portions into freezer plastic bags. This will freeze up to 6 months.

Yield: 6 cups
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour and 20 minutes
Ease of Preparation: Easy

You can find this recipe also on FoodNetwork.com

Easter Ham

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Over the years Meag and I have cooked our fair share of spiral-cut hams. We’ve learned a lot of cooking tips by simply watching the Food Network. One of the great tips we learned a few years ago was how to prevent eating dried out Easter hams. It seemed like every year no matter what we did we would always end up eating dried ham which we’d cover in gravy or some sauce. This also was the case growing up. The solution is simple…don’t buy a spiral-cut ham, but a ham that is whole that you cut yourself. The fact that the ham is pre-cut causes more of the surface of the ham to be exposed to the baking process thus drying out the meat. Since learning this trick we have never partaken of dry ham for Easter…it’s a beautiful thing!

Our favorite sauce to glaze our ham with is from Ina Garten’s yummy recipe. She loves to use citrus flavors quite a bit. This specific glaze is sweet but the mustard balances out the flavors to give a real rich taste to the ham. We also reserve about half of the glaze for dipping sauce, yum! Makes me want more.

Here’s a link to the recipe

Ingredients

1 (14 to 16-pound) fully cooked, ~~spiral-cut~~ smoked ham on the bone

The Sauce

6 garlic cloves
8 1/2 ounces orange marmalade
1/2 cup Dijon mustard
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 orange, zested
1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Place the ham in a heavy roasting pan.

Mince the garlic in a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Add the marmalade, mustard, brown sugar, orange zest, and orange juice and process until smooth. Pour the glaze over the ham and bake for 1 hour, until the ham is fully heated and the glaze is well browned. Serve hot or at room temperature.

Single for a few days

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Meag’s brother Jeff is getting married in Boston next week. We talked about traveling to the east coast for the event as a family. However, after checking the cost of airfare, rental car, and hotel (upwards of $2,500) we decided we couldn’t afford that much. Instead, Meag has headed off to Boston leaving me with the girls through next Wednesday.

Having to deal with being single for a few days is ok, but I cannot imagine doing it for good. I am always impressed with those individuals who can balance their life without a significant other. May God bless them.

There are so many things needed to be done that it can quickly become overwhelming to even think about. Laundry, dishes, picking up around the house, vacuum, etc. and not to mention going to work to pay for all the crap you have. That’s a tough gig. I know quite a few women that are single and have kids at home and some handle it better than others. The one thing that sticks out most of the one’s that handle it best are the one’s that place family first. The one’s that read scriptures with their kids, pray with them, eat meals with them, just making it a priority to spend time with them. These are all easy things to say and great ideas. However, it’s hard work to get something like that accomplished. Often times one has to sacrifice to achieve that.

I find myself struggling with the same things in my life. As I start to get older in my field of work it’s critical to stay up to date with the latest technology. You always have people coming along trying to out work you. Lately I feel I get out worked a lot. Mainly because my job is not my first priority. My family is. I’m at a crossroads in my life where it’s more important to me to spend time with my girls reading books to them rather than work on that one extra debugging problem I have to fix. Things will slip. What I struggle with mainly is the stability of my job. I need to have a stable job to have a stable home. When I say stable I mean keeping the priority of meeting the needs of my family. I some times feel that the day to day things I do are tedious and a waste of time in the grand scheme of things. Ten years down the road I won’t be able to articulate exactly what I did in 2011 with regards to work, but I would bet I could remember some things (may be just a few) that I did in 2011 that involved my family. This particular event where Meag is away for the first time in our girls lives (yes she’s never spent a day away from either of them since they’ve been born) is something I’ll remember. I feel that is a good sign and that I’m on the right track to better days ahead.

The combo block

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There is an art to blocking on the offensive line. It takes great skill and athletic players to get the job done. I watched an NFL game last weekend and noticed a great example of a combination block, which is essentially a block where two lineman block a down lineman and one of them releases once the other offensive lineman has taken control of the defender and will pick up a linebacker to block. In this short video clip the Left Guard (#73) and Center for the Green Bay Packers execute a perfect combo block on the Chicago Beards. It’s a beautiful thing!