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If Elvis Presley were alive today, he’d be celebrating his 77th birthday.

He may have been the king of rock and roll, but Elvis Presley had an appetite that was more down-home than aristocratic. A Mississippi boy at heart, Elvis preferred iconic Southern dishes, such as buttermilk corn bread, Memphis-style bbq, banana pudding, and sweet potato pie.

His favorite snack, which he apparently taught the cooks at Graceland to make, was his mama’s grilled peanut butter, banana, and bacon sandwich. The King allegedly preferred mashed bananas, but slices work just fine. He also liked his peanut butter smooth and creamy and his bacon burnt. Unless you’re a truly dedicated Elvis Presley fan, the burnt bacon is optional.

In honor of the King, I’ll be having an Elvis today. Will you?

The Elvis
Makes 1

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons peanut butter
2 slices white bread
1 ripe banana, mashed
2 slices cooked bacon
2 tablespoons butter

Directions:

1. Spread peanut butter on one slice of bread, banana on the other. Add bacon slices and close sandwich.
2. Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat. Cook sandwich 2 minutes per side, or until golden. Eat it while it’s hot. Keep all the ingredients close at hand — you’ll likely be making another.

One flew kites. The other had a ball with leeches.

Everyone knows Ben Franklin. Americans celebrate his 306th birthday on Jan. 17th. Another Ben—Dr. Benjamin Rush—is lesser known but nevertheless played a pivotal role in American history. His 267th birthday is Jan. 4th.

Quirk’s home city of Philadelphia is gearing up for two celebrations this month that pay tribute to the two men.

What’s America’s favorite way to eat leftover Thanksgiving turkey? You guessed it: in a sandwich. Specifically, “The-Day-After-Thanksgiving Turkey Sandwich.” Yes, its got an official name.

While variations exist, this sandwich generally consists of thick slabs of toasted white bread covered with a mountain of leftover turkey meat, mashed potatoes or stuffing, cranberry sauce, and brown gravy.

It’s colossal. It’s comforting. It’s as American as apple pie. But a whole lot better.

Have you eaten a sandwich today? Odds are you have. Hundreds of millions of people across the globe do every single day. And today that number will rise. Why? Because, sandwich lovers, it’s National Sandwich Day. That’s right. An entire day designated to celebrating the humble sandwich, a simple combination of bread and filling that is satisfying, fast, comforting, and portable.

Everyone loves sandwiches, but Americans are besotted. We love to make them, talk about them, and gaze upon them. Entire books (mine included), televisions shows, and websites have been devoted to them. Why are we so passionate? Because sandwiches typically have deep cultural, ethnic, and geographies roots. Think of the Vietnamese Bahn Mi, the Mexican Torta, and the American ham sandwich. Some sandwiches have become icons of the city from which they emanated. Can you imagine Philadelphia without its cheese steak or New Orleans without its Po ‘Boy?

So on this most glorious of days, make yourself or someone you love a sandwich. It doesn’t matter if it’s an old-fashioned BLT or an upscale Nutella sandwich. If it’s got bread and filling and makes you happy, then it has done its job.

I’ll be having a Sloppy Joe today. Easy to make, economical, and satisfying, Sloppy Joes were the ideal belly-filler during the Great Depression and World War II. And seeing as our current economy isn’t soaring yet, it seems apropos.

This all-American sandwich is fabulously gloppy, so assemble sandwiches only when you’re ready to eat them – wait 10 minutes and you’ll be eating a Soggy Joe instead. Skip the silverware – just a plop a stack of napkins in the center of the table, or better yet, a roll of paper towels. You’ll need them.

Middleton’s gift shop had this outdoor display featuring our book! Thanks guys!

How Southern Gothic can you get? The road to Middleton Place Plantation, just outside Charleston, South Carolina, is lined with live oaks dripping with Spanish moss. When you turn your car into the drive of the plantation, you behold a landscape the way it looked around the birth of the United States.

In recent months, my co-author Denise Kiernan and I have been driving up and down the east coast visiting historic sites associated with the signers of America’s founding documents. It’s our way of promoting our existing Quirk book, Signing Their Lives Away, about the men who signed the Declaration of Independence, and Signing Their Rights Away, about the Constitution signers, which pubs Sept 6.

When we have some free time, we’ve been working on a documentary about these sites. So far, in the state of South Carolina, we’ve created a short film about Middleton Place, Hopsewee Plantation, and the Governor’s House Inn in downtown Charleston. All three of these homes were residences of signers of the Declaration of Independence.

We think the videos have turned out pretty well, and we’re anxious to move on to other states.

After months of writing, editing, preparation and the inevitable waiting, I am BEYOND STOKED to announce the release of my first book today, Broetry.

What is Broetry, you ask? Well, besides being the source of my obscene levels of euphoria today at having finally gotten this book out into the world, Broetry is poetry for dudes; it's poetry for people who don't normally like poetry. Are you the type of person that scoffs at Shelley, laughs at Lord Byron, and wouldn't be caught dead reading Whitman? Then I am quite pleased to inform you that there is finally a manly alternative.

Broetry isn't about nature and feelings and the way light shines through a butterfly's wings. It's poetry designed for today's common dude. There are broems about morning sex, hot celebrities, video games, football season and many other manly topics. Broetry finally brings poetry out of the lofty artsy fartsy stratosphere and back down to reality where it belongs, providing dudes across America with a poetic platform.