If you are anything like me, then you probably think that popping a pizza in the oven constitutes as “cooking.” While, yes, this is a step up from ordering Chopstix, this is nowhere near the level of culinary expertise of U of I’s own Alex Lake and Mike Cuthbert.
I caught up with these “2 Dudes Making Food,” as they like to call themselves, to see if the buzz about their cooking skills was true. Believe me, after leaving their apartment, I was both convinced and incredibly full.
Lake and Cuthbert, both juniors at UIUC, surprisingly did not cook much in high school. These “2 Dudes” have definitely found their passion in cooking this year.
I was lucky enough to join them on a particular Saturday afternoon they set aside to make their own deep-dish pizza, homemade from start to finish. As they began mixing in the ingredients for the dough, I made reference to Antonio’s pizza. Alex and Mike looked at me with blank faces telling me they had not heard of it and that they do not typically go out to eat on Green Street. I was astounded, as places such as Chipotle, Jimmy John’s and Tortica’s were always my go-to dinner options and where I liked to end my nights out.
As the pizza started to come together and the smell of the fresh-baked dough began to fill the air, I started to realize how much better this home cooked meal was than any of Green Street’s offerings.
Amidst the pulling and stretching of the dough as well as Alex tossing it into the air under Mike’s watchful eye, I learned about other recipes the guys have made, although none as time-consuming as the homemade pizza. Other notable recipes included buffalo chicken Alfredo, bacon-wrapped hot dogs and perhaps their most creative, Cinnamon Toast Crunch pancakes, which involves blending the cereal in a Magic Bullet and adding it to pancake batter, complete with chocolate chips, of course. I learned of Alex’s secret milkshake ingredient (hint: it is an egg) and of how Alex and Mike had only become friends this year. It amazed me that these two guys, friends of only a few months, could work so well together, each bringing different skills and personalities to the kitchen.
After three long hours of mixing, stretching and waiting, their masterpiece was complete. We dug in, and let me tell you, their pizza blew Antonio’s out of the water. While the taste was most definitely superior to any pizza I have had, there was also something about the bond that Alex and Mike shared from cooking that made it extra special. They refused to be lazy college kids that can’t make things for themselves, and they genuinely enjoyed sharing their creation.
Now, some may argue that this sounds pretty cheesy, but to that Alex would like to say, (spoken as a true chef) “I’m about the cheesy life,” to which Mike agreed and added, “And that’s how the pizza crumbles.”