Hawaii receivers take it to the house

For five Hawaii football receivers, a favorite route is down Kapahulu Avenue and then a sharp left into the residential section.

A five-bedroom abode is called the “Receivers’ House,” the home to pass-catchers Jared Smart, Melquise Stovall, Nick Mardner, James Phillips and John Johnson.

“I like living with those guys,” said Mardner, a second-year freshman. “We can all relate.”

Phillips, who transferred from a junior college in January, said: “It’s always fun. They’re always joking. We bond. It’s always a good time with them.”

The house initially had four bedrooms. But a make-shift barrier was erected in one of the two living rooms to create a fifth room for Stovall. “That was Melquise’s idea,” Smart said: “I came home one day and it was all set up.”

Stovall said, smiling: “I’ve got one of the bigger ‘rooms.’ It comes with A/C, cable all that. I’ve got a projector.”

The players take turns shopping, splitting the bill. There is a pantry, with one half set aside for community food. The other half has a shelf for each player’s personal food.

There is one basic house rule. “Clean up after yourself,” Stovall said.

“I’m really big on that,” Phillips said. “They’ll dirty one dish and leave it in the sink. And I’ll tell them: ‘Whose dish is this?’ I’m pretty big on that type of stuff.”

The common goal is to put on a good barbecue. “John Johnson is the grill master,” Stovall said.

Johnson, a fourth-year junior, grew up in Georgia and on Southern cuisine. For the housemates’ parties, Johnson is in charge of the ribs.

“I am that guy when it comes to barbecuing,” Johnson said. “I buy the ribs. I cut them up. I make my own sauce.”

The sauce is created from a multi-generation family recipe. “When I told my dad I was doing it, he was so adamant that I made sure nobody was around when I was making the sauce,” Johnson said. “He didn’t even show me (how to make) the sauce until I was 17 or 18.”

He said the sauce enhances the flavor of full-sized ribs and spareribs. “Only pork,” Johnson said. “I don’t do beef. It has to be pork.”

Mardner provides the mac and cheese. Mardner was born and reared in Canada, but his parents are of Jamaican ancestry. He grew up as a foodie who followed Gordon Ramsay and once took a cooking class from a renowned chef.

“I’m not from the South, but I know what I’m doing in the kitchen,” Mardner said. “I can cook anything. Seafood. Any type of steak.”

He said his mac-and-cheese dish is prepared in a cast-iron skillet. “I use lots of cream, milk, a whole bunch of cheeses,” Mardner said. “When you do something like that, it’s more of a freestyle. You can put in as much as you want. We always cook it for the football guys, and you know how they like it. I put in a whole bunch of cheeses, lots of butter.”

Mardner said it takes 10 minutes to prepare the dish and 30 minutes to bake. “It’s pretty smooth,” he said.

At a recent barbecue, the housemates distributed all 33 plates of food. There was a demand for more plates and the “secret” lemonade. The lemonade actually comes from a neighborhood restaurant specializing in Cajun food.

“We pour it into a cup, and they don’t know where it came from,” Mardner said, smiling. “It’s all good. They caught on.”