Happy Birthday to Me

/ Shane / 1 Comment

And I am gracious enough to share my birthday with several lesser known celebrities:

           

And a couple of people not quite as smart as me:

For my birthday we went over to Dixie Kitchen.  I mentioned that we have tried to go there several times but it was always too busy, so we went elsewhere.  So we figured we better get in there before the episode aired, or else we’d never have a chance.

The food was really good, well worth a birthday meal.  They give you complimentary johnny cakes on your table, which was unique and they were pretty good.  We had fried green tomatoes as an appetizer and I was really impressed with them. I don’t think I have ever had them and these were just perfect.  Slightly spicy.  I thought they would have some sort of sauce, but they didn’t.  The cornbread muffins were really good too.  They actually had little pieces of jalapeno in them.  I knew it was a southern place but I didn’t know it was a specifically a Nawlins place.  I had catfish, mashed potatoes and red beans and rice and Sara had blackened chicken, mashed sweet potatoes and greens.  I thought it was better than Calypso, but Sara said she still prefers Calypso.  Oh, and did I mention it was pretty cheap?  Anyway, Mr. Obama has good taste and I will definitely be back some time!

Baby’s First Surgery or A Series of Tubes

/ Shane / 3 Comments

First, let me just say 😦

So, in addition to just being generally sick every week for the last year or so, Evie has been dealing with a rash of ear infections.  As you recall from my other posts, this originally started back on Halloween.  So it has been over 2 months, several antibiotics and many, many doctors appointments, and after all of that time she still has fluid in her ears.

The surgery to put tubes in her ears is scheduled for the 13th.  It is a pretty simple procedure, it supposedly only takes 5 minutes, but you always have risks with anesthesia and stuff.  Still, it really isn’t much to worry about; I myself had tubes put in 3 times when I was little.  They should fall out by themselves in about a year, so the hope is we make it through this winter and next with them.

As I’ve said, I had many, many problems with my ears when I was little, so I should have seen this coming.  But it stinks and I don’t have to like it!

 

In regards to the title of this post, I have always been enamored with the way the titles of Rocky and Bullwinkle episodes always had “blah blah” or “blah blah”, usually involving a pun or two of some sort.  Something hilarious like “Axe Me Another or Heads You Lose!” I would title all of my blog posts in such a fashion except I am not nearly that clever.  And as for the series of tubes thing, perhaps you don’t live on this planet (planet nerd I mean) and you missed the whole series of tubes meme.  Why in god’s name am I spending so much time explaining the title of this post?  Who knows.  But just so you know it is this sort of agonizing that causes me to spend hours and hours to bring you high quality posts such as this.

::sigh:: Okay, I’ll stop now.

Barack on Check Please

/ Shane / 3 Comments

For those of you who aren’t in the know, Check Please is a fairly popular PBS show that reviews local restaurants around Chicago.  It is actually a pretty good place to find out about interesting restaurants, and we have gone to several featured on there.  Basically, 3 guests come on and each recommends their favorite restaurants.  Before the show airs, each of the guests goes to the other guests’ favorites and then they all discuss them.  They intersperse these clips with interviews with the owners, etc.  The camera men do an amazing job of making the food look delicious.

Well, it turns out they have a previously unaired episode in which Barack Obama was one of the guests.  The episode will be airing Friday January 16th @ 8 p.m.  Not surprisingly, he recommended a restaurant close to home that I have tried to go to several times, but it has been too busy.  We always end up going to the one next door, which is actually really good as well and owned by the same people.  

Here is a clip to wet your appetite (get it?):

Link originally courtesy Hyde Park Urbanist.

Bacon Salt – Aces 10

/ Shane / 4 Comments

As reported earlier, there exists a seasoning (or magical fairy dust) that can add bacon flavoring to anything.  Proving what a good idea it is to include statements like “So, if you are looking for an early Christmas present for me, look no further” in your blog, I received said Bacon Salt as a Christmas present from (who else?) NBH.  Just to jog your memory, these guys started a company with the winnings they earned from America’s Funniest Home Videos, which is clearly the best way to start a company.

I actually received a number of items: Original, Hickory flavored, Peppered and a jar of “Baconnaise”, which is obviously bacon flavored mayonnaise.  I also received a bumper sticker.

I decided to try the orginal flavor first to get a baseline.  It sort of smelled like bacos rather than real bacon, but I’m okay with that.  I guess it has to since it is vegtarian friendly (Rachael, you can try it next time you are here)  I decided to try it on bean soup seeing as that has bacon in it already.  Fantastic.  I don’t know that it tasted more bacon-y per say, but it hands down tasted more delicious-y.  Absolute improvement.

The next night we had burgers.  Naturally I wanted to add some Bacon Salt as part of my normal burger seasonings.  Sara wouldn’t let me  and insisted I season them normally and then add Bacon Salt on mine at the end if I so wanted.  Clearly that just isn’t the same, but anyway I decided it was the perfect time to try out the Baconnaise.  Another success!  The bacon flavor was kind of mild, but there was no doubt that the flavor of the burger was improved.

I guess, in general, that is the only downside to this stuff; you really need to pour it on to get good bacon flavoring.  Now maybe I’m just a bacon maniac, but I would assume that anybody that would go so far as to buy this stuff probably is as well.  However, that is a small price to pay for bacon deliciousness on every piece of food you consume.

I was going to ask for suggestions on what to try it on next, but as I thought about it I realized, virtually anything!  It would be much easier to list the things you SHOULDN’T eat it on.  The possibilities are endless and my supply should last me a long, long time.

Another poor soul whose birthday will be forever combined with Christmas

/ Shane / 1 Comment

Olivia Rose
Born Dec. 29th @ 7:14 p.m.
7 lbs. 10 oz.
Congratulations Casey, Margaret and Isaiah!

And by the way, isn’t technology grand?  I found out about the birth via text message, and if I’ve done the math right it was sent exactly 25 minutes after she went live.