What I Ate This Week

Anyway, I bring you the first of a two-parter (still in progress) on my dining adventures en route!

Extreme Layover: Prague

Well, my first flight took me to Frankfurt where I had a layover just long enough to make it to a gate and get on another plane, this time to Prague.  The first two flights were unremarkable in all ways including food.  The highlight was clearly the ice cream sundae on the first flight, but mostly because it was ice cream on a plane, not because it was particularly good.

My layover in Prague was 3 hours.  Probably enough to get to the new gate and do some reading, take a short nap, or listen to the iPod.  But I had never been to Prague before, didn’t know when or if I was coming back, and was feeling restless from all the sitting still.  So, not speaking Czech, I found some people who looked nice, asked them how long to the center and when I needed to be back.  I stopped in a shop, bought a map, guidebook, and bottle of water, then I bolted for downtown.

Old Town Square

I didn’t have forever, but it all started on Old Town Square with a Pilsner Urquell (the local brew, and if you’ve had it–it’s all over the US–you know it’s good).  I’ve never seen a city associate itself more forcefully with a beer than this matching.  (Not even Dublin or Amsterdam– I wonder if Urquell is in cahoots with the tourism board!)  It was a hot, hot day so I walked quickly across the Charles bridge and saw the castle district before getting in my cab to get to the airport.  Unfortunately, the flight was delayed.  Fortunately, there was a Urquell restaurant next door to the gate, giving me time to actually eat something!

So THAT's what goulash looks like!

I wasn’t super-hungry (lots of airplane food), but the goulash sounded good.  And it was– nothing like I’m used to, though!  Basically a brothy stew with hunks of beef and heavily seasoned with paprika.  No noodles or rice, just beef and some vegetables.  Such a misunderstood dish!  And incredibly delicious.  Not spicy at all, but bursting at the seams with flavor.  It was the rare airplane delay that I welcomed!

Then it was on-board (where they served me some excellent Russian palmeni– think tortellini with woodsy mushrooms) and on to Russia…

Russia, Part 1: Ekaterinburg

Ekaterinburg (also called “Yeakaterinburg,” or Ekat for short) is Russia’s fourth biggest city after Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Novosibersk.  It’s got about 1.4 million documented residents in the area, and likely twice that once you count students and “laborers.”  It sits in the Ural mountains and is known for mining, universities, and for kind of being in the middle of nowhere in the center of Russia.  It’s also known, at least to Russians, as the site of the execution of the last of the Romanovs– most interesting.  (After a city tour today, I’m full of useless but interesting history about the place!)

Old school Russian

Anyway, for our first dinner (I’m here with coworkers) we wanted to do something traditionally Russian, and our concierge pointed us in the direction of a place called Troekuroff about 20 minutes from the hotel.  The economy is hitting this town bad– as one of the more “upscale” restaurants in the city, even on a Friday night at prime hour (10pm) we were one of only two filled tables in the place.  But this little secret was ours to enjoy this night– the food was superb.

Wow...

The first thing out of the kitchen was an amuse courtesy of the chef– a bliny filled with cream cheese and red caviar.  “Wow” is right.  So good.  I’ve had caviar only once or twice in my life (not really my thing), but THIS… was something different.  It packed a juicy, salty punch that played with the cream cheese to form this lovely sweet-and-salty combination.  Good that it was only 2 bites, though, because it was RICH!

Russian pot pie

Next up was the appetizer.  I’m sorry folks, I’m usually really good with names but I don’t recall what this was. The Cyrillic alphabet is wreaking havoc with me today!  Anyway, this was a four-cornered pot pie– as with most Russian food, it’s all about COMFORT.  One corner was filled with excellent beef stroganoff, another with mashed potatoes, another with stew, etc.  Super nice, hearty, comfortable, and filling.  So much so that I didn’t think I’d be able to finish my meal!

Borscht!

But then the borscht came.  My friends, I am converted– I now love the beet.  This was borscht of a Ukranian preparation, the most popular in Russian restaurants.  If you’ve never had it, borscht is a soup that can be hearty and stewlike or light and flavorful– this is one of the latter.  The “broth” is made with beets, and it includes beet slices, a bit of beef and many vegetables.  It’s served with some sour cream on the side that brings some sour to balance the sweet.  The flavors were very complex but harmonious– if I wasn’t filling up, I’d have had the whole bowl!  But then came the main…

Best deer ever.

Being in the “midwest” of Russia surrounded by forest, deer is one of the animals that is well known and has been cultivated for food in the area for a long time.  I ordered the deer filet and the server was pleased that I ordered it medium rare.  I guess I’m glad she asked (in her extremely timid and broken English), as I suspect they assume most Americans like their meat charred– but a meat as lean as this would be useless cooked that much!  It was served perfectly, on a bed of lightly cooked zucchini alongside a chunky tomato relish.  It was excellent and worth finishing!  All in all, a tremendous experience full of Russian highlights!  I slept very well indeed on Friday.

Saturday Night Uzbek @ Nigora

Nigora

Last night we wanted something a little different and more casual.  We were steered toward an Uzbek favorite in town called Nigora.  Just getting there was exciting as we got lost looking for the building number.  Four non-Russians, wandering with a hotel map printed in English staring at street signs in Cyrillic.  Must be fun for the locals to watch as I bet they don’t get tons of English-speaking tourists here!  Eventually we found it and headed downstairs to a vibrant and exciting sub-terranean Uzbek restaurant.  Very casual.  We sat in the non smoking section (there is only one table situated there… so I’m guessing they don’t get many non-smokers!) and ordered beers and various Uzbek dishes.

Beef and noodles... a universal language!

 Everything was great.  Thankfully they had one English menu and we used it to guide our choices.  Again, I don’t remember the name of the dish, but this was a hearty noodle dish with beef strips and homemade Uzbek noodles.  It was, as all meals so far this week, hearty and tasty.  The deeper one got into the bowl, the more I found little bits of beef and vegetables that enhanced the flavor.  No way around it, though, this was messy food.  But so good and soulful.  Though I didn’t think to take a picture of it, we also ordered some dumplings with beef that were fantastic, and some bread to soak it all up.  An excellent meal– since this is as close to Uzbekistan as I’ll likely ever get, I’m sure I’ll never have an experience this authentic again!

And of course, the nightcap…

Danger...

I get a little sick to my stomach thinking about it now, less than a day later, but we adjourned to the hotel bar and served up some Russian Standard vodka, and all I will say is this stuff is STRONG.  Stronger than pretty much anything I’ve ever had, and of course men are expected to be manly and take it in a shot.  So after more than a couple (and the nice little piroshkis that come with it), the night started spinning, or maybe that was just my head.  Fun times with good people, and from there it gets a little blurry.  But that’s OK… I’m sure it was a great time!

So that’s it for now.  Tonight is room service as I’m not going ANYWHERE much less to a bar.  A good night’s sleep and hopefully it will be on to a productive Monday.  There are still a couple of places we want to try in town and we’ve got until Thursday when I am onward solo to Moscow for a couple of days.  Wish me luck!

Well, friends, it has come time for me to bid adieu to the little neighborhood I’ve called home for almost six years, Pleasant Ridge.  I moved here a bit younger, a bit more naive, and a bit over my head in terms of owning my own place.  (Ugh, I’ve got to mow the lawn AGAIN?  I mowed it 2 weeks ago!)  I’ve done a lot of growing up here, and although I never really gave my neighbors a fair shot, I’ve found the people here to be unfailingly pleasant– in fact, I’ve come to feel a part of this place in some strange way– that’s something I wasn’t sure I’d ever feel outside of Michigan.

But of course, all things must come to an end… I put my house on the market a year ago, as I looked to tie up important loose ends on my then-recent divorce.  It’s been hard doing the packing and purging (both of physical things as well as mental) but as I sit here alone in a very echo-ey living room (likely for the last time), I’ve only got one urge– to party!

Seriously, folks.  Change is an opportunity to try on something new and grow forward– I know that will happen for me as I move closer to downtown and start a new chapter of life with someone special.  I’m like a kid on Christmas morning here, and the present is a door into a new home!

As a way of paying my respects to this neighborhood that has done right by me for so long, I decided to do one last 24 hour food tour of places I’ve come to know and appreciate over those years.  Real food from real people, and a worthwhile place to visit.

Where Gravy Is Still Cool:  Lunch at Pleasant Ridge Chili

No idle boasting...

Pleasant Ridge Chili is right around the corner from the house I’m selling today, and I have enjoyed the odd walk there, although I sometimes wonder if I shouldn’t have gone there more.  This is old-school Cincinnati chili parlor– just because you can’t smoke there anymore doesn’t mean you can’t feel the nicotine under the wallpaper!  I sidled up to a table and because I was feeling a little nostalgic and a lot hungry, I got small portions of my three favorites from here:  a (dry) 5-way chili, gravy cheese fries, and a cheese coney.  I know… it’s not health food.  But we’re in Cincinnati, guys!

Say cheese!

As always, a delicious treat.  I know a lot of folks who claim not to like Cincinnati chili, but I am convinced that over half of them would be converted if someone would just have told them to order it DRY.  It cuts back (or out) the gravy-like sauce and leaves you with the seasoned beef, onions, beans, and of course all that cheese.  Flavorful as can be, and well worth it.  They’ve been making this for some time now!

And what can one say about gravy cheese fries?  A holdover from before people took food health cues from the news, this is a treat that goes well beyond its name.  OK, so it starts with the fries, standard crispy crinkle cut numbers that would probably have been just fine by themselves.  On top are some gravy (of the “brownish” variety) and that electric cheddar.  It’s hard to review those two flavors independent of each other because they bond together in a deep and meaningful way– impossible to separate the chese from the gravy, and that’s a good thing as it degenerates into this lovely, creamy, delicious sauce that– let’s be honest– you’d eat with a spoon if it wouldn’t be socially unacceptable.  (Thus the fries!)

And the cheese coney, a Cincinnati standard done in a standard way– little hot dog nestled in with mustard, onion, chili, and cheese.  Good solid sturdy stuff.  I scarfed it all down and hit the door to run day-before-moving errands.

The Fish Remains the Same:  Take-Out at Molly Malone’s

Still investing in the fish market

Another local treasure is the Irish restaurant/bar (or more like bar/restaurant lately) on Montgomery across from Everybody’s Records.  It hit its apex around the time I moved here in 2003 as the Dubliner– a place where they researched their Irish food carefully and cultivated a cult following on Tuesdays for trivia.  This was a place that felt like home– when you ate in the restaurant you felt you had the place to yourself, and most times you did.  Truth be told, it’s a tough spot for a restaurant what with the range of options in Oakley to the south and suburban heaven at Kenwood just north.  But the Dubliner, and its locals, did just fine thank you very much.

Until they didn’t.  The Dubliner closed a couple of years ago and swiftly opened under new ownership and management as Molly Malone’s.  Initially it appeared they didn’t intend to change much, but slowly but surely more American food found its way onto the menu and sadly, food quality declined.  This used to be the place where you could get a fantastically prepared chicken tikka boxty, a high quality Irish breakfast any time of the day, or Guinness stew to rave about on a cold winter’s day.  But of course, then as now, the featured dish is fish and chips.  And thankfully, that’s one dish where Molly Malone’s realizes you can’t cut corners.

Fish ahoy!

I brought an order home for my “last supper” at the house– it’s been over a year since I’ve had dinner at Molly’s, so I was interested to see what I’d find.  (It’s exactly this kind of 1-year lapse from a very local resident that dooms places like Molly’s– sorry old girl!)  They’ve clearly cut the portion size (three planks back in the day!) to one hearty plank, no doubt for cost reasons.  Thankfully it was exquisite even after a few minutes in the car.  The fish was meaty and delicious (I think it’s cod but didn’t check the menu this time) and breaded and fried in the traditional Irish way.  Very nice– the coating was toothsome and flavorful, and it hid a delicious and moist fish filet.  The tartar sauce was standard stuff but alongside a twist of lemon (nice of them to include on the carry-out) and some malt vinegar, the combination was right.  The fries were another matter entirely, as they tasted frozen and overfried.  But a strong amount of malt vinegar assures that you can soften up those fries and provide the right flavor and texture contrast to the fish.  Finally, the potato and leek soup was a really nice positive surprise– a thick and flavorful soup with chunks of potato and big pieces of sauteed leek.  Packed a punch and hit the spot.  Really nice.

All things considered, while we’re well past the high water mark of the Dubliner, Molly Malone’s will no doubt continue on the path of its predecessor, serving fish, chips, and ale to locals while continuing to balance a tough location and economic environment.  Good luck, Molly– even imperfect, we need places like you to keep us going and socializing (instead of just blogging!).

A Final Breakfast Stop at Pleasant Perk

Gathering Place

And my final stop was this morning, at Pleasant Perk (right next door to Molly Malone’s on Montgomery).  It’s a sad state of affairs how late I discovered this gem of a coffeehouse.  I’m normally not a coffeehouse guy (mostly because I don’t drink the stuff!), but I was turned on there by learning that they were hosting the Belgian Waffle Guy (“Taste of Belgium,” if you’re into accuracy)– I’ve written about him and his delicious waffles before, and they are sublime.  So about 2 years ago I made my first visit and was completely charmed by the place.  Comfortable to a fault with a wide variety of coffees and pastries.

Grab a mug and stay awhile

Have I mentioned that the place is co-owned by Kim Taylor, Cincinnati’s amazing singer-songwriter?  What, never seen her?  GO FIND HER!  She’s awesome.  It’s kind of a karmic bonus here at this stop.  Anyway, it’s a chilly morning so I got myself some hot chocolate and a super-delicious cranberry muffin.  The kind of muffin that helps you remember that not all muffins are dry tedious affairs!

Breakfast of champions on a chilly summer morning

 So that’s about it.  From here, I am literally headed to home-closing.  Wish me luck!  By tonight it might be time to explore a new neighborhood!  In the meantime, thanks PRidge!  And may your new residents be treated as well as I.

Next Week Preview:  I’m going to Russia!  Wow.  I’ll be there for a week or so– I’m hoping it’s long enough for me to figure out the food culture!  Stay tuned…

Well gang, these are busy days for me with an upcoming house move and a 2-week work trip.  But that doesn’t mean you can’t have a little fun!  This weekend featured two quintessentially American experiences back to back.  The ache in my stomach means it’s been successful– a day at the fair, and a day at the ballpark.

Back home in Michigan, we’d all go to the fair during the 10 days per year it visited– it was a larger-than-life experience, with big rides, carnies barking at us, and yes, tremendous greasy food.  I still make it home most years to go to the fair and even though my stomach isn’t quite as strong as it used to be, I find room for all-American fair food and a ride or two.  There are several midways, and there is a pretty good array of choices:

Hungry, anyone?

I seem to remember that it took hours to make my way around the big track called the midway, what with the carnival barkers, the food, the people selling things, and my god the peoplewatching.  Gruesome but interesting.  Well, the track’s the same size it’s always been but it sure does seem to go by faster.  I made it clear around the midway before deciding on my first choice– and it was a logical one:

Oh come on, the faux logs make you think "authentic," doesn't it?

Ol’ Tex BBQ isn’t a restaurant that I’m aware of, and I’m sure they travel place to place hawking their wares, but you can smell that heavenly smoke from quite a way away.  Of course, I went for the sliced beef sandwich (it purports to be Texas BBQ, after all!)

There's no smoke ring, but it's smoky anyway...

I’ll admit… it was better than I thought it would be.  The smoky flavor was instant and concentrated– made me wonder if they were using liquid smoke, but it was tasty.  Clearly not brisket, and the BBQ sauce left a lot to be desired, but it was real meat and real smoky.  Over the course of a gluttonous evening, I enjoyed other varied treats, such as:

An always-tremendous italian sausage with very sauteed onions and peppers…

Gyros from Christo, a man who has been at the fair as long as I can remember.  He’s got the longest lines of anyone at the fair, and he takes his time, like a professor with tenure.  The results are good (but my childhood memory of them was better).

…and a Reese’s Pieces flurry, which capped the evening off excellently. I’m not a big soft-serve ice cream guy, but you put “stuff” in there, and you’ll get my attention…

Oh, and don’t forget to “mix”…

What's that feeling in my stomach?

Yes, it was a dicey choice, but I came out alright.  But let’s just say I had a little bit of a stomachache to sleep off!  That’s the sign of a good fair.

Cornucopia (Corn not included)

Batter Up:  Fancy Digs at the Ballpark

So, I slept a few hours, got in a car, and traveled home to Cincinnati where I had the fortunate opportunity to see a Reds game at the Frontgate Suite.  Has anyone else ever been there?  Sweet digs!  I was fortunate enough to come into a ticket thanks to a business associate and I must say, THIS is the way to see a ball game.  The place has its own elevator and hostess, and you come in to be greeted by a full bar.  Open all game long.  With generous pours and a server who is very prompt.  Yes, this was good indeed.

Shrimp cocktail is a better-than-normal way to start off a game...

Yes, the food is plentiful, too.  It starts with nice jumbo shrimp cocktail, alongside cole slaw and pasta salad.  But don’t fill up there, because right around the corner you’ll find…

Wings and sausages. Is there a game today?

Hot wings, sausages, Montgomery Inn pulled pork… let’s just say it was easy to forget there was a ball game going on.  The furniture in this outdoor suite is provided by Frontgate and very, very comfortable.  It also is unencumbered by a distracting view of the game, so you can enjoy your meal, open bar, and friends without even knowing there’s anything going on on the field!  (In fact, several folks were watching golf at the bar TV.) 

Play ball?

All things considered, it’s a good way for you and 30 friends to have a simply amazing time.   And if you like, you can sidle up to the drink rail, and the view’s just fine.

Play Ball!

The game was actually good, and the weather was better.  I actually stayed the whole game, something I haven’t done in a long time.  Reds win!  Seriously, if you know anyone with connections to the Frontgate suite, make it a priority to go.  You’ll be treated well, and I guarantee a great time, even if you don’t love baseball!

And now, friends… detox.  I need to find some vegetables, or something.  Any suggestions?

So I am guessing that it’s a little late in the year for me to encounter ceviche on the menu in Cincinnati and think, “well, it’s a little early for that, isn’t it?”  Yes, summer’s crept up on me AGAIN– damn!  As a consolation, I had a very nice meal this weekend at Slim’s, that home-grown casual restaurant-done-good in Northside.  And the menu was boldly summery, I’m glad to say!  While I wish the meal lived up to my first visit, which was over a year ago already (and so, I realized later, not included on the archives of this site!), it was very solid and super seasonal.

Summer in a cucumber

It all started with a simply lovely escabeche– delicious mussels and shrimp with a peach sauce wrapped in cucumber.  Artful, light, summery, and delicious.  I had a chance to taste the ceviche which had calamari in poblano and it was equally light but carried an amazing PUNCH from the peppers and tomato base.  Lovely.

After an unremarkable salad (in which I think I told them to omit what must have been the featured ingredient, the smoked tomatoes), I was served a lechon asado– Cuban roast pork– which I was excited about because it’s a simple and delicious dish.  After ordering, I heard the server explain it to a dining companion as “exactly like the pork belly, but without the glaze.”  My heart sank, fearing that this wouldn’t be roast pork at all.  The dish came out and immediately soothed my concerns about the food (but left me concerned about the knowledge of our waiter!:)

As usual, pork is the star

Just plain good, this was.  Roast pork has a tendency to get a bit stringy and dry in the Cuban preparation if not left in good hands, but I needn’t have worried.  With good pork, lechon asado becomes a real showcase treatment and in this case it was!  Its accompaniments on the plate did leave just a little bit to be desired, however.  The “kumquat rice” was just plain bland, and the slaw was very crunchy (which the plate needed), it didn’t pack the kind of punch I hoped for.  The black beans (usually my favorite item on any Cuban dish) wasn’t really traditional and seemed to be marinated in rum instead of vinegar.  Imagine the taste difference on that.  The very nice plantain crisps kept me company as I waded through that pile of delicious pork.

The desserts both cost extra and didn’t look great, so we headed over to Hyde Park’s Greaters where I am happy to report that as rumored, they are now featuring banana chip ice cream.  Just fantastic.  I am usually left to head over to Aglamesis Brothers in Oakley to find a good banana ice cream but this did the trick.  I hope they decide to keep it on the menu!  Unlike other seasonal flavors, I hear there is no plan to sell it in stores, so get to a scoop shop right away!

Well, that’s it for this week– I’m eating out a touch less lately as I’m contemplating a big house move that’s got me organizing and packing nearly every night!  But this weekend, a much deserved break in Michigan to go visit a local fair much loved by all.  Hick deliciousness coming at you, stay tuned…

36 weeks, hard to believe.  Thirty six consecutive weeks of stepping out into our brave world and sampling the good, the bad, the strange, and the forgettable.  Thirty-six weeks of strange glances from dining companions and servers.   But this week’s different– I certainly have had some food “out” this week (including great experiences at Dewey’s Pizza in Oakley and National Exemplar in Mariemont, and a pretty terrible one at China Food in Silverton), but this week I write about MY cooking experience!

Every July for four years running now, I have hosted friends for a summer cookout.  It started as a way to cajole (guilt) my college friends from Michigan to come down and see me at least once a year, and it’s stuck.  The “theme,” is The Great American Cookout– every year it gives me a chance to get a little creative and source some of the best local, regional, and national foods to celebrate the birth of our great nation and the food it has created.  And may I say… it was an EXCELLENT shindig and the food made me so, so happy.  (That’s the thing about hosting a party, it’s a lot of work and damn expensive, but you serve what YOU want!)

Was it a good party?  Yes… despite attempts to keep the place clean, the morning-after carnage is a clue:

Say a prayer for the morning after...

Here’s a rundown of what I served– I’m detailing this not to induce jealousy or wax poetic about my cooking skills (this is a grillout, not exactly the highest test of culinary preparation!).  I AM sharing this level of detail perhaps to inform and inspire you– these are all foods from high quality, non-chain purveyors and you can get all of this near here or via mail-order!

Appetizer

It started with what I called “Meat and Three… Cheeses” (a little play on the Nashville Meat & Three tradition that I love).  Basically, it’s a glorified cheese plate with some amazing things I got down at Krause’s at Findlay Market– the meats are (clockwise from top) Spanish chorizo, Italian soppressata, and spicy capicola ham, all just fantastic.  The cheeses are a St. Andre triple-creme brie, Manchego, and Appenzeller Swiss.  On any other night in my life, this is the highlight!

Mmmmmm, burgers...

Of course, the meat is the main attraction!  Center stage this year are the burgers.  Most of my main-course meats came from Avril-Bleh butchers on Court St. in Cincinnati– they are a tremendous German (and more) butcher and I’ve never had a bad meal from there!  I made up some stacks of (left to right in the photo) lamb, beef, and turkey burgers and grilled them up with some wonderful 2-Year Aged Cheddar from Zingerman’s, the often-quoted-in-this-blog Jewish deli in Ann Arbor, MI.  I served them on what are for my money the BEST toasted Keiser rolls in this universe, those from Cincinnati’s own Shadeau Bakery on Main St. 

THIS is summer...

Avril-Bleh also was my source for the “original” German franks on the upper left of the grill as well as the cheddarwurst and mettwurst in the center.  Just tremendous.  Flavorful as all get out– the natural casing gives it that snap that so little home grilled meats have!

Rrrrrrrribs

I also ordered in some amazing ribs from Rendezvous, probably my favorite BBQ restaurant in the world (competing with Cozy Corner, both down the street from each other in Memphis, TN).  They came well-seasoned and par-cooked, so they were heated up on the grill, basted, and served with house dry rub.  They came off really, really nicely, a little chewy but not too much, zesty from the rub, and totally without need of sauce.

My main meal

As for me, I nibbled a bit here and there as I cooked/grilled, but what I ultimately had was a beef burger with cheddar, some applewood-smoked bacon from Nueske’s in Wisconsin (ordered via Zingerman’s mail order), sauteed onions and some Rendezvous barbeque sauce.  I called it (pun alert, guys!) the Red, White, and Blues Burger.  And it was awesome.  I take no credit.  Good beef, great bun, and most importantly of all, great bacon!  I also had a cheddarwurst with some mustard I recently got on a visit to Paris from Maille (hot!) and some sauteed onion.

In case you are wondering, yes I made homemade sides too, although for some reason I didn’t take pictures of any of them.  Barbeque beans, mustard dill potato salad, cole slaw, homemade salsa and guacamole for chips… these were all very nice and something I’d be proud of any other day of the year.  (It’s a good thing because I’ll be eating leftovers for a while!)

Delicious crowning achievement

And I finished with something I’d never made before but had out many times.  I made from-scratch dark chocolate chip cookies and made some ice cream from some vanilla I got in Mexico earlier this year, and put them together into adorable little ice cream sandwiches.  The trick?  Pour the ice cream into muffin tins while they are still malleable, freeze them, then pull out the discs, slice horizontally and put the discs on cooled cookies, then freeze the whole thing.  If you can wait that long before stuffing them into your mouth (which is the natural temptation!).  Of all of the hard work that went into making this dinner, the ice cream was DEFINITELY my favorite.  Oh, sweet tooth…

Because of the sheer amount of food I made, it enables me to have leftovers for at least a week afterward in a king’s bounty of eating, a kind of reward for the hard work.  You know how when you’re hosting a party you never really have time to fully soak in a meal?  That’s what next-day leftovers are made for– especially when you can have three consecutive meals and not repeat the same proteins!

Leftovers supreme

Anyway, I hope that somewhere out there, someone stumbles onto this posting and gets inspired.  I’m including links to all of the fine food purveyors that made this meal possible– frequent them.  These are independent retailers who know their stuff and are here to help you eat well and feel good about it!  Now get out there and fire up that grill!