road trip! madison, wi

columbus day weekend brian and i hit the road to visit jenn and mark, who left cincinnati back in june for the wilds of wisconsin. when we were about two hours away, jenn sent a text which read, "head's up - it's not snowing exactly. just some flurries". snow before halloween? i didn't know we were visiting the arctic.

jenn and mark live off fish hatchery road. i saw no fish hatchery, but i assume the road's namesake had to be somewhere nearby. what a strange choice to name a thoroughfare. to my knowledge, in cincinnati there is no "slaughterhouse avenue" or "soap suds court".

jenn and mark have already been working on establishing themselves as regulars at the great dane pub. they have a fantastic beer list, which great names like "crop circle wheat". we all tried their seasonal brew "ride the dragon". it's a heavy-hitter with 10% alcohol, so the pub actually has a limit of 2 per customer. i'm not very good at describing beer, but to me, it was light with an herby flavor, kind of like twisted thistle.

apps consisted of pretzels with mustard and fried cheese curds (it's wisconsin, after all). the cranberry horseradish mustard was absolutely to die for. pungent - stings the nostrils. the curds were what you would expect. kind of tough to screw up fried cheese.

jenn and i each ordered a sandwich and split them. one was a buffalo burger topped with cheese from a local farm and the other was the "gourmet" grilled cheese (sensing the theme?) with smoked gouda and sharp cheddar, pesto, tomato, and bacon. everything was as good as it sounds. the accompanying sides were plantains and hot applesauce. the applesauce was more apple and less sauce. it belonged on top of a potato pancake.

the rest of the time we just hung out. sunday night we cooked a delicious dinner of marinated pork kebabs (see marinade recipe here), eggplant salad, and lemon-lime tart.

the eggplant was grilled, then topped with goat cheese, basil, mint, and pine nuts. the finishing touch was a light drizzle of balsamic vinegar. in retrospect, i probably could have lived without the inclusion of the mint.


the lemon-lime tart recipe came from luscious lemon desserts. at the last minute we decided to add the whipped cream. it was a good decision. the tart was very tart. our drink of choice for the day was sparkling wine, simply limeade, and a splash of rose's pomegranate infusion.

i'm so jealous of their kitchen! you can't see it in this photo, but they have a double oven, too.

it was really a fantastic trip. we plan on returning after the spring thaw and seeing more of the city.

charleston, SC

a few months ago we ventured to charleston, SC. here are some pictures and links to places we visited.....

Jestines Kitchen

they don't have an actual website. we had stayed at a bed and breakfast and the owner had recommended this restuarant to get some good southern cooking. we arrived and were seated immediately.

they started everyone off with a bowl of pickles.

we ordered some cornbread.

i had ordered the meatload, mashed potatoes, and macaroni. my meat had come out a little overcooked. our server noticed it and immediately brought another serving of meatloaf. now maybe my standards are skewed but i didn't think the first serving as all that over cooked. the portions were HUGE. far more than two people could (or should) consume in one seating.

eric had gotten the fried chicken, black eyes peas and red beans and rice.

http://www.roadfood.com/Reviews/Overview.aspx?RefID=346 http://www.yelp.com/biz/jestines-kitchen-charleston

dinner was followed up with dessert to go -- when you can't decide go with both -- chocolate cake and key lime pie.

although i didn't take any picutres one of the best meals we had was at Slightly North of Broad ( http://www.mavericksouthernkitchens.com/snob/index.html ). it was extrememly busy that weekend since the university of charleston had graduation and it was mother's day. for that matter the entire the entire city was pretty busy.

we stopped in beufort, SC when going between savannah, ga and charleson, sc. the had the "best burger in the world". i would have to disagree, but it wasn't that bad in a general. just not the "best".

one week in greece: a pictorial

brian and i had an absolutely beautiful time in greece last week. below are some of the tidbits we tried.

first actual, for real greek gyro in athens. note the french fries on the sandwich. also made with beef off a stick, not shaved veal/lamb.

greek salad in delphi

moussaka

on santorini, the best tzatziki ever. ever. (at naoussa restaurant)

eggplant dip with pita

tomato keftedhes. meh.

saganaki

kataifi. favorite greek dessert.

breakfast at our hotel. not real orange juice - more like tang.

wine tasting at canava roussos wines, the oldest winery on santorini.

sunset and sweets. the pistachio ball had some kind of delicious marzipan-like filling.

bison burgers

i headed north to columbus last weekend for a conference. i have one rule when eating out in another city: it can't be anywhere that i can eat in cincinnati. ted's montana grill fit this requirement and promised bison burgers.

ted's (founded by ted turner) is interesting because it is very eco-friendly, you know, for a chain restaurant that serves burgers and chicken fried chicken. the straws are made of paperboard. the toilets flush two ways; up for liquid and down for...you get the picture. they are 99% plastic free. that's admirable.

the ambiance in the restaurant is great. dark wood paneling. big bar. very masculine, but not oppressive. bowls of pickles on each table.

we all ordered bison burgers, which are served up 25 different ways and all are presented with an american flag stuck in the top (obviously removed pre-photo).

the burgers were a good size and full of EXCELLENT flavor. not at all greasy. mine had bleu cheese, mushrooms, and bacon, which i paired with rancho zabaco dancing bull zinfandel. (seemed appropriate.) the bun held up well to the giant burger. the fries were also amazing. fresh cut and not overly oiled or overly browned. this is kind of blasphemous, but i think i like them better than terry's turf club. shh...they may revoke my cincinnati blogging privileges.

for dessert we shared the strawberry shortcake, which i easily could have eaten all by myself. the shortcake was real shortcake, not that spongy crap kroger's tries to pass off as shortcake. the berries and syrup were fresh and not too sweet. i think the server mentioned they were organic strawberries and never frozen. a perfect ending.*must give props: all photos are the handiwork of my fellow pharmacy student andy, who kindly humored my blogging habit. thanks, andy.

i spent a week in frankenmuth one day

last weekend brian and i ventured to frankenmuth, michigan's little bavaria, with our friends jessie and jerry. one day was plenty to take in all the fantastical german sights. here are some highlights.

our main reason for visting frankenmuth was to check out bronner's CHRISTmas wonderland. they have any christmas decoration or ornament you could ever dream of, from birds to canadian flags to karate-themed.

and i do mean anything.jessie and i outside the cheese haus, at one of the town's photo ops. the haus's horseradish cheese spread was my favorite.

at the frankenmuth fudge kitchen, they're always making something wonderful. we purchased pistachio, chocolate peanut butter, german chocolate, and black forest. most of which are sealed up to indulge in after lent.

totally speaks for itself.

even the kroger has been frankenmuth-ed.

a tale of two wines

1. a cautionary tale: hoodwinked by a wine shop employee

she told me it was fabulous. she told me it was actually periwinkle colored. she is a liar and i am gullible.

this blend of garnacha, syrah, and tempranillo was so bad i had to pour it down the sink, and i am not one to waste wine. i actually made a puckered, sour face at my first sip. apparently i am a slow learner and kept going back in for more until i just gave up. i was clinging to the hope i would magically enjoy sip number ten more than sip number one. alas, no. down the sink it went.

it is clearly the color of grape jelly, not periwinkle.

2. a tale of unexpected pleasure

it was cold, miserable, rainy day when we visited st. julian winery in michigan. (fyi: st. julian is the patron saint of hotel keepers, boatmen, and travelers) we tasted several of their wines; the whites were crisp and fruity, the reds bland and one-dimensional. all are made with locally grown grapes. i was intrigued by a cherry wine. i love cherries, but i have also come to realize cherry alcohols often cross the line to cough syrup. happily, this was not the case with st. julian's, made from montmorency and meteor tart cherries grown in michigan. it tasted like cherries, real cherries, nice and tart. simply spectacular. i think i would like to pair it with some sinfully dark chocolate.

cod without god, week 2

last friday there was no church fish fry. a trip to michigan warranted a road stop at the long john silver's in piqua, ohio.

this sign greeted us.

i have not been to long john's in probably 18-20yrs. it still tastes exactly the same. i will always love the hush puppies and those little crunchy batter bits. i've had worse fast food fish (see filet-o-crap for details), so it was completely edible. i was surprised to see the little baggie of corn on the cob. over-cooked, of course, but possibly more nutritionally viable than the cole slaw.

the long john's had an a&w inside, a weird chimeric trend in the fast food nation. i assume this is an endeavor to dupe the public into believing diversity exists in a world of monotonous standardization. but it did allow me to order a side of fried cheese curds (not pictured), so it's all good.

holy. mother. of. god.

so much for my diet.
setting: tony's I-75 restaurant in birch run, mi.

the players: tony's blt - lettuce, tomato, one pound of bacon. me.
the carnage.

honestly, it was really a lot of bacon that was hard to chew. more like a jerky-lettuce-tomato. the bread was awesome, though.

a snack of cheesy tater tots. mmm. grease. (i still have some in my fridge)

the fries weren't bad either.