back to the regimen after an extended weekend of indulgence with friends =)

I lazed about all morning, but finally got into gear and mowed the backyard. We had planned for a 20-mile ride so pt could get ready for Bike The Drive, but she was too tired from all her yardwork. So I fired up the grill, and installed the dartboard while we waited for our tasty treats to smoke.


pt beat me in the first game of 301, with a very nice 3 dart closeout combo. I won the next match of Cricket.

( smoked fish )

I recommend seeing it. Warning: It has a lot of anti-conglomerate rhetoric, so if you find that unpalatable, then skip it. ;p

We're going to see this Beer Wars documentary tonight. It's playing for one-night only in various cities across the country. Check it out if you have the chance!

http://beerwarsmovie.com/
http://www.fathomevents.com/upcoming/details/Beer_Wars.html

I realized that I never posted about our day trip to C-U a few weeks ago. Thanks again for everyone who came out to meet us at Black Dog. We had a lovely time. It was great to see you!

Leftovers from our trip to Black Dog Smoke and Ale House. I ate there for lunch (beef brisket sandwich) and then K and I met lots of friends there later for happy hour.

( Read more... )

During errands today I saw the sign at one of the liquor stores state "BELLS IS BACK"! I turned right into the parking lot and asked about it. According to the owner they signed some sort of agreement a couple days ago, and apparently everyone placed orders for it right away. They had about 5-6 varieties in stock; I picked up a six-pack of the Porter.

Then I met pt at Brewhaus and upon arriving I asked them if they had some Bell's in yet. Yes they did. I got a lager, pt an ale and then a Hopslam, which was pretty darn good. Hoppy beers are my least favorite, but I liked the Hopslam. There's honey in it, which softens the hop flavor quite nicely.

Well, upon further investigation, it seems as if Bell's had returned to Chicago last year, but we haven't been able to get any downstate, so this is a joyous time for us country folk. ;p

We got sunchokes from the farmers' market this weekend; the lovely folks at Veenstra's Vegetables had a recipe box too, so I grabbed a page that had a bunch of ideas for using them. After reading up a bit about them, it sounds like sunchokes are very easy to maintain and propagate, so I'll consider buying extra this week and planting a small bed of them.

The flavor of a sunchoke is earthy but crisp and refreshing. It really brightens the flavor of a rich comforting soup like a chowder.

( recipe for Cheese & Sunchoke Chowder )

We've been drinking this new pizza beer lately and really like it. It's infused with lots of common pizza flavors: garlic, oregano, tomato, etc. and of course tastes awesome with pizza and pasta. Actually, I've found that it tastes good with lots of foods. Give it a try if you see it in the store, it's a local microbrew too, produced for them by Sprecher.

Our day trip to Champaign was fun and productive. We stopped at Prairie Gardens before the game and bought some seeds. The game was fun (though I could have done without some crappy officiating), they won after blowing decent leads. It was the last home game of the season and senior day; one of the seniors who didn't get much playing time got on the floor in the last minute and actually sank the last shot at the buzzer, a 3-pointer. Meaningless for the game, but it was a nice was for him to end his days at Assembly Hall.

More shopping at Strawberry Fields for a couple tea blends that I can't get in Springfield. They also had seeds from The Seed Exchange there, so we picked up a few more packets. It was hard to restrain myself, I'm actually getting excited about gardening this year, but we couldn't buy everything we wanted, because the garden will be a WIP test this year and we're running out of planned space as it is. So, Chioggia beets and purple moon-n-stars watermelons, maybe our paths will cross in the future. For my part of the garden, I plan on growing heirloom vegetables/greens only, if possible.

We met up with friends and caught up over a couple beers at Esquire, then dinner at Fiesta Cafe. We all wanted El Toro, but Fiesta was so close and we didn't want to delay getting back to Springfield. Their menu has expanded since we last went and I thought the stuff was good. Pt got fish tacos, which didn't need the creamy cole slaw, and I got veggie fajitas, which were quite tasty.

This Sunday our realtor is holding an open house for us from 2-4pm. We can't be home when people are looking at the property, so I think it's a great excuse to have a picnic.

Is anyone interested? Quad? Crystal Lake Park? Meadowbrook Park? Or we could just pub ride it to Urbana.

Speaking of pubs, I'm disappointed that they repealed the Smoking Ban in Champaign. I have to respect the Nieto empire for choosing to stay smoke free, so maybe I'll check out the new one. I heard that Seven Saints has this "slider" menu and there are some non-beef slider options available.

I'm pissed that we never organized that massive game of Phase 10 in one of the Bling Pig booths while it was smoke free. Anyway, I haven't spent enough time in Urbana bars lately...

Fuck You Champaign City Council.