Why I Oughta...

Nat found these "meat shredders" at Crate & Barrel recently.  They're certainly going to make pulling pork shoulder a bit easier on the hands and I'll end up with less burns.

I heard a while back that the Sun-Times had contracted with the Chicago Tribune company to print their daily paper, but I didn't put the pieces together until earlier this week when Phil Rosenthal was on the Steve Dahl Podcast and pointed out that the two papers - when laid on top of each other - are identical in size.  Just printed in a different direction, but the exact same size paper.

Last night, I received an email from the "Follow Your World" application of Google Maps that alerted me that there was new imagery for a "point of interest" of mine.  Sure enough, I had entered our home address in the tool back when it launched in October of last year and forgot all about it.  The new satellite images are pretty recent - as there's a new house being constructed on our block and the image has the roof shingles installed and the driveway in; which are both pretty recent events (within the last month or so). The Follow Your World tool is a neat little app that gives you a heads up when Google updates their imagery of your house.  We're still not on StreetView (our block) so I'm hoping that one day soon, a note like the one above will arrive that will include the details of how our house is now included in the StreetView collection. If you haven't signed up for a Follow Your World update, you should do so here .

That's my nephew in the Marlins uniform (and my dad in the Blogger hoodie!) right before he took the field for the first game of his little league season in Elmhurst.  They live down the block from us and while he plays hoops, football and soccer, he told me over the weekend that baseball was - by far - his favorite sport.  He's pretty good at it, too! He was the opening day starter on the mound and (from what I heard) while he didn't get a decision (left after giving up 2 runs mostly on walks), he did get two K's.  Pree-tay, pree-tay, pree-tay great.

This morning I was greeted by this nice gentleman who was BUFFING our windows up 8 floors with what looks like a Bosch power tool with a buffing attachment.  Now that's deep cleaning.  This particular crew has been here on our building for the better part of a few weeks doing power washing and scrubbing and such.  In fact, I think they've done the window in my little office at least three times with various implements.  Those implements are the most fascinating part to me:  seeing how they're all strapped down (see the thin cable on the end of the buffer next to the power cord?) and everything is secured to ensure it doesn't plummet to the ground.  These guys are such pros that even with their tools restrained in that way, they're able to work.  Let alone the conditions and the height.  My god...the height.

My sister Vic gave us this cute welcome sign a week back and it immediately found it's way into the grass right next to our front porch stairs.  Neither Nat nor myself are big on yard chotchkies in general, but this sign is different and we both like it. Aside from the pain that yanking it out every time I cut the grass, I think it makes for a very cute addition to our yard.  Welcome, indeed.

It was almost exactly a year ago that I posted the sad news that Fontano's closed on First Street in Downtown Elmhurst (April 22, 2011 ).  This morning, on the way home from Courts Plus, I spotted this bright red sign in Fontano's window that announces some good news:  We're getting an Italian Deli called Zanzi's.  From the listings, we'll be treated to Paninis, subs, salads, soups, espresso, cold cuts and....wait for it....Daily Specials!  Hooray!   The place isn't too terribly big, so I'm guessing that they'll focus on the deli counter/sandwich making, but we *could* use a good Italian Deli that sells some packaged goods.  I have to travel to either Addison or Westmont to pick up my Scamorza Cheese when I want to make pizzas.  Would be pree-tay pree-tay nice to be able to buy that (and other things) right here in Elmhurst.

See that little green guy in the middle of that photo above?  That's the first asparagus stalk of 2012 popping up through the mulch.  Last year, we were  able to harvest a few stalks ( see a post here ).   That's from May 11th of 2011, so depending on how fast this stalk shoots up and grows out, we're probably a few days/weeks early - as expected.  The Farmer's Market starts soon and they *always* seem to have asparagus their opening weeks, so maybe a cold frame would have moved this along sooner?  Either way,  hopefully we'll get a big bunch of stalks to grow up at the same time, so we can make a meal or two out of the harvest this year.

We went down to Champaign for the annual Orange and Blue Spring Football game.  We took my nephew and braved the rain.  Thanks to the Varsity "I" Association, we were able to watch the game from the comforts of the Colonnades Club - under a roof.  The game - which the Blue Team won - wasn't much of a game and the crowds were pretty thin.  The rain kept people away and I'm guessing that there's a lot of skeptics for first year Coach Tim Beckman. The Varsity "I" Association invited back all ex-athletes and letter winners to celebrate and gave us all nametags/badges.  Last fall, they featured "action shots" of us in uniforms.  This year they took our old headshots from the program out and used those instead.  My is *very* 90's with my Caesar haircut.

Today, we had the honor of hosting Illinois Congressman Mike Quigley - 5th District - at Google Chicago.  His district starts at the Lakefront and includes as diverse an area as Old Town and Downtown Elmhurst.  Starting this fall, he'll be *our* Congressman out here in Elmhurst.  I look forward to watching him as he serves the entire 5th District.

How very thoughtful of the fine folks at Menards:  they gave me this 14 piece LED precision screwdriver set last week for my 34th Birthday.  I've been accused (rightly) of having a Menards addiction.  Now, I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing; I just prefer to do my shopping there over Home Depot or Lowes not based on location (HD is 5 minutes from our house, Menards is 15) but on a number of factors including price, knowledge of the store layout, a better seasonal section, their Christmas stuff in particular, and their selection. This screwdriver set retails for like $15.00.  For that small amount, they've bought even more goodwill from me now that will likely ensure that I spend all of my home improvement dollars there.  That's just good marketing.

My buddy Neil found himself down in Champaign recently and he stopped by our old Fraternity House.  In the Library, he found this photo that we had taken back in the Spring of 1998.  We were sophomores and I *think* this was taken on the day of a party called "Miami Triad".  There were a few of these photos that were hung in the library that were vintage - from the 1950's and 1960's, so we had the idea to get one done in sepia tone to make it look vintage.  We even stuck the retro Sigma Chi Cross in there like they did in the old photos. That's me crouching just to the right of the big cross.  I *think* I have a cigar in my mouth.  Neat to see some of these guys that I haven't seen in years.  We had more fun that we should have in that house.  Nat and I are heading down to Champaign soon ourselves.  If there's time, I'm sure we'll stop by the house and poke around a bit.

For Easter, my in-laws gave me this set of Beekman 1802 Heirloom Seeds.   They are part of the Beekman 1802 project  - which is billed as the 'World's Largest Community Garden" where 10,000 people all across the country grow the exact same thing from the same seeds.  You may know the Beekman's from their show , but I think the first time I came across them was when one of them was working for Martha Stewart.   She visited their farm back in 2011 . The set includes some items that I never considered growing including radishes and turnips.  Here's the full list. We're getting close to getting outdoors and planting the garden, so I guess I have to get planning!

My sister Vic gave me this Fighting Ilini candy bar for my birthday over the weekend.  Pretty clever idea by the folks at Russell Stover to license NCAA teams, isn't it?  Makes buying a chocolate bar a neat gift, doesn't it?  Thanks, Vic!

This song came on my radio when I was scrolling around and I'm (ashamed?) to say that I stuck with it.  Then re-wound and listened to it again.  Shame on me, right?

I was gifted this beautiful wood carving tool set on Friday which includes a 15 different tools including a bench and detail knife.  Along with this set, I'm now in possession of 4 different shaped blocks of basswood to get started.  I'm a novice when it comes to whittling, so I hesitate to call this a hobby.  My goal is to focus on a Halloween piece, which gives me six months to get a piece done.  Enough time?  I sure hope so.

After a lot of worrying, swearing, and a big mess, look what popped out of my little mold:  my first chocolate bunny.  I need to take a paring knife and clean up the seams, but I have to say that I'm quite (pleasantly) surprised by how this one turned out. I was very worried about the tempering of the chocolate, but I since Nat bought *nice* chocolate bars to use, there was more room for error?  I didn't use chips nor those Wilton discs. That's the great news.   The bad news?  Each one takes forever.  My goal was 12.  I've gotten just two of them done. The process is such that you temper the chocolate then pour it into the bottom of the mold.  Tap it around and then pour it back out.  Then wait.  And wait.  Until it sets.  All the while keeping the chocolate warm.  Then, you pour in the chocolate again to build up a second layer.  Then pour it out.  And...wait.  Then..repeat a 3rd time.  Soon, y...

This is the second year I've made Faux Chocolate Bunnies out of Water Putty and reproductions of vintage chocolate molds.  The picture above was shot last night after applying the first coat of chocolate-colored brown paint.  A few more coats plus one or two coats of a clear acrylic spray to give 'em a little bit of shine and they'll be ready to go. These are decidedly more vintage that last year's version and I think because of that I like them a little bit better.  The mold was a lot more complex with little nooks/crannies that I couldn't always get the bubbles out from, so there are a few tiny voids, but for the most part you wouldn't notice them unless I pointed them out. I also made a decision to leave a good bit of the 'seam' in the middle of the bunny on purpose.  I took out my Dremel and ground it down to a very slight ridge, but since these things are supposed to replicate chocolate bunnies (which have the seam), I wasn't that worried...

At least that's my goal:  going to try my hand at tempering chocolate , pouring it into this mold (which is about 4 inches tall), letting the mold get coated, pouring the chocolate out, letting the mold set then repeat two or three more times.  Followed by filling the interior of the mold with a peanut butter/powdered sugar combo then sealing off the bottom with even more chocolate. I'd like to make a dozen or so of them.  Ambitious, that's for sure.

Those of you who are still getting the dead-tree-version of the Chicago Tribune were greeted with this grizzly sight this morning:  my mug on the cover of the Arts & Entertainment section. We hosted our US Launch event at the Art Institute of Chicago for the second round of the Google Art Project.   The Tribune did a nice job covering the details of the project.   There are plenty of things that Google is involved with that are "cool", but this in particular is a neat project because it breaks down so many barriers and allows *anyone* in the world to enjoy and participate in arts and culture.