Why I Oughta...

TOM’S TAILGATER ITALIAN BEEF COURTESY OF Steve Dahl  and  DAHL.COM Ingredients: One 3 ½ to 4 pound boneless beef chuck pot roast One package of Zesty Italian Salad Dressing and Recipe Mix One 16 oz. jar of hot giardiniera One 16 oz. jar of mild giardiniera One dozen baguettes (French rolls) Directions: In a four-quart Crock-Pot, pour in one bottle of giardiniera. Place the roast on top of the layer of giardiniera. Sprinkle the salad dressing mixture on top of the roast. Add the second bottle of giardiniera to the top of the roast. Cover Crock-Pot and cook on high for 6 to 8 hours. When fork tender, shred the roast in the Crock-Pot and allow it to combine with the other ingredients. Slice the baguettes in half and pile on the beef and giardiniera mixture. ------------------------------------ For the babe's baptism party, we hosted a collection of family and friends back at our house after the church proceedings. We ordered some of the food from Maggiano's in

As I've mentioned before, I'm not the baker in the house - Nat (when she has time) enjoys it more than I do.  Her mom shared a recipe for "Red Velvet" cupcakes late last year and much to our chagrin - it called for numerous bottles of red food coloring.  We walked down to the Jewels (yes...I said "Jewels".) and plunked down $4 a piece for the little bottle of McCormick's coloring and went on our way - knowing that had to be a better way. Fast forward a few weeks and we found ourselves in Schweppe's on North Avenue near our house.  Schweppe's is a kitchen-supply shop featuring industrial supplies for commercial applications.  They allow the public in - and charge us a bit more than their restaurant customers - but it is still very cheap! They have everything there from spatulas to snow-cone machines to industrial-sized containers of ketchup.  They also happen to have big bottles of Evon's "Red Color" syrup.  It's about $4 for

I've read RachelleB's posts  in the past about CVS' odd pairings in the liquor department like Cook's Champaign and KY "Touch Lotion" or Merlot and mouth rinse and laughed along at the merchandising mishaps.  I can imagine the dudes who are tasked with creating these pairs wondering if they'd be good fits. Last week, Nat and I were in a Meijer up in Michigan and it seems that they've gotten this "grocery aisle pairings" a bit more fine tuned.  As we were walking down the liquor aisle, I noticed they have packages of ping pong balls and " Wippety Wipes " (you can barely make them out on the left edge of the photo).   Everything you need for a long night of beer pong, I suppose.   Who ever has the job of finding these companion products at Meijer in Michigan clearly has a stronger finger on the pulse of drinkers than the folks at the CVS in Chicago. It isn't perfect being liquor and not beer, but not bad.

The web is full of interesting things - probably infinitely more interesting than my posts here.  To get a full sense of what catches my eye across the web, you can now follow me on Google Buzz here .  There's a lot in there including my Twitter account, my shared items from Google Reader, my Picasa photos, YouTube videos and more. I've also put up a link to my Buzz page on the top right - and included a nifty little image that someone was nice enough to make and set free out on the web. Sure I'm biased, but I think there's something worth investing some time in with it.  I live most of my life in the Google Cloud, and this seems to have quite an ambitious road map around Google services.  For me it is a nice fit.  Maybe it will be for you, too? Would love to see you over on Buzz .

Earlier this year, I said we were finally thinking about finishing our fireplaces .  Wanted to share the progress with you.  Still plenty of work to do on this one and the other one, but hopefully before the weekend is out, these will be grouted and ready to roll.  Just in time for the babe's baptism party on Sunday.

5 years ago today, Nat and I went out on our first date.  I still remember just about everything about that night.  What she was wearing.  Where she lived. What I was wearing.  What I ate.   Where we sat .  How nervous I was in the cab ride there, etc. The night couldn't have gone any better.  In fact, my life changed that night.  Changed for the better in a big way.  I'll save my mushy-ness for something more personal (like a Google buzz! [kidding, people, kidding]), but I know that asking her out - in a pressure cooker that is the days leading up to Valentine's Day - turned out to be the best decision of my life. Needless to say, I'm a thankful guy for everything she's done for me.    Love you, Nat. Here's to lots more celebrations.  Together.

Not to be confused with New Belgium Brewing in Colorado, New Holland Brewing is a rapidly expanding Western Michigan brewing outfit based in Holland Michigan.  Home to more than 15 original brews including 4 year-around beers.  It seems that they've recently ventured out into the "spirits" business with a vodka, gin, rum and whiskey.  Quite the alcoholic empire. Nat and I had never been to Holland - we're St. Joe's and South Haven folks with an occasional trip to Saugatuck.  So last week, during our time off, we ventured up 196 to check out Holland and the New Holland Brewing Company. We walked in (with our baby seat in tow), and I was immediately struck by all the pizzas being consumed in the place.  Based on the Yelp reviews, I was expecting pub fare.  Spying our babyseat in tow and knowing we'd most likely have a screaming baby, they dragged us all the way to the back room - upstairs in fact - instead of sitting in the main dining room/bar.  That, alon

Coloma Michigan, where my family has been going for over 20 years has a lot of natural beauty.  Most of it involves Paw Paw Lake.  My parents bought their place up there in the late fall of 1989 and one of our first trips was in December.  Being a lake-town, the place was quiet and there wasn't a lot to do.   But...like a beacon in the night, the Loma Theatre was open.  The neon sign wasn't working, the marquee was poorly utilized (lots of "5's" for "S's" and such) and the movies were second run at best. I forget which movie we went to (as a family) that night, but I vividly remember walking into one of the 3 cramped theatres and seeing a section of seats roped off with yellow "caution" tape.  About half way through the movie we found out why the tape was there as a portion of the ceiling collapsed in and slammed to the floor.  The place was in rough shape. Since then, I'm not certain what has happened, but the place has been transfo

Just back yesterday from a week of rest - we've been up in Michigan taking the week off.  We did a lot of nothing and loved every minute of it.  Really feel recharged at work this morning after being away all week.   Have to do this more often. We spent time in Holland, St. Joe's (more on those soon) and South Haven.  South Haven is a short drive away from Coloma.  We head there for coffees/sodas in the morning at Cafe Julia  and enjoy the town a bit.  They have these cookies called "The Cookie" which are spectacular.  I think they used to call them "granola clusters" but changed the name at some point.  I can't recommend them enough.  If someone has reverse-engineered the recipe of these things please notify my wife Nat! We always park in the big municipal lot - which during the summers has a wonderful farmer's market and during the winter they turn into a ice rink.  They built this structure a few years back and it really turned out great. This

You're really missing some good comedy.  Seriously. Nat and I don't stay up that late very often, but when I do, I always go to bed with my belly hurting from laughing so much.  Most of the times, like last night, I catch him on Fridays. Some say that "he's the best thing to happen to late night tv since Carson."  He doesn't seem to get too much credit for having a great show, but much like Conan was on Late Night, I suspect he has a very loyal following who hangs on his every show. Craig's show is a bit different than Letterman/Leno/Conan.  He does bits just like them, but the biggest difference is in how the show opens.  He does a long monologue.  Like a REALLY long monologue compared to Jay and Dave.   I never noticed it until a friend (who also works in late night tv) mentioned to it, but indeed, he was right:  sometimes the monologue goes past the 30 minute mark and is broken up with commercials.  In fact, he can carry the entire show by himself