Ham Sandwich Indicted!

It's damn near impossible (at least for me) to take a picture of braised meat that looks half way decent, but you'll just have to trust that it tastes amazing. Beef cheeks, you ask?  Are those what I think they are? Yes, they are on-the-face-cheeks, not rear-end-cheeks.  They're a tough, fat and sinew-marbled piece of meat, and are surprisingly big, as evidenced below: Big hunks of meat, huh? (And that's just two.) Anyway, somewhere along the way I read an article about beef cheeks and decided to give them a go.  After talking to the fine folks at Bluescreek Farms , I pre-ordered a "bunch" of cheeks and picked them up a week later...A bunch turned out to be about five and a half pounds for $18.  A pretty good bargain, I'd say.  I took home my bag o'cheeks and surfed the internet for ideas. (Not happening: The French Laundry's "Tongue in Cheek" --not because I'm anti-tongue, but I was really not interested in a three day project....

Hey! A post not about food! Sometime earlier this year, I decided to make the switch from being a runner (ha!) to being a triathlete (double ha!).  Partially it was because I started swimming at my gym and remembered how much I enjoyed it and partially because I finally got a bike (free! from a friend!), but mostly because I was really starting to lose interest in the running-for-a-long-Fing-time thing.   I dipped my toe in the proverbial (and literal) water at a mini-sprint in July and had a blast. It was a .25 mile swim, a 7 mile bike, and a 2 mi. run. I did the whole thing in under an hour and felt pretty spectacular about myself.  So much so that I signed up for a "regular" sprint (.4, 15, 3.1) that I completed last weekend.  ...It was an altogether different experience. But, like every good race, it was a learning one.  And now, at no cost to you, I'm going to share what I learned during that long, somewhat painful triathlon, so that you might learn fr...

Sometimes, the universe conspires so perfectly to create a weekend of such magnitude and blessings, that it is nothing short of breathtaking.  Sometimes, the love, passion, and joy of six people is so great that a seventh one decides she has to join the party.  That was the case this weekend, when I went up to Petoskey, on the far Northern tip of Michigan, to visit my very pregnant friend B, her husband, and his father and brothers that also happened to be in town. Being that we're a group of people for whom food shortages are not an option (and because I couldn't sleep at 6am that morning), I brought up a peach-cardamom coffee cake, based essentially on this Cook's Illustrated recipe from The New Best Recipe  cookbook . I should have known I had no need for such worries as a lack of baked goods, however, as B married into an amazing family of very accomplished bakers and cooks, and for dinner that first night they 'threw' together a meal of homemade focacc...

While the East Coast was battening down the hatches, 12,000 Central-Ohioans came out to the Columbus Commons to celebrate the awesomeness that is food truck culture.  Some of the local stand-bys were there, (Mikey's Late Night Slice, Jeni's, The Cheesy Truck) as well as some out of towners/newer offerings (Flippin' Eggroll, Kolache Republic, Lotsa Lobstah).    What follows then, is a collection of images of what turned out to be a delicious and weather-perfect evening. Taking orders at Flippin' Eggroll. Teriyaki chicken and Ruben Egg rolls. Both were delicious. Mojo TaGO had lines the whole night. But then, I think everyone did... "Meating" up at The Sublime Smoker The Paddy Wagon Pulled pork from the Paddy Wagon Scallops from The Munch Box Ladies and Gentlemen, The Munch Box. Tacos from Juniors! Lobster Rolls!!!!! Smoothies and more from Earth's Crust/Crazy Monkey A fine...

Lobsters. Spiders of the sea. Bottom-dwelling bugs whose flesh requires an array of tools and a healthy supply of brute force to access. When you think about it, they seem an unlikely candidate as a luxury foodstuff, and, as David Foster Wallace pointed out in his 2004 essay Consider the Lobster , they were originally considered a cheap and plentiful source of protein for the poor. Now, of course, they're for special occasions and seaside treats.  Or, if you have a couple friends who are willing to pitch in some cash for your crustaceans, backyard dinner parties. A girlfriend requested lobster rolls after seeing my prior post about Rhode Island: soft, top-sliced buns stuffed with a mixture of lobster meat, mayo, and green onions.  Here in central Ohio, we have a surprisingly large number of lobster purveyors, including The Fish Guys at The North Market, and The Lobstah Shack in Mt. Vernon...someplace I've not had the opportunity to try, but have been ...