Comic-Con Adventure Part Three: Lesson I learned my first day

So, after sitting through a panel discussing the impact of Doc Savage on the development of comic heroes such as Superman and Batman hosted by Anthony Tollin and Michael Uslan (yes, I love pulp fiction too!), I headed down to the volunteer booth.

Annie waiting on her volunteer assignment

Here is where I got my first real lesson about Comic-con: it's all about waiting. Waiting to get your assignment at the volunteer booth, waiting to get into the panel you want to see, waiting to buy the collectible toy you must have, waiting to get on the trolley, etc.

The second thing I learn is there are just too damn many people to manage efficiently. My first assignment was to line wrangle. I stood in front of a door for three hours and made sure no one in the really, really long line blocked access to the fire exit. The folks in this line were waiting to buy limited edition toys from Hasbro. So to pass the time, I struck up a conversation with a guy in line -asking about what he collects, what he was excited to see... and it turns out he is originally from Cincinnati. Very Cool. Chat a little bit more about collectibles - and I mention I had really wanted a Iron Man Mighty Mugg, but that I doubted I would be able to stand in line for the three and a half hours(!!!!!!!!) it was going to take. So this great guy (whose name I forget and I am really sorry!) offers to get it for me and to call me on his cell when he is finished. He says he is standing in line for the GI Joe Collectables so one more figure wouldn't matter.

This is where I learned the third thing about Comic-con. It is filled with great people. About 2 hours later, I get a call on my cell. I was now the proud owner of an Iron Man Might Mugg. So my mystery friend formerly from Cincinnati -thank you thank you thank you. You made my day.

After line wrangling, I bought lunch. This brought me to lesson number four: bring a sack lunch. A hot dog and a can of Coke cost me $6.00.

I then decided that I wanted to go see another panel - this one on Science in Science Fiction, host by Dr. Kevin Grazier (former rocket scientist turned science advisor), Jaime Paglia (writer and producer of Eureka) and Phil Plait (badastronomy.com ). And guess what? I got to wait in line almost an hour. It was worth it. It was a great panel.

I staggered through the dealers hall one more time and headed back to the hotel. The amount of walking involved had been too much for the hubby with his bad knees, so I opted to spend some time with him at the hotel pool, then out to dinner. Of course this meant we missed some of the stuff who should have been standing in line for - and possibly some really cool parties but it was nice spending quality time together.

We went to this place called Santana's for burritos. While it was a local fast food chain, it was still better than most of the Mexican food here in Columbus. We had huge burritos and a variety of fresh made salsas - kinda like what Chipolte would like to be.



Tony got a California Burrito. It had everything a normal burrito had plus fried potatoes. Topped with their tomatilla based green salsa - it was great.


I had the Carne Assada burrito. Really nice... I also got some sides, like chips and guacamole plus some beans - don't bother. Stick with the burritos.



By the time we got back to the hotel, Tate and Annie were back. They had eaten some tacos from a small joint around the corner. Good but nothing to right home about.

The whole group then tumbled into bed. The last lesson I learned: Take along really good walking shoes. My dogs were barking when I finally passed out in the hotel room.

Adventures at Comic-Con Part Deux

So - we get off the airplane in Phoenix about midnight, drive through to San Diego in a rented minivan and show up at registration for the Convention at the buttcrack of dawn.

We pull into our chosen hotel, Old Town Inn, which is located about five miles North of the convention center. Having researched the heck out of the whole shebang before we left Columbus, we chose this hotel for two reasons

1) We could get a room. The hotel rooms downtown were sold out in about two days via the booking service that the convention uses to manage room rental.
2) It was close to the Old Town Transit Station, which provided access to a special light rail route that would take us right to the convention center from our hotel. (Hey Columbus!!! Pay attention here!!! A ten minute ride to a major convention from an outlying hotel!!!)

Oh and one more reason - this hotel get a lot of good reviews online.

So we pull in after 10 hours of travel with little or no sleep, looking and feeling like the winners we are and stagger into the hotel lobby. The hotel staff is great. Of course our rooms won't be ready until 3pm that day, but they might be able to get us in as early as 11am, and yes - we can use their restroom and park our rental car in their lot while we stagger over to the light rail station. Nice nice people.

We then go hit Denny's for breakfast. Not because we really want to, but because we could figure out how to get in and out of their parking lot. Let's just say the little grey cells were running very slow by that point for all involved. One nasty breakfast later - we head down to the convention center.

Annie and I had both volunteered. Annie - cuz she is a cheapskate who was paying her own way (Yes, she had to earn the money for the plane ticket and her part of the hotel room. If you need a baby sitter in the Clintonville area, she is starting to save up for next summer's vacation already!)

Why did I volunteer? Because volunteering lets you do two things. The first is see how the whole convention works from the inside and help out the poor beleaguered souls who give up their time to organize and run the convention. The second? So I could keep tabs on the offspring. (Yeah, I'm such a mom.)

Tony and Tate bought registrations. It's $75 for the entire weekend. That is Thursday-Saturday with a Wednesday night preview. As far as convention costs go, that isn't too bad. Volunteer registration is fairly well organized. We get through, sign up for our assignments, then wander around inside the convention center and look at the mass of humanity pressing against the lobby doors waiting to get in. Tony and Tate join the throng from the outside, queueing up to get their prepaid registrations.

Did I mention there are no on-site registration sales? Too bad if you snoozed. Amazingly enough, Tony says the line went very quickly. They had about 100 people processing entrants in a large hall, then folks were herded into a waiting area for the convention to open.

At 9 am, the doors opened and people rushed into convention center and immediately flooded the Dealer's Hall. The Swag Rush has started. It's like freaking 1849, but for collectibles instead of gold.

(What is Swag you ask? Swag is all the cool freebies that are given out over the course of the convention - it can be anything from posters, to books, to action figures. Some items become very sought after - like the huge swag bags from Warner Brothers, which you need to have to have to carry all your other swag. I ended up with over six swag bags filled with stuff. I'll go more into this later.)

OK - here is how big and crowded the Dealer Hall was. My first panel wasn't until 10am, so I decided to walk the length of the hall. According to my calculations, the hall was almost 900 feet long. It was crowded. It took me 20 minutes to walk from one end to the other. Without stopping to geek out. It was just that crowded.

I had lost Annie by this point. And Tate and Tony. We all had things we wanted to see before we headed back to the hotel, plus I was scheduled to volunteer at noon. Ah - foolish, foolish me. I had -maybe - 3 hours sleep. This was going to go great.

So I leave you here until the next installment, intrepid reader. You'll learn more about volunteering, swag monkeys and San Diego.

The Adventures of a Fat Chick at Comic-con

Deep down inside me is a comic book geek. The affliction started when I was a kid reading my dad's old Sad Sack comics from WW2 and the "funny papers" in the Dispatch. From there my habit slowly increased culminating in a $50/month pull at the local comic shop while I was in high school. Once I got to college, I was too broke to buy comics anymore. When Tony and I were dating I would read his stash containing series like American Flagg and Badger.

Eventually we moved onto graphic novels like The Watchmen and V for Vendetta. Those names are household items now, but back then, only us proud geeks knew how good they were.

Annie has turned into a comic book geek too. She dug out our old comic collections early on and tore through them. Now she borrows graphic novels from the library and spends her hard earned babysitting money on titles like Y, the last man and Serenity.

Last January, Annie came to us and said " I am tired of always going on 'working vacations'. I get stuck in the hotel doing nothing for hours on end. For my graduation present, I want to attend Comic-con in San Diego. I know I don't graduate until next year, but I would like to go this year. They have Howard Chaykin and Kevin Smith !"

After looking over last year's schedule, we decided that it looked like a blast. So yes - we went to Comic-con, the biggest Geekfest in America.

Eric, our usual traveling companion, passed for this trip. He is heading to Burning Man this summer. Ah, to be a fly on the wall for that adventure. However, his roommate and our friend Tate, hearing of our pilgrimage, decided that he too must make the trek.

Tate Enjoying himself at Comic-con

So the four of us headed off to the promised land. If you really want to get to know your friends, I recommend taking long trips with them. You will know who your real friends are after being packed into plane for 4 hours, driving through the desert in the wee hours of the morning and then bunking in a really small room with them for six days. If you are still friends after the end of those six days - the relationship can take almost anything.

Tate, bless his heart, is a planner. He made sure we had water as we drove through the desert. He thoughtfully brought earplugs and a sleeping mask so as to blind himself to the various noises our family is reported to make while sleeping. He was easygoing when it came to the schedule and even seemed to enjoy our adventures as "swag monkeys". The only strike against him was some of his nocturnal poses - usually involving creative yoga-like positions I don't he could have achieved in a waking state. A lesser person would have taken pictures, but I resisted. I am sure our other friends will be disappointed.

Now that you have the cast - next the play!

Ok folks - sorry I haven't been posting lately, but we have been out of town for the last two weeks.

Where did the clan go you ask?

COMIC-CON!!!!!!!

Yup - we actually took a vacation that was not work related. Our inner geeks were fulfilled.

I have been trying to write all the great things I got to see and do in San Diego, but it is gonna take some time. With 125,000 people crammed into one convention center - well you can kinda guess at the bedlam that ensued.

So I will be back soon...promise....

I went to see the Dark Knight with the hubby and offspring last night at Studio 35 for the12:01 am showing.

Oh.
My.
Gawd.

Amazing!
Fantastic!
I am going to see it at least twice more!!

And I am really glad to have seen it a Studio 35.

The place was packed. Eric, Vicki and crew spent a lot of time getting everything ready - including repainting the lobby with blackboard paint. They put out a couple huge containers of sidewalk chalk and let folks decorate the theater to their hearts content.

Support your local theater boys and girls!

Studio 35 will be showing The Dark Knight for at least two more weeks.

Book Review:The Sweet Melissa Baking Book

Before our most recent warm spell, I got into baking frenzie. Not only did I accomplish the May Daring Baker's Challenge, but I decided to explore a new book called The Sweet Melissa Baking Book by Melissa Murphy.

I will confess that I was sent this book by Penguin Books for review. But those of you who are my regular readers know that getting something for free does not mean I will give it a favorable review. My last foray into book reviews was not a pleasant experience, so once bitten, twice shy I say.

One of the things that gave me hope for this book from the beginning was the picture on the front cover. I believe the recipe is of the Fallen Chocolate Soufflé Cake. It looks like something I could serve at home. It's not perfect looking - it's no Ace of Cakes creation but it looks like something you would make for a family gathering were all the old hen aunts would criticize the way the cake was all "cracked up" then cluck at you for the recipe once they had tasted it. Them's the kinda recipes I like.

And it's the kind of recipes that Melissa likes too. In her forward, Melissa stated she wanted to use her training to infuse home style baked goods with a French pastry flair - thereby "making every one's favorite desserts better than they've had them before". An admirable cause in the advancement of baking if you ask me. Nothing like burning down the house. And thankfully, she decided to spill the beans so that people like me - out in the heart of the Midwest - could learn make her recipes.

Just to give you a little bit of background, Melissa started her bakery Sweet Melissa Patisserie ten years ago. It was the culmination of her culinary training that started at her mother's knee. She received her formal training at the French Culinary Institute then went out into the big wide world and worked her way up to owning her own store. Personally I am a little jealous of those who live within driving distance of her locations Brooklyn.

Her bakeries are all full service offering everything from those highly decorated fondant covered creations that set the standard for special occasion cakes these days to the homey desserts featured in this book. Some of those recipes include Toasted Almond Lemon Bars, Double Dark Chocolate Cherry cookies, and Caramel Apple Turnovers.

So why should you buy this book? You already have a million cookbooks - and they have recipes for things like Toasted Almond Lemon Bars, Double Dark Chocolate Cherry cookies, and Caramel Apple Turnovers. Yeah me too. I can't help myself. I love buying cookbooks. However, I have set some pretty high standards because otherwise I would be pushed out of house and home by my book collection. So how do I judge whether a book will be added to my collection? I am glad you asked!

First - It is long on food porn and short on text? There are a lot of cookbooks that rely on how pretty their food looks to sell copies. You know the ones I am talking about - Big color picture on the left page, two paragraph recipe on the right. I am not saying that these books are bad, but I like detailed instructions with my recipes. As a baker I am a little above the "hold my hand through every step" level, but if it is something I never baked before I like to have visual and tactile cues included to help guide my judgment. Examples would be to bake cookies until they are "golden around the edges" or "stir constantly over medium heat until the mixture just begins to thicken".

Second - Ingredients. Am I going to have to take out a second mortgage to purchase the items to make the recipes out of this book? Yeah 25 year old Basalmic may be freaking fantastic over fresh ripe melon and prosciutto. It may be freaking organismic. But my checkbook will never get to find out, as I refuse to spend that much on one ingredient. So what it comes down to is - do I already have the ingredients? If not, are they readily available and easy on the pocketbook?

Third - Difficulty level. Even though I am a member of Daring Bakers, I will admit that I am not the world's most accomplished cook when it comes to certain things - I can't make a good meringue (much to my great shame). I would say I am a intermediate cook - maybe just about ready to go into advanced stuff if I had the time to focus. So when I pick up a book, I look for things that I can either a) whip up with out any problems or b) are just enough of a challenge to advance my culinary skills without overwhelming me.

Fourth -Recipes. Well that is the whole reason huh? I've picked up cookbooks and didn't see anything that got my juices going. Too exotic :"Nope - nope - just can't see myself making anchovy and lemon biscotti." or too overdone: "Do I really need another recipe for Fettucini Alfredo?" I kinda think of most cookbooks as being like a wedding: Something old, something new, something borrowed and something that will make the salivary glands moisten up. (Hey, blue food is scary!) Also, are the recipes well written. Can I read them over and get a pretty good idea of what the whole procedure is? Are the ingredients listed clearly? Are there instructions on how to store the finished product and do they tell me how long this thing is gonna last (if it makes it that far)? If it is a "healthy" book, does it give me a nutrition breakdown?

Lastly - who wrote the book? Yeah it can be important. I am not a fame snob - just because you are famous doesn't mean that you can write a cookbook or more likely have one written for you under your supervision (Like a certain celeb chef who initials are RR). So does this person have the chops to write a book? How many years experience does the person have in the kitchen? Did she have formal training? Is he an experienced writer and/or have good editors? (A good publishing house can go a long way to making what could have been a mediocre book into a good one - an experienced editor is worth their weight in dark chocolate.) One of my favorite cookie books is by Richard Sax. (Most folks aren't familiar with his work. Sadly, Richard passed away back in 1995.) It looks like a tiny little toss away paperback book. The cover is really kitzy, it has no pictures of the food but the moment I read the recipes, I knew this guy had chops. I still make recipes from that book twenty years after I first purchased it. Quality will show itself when you read enough crap.

So - enough of my soap box - on to the main event.

So how did The Sweet Melissa Baking Book measure up under my critical eye?

Pretty darned good actually. (Yeah I know you were all waiting for me to trash it - HA!)

Criteria number one: Food porn - There is some. Just a slim section of full color pages. I like it best when you have a centerfold. A little "cheesecake" goes a long way.

Criteria number two: Ingredients - Nothing here that is too exotic, nothing you would have to order from the Internet if you lived in the wilds of rural Ohio. True, there are some things you would have to lay out some $$$ for such good chocolate or fresh raspberries (unless you have a line on that kinda thing), but nothing that will make you take out a second mortgage on the house.

Criteria number three: Difficulty - This book would be accessible from an intermediate beginner on up. I say "intermediate beginner" (is that an oxymoron?) because if you don't know what creaming, sifting and folding is - you need a book with some training wheels on it before you get to this book. Would this book challenge an advanced cook or professional? Most likely not.

Criteria number four: Recipes - The mixture of recipes is good. It fulfills all the requirements for a good marriage - old (ginger snaps and butterscotch pudding), new (Bee Stings), borrowed (black bottom brownies) and mouthwatering (ummm - almost everything is the book made my mouth water...)

Criteria number five: Author - Until I got this book, I had never heard of The Sweet Melissa Patisserie. I had never heard of Melissa Murphy. While she has never published a book before, I do like the fact that she is a working pro and that the recipes are from her personal collection. It means the recipes were tested on real people before she published them; and that she has been in business ten years tells me she understand what people like. The way the book is written has a quiet confidence without tooting too much horn. The whole product is very welcoming and accessible.

Verdict: If you like to bake and need some solid recipes to add to your repertoire, then this is a book you need add to your collection. I know there are several other items that I want to make when autumn rolls around - and once the folks at work tasted my trial recipe, they wanted to borrow the book too. The Sweet Melissa Baking Book is definitely a keeper.

So all the being said: what the hell did I make out of the book you ask? (That was a long way to go for just a recipe and a crappy picture of some food wasn't it?)

Sweet Potato Bread with Cinnamon-Rum-Orange Glaze

I picked this recipe for several reasons:

1. This recipe seemed to be tailor made for my pantry - except for the canned sweet potatoes. I like my sweet potatoes fresh and oven roasted. (And yes - I did have rum in my pantry. I always have rum in my pantry!)
2. I have a real soft spot for home-style baked goods. This is one of those cakes that would show up at a ladies' bible study or something like that.
3. If the author is to be believed, the fact this is a staff favorite was a good sign that it would be a winner.
4. And last - it seemed really quick. I need quick at this point in my life. I don't have the time to make multiple layered pastries with homemade icings and glazes on a regular basis - and I am betting most people don't either. I figured that this recipe is one that would get used again and again. (I was right too - the hubby has been begging me to make it again.)

The cake turned out rich, moist and flavorful. The glaze gave it a little bit of a crunchy surface. It was easy to make and it didn't last long enough for me to find out of it would get stale. So here ya go - I hope you give it a try.

SWEET POTATO BREAD WITH CINNAMON-RUM-ORANGE GLAZE

Every Friday Jessie, one of my top bakers at Sweet Melissa’s, makes quick breads and loaf cakes for those customers getting ready to go out of town for the weekend. They stop in on their way out to the Hamptons on Long Island or the Jersey Shore and pick up a stash of Sweet Melissa's treats to nibble on. I love the thought of my cakes and cookies in their beautiful kitchens with ocean views.

This quick bread has "home sweet home" written all over it. One of the many things I like about this recipe, which is based on a recipe by my all-time favorite pastry chef, Andrea Lekberg, is that it is so inexpensive to make and is one of the best things you'll ever eat.

The staff at Sweet Melissa's goes crazy for sweet potato bread. We make an extra one just for slicing so we can all get our fill (which is very good for morale!).

Makes one Bundt pan

FOR THE BREAD

Two 15-ounce cans sweet potatoes, drained

2 cups sugar

2/3 cup vegetable or canola oil

2 large eggs

2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg

3/4 teaspoon kosher salt

2/3 cup pecans, coarsely chopped

FOR THE CINNAMON-RUM-ORANGE GLAZE

1/4 cup fresh orange juice

1/4 cup rum

1/2 cup sugar

2 cinnamon sticks

BEFORE YOU START

Position a rack in the center of your oven. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter and flour a 10-cup Bundt pan.

1. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on low speed, mash the sweet potatoes until smooth (this will make about 2 cups). Add the sugar and oil and mix to combine. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each ad­dition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.

2. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and salt. Add the flour mixture into the sweet potato mixture in three batches, mixing well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Do not over mix. Stir in the pecans.

3. Pour the batter into the prepared Bundt pan. Spin the pan to level the batter. Bake for about 1 hour and 10 minutes, or until a wooden skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove to a wire rack to cool for 20 minutes before inverting onto the rack for glazing.

4. For the glaze: Combine the orange juice, rum, sugar, and cinnamon sticks in a small nonreactive saucepan. Bring to a simmer over low heat and reduce by half. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool slightly before glazing.

5. Using a pastry brush, brush the glaze generously over the still-warm bread. Wait for 10 minutes and glaze again.

Serve at room temperature. Sweet potato bread keeps well wrapped in plastic wrap at room temperature for up to 3 days. For longer storage, freeze wrapped in plastic wrap and then in aluminum foil for up to 3 weeks. Defrost still wrapped at room temperature.

The foregoing is excerpted from The Sweet Melissa Baking Book by Melissa Murphy. All rights reserved. Copyright © Melissa Murphy, 2008.

A tale of chicken - smoked chicken

My Weber kettle finally died. It has sat outside under the eaves of my house most of the time - seeing as I lack a garage or shed in which to house items such as a grill. I think that makes it's 10 year lifespan all the more impressive. Of course, a grill like that just couldn't go gentle into that good night - no, it went out with drama befitting our household.

I wanted to try butterflied grilled chicken. I love grilled chicken, but it has always been problematic - cooked over direct heat as suggested in most recipes leaves you with chicken jerkee. Yuk. So after seeing America's Test Kitchen and reading Mark Bittman's recipe for simple grilled chicken, I decided that yes! I could cook on my kettle using indirect heat! I also decided it should be smoked. Cuz having smoked cold chicken in the fridge is like having money in the bank. yummmmmmmmmm chicken sandwiches..... yummmmmmmmmmmm arugala salad topped with radishes, green onions and smoked chicken.

So I go to the store and buy me some hickory wood chips and charcoal, and a nice plump "natural" chicken (I would hate to have an unnatural chicken - would it have tenticles or something?).

I also stopped by the garden and picked up some radishes and arugala. (Yes - I did finally get my garden in, but it is not as ambitious as in past years. More on that later - this is the grill's story.)

I fired up the coals in the chimney, prepped the chicken, started the rice pilaf - everything's going good....

I stepped out, lifted the chimney, started pouring the glowing coals into the grill and the leg farthest away from me gave way and tilted the grill up against the brick wall of the house... I jumped about 10 feet away. I didn't think I could do that - being old and fat like I am - but hot coals have always been excellent motivators.

So - the conundrum - do I tip the hot coals out? Do I try to prop the leg back up? A holler to the kinfolk brought them out of the house and it was decided by committee that we would try to get the leg back under the grill and then be really really careful. Behold the power of grilled chicken. It makes idiots out of the best of us.

So using lots of oven mitts and more than a little caution, we got the leg propped back up where it belonged. Ms. Chicken went onto the grill - and we just held our breath. It worked. Yeah! The whole technique worked great. The smoke gave the skin a dark mahogany color, the chicken was just ever so slightly kissed by the hickory - and it was really moist. All over. I wished I could say I took a photo of it, but it didn't last that long. The wings didn't even make it off the grill - Tony went out and "liberated" them to see if they were "finished".

I finished off the meal with "fried corn". I had a couple ears of corn left from earlier in the week, plus two pablano peppers. I roasted the peppers over the hot side grill while the chicken cooked. The corn - well I was going to grill it, but all things considered I thought better of that. So I cut the kernels off the cob, fried a little bit of onion in some oil, raised the heat to high, added the corn stirring quickly to develop a brown crust. I pulled it off the heat, added the now diced roasted pablano peppers and a little bit of cumin butter, salt and pepper. (Yeah I cheated with the cumin butter - I melted a little butter in the still hot pan and stirred some ground cumin into it. The heat took the raw edge off the spice.)

Even as I am mourning my loss, I am excited because I get to BUY A NEW GRILL!!!! Wheeeeeee!!!!! I like plain charcoal grills - never really been into gas. The less complicated a tool is the less likely to have problems with it. I ended up buying a 22.5 one touch silver Weber Kettle - the big brother of my previous grill. The best thing about the larger cooking surface? Now I can cook TWO chickens at once. Which we did.

Yummmmmmmmmmm........chicken.......

A side note for those of you who are in the search for cheap kitchenware - Linen and Things up at Polaris is going out of business and right now all their kitchen stuff is 20%.

Vacation - ah how I love vacations....

The family and I just returned from Las Vegas where we lounged by the pool, won some cash and explored the city's food offerings. Some of our friends were able to come with us as well - George, Tate and Moose. Tate and Moose were no strangers to Vegas - they rented a car and proceeded to travel all over the city playing slots and blackjack. Moose in particular had a yen for single deck black jack - had I say, because after an hour at a table in the 4 Queens, he had no love from the single deck and came away much poorer. Fortunately, he enjoyed more luck over at Binion's.

So what did Annie, George and I do the whole time Tate and Moose were gambling? Buying stupid crap for the folks back home. Plus eating of course. Vegas does have a lot of high end eating joints, but sometimes walking on the cheap side has its benefits too.

The first item of note is the staple of the American fast food - the hamburger. A good hamburger is a wonder and a joy. Greasy fried meat topped with lettuce and tomato on a soft roll - ah yes - heaven for the tired traveler.

Two places I would recommend for burgers in Vegas. The first is from a chain- In and Out Burger. I had never been to one before. Moose insisted that I try one. His theory is the more people making your food in the kitchen - the better the food would be. And that is how it worked out. Take your average McDonald's, they have what - maybe 6 - 7 people working the floor during rush. They pre-cook burgers and hold them until needed. It means that they can use less people to serve the same amount of food. In and Out Burger - big difference. We went to the big store off of Flamingo at about 8pm Vegas time. The place was packed. However, thanks to their stripped down menu (burgers, fries, soda and shakes) the ordering goes like this.

"I would like a double double, fries and a chocolate shake."
"Onions?"
"Yes please"

That easy. And reasonably priced as well, so even if the blackjack table ate your cash, you can still afford to get a great burger. Next I watched the kitchen make our food - nothing is made until you order it. That means the burgers are put on the grill when your ticket comes up. That means to fries are cooked right then. And to make sure this happens, I counted about a dozen folks back in the kitchen making the food. 12 cooks. Amazing. The food came pretty darned fast for being as busy as they were - and I really enjoyed everything.

My hubby was so jealous that he didn't get to go we had to make a special trip to pick him up a bag. I was almost tempted to stop by Jack in the Box to snag an empty bag and fill it up with the In and Out Burgers. Just the screw with him mostly - as he claims that Jack in the Box is run by Beelzebub himself. However, I was too tired to really mess with his head and he was able to enjoy his food in peace.

(The one thing I will mention is that tomatoes were banned in Vegas at the time we were there - a salmonella outbreak had been traced to them. Another reason to grow your own folks!)

The second burger of note was at the snack bar at Binion's. The reason I specifically state the snack bar just off the main gambling hall is that the burger there is only $5.50 each as opposed to $7.50 in the restaurants. Same burger - fancier venue. The whole idea of the snack bar is to get your feed on ASAP and then back to the gaming tables. I like to believe that Benny Binion thought of that - being as hardcore about gambling as he was.

Binion's grinds all their meat fresh everyday - or so proclaims the signs strewn about the casino floor. The burger is then fried on a griddle 'til it is well done, served on a roll with all the fixin's with a spoonful of pretty good potato salad - ie it tasted like potatoes and not preservatives. I would equate the type of berger to those served at Steak and Shake. No rare meat to be had - but still I thought it was a great meal while I was wandering through downtown.

While we were Downtown, we had to try one of the more famous cheap eats - the Golden Gate's Shrimp Cocktail. When I first went to Vegas - this was way before they made the downtown area "family friendly" - the cocktails were only $.99 each. But inflation hits even Vegas, so the cocktail is now $1.99 each - still a great deal. And if you are really desperate to save that extra buck, just join the slot club and you can get the treat at it's pre-inflation price of $.99. Here is the cocktail in all it's glory!

The evil inside a deep fried twinkie!

The last thing we did before we left Freemont Street for the El Cortez (another old school casino downtown) was to walk over Mermaids - a slots only place with a snack bar. For us, their claim to fame is the deep fried Twinkies and Oreos. Yeah - we decided that we had to have them. Man - it was enough to cause me to slip into a diabetic coma and yet, it had a strange quality that makes me still crave them even now. I opted for the Twinkies as did Moose and George, while Tate went for the Oreos. Annie, being more sensible than rest of the group just watched us with the same fascination that one watches the freak show at the circus.

So while I was out running around with the gang, the hubby - who has a rule that he never bets on anything that can't talk - put some money down on the Lakers/Celtics game. Later that night, we were about $400 richer thanks to the fact the Lakers didn't make the spread. Very nice.

That meant that we got to play with our "mad cash". We splurged by going to the Mac King show at Harrah's - I love Mac. I've seen his show quite a few times and I still have a lot of fun every time I go. At $25 a head, it is still a great deal compared to some of the big night time shows that charge $75 - $125 per ticket.

The last thing we ate before leaving Vegas was Thai. We ended up at a little Thai place just down the way from the hotel. How did we discover it you ask? There in lies a tale...It was our last morning in Vegas. None of us really wanted to eat the breakfast buffet at the hotel one more time - but what to eat? Tate, Moose and George wanted Thai - something hot and spicy to wake them up and motivate them to the airport.

Ok- that was the easy part...now the hard part - where do we eat Thai? It was decided that we had seen some Thai places just down the road from the hotel earlier in the week and that we should try one of them. So as we drove up and down Sahara Ave., we started to dicker over where we should go. Moose, who was driving, said "We are stopping here." and pulled into the parking lot of a strip mall.



Located next to a shop that sold assless chaps was an establishment that simply said "Thai Restaurant". We were in Vegas - why not gamble?!

Well folks we hit the jackpot. Some of the best Thai food any of us had ever had. The lunch deal went like this - they had a bunch of dishes on the steam table. All were nice and fresh as they had just opened. You could get 2 different dishes plus rice for $6 or 3 different dishes plus rice for $8.

I had a hot and sour soup with lots of greens and pork (it lived up to its name), a stir-fried ground chicken dish kinda like the stuff I make at home with pork (only theirs was much better) and a fishball and bamboo shoot dish (very mild). The other guys ended up getting dishes like hot beef coconut curry, a pork dish with eggplant which was wickedly hot and good - I can't even remember it all. On top of that we ended up ordering Thai coffee and tea. With tip, all six of us ate for about $70.


The "Thai Restaurant" is the reason I have a love/hate relationship with eating out in other cities. The reason I love it is pretty obvious - who doesn't love eating out a great restaurants? The hate part - I get cravings for the food I can't get here in Columbus. So far this year, I've added top notch Carolina Que to my list and now this really great Thai place on Sahara Blvd in Vegas. Next time I go to Vegas, I am definitely going to have to hit a jackpot so that I can retire and spend my life traveling to all my favorite places to eat!

Yes - it is that time of the month again - .It's Daring Bakers!!

This month our challenge was Opera Cake. What - you never heard of Opera Cake? Me either, until the beginning of this month. You know me, my food is a little more rustic - I like my stuff to use a few bowls as possible. Less clean up means more time to eat.

Actually, though the recipe looked complex, once I broke it down into parts, it was actually pretty easy. The challenge rules stated that Opera Cake is usually made with coffee and dark chocolate. Yummmmmmmmmmmm.....but alas! this time we were to make pale cakes loaded with white chocolate in celebration of spring and all the happy birds, flowers and bunnies... Which kinda stank, as I really dislike white chocolate. Ah well...

The recipe consisted of cake layers (joconde - kinda easy),a flavored simple syrup (super easy!), a white chocolate ganache/mousse (which was optional, so I skipped it for the aforementioned reason), a white chocolate glaze (easy peeezy!) and an Italian buttercream (kinda tough but not too bad!). You take all these elements and build a leaning tower of Opera Cake.

We also had the option of favoring the cake and buttercream with anything our little hearts' desired. Me - I chose to stick with an almond based cake, but decided to make a mango flavored buttercream. I had some dried mango I picked up at Trader Joe's and decided that when cooked in a little water, would make a really nice paste which could be mixed into the buttercream without adding too much moisture. I also flavored the simple syrup with cardamon and cinnamon - plus I cheated a little and used the excess cooking water from the dried mango for the liquid. (I've been on an Indian food kick, so the flavor combination seemed to fit.)

Once of the things I liked best about this project is that I could tackle it in piecemeal fashion - one day I made the syrup and buttercream - the next, I baked the cake and assembled it. Unlike a lot of fancy recipes which require a ton of time all in one chunk, this one I would make again just because I could fit it into my busy schedule. The recipe states that the icing can even be made ahead and frozen for up to once month - that makes it a winner in my book!

Finished Buttercream

The buttercream was a pain in the patoot! For those of you who have not made Italian buttercream - it requires you to add blisteringly hot boiling sugar syrup to beaten eggs while the mixer is running with a whisk attachment. Yeah - I was sweating it hard. I could just see something bad happening - burn units and plastic surgery in my future. But thankfully, my luck held and no bodily harm came to me or any member of my household. Also, I had to guess at temperature of the boiling lava- I mean syrup. I do not have the right sized pan to hang my candy thermometer off of - and the instant read I have on hand only goes to 220 degrees. That was kinda scary - but I guessed right and the buttercream came out fantastic. It was all I could do to keep the family out of the bowl once I put it in the fridge.

For the syrup, I just threw in some whole green cardamon pods and a couple cinnamon sticks. The finished flavor in the cake was not super strong, but lent an air of mystery to the whole affair...

The cake batter came together nice and easy. It's once of those recipes that is very simple - therefore you can crash and burn quickly if care is not taken. Tons of eggs whites, beaten to stiff peaks are folded into a nut meal and egg yolk mixture. You can't over-mix or you have almond hardtack - under-mixed, you have big pockets of eggy tasting pockets of fluff. Though the recipe didn't state it - I used the trick of "lightening" the batter by mixing in some of the beaten whites before folding in the rest.

Assembly - well, I could not find my offset spatula. I realized as I was making this at 2 am in the morning that I had loaned it to one of my friends. Yeah me! So with the help of a butterknife, I assembled everything. Cake, syrup, icing,cake, syrup, icing,cake, syrup, icing,cake, syrup, icing, and then.... the glaze. I did white chocolate for the glaze. I would have loved to figure out how to do a fruit based glaze...but I was too darned lazy by this point.


Here is my pale, pale creation with all of its hidden exotic flavors. It made a boatload of cake which I ended up taking to work and calling friends to stop over and help me eat it. The hubby's verdict: The cake was simply a buttercream delivery system but on the other hand he said he never believed that he would like a non-chocolate cake this much. My friend Eric simply asked us to leave the room so he could have some private time with his slice.

So yes - this is one of those recipes that I would make again. In fact, I know that I will get requests very soon.

This month's challenge was hosted by four of our group: Lis, Fran, Shea and Ivonne. This month's challenge is dedicated to Barbara of winosandfoodies.com and her commitment to the LiveSTRONG foundation founded by Lance Armstrong. Barbara, despite her own everyday challenges, hosted an event called Taste of Yellow in support the LiveSTRONG foundation. On her site, Barbara shares with us her own personal story. That takes a lot of courage. It also takes a lot of courage to want to continue when it is easier to submit. So I am dedicating my post to Barbara, Lance and all the other people out there who find the courage to get up and keep on going.

Book Review: Comfort Food by Kate Jacobs

A while back Penguin Books emailed me asking if I would like to review a book. I like to read books and I said "Sure - send it!"

The premise behind Comfort Food is that "Gus" Simpson, an aging star of a cable food network, hits a big hiccup in her life and career - her ratings are slipping, her two daughters are in the midst of turmoil - and to make matters worse, the network has saddled her with a younger, glamorous co-host who is constantly trying to upstage her. Sounds like a pretty good premise right? I thought so too when I cracked the cover.

After spending two days reading this book, I felt as though I was never going to be done soon enough. The problem was that poor execution really kept this book from reaching its potential. The first half of the book is more of an expose on all the characters - even minor ones - that went on and on. Did I really need to know that much about the contest winner that was introduced about halfway through the book? And what real purpose did she even serve? The character really didn't further the plot and kind left me feeling as if I had been cheated in the way she was kind of swept under the rug after the big build up.

The whole thing smacked of soap opera at its cheesiest. What was the next big drama?! The daughter who has been engaged 5 thousand times is engaged again - and it might stick this time! Gasp! Wait wait - Gus's best friend has a terrible secret from her past that caused her to become a recluse and it's about to be revealed!! Double Gasp! The whole crew is sent to a "bonding weekend" - watch the fur fly!!! Triple Gasp!! Ummmmm...not really...

So what was it that I wanted? More, that's what I wanted. If you are going to go for the soap opera approach - let's just go over the top. The co-host should have been a uber-bitch who would stop at nothing. Gus should have had some personal earth shattering event - like her uterus falling out during the taping of her new show. Yes, I wanted pure unadulterated over-the-top melodrama. As it was, what happened to the characters was just plain dull - and the wrap up even duller.

Once the "introductions" were over the book was pleasant enough. Just think "Chick Flick" and you would be dead on. If you can get past the bad plotting, the two dimensional characters, slow pacing of the book, and the "everybody is happy" ending, then this book is for you. God help ya if you can't find anything else better to read. I've got an extra copy of Valley of the Dolls if you want some dirt for your summer reading list.

Yeah yeah yeah you say - so what did you expect? I should have known better I tell ya! You always pay for the things you get for free!

Let's break for a news bulletin!!

So - I moved to a new position at work and ended up with a schedule that makes it impossible for me to go to the Farmer's Markets on Saturdays. I am very sad.

And to make matters worse - I also can't get my garden put in. It's just been too damn wet. What's up Mother Nature?! Do you have it in for me?

I am excited about a lot of non-food related things coming up in the next month.

The first is Cinevent, a movie convention that will be held over Memorial Day weekend. Tony, Annie and I are all old movie buffs. And that is what this convention is all about - movies that were made 1955 or before. If you like Turner Classic Movies - you'll probably love this convention. Talkies, Silent, Westerns, Comedies, Action, Animation - you name it there is something on the bill for everyone. We've been going to Cinevent on and off for almost 15 years now and every year we see something that we fall in love or discover an old star that shouldn't have been forgotten. Plus - and a big plus for me - is the dealer's room. Posters, movie stills, 16mm and 35mm films plus tons of other movie related items to buy and enjoy at home. I usually add a few more posters to my collection every year. And for the folks who really love eye candy and have the deep pockets to own it, a huge movie poster auction is held every year as well. Even if you don't care to bid, it's worth it to take a spin through the auction room during the preview.

While I love newer movie posters, some of the old ones have a impact that is hard to resist. As a little treat, here is one of the posters I picked up last year. I wanna see the evil orgies now! God I love schlock!



Now after sitting in a dark hotel ballroom watching old movies, where do you think I'll be heading on Monday night? You guessed it! Right back to see more movies!! This time we are heading to Studio 35 for the opening weekend of the new Indy Jones movie. I am in total movie geek heaven - watching one of my favorite characters in a great theater drinking really good beer and eating pizza. So folks - if you want to see Indy Jones opening week- please head on over to Studio 35 and say "Hi!" To Eric and Rita. Tell them Rosie sent ya!!

Lastly - we are heading out to another magic convention, this time in Vegas. Now you would think we would have learned our lesson, but nooooooooooooooo... Like moths to the flame... Amazingly enough, three of our non-magician friends have decided to come with us. The poor fools - little do they suspect...

Well, on the food front - not much happening here in my kitchen. My work schedule has kept me busy and I've been eating a lot of my stand-bys like pasta, salads and sadly - lots of take out.

I did get to go out for Mother's Day. The family took me to Smackies - the best 'que joint in Columbus. Sunday brunch was fine as always - in fact they have extended the offerings to include a custom omelet station staring their signature omelet names the smokehouse special. It contains pulled pork, brisket, cheese and onions. Yummmmm... The really great news is that they seem to have a better handle on the waitstaff - considering how busy they were, the gal who waited on us did a great job. Since the summer is coming up, I hardily recommend stopping in for some sweet tea and brisket. (I am having a hard time eating any pulled pork after my Carolina experience... no reflection on Smackies..)

I am working to perfect a good pickled egg recipe for football season - anyone have any suggestions?

Daring Bakers is coming up very soon and I can't wait to show you this month's disaster..I mean, challenge.

So that is it for now - I am trying hard to get some more stuff written, but I can only squeeze it in here and there until things simmer down.

And just in case there is a sugar daddy out there who wants to buy me a nice present (hint hint hubby!!!), here is a link to the poster I want most! !!

Fayetteville part two

So we finally got into Fayetteville NC - land of strip clubs and bars (saw a couple of pawn shops too!) . Yes there are other businesses in town but at 11pm coming in along Bragg Blvd - that was all we could see.

Prince Charles Hotel: I confess - I stole this picture from the internet - mine didn't come out!

We pulled into the Prince Charles Hotel about 11:30 pm. It was the tallest building we had seen in the town since we pulled in - eight stories tall. It was built in 1924 and like all grand dames, while she may have had a face lift on numerous occasions but once you get a close look, she isn't fooling anyone - there are places that are sagging that give away her age. We got checked into our suite, which we thought would have a king sized bed, but instead had two full sized beds. Now those of you who have met me and the hubby know that we are not going to fit into one full sized bed - a queen would be a tight fit. After the appropriate Hays office jokes we proceeded to tuck into our separate beds and pass out.

Next morning we get up - are surprised to find out there is no breakfast. The hotel had offered a free breakfast. Now I assumed it would be along the lines of what most hotels offer - juice, milk, coffee, rolls, toast - American "continental" fare. Nope - turns out they cook to order. Except for this morning. Someone had locked up the kitchen the night before and not left the key for the morning staff. No free breakfast for us!!

Being adventurous, we hopped in the car and started driving looking for a chicken and biscuit place recommended by one of the idle kitchen staff. Well - we never found it. Never found the liquor store she was talking about either. (Yes were were looking for booze at 10 am. This should be an early warning sign.) We did find the Rainbow restaurant. You know the old adage about "look for a full parking lot - the locals know what is good" - in this case it was dead on. We sat in "The Smoking Section" - yes in the heart of tobacco country, free choice is alive and well. I insisted we sit in the smoking section for the novelty of it and I am glad we did.

Jada: Best Damn Waitress Ever!

There we met Jada - one of the highlights of our trip. Jada was handling her section of the restaurant with a grace that only comes with long years of practice. Regulars were coming in and asking to be seated in her section - and were greeted with a big bottomless cup of joe and a big smile. Some of them even got hugs. We got to chat with Jada a little bit as she hustled to and fro in her section. She had started waiting tables when she was 15 and ended up saying with it for over 20 years. She asked our names - and even gave us a little hug as we went out the door. I only wish the Rainbow was a little closer to home...we would be regulars.
The food was great too - nothing fancy, but correctly prepared every time. And I do mean every time, as we ended up eating there three out of the four days we stayed in the Prince Charles. Eggs done right, buttered toast, crispy hash browns - it's what you want TeeJay's to be when you stop in and rarely ever is. The highlight for us ended up being the country ham - a huge piece of salty hammy goodness. All that and many many cups of hot black java steeled us for what was would be a very exciting weekend.

Ah yes - the convention. The whole reason for the trip. Tony and I do about 2 or 3 conventions a year. Sometimes we get a dealer's table, sometimes Tony will lecture and sometimes we just go to be going - and we always throw a party when we get there. The convention - which for reasons which will become apparent - will remain unnamed. This was the first time we had been invited to this convention - and at first we had sat on the fence about going. But as the line up of talent got larger and larger and included some of the best closeup magicians in the world, we eventually broke down as decided to go as a dealer. The organizer, whom we had never met before, has said there would be about 100-150 people at the convention. While that was a pretty small number of attendees, it is still possible to make a enough money to cover your nut plus a small profit. Plus, Tony had talked to the organizer who has said he would pitch in some cash to help cover the expense of an after hours party - free booze and snacks tend to get pricey after three nights.

Friday and Saturday went great - several of the lecturers were people we had hung out with before and they actually seemed glad to see us. Some of the folks we had been chatting with over the Internet and it was great to put faces to names. And lastly we met some new people who - after Sunday - would become connected to us as well. The lectures were great - some really top notch folks were in attendance. However, by Saturday morning, we could only count about 40-50 people at the lectures - much less than the number we expected. The dealers room was dead - and no one was making any money. Tony worked like a dog to get people part with their cash - and it was like pulling teeth. We hoped that there would be a last minute buying frenzy on Sunday to help offset expenses - plus we would get some money back from the guy who ran the convention to cover our party expenses. In the meantime, we just talked with folks and had a blast.

Downtown Fayetteville from the 8th floor of the hotel

One of the best things about hanging out at conventions is going out to eat with the folks who are attending. Downtown Fayetteville is in the middle of a rejuvenation that brings to mind the Short North of 15-20 years ago. On a street that used to contain some of the most notorious strip clubs and bars there are new restaurants and "nice" bars opening up with the encouragement of the city. A local was telling me of how the city has made a concerted effort to clean up the area and how back in the "old days", many people would get robbed, stabbed, shot and sometimes killed every weekend. In fact, the city bought the property from the worst strip club, tore down the building and built the new city hall on the land - with the main police station right next door. So yeah - downtown Fayetteville is a much quieter place than it used to be.

Lots of things were within walking distance of the hotel - even a Gameworks-type of business. To be truthful, only one restaurant of the many in this part of the city would survive here in Columbus and it was a sports bar franchise named Beef O'Bradys. Really pedestrian fair, adequately done and served in a clean modern environment surrounded by large flat screen tv's. Oh and if you want your burger rare - no doing. The franchise has a rule against serving "undercooked" meat. (We recently encountered this same policy at the Red Robin up at Polaris - I can see "we don't wanna get sued" written on the menus.)

The other place I ended up eating at was a small tapas restaurant called Blue Moon Cafe. The cafe was small - it maybe sat 25 -30 max and that would be pushing it. It was doing a fairly lively business when I went in to get something to take back to the hotel. They served wine and beer - no hard liquor. Someone at the hotel mention that you have to have a separate licence to sell the hard stuff. The kitchen was open - and I watched the one poor kitchen guy turn out item after item without a stovetop - yup no burners for him! He had a refrigerated prep station, a microwave, a panini press and a small oven/broiler set up. See I have this thing about watching people work in open kitchens - it kinda fun to critique their technique. Lots of items were prepped and held cold - like stuffed mushrooms, shrimp in garlic and olive oil and French onion soup. (I didn't think that was tapas - but hey what do I know?) The cook would then use the oven and/or the microwave to heat items up. For example, the onion soup was nuked - then grilled bread and cheese put on top and popped into the over to be finished off. Sandwiches and sliced of bread would be heated on the panini grill. I ended up getting a salad, some hummus with grilled bread and some marinated olives - for a whopping 20 dollars. Yeah - I felt ripped off. An OK meal with no alcohol for $20?! Bite me!

The next morning - this being Sunday - the true adventure began. Downtown Fayetteville closes down on Sunday morning. Not even the local coffee shop was open. That meant no caffeine for the hung over magicians who missed breakfast.

Since we had a car, I offered to take a couple of the attendees to the closest Starbucks. It turned out to be in a location of the local grocery chain called Harris Teeter. Boy was I glad - we had found a Wal-mart on Friday and as much as I hate shopping there, we had bought party supplies and a few other snackies. Harris Teeter reminded me more of Kroger's - more upscale so the prices were a little more expensive, but they had made to order sandwiches on really excellent bread (which I bought for brunch), a nice deli, a wide selection of beer and wine, and the aforementioned Starbucks.

The three of us loaded up on groceries and caffeine then headed back to the hotel. As we were going back up to the convention floor (the ballroom on the 8th floor), the staff at the front desk stopped and asked me if I had seen the organizer of the convention. This was about 11 am.

My spidey-sense started tingling. When we got up to the ballroom, I saw the other people working the convention huddled together talking in hushed tones and looking around. Rut-ro Shaggy! Tony asked me what was wrong as I gave him his coffee and sandwich - I told him my suspicions - that the convention organizer was not around to pay the bills. True - it was still early - he might be passed out or hung over - we had made a late night of it on Saturday. Time rolls on as we watch some of the lectures.

By 2 pm though - things were starting to happen. The organizer was still no where to be found. Some of the lecturers were having to head to the airport without getting paid. The hotel was still asking the convention attendees if they had seen him. The dealers were getting spooked - along with many of the attendees - and started packing up their stuff. Tony and I decided to head back to our room - and several other followed us, including our friend David from France and proceeded to grab a few beers. We started relaxing and making jokes - not much you can do otherwise. After a few minutes one of the other performers, Jon, came into the room. He had been up all night and our noise had woken him. Jon was rubbing his eyes and taking little steps - just like a little kid who had just gotten up from a nap.

"What's happening?" asked Jon.
David looked at him and said "I've got good news and bad news."
Jon looked at all the faces turned toward him. "I think a I better sit down." And he did.
The room was hushed with anticipation....
"So what's the good news?"
David looked at Jon. "The good news is - You don't have the cancer, and you don't have a spot on your dick."
The room roared.
Jon looked concerned... "And the bad news?"
"You ain't getting paid!!!"

Good news - Bad News!

Damn my sides hurt after laughing...I thought I stopped breathing at one point..

The convention staff decided to call a meeting - yes it's true - we have no idea where the guy with the money is. No - we don't have anything to do with the business end of this - we just volunteered to get in the door for free. We called the young man's mother and she said didn't know where he was either. The hotel also had a representative in the room - who stated that we would have our credit cards charged for the rooms when we checked out if no payment was forthcoming from the convention. There had been no formal contract between the organizer and the hotel stating that he was going to pay for the performer's rooms - just a verbal promise. However, the performers had contracts that did have a clause that promised payment of the hotel by the convention.

Then Chino stepped forward - I haven't mentioned Chino up until now. It's hard to describe Chino - to a certain extent he is an archetype in the magic world. The guy who is a member of the local magic club - the man whose love of the craft far exceeds his skill of the craft. But his enthusiasm and tenacity are really what make him a valued member of a club - we've all met a Chino in our time.

May the Chino be with you!

Chino has been good friends with the organizer - and in the words of the other club members - "knew him best". They called upon Chino to give an account of this young man's character as they had spent the most time together. Chino talked about what an upright guy he was, how he was kind and generous he was. The performers, looking at their empty purses asked - Generous - how did he show he was generous? To which Chino replied - Why I once saw him give $500 to a titty dancer!

All the performers howled. I think I lost control of my ability to reason at that point. We had - as a group - entered some kind of warped and deranged pocket universe where the rules of normal life had ceased to apply. Once the laughter had died down, the volunteers and the performers started making arrangements to call the police. The volunteers talked to the hotel and worked out a deal where the deposit that was payed on the public rooms would be used to cover the performer's bills - thereby saving some folks' bacon. At the end of the meeting, I turned to an acquaintance of my hubby's, Robbie (also a broke performer!) and said, "Damn, I am worn out. I need a beer and something to eat." Robbie said,"I could go for a bologna and mayo sandwich right now." I said, "OK - I can do that!" And off I went to Harris Teeter once again. I figured these guys would need food and drink as most of them were stuck in the hotel until the following morning when their flights were taking off. I got a bunch of sandwich makings and more beer - including a big bottle of mayo, some white bread and a bunch of pretty decent garlic bologna.

This is how wild a magic party usually gets!

Once we all come to accept that we were going to be monetarily poor but richer in friendship - things went pretty smooth. We drank beer - we talked - I filmed guys playing with cards and coins - over all, it was a fun convention.


So what did we come home with - even if it wasn't money?

Harris Teeter Deli Style Mustard - awesome product. I am thinking of having someone down South send me a couple more bottles.

Brooklyn Brown Ale - Kevin W. is a self confessed beer snob and travels with his own supply of Brooklyn Brown and his own glass. He was kind enough to share one of this precious beers with me and now I am hooked. Kevin arranged for me to receive 2 cases of this fine beverage once I got home - yummmmmm.

Seeing old friends - You know who you are! Always good to catch up!

Making some new friends - including Jon who we will get to see at conventions in both June and July - looking forward to seeing him there!

A really fine story - one that is sure to get us many beers for years to come.

So that was my spring vacation...