I Almost Forgot

Deconstructed Turducken with Microgreens, Sweet Potato Puree and Jalapeno Foie Gras Cornbread
Originally uploaded by bridgeportseasoning.

Between curbing an urge to check Facebook every fifteen minutes, filling in for Stolpman on Top Chef Recaps, dropping deadlines, checking appeal briefs at work, figuring out how I'm going to eat at all the places I want to eat on my birthday weekend next week without gaining weight, knocking out a serious 75-mile bike ride on Memorial Day in under six hours and treating myself afterward to a nice bath filled with bath bombs from Lush (the soap store, not the wine shop), I wrote about the rise in good BBQ on the north side in yesterday's Sun-Times.

As you read it you may want to double check what I wrote. But I stand by it. Sheffield's has some serious good BBQ.

Now it's time to find out who's in the coffin on Lost.

... And Full of Vim and Vigor

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Originally uploaded by P4O4E4T.

I rode Bike the Drive yesterday with my friends Todd and Miguel. Those rides to Evanston and back for work have really paid off. I felt like I could have done the 30-mile loop twice. Unlike the gentleman in the photo, who is actually a neighbor and does a daily round trip to Albany Park.

Anyway, I practically bunny-hopped my bike from Lawrence to the rest stop at Bryn Mawr, where the three of us were trapped by a volunteer. This man would not let us go as he told us that we should exercise for "balance, stamina, strength and flexibility." He asked if we did yoga; we each allowed that we did.

"That is good," he said. "But only do the stretchy yoga, not the jumpy kind." He wouldn't let us return to our bikes as he told us about climbing mountains in Nepal and hauling a wheel barrow from Edgewater to Washington Park. When he returned to the subject of yoga, I made a downward dog quip that went way over his head.

But the unsolicited advice was enough to carry us through our respective exits and into the remainder of the day.

Notions

Friday night I checked in with ChEfrain Cuevas at his latest underground dinner, this one in the breakroom of a grocery store on the North Side. It was originally supposed to be on the roof, but the possibility of bad weather forced it inside. I thought it worked out better this way because it gave diners the feeling of actually doing something illicit.

I was lucky to get my hands on one of the drumsticks from the turducken that was served as part of the main course. Andrew Huff of Gapers Block also snagged one. However, while Huff removed the meat from the bone with a knife and fork, I tore into the drumstick like a Viking. Or Henry V.

It was a good night, on many fronts.

Just a Few Hours Until Game Time

And this is how I'm gonna get ready for this evening's media slam at Hideout.

Congratulations

Sometimes watching the two of them together makes me fear for diabetes (I kid) but Scott and Erin are a perfect match. They're like one of those couples you refer to as one word; scottanderin, if you will.

Erin announced on her blog yesterday that they're getting married in the fall. It makes one hope that everyone could find the happiness the two of them share.