happy birthday Handsome!

There is a long list of really sweet and handsome men in my life, starting with Conrad. High on that list? A birthday boy today. Brett.

Brett is... hmmmm... how old is he anyway? Hmmmm.

No matter. Any man who can look like this eating bacon has stolen a small piece of my heart.

Jeph, give that man an extra kiss and hug for me and let him know how very very special he is.

Silver Fox

There is a long list of men in my life with whom I'm a tiny bit smitten. I don't mean in love with in the Conrad way, no. But there are some sweet, cute, hot, funny guys whom I just once in a while think, hmmmm.... And then I shake my head and remember how happy and well off I am.

Let's see (in alphabetical order), some examples:

Brett

David

Greg

Luis

(with apologies to all the other handsome men I know who I did not add to this particular list - some of you very definitely know who you are!)

And then there's the Silver Fox in all his silvery foxiness. Ah Dale. Handsome and charming. Snarky as all get out. Southern. Did I mention silvery and foxy?

Dale came to town last weekend for a few days of courses. I ended up backing out of Tuesday dinner with him and Max, but I did get a Sunday afternoon to enjoy his fine company.

We shopped.


We went to Bin 36 for drinks and a very late lunch/snack.

And the whole while I basked in his foxiness
and was content. Well, the service was a little off at Bin 36, but the cheeses were fine.

Sadly, I will not see him on my quick jaunt to Baltimore next month, but I will get to meet up with him (and his partner, Steven) in DC in June. Small delights to look forward to...

Happy birthday handsome man!

No, Conrad will not mind this post or its title. He's well aware of my unrequited crush on the NBF's BF. In any case, as handsome as I think Brett is, he's sooooo darn fussy with food that it would drive me nuts.

Brett = hot. Jeph = a saint for putting up with Brett.

:-)

Happy birthday Brett, you handsome man! Your BF better be treating you right!

I am not a snob (yes I am)

Hey, I secretly love Hamburger Helper. I throw crap together for my dinner when I'm alone. I survive at work on nutrition bars.

Ok, I am a food snob. But I'm truly not THAT bad, am I?

Don't answer.

But I think I shocked Jeph and simultaneously presented him with a delightful opportunity when I (of all people) suggested that we have our Saturday lunch at the infamous Chick-fil-A. Infamous in that Jeph talks a lot about fast food and especially that chain. Well gosh, he's being such a good host, why not indulge him.



And that was before I even knew they had waffle fries!



I've been taken to task on Facebook by friends about the anti-gayness of the chain and doubtless will be taken to task again for this post. Apologies to them, and thanks to them for informing me better of these things. At least it will serve to make me a food snob with better convictions.

awww, cute!

No, really, isn't he adorable?

Ooops, no, wait, I meant to put a picture of Doogie here. Doogie. Lovely, rambunctious, handsome, friendly dog. Sorry about that...


;-)

Ohio wine

I was trying to think last night about all the states in which Conrad and I have visited wineries. Michigan, New Mexico, Hawaii, Texas, Missouri. The usual suspects, right?

Add Ohio to the list.

This was fun, truly. Brett and Jeph took us to a winery not far from where they live. Viking Vineyards is the name, and you know what? We found some lovely wines for our big dinner that night. Success!

I think a lot of non-California wineries are like this: buying grapes from California to make wines locally. Of course, we all think that makes the wines less than good, but as we learned in New Zealand, a lot of grapes get shipped around, and yet decent wine is being made for the table. Having said that, however, I would say that though we thought well of all we tasted (well, maybe except the Cabernet Sauvignon), Viking's best wines are made with local grapes. In our opinion.

We ended up coming home with five bottles: two of the Traminette, two of the Lemberger, and one of the wine infused with chocolate. This last one didn't get consumed that night, but the gathered guests made easy work of the others. I especially liked the Traminette. It was full of fruit on the nose and in the mouth. A great wine to have chilled with friends outside. Fun, but a little serious just the same.



Conrad rather liked the red - it was light and full of berries. A shame the winery won't try it again because of heavy loss of vines over the winter. Ah well.


Once again, though, we learn that the occasion, the situation, enhances the wine. Tasting with the guys was simply fun, and even better, we found some bottles that the guests that night liked a lot as well. Well done Ohio, well done.

PB cookies

It's really not a secret anymore that as dear as the NBF is to me, I have a horrible, unrequited crush on his BF. Jeph knows it, Conrad knows it, Brett knows it. It's a source of deserved teasing of me - by all three of them, plus a few others. Worse, they sometimes encourage the crush - darn them.

Ah well, may as well enjoy it. So long as Brett is being a sweetheart as well as a cutie, I'll maintain my silly little crush and do things like this: bake cookies for his upcoming birthday.

Jeph told me that PB cookies are Brett's favourites, but of course I can't do just a simple cookie. Oh no. Out came the new Martha Stewart cookbook and two recipes. Shown, then on the tray are an outer ring of peanut butter cookies that include salted peanuts. The inner set are peanut butter, chocolate chip, and oatmeal cookies. If Brett doesn't care for either or both, well, I suspect Jeph may pitch in a munch on one or two...

Happy birthday Brett! Enjoy!

NBF and NBFBF's anniversary

A simple note: happy anniversary to a favourite couple. Jeph, Brett, may you know many more years of love together. 8 years now? 9? Whichever it is, I wish you both so many more. This despite my constant (half-joking) macking on you, Brett.

;-)

gratuitous shot

A propos of nothing, I simply wanted to post this shot. Jeph will understand....

last breakfast with the NBF

Conrad is still in bed - it IS before 7:00 on a Saturday, after all. Heck, if he could, he'd be in bed EVERY morning later than this. But really, it's his own fault for taking up with an irrepressibly (and irritatingly) morning person like me.

His dozing, though, means I can't be too loud out here in the kitchen. I have butter softening to make some cake layers for tonight's dinner, but until he's up, the KitchenAid stays silenced. Time, instead, for me to read the morning news, check Facebook for messages (a new friend this morning - yay!), and continue the catching up with the blog efforts.

Let's go back to last Sunday, then, and our last breakfast with the NBF and Brett. The vote was against anything too fancy (and pricey), and happily a longtime-ago favourite came to mind.

The swim team used to go to Ann Sather all the time when I first came to Chicago (wow, waaaaaay back in 2000). Eventually it became too tough to get a big table, and we shifted to other restaurants. Also, I have to say that the food wasn't good. The point of Ann Sather was the cinnamon rolls that came as a side with every egg dish. They were good, slathered with icing and warm. The rest? Passable at best, disgusting in the case of the side potatoes.

It's the cinnamon rolls that lured us back, and since we were up reasonably early on the Sunday, we headed down there. You know what? It's still busy, but the food has improved nicely. We all enjoyed it, and we have the photos to prove it. And look, I'm all appropriately Swedished up, wearing that t-shirt!

An errant beard hair. Um, ow?


Brett deals with the indignity of being fed some cinnamon roll. No, that is not my finger. Much as I may crush on the man, I, too, have some dignity.



Breakfast. No, I'm not detailing what each item is. Eggs. Egg-related stuff.




Look, other people photograph their food, too!

The wide-eyed look - cute in a chipmunk way.

The woman behind Jeph looks a little angry, no? Also, let's pretend Conrad's eyes are open.

how to feed Brett

Ah Brett, bless him. He suffered a lot this weekend. We teased him mercilessly about the purple t-shirt as well as his new "friends" Jason and Matt (I think - I only saw the photos of their meeting on the IML exhibits floor). And then there was all the angst about what to feed the man. I was sweating bullets over our dinners, believe me.

Here's the thing: Brett is funny, handsome, and sweet. But he's, well, kinda fussy. No, more than kinda. No matter. He has a long list of foods he won't try or plain doesn't like, and for everyone who teases me about being a foodie who won't go near nasty little button mushrooms, I ask you to consider those who have much longer lists of mundane and exotic food no-nos.

I actually had a frozen pizza and a box of mac and cheese on standby for Friday night dinner at home. No photos of the food, but I am pleased to say the braised boneless country ribs and the chocolate budini passed muster.

Saturday night I had less control over. Jeph has heard sooooo much about Yoshi's, we couldn't not take him there. And we like it there anyway, so fingers crossed that the burger would appeal to Brett.

It did. More intriguingly, despite my mother-hen advice to him to have it without the funky cheese, he opted to get the wasabi blue cheese on it. And he ate it. My heart pitter-pattered a little with that one.

So then, dinner, with Jeph wearing a shirt with a collar (see, we tease him, too!), enjoying the edamame.

Conrad ordered the tuna tartare with oyster shooter as a starter.



I went with an old favourite, the grilled radicchio salad with goat cheese, basil, and toasted pumpkin seeds.

Conrad had the halibut for dinner, with a grilled shrimp atop and a lobster bisque sauce.


Jeph and I had the same item, a new item on the menu: Duo of pork ribs and short ribs in a Japanese BBQ sauce, potato potstickers. Very yummy! Shallowly, I admit to loving that shirt and how I look in it. Yes, still vain.



And then there's Brett and his burger. A success, I think. He did eat it all, plus a bunch of fries and some dessert. I'm so proud of him. I know, it's silly.


Speaking of dessert...

Jeph's chiboust - poached pear layered between creamy goodness in an almond pastry with a serving of mango sorbet on the side.

Conrad and Brett each had the molten chocolate cake.

My new favourite dessert at Yoshi's - a layered concoction of cake, purple potato mousse, white chocolate mousse, coconut, and a center of red bean paste. Green tea and ginger ice cream on the side.

So, kudos to Brett for stretching a little this weekend. One day I'll get him to eat seafood. And zucchini.