Happy 40th

A landmark birthday for the NBF: 40! Happy birthday Jeph! How funny that it was the never-ending Web Committee work that introduced us on a field trip to your library. How wonderful a friend you've become in the three years since. You deserve nothing less than a wonderful birthday, and I wish you all the best for it.

Yes, I still not-so-secretly covet your BF.

:-)








Awwww, who's a handsome little guy?

Icelandic vinaterta...

...also known as prune cake.

Yes, it was the prune cake dinner party. I spared Allan and Paul the ordeal of photographic the main meal, so no shots of that. Baked halibut in chermoula (a favourite recipe from past times), some very tasty white beans cooked with bacon and roasted red peppers and flavoured with mustard and mint, and a simple salad of red onion and fennel.

I did bake bread, though.

Not the prettiest effort ever, but it was delightfully tender, and I finally got to use the pans from the NBF.
I think I should have baked it longer. Ah well.

Dessert was lovely, I think. The cake is vsually appealing, for one. Paul figured out that it was prunes just by the scent - excellent nose on that man (now if only we could get him to remove the hangers from his coats before he tries to go outside!). In the end I was pleased.



A good dinner with our two friends, then. Nice to catch up with them, and reassuring to know that I can still cook after all these weeks of lazy cooking for myself and dining out all weekend every weekend!

Jeph is 38

I hate surprises. Sort of. Frequently. But once in a while, they're fun. I can kind of feel for Jeph, hating them as well. Nonetheless, we undertook to surprise him for his 38th birthday today, and succeeded wildly.

Conrad and I flew to Cleveland yesterday morning and were met by Jeph's friend Jay at the airport. The three of us had lunch at Great Lakes Brewing before heading to the hotel to check in. We were to meet up somehow with Jeph there, though we weren't sure how the surprise would work. Would we knock on his room door? Would we meet in the lobby? What?

As it happened, Brett and Jeph were in the lobby some time later when Jay and I came back from an errand in the neighbourhood (Conrad was taking a nap upstairs). Because of where they stood and the placement of a pillar, they only saw Jay at first. I waited a moment then came into view, telling Brett the room was under my name. Jeph did a wonderful double take. EXACTLY the desired reaction. I think he was a little stunned through much of the weekend because of all the deviousness that went on, but truly, it was funny. He suspected something - apparently he noticed some missing toiletries at home - but he had no idea that his BF had arranged a room, a dinner reservation with friends, packed a bag and hid it in the car. Nicely done there, Mr. Pietrasz!

We (Conrad, Jeph, Brett, Jay, Dave, Larry, and I) had dinner at a Brazilian grill place (Braza Grill). Huge salad bar, a waiter whose accent made some menu items sound endearingly off-kiter (sheee-ken, sheees-cake, va-neeeee-la). Goodness, but we ate a lot of meat. Lamb, pork, ham, chicken, turkey, beef of various cuts, sausages. Dessert was rich as well, and not all of us could handle the shot of sweet almond liqueuer they closed with. I admit, my digestive system has launched a protest tha continues at this time. Veggies for me tomorrow.(Brett and Jeph)

(Dave and Jay)

(Jay and Randy)

(Conrad and me)

(Brett and Jeph)

(Me, Brett, and Jeph)

(Voguing, apparently)

(Brett and Jeph)


We then went to two bars, stopping back at the hotel in between them to change. It was a big deal for me and Conrad - we can't recall when last we went to a gay bar in Chicago. The NBF and his friends are bad influences, I guess.
(Ahhhh, true love)

(And more true love)

(My own cutie)

(Brett, Jeph, Dave, Jay, Conrad)


So it was a late night for us - 1:30 almost by the time I got into bed. The result was a late morning: 9:29 was what the clock read when I awoke with a start. We hustled to get ready and be downstairs in time to meet Jeph, Brett, Jay, and Dave for brunch. The rest of our time in Cleveland invovled poking in a few stores, coffee in the Lakewood neighbourhood, and general gabbery and driving about.
(Brett and Jay)

(Camera fun)

(Dave)

(More true love?)

(Conrad and me)

(Me, Brett, Jeph, Dave)


A few reactions to this weekend:

Nervous as I was to meet everyone, by the end of our time there, I was very glad to have made the trip and put real people to the names in Jeph's e-mails.

Cleveland has some fine and beautiful buildings, many of them in a state of neglect or disuse. Interesting city. I'd be curious to see it at a warmer time of year and when there's life downtown.(View from our hotel room)


Jeph's BF, the object of my not-at-all secret crushing, is considerably more adorable in real life than in photo. Darn him. Even Conrad concedes that Brett is a cutie (Conrad's word). I fear that Brett will have a swollen head as a result of all this praise and attention

And finally: Jeph is a really cool and nice guy, and I hope we'll see him (and Brett, of course) in Chicago at some point this year as well.

Happy birthday my friend. What will we do to surprise you next year? Or shall we lay off until the big one in 2009?

Blessed Boxing Day

Ridiculously enough, it wasn't until early this afternoon - around 2:00 - that we opened presents. And because one good turn deserves another:

Have I mentioned lately that the NBF and his utterly adorable BF really and truly rock? Let me add that we were very much delighted by the bounty sent us by other friends and family as well!

Gifts of "porn"

How's that for a title that will ensure this blog turns up in searches?

Jeph takes his NBF duties very seriously, and so it was that some "porn" turned up in the mail today, fresh from Amazon. I perhaps shouldn't jokes so incorrectly. Let me explain: one of my classmates in library school, Rich, made what I thought was an apt comparison between cookbooks and porn. He suggested that in each case, people read (or is that "read"?) them and admire the photos and fantasize about emulating all the things between the covers, but they never do. I think he made a good point, and I've delighted in using his comparison since.

Jeph sent me what looks like a very useful book that I'll delight in skimming while I eat breakfast. I will, however, attempt a variety of the sauces it offers. And I'll photograph them and post them here, you will no doubt know by now. Aside from the cookbook, he sent along a graphic novel, a classic storyline from my comic book days of the 80's. I can read and re-read these things many times, so that, too, was greatly appreciated.

Jeph, in other words, a public thank you!

An otherwise mild day. Conrad was busy with work when I got home at about six. I would have started on dinner, but the ground turkey meat wasn't thawed yet. Rather than use the microwave, we opted to go to Yoshi's. I first baked two more of the apple buttermilk tortes and got some basic sweet buttermilk pastry dough into the fridge. Yes, I have to use up more buttermilk. Scones are likely tomorrow, I think.

Dinner was a pleasant time sitting outside, enjoying the evening watching the Halsted Street foot traffic, enjoying our salmon and grilled chicken breast. The photo of me is a little fuzzy, sorry. I had hoped Yoshi would have something on the menu to mark the last hurrah of foie gras in Chicago. What an idiotic undertaking by the City Council, banning the sale or serving of foie gras in Chicago! Doubtless someone will flame me for that in the comments. I still think it's a slippery slope, and they may as well ban carbonated soft drinks from the city because of how they contribute to obesity. Protect the ducks or geese, but let our children get obese? Madness! Feh!


And on that note, time to search for some potential travel ideas and get to bed....