first balcony dinner of the year

Roof repairs. Gosh darn roof repairs. We've not been out on the balcony for dinner once this year, and now that we've got a rare long weekend of fine weather, we're taking advantage as much as we can.

A shame, though, it was too breezy out last night for dinner out there with Max. Ah well.

I baked tilapia with some fennel, shallots, olives, tomato, and asparagus in parchment. Nice treatment for fish - keeps things from overcooking thanks to all the steam that results. We had a lovely dinner of it, paired with some Mark West Pinot Noir, chocolate budini to follow, and guidebooks for planning a New Zealand trip in 2009.

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.

taking the NBF to IML

Many initialisms in that title, though as a librarian, I trade in initialisms and acronyms daily. So...

NBF = New Best Friend = Jeph. A joking title bestowed, I think, by FXK. It caught on and now it's just habit to type it and even use it in conversation.

IML = International Mr. Leather. It's an annual, predominantly-gay leather fetish celebration staged at one of the bigger downtown hotels. This year it was at the Hyatt Regency, which makes me giggle when I think that one week earlier the same hotel was crammed full of medical librarians. It's not TMI to say that we were there - Conrad and I always go only to have a cocktail with our swim teammmates and to point and titter for a bit. We're tourists in that world, and beyond the cocktail, we seldom visit for long.

Conrad and I swam Saturday morning, then gathered up the NBF and Brett to get some breakfast/coffee at Whole Foods.

We had some time after that before we were due downtown, so we enjoyed the May sunshine, strolling down Broadway until we got Jeph to Threadless where he shopped some. A cab ride later and we were downtown heading to meet some of the other Smelts.

My IML photos are pretty tame - I like to keep this blog fairly family friendly. Ask Jeph to see some of his photos and videos from the exhibits - they were a little more NSFW than these ones. What follows are photos of some of the small group of us gathered for drinks up in the bar.

Dana and Conrad.

Brett and Jeph. Poor Brett, we teased him mercilessly about the Barney-purple of his t-shirt. Jeph's own Threadless shirt (You Are What You Eat) was a fitting choice for the event.

Jeph and I scope something/one out, then stand and pose.


Dana, Conrad, and me. By this point, Conrad's broken toe was very unhappy with all his walking and standing.

Frank.

Jeph, Frank, and Brett.

Howard. Not a Smelt but a longtime friend of Conrad's from San Francisco. In town for IML. Conrad didn't get to see him much because of his own work travel, alas.

Dana (background), Luis (sweating up a storm in his latex vest), and me.

Luis, sensibly vest-less. Poor guy. Fetish gear has its own issues, I guess.

Paul, who blew me away by showing up in that leather shirt - very unexpected from a man who has brilliantly coloured swim suits with flower patterns on them!

Eventually we all went downstairs, though I got Conrad back up to the couches to rest his foot after only a half hour or so. Jeph and Brett enjoyed it immensely, however, and I rather suspect next May they'll be back in town.

very behind on blogging

So it's been a busy weekend, what with Jeph and Brett staying with us and the resultant dining out and sightseeing. And now that they're safely at O'Hare, it's time to get dinner going for Max, who'll be here in an hour and a half. Only a quick post then - and yes, I still have more to come from a week ago in Missouri!

Hit and run tactics - a selection of photos and comments with each. And then I must get in the kitchen!

Coolest looking library parkade EVER. Kansas City, MO.

Sunny spring day overlooking Kansas City, MO. Impressive view.

Dinner at Frontera Grill last Thursday with Conrad's friend Howard. Another very good meal there - I'm sorry Conrad missed it.

Ah, Barney, still very handsome. Jeph is lucky, but then, he's a good guy, so you are too!

Jeph's encounter yesterday with the mothership.

A new dish at Yoshi's: Duo of pork ribs and short ribs in a Japanese BBQ sauce, potato potstickers.

Still the most adorable, wonderful man ever - this was at breakfast at Ann Sather this morning.

look who's in Chicago!

You never know who will be found down in Boystown. Must be something in the noodles! Either that, or IML coming up. Hmmmmm...

Jeph's golden noodles.

My pad kee mao. I hope I spelled that correctly. And I know - carbs. Bad me.

Welcome to Chicago, my friend. We look forward to you and Brett staying the weekend.

Allison, recognize the restaurant? An old favourite revisited twice now in recent times.

horticulture (a quiz for Jeph)

Not just a quiz for Jeph - fun for the whole family. Well, maybe not you, Allison.

;-)

Speaking of Jeph - because I was a moment ago - I'm awaiting his arrival at my doorstep. He's supposed to be in a cab en route from an airport hotel. One problem with Chicago is that it's not always easy to get to points that are not on particular El lines, and so it is that it's easier to have him cab here rather than meet up someplace distant from each of us on the Blue Line. I hope to see him by 7, but...

In the meantime, more photos from last weekend, again from Powell Gardens. Rest assured, there are more shots of the weekend to follow - have I even done any of the food yet? - but for now, some of the more interesting flowers and plants we saw there.

Jeph? Care to try guessing what all of them are?