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Author Archives: steve
Enterprise Car Rental, Midway Airport
This was the most amazing car rental experience I’ve ever had, and in the place I least expected it. My absolute worst car rental experiences have all been at Midway, where I have slowly been working my way through all … Continue reading
The Revenge of Burgundy
A few weeks ago we got together with Ron and Bev for dinner at The Vineyard, with the shocking result that the Bordeaux outshone the Burgundy. This almost never happens. So when Ron invited us to join Rhett from … Continue reading
MoneyShot!
Alexander Sage Oyen is a young composer of Broadway-style music. He first came to my attention when a few of Dani’s friends sang on his debut album, released shortly after his graduation for Dr. Phillips High School. Since then I’ve … Continue reading
This Week in Zendesk
Every Friday afternoon the Alcorn McBride engineers and support team gather to discuss the week’s support tickets, which are tracked in Zendesk. Hence the meeting is called TWIZ. Since it’s late on a Friday, the meeting doesn’t run on any … Continue reading
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The Night Bordeaux Beat Burgundy
Long, long ago, when I first became interested in wine, there was a general perception that Bordeaux wines were better than Burgundy, particularly when they were aged. Over the decades that I’ve been tasting wines, I’ve come to the conclusion … Continue reading
Great Old Wines at The Chef’s Table
We convened in the private room at The Chef’s Table at the Edgewater for a tasting. I have been trying for a couple of years to get Kevin Buckler of Adobe Road to schedule an extra day when he is … Continue reading
Ron’s Birthday at Scratch
Ron Siegel celebrated his (ahem) 60th birthday at Scratch. It’s the new restaurant on Fairbanks in Winter Park, next to All Fired Up. The place is owned by three young restaurateurs who have done an amazing job of designing … Continue reading
Solaia at K Restaurant
Keith Edwards organized this great vertical tasting at K on Edgewater in College Park. Attending were Keith and Parlo; Ron and Bev; Steve and Linda; Niccolo’ Maltinti, the Antinori US Brand Manager; Tobias Fiebrandt of Leitz Wine; and Marc and Kai Frontario. We began with a … Continue reading
2011 Bordeaux
Last year we attended the 2010 Bordeaux tasting at the Rosen Shingle Creek, and it was a terrific event, so we were looking forward to this year’s version. Quite a few of our friends also attended, so there were 15 … Continue reading
Butter Cookie Taste-Off
We did a butter cookie taste off, buying tubs of butter cookies all over Solvang. Olsen’s Danish Village Bakery was the first of four bakeries in Solvang where we purchased a tub of five dozen butter cookies. These were among … Continue reading
Posted in Dani, Dining, Linda, Los Angeles
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Ancient Wines at The Vineyard
Close to a decade ago Ron purchased three old Burgundies from Premier Cru for next to nothing–$75 a bottle he recalls. Over the years we consumed the 1899 and 1893 bottles. I rated them both 100pts, and number them among … Continue reading
Four Concerts, Seven Bands, Five Days
It’s been a busy few days in Chicago. I originally booked this trip for the Vienna Teng concert and launch of her new album, but as the timing worked out I was able to also fit in the Hart Davis … Continue reading
1990 and 2000 Bordeaux Tasting
Hart Davis organizes an annual Bordeaux retrospective, and this year’s event was particularly impressive. It was held in the private room above Spiaggia overlooking Michigan Avenue in Chicago. It’s a beautiful space, although Spiaggia itself is a fairly terrible restaurant. … Continue reading
10 Million Words
From the time Dani was a baby until she went off to college, I read to her every night. As the years passed, our reading material became a lot more sophisticated, but we never tired of the routine. Here are … Continue reading
Posted in Books and Writing, Dani, Orlando
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Michael Jordan’s Steakhouse
Dani and I went to an Adobe Road Wine Dinner here, rather than experience the normal dining room offerings. We were going to meet in the bar, but on a Wednesday night after work it was a madhouse, so we … Continue reading
Easy Chicken Pot Pie with Puff Pastry
These turned out as delicious as they look. Ingredients olive oil 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts 1 large yellow onion, chopped 1 package diced frozen peas and carrots 2 medium celery stalks, diced 1 cup green beans 1 potato, diced … Continue reading
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Cauliflower, Potato and Green Bean Curry
Here’s a simple recipe for curry made from scratch. You can pretty much use any vegetables, this is just what I had lying around. Ingredients (in order used) 4 potatoes, chopped 1 tbsp olive oil 1 large sweet or red … Continue reading
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Lamb Burgers
These turned out well. They taste like Kefta. I served them with Roasted Brussels Sprouts. Ingredients 8 oz. ground lamb 1 tsp. dijon mustard 1/2 tsp. finely chopped parsley 1/2 tsp. finely chopped mint 1/2 tsp. finely chopped dill 1/2 … Continue reading
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Lang Lang at Ravinia
Chinese pianist Lang Lang rose to fame with his first performance at Ravinia in 1999, when he was just 17, as a last minute substitution. He returned this year for his 12th Ravinia appearance. It was a cool night for … Continue reading
Peach, Brie and Bacon Pizza
Thanks to Kara for bringing this recipe to my attention! It was fabulous. If served to me blind, I don’t think I could have identified the ingredients, they meshed so well. Ingredients 1 lb pizza dough Flour 2 Tbsp extra … Continue reading
Smoke House Garlic Bread
For years I’ve been trying to duplicate the amazing garlic cheese bread served at the Smoke House Restaurant in Burbank, California. Tonight I finally did it. The secret is to make up a paste and spread that on the bread. … Continue reading
Why Are Concerts So Loud?
I’ve never been to a concert that wasn’t too loud. But last night’s One Republic concert set records. Even though we always wear earplugs, our front row edge seats were right in front of the sub woofer, and we were … Continue reading
Easy Salmon Cakes
I’m not a fan of crab cakes, which I usually find boring. A lot of places brag about “very little filler,” but I actually think the filler is the only thing that makes them interesting. So I was skeptical of … Continue reading
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Oil Painting Class
I took a one week break from my sculpture classes to attend a five day oil painting class taught by Ken Minami. Each day we spent the morning drawing and he afternoon painting. I leaned to use gray paper and … Continue reading
Posted in Art & Sculpture, Evanston
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Bisquick Coffee Cake
Since Bisquick isn’t the most healthful stuff in the world, I hadn’t had it in about ten years, but got in the mood to make some waffles. That reminded me of the delicious coffee cake we used to make. … Continue reading
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Quinoa and Mango Salad with Lemon Ginger Dressing
I heavily modified this, and have modified it more since testing it. Quinoa and Mango Salad: 1 cup quinoa 1/2 cup lentils Water to cook quinoa and lentils 1 container of fresh mango from Whole Foods (slicing mangos is a … Continue reading
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Vegetable Ceviche
This salad was billed as “Vegetable Ceviche” in a vegetarian magazine I was reading, and it sounded good. It actually does taste quite a lot like ceviche. I used completely different vegetables than they did, however. Ingredients juice of 3 … Continue reading
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Goo Goo Dolls and Matchbox Twenty at Ravinia
For the Fourth of July Dani and I took the Metra up to Ravinia Park for dinner and a concert, rather than watch the Evanston fireworks from her balcony. The timing on the train worked out pretty well, because we … Continue reading
Sculpture Class at the Evanston Art Center
This summer while Dani is at work I wanted something to do, so I went up to the Evanston Art Center It’s in the three-story house on the lake, next to the lighthouse north of the Northwestern University campus. I intended … Continue reading
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Jackson Browne at Ravinia
We have a full summer of concerts planned, mostly at Ravinia, the wonderful outdoor venue north of Evanston. We usually sit in the pavilion, but for this concert we could only get lawn tickets, which turned out to be lots … Continue reading