delicious

I don't usually take pictures of my food, but the light was right, and I wanted to tell you about this one.

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How do you fix a bratwurst? I have a rule about hot dogs: mustard-yes, ketchup-no. My favorite is a Chicago dog: Vienna Beef on a poppy seed bun with everything, including sport peppers; hold the celery salt. But I digress. What about grilled brats?

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Looking in the refrigerator, I was delighted to find that we had leftovers from Chinese food. So, starting with grilled plum tomato spears, I also grilled sweet and sour peppers and pineapple to give it something special as well as balance out the hot giardiniera. The flavor was so good I don't know which I liked best, the brat or the toppings!

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The bun was lightly oiled (from the giardiniera) and seared on the grill. I treated myself to a bottle of Sam Adams Oktoberfest. Mmmmm... that was good eatin'!

indulge

I certainly don't eat like this every day, but Saturday morning I put this lovely thing together. It was a spontaneous thing. I guess you could say I was living in the moment.

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It's Romaine lettuce and tomato with mayo on toasted whole grain, and then I crowned it with fried eggs and melted cheese. (Note to self: the pepper mill is almost empty.) I went for two eggs, but when I cracked them in the pan, one of them turned out to be a double-yolker! That, with a cup of coffee, and I was content as a person could be!

mangiare

Sunday afternoon at the Olive Garden. L to R: My wife and me, our two youngest, Mom & Dad.

enjoying one another

Sunday's message was about the "one another" passages from Scripture. In good keeping with the theme, some of us got together ...with one another and shared a meal. In truth, the meal was planned before we heard the message, but don't hold that against us. ;-)

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A new charcoal grill and an old (refurbished) gas grill side-by-side provided an easy way to control cooking temperatures, appealing sear marks, and smokey flavor. To anybody who didn't know any better, it probably looked like I knew what I was doing. The food turned out better than anything I have grilled before. That is to say, our guests at hamburgers and chicken breasts, not hockey pucks and burnt offerings. It was nice to keep the heat (from cooking) outside, and my wife could sit in the cool living room, visiting instead of working.

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Most of all, it was a treat to spend time with people we love. If you've never done so, I'd highly recommend checking out the 50+ passages where God's Word instructs us on how to treat "one another."

hoppin' good times

The big news this weekend was soccer. The team my buddy and I coach, on which both of us have children who play... we won our first game!!! Unfortunately, we didn't take pictures.

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The rest of this weekend was crammed with all kinds of good stuff. Saturday afternoon, we went to a cookout at a friend's house. These guys really know how to throw a party. The mix of people was absolutely delightful. There were a few new faces from his family and neighbor friends... Loved it! After eating waaaay too much, and a season of friendly chatter, the siren song of their pond overcame any sense of social graces. I pulled the fishing tackle out of my van, and extended our party to the edge of the water. The fish barely nibbled. Mostly I just caught glares from the local frogs.

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One coworker tells me that the Asian way of eating is, how shall I call it? More "communal?" Everybody shares all the stuff in the middle of the table. I think I would prefer eating that way. If we did, I could have sampled a little of this, and a little of that, without feeling like I had to polish off a whole cheeseburger by myself between other savory morcels. The food was terrific. I'll say it again; this guy really knows how to throw a party!

last week in pictures

1. red²--red tailed hawk with red squirrel
2. experimenting with kinetic photography--block glass window
3. looking straight up into the sky
4. more experiments with kinetic photography--street lights
5. This tree tried to kiss me!
6. with D2 at a local playground
7. with S2 at a local playground
8. balloons from health clinic's charity event
9. plenty of eats at aforementioned charity

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I just read an article on the dangers of eating too much fat and drinking too much and it scared the heck out of me. So I told myself, "That's it!"

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After today, no more reading.