July 3rd, 2008 | permalink

Dinner with friends

With all of the children’s activities, Erika is always meeting new parents and planning play dates and other activities. She met a mother, Emmy, in one of Liv’s classes who recently moved here with her husband, Lewis, and their two daughters. The girls bookend our children’s ages so it works out well.

They invited us over for dinner last night at their home in Lyndhurst, just down the road from us in South Euclid. Erika made some side dishes and dessert to take along. When we got there, Lewis was putting some brined cornish hens on the rotisserie. They were amazing. Lewis is a chef through the Bon Appetit Management Company and works at Parker Hannifin.

A couple of weeks ago, we invited them over for dinner in which we made a barbecued pork tenderloin and orzo salad with spinach and feta. They made a delicious creamed corn and cheesy potatoes. They also brought a bottle of wine that somehow got placed aside and was not opened that evening. It turned out to be a bottle of 1996 Lewis Cellars Merlot, Reserve, Napa Valley. After we opened the bottle and tasted it, we knew it was an expensive wine. The listed price was $120 and we felt terrible that we did not open it that night with them. It was a great wine, we will have to make it up to them somehow.

July 1st, 2008 | permalink

Duvel

At the Ohio City 5k Run and crawl, I noticed many of the patrons partaking in the crawl portion of the events drinking Duvel. I have never had this Belgian Ale so I decided to pick up a four pack to try it for myself. Its dry character reminded me of a Japanese beer, Asahi, but the flavor is distinctly Belgian. After a few sips I grew to enjoy the taste more and more and will add it to my options the next time I am at the Bier Markt.

June 29th, 2008 | permalink

New Departure

View the panorama of the Delphi plant.

Two years ago, my father retired from his job of over 30 years at Delphi. It was not always called Delphi, the factory was once named New Departure and it is what some people still call it. It was part of the General Motors family of factories and produced bearings and bearing parts for GM automobiles.

Throughout his time there, he put in countless hours of overtime to put us kids through school and pay for all of the luxuries that we enjoyed growing up. I am sure it was not easy. I spent one summer working there one department down from him in shipping. That summer, I graduated high school, got my first tattoo, learned to drive a stand-up forklift and that being a factory worker was not what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.

It was not a glamorous or secure job. I can remember many times the threat of layoffs or a strike being talked about in the house. When Saturn came around, me and my brother thought we were going to become country boys down in Tennessee. But none of the strikes, layoffs or shift changes seamed to effect our family too much.

Now, the factory is in a downward spiral and will probably be shut down before long along with many others like it around the city, state and country. Without ever have diversifying, the fate of New Departure was inevitable. The economy will eventually pick back up, it always does, but some of these jobs may never return. Sandusky may need to resolve to becoming more of a tourist city to survive, but I do not think that that is a bad thing. Geography is always a good selling point for industry and with the lakefront, bay and islands Sandusky could be the destination for regional tourism.

June 28th, 2008 | permalink

Cedar Point nights

Going to Cedar Point during the day is a lot of fun, but at night is when the park lights up.

During the day, we took the kids over to the park and enjoyed some of the rides that they do not usually get on. We rode the train and Kade freaked a little over Boneville but after we rode it once, he had to make sure we rode it again before we left. I finally was able to get the cheese-on-a-stick that I have been craving. After spending all day at the park with the kids, we went back to Grandma and Grandpa Kraus’s house and cleaned up. Around 6:30, Erika, her father and I headed back to the Point for some nighttime fun.

I really wanted to get some nice shots of the lights, that was my goal, but it seemed like an eternity before the lights came on and night fell. By that time I was ready to leave. It was a long day. I did get a few nice shots but I wanted to get more. I think next time I will plan the photo attack better and hopefully the sky will be more clear. Maybe I should plan a Cedar Point Photo Walk through the Exposure Group.

While I was on my photo safari, Erika and her father were able to get on all of the rides. With most rides having only 15 minute waits, they were able to ride The Raptor, Blue Streak, Dragster, Magnum, Gemini, Maverick and Millenium Force. Not too bad for a Friday night.

As I waited for them to ride their last ride, I decided to take a shot at the “Half-Court” basketball game. I was able to hit on the last of the 5 balls I shot and won a PITT mini basketball. Kade was happy to see it when he woke up this morning.

We headed out of the park at about 10:00pm, just as the laser light show was beginning. There were a lot of people sitting down on the concourse to watch the laser, pyrotechnics, fireworks and big screen show. It looked pretty cool. I wonder if they could benefit from a user-generated photo submission service like Fanchatter Stadium. They could get photo submissions via SMS from park-goers and send a return message to the sender telling them to be at the show at 10, or whatever time the show is that evening, to see if their picture made it into the show. Just a thought.

So, we had a fun-filled day at the Point. It is nice to have such a wonderful source of entertainment so close to home. We definitely get good use out of our passes.

June 25th, 2008 | permalink

Summer nights

Sometimes it is nice to sit out in the backyard while the kids pull every toy out from the garage on a weeknight in June. They are able to release some energy while I kick back a little bit. Tonight, Erika met up with her Medtronic rep, Sarah, to learn how to use her pump/CGM and download the data. The info can only be downloaded via a PC, go figure, so she met her at a coffee shop and downloaded the first batch of data to her minimed carelink account. I am sure there will be a future post on this.

The kids and I cleaned up after dinner and then went outside for a little bit. Kade practiced his batting and Liv removed and placed her crocs back on the wrong feet repeatedly. They love the new rubber mulch made from recycled tires under their playset and slide.

Looking forward to taking off from work on Friday and spending the day at Cedar Point with the kids. Who knows, I may just go camera-less.

June 22nd, 2008 | permalink

Ohio City 5k run and crawl

The Ohio City 5k Run and Crawl started off as a wet mess and ended with good food and beer flowing. Jen rode down with us and David and Heidi followed. When we pulled into the lot the rain was pouring down. We had to run to make it into the Bier Markt/Bar Cento to get out of the weather. It seemed that most of the runners had the same idea, and some were already getting their electrolytes from the beer before the race. It took a while, but by the time the race started, the rain stopped and it turned out to be a wonderful night.

Erika did great, I guess she was 12th in her age group, great job honey!

After the race, it was back to the Bier Markt/Bar Cento for some beers. Bar Cento had burgers and barbecued pulled pork sandwiches for $5. The pork was outstanding and went great with the nights festivities. Chef’s Widow was working at Cento and it was nice to catch up with her and Jonathon to talk about some upcoming events. We met up with a fellow Cleveland blogger, Brad, and his fiancée, Kristy. Later on in the evening, Brian from Epstein met up with us as we walked down to the Garage Bar.

After spending some time at the Garage Bar, Heidi and David left to drive back to Sandusky and we headed back over to Bar Cento for some more tasty food. Grilled peas, artichoke, warm olives, sunnyside pizza and a mushroom/wild boar pizza. It was a perfect way to end the night.

More photos from the night.

June 20th, 2008 | permalink

Parallax Restaurant photo shoot

Last night I had the great honor of being able to take some photos for Chef Zack Bruell at his restaurant, Parallax, in Tremont. It was a pretty busy night so the food came up fast and furious but the dishes that were created looked calm and deliberate. Everything looked and smelled fantastic.

Take a look at some of the photos from the shoot.

June 19th, 2008 | permalink

Tree Country Bistro

Today for lunch, we headed back down to Coventry. There is a new Japanese/Thai/Korean place that has gone in were Qué Tal used to be called Tree Country Bistro. I had only heard that it was a sushi place, but it is much more. When I opened the menu and saw Bi Bim Bab staring at me, I knew we had come to the right place for lunch.

Of course I ordered the Bi Bim Bab and added on some Kim Chi Soup. The soup was very good, but I should have orderd it with tofu instead of the chicken. The Bi Bim Bab was a huge portion, the vegetables were fresh and the fried egg on top is the best topping a lunch could have. I look forward to many meals at this new found nugget. It is nice to have a new Korean place so close so I can pickup some take-out on my way home from work.

June 19th, 2008 | permalink

The Doghouse

I found a new lunchtime gem over on Coventry, The Doghouse. The Doghouse is a hot dog shop with a few specialty dogs on the menu. So far, I have only tried the Chicago Style Dog, but I think the next trip I will venture out and maybe try the John Carroll Dog which has jalepeno pepper, onion rings, hot sauce, nacho cheese and chili. I think I will also need a knife and fork for that one. There is no website so to see the whole menu you must visit The Doghouse at 2767 Euclid Heights Blvd.

View Larger Map

Pretty good dogs for a pretty good price, the Chicago Dog was only $2.50.

Speaking of Coventry, the Coventry Street Arts Fair is tonight as well. If you have never been, go, it is a good time.

June 16th, 2008 | permalink

Seven Eleven

With very few options of photos with me and Erika, I found this one from our last anniversary. It is from the Ohio City Run and Crawl last year that happened to fall on our anniversary. It is hard to believe, but we have been together for 11 years and married for 7.

Happy Anniversary, honey.