I paid my dues and I changed my style
seen hard times, all over now
I don’t know why the thought came to me
but why I’m here I really can’t see, and now…
I want to come home, it’s been so long since I’ve been away
I’ll be coming home soon to your love, to stay
coming home to stay
coming home to your love mama
I’ve seen better days
… and I’m not talking ’bout my beloved beer (doesn’t that go without saying, lol?), I’m talking horses here and about the outta left field news regarding the next big star (potentially) being scratched (AND retired) from tomorrow’s Belmont Stakes … and his bid for The Triple Crown, ending a 34 year drought. Heard a feel good news story prior to this sad subsequent one … over 100,000 people were expected to attend and hopefully witness history. Not now. What a blow to the horse racing industry. America (North America) desperately needed (needs) a hero … Europe has Frankel, and in NO WAY am I comparing the two, ’cause there is none … but hopefully it woulda been a wonderful crowning moment instead of this heartbreaking one. On second thought … beer me!!
Was doing my thang shopping up a storm at my Fortinos and knew asparagus was on sale for $1.79/lb (as a side note, am amused it’s one of the few “bunched” veggies priced by weight, not by bunch … even though IT IS bunched, lol?! ‘Sup with that?), so I did a walk-by and was surprised and excited to find one outta the lot that was thinly stalked (thinner is better btw, avoid thick ass ones like the elephantitis plague), and I’m talking pencil thin here, so I snagged ‘n bagged them along with my other groceries. On that topic, Tiffany K was riding my ass (hard, lol) wanting me to buy this new PC product … comes in six flavours and every time I looked, the ONLY was not to be found was the one she wanted … evidently everybody else had a hankering for it as well … but as you can see (but not taste – too bad, is VERY good) success at last. Enjoy the pics y’all!!
PC Sofrito:
A couple of New York Strips and strung piquante sausages … startin’ gettin’ their char on!! Asparagus patiently awaits:
My grilled Vidalia onion, poblano pepper relish … jar THAT PC, lol:
… and not to boast, but DAMN motherfuckers … shit’s the bomb … great with burgers, sausages, eggs … OMG love LOVE it in omelettes and frittatas!!
Plated … finally! A feast fit for Tiffany K & danistrulytheman:
And the best part (as always, lol) … leftovers!! A bit of a change-up (or is that curveball, lol?) A quick steak and sausage stir-fry, along with my onion/poblano mix (marries together so beautifully, can’t begin to tell ya how good it is), steamed the asparagus, poached two eggs lightly (I’m talking running yokes folks) and freshly grated (coarsely) parm-regg as a finishing touch … AND a dollop of Sofrito, AND sliced hothouse tomatoes to boot, LOL!!:
… and by “This”, I mean ME, lol!! Wow Lindsey and Tommy, must admit you kinda surprised me (maybe I’ll have to surprise you right back) … but, thanks I think, lol?!?! A warm welcome guys … AND a caveat … ain’t NEVER stopping on the swearsies, lol!! 😉
… more like Burger Day!!
Tiffany K and I found out about it last minute, so were only able to take part on the final day.
Participating restaurants:
… and neatly mapped:
Once we became aware, we decided early yesterday morning to go to The Gladstone Hotel (#3) … their burgers sounded great, plus we were gonna be nearby – was a win win!! OMG, what a beautiful café … so relaxing, you def don’t wanna rush … ya wanna unwind soaking in the atmosphere, the company, just chillin’ ‘n veggin’!! It was here (after we ordered) that we talked about, came up with the idea of having our burger day … too bad it wasn’t planned earlier, otherwise we would have done it slightly differently … we would been smarter ’bout ‘pproaching it!!
The café (was packed, honestly, lol … this is a narrow view that I took when no one was in the shot):
duo de Blanche de Chambly (yes, VERY light and cloudy, AND yes great great beer):
uno B de C (ignore the beer glass)… nice Tiffany Tiffany K, lol:
The burgers:
… and the bill (of course, lol):
Done!! But as I said, sitting in sumptuous comfort we decided this would only be the beginning … UNION Restaurant (#8), here we come!! And if you peek at the map, can see they’re just a stone’s throw away from each other, literally a hop skip and a jump apart!!
AHHHH, my beloved Creemore, lol:
The burgers:
Juicy, bit ‘o pink too:
… and the bill – Fuck Brunch, LOL!!:
Two down one to go … BQM Burgershoppe (#7) … (hold on, wait a minute … beep beep beep … we played that one smart, 1 burger, 1 beer each … something we should have started out doing .. am still pissed at those $4 fries, what was I thinking, ALMOST the cost of a burger, lol? … just takes away from the frugality – fun of it … and puts unwanted carbs in my belly) is next … our final stop, and it’s conveniently located on the same street and within walking distance, which we did!! But tiny Tiffany K’s gut was beginning to burst. Standing on the outside staring in was as close we were gonna get, but that was ok!! And as they say … two out of three ain’t bad!! No it ain’t, no it motherfucking ain’t!!
A few thoughts:
Hands down EVERYTHING was better at The Gladstone … ‘cept the burger … it was ordinary at best, nothing special & nothing memorable!! UNION on the other hand, while immediately (ok, initially) being a bit of a letdown, it was so fucking hot inside!! No chance of leisurely lingering for hours, like we wanted to at The Gladstone … you just wanted to scarf yer burger and bolt (Christ, I was tempted to ask for take-out … but meaning no Creemore, meant not a chance in hell, lol), come to think of it, we kinda did, lol!! Ok ok, they did have the aforementioned Creemore … and their burgers FUCKING rocked!! Without question, WAY better … ’twas a no-brainer picking a winner … the breadbutter pickles, the coco bun … momentarily I held a handful of Heaven!! I almost started to cry, LOL!!
… and a couple bonus pics:
Loved the Chambly so much (had it before btw, wasn’t new to me), went out and bought (snapped this before I did, lol) a halfsack today, lol:
Throughout the day was taking washroom mirror pics, lol … have a shitload too (and what does this have to do with this blogpost? Absolutely nothing, lol!!), but I’ll only show y’all the very first one, before I even made it into either restaurant … and I ain’t telling ya where I was at, lol … less ya know, the better trust me, lol … what a fucking nut (oui, moi, lol) … danistrulytheman 06/02/12:
… there’s fire … AND danistrulytheman’s bbq, lol!! This time I wanted to show y’all (with no end result pics either, done plenty of that – plenty more to come as well I’m sure, lol) focusing on my tremendous ‘n stupendous grilling skills, employing one of my many varied techniques!! Beef is freshly ground sirloin, patties (hand formed seasoned liberally with sea salt and coated with EVOO) are pushing 165-170 g … the perfect size … ain’t no one complainin’ they’re too big or too small!! Today I doubled down … placed my thick-ass cast iron grate directly on top of my grill. I love it ’cause it gets really, really hot … AND retains the heat (very important), great for charrin’ ma burgers man!!
On only for a few secs, and already starting to smoke:
The flip-over … I LOVE IT!! Looking (AND smelling) good:
OK, these bad boys are motherfucking done … where’s my burger spatula, lol?!:
danistrulytheman 