CHEF KEVIN'S CULINARY RANTS AND RAVES

January 31 Means Blogger Bash!

2012-01-31T07:59:00.000-06:00

It is a fifth Tuesday of a month. This means the city council will not be convening to see how they can spend Peoria into oblivion or add more taxes and fees. More importantly, it also means Blogger Bash at Kellehers at 6:30 PM.

Tomorrow is Garbage Day.....

2012-01-18T10:16:00.002-06:00

...do I just throw out my garbage on the curb? I'm paying for a brand spanking new PDC tote that I do not yet possess. Isn't there some law that makes it illegal to charge for a product or service and you do not receive that product or service?

You'd think some Peoria lawyer would be all over this filing a class action suit against the city and PDC for charging its residents/customers for a tote that they won't be receiving until early summer.

A Couple of Red Wine Reviews

2012-01-08T08:27:00.002-06:00

I've been on a red wine kick of late. Poor Sam Adams and his buddy, Stoli are just sittin' back being ignored. Anyway, I'm always on the lookout for some new, fun, tasty (and preferably inexpensive) red wines and I've found a few more to add to my Ubertasty list.

2010 Bodegas Zabrin Ateca Garnacha de Fuego Old Vines. It has a black label with orange flames on it and just says Granancha de Fuego on it. 100% Grenache. WOW!! Straight from the bottle upon opening, this needs little to no air to open up. Lots of dark cherry and black plum flavors with a hint of vanilla-y oak. Smooth through the whole drinking experience. An inky purple color so don't spill any. A great value at $10.

2010 Apothic Red Winemaker's Blend. I've seen, heard and read quite a bit about this wine so I had to try it. It is kind of a whack blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel and Syrah. Garnet with a purple tinge. Upon opening, the nose was like fresh crushed raspberries, but tasted nasty!! Bright red fruit up front but the wine was seriously disjointed. After about 4 hours it started to come together and was actually better the next day when it lived up to all the great things I've "consumed" about it from various sources. Raspberries, blackberries, chocolate and oak dominate. Think this was about $11.

2010 Primal Roots. Another California blend that is the same as above minus the Cabernet Sauvignon. Except for the fact that this only needs about a half hour to open up instead of a day like the Apothic, it is about the same wine...maybe a little lighter bodied and maybe a touch more acidic and $2 less.

2009 Tarima Monastrell. Monastrell is the grape variety, but don't let a "no name" grape scare you off...it is Spanish for the more well known French Mourvedre. This bottle was the least expensive of the lot and will easily hang with them. Blueberries, red licorice, a little earthiness and chocolate and is tasty straight from the "cork out". It sees no oak, but instead the winemaker lets it sit on its skins in stainless steel to obtain color, flavor and depth. And if I'm correct, this has the highest alcohol content of the lot at around 15%, but you'd never know it.

May the bottom of your wine glass be kissed by the sun :) :)

Getting Aggravated...

2011-12-31T10:58:00.002-06:00

Well, something new to annoy me besides slow drivers, ranch-a-holics and the Peoria City Council..... CEFCU's new online banking system.

I've called for help. I've watched the on-line demos. I have three computers on which two of them I have used their old version of bill pay. Yet during the new sign up process, it "doesn't recognize this computer". So, on the new computer, never before signed into CEFCU, I give it a whirl. It recognizes me (although it doesn't recognize the computers I usually pay bills from - go figure), my membership at CEFCU, etc., but when asked to create a new personal ID, it claims EVERY new ID I put in is already in use. REALLY? Someone actually has samadamsbeerfarts1? Escoffier1028? idoubtthisworks2?

Tuesday morning sees me taking a stroll to CEFCU with my laptop.

There is NO Substitute For Fat

2011-12-12T10:05:00.002-06:00

I'm sure most of you have experienced this in your workplace in some fashion or another. People want the cheapest way possible regardless of quality. Personally, I don't get this. Yes, let us try to feed a zillion people for $1.99 each. And Beluga caviar and saffron should fall from the heavens like manna, too.

Enter the roast beef saga. I'm sure USDA Prime Hereford Beef filet mignon would make some tasty "roast beef". However, most people don't want/can't afford that. I usually use a nice USDA choice Sirloin Cap for roast beef. Pretty reasonable in price and is probably one of the most tender cuts after filet, strip and ribeye.

But my idea of reasonable and someone else's are two different things. So, thinking marinating & roasting a lesser grade and cut to medium rare and slicing it very thin, I could make this work. No, not really. Just. Not. Good.

People...ya just gotta have fat, specifically marbling. And good marbling. All the culinary tricks in the book can't help you. If there isn't white-ish/pinkish stuff looking like a map of downtown Chicago traversing through your meat, look for a better cut. (OK, one can braise the bejesus out of something in a crock pot to get it tender, but that it usually hard to cut into thin slices for sandwiches).

And this applies to pork, chicken, lamb, etc. too. (Almost) everyone is screaming LOW FAT!!! So now animals are bread leaner to show little fat in their meat. Less fat=less tender. Then consumers scream ITS TOUGH! So manufacturers inject the meat with a saline solution-like substance. Instead of the fat cooking out to give you a tender product, the solution does. Personally, give me a higher grade of any meat with the fat and awesome marbling.

With either, the proteins can't bind (and make meat tough) if there is something in the way (fat or solution). The more finely the fat (or solution) is dispersed (marbling) the more tender the meat will be (yes, it also depends on how little the particular muscle was used during the animal's lifetime). Little marbling or solution will leave meat tough. Give me fat, please.

I'd rather pay a higher price for a better cut I know I will enjoy than to save a few bucks and think "that was kinda lame".

Shut the HELL up!

2011-12-12T09:42:00.003-06:00

Why you should STFU if you are drunk and can't sing in the first place. I'm sure all the people around you were annoyed. At least all the guys in the audience can still marvel at how hot Suzanna Hoffs (the lead singer playing the black and white Rickenbacker guitar on the far right) is at 52 years old!

A Second? Chance?

2011-10-26T07:59:00.002-05:00

The city council LOVES to spend our tax dollars and just is itching to do so. But not on critical items like, oh say, police, roads, infrastructure, city services....

No, they are giving Gary Matthews a "second" chance at building a Marriott in conjunction with the Pere.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45039205/ns/local_news-peoria_il/#.TqgBhXKOfZ0

A second chance? This guy has missed every deadline set for him by the council regarding this project. If we missed this many at our jobs, we'd get fired. And yet again, the project has again been downsized from what was originally presented to Peoria.

Maybe we can all hide at this hotel from all the thuggery that is going on in Peoria of late. If we are all in one spot, maybe the two remaining police officers will be able to protect us better. I hope all the shooting, hold up, stabbing and beating victims of late will find solace in knowing that the city council is more concerned about lining the pockets of developers, etc. than they are spending money driving out/locking up thugs and protecting the citizens of Peoria.

I think the mayor and every city council person who voted yes for this should have to sign a personal guarantee letter for this project. If they can't see that Matthews couldn't get his portion of the financing for 2 years it should tell them that the "money people" in this world don't think this is a good idea. But I'm sure the council knows better and would have no issue putting up their homes, cars and bank accounts as collateral. I mean the Civic Center, Gateway Building, Firefly, Globe, Mid town Plaza, O'Brien Field and the Rec Plex are such financial windfalls for Peoria, you'd think our tax rate would be zero. We all know who made money on these deals and it wasn't the Peoria taxpayer.

Two Upcoming Events at Willett's Winery

2011-10-22T07:46:00.003-05:00

This upcoming weekend has two fun events!

It's not to late to get tickets for our Halloween Costume Party to be held on Saturday, October 29th. It begins with an appetizer buffet at 7pm, sangria (other refreshments available) and a costume contest with various prizes, then Southside Cindy & The Sliptones beginning at 8pm. You don't want to miss this fun event so get a group of friends together!! No, you don't have to have a costume, but it is more fun that way!! Cost is $25 per person.

Our third annual chili cook-off competition will be held the the next day (Sunday, 30th) at 1 PM. There are three categories in which you can enter a chili (or enter all three of them if you'd like): traditional, non-traditional and spicy. Prizes will be awarded in each category. There will be a professional judging and a People's Choice award. There is no cost to enter, but call to reserve your space in the competition.

Call the winery at 309*968*7070 to sign up or for more information.

Sometimes, we forget.

2011-09-06T15:51:00.002-05:00

I got a Facebook message from a friend of mine telling me to check out Google's homepage today as they have "doctored it up" to celebrate late Queen frontman, Freddie Mercury, 65th birthday.

As with many others, I'm reminiscing about what a great vocalist, showman and songwriter Freddie Mercury was. Hey, all of today's "pop" stars; Gaga, Perry, Bieber, West, Beyonce', etc. think Queen would have lip synched this on the MTV Music Awards this year? Want true flamboyance? Here is is:

Those Bad Lemonade Stand Police

2011-08-29T06:58:00.004-05:00

Over at The Peoria Pundit, Billy is upset about the cops and health departments shutting down kids lemonade stands. Yes, I went on a tirade about it. I'm all for little kids selling lemonade from lemonade stands in their front yard, like this little girl:

Ok, I find it hard to believe that the police and others who enforce city ordinances regarding lemonade stands or the health department would shut this down. I guess there is some outside chance that some terrible food bourne illness could occur, but probably not anymore so than those restaurants you read about in the Peoria Journal Star that continually score 70s or below on their quarterly health inspections.

However, let us now play "find the lemonade stand" in this picture:

Do you see one? I certainly don't. I see a young lad selling bottles of lemonade and punch plus bottled water and cans of Coke products (at some obscene prices). No, my friends, this kid is a vendor. I wish I could find it, but a similar "shut down" incident occurred where you could see cases of various bottled/canned beverages were stacked in the back of a white SUV with coolers around it. This, too, was called a lemonade stand and was shut down.

There is a huge difference between little Sally wanting to have a lemonade stand, going with the parents to the store, buying some Country Time Lemonade mix, or WHOA, maybe even making it from scratch, then selling it for a quarter than mom and dad loading up the Escalade at SAMs Club with a cornucopia of bottled beverages and little Johnny hawking them for $2.

And seriously, local health and law enforcement officials where these things occurred, $500 fines? That is about as obscene as the little boy selling bottled lemonade for $2. I understand the parent who was combative and defiant about the situation in one of these lemonade stand fiascoes being fined $500 for being an asshole, but come on. The first girl isn't hurting anyone and the bottle kid was probably half put up to it by his parents.

Maybe for the true "old school" lemonade stand as in "Exhibit One", cities could offer a reduced cost permit for $1. Name, address, date of Lemonade Stand to occur and the name of a supervising adult available at the health department. This way, it teaches kids the value of "playing by the rules" and it gives the city/health department a record just in case there is an issue. However, I can see Peoria wanting a building permit for the stand, the lemonade permit, a business license and a slew of other things that by the time mom and dad get all these things, they will have to stop at UFS and pick up a bottle of vodka to add to their lemonade.

And The Verdict Is....

2011-08-09T18:08:00.002-05:00

It has been a long time coming. It has called my name. It has tempting me. It has attempted to lure me. I hear about it. I read about it. It mocks me uncontrollably. Because of what it is, I have to experience it, but for one reason or another, it eludes me although it is always there.

I've read the rave reviews. More exhilarating than dive bombing in a WW1 bi-plane. Driving a Bugatti Veyron across Montana: lack-luster in comparison. A short term, torrid affair with Jessica Biel would be boring. A 1945 Lafite Rothschild would lack depth side by side.

What am I talking about?

The fabled Five Guy's Burger.

Maybe too much hype? Too many expectations? Not bad, but expected better. There are better in Peoria. Think I lost a little respect for Zagat and a few other publications for highly touting these things. Did I not "get" something? Was I supposed to wear 3-D burger glasses?

In fact, I was waaay excited about the Cajun fries. Hand cut fries that weren't soggy and had a wonderful "burn". Now THAT is something one RARELY gets in Peoria!

Next time I want a burger (if I don't make it myself): The Gebby Burger at Schooners or the Burger Barge (various "flavors").

But everybody has their favorites and if this, Ludy's, Steak & Shake or countless others are your favorites, please enjoy them.

Now to fire up the grill for these nice little Angus Beef ribeyes...

Chef Kevin in the Kitchen with a Lemon Zester?

2011-08-05T00:01:00.003-05:00

I don't think so, but who knows....

If you've never been to a Murder Mystery Dinner, you've got to come to Willett's Winery & Cellar next Saturday, August 13 when Without A Net Entertainment presents Clue-less. Joel and Erica are hysterical and involve the diners in a whodunnit mystery while enjoying dinner.

Cocktail hour starts at 6:00 PM with a three course dinner starting around 6:45 PM (prepared by yours truly).

Cost is $40 per person which includes the show and dinner. Wine, beer and soda are available for additional purchase. Reservations are required so call the winery at 309-968-7070.

Its the only way you'll know if it was Chef Kevin in the Kitchen with a Lemon Zester.

A Sweet Deal I'll Make Sweeter

2011-07-20T18:38:00.006-05:00

The Willett Family is offering a $20 gift certificate for $10 through WEEK-TV. The deal starts today and goes through Friday. Here is the link to the coupon: COUPON

While you can use this coupon at any Willett property, I, Chef Kevin, am going to make it worth your while to come to the Ironstone Room in Manito for lunch or early dinner. This EXTRA deal is ONLY good at the Ironstone Restaurant through Aug. 18...not the winery, not the Shoppes at Grand Prairie. PLEASE NOTE!! There is no expiration date on the $20 certificate; you can use it whenever....the Aug. 18 deadline is only for the the below drawing/giveaway at the Ironstone Room.

I'm going to hold a drawing. When you use your certificate, tell your server that you heard about this deal on Chef Kevin's Blog, (legibly) write your e-mail on the back when you redeem it and you will be entered into a drawing for:

A fifty dollar gift certificate good at any Willett's outlets: the winery, the Ironstone Room or Willett's Wines at Grand Prairie.

Two bottles of Willett's wine of your choosing. This will be issued in a form of a gift certificate designated solely for this purpose; it won't be usable for anything else.

Sometime during the week of August 21, we will draw a winner. We will e-mail the winner and determine at that time how to deliver said certificates.

OK, if THAT isn't enough to lure you to "my" restaurant (and that Manito has cheaper gas than Peoria.....)

Interesting stats

2011-07-18T17:56:00.003-05:00

I have a stat counter and Feedjit on my blogsite. It is interesting to see where hits are coming from and for what people are searching.

Locally, it seems a lot of hits come off of Peoria.com...especially if I blog about something as it shows up on their "local blog" roll. Aside from that, I get a lot of hits from people leaving Peoria Chronicle. Guess I owe CJ a Pepsi or something.

From outside the area, I get hits from everywhere and probably due to the food nature of the blog in its younger years.

The subject matters that get the most hits: cooking classes in Peoria (which I wish I was still teaching those from time to time, but, as far as I know, there isn't a place for "freelance" teachers and I just don't have a lot of spare time) and the recipe for "Pasta From Hell" made famous by The East Coast Grill in Cambridge, MA. And I still get a lot of hits for Big John's BBQ and CiCi's Pizza, which are odd.

Just some observations from my air conditioned office on a getting hotter day in Peoria.

Nice Parenting

2011-07-18T16:20:00.002-05:00

I'm traveling a VERY BUSY 4 lane Peoria street today. What do I witness? Two adult females and 5 children ages unknown, but I'd say under 7 years old, taking a stroll. The children were RUNNING, while playfully pushing each other on the side walk at least 30 feet in front of the adults, one who was on the phone.

Are you shitting me? I'm sure if one of these kids ran off, got pushed or tripped and fell into traffic and got hit, it "wouldn't" have been the adults' fault as they were watching them. Does that phone double as a long range taser that will shock the kids back onto the sidewalk?

City sidewalks, I don't care WHERE you are, aren't playgrounds...that is what yards, parks and playgrounds are for.

Lies, Lies, Lies

2011-07-09T20:49:00.005-05:00

EDIT: I have decided to delete most of what I wrote here mostly as not to give a person who allows lies to be written about me "press" via my blog. So anything you read about me on a silly little blog named Attracted To Shiny Things, are lies. Y-vonne, Y do you believe C.C. about my post blocking prowess? Y-vonne, Y do you let my name get slandered? Y-vonne, Y do you let it stand when it obviously isn't true? Y-vonne, Y did you allow or perhaps write yourself all the lies about me? What did I do to you? Is it because I'm friends with someone you don't like? That is pretty petty.

Well, Yvonne can't delete the truth here. So, if you want to support bloggers who support lying internet trolls or perhaps pen the lies themselves, you have the name of her web site. Send her a message with lots of lies in them; apparently she loves being told lies and maybe will print them on her blog. She has once; maybe you will get lucky and have your lies posted on her blog, too!!!

And of course Y-vonne shut the comments off. Hmmmm....where was Billy Dennis' post on slander vs. libel? Any lawyers out there?

But From WHAT Farm?

2011-07-09T19:03:00.004-05:00

I'm probably going to get in a shitload of trouble for writing this, but it has been under my skin for about two years and today just has set me OFF!!

I was at a local farmer's market today. When I see "Farmer's Market" I associate it with products grown locally and maybe even within the state if the "farmer" has land elsewhere or on the far outside terminology of things, part of a small region growing co-op. I think very fresh produce grown here supporting the local produce raising economy. What I DON'T think is farms in Florida, California, Arkansas and Michigan.

When I see lemons and mangoes at a PEORIA, IL farmers market, I seriously doubt even the best Illinois hot houses are growing those. When I see zucchini that are all perfect and nearly the same size, I have to wonder. When I see box after box after box that says Arkansas and Florida tomatoes on them, I scratch my head. One could argue that those are just boxes used for transportation. Hmmmm...I think I would put my tomatoes in a lettuce box not to be so obvious.

I'm not an idiot. I know what grows around here and when. Grandma used to plant right when the ground thawed and if her precious produce newbies were in danger of frost, she'd run out and cover them with straw. We always had leaf lettuce in early May, peas by Memorial Day and corn on the cob by July 4. Unless this stuff is hot housed, it ain't going to be here any sooner.

REALLY??? SWEET POTATOES and WATERMELON?? The melon fields in Manito have only had blossoms on them for about two weeks now and I'm supposed to believe watermelons?

So, right now, my sainted mother, who plants as early as anyone has broccoli, green beans, apricots, raspberries, spring mix lettuce, Jostaberries (I don't think you'll see those) cabbage and green onions the last time I wandered the produce "farm". The corn is close. Her apple trees aren't EVEN close so who has apple trees producing NOW around HERE (because I saw those for sale today, too)? Hot house apples?

Next, and a dead give-a-way I'm not full of shit. Boxes of fruit with the UPC STICKERS on them. You know the sticker I'm talking about...the one with the four number UPC on it that the cashier has to enter...like 4303 for black plums. PLEASE don't tell me the LOCAL farmer put these on so IN CASE he doesn't sell them he can drop them off at the nearest supermarket and they are ready for them to sell.

I guess what I'm saying is if you want LOCAL FARM items, you better ASK if what you are planning to buy is a LOCAL FARM item if that is important to you because I didn't see an outpouring of given information disclosing the items province. If the items are coming off the back of a distributors truck, it isn't anything different than you can buy at Schnucks or Krogers.

I also challenge all the Farmer's Market sellers to openly display the origin of each item you are selling.

Lemons? REALLY? Lemons at a Peoria farmers market. Snicker.

I'm Changing My Mind

2011-06-20T08:36:00.003-05:00

Awhile back, in a post long long ago (that I'm not going to try and post the link) I said I didn't think it would be appropriate for someone running a restaurant to be running around critiquing them.

Well, I've changed my mind. Why?

1. This is why I started the blog in the first place.

2. Because I have had people contact me saying that doesn't make any difference to them.

3. (and probably the biggest reason) is that when I was in culinary school, I had an instructor by the name of Chef Peter Michael. Chef Michael was a Certified Master Chef (CMC), the highest designation of "chefdom" there is and there are only "maybe" a 100 in the USA. He was also a judge for those who took, and mostly failed, the Certified Master Chef examination. This is the Chef I had who taught me how to cut up shallots and make chicken stock!! But not only did he teach us this, but stories about life. And one of those things was how to enjoy a social life as a Chef. He claimed that he and his wife would always get invited over to friends' house for AFTER dinner drinks because people were too intimated to cook for him (which I don't know if it was his CMC status or because he was almost the size of an NFL offensive lineman). But his comeback to that was: "Just because I cook this way, doesn't mean I eat this way. I like a burger on the grill just as much as the next guy." This was evident when several of us were at a local fair and ran into him and his wife and he was chowing on a fair food hot dog; no fancy sauces, no correctly minced onions, no made from scratch mustard. He wasn't judging or critiquing when it came to his personal enjoyment.

And I think back and realize that I didn't *overly* critique restaurants from a professional's point of view; I merely made observations and reported on them. No star rating system. And only average or above reviews...never really slammed anyone; I wanted you to know of the good places and try them from "just a guy's perspective" and let the places that just didn't "cut the mustard" toil away unannounced.

Now, I have less time to do reviews than in the past, so they may be few and far in-between, but they will show up from time to time. Actually, I do have one I will post in a few days.

See You Around The Table..... (once again)

Chef Kevin

Brought To You By.....

2011-06-15T16:41:00.004-05:00

....my guess is the same organization responsible for hiring botanically challenged Hollyhock whackers.

This has been on my nerves for awhile. The city (or someone the city hired) cut down a bunch of dead and dying ornamental trees on our boulevard. They replaced them with various other ornamental trees. This is one of two that got planted this way. I called the city and it appeared they got righted. However, it didn't last long. I righted one myself, drove a metal fence post next to it and tied it to the STRAIGHT fence post. Currently, it is about straight; don't want to force it. While doing this, a neighbor came out, thought this shouldn't be my responsibility and was going to call the city again (I don't know if this got accomplished or not..I'd say not). So this poor tree is growing at an angle conducive of using it for a barge tie off on the Hennepin Canal. It is slowly driving me nuts. I'm half tempted to borrow the chainsaw master's Stihl Farm Boss chainsaw and remove it and plant something completely perpendicular to the ground like a nice Bradford Pear.

Already??

2011-06-14T15:57:00.002-05:00

I went to the Kroger's on Wisconsin today. On my way home I drove past the NEW Glen Oak Learning Center and something caught my eye: It appears that the paint on the new metal or ironwork between and above the two pillars at the entrance is peeling. How old is this project? Less than a year?

Maybe a very large crow took a dump. Maybe there is supposed to be some white-ish paint there and I just don't understand modern art. Maybe they ran out of black paint and haven't been back to finish. Maybe a trip to my eye doctor is in order.

Maybe.....

Go check it for yourself.

Feelin' like a second class citizen

2011-05-19T20:07:00.002-05:00

Thanks to Aaron "Look at my Abs" Schock and his cohorts while he was an Illinois House Representative, I can't get this wine: 2004 Pago del Molino Arras de Bobal Utiel Requena. Can't seem to find any Illinois wine shops (through many pages of Google searches) that has it. I USED to be able to get it until Aaron and his merry band of morons got their pockets filled by Illinois liquor distributors to put a squash of banning alcohol sales from out of state retailers. Hey Aaron, next time your abs are in California, stop by K&L Wines and pick me up a few bottles.

If liquor distributors can not provide and DISTRIBUTE (isn't that what they are supposed to do??) a particular product, I should have the right to get it from wherever. I DON'T always want to drink what YOU think I should buy so it makes you money.

New Blog

2011-05-17T07:56:00.002-05:00

No, not me. I can't maintain the one I have.

Willett's Winery & Cellar's Winemaker, Brad Beam now has a blog about Illinois grapes and Illinois Wine. Brad is in the upper echelon of those knowledgeable about grapes that are suitable for the Midwest, making wines out of them and ways to tweak these "Cabernets and Chardonnays" of the Midwest into some really good wines. I'm lucky to work with this guy as his accomplishments are many including being part of a team that actually developed new wine grape varietals to be tolerant of Illinois winters and make great wine.

Anyway, one can read his inaugural blog post here at: LocalPour IL

See You Around The Table.....

Chef Kevin

Another thing that makes you go "HHmmmmm.."

2011-05-11T22:29:00.000-05:00

Well, we all know gas prices suck. What is this $4/gallon gas when oil is under $100 a barrel? But that isn't my gripe (well, it is, but there is a different, bigger gripe.)

The cost of a gallon of mid-grade unleaded in Peoria: $4.29

The cost of a gallon of mid-grade unleaded in Manito: $4.03

Now, Peoria gas stations: I realize there is probably some city tax involved that may not allow you to sell at $4.03. However, twenty-six cents a gallon difference? Do you REALLY expect us to believe this? What kind of shit are you trying to get away with?

Now for some math, brought to you by my 31 year old TI-35 calculator:

I drive approximately 400 miles a week getting approximately 20 Mpg

20 gallons gas x $4.29 = 85.80 x 52 = $4461.60 a year

20 gallons gas x $4.03 = 80.60 x 52 = $4191.20 a year

The difference is $270.40. This pays my car insurance for 6 months plus two oil changes.

Quit ripping us off. Ok, well, most people. I don't buy gas in Peoria. I hope you are passing out single use tubes of KY with every fill up.

Something I Haven't Done In A Long Time

2011-05-10T16:09:00.002-05:00

The main objective of this blog when it started was to do restaurant reviews and discuss issues that effected restaurants locally, like the smoking ban. However, after altercations with some person while working at GFS who thought me working there was a conflict of interest and now that I am working at a restaurant, this philosophy changed.

However, I have to give props. I was out near Grand Prairie Mall today and needed to hit the CEFCU 24 machine. I noticed that the little coffee shop behind Pier 1 and in front of Gander Mountain is now a joint called The Meat-N-Place. Ok, little locally owned joint, got to check it out.

I had the Caribbean BBQ sandwich with fries. I'm not going into great detail here, but it was a really good sandwich. The shredded pork was juicy and tender with a definite sweet & savory spice profile with a touch of heat. It was topped with a slightly creamy cole slaw and BBQ Sauce. Next time, no BBQsauce as it masked the pork's flavor. The fries were fries with something resembling Lawry's sprinkled on them.

While it was really good, I don't see me driving across town again for one, but if I'm in the area, a definite repeat....with no BBQ Sauce.

On that note, The Smo-King Pit is still the bomb and my choice of BBQ joints (if only he served icy cold Sam Adams!).

Get Off My Grass!

2011-04-17T09:22:00.002-05:00

I dunno. It just seems like in the last 2 years or so, more things just seem to get on my nerves. I'm feeling like I'm becoming the grouchy "GET OFF MY LAWN!" guy. But then I have to wonder if it is me or are there more and more contributing factors to said getoffmylawnedness? I think it is the latter.

People drive like idiots because they are on their cell, combing their hair, reading, fighting with the kids or a cornucopia of other distractions from what they are supposed to be doing....um....driving a 1 ton (plus) vehicle down the road capable of killing things.

Pedestrians are more and more thinking it is some God given right to walk when, where, how and why they want. Sorry, I do not have the brakes on a Bugatti Veyron installed on my Tracker to keep from running you over. Even though it isn't apparent, I think some of these people wander around with bags over their heads.

And speaking of my yard, why do people think they have to scale (yes, scale - it isn't an easy task) the steep incline in my backyard and destroy my landscaping? One could go 45 feet to the west and GO UP A SMALL SET OF STEPS in my neighbors yard (which one wouldn't notice if a heard of buffalo trespassed across it).

People in grocery stores with full-ish carts camping out in the middle of the aisle while reading labels, talking on their cell or to the long lost friend they just happened to run into? (Which brings up another incident: I'm leaving a local Kroger's store. Two girls start asking me if I would donate to (some cause I don't remember). I asked them what the cause was about. The one sort of starts to explain it while the other one's cellphone rings, she answers it and walks away!! REAL interested in helping the cause, huh?) I didn't notice your name next to "Canned Vegetables" and "Dried Beans" on the "in this aisle" sign that I would think to find your ass permanently planted there.

This list could go on if I sat here long enough and thought about it. But I'm sure you all know what I'm talking about and probably experienced it. Is it me, or is it society becoming more me, me, me, now, now, now? And I don't feel like joining them since I can't seem to beat them (and I can't shoot them). Yet, I'm tired of feeling that on a daily basis something aggravates the heck out of me. I guess I need to watch more TV as I'm sure I'd eventually see a drug ad that would let me know what pill I needed to take.

The Better The Sound Quality...

2011-04-09T19:12:00.002-05:00

I grew up in the area of the turntable. From mom's single speaker portable unit (and Elvis Presley 45's), to the all-in-one TV/Stereo/turntable unit to the component stereo version (I actually have my still functioning Dual 1226). Later, a reel to reel, then 8-track tapes, then cassettes, then CDs and now digital downloads onto mini personal digital players. But have you noticed, as sound quality gets better and "cleaner", the equipment that plays the music seems to get smaller and less capable of re-producing the musical range that these high tech digital recorded medium are capable of producing? Ear buds, mini shelf systems and teeny-tiny speakers used to play ultra high quality recordings, Hi-Def, Dolby 7.1 surround sound, etc.? Ech! What crap!

Today, I decided that I was tired of the car speakers and the bookshelf speakers. So, to listen to some new music, I fired up the old stereo.

OH, HELL YEAH!! Nothing like twin Yamaha amps driving a pair of late 1970s Cerwin Vega H-15s. Dual voice coil 15" woofers with twin 2 1/2" tweeter capable of 350 watts @ 8 ohms.

This is music...not that tinny ear bud or 5" coffee table speaker crap.

I hope the neighbors didn't mind picking stuff up off their floors after feeling what could have been the New Madrid Fault acting up.

Chef Kevin Goes Hip-Hop?

2011-04-05T07:31:00.006-05:00

Oh, heavens no! I'm too much of a blues/70/80/early 90's rock fan to ever go hip hop. Heck I don't know when I've listened to "popular" radio on my own accord. I tend to search out and find little known artists whose music I enjoy such as Marc Broussard, Toby Lightman, Jennie DeVoe, Ana Popovic and a few others and pretty much skip radio altogether.

However, an acquaintance of mine posted something about a Saturday Night Live video on Facebook and I've been fascinated by the voice every since. Yeah, she's young and cute and the songs catchy, but it is the voice. She sings so many different genres of music (wish she'd do more blues..definitely has the voice for it) from 1920's burlesque, to ballads, to mostly hip-hoppish stuff to what verges on rock n' roll. And the lyrics aren't full of trash talk, sex, hos, etc. (well, except for the two songs where she is actually making fun of those things).

And who is this? Jessie J. A 23 year old English (what is with the invasion English women into the music scene of late?) woman who has written songs for the likes of Justin Timberlake, Christina Aguilera, Chris Brown, Britney Spears and Miley Cyrus's No. 1 hit "Party in the U.S.A". (I have no clue...never have heard it) is now venturing out on her own. Her first CD drops in the US on Tuesday even though it has already gone platinum in England.

Here is the video that hooked me.

And another full of vocal gymnastics (she says shes singing with a backing track instead of a band and watch for an F bomb around the 1:14 mark)

You can find more on YouTube

Wine, Art, Balloon & Jazz Festival

2011-03-29T14:08:00.004-05:00

The Wine, Art, Balloon & Jazz Festival with be held on Saturday, May 28 at Manito, Illinois' Memorial Park, 400 E. Southmoor Street from 11AM-8PM. There will be 3 jazz bands throughout the day, various artists, potters, craftworkers and others displaying and selling their wares. Last year, 11 different wineries throughout Illinois participated and many have already responded that they will return for this years festivities. There will also be several food vendors on site with a wide range of culinary delights.

Tickets are $10 per person which includes a souvenir glass and five tasting tickets.

The bands will be: 11am-2pm Joe Metzka & Friends 2pm-5pm The Purdue University Jazz Combo 5pm-8pm Sally Weisenburg Trio.

For further information, call Willett's Winery & Cellar at 309-968-7070.

Stop HR 1161

2011-03-22T07:30:00.002-05:00

A new bill has been introduced that will once again try to further take away the ability for wine, beer and spirit lovers to obtain those items from out of state sources should those item not be available in their home market. Our esteemed Congressman, Aaron Schock, was a co-sponsor of the law in IL that has already stripped these rights from Illinoisans and was co-sponsor of HR 5034 which would have done about the same thing as HR1161, but was defeated. Write Aaron and tell him NOT to support this bill.

How HR 1161 Will Hurt Consumers
by StopHR1161 on Sunday, March 20, 2011 at 11:40pm

Wine consumers are the ultimate target of HR 1161. HR 1161 gives states the power to pass otherwise unconstitutional laws that reduce consumer access to wine, to wine over the Internet and to smaller production beers and spirits.

HR 1161 gives states the power to follow the advice of alcohol wholesalers and forbid wine lovers from purchasing imported wines, wine of the month clubs, rare wines and auctioned wines that they can't find locally. It does this by allowing discriminatory bans on shipment of wine from out of state retailers, who are the ones that sell imported wines, offer wine of the month clubs, auction wines and most often sell hard to find and rare wines.

If you want a sense of what kind of wine laws wholesalers favor, consider that they have

-opposed shipment of wine from in-state wineries

-opposed shipment of wine from out of state wineries

-opposed shipment of wine from out of state wine retailers

-opposed shipment of wine from out of state wine of the month clubs

-opposed wine being sold in grocery stores.

-opposed retailers' being able to buy directly from out of state wineries.

All these things give consumers better access to a larger variety of wines. But wholesalers have opposed them all. Wholesalers, who are behind HR 1161, oppose these policies that promote consumer access to wine not for any altruistic reasons having to do with minors accessing wine or the state being able to collect taxes. They oppose them because in each instance the sale doesn't go through the wholesaler. (In other words, if the liquor distributors in your area or state, don't want to, don't feel it is profitable for them or don't have the distributorship power to be a distributor, you won't have access to a particular wine, beer or spirit).

There is no reason to believe that once HR 1161 passes wholesalers won't continue their legislative crusade to take wine choices out of consumers hands.

Here is pretty much the text of HR 1161:

H. R. 1161

To reaffirm state-based alcohol regulation, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

March 17, 2011

Mr. CHAFFETZ (for himself, Mr. BRALEY of Iowa, Mr. COBLE, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. DEUTCH, Mr. JORDAN, Mr. GARY G. MILLER of California, Mr. ROSS of Florida, and Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To reaffirm state-based alcohol regulation, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ‘Community Alcohol Regulatory Effectiveness Act of 2011’.

SEC. 2. PURPOSES.

The purpose of this Act is to recognize and reaffirm that alcohol is different from other consumer products and that it should continue to be regulated by the States.

SEC. 3. SUPPORT FOR STATE ALCOHOL REGULATION.

The Act entitled ‘An Act divesting intoxicating liquors of their interstate character in certain cases’, approved March 2, 1913 (27 U.S.C. 122 et seq.), commonly known as the ‘Webb-Kenyon Act’, is amended by adding at the end the following:

‘SEC. 3. SUPPORT FOR STATE ALCOHOL REGULATION.

‘(a) Declaration of Policy- It is the policy of Congress to recognize and reaffirm that alcohol is different from other consumer products and that it should continue to be regulated by the States.

‘(b) Construction of Congressional Silence- Silence on the part of Congress shall not be construed to impose any barrier under clause 3 of section 8 of article I of the Constitution (commonly referred to as the ‘Commerce Clause’) to the regulation by a State or territory of alcoholic beverages. However, State or territorial regulations may not intentionally or facially discriminate against out-of-State or out-of-territory producers of alcoholic beverages in favor of in-State or in-territory producers unless the State or territory can demonstrate that the challenged law advances a legitimate local purpose that cannot be adequately served by reasonable nondiscriminatory alternatives.’.

SEC. 4. AMENDMENT TO WILSON ACT.

The Act entitled ‘An Act to limit the effect of the regulations of commerce between the several States and with foreign countries in certain cases’, approved August 8, 1890 (27 U.S.C. 121), commonly known as the ‘Wilson Act’, is amended by striking ‘to the same extent’ and all that follows through ‘Territory,’.

STOP HR1161

Biters and Boneheads

2011-03-21T20:08:00.002-05:00

The spring emergence of the East Bluff Lolly-gaggin Jaywalker apparently was just the precursor to two more irritants that arrive with spring. Now we have Biters and Boneheads.

The Biters...yeah, can ya believe it? I was the "all the blood you can suck" buffet at The Old Country Mosquito Buffet. You think I owed them child and spousal support for how they were trying to bleed me dry. March is for Madness, not mosquitos.

The Boneheads. I'm seeing the "Start Seeing Motorcyles NOW!" signs. I saw ol'Crockrocket Knievel zoom up on my ass on War Drive today, switch lanes quickly to see if the car I just started to pass would move any faster and when it didn't, WENT BETWEEN US!! After that stunt, he was zooming (in way excess of the speed limit) in and out of traffic. Yeah, he got stopped by the Sheridan light, which caused hysterical laughter on my part. Sorry, I just can't look out for Jackhole dummass motorcyclist like this.

So, now you have a trifecta of Springtime fun to keep you occupied.

SPOTTED!!

2011-03-20T19:25:00.002-05:00

Every year there seems to be some unwritten contest who sees the first robin of the spring. That seems like ages ago. However, today I spotted the East Bluff Lolly-gagging Jaywalker. In fact, I saw many. There were a few lonely strays as I noticed most were traveling in groups. I couldn't quite decipher whether they were moving slower than usual as they are awakening from their winter hibernation of X-Boxing and couchpotatoing or it was their usual swagger. Regardless, it was annoying as it usually is. I would check out to see if any of our local automotive stores have good deals on brake shoes as they seem to be getting an early start to their reckless abandon of indiscriminate wanderings this year.

What The Heck Is This??

2011-02-28T19:40:00.002-06:00

It isn't any secret to those who read my blog that I am no fan of the HRA tax in Peoria. You know it; it is the tax added to your restaurant bill and some other types of entertainment that go to support the Civic Center. This was supposedly a temporary tax to help get the Civic Center on its feet and rolling. Well, temporary must mean 25+ years.

Of course, it is one excuse after another...not enough parking, not enough space, no attached hotel, etc. why it isn't successful and loses bushels of money every year.

So this strikes me very odd. I'm driving past the big new digital display they have outside and what do I witness? AN ADVERTISEMENT FOR EMBASSY SUITES!!!!

Is it me, or is this bizarre? The Civic Center people complain they don't get enough convention business yet they advertise for a competitor?

I guess if you can't beat them and they are stealing your business, you might as well take their advertising dollars to make up for it.

Good Question

2011-02-28T19:20:00.002-06:00

I was asked recently by another local blogger what I am doing with my blog. Good question. Frankly, I don't know.

I started doing restaurant reviews and due to several factors, I've pretty much have quit that. One reason is I just feel a bit odd running a restaurant then going out to other restaurants, critiquing them and putting my findings out there for my whole two remaining readers, I mean, world to view.

I was doing some wine reviews, but I'm in a beer mode right now. Anyway, working at a winery I get to try a lot of wines that are barely out of the juice stage, fermenting, aging, ready to go into the bottle, etc. so I get my fill.

So, it seems I either have been announcing events at the winery, bitching about how people drive (I could probably blog daily about all the excuses for "driving" I witness) or other things that irritate me.

I'm sure the COP will do something this summer that will irritate me. I have the urge to make the pond in my landscaping larger, so I'm sure that will produce some comedic fodder for all of you.

Eventually, I'll regroup, refocus and do something interesting or fun with this blog again. Sit tight....it'll happen.

Mardi Gras Event at Willett's Winery

2011-02-21T08:22:00.002-06:00

We are hosting a Mardi Gras celebration at the winery this year. Even though we JUST finalized everything this past Thursday, it seems to be very popular as we have sold quite a few tickets. So, to give you a heads up before the "normal means" of advertising begins, here is what is going on:

If you can’t make it to Mardi Gras in New Orleans or participate in the festivities in Soulard, that shouldn’t stop you from enjoying the food & music!! Join us at Willett’s Winery for a New Orleans Food & Jazz Experience on Saturday, March 5th featuring a buffet of Creole and Cajun favorites and the sounds of Dixieland & New Orleans Style Jazz by the David Hoffman Quartet (David was the trumpet player for Ray Charles’ band for 13 years!!) $25.00 per person.

Cocktails and music begin at 6:00 PM Dinner at 6:30 PM

Mixed green salad with Piquante dressing

Chicken & Andouille Sausage Gumbo with Rice

Jambalaya

Shrimp Bienville (Shrimp in a cream style sauce)

Blackened Catfish

“Voodoo” Chicken

Hoppin’ Johns

Creole style Vegetables

Mixed Greens

Cornbread

Southern Comfort Pecan Pie

Beer & wine available for purchase

We are expecting this to sell out so make your reservations by calling the winery at 309-968-7070

Laissez les bontemps rouler!! (Let the good times roll).

See You Around The Table in Manito......

Chef Kevin

Who Done It?

2011-02-04T07:00:00.002-06:00

There are several tickets available for Saturday night's Murder Mystery Dinner at Willett's Winery and Cellar. They are $40 each which includes a three course dinner and the interactive show. Social "hour" starts at 6:00 PM with the show and dinner starting at 6:30. Call the winery at 968-7070 for your reservation or more information.

The roads are pretty clear of snow to Manito.....

See you around the table.....

Chef Kevin

Things I Do Not Understand

2011-02-01T16:52:00.002-06:00

Ahhhh....a nice day for bloggery.

Recently, I received a wonderful letter from my bank offering me a credit card. It had a rate which I could not refuse. And it wasn't a teaser rate. AND they wanted to know what I wanted my limit to be. This is all true and good. So, I transfer (without any fees, high rates, etc.) my other two credit cards with much higher interest rates to this one and attempt to close the accounts. One did, no issues. But Capital One just will not let it go. I've e-mailed, called (and all I got were sales pitches, hung up, tried again, same shit and hung up) and now have written. I keep getting low percent (for 6 months) offers, convenience checks and offers of higher credit limit. Ya know, you should have done these things to keep an 11 year loyal customer happy instead of raiding my billfold every month with your high interest rates. Fine, I'll accept your offer if Jessica Biel personally delivers it to me.

That goes for DirectTV, too. Oh, thanks for the free movie if I buy one. Thanks for the $100 credit if I talk a friend into getting your service. How about a free month of HBO and Cinemax? Or half price NFL Network? The day I figure out how to stream a few shows via Roku or other means to my TV, your ass is gone, too. You think they could come up with something better to reward their long term customers.

Next, I start getting these Home Energy reports from CILCO. First, I don't give a rat's ass what my "efficient" neighbors are spending on energy. Two, I don't give another rat's ass what my inefficient neighbors are spending. Three, I don't care that you want to challenge me to use 5% less energy than last year and I'm failing. And lastly, I REALLY don't give a flying bag of horseshit about a "Community Savings Goal". What the hell is that? Yet, you B-E-G me to go with paperless billing but you send me this stupid report, for which I do not remember requesting, IN THE MAIL!!!! How about knocking a few bucks off of my bill each month instead? Then I might meet my "Community Savings Goal". Blech.

I don't understand gasoline prices. How the hell can mid grade (89 octane) cost $3.29 in Peoria, but $3.14 in Pekin and Manito (which was still $3.04 in Manito until yesterday)? Are taxes so high in Peoria that there is a $.15 difference? And this isn't right now...it has been like this every since gas went over $3.00 a gallon. Well, whomever is responsible for all the taxes in P-town, I buy my gas elsewhere, too, now. So, brainiac tax raisers, follow along if you can. You raise taxes. People look for the cheapest price. You don't have it and they buy elsewhere. So, now you have a big % of 0 sales where you used to have 8% of sales of some number. Now you have LESS money than you did. Got it?

I see that Mike Smith is still running for State Representative...or that is what the big honkin' sign at the corner of Rt. 29 and Pfeiffer Road in Bartonville says. Maybe he is getting a jump on the next election. Maybe all this wind will finally knock the damned thing over.

And finally, I've decided I'm going to change the color of my checks. Apparently they are the wrong color and it offends the Peoria County Collector who tells the street department guy not to have his guys plow my street this winter. I mean, what else could it be?

Upcoming Events At Willett's Winery

2011-01-13T08:44:00.004-06:00

Thought I would keep my few faithful readers updated to what events are happening at Willett's Winery and Cellar in Manito. We have returning events as well as new events to tempt and entertain you.

Day	Date	Event	Time	Location
Thurs	Jan. 20, Feb. 17, March 17, April 21	Trivia Night	7:00 PM	Willett’s Winery, Manito
Sat	Jan. 29, March 26	Comedy Night **	6:30 PM	Willett’s Winery, Manito
Sun	Jan. 30	Appetizer Recipe Contest	1:00 PM	Willett’s Winery, Manito
Tues	Feb. 1, March 1 April 5	“Show Me The Money”	7:00 PM	Willett’s Winery, Manito
Thurs	Feb. 10, March 10, April 14	“BINGO”	7:00 PM	Willett’s Winery, Manito
Sat	Feb. 5, April 2	Murder Mystery Dinner Theatre **	6:00 PM	Willett’s Winery, Manito
Sun	Feb. 13	Valentine’s Wine & Dine Experience **	6:30 PM	Willett’s Winery, Manito
Sun	Feb. 20	Soup & Salad Recipe Contest	1:00 PM	Willett’s Winery, Manito
Sat	March 5	Ethnic Night – Mardi Gras **	6:30 PM	Willett’s Winery, Manito
Sun	March 20	Hometown Sunday Night **	5:00 PM	Willett’s Winery, Manito
Sun	April 10	Entrée Recipe Contest	1:00 PM	Willett’s Winery, Manito
Sat	April 16	Wine & Dine Experience **	6:30 PM	Willett’s Winery, Manito

Bingo, Trivia & “Show Me The Money”

These fun games are fundraisers for 2 not-for-profit organizations in Manito (The Forman Jr. Women’s & The Popcorn Festival). The small fee collected goes to the organization. Ask for more details!

Comedy Night

Join us for a night of food, wine and laughter. After a 3 course dinner, sit back with a glass of your favorite Willett’s wine and enjoy the comedy of three different comedians. Tickets are $40 and are available by calling the winery.

Recipe Contest

Call to register, then prepare and bring your favorite recipe for sampling. No fee to register but must use one of Willett’s wines in the recipe. Prizes awarded!

Murder Mystery Theater

Our NEW comedy troupe, Without A Net, presents a very fast-paced, funny, half-scripted and half-improvised interactive show. As the mystery unfolds, a murder occurs and the audience must figure out "who-dunnit". The evening begins with a social hour at 6:00pm followed by the start of the 3 course dinner between 6:30-7:00pm. The show includes some adult humor and is presented between courses of the meal. Tickets are $40 per person.

Wine & Dine Experience

A 4-course gourmet meal will be prepared by Chef Kevin Roecker. Each course is expertly paired with wine from Willett's Winery & Cellar. During the evening, you'll hear about each course selection from Chef Kevin, and about each wine selection from winemaker, Dan Willett. Joe Metzka will provide jazz music throughout the evening. Tickets are $50 per person ($60 on Feb. 13) and include wine with each course.

Ethnic Nights

About once a quarter, we are going to feature an ethnic food night! The first one is going to be in celebration of Mardi Gras! These will all be buffet style meals. In the future, we are planning Italian, German, Chinese/Japanese and Mexican. Cost will vary on each one.

Hometown Sunday Nights

Another new event at the winery! We will be serving a family style meal from 5-7 PM. Salad, Main course, dessert and beverage for $7.95 for adults. We’ll be varying the menu each time to include favorites like meatloaf and pork chops. Call to reserve your table.

Any event that has a ** requires advance registration/reservations.

Remember, the Ironstone Restaurant is open on Friday nights until 8:30 PM.

See You Around The Table In Manito......

Chef Kevin

Sign of Early Spring...or....

2011-01-02T13:51:00.008-06:00

I looked out onto my backyard this afternoon (I know, WHY am I doing THAT when FOOTBALL is on?) and what did I see? Not one, but TWO ROBINS!! I know a rare few hang around during the winter, but I've never witnessed that phenomenon. So, I grabbed the camera and here is proof all the Sam Adams hasn't effected my vision:

Somebody better start knitting some sweaters in XXX small...

I'm thinking word on the bird street is there is open water in my backyard due to a heater in my pond which keeps the ice off allowing oxygen for the fish. Don't cry for the fish...they are used to it..in fact, they are swimming around; the water isn't that cold...the heater is far bigger than I need for the size pond I have. Birds of all sorts are around it all day.

So, hopefully, this is a good sign for an early spring. I'm also praying that damned groundhog won't see his shadow in about a month.

Peoria Driver's Test

2010-12-12T12:07:00.007-06:00

I haven't blogged in ages, but a lot has been on my mind, especially since I drive so much. I'm so tired of Peoria area drivers that I have developed a test that needs to be administered by the Secretary of State to all mid-state IL drivers. If you miss any question, you automatically fail and your license revoked. Without further ado.

1. When driving 28 mph in the left lane going east on War Drive, you should:
A. Immediately text the Peoria Police Department and tell them that someone is riding your ass.
B. Continue singing "Roxanne" at top lung totally oblivious to your surroundings
C. Turn on your right signal, check traffic, move to the right lane .
D. Same as C, but then pull into Schooners, have a refreshing beverage and some wings, drive home at midnight when there is less traffic and no one cares you are going 28mph in any lane.

2. Routinely, and even weekly this time of year, you should:
A. Pack your car full of empty fast food wrappers that you can toss out into your least favorite blogger or councilperson's front yard
B. Inspect your automobile to ensure your lights, signals and other safety features are working properly.
C. Drink heavily before driving so if you get stuck in a snow drift you'll be passed out and won't care that nobody is trying to rescue you.
D. Call your insurance agent to check if your towing insurance covers sliding into a ditch because you were yapping on your cell phone and not paying attention to the snow packed road on which you were driving.

3. It is OK to run a red left turn arrow:
A. At all intersections involving War Memorial Drive.
B. If the vehicle in front of you did.
C. Never.
D. I am the most important driver on the road so red arrows don't apply to me. As this is the longest answer, it has to be the correct one.

4. When turning left onto a divided four lane road you:
A. Turn into the far lane causing a collision with the guy turning right on red.
B. Go straight.
C. Turn into the closest lane.
D. Run over pedestrians or people selling candy.

5. While driving, your cell phone rings. You should:
A. Put down your coffee, Egg McMuffin, lipstick/razor and answer the phone.
B. Try to Google the unfamiliar number to see if you want to answer it while driving with your knees.
C. Bitch that they are calling you instead of texting you.
D. Let the damned thing go to voicemail.

6. The lever that extends from the left hand side of the steering column is:
A. ?????? but it is awfully dusty.
B. A handy dandy thing that holds miscellaneous things like rubber bands, hair ties, extra key rings and other assorted "looped" things.
C. Up calls the maid, down calls the butler.
D. Signal light indicator.

Essay Question: You are heading west on Main Street in Peoria. You need to turn right onto University. Please explain how the hell you are supposed to turn your Hummer into that tiny, narrow little lane without taking out the curb, One World and pedestrians.

Extra Credit Question: When is it permissible to drive 50 mph across a fairly full parking lot.
A. Trying to stop a wayward shopping cart from running over a little old lady.
B. Attempting to get a parking spot within the first 4 spaces within a row closest to the store.
C. Spotting a city council member who voted for the museum, hotel and gas tax and trying to run them over.
D. Never
E. D when C doesn't apply.

I wish my few remaining readers a Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and hopefully safer driving this holiday season.

Two November Events at Willett's Winery & Cellar

2010-10-28T11:55:00.001-05:00

Willett's Winery & Cellar

present

November Special Events

Saturday, November 13: An Evening of Wine & Sushi

A fabulous evening of Willett's Wine, hand-rolled Sushi by Chef Kevin Roecker of the Ironstone Room and Cherie Moery-Metzka and live music by Joe Metzka. If you think sushi is "raw fish".....think again. You won't believe the delicious offerings to choose from. Advance tickets are 30.00 per person and includes 2 glasses of wine at this reservations only event.

Friday, November 19: Nouveau Party

A celebration of the release of the 2010 Nouveau (New) Wine made from the St. Croix grape of Willett's Vineyard. Be the first to enjoy 2 glasses of wine, a tapas-style menu created by Chef Kevin Roecker of The Ironstone Room, the release of the 2010 Nouveau Label designed by local artist Shawn Prather, and live music (TBA). Tickets are 22.50 per person and includes food and 2 glasses of wine at this reservations only event.

Call Willett’s Winery & Cellar at 309-968-7070 or more information and reservations.

I Have A Request

2010-10-13T13:07:00.004-05:00

I would really like to get my hands on a few bottles of this Riesling:

2008 Reinhold Haart Piesporter Grafenberg Riesling Kabinett

Some critic writes: "Black currant and passion fruit accents lurk in the background, but this white is more about aromatic herbs and mineral salts. There's great cut and dimension, ending with a mouthwatering, minerally edge. Best from 2012 through 2022. "

However, there is a problem: I seriously doubt there is any of this wine in Illinois. Go ahead, Google it or whatever; you won't find any. Why? There were only 200 cases made. And what came to the US looks like it all ended up at K&L Wines in CA. There was a time I could bring up my K&L account and order away. But no longer. Now, I can not buy from K&L Wines as Aaron Schock and his IL HR co-horts decided that we Illinoisans are not good enough for this wine when they passed HB 429 a few years back. We must be content with Smoking Loon and Budweiser. I, at one time was good enough to vote for Aaron, but apparently I am not good enough to drink 2008 Reinhold Haart Piesporter Grafenberg Riesling Kabinett. Aaron and a few more of his new anti free trade wine CongrAssmen cronies pretty much want to do this to the whole US with a new bill, HR 5304.

Hey, Aaron. You are my Congressman. You are partially responsible for me not being able to get this on my own accord. How about you and your famous abs take some of that Liquor Distributorship "campaign contribution" money and jump in a plane and go get me 4 bottles? Or maybe make a phone call to one of your CA congressman buddies and have him bring you some to bring to me?

Thank you,

Your Riesling deprived and disgruntled wine constituent.

Shameful Self Promotion

2010-09-26T18:01:00.003-05:00

Every so often I do this. In the past, it was public events that I was catering, but now it is for the winery for which I work. We have such a wide variety of events coming up, that there is most likely something for everyone. So, here it goes:

Friday, October 1 Music in the Garden. Our last outdoor music night featuring a favorite band at the winery, Ketchum Louden Live and food from the Ironstone Room. No cover. Food available 6-9 PM, music from 7-10 PM

Saturday, October 2 Murder Mystery Dinner 6:00 pm $40 Per Person (pp) includes the show and three course dinner. Alcohol is an additional charge. By reservation only, please call the winery at 968-7070.

Saturday, October 23 The Wine & Dine Experience 6:30 pm $50 pp includes 4 "white table cloth style" courses paired with 4 of Willett's wines and music by jazz guitarist, Joe Metzka. By reservation only, please call the wineryat 968-7070. There are only a very few tickets left due to a cancellation.

Sunday, October 24 3rd Annual Chili Cook-off. 1-4 pm Pre-register your entry by calling the winery at 968-7070. There are three categories: Traditional, non traditional (white chicken chili, vegetarian chili, etc.) and spiciest. Winner of the spiciest combines the best use of flavor and heat and contestant must be able to eat their creation; trying to ruin the judges' tastebuds with the excessive use of capsicum will not be tolerated. There will be a professional judging category and a people's choice award.

Saturday, November 14 An Evening of Wine & Sushi. 6:30 pm $30 There will be a variety of sushi to choose from to create your own platter. If you think sushi is raw fish or fish in general, this event will change your mind. Some of the food items we wrap up in rice would amaze you. The price also includes 2 glasses of wine. By reservation only, please call the winery at 968-7070.

Friday, November 19 First Annual Nouveau Dinner. 6:30 pm $22.50 pp Apparently conditions existed to make a Nouveau style wine (like Beaujolais Nouveau) from Willett's St. Croix grapes!! Enjoy this "young wine" along with a Tapas style meal, live music and the unveiling of our 1st Nouveau label by local artist Shawn Prather. By reservation only, please call the winery.

Saturday, November 20 Murder Mystery Dinner 6:00 pm $40 Per Person (pp) includes the show and three course dinner. Alcohol is an additional charge. By reservation only, please call the winery at 968-7070. This is a different show than the October show.

Sunday, December 5 Christmas Open House. 1-4 pm no charge Complimentary hors d' oeuvres. See the winery all decked out for Christmas plus the annual quilt display that has drawn quilts from all over and some being over 100 years old. wine & Beverages available for purchase.

Saturday, December 11 The Wine & Dine Experience 6:30 pm $50 pp includes 4 "white table cloth style" courses paired with 4 of Willett's wines and live music. By reservation only, please call the winery at 968-7070. This will be a different menu than the October menu and will most likely showcase a new Willett's wine.

Sunday, December 12 Chef Kevin takes a long nap.

Hope to see you around a table in Manito......

Chef Kevin

I've Always Wondered and Now I Know

2010-09-06T09:01:00.003-05:00

It seems every day when I go to the mailbox, there is more junk mail than stuff I actually want. Well, I don't want the bills, either, but that isn't what I talking about. So, for the month of August, I saved it all, just to see how much of this crap I get. What do I consider junk? Anything I didn't ask to be sent. Things like catalogs that I ordered one thing off the internet 4 years ago for a sister's Christmas present (and other catalogs from similar orders on other things). Credit card offers. The PJ Star "Shopper".

Per my bathroom scale, it amounted to 16 pounds. 16 pounds of crap. Over a half pound of crap a day. Personally, I think that is excessive crappage.

4 ads from Comcast. 2 from AT&T. 2 from Direct TV sent to my business that I closed almost 10 years ago. 2 different dental office offers. A place I had my car serviced a few times sending me a "service notice" (which I found funny as they at one time told me the car was a piece of junk and I should trade it in) and several labeled "Friends at" or "neighbor". And my favorite: I could be part of a class action lawsuit that would net me $1.31...before the stamp to send it back in.

I read on another blog's comment section that a postal carrier delivers about 600 pounds of mail a day. I see why. If we were to reduce each households "load" by a half pound a day.....

I guess all this crap produces jobs. Jobs to plant the trees, to cut down the trees, to make paper out of the trees, someone to buy the paper, someone to need an ad, someone to design the ad, someone to write the check to pay for the ad, postage to be paid for the ad and it to be delivered to my mailbox so I can say "WTF is all of this shit?", throw it away into a bag made by someone else, someone picks in up in a truck made by someone else who hauls it away to a dump where someone else pushes it around with a bulldozer made by someone else.

Now I feel like a peon in a nasty cycle. However, I don't think I'd hurt the job market too badly if they skipped me.

Looking For Something To Do This Weekend?

2010-08-31T08:41:00.005-05:00

As many of your know, I am the Executive Chef for Willett's Winery & Cellar and the Ironstone Room Restaurant in Manito, IL, so, yes, this is some sort of a shameless self promotion blog post. However, something that I think that some may find interesting this weekend is: THE WALL: American Veterans Traveling Tribute. The flyer for it is below. Excuse my picture editing skills. Double clicking on it will make it more readable for those who have bad eyes like myself.

Not only is this going on, but so is the 37th annual Manito Popcorn Festival which you can get all the 411 here

Also, the winery will be hosting a few events at the winery complex. Of course, there will be wine tastings including the recently bottle Frontenac Rose' which won the Governor's Cup two years ago as the best blush wine made in Illinois. Food will be available from the Ironstone Room Restaurant which on Saturday and Sunday will include our 1/2 pound hamburger, which we grind the top round, season it and char-grill it....none of these frozen hamburger patties from us and we also make our own bratwurst which we will also be serving those two days along with other selected items off our menu. From 8 pm - 11 pm on Friday, Cousin Eddie will take the stage and on Saturday, The Flying D'Rito Brothers take the stage from 8 pm - 11 pm. Both nights food, wine and beer will be available.

Hope to see you around a table in Manito this weekend.....

My Day Has Been Fullfilled.

2010-08-28T20:29:00.002-05:00

I was told today by the local distributor of Sam Adams that Samuel Adams Black Lager will once again be available in Peoria. This is a great day. Maybe tomorrow the (real) beer drinkers of Peoria will be treated to Saranac Brewing company announcing that they will once again distribute their Saranac Black and Tan to the region. One can dream. Maybe Kurt Warner is sitting at home watching the AZ Cardinal's offense stink up the place and think, I can Brett Favre.

Chef Kevin's Top Ten Red Wines Under $20.

2010-08-28T16:31:00.006-05:00

With cooler weather upon us (even though it doesn't feel like it today), I thought I'd get away from Peoria politics for awhile and post something of useful fun: My top ten red wines under $20. Now what makes them my top 10.

I look for a couple of things. 1. I can get them locally. It does no one any good if they aren't available here and can't get them shipped from California, etc. 2. I can usually find them in several different places, but that isn't as important as 1. 3. Well balanced. Real fruit bombs or oak monsters may be tasty in their own right and the critics may wet their pants over them and they may even reach my normal top ten, but I'm looking for well balanced and well made wines for the buck. These are in no particular order.

Bogle Phantom (Old Vine Zinfandel, Mourvedre and Petit Sirah Blend)
Borsao Tres Picos Garnacha (Grenache)
Edgebaston "The Pepper Pot" (Mourvedre, Tannat and Syrah Blend)
Ridge "Three Valleys" Zinfandel
Four Vines "Old Vines" Zinfandel
Bodegas Olivares Jumilla Panarroz (Mourvedre, Grenache, Syrah Blend)
Bodegas Tarima Monastrell (Mourvedre)
Lapostolle Casa Carmenere (Carmenere Merlot Blend)
Los Rocas Vinas Viejas (Old Vine Grenache)
Thorn Clarke Terra Barossa Shiraz

Going through my notes, it became increasingly hard to remember all the great attributes of these wines and single them out from a few others. So, if you act now and call in the next ten minutes, I'll include free and at no extra charge, not one, not two, not even three (kinda sounds like Monty Python's Holy Hand Grenade) but FIVE, yes, FIVE runner ups.

Dehesa de Rubiales "Alaia". (Prieto Picudo (a Spanish indigenous varietal), Tempranillo, Merlot) Note: Can't say I've seen this of late, but haven't really looked for it either.
Vinos Sin Ley Traza Gra2. (100% Graciano)
Castano Monastrell
Bodegas Castano "Solanera" Vinas Viejas (Monastrell, Cabernet Sauvignon, Garnacha)
Bodegas Atalaya (Monastrell, Garnacha Tintorera, and other "Indigenous" red grapes)

So, there are 15 red wines, under $20, for drinking enjoyment this fall and winter.

BUT HOLD THE PHONE!! If you drag your mouse farther down the page, there are TWO (yes a whole 2) more red wine suggestions!!

For $2 extra bucks over the $20 limit (plus the few extra cents in tax) is the Four Vines Sophisticate Zinfandel. This bad boy will REALLY slap your tastebuds around and call them Sally. And this fall, I gotta plug my boss's latest, which is sitting in tanks right now, waiting label approval. It is a wine called Noiret (which is a grape). Medium-heavy bodied red with black fruit flavors and some light oak. Will be a great BBQ wine.

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs vs. Peoria

2010-08-26T08:11:00.004-05:00

Pretty much to the day four years ago, I wrote this on another blog of mine, which I will reprint below. I'm reprinting it now as the city council has once again approved plans that will not fix our crumbling basic needs infrastructure while we continue to build giant palaces that arguably may draw visitors to Peoria, but will do little to permanently draw and keep people here and stop the exodus of taxpayers to surrounding communities and beyond. As I re-read the article, I found a few passages that were a bit confusing, so I cleaned them up a bit. However, I've not changed the content. It is amazing that after 4 years, we are still battling the same things as we were then. No wonder the city never seems to progress. Without further ado:

"We keep being told that we need things like the Civic Center expansion, zoo, regional museum, etc. to help draw people to Peoria. But let's get real. Is this what is going to permanently draw people to Peoria? What do you think people first look for when they move to a new city due to a new job or any other reason? Cost and standard of living, good schools, low crime, housing costs and general amenities. Sounds like some pretty basic stuff. WOW...the basics, the essentials. Sounds like the stuff some behaviorist developed that we were preached to about over and over and over again in college management classes. Abraham Maslow said you need to achieve and sustain the basics then move to and sustain each new level until you reach self fulfillment. Thusly, we need to look at, and apply, Maslow's hierarchy of needs to Peoria.

First, you need your very basic needs. Sleep, food, shelter, oxygen and water. I'm going to forego this one, because, hopefully, you can get this in most cities. However, I'm going to use this section for basic qualities of living in a city. How are the schools? Ease of shopping for necessities, general resources for the basic standards of living and the resources to get around?

Second is safety. With crime rising in Peoria, will prospective Peorians feel safe here? Do we have jobs here that will make people feel financially safe? Police,Fire and ambulance services?

Third falls into belongingness and love. This is hard to relate to a city, but this is where I would put things like hospitals, city essentials like garbage pick-up, water quality, quality of roads & sidewalks, transportation, the opportunities to raise a family here. How does our cost of living compare? I guess one could add here are there religious, social and ethnic groups here that a prospective Peorian could associate with?

Fourth is esteem needs. Do we have a growing economy? Are people generally happy with Peoria? Does it offer not only good employment, but steady employment with opportunity for advancement. In other words, can you more than just live here, can you thrive and succeed here? Are there enough "things to do" here that interest you?

Last is self actualization: It is something we say at work. "It's just extra gravy on top of the 'tators", which means if all things are equal between us and some other city, what is Peoria's "extra gravy"? The cherry on the sundae? The knock out punch. The ace on match point, the hole in one on the 18th?" Does Peoria offer more or less extras than a comparatively sized city". What is the cost involved to be part of these extras?

We can have Denver's view of the Rockies to our west, Savannah, GA's riverfront, St. Charles, MO's downtown, Hawaii's beaches to the south and the pristineness of upper Minnesota to our north, but would that make a heck of a lot of difference if your kids go to declining schools, you are in fear of getting shot, a stagnant job base and roads and sidewalks falling to decay? No. You wouldn't want to live in a place like that.

The old saying is "build it and they will come". That may be true, but will they stay? It seems Peoria is working on Maslow's four and five needs and figure one through three will eventually follow. I don't think that is how Maslow intended it to work" (and it obviously hasn't worked in the 4 years since I wrote this).

Too Bad To Be Made Up

2010-07-22T21:16:00.003-05:00

Today was not an ordinary drive to work. The 35 mile drive (had to hit a grocery store first) provided plenty of things to shake my head at.

The first was in the Central Bluff of Peoria. Sir, while I understand that you have taken it upon yourself to improve your health, etc. by jogging, please put your shirt back on. Some of us can not bear a sight that is reminiscent of flesh colored pudding during an earthquake blobbing along the streets of Peoria. Maybe when you have the famous abs of our alcohol hating Congressman Aaron Schock, it may be permissible.

Ladies, quit laughing. I'm on SW Adams and behind me is a fairly large breasted woman. Leaning over her crotchrocket type motorcycle. In a halter top. My rear view mirror about cracked. I about cared to see most of her endowededness about as much the previously sighted man jello. By now, I'm searching for a Wal-Greens to buy a vat of saline solution to rinse my eyes out.

Oh, I'm far from done. As I slow down to stop at the light at 29 and Derby in Pekin, the car stopped in front of me is a (dirty) white or cream colored mid 90's Cadillac. When the light turns green and we speed up, it appears the trunk lid is shaking. The faster we go, the more the shake. I wonder who the hell is going to pop out going 45 mph. Then I notice it. Either a. a cross-eye Cyclops b. a clown mechanic c. a severely intoxicated NASCAR pit crew member installed the driver's side rear tire on this car. It was wobbling uncontrollably. How in the world the driver didn't feel that is beyond me. Now I'm nervous the damn thing will fall off, the car goes into a tailspin and crunches the Metro.

I turn at the prison to head down Manito Blacktop hoping for less distractions. I come up on a car going 45 (in a 55). I follow him for a bit and when safe to pass, I give the Metro's 3 cylinders some extra go juice and around him I go. I settle in at 62-ish and the next thing I know, this guy is so far up my ass, I can pass on my proctology exam this year. I speed up a bit and so does he. WTF? Ok, you want games, here's one for you. I am starting to know some of the backroads. Knowing one is coming up to the left, I pull into the opposing lane of traffic (as there was no opposing traffic) and slowed down to about 45 mph. Well, this freaked the autoproctologist out and he didn't know quite what to do. My turn came and I took it a bit quicker than advisable. I noticed he hit the brakes. So, I guess he can drive 45 mph and piss himself off, tailgate himself and piss himself off, or just go f- himself. Ain't got a pair to drive over the speed limit, don't follow me.

I almost dreaded coming home tonight. I did notice quite a few police cars along SW Washington...all parked. Guess they were waiting for crime to come to them. And then, the tete de Cuvee of all driving douchebaggery: I'm stopped at Adams and Spring wanting to turn left. There is a car beside me at the light on my right. I noticed pulling up to the light that he had a left turn signal on. So, he wants to turn left from the middle lane? Naaaw. The light turns green, he honks and then bolts right in front of me to turn left onto Spring!!!! Damned near took out the Metro. He is ahead of me at Jefferson Street at the red light and decides that red lights do not apply and took a left onto Jefferson.

I'm home. The Sam Adams is cold. Hopefully, tomorrow's drive will be less eventful.

This Friday, July 23

2010-07-19T22:32:00.005-05:00

Yeah, a bit of shameless self-promotion.

A somewhat newer band in the area will be playing in the Garden's at Willett's Winery & Cellar this Friday night. The New Imposters feature Don Mabus, Tim Brickner and John Eason. They play a wide variety of songs from the 60's (Beatles, Stones, Hendrix) to the mid 80's. I was looking at their playlist and remember a lot of the songs they play, but rarely hear anymore. According to their MySpace Page: THE NEW IMPOSTERS are a power pop / rock & roll trio hailing from Peoria, IL. A band firmly rooted in a mystical place where melody, harmony,...and jangly guitars will forever be King. Tight 3-piece musical arrangements,... full 3-part vocal harmonies,...Catchy, timeless songs w/ danceable beats and sing-along melodies, with a sound and a vibe that harkens back to the “old school cool” of 60’s and 70’s pop.

Of course, we will be serving food from The Ironstone Room, Willett's wines and for those non-wine lovers, we do have a small offering of beer and soft drinks.

See you around the table in Manito...

A Tale of Two Wines

2010-07-19T22:08:00.002-05:00

I have been drinking a lot of Willett's Wines of late. Their latest two offerings, the "perfect for summer" Vidal Blanc and the "better when left open for a day" St. Croix are just too good to be in search of much else. If that isn't enough, there are the infrequent barrel tastings and some other secrets being worked on that "need" tasting.

However, even though it has been hot, I've popped two reds. One I liked, one I did not. I'll start on a positive note. 2005 Stone Hill Norton. Earlier this year, some friends and I went to a traveling Norton tasting in and around Hermann, MO. I thought I had received my Norton fix and it would last me awhile. Nope. The 2005 SH Norton, which is probably only available at the winery or some obscure wine shop (as the 2006 is on most wine store shelves), is quite a tasty number. It starts out with a fairly muted nose which is mostly oak. The flavors are blackberry, black currant, chocolate, a hint of pepper and smoky oak. This wine is seamless and has no rough edges. the tannins at the end seemed to mellow the longer the wine was open. If you can get your hands on it, it is wonderful now and will most likely last 10 years.

The wine I didn't like. Sometimes I just pick up a bottle because I haven't seen it before or it looks to be interesting. 2004 Maurodos "Prima" Toro. The little black cherry fruit was covered up by an earthy, tobacco, smoke and a hint of something green flavors. Maybe it was sitting on the shelf too long? Anyway, after drinking and sharing about 1/2 bottle that was enough. I started looking at the label to find the grape varietal. None listed. An internet search found it to be Tempranillo. That explains a lot. Can't say I've ever found a Tempranillo I've gone gaga over. I probably wouldn't have purchased it if I knew this.

Is It Hot Yet?

2010-07-18T08:00:00.002-05:00

I'm not talking about cooking...I'm talking about the weather. I'm a cool weather person (odd for a guy who sweats it out cooking for a living..maybe that's why) whose ideal temp is 65 degrees.

We've had a heat streak of sorts with temps hanging in the 90's and there are reports that this is starting to shape up as another summer pushing for the heat record.

R-E-A-L-L-Y?? I say. I remember grandma talking about the summer of 1936. I've always known it to be a scorcher and I even looked it up once. But since I read we were on track for a record summer, I thought I'd look again. I didn't find anything directly about Central Illinois, but I did find a library blog from Moline, IL. http://blogs.davenportlibrary.com/sc/?p=185 which I will copy and paste part of it here.

"Imagine for a moment a heat wave with no, or very little, air conditioning. No home air conditioning to help you sleep, no frozen food section to meander through. Sound uncomfortable? Those were the conditions faced by a large portion of the United States in 1936. Many of the high temperature records set that summer still stand. Drought, grasshoppers,...and tornados also added to the natural disasters of the year. Drought was beginning to plague this region as temperatures began to rise in late June 1936. Cooler weather returned briefly until July 5 when the temperature reached 105 degrees**. On July 6 it was 105 degrees again. The overnight temperature dropped to only 81 degrees before soaring again to 105 degrees on July 7. Between July 5 and July 15 the temperature remained above 102 degrees during the day with temperatures only dipping into the 80s at night. The highest temperature came on July 14 when the thermometer hit 111 degrees. With no rain in sight newspapers began to report on crops dying. Adding to the agricultural distress were grasshoppers eating what crops were not withering away in the sun. Only a few hotels and movie theaters had air conditioning. Home cooling systems were still very rare. Families began to live in their basements during the day to keep cool. At night people slept in parks or on lawns trying to find what little comfort there was in the outdoors. The local papers continued to list those who had either died or collapsed from the heat. On July 16 the temperature finally fell under 100 degrees during the day for the first time in fourteen days with an evening temperature in the 70s. July 17 saw another record breaking day, but by July 20 the heat wave had broken and rain began to cool the area. The evening temperature even reached 67 degrees, the coolest temperature since July 3.

An estimated 89 people died locally during the 1936 heat wave. Nationwide the estimate stands at 5,000 dead.

Highs temperatures still on record from 1936: June 29 – 104° F, July 5 – 105°F, July 6° – 105°F, July 7 – 105°F, July 8 – 104°F, July 9 – 102°F, July 10 – 105°F, July 11 – 107°F, July 12 – 108°F, July 13 – 107°F, July 14 – 111°F, July 15 – 106°F, July 17 – 103°F, July 26 – 106°F, August 12 – 100°F, August 14 – 105°F, August 15 – 101°F, August 18 – 106°F, August 21 – 99°F, August 22 – 101°F, August 24 – 100°F. "

No, thank you.

Am I the only one who noticed this?

2010-07-10T17:46:00.003-05:00

As most of Peoria may be aware, Schnucks on University has remodeled. I'm guessing because Hy-Vee is opening up around the corner and they wanted to have a new, fresh look? Nevertheless, I can't find a damned thing in that store anymore (except the produce and the more prominently displayed alcohol section).

Now, right when you walk in, they have sort of an upscale deli called Chef's Express. The first time I saw this I about busted out laughing. First, it is in all capital letters. Second, the "S" in Chef's is really far spaced from the apostrophe, and looks more like it is part of the word Express. Kinda like this: CHEF' S EXPRESS. And right when you come in, you can't really see the PRESS part. Thusly, it looks like SEX. OK, Nevermind. But I bet the next time you go into Schnucks you'll look.

Chicago's Gun Restriction Shot Down

2010-06-29T22:10:00.003-05:00

Well, by now most have probably heard that the Supreme Court has declared Chicago's handgun ban unconstitutional. Yea for the Supreme Court. I am simply amazed how Daley and all his yesmen pawns think that banning handguns from law-abiding citizens will slow down crime. (How has that worked for them in the last 20+ years, BTW?) That is like thinking taking away cars from people who never have been in an automobile accident will slow down traffic fatalities. Its about as assbackwards as it gets.

So, of course, Daley's gaggle of goons are already in the process of how to stop handguns from getting into law abiding citizens' hands. Nothing about how to get illegally possessed guns out of criminals hands, which if I were a mayor of a large city, would be more of a concern to me. Hey, I'm just a cook, a lowly cook. What do I know about government matters?

And here are some of the ideas they are tossing around (via the PJ Star):

Council members seemed eager to pass a tough new ordinance that Georges also said might prohibit those convicted of two or more times of drunken driving or drug offenses from possessing a handgun and could require Chicagoans in homes with children to secure guns in a locked box or equip them with trigger locks.

One alderman, Edward Burke, suggested that Chicago follow the lead of some other cities by requiring those convicted of gun offenses to register with the city just as convicted sex offenders are required to do.

Another, Fredrenna Lyle, voiced her support for requiring gun owners have some kind of insurance, saying that the city already requires those with dogs deemed dangerous to beef up their insurance.

"I don't think there is anything that is more dangerous than a firearm in the hands of someone that has no training and no ability and no knowledge," she said.

Ok, it is me again. OK, fine. Do all of those things. I feel most unnecessary, but... But make the law for EVERYONE, just not legal handgun owners.

HUH? you ask. Well, if you illegally possess a handgun in the city of Chicago, you are subjected to the same laws. It better be locked up or triggerlocked if you have kids in the house. If not, in addition to any other crimes committed, you get smacked with that, too. No extra insurance on your illegally possessed handgun? OOPPS! There is another law broken. You don't register your illegal handgun? Someone give the judge another book to throw. You didn't get proper training to use your illegally possessed handgun. Shame on you and here is your punishment.

So, lets see. Bob shoots John with his illegally possessed .451 Detonics Magnum and splatters John over half of Chicago's west side. John dies. Along with the murder charge, Bob also wins the following prizes tacked onto his John killing sentence: Gun not registered. No insurance. No training. Poor Bob, not only does he get to spend the next 30 years in Menard for spraying John's body parts all over the place, now he gets some healthy fines or maybe extra jail time for not having proper certifications, etc. for his handgun. What is good for the goose.....

And Fredrenna Lyle, I have no words of rebuttal to express my disbelief of your "I don't think there is anything that is more dangerous than a firearm in the hands of someone that has no training and no ability and no knowledge" statement when suggesting that future gun owners need more insurance as they may not know how to shoot. (I need help from John McEnroe here..You can not be serious!) WOW is there some criminal handgun school that teaches the people who illegally possess handguns how to shoot making it OK for THEM to have handguns? Is it some secret society with geometrically positioned baseball caps, dress codes and complicated handshakes? Oh, yeah, those are called gangs and I'm sure that since economic times are hard right now, they've discontinued their "Be a safe thug" gun safety program.

Let's see what Daley comes up with. There are as many people ready to "fire back" (excuse the pun) at Daley's future bans, etc. already calling some of the proposals unconstitutional and against civil rights. One thing is for certain, he won't get shot...the criminals in Chicago must love this guy!!

Not Again, Aaron!!

2010-06-27T20:09:00.002-05:00

Are you kidding me?

Most of my readers know that I was furious with our then IL House of Representatives Aaron Schock for voting YES on HB 429 which has essentially stopped a lot of shipping of wine (as well as other alcohol) from out of state retailers into Illinois. Infuriating me further, is that I didn't even get a run-of-the-mill form letter in response to my e-mail and letter asking him to change his mind on the vote.

OK, now sitting on Capitol Hill is HR 5034, a bill that would strengthen each state's ability to control what alcohol, and from where, gets shipped to consumers of that state. Mr. Schock is a CO-SPONSOR of this bill. WTF, Aaron?!?!?!?! Illinois Liquor and Beer Distributors lining your pockets?? What do you have against wine being shipped into IL? When I can buy any wine made on the planet here in central Illinois, THEN I won't be pissed off about this. But until various vintages and selection of Domaine de la Romanée Conti, Knebel Winninger Rottgen Rieslings, Jasper Hill "Cornella" Grenache or something more specific like 2006 Olivier Leflaive Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru "Truffières" are sitting on the shelves at Wine Country or Super Liquors, this bill is bullshit. You can buy Cuban cigars on the internet and have them shipped here and they are frikkin' illegal. All this does is gives area liquor distributors further control on what we can drink and what gives them the biggest profit. Ken Wright has been making Pinot Noirs in Oregon for at least 15 years. Why are they just now making it to Peoria. Same thing for Four Vine wines. Do the Peoria area liquor distributors just deem us dumb Peorians not good enough for these wines?

Read about it

Preconceived Notions

2010-06-27T12:05:00.007-05:00

Recently, when the clean-up is complete after a Wine & Dine Experience at Willett's Winery, we'll pop the cork on a bottle of wine that I've had in my cellar that is most likely approaching, at, or slipping past their prime. We've enjoyed some amazing wines: 1955 Chateau Pichon Lalande. 1970 Dom Perignon, Recently Disgorged, 1998. 1975 Rheinart Ockfener Bockstein Riesling Eiswein (also, no English on this bottle).

Last night proved a lot of fun. I hid the label to protect any preconceived notions about the winemaker. The wine was a 1983 California (Sonoma) Cabernet Sauvignon which I had in possession before I even went to culinary school and was stored in some less than stellar locations at times. The cork was solid and the wine had not even seeped a 1/4 inch into it. Unbelievably, this wine only showed a hint of bricking; it was still a deep ruby hue. Blackberries, plum, prune, fennel, chocolate and baking spices (which we later agreed was very cardamom-like) were all seamlessly intertwined in this wine all wrapped up in a healthy dose of toasty oak. And the wine still had power: it would have lasted another 10 years easily.

I doubt little of this exists because I think few would have tried to age this for this long. But, I'm a little crazy like that.

So, what is this preconceived notion I talk about? This wine was from Ernest & Julio Gallo. Yeah, the people who are probably more well known for their Hearty Burgundy in a jug and a lot of other mid to lower end wines. But, they have property in Sonoma from where these grapes were sourced and obviously did some amazing things with them. The back label said the wine aged 59 months in Slovakian oak barrels, then bottled and FINALLY released in 1990. No one does this. Not the great houses like Lafite and Margaux in Bordeaux nor Romanee-Conti in Burgundy. You will see the '09 Bordeauxs hit the shelves in '12 (if we're around if you believe the Mayan calendar hype and where they may stay as they are going to demand astrophreakinomical prices).

Yes, the Gallos still have top tier wines like their Estate line and the various single vineyard wines. I don't know if they still age their top tier cabs for 7 years before releasing them, but....

No, this isn't the beginning of some rant about "don't judge a book by its cover", blah, blah, blah. You can take it that way if you will.

The story doesn't stop here. A couple of years ago, I, along with friends had the 1978 version of this wine which was more amazing and part of the reason I opened the '83.

Another two wines

2010-06-27T10:33:00.005-05:00

I've been reporting on the wines I've been drinking of late as a new part of my blog. Most I have enjoyed. However, these next two you should seriously seek (and then drink, well, after you get home).

Of course, I have to plug my employer first. The Willetts just bottled the '07 (I believe; they don't vintage date their wines) Vidal Blanc. Without going into great detail, this wine has been somewhat of a pain for owner/winemaker Dan as it just didn't play the game that Dan wanted it to. Somewhere along the line recently, the two have made a compromise and after almost 3 years, a glorious product has resulted. You are being warned: This isn't going to last very long, but not due to lack of supply, it is selling like crazy and has only been "on the market" for a few days. If you aren't in your car now to head to the winery or to the Shoppes at Grand Prairie to get this, and they're out, it's your fault. The wine is a pale straw color and is LOADED with red apple, melon and grapefruit flavors and is slightly sweet at 2% residual sugar. Got to watch yourself, though: it is too easy to drink, but packs 11.7% alcohol which one would never guess. Some slightly spicy garlic shrimp and this would be a very tasty combination. Available only at the winery in Manito or at Willett's retail outlet at the Shoppes at Grand Prairie. Should set you back a Hamilton and a Lincoln, or so.

The other wine I had caught my eye due to the snazzy labeling. Not a reason to buy a wine, but the wine was from a grape called Monastrell (which is known as Mourvedre in most other parts of the world) from the Jumilla region of Spain. If you know me, I see a wine that is slightly different or I haven't heard of it is almost reason enough for me to buy it. The wine is the '09 Tarima Monastrell. Blueberries, black cherries, chocolate, black licorice and violets just rock this wine. It is also v-e-r-y hard to believe this wine sees no oak as it is stainless steel fermented. If this is true, it is a double WOW!!! Great just to drink, as is, this is definitely a grilled red meat type of wine. Got it a UFS but believe I saw it at Friar Tuck's. $12-ish

Idiots with Guns

2010-06-22T09:00:00.002-05:00

Local activist, Carl Cannon, in response to the six persons shot Sunday morning says " ...its time citizens take back streets and neighborhoods from the idiots with guns". Meanwhile, people in the area, along with probably most of Peoria are becoming increasingly scared and fed up with this type of behavior. Of course, it brings up the debate about concealed carry. The victims of Sunday shooting wouldn't have had any (legal) concealed carry as it was (from what I've read) a high school age party. I'm sure gun control advocates are using these incidents to point for tighter restrictions on obtaining guns.

I doubt concealed carry will do much good against random drive-by violence. By the time it happens, the vehicle is probably long gone before you even draw your weapon trying to dodge bullets. More gun control laws won't work as the criminal element doesn't give a shit about laws. I will bet anyone $100 the person(s) responsible for the six shot on Sunday was a. not the legal owner of the gun AND 2. didn't have a valid FOID card.

What to do. First, the wrist slapping has to stop. The person who did this, if found and convicted should never see the light of day. I don't care if they are a juvenile. The way to get this to stop is LONG prison sentences. Not a year or three. Thats cool..it gives you street cred. If the criminal element won't respect the current gun laws, give them something they do understand: 75 years for randomly shooting 6 people during a drive by. Juvies go from juvie to "the big house" when they turn 21...do not pass go, do not collect $200 and no get out of jail free card.

Lets try this:

Possession of a firearm that is not registered to you (or you have permission from the rightful owner) and no valid FOID card: 20 years

Possession of a stolen firearm: 25 years

Use of either in a crime: 30 years (plus the 20-25 years for possession)

Firing said weapon during a crime: 50 years (plus the 20-25 years for possession)

No time off for good behavior. The first dozen or so put away under these new laws will learn the hard way, but it will send a message to others. The citizens, cops and prosecutors are sick of this shit and my ass is going to rot if I get caught. I seriously doubt many want to spend the next 75 years in Menard for a drive-by. Maybe they will ask themselves is it worth getting caught.

There is a young man wandering Peoria right now with a couple of felony handgun convictions, including the possession of a stolen firearm by a felon, to his credit. The last (that I'm aware of) was the possession of a stolen firearm charge. Lets see: he wasn't 21 years of age for any of these so he didn't have a FOID card. Nor was the legal owner of the guns in which he was in possession before the possession of a stolen firearm by a felon. And what did he get for a sentence? Two years PROBATION!! This is why your streets are getting shot up. Just keep returning convicted gun felons to the streets.

Don't give me this "feel good, rehab" crap. If previous and ongoing attempts would have worked, this wild west crap wouldn't be happening.

On a side note, in the article reporting on this shooting, there is a video. Play the video. Look over the reporter's right shoulder. Are those MATTRESSES laying in the street/yard? You get a real close look at about :39.

Now Ain't That Odd?

2010-06-17T22:53:00.003-05:00

I've noticed this before, but never investigated until today.

As I'm heading SW on SW Jefferson, I see a sign that directs you to take a LEFT on MacArthur to get to the airport. HUH? So, today I follow the signs. You take a left on MacArthur, a right on Washington and come to the Washington/Adams split by Morning Glory Ministries (Old South Side Worm Ranch) where you take a left to head into Bartonville. Before getting to Bartonville, you pick up 474 West and then take Airport Road.

Hmmm...isn't it simpler to drive one more block south on Jefferson and pick up Rt. 116 to Airport Road?

I wonder why "the powers who are" that figure this stuff out decided to do this?

A German white (and how to read those darn German wine labels)

2010-06-17T18:10:00.006-05:00

2002 Aspisheimer Johannisberg Bacchus Kabinett. Huh? What? OK, I'll explain. 2002 is the year. I think ya p-r-o-b-a-b-l-y got that one. When reading the label of really good German wines, you'll see about 4 words as above. The first word is the city in which in which the vineyard (second word) is located. So the grapes from this wine are from the Johannisberg vineyard in the town of Aspisheim (the -er is a possessive). The next word is the grape variety...in this case (and the reason I bought this wine) is Bacchus, which is a kind of hard to find little cousin of Riesling. The last word is the ripeness of the grapes when they were picked...in this case, Kabinett, which will produce a just slightly sweet wine. Other words here would be: Spatlese is sweeter than Kabinett, Auslese is sweet, Beerenauslese costs too damn much money, Trockenbeerenauslese will set you back a cold winter's monthly CILCO bill payment...for a HALF bottle and Eiswein, call your loan manager. You get the picture, they get sweeter and more expensive the bigger the words get (well, except Eiswein).

A-N-Y-W-A-Y, this wine smells like honey, nectarines and apricots. The color is light golden. I'm thinking "this looks a little to rich and sweet looking for a Kabinett". The flavor is of ripe, ripe peaches with a dollop of vanilla ice cream. Now, I'm the first person to say that Kabinetts are not sweet; its the fruit. Kabinetts are supposed to be 2% residual sugar or less. I have a HARD time believing this is 2% or less. It is very tasty but a bit heavy to be refreshing. It also lacks acidity which means it is just like biting into a fresh peach (except no chewing involved) which makes it a little unbalanced for my taste. But two things are going for it: 1. its only 8% alcohol and 2. should be a perfect foil for spicy food due to its lack of acidity.

Not quite my cup of tea, but I'm far from crying over my $7 curiosity expenditure. You can find this at Friar Tucks.

Fun Friday Event

2010-06-14T07:09:00.002-05:00

Yes, I use my blog for SSP...shameless self promotion. This Friday night, Willett's Winery & Cellar will have a Cruise-In combined with music by local blues favorite, Cobalt Canopy and food from The Ironstone Room. For you non-wine lovers (what's the matter with you - just kidding) there are several beers and soft drinks available.

Music runs from 7-10 pm, food 6-9:30 pm. Check out the new outdoor patio area!

Two more wines

2010-06-10T05:56:00.004-05:00

I've had two wines recently, so here is my "report".

Of course, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the latest offering from my employer, Willett's Winery. The new St. Croix was bottled yesterday. St. Croix is a medium bodied red grape suited to be grown in cold weather climates. The nose is of plums, black cherries and a hint of smoke. On the palette, the same fruit flavors, a small hint of vegetable and well integrated smoky oak. Not a lot of tannin, acid or alcohol in this wine which makes it a good food wine and a wine for the "I don't like red wine" person or the red wine novice. For those of you familiar with Willett's St. Croix, this is a lot more full bodied than their previous offering. Available at the winery and in a few days at their shop at Grand Prairie.

The second is Kono Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand. Smells like Sauv. Blanc: green apple, gooseberry, citrus, grass. The first sip about knocked me out of my chair!! This wine is very bright and the fruit explodes out of the glass. The vibrancy of this wine would probably do a better job of waking you up in the morning than espresso!! Lots of lime, kiwi, gooseberry and green apple which unfortunately fade far too quickly into the grassy flavors for which Sauvignon Blanc is known. Ok, I'm not saying this is a bad thing, but it is just a little too disjointed for my tastes, but if you love the "fruit bomb" wines, this is for you. Pick it up at Friar Tucks.

Over-The-Limit Options

2010-06-10T05:43:00.003-05:00

I recently got a (form) letter from one of my credit card companies. It informed me that I now had options when it came to going over my limit.

1. The do-nothing option which when I try to charge something and that charge will put me over the limit, it will deny that purchase.

2. Switch to option B, which will allow me to go over my limit, but charge me $35.00.

3. Their new "overdraft protection" option which lets me go over my limit, doesn't charge me $35.00, but there is a monthly fee for this.

Personally, all of these options suck. They aren't options for the consumer, they are options for the credit card company. Either be cheap and embarrassed that your card didn't work, or spend yourself into oblivion at an additional charge (which you probably can't afford in the first place if you are over your limit). As I'm nowhere near my limit, I'm pretty sure I'll stick to option A as I didn't see my preferred method: When I go over, a provocatively dressed Jessica Biel shows up, buys me a drink and personally lets me know...for free. I'd be over my limit several times a day.

Three Summer Wines You Need To Try.

2010-06-03T08:09:00.002-05:00

When you aren't drinking wine from Willett's Winery & Cellar, I'd like to give you a heads up on three wines I've found refreshing for the summer.

First, the real oddball in the bunch: 2008 Trivento Torrontes from Argentina. "HUH?", you ask. Me too. I'm a sucker for wines I've never heard of and had to have this. Trivento is the producer and Torrontes is the grape variety. Yeah, I've never heard of it either until now. But seriously, this is a nice summer wine. Reminds me of a cross between a Pinot Grigio and a riesling. The nose screams semi-dry riesling. Nice floral and peach flavors ending up with some citrus all wrapped up in a medium light body. Has a good enough foundation to complement some lighter food, but is great on its own. Found this at Schnucks for $12.

This is only one suggestion, although it is two wines. Either Famega or Gazela Vihno Verde from Portugal. Both of these are ultra light wine...in fact, they come in clear bottles and look like bottles of water. However, both are very light citrus, only 9% alcohol and completely dry, though the fruit is very bright. Oh, and here is the kicker: When you open them, they have bubbles like champagne!! It is more than a spritz like some German rieslings, these have serious bubbles!! Found these at UFS, though they were out of the Famega brand the last time I was there. And even better, I think both are under $7.

Last, I would be remiss if I didn't mention Leitz Rüdesheimer Drachenstein "Dragonstone" Riesling from the Rheingau region of Germany. For about $13 at Friar Tucks, this is an amazing wine for the price. While it does have some sweetness, it does bring out the tidal wave of flavors from peach to apple to lemon-lime and even hints of red fruit combined with bracing acidity. This goes down faaaaar too easy on a hot summer day!

New Idea For My Blog

2010-06-03T08:02:00.002-05:00

I've been struggling with what to do with my blog.

I originally set out to do restaurant reviews and report (and comment) on issues facing restaurants today. After being challenged about my ability to have a neutral stance while at work one day, I started having some second thoughts. It wasn't about doing the reviews as much as it was that I never once mentioned where I worked on my blog, yet some angry stranger tracked me down via this blog.

Now, I'm back in the restaurant game and I felt that reviewing other restaurants probably isn't appropriate.

So, I've been searching for something food related I could write about. As I write for Peoria Dining and Food Magazine, I didn't want to become an online Journalist, too (no offense to the on line journalist types out there in the blogging world). But, Speaking of Peoria Area Dining and Food Magazine (which has a snazzy new website), the editor needed another article for July and gave me the "anything I want" option. So, I did an article on Summer wines.

BINGO!! That's it!! That is what I'm going to do. I'm going to post on all the recent wines I've had and where I got them. I'm sure someone out there is saying "Dude, you work for a winery, why would you go buy wine?" Well, variety is the spice of life and while I can have a glass (or more) almost anytime I'd like, there are only so many and I already know what they all taste like.

Yes, I'll continue to blog about my trial and tribulations with my yard and house and crazy issues that happen to me and pedestrians who walk all willy nilly and how spend thrift out local government is with our taxpayers money for things that (IMHO) are high risk adventures that should be out of pocket for those who want those things.

Of course, if I hear of any new restaurants opening or have a really good experience at one, I'll mention it.

Anyway, that is where I am going with my blog.

Dead trees

2010-06-03T07:37:00.005-05:00

I come home last night from work and curse my grass for being so tall already....I just mowed it Monday. I go to my mailbox, which appears to be overflowing, from just one day's mail. After digging through two mail order magazines, two bills (which I thought I've, numerous times, requested to just get the online version), two credit card offers, another DirectTV offer for the restaurant I closed 9 years ago, Comcast wanting me to switch, the 20 gazillionth AT&T offer to consolidate my home, wireless, internet, etc. and lord knows what else, I only came across one thing I cared about: The Friar Tuck Wine of the Month postcard.

I just don't get it. One of the magazines I don't ever recall ordering from, the other was an online purchase years ago. The others are constant. One would think that these companies would track if the shit they are sending is producing results and if not, stop killing trees by sending me all this crap. The only benefit of all this is to be able to start the BBQ grill this summer without using lighter fluid.

New Life for an old Hardees

2010-05-28T19:45:00.002-05:00

In my daily travels to the wine mecca of Manito, I've noticed the old Hardees building at the corner of MacArthur and SW Washington has received a major updating to the grounds and building. I noticed a banner hanging from the side of the building today but all I caught was "Gyros" and "Open for Breakfast".

That Hardees has been sitting empty for about as long as I can remember. I wish the owners luck in their new endeavor.

One Last Time

2010-05-27T07:48:00.002-05:00

If you haven't read my zillion posts about this here, Peoria.com, Facebook, etc., then here it is. If you have, well, just a friendly reminder. If you are sick of it, well, show up in person and tell me....and order one of our yummy pork flat iron steak sandwiches to nosh on :)

AND if this event just needs ONE more thing to draw you there (if the predicted fantabulous weather isn't enough), the gas prices in Manito are the cheapest I've seen in the area. As of last night (Wed. May 26) gas was $2.59 a gallon.

Eleven wineries, great artisans, awesome musicians, tasty food AND cheap gasoline? What more can you want?

Illinois River Wine, Art, Balloon, & Jazz Festival

Date:	Saturday, May 29, 2010
Time:	11:00am - 8:00pm
Location:	Memorial Park, Manito Illinois
Street:	400 E. Southmoor Street
City/Town:	Manito, IL

Description

Eleven Illinois Wineries along with central Illinois artisans, jazz musicians, and hot-air balloonists will participate in this fun event! You can enjoy wine tasting, then purchase your favorites to enjoy at home. Of course, you may want to purchase a glass of your favorite wine to enjoy while listening to your favorite jazz tunes in beautiful Memorial Park. Artisans will be displaying and selling their unique creations. Always a highlight, local hot-air balloonists will lift-off at 6:00pm, then create a "night glow" at 8:00pm (weather permitting). Food will be available!
11:00am-2:00pm - Sally Wiesenburg and The Famous Sidemen
2:00pm-5:00pm - David Hoffman & Friends
5:00pm-8:00pm - Joe Metzka & Friends

Tickets: 10.00pp includes souvenir wine glass and 5 tasting tickets!

If you want to attend, but not pay & taste the wines, there is a $5.00 admission charge. Children are admitted for free.

As stated above, I will be cooking pork flat iron steak sandwiches and all beef hot dogs. Of course there will be other food vendors.

Hmmm....maybe a business opportunity for me.

2010-05-26T21:55:00.003-05:00

Well, it looks like we are going to get a taxpayer supported hotel to go with our taxpayer supported (for the last 25 years) Civic Center. Hmmmm.... According to this article, the Civic Center and PAVCB are going on a full fledged onslaught to attract more conventions, etc. now that we will have an attached hotel.

So, I'm wondering "Where are all these throngs of people going to eat?" Lets see: Lindsays on Liberty and Bistro 320? Closed. F. Scotts? Gone. Fahey's? Out of business. All the Main Street eateries (except Richards) that close at 2 PM? Is there anything in the Twin Towers? I guess that leaves the Whammy Bar (if it happens to remain open that long, I hope it does, though that location hasn't been too restaurant friendly over the years), Hoops (if you like their pizza) The Pere Marquette (I hope it has improved since the last two times I was there). I'm sure the new Marriott will have some chow. I guess they could walk to Water Street for Old Chicago, Joe's, Hooters, Rhythm Kitchen, Kellehers, Water Street Wines and Rizzi's. But nothing really close. After shoving wings, pizza, etc. down their gullet on Water Street, who wants to hoof it uphill back to the hotel?

Thusly, since the city is giving millions of taxpayer $$ away to hotel developers, museum people, library rebuilding and the like, maybe I should ask for a few million to have a taxpayer supported restaurant to feed all of these 1000s of people who will be flocking endlessly to Peoria for their conventions, sporting events, etc. I'm sure the ROI will be spectacular and the HRA tax alone will pull the city completely out of debt. And I bet I can find a consultant that will say that, too! Any one got the number for the Knoxville Cub Foods consultant?

So, city of Peoria, how about fronting me about $10 million to rehab the old Lindsay's on Liberty building and put in a kick ass, appeal to all restaurant? Seriously. If we get as much business as all the consultants for the hotel and Civic Center SAY we will get, this is a SURE thing.

Come on, whaddaya say? I promise I won't charge you a $9 million dollar developers fee, either.

Just........don't.

2010-05-23T08:57:00.003-05:00

I've gotta bitch on a higher level, so I'm going to blog.

If you aren't sure, don't know, don't think you know, etc. what an item is on a menu, please ask your server. Please don't order it then send it back (and expect the restaurant to replace it at THEIR cost) because you didn't like, can't eat, won't eat, etc. something that was CLEARLY printed on the menu but you chose to ignore it or had no clue to what is was. Apparently, you weren't having lunch with my mother; she would have made you eat it anyway.

Speaking of my mother, restaurants and what food is. I remember when we were little kids and our parents took us to Germany for vacation and to visit relatives. We went to this "really nice place". The older adults were indulging themselves in escargot, etc. to put it in perspective. Not really a place for kids. My mother, trying to find something for us kids to eat, questions the waiter...in German (which she is flawless). She turns to us and says "Its spaghetti". The waiter replies in perfect English (though sounding horrified the menu item was called spaghetti) "It is NOT spaghetti". To which mother replies: "Its spaghetti". And, as I recall, neither was quite correct. Much "more" than mom's spaghetti, but probably not the pasta creation of the Gods the waiter was making it out to be. At least my mother had: the good sense to question the waiter and not order us snails!!!

Build It Up?

2010-05-23T08:07:00.003-05:00

While I'm waiting for the grass to dry so that I can mow it...for the second time in 4 days...I have to make some comments.

As I figure out my way around the East Bluff of late, since many roads are closed due to construction of and around the new Glen Oak School, I'm witnessing another school related construction project going on. In the area around the school, all of the sidewalks where they meet the street are being re-done to become ADA compliant along with new curbs and gutters. They look really sharp!! Kudos to those who have replaced them! However, some of the sidewalks leading up to these new crosswalks, (which, at this time, aren't being replaced) look impassible or non existent. Thusly, while we have beautiful ADA compliant corners, people who would need to use them, probably can't get to them or would find hardship in getting to them because the sidewalks are so frikkin' bad or non-existent. And Kansas Street between the new school and Prospect grows increasingly worse and almost requires a 4 wheel drive vehicle. One of those "Fast & The Furious" cars would get stuck and swallowed by the sinkholes. No, not potholes. Potholes you hit and lose a hubcap. The sink holes on Kansas could swallow my Geo Metro. I'm barely exaggerating.

And then I read this: http://www.pjstar.com/news/x258108064/Business-File-H-o-t-e-l-spells-jobs-and-more Paul Gordon writes how area construction workers are highly anticipating the building of the new hotel to create jobs. All well, fine and good. I wonder how many jobs replacing every street, sidewalk, curb, gutter and storm drain in the East Bluff and South side would create? And after they are done with those the central Bluff and North Valley.

The article also points out two things (and one commenter on the PJ Star site alluded to it): Peoria doesn't have a 3-4-5 star hotel. Well, I've been in several rooms at the Pere years ago, the castle lodge (back in its heyday) and I've heard pretty good things about the Mark Twain. So, it isn't that we didn't HAVE them, we just didn't maintain them (which could be said about a lot of things in Peoria, and if I mentioned them all here, my grass wouldn't get mowed today...or tomorrow) and makes me wonder how long this new hotel will stay "to the nines". The other is the jobs that will be created after the hotel is built. This is why the hotel is more important than streets and sidewalks as its construction will produce additional jobs where sidewalks won't. However, I wonder how many mid and upper management jobs that provide a livable income will be held by Peorians (or Central Illinoisans, for that matter) or will Marriott bring in their own peeps to run it while Peorians get the grunt jobs of waiting tables, cleaning toilets and taking out the trash. Same jobs we'd have if we built 10 more Kentucky Fried Chickens (or the like). Then when the Marriott peeps are tired of the crime, the roads, the bad schools, etc.....

Build it and they will come...but when they see the crumbling intercity, decreasing police presence and D150, will they stay or will they walk away on the new trail?

I'm Bored. How can I spend $110,000 today?

2010-05-16T07:35:00.005-05:00

In a few years, I'll hit the big 5-0. So, I've been casually searching (but really need to step up the search) for a bottle of wine from my birth year to celebrate. My options seem to be either Bordeaux or maybe Burgundy, but as I'm not a huge fan of Pinot Noir, its Bordeaux. I've had a wine from my birth year when I turned 40 and again at 43. I know what my choice needs to be: 1962 Lafite Rothschild...preferably in magnum. During my search this morning I come across 1784 Chateau Lafite Rothschild Bordeaux

No, seriously, ya gotta click on the link to see this. Make sure you change the currency to dollars.

This company in England (supposedly) possesses and has for sale a bottle of 1784.....yes 1784....yes a 225 year old bottle....Chateau Lafite Rothschild for the nominal price of $104,763!!! (reeeeaaally...is the $3 necessary??) I'm sure with taxes and shipping it would be $110,000.

Daaahhhhhliiiinnnnngg.....Where's my petty chaaaaange purse.....

So Long, Lin Hing

2010-05-15T17:04:00.004-05:00

Long time Asian grocery store, Lin Hing will cease to exist as we know it on May 31. The current owners told me today that they are just worn out, don't see their kids and would like to have a normal life for awhile. I applaud their efforts over the last decade or so to provide Peoria with a nice selection of ingredients from the Pacific Rim.

However, all is not lost. (I'm sorry, I do not know the woman's name, so I will call her) Mrs. Lin Hing said they just sold the business and assures me little will change with the new owners. I have a feeling that the new owners MAY be one of the 3 restaurants in that block (Great Wall, Pasand or Thanh Linh) as per eavesdropping on another conversation.

Thanks Lin Hing!!

Wine, Art, Balloon & Jazz Festival

2010-05-15T10:09:00.003-05:00

I've probably posted this before, but......

Illinois River Wine, Art, Balloon, & Jazz Festival

Date:	Saturday, May 29, 2010
Time:	11:00am - 8:00pm
Location:	Memorial Park, Manito Illinois
Street:	400 E. Southmoor Street
City/Town:	Manito, IL

Description

Eleven Illinois Wineries along with central Illinois artisans, jazz musicians, and hot-air balloonists will participate in this fun event! You can enjoy wine tasting, then purchase your favorites to enjoy at home. Of course, you may want to purchase a glass of your favorite wine to enjoy while listening to your favorite jazz tunes in beautiful Memorial Park. Artisans will be displaying and selling their unique creations. Always a highlight, local hot-air balloonists will lift-off at 6:00pm, then create a "night glow" at 8:00pm (weather permitting). Food will be available!
11:00am-2:00pm - Sally Wiesenburg and The Famous Sidemen
2:00pm-5:00pm - David Hoffman & Friends
5:00pm-8:00pm - Joe Metzka & Friends

Tickets: 10.00pp includes souvenir wine glass and 5 tasting tickets!

If you want to attend, but not pay & taste the wines, there is a $5.00 admission charge. Children are admitted for free.

Somewhere is the midst of all this, I will be cooking. As it is currently slated, I'm most likely cooking ribeye steak sandwiches and Polish Cheddarwurst.

I'm Making a Dental Appointment - I Think I've Gritted My Teeth Away

2010-05-13T10:44:00.002-05:00

Several years ago, my readers were well aware of my protests of Illinois House Bill HR 429 which, among many things, halted the shipments of alcoholic beverages from retail establishments outside Illinois, a privilege Illinoisans had for over a decade. As a wine lover, I was despondent over this as I would occasionally find some very unique wines available in shops and now could not obtain them due to this law. What a sad, sad thing.

I try to buy as many of my wines locally and do my best to support local Illinois wineries and regional (just dumped $100s in Missouri). But some wines just can not be bought in Illinois that I would love to get my greedy little hands on. This all comes about again as this was brought to my attention:

1999 Bert Simon Serriger Würtzberg Riesling Auslese Artist Label 1.5L

SKU #1053453

This is a K&L exclusive and straight from Bert's cellar - "Who Is Afraid Of The Brandenburg Gate" The title was influenced by the artist Barnett Newman Pate and this original "Who is afraid of Yellow, Red and Blue". Mr. Koeppelf's versions of The Brandenburg Gate were done in various styles including Picasso, Miro, Pollock, Rauschenberg, Dali, Mondrian, etc. In this case a 1999 Serriger Wurtzberg Riesling Auslese from the Bert Simon estate was paired with a Paul Klee version of the Brandenburg Gate. A group of wine journalists chose specific wines for the different versions of the Brandenburg Gate. This Riesling Auslese is spicy and presents great richness to the palate with salty minerals on a wide carpet of yellow fruits, especially apricots, along with spicy acidity to add support to a corset of taste. Only 360 magnums were produced with only 120 brought to the United States. For the year 2009, they added a celebration sticker which notes: 1989 - The Wall came tumbling down celebrating 20 years of freedom, creativity and growth in Berlin.

Read that? K&L exclusive. A wine shop in CA, which means unless I know someone in one of the states to which they will ship (as the little Illinois wine Hitlers won't let them ship it to me direct), no 1999 Bert Simon Artist Label for me unless it gets purchased and sold by said person on-line somewhere.

Yes, I do know people in wine friendly states and e-mails and phone calls will be made.

Oh, and our local then representative, now Congressman Schock was a co-sponsor of this bill/law, who wouldn't return my e-mails or letter...not even a form version.

More shamless self promotion

2010-05-04T07:29:00.003-05:00

And just who is this guy on page 9?

http://travelhost.com/peoria/magazine.jsp

Gotta love publicity. Now that scene from "the Jerk" is going through my head "The new phone book's here! The new phone book's here!

In Quest of Norton

2010-05-03T07:59:00.003-05:00

The Norton grape. I long ago became a fan of this grape made into wine. As its principle grower are the wineries in Missouri (although the wineries in Virginia may refute this) I made the trek to the wine mecca of the Midwest: Hermann, Missouri. However, over the last decade, those treks have become less and less. What used to be a twice a year pilgrimage, now is 2-3 times a decade.

However, the darling of the Missouri wine business hasn't always been Norton. When I started going to Stone Hill Winery and Hermanoff back in the early-mid 1980s, it was Riesling. However, riesling for a number of reasons, fell out of favor to Vignoles. Meanwhile, I think the whole state was struggling with its reds. Your normal (for the midwest, anyway) grapes such as Chambourcin, St. Vivant and St. Croix seemed over-oaked or greenish in their flavors. Norton was around, but I don't think they quite figured it out, either. I don't think it was me. I liked red wines, I just didn't like the wines these grapes were producing.

But the winemakers in Missouri, especially around Hermann, have got it d-o-w-n. For the last 20 years, I've been drinking them erratically and collecting a precious few mainly to see how they age.

This weekend a small group of my friends and I went to a Norton tasting in Hermann, MO. We tried several different Nortons from several different wineries and several different years. We were surprised that Stone Hill was pouring its 2000...out of magnum, no less!!! I possess a few bottles of this and I now know I can leave it set a few more years. Of course, it was the hands down winner of all the Nortons we tried as other wineries were pouring 2004, 2005 and mostly 2006. Did try a 2008, but it was waaaaay too young.

So, now I've had my Norton fix.

Why Norton? And why a junkie-sounding fix. First of all, it is an American grape...not a French grape like Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah (or for you Aussies - Shiraz). It is a BIG, brooding red that just screams for red meat which is why it is something I don't drink every day...or week....or month. Besides, most of them need some age and I'm waiting for the newer vintages and want to save to older ones for an occasion more worthy than "what wine should I open tonight?" Next, regardless of what it is, it makes a wine - with some age- that I enjoy. And for less than $20 a bottle, a good one will easily stomp a $20 California counterpart Cabernet or Merlot into the ground. Last, it is the midwest. We are supposed to grow corn and soybeans, not grapes producing world class wines. Don't think they are good enough to be called that? There are several wineries boasting Wine Spectator, Wine Enthusiast, etc. ratings in the 90s (on a 100 point scale). Not bad considering we are supposed to be riding our tractors through the cornfields screaming YEE-HAW!!

Yes, yes, I work for a winery here in IL, so why am I yammering on about MO and their Nortons? Each is what they are. Life would be boring if we never went outside our boundaries. It is about education. I don't know who said it, but the verbiage is "One can never learn too much. The more one knows, the more they seek to learn." (In other words, if you think you know everything, you're an idiot). It is about being able to converse with people about wines no matter where they, or the wines, are from and to educate or be educated by these people.

So, after you have consumed at least a case of IL wine, pop open a bottle of Norton from MO (Stone Hill and Hermannhof would be good choices...and might be your ONLY choices here in the Peoria area) and you'll see why I'm a fan.

I'm thinking.....no

2010-04-26T23:15:00.003-05:00

I was flipping through radio stations the other day and there was an advertisement for some fundraiser/benefit/etc. that was promoting the fact that REO Speedwagon was going to be the entertainment. The cost? $35.00. 35.00??? Only if Gary Richrath was still in the band. But the thing that "got" me was the REO music they were playing in the backgound...all "old school" Speedwagon with Richrath on guitar.

A couple of Announcements

2010-04-22T15:40:00.002-05:00

Yeah, shameless self promotion

For Mother's Day at the winery we are hosting a brunch. Here are the details:

Mother’s Day Brunch
Willett’s Winery & Cellar
10:00 AM – 2:00 PM
(by prior reservation only – Reservations only accepted at the winery; not the Ironstone Room – please call 309-968-7070 for reservations)

Juices & Coffee
Assorted Pastries
Fresh Fruit Bowl
Lettuce and Vegetable Salad
(tossed with our Seyval-Mediterranean Dressing)
Biscuits with Butter and Jelly
Sausage Gravy
Chicken A la King
Scrambled Eggs
Bacon
Sausage Links
Home Fries
Breakfast Potato Skins
(potato skins filled with scrambled eggs, bacon, green onions and cheddar cheese)
French Toast with Maple Syrup
Roasted and Sliced Ironstone Room’s Butcher’s Tender
Macaroni & Cheese

Dessert Table

$16.95 (adults)
$7.95 (Children 7-12)
Under 7 - $1 per year old

Gratuity not included.

And to get your summer off to a G-R-E-A-T start, come to Manito for the Wine, Art, Balloon and Jazz Festival. Last year was attended by several thousand people. Not mentioned in the flyer below, there will be various food vendors. The hot air balloons are an afternoon/evening attraction.

See You Around The Table in Manito.....

Of Cameras, 12 Gauges, Barbed Wire and Railroad Spikes

2010-04-22T10:55:00.004-05:00

15 years ago I bought this house. I loved the house then, I still do.

But I'm tired. I'm tired of fixing things up, just to have someone, something, some something f**k it up (sorry, I usually try to keep this PG-13, but this shit is getting the best of me). If it isn't the city, kids, wildlife, it is something...

Today, I was going to work on the side of my retaining wall in my backyard that has riverrock on it. It is a hillside and I understand rocks do roll downhill. However, these rocks didn't roll by themselves.

Early last year, to keep kids (I know this for fact) off the rocks (apparently fun to slide down on them) I put up a wrought iron fence. Now if you want to go up and down the rocks, it is a little more difficult, yet not impossible. To further keep the rocks from rolling, I built small retaining walls built out of wood and stakes. Rocks haven't rolled for over a year. So why am I working on the rocks? They are mostly at the bottom of the hill along with my wooden retaining walls. Did I miss the earthquake?

On the other side of the wall is another wrought iron fence designed to keep those who deem it necessary to climb the hill off the landscaping...like the side with the river rock. This is odd because if they would go 25 feet up the alley there is a stairway..... This fence has been hit and knocked out of the ground...and the one side is/was cemented in. The red paint from some vehicle left its mark. Maybe from one of the trucks working down at the end of Nebraska? Lots of red ones. Can't prove it though.

Thusly, the title of this blog. I just need the cameras.

I simply don't know how much more of this shit I can take. There are so many shitholes in the East Bluff, so why not one more? At least when my property taxes go up at least I know it isn't because I keep improving things and keep them looking neat. I'd have far more money to do other things with. I've got more $$ in this house than I'll ever get out of it, but I'm seriously thinking about getting out.

Cutting Food Service Training Hours

2010-04-22T06:38:00.003-05:00

There is a bill in front of our state legislators that would reduce the number of hours that Food Service Safety Managers (those with food sanitation licenses) would have to spend in class to get said license.

http://centralillinoisproud.com/fulltext/?nxd_id=110255

In the article there are two things I don't "buy". First is the 11 year old who got e-coli (Ok, I buy he had e-coli...just the reasoning I have a hard time with). I want to know where he got it. Follow me here. Over the last decade, we've seen numerous reports in the news regarding large recalls of spinach and meat being recalled due to e-coli. I'm sure some has "slipped through the cracks" and got to consumers. If you are serving a raw spinach salad, all the training in the world isn't going to help the Food Safety Manager with this; they don't have microscopic vision. With the beef, supposedly cooking it to 160 degrees for 15 seconds will do the trick. Or will it? I have a hard time believing that if the concentration of e-coli is high enough to get you sick that 160 degrees for 15 seconds will kill all of those. I read a report and wish I could find it online, where 158 for 20 minutes left inconclusive amounts. Scary, huh? So, 2 degrees more for 19 minutes and 45 seconds less is supposed to make me feel better? Yikes. Once again, although it would fall under a Food Service Manager/sanitation license holder to ensure beef is cooked to 160 degrees for 15 seconds, why is the food being provided not safe in the first place? I think 160 for 15 seconds is a good additional check in the system but I think the source of food is bigger issue than the Food Safety Manager can be held accountable. And then you have the customer who is always right (isn't that the saying??) who demands a medium rare burger. OOOPS! There went your safety check point. OTOH, trichinosis (which was found in pork) is rarely reported in the US anymore. Better practices to keep our pork safe? I know more and more "foodies" who are eating the pork chops, etc. on the medium side....

Second. Is 15 hours going to make or break your business to send your people to a class to protect public safety, Mr. & Mrs. Restaurant owner? Please. This is a lame excuse by proponents of the bill. If public safety isn't a high enough concern for you and your business to send your people to a food safety course (and take it yourself), please close your doors.

So, now my thoughts. I've taken the 15 hour class and the 5 hour refresher course many times at several different health departments and in a seven day class at the Culinary Institute of America. The times I have taken the 15 hour class weren't 15 hours of training. We seemed to start on time, but lunch seemed to run long, breaks long, got out early, on going stories by the instructors and specific site issues/problems brought up by people that had little to do with the benefit of the whole class and should have been addressed at a later time with the instructor instead of wasting class time probably diluted the REAL class time to around 10-12 hours. I also think things like knowing how many times a fly pukes a minute is a waste of time, too. Simple rule..get rid of the damned flies and you don't have to worry about fly puke. Which brings about what is wrong with a lot of people these days:

The lack of common sense.

Unfortunately the Illinois Department of Public Health can't teach that. You don't need multiple PhDs in microbiology and chemistry to know 3/4 of the stuff necessary to pass the IDPH test to become a Food Safety Manager: you need common sense. Run a clean "ship". WASH YOUR HANDS OFTEN. Wash and sanitize ALL surfaces, equipment and serviceware often which gives you clean surfaces and doesn't provide reasons for bugs or rodents to show up. Good for you if you are using gloves, but you need to change them about as often as you should be washing your hands. Keep raw meats away and below ready to eat products. Cook things to proper temeratures. Don't cross-contaminate. You could memorize the codes (which is 100s of pages) but if you can't (don't want to, too lazy to) apply them, what good is it? Some people could take 1000's of hours of classes and little good it would do. We all know people like that regardless of which field you are in.

I also think it is a good idea to have a good working relationship with your health department inspector. Be polite. Work together. Don't make up excuses or try to hide things. Just do what you are supposed to be doing in the first place. Ask questions. Call them up if you aren't sure of something. I've heard "Oh, watch out for (fill in the blank) she's such a bitch" (refering to particular inspectors). I've really not encountered that "bitch" thing (and can tell one funny as hell story). As much as food service people talk about inspectors, I'm sure inspectors pass along information about owners/kitchen staff/etc. when they change territories. HOWEVER (and now I'm probably going to get into REAL trouble if my current health inspector reads this - HI, Karen!) there IS (not seems or could be) a lot of difference between inspectors. Things that are OK with one inspector isn't by another, which does make it harder on the people in the kitchen. Case in point. I was the chef at the IVY Club for 5+ years. There was a chip out of one of the tiles in the kitchen. For the first few years, never noted on a health department inspection. One day, a new inspector docked us 5 (I believe) points. Supposedly, this WAS NOT some new regulation. This sent the club manager into a furious frenzy. We asked the longest tenured employees about the missing piece and as far as they knew, it was always missing (Ok, that meant about 15 years previous). The club manager had YEARS of past inspections, never a write up about this missing tile piece). OK, why NOW is this an issue? If it was against "code" and was an infraction, why was it never written up? The phone call from the club manager to the Director of the Peoria County Health Department wasn't a polite one and I'm sure to this day his pants still don't fit right as part of his ass is still missing. Thusly, if you want consistent results from inspections, you should have consistent inspections.

So, in a perfect world where owners, chefs, cooks, cleaning people care and use common sense, work WITH inspectors instead of complaining about them and inspectors being more consistent, yeah, the five hour class would work. However, as a realist, this won't happen. It won't happen with the current 15 hour class and it won't happen with 150 hours or 1500 hours. What will work? Two things: 1. ALL owners, partners, etc. are required to take "the class" and THEY are responsible for THEIR establishments as much as the hired help. So, the things that go wrong, that the Chef, etc. has little to no control over, THEY are held accountable. 2. Fines. Stick with the 15 hour class. Make it a 15 hour class. Ensure the BS I wrote about above doesn't happen in class. Then, if your establishment falls below an 80 on an inspection, let the fines begin. If you fall below an 80, you as an owner or the in charge kitchen people, just don't care. Maybe a few $$ out of your pocket would add a positive swing to the "Care-meter".

I've seen kitchens where few, if anyone had a Food Safety Manager's license and you could eat off of any surface. And I've seen lots of licenses and well,...... No, I'm not perfect. I have received scores of which I am not proud (but to me that is anything less than a 90..I think 86 was my lowest and I was ashamed and angry). I know I have room for improvement and maybe I shouldn't talk (but I did get a 100 once from Peoria County and a 98 from Tazewell County so I can pat my own back a bit), but until our food sources are safe and everyone works together, uses some common sense and consistency to keep the public safe, will a 15 hour class, 100 hour class, 2 minute class really make a difference? I'm thinking "NO".

Could It Be??

2010-04-18T22:24:00.001-05:00

In this post, I mentioned the fact that the "S" curve around O'Brien Field wasn't marked very well, traffic just sort of drove all willy-nilly through there and depending on the size of your vehicle, you could be in serious peril. Well, lo AND behold, it is now striped. Could it be that the powers that are in Peoria actually read my blog and listened to Chef Kevin? Well, it was either that or...

The Peoria Pundit, The Peoria Chronicle, Peoria Anti-Pundit, PeoriaIllinoisan or someone that has all those super secretive phone numbers and e-mail addresses of those in charge of things like painting white lines on streets, used said information to inform those people "Hey, Chef Kevin is calling you guys out about the lack of white lines on Jefferson Street by O'Brien Field". These people thought "We better get on that because he's a chef and probably has sharp knives".

Maybe a street striping kit came with the new palm trees.

It was a twisted fraternity prank and the lines will be gone tomorrow or fushia colored ones will appear or they will run perpendicularly..

The guys at Born Paint were bored.

It was "on the list of things to do", but they (whoever "they" are) were waiting for the most inconvenient time to do so to snarl up traffic.

Naw... let me believe I have an influential blog.

R-E-A-L-L-Y Direct TV

2010-04-08T05:27:00.002-05:00

Last month, I thought my DirectTV bill seemed high. After doing a little research, I found a cheaper package that would suit my needs. I don't watch a heck of a lot of TV and thought I could save a few bucks considering most of the channels I watch were available in the cheaper package.

Well, well, well. After several attempts to downgrade, Direct TV will NOT let you do that online, you have to call them. After sitting on hold for 1/2 of forever, I hung up. Kinda reminded me of the old days of trying to cancel off of AOL.

Today, I'm paying the bill again. I try to find the cheaper package I want and guess what? It is no longer to be found. So, I sign out of my account, log into Direct TV directly and still can't find it. Hmmmm....

So, apparently my options are: Stay with my 155+ channels "Total Choice" package for $54.49 a month or "upgrade" (get this) to the "choice" 145+ channel package for $55.99 a month. Let's see: Upgrade to 10 less channels for $1.50 more per month.
Hmmmmm....what to do, what to do.

Direct TV. I have a H-A-R-D time believing for one second that the cheapest package you offer your current customers is $55.99 a month. If so, then I like this package: 0 channels for $0.00 a month. For that kind of money, I can buy a bigger digital computer monitor and probably watch most of the stuff online.

Murder Mystery Dinner

2010-04-08T03:48:00.002-05:00

Ever wanted to know "Who dun it?" Here is your chance to find out.

Every other month, Willett's Winery & Cellar hosts a Murder Mystery dinner. Usually these dinners are a sell-out months in advance, but for whatever reason, the one coming up Saturday, April 17th still has several seats available. The cost is $40 per person and includes the audience interactive "Clue-like" murder mystery production & a 3 course meal by yours truly which includes beverages, but wine is an additional cost. Start time is 6:00 PM Call 968-7070 for more information or reservations.

What's For Dinner This Week?

2010-04-05T08:21:00.002-05:00

This week's dinner specials (M-F, 4-7 PM) at the Ironstone Room at Willett's Winery in Manito: This week's dinner specials

A Bad Day of Driving

2010-04-03T17:04:00.002-05:00

WOW...so many things happened on the road today.

First, on my way to work around 7:15 this morning, I notice this clump of stuff ahead in the curb/gutter. As I got closer, I noticed it was garbage...like the type of stuff in a car just hurled out into the street type garbage. Fast food bags, plastic soda bottles, a newspaper and other assorted stuff. As it was still a bit drizzly and windy out, I don't think it could have been there that long. What the hell is the matter with people? What kind of filthy pig does this? No, no, this would give filthy pigs a bad name. Unfortunately it make me wonder what sort of nastiness is probably growing in this persons car next to the fossilized French fries and sticky soda puddle with the Cheese-Its stuck to it.

Next on my hit list. Driving south on Jefferson at 7:15 am on a Saturday morning, why are all the lights red when there is obviously no traffic coming from either direction on streets like Main? Emtronics needs to add this to his FUTL (F-up traffic lights) file.

Speaking of FUTL, why heading north on Adams, when the light at Lincoln f-i-n-a-l-l-y turns green, the light at McArthur immediately turns red? This happens morning, noon & night without fail.

Something else that bugs me. Driving down Jefferson, the lanes are clearly marked. However, you get to the "S" going around O'Brien Field and the lane markings cease. All of a sudden, people get stupid and think it becomes Formula 1 racing and are all over the freeking place. I don't dare drive the Metro through there during rush hour, I'd get killed. Lets see...right at the beginning of that "S" is Born Paint Company....Hmmmm.....

Speaking of killed, what is with all the dead, flattened skunks around the Pekin prison area to just past Powerton? I've bet I've seen (and unfortunately smelled) at least 8 "pancaked to the pavement" skunks in that 2+ mile stretch of road since it has warmed up. I think they need to put up yellow warning signs that have skunks on them kinda like they do for deer.

Now the grand piss-me-off-while-driving award of the day:

I'm crawling past K-Mart in Evergreen Shopping Center to get to PetsCo. Out of nowhere shoot these two little kids across the lane of traffic out of the parking lot. I can't believe I didn't hit the "trailing" one. I wanted to light some parent up, but I didn't see any adult like person around that looked too excited about what had just happened. I'm sure if I would have tagged the last one, they would have been in my face so fast I wouldn't have had time to check to see if I had soiled my pants. I seriously doubt the parent(s) of these two will read this, but it may make me feel better. However, Mr., Mrs., Ms. (whomever you are), not only did you allow the endangerment of your children, you endangered me. You endangered the people driving behind me. You endangered the people who were in the car coming out of one of the lane to which I swerved, but stopped. I don't know WHAT you were doing that was more important than ensuring your children wouldn't run out into traffic in a busy shopping center but I can't believe it was DEAD CHILD important.

No, I still don't feel better.

The Metro

2010-04-01T21:03:00.003-05:00

No, not some city train/subway somewhere...my second car.

Its been awhile, so I thought I'd check what type of mileage "Put" is getting these days. Well, 34.5 mpg isn't anything to sneeze at. Yeah, yeah, it isn't the most appealing looking automobile on the road, but it gets the job done. Not bad for a 1990 3 cylinder automatic that the odometer has spun around more times than a Las Vegas slot machine.

Dear Spider...

2010-03-30T08:22:00.006-05:00

Dear Spider...

I know it is that time of year that you emerge from wherever and start building your web. I'm sure my neighbors and I appreciate the effort of you and your fellow eight legged friends in your attempt to rid our neighborhood of flying, irritating bugs like flies and mosquitos while feeding yourself and your family.

But Spider, a word of advice. When I come home at night, in the dark, walk up my steps, with my hands mostly full in attempt to retrieve my mail and unknowingly walk smack dab into the middle of your webkingdom, you are in for a serious spidie ass kickin'.

Nothing, except maybe being held up or hit in the head with a shovel, is quite as alarming as some sticky ass web material surprisingly draped across my face while thinking where your creepy, eight legged, blood sucking ass is.

In the future, if the crazed physical response to my startled reactions of running into your ill placed web didn't kill you, the big industrial sized can of Spider-b-Gone I'm going to buy today, will.

Now go find some other flying insect drawing light to build your empire upon.

'bout Wet Myself

2010-03-27T08:59:00.002-05:00

Soooo....I'm on my way to work yesterday. As I'm heading south out of Bartonville, I'm cruisin' along around 63-ish in a 55. All of a sudden, out of nowhere, this HUGE frikkin' (Air National Guard, I'm guessing) helicopter appears above the trees!! HOLY SHIT!!!! Where the hell did THAT come from???!!!

Ok, Bartonville, Peoria County and State Police, I realize this isn't the best place for you guys to hide and catch speeders, but this is ridiculous!!!

Just thought I'd post the Ironstone Room press release here

2010-03-17T09:46:00.001-05:00

The Ironstone Room at Willett’s Winery & Cellar

Dan & Cris Willett are excited to announce the opening of their new restaurant, The Ironstone Room, adjacent to their winery in Manito, IL.

Chef Kevin Roecker has put together a lunch/early dinner menu comprising of unique sandwiches, intriguing salads and creative pastas to pair with Willett’s wines. The restaurant is open Monday through Friday 11:00 am – 7:00 pm, Saturday & Sunday 11:00 am – 5:00 pm. The restaurant is located at 101 East Market Street next to the courtyard which separates it from the main winery. Call 968-7000 for more information, reservations or take out orders.

The menu can be found through a link on the winery’s main page ( http://willettswinery.com/index.html ) while the menu and the March 22-26 dinner specials (available 4-7 pm) are at http://ironstoneroom.blogspot.com

See You Around The Table in Manito....

This One's for Emtronics

2010-03-17T00:10:00.003-05:00

I know how much faith Randall has in our local weatherpeople, so I dedicate this post to him.

On my way to work this past morning, I'm listening to Bob & Tom. During the commercial break, a (presumably taped) weather report from Chuck Collins came on informing us that it was 38 and sunny.

Pretty funny. That must have happened right AFTER I left Peoria, because in Pekin, I was driving through enough dense fog to wash my Tracker. All I needed were a few guys from Red Carpet to rush out from behind some bushes along Route 29 to do a quick interior wipe down and spit shine the bumpers.

Shameful Self Promotion

2010-03-09T06:26:00.005-06:00

Well, the new restaurant I'm running is about ready to open. By this weekend we'll be servin' it up. Yeah, it is a bit of a hike to Manito, but for the sake of adventure, come and see us anyway... (just pay reeeeeeeeaaaal close attention to that 30 mph speed limit in Pekin if you are coming from that direction...)

The menu is here

Yes, it is pretty much a lunch menu that runs all day. We plan to run some dinner specials starting next week. Right now, we are too small of an operation to be running too big of an ongoing menu.

See You Around The Table.....

Gas N up.

2010-03-07T23:30:00.002-06:00

Unleaded Plus gasoline price in Peoria, IL: $2.78 - $2.83

Unleaded Plus gasoline price in Manito, IL $2.63

OK, I realize you aren't going to drive to Manito to save .15 - .20 a gallon, but it makes you wonder why the big difference.

BOHICA!!!

I Spy Peoria

2010-02-14T11:50:00.002-06:00

It seems like almost on a daily basis I see some sort of really odd behavior. It makes me contemplate a side blog called I Spy Peoria. (iSpy Peoria would be way cooler, but I sure the big shots at Apple wouldn’t like iSpy because that is probably what they call their covert computer geek operatives that keep tabs on Bill Gates’ activities and sue me for gazillions.) It would follow along the line of Peoria Illinoisans’ “Overheard in Peoria” combined with the cynical commentary found Randall Emert’s Anti-Pundit 2.5 blog. As with “Overheard in Peoria”, you would just e-mail me the wacky, outrageous, odd, illegal (could be fun…), stupid, rude, funny or dimwitted events you witnessed and some “not overly profane” commentary. It would be sorta cool, but I don’t know if I’m up for it. Can’t even seem to keep this blog going.

I know the question..”What brought this on”? Glad you asked.

I’m traveling out by Grand Prairie Mall two days ago and I’m stopped at a light. In front of me is this jumbo SUV. Suddenly, an arm appears out of the driver’s window and it looks like the driver is trying to throw something but it is stuck to his hand; kinda like Orlando Jones’s character in the Replacements when the coach put stick’em on his hands so he wouldn’t drop the football. After a bit, the arm re-appears and does the same thing. Then I see his windshield wipers going. NOW I get it - he is out of windshield washing solution, can’t see and is trying to fling bottled water onto his windshield while perched in the driver’s seat.

After laughing my ass off, I figured if you can afford a giant, gas sucking SUV, you can afford to wash your windshield with Evian. I’m sure your car’s clear coat will appreciate the lack of chemical additives. But wouldn’t it be easier to fill the wash reservoir with the stuff than flinging out the window?

Will They or Won't They? Let The Speculation Begin.

2010-01-25T08:36:00.002-06:00

Now that the elder statesmen have been knocked out of Superbowl contention, the speculation of whether Brett Favre (for the fourth time) and Kurt Warner (who is always rumored to retire) will retire from football this off season.

First, I will say that these two guys are fun to watch. Not because they can scramble like Michael Vick but you know they have the talent to make things happen. Yeah, yeah, they both made costly mistakes in their last games, but when it is on your back to come from behind to make up for mistakes of your team mates, well, sometimes you do stupid stuff. It is like the field goal kicker who catches all of the grief when he misses the game winning field goal attempt from 52 yards out in a crosswind with 2 seconds left on the clock. He becomes the scapegoat while no one remembers the 45 yard pass interference call that let the other team score and go ahead or the wide receiver dropping the ball in the end zone; it is ALL the field goal kicker's fault.

Favre: I can't believe Brett will retire (again) knowing that his last pass in a storied, record ladened NFL career was an interception, kinda like his last year at Green Bay. I also can't believe for how well he played this season that going for an unheard of 20th year in the NFL doesn't cross his mind in cementing his legacy. He obviously has an awesome team that should be playing in the Superbowl this year. One more year, Brett, but ask that Adrian Peterson walks home in complete gear from any game where he fumbles the football. Walking home from San Francisco would give him time to reflect especially if he had to walk home from Seattle the week before.

Warner: I can see Warner walking away easier than Favre even if it means leaving about 11.5 million sitting in the Arizona Cardinal's owners pockets instead of his. BUT, if I were Warner and I was coming back, I'd make some demands. First, they now have a running back named Beanie Wells who FINALLY gave AZ a respectable running game. Wells proved he is very dangerous in the open field. Warner should demand the development of more technical running plays to get this guy sprung and out into the open field. If this means developing the quick pitch and screen part of the "Greatest Show On Turf" offense that Warner/Marshall Faulk ran in St. Louis during their heyday (but abandoned in their Superbowl loss - blame Mike Martz for that, though) then so be it. Or develop something else so it would take pressure off of Warner having to throw 50 times a game and getting hit so many times standing in the pocket. It would also make opposing secondaries have to worry about a lot more than the Cardinal's never ending parade of talent in the wide receiver department which would make AZ even more dangerous. My second demand would be to do something about the defense. If I were Warner, I'd be pissed off that it is my weekly responsibility to outscore the other team as the defense couldn't stop the last place team in the "Over 90 year old blind granny wheelchair" league. Before this past season, pass rush guru Julius Peppers was a free agent and I thought AZ should have traded everyone and their mothers to get this guy to line up on the other side of Darnell Dockett on the defensive line, especially since Bertrand Berry was in his 12th year (and now retiring). But if AZ does nothing to improve their defense this off season, I'd retire, too. But, as with Favre, I'd like to see him play another year.

Regardless, I think we will see them both again. Not because they have anything to prove, it is because they love the game and they have teams that could win it all (unlike if they were playing for Detroit or St. Louis) that would be the final, crowning achievements on their careers. They both had years that most NFL QBs could just dream of.

As for the Superbowl. One glaring fact: The three games the Saints played after their three off weeks (between pre-season, bye week and end of regular season/playoffs) they royally kicked the shit out of their opponents. If this trend holds true, it will be a long afternoon for Peyton and crew. Not saying Indy will lose, but it fairs well for the Saints, who I do think will win.

(Now a disclaimer, a little history. I was a Los Angeles Rams fan BEFORE Eric Dickerson because I thought Vince Ferragamo (good Lord I can't believe I remember this - talk about useless info. - would lead them to great glories). I was a fan (though a little disgruntled) when they traded Dickerson. I followed them after Dickerson and to St. Louis. One day this Kurt Warner fellow shows up and lights up the sky along the Mississippi River with footballs and it was great to be a non "fair weather" Rams fan. I was soooooo mad at the Rams (mis)"management" for letting him go (like Dickerson), that I had it with the Rams and followed Warner instead. I just couldn't figure out why the Rams just didn't sit him and let the injury heal (kinda like Philadelphia does every year with Donovan McNabb every year). So, I hope they are glad to see Kurt doing so well somewhere else (and kicking the their arses twice a year since joining the Cardinals *snicker*).

To quote Johnny Mac...

2010-01-24T11:20:00.004-06:00

You cannot be serious!!

I'm going to pay my house and car insurance online today and I notice that my insurance company has a "Become a fan on Facebook" link.

Insert John McEnroe line here.

After jacking my house insurance after the break-in/robbery two years ago and this year jacking my car insurance, which is basic liability (no claims of any sort since early '05).... You want me to become a FAN?!?!?!

Insert John McEnroe quote here.

Become a fan? I'll give them something to be a fan of: {delete}

Changes, They Are A-Comin'

2010-01-18T08:12:00.004-06:00

From my previous post, readers know I quit my old job, which was assistant manager at GFS Marketplace, and am now working for Willett's Winery & Cellar in Manito.

The main reason I started this blog to do restaurant reviews and to blog about issues affecting restaurants locally or nationally. However, over the years the content drifted away from those two things. I got away from the reviews because I was actually confronted about said reviews at GFS one day when some guy pretty heavily questioned me about me being impartial. His premise was that if restaurants were GFS customers I would give them great reviews hoping to boost GFS business and if they were a competitor's customer give them less than stellar review hoping to hurt the competitors business (seriously, I can't make this stuff up). Well, this was a crock-o-shit for two reasons. 1. I'd like to think that I was above that type of behavior. 2. Did anyone ever read a BAD review here? Maybe average, but never bad. I felt it was better to call out the really good ones and leave those who did a less than average job sit in anonimity. It was a bit shocking to have this happen, not just because of the accusation, but having someone doing this where I worked, which I never mentioned here. However, it was even more shocking to come home one day soon thereafter and find this same accusation/calling me out on my blog. Moreso not wanting the world to know where I worked, I initiated the moderation of comments. Don't know whose Wheaties I pissed in, but it must have been after a huge Sam Adams drinking event.... Thusly, it brings up a point: If I am now running a restaurant, should I be critiquing others? My thought is no.

So, I'm thinking what I should do with this blog.

I could continue to rant and rave about some of the silly things the city does: the anti-botanical hollyhock whacker, the tree in my front yard, the sidewalk that looks like the intoxicated poured it or snowplowing the little used alley behind my house before plowing the actual street on which I live, etc. Or complain about the yahoos I seem to encounter.

I could promote all the events, etc. going on down at the winery.

Or I'm sure someone out there suggest I just shove it up my arse.

So, there may be a lull here until I figure out which direction I want to take it.

H-U-G-E Chef Kevin Announcement

2009-12-27T20:03:00.002-06:00

For those of you arriving here via a link from an e-mail or some networking site (or both) or those of you who check my blog frequently....

I’M BACK!!

About seven years ago I walked away from the restaurant/food service business after being involved with it in one form or another for 25+ years. There were a lot of reasons for my exodus and most contributed to me being burnt out. For almost the last seven years, I’ve been working for a major food service distributor. Over the last 6 months or so, I have slowly concluded it just wasn’t the right gig for me anymore. Besides, I was really starting to miss cooking at a professional level. I still hated the thought of “every night, every weekend” yet nothing came up that really excited me which met the criteria that I wanted. Recently, I was approached with an offer that was hard to refuse, so now I’m back in the kitchen.

As some of you may be aware, I have been involved with various culinary functions with Willett’s Winery & Cellar in Manito. In the past, The Willetts have always hired out different food service providers, like me, to cater their many various events. It was their vision to someday be able to have their own in-house food service. The Willetts have taken a huge step towards this vision by acquiring additional space and will re-design current space to make this happen. It means installing a commercial kitchen and having a larger, enclosed year round facility to host more sizable indoor events. And this is where I come in: I am thrilled and honored to announce that they have hired me to run a small café and to cater all in-house events and festivals in which they are involved. The “Chef Kevin” moniker that John Valentine bestowed upon me many years ago now holds true once more. The Executive Chef at a winery…how cool is that?

The first "official" event will be the Valentine's Day Wine and Dine Experience. This will be our fourth year doing this event. It is ALWAYS a sold out event. And without even mentioning it, advertising, or having a menu done, it is over half sold out for 2010. If you want to treat your sweetie to a fabulous 4 course meal paired with four of Willett's award winning wines (and they have the medals to prove it) and be entertained by Joe Metzka during dinner, you better call the winery (309-968-7070) soon to reserve your space for this February 13 event.

See you around a table in Manito (starting sometime in February)…..

Is This On???

2009-12-08T19:59:00.003-06:00

Yeah, yeah, it has been awhile since I blogged about anything. So, if there is still anyone out there reading...

I decided that chasing all my pond fish around with a net to scoop them out and put them in an aquarium over the winter would be a huge pain in the ass. So, I bought a pond heater. Supposedly, my pond is deep enough (below the frost line) to leave the fish in and with the heater should a. keep them from freezing into fish cubes b. keep a hole in the ice to let oxygen in. Well, I couldn't get the darn thing placed exactly where I wanted it in the deepest part, so I had to reach in, armpit deep and set it. Let me tell you this: In the movies when people fall through the ice or jump into a Siberian river and live to tell about it, it is fake. My arms weren't in there 30 seconds and I thought I was going to shake myself to death. I still don't think my fingers are typing well. But easier than trying to catch 10 goldfish in 700 gallons of water. Hmmm...there is a reality show in the making...catch all 10 goldfish in 700 gallons of water in 30 seconds or get thrown into a Siberian river in January.

Somewhere in Peoria, there is a really good buy on Sam Adams, my beer of choice. I'm not telling where, but I think I should rent a Ryder truck.

Earlier this fall, I was going to put up some Christmas lights. Then I thought no. Today, before it started raining, I did. They all worked. I put them on, they all worked. I re-routed the extension cord and WTF? After jacking around with them for another 15 minutes, all but one strand worked. Now I'm feeling it was a waste of time. 17 days to Christmas. And of course, the day after Christmas my parents will probably be over taking them down because "what will the neighbors think?" They are probably thinking "Hey, lets try out that new espresso machine we got for Christmas by making some lattes and see if any of the neighbors are out in -20 wind chill taking down their Christmas lights". Taking down Christmas lights is a "first warm day in March" project. I shouldn't poke fun of my parents like that. I'm sure God is leaving them/has left them on this planet this long for a reason and it isn't so I can blog about them and their necessity to remove lights post Christmas, post haste.

I'm a big boxing fan. Speculation is that Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao and Floyd "Money" Mayweather, Jr. will slug it out on March 13, 2010. Not since Hagler-Leonard has there been a boxing match of such magnitude. The slick defense (that leads to offense) of Mayweather vs. arguably the fastest hands with power of Pacquiao. Even though I respect the boxing prowess of Mayweather, I hate his pompous arrogant mouth and hope in ends up with his ass on the canvas as a result of a Pacquiao left hook.

It is that time of year again. Many people shopping, patience wears thin, both customers and sales people reach their wits end with each other. Please be good to each other this year. One of my gripes is P.C. Christmas music. Blech. One can only listen to Rudolph and Oh, Christmas tree and Blue Christmas so many times until you wanna toss your Christmas cookies. This year, I've noticed a few songs that mention "the unmentionables". I'm sure there will be e-mails sent, letters written, Congressmen called that they had to hear Mary, Jesus and manger.

And I'm still trying to figure out 2212 N. Prospect. This is one of the properties that District 150 bought to tear down and build a school (which didn't happen). First, they housed some of the teachers from China there (which I found funny as supposedly these houses weren't worth living in). Now, there seems to be someone living there who owns a home improvement business and the place is glowing with Christmas lights. Just curious to what is going on. Is D150 in the landlord business now or what?

Well, until I find something else to rant about....

Rude in the Sky

2009-11-10T09:16:00.003-06:00

I just got back from a long weekend trip to our nation's capital. Ate some great food, enjoyed some nice wine, took in a few sites and the company of two friends that I haven't seen in ages.

But what gets me is this: rude and obnoxious airline passengers.

I understand that you, for some reason, feel the need to carry on your suitcase thingy and your laptop. However, when the person at the gate announces the flight is packed and you are only allowed one carry-on item and the other must be checked plane-side, going ballastic is most likely not going to get you anywhere except tossed into a room with the TSA. Yes, I am sure you are far more important than the rest of us that YOU should be allowed two items. Personally, I thought you looked like a jackass.

And Mr. Im Moreimportant - If you are in that big of a hurry to get off the plane (that was even ahead of schedule in landing), maybe you should have opted for the upcharge of the "more leg room seating" at the front of economy class or first class. But banging through people like Dick Butkus with your carry-on from the back of the plane as soon as it is permissible to move, puts you in jackass category with the above.

But the biggest "prize" goes to the superjerk in front of me on the way to DC from Chicago. I think if I were the flight attendant, I would have thrown your ass out...at 30,000 feet. Put your laptop and the headphone away before we take off...and not after you've been told several times. And after a third request from the flight attendant, you slam the lid of the laptop down on your traytable so hard, I can feel the shake from where I'm sitting. And just as we hit the ground, you are on your cell texting away.

And somewhere, close by, some woman had enough perfume on that if some terrorist was nearby, he could have used her as a chemical warfare material. Must have a swimming pool of stuff at her house.

Minus the perfume issue, I don't understand the mentality of these people.

Increasing Traffic Flow

2009-10-11T12:43:00.003-05:00

I finally figured it out. Tired of poky traffic? I think I've got the solution. Follow me on this. Ok, not EVERYONE is a car fanatic. But I think I'm safe in saying that most drive a car they like the looks of..I'm thinking most people do not drive a car they feel is visually repulsive. Of course, there are some out there that drive cars as a status symbol, etc.

But something I noticed today. I'm driving the Metro. It is apparent that some people out there do not like the fact that they are being passed by an unshaven, baseball hat wearin' guy driving a slightly rusty, dull blue, 3 cylinder, 4 door hatchback 1990 Geo Metro. At least the guy in the Jag and the Navigator didn't. Kind of embarrassing getting your lollygaggin', cellphone talkin' ass lapped by a little 3 cylinder Hooptie. The ego just couldn't take it.

snicker.

So to all of you who were behind these yahoos who were being forced to drive far slower than the speed limit and being aggravated by their slothfulness, you're welcome.