I’ve brought kimandedjr.com out of retirement today for a very import news announcement. Exciting times are ahead!

My wife, our toddler aged son, and I visited the Rusty Bucket in Rookwood for lunch over the weekend. I had visited this restaurant at least once before, though it had been years since my last visit. I remember enjoying the food and thinking the service was adequate, so why hadn’t I visited more often? Well the location in Rookwood leaves a lot to be desired. The parking lot section in front of the restaurant is really small, and Rookwood itself can be tough to navigate.

We arrived on this visit just before 1 in the afternoon. A hostess immediately took us to a table in the back of the restaurant, a booth just as we had requested. You have to walk past the bar area to reach the dining area, which is kind of awkward and tight. However the dining area itself offers plenty of space.

Buffalo Chicken Sandwich

For lunch I went with the buffalo chicken sandwich - panko crusted chicken breast slathered in medium wing sauce, topped with crumbled blue cheese, shredded lettuce, tomato and mayo ($8.99). The piece of chicken was very large for a sandwich, appeared to be freshly battered, and was very tasty. The fries were also pretty good.

All Jacked Up Turkey Burger

My wife ordered the “all jacked up burger” substituting a turkey burger for the standard beef. This came topped with spicy red and green chili relish, pepperjack cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion and mayo ($9.79). I did not sample the burger but she really seemed to enjoy it.

Kids Cheese Pizza

We choose the kids cheese pizza for our son, along with a side of fruit ($4.95). They also offer a variety of hand tossed pizzas on the regular menu, so this wasn’t just some frozen and microwaved pizza. I was able to borrow a slice from our son and I was pleasantly surprised. The dough was actually a little chewy, which I wasn’t expecting at all for the thin pizza. After sampling this, I would not hesitate to order a pizza from the main menu.

The Rusty Bucket is definitely a place we should visit more often and we probably would, but the parking situation stinks. Perhaps the experience would be a lot better if we just walked there, like we do for many other Rookwood establishments.

The animals for the live nativity are back at St. Francis Seraph, our regular church in the Over-the-Rhine neighborhood of downtown Cincinnati. After mass this past Sunday we stopped in to see and pet them.

Himalayan Goat

The friendliest of the animals was this little Himalayan goat, named Tootsie. She was very soft and I’m told their wool is used in making the finest of cashmere.

Saying Hi

Tootsie

In addition to Tootsie there are a handful of other goats and sheep, along with a couple of burros.

Burros

Under a stable roof there is also a manger scene compete with a baby Jesus doll.

Manger Scene

According to another blogger, the nativity can be seen as part of American Legacy Tours Spirit of Christmas along with the collection of nativity scenes from around the world and the Charles Dickens Village in the Friary. Or you could join us for mass on any Sunday between now and Christmas to see the same things free of charge. The outdoor nativity is also open to the public though I do not know their schedule.

Two Saturday’s ago was a rare date night for my wife and I. Since our son was born I think I can count on one hand the number of meals we have eaten without him. However now that he is less tolerable of sit down meals, this may become a more regular occurrence. Anyway, the destination for our dinner was Via Vite on Fountain Square downtown. I had seen the outside of this restaurant numerous times due to its very central location but had never ventured inside.

Via Vite’s Bar

We made reservations with OpenTable and arrived at our designated time, quickly being ushered to our reserved table in the relatively crowded dining area. It was crowded with nearly all tables being occupied, but it was also crowded in that the tables were very close to each other. The cramped dining area was therefore quite noisy.

Dining Area

Service on the other hand was wonderful! Our drinks were never empty and the pace of the meal felt just right. The first item delivered to our table was some fresh bread along with an olive oil and balsamic vinegar dip. Nothing out of the ordinary here, but still a nice way to start the meal.

Bread And Dip

For dinner I ordered the Handmade Spaghetti Chitarra with velvet pioppini mushroom ragout and Parmigiano Reggiano ($19). The spaghetti is handmade and cut in the restaurant and thicker than what you would typically make at home. The mushroom based sauce was outstanding! It was still full of a nice tomato flavor and a hint of spice as well.

Handmade Spaghetti Chitarra

My wife had the Italian spicy sausage and caramelized onion pizza ($13). The pizza was large and covered with sausage and onions. I was able to steal a slice from her and I have to admit that this was one of the better slices of pizza I’ve had in a long time. The mozzarella used was certainly fresh and really stood out to me. With such flavorful cheese and toppings the sauce took a backseat, but that’s not to say that it wasn’t tasty on its own. I was very happy to have some of this leftover to take home with us.

Pizza

The food at Via Vite was excellent and the service was great. Twice Executive Chef Cristian Pietoso stopped by our table to chat and ask how everything tasted. I will definitely be back for more.

Before hunkering down at our Williamstown Lake house for a Thanksgiving celebration with my in-laws, I ran the 103rd annual Thanksgiving Day Race in downtown Cincinnati. My dad has run this race for years and he had no issue convincing me to run it with him this time around. It was my first time running the race, but he made sure to warn me of the large crowds that we would likely encounter.

The beautiful weather on race day brought out an estimated 17,500 runners and walkers! With such a large crowd it was definitely a little hard to navigate the course without nearly bumping into one another, but it was a great time and I will absolutely run it again in the future. My dad and I finished with a time of 53 minutes flat, or just over 8:30 page. Not bad for a crowded course and a nearly 10 minute long first mile.

Last night we attended Newport on the Levee’s Light Up The Levy Grand Illumination event. The highlight of the event was the flipping of the switch to turn on the lights on their large tree. Santa was on hand to help in the celebration and there was even a little fake snow to make it all the more festive. Since I will likely miss downtown Cincinnati’s Light Up The Square on Friday evening, this was a nice way to kick off the holiday season.

Tree Before

Interviewing Santa

It’s Snowing!

Grand Illumination

Saturday night Kim and I headed down to US Bank Arena for the Trans-Siberian Orchestra concert. This was my first show of theirs so I really wasn’t sure what to expect. The moment the lights dimmed I knew we weren’t in for atypical Christmas show. I was already aware that their music was more rock-based that most holiday music, but it seemed that the rock aspect of their music was even more dominant live in concert.

Pyrotechnics

Besides the metal style instrument solos, their show was complete with a very impressive light show with loads of video boards, lasers, and even pyrotechnics! I think at one point there were even women dancing on stage similar to what you would see at a Mötley Crüe concert. I honestly didn’t expect it to be this over the top.

Impressive Light Show

Mixed between all the rock music was a narrator who was trying to tell some sort of “Lost Christmas Eve” story. However, I felt the story was more depressing than anything and wished they would have just stuck to the music.

Choir

Throughout the night, the band was joined by various singers and even a choir. The string section orchestra was on stage for most, if not all, of the performance. We later found out that the members of the orchestra were all local musicians who were selected to perform with the band during this tour stop.

Moving Trusses

At one point in the show, two of the musicians started rising up over the crowd on these really long trusses. Once the trusses were fully extended, each of the moved in opposite directions away from the stage. The violinist on the truss nearest to us eventually was over our section and I was looking straight ahead to him just feet away from us!

Well Hello There

After a couple of hours on stage and at the end of the story, the band and other musicians were introduced and then we were told that it was time for the second act of night. In the second act, the band performs a mix of songs from their catalog that had not been featured in the story. It was getting late for us and we still had to pickup Trey from the other side of town, so we called it a night shortly into the second act. Even though we had to cut the night short, I felt that I had experienced enough of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra show to leave a lasting memory.

Trans-Siberian Orchestra “Wizards In Winter” from Ed Paff on Vimeo.

For dinner on Friday night I picked up a couple of pizzas from Mt. Adams Pizza & Deli. Before 7PM there is plenty of ten minute parking on the nearby hilly streets of Mt. Adams. If you are picking up pizza later in the evening, the bar filled neighborhood will likely be void of any available free parking. However I bet their average customer doesn’t run into parking issues, as they seem to mostly cater towards late night diners, who are likely taking cabs around town or who have already paid to park in a nearby lot.

Outside Mt. Adams Pizzeria

I arrived around 6:20 to find one of the few tables inside occupied and another two customers in line placing orders for dine in. Another guy walked in shortly after I did, who was also picking up a carry out order. I called ahead and was told that my pizzas would be ready in 20-25 minutes, and when I arrived 25 minutes later they were in one of those insulated delivery bags waiting for me, still hot from the oven.

Inside Mt. Adams Pizza & Deli

We had a $20 Groupon to use, so we decided to try two of their 12″ specialty pizzas. First up for me was the Mediterranean Pizza with feta, green olives, onion, banana peppers, tomato, and oregano ($14 for 12″). First of all, I don’t think they could have possibly fit any more toppings on this pizza. You definitely get what you pay for, as far as toppings are concerned. With so many toppings it was hard to get a taste of the sauce, but once I got closer to the edge of the crust I really enjoyed what I could taste. Plus the crust itself was really good, just slightly crispy and definitely chewy. I could have gone another minute or two overall on the bake, but still a solid pizza.

Mediterranean Pizza

Our second pie was the Mona Lisa chicken pizza with barbecue sauce, chicken, and onion. This wasn’t quite as filled with toppings as compared to the Mediterranean, but still more than your average pizza. This is one of their “white pizzas” which have no sauce, but are brushed with olive oil and garlic. But with the barbecue sauce drizzle, you don’t really need any other sauce on this pizza. This pizza seemed to be a little more well done than the first, which I really enjoyed.

Mona Lisa Chicken Pizza

In the future I would probably skip the Mediterranean in favor of something with a little less olives on it, but the Mona Lisa is definitely worthy of ordering again. I don’t think I will go out of my way for Mt. Adams Pizza, but it is definitely worthy of a visit when in the area.

In a recent produce delivery from Green B.E.A.N. was a massive two-pound sweet potato. When I placed the order I thought that it said two pounds of sweet potatoes, and not one gigantic one. Realizing that it would take forever to cook this sucker whole, yesterday I searched the internet for a good recipe that would feature chopped sweet potatoes. What I found was a recipe for roasted sweet potatoes and onions.

My Results

I liked that the recipe called for two onions, which I also already had on hand. These were regular old yellow onions and not sweet or Vidalia, but I don’t think it hurt the recipe at all. I also left out the almonds since they are on my list of foods I’m supposedly allergic too. The amaretto liqueur left a sweet glaze with a hint of booziness. I really enjoyed this dish. It is probably my favorite sweet potato dish in a long time. Consider it for your Thanksgiving dinners. I would but I’m in charge of green beans this year.

I’ve run three of four times since the big half marathon last month. Immediately after the race I caught a nasty chest cold that I didn’t kick for a week or so. I was also having some pain in an old snowboarding injury to my ankle. Plus I really wasn’t feeling all that motivated to get out and run. Today I finally went out and ran something longer than a 5K and my 5 mile run felt good. So I just decided to register for the 103rd Thanksgiving Day Race. My dad runs this every year and always says how much fun it is. I guess in one weeks time I will find out for myself.