Before I turn my attention to the happenings of this past weekend and this week, I wanted to provide a few pictures from the recently ended Homearama. Kim and I decided last-minute to go check out the Homearama on the last day it was open. This years event took place just off my parents exit on I-275 (Wards Corner) so I drove by it fairly regularly during the two-week opening. Though it never looked overly crowded, it was a relatively cheap ticket to get in ($11 if you bought them at Kroger ahead of time).

Exterior of My Favorite Home

Basically the Homearama is a new home showcase that features some of the latest trends and styles, although it is done at a much higher cost than the average homeowner can afford. Regardless it is still pretty cool to see these lavish homes and dream the day away. Take a look at some of the crazy things that were in these $675,000 – $1,000,000 homes.

007 Bar with 3 TV’s

Basement Wine Cellar

Massive Wraparound Screen

Huge Swimmable Hot Tub

Golf Simulator

Today was the start of my jury duty that I mentioned a few weeks ago. I always thought it would be interesting to see the inner workings of a court room. Unfortunately that has yet to happen for me. I arrived at the courthouse this morning at 8:30, waited in line to check-in, and then went through orientation until around 10:30. From that point I sat with the other citizens (somewhere between 100 and 200 of us) in various rooms waiting for our names to be called in a juror pool. We were told that once in a pool we would be taken to any of a few dozen courtrooms for additional questioning and then finally jury selection.

However no names were ever called today. What a complete waste of time it was. I killed the three hours of waiting time by walking 21 laps around the courthouse’s fourth floor (I was told 7 laps was a mile), playing on the internet with my phone, and even closing my eyes for a few minutes. Around 12:30 an announcement told us all that we were dismissed for the day.

And guess what happened next? I went online to see if I have to report again tomorrow, and it must be my lucky day because I do. You can bet that I’m bringing my laptop and other entertainment items with me to help pass the time tomorrow. I really can’t believe how inefficient this system is, plus each person is given $19 per day so it isn’t a cheap process either. I’m going to keep my fingers crossed that tomorrow I at least get to see the inside of one of the courtrooms.

Saturday night I attended the St. Columban Festival, my first Catholic summer festival in quite some time. I spent many days at St. Columban from fourth grade through eighth, and though much of the school and church has changed since then, the festival continues to be a good time. The Rusty Griswolds were on hand to provide music throughout the night, which is always a bonus in my book.

Since Trey was along for the ride, we spent the majority of the night playing kids games and watching him take a turn on some of the carnival rides.

Fishing with Mom

Back for more

Digging for Dinosaurs

Riding the Train

Driving Cars

Eating Corn

Imitating Hendrix

Monday night I attended my second Reds game of the season. Some of Kim’s extended family was in town and organized a family outing to the game, complete with great seats down the third base line.

Outside Great American Ball Park

Third Base Line

It was also Reds Racing Night with “The King” Richard Petty, NASCAR drivers Bobby Labonte and Aric Almirola and the largest collection of racing showcars, simulators and interactives ever in the Ohio/Kentucky area.

Richard Petty

Eric McClure’s Car

More importantly, the Reds pulled out an exciting 3-1 win over the Brewers. Reds pitcher Mat Latos pitched a complete game with a career high 13 strikeouts. Anytime the Reds pitch 11 or more strikeouts, fans in attendance receive a free LaRosa’s pizza and a scoop of UDF ice cream. Latos performance made for 34,485 very happy people.

Reds Win

Fireworks

I was off work this past Friday and so we decided to spend the day down at Williamstown Lake, where my wife’s uncle has a cabin that I’ve mentioned a couple of times before. Throughout the afternoon I hung a gutter on one side of the cabin before we took the pontoon out for a ride and swim. We will actually be spending a lot more time down at the lake, since a group of us all chipped in and bought a neighboring four bedroom house that we will be fixing up and then using to stay the night.

Outside Edwardo’s

Anyway, the real point of this post is to write about Edwardo’s Pizza & Subs in Williamstown, KY. We visited with my in-laws and my youngest brother-in-law, who have all eaten at Edwardo’s before. We arrived after 8pm and found a couple of the last remaining spots in the small parking lot. We immediately saw a large back patio that was still packed full of people, as well as a DJ playing some music from the far side.

Edwardo’s Back Patio

After a few minutes wait a couple of tables opened up, and a couple of servers quickly cleared them off for us. We split a pitcher of Amber Bock while deciding on pizza. Our server pointed out that if we bought one large pizza at regular price, the second would only be $9, a deal that we couldn’t refuse. We eventually settled on the Hawaiian Delight Pizza (Ham, pineapple, green peppers, red onions, topped with diced tomatoes and our special blend of real cheeses) and the White Pizza with Grilled Chicken (White, creamy, gourmet alfredo sauce, grilled chicken, red onions, and bacon, topped with mozzarella and cheddar cheeses). Regular price for both is $16.99 for the large 15 inch.

White Pizza with Grilled Chicken

I sampled the White Pizza with Grilled Chicken first, which we actually had spiced up with buffalo chicken. I’m glad we ordered it with the buffalo sauce, otherwise I’m afraid the pizza would have been a little bland. The sauce didn’t have much flavor to it, but the I didn’t have any complaints about the rest of the ingredients. We ordered this one on the thin crust, which our server said she liked the best, but I’m going to have to disagree and say the thick was better.

Hawaiian Delight Pizza

The Hawaiian Delight Pizza we ordered on thick crust. I really liked this pizza. The sauce was full of flavor and all the toppings were plentiful. The thick crust was still chewy on the inside and was cooked perfectly. I liked having additional toppings on the pizza, when compared to other more standard Hawaiian pizzas. I would easily order the Hawaiian Delight again, and I will not hesitate to visit Edwardo’s in the future.

Last Thursday we walked up to Ault Park for the first of this summer’s dance series. Once a month a band plays a free concert at the Ault Park pavilion providing family fun for all ages. Beer, wine, and food is all available for purchase.

From The Lawn

The turnout for the event was great. Many families brought blankets and picnic baskets to sit on the lawns around the pavilion. Others brought chairs to sit near the pavilion steps for best viewing the band and dancers.

The Remains

Entertainment for the night was provided by The Remains, a great local band that I had seen play once before at my cousin’s wedding. The music starts around 6pm and was still going strong as we headed home shortly before 10.

Dancing In The Park

The remaining dates this summer are July 19 with The Modulators and August 16 with Soul Pocket. I hope to attend either or maybe even both.

Toward the end of last year, I won a gift certificate for J. Gumbo’s from the Food Hussy. Since it could only be redeemed at the Fairfield location, it took me nearly half a year to finally give it a try. Coincidentally my brother had purchased the same certificate from eversave, so we decided to all give it a try together.

Unlike other J. Gumbo’s locations, this one is not counter service and upon entering the front door I was told that I could sit wherever I liked. I attempted to grab a seat in a nearby booth, but my one and a half year old son decided he would rather be outside. He was immediately drawn to the set of cornhole boards outside, so we played around with those waiting for my brother and his girlfriend to arrive.

After their arrival we all sat down at an outside table and looked over the lengthy menu of Cajun styled bowls which are served over a bed of rice. My brother ordered the crawfish cheese dip appetizer ($5.50) while we continued to look through the menus. With thirteen different bowls available, we wanted to be sure to get a good variety. The appetizer arrived quickly, and though I didn’t sample any I was told that there was not a lot of crawfish in it, it was mostly a cheese based dip.

Red Beans & Rice

Since my certificate was good for $13 I decided to order two different bowls, hoping that my son would eat some of the food and that I would have enough to take home for lunch the next day. I decided to order the red beans & rice for him to try – slow cooked red beans with yellow onion, smoked sausage and Cajun spices ($6.99). Despite being a little dry, the dish was actually quite good. The sausage was thick sliced and the flavor was not too spicy. The serving was large enough that even after a few bites from the bowl, there was still enough for a full lunch for me and a couple of small lunches for my son.

Chicken Red Hot

For my dinner I went with the chicken red hot – tender chicken slow cooked with garlic, red onion and celery in a tangy Cajun Buffalo style sauce and topped with bleu cheese crumbles ($7.29). This was given a 3 out of 4 rating on their spiciness scale and it was definitely hot! There is only one bowl with a higher rating, the voodoo chicken, and I wonder if that would be much too hot for most people. The chicken red hot was filled with plenty of chicken (though not all of it was white meat) and the flavor was good. There was definitely a lot more buffalo seasoning than Cajun, so keep that in mind if you are looking for more authentic flavors.

I also had small bites of my brother and his girlfriend’s two dishes. The bourbon street chicken – tender chicken slow cooked in a lightly sweet butter-hoisin sauce ($7.29) – was by far the least spicy of the bunch, and had a pleasant sweet flavor to it. It could have used a little more sauce, as the rice below the chicken was pretty dry. The drunken chicken – tender chicken with garlic, olive oil, stewed tomatoes and Cajun spices slow-cooked with beer ($7.29) – was on the spicy side of things. This dish seemed a little more authentic tasting than the chicken red hot, so I think I would go with the drunken chicken on a future visit.

Overall the food was good and the prices are affordable. I would likely return if it weren’t so far from home. Perhaps I’ll try one of the franchise’s other locations, either downtown or Clifton.

For the first time in a while I brewed a batch of beer this past Friday. Since my in-laws were going to be out-of-town the rest of the weekend, we had them over to our house for an early father’s day celebration. My father-in-law, Chuck, has dabbled a bit with homebrewing and wanted to brew an Irish Red Ale recipe kit that he had lying around, so that’s what we did.

I considered getting a propane burner so we could brew outside, but the one I saw in the store was a little too much for me to purchase on a whim. This would have allowed for more participation from the family, but I still had my youngest brother-in-law inside and helping nearly the entire time. It never hurts to start them young, right? Nick will turn twelve later this year.

Brewmaster Nick

The entire brewing process went very smoothly. I don’t think I made one mistake the whole way, which could be a first for me. With that said it is always reassuring to wake up the next morning to find the airlock bubbling away, meaning that the beer is fermenting! I plan to try a secondary fermentation for the first time and hopefully have it bottled and ready for Chuck’s 60th birthday in about a months time.

After a long day of working on Saturday morning and afternoon, I just wanted to get outside of the house for a beer and some food. I looked to see if there were any summer festivals happening and discovered the MainStrasse Village “Original” Goettafest in Covington. Goetta is a Cincinnati area breakfast sausage composed mostly of pork and steel-cut oats. According to the festival’s website, “It’s not just for breakfast! Sample Goetta Hanky Pankies, Goetta Pizza, Goetta Balls, Goetta Gumbalya, Goetta Chedda Cheese, Goetta Chili, Goetta Fried Rice and Goetta Burgers.”

After parking the car ($5 in a nearby lot) we walked over to the festival and quickly discovered that it was quite a bit smaller than we expected. There was a large stage at one end of the square followed by a couple of beer booths and less than a dozen food booths. Most disappointing was the children’s area that was advertised as having games, rides, and other activities. It turned out to be nothing more than a half-dozen of inflatable jumping houses, costing $10 per child. Friends of ours were planning to come down with their three kids, but quickly bailed when we let them know that the festival was not at all what we expected.

Goetta On Rye With Onions

Before leaving we did get to sample a couple of goetta sandwiches, one smothered in sautéed onions and the other melted with Swiss cheese. Both were very good, but a little expensive at $5 each. I guess that is to be expected at a festival. I didn’t see the goetta pizza, chili, or gumbalya during our two laps of the festival grounds. Had it been more family friendly, I’m sure we would have stuck around for a lot longer, but as is I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone with children.

Yesterday was my second father’s day spent as a father. We spent the bulk of the afternoon at my aunt and uncle’s house swimming and hanging around their pool with various members of my extended family. It was a good way to wind down a rather chaotic weekend.

My mom helped Trey make a father’s day card for me toward the end of last week, which you can see below.

Trey’s Card To Me

Thanks Buddy!

Trey also knew exactly what to get me – a new temperature controller for his old deep freeze for milk so that I could turn it into a beer cellar! I’ve been quietly stashing beers in various places around the house, and now I can keep them all in a temperature controlled area until the perfect time has come to enjoy them.

New Temperature Controller

Re-purposed Deep Freeze

Starting My Collection