Last night I made a batch of turkey chili. Most of the time when I make chili I just loosely follow a guideline recipe until it tastes right to me. But last night I found a recipe that I had printed long ago that I had never tried. It has many additional ingredients in comparison to how my chili’s usually are made. I still didn’t follow this one exactly but stuck pretty close. I left out the Habanero pepper hoping to cool it down a little bit so Trey would eat it, however it still turned out pretty spicy, which was fine by me. Trey didn’t care for it. I also used black beans instead of kidney, as that was what I had on hand. And I used some home-brew rather than the cheap beer the recipe called for.

The results were delicious! It was quite possibly the best chili I’ve tasted. Without knowing that there was hot chocolate mix in the chili, my wife picked up on the subtle sweetness. But as I said earlier, there is quite a bit of spice in it even without the Habanero. I’d love to try a batch with Habanero in it, but next time I may even dial down the amount of crushed red pepper to see if Trey will give it a try. Either way, this will not be the last time I make this chili. Everyone should give it a try.

After biking our way from San Francisco, across the Golden Gate Bridge, and into Sausalito, we arrived hungry and with about an hour to kill before the ferry ride back. We parked the bikes near the ferry terminal and walked along Bridgeway looking for something to eat. Before we could get too far along, we stumbled upon the Napa Valley Burger Company. A quick glance at the menu hanging outside and we were sold.

Silverado Trail Veggie Burger

As we were somewhat short on time, we quickly glanced through the menu again and were ready with our order when the server arrived. I decided on the Silverado Trail veggie burger ($13.95). This combined a freshly made black bean patty with roasted peppers, arugula, and chipotle mayo. This sandwich was very good, easily one of the better veggie burgers I’ve had. All burgers are served with a fresh Napa Field greens salad, which was just okay.

Sweet Potato Fries

Fortunately we decided to also order a share-able side of sweet potato fries ($5.50). The perfectly cooked fries were served in a paper funnel inside of a metal pail. Though a bit on the pricey side, the serving size was plenty for myself, my wife, and our toddler aged son to all share.

Baja Fish Tacos

My wife ordered the Baja fish tacos ($15.95). This massive plate of food consisted of three tortillas with a seared fresh catch of the day and an ancho chile crema served over cabbage, pickled red onions and tomato salsa, finished with a three cheese blend and avocado slice. Also on the plate were plenty of chips and a couple of dipping sauces. I didn’t have any of the tacos, but my wife was in love with them. And the chips and dips were all quite tasty too.

The prices might be a little high at the Napa Valley Burger Company, but the food is excellent. And the more I think about it, I bet the prices are all pretty high in the touristy town of Sausalito, even more than they already are in northern California. This was among one of the best meals we had on our vacation.

Over the weekend I spent two nights at the MidPoint Music Festival in downtown Cincinnati, specifically the Over-the-Rhine neighborhood. Each night I started at the recently renovated Washington Park, which served as a great venue for the festival. A temporary stage was setup just in front of Music Hall, providing a really cool backdrop. I don’t know if there are extra noise restrictions in the area, but it seems like this space could have been better utilized with additional bands taking the stage rather than ending at 8 or 9 each night.

Washington Park Stage

The reason I would have liked more bands at Washington Park is that it is really big space. Throughout the rest of my late nights, I ran into some very crowded venues and was even completely shut out of the Emery Theatre for Ralph Stanley. Some of the bands that were playing at Grammer’s such as Dinosaur Jr. and The Walkmen would have brought a decent sized crowd to this space. The outdoor area at Grammer’s is not an ideal place to see a show, plus it could eliminate some of the walking if it wasn’t used anymore.

The Walkmen

Despite this complaint I still had a great time and discovered some really great bands. A couple of my new favorite are Hoots and Hellmouth and Holy Ghost Tent Revival.

Hoots and Hellmouth

Holy Ghost Tent Revival

I only managed to see about four full sets each night. Had I stayed out until the very end each night I probably could have added another couple of bands each night. However the last bus back toward home left before 1am each night. If I were to do it again, I’d try to convince a friend in the neighborhood to come along to split a cab home with me. Other than that I think I got a great taste of what this annual festival is all about.

MPMF.12

While in San Francisco, we had the opportunity to tour the awesome California Academy of Sciences. I would highly recommend seeing this attraction, especially for those traveling with children. Before touring through the museum we decided to have lunch at the in-house Academy Café.

The Academy Cafe is a modern, casual, kid-friendly restaurant inside the California Academy of Sciences, with an emphasis on quick service. The café serves a wide variety of multi-cultural cuisine, made fresh, with healthy, seasonal and organic ingredients.

Chicken Sandwich

I had a delicious chicken sandwich with a pesto sauce on a baguette ($10). This was served with a salad on the side and a couple of vegetable spears as well. A very healthy meal that actually tasted good too.

Chicken and Sausage Gumbo

My wife went with the chicken and sausage gumbo ($8.50). This was a very nice sized serving of gumbo, which was packed full of meat and vegetables. There was also a good amount of heat to it. It wasn’t the best gumbo I’ve ever had, but certainly not the worst.

I was surprised and happy to find bottled beer available for purchase, including a couple of local craft brews. That helped make the lunch even better in my opinion. For anyone already heading to the California Academy of Sciences, do not hesitate to stop in for a quick, healthy, and delicious lunch.

Yesterday I was informed that I had won a weekend ticket for this weekend’s MidPoint Music Festival thanks to 4EG and the Righteous Room. This will be my first time attending the eleventh annual festival. I thought about going last year, but couldn’t convince myself to fork out the money to do so. The lineup is a little more indie than what I traditionally listen to. However, now that I’m digging a little deeper into this years lineup, I’m finding quite a few acts that I’m excited about. The music kicks off this evening, but I won’t be attending until tomorrow as I have a prior commitment with my hockey team. Feel free to send any band suggestions my way for Friday or Saturday.

On our first day in San Francisco on our recent family trip, we decided to find somewhere to have dinner in the North Beach neighborhood. For those not familiar, this area is home to San Fran’s “Little Italy.” Being that it was a Monday evening, as well as Labor Day, our options were a little limited. After wandering Columbus Avenue for a bit we eventually settled on Trattoria Volare Caffe.

Bread And Olives

The host was outside the restaurant encouraging passerby’s to take a look at their menu. He was delighted when we agreed to come in for dinner. After he showed us to our table it took a little time for our server to get around to us. In the meantime, water as well as some bread and olives was delivered to the table. Eventually when our server found us, we had already decided on what we were going to have for dinner.

Gnocchi Al Pesto

I ordered the Gnocchi Al Pesto - Volare’s own homemade potato dumplings in a basil pesto sauce ($13.90). The gnocchi itself was very fresh and cooked perfectly. The sauce was quite tasty and the addition of pine nuts helped add a little crunch. The dish is fairly heavy and eating more than half of it would have been a bad idea. Fortunately my wife and I agreed to share plates.

Penne All’arrabiata

She ordered the Penne All’arrabiata, which is simply penne in a spicy tomato sauce ($12.90). As simple as the dish looks, the flavor was good. There is definitely a fair amount of spice to the sauce. Each dish was optionally topped with powdered Parmesan cheese, which was fine but I much prefer it fresh shredded on top.

The food from Trattoria Volare Caffe was overall very good. If the service were to improve I feel they could grow to become a top rated restaurant in the area.

For our second breakfast in Palo Alto, we took the advice of our friends from the area and headed to University Cafe. The restaurant is conveniently located on University Avenue in downtown Palo Alto. The inside of the dining area is huge compared to other coffee shops of cafes. In addition to a variety of hot beverages a lengthy breakfast menu is offered and orders can be placed at the counter in the back of the room.

Inside University Cafe

One glance at the menu and I knew what I was ordering, the brioche French toast ($9). This comes served with a fruit salad. I would have preferred another slice of the french toast and a smaller serving of fruit, as the french toast was obviously the stand out item on my plate. It was delicious!

Brioche French Toast

My wife ordered the veggie omelet with zucchini, spinach, mushrooms, tomato, onion, garlic, cheese, crème fraîche ($9). This was served with home fries and toast. I didn’t have any of her omelet, but from what I remember she really seemed to like it. The home fries however were not very good, much too hard to easily eat.

Veggie Omelet

Our food was prepared quickly and delivered to our selected table. Without having a dedicated server, it is hard to comment much on the service provided by the staff, but every interaction we had with them was pleasant. Overall this is a good spot for a relatively cheap breakfast.

This past Saturday was the second annual running of the Hudepohl 14K Brewery Run, well the second of this reincarnation of the old race. You may recall that I ran this race last year and was happy when my dad said that he was doing it again this year. Not that I needed an excuse to run this very fun race, but it’s always nice to have someone to run with.

Before the Race

With the opening of the Moerlein Lager House on the riverfront this year, the start and finish of the race was moved nearby. We still ran through Over-the-Rhine, the sight of last years start/finish, on a very similar course through numerous old Cincinnati brewing locations. However, the new location provided a much better spot for the after party.

And They’re Off

My dad and I did not run as fast as we did last year, around 8 min/mile pace, but we were still far under our 8:30 min/mile goal. The official race results have us at an 8:18 pace, but my dad’s Garmin watch had it closer to 8:07. Either way we were very happy with our performance.

Out on the Course

Once we crossed the finish line we were given our medals, which are even cooler than last year’s. This time around they included a bottle opener as part of the medal design. We were also given a souvenir pint glass, as well as a couple of beers and a variety of food. Just as last year, the lines were long but at least we were outside this time around. Plus the Uberdrome tent that was setup for Oktoberfest weekend was in use for large seating areas and musical entertainment. Overall the race was much improved verses an already successful first year. I can’t wait to run it again next  year.

I’ve been rocking the iPhone 3GS for well over 3 years. I passed on the iPhone 4 and then the 4S, but once the iPhone 5 was announced I knew I had to have it.

iPhone 5 Packaging

Many have said that it isn’t much different from the now discounted 4S (and free with contract iPhone 4). The feature I had to have was the larger screen. I feel that with the increased space there are things that the older hardware won’t be able to do. It also can’t hurt to have a faster 4G network (though not in Cincinnati on AT&T yet) as well as the updated A6 chip.

Open Box First Look

Another common argument against the phone is the new Lightning power/syncing cord. While it is true that I will likely need to purchase another one or two of these new cables, I will not have to buy the adapter they are selling for the older style docking devices. I’ve never owned any of these devices, so one less thing to worry about.

In Box Accessories

An added bonus to the deal are the new headphones. While I do own a pair of noise canceling earbuds that offer premium sound, the changes Apple has made to their included earbuds sound quite nice. Plus they included a carrying case, which I feel should always be true.

3GS vs 5

So long 3GS, it was fun while it lasted. I’m not getting rid of the old phone, as I can still keep it around and use it on Wi-Fi networks, just like an iPod touch. I figure I’ll get the most use out of it as an easy way to play my entire iTunes library throughout the house.

We have slowly been adding more decor to our home over the last year. I wanted a way to display some of my photography and was sold on the idea of getting one of those canvas prints created. The problem was that I wanted to get something at least three feet wide, and I just wasn’t finding many options for that.

Enter Fabness and a recent LivingSocial deal. For $69 I was able to get three 12×18 canvas prints. And with their simple to use website, you can easily have one photo span all three canvases. Essentially that created one three-foot wide and 18 inch tall print.

New Wall Art

The LivingSocial deal did not include shipping, which was another $20. However I think it is still a deal for under $100 and the results look great! Normal price from Fabness would be $315 before shipping, though they do seem to run sales very regularly.

Closeup

Original Photo

They have many other options available. So I may have to use them again for another print in the future.