Tonight while most people’s attention will be focused on the NCAA basketball final, and I will definitely be watching, I will be more excited for this weekend’s Frozen Four!

Ferris St. vs. Colgate

A couple of weekends ago  Miami University  hosted the division 1 men’s ice hockey midwest regional at  U.S. Bank Arena  with the winner heading to the Frozen Four. My family and I attended  all three games of the two-day mini-tournament. First we watched an exciting game between Ferris St. and Colgate Friday afternoon and followed it up with Wisconsin vs. North Dakota that night.

Ferris St. Band

Saturday evening had the winners of the previous day’s games, Ferris St. and North Dakota, face-off for the regional championship. I’ve long been a fan of the former “Fighting Sioux” from North Dakota, so I was happy to see them play two games.

Ferris St. vs. North Dakota

This championship game was very tight and at the end of regulation was tied at one goal each. An entire twenty-minute overtime period would then be played with neither team gaining a goal. Finally in the first couple of minutes of the second overtime period North Dakota claimed the championship! They are moving on to face Minnesota in one semi-final, while Boston College takes on Union in the other. Both games are on ESPN2 Thursday evening. The championship will be on ESPN Saturday at 7:30.

Late Friday afternoon I met up with a variety of my family members at Jefferson Social for a quick drink and a little food. We had evening plans starting at 4:30 and arrived sometime between 3 and 3:30. I expected it to be a bit more crowded than the handful of other customers found inside, especially for the prime Banks location. This could make for a great spot for an after hours happy hour, especially if you can sneak out early.

Tacos

I snacked on a couple of tacos during our brief visit. I thoroughly enjoyed the carnitas taco ($3.50) with slow roasted pork, salsa verde, and pickled onions. The meat was tender and juicy and the pickled onions complemented the flavor quite well. I did not enjoy the chicken taco as much ($3.50). This was topped with  chili spiced stewed chicken , corn and bean salsa, and cojita cheese. The chicken was not nearly as moist as the pork and I felt that the flavor was lacking too. Go with the carnitas tacos and order it as a platter with two tacos, rice and beans if you need a larger meal.

Yesterday I took a half day off from work and finally took Trey (and Paige) down to the Findlay Market opening day parade. My mom came along for the fun as well as my cousin-in-law (is that a real term?) and her three kids. We couldn’t have asked for a prettier day and we all had an excellent time. I’m already planning on how to make it even better next year. Finally going in for the game would be a good place to start!

My family and I stopped into Dibella’s Old Fashioned Submarines  in Clifton this past Sunday for a quick lunch. This was our first time at any Dibella’s location and the staff was very eager to explain the entire menu to us. This is an order at the counter style restaurant with a variety of sub sandwiches available.

Kitchen

We were possibly the first customers of the day so we had plenty of room in their very spacious dining room. After placing our orders we were handing table numbers and our sandwiches were delivered with a few minutes.

Dining Area

My wife ordered a small chicken Philly ($6.29) topped with grilled chicken, melted cheese, peppers and onions. I wouldn’t say that this sandwich is going to win Dibella’s any awards, but it was fairly good and the multigrain bread was quite tasty.

Chicken Philly

I ordered a medium size old fashioned ($6.99) with turkey, ham, and Genoa salami. There are a wide variety of toppings to customize each sandwich just they way you like it. I chose the everything bread, which was an excellent choice. Their bread was easily what helps distinguish Dibella’s from every other sandwich shop in town.

Old Fashioned

The medium-sized sandwich was plenty big and I would have been okay ordering the small, which was more than enough for my wife. Kid’s meal’s are available for $5.99 and include a sandwich of your choice, cookie, fruit cup, and drink. The Calhoun Street corridor is crowded with sandwich shops (Potbelly and Firehouse are within a block) but Dibella’s offers enough variety to stand up to the competition.

I’ve chronicled my adventures with homebrewing before, and I am ready to get back into it after taking more than a year off! Over the last year I’ve accumulated all sorts of new equipment to help with the brewing process. My family also got me a brewing kit from Listermann to really get me motivated.

This past Saturday I brewed a batch of American IPA using my new ten gallon “turkey fryer” setup. I thought for sure it would be impossible to boil over with this setup but I almost did the unthinkable. Luckily I was able to throttle down the burner and barely avoid disaster.

Outdoor Brewery

I also used my new wort chiller for the first time, and I must say that this should be at the top of every new homebrewer’s list. I was able to cool 5 gallons of boiling water to 70 degrees in twenty minutes or so. I don’t know for sure how long it took as my digital thermometer ended up breaking or at least in need of a re-calibration.

Overall it was a successful and fun day of brewing and the beer is now busy fermenting in the closet. Next up, besides brewing more regularly, would be to create a fermentation chamber out of an extra chest freezer.

To kick of March Madness last Thursday I met up with a group at the recently opened Milano’s Atlantic City Submarines in West Chester. Half of our group had already dined at Milano’s before, but this was my first time at any of their now four locations centered mostly in Dayton. I walked in to find an overly stuffed restaurant and bar with a ton of TV’s all tuned into the basketball action. Despite the crowd we experienced amazing service and food orders all surprisingly quick.

Baked Ham Grinder

I enjoyed a half baked ham grinder ($6.59) with a side of Milano’s potatoes ($1.49). Lay’s chips are normally served on the side but I was easily convinced to try the thick potato wedges that reminded me a lot of those from Lee’s Chicken  but tasted even better. The grinder was an interesting mix of ham, cheddar cheese, onions,  crushed red peppers, Hellmann’s  mayonnaise, and pizza sauce. I didn’t taste the mayonnaise and the sauce was a little light for my taste, but it was still a pretty good sandwich.

As Queen City Drink’s just wrote, the beer selection offers “plenty of good beer to keep you happy for days.” Their thirty taps allow for some solid representation from the local guys as well as some harder to find national brands. Good food and a great selection of beer means that I will likely be back to Milano’s in the future, especially if they open another location closer to home, like our server for the afternoon briefly mentioned.

I am now an employee of Imagine Communications. I did not start work with a new company. This is just the latest in a whirlwind of company names I have worked under in the last ten years. I started with Optimal Solutions, Inc. (OSi) back in January 2004 as their twelfth employee. In April 2006 our company was sold to the massive  Harris Corporation. In May 2012 Harris decided to sell the division that OSi was a part of, as well as another project that I was spending some time on. Our division would be bought by the Gores Group and renamed to Harris Broadcast. A new CEO for Harris Broadcast was hired last year and yesterday he announced that Harris Broadcast was splitting into two new companies, Imagine Communications and GatesAir. It’s  been a wild ride!

A couple of months ago a new artisan bread baker opened in Hyde Park Square, Breadsmith. This is really close to the spot where Blue Oven operates during the summer months, attracting large crowds as part of the Hyde Park Farmers Market. The demand is certainly there for a brick and mortar shop to be successful and with a great product I think it will.

Outside

Each loaf from Breadsmith is made from scratch daily using only the finest ingredients and then hearth baked. Any bread that does not sell that day is then  donated to local food banks and soup kitchens. Bread is available in loaves and rolls, which are a good way to sample a variety of flavors. The first bread I tried was the rosemary garlic ciabatta, and I was in love immediately. I also sampled a very good sourdough as well as honey wheat.

The staff at Breadsmith took the time to profile each of the breads available that day and make suggestions along the way. I also learned that pizza dough, hamburger and hot dog buns, as well as a variety of sweets are all available. Daily breads like whole wheat, rustic italian, and french peasant range from $3.95 to $5.25 per loaf. The bread is made without preservatives and should stay fresh for a few days or it can be frozen. I’m glad to have such a great shop located so close to home.

This past Saturday night my wife and I found ourselves on the west side of town for an event starting in the early evening. We originally intended to finally try the Incline Public House late in the afternoon, but we ended up very short on time so we dropped into Chandler’s Restaurant instead, which happened to be very near our evening destination.

Outside

Chandler’s is a family style restaurant located along Cleves Warsaw Pike at the intersection with Ebenezer Road. My wife and I, both in our early thirties, were easily the youngest there.  It seemed that most of the other tables in the place were occupied by regulars as they were often greeted by name by the restaurant staff. However our service was great and they made us feel like they truly appreciated our patronage.

Ham and Turkey Club

I ordered the ham and turkey club sandwich on grilled sourdough with fries. The sandwich was served dry but came with a packet of mayonnaise that I gladly emptied on top. It arrived steaming hot and came topped with bacon and sliced tomato. While it was fairly standard club, I did enjoy the sandwich quite a bit.

Pineapple Teriyaki Grilled Chicken Sandwich

My wife had the pineapple teriyaki grilled chicken sandwich with fries as well. She is a sucker for pineapple teriyaki anything. The pineapple topping was obviously straight from a can, but she enjoyed this sandwich nonetheless. Again, it was a pretty standard sandwich but it was well prepared and tasted good. That is exactly what you should expect at Chandler’s, good food for a great price with speedy and friendly service.

As has become one of our Cincinnati traditions, we took in the Bockfest parade on Friday evening. We used to watch it from outside Mayberry, but they no longer exist. Instead we found a fish fry taking place outside of Old St. Mary’s in the parking lot and decided to enjoy a few Bock beers and enjoy the parade from there.

Waiting for the Parade

Goat Pulling Keg

Trojan Goat

Keg Walker

Dragon Goat

Rabbit Hash

What Does the Bock Say?

The parade was longer than I remembered it and overall Bockfest had a record year, so I guess that makes sense. Once the near hour-long parade was over we walked up to Bockfest Hall for a couple more beverages and some food. This year the hall was expanded outside with a large tent and a street closure, which was needed as the crowds inside the event center have been and continue to be very large. Fortunately the weather was great and we spent an hour or so outside enjoying the festival site and all that it offers.