The Keystone Bar & Grill opened their Hyde Park location this past November. Though I have never been to their other location in Covington, I did sample some of their signature mac ‘n cheese at this past years Taste of Cincinnati. With a basketball game on TV that I wanted to watch, I headed to the new restaurant this past Saturday afternoon.

In addition to their signature mac ‘n cheese menu, they also have very similar flavor combinations offered on a quesadilla menu. For my meal I went with the BBQ’dilla –  grilled BBQ chicken, bacon, marinated onions and cheddar served with ranch ($9.99). The serving size generous and was easily enough for lunch. I thought the flavor combination was great and it didn’t really need the ranch on the side. Other quesadilla offerings include ingredients such as corned beef, flank steak, and even chili.

BBQ'dilla

My wife ordered the Buffalo Springfield mac ‘n cheese, even though I insisted that we already tried it at the Taste of Cincinnati. This dish ($7.99) adds buffalo chicken and crumbled bleu cheese to the mac ‘n cheese. It came served in a hot skillet and took a few minutes to cool. You can tell just by looking at it that this was prepared fresh versus the sample we had at the “Taste” this past summer.

Buffalo Springfield Mac 'N Cheese

Once it was cool enough to eat I stole a bite and was immediately hit with buffalo sauce and lots of it. So much in fact that my wife couldn’t eat more than a few bites the dish. I’m always a sucker for spicy things, so I offered to switch meals with her after only eating one slice of my quesadilla. Typically she likes spicy foods too, but this proved to be too much for her, so buyer beware.

In addition to the mac ‘n cheese and quesadillas, there is a full menu of wraps, sandwiches, burgers, and other bar and grill type food. They also have a pretty decent beer list. When we were first seated our table didn’t have a drink menu on it, but after many questions and ordering our first drafts, a tabletop menu was provided. Service was adequate and our food arrived very quickly. We will be back for more.

Last night my men’s hockey team won our league championship! This was my first session playing on the team, but I’m told that the team has been in the championship game multiple times recently, but have always lost to the perennial champions who were again the first place seed this time around. Somehow that team lost in the semifinals to a team that they should have beaten and had beaten three times in the regular season. Fortunately for us our unlikely opponents in the championship game was a team that we had already beaten three times ourselves in the regular season.

We started off a little sluggish and were down 0-1 at the end of the first period. Eventually we evened the score in the second and the game was tied at 2 through the early parts of the third period. Finally, my buddy Jon weaved through half of their team and found the back of the net to give us the goad ahead goal. And it didn’t end there. I had a nice assist on our fifth goal of the game, and that proved to be too much for our opposition. They did manage to add another goal late in the game, so the final score was 5-3. It was a hard-fought battle and a big win! Our next session starts up right away this coming weekend, so there is no time to get out of shape. I hope we can keep the victories coming.

For lunch today I headed to one of the few remaining restaurants close to our home in Hyde Park that I have yet to visit, Indigo Casual Gourmet Cafe. I have read some really bad reviews of Indigo, so I wasn’t expecting much, but figured I at least had to try it for myself. The restaurant itself looks like it hasn’t changed in years, thought he copper topped tables were pretty cool. The rest of the decor is very 80’s and could use some updating. It felt like we were seated in a cheap hotel lobby restaurant.

Inside Indigo

Our service wasn’t exactly speedy, but I think the one waitress was taking care of the entire lunch time crowd. The menu is really pretty large and full of specialty salads, pastas, sandwiches, and pizzas. My wife, son, and brother-in-law were all along for the experience, though my wife had already been here a time or two before. After much pondering, I decided to order the  creole macaroni and cheese, with andouille  sausage, chicken, and a mix of peppers.

Creole Macaroni & Cheese

The pasta was penne, the cheese was  mozzarella, and it was all topped with panko bread crumbs before being baked. When the dish was served it was extremely hot and the sauce was a little too liquidy. Once it cooled a bit the sauce was more creamy and actually very good. The flavor combination really worked well, but this is far from a traditional macaroni and cheese. My brother-in-law order the regular macaroni and cheese, and though it too looked very good and full of ingredients, it is not a creamy cheese based dish.

BBQ Chicken Pizza

My wife went with the BBQ chicken pizza,  though I wish she would have decided on the chicken tikka masala pizza instead, which seemed much more interesting to me. I may have to try that in the future. Her pizza was also really good and relatively large serving. We’ve all had this flavor combination before, so it wasn’t anything out of this world, but still was a solid take on this dish. Overall the food was really good and I’m sure I will be back for more in the future.

Over the summer I had the pleasure of sampling a pulled pork sandwich on Fountain Square from Eli’s BBQ. It was the same day that I tried Tom + Chee for the first time. At that time, Eli was only operating from the food tents that were located on the square, but once the city removed them late last year, the owners were forced to find other options. Fortunately they found a space at 3313 Riverside Drive  to open a permanent  restaurant  and it just happens to be relatively close to my home. In addition to the new location, the menu has also grown from the single item pulled pork sandwich and now included smoked turkey and ribs.

Eli’s BBQ Menu

The new restaurant space seats 25-30 people comfortably at a variety of high or low top tables. At the back of the dining space is a record player that was playing a variety of folk and bluegrass tunes. Orders are placed at the back of the space, near an open door to the kitchen. Menu items are written on a chalk board hanging on the back wall. Currently only cash and checks are accepted, so plan accordingly.

Inside Eli’s BBQ

My wife and I agreed to split a variety of the food offerings. I walked to the counter and ordered the pulled pork sandwich platter with baked beans and cheese macaroni, as well as a hickory smoked turkey sandwich platter with jalapeño cheese grits and jalapeño corn bread. We also decided to sample two bottles of Ale-8-One, a ginger ale like soft drink from Kentucky, which I really liked and will have to find more of in the future.

Eli’s Pulled Pork Sandwich Platter

The pulled pork was just as good as I remembered it being this past summer. Easily the best pulled pork sandwich in the area, at least that I’ve had. The pork has a bit of smokey flavor, is really tender, and is just a bit crisp on the ends. It comes served on a grilled honey bun and is topped with a great flavored coleslaw and some of the wonderful signature BBQ sauce. The baked beans were awesome, quite possibly my favorite ever! They weren’t overly spicy, but had a really nice complex flavor full of various spices. The cheese macaroni was super creamy.

Hickory Smoked Turkey Sandwich Platter

The smoked turkey sandwich was definitely more smokey in flavor than the pork. For me, it might have been smoked just a tad too long. It was thick sliced and piled high on the same grilled honey bun and again topped with slaw and sauce. I didn’t enjoy it as much as the pulled pork, but I will still order it again on future visits. The sides with this platter both featured jalapeños. Typically I’m not a fan of grits, as I find them bland and boring, but these were full of flavor. I would easily order them again if it weren’t for the other sides that I enjoyed even more. The cornbread was delicious! It was still moist and the addition of jalapeño helped kick it up a notch.

Everything we had cost only $20. The sodas were $2 each, making the platters just $8 each for a ton of food! My wife couldn’t finish her portion so I gladly cleaned up behind her. I couldn’t get enough of Eli’s wonderful food. We will be back soon and I encourage you to visit perhaps the best BBQ spot in the city.

This year’s NOW That’s What Ed Calls Music is complete, better late than never.

1. Simplified – Shall We Begin
2. Gabe Dixon – Strike
3. Matt Nathanson – Faster
4. Stephen Kellogg & The Sixers – Gravity
5. Gomez – Options
6. Amos Lee – Windows Are Rolled Down
7. Motopony – King Of Diamonds
8. Will Hoge – Too Old To Die Young
9. Good Old War – My Own Sinking Ship
10. Needtobreathe – Drive All Night
11. Brett Dennen – Sydney (I’ll Come Running)
12. The Head And The Heart – Down In The Valley
13. The Civil Wars – Barton Hollow
14. The Decemberists – Down By The Water
15. O.A.R. – Dangerous Connection
16. My Morning Jacket – You Wanna Freak Out
17. Dawes – A Little Bit Of Everything

This compilation is available for download from sendspace.com  (click the link toward the bottom of the page in the blue box) and from this site (this link will be much slower than sendspace).  Please support these artists by buying their full albums and attending their live shows.

On Saturday night I attended my second Cyclones game of the season. Kim’s family was getting a group together for the game, so we gladly joined in and brought my parents along for the action. It was kids jersey t-shirt night, basically meaning that a free shirt was given to kids with a player’s name and number on the back. That player was #17  Mike Liambas  who was involved in a big fight before the first period was even over. He averages nearly five minutes in penalties per game. Quite a role model.

Overtime Win

Despite a questionable start to the game, with the Wheeling Nailers taking a 2-0 lead at the end of the first, the game was nearly all Cyclones from there. They added three goals of their own in the second while only allowing the Nailers one additional. The Cyclones took a 4-3 lead in the third, but before the game could end Wheeling added one more goal of their own,which sent the game into a  sudden-death  overtime period. Just 2 minutes and 36 seconds into extra time,  Robert Slaney  scored his second goal of the night for the Cyclones and ended the game! He also had an assist on another goal for a three-point night. Perhaps he would have been a better choice for the backs of the kids’ shirts.

A couple of weeks ago I signed us up for Green B.E.A.N. Delivery, a company that provides home delivery of organic produce & natural groceries to Cincinnati, Northern Kentucky, Dayton and Columbus. Wednesday our small produce bin arrived on our front porch while we were away at work. Inside the plastic bin was a reusable  Styrofoam  cooler, and inside that was all of our produce stored with a reusable ice pack. I emptied the contents and snapped a quick photo of all of our goods.

Small Produce Bin

This is a lot of produce for the $35 price tag, especially considering it is delivered to your door. And to make it all better, I had a coupon code for half off my first order, so it only cost me $17.50! I signed us up for delivery every other week, though we may easily conquer it all in a week and may opt to have weekly delivery in the future. I plan to make a vegetable soup soon using the butternut squash, 1 potato, the carrots, 1 onion, and the bunch of kale. The fruit is nearly gone already and it has all been really fresh and tasty. If your new years resolution is to eat healthier, this service could really help you out.

After a disappointing start to our broomball season last week, I am happy to report our team has made some major progress. We had our second game this past Monday and my buddy Ken scored our first goal of the season! We drew up a quick little opening  face-off  play that worked. He took the draw and kicked it back to one of our defenders. She kicked it up to me and I was able to then center it back to Ken who was wide open in front of the net. GOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAL!

Me and Ken After the Game

The team we were both invited to play on only scored one goal last season and lost every game. Well after Ken’s 2 goal game Monday, The Little Kings have their first win of the season! Our goalie also  archived  his first shutout, which was made better by the fact that he was feeling a little under the weather. Our team has played great defense through both games, and we finally generated a little offense.

Photo credit again belongs to  5chw4r7z. See all of his photos from this season on flickr.

Our remaining games:

• Monday January 16th at 6pm
• Tuesday January 24th at 6:30pm
• Monday January 30th at 8pm
• Monday February 6th at 6:30pm

This past Friday night I headed to the Cincinnati Gardens with a couple of my buddies from high school. Earlier in the week we had decided to go watch our alma mater ice hockey team. This would be the first game we have seen the Moeller Crusaders play since we all played our last games for the team and graduated. When we were playing our home ice was out at SportsPlus and we played in the Southwest Ohio High School Hockey League. Now they play their home games at the Cincinnati Gardens and play in the Columbus based Capital Hockey Conference.

Cincinnati Gardens

Friday nights game would be against the top team in their current league, Dublin Jerome. The Crusaders came out full of energy and gained a quick 2-0 lead over the Celtics. Both teams added a goal each in the second period to make it 3-1. After another Dublin Jerome goal in the third, it looked like the game would end 3-2, but that all changed starting with another Celtic goal with just 17 seconds left in the game. With the score tied at 3, the game went into a sudden death overtime period. It seems that the Crusader team is young and full of speed, but that they grew increasingly tired as the game went on.

Moeller Cruader Hockey

The game was quickly over in the overtime period, as Dublin Jerome scored after just one additional minute of play. It was a great game overall, and I’m glad we went. The young team is now 11-9 with about a month of regular season games still left to play. Only two of the remaining twelve games are at home, so it will be a tough end to the season. I hope to attend more of their games in the future though I don’t know if I’ll make it this season. With eleven juniors returning for next season, it could be an exciting year for the team.

Today is Trey’s first birthday, as  unbelievable  as that might sound. I know that it is definitely hard for me to believe that an entire year has already passed with him in our lives. It seems like just yesterday we were heading to the hospital, not really sure how great this new adventure was going to be. I often hear parents say that they wish their kids would stop growing up so fast, and as much as I can relate to that, I think future years are going to be even more amazing than the last has been.

Give Me Cake

Over on kimandedjr.com  I posted a slideshow of photos that my mom took of our celebration party at our house on Saturday,  so be sure to check those out. She also posted some videos along with the photos on her flickr page. It was a great party and we, along with Trey, are lucky to have so many caring and helpful people surrounding us.

I Need A Bath