Merry Christmas

I just wanted to pop in and wish everyone who follows or will read this a Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays!!! I am a Chistian and am not ashamed to say Merry Christmas. Why is Christmas celebrated? To celebrate the birth of a savior being Jesus Christ. So I decided to add some videos to celebrate this wonderful event and season. Some of the videos I'm posting are secular in nature (seasonal focus). I hope you all enjoy this!!!













God Bless you all and have a safe Christmas and New Year!!!

OK..... What Next?

I haven't posted anything here recently. There hasn't been much time to cook (something blog worthy anyway), digital camera is still on the blitz (hope to fix that soon) and time has just got away from me. Did I quit this blog? Did I walk away from this? No and no. I've had a wonderful time blogging here and learning from so many other cooks.

So this posts title- OK.....what next? Fair question to those who might be reading (at any point in time), here's what I hope to do:

1. Cookbook reviews. I just found a book on meat but this isn't like any other book. I'm just now starting to digest this book because it has a TON of information (some I didn't know of before). If this is anything like my first glance, this should be a good review. What I can say about the book in question is thank goodness for:
a. gift cards!!!
b. 50% off Thanksgiving weekend discount (thank you Borders for offering the promotion).

2. More adventures (reviews of places and products). I joined Yelp not long ago (johnduncan.yelp.com) and I've done several reviews of local places. I hope to share more here.

3. I may revisit some subjects I wrote about before but put a different spin on them. Recently, I became a big fan of Create TV. The "American's Test Kitchen" franchise is very prominenet on that network. Some of the things they did were things I knew but quite a bit I didn't know.

4. Be open to what else food-related comes along. This has been a lot of fun and miss not being able to share more here.

My goal is to get back here soon with more stuff. In the event that doesn't happen, I would like to wish anyone who sees this a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy New Years (I should be back before then) and any other holiday I missed!!!

Spice Contest

If you follow the Foodie Blogroll, you know they have contests, giveaways and other promotions. This month, one such promotion involves spices. That's right, spices. A set of 10 and a set of 6 spices are given away to selected winners. The sponsor for this contests is Spices Inc. To enter, follow the link listed below:

http://www.foodieblogroll.com/contests/comment-to-win-a-10-jar-set-of-spicesinc-spices

Good luck!!!!

Hungry Hound: Focus on BBQ

I enjoy many of the local news specialty segments. One I enjoy a great deal (when I can see it) is "The Hungry Hound", seen locally on ABC 7 Chicago. So this time around, I decided to share some of the segments he featured on BBQ. At the very least, you may get some inspiration in your cooking. Here are some of the segments (some more recent than others). Steve Dolinsky is the host. He had some huge shoes to fill when he replaced the late James Ward. He was the right guy for the job, having won James Beard Awards for his work on radio and tv.  Since he took over this Friday evening staple, he's done a fantastic job. I hope you like these segments. All the locations are located in Chicago.

Lilly's



Chicago Q, featuring KOBE Beef Brisket. I REALLY hope to try this soon.



Honky Tonk BBQ. I ate here about 1 1/2 years ago & liked it. It's pretty informal (as opposed to the more formal Chicago Q listed above). I had the St Louis Ribs and liked them.

Paulina Market, a good place for smoked meats (not just BBQ alone). It's been about a year since I went here but this is a good source to get some good sausages. If it's a type of meat you want, chances are you'll find it here.

Well summer is over

I had planned on posting a few more adventures and meals but only one problem. My digital camera went totally on the blitz. In fact, I was getting ready to use a picture for this blog's new background & everything went crazy!! I would turn on my camera and it would either freeze and shut off, not take a picture or wouldn't even turn on (even with a full charge). So now, I need to either get it fixed or buy a new one all together. I hope to do this soon because there are some good things I would love to share. Sooner than later, I hope to fix this problem. Thanks!!!!