avablog

I tend not to stand on tradition. No set way of doing anything is so hallowed in my world that I won’t abandon it in a heartbeat if it’ll make my life easier. And I tend to think of myself as unsentimental (ask my wife). Still, I was looking forward to hosting [...]

[Read more →]

“Interesting” story today in the WSJ about the consequences of broad spectrum antibiotic use. My favorite bit? I’m so glad you asked.

[Read more →]

Out typical Sunday lately usually involves a trip — ordinarily on foot — to Lou Henri for breakfast. Their huevos diablo is really everything a man could want in a breakfast, particularly when ordered with a side of their insanely golden hash browns and a cup of joe. Ava orders the Mickey [...]

[Read more →]

“But Mark,” I hear you saying, “If that’s not the way to sell hamburgers, just how does one go about it?” Praise Jeebus, I’m glad you asked. Really. FYI: This is what Hardee’s does to vegetarians:

[Read more →]

In case ya didn’t know, I’m a fan of Hardee’s. I actually only eat there three or four times a year, tops, but it’s really the only fast food burger joint I frequent (if you can call that schedule “frequenting”).

[Read more →]

I really need to get more multi-generational pictures with the Klevar women.

Editor’s note: No, Ava doesn’t live in that shirt.

[Read more →]

Had a nice time in Chicago with Leah over the weekend. Short. Crappy weather. But she got some shopping done, and we had a pretty amazing meal Saturday night at Restaurant Naha. Here’s what I had:

[Read more →]

We’re presently experiencing a phase with our beloved daughter in which she’ll only eat the following three items:
Pizza
Macaroni and cheese
Cookies
Well, it’s not really that bad, but it’s pretty close. And if she doesn’t get one of those items when she wants it, look out. She gets ornery.

[Read more →]

I think I’ll only post here every three days now. Leah gave me a lot of hassle the other day for never posting to anonymark, which in her mind equals hating our unborn baby. As I like to say, “w/e.”
We had a pretty nice weekend. Lots and lots and lots of romance on [...]

[Read more →]

There’s a Mexican breakfast dish called huevos divorciados that is so f*#king tasty, it almost makes you want to get divorced just so you can remarry and then get divorced again. Pictures on the way….

[Read more →]

We finally got to the Bluebird Diner this morning with Grandma Georgie, who’s in town to take us to The Nutcracker this afternoon. It was good. The servers are still becoming familiar with the menu, which is no surprise, as it’s fairly extensive. We arrived at 8:40 and pretty much had our [...]

[Read more →]

Something tells me I’d be sleeping in the guest room this evening even if I were home. Dinner was a small, deep dish, anchovy, fresh garlic, and spinach pizza at Giordano’s. Whew. Oh, and the garlic bread appetizer. Why not? I never get to indulge in garlic at home, and [...]

[Read more →]

I love my per diem. After class today, I hustled a couple blocks and sat down to a really nice dinner at The Parthenon, “in the heart of Greektown.” Man, was it good. I had a fried zucchini appetizer (insanely good), then braised lamb with spinach rice (accompanied be a nice glass [...]

[Read more →]

There aren’t words enough to describe how much I like The Crooked Spoon Cafe in downtown Grand Marais. Leah and I ate there last year; you might recall I had the blue crab cakes and jicama slaw.

[Read more →]

…you make chili verde! I put four pork shoulder roasts in the fridge to thaw early last week in preparation for smoking them on the weekend. As luck would have it, there was a vendor selling salsa verde at the farmer’s market Saturday morning, so I grabbed a couple containers and commenced salivating [...]

[Read more →]

Leah’s birthday is this weekend. She’s started celebrating already by staying home sick in bed today with a hacking cough. At least Ava’s at daycare so Leah can rest.
Leah’s fam is rolling into town starting tomorrow to celebrate on Saturday. Kevin and I are making dinner for Leah and Rachel tomorrow night. [...]

[Read more →]

Now I understand what that means, and we were only cooped up inside for six hours or so on Saturday. What a nasty day! I did, however, manage to get outside and take some pictures of all the ice. Leah likes this one

and this one:

One thing the bad weather was good for [...]

[Read more →]

It was an absolutely gorgeous day in Madison today. We walked to a little patisserie near Kevin and Rachel’s house for breakfast. There were some really cool bike racks outside the place:

After a nice snack, we hoofed it the two miles or so over to the farmer’s market at Hilldale Mall. We [...]

[Read more →]

I originally thought that I would be able to get away with just posting a couple pictures of the pizza we had at Simone’s Plain and Simple on Saturday evening, but since I’m still reliving the meal in my mind this morning, I figure that’s a sign that I ought to provide a bit more [...]

[Read more →]

[Read more →]