Carlitos

So I hadn't realized that my good friend Carlos had never been to our house until this weekend. We rarely get to see each other anymore since he lives in Minneapolis, so it was good to have him in town for the day. We spent yesterday afternoon catching up while watching KSU have their way with the Texas Longhorns. We then shot over to my other friend Shaun's parents house for dinner, as Carlos' mom was also in town. I have never met her (because she lives in Ecuador), so it was good to finally put a face with all the stories. Very sweet lady indeed!

Fast forward to this morning. I'm surprised Carlos and I look half way normal in this picture because last night we consumed enough drinks to get ourselves in real trouble. In fact, check out the teamwork - I'm holding on to the counter so Carlos can hold on to me. OUCH!

Let's see...what did we have?

1 Beer (just to warm up)
1 Dark 'N Stormy
1 Pisco Sour
2 Bottles of Wine
3 Wild Turkey and Diet Cokes
and another glass of wine to go with our cigars at 1:00AM...

Needless to say, after grabbing a quick lunch with Carlos and Kristen at D'Bronx, I spent the rest of today napping in recovery. Talk to you soon Carlos...

Nacho Heaven

I can't lie, nachos are probably my favorite thing in the entire world to eat. Over the years I've tried to make an art out of not only eating them, but also making them. Well...I can go ahead and put down my play book because Kristen made the king of all nachos tonight. If I could have eaten these things until I was happy versus my stomach being full...I'd still be eating. Good times in the Starr house tonight... A million thanks baby!

P.S. I dare you to click on the image above and try not to drool.

KK's Balloon Animals

To get geared up for my nephew, James', first birthday in October, I spent the evening Saturday working on my balloon bending technique. What do you think?
Dog

Frog

Elephant

Pig

Flower

Monkey -side view

Monkey - Front view w/ face

Mark's Dark 'N Stormy

Chicago Part Deux

Here are a few more pictures from our recent trip to Chicago. It was such a beautiful weekend and we got some really nice pictures of the city and Wrigley field. Can't wait to go back. Feel free to click on any of the images to see a larger version. GO CUBS!

Mark's Chi-Town Birthday

Here we are during the 7th Inning Stretch at the Cubs' game at Wrigley Saturday against the Astros.

Above is the lovely view from our hotel room on the 28th floor - right next to the Chicago River.

Here we are at Wrigley gearing up for the game!!!

A nice neighborhood near Lincoln Park. Aren't these homes beautiful?


I couldn't help it. The name of this school cracked me up.

Mark eating lunch Saturday at Trotter's To Go. We had a fancy salad, vanilla bean rice pudding, double chocolate pudding, beet soup with goat cheese and rosemary, and cannellini bean salad with grape tomatoes. MMMmm. Not exactly ballgame food though.


After Trotter's To Go, we headed to the original Charlie Trotter's - Mark's Mecca of food.



Mark's new Harry Caray Shirt - awesome!!!


Zang - hot dog billboard waiting for the "El" at the stadium. I like-a the hot dogs too!


The fountain over the river by our hotel. Just like the one at Bagnell, it nails all boats that come near. Good fun!


Colin's dream house outside Wrigley.


The bleachers on top of apartments looking into the stadium. The building owners charge spectators to see the game. Very enterprising!

SAY CHEESE!

I have always wanted to educate myself on the vast world of cheese. Kristen and I have this saying that there is no such thing as too much cheese. So as part of that philosophy, I am sending my palate on an extensive journey throughout the United States and Europe.

It was tough getting started because I really didn't know where to begin. But as luck would have it, I have built a pretty good relationship with the cheese monger at Whole Foods. He and I have probably spent a good hour talking about different cheeses over the last few weeks, and the discussions have been very helpful. He is also nice enough to cut off a tiny piece of anything I want to try before I buy it.

Here are four of my favorites I've had so far. Can't wait to dig in to some more...

From left to right (above):
Buttermilk Blue Cheese - Cow's Milk (Wisconsin)
Murcia al Vino (aka 'Drunken Goat') - Goat's Milk (Spain)
St. Andre - Cow's Milk (France)
Morbier - Cow's Milk (France)

Food Heaven!

There are some amazing new movements in food these days. New York and Chicago have become melting pots for extremely forward-thinking new chefs. These guys are getting younger and younger, too. In fact, several of my favorite pastry chefs are under the age of 30. What is even greater is that one of them is here in our very own home town of Kansas City. His name is Christopher Elbow and he specializes in chocolate.

For the last three years, Christopher has been making his highly admired chocolates out of the back room of a high-end modern furniture store in the heart of downtown Kansas City. Recently Elbow renovated a small space on his own in a pretty sparse (and rundown) part of downtown. Driving there today with Kristen, I felt myself wondering if I was really in the correct area, but low and behold, we found it.

It is an extremely modern space with minimal architecture and bright colors. It almost looks like a lab, and the temperature inside was a freezing 67 degrees - don’t want the chocolate to melt. I am happy to report that his chocolates are still coming out of the back as beautiful as when he first started. Additionally, they taste every bit as good and flavorful as they look. Makes Willy Wonka look like child's play. Here are some pictures (with the bottom two that are Kristen and my favorites). If you would like to view Christophers website or even order some for someone special (like yourself), simply click this link here.

Christopher's Chocolates
(click images to enlarge)

Caramel with Rosemary

An assortment of chocolates

Strawberry-Balsamic

Bananas Foster with Cinnamon & Caramel

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Alinea Restaurant

And while we are on the topic of food, Kristen and I will be going to Chicago in September for my birthday and, in addition to going to a Cubs game and catching an improv comedy show, I finally got reservations at the one restaurant in the world I would die to eat at - Alinea (seen below). It was recently named the top restaurant in the United States by Gourmet magazine. That's serious folks! Yes it even beat Charlie Trotter's, which means you guys won't have to hear me blabber about him as much anymore. Hahahaha. Check out a video of Alinea here. The video is to the right of the page. All you have to do is click the play button (small triangle). And finally, for some great food photos taken by a fellow food geek at his (count them) six visits to Alinea, click here.

Alinea Dining Rooms

(click images to enlarge)

So I apologize for the length of this post, but I am geeking out pretty big right now. With this and the additional news we received this past week, I am not sure things could get much better around here. Talk to everyone soon - Mark

Ain't no sunshine when he's gone

Unfortunately for Mark and I, Blue Boy had so much fun at the lake, he decided to stay the week. The house sure is empty without him.

Weekend at the Lake!

Here are some pictures from our fabulous weekend at the lake!

Koffee and Blue make the most of Lance's "repo-ed" floatie.

Places everyone, places!!!

The boys are serious about their boating. It is no laughing matter.