Oh... DEER!

Paddling out to BBQ cove

A Kingfisher squaks at us for disturbing him (but he wasn't nearly as obnoxious as the cranky Great Blue Herons!)

   Joni and I went kayaking out at Hillsdale Lake yet again, and yet again we'd planned to stop at Hillsdale Bank BBQ to get takeout on the way there. Big burnt end sandwiches on incredible homemade wheat buns! SO GOOD. We arrived at the put-in and paddled over to the cove that we have deemed "BBQ Cove" to enjoy our dinner.

(photo coming)

   We were sitting in the middle of the cove, smacking our lips and talking, when all of a sudden we heard a noise that was too big to be a fish or a bird. We looked up to see twin fawns approaching the water... right in front of us! It had been over 100 degrees all day, and they were very thirsty. They drank for a long time.

   Suddenly their watchful, high-stepping mother came down silently to check on them, and to herd them off to safety.

   Such an amazing experience to see them so at ease in their natural environment!

Enjoying "dinner and a show"

   On top of this, it was just a beautiful night to be out, as the breeze cooled us off and the heat slowly subsided. There were very few boats on the water, and we were the only kayaks, so we had the place to ourselves... other than the wildlife. Perfect!

Wednesday: Feast Your Eyes

   On Wednesday the wet weather continued, so Mom stayed indoors while I was at work—and cleaned all the windows, the kitchen, the floors. WOW!!! (Pretty sure I've never cleaned the windows—inside or out—since I had them installed in 2005. Yikes! Extra props to Mom for tackling the biggest job in the house!)
   She worked up an appetite for sure. And so, Wednesday night, we ventured to Oklahoma Joe's. Kelly joined us because, well, I can't imagine Kelly NOT joining for barbecue! OK Joe's wasn't on Fieri's "dives" list, but I'm pretty sure it's the best barbecue out there! We enjoyed a feast of ribs, chicken, burnt ends, BBQ baked beans (which contained almost more meat than the meat did!), seasoned fries, Texas toast, and a pile of pickles. FOOD COMA.
   We came home and watched more Mad Men... getting there...

Feast Your Eyes

   I've been cooking for a couple of hours now and just sat down to catch up on Project Runway (I'm currently all three episodes behind!) and enjoy the feast that resulted from my ridiculously huge grocery run Friday night. (Well, some of it anyway.) Barbequed pork chops, and two new recipes: roasted root vegetables (sweet potatoes, red potatoes, and parsnips), and a Greek couscous salad.

   It seemed like kind of an odd combination at first, but there was actually good balance between the sweetness of the caramelized BBQ sauce and the garlicky roasted veggies; the lemon juice in both the veggies and the couscous, offset by the the veggies' natural sugars and the crisp cucumber in the salad, and the sourness of the feta. There was a good variety of textures too. And the plate looked like an artist's palette! (Crappy Blackberry photo aside)

   I've learned two things: 1) Parsnips are DELICIOUS. And thank goodness, because I had to buy a whole bag. They look like white carrots, and taste similar, but with a little more aromatic spiciness. Yum. Kristin said that parsnip puree is to die for. That may be up next.  And: 2) One SMALL box of couscous makes a LOT of couscous. If anyone is in the mood for Greek salad, please, for the love of God, don't make any. Help me eat mine!

Sulky Shiba

   The dogs often hang out outside all weekend, when the weather's nice. They really enjoy it (partly because they can run off all the birds, squirrels, rabbits, and the like).

   So while I was outside grilling barbequed pork chops, I glanced up to see that Mr. Taylor had gone up to the top level of the deck--the closest vantage point to the grill surface--to see if he could nap a chop. He was standing there sticking his head through the railing and leaning forward expectantly. At some point he admitted defeat and laid down, sulking like a child. So funny!

   And while I was eating dinner (with the dogs stashed safely outside), Gypsy was all over me, trying to get the pork. It reminded me of a comedian I heard years ago, who joked about beef-flavored cat food in a bag that promised that it "satisfied a cat's natural craving for beef." And then went on to paint the picture of cats stalking cattle in the fields. Apparently Gypsy would prefer to stalk hogs.

Fantasy 4th of July Weekend

My weekend, in a few adjectives:

Fun.

Indulgent.

Sweaty.

Magical.

Creative.

Delicious.

Extraordinary.

   I had an amazingly awesome Fourth of July weekend: charcuterie, wine, cheese and tapas at Extra Virgin. Fireworks on the lawn of Liberty Memorial. A heaping helping of Oklahoma Joe's BBQ. An afternoon at the Nelson-Atkins Museum. Dinner at Justus Drugstore and a chat with the chef. I slept in every day. Watched the first seven stunning episodes of Mad Men (finally!), as well as the unapologetically sweet, wonderful and sentimental Cinema Paradiso. Walked at Shawnee Mission Park with the pups (despite the intense heat and humidity). Co-created two delicious homemade amoeba-shaped pizzas and drank too much good wine.

   All in all, it was a fantasy weekend with someone very cool, so I guess I shouldn't have been as surprised as I was when I woke up this morning feeling melancholy that it was coming to an end. But I guess I have to return to reality: the cold slap in the face of a lawn to be mowed, house cleaning and a pile of laundry, and a 5:45 am wake up call for work tomorrow.   Can't wait 'til the next time...

   Top that off with Kristin getting engaged yesterday, and an impending visit to see Kelley and her sure-to-be enormous belly in LA, as well as the chance to represent my work at the Gallery 1988. Life is awesome.

Happy.

Sparkly.

Adorable.

Memorial Day Shenanigans

   Madeline hosted a Memorial Day BBQ for her parents, Kelly, Erica & her daughter, Bob & Ana, and me. And she graciously allowed me to bring the brats with me, who had fun trying to keep Bruce in line, as usual. Wish I had caught more of the "Shiba roars" on video. All three were really wound up... and tired that evening. Yesss!!!

   While the dogs wore themselves out, we indulged on key lime margaritas, grilled steaks and corn on the cob, and no less than 1000 other delicacies. (Seriously, Madeline is going to have to get a bigger dining room table if we keep partying like this.)

Oh, and Diane made pie. Sweet, sweet pie...

Meanwhile, in the back yard:

"We'd like some steak, please."

Planning the jailbreak:

Bruce, in his natural habitat:

   Not surprisingly, Wayne was the dogs' best friend. Taylor wouldn't leave his side, and it made Bruce a lil' jealous:

Cool sign in Madeline's collection:

   I'm pretty sure it says, "Thanks, Tompkins family, for your hospitality and all the yummy goodies."  :)

Dave in KC: the whirlwind tour!

   My ol' college buddy, Dave, drove all the way from Los Angeles just to see me... JUST KIDDING! He's actually moving from SoCal back to Ohio to go to grad school and figured he's stop for a night 'cause I'm right on the way. But it turned out he liked Kansas City so much that he decided to hang out for a bit. As in a week. Yay! I don't get too many visitors out here, and I love to show people why I love it here so much.
   I started the whirlwind tour with a trip to beautiful Loose Park, which was alive with budding magnolias, redbuds and more. I enjoy it every time I visit. (However, the grass was getting tall and proved to be treacherous... more on that in another post!) We walked Aki and Taylor all around, and when we got hungry we headed to...

   Blanc Burger on the Plaza! It's one of my favorites, and everyone I've taken there has loved it too. We drove around the Plaza, the Nelson, and Hyde Park. And when we were finally a little hungry again we stopped at...

   Glace´ artisan ice cream! I had salted pretzel, with goat cheese with honey. Dave had salted pretzel, with root beer.

   Dave met me at Hallmark for lunch on Tuesday and I showed him the Crown Room (that's him, posing as a column):

   We started the tour on the 9th floor with the Creative Library and the Art Materials Center. Then we worked our way from 9 back down to the lobby, stopping to see all the noteworthy pieces of artwork along the way, including my favorite Mucha poster on the 8th floor. Sometimes we take for granted that we basically work inside a giant art museum, with great works everywhere. Having someone visit for the first time gives you great perspective!

On Wednesday I took the day off and we spent it hiking in Weston:

   Then had drinks and black-and-tan beer-battered onion rings for a snack at O'Malley's:

   Then we visited the home of Jill, a coworker, to evaluate her home as a potential Shiba adopter. She and her husband have a big, beautiful three-year-old German Shepherd who needs a buddy. And then, since we just so happened to be in the Northland anyway, we had a fantastic dinner at Kato. Check out this palette of unearthly delights:

   I had to work on Thursday, so Dave was on his own. (I also had come down with laryngitis, so everyone I worked with got a little peace & quiet for a change!) Dave spent the day at the Thomas Hart Benton house/museum. That night we met up at Crown Center and went to eat at Oklahoma Joe's (hey, if Anthony Bourdain considers it one of the 13 places to eat before you die, how could I let Dave miss it?!) We went to the original location in the gas station on 47th & Mission, and it was packed as always:

But the full slab of ribs was worth waiting for!

Well, they WERE, until Dave hogged them all:

   So then we went & walked off the BBQ in downtown KC. The Liberty Memorial looks really cool at night, and offers a great view of the whole cityscape.

   I took another day off on Friday, and we spent hours and hours enjoying the Nelson-Atkins Museum. Anyone who reads my blog knows that I think it's the jewel of Kansas City, and it's always fun to experience it with first-timers. (More photos in an upcoming post!) We ate lunch in Rozzelle Court (I am still dreaming of the Kalamata olives in my grilled Canadian salmon salad!)
   After an extensive day at the museum, we headed downtown to Extra Virgin to indulge in drinks and some of the best tapas in KC. Michael Smith himself was in the kitchen, so the Lebanese hummus, plum-glazed pork belly, grilled tiger shrimp in tomatillo sauce, and wood-fired hanger steak tasted especially good!
   And to make the day totally off the hook, we walked down to Manifesto for some fancy cocktails in the hippest place in town. It was a great toast to a whirlwind week in Kansas City, in which Dave was the tourist and I got to feel like one again.

   Here's hoping that Dave comes out to visit again soon. We hadn't seen each other in probably eight years, but it was just like old times again. And besides, Aki and Taylor are lonely sleeping on the couch without him!