Brooklyn (Gowanus/Park Slope) = Hipster Heaven at the charming Bar Tano

Saturday night Frank and I fled NJ and drove up to Brooklyn to see comedian Greg Proops perform his live podcast–which will air beginning Monday 6/6/13 on the internets:  http://www.gregproops.com/blog/smartest-man-in-the-world-podcast/

Beforehand we took my Brooklynite friend's suggestion for an affordable and friendly Italian bistro–Bar Tano at 3rd Ave. & 9th St.:
http://bartano.com/

Great service, nostalgia-inducing decor and decent prices too considering we were within the confines of the Big Apple.

Quick trip to "America's Attic" earlier this month…

Comedian Kathleen Madigan says visiting Canada is like going up to your attic and finding all the great things you forgot were there. In my case, it's my brother Bob, his wife and grown children. We spent one cloudy, chilly day in the town of Almonte outside of Ottawa and I enjoyed a delicious cafe au lait in the traditional simple white bowl. Nom.

Blooming Lilacs in May

Frank prepping for afternoon BBQ, with freshly cut Lilacs from the back yard set out on the peninsula.

Eat (and cook) Like You Give a F**k!

Found these guys via Twitter and they are the beast when it comes to novel, cutting edge, pull-no-punches food writing, F-bombs included. They are blowing up online this week. @thugkitchen

http://thugkitchen.com/

Nose to the Grindstone

A luxurious, beautiful May weekday morning, called for a short roadtrip to nearby Medford, NJ. I stopped at Kirby's Mill, a national historic site, built in 1778 to mill wheat flour, buckwheat and rye flour, along with cornmeal and chicken feed. It remained in some degree of operation into the 1960's.

http://www.medfordhistory.org/