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Nougat

Your Wikipedia link of the day: Nougat.

Cold Turkey Sandwiches

The latest restaurant to open in downtown Cincinnati is Cold Turkey which bills itself as "A Unique Sandwich Experience". They occupy the space on Sixth street that was formally Frisch's and the later Rise 'n Shine (the oddly conceived traditional American Breakfast and Thai food place). The interior has been painted brightly with local art on the all and appears much cleaner than it ever was under previous management. Other than that the original booths and booth configurations including the counter service remain.

The menu consists of a dozen or so sandwiches ($7), 3 salads ($7) and soups ($4) each and 8 sides ($2). The sandwiches come on white or wheat Texas toast (and there is an option for a wrap). The sandwiches cover chicken, turkey, roast beef and an assortment of toppings. Most sandwiches seemed fairly typical but a few standouts for originality include "The Death of Elvis" (cinamon swirl bread with caramelized bananas, peanut butter, honey and cocoa) and "The Maui Waui" (ham, bacon, tropical fruit relish, swiss). They also offer you the ability to make you own sandwich out of their available toppings. The soups are a bit more ambitious with both a Cucumber-Watermelon Gazpacho and a chilled Strawberry Soup on the menu.

I had the Ultimate Grilled cheese which included molasses cured bacon, cheddar, swiss, provolone and mozzarella with lettuce and tomato (I had mine without the tomato which they handled without a fuss). The bacon was salty, crisp and delicious. They didn't use cheap stuff for this sandwich. The bread was toasted and although the cheese wasn't completely melted together it was very nice.

A co-worker got the Buffalo chicken salad sandwich and enjoyed its flavor. Two other co-workers got the Maui Waui and really enjoyed the ham and fruit combination.

As we were leaving, I picked up a giant cookie (chocolate and peanut butter) and it was ok but a little bit too cooked on the bottom. Which brings me to my main complaint about the restaurant is that they might be offering the perception that they are too expensive for an every day kind of place. While I was satisfied with just a sandwich I could see others being a bit miffed for only getting a sandwich and getting the impression that they are suppose to order a side as well for an additional $2. They should take a page from Melt and offer a few mixed greens on the plate to give the impression that you are getting a full (and healthy) meal. It wouldn't hurt as well to price the sandwiches individually as well.

Lastly, service was pretty good especially for their opening day. The wait staff all wear t-shirts with their hand-print turkey logo on them and it is absolutely cute. The menu claims that they will be open until 6am on the weekends which is very unusual. I will give them another go and try a custom sandwich: turkey, bacon, swiss, horseradish-mayo and carmelized onions.

Speeders: The Dumbest Show I have Ever Seen

I have a few hours of DVR time devoted to recording season and series premieres of shows. In a 200 channel universe this means a lot of dreck is captured my hard disk. Little did I know how bad this could get. The other day I had noticed a show called Speeders on Tru TV had been recorded. I paused and thought, no that really can't be all there is to a tv show is there? I played a few minutes of the show and found myself slackjawed at what I was seeing. The show consisted entirely of the following formula:

1. Profile "tough" cop


2. Watch cop pull over someone for speeding


3. Watch cop interact with people being caught with speeding while being filmed by a television crew


4. Listen to the cop give a little "moral of the story" soundbite

Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

Could there possibly be anything worse than this? How can people get entertainment value out of this? Plus, this is on Tru TV so if you get this channel you get dozens and dozens of other channels...quite possibly hundreds. There is no reason for things like this to exist. I'm not one to moralize about the horrors of tv. I love television; can't get enough. Just please watch something halfway decent.

Oh wait it gets worse. I stop to think there are literally dozens if not hundreds of people employed to make a show like this from camera people to editors to lawyers get releases to PAs to "creative" people at the network. There are people wandering around where this is an item on their resume.

If I had people read my blog let alone comment perhaps I would get dinged for being an elitist. Lord knows there have been 100 episodes of Speeders so far so perhaps there is someone out there that likes this show.

Alexia's Crispy Onion Strip Snacks

Let me endorse Alexia's Crispy Onion Strip Snacks for a moment. I picked them up at Fresh Market the other day and the bag is all gone. They have nice seasoning but not overwelming. They have excellent crunch and made for delightful texture component in sandwiches and salads.

20th Anniversary of Tank Man

Today marks the 20th anniversary of the famous photograph of Tank Man during the Tiananmen Square Massacre. I was barely 13 years old when this happened and it is the first international incident that I remember paying attention to in real time (before that my only vague recollection of politics were State of Union addresses and the occasional Cold War era summits).

Tiananmen and Tank Man were different because we then had access to CNN and we could watch as events unfolded in a land I knew nothing about that was literally on the other side of the planet. I of course didn't really understand the historic nature of what the students were doing in that square but I could appreciate the solemnity and gravity in which the events were discussed.

Looking back on these events I am humbled at the courage that the students had to stand up and protest. As a person born into the privilege of freedom I sometimes wonder if I have what it takes to do what they did and to protest that injustice en mass. I know I certainly don't think I have what Tank Man had. I can't fathom what it took to do what he did knowing full well that his actions would result in imprisonment, exile, hiding or death. No one really knows what happened to Tank Man but I won't forget what he did.

Dinner

This was a fine meal. Crab Cakes served on a bed of lentils with sauted carrots and leeks. Very yummy. But wait it gets better...

I made a duo of desserts. First is individual key lime pies with a homemade graham cracker crust. Second is a Chocolate Pot de Creme. Each is topped with home whipped sweetened whipped cream.

Blue Cheese and Bacon Mini-Corn Dogs

It is also a good day when you can break out the deep fat fryer. It is an even better day when you can make corn dogs. It is a more glorious day when you get to make Blue Cheese and Bacon Mini Corn Dogs. Look at that crispy, golden brown deliciousness:

Current Time Wheeling

I just learned today that a Google search for current time city_name will result in our search overlords telling you what the current time is in that city. This is very useful for anyone who works with people spread across the globe. I'm even more pleased to know that a search for current time wheeling returns the time first for my hometown, Wheeling, WV and relegates those punks from Wheeling, IL second.

RIP California Orange Bar

Walked by the California Orange Bar today and found it closed and gutted. Oh how I will miss your window of twirling tubular meat and wondering how you stayed in business all these years. RIP California Orange Bar, I hardly knew thee.

How I celebrated Cinco de Mayo

Here is how I celebrated Cinco de Mayo:

• 2 shots Sauza Hornitos


• 1 shot Cointreau


• The juice of a single lime

Shaken, chilled and served over the rocks in a glass that was rimmed in kosher salt.

Delicious, Powerful. Damn powerful.

Terry's Turf Club

Spend any time in Cincinnati and you will hear people speak in reverential terms about their favorite burger in the city. There are passionate supporters of places like Quatman’s in Norwood or Zip’s in Mount Lookout Square. I was strongly in the Zip’s camp because it was good, unique (you could get a split sausage on your sandwich) and any place with a miniature train going around the restaurant is A-OK with me. With that said, I am now rethinking my position. Terry’s Turf Club on Eastern Avenue just down the block from Bella Luna can now lay claim to the best burger in the city.

Terry’s is a small joint that is decorated with dozens of vintage and modern neon signs (the restaurant owner was the proprietor of the aptly named downtown bar Neon’s that closed a few years ago). What strikes you about the menu is the simplicity, the unusualness and the freshness. There are only about 6 items on the menu ranging from a hamburger to a steak. So far pretty simple but adding to the mix are another additional sauces & garnishes that can be added to each sandwich for a $2 up charge. These aren’t ordinary sauces either. Any of them would not look out of place on the menu of a white table cloth French restaurant. Adding to the freshness angle is the plentiful whiteboards and chalkboards on the walls advertising the currently available extra sandwiches and beverages. On my visit, one such sign offered a lobster tail sandwich. I told you this wasn’t an ordinary place.

Now to the burger itself. I wanted to taste the burger on pure flavor alone so I stayed simple and just ordered mine with swiss, grilled onions and banana peppers with lettuce. Included in the $7 price tag for the sandwich gives you a choice of two cheese and the standard burger toppings. A nice touch is that the onions and peppers can come raw or grilled. Since I am less of a fan of raw onions and peppers, this is a big win for me. The sandwiches comes with a side of potato chips (standard issue, nothing special) served on a paper plate (told you this was simple). From the first bite you can tell they are doing something special. Clearly the patties are hand formed and it was cooked perfectly so that it remained very moist.

Along with the sandwich, my dining companions split an order of fries (menu lists them as $3.50 for enough for two). I feel a bit cheated that they don’t offer a smaller portion for one but I can rationalize it and say they must cook a whole fresh batch for each order. When they arrived they were crisp, dark golden brown and very delicious. Almost as good as Penn Station which I think is the perfect French Fry purveyor.

The only downsides I can think of this place is that it is very small (and popular) so it will be hard to eat here with more than 4 or 5 people in a group. Literally the dining room is the size of my living room at my home which makes sense since the restaurant appears to be a renovated house. They also have a policy of not seating a party until all have arrived so keep that in mind when you invite someone to dinner. Along with the small size and large crowds comes a fair bit of noise so don't expect intimate conversation...but then again you are having burgers and fries and a decent beer so why were you expecting a quiet exchange of words?

So in conclusion, for me this is hands down the best burger in the city and I will be back.

Bruegger's Panini - Not good

I tried a Bruegger's Panini for lunch today it was a disappointment. The chicken was bland the bread did not stay crisp on my 3 block walk to my office. There are so many other choices downtown to eat so I can't say that I will be eager to revisit this.

Band Name Idea

Fog Machine

Etymology of Blow

One can't really check the OED for the origin of "Blow" to mean cocaine. It is odd for something that is meant to be inhaled that it would have a nickname of the opposite. I used to have a dictionary of English slang that was fairly authoritative and researched but alas I have misplaced it in one of my moves.

Photo Caption Contest

Go ahead, take your best shot.

Alphabet Block Epic Fail

I would stunt my nephew's intellectual growth if I gave him these blocks for his birthday.

Wittol

Wittol - A man who is aware of and tolerates his wife's infidelity.

Album Name Ideas

Backflip into Oblivion
Belligerent
Popcorn Butter Stain

Stupid Security Questions

While creating an account at a financial institution today, I got irritated at the "security" questions they have you fill out to later prove your identity in case you forget your password. I am not necessarily saying these are bad, but they do have limitations. In any case, my beef is that this particular form did not allow non-alphanumeric answers in my response. How they didn't think that spaces in an answer for these questions aren't common is beyond me (example: What is your favorite food? Mashed Potatoes).

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas all and all a good night!

Movie Night

Anyone up for a movie night? I just found out that Netflix enforces a 500 movies in your Queue limit. It is going to be a long, long time before I finish off that list!

Leaves, Leaves, Leaves

If there is one task that I don't enjoy this time of year, it is cleaning up leaves. It wouldn't be so bad if the tree cooperated. We have many different types of trees in our neighborhood, which means the leaves get dropped at different times. What's worse is that after you finish with your leaves, you have the wind and your neighbor's leaves to look forward to.

Zucchetto

Zucchetto - The skull cap worn by some members of the Roman Catholic and Anglican clergy.

Middle Age Church Going

Yesterday a car accident left the Mt. Lookout section of Cincinnati without power during the middle of the day. This left our church (Our Lord Christ the King) dark during noon mass. It was a very interesting experience to be in such a hulking dark space with minimal light streaming in the through the stained glass windows. The only other illumination available was from candles which I suppose if there is one place that would always have a ready supply of candles is a church. While I think this was neat it may not have been such a great thing in the middle of summer without a/c, but for the first Sunday in Advent it seemed oddly appropriate.

Cosmopolitan Cincinnati

Cincinnati residents often get down on the place. Others wrongly see us as a cultural backwater or we have to deal with the nation's highest airline prices. I recently however got an outsiders view that contradicted this. I had two vendors visit for a few days earlier in the month and their perspective on the city was illuminating. Mind you that they were from San Antonio and Dallas, not exactly small places but they couldn't help but continue to mention the cosmopolitan nature of Cincinnati. And yes, they used the exact word cosmopolitan several times. They marveled at The Ascent and raved about the food at Nada and Jo-An. Most importantly they couldn't resist the feeling that this place has existed for quite some time and has attracted people from all over. Cincinnatians both native and transplants should be proud.