sugarcrook

I’ve always liked Scalia. Here’s a good example why.

For a while, I’ve been debating getting a private pilots license. Planes, not boats. I’m not sure why I want to get one. Thoughts range from flying off to golf in remote locales, to not wanting to write code for the rest of my life. The only reason I’m hesitating is that lessons would take time away from golf. And work. But more the golf.

I’ve been slacking lately regarding restaurants in my area. This week I visited two newer places on Armitage, near California. The first, Hot Spot, is a simple breakfast place that also stays open until 2pm for lunch. Prices are pretty good, but the waitstaff is a little grumpy. Be careful if you don’t like bright places, as Hot Spot could make your teeth hurt.

Calvin’s, a bbq place, is the second place I visited this week. They do basic bbq, nothing special. It’s close and the prices are great. My bbq turkey breast sandwich was pretty good, and it only came to $5.74.

There are times when a client thinks they are so important to your bottom line that you’ll sign anything they call a contract. Well, I’m staring at one of those now. Among the provisions include:

• Having to ask permission before I change anybody on my staff.
• My rates are tied to the Consumer Price Index.
• Back-dating the effective date of the contract to January 2004.
• Five unbillable hours of “knowledge transfer” each month.

They can just bite the wax tadpole.

We dropped off the kitties this morning for their castration. (The word “castration” always makes me flinch.) Instead of paying through the nose at the Cat Hospital of Chicago, we took them down to PAWS on 26th. While it’s a lot cheaper, the place reeks of urine and the morbidly obese. Clarice was completely freaked while Hannibal was slightly more collected.

As long as everything goes well, I should be picking them up this afternoon at 5pm. I think I’m going to get some of those big white collars. Not that I think they’ll need the special collars, but it’s fun to torture them.

A note about Cat Hospital of Chicago: very nice people, but VERY expensive. Not to mention they charged my credit card without approval. If you have cats in the Chicago area, don’t take them here. Just to cite an example: the castration at PAWS was $80 while Cat Hospital wanted about $700. I suggest the City Cat Doctor on Wells, or anybody else except those bastards at the Cat Hospital.

The last few days have been rough. Death in the family, firing clients, unsure about my financial future. More than once I’ve thought about selling everything and opening a dirt shop in Maine, but there’s too much competition.

And allergy season is starting.

It seems that a number of people don’t know how to properly grill steaks. Since my steaks are world-famous, I’ll explain how I do it.

1. Take the steaks out of the fridge about 30 minutes prior to putting them on the grill. This will allow the steaks to reach room temperature and make for easier, more consistent cooking. Start the grill, preferrably charcoal.
2. Once 30 minutes have elapsed, season the steaks as you see fit. I like to poke both sides with a fork and apply some kosher salt and pepper.
3. Put your steaks on the hottest part of the grill and sear each side for 1 minute. This will lock in the juices.
4. After the searing is complete, move the steaks off the direct flame. We don’t want to burn them. Cook them for an additional 4-6 minutes on each side. The cooking time varies based on meat thickness and desired doneness.
5. With cooking complete, place the steaks on a plate and cover with tin foil for about 5-6 minutes. Letting the meat rest is important to let the juices settle.
6. Serve and enjoy.

Gas grill tip: Turn the heat down! It’s not a race.

Charcoal grill tips: Use the lid! It’ll provide a more consistent heat and prevent flare-ups. You won’t need much charcoal to grill a large number of steaks. Besides, if you use a lot of charcoal, you won’t have a place to move the steaks to for the cooking phase.

Also, don’t use a fork to flip the steaks. Use tongs, the kind that won’t puncture the meat when you flip. Another thing is to leave the lid closed at all times, unless flipping. Leaving the grill open causes you to lose heat and possibly cause flare-ups.

Yeah, it’s an AOL site, but damn good: http://members.aol.com/morganbolt/

I just rolled 90,000 miles on my car, so it was off to Accurate Imports for general service. I’ve blogged about Oscar and Accurate Imports before, but I’m still amazed by the level of service and reasonable price.

I’ve added a new section to the links on the right: Services. If there’s a good place to get something done in Chicago, like dry cleaning, maid service, vet care, etc., I’ll post it there.

There are a few bars near me that serve food. Burgers, some salads, etc. Pub food. It’s usually edible, but not really great. Thankfully, Kuma’s Corner, at Belmont and Francisco, is all about the food.

From the grilled Ahi tuna, to the roasted turkey sandwich, everything is excellent. Do they have burgers? Of course. Try the Kuma burger, complete with a fried egg and sweet potato fries. Or the meatloaf, which beats the hell out of Floyd’s.

What about the service? Also excellent. They haven’t been issued a liquor license yet, so it’s not as busy as it will be, but every member of the staff is friendly, offers advice about the food, and usually has more than one opinion about either the Cubs or the White Sox. The owner is easy to find - he’s usuallly asking customers about the food.

The owner also owns a tattoo and piercing parlor, and everyone that works there has some ink and maybe some body jewelry. Don’t let that put you off if you’re conservative. You owe it to your taste buds to visit Kuma’s at least once.