Spam sushi during the Equinox

The holidays were getting ever closer...

...leading to decadent cookie platters at work...

...Feve brunches made of duck and plum pancakes...

...and then a wonderful sushi pot-luck Equinox Party...

...with plenty of sushi, snacks...

...homemade miso soup...

...and juicy blood-sweet meat.

I brought some sushi to the party, which included a cucumber roll, a egg, avocado and cucumber roll...

...and a roll with pineapple and spam.

Mele kalikimaka, friends!

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The Two Maxes: a farewell to the hairy one

 Once upon a time, there was a great dog named Max...

 

...who liked to ride in cars...

...chase critters...

...and smile.

Eventually, a few years later...

...a second Max came into world...

...and the two of them became fast friends...

...as they relaxed together...

 ...enjoyed feeding times...

...hung out in the kitchen...

...and attempted verbal communication.

.....................................................................

But this post isn't only about their friendship.

It's also, unfortunately, a farewell. 

This past Sunday (December 15, 2013), Max the dog passed away.  This last video, in fact, is the last record I have of their time together.

I'm not sure what will happen the next time toddler Max goes over his grandmother's house and expects to see the dog at the door, but I'm sure my eyes will water a bit when my son goes looking for him.

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Round foods

 

 As the Christmas season approaches, I have succumbed to the round foods...

...of homemade cauliflower crust pizza...

...Giovanni's Pizza in Lorain...

...Bacon Lover futomaki from Young's Sushi...

...and some caramel stuffed chocolate chip pretzel cookies...

 ...which I made for the Ohio Blogging Holiday Party.

 Meanwhile, at work...

...cakes, pizzelles and other types have round cookies have been deposited in the kitchen...

 

 ...and it's been hard to resist.

Thanksgiving Weekend in Kentucky and a Bit After

 

 We spent Thanksgiving weekend in picturesque Bardstown, KY...

...where we enjoyed a traditional Thanksgiving meal at Julia's dad's...

...a standing rib roast dinner at Julia's mom's...

...(look at this perfectly cooked meat!)...

 ...some Bardstown Christmas lights...

...Churchill Downs fun (and gambling)...

 

 ...enjoyable visits with family...

 

...and some not-so-enjoyable visits.

Fortunately, Max recovered.

I've been trying to recover myself...

 

...especially after some not-so-smart food choices (like deep fried sushi), by trying to reel it in this week...

 ...with this maple pheasant dish cooked with sweet potato, celery and red pepper...

 ...and this Easter bread, turkey and cheese sandwich.

Sure, the latter isn't exactly diet material with the bread and turkey lunch meat, but it seemed so delicious to make (and it was).

I'll just run a bit more this week.

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Some post detox chowing down

 Mere hours after I followed the detox diet and ate this kale/beet/bean/caper concoction...

...(and lost 10 pounds, by the way)...

 ...I found myself at Wooster's South Market Bistro with this incredible duck dish with sweet potato gratin and spinach.

 Julia got the fried chicken with sriracha-honey sauce.

The following day, we did our best to burn off these decadent delights by walking around the mall with Rocky and the kids...

 ...acquainting Max with Santa...

...and chasing him around the pet store...

...so that we could also enjoy more grub at Samurai in the forms of steak tartare...

 

 ...and sushi.

But it was Sunday morning when we really got crazy...

 ...thanks to the Feve's pumpkin roll pancakes...

 

...with real pumpkin slivers and cream cheese frosting.

I would have gained all 10 pounds back...

 

 ...if Max didn't help me eat it.

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My reason(s) for a 3 week diet/detox

 

Well, it's beginning to be that time again when my festival fans can start coming here for my updates.  It's honestly rather difficult to keep this blog going when in full festival swing...

...and did you hear I will be getting 300 festivals this year?

CLICK HERE FOR THAT INFO

Between the fests...

...the beef tongue tacos...

...the homemade eggplant lasagna...

...the sushi...

...and some of the decadent dishes while in Upstate New York...

...(more upstate)...

...(and MORE upstate)...

...it's no wonder I'm on a 3 week detox/diet!

I'm on my last week of...

...no animal products (meat/eggs/dairy)...

...no gluten...

...no refined sugar (fruit sugar is fine)...

...no alcohol...

...and no caffeine.

Okay - so there HAS BEEN caffeine!

But I've lost 8 pounds in the first 2 weeks and I feel wonderful (I may give some credit to Vitamin D as well)!

I'm looking forward to taking my renewed driver's license!

Talk soon!

- Kristian