Big E Food

We went to The Big E today. More on what we actually did (not much) later. First, mainly since CL is a retired Foods & Nutrition teacher, we decided to present a pictorial commentary on a potential cause of obesity in America. Our favorites (not to eat, but to ridicule) include the fried cheesecake with chocolate sauce, the fried Oreos, and the Craz-E Burger (a large bacon cheeseburger served on a glazed donut). And there's always the batter dipped, deep fat fried mushrooms. Aren't they a vegetable? These pictures, by the way, represent only a small percentage of food booths at the Big E. As usual, click on any image to see it in all its fattening glory.

And what are cheese curds, anyway?

This is quite a contrast to what I remember as a child when our family went. We'd all sit down at tables in a tent and eat a turkey dinner, prepared and served by members of a local church.

Out to Lunch

We went out to lunch today with Mona Lisa, one of CL's High School of Commerce students; she's a freshman at Pitt now.

And here's Angstrom all packaged for traveling.

Angstrom Likes His Mobile

Here's a still showing part of the mobile he's staring at in the video below.

Great Race and East End Food Co-op Art Harvest

In Pittsburgh we had two activities today: in the morning I ran the 10k version and Jesse, CL, Aurora, and Angstrom ran/walked/rode the 5k version of The Great Race; in the afternoon CL sold her "Quilts & More" at the East End craft fair. No pictures from the race, but here are a few of the fair:

Pittsburgh and Angstrom

We're in Pittsburgh this weekend to run the Pittsburgh Great Race and to visit Angstrom, here modelling the race t-shirt

and also displaying a couple of his many expressions.

The Front Porch is Finally Painted

Forest Park

We went to Forest Park yesterday. At first we thought we were going to have a terrible day, but we escaped

on the train with Maggie.

Then we visited the Forest Park Zoo. Maggie was duly impressed and stated that it was the best zoo she's ever been to.

And, finally, we went with Mary Beth and her granddaughter Anna for a brief tour of the FP rose garden.

It was a great day. So great, in fact, that Maggie threw her shoes and socks out of the stroller and chewed on her toes on the way home.

Duck Ponds

We took Maggie for a walk this morning to visit the duck ponds in Forest Park. On the way she met Maggie the Golden Retriever,
and she checked out the fence around the pond.
But the real fun came when she met the ducks and geese up close and personal,
and it ended when a goose stole her bread.

Why it's not a good idea to ...

... play peek-a-boo after eating beets with your fingers.

... consider ice cream to be a finger food.

Whole Beef Tenderloin

Friday evening we had some friends over for dinner, and about a week ago I had decided it would be fun to grill a whole beef tenderloin for them. I think this is the first one I've ever purchased. I know it's the first one I ever trimmed (I had the option at Costco of buying a full tenderloin or a trimmed one; even with the trimming loss, full was the less expensive option). I put some olive oil on it and then salt, pepper, paprika, garlic powder, and aleppo pepper in the morning. Then just before dinner I seared the outside on the hot side of the charcoal fire and finished it up with indirect heat. I also added a few soaked hardwood blocks to add some smoke. The eight of us consumed essentially the entire 4.25 pound tenderloin.