The Ghost of Rocktober

Life is whizzing by uncontrollably fast lately. I find myself wanting to go on more vacations and pondering early retirement. All I need to do is win the lottery, that much I have figured out.
Here it is another new month, my friends are all getting married and having babies and I can't even find time to write about everything I've seen, eaten, and seen eaten out in the eating scene.

There were highlights, like the whole lamb roasting on a spit at Dave and Sara's wedding; and the million layer cake at Aaron and Kate's wedding. The cake was from Dianda's Italian American Pastry in the Mission and basically tasted like the best creamhorn you've ever had, over and over again. If you've never had a creamhorn and don't even know what a creamhorn is, well shame on you! It was so good, we ordered it two weeks later for Damian's 35th birthday get together.

There were also some dining disappointments along the way, like the overpriced, overstylized, overhyped Farina, which is apparently Ligurian-style Italian food. I'm not sure about this since I've never been to Italy, but the sommelier was rocking a see-through white shirt with a gold chain, so that was pretty authentic I guess. Their website didn't work when I tried it either. Those jerks.

Oh yeah, then there was Two. Used to be Hawthorne Lane, now it's just Hawthorne LAME. Our waitress didn't know her ass from her elbow, let alone the drink or food menus. The best thing about this place were the mini chive biscuits, and even they could've used a little butter. Another sad case of style over substance.

Best thing I made last month-maybe ever-was the Mexican Shredded Beef with Red Chilis. Praise Jah! Dios Mio!
For something so delicious, it wasn't even that hard to make! Kinda like Rice Krispie Treats. Sort of but not really.

If you're ever looking for a sure thing and you aren't into hookers, one of my all-time favorite recipes is Mario Batali's Stuffed Figs with Prosciutto. It's pretty easy to make, if you don't mind stuffing your fingers and stinky cheese into a squishy fig hole. Dirty!

More soon about Chicago and what I'm making for dinner. But just in case, Happy Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years!