A little bit of heaven in the shape of a sweet ass, baked halo! Or the best French Cruller, ever!*

Reuter's Bakery at 7177 W Grand Ave, Chicago, IL 60707 is home to easily one of the most Monte-licious French Crullers you could ever hope to sink yer teeth in too! *You must get them first thing in the a.m. to insure maximum awesomeness!

Packaging my half dozen, to be eaten the same day.

Here they are in all their glory, the Frizzity-French Crullers!!

A little bit of a close up for ya.

I can't wait, I am eating them in my car.

Just look at me go..

..and go

And gone!

A look on the inside, so you can see how airy and fluffy the doughnut is, so freakin good!

Look at the "leaning tower of jerk" in the way of my beautiful pic.

Here is some bread, if you like bread you will like their bread.

Yummy, yummy! Can you name all the donuts here?

Look at this old school "takacheck." One push on the lever and you get a number!        

OMG! PEEPS! And they're made fresh without all the crappy chemicals! Where can you get them.....?

Boom! PEEPS! Made fresh and without all the bologna chemicals at Pleasant House Bakery in Chicago's beautiful up & coming hood known as Bridgeport. 964 W 31st St, Chicago, IL 60608, to be exact! Besides the PEEPS if you live in Chicago and you haven't been there for a lunch or dinner yet, yer doin yerself a disservice. You need to eat there! But back to the PEEPS at hand! I love Peeps always have, but now as an adult I know that they're made up completely of chemical BS so I rarely eat them anymore. That's not a good thing. So when I saw a pic of these cute, fluffy little marshmallow treats on Facebook yesterday (March 21st., 2013) from one of my favorite places to eat, Pleasant House Bakery, I had to go and try em. I originally bought 6, but 3 met a cruel fate on the way back to my house. Oh well. These PEEPS are made with all natural, and if not all organic ingredients. And Guess what flavor they are? They are, get this, ROSE flavored!! So freakin Monte-licious! And weirdly sexy for a PEEP flavor.

I call this one Pinky Peepsadero, like Pinky Tuscadero from Happy Days! She is about to meet the same cruel fate her 3 sisters met on the way to my house. Let's watch as her fate unfolds.....

There she is, Pinky Peepsadero, lookin so pretty, fluffy and feelin squishy with her sweet scent of Rose in the air. Who doesn't love the sweet scent of Rose??

It appears the giant in the background is about to take Pinky to meet her sisters.

Correct! I knew my every step! ; ) Pinky has met her fate! And what a delicious ending it is turning out to be, people!

I could not be happier here taking in her final end piece. So good and satisfying.

Look at that face. That is a happy, happy man! The PEEPS are that good. When you eat one you will more than likely feel like you owe me a hug. I will accept. I will accept.

Pre-Passover meal for a win!!

Today I attended a Pre-Passover Model Seder meal at the Highland Park Nursing and Rehab Center. I was invited to go thanks to a friend,

Tali Hylen, at  Ripple Public Relations and let me tell you, I am so glad I went!

Here is Rabbi Nosson Factor (the one with the mic), he ran the Seder and is the assistant administrator at the center. He did a great job, kept it short & sweet! It was well attended by members of the center as well as people from the surrounding areas (Highland Park, Evanston, Chicago)

A Passover/Seder meal is sort of a celebration, and like any good celebration, food and drink are involved. A Passover  consists of a ritual feast with four cups of wine, Matzo (unleavened bread crackers), hard boiled eggs, chopped liver, all sorts of food. You will never leave a Seder hungry. It is customary to invite guests that may otherwise not partake in such a tradition, and that is probably why they asked a big oaff like me to go. The table is set with a Seder Plate full of items symbolic of the Passover story, as guests of the Seder follow along in a book called the Haggadah. So as you expected I went for the food. and that was not only a smart, but an excellent choice!

The food was catered by Kitchen Chicks and man o' man did they do a stellar job! Everything I tasted was seriously Monte-licious!

The beef was not salty at all and it was tender and meaty. The au jus had a nice, mild flavor. And the chicken, even the breast meat was juicy! That is real when you have catered chicken, but they did it right.

Here are some sweet potatoes and carrots in a yummy, sweet sauce. And some perfectly cooked green beans, still with a snap! This food all comes after the Passover story and the following along with the reading from the Haggadah. But even during the religious stuff there is eating and drinking. And that food was delicious as well!

Here we some chopped apples and nuts in a bowl, hard boiled eggs, a lamb chop, horse radish, wine, all of this food goes along with the Passover story and is eaten at specific points during the the telling of the story. I loved all the eating moments best from the story.

One of our new friends at the table had a little spillage goin on, I tell ya... some people! ; )

Here is the book that the story gets read from, you go from the back to the front. And it's not in Chinese!!

Look at this beautiful presentation of stuff I shoved into my mouth! The stuff with the carrots atop of it is gefilte fish, which I usually hate, but the Kitchen chicks did it right and I ate several servings of it!

I ate this much food, times 10!

Matzo Ball soup

Our new friends enjoying their meal.

My plate of beef, chicken, green beans, sweet potatoes and carrots and matzo kuggle! So good! And the best part is this whole event with all the food during the Passover story and the full meal that followed immediately after the story was only $8.00! And all the registration fees weer generously donated to the Highland Park Senior Center! Win, win! And lastly I must mention that there weer plenty of beautiful women in attendance which is a nice bonus to such a delicious meal. And the fellas weer all super cool! Glad I went!

The Chicken Roti is my friend.

This is Gloria's Caribbean Cuisine in Brooklyn and I love this place! I only ate here one time on the recommendation of my good friend, Noel. It took us about 30 to 40 min to get here from Manhattan but it was well worth it! first, let me get the details outta the way: 764 Nostrand Ave
(between Sterling Pl & St Johns Pl)
Brooklyn, NY 11216
Neighborhood: Crown Heights

And this is what we came for... the Roti! The Roti is very similar to a wrap or burrito, but the wrap is made from a "wholemeal flour" or "atta flour" and at Gloria's it's filled with your choice of spiced meats: goat, beef, chicken, etc. I got the chicken! and I made the right choice.

Look under the hood of this mean machine. Nice and tender chunks of juicy white meat chicken smothered and stewed in Caribbean spices.

Front and center! Ready to take down some Roti!

Feedin it in like a true hero!

Look how good I can make anything look.

I am the man! And the Roti is Monte-licious! I told the guy running the place that if I lived near them that they would get to know me very well.

Interior shot. It's not very big and the seating is slightly uncomfortable. But the bathroom was really clean! And that is always a good sign!

The Roti and the meat options

The guy bendin over is the guy I said "you'd get to know me if i lived here" and behind him is a row of Roti's waitin to get to their hungry fans.

They also have Caribbean breakfast options which I heard are really good.

And if you want some music you can purchase some from a table right by the door as you enter or exit. And no to worry about what's on the CD, it is playing at a decent volume in the background in the place. I can guarantee I will be back at Gloria's the very next time I am in NY for a visit. You can count on that 100%!

Proms & Pass Over... Oh my!!

Do you like helping children learn to read, write, gain confidence, and develop great people skills? Of course you do.

Then you are going to love this.....

Forget everything you know about high school prom, because 826CHI is bringing you Promic-Con 2013: ONE PROM TO RULE THEM ALL. At 8pm on April 27th, come to the School of the Art Institute of Chicago Ballroom (112 S Michigan Ave) dressed in all manners of fandom (or secondhand formal-wear) for a night of cosplay, (free) drinking, geeking out, and DANCING. Tickets are $40 for one, $75 for two, and can be purchased at www.826chi.org/promic-con http://www.826chi.org/promic-con/. All proceeds from the event benefit 826CHI’s free writing programs for thousands of Chicago students. Promic-Con 2013: April 27th at the SAIC Ballroom. Allons-y!


Since we now know you love kids and educating them, then there may be a strong possibility you love to help and care/donate to/for the elderly! And maybe if you make an $8 donation, which is next to nothing, a Pre-Passover Meal to thank you for that $8 is pretty awesome!

I will be here attending a Pre-Passover meal where the donations support The Highland Park Nursing and Rehab Center (HPNRC) and the Highland Park Senior Center. I will be attending not for the religious reasons but because I care!

Here is all the info you will need for that...

The Highland Park Nursing and Rehab Center (HPNRC) is proud to be hosting a traditional Pre-Passover Model Seder in collaboration with the Highland Park Senior Center. The Seder, led by Rabbi Nosson Factor, will take place on Thursday, March 21st, at 11:30am at Highland Park Nursing & Rehab Center, 50 Pleasant Ave. in Highwood. A delicious gourmet Passover meal will follow the Seder from 12-1pm, where guests of all religions will feel at home as they enjoy classic Jewish dishes and learn about this ancient Jewish custom with family and friends. 

Admission will be $8 for non-members. Tickets can be purchased by stopping by the Highland Park Senior Center, or calling 847.432.4110. Admission will include a complementary Haggadah.
50 Pleasant Ave. in Highwood, IL 60040. For more information, call 847.432.9142, or visit their website. http://www.cityhpil.com/index.aspx?nid=149

The Jibarito! My new favorite sandwich.

THE JIBARITO! This is a popular sandwich served at Puerto Rican restaurants in Chicago. And it is also a sandwich that started here in Chicago and not Puerto Rico! Cool! I must admit, for years I did not like this sandwich, but I think it's because I had a shitty one the 1st. and 2nd. time I tried em. My one friend Mick loves em and would always encourage me to re-try em. But for yrs. i couldn't. The sandwich is made with fried plantains instead of using bread for the bun. Plantains are a savory banana. The first two times I ever had a Jibarito it was from a place here in Chicago that claims to have started the Jibarito. I went there very excited to try and it was awful. Both times. The plantains were dry, as was the meat. It tasted like a rush job sandwich made with 0 love. Then a few weeks ago my friend Michael Sanchez said he would buy one for me if I would just try it again. And I did, I loved it! This time though I had it from one of my all time favorite spots: Cafe Central, 1437 W. Chicago Ave. Since then I have had 8 Jibarito's in under 2 weeks!

The Jibarito is a sandwich made on plantains. Plantains are a savory type of larger banana from tropical regions. the Jibarito pictured above is a Lechon (pork) jibarito and it has American cheese, mayo and lettuce. It also comes with onions and tomato but I am not a fan of uncooked onions or tomatoes so I said "hold the onions and tomatoes, please!" I also added a little hot sauce on top of it. The hot sauce at Cafe Central is super hot! Be careful with how much you use.
By the way, the Lechon Jibarito is only available Thursday-Sunday at Cafe Central, but they have other meats available though for the sandwich and a vegetarian version is also available. The veggie one is made with avocado.

Edzo's Burger Shop! Go for the fries!!!! Burger too.

Edzo's is mostly known for their burgers, which are amazing! But they also have fresh cut fries that they have many topping for. They have Lobster Fries, Garlic and Butter fries, Buffalo Fries, and many others. But so far my favorite fries are the TAYLOR STREET FRIES or as I used to call them as a kid, "Gravy Fries!" They are fresh cut and loaded with Italian Beef Au Jus and smothered in a mix of Giardiniera Peppers, a Chicago favorite.

This is Edzo's Burger Shop in Lincoln Park at

2218 N Lincoln Ave
Chicago, IL
(773) 697-9909

Here is a peak at the working kitchen/grill. You can't see him, but a very good friend of mine, Thom Thunder, is currently the manager at this location. That is not why I chose Edzo's to feature, I have liked Edzo's since my jerk friend, Steve Gadlin, brought me here (to the Evanston location) years ago! I have just been slow and lazy.

Look at that! A shish kabob on a fork of some seriously Monte-licious fries!

A nice close up of the belly of the beast! There are peppers in there, cauliflower, celery, carrots, seasonings, etc. So freakin good!

Look... It's like a veggie tray with fries!

The menu. What you can't see and needs to be noted is that they have hamburger meat options!!! You can have regular burger meat or farm fresh grass fed burger meat! I always go for the grass fed! Always!

And last but certainly not least... SHAKES AND MALTS! Made by "Omar!" He wasn't there when I was shooting these pics, but he is the man when it comes to making some of the best Shakes/Malts I have ever had!