Category > In My Backyard
April is the cruelest month, breeding lilacs out of the dead land, mixing memory and desire, stirring dull roots with spring rain. — T.S. Eliot April has indeed been cruel; the lilacs' leaves are barely budding, and those "dull roots" Eliot mentions better be sharpening up with all this rain falling out of the sky. Sheesh. We could all do with that 75-degrees-and-sunny day that brings about abrupt, overnight greening in Urbana-Champaign, the kind that takes your breath away …
It had been an excellent couple of days in Chicago seeing Mazes and Soundtrack of Our Lives, but the promise of early-vegetable planting weather in C-U for the remainder of the weekend (plus the orange galoshes I found in a resale shop on North Avenue) made getting home Saturday afternoon, a priority in order to prep for Sunday planting. See, the weather is absolutely perfect right now to start a few really early vegetables by sowing seeds directly into …
The best way to be hopeful for the future is to prepare for it. –James Howard Kunstler Every February, my family and I load up the car Clampett-style and trek down to Florida for about ten days. Our reprieve from this year's deeply unfriendly Midwestern weather involved two beautiful beaches and some extended family hijinks. It was excellent. However ... I've noticed that vacation, at least the way we take this particular vacation and the way so many other …
Now, nobody imagines his modest little patch is going to be the greatest thing since copper bracelets, no. But it will be personal, and it will be fascinating, because there is no such thing as dullness when the gardener is going full steam ahead and damn the torpedoes, as it were. –Henry Mitchell Something usually happens around late January/early February that helps me shift into Backyard Mode. Maybe that something is happening a bit earlier this year thanks to …
“How can a nation be great if its bread tastes like Kleenex?” – Julia Child I know, I know. Baking bread seems like something almost akin to sewing your own jeans or building your own car — why bother? There are people around here who can do that for us, and it’s true. If you live here in Champaign-Urbana, you have access to transcendent, locally-owned and operated bakeries. (They’re not true boulangeries, because they sell pastries in addition to …
Food everywhere is an expression of community relations. —Stephen Gudeman Some of the best food I’ve ever eaten — and along with it, some of the best company I’ve ever enjoyed while eating — has been at potlucks (or covered-dish suppers, or bring-a-plate dinners). O, the humble potluck!
“I dwell in possibility.” – Emily Dickinson As I write, the overnight forecast for Champaign-Urbana is calling for a hard freeze — outdoor air temperature of 32 degrees or below for a period of several hours — that will destroy all tender vegetation and will officially herald the end of the 2008 growing season for east central Illinois (and nearly all of the Midwest). Waaah.
Most Recent Food Comments
Kaiyo was decent for a sushi buffet, but it definitely isn’t as good as KO fusion. I thought it was better than any sushi I’ve ever had at a chinese buffet, but was not as good as my least favorite sushi item at KO fusion. However, I…
What is an antibiotic-free egg? And how can you tell?
Great article. I’ve always found that by making it in the blender, I can be my typical impatient self and pour tons of oil in at once. It’s very forgiving that way, though not fool proof.
I like Kaiyo A LOT, but at Sushi Kame (next to the art theatre) you can get an absolute shitload of good sushi, plus miso, and a bit of noodles in a vineagar cucumber salad for $21, and you know it was made just for you. I…
Nice article, Emily! When I get to the CU area, I’ll be sure to give this place a try.
Sorry about the lack of address and hours. All I can say is duuuh
“...who aren’t so savvy with the google…“ You know, the way I’m not so savvy with the typing. That page I linked is one of the best things I’ve seen on the internet, though.
Yeah, I did a little googling and found it. I’d forgotten that there was finally something going into the Boston’s space. But when I was reading the article I was thinking that that kind of info would have been nice for the people who savvy with the google: http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/facebook_wants_to_be_your_one_true_login.php#comments
Mike — Here you are: http://champaign-taste.blogspot.com/2010/03/kaiyo-japanese-restaurant.html
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Most Recent Comments
I love eating Vietnamese food, and having growing up my entire life eating it, I was excited to go. I really wanted to like this place because of all of the hype I had heard——unfortunately, I was sorely disappointed. I got the pho (vietnamese soup) and thought…
Kaiyo was decent for a sushi buffet, but it definitely isn’t as good as KO fusion. I thought it was better than any sushi I’ve ever had at a chinese buffet, but was not as good as my least favorite sushi item at KO fusion. However, I…
What is an antibiotic-free egg? And how can you tell?
Great article. I’ve always found that by making it in the blender, I can be my typical impatient self and pour tons of oil in at once. It’s very forgiving that way, though not fool proof.
I will be at Danu this evening. And seeing as tomorrow - St. Pat’s - is my birthday, I will be celebrating with tons of green and fun!
Big Blue will actually be on 6-9, despite what is posted elsewhere. Then, hightail it over to Bentley’s!
Yeeee! This sounds so fun! Any word on covers for any/all of these? Maybe SP could spring for punch cards and some discounts if we make it to all, eh?
Ok, just tell me when I can exhale - Just curious, since all the globalists, carbon traders, and pretty much anyone with copious amounts of wealth have weighed in on population reduction in recent years, i was wondering what yer magic number was. Some of the more…
ESPN360!!!!! For those that don’t know, you can watch the ESPNs’ games on your puter.
...and given the lack of smiley emoticons i chose to employ, that reads far more sarcastically than i ever intended (my apologies). i actually find this to be a great article and an interesting discussion, seriously : )
Once it leaves the basement, it is then called what? hmmm…....could it be mainstream? accessible? appealing on a mass-level? POP??? Quickly it will become a fad, over-saturate the media, and piss people off. Then everyone can write articles based on how that shit sucks, too. chickens are…
So John is seeing all comments as being authored by John. I am seeing all comments as authored by me. The first comment was Mysterious McDade who evidently acquired an Optimism Hat and is now seeing how it fits.
No, everyone is me! Muahahaha! I so didn’t make that first comment so I thought maybe someone was trying to get my goat, adding me to the staff. I hope jumping to that conclusion is forgivable. Yeah, uh, I guess I should say that I swear I…
In general, I think music is much more interesting now than in 1995. I definitely am very glad contemporary music has expanded beyond the four-piece rock lineup that dominated much of the 90’s. The point of the above isn’t so much about a sound or an instrument…
2010 is not 1995. I’m not sure why anyone would expect a music scene to remain stationary as the world of popular music moves around it. Also, today, making popular music with mainstream appeal and being innovative and cutting-edge are usually exact opposites.
I didn’t know that the LED was created here. That’s awesome.
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I love eating Vietnamese food, and having growing up my entire life eating it, I was excited to go. I really wanted to like this place because of all of the hype I had heard——unfortunately, I was sorely disappointed. I got the pho (vietnamese soup) and thought…