Twin Cities Adventure: MIX 2011 and Sammiches

Minneapolis Indie Xpo 2011



Next year's MIX has been confirmed as taking place at the Soap Factory again. I knew they were working on that, but now it's official.

Best Twin Cities' Sandwiches



Image from The Couchwarmers.

John Montagu, the 4th Earl of Sandwich, is one of my heroes. I'll make anything into a sandwich. If you serve meat and there's also some kind of bread on the table, you can bet I'll wrap one around the other. Even cupcakes are better now that I've figured out how to turn them into delicious, frosting sandwiches.

So I've made note of all these great Twin Cities sandwiches and am checking them off. I just tried the Vietnamese Bánh Mì at Ngon yesterday (the pickled veggies were delicious, but the aioli was way too spicy for me) and am moving on to the Citizen Joe next.

My Favorite Food: Diane's Taco Salad

Asking me what my favorite food is really isn't a fair question. I love food - all kinds of food - and my tastes change from meal to meal. I especially like seafood, Caribbean food, Central and South American food (and all its relatives like Tex-Mex and Southwestern US), Mediterranean food (in which I include Greek, Italian, and Middle Eastern), and Asian food (especially Thai and VietNamese). I'm fortunate to live in the Twin Cities with its rich diversity of ethnic communities and all the variety in restaurants and grocery stores that entails.

And oh yeah, I also dig the typical US stuff like pizza, steaks, and bratwurst. And don't get me started on desserts. (Stupid French with their awesome pastries. That's how I ruined myself.)

But if I have to pick a favorite meal, it's got to be my wife's taco salad. It's not hard to make - so she tells me - but it's awesome. The ingredients are similar to what you see at the top of this post. I ganked that photo from For the Mommas though, so it's not exactly what Diane uses. She's all about the kidney beans instead of pinto beans (yes, there's a difference), for instance, and she doesn't cook them with the meat. They just get added cold to the salad by themselves. The Doritos and Catalina dressing are crucial ingredients though. It's fantastic.

The Tortuga Times: November 25, 2008

Captain President



Yet more evidence that we made the right decision.

The Dashing Dozen

Bookgasm has Michael Chabon's list of twelve books that influenced his Gentlemen of the Road swashbuckler. There's some good readin' on that list.

Yo Ho Ho and a bottle of...

Bud Light?

Pirate pets



Via National Geographic. (I know. I'm surprised too.)



By Jodi Kurland.

Pirate Cuisine

Here's a recipe for Pirate Soup.

And another one for Pirate Quesadillas.



Mmm. Quesadillas...

Star Pirate



Pappy has the tale.

Mickey Mouse and the Pirate Submarine



Via Golden Age Comic Book Stories.

And if that's not enough Disney pirates for you



Check out Life's Pirates of the Caribbean photos.