I have a confession

... I love fruitcake. The oddly moist-with-alcohol cake. The strangely chewy preserved fruit. The moderate lightheadedness after eating too much as a kid (and adult). I love it.

And black jelly beans too.

Beef, Pork & Rutabaga

...yes, I do want those three flavors in a compact pastry wrapped bundle! And half of this WI-born pasty has over 500 calories. I can see why it would be great to take down a mine shaft for lunch. It also makes a decent dinner, for non-miners.

By the way, it is pronounced "past-ey"...do not pronounce it "paste-ey" (the latter you can find in stripclubs).

You thought your lights were good

...try again.

Lookout, Red Line!!!

"Bing-bong, the doors are now closing"

More things made of money

This very interesting and good-looking wall and floor treatment can be found at Homeslice Pizza in Chicago's Lincoln Park/DePaul neighborhood.

I can't recall ever seeing it before and think it's a great re-use of pennies. It also brings up some questions, like, "Did someone place each penny on the floors and walls of the room?", but maybe I should just leave it at, cool.

Honeypie Cafe, Bayview, MKE, WI

Did you ever find such a cool place you went back twice in one day? And made a mental note to make sure you go back again and again? Honeypie in Milwaukee's Bayview neighborhood fit the bill on my birthday.

We started by having a great brunch right when they opened, and wound up going back after dinner for a b-day cupcake (see other post).

I started the day with the "Farmer's Breakfast", which includes French toast. I was full alright. We enjoyed seeing all the people fill up the place as we ate. Everyone's food in our group was good. Fresh fruit cups, light and flavorful quiches, and how could you miss the pie and cupcake cases (yes, one case for each). Not only is the food on point, the staff is, the bathrooms are, and the beverages are too. It's a great little "slice" (get it!?) of a neighborhood place done right. Kudos, Honeypie.

As luck would have it, it wound up being on our way home from dinner, and I decided to get one more drink and cupcake. The beer I chose was a great winter ale all the way from Sweden, perfekt!

One final note, while my cupcake was enjoyable, it was clear after sitting by the pie case that this is one area that really shines, just by the volume of people coming in to order by the slice. I will have to go back...mmmm, pie.

B-Day Cupcake

As the name card suggests, this made a perfect cupcake after a pizza dinner. 

Check out the Honeypie post for more details on where this was located.