Bonta Natural Artisan Gelato, Bend, OR

If you've read some of my post from Milan, you know gelato & I are fast friends (maybe too friendly according to the scale). But, I was in a new town, new state, and was faced with a new gelato place. I was compelled to try it. This is Bend's local purveyor of the sweet stuff, and boy do they do it right!

They have a good amount of to-go items and souvenir type stuff, but also do great on the main event...

Cones? No thanks. Just gelato, please.

Ah, finally. Come to papa!

They had many traditional and some unique flavors, all delicious. You can try as well. I went with Pumpkin (right in middle) and an Apple Caramel, I believe. No pics of my dish b/c I ate it too quickly. I also liked their pricing, $4 for a dish with two flavors. This is a steal, IMO.

I also noticed the woman and young man working behind the counter looked awfully alike. I said to the woman, "That's your son." To which she replied, "Yep". Kind of nice to see a family-run small business making such awesome product. You should have seen the number of kids getting stoked on gelato. If this is any indication of progress for our youngins, the future is bright for America.

When I'm back in Bend, this place is always on the list.

Hip Surgery #2, Hinsdale, IL

[squeamish people be warned - one graphic incision pic]

#2 is a fitting moniker for this round, or any round, of hip surgery. It's poop. I mean, it's not much fun to recover from it, but then again, hopefully once fully healed, it's all good. Crossing the fingers, but not the legs as that would be too much for the hip.

I went into Hinsdale Hospital in early November to get the cutting and bone-shaping completed (that's a fun thing). The staff in this place was very, very good, IMO. Everyone coming in to prep me for surgery was on top of it. To be clear, there were a lot of them, like 9 people, including OT and a Chaplin! I could have done without the 3/4 leg shave, but such is life (and I have great legs, dammit!).

It's mostly interesting for me to go through the process in the hospital, so I don't tend to get nervous or weirded out. I keep the mood light and the staff laughing, so I get their best service. For example, whenever a staff member said, "I'll be right back", I started replying, "I'll just stay here." (lying in a bed with only a gown on). Almost all of them laughed, but it seemed a bit like low-hanging comedy fruit to me.

They started my visit by swabbing the inside of each nostril with some chemical to help prevent infections, then a full body sponge bath with some kind of pre-soaked chemical cloth. And it was just me doing it to myself, - boo, no fun. Not even the sister would help. Midway through prep, the surgeon (Dr. Domb) came into the pre-surgery cubby and sign the correct leg for operation. Phew!

Once you're knocked out, there's not much to it. You wake up pretty out of it in a post-surgical area and they help you "come around". Then, for this surgery, they plop you in a wheelchair and you get to leave the hospital. You happen to have a big "diaper" on the surgical site, that can't be removed for 72 hours. No showers either, folks. It's a pretty odd deal, but underneath the bandage was simply packing gauze that stacks-up under, seemingly to keep the bandages up off the incisions and provide something to soak up any liquids (eeeewwww).

You know it's the correct leg because the bandage is on the one with the signature - huzzah! I only wound up with three relatively small incisions (from 3/4" to maybe 1-1/4"). Take a look for yourself...

And that's after the Steristrips were taken off 14 days "post-surgery" (they love using fancy doctor words). See, the hair's growing back... but MAN do I hate band-aid residue.

It's going to take a good few months to have it be back to normal, but thanks to Dr. Domb and Hinsdale Hospital, I think it's got a great chance of coming out very well.

Special thanks to my sister who was my hospital "chaperone" AND the family in Geneva that fed me well and helped me rest for three days after. Never a dull moment. I mean, look at this grub!!!

My very own Acai bowl. We would have had to share that with two other siblings back in the day.

 Waffles in bed? Yes please!!!

Look at that "Thanksgiving" sammy! And their own homemade pumpkin bars. Cha-ching!

Marigold Kitchen, Madison, WI

So, you know brunch is a pretty awesome part of the weekend, right? And you NEED to have a solid, go-to brunch spot where you live. Well, I think I've found mine in Madison. It's not exactly close to home, but not really far either. It's downtown, off the Capitol Square, a little out of the way, but also centrally located if any out-of-towners care to take in a Capitol tour after brunch or walk all the way down State Street. So, I probably won't walk to this place, but it's a short drive or ride away and a good location, imo.

Not only that, but once you're inside (or seated outside), this place brings it. To be clear, they're only open for breakfast and lunch, so they don't get distracted by dinner malarkey. This is also not a full wait-staffed set-up - rather, you place your order at the counter, receive a number for your table, then go hunt for a spot to sit. They bring your selections out to you as they're made. I think it's a fine system for brunch and seems to fit this place well. I've sat at a table and at the bar, with really no trouble getting a seat. It is busy on the weekends, and by no means a secret spot, but I think they do well at getting people in and out, in my experience.

 

They have a varied, American brunch menu, with some hearty, South-Central WI staples and offerings for the experimental college crowd too. They have great pastries & coffee drinks available, so sit down, grab a paper, sip on something -  don't rush the meal, take your time.

There's no question that it's a bustling place on the weekend, but isn't that part of the fun of brunch on the weekend? See some oddballs, eat some good food, have a drink at breakfast (they have that too).

This visit was in the fall, so they had some great fall decor and Pumpkin Pancakes on the menu. I can't say no to these, so I didn't this time. I did get a short-stack though (2 instead of 5), and a side order of a local breakfast sausage (which was very good).

To be clear, those a hearty Pumpkin Pancakes with Whipped Cinnamon Butter and local maple syrup on the side (soon to be on-my-pancakes).

When you're in town, we'll go, you'll love it.