Have you ever heard a better title for a cookbook than “The Kentucky Bourbon Cookbook”? No? I didn’t think so. That’s why I’m so pleased to tell you that I have not one but two copies of the book to give away. Obviously the title to the book would be enough to suck me in but I’m also really impressed by this little tidbit: “the book is organized by season, with each chapter showcasing fresh ingredients and Kentucky events.”

How great is that? Organized by seasons and what is fresh in Kentucky during the various seasons, that’s very cool. It’s like progressive eater buzzword bingo right there: slow food! local! seasonal! fresh! Bingo!

Inspired by a bourbon dinner held at Dickie Brennan’s Bourbon House in New Orleans during a meeting of the International Association of Culinary Professionals, author Albert W.A. Schmid researched the synergy between America’s native spirit and its melting pot of cuisine for this unique volume. From the adaptation of Old World whiskey recipes by 18th century Kentucky farmers to the fusion of bourbon in modern Asian recipes, Schmid explores the diverse history of this American tradition.

…culinary stars who contributed recipes to The Kentucky Bourbon Cookbook include Louisville icons John Castro and Dean Corbett and nationally celebrated personalities like Adam Seger and Virginia Willis. Recipes range from Bluegrass classics like Kentucky Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Pie and Bourbon Glazed Kentucky Country Ham Steak to dishes that use bourbon in modern, imaginative applications, like Kentucky Bourbon Pecan Crème Brûlée with Chocolate Sauce and Seared Scallops with Bourbon-Vanilla Beurre Blanc.

To be entered to win just leave a comment telling us the best dish you’ve ever eaten with bourbon as a key ingredient. It could be something you’ve made at home or something you’ve had at restaurant. If I were eligible to win my entry very well may be the warm vanilla pudding cake with bourbon soaked cherries at Proof on Main but since I can’t win my own contest never mind. I’ll choose two winners at random from all the entries I receive by 4PM Friday March 19, 2010.

Oh and if you aren’t one of the lucky winners fear not, the book is available locally at Carmichael’s and from the various online book retailers.

And because Jake tells me I need to cover myself because of new FTC blogger rules here’s my disclaimer:

• No one asked me to give the books away
• I’m not getting anything in return for giving the books away
• B is always mad that she isn’t eligible to win Consuming Louisville contests

Think of foursquare as an “urban mix tape.” We’ll help you make lists of your favorite things to do and let you share them with friends. Think beyond your standard review – we’re looking less for “The food here is top notch” and more for “Go to Dumont Burger and try the most amazing Mac and Cheese ever.” Foursquare will keep track of the things you’ve done, help you create To-Do lists and even suggest new experiences to seek out.

As you check-in around the city, you’ll start finding tips that other users have left behind. After checking-in at a restaurant, it’s not uncommon to unlock a tip suggesting the best thing on the menu. Checking-in at a bar will often offer advice on what your next stop should be. Every tip you create is discoverable by other users just by checking-in.

I don’t think anyone was more excited than I was when foursquare finally made it’s way to Louisville a while back. I don’t know why I was so excited. All my L.A. and Austin people were using it, and I’d see their updates and their newly crowned status as mayors on Twitter and it just seemed fun. And it was, at first. At one time I was the foursquare mayor of Highland Coffee, The Irish Rover, a Heine Brothers, Lowe’s, Home Depot and Zaytun. But here’s the thing, I’m sort of, kind of, a little bit already tapped in to cool places in the city. I haven’t really discovered anything new via foursquare yet. Some of the tips have been good but a lot of them aren’t applicable to me (for example any time that includes bacon or beer).

What I really want out of foursquare, both because I’m selfish and because I think it’s great to reward loyalty, is to start seeing venues offer special deals to the foursquare mayor of their business or after someone’s 10th checkin or for leaving a good, useful tip, etc. Foursquare is a essentially a game and while it was fun playing for a while just for the sake of playing most good games have some measure of winning. My definition of “winning” in foursquare would be a free bowl of lentil soup at Zaytun for being the mayor, an upgrade from a medium latte to a large at Highland Coffee for my 15th checkin in the past two months, a free smoothie from the juice bar for whoever is dedicated enough to be mayor at the gym, you get the idea.

I think this would be good for businesses because we’re a competitive lot and if there’s a prize involved (and it doesn’t even matter how small the prize is) I’m in it to win. I’ve lost my mayorship of everywhere but Zaytun I think and I’m not currently even remotely compelled to try to win them back. As of right now I can only find two Louisville businesses offering foursquare related deals. The first is Carraba’s Italian Grill, a chain that is offering the same deal in every city they’ve got a location. The second is the Bourbon Street Cafe at Brown-Forman. (And good on you Brown-Forman for getting in the game early!)

So consider this a plea from me (and the rest of the playful and competitively minded digerati in Louisville) for local businesses to get in on the foursquare game. foursquare has even put together some ideas for businesses. I’d love to get enough foursquare specials going that I could add a running list of foursquare specials to Consuming Louisville.

Thank you for your support.

I’m so excited about this. What exactly is this? It’s soupBycycle, a new business on two-wheels that’s just popped up to make lunchtime that much more tasty for folks downtown. Here, I’m going to let Chef Ian, the proprietor of soupBycycle describe it himself:

my vision for this adventure starts with local and natural products [getting] turned into 3 new tasty soups every week. 1 each; vegan, vegetarian and something meaty. I’ve teamed up with Blue Dog so each order comes with some crusty bread, a smile and all delivered by pedal power for just $5 per bowl ($1 delivery each bowl, order 3+ = free delivery)

To get in on the soup goodness email Chef Ian at soupBycycle@gmail.com to get the current soup menu. He takes orders up to midnight on Friday for soup delivery the next week. He’s working on his website where you’ll be able to make online payments, in the meantime he accepts cash or check at the time of soup delivery.

I’m not sure why bicycle powered businesses excite me so much. I guess it’s the same reason I like the idea behind Car-Free Happy Hour, it’s proof that we don’t have to be so dependent on automobiles. There are ways to live and make a living without spending a good chunk of your time in a steel box on wheels. And of course businesses like this bolster our city’s reputation for being bike friendly. And last but not least I really do love supporting people who are creating and running businesses they’re really passionate about. I like supporting passionate people doing work they love. And I also love soup. The end.

ALL FRESH, ALL GOOD AND GOOD FOR YOU
*$5.00 for 16oz container of soup and crusty bread
*$1.00 delivery for 1 – 2 bowls
*Free delivery for 3+ bowls
**Crusty bread from Blue Dog, spoon and napkin provided**

I’m not much of a space person. I never dreamed of being an astronaut when I was a kid and I think rich people who pay tons of money to someday go on a space flight are a little silly. That being said even I’m kind of geeked about the Hubble IMAX film that’s opening at the Louisville Science Center on Friday March 19, 2010.

Witness the greatest success in space since the moon landing – the Hubble Space Telescope. Accompany space-walking astronauts as they attempt some of the most difficult tasks ever undertaken in NASA’s history. Experience up close the awesome power of the launches, the heartbreaking setbacks and the dramatic rescues of this powerful story.

It’s mostly the visuals, like this one, that have me so interested in seeing this on the giant IMAX screen.

Louisville Science Center
727 West Main Street
Louisville, KY 40202

And your life doesn’t change by the man that’s elected
- Head Full of Doubt Road Full of Promise (The Avett Brothers)

That song lyric quote pretty much sums up how I’m feeling these days about politics. Positive change, progress in lots of areas and the business of a city actually getting better has far more to do with the citizens who are engaged and committed to making those things happen than the elected officials. That’s why, in this election season, it’s really nice to see a non-political event happening that’s focused on our city’s future.

Join experts in the fields of urban planning, architecture, development, transportation, and sustainability as they discuss the interconnected forces that will shape Louisville’s future. The panel discussion and multimedia presentations will be enlightening and thought provoking. The Forum will be held at the Clifton Center (2117 Payne St.) on Tuesday March 30th from 6 to 7:30 PM, and will be preceded by a reception beginning at 5 PM.

The event is free and open to the public but they are asking that you please RSVP at www.livablelouisville.org

There are a couple words that I have a Pavlovian response to when I hear them. For example when I hear the name of a beloved friend’s ex I immediately say “X is cold.” And when anyone mentions beets I always instantly say “Beets taste like dirt.” I can’t help myself, the words just come out. I don’t really have any point to this story other than to say I needed some kind of introductory paragraph that mentioned dirt since we’re talking about something called Dirt! The Movie.

It’s under our feet and under our fingernails, but what is it? And how did it get there? Inspired by William Bryant Logan’s acclaimed book Dirt: The Ecstatic Skin of the Earth, find out how industrial farming, mining and urban development have led us toward cataclysmic droughts, starvation, floods and climate change. Dirt is a part of everything we eat, drink and breathe. Which is why we should stop treating it like, well…dirt.

COMMUNITY CINEMA
Dirt! The Movie
Panel Discussion with Gary Heine (Heine Brothers) & Ben Evens (YERT)

Thursday, March 18, 2010
3:30 PM Followed by Panel Discussion
6:00 PM Followed by a Community Discussion

Free & Open to the Public
Fern Creek Traditional High School

Did I ever tell you about what a pain it was at the old house to get my bike out? I wanted to ride my bike more often I really did but the only place we had to store it was in the basement and the basement stairs were an absolutely bear to navigate and then you had to go out the back door and then up the patio steps and down the super steep driveway and then up the super steep hill of the street we lived on to get anywhere. I’m tired just recounting the ordeal. I’m pleased to tell you though that the new house has a much better bike storage situation, a flat driveway and we live on a flat street. Hello biking much more frequently!

I’m still a long, long way from having the endurance to bike all the way downtown for this month’s Car-Free Happy Hour (or to feel comfortable biking in all the traffic that a ride to downtown would include) but I’m working on it. Maybe next month the Car-Free Happy Hour will be someplace in the Highlands and I’ll bike or walk to it.

In addition to delicious Mexican food and fabulous conversation, we will enjoy presentations by a plumbing business that uses bikes, and SoupBycycle, a new bike-based soup delivery business in the Highlands.

Tuesday March 16
5:30 pm-8:00 pm
Sol Aztecas
520 South Fourth Street (next to the Seelbach)

Though I’m not making it to this Car-Free Happy Hour I tell you that I’m living a much less car dependent life since the move to the new house and loving it. Walking to Douglass Loop, biking about the Highlands, walking to the post office, the drug store, restaurants, etc. B is buying me my very own grocery cart since we live quite close to Kroger! That means I’ll be the crazy lady you see walking to and from the grocery store with her own cart. I might look crazy but I won’t have to drive to grocery store anymore and that’s a very good thing.

The shops and restaurants of Westport Village (which I still contend is in the East End) are dedicating a night of food and shopping for Haiti. Each store and restaurant will be donating a portion of their proceeds from the evening of March 18 to Hope for Haiti. B and I very well may have to do our part to help by having ice cream at The Comfy Cow.

Hey that gives me an idea, what do you all think about a group outing? Kind of a Consuming Louisville meetup at The Comfy Cow for dessert? A bunch of cool people could hang out, eat really good ice cream and do a little good for Hope for Haiti all at the same time? What say you?

WHEN: Thursday, March 18, 2010, from 6 to 9 p.m.
WHERE: Westport Village, located off Westport Road, between Herr and Lyndon Lanes
WHY: To raise funds to address poverty and other needs in the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.

A fund-raiser sponsored by Westport Village to support the efforts of a local committee working to help the poor and needy in Haiti will be held on Thursday, March 18, from 6 to 9 p.m. at Westport Village, an outdoor shopping mall.

During the evening, patrons can help the needy in Haiti by purchasing items from Westport Village businesses or eating at the restaurants there. A portion of sales that evening, up to 15 percent, will go to help those in Haiti.

Also, The Trail Store in Westport Village will be collecting new and used tents on March 18, and it will arrange for them to be shipped to Haiti.

Kosher Gospel? Say again. Yes, Kosher Gospel. There’s this dude named Joshua Nelson and he sings traditional Jewish liturgical music with gospel flair and style.

So, yeah, Kosher Gospel, I’m totally not making this up.

Anyway, he’s playing in town this Sunday night as part of the Adath Jeshurun Music Festival. If you dig music in general and specifically gospel I’d think this would be of interest to you. In addition to Mr. Nelson the West End Boys & Girls Choir will be performing as well as the Cantors from two local synagogues, Cantor Lipp from Adath Jeshurun and Cantor Hordes from Knesset Israel (both are excellent singers by the way).

When Joshua Nelson sings his Kosher Gospel music, he commands attention. It’s not just because of his fire-and-brimstone voice, the comparisons with the late Mahalia Jackson or even his discovery by Oprah Winfrey who called him “The Next Big Thing” in music, and whom he also counts as a friend. It’s the places he performs, mostly synagogues, JCC’s, concert halls, outdoor festivals, and national television. Joshua, who is black and Jewish, has combined the sounds of soul with Jewish liturgical music and first appeared on the Jewish music circuit a decade ago with the release of the national PBS special about his life, “Keep on Walking,” which has been a big hit at Jewish Film Festivals around the globe. Joshua’s appearance on the “Oprah Winfrey Show” catapulted his career nationally and internationally. He and his Singers have performed with such notables as Aretha Franklin, Jamie Fox, Maya Angelou, Ashford & Simpson, Cicely Tyson, Harry Belafonte, Billy Preston, Wynton Marsalis, Stephanie Mills, Cissy Houston, Dionne Warwick, Melba Moore, The Klezmatics, Former President Bill Clinton, President Barack Obama, European Royalty and at the funeral of jazz legend Sarah Vaughan.

Advanced tickets are $12.50, order online
Tickets at the door are $15.00

Adath Jeshurun Music Festival
Sunday March 14, 2010
7PM

Congregation Adath Jeshurun
2401 Woodbourne Avenue
Louisville, KY 40205

Mr. Bigfoot,

Mom Against Stupid Steroids

Fairdale Bigfoot sure loves jokes, and it seems like this letter was written in jest. If that isn’t the case and this is a real request for help, please consult your son’s coach and approach your son about performance-enhancing substances. This could be a serious problem.

Now to make light of it…

Dear MASS,

So your offspring had a dream of being a bodybuilder? How proud you must be! Think about the cycle of events: amateur bodybuilding competitions, magazine shoots, professional bodybuilding competitions, sporting events that will be rerun on ESPN 2 on Sunday afternoons, cameos in movies, starring rolls in movies, starring rolls in really bad movies, cameos in sitcoms, political office! Good luck finding shirts that fit.

With your son, Fairdale Bigfoot is reminded of the man who thought he was a chicken. This man clucked around the yard all day making a horrible racket. When they neighbors asked the man’s family why they didn’t take him to a doctor, his father replied, “Well we would, but we need the eggs.”

So your son may see some benefits to shooting up. These performance-enhancing substances are probably making Junior’s little league games more exciting, and his rippling biceps may help you open a stuck jar or two. This may make him feel good, but he could be ignoring the side effects. He will get taller. His voice will turn into a deep growl. He will sprout hair all over his body and his hands and feet will grow to inhuman proportions. He may take to spending more time outside, perhaps in the woods, and he may become overly-sensitive. Perhaps he will be sensitive enough to help other people with their problems, but remain blind to his own. He will become unstable. So unstable that if people keep hunting for him in the woods his mind will go and he’ll start to think that if one more camper leaves a Bud Light Lime bottle in Jefferson Memorial Forest he’ll just FLIP OUT AND TOTALLY LOSE IT ALL OVER EVERYBODY!

But Fairdale Bigfoot doesn’t know what that would be like. It sounds like a miserably lonely experience. It’s not worth the intense popularity and oodles of romantic partners your son will attract, then fail to satisfy with his hormonally-maladjusted body.

So try teaming up with your son’s coach, adviser, doctor or gym-spotter for a mini-intervention. Tell them a career in the physical arts is fine, but everyone is going organic these days. There’s no need to risk with drugs what can be attained through effort.

If that fails, Fairdale Bigfoot is available for motivational speaking gigs.

Sincerely,
Fairdale Bigfoot.