Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

Definitely the Brussels sprouts with bacon. Our entire family is filled with sworn sprout-haters, and I was one of them until last year. I'd love to convert the entire family to sprout goodness, and bacon seems like the perfect irresistible lure.

We've had two chickens in our urban backyard for a bit more than a year and a half now. I don't know if it's just our breed, but something that rarely gets mentioned is that chickens molt at least once a year. We have feathers everywhere, and the feathers seems to attract predators. During this molt and during winter months, the chickens quit laying unless you force them to keep going with light bulbs (we don't), so your vision of lots of eggs is only true part of the year. For any number of months, all you are doing is feeding and cleaning up after them like any other non-productive pet/animal.

We also went free range for a while until we also planted a pretty large garden. Guess what? Chickens will eat your garden. There is no distinguishing between tasty grass and your tasty broccoli plants for them. We had gobs of netting and all kinds of craziness going on until we finally decided to coop them. Now we're battling urban predators (cats and coons, mostly) determined to bust into said coop, and the chickens aren't getting as varied a diet as they once did. Continuing to add on or reconfigure the coop takes money and time--more than you would expect.

That said, they can be funny little creatures! They definitely have distinct personalities and can be a good time to watch. But knowing what I know now, I would not have gone down this particular sustainable living road and won't do it again. Fresh eggs are available at our local farmer's market if we want them and, financially, our garden has been far more productive than the chickens with half the work and worry. Just my two cents worth.

Never had the burger, but I loooove Erwin. We go there every time we are in Chicago. Their brunch is delicious. And it's the only time that I have ever been congratulated on my order by a server.

Maybe it's just my circle of acquaintances, but I don't know any man who is a big fan of sweets. A "substantially sweeter" cereal wouldn't appeal at all!

Still, I wait breathlessly for the day when the grocery store aisles will be as segregated as those at Toys R Us so my poor little brain won't become confused and I'll instantly know my place by the profusion of precious, pink labeling.

Dang. I mean, there are limits and I think I just found mine.

The eggs from my two Americauna chickens penned up in my urban backyard are sage green. Apparently, our breed can produce anything from brown to green or blue. Kinda wish we had the blue ones, but the green will do.

Brussels sprouts! Hated them as a child and just tried them (roasted) for the first time in 30 years. Now, I can't get enough. Who knew?