My wife and I recently moved to Des Moines, Iowa and being this close to Kansas City, I decided to head down there to celebrate my 35th birthday. We have hardly been out of the house in the last year, especially compared to how we traveled prior to the pandemic. We were excited to be traveling somewhere that neither of us had been to. We booked a hotel, and a few weeks later, we were southbound down I-35. We visited the Kansas City Zoo. It was incredibly impressive. We walked 5 miles, under full sunshine, going through the entire facility. After that was over, we headed up to the Crossroads Arts District of Kansas City. A decent hotel in a wildly unique section of the city. Murals all over. Independently owned shops. This was my kind of place. There were 5 breweries within about a half mile of each other. Some around the corner from each other. We started on one end and drank our way down the stretch. It was a fantastic way to celebrate turning 35. Animals, great beer, and the food. Great food. 

That’s what you’re here for. The food.

We like to watch the Netflix series “Queer Eye” and in the first season of the show, they go down and “zhuzh up” a family bbq joint called Jones BBQ. Ever since watching that episode, we had a plan to make sure and visit it. I’m so glad we did. Phenomenal homemade sausage, perfectly smoked ribs, and great sides to boot. Especially their beans. I’ll start with it’s biggest, but maybe only, downfall. The serving was much too small. I know it’s only a side dish, but no serving could be too large with flavor like that. These beans were served up in a small, lidded, styrofoam cup and paired with plastic silverware. As far as I could tell, this dish was a single bean variety. Those beans were cooked to a near perfect consistency. You knew you were eating beans, but it wasn’t a chore. The sauce they were served in had a sweet sauce that had a slightly tangy backbone to it. There was a presence of smoke in the dish. The exact trio of flavors I look for in baked beans. The genius behind this recipe decided to throw chunks of brisket into the dish to help lend some layers of texture. A great move. Beans and brisket are a fantastic combination. In addition to the meat and beans, there was a nice vegetable addition with white onions and bell peppers. These, like the beans, were cooked to a great consistency. Jones BBQ has become famous for their sauce and all the great smoked meats. I think they deserve a little more credit for this side. 

Ratings (On a scale of 1-5)
Appearance: 4
Flavor: 5
Mouthfeel: 5
(Top score so far)
​
Total Score: 14 

For what it's worth,
Kansas City Zoo: 5

​

A mid-January vacation put my wife and I in North Carolina. The weather was agreeable for the most part. Low to mid 60's and plenty of sunshine. A nice reprieve from the cold Iowa weather we were experiencing before we left. Aside from the beautiful views, North Carolina also has a lot of interesting historical spots. It's no wonder Jonathan Byrd pulls such great songs out of the air of his inspirational homeland. There was a coastal Civil War fort and a museum housing a collection of items that were recovered from the wreck of Queen Anne's Revenge. Yeah. Blackbeard's flagship. What really brought us out there? The North Carolina Rare and Vintage Beer Festival. Yeah. We flew halfway across the country to drink. The festival was fantastic and so were the 6 additional standalone breweries we visited out there. There were Girl Scout Cookie flights at Fullsteam and oyster infused offerings, among other great beers, from Ponysaurus.

Unlike me, you aren't here for the beer. Beans, man. Beans!

This side dish was served up in a modest white, ceramic cup. Served with the meal, I had the proper silverware to devour these things. It was a small serving, but there was already too much food on the three meat platter I had ordered. When they came out of the kitchen the top layer of the beans were well on their way to being dried out. That leads me to believe they were dished up much earlier and likely left under a warmer, or worse yet, microwaved. Breaking through the top layer revealed a multi-bean combination that was, otherwise, cooked down very well. I didn't take the time to suss out which  beans were thrown into the mix. My apologies. I've let you down as a food blogger. The beans had been cooked with white onions and green peppers Both of the vegetables in the concoction were a near perfect consistency and added a nice additional flavor to the dish. Both vegetables and beans were served up in a flavorful sauce. There was no heat to it, but there was a solid base of brown sugar sweetness coupled with strong smoky notes. The first time in, a reviewed dish, that this smoke flavor was present. Unfortunately, the dish itself was very dense and dry. This offering could have been near the top of my ratings, if only there was a little more liquid in the sauce. (See above assumption about dryness)

Ratings (On a scale of 1-5)
Appearance: 1
Flavor: 4
Mouthfeel: 2

Total Score:  7

For what it's worth,
North Carolina beer scene: 5

My 3 day/3 show sojourn into South Dakota continued on Sunday. That morning I met with Ben Hanten, owner of Ben's Brewing & The Copper Room, at the historical Cramer-Kenyon House. While there, we shot a couple videos for my songs "27 Feet" and "Sweat Equity". Singing songs about my home in a beautiful place like that? It just felt right. To kill time in the afternoon, I returned to the house with my wife and were given a private tour by the resident care taker. That or we followed a ghost around. It made the house that much more interesting to know the story behind it. For the remainder of the afternoon, we hit several other landmarks and had, I think, a pretty authentic Yankton experience. Last year was my first time performing at 6th Meridian Hop Farm and I believe it to be one of the first that they had. It has been great to watch them grow and succeed. Upon arriving on the scene this particular afternoon, the first thing I saw was the new stage they had built out of an old deck. It looks cool out on that hop farm, and it's especially nice when you're performing on a sunny day. I'm really looking forward to being back at this place two more times this summer. Once to open up for Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band (7/28/19) and a second time as a part of the Swing Cat Festival (8/10/19).

Come on, man. They can see those dates under the "Shows" tab. Get to the beans.

Counterfeit Curbside is an upscale food truck that, lucky for me, was on site for the entire weekend. They had "Ancho Libre Baked Beans" on the menu, and I just had to dig in. The order of beans was a large serving, handed out in a cardboard dish. I didn't see a spoon available, so I had to use a fork. That didn't stop me from shoveling these down. This offering was  a 3 bean variety. Dark, and light, red kidney beans as well as black beans. If I'm not mistaken. There was a decent bean-to-sauce ratio, but since I'm being picky, that many beans could have used a touch more sauce. Those 3 different types of beans had been cooked very well, resulting in a perfect consistency. There were large chunks of bacon in the dish to provide a nice change in each bite. The brains behind this dish included some nicely cooked down green peppers, plenty of minced garlic, and fresh green onion as a garnish. This added a depth of flavors that I've yet to encounter in any of the dishes I've sampled. There was a mild sweetness to these beans and it was balanced well with a smokey, spicy flavor. This was no doubt a result of the dish having been simmered in Lost Cabin Beer Company's "Ancho Libre" ale. Had I not needed to get up and sing my songs, I'd have had a couple more bowls of these.

Ratings (On a scale of 1-5)
Appearance: 4
Flavor: 4
Mouthfeel: 4

Total Score:  12
Tied for the highest score. 

For what it's worth,
Tastee Treat Drive Inn's Hot Fudge Shake: 5

This weekend I had a nice, 3 show run set up around eastern South Dakota. Friday night was Yankton. Saturday was Sioux Falls. On Sunday, well, I went back to Yankton. I had an early show on Saturday at The Source. An automated self-pour tap wall. I was in heaven. Had a nice show that afternoon, and some Sioux Falls friends I hadn't seen in a while even showed up. Anyway, I  had headed to the city with my wife after we determined Backyard BBQ was the place to go. We met some friends there. It was in the downtown Sioux Falls area, and it was packed. The downtown area, I mean. They had, what I'm told, is their first sanctioned PRIDE parade. It looked like supporters showed up in full force. Inside The Backyard BBQ was a different story. We were the sole patrons in the restaurant when we sat down. I would have guessed that they hadn't been busy for a while, as the two fellas there were more preoccupied with the college baseball game on TV than with taking our orders. Took some time to even get a drink order in...they could have used an automated tap wall. To make matters worse, we were subjected to a sound track of awful contemporary country music. Imagine my surprise when a couple Tyler Childers and Jason Isbell songs managed to make it in the mix. 

You want the beans, not the noise. 

At Backyard BBQ, their "Molasses Baked Beans" were a side option and I coupled it with a good pulled pork sandwich. The beans were served up in a black plastic cup. That cup was awfully small for my liking. They did manage to provide me with a spoon. I got all the utensils rolled up in napkin. Classic. There were two different types of beans in this dish, and they were cooked to a great consistency. Those two different types of beans were drowning. The bean-to-sauce ratio skewed high towards the later. There were no vegetables or peppers mixed into this dish, though the beans were accompanied by chunks of bacon. This added a nice textural component to the dish. The beans did have a nice sweetness to them, but it wasn't over the top, as one might expect with "Molasses Baked Beans". In not allowing the baked beans to be too sweet, they were balanced nicely with a good smoky flavor. Did I mention the serving size was too small? I could have had a lot more of these. 

Ratings (On a scale of 1-5)
Appearance: 3
Flavor: 3
Mouthfeel: 4

Total Score:10

For what it's worth,
The Sioux Falls community supporting PRIDE: 5

My wife and I took a trip. We were going to spend a week on Lake Superior's North Shore. M H Stroh had a poetry reading - her great poems from the self published collection "Mouthful of Agates". Friends were there. Fans were there, too. I also had a show at one of Duluth's newest breweries, Ursa Minor. It was a great space, with delicious beer and fantastic merchandise. The sound system made it hard for me to hear what I was sounding like, but the folks in attendance seemed to enjoy it all right. So, it was a working vacation of sorts. Our cabin was situated 25 to 30 feet from Lake Superior so we were able to fall asleep, and wake up to, the sound of the waves crashing on the rock. Hiking through Tettegouche, Split Rock Light House, and Gooseberry Falls State Parks afforded some great views. The weather was mostly nice, save the over-night blizzard we endured. We lost power and rode out the storm playing board games by flashlight.  
 
Beans, Messerole. They're here for the beans.

Before making our trip up the shore, we spent a couple of days in the Twin Cities metropolitan area where we ate and drank to our content. One of the first stops we made was the highly touted Modist Brewing Company. They didn't have a kitchen, but were accompanied by a food truck. An increasingly common site among the plethora of tap rooms I've visited. The Big Red Wagon had a variety of foods to offer, but we settled in on an order of cheese curds and a cup of baked beans. Health food. The beans from The Big Red Wagon were served in a nice sized paper cup, and they even provided me with a spoon. Read about that in the last few posts. From what I could gather, there was a couple different types of beans in this mixture and they were cooked very well. There were no vegetables to be found in this offering, but there was  hearty amount of pulled pork thrown into the mix. That coupled with the well cooked beans made for a fantastic consistency in the dish. The meat and beans were served in a robust sauce that carried your taste buds off in a variety of directions. Left scattered like dandelion pappus in metaphorical fields of sweet, spicy, and smokey flavors. These baked beans were served up in a great bean-to-sauce ratio, as well. If I can find a downfall to this dish, it's that they were served borderline cold. That, certainly, doesn't make it impossible to eat, it's just not what I had expected. Hence the 3 point consistency rating. Otherwise, these were nearly perfect.

Ratings (On a scale of 1-5)
Appearance: 4
Flavor: 5
Mouthfeel: 3

Total Score: 12
Tied for the highest score yet. 

For what it's worth,
​Modist Brewing's Apiary Drip: 5

My wife and I were headed up to St. Paul, MN for the Northern Lights Rare & Vintage Beer Festival. It was the 4th year that we've made the journey up to sample 3 floors worth of incredible craft beer inside the gorgeous Minnesota History Center. It's a fundraiser for Pints for Prostates, so you're really drinking for a good cause. As if I need one. Hunger struck us in southern Minnesota. Megan launched a full scale investigation into our dining options. Thank you, Google. 3rd Street Tavern was new to us, and their menu sounded delicious. In an otherwise bland stretch of food territory, it was a welcomed site. The restaurant itself was a trendy space with a kind staff.

​Kind staff? Sure. But, bring on those beans...

At 3rd Street Tavern they were served up in a nice sized, classic two-toned, ceramic ramekin. There was a large sized helping of the beans at least. Unfortunately, I wasn't given a spoon to eat them with. It's become an increasingly common problem. Am I crazy to want to use a spoon? Fork and beans. Fear not! I was able to overcome. The order itself was a single bean variety, and those beans were over cooked. I mean, well on their way to being refried. There was little substance to them and they'd best be described as mushy. Yes, mushy. I've used it before and, unfortunately, I'll probably have to use it again. The culinary minds behind these beans were not shy with the white onion. At all. Unlike the beans, the onions could have used a lot more time in the pot before they were dished up. The onion flavor was nearly overwhelming in contrast to the brown sugary-sweet sauce the beans were served in. Onion wasn't the only vegetable in the mix, these beans were also cooked with diced red bell pepper. I found this to be a nice addition, and uncommon. There were all sorts of textures in this dish. The mush of the beans and the crunch of the onion were complemented by a plethora of chunks of pork belly and smoked sausage. Easily the best part of the dish. The smoked meat helped add a smokier flavor that the side dish was otherwise missing. The addition of the meat saved this from being a complete mess, with the beans being way over cooked and the onion being under cooked. 

Ratings (On a scale of 1-5)
Appearance: 3
Flavor: 2
Mouthfeel: 2

Total Score: 7

For what it's worth,
​Northern Lights Rare & Vintage Beer Festival: 5

Yankton, South Dakota has become something of a second home to me while I’m out on the road. I have good friends in Ted & Alice Miller that live just outside of town, and I’ve had some of my more enjoyable shows at The AME Church, Ben’s Brewing, and The 6th Meridian Hop Farm. The second weekend in November had me back in Yankton for two more shows at the aforementioned Ben’s Brewing and AME Church. Friday night and Saturday night respectively. I got to split the Friday evening bill with The Millers and both of my shows went off without a hitch. Well, save getting pulled over Saturday night. No worries though, the Cedar County Sheriff’s Department deputy was kind. In between shows, my wife and I found more Midwest sushi and, you guessed it, BBQ.

If you’re still reading, it’s for the beans.

At Backroad BBQ, you have two different baked bean sides to choose from. I, of course, picked the "Smokey Baked Beans". My order was served up nice and hot in a classic ceramic bowl. This side dish was intriguing at first glance. Even though it was only a single bean variety, there was brisket and plenty of black pepper sprinkled in. These beans were cooked to a near perfect consistency and the brisket cooked down to be even more tender in the pot.

On a side note, I had their brisket burnt ends as a main course and they were delicious. Perfectly tender, served without sauce, and given a simple salt and pepper rub down before being smoked.

Anyhow, there was finely chopped white onion cooked in with the beans and that helped add to the sweetness of the sauce these beans were served in. Overall, this side dish did not have the smokey gusto that their name would suggest. Though, the brisket did help add a little smoke flavor to the dish.

Ratings (On a scale of 1-5)
Appearance: 3
Flavor: 3
Mouthfeel: 4

Total Score: 10

For what it’s worth,
6th Meridian Hop Farm's Craft Beer Garden: 5

My right hand man, and drummer, Tim Schroeder took a trip up to Mason City to work an afternoon show at Fat Hill Brewing. I had really been looking forward to this show and getting into this new venue. The show went well, despite being subjected to being background for some newlyweds wedding pictures. The joke is on them, though. They’re going to have my mug peeking up behind them in their wedding pictures for the rest of their lives. I must say, "Sweat Equity" ended up being a pretty decent first dance song. On top of that excitement, J.D. Scholten happened to stop into the tap room towards the end of our set. I did have a chance to talk to him, and he’s a fine man. I’m really disappointed his senate run didn’t turn out differently. Tim and I ate at The Rib Crib after the show. Then, like real “rock stars”, we grabbed several specialty bottles of beer and drank them in the hotel room. It had a pool, and we used it.

But, back to that dinner

At The Rib Crib, the baked beans are served up in the customary small black side dish. This batch was a single bean variety. The beans were over cooked and slightly mushy, unfortunately. However, there were large chunks of bacon and diced green peppers in the mix to help improve the dish’s consistency. The sauce on these beans was straight sweetness and there was no heat or smoke flavor present in this traditional BBQ side. My offering had a very high "sauce-to-bean" ratio, bordering on soup.

Ratings (On a scale of 1-5)
Appearance: 3
Flavor: 3
Mouthfeel: 2

Total score: 8

For what it’s worth,
​Fat Hill Brewing’s Brut IPA: 5

It was a Saturday afternoon and I was heading back to Marshalltown, IA for another show at Iowa River Brewing Company. I split the night with a pop country trio and the plates on their RV showed they were from Minnesota. That was...what it was. Anyhow, the weather was nice that evening and I got to play outside on Iowa River Brewing's beautiful patio. I had a good group of folks turn out to the show and show some love for my songs. A standing ovation had never happened for me, until that night. But, back to the trip. Fortunately for me Bondurant was on the route, directly. I swung into Reclaimed Rails Brewing Company that has, again fortunately for me, partnered with the next door barbecue joint Boxcar BBQ. Craft beer and barbecue. My heart, and stomach, were full. 

​Getting sappy. Back to the food!

These beans were served up in the classic white styrofoam cup and they were steaming hot. These were of a single bean variety and came served up in a sweet sauce. If they had had a little more spice to them, these would have been near perfect baked beans. In addition to the beans, this dish had a small amount of finely diced white onion cooked in it. The geniuses behind this concoction also threw in large chunks of their pulled pork, which added a nice change in consistency from the perfectly cooked beans. Plus, you get a sampling of their delicious pulled pork as a bonus. 

Ratings (On a scale of 1-5)
Appearance: 3
Flavor: 4
Mouthfeel: 5

Total Score: 12
The best beans I've had all year. 

For what it's worth,
Reclaimed Rails Brewing Company's 1884 Coffee & Cream Ale (not pictured): 5

I made my way down to Omaha on a Friday night. I had thrown my hat in on a 4 songwriter bill at The Barley Street Tavern. It's situated on a side street, next to an alley, in the "up and coming" Benson neighborhood. The Barley Street Tavern was a diamond in the rough...except the opposite of that. An old tree stump in the middle of a wildflower field. That doesn't quite have the same ring to it, but you get the point. It was comfortable being a dive bar in an otherwise gentrified part of town. A dive bar of the first order, I'll have you know. Neon sign and all. I had a short set that went well, and it was a pleasure to share time with 3 other talented guys. I especially liked Tom Bartolomei's songs and I think you would too. 

Unsolicited artist promo over.

Let me tell you. These beans were...sold out. They must have been good. If the green beans, ribs, or cornbread were any indication, I'm sure they were delicious. Also I got creamed cucumbers instead of coleslaw, but I'm not complaining. 

Ratings (On a scale of 1-5)
Appearance: 0
Flavor: 0
Mouthfeel: 0

Total Score: 0

For what it's worth,
​Tom Bartolomei's songs: 5
(Now the unsolicited artist promo is over)