for the love of poutine.....




I got back from Montreal on Monday and have been basically living on brown rice and lentils ever since.  My toe is still F'd in the A, but I have been riding my bike and doing tons of push-ups.   I will keep at it.  Weight is around 216 which is not optimal, but under 220 which is better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick.

My cat, Captain Marmalade, may be coming back home Monday as my parents are nervous about having him at their house in PA.  Their fear (and mine) is that he may run out into the street and get squooshed by a car.   I miss the little bugger and would be glad to have him back.

Montreal was amazing.  The weather was not so hot, but the food was redic.  I ate at Joe Beef Friday night and Au Pied de Cochon Saturday night.   Sunday night I ate at a great wine bar called Buvette Chez Simon.    I am still digesting I think.

At Joe Beef we started with a dozen Oysters followed by Razor Clams (with shaved foie gras a top them).  We followed this with a beef "gravlax" and then a 1/2 smoked duck.  We finished with a hazelnut cake and a couple glasses of Amaro.  You can see all this via my instagram. BTW...
https://www.instagram.com/daveygraverson/

At Au Pied de Cochon we went banana's.  We had Oysters, Asparagus and Morel mushrooms with veal demi and a fondue of parmesan, FOIE GRAS Poutine (thats french fries with cheese curds, seared foie gras and foie gras gravy) and an ENTIRE pigs head stuffed with a whole lobster & pommes aligote (thats potato puree emulsified with cheese curds.... OY).   Oh yeah,  it was also sprinkled in gold leaf.....   I would say we did pretty damned good considering it was just two of us.

So needless to say, I need to work out like crazy now to work this off.   I am still limping a wee bit, but I will try to play a round of golf this weekend and hopefully try to go for a run in two weeks.  The 4th of July in fact!

Until then its bike and push-ups.  And a whole lot of lentils.

limping along day to day


So my toe feels a lot better, but is still quite sore and still looks pretty nasty.  My limp is not as pronounced and I can go up and down stairs with more ease.  I still think I am probably a month away from trying to go out for a jog.  I have been doing tons of push-ups (my broke toe/foot straddling my good foot/heel) and my diet is back in action.

I am still right around 215 lbs (which sucks big, hairy, donkey balls) but I am keeping a pretty good eye on what I eat.  Unfortunately with Montreal looming all bets are gone.  I will probably just eat cabbage and lentils for a month when I get back.

I have started drinking green tea as a coffee supplement. It's not the same.  I find it similar to drinking swamp water.   I still have a coffee in the morning, but I drink the green tea during the day to keep my cups of coffee to one.  I will hopefully start riding my bike again soon.  I still want to rest my foot for another week or so before riding.   I am in no hurry to re-injure my foot.   I swear, I feel like a middle aged man.

The New York Mets are not offering any support either.  They are on a losing streak that shows no signs of slowing down.  We lost both games of a double header yesterday to the Pirates for the love of Krishna.   I could have really used a couple of wins in my injured state.  I need some pep dammit!  Oh well. It's a long season and I will spend much of it on the couch.

Lunch today is a cabbage salad with chickpeas, red peppers, chili paste and roast chicken!

I also had an avocado for breakfast.... and a banana.

Still winning.

RIP

The Greatest that ever was.

things to be done.



I bought a pull-up bar.  I am going to exercise while I am hobbled.  Somehow dammit, I am going to burn calories whilst I am an invalid.  I think push-ups, pull-ups and planks should keep me busy for the foreseeable future.  I will probably start riding my bike to work again starting next week.  I am off to Montreal next weekend and I foresee about 1,000,000,000,000 calories in my near future.

My first night there (Friday the 10th) I am going to Joe Beef.  They are known for sheer indulgence in portion size as well as just plain caloric blasphemy.  I may have to walk about 20 miles the next day to counter act some of my feasting.  I am looking forward to their wine list as it is apparently quite interesting.  A lot of natural wines and, though I am on the fence when it comes to the "natural" wine movement, I'm hoping to get an education during my meal.

Saturday night we go to Au Pied De Cochon.  If ever a glutton had his Titanic, this meal may be it.  Excess, luxury, fat, fat and more fat.  Chances are I will be throwing up most of this meal, so maybe the calorie count will remain stable Saturday.  Here's hoping I have the courage to go all in and not faint at the sight of all that decadence.  Foie Gras Pizza?  Foie Gras Poutine?  Heaven help me.

Other than that I imagine dinner at a Bistro Sunday and at least 1 poutine a day.  Not to mention the Giant breakfasts and smoked meats for lunch.  I should probably just walk back to New York on Monday..... Oh yeah, there will also be good beer, bagels and real cheese.  I am seriously screwed.

I think my next long weekend might have to be at a yoga retreat.

god dammit



So I am out for 6-8 more weeks.  I fractured my middle toe.  We had a delivery of 1,200 cases of wine at work two days ago.  I had a palette of wine that weighed roughly 2,400 pounds on a palette jack and I ran it right over my foot.  Ouch.

I have been icing it for two days and keeping it elevated.  I need to get to CVS and pick up some wraps to keep my toe compressed.  I am very bummed.  Its like the universe doesn't want me to train.
I am sure this happens to everyone at some point and i'm sure i'll get through it.  It just sucks.

I hope I will be able to ride my bike fairly soon as I would like to have some sort of exercise happening.  But until then plenty of baseball, Game of Thrones and Netflix for me.

addendum II


I drove up to my parents house in PA last night after work (2 1/2 hours) to see my cat, Captain Marmalade.

He looked freaked out.

He ran around like a crackhead for about 20 minutes and then it was all meows and purrs and kneading of paws.  We hung out and caught up on Game of Thrones.  I think he likes the dragons.

I had taken a ribeye out of the freezer on Monday when I dropped off The Captain and I cooked it last night when I, finally, got there.  I had it with some asparagus, pomme puree and a mushroom sauce that I made using some chicken stock, cream and cognac.  I may have gone a little overboard.....

I took a pork chop out of the freezer this morning before driving back to New York (3 hours in traffic).  I am going to have that Saturday night with a nice salad of greens from my mom's garden.
Sunday, if my cold is completely gone,  I am going to go for a run.

That is all.

addendum


Matt Harvey did not come through on Tuesday, but I still have high hopes for him.

The word hubris comes to mind when I think of Mr. Harvey.   He believed the hype too much too soon.  I think he will go through a period of reflection, perhaps gain some modesty and then move forward.  Or so I hope anyway.

Mr. Steven Matz pitched a hell of a game yesterday.  

The Mets are poised to go all the way this year.  Lets stay healthy boys.