A Season of Nerd

This is a late post on geeking it up with my kids. I previously posted on taking my daughter to W00tstock in NYC, and in return I took my son to PAX East in Boston this year.



PAX (Penny Arcade Expo) is perhaps the most fan based gaming exposition in the country. It is run the way gamers would enjoy, the unoficial motto is "Don't be a Dick" the security is all volunteer force of "enforcers" cookies are sold to benefit Childs Play and concerts are held on the first two nights.

Welcome to PAX from Eugenio Monasterio on Vimeo.

We cruised through the exhibitor section,



and my son liked this the most so we spent a lot of time playing prerelease games.



3d games, kinect games, etc. I had planned on attending more of the talks and sessions but the boy was having too much fun, so I hung with him.






We did have great food though we managed our time between the conference and great food. We ate at the Legal Test food Kitchen, which is a test restaurant for Legal Sea Food.



(During happy hour oysters are a dollar),



The Barking Crab great seafood, although a very crowded touristy place.





In the evenings concerts dominated the expo.



But on the first night, The Omeganauts dominated the scene with a live giant Jenga competition.

PAX Jenga 1 from Eugenio Monasterio on Vimeo.

PAX Jenga 2 from Eugenio Monasterio on Vimeo.

PAX Jenga 3 from Eugenio Monasterio on Vimeo.

PAX Jenga 4 from Eugenio Monasterio on Vimeo.

PAX Jenga 5 from Eugenio Monasterio on Vimeo.

PAX Jenga 6 from Eugenio Monasterio on Vimeo.

PAX Jenga 7 from Eugenio Monasterio on Vimeo.

That was followed by a concert, so we never made it back to the hotel till very late. The next morning



we rallied





we chilled in the sumo lounge



and hung out at the Harpoon brewery



Tremendous collection of beer cans... billy beer



old school ">Schafer


Generic beer



We played some old school arcade games



The concerts where awesome, but our favorite was Jonathan Coulton

Mr Fancy Pants from Eugenio Monasterio on Vimeo.

I am glad to be shopping here with you + Mandelbrot Set from Eugenio Monasterio on Vimeo.

Go check out his songs at JonathanCoulton.com
We had a great time, check out PAX with your kids.

THREE MONSTER FISH HEADS IN A BROKEDOWN COOLER MAKE A DAMN FINE CURRY

Fish head curry story on Stunt Foodways.



Stunt Foodways

Low and high brow

pork liver pate
Originally uploaded by EatingVideo

On the high end of our weekend the boy and I hit Secco Wine Bar for our second visit as we had had a great time the first time around. The menu had changed a bit, but we still had great food.
we started with the cheese and salumi plate.



The cheese was excellent: Roncal, Ewes, Blue
The meats also tremendous: Jamon Iberico, and a Lomo for local producer Olio.
We also shared the Tortilla de Hongos (fritata with fungi)



We shared the Venison Sausage with white beans



and the pork liver pate



oh yeah and I had a beer (whatever was on the specials board)



Once again we had a very fun time, sat at the bar and shared small plates of interesting foods. Would reccomend to all.

Kale chips

Kale seasoned
Originally uploaded by EatingVideo

Many of the bloggers on eatingrichmond, have posted their versions of Kale chips or dehydrated kale. EatingBirdFood, CaramelizedOpinions are just a couple of examples. I had fried some kale to a crispy finish in another dish, but decided to bake it for this one. The Kale was accompanied by thinly sliced country pork ribs seasoned and thinly cut, cooked a la plancha or on a hot dry skillet.

I washed the Kale and cut out the main stem or rib.



after trimming



I dressed it with olive oil and seasoned salt (lowry's) and layered it on a rack over a tray. I then placed it in the preheated convection oven at 325 deg F. for 12 minutes. They shrink and get brown on the edges.



they end up very crispy and tasty, this is how we served it



great side dish, or snack as many other people serve it. It is easy and quick and certainly can be seasoned a million ways.