Archive for the year 2020
Brunch and Bingo
Posted on October 3, 2020 by Ching under Things to Do.
If you’re looking for something fun to do on a Sunday, check out Brunch and Bingo at Chicken N Pickle. They’ve been doing it for a while but I didn’t get a chance to check it out until a couple of weeks ago. Now I’m hooked!
The best part of Brunch and Bingo is that it’s absolutely free to play. You only pay for any food or drinks you enjoy while you’re there so it’s good, cheap fun. Also, bloody marys and mimosas are just $5 during brunch.
Here are some pics from the two times I’ve been.
Two weeks ago Rick won an Engage Encore MX 6.0 paddle. It’s worth $150!
I’ve gotten close several times and then finally on Sunday I got a bingo and won this awesome shirt. It’s actually my second black skyline shirt. I also have it in the gray and white colors because I love it so much.
Several players from the Sunday morning open play stayed to play bingo this time. Here’s the huge stack of bingo cards they amassed at their table.
Brenda and Rick are regulars. This is an every Sunday thing for them.
Christian and his family also came to check things out.
Anyway, if you’re looking for something fun to do this weekend, I highly recommend going to Chicken N Pickle for Brunch and Bingo. I’m filling in for someone in the Wichita Fall-Out tournament at Riverside Tennis Center (more on this later); otherwise, I’d be there tomorrow. I’ll be back next weekend, though.
No Comments
2020 Bob Jackson Friendship Tournament
Posted on October 2, 2020 by Ching under Events, Hobbies.
I played in the 4th annual Bob Jackson Friendship Tournament a couple of weeks ago. I played in this tournament for the first time last year and did pretty decent but didn’t make the podium. This year I made the podium in both events that I played in. My mixed partner Tom Pham and I took gold in our pool and my women’s doubles partner Renae DeSantis and I took bronze in our pool. It would have been great to take first place in both events but I’m pretty happy with my performance over all considering I didn’t even place last year.
Here are some fun podium pics from our pool.
And a more serious picture below.
Second place went to Robert Bell and Amy Jaramillo. Third place went to Chris Wilson and Kimberly Howe.
Here’s the podium pic from our women’s doubles pool. First place went to Amy Jaramillo and Jody Vinson. Second place went to Krystal Fosnight and Huyen Nguyen. And then Renae and I took third.
Here’s the podium pic from the other mixed pool. Doug Mitchell and Brooke Ayala took first place. Mark Smith and my women’s doubles partner Renae took second. Cameron and Mikayla Tucker took third.
In the other women’s doubles pool, Fong Witte and Sarah Johnico took first. Mikayla Tucker and Amy Poynter took second. Vi Dang and Janelle Lindeman took third. This pool, though not quite as tough as our pool, also had some really amazing pickleball players in it.
The guys had several pools. This were the winners of the medium pool. Mason McCanless and Cameron Tucker for first. Monty Ayala and Chris Wilson in second. Brandon Tran and Tommy Chau in third.
In the more advanced (higher level) pool, the winners were: Chase Prewett and Evgeniy Kim in first, Steve Vetter and Kyle Starkel in second, and Dave Belew and Donnie Lesperance in third.
There was also lower level men’s pool and, for the first time ever, a juniors pool.
The event had a great turnout. There were even more people this year than last year, despite the whole COVID pandemic situation. I love that this tournament just keeps getting bigger and better each year.
Here are some action shots that Brian got of me and Tom playing.
The tournament was so much fun and the weather was perfect for it. I look forward to playing in this event again next year. Until next time. GNG.
No Comments
Autumn & Art 2020
Posted on October 1, 2020 by Ching under Events, Food and Drink.
The Autumn & Art Patron Party in a Box was cool but it was no substitute for the real deal. Also, our food was delivered around 4:30 pm so by the time I got off work and Brian got home and we were both ready to enjoy it, the food was cold and that was kind of a bummer. The goodies they sent were cool, though.
They gave us a couple of the “beer and spirits” boxes with all sorts of goodies inside.
Brian was excited about the Stella goblets because he broke his Stella pilsner glass a while ago and these were an even better replacement.
We each got an Autumn & Art face covering, which we were both excited about even though we have dozens of face masks now (Brian just keeps buying them for some reason) because these were limited edition ones with the Autumn & Art print on them. Thanks, Evergy!
We also got two sacks full of food from Bradley Fair restaurants.
The fresh roses were a nice touch.
YaYa’s sent caprese salad, a chicken salad taco kit, a small piece of carrot cake and a chocolate chip cookie.
We also got some delicious hummus from Bella Luna.
Delicious pasta dish from Bella Luna.
Although cold by the time I got to it, this chicken and rice dish form Bella Luna was my favorite. Brian heated his in the microwave.
I did not get a picture of the coq au vin from Newport Grill. It didn’t present or photograph well after being transported in a plastic to go container. The South Carolina she-crab soup they sent was delicious, though. Brian didn’t care for it so I ate his portion too.
Homegrown sent a couple of bottles of their bloody mary mix. I didn’t get a photo of those either. I don’t really drink bloody marys so I gave the two bottles to my friend Brooke.
Besides the food and the bloody mary mix, we also got some little bottles of Tito’s and four bottles of Stella but they weren’t cold so we couldn’t drink them that night. Or maybe they were cold when they were first delivered? They weren’t cold when we sat down though so we just drank our own stuff.
Brian and I tried to get on the website to participate in the virtual party but we couldn’t figure it out. We think there was something wrong with the sight. I was a little disappointed that I skipped pickleball, actually. I totally could have played and just ate the cold food when I got home later that night. LOL. I wanted to see what this virtual party thing was all about, though. It was definitely no substitute for the real deal. Stupid COVID ruins everything. Hopefully things will be somewhat back to normal next year. Until then, GNG.
No Comments
The Winter Soldier
Posted on September 30, 2020 by Ching under Confessions, Life.
I had some friends from pickleball over one night and, when we went down to the basement, Jen T was like, “Is that Pat on your wall?” I burst into a fit of laughter because of my sheer and utter nerdiness. Why, yes, it is Patrick Smith (and also Jocelyn Devilliers). What do you guys think of it? The poster was an early birthday present from my friend Matt Mayfield and, being a fan girl through and through, I had to frame and hang it.
Here are a couple of pictures that Matt took of the guys signing the poster, which proves the authenticity of their signatures.
I actually saw these photos posted on Facebook and, at the time, had no idea that the poster was for me. Matt said he would give me one but I thought he was just joking. I didn’t realize he was serious. I happened to be at Chicken N Pickle the Tuesday before Pat’s birthday when Matt came over and surprised me with the poster. I thought it was ironic that I was getting a present when it wasn’t even my birthday but I guess it’s in honor of Pat’s birthday. Besides, any reason to get (or give) a present is as good an excuse as any.
Anyway, Pat and I are friendly but we aren’t close friends. Our relationship is mostly fan girl to pickleball idol but I still felt compelled to do something nice for him for his birthday. Karen had this brilliant idea to get fan shirts made. It was perfect timing too because that previous weekend Lauren McLaughlin (of Live with Lauren fame) christened Pat with his official pickleball nickname – the Winter Solider. Karen gave me free reign on the t-shirt design so I decided to embrace his new nickname and hashtag by putting it on our fan shirts. I pictured something like the “I <3 NY" shirts but with #WinterSoldier underneath it and Nicole with Simply Charming Designs executed on this vision perfectly.
Karen and I gleefully wore our “I <3 PAT SMI" fan shirts to pickleball during Pat's birthday weekend proving, without a doubt, that we are his biggest fans.
Karen, who is an amazing cook, also baked a delicious cheesecake for Pat on his birthday. We got to enjoy it on Saturday evening and then she brought him a slice the next day. Karen makes such delicious food. So far I’ve had her lasagna (twice), peach pie, Dutch baby pancakes, and cheesecake, and I have enjoyed all of it.
Anyway, Lauren saw the fan shirts we made and she wanted one too but she wanted a tank top instead of a t-shirt. I got these very special white ones made for the two of us and sent hers as a gift to show my appreciation for the very awesome nickname that she gave to Pat. I can’t wait to see her wear hers! There’s an APP tournament coming up that it will be perfect for — the Cincinnati Pickleball Open coming up in a couple of weeks will be hosted by Jocelyn Devilliers and Patrick Smith. Lauren will be one of the commentators for that event so I’m hoping to see her wear her shirt then. I won’t be there in person but I’ll wear mine at home to show my support. At least we can twin from afar.
Speaking of showing support, I got a couple of other shirts made for me and Karen for the weekend of the Cincinnati Open. We got blue shirts this time because it’s Pat’s favorite color. I’m so excited to wear these shirts because I think they turned out great. Also, Nicole got them done early enough that we can even wear them this weekend for the Texas Open, which Jay and Pat are playing in together.
Besides the Texas Open, the Wichita Fall-Out pickleball tournament is also happening this weekend. It sucks that they’re happening at the same time because I know some people really wanted to be able to play in both tournaments and had to make some difficult choices (can’t be in two places at once). Anyway, I’m glad that tournaments are happening again. One of these days I’ll be able to play in one. Until then, GNG.
No Comments
Dutch Baby Pancakes
Posted on September 29, 2020 by Ching under Food and Drink.
A couple of weeks ago, Karen invited me and our friend Lesli over to her house for a post-pickleball breakfast treat. She was making Dutch Baby pancakes. I naturally couldn’t turn it down because (a) I enjoy trying new things and I’d never had a Dutch Baby before, (b) everything Karen makes is amazing, and (c) I love food, specially free food.
Here are some pictures of the finished dish.
I’m not sure if this is the same as Karen’s recipe but I found this Dutch Baby recipe online and I think it’s very close.
INGREDIENTS:
3 eggs
½ cup flour
½ cup milk
1 tablespoon sugar
Pinch of nutmeg
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
Syrup, preserves, confectioners’ sugar or cinnamon sugar
PREPARATION:
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Combine eggs, flour, milk, sugar and nutmeg in a blender jar and blend until smooth. Batter may also be mixed by hand.
3. Place butter in a heavy 10-inch skillet or baking dish and place in the oven. As soon as the butter has melted (watch it so it does not burn) add the batter to the pan, return pan to the oven and bake for 20 minutes, until the pancake is puffed and golden. Lower oven temperature to 300 degrees and bake five minutes longer.
4. Remove pancake from oven, cut into wedges and serve at once topped with syrup, preserves, confectioners’ sugar or cinnamon sugar.
Karen used fresh fruit instead of preserves, which I think makes it even better. She also made homemade whipped cream.
Check out the video above for the making of this delicious treat. Thanks, Karen!
No Comments
