Food Trucks, Beer & BBQ...

I spend way to much time watching Travel Channel & Food Network shows. When I am just sitting around at home, I will usually gravitate towards the TV and watch Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, Man vs. Food, Food Truck Paradise, Eat Street  or The Great Food Truck Race. In fact, one of the best movies I saw this year was Chef (Chef Movie Trailer), which was about a man and his Food Truck journey.  I always daydream about being able to eat at the places shown and wishing I could have those types of choices near where I lived. Well, living in Minneapolis has afforded me that opportunity...

Yesterday was a gorgeous fall day with plenty of blue skies. A perfect day for a food adventure. We started off by going to the Fall Feast Food Truck Rally (Fall Feast Food Truck Rally) at Harriet Brewery in Minneapolis. 18 food trucks and craft beer...A perfect Saturday afternoon.

We started off with Harriet Divine Oculust (Divine Oculust) and Westside IPA (Westside IPA). With beer in hand, we surveyed the food truck choices. First stop was Pepper-Jack Philly Express for a Philly Cheese Steak (Pepperjack Philly Express). Second best cheese steak I have ever had, and neither of them were in Philadelphia!

Next we moved on to Tot Boss. Now, I have eaten at this truck before when we went to the Canterbury Park Food Truck Event this summer. But, it bears repeating that the Poutine Tots are out of this world. (Tot Boss).

After a break for a beer refill, we moved on over to the the Midnord Empanada Truck (Midnord Empanadas). We enjoyed the Bacon Cheeseburger Empanadas and an order of Yuca Fries with Chimichurri sauce. Outstanding.

The event was held in the parking lot of Harriet Brewery with all the food trucks parked around the outside with a double row in the middle. Tables were set up in the open spaces to stop and eat your food. While looking for a table, we met two very nice couples who were nice enough to lets us join them for food, drink and conversation. This led to an attempt to walk a few blocks to visit the DuNord Distillery (DuNord Craft Spirits), but alas, it was not open to the public yet. This will bear a repeat visit when ready to go. At that point, we said goodbye to our new friends and tried to think of what we could do next.

We were near the Diamond Lake area, so, we dropped in for a visit with our "City Friends" Jeff & Gina. Despite being packed to the gills with beer and food truck fare, Jeff had a hankering for some barbeque, so down the street we went to Scott Ja-Mama's Barbeque (Scott Ja-Mama's).

We ordered two pulled pork dinners, two chicken dinners and one half slab of ribs. While waiting for our food, Scott treated us to absolutely the best BBQ Chicken Sandwich I have ever had! 

We managed to eat all the BBQ and after a little College Football, decided to call it a night and head back to Happy Prairie, stuffed and content. Thanks to our Food Truck Rally Friends and as always, Jeff & Gina for a great afternoon!

A Doctor takes his own advice...

I suppose one of the leading reasons we don't look forward to our 50th birthday is the dreaded screening colonoscopy. I have managed to put mine off until today, aged 52 years, 10 months, 11 days. I used several excuses for the delay. I'm too busy, I was looking for a new job, I was too busy preparing to move, I was too busy moving, I just moved, I was too busy unpacking the new house, my insurance does not start until June, I have to wait 6 weeks after having diverticulitis...It was that recent episode of diverticulitis that really set my mind to thinking. Was it diverticulitis, or something more sinister.

 One of my colleagues figured out that we will diagnose an average of 3.5 new cases of colon cancer, per year, per provider. In 2014, 136,830 people will be diagnosed with Colon Cancer...50,310 will die from it. It is the second leading cause of cancer death in the United States. Your overall risk of having colon cancer is 5-6% and it is PREVENTABLE (Colon Cancer Alliance). So, after finally running out of excuses, I took my own advice and had a colonoscopy.

The easy part was scheduling it. I asked my partner Steve if he would be willing to come in on a Saturday morning and take care of it for me and he agreed. I would like to thank him for taking time out of his Saturday morning to do this for me. Time passes quickly leading up to C-Day and before you know it, reading the prep instructions is on your to do list for the day. As a gastroenterologist, I hear day in and day out that the colonoscopy preparation is some kind of torture device left over from the Spanish Inquisition (Spanish Inquisition). I am here to tell you otherwise. While it will not make my list of Top Ten things to do on a Friday Night (Friday Night Fun in Minneapolis), it was really not all that bad. Just make sure you pick a better Gatorade flavor. Riptide Frost is to be avoided at all costs.

2 Quarts of prep solution is not that bad...

The next biggest complaint I hear is how hard it is to "starve" the day before the procedure by sticking to a clear liquid diet. Heads up people...children in Africa are starving...clear liquids for 36 hours prior to a colonoscopy is a small inconvenience. I rather enjoyed my sojourn from the daily meal grind. You can drink all the Mt.Dew you want, you will learn how good simple chicken broth can taste, and you will rediscover a long, lost love for Jello! Plus, your lunch fits in your pocket.

After all the anticipatory prepping and repeated worst case scenario nightmares, colonoscopy day was finally here. Driving to the hospital was not a problem. No pit stops were needed for last minute potty breaks. After a brief registration, we were whisked off to the the pre-procedure room where my wife decided that a photograph was needed. After all, Facebook had been waiting for this moment for 2 years, 10 months and 12 days.

Crying on the inside...

I will admit, despite the fact that I have performed over 15,000 of these procedures, I was still a wee bit nervous. The nursing staff knows what kind of patients we can be and were quite accommodating. They put me at ease and I would like to thank them for that! For those of you who are curious, I received 100 mcg of Fentanyl and 4 mg of Versed. Given that everybody always asks how far the colonoscope is inserted & how long the scope is, I will divulge trade secrets. The average depth of insertion is about 75 cm.For those of you with an insatiable need to know how many feet that is, go the extra mile (Cm to Feet Conversion). The scope itself is 160 cm long. I can honestly say that I have no recollection of the procedure and the first thing I remember is sitting up in the post-procedure area asking if we were finished.

Normal exam...Good for 10 years!

The best part of a colonoscopy is that afterwords you can go wherever you want and have breakfast. We went to the Edina Grill and it did not disappoint...Best breakfast I have had in a long time. Highly recommended! (Edina Grill).  The warm doughnut holes with cinnamon sugar, chocolate sauce & vanilla icing were fantastic...

The moral of the story is...If you are 50 years old, have your colonoscopy, prevent colon cancer, and have a great breakfast afterwards. It really is that simple. And by the way, it was all within a 10 mile radius...