A friend of mine today made a comment that made me think that Milton's had closed up shop.  I panicked and thought of all of the true diner experiences I had there, and their wonderful pancakes.

Then I took a breath and called them.  A person sounding 'normal' answered the phone, and I shakily asked how long they were open that day.  They replied, 11pm.  I said, "are you going to close?  for good?", and he replied, "no!  come down and visit us!".

I smiled and hung up.  Now, Milton's IS for sale, so it is just a matter of time before the creeping behemoth of EDo swallows it up, so please swing by and have a rare meal in urban areas nowadays – the old-school diner occasion.

I do like frozen sweet things quite a bit, from Trader Joe's dark cherries to locally-made gelato.

But when I'm out in my own personal hinterlands, the reigning genre is custard.

And when in the Midwest, ya do as the locals do and you head for Kopp's:

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I had the black raspberry which was deep purple and fabulously eggy, and my mom had the Heath Bar – one of my old favorite B&J's flavors from college days.

My only lament is that I wasn't there for the special flavor Sprecher Root Beer – mmmmmm.

Thank gawd it's time for a wee bit of fun in the middle of this long as hell week.

Get thee to yer store and pick up some meat, for it is the day that we all squint with one eye and make up some BBQ, for it be Pirate Food!

Don't forget any appetizers that look like planks, as well….

In my opinion, these next two weekends have so much going on that they just might be the two most interesting and jam-packed yummy days of this fall.

My problem?  I'm freakin' out of town for both of them – the nerve of my vacation planning!

Here's what I'm missing, so you don't have to.  Please live it up in my absence and I promise I'll get to the fair after I return if there's any pie left.

Sept 8th:  Pie Festival in Pie Town, NM.  Ok, its a drive from the Duke City, but it's pretty and if you've never seen Pie Town it is pretty darn neat.

State Fair – Starting the 8th and going until after I'm back, so I'll be able to get me some PIE!

Chile roasting continues, on darn near every parking lot and farmer's market from here to Chimayo…. and I hope it continues long after I'm back.

Ok, there's more.  Chef du Jour is welcoming back Jennifer James (see earlier post about that), and there are still tons of new restaurants opening and rennovating that I must explore.

I visited Cafe O on their last day of operation and they were unfortunately going out not with a whimper, but just as expediously as they could possibly muster up.

By that I mean the service was polite but not happy, the rolls good but not as big as I've had before, the atmosphere… well, it was just kind of eerie.

I almost wished I hadn't gone; to hold the little oasis of fresh and healthy fast food in my thoughts when there was always the promise of one more trip back in the future might have been a better decision… like the dream Tommy has in Rescue Me, seeing his dead friends and being wrestled to the ground away from the scene by someone who tells him, "you're NOT going to remember them that way."

But I still went, held aloft the little plastic cups of secret-recipe O Sauce as a solitary toast, and I had me one last Crab Avocado roll.

Cafe O, I miss ya already.