Start a Love Train, Love Train!!! and Chicago BBQ

Hyde Park is "MAKING SOME NOISE" with the Hyde Park Arts Festival this weekend and that means Barbecue! This is not some small circle grill barbecue but legitimate "feed a city"-sized, visible smoke, soul food barbecue. Hyde Park showed up with tons of Obama gear, dreadlocks, sun dresses, and do-wooping blues, hip hop fusioned groups that blasted through my apartment.

Saturday was jerk chicken, collard greens, mac 'n cheese (of course!), corn bread with hot sauce from Stella's Market & Catering. OK, chicken was a little dry, but everything else was solid. I'l probably hit up this scene when I get back to Philly.


My roommates were pretty shifty on some of the Caribbean food options around our apartment, and I've had some bad experiences myself, but I would recommend this stuff.

this was way at the beginning, in 10 minutes a lot of this was blown away

Sunday, it was insanely hot and I was grabbing some corn on the cob (more on that later) when a golf cart zoomed through the tents: "Storm in 10 minutes." It did not take 10 minutes for the 60 mph winds to whip through the street ripping tents sideways and down the sidewalks. I joined a bunch of other people who lived in the area who ran down to help hold tarps over books, dresses, jewelry and soaps. 
After an hour and a half of flash flood rains and helping out different vendors with a pretty cool chica named Kathy, I finally got back to my apartment to dry off, see some of the EuroCup, and try that corn. 


Let me start by saying I hate mayonnaise. The Deutsch Dude is a big proponent of the German style fries smothered in mayonnaise. Even in my sandwiches I'm always a little....eh....
So, when I ordered my corn Chicago style, and said "Absolutely" when asked if I wanted everything on it, I was a bit apprehensive when the guy in the back grabbed my corn of the grill and simultaneously opened a giant Miracle-Whip container.

So based off what I saw this is how you dress up some corn on the cob Chicago-style:

      1) Slather a fair coat of mayo on the corn 

      2) Cover that with some grated parmesan on top 

      3) Sprinkle that with chili powder 

      4) Take a hefty lime wedge and squeeze it over
      everything

The guy handed it to me with a smile and a "hope you stay outta the rain." Well, we know how that turned out. But, after I got back and changed I snapped some photos and took a bite. 

Oh my god. This corn was incredible. Absolutely incredible. I can never imagine eating corn any other way.

My message to you guys, this Fourth eat your corn Chicago style.
Oh, and listen to some smooth disco, bluesy hits, which is exactly what Hyde Park and I did when the sun came up. Happy Fourth, everybody!!!!