Talk about a whirlwind tour…

I cut a giant swathe through the lower Midwest last week, pitching business and eating just about everything in sight. Now I’m back home with a glass of alka seltzer by my bed, wondering what the heck happened. It was one of those rambling trips that featured all sorts of reality check moments. Tuesday night was a good example, whereby — through some strange string of events — I found myself in the basement bar of an Italian social club in Rockford, Illinois (the St. Ambrosius Mutual Benefit Society) for their annual summer bocce league kickoff meeting. How did I get there? I still don’t know exactly, though I did manage to snag myself a t-shirt and glass of decent pinot grigio. Very nice people.

The rest of the trip’s progress you can follow, if you wish, here at a groovy new look book called Sugar Bombers. Several weeks ago the kind people there invited me to become one of their “dictators” and now I snap pictures of desserts pretty much everywhere I go. It’s a fun job, but one I definitely pay for at the gym.

Be patient with me as I ramp things back up here at joepastry.com, I also brought back a touch of the flu!