And that’s exactly what Lazybones Smokehouse makes with its house-smoked bacon: pig candy.

“We get a whole pork belly and smoke it over apple wood from a local orchard,” says Jenny Smiljanovki, wife of Chef Benny, owner of Lazybones Smokehouse. “We smoke it with an apple cider vinegar mop for 1½-2 hours. After the smoking process, we coat it with brown sugar and spices – a little bit of sweet and a little bit of spicy, bake it and roll it in brown sugar when it comes out of the oven. “

If this sounds like anything that should be illegal, it’s at least packaged that way. As I paid for and made my way off with a baggie of the good stuff, I pulled out a candied line of bacon and took in a heavy hit of smoky, sweet and peppery spiciness that could have flavored an entire barbecue pork sandwich in just one little bite.

Pig candy will be one of the delicacies served at Baconfest Michigan at the Royal Oak Farmers Market on Saturday, June 2. If you can’t wait until then, you can pick some pig candy at the Lazybones’ locations in Roseville and Clinton Township. If you really want to amp up the bacon euphoria, get a couple of triple chocolate brownies that are kicked up with pig candy in the mix.

Lazybones Smokehouse is located at 27475 Groesbeck Highway in Roseville and 43203 Garfield Road in Clinton Township.

Which brings us to BACONFEST, June 2 at the Royal Oak Farmer’s Market. The event is already sold out, so if you’re lucky enough to have your hands on a ticket, here’s a couple treats in store.

Gord’s Canadian Bacon

Everyone likes bacon for breakfast, but I admit, it’s probably not the healthiest thing if eaten in mass quantities. For a change, why not try some Gord’s Canadian Peameal Bacon?

Canadian bacon has as much fat as a skinless chicken breast. It also packs a great protein punch which will keep you energized until lunch. Gord’s offers thick slices that you can toss on the grill for a super flavorful change to your morning routine. Just a couple minutes on each side and you’re good to go. Pan preparation is fine too, just don’t overcook!

Gord’s also offers Canadian Bacon roasts. Set the roast in a pan with a half inch of dark beer, cover with foil and bake at 350 for about an hour. Allow to rest and then slice. This was delicious. I used Guinness Stout and the flavor of the beer came shining through to nicely compliment the meat.

Bacon also makes a swell dessert. There will be several options at Baconfest, but one I’m really looking forward to is the selection from Rock City Pies.

Rock City Pies

Nikita Santches, chef/owner of Rock City Pies, serves up some not-so-traditional pie at Ferndale’s Rust Belt Market every weekend. A self-trained chef, Nikita spends his days as a caterer. Pies kind of happened by accident—an incredibly tasty accident. Later this year, Nikita will open a new restaurant in Downtown Detroit, serving up American fare with a creative twist—just like his pies.

I had the pleasure of sampling a couple slices recently. The Red Velvet is a creamy rich cheesecake with that red velvet sort of not quite chocolate flavor. Love the crust! But the pie that I’m most looking forward to a second helping of is the Whiskey Smoked Apple. Yes, you read that correctly. We’re talking layers of flavors here. I got some big, fresh apple flavor in the first bite, with just a hint of whiskey on the finish. Next bite, I got smokiness and a whiskey finish. Third bite, it sort of all came together and before I knew what was happening, my pie was gone. Note to self—get two slices next time.

At Baconfest, you can sample: Apple + Bacon Caramel; Elvis = Banana + Peanut Butter + Bacon; and Sweet Potato + Maple + Bacon (this just sounds incredible to me).

See you at Baconfest!

Charlie Adams Helps High School Athletes Navigate The Next Level

Understanding college recruiting and scholarship opportunities are his love.

He stood 6-feet, 5-inches in high school but only 160-pounds, Charlie Adams didn’t have anyone in his corner telling him to try basketball. That he may be good at it, that he may even be able to play at the next level. Eventually, he did try out as a junior – and he made the team. His senior year, the team was laden with talent and put 27 wins on the board and Adams enjoyed being a part of things and loved passing the most.

But his school was Lafayette County High School just outside of Oxford, MS – not a real handy stop on the college recruiting tour for any school. And this was in the late 70s/early 80s. In other words, no Internet, no Youtube, no texting. There were only rotary dial phones and VHS camcorders and you wrote letters to colleges and filled out endless paperwork to try and get noticed if you weren’t a star athlete.

Adams naively thought – like millions of other athletes – that if he was good enough his coach would find a college that wanted or needed him.

“I had no clue,” Adams said. “The biggest thing I bought into was I thought the coach did everything and I didn’t know how to reach out.”

Adams went on to Ole Miss and actually majored in Education but brought his love of sports to the campus TV station where he and a few other student leaders revamped Farley Hall where all the Journalism classes were taught. He grabbed a camera and went and found stories, he had great professors like the late Gale Denley and Dr. Jim Pratt who opened more doors and allowed Adams to begin sports programming and anchoring the sports news, even though he wasn’t a journalism major.

I know. I got there a year after Charlie had started his program and he took several others and me and plugged us in and gave us shows. Thanks to Charlie I got to see the SEC via women’s basketball with Shepard Smith as my cameraman and meet some awesome life-long friends along the way. Now Charlie graduated and then got into TV sports and went from Mississippi to Louisiana to California and eventually South Bend, Indiana where he reported sports and news, wrote two books and became a motivational speaker.

But one day one his old sports reporters gave him a call and due to the unexpected death of an employee asked if he could fill a spot in his newfound company that helped educate high school athletes on the opportunities they have at the collegiate level. Charlie got the ok from his TV bosses to take a Saturday here and there and help out. So he did. And he loved it.

“This was in 2000 and it opened my eyes. Even though I had been a sports reporter for years and I would cover kids when they announced they were signing, I had no idea how an organization could really help a kid get exposure in recruiting. And that set a tone,” he said.

Enough so that eventually he left the world of TV and now splits his time with the NCSA helping high school athletes, giving inspirational talks through his Stoke The Fire Within program and he works with a travel company. So now Charlie is helping those “skinny athletes without a clue about playing in college.”

“If I had had this, I would have played college basketball somewhere – especially, if I had had this education in the ninth grade. I would have known what to do for the next four years.”

Through the National College Scouting Association, high school athletes get an education and input into their future in college athletics. Adams knows it’s never too early to start.

“There’s a huge lack of college recruiting education out there and you may not be on the varsity in the ninth grade but you need to know this stuff,” he said. “I’m not blaming my coach at all. I didn’t start doing anything until my senior year and it was after the season.”

Adams travels around the US giving his educational talks to schools and their athletes. But his talk is different from his motivational events.

“Sometimes you have to rattle the cage of the audience. In this one, you sorta have to light into people. ‘Have you got your video made? How many visits have you taken?’ Cause they’re thinking the process is going to play out.”

Athletes that have enlisted the help of the NCSA have had a 92 percent success rate in attaining scholarships that average $18,000 per school year. They offer services that are both free and for a fee but with the payout of a completely paid for college education compared to investing up front, the decision is a no-brainer.

“There are other companies out there that do this but in looking into it I found out that NCSA was the leader by far,” he said.

The knowledge he garnered in helping NCSA helped Adams when his son Jack, a cross-country athlete, was competing in high school and thinking about colleges as well. Charlie was able to do for Jack what no one was able to do for him. And now Charlie does it for hundreds, perhaps thousands of athletes across the country find Division I, II, III, junior/community college scholarships.

“If a kid is qualified and committed they’ll get their return on investment. It gets their name out to good schools.”

Do you have a future college athlete in your home? For an evaluation of where your athlete is in recruiting go to

https://recruit-match.ncsasports.org/fasttrack/landing/general/faces.jsp?lnkSrc=SAEF-CharlieAdams1.

Or better yet, bring Charlie in to your school, event or booster club to deliver “How High School Athletes Connect with Significant Scholarships and the Right Fit at the Collegiate Level” he can be reached at charlie@StokeTheFireWithin.com

5 Cool Ideas on Why Coaching is Better Than Bossing
From www.MichaelAngeloCaruso.com

We tend to coach the people who are most important to us.  Sometimes we coach the people on our work team.  Sometimes we are coaching our teenagers or other members of our family.  Coaching, an informal method of teaching, benefits both parties.  Bossing can be an adversarial arrangement whereas coaching is most likely a relationship based in advocacy.  Here are 5 Cool Ideas on why coaching is better than bossing.

1.  The “dialogue method” of teaching is fun.  
The “dialogue method” has been traced back to Aristotle.  The Harvard Business School adopted the “dialogue method” of teaching in 1924.  Less lecture-oriented than traditional teaching, the “dialogue method” is more fun for both the student and the teacher.  Here’s how the method works.  The student states a problem and advocates his or her recommendation for solving the problem.  The teacher/coach or another student is then allowed to refute the position and advocate a counter position.  Dialogue continues until the problem is solved and a lesson is learned.

2.  Asking questions is a form of teaching.
The Socratic method of teaching is to ask a series of questions that eventually delivers a lesson.  The Socratic Method works with people who think they know more than you and with people who are not open to the lesson.  When asking questions, be sure to ask protégés if they prefer to learn by listening, watching or doing.

3.  Being a “boss” can be a negative role, while being a boss can be a positive role.
For most people, the word “boss” has a negative connotation.  Bosses are often viewed as adversarial.  Coaches, on the other hand, are viewed as advocates.  A boss might use hot water to threaten employees where as a coach might use cool, refreshing water to motivate.  Bosses try to catch employees doing something wrong.  Coaches don’t try to catch employees at all.

4.  Some folks need to see it to believe it, while others need to hear it to believe it.  The best IT consultants are good at educating their clients.  They know that some customers learn by listening, some by watching, and some by doing.

5.  Showing isn’t always teaching.  
My office has an automatic postal machine.  When we got it, my assistant hooked it up and learned how to use it, but I had trouble even turning it on.  I asked her to show me how to use it and she did.  Click, whiz, bang and a label appeared.  “That was easy,” I thought.  A couple days later I was couldn’t remember what she had shown me.  “I just showed you two days ago,” she said.  Click, whiz, bang and another label appeared.  I had been watching closely that time.  Three days later, I called my assistant in from the next room.  Seeing me standing in front of the postal meter, she said, “I already showed you how to do this twice!”  “I know you’ve already showed me,” I said, “But you haven’t taught me.”

For the Gardener:

Painted Garden – Karri Mohr of Painted Garden creates custom accessories of your beloved animal. Karri paints slates to adorn your landscape.

For the Potter:

You’ll find plenty of beautiful pottery at the bash but make sure you stop by Brandee Ross’s booth for her Made In Michigan stoneware pottery. Each piece is a fully functional, unique piece of art. She even shows you how to make it.

For the Jewelry obsessed:

Christy Brennan constructs gorgeous personalized constellation necklaces. B-Side Metalworks is a collection of handmade charms and pendants using natural stones and precious metals and incorporates vintage elements.

For the Sports Fanatic:

Author Charles Avison will crash to bash to discuss his book, Detroit City of Champs. The book details how the Detroit Tigers, Lions and Red Wings all won their first Championship in the same season. Have a book chat with Avison about Detroit’s most important year in sports.

For the Exhibitionist:

Honilynn Hendricks of Gilded Lotus Henna, specializes in body art from 100% Natual Henna. The plant based dye is a temporary way to adorn your body. An art practiced for centuries in Asia, Africa and the Middle East will be featured at the art bash.

For more artists and events visit www.berkleyartbash.com.

I first watched Nic Notion Theater standing two feet away from a 36″ box TV in the doorway of Nic Notion‘s home on Service Street in Eastern Market. My jaw hit the ground the second it started and I didn’t move for the entire 34 minutes of the video. When it ended, I slapped my hand over my still-open mouth and turned to Nic Notion, who then held the DVD case up to my face like a mirror:

This is the brilliance of Nic Notion.

This is Nic Notion’s hand-over-mouth brilliance.

Mind-blowing, relatable, superior, casual, philosophical, hood, political, pop, conversational, stoner, sobering.

Scored by Doc Illingsworth, Nic Notion Theater is a mash-up of visual media ranging from early silent films, to television like Cops and infomercials and Sesame Street, to cross-screen video games, to cult movies, to recorded phone calls (remember the Dearborn policeman who ate the marijuana brownies and called 911?), and more. From this amazing combination of content, Notion pulls and snaps clips like taffy, bringing focus to race, gender, sex and politics.

I’m pretty sure I’m responsible for clearing out the stock at DSE Detroit, as I have furnished every out-of-towner and new friend with their own copy of Nic Notion Theater since I discovered they were available.

I can only imagine what’s in store for TELEVI[ZZZ]D, Notion’s May 24th Eastern Market event, which promises BBQ, music, and new work from Detroit’s most intelligent artist and filmmaker.

Nic Notion on Twitter | Nic Notion on Vimeo | Nic Notion on Facebook

Four area bands and songwriters and one local comedian are joining together to raise money for a very important cause. With doors opening at 8pm tonight at the Berkley Front, all proceeds from the $7 cover charge will go to the Special Olympics.

Comedian Zakandwhatarmy hosts the benefit, which will feature sets from Factotum, Casey Cooper and the Shakin’ Babies, Emily Rose, and Tone & Niche. Casey Cooper organized the event.

As Factotum and Casey Cooper and the Shakin’ Babies share band members, the two have decided to merge their sets into one extended set. Drummer Martin LaPrise holds down the kit in each band as Casey Cooper and Factotum’s Michael Dragich alternate between singing and playing guitar and bass, depending on who wrote what.

Dragich, who has always been the primary songwriter for Factotum, re-considered his lone front man approach upon seeing Cooper play for the first time.

“I was blown away by his voice, his stage presence, everything,” said Dragich.

For now, the two songwriters prefer to back each other up in their separate projects, as intertwined as they may be.

While tonight’s set will see Dragich and Cooper trading instruments and singing duties, the constant figures to be drummer Martin LaPrise, who Dragich has been best friends with since the 6th grade.

Dragich says that the drummer and artist inadvertently got him thrown off the school bus when LaPrise drew a dirty picture and passed it around to his classmates. Dragich, caught passing the cartoon, got fingered for the job. Besides Dragich moving to Florida for seven years somewhere in the middle there, the two have been playing music together ever since.

Dragich says LaPrise comes from more of a traditional classic rock background while his own influences include Ministry and Sonic Youth and, he says, their “different chords, progressions, and time signatures.”

That mix constitutes Factotum. It’s a mix that works well for the band.

“It’s literally peanut butter and jelly,” said Dragich. “We couldn’t be more on the same page.”

Special Olympics Benefit tonight at the Berkley Front in downtown Berkley features music from Casey Cooper and the Shakin’ Babies, Factotum, Emily Rose, and Tone & Niche and comedy from Zakandwhatarmy. There is a $7 cover charge with all proceeds going to the Special Olympics. Doors at 8pm.

Image courtesy of Chris Cunnington.

Jennifer Xerri of Starlily Creations will be bombing a town near you in no time, vandalizing the streets with her warm and fuzzy art, literally. Yarn bombing is the art of knit graffiti and it’s popping up all over the world including Europe, Asia and Berkley.

This graffiti, also known as guerrilla crochet, is a contemporary form of art with a massive following. There is even a published book called “Yarn Bombing: The Art of Knit Graffiti, by Mandy Moore and Leanne Prain. Knitters across the globe bring cold, inanimate items to life with vibrant thread. Local bomber Xerri has left her mark on the most horrible object in Royal Oak – the parking meter. She made it soft and beautiful and for a moment it was easier for Royal Oak patrons to feed. The meter bomb is the only one of Xerri’s creations to be taken down.

On any given day you could find Xerri at Eastern Market’s Artisan Village but lately she’s been occupying space at The Yellow Door Art Market in Berkley. When she’s not there, she’s hitting different art shows to sell and display her creative designs. Xerri will showcase her collection, along with 112 other artists, in the Berkley Art Bash on Saturday, June 9. The bash has grown each year since it’s inception by  gathering differnt artists from all over Michigan on 12 Mile in Berkley.

If you want to learn more or get involved, a group of knitters meet each Sunday at 4 p.m. at Goldfish Tea in Royal Oak or head to the Berkley Art Bash and meet Xerri for yourself.

What do you think of this new form of street art?

The Rainbow Run 5K is a new event that will weave through the streets of downtown Ferndale on Sunday, June 17. A family-friendly event, the Rainbow Run will also have a 2K kid’s run/walk that will pass by three of the color stations. Strollers are welcome (but no bikes or dogs, please). The run/walk is for everyone of all ages who supports diversity, acceptance and anti-bullying programs and people who believe we cannot be complete until all persons are included.

The run will be loosely timed for those runners who want to track their pace, but runners will not be placed. The race will start and finish along West Troy Street one block south of Nine Mile Road between Woodward Avenue and Allen Street. There will be a closing ceremony with a release of 300 rainbow-colored balloons. The balloons will be biodegradable with no strings attached so the environment is not negatively impacted. It will create a colorful kick off for Ferndale Pride street festival that will begin in the same location at noon. .

Participants will receive white T-shirts with the Rainbow Run logo to wear, and as participants pass six stations along the course, volunteers will throw a different colored non-toxic powdered paint at their shirts. By the end of the race, the T-shirts (and other parts of the body) will be decorated with all six colors of the rainbow and is a symbolic of how much more beautiful things are when you mix diversity and colors.

Registration will begin at 9:30 am. The run/walk start times will be staggered by category starting at 10:30 am.

The cost to participate is $25 per person for the 5K run or walk, and $15 per person for 2K run/walk. For those who register the day of the event, the cost is $30 for the 5K and $20 for the 2K.

All proceeds from the event will go to the Ferndale Area Chamber of Commerce; the Ferndale Community Foundation, Affirmations and Upstander, an anti-bullying program established by the Friendship Circle.

Visit www.rainbow-run.com to learn more or to register.

The bash started with only 50 artists and has grown in participants and attendants over the last decade.

“We’ve got a great line up of talented artists, hip crafters, cottage food creators, authors & student artists this year… 122 of them to be exact, the most we’ve ever had,” said April McCrumb, owner of  Catching Fireflies and Yellow Door Art Market.

This year, bashers will have a chance to see a live performance by the band, I Love Lightning Bugs, among others. The three-man band formed 2 years ago and quickly made its’ mark by playing local stages in Ferndale, Berkley and Detroit proper. Likened to U2, Psychedelic Furs, The National and New Order, the band was named CW50’s 2011 Best Blowout Band after a performance at the Metro Times Blowout in Hamtramck.

If you’re going with the intent to snag some art, you’ll be able to get your hands on anything from organic teas to paintings to hand sewn handbags or gourmet doggy treats.

Be sure to bring your appetite because classic culinary delights like corn dogs, burgers, pizza and fresh lemonade are sure to satiate the crowd. Festival favorites including elephant ears, whoopee pies and kettle corn will also be sold, hold your breath for fried Twinkies.

Listen to some of I Love Lighting Bugs music here: http://ilovelightningbugs.com/videos/