Frozen Tundra

I know I don't exactly live in a frozen tundra. But man it sure feels like it today. 12 degrees, windy. I just want to stay indoors all day!

I was in Boston last week. I would've normally enjoyed flying out to somewhere that I'd never been before, but freezing outside when it's 20 degrees really doesn't inspire me to explore. I did manage to make it to Bunker Hill and the USS Constitution one evening. But it's really hard to do much when the sun sets at 4:30. Lets just say that I got a lot of "night" shots. Without a tripod, I don't know if I'll get many usable pictures.

Zagat.com isn't really as useful as you'd think either. It seems that they only rate places well if they have a $20/entree or higher price tag. And when you have $40/day for all your food including tax and tip, that really makes it hard to find a "good" place to eat dinner! Nonetheless, I made the best of it! Blue Ribbon BBQ in Arlington, MA was fantastic. Their ribs fell right off the bone, and their pulled pork was delicious (it was called Kansas city burnt ends though)

The Sam Adams brewery tour was probably the best I've been on to-date. It is their smallest brewery, because it was their first, but that makes it all the better. A lot more things are done by hand and all the R&D happens there. How'd you like to taste beer for a living? Well... it sounds better than it probably is, but still! My favorite part of the tour was when they let us take dried hops and dissect them. Then we were told to rub them between our hands and take a good sniff! MMM beer smell! The tour was free. We got a free glass to take home as well. And we also got a voucher to get a full sized pint glass for free with beer purchase at Doyle's (the first bar that served Sam Adams) Since I hadn't eaten lunch that day, I went to Doyle's and ordered a Bison burger with a Sam Adams Cherry Wheat beer. That beer was a very good wheat beer. It didn't taste sweet, and it actually didn't have much of a hops flavor either. The best way I could describe it was having a "rich" flavor with cherry essence. It is an easy drinking beer with much more flavor than MGD or Bud. I'll probably try to find some of that beer in the future, because I think a lot of people would like it, even non beer drinkers!

So I guess even though it is freezing outside you can still enjoy life a little bit. Just a little though!

I love America

For this:



That's right, 2 fried chicken breasts, mayo-based sauce, bacon and cheese... I should probably eat this in the emergency room, you know, just in case...

[source: http://consumerist.com/2010/04/kfcs-bacon-sandwich-on-fried-chicken-bread-kills-people-everywhere-on-april-12.html]

Weather is getting nicer

It's so nice to finally see weather getting nicer outside. I mean it's still not "warm" outside, but at least it's warm enough for snow to melt! I really can't wait until it gets warm outside! I'm going to spend so much time outside! I'll probably just be doing yardwork, but hey it's something. I'm also looking forward to walking around downtown and buying Garrett's caramel pop corn! It is seriously the best! And then I'll be able to grill outside comfortably again. I'm looking forward to making Alabama barbeque chicken. It uses a white barbeque sauce that's based off of mayo instead of ketchup and vinegar! It is so awesome!

Last weekend

I had an action packed weekend. That's for sure! On Friday my sister came to visit and we went to K's sister's birthday party. It wasn't the most fun party ever, but it was something to do, and there was Italian Beef and plenty of desserts! We played catchphrase for awhile. That game is always fun.

On Saturday we went to the Garfield Conservatory Garden and pretended that it was summer! I got a lot of good pictures that day. There really are a lot of amazing plants out there. After that we went to dinner at Penang. We got 3 apetizers and 3 meals. We were so full afterward! I got this one pork chop dish that had the most tender pork chop! It was one of the chef's specials. But I can't remember the name of it for the life of me. We also had some skirt steak dish and a seafood yam pot. After dinner we went to the mall and K and my sister went shopping like they have never shopped before. Ok maybe not, but they had fun. I sat in a massage chair at Brookstone. At night we went to a dueling piano bar called Howl at the moon and we had a bucket of Hurricaine Rush (I think) We partied like it was 1997. So in other words, normally :P

Sunday we went to church. Everybody got lost or lost something except me. My sister got stuck in a one way traffic pattern. I couldn't find her for 30 minutes. She even bought a pay-as-you-go phone to call me! Kristin also lost her work cell phone. boo! After my sister headed back home K and I went to a superbowl party and ate pulled pork sandwiches. MMM MMM. Then the weekend ended. Fun times were to be had by all.

Two years ago today

Today in 2007 I had my first date with K. Who would've thought on that day that we had so many days to look forward to together? We've had so many wonderful moments together and I couldn't ask for a better girlfriend. I really do love her with all my heart.

We're playing it low key today because we were out playing cards with our mutual friend. We first all went out to dinner at a ma and pa style Mexican restaurant. The poor lady who served us really did not know English and we had the hardest time ordering. But the food was pretty good. So it was worth it. We then went over to our friend's house to eat pie! I don't remember what it was called but it had graham cracker crust, dulce de leche and banana slice filling and it was topped with whipped cream infused with coffee and sprinked with dark chocolate shavings. It was delicious. We then made up a card game and had some good conversations. I even got to try some homemade meede. It's wine made out of honey. Time flew by and next thing we knew it was waaay past 2AM So today we're relaxing. We're ordering pizza and watching the movie Traitor. It'll be great, I'm sure.

My Birthday

Was yesterday! And I'd like to thank everybody who made it special. I really can't say it enough that it really means so much to me. My family came out to visit me and they celebrated it on Saturday with me. Along with K, they made a super fun pirate party with homemade pizza. It was really unexpected and I really was taken back by how much they did for me to make me feel special :) Dino, our pet stuffed T-Rex got a friend named Carrot Nose who is a Triceratops. They've already been getting along great. ...and getting into mischief! Those crazy imaginary Dinosaur personalities sure are colorful! I also got an Ipod nano, which I really needed for working out. My wireless bluetooth headsets kept breaking so I needed another alternative to my cell phone MP3 player. K got me a toaster and a Blu-Ray movie. The toaster works great and it was just what I needed!

On Sunday K's family integrated me into their clam chowder dinner and they even did an impromptu birthday song around a dump cake. It was a pretty fun cake. It was loaded with cherries, pineapples, butter and coconut! What a good weekend I had!

Sushi Station

Yesterday K and I went to this Sushi restaurant called Sushi Station. It was a fun dining experience for sure! Most of the sushi rotated around the restaurant on an enclosed conveyer belt. And when you want some sushi, you just open the door and grab the one you want! They had some fun dessert options too. We tried these water dumplings filled with bean paste. They were so juicy feeling and delicious. We had so much sushi and other good stuff like tempura vegetables and green tea, it was great! MMM sushi!

Thanksgiving

I finally moved into my house last weekend and besides the sewage pump leaking into the front yard, everything is just peachy! My family came over to visit and we all worked in our own way to help set up my house. I did a decent amount of landscaping before the snow hit so I'm pretty happy about that. My mom sewed me some curtains. It took her so long and she worked so hard on them I really appreciate that. My dad helped out all around and made sure we were all adequately fed. And my sister she did just about as much manual labor as I did!

I got AT&T U-Verse phone, cable, and internet the Thursday before thanksgiving and it was down almost every day for almost every reason apparently. They say 3300 feet from the hub is right at the threshold for the service. So I hope it will stay up this time! I need to remember to call them and get refunded for the time my service was down. There's no sense in paying for service which I didn't have.

I hung out with K most of the week so that was a lot of fun. We celebrated Thanksgiving with both families. All the food was delicious. I made sure to eat a big piece of all 3 desserts. There was chocolate cheese cake, pumpkin banana torte, and pecan pie. All made with tested recipies. So I loved all three! I ate way too much the last 4 days or so, but oh man was it great spending so much time with family. I really am thankful for all I have.

All in good fun

Last weekend K and I went to a pumpkin farm and browsed all of the fresh produce. Most of it actually wasn't overpriced surprisingly. For example, you could get a whole spaghetti squash for $1.29. But there were of course the ridiculously overpriced items such as the $10 gourmet chocolate covered apples... There were a lot of fun sights like camels and some pretty crazy squash for sale. It was so packed there I felt like I was in a sea of people. But I loved it.

This week K and I baked a cold oven pound cake from the America's Test Kitchen "Lost Recipes" cookbook. I swear every single one of those desserts are the best I have ever had. The pound cake had a thick flaky crust on top due to starting the baking without preheating the oven and the cake was just perfectly moist! We brought slices into work because we couldn't possibly manage to eat that much cake by ourselves. Everybody loved it. My coworkers think I am some baking genius or something... Awhile back we made This thing called "Peach Puzzle" which was like a superior peach cobbler, if you even want to call it that. You basically bake whole peaches sitting in a sweet biscuit dough with brown sugar and butter and eat it warm. It was so good that I will want to make it again as soon as peaches are in season again. If anybody is ever around K or I during peach season, you absolutely have to request it!

Peach Puzzle

This weekend we went to a forest preserve and walked around. I saw a family getting portraits taken at dusk with all the fall colors and it inspired me. I think I'm going to go back tomorrow (today) with K and take some glamour shots. I really have to remember to buy a reflector and a stand online, because the local camera shops charge an arm and a leg for them! But anyway, back to the weekend. We drove around and got menus at many of the restaurant's around K's place and I ended up getting hungry and ordering the 3-meat combo at Sweet Baby Ray's. I had never eaten there before and it was pretty good for a chain. The ribs had a delicious rub on them that reminded me of the kind that was on this special order cajun meat that my dad used to buy for read beans and rice. Oh the memories. The weekend has been so good so far. I can't wait for more!

All I did all day

Was clean!

Well thats a slight lie. I did cut my hair and go to the grocery store.

After cutting my hair I did the normal clean up the bathroom routine, but surprisingly after all that hard work scrubbing my tub, I felt like cleaning the rest of my apartment. So away I went. I vacuumed, cleaned the kitchen, did my dishes, swept the floors, folded laundry, and I even cleaned my welcome mat with some Resolve carpet cleaner. How exciting it was to clean the whole apartment like that. I don't think I clean that often, but it really does feel good when you see results.

Now I am outside listing to my "stompy" upstairs neighbor grillng his meal. It smells like hamburgers, or if it's anything else it has absolutely no flavor! He's cooking with a gas grill, so it'll taste just like he pan cooked it. You gotta use charcoal man! And wood chips!

For dinner I plan on making a marinated beef tri tip roast in the oven. I got it from Trader Joe's last week. So it's high time that I cook it! I really do enjoy cooking, and eating!

Speaking of eating, yesterday, I went to a local restaurant called Hackney's that was featured on the Food Network show Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. I was super excited to try their onion ring loaf and famous Hackney burger. The environment was nice and the service wasn't overly slow either, but the food left something to be desired. The onion ring loaf was fried to perfection and there was not a bit of batter that was left uncooked, but the flavor just wasn't there. It really needed a little more salt and a couple spices would've been nice. The onions were very sweet so all was not lost, they tasted fine by themselves without any breading. The Hackney burger must've become famous because it comes on dark rye bread, because it was also a very lackluster burger with little flavor. Why can't people use spices? I'm not talking hot sauce, or a bunch of pepper, I just want to taste something other than pure beef when I'm eating a hamburger. The rye also was indistinguishable when eating the burger, but that's ok! I still had a great time eating with Kristin's family!

my life in pictures

Seattle

I'm in Seattle for work and I've already relived one of my wonderful food memories I have been wishing to have again. Last night I ate at Typhoon, a Thai restaurant. I had the Royal Duck with a sweet red curry sauce. It was the best. And for only $17 it was even more scrumptious! Last time I was there in 2006 I ate dish with scallops and shrimp in Chinese dumplings in a green curry sauce on a bed of fried spinach. I loved that meal too. I hope I can make it there again before I leave.

The Embassy Suites is friggin awesome. They have an upgraded exercise room where all the treadmills and ellipticals have their own LCD TVs! Last time I was there I was disappointed by the two old treadmills and rusty weights. Now they have 3 plus 2 ellipticals, and a couple bikes! The complimentary cooked to order breakfast really can't be beat. And if you are on the ambassador floor you get extra snacks, free internet, and the drinks in the mini fridge are also free!

It's in the 40s/50s here but everything is green and there are flowers everywhere. So it feels more like spring than home does. I am looking forward to going around taking pictures this weekend. It'll be a blast!

Last weekend

I took a long time to write about my weekend this week, but I really had a great time. On Friday I went out to John Barleycorn with some friends. I hadn't seen most of them for months! The night ended pretty early for who knows what reason, but at least I got plenty of sleep! I guess we're all getting old and can't stay out like we used to!

Saturday was a sad day. My 3 week old pro lens broke all of the sudden. I went to use it and what do you know? The AF motor didn't move the focus ring! Man, you'd think when you drop a load of cash on a specialty lens from a good brand, that you lens will last longer than 3 weeks. At least I can get it repaired under warranty and the lens is insured. But The lens will be away for about 2 weeks. That's no fun!

On Sunday Kristin and I had a St Paddy's day dinner party. That was really a lot of fun. We made corned beef and cabbage from scratch. We even corned the beef for a week! Everybody had a blast. Even Dino had a great time. He danced and partied like crazy!

OK I changed my mind

I LOVE my camera. I had a great time photographing just about everything yesterday! And people do enjoy my hobby as much as I do, hehehe. But seriously, I'm excited because it is looking to be a super fun hobby from here on out. I'm getting used to the camera, and I'm getting better and better at taking good pictures with it.

I also had fun Saturday when I went out with K and another friend. We had some good conversations and we really had a blast. I made country fried steak as well that day, but it tasted more like pork chops than anything because the recipe called for a bread crumb crust.

Leeks

So today I bought a couple leeks. Why? you ask.... Well because I wanted to try a new vegetable that I haven't tried before. And a couple months ago I saw an episode on Leeks on the Food network. They are in the onion family, but they don't cause the tears that onions normally cause because they don't have the compound that is found in other onions. So this will be fun! I don't know what I'm going to make, but I'm sure it will be delicious. I may make a leek soup. hmm. What do you think?

Impress your special friend...

http://www.whitecastle.com/valentinesday/

It's my birthday

And today is looking to be a great day. Already I got a surprise when Kristin stopped by to say hi before I went to work. And my co-workers like the cookies I made. It's a company tradition to bring treats on your birthday (I think it was a corporate cost cutting measure ;) I get free lunch from my co-workers today, and then I'll be getting a free dinner tonight. Wohooo! I love being rewarded for doing nothing but being alive!

Fun few days

So I had some fun the past few days. On Thurs I played Catchphrase and ate Lou Malnatis with some friends after a day of shopping in the city. I didn't buy anything, but it was fun to go into stores where you could buy a t-shirt for $150. On Fri I went to the Shedd Aquarium and ate at Protillo's. mmm mmm. Saturday, I went to the John Hancock building's 95th floor for lunch. I had an awesome cheese steak sandwich. And for only $15 after tax and tip, I'd do it again!

And today Kristin is coming back into town. I can't wait. I also cleaned my apartment, now it's sparkly clean. boy isn't cleaning fun? I love cleaning so much, I should become a butler. hahahaha

It's almost Christmas!!!

It's so much fun to spend time with your friends and family for the holidays even if you have to spend your whole morning shoveling the driveway :P I've been eating mostly cookies instead of meals lately. It's fun, but now I'm actually starting to crave un-sugar! Well I wish everybody a Merry Christmas!

No more vacation

It was a good run, but now it's definitely over. That's what I thought this morning as I scraped the frost off my windshield before heading off to work. During the last week or so of my vacation, I often found myself clueless as to what day it was and I'd have to reference a calendar to figure it out. It was a great feeling actually because that meant I had no pending deadlines and that all I had to do was have fun.

After Germany I visited my grandparents in New Jersey and celebrated Thanksgiving with them and a couple other relatives. But before that we went to the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade in NYC. We really didn't plan on it, but we ended up just going to NYC on Thanksgiving day and running into the parade since it ran through the heart of Manhattan! We got close enough to be on the front lines of the parade and we were able to watch it in all its glory close up. After all that fun on Thanksgiving, we went to Atlantic City and enjoyed a casino buffet and a walk along the boardwalk. The last time I was there I was too young to remember, or take pictures. So I'm glad I was able to do both this time :)

We then came back home and visited Kristin's family and they served us some delicious food that I forgot the name of, but it was good. Our families got along really well and I was happy about that. I laughed when I found out that Kristin coached her parents before the visit to make sure it went smoothly. I don't think they really needed coaching to get along but it sure made the morning/afternoon go well.

After the family meeting, my family left and I was left all by myself to do whatever. And I found myself clueless as to what to do. So I just unpacked all my luggage and set up all the fun souvenirs that I bought and prepped Kristin's gifts for when she could stop by to pick them up. But then I finished all that, so I started cleaning. Yeah that's right, I cleaned almost first thing after my vacation. I think I'm crazy. I guess I just wasn't used to not having anything to do after all that time of going everywhere humanly possible in the short 2.5 week span I was on vacation.

Now I'm already used to being bored. I don't know if that's a good thing or not, but last night I just curled up on the couch and watched TV. I then went to the grocery store and bought ingredients for stuffed mushrooms and chicken saltimboca, or however you spell that. It's listed in my blog, so if you're curious, look at my previous posts. After prepping all the food, I headed to bed. And that's my life.