Tomorrow Jenn, Chad, Andy and I are bound for Denver, Boulder and Rocky Mountain National Park. In that order.
There will be mountains, hiking, cabins with no television or connection to the outside world and whitewater rafting. Oh, and me trying not to get struck by lightning or eaten by bears. Not necessarily in that order. (But wouldn't it be a shame if I got struck or eaten on my first day and had to miss out on the rest of the vacation?)
Um, I really do like the outdoors even if it seems I have a slightly morbid fascination with its more dangerous attributes.
Stay tuned for some kickass photos upon my return.
See you next week!
Friday, June 13, 2008
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Bananas Foster
While in New Orleans I had the opportunity to eat at the original Brennan's.
I was most excited about was dessert since I had heard that Brennan's was the birthplace of my favorite dessert: Bananas Foster.
The appetizer and entree were good, though unremarkable since I can't even really remember what I had. Shrimp something, I believe. I was pretty focused on dessert from the second we sat down.
When the magical moment finally came, my coworker who knew about my bananas foster obsession wanted to get a photo to commemorate the occasion. So I stood up in the middle of the white table cloth dining room and tried to simultaneously "smile pretty" and not get my eyebrows burnt off.
Seriously, look how close that flame was to my face! My coworker kept shouting at me to "Move in closer!" too. A dessert this delicious is worth the possible bodily harm though.
You see how good that looks? Yeah... it tasted even better.
I'm planning on making it myself as soon as I find someone with a good, heavy skillet who is also willing to let me possibly set their kitchen on fire.
I was most excited about was dessert since I had heard that Brennan's was the birthplace of my favorite dessert: Bananas Foster.
The appetizer and entree were good, though unremarkable since I can't even really remember what I had. Shrimp something, I believe. I was pretty focused on dessert from the second we sat down.
When the magical moment finally came, my coworker who knew about my bananas foster obsession wanted to get a photo to commemorate the occasion. So I stood up in the middle of the white table cloth dining room and tried to simultaneously "smile pretty" and not get my eyebrows burnt off.
Seriously, look how close that flame was to my face! My coworker kept shouting at me to "Move in closer!" too. A dessert this delicious is worth the possible bodily harm though.
You see how good that looks? Yeah... it tasted even better.
I'm planning on making it myself as soon as I find someone with a good, heavy skillet who is also willing to let me possibly set their kitchen on fire.
Monday, June 9, 2008
Congratulations are in Order
I started the day with just one brother, but now it looks like I'm gonna have two!
Congratulations on your engagement, Jenn and Chad!
Congratulations on your engagement, Jenn and Chad!
Staying in for Chinese
Finally gonna post that recipe for hot and sour soup now that I've made it twice and been really impressed with the results. I got the recipe off an episode of America's Test Kitchen (of course the recipe isn't featured in either of the TWO ATK cookbooks I already own).
Since I refuse to register on their website, I couldn't get the actual recipe, but here's what they say about it if you're interested.
Of course I forgot to break out the camera until the soup was mostly assembled, so here's what your finished product should look like.
And here's the chopped scallions you should liberally scatter atop your bowl. (I was sort of desperate for photos at this point.)
This is what Andy looked like after eating two bowls of the stuff. Um, he passed out from delicious soup-coma happiness, not food poisoning or anything.
DEFINITELY recommend trying this recipe out. After two incredibly easy and successful attempts, I give it two very enthusiastic thumbs up.
Hot and Sour Soup
1 cup tofu
1 cup thinly sliced pork
Pork Marinade
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon cornstarch
Soup
6 cups chicken broth
1 cup shitake mushrooms (no stems)
1 cup bamboo shoots
Slurry of 3 tablespoons cornstarch and 3 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon white pepper (Do not sub black pepper or it won't be the same. Trust me.)
2-3 teaspoons chili oil
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
Egg Mixture
One beaten egg
Slurry of 1/2 teaspoon cornstarch and 1 tsp water
Scallions for Garnish
1. Squeeze excess water from tofu by draining on a plate with weighted plate on top. Cut fat from pork and slice into very thin, bite-size pieces. Combine 1 Tbsp soy sauce, sesame oil and 1 tsp corn starch and marinade pork for 10 min.
2. Cut tofu into bite-size strips and bring chicken broth to a gentle boil. Add mushrooms and bamboo shoots. Simmer for 5 min.
3. Add tofu, pork and excess marinade. Cook for 2 minutes and thicken with 3 Tbsp cornstarch and 3 Tbsp water slurry. Add white pepper, chili oil, vinegars and 3 Tbsp soy sauce.
4. Remove from heat. Mix egg with slurry (1/2 tsp cornstarch and 1 tsp water). Gently drizzle small spoonfuls of egg mixture over soup and let sit for 1 minute.
5. Reheat and stir soup to incorporate egg. Top with diced scallions and serve.
Since I refuse to register on their website, I couldn't get the actual recipe, but here's what they say about it if you're interested.
Of course I forgot to break out the camera until the soup was mostly assembled, so here's what your finished product should look like.
And here's the chopped scallions you should liberally scatter atop your bowl. (I was sort of desperate for photos at this point.)
This is what Andy looked like after eating two bowls of the stuff. Um, he passed out from delicious soup-coma happiness, not food poisoning or anything.
DEFINITELY recommend trying this recipe out. After two incredibly easy and successful attempts, I give it two very enthusiastic thumbs up.
Hot and Sour Soup
1 cup tofu
1 cup thinly sliced pork
Pork Marinade
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon cornstarch
Soup
6 cups chicken broth
1 cup shitake mushrooms (no stems)
1 cup bamboo shoots
Slurry of 3 tablespoons cornstarch and 3 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon white pepper (Do not sub black pepper or it won't be the same. Trust me.)
2-3 teaspoons chili oil
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
Egg Mixture
One beaten egg
Slurry of 1/2 teaspoon cornstarch and 1 tsp water
Scallions for Garnish
1. Squeeze excess water from tofu by draining on a plate with weighted plate on top. Cut fat from pork and slice into very thin, bite-size pieces. Combine 1 Tbsp soy sauce, sesame oil and 1 tsp corn starch and marinade pork for 10 min.
2. Cut tofu into bite-size strips and bring chicken broth to a gentle boil. Add mushrooms and bamboo shoots. Simmer for 5 min.
3. Add tofu, pork and excess marinade. Cook for 2 minutes and thicken with 3 Tbsp cornstarch and 3 Tbsp water slurry. Add white pepper, chili oil, vinegars and 3 Tbsp soy sauce.
4. Remove from heat. Mix egg with slurry (1/2 tsp cornstarch and 1 tsp water). Gently drizzle small spoonfuls of egg mixture over soup and let sit for 1 minute.
5. Reheat and stir soup to incorporate egg. Top with diced scallions and serve.
Saturday, June 7, 2008
Mama didn't raise no beggar
When we first started training Milo, Andy and I had our doubts about his intellect. Truthfully, we thought he might be inbred and a little retarded. That little detail always just made him more special to us. As you can see from the videos and photos I've posted, we've now concluded that he's definitely more than just a little retarded.
Sometimes I wonder, though. Milo will occasionally do something so amazingly and incredibly cute that I start to think the whole "Dum dee dum... huh?" routine he's been putting on is all an act. He knows EXACTLY how to get what he wants from us.
The other day, he pulled out one of these genius manipulation moves.
We've trained Milo to do his tricks in a certain order: Sit, Shake, Lay Down, Play Dead, and Roll Over. We chose this order mostly because that's how I taught my old dog, Samantha how to do her tricks. Samantha was a much more excitable dog than Milo is. While Milo looks sort of sleepy and drugged through his trick performances, Samantha would whip through them in less than 30 seconds flat if she caught a whiff of Pup-Peroni.
Milo's laid back, stoner attitude is pretty fantastic for the most part. He never tears things up, never barks, never begs when we're eating or does any of that annoying stuff some dogs do (Yeah, I know I'm biased. So what?). Because I never have to worry about him snatching food, I often leave things where he can get to them.
Last week, I was eating some Trader Joe's Triple Ginger, Ginger Snaps (Um, please do yourself a favor and buy these. You will be amazed at your ability to consume only cookies for breakfast, lunch and dinner.) while sitting on the floor in the living room. I realized that Milo was sitting off to my immediate right and watching me intently. I started to get worried that this might be a precursor to begging behavior, when he decided to blow my mind with his cuteness.
Very slowly, his eyes locked on me and my ginger snap, Milo lowered his furry butt to the floor, then lifted his right front paw for a shake. As my mouth dropped, he continued to slowly slide his way to the floor and roll onto his side to play dead.
Great pet owner that I am, I quickly popped the rest of the ginger snaps in my mouth and gave him a "Nice try, better luck next time, sucker."
After all, he didn't even go for the Roll Over, which I consider the true Pièce de Résistance of his repertoire. What kind of a precedent would I be setting if I didn't demand high standards? Plus, we don't feed Milo people food outside of the occasional piece of cheese to hide a pill, so he was screwed from the get-go.
Ladies and gentleman, I think we have a future street performer on our hands. No handouts for Milo. We apparently trained him better than we thought. No freeloaders in our house!
Update: This post is the perfect example of why I blog rather than tumbl.
I am a writer and therefore totally long winded. What others say in 3 sentences (i.e. The other day my dog started doing tricks for my cookies! OMG it totally had me ROTFL! hahahaha!!!!!), I choose to drag out to 10 paragraphs.
If you haven't noticed, I have added a Twitter log to my blog page for all those short updates and general witticisms, but I prefer to offer a bit of a deeper insight into my life for friends and family. I hope you enjoy it.
Sometimes I wonder, though. Milo will occasionally do something so amazingly and incredibly cute that I start to think the whole "Dum dee dum... huh?" routine he's been putting on is all an act. He knows EXACTLY how to get what he wants from us.
The other day, he pulled out one of these genius manipulation moves.
We've trained Milo to do his tricks in a certain order: Sit, Shake, Lay Down, Play Dead, and Roll Over. We chose this order mostly because that's how I taught my old dog, Samantha how to do her tricks. Samantha was a much more excitable dog than Milo is. While Milo looks sort of sleepy and drugged through his trick performances, Samantha would whip through them in less than 30 seconds flat if she caught a whiff of Pup-Peroni.
Milo's laid back, stoner attitude is pretty fantastic for the most part. He never tears things up, never barks, never begs when we're eating or does any of that annoying stuff some dogs do (Yeah, I know I'm biased. So what?). Because I never have to worry about him snatching food, I often leave things where he can get to them.
Last week, I was eating some Trader Joe's Triple Ginger, Ginger Snaps (Um, please do yourself a favor and buy these. You will be amazed at your ability to consume only cookies for breakfast, lunch and dinner.) while sitting on the floor in the living room. I realized that Milo was sitting off to my immediate right and watching me intently. I started to get worried that this might be a precursor to begging behavior, when he decided to blow my mind with his cuteness.
Very slowly, his eyes locked on me and my ginger snap, Milo lowered his furry butt to the floor, then lifted his right front paw for a shake. As my mouth dropped, he continued to slowly slide his way to the floor and roll onto his side to play dead.
Great pet owner that I am, I quickly popped the rest of the ginger snaps in my mouth and gave him a "Nice try, better luck next time, sucker."
After all, he didn't even go for the Roll Over, which I consider the true Pièce de Résistance of his repertoire. What kind of a precedent would I be setting if I didn't demand high standards? Plus, we don't feed Milo people food outside of the occasional piece of cheese to hide a pill, so he was screwed from the get-go.
Ladies and gentleman, I think we have a future street performer on our hands. No handouts for Milo. We apparently trained him better than we thought. No freeloaders in our house!
Update: This post is the perfect example of why I blog rather than tumbl.
I am a writer and therefore totally long winded. What others say in 3 sentences (i.e. The other day my dog started doing tricks for my cookies! OMG it totally had me ROTFL! hahahaha!!!!!), I choose to drag out to 10 paragraphs.
If you haven't noticed, I have added a Twitter log to my blog page for all those short updates and general witticisms, but I prefer to offer a bit of a deeper insight into my life for friends and family. I hope you enjoy it.
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
NOLA hangover
I need a vacation. Stat. And one that doesn't include being anywhere NEAR a convention center.
Good thing I've got one planned for June 14th or I might quit my job and try something stupid like becoming a tap dancer or a dog trainer. (Everyone's got to have a fall-back career.)
I'm so happy to be home, though I will be missing that incredible Marriott bed and turn down service. Perhaps I can get Andy to leave chocolates on my pillow if I bribe him with souvenirs...
Milo appears to have become more academic since I've been gone.
Perhaps it's all the new tricks we've been making him learn.
Milo Trick from Kristin Sutter on Vimeo.
No puppy of mine is going to end up on the 6 o'clock news as any "innocent bystander".
Good thing I've got one planned for June 14th or I might quit my job and try something stupid like becoming a tap dancer or a dog trainer. (Everyone's got to have a fall-back career.)
I'm so happy to be home, though I will be missing that incredible Marriott bed and turn down service. Perhaps I can get Andy to leave chocolates on my pillow if I bribe him with souvenirs...
Milo appears to have become more academic since I've been gone.
Perhaps it's all the new tricks we've been making him learn.
Milo Trick from Kristin Sutter on Vimeo.
No puppy of mine is going to end up on the 6 o'clock news as any "innocent bystander".
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