No fixed plans. Not intent upon arriving.
Breakfast was a slice of apple pie and two cups of coffee.
Gretchen and I sat in the garage and snapped beans while we ate cashews and peanuts and drank two bottles of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and watched the rain some down.
We went to Gretchen’s and her Dad’s birthday dinner tonight. I had a grilled pork chop, sweet corn, a roll, a salad, a glass of Sutter Home White Zinfandel, cake and ice cream, and a cup of coffee.
- 3 [Dried] Ancho Chiles, stemmed, seeded and sliced
- 3 [Dried] Cascabel Chiles, stemmed, seeded and sliced
- 3 Dried Arbol Chiles, stemmed, seeded and sliced
- 2 tablespoons Whole Cumin Seeds
- 2 tablespoons Garlic Powder
- 1 tablespoon Dried Oregano
- 1 teaspoon Smoked Paprika
Place all of the chiles and the cumin into a medium nonstick saute pan or cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Cook, moving the pan around constantly, until you begin to smell the cumin toasting, approximately 4 to 5 minutes. Set aside and cool completely.
Once cool, place the chiles and cumin into the carafe of a blender along with the garlic powder, oregano, and paprika. Process until a fine powder is formed. Allow the powder to settle for at least a minute before removing the lid of the carafe. Store in an airtight container for up to 6 months.
Breakfast was a sautéed onion, pepper, and mushroom omelette and two cups of coffee.
I took the bus over to the HUB for lunch but I walked back. I had Panda Express mandarin chicken with mixed vegetables on chow mein noodles, and a fortune cookie.
You never hesitate to tackle
the most difficult problems.
Lucky Numbers 10, 19, 20, 24, 44, 46
Dinner was Smoked Turkey Baked Chimichangas and two glasses of Bolla Sangiovese Di Romagna.
I went for a lower body workout at the MBNA Fitness Center tonight:
I increased the Leg Press by 5 pounds. Everything felt good. I was able to do 12 on everything. It seemed like it was too soon to have adapted to the new weight, but I’ll consider upping everything next time.
I have been sorely lacking in photographs in my postings lately. It isn’t that I have not taken any, I just haven’t been posting them. Here are a bunch of them.
We picked apples at the last CSA community work weekend. These are some of the little beauties just before I picked them.
I haven’t posted any pictures of Awesome lately, so here is one from the other day.
This is a cherry pie that Gretchen made back on the first of August. It was so pretty I just had to take a picture of it.
The variety of corn we are growing this year has this freakish purple silk on it. I hope the corn is good!
The corn grew to ridiculous heights this year.
Also on the first of August, Gretchen made this really scrumptious foccacia. It must have been a baking kind of day.
Here is a close up of that foccacia. Can’t you just taste it?
Earlier this summer, at one of the other CSA community work weekends, we picked garlic. Here are the fruits of our labor hanging in the barn to dry.
They have already started to clean the bulbs and separate them into large ones…
…and small ones.
A little bit ago we went down to the Lewisburg Farmer’s Market to get some peaches.
This is the stand where Gretchen gets her peaches every year.
The prior weekend we had been to the Milheim Farmer’s Market, where they have live music…
…and a tank.
I would like to thank… Umami… over at… Umami… for adding me to her food blogs list.
Balsamic vinegars fall into two categories: Artisan-Made and Commercial
Artisan-Made is aged for 12 or 25 years and is more a liqueur and sauce than a vinegar. Syrupy and glossy sable in color, this is the only true balsamic vinegar. By law and tradition it can be produced solely in the provinces of Modena and Reggio in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. Artisan-made balsamic vinegar’s heritage reaches back over a thousand years. These vinegars are usually family-made today, and always were in the past.
Made from boiled-down grape must, artisan balsamic can legally contain no wine vinegar and must be aged by passing the must through a series of progressively smaller wooden barrels which are located in airy attics. The barrels have large holes in their tops to encourage evaporation and concentration of flavors, as well as the enzyme reactions yielding the often incredibly complex liquid. Bottled by two consortiums only after approval in blind tastings, the key word to look for on the label is “tradizionale”… With Modena’s vinegars, “Vecchio” indicates a 12-year-old vinegar; “Extra Vecchio” a 25-year-old. In Reggio, tradizionale is in three levels of quality: red label, silver and gold. Remember, without the word “tradizionale” on the bottle, the vinegar is not true artisan-made balsamic no matter what a label may claim about age and quality…
Using: Tradizionale is a concentrated syrupy sauce, not a vinegar for salad dressings and marinades. Drizzle small amounts over finished dishes — simple pastas, risotti, roasted and grilled vegetables, meat, seafood, and flans. Sprinkle it over fruit and pour over vanilla ice cream and rich creamy desserts. There are no substitutes…
Commercial Balsamic Vinegar has no regulations governing its origins and production. Any statement of age on the bottle is not controlled by any regulations. A manufacturer can say anything on the label. At its best, commercial balsamic is a blend of young artisan-made balsamic or boiled grape must and good wine vinegar. Lesser commercial balsamics are inferior wine vinegar colored and flavored with caramel. They can possess all the goodness of paint remover. Price does not indicate quality.
Using: For salads, marinades, simmering into sauces, and for drizzling over finished dishes. One Modena cook enriches store-bought commercial balsamic with a generous pinch of dark brown sugar for each tablespoon of vinegar. Restaurant chefs in America boil [down] commercial balsamic to a syrup as a stand-in for “tradizionale.” Although not approaching artisan balsamic’s finesse, the syrup is good on composed salads and the like.
Breakfast was a bowl of cold cereal with peach slices, two pieces of toasted Italian bread, and a cup of coffee.
When I got to the office, I had another cup of coffee.
I had an Act II Mini Bag microwave popcorn before going for a walk over lunch, about three miles ending in a drenching downpour. I had a Nature Valley Oats ’N Honey Crunchy Granola Bar after I got back.
Dinner was a sautéed onion, green pepper, and mushroom pizza and a bottle of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale.
Assuming no previous knowledge on your part, I will be using colored and easy-to-follow diagrams as well as simple step-by-step instructions to help you on your way to become a real master at tying ties in no time. That way, learning how to tie a tie will be fun and about as easy as coloring by numbers!
All I ask of you, my friend, is an open mind and a few minutes of your time to practice today. It would now be helpful if you had a tie at hand and a mirror nearby so that we can “dig right on in.”
When state Fish and Wildlife agents recently found a black bear passed out on the lawn of Baker Lake Resort, there were some clues scattered nearby — dozens of empty cans of Rainier Beer.
The bear apparently got into campers’ coolers and used his claws and teeth to puncture the cans. And not just any cans.
“He drank the Rainier and wouldn’t drink the Busch beer,” said Lisa Broxson, bookkeeper at the campground and cabins resort east of Mount Baker.
Fish and Wildlife enforcement Sgt. Bill Heinck said the bear did try one can of Busch, but ignored the rest.
“He didn’t like that (Busch) and consumed, as near as we can tell, about 36 cans of Rainier.”