Weekend Review: Sep 14th & 15th

Every weekend there are new sights, sounds, and taste to consume. There are other sensory inputs that tickle my brain too, but saying there is stuff to feel sounds creepy. This is a weekly journal of my weekend endeavors. Enjoy!

Topo Daypack
After a great family trip to Busch Gardens this summer I came back with a singular focus. The backpack we brought with us was one Crystal carried in college. It was too small and uncomfortable to wear. That and it looked like a kid would carry it. I decided that I'd find a better backpack. While I was at it, I recognized the need for a laptop friendly bag too. Hopefully picking up something that would replace three bags we've been tooling around with for years. I started by hitting up Mike for advice and he pointed me to the Wirecutter's favorite bags page. It was a wealth of information and a bit overwhelming. After two weeks of written and video reviews I decided on the Daypack. It is made of sturdy material and looks great. Not too technical and more of a seventies outdoors man sort of vibe. It may look less technical, but it has modern bag technology built into it. My laptop fits like a glove and for everyday carry it handles gym shoes, clothes and a water bottle too. I've worn it once for a walking trip and it was like butter on my back.

Obstructures Pry Tool
There was a six month span two years ago where I watched the Atwood tool blog relentlessly. Hoping to get the EDC tool of my dreams. Nothing. I eventually gave up and started carrying a Screwpop. It was an OK bottle opener, but I lost the driver bit twice. It was awkward to open bottles with, which was mainly what I used it for. When went backpack shopping last month I started to day dream about what I would fill it with. That meant touring around old post at the EDC blog. Which is were I discovered the Obstructures Pry Tool. It opens bottles like a champ and offers a make shift screwdriver and pry tool too. I really dig the threaded key ring as well, it makes using the tool super easy.

MiO
I've been ramping up my work day coffee consumption unknowingly for the past year (new baby?). Eventually getting to 6-7 cups a day, which seems like and is a lot. I introduced morning black tea to my routine as a coffee replacement, but after the thermos was empty I was right back at the Keurig machine. Last week I decided to look for more alternatives and found MiO. It is simply concentrated flavoring for water. It does not taste artificial, though it certainly is and it is not overly sweet. I want to do more research into it, but for now I'm keeping my intake to two glasses a day. It is pretty good.

Weekend Review: May 11th & 12th

Every weekend there are new sights, sounds, and taste to consume. There are other sensory inputs that tickle my brain too, but saying there is stuff to feel sounds creepy. This is a weekly journal of my weekend endeavors. Enjoy!

Zojirushi Stainless Steel Mug
For the past three months we have been drinking tea, with splash of honey, every morning and have been doing so out of ultra cheap mugs. They are stained, don't hold their heat and hard to get clean. So this past week I sprung for two really nice mugs from Zojirushi (say it with gravel in your throat). Locking mechanism on the flip top lid, two part spout for easy cleaning, stainless steel body and 6 hours of hot or cold liquid. I had three cups of hot tea every day at work last week and it was fantastic. That is the only downside of course, it keeps the tea so hot you can't actually drink directly from it. So I pour a bit in a cup and enjoy. Which is better than the old mug that would offer up a third of it's liquid as lukewarm swill. Oh and I should have ordered the Japanese one.

Joey Badass
For some reason I slept on this MC for almost a year now. Watching him show up on collaborations I really enjoyed and never following up. This week(end) I grabbed his mixtape and put it into heavy rotation. The title "1999" is apt given how much of a throw back the beats and Joey's flow is. It evokes a lot of Wu Tang and MF Doom (he produced a few tracks) for me. 90's and early oughts staples that scratchs an itch I didn't know I was missing. Really looking forward to his album this fall.

Vice
After catching Game of Thrones every week, I usually stick around to watch a new documentary show from Vice magazine. It is often disturbing, usually covered with some amount of tact and always compelling. Each show is split in to three stories that all center around a theme. From different parts of the world topics are introduced, covered and don't usually get resolved. It is good, but Vice is actually to short. Many of the topics feel important, like they need room to breathe, time to tell all sides of the tale. It is only a half hour of television though and it covers three stories. Still worth a watch.

Weekend Review: Feb 2nd & 3rd

Every weekend there are new sights, sounds, and taste to consume. There are other sensory inputs that tickle my brain too, but saying there is stuff to feel sounds creepy. This is a weekly journal of my weekend endeavors. Enjoy!

White Chicken Chili
I had no real rooting interest in the Super Bowl yesterday. Apart from rooting that Ray Lewis not win another in the year he plans to retire and also that the 49ers not win six and tie the Steelers. Either way I lost, but I decided to dull that phantom pain with chili. It is a recipe that I have made at least ten times, it is Slow Carb friendly (see the link above) and taste good. The prep time to break down a whole rotisserie chicken is the only aversion I have to not make it more often. Sundays are for lounging about and cooking long/slow meals though. The chili was great and the game turned out to be not so bad either.

Hardywood Craft Brewery
Saturday night my brother and I went down to Hardywood to see my friend Mike and his band (RPG) play at their record release party. It was a kick ass show and a great venue for it. RPG killed it after debuting their new music video. Being there for the show reminded me just how far Hardywood has come in only a  year. They seem to keep making great business decisions while standing on the back of some of the best beer I have ever tasted.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
In third grade I owned all four ninja turtles, a slew of bad guys and my prize possession was the party van. Two decades later, my three year old ranks TMNT right behind Adventure Time in his favorites shows to watch. Thursday night he completed a long standing agreement that if he learned to write and sound out the alphabet unassisted he could pick out any big toy he wanted. He went with the shellraiser, a turtle van that puts my party van to shame. We spent an hour before bed Friday night assembling it and then having the door bust open for the turtles spill out to stomp the foot clan. It was great!

Weekend Review: Jan 26th & 27th

Every weekend there are new sights, sounds, and taste to consume. There are other sensory inputs that tickle my brain too, but saying there is stuff to feel sounds creepy. This is a weekly journal of my weekend endeavors. Enjoy!

Pot Roast
Saturday was my second go round with the dutch oven I got for Christmas and my second on the recipe linked above. It was easy prep, 20 minutes at the most and then 4 hours of unattended cooking. Ding and you get beef that is falling apart delicious. Twice now I have made the mistake of dropping the carrots and onions in at the start of the cook time. What you get are over cooked carrots, an almost mashed potato consistency.  Dropping veggies in at the midway point is the answer.

UFC on Fox 6
The fights Saturday night were good for the most part. The main card lead up to the headliner was great. I still think flyweight fights are too quick and lack the power to be truly interesting. I'd love to see the stats, but it feels like the majority of them end in decision. Also, I know it is great that there are more and more free fights on every year. The Fox deal will mean 4 free events in the first quarter of this year alone. When those fights air on the big network though they take ages to get started. I counted 4 commercial breaks before the first fight kicked off. Nearly 30 minutes into the two hour broadcast.

Sledding
At 3 years old Kaden is right in the sweet spot to learn to and enjoy sledding. Friday my office closed early because of the precipitation and I got to come home to prime sledding hours. The neighbors next door are 7 and 8 year old girls who love to come over and see if Kaden can play. He joined them for an hour plus, walking up the hill and sliding back down again. He had a blast. Crystal went out Sunday and picked him up a sled of his own. We are waiting with crossed fingers and toes for the next Richmond style blizzard (read: 1-2 inches).

Weekend Review: August 11th & 12th

Every weekend there are new sights, sounds, and taste to consume. There are other sensory inputs that tickle my brain too, but saying there is stuff to feel sounds creepy. This is a journal of my weekend endeavors. Enjoy!

Beach Week
Saturday we got back from a great week at the beach. Lots of family, running, swimming, beer, coffee and comics. Most of the week was spent at the ocean or in the pool. When the rain came though, I caught up on loads of comics and napping. We got to see a Cops-esque domestic disturbance late in the week and we played the crap out of Pandemic. Oh and a pirate adventure, which was great for my three year old and us.

Batman: Dark Victory
The follow up to The Long Halloween, a book I loved when I read it years ago. The story is fantastic and Tim Sale's art really grew on me. Great sequels are hard to come by, but this is one of them. A grain of salt on this, I heart batman, but it is a good story even if your not a caped crusader super fan. I was really jonesing for batman content post Dark Knight Rises and this hit the spot. Go get it, like right now.

AeroPress
The Friday before we left, my AeroPress arrived in the mail. It is a single serving coffee maker that I have been reading rave reviews about for six months. I brewed a test batch (inverted) that night to get feel for the process and the result was a clean, tasty and less bitter cup. Some 20 cups later and I have nothing but nice things to say about it. Prep and clean up are easy and it brews a damn fine coffee. I even brewed a pitcher for iced coffee and made a simple syrup to go with. Yum!

Chocolate Bourbon Cherry Floats
I'm not really into my desert and alcohol mixing. I like a good stout usually and not too sweet either (the exception). Vacation calls for a bit of experimentation though and the recipe above caught my eye. I ended up with cherry infused bourbon and black cherry soda. All of which when combined with dark chocolate ice cream was a tasty treat. Putting enough bourbon in to get the job done on the first pass is a must though, because you won't have room for a second. I doubt I will go back to drinking these with any regularity (I'd be as big as a house), but for once in a blue moon, they are great.

Pandemic
Ethan lent us Pandemic the day before we left for the beach. He and the internet have been singing it's praises for a while now and I just hadn't gotten around to it. For everyone at the beach it was a new experience, playing co-op board game. Trying to beat a virus (four actually) in what often felt like impossible odds, as a team was really great. We ended up playing 8 times in total and only winning once, but that one taste of victory kept bring us back to the table.'

This is my 500th post, that is all.

Wreck Awards 2010

I did this thing last year, the year before that and the year before that, it is an official annualized tradition now. So without further ado, the Wreck Awards 2010...

Game of the Year: Mass Effect 2
Nothing came close to the story or world that BioWare crafted in their sequel to Mass Effect this year. All of the things that bugged me about the first game were either fixed, removed or sanded to a dull point. No more crappy vehicle combat and no more frustrating inventory management. Everything that could be was streamlined in service of the story they wanted to tell. The combat was more fun and as a shooter it felt less random. Overall it was leaps and bounds ahead of any game this year.
Runner Up: Limbo

Game I should have played: Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood 
What I presumed was going to be a cash grab quick follow up to a great game from 2009 apparently wasn't. I skipped it because I was done with Italy as a location for Assassin's Creed. Where is my feudal Japan game?Oh and multi-player crammed into a great single player experience. Yeah like that will work. It did work and quiet well by most accounts. Crap I really need to play this game. 
Runner Up: Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit


Movie of the Year: The Town

I heart a good bank robbery film (See: my unhealthy crush on Point Break) and The Town is that and much more. It was beautifully shot, written and directed. The acting was stand out from all involved and specially Jeremy Renner did an amazing job. A great film a great year for movies. See all the ones I didn't pick below...

Runner(s) Up: Toy Story 3, Inception, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World


Movie I should have seen: True Grit
Missing Coen brother films is a cardinal sin for me. Unfortunately this one came out a week before the end of the year. Everyone I know has seen it and is raving about it. Getting a free weekend to see it before it is out of theaters is a top priority in the coming weeks. Wish me luck.
Runner Up: Exit Through the Gift Shop

TV show of the Year: Boardwalk Empire
In a year where I though the Walking Dead would be an open and shut favorite for me I was surprised by how much I loved Boardwalk Empire. The twenties are an era rarely visited in modern story telling. That may be for a reason, but this show captured it and made it damn entertaining while doing so. Buscemi's performance is outstanding and the cast around him plays out at the same level and in some cases even better. In total it was the best story I watched this year.
Runners Up: The Walking Dead & Spartacus: Blood and Sand

Podcast of the Year: Smodcast

In a year where I have listened to more podcast than ever this was probably the hardest category to pick. Smodcast is Kevin Smith and Scott Mosier's podcast where they mostly just shoot the shit and comment on interesting news articles. It makes me consistently laugh out loud though. I knew it was going to win my heart when I took 4 episodes to Libya with me this summer and ended up downloading 4 more from the slow as all get out third world wifi at my uncles house. It is that good.

Runner Up: My Brother, My Brother and Me

Comic/Book of the Year: Planetary

Yes a series that ran from 1999 to 2009 is my 2010 book of the year. It is when I read it though that matters. I can't imagine reading only 27 issues over the course of ten years, but the story as a whole delivers. Not being a comics guy in the past some of the references were lost on me early on. Some had to be explained while others took longer that it would for most to get. The package as a whole is stellar though, really glad I got to read it.

Runner Up: Atomic Robo

Recipe of the Year: Talapia Fish Sticks

While probably not the best dish I served up all year it wins with its consistency, healthiness and taste. I'll expound on my original post and say that is still not easy to get an almost two year old to heat a healthy meal. His go to answer is "hot dog" no matter how you ask the question of what he wants to eat. So having this one in my back pocket every week is a the kind of trait that wins you awards. Your invisible placard is in the mail.

Runner Up: Scratch-Made Brownies

Gelato Bike

Ice cream Gelato on the back of a bike, yum! I doubt the pants crew and I would make it to our destination with temptation so close. It would have probably melted anyway, so it's fine that we stopped to eat it all five miles into the ride.

[Via: Make]

Tilapia Fish Sticks

Eating healthier, feeding a one year old and cooking complete meals are all goals I am working on. Usually the three are like passing ships in the night. Bringing them together can be an exercise in compromise and frustration. Either I cook something really healthy and Kaden doesn't eat it. We go out, the food is not healthy at all and he devours it. Or I cook unhealthy at home and he eats it up. It's tough business.

Well, last night I hat tricked a whole meal. A rarity, I assure you. I started on the hunt for a healthy fish recipe. The boy loves proteins. What I came across was panko crusted tilapia fish sticks. Well more than just panko, but I think that was the ingredient that did the heavy lifting. It was yum yum tasty and Kaden ate them up.

For sides, I cooked 3/4 cup of orzo and combined it in a skillet with peas and carrots. Salt, pepper and a smidgen of butter to taste and it was a really simple and tasty dish. The side to the side was a small portion of crispy potatoes. I used only two potatoes and a little less butter than called for. Where Kaden never eats any vegetables these days, we manged to get him to eat a little bit of each. Success!

Star Wars Cupcakes

A dream birthday spread as a child and even more so as an adult. Yum!

[Via: LikeCOOL]

Libya: Coffee & Tea

The worlds of coffee and tea are not foreign to me by any means. I drink my weight in coffee most weeks at work and I grew up brewing English tea for my mother daily. In Libya there is more of a formality to tea and coffee though. Not ceremony mind you, but definitely more importance.

The three staples that we were offered with great consistency while in Libya were:

• Turkish coffee
• Touareg tea or green tea with mint
• Karkadé Tea or red tea

I mostly partook in the Turkish coffee and green tea with mint, not that there was anything wrong with the red tea. Turkish coffee is served in the tiny coffee cups seen above and it is very strong and very sweet. Which is perfect for the small portions you drink, usually with a cookie or phyllo treat. Green tea with mint or Touareg as the internet helped me term it, was by far my choice of the three. Served in what looks like a shot glass, with or with out a handle, and the same treat mentioned above.

I have consumed plenty of green tea in the states, but it never really hooked me. Add some mint and a healthy amount of sugar and I feining for it. I have made it a goal in the this month to start to brew my own Touareg at work. I need to get the right tea and portions down and give it a go.

Tie Tea

Tie tea is ultra clever in it's simplicity and allows for a post my Mom will love when she gets around to reading it. Win Win!

[Via: Designboom]

Scratch-Made Brownies

Making brownies from scratch is really just a matter of effort. There is nothing complicated about them, so why not go with store bought mix? Because they will taste better dear friend when you use better ingredients. Oh and the satisfaction of making it all on your own feels pretty damn good too.

So where to start? On the internet of course, one of my favorite blogs, mentioned here a ton of times is 101 Cookbooks. The recipes are healthy and taste great. Well when one makes brownies healthy can be an after thought. So it was off to my new favorite cooking blog, How to Cook Like Your Grandmother, where I had already made a killer roast beef. Drew, the author, conveniently had his brownie recipe at the top of his all time favorites. So I printed it and was off to the store for ingredients.

1-1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
3 eggs
3/4 cup butter, melted
3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

See simple, no where near as complicated as I thought brownies would be for some reason. The key is buying good chocolate, I picked up Ghirardelli chips as the recipe called for, but couldn't find the cocoa powder. So I went with Hershey in it's place. A little help from Kaden to mix it all together and they were done after 25 minutes at 325°. As far as I know it would have tasted better with the more expensive cocoa, but it was good none the less.

Maybe next time I'll try 101's black bean brownies, they would go much better with my New Year's resolutions.

2010 Resolutions

My resolutions for 2009 were met with some failures and others I powered through, but this year I plan to do even better...

- Ride at least twice once a month (2009 carry over)
- Build an arcade (2009 carry over)
- Lose weight (2009 carry over)
- Run twice a week with Crystal
- Start up a kettlebell routine at home
- Write a short story/novella (40-100 pages)
- Build a shed/workshop
- Take more woodworking classes
- Renovate our other bathroom
- Build at least 3 wood based projects
- Clean up the front and backyard
- Travel more
- Cook dinner more than half of the times we eat in a month
- Start painting (not walls, but canvases)
- Run/play a short Warcraft or Star Wars table top game

Wreck Awards 2009

I did this thing last year and the year before that, it is an official annualized tradition now. So without further ado the Wreck Awards 2009...

Game of the Year: Batman: Arkham Asylum
In a year of a ton of great games the world's greatest detective won my video game heart. The game looked fantastic and had a mash up of game mechanics that all felt fully fleshed out (stealth, action, platforming, etc). The story touched on a lot of well treaded Batman villains and some lesser known ones too. Overall it was the full single player package that no other game offered in 2009.
Runner Up: Uncharted 2

Game I should have played: Dragon Age: Origins
While technically I actually did play this game it was on the tail end of some other long games and right before new releases. I think in total I played it for two or three hours when it is nearly a fifty hour journey. I know it is a good game, I just didn't have the time to play through it. It will most likely get the summer treatment like Mass Effect did this summer.
Runner Up: Left 4 Dead 2

Movie of the Year: District 9
The story behind the production of this film was the first thing to get me interested in it long before it's release. Going in knowing little to nothing about the actual film and then loving the story, universe and special effects is what really hooked me. Our world with one or two sci-fi tweaks is a simple enough concept that is not done that often and rarely well. The special effects look like they are apart of the world and seeing it a second time on blu-ray this past weekend really solidified my appreciation for the work they did.
Runner Up: The Hangover

Movie I should have seen: Inglourious Basterds
I love me some Tarantino, save a few of his less than stellar works (see: Death Proof) and some how we didn't get around to seeing Inglourious Basterds. Call it first year baby syndrome, but we went to the movies a lot less in the second half of 2009. Oddly enough I went to pick up the film the other night at the local Blockbuster (I know, I feel dirty, sorry Netflix), but they didn't have it on Blu-Ray. So we watched Julie & Julia instead, a good film, but not Inglourious Basterds.
Runner Up: The Hurt Locker

TV show of the Year: True Blood
It feels rare that a show ever eclipses it's first season these days, but the second season of True Blood did just that. The story got better and the characters, new and old, were better developed. It was the show that Crystal and I looked forward to the most and the one we were most sad to see end for the season. The finale episode didn't feel as epic as the whole, but I don't think they could have done anything that would truly satisfied given the great build up.
Runners Up: Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives

Comic/Book of the Year: Scalped
I read a ton of books and comics this year, which made this category on of the hardest to pick. Scalped was the work that stood above the rest though. Call it my affection for comics that don't follow the life and times of super heroes. I love comics that follow regular folks into fucked up situations. Scalped does just that on the back drop of a reservation plagued by drugs, violence and corruption. I wouldn't recommended it to the faint of heart, but it is a solid read for anyone who can stomach the depressing, but occasionally uplifting tale it weaves.
Runner Up: Arthas: Rise of the Lich King

Recipe of the Year: Chicken with Lime Butter
Huh, I don't have much experience with writing about food. Most of my commentary about something I like involves primal grunts of "Mmm". I can tell you all about something I make that I don't like pretty easily though. Not the case with Chicken in a lime butter sauce. I made it probably five to six times in the second half of the year, with a side of orzo, that was a killer combination. No complaints from Crystal and I loved eating it, so it's a winner.
Runner Up: Roast Beef

2009 Resolutions in Review

Back in early ought nine I wrote up a list of resolutions for the new year. A precarious task for sure with a new baby on the way, but as they were written so shall they be reviewed...

- Ride at least twice a month
Fail, I think I made it to mid April when Kaden was born.

- Ride more miles in the current month than I did the previous
Fail, Save the month of September.

- Ride and camp more
Pass, our goodbye to Russ ride covered this one.

- Try a new recipe a month
Pass, I can't document it, but I cooked like a mad man in 2009.

- Improve my writing
Pass, between my online D&D game and blogging I like to think I got better this year.

- Take more photos
Pass, see the pictures.

- Improve my video editing (and post more videos)
Pass, see the videos.

- Lose weight (see riding goals)
Fail, I think I am up 5 to 10 pounds over last year, see cooking and cycling.

- Take at least one grappling or BJJ class
Fail, no excuses.

- Read more comics
Pass, I read a ton.

- Build an arcade
Fail, I meant to do this honest, it will make the list for 2010 for sure.

- Finish a 40k army
Fail, after discovering D&D this year I really have no need for this anymore.

- Organize my workshop
Fail, it is currently a hot mess.

- Back up my data
Pass, I got an external hard drive and software that backs up everything weekly.

- Become a good Dad
Pass, while this is subjective for sure, I think by not cooking meth in our kitchen and reading to him every night I'm doing a pretty good job at this Dad thing.

Hmm, 8 out of 15 isn't bad, but it isn't good either. I'll be putting together my 2010 list this coming week in another post, hopefully I can complete even more.

Finishing, Twitter and Peppers

Wood Finishing
Wednesday night was my second class at Woodcraft since I decided to add yet another hobby to my list of many. The last class was how to build a basic box, it was very hands on and the result of my labor was tangible. My choice for a follow up was a finishing course. I figured it made sense to at least learn how to sand, stain, seal and clear coat my first project. It felt a little less satisfying to not walk away with something, but getting a crash course in a topic I knew zero about prior to attending was equally great. Hopefully I will have new pictures of the finished box on the site sooner than later.

Twitter
Now that I have a new phone, text plan and the same amount of thoughts and life experiences, I have awakened my twitter account (@wreck36) from it's seven month slumber. Finally getting it synced up with my Facebook and Tumblr was the push I needed too. Posting to twitter from my desktop previously just seemed like I was doing it wrong. So now it is on to even more social media. Look out should I be successful in getting my employer setup to tweet as well.

Stuffed Peppers
On the menu at the Tabib's Tuesday night was stuffed bell peppers. A meal I have made once before that turned out tasty enough to warrant a second pass. This time it went faster, cleaner and tastier. They are simple enough to make: brown beef, cook rice and combine the two with tomato sauce, garlic powder, Worcestershire sauce, onion powder and salt/pepper to taste. Stuff the mix in the peppers and cover the tops with a mix of tomato sauce, Italian seasoning and fresh parmesan. Bake at 350 for one hour and the result is what you see to the right. Basting it every 15 minutes with the tomato sauce mix will keep them moist. Supah Tasty.

Comics & Books
Long neglected my "what am I reading" list on the right hand side of the bee-log has been updated and bumped up above the links sections. Nothing special, but why have it if it is not up to date.

On the Stove

I have been trying a bunch of new recipes and experimenting in the kitchen as of late. I've not been talking about those topics here on the bee log. Not for lack of interest in writing about cooking, but because I generally have plenty of other geeky topics to expound on. Today is a new day though, so have at ye cooking post...

French Toast
I love this breakfast treat and Crystal adores it. Oddly enough we never have it for breakfast, but for dinner instead. It is pretty straight forward: cinnamon, nutmeg, sugar, eggs and milk for the wet mix. The key is using a good bread. I avoid plain Jane sliced wheat and white breads in favor of soft loafs. Challah and various French breads work really well. The best one I have found to date is a Mexican/Spanish style bread that is soft, but also has a buttery flavor to it. Topping good french toast requires maple syrup and butter, so having the butter already present from the get go seems to make it that much better. The name of the bread escapes me for the moment, but I will post back here when it does not.

Meatballs
Last week I got a craving for meatballs, not wacky hijinks from the late 70's, but the food. I could go on about why they are great, but that is like ginning up the virtues of oxygen. The recipe I found online was fairly straight forward: ground beef, bread crumbs, onions, salt, pepper and water. Mix it up, ball it up, broil it up and simmer in your sauce. The fun thing was finding yet another use for the now legendary 5 minute sauce. I have been using it for a funky fo-chicken parmesan for the past year and now it is snuggling up to meatballs and wheat pasta on our dinning room table.

Meatloaf
In the same vein as the meatballs, I rolled up some meatloaf early this week. Same basic ingredients with the addition of an egg to help it bind. Some how we lost our loaf pan so when it came to actually baking the meat mixture I had concocted I was at a loss. In steps the glass baking dish and it's 40 minutes to loafy heaven. This main course, while tasty, also served as a big red arrow pointing to one of my deficiencies. Sides, I don't really do sides. Sure I grill up some zucchini and squash on occasion and I've been known to whip up some smashed potatoes, but for the most part I don't make good sides. It did not occur to me until it was too late, but it is hard to make a meal out of just meatloaf. So I scrounged up some egg noodles, buttered, salted and peppered them to taste and vowed to right my side dish wrongs. Next weeks menu, meatloaf with asparagus and orzo on the side.

Stir Fry
Asian cuisine has always been out of my wheel house in terms of cooking. Love to eat it, but I have never approached it in my kitchen. About three weeks ago on my trip to the grocery store I went down the international food aisle to get pasta. Real international I know. As I passed the Asian ingrediants I got a wild hair to experiment. So I picked up some stir fry noodles, teriyaki sauce, chicken and an onion. Fast forward to me making a fairly tasty teriyaki stir fry that's only short coming was a lack of variety. It was food enough to warrant repeating, but this time with water chestnuts and steak as a sub for the chicken. I chose a bad steak, but the idea was getting iteratively better. Next up more veggies and a tweaking of the sauce.

Roosters and Chlorine

As I would normally have off on the 4th and the holiday happened to fall on a Saturday, I also got the 3rd off last week. So we made the most of my Friday freedom and spent the afternoon at Maymont with Kaden. It was great day for visiting the animals, not too hot and surprisingly not crowded. Below are the pictures from Friday...

Goat!

Pig!

"what is in the world is that Dad?"

Wingspan check!

Kaden and Crystal on the bench where I proposed.

Tree!

Kaden showing off at the fountain.

After an awesome Friday out and about we were invited to a Saturday 4th pool party with the Bricks. All we had to provide was a cute baby and a tasty side dish. I know with certainty that the former was covered and I'm pretty sure the latter was highly reviewed as well. I slightly modified a new recipe from 101 that fit exactly what I was looking for in a side. We had fresh squash and zucchini from a friend in the fridge and I wanted to make some sort of casserole. So I dropped the tart crust and just hit the bottom of a baking dish with bread crumbs. Fill according to the recipe and wahlah! Captured swimming fun is below...

Getting ready to swim.

Kaden, Blair and Erin.

Kaden and Mom.

Kaden and Dad.

Barefoot Chase

When I got home from work last night, I hit the kitchen to start prepping for burgers. I'll take grilling outside over cooking indoors any day and the weather gods have been kind enough to bless us with warmer temperatures as of late. As with my last trip to the grill I brought the dog (Macy) outside with me so she could run off some energy. A practice we have been encouraging as of late with the baby coming.

The burgers were sizzling in no time and Macy was taking laps and sniffing up a storm in our backyard. By the time I had administered the first flip Macy was tiring out and hanging by me , the grill and the gate. Crystal soon came outside to join us, we chatted about her day at work while Macy snagged a lick or two on the spatula, a practice we do not encourage. When the burgers were done Crystal went inside to prep the dinning room table and I tossed cheese on the burgers and went to take Macy inside.

A part of the practice of taking Macy to the backyard is doing it sans leash. She grew up in a townhouse with a 6ft by 4ft patch of grass to go out on. So a leash was necessary. Leashing her up continued through her seminal years and is something we still do today. Needless to say we shower her with treats and praise every time she makes it from the backyard to the backdoor without one. She was batting 1000 on taking the three foot ninety degree turn, until last night.

Last night she made it about two feet into the dogleg, when her line of sight was filled by a boy on a bike. He couldn't have been but 9 or 10 years old and presented a perfect target to our 16 lbs beast. Mind you she would never bite anyone, but she would charge towards them to bark a lot. When I caught up to her in the street she played keep away from me with the boy in the middle of us. I kept assuring the child that she meant no harm and thankfully he seemed unphased.

When she lost interest in him she took off down the street with me in tow. Slowing and sprinting as I gave chase on barefoot, having kicked off my shower shoes in the interest of greater speed. We made it about two blocks by the time she took new found interest in a mailbox and I cornered her. I out of breath and she confused about the fuss I was making. When we made it back to the house Crystal was standing in the yard and I could see and smell the cheese on my burgers burning. Jogging past her to the burgers I explained what had happened and in one motion tossed Macy inside and threw open the grill. The burgers were saved, thankfully.

I took off my iPod, which had become tangled in the chase and set it aside, while I went about plating the burgers for the trip inside. We dined on burgers in our living room and glared at a confused 16lbs dog who most likely thought the whole thing was all in fun.

At 1am I went outside and got my iPod, it had been rained on for what I presume was the whole night. It is now resting in a bag of brown rice and I have my fingers crossed that it will turn on again in the near future.

Anniversary Camping

Friday last week we pulled out of Richmond late in the afternoon to head to Bear Creek Lake in Cumberland County, VA. It is only an hour away, but it felt like a much needed vacation from our suburban routine. Admittedly it is very much the suburban version of camping though. With a parking spot, fire pit, running water and bathhouse on site, it is not exactly roughing it. Camping with a small house dog requires some sacrifices. The rest is in the pictures...

Macy and Crystal

Starting the Fire

Duel wielding hot dogs

Our home

Macy's dog den

Hiking Saturday morning

Following the rules

Hiking

Yet more hiking