OK, this isn’t at all involved with food, but it’s interesting enough that I felt it had to be shared, so please allow a short digression.  I promise it will make you think for a minute, if nothing else.

Watch the video before reading on, if you please.  You won’t understand the rest of the post if you don’t…

Makes you think, doesn’t it?  But what does it make you think? I mean, I knew it probably wasn’t about what it sounded like, but did the end catch you by surprise, too?

Talbot’s is working hard to change their image and their clientele to a more trendy and modern crowd, the video is proof of that. It’s fun, it’s slightly naughty and it definitely made me do a double-take.  My wife shot straight over to their site and picked out a slew of things that she wanted form their inventory. (most notably in the shoe department.)

Is Talbot’s right for you?  Why not visit the Talbots site and take a look around.  If there’s something there that you love, leave a comment and share what it was and what you liked about it. It’ll be fun!

If you like, I’ll post my wife’s list as well, but be warned, it’s long!

You may also want to run over to Red Chair Confessions and watch more of these videos, including the progression that led up to this one. I have to admit that I found it interesting as well, though I’m not in their target audience. (I do hang at woman’s fashion sites though. It helps me pick the right gift for my wife!)

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Grapes.  Specifically the grapes growing on a vine that’s overtaken a manzanita tree in my back yard.  These are just one of the surprises that our new home has given us.  This one is a California foodie’s dream, considering that the leaves can be used for so many wonderful things as well as the fruit that this lovely vine will gift us with for years to come.

The plant is technically my neighbors, but I’ll be encouraging it to grow and spread its vines along a trellis I’ll be building soon.  I’m sure he won’t mind if I foot some of the bill for watering this gorgeous plant either, so I think we’ll be O.K.

This year’s yield was two small bunches, but I’m hoping I can coax a bit more out of it next year if plenty of attention is given and the vines are laid out in a manner that appeals more to the plant.  This is a task I accept gladly, and an endeavor I’ll be sharing with all of you as time goes by.

I’ll let you know if we stumble across anything else really cool in the next few weeks!

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Let me apologize at the outset.  This post is a bit rambling.  It covers a lot in as short a space as I can fit it into.

Many of you know that we’ll be moving to California in the near future.  As of today that move is scheduled for 28 days from today, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t things we want to get done before we leave, nor does it mean we’ve been sitting around playing video games while we wait for the movers. (Though there are days that I wish that’s what we were doing.)

My wife went to school just outside Houston Texas and before we left we thought we should go see a few of her old friends and see some of the places she hung out while in high school. I was all for it not only for her sake, but for the sake of trying out a few new paces to eat along the way.

Texas Best Smokehouse

The trip started well enough.  We shot past Fort Worth on our way south to Houston.  At about three hours it was time to grab a bite, so we stopped at a chain BBQ place called Texas Best Smokehouse. While I’m not sure that I would call them the best I’ve had in Texas by any stretch of the imagination, I will say that their sausage was good and that the experience did not leave me feeling uninspired. (Yes, smoked jalapeno sausage.  I usually don’t try brisket from a chain.)

The rest of the trip, while long, was uneventful.  we were in more of a hurry to make our final destination than we were to stop at the more interesting places on the way. (At least one of which I will be visiting this weekend.) With a Hotel finally located and a very filling dinner at Joes Crab Shack under our belts we turned in from a very long day of driving.

As is only fitting on a Memorial day weekend, we visited my Brother-In-Law’s grave to pay our respects. My wife has not been to visit in years and the experience for her was was bittersweet. I never had the opportunity to know K.C., but I’ve heard enough about him to feel like I know him and it was a bit wrenching for me as well. the memory of this visit is now on of far too many I’ll hold with me on Memorial Day weekend.

From there we toured my wife’s old high school, a few small towns she used to pop into in her youth and I sat along for the tour.  It’s always interesting to see how coming home affects people, since “home” has a way of growing up without you.  when they say you can never go home again, they are right.  it will never be what you left no matter how badly you want it to be.  Both you and the town have changed.

A nice country day in TX

After the tour we headed into the deep countryside of Texas to visit with my wife’s best friend from high school. My wife and her friend dissapeared for hours of catching up and I spent the day playing with Lil B. and getting to know her husband, a genuinely nice man that I admire.  Lil’ B. had a blast exploring the garden and playing with the dogs while the adults talked about everything from the state of the economy to the best place to get a good dinner in the area; which leads us to:

The Little Burro. A great Tex-Mex meal by any estimation.

The El Burrito (Or Little Burro). I’ll tell you right now that there are gems out there if you look hard enough.  This is one of them.  Portions were huge, the food was fresh. The flavors were amazing, but avoided the North Texas habit of adding enough spice to make a veteran Thai food lover wince. I wish I could have stayed in the area long enough to eat there again.  If I ever find myself in this part of TX again, I’ll be stopping here.

For anyone that’s going to be in Cleveland TX, or just in the Houston Area you can find this reataurant here.

BFFL

At the end of the evening we bid our farewells and made ready for the last day of the trip, a picnic in my wife’s honor.  The picnic was nice, but short.  We had to head back by two if we wanted any sleep at all. Of course we were so tied up in the bevy of people there that we both forgot to snap a single photo. I’ve really got to hone my on location skills!

We picked up a few interesting goodies on the way that I’ll be writing about in the next few days, so stay tuned for that.

The following week was spent dealing with issues for the impending move and the weekend on another road trip with friends to Oklahoma.

Next week will be spent with family visiting.  following that we plan to play tourist in our own town before we leave.  It’s very doubtful we’ll ever see Wichita Falls Texas again.  It’s been an interesting experience but I have to say that I’m ready to be back in California and done with the whirlwind that we’re riding now.

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Believe it or not, I haven’t gone anywhere.  I’m still cooking, reading and voraciosly watching food related TV.  unfortunately there are other things in my little sphere of existance that have been keeping me from sharing these things with all of you.

Firstly, my wife and I have been busily house hunting. If that wasn’t a daunting enough task, we’re doing it from 1,700+ miles away from where we’ll be buying.  We’ve already bid and lost a few, but our Realtor has been amazing and we’re loking at several prospects as I write this.  It’s slow going and exhausting.  (I’ll be honest.  It’s stressful enough that at times it turns my brain to mush and I think the guys from the hulu.com commercials are going to pop in and finish me off.)

Secondly, Our son has been progressing at a frightening rate.  This is a two sided coin though, because even though his communication skills are improving wildly, his frustration when he can’t get something across has gotten more pronounced.  This means far more of my day is spent making sure that his wellfare is met. (I’m a dad, it’s my job.  I’m not complaining, just explaining.)

Lastly, I’ve been in the process on writing an eBook on the subject of blogging.  It was an inspiration fueled by my frustration with the information available.  Too many people are publishing utter chaff with the promise of riches and charging an arm-and-a-leg for it.  I intend to put one out that can give both new and experienced bloggers asome valuable hints, tips and directions to follow.

The last has been taking the bulk of my time.  It’s ironic that writing a book on the subject of blogging is keeping me from doing the very thing that I’m writing about, but when your time is limited you have to set priorities and I need to get that prject finished if I want to get back to the full-time business of actually being a blogger.

So if you’ve been worried, don’t be.  If you think I’ve just lost the urge to write about food, cooking and recipes, don’t be silly!  I live for this, I’ve just been diverted for a bit.

Peace, Y’All.  I’m out

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Not everyone loves Gordon Ramsay but his image definitely precedes him. So much so that even kids have gotten in on the act. I found this video early this morning and thought it might help to give someone else a chuckle. It did me.

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Some things just aren’t meant to be. Apparently one of those things was the birthday dinner I’d been planning for my wife for an entire week. It was nothing over the top fancy, just a simple dinner of seared scallops over wilted romaine with garlicky butter and olive oil fettuccini.  All-in-all, a dinner that should have taken less than 20 minutes to make from start to finish if everything had gone right.

Of course, it didn’t go right.  It didn’t go right at all.

First, for some reason my stove doesn’t like to boil the wter in my pasta pot.  I blame it on both the pot itself for having crappy heat conducting properties and on the burners, which have no center vents, just a ring of outer gas jets that force all of the heat towards the outside of the pot and up the sides.  at times it can take nearly an hour to get a good boil going.  Add the pasta and the water will immediately drop below a boil for a good 5 minutes.

This in itself would not have deterred me.  I’d bought fresh fettuccini, so a qhick 2 minute dip in the water would have rendered it perfect regardless of a rolling boil.  (See, I plan ahead sometimes!)  so once the water was getting good ad ready, I pulled the scallops out of the freezer and plopped a sufficient number into a collander for a quick thaw under cold running water…

Only to find that they were completely freezer burned!

I’ll admit that this put a hitch in my semi-well thought out plans.  I’d run the menu in my head enough times that I should have been able to slam out this dinner with Gordon Ramsay-esque precision.  But hey, I’m the seat of my pants guy.  I’m adaptable. I’d just substitute the scallops and romaine for sauteed shrimp with a bit of thyme and a hint of lemon, no problem! I dashed to the freezer and grabbed for the jumbo shrimp, only to find that instead of a lovely milky flesh color, they too wore the mottled and splotchy signs of freezer burn as well.

OK, one pack I can see. maybe I punctured the package unwittingly or had stored it for too long.  Two damaged seafood packages and now it’s the commisary’s fault!  Unfortunately, those were the end of my options.  Every other protien I had available was inthe deep freezer outside so ther was really no other choice.  I’d already waited to start dinner because my wife had been talking to her best friend for two hours. (I’m not complaining, they only talk every few months.), there was nothing I could grab and make in a hurry and we’d both already toasted her <censored>’th year on this earth several times, so driving was out of the question.

So for my wife’s birthday dinner, we oredered Asian. She had the cashew chicken, I had the broccoli beef, and they managed not to screw up the fried rice this time.  That in itself is a kind of miracle.

However, I don’t take this type of insanity well.  I’ve had nights where something didn’t work, but I am not accustomed to finding that my product has gone bad, especially when I have not had them for long at all. (The scallops were bought just about a week ago, the shrimp was unopened.)  I’ll be back at the commisary later today for more scallops and whatever greens I can find that look perfect sot hat I don’t have to write off the pasta as well.  This dish will be made tonight, I swear it on all that is culinary.  I will not be defeated by a bi-valve and a piece of bad packaging!

Have any of you sufered through a comedy of errors like this?  What did you do at the end of the day?  I’d love to hear about it.

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Who reading this hasn’t, at least at some point, wanted their own chef’s coat?  Isn’t that the secret dream of every foodie everywhere?  That some day, at some point, you’ll be the one walking out from the kitchen wearing the crisp uniform of the executive chef.  I know it’s one of my dreams, though I’m not sure if it will ever really happen.

Honestly, the chef’s jacket is a uniform, just like any other, and I’m thinking about getting one anyway.  Perhaps it will give me the push I need to actually work towards that restaurant I’ve been dreaming about.  And folks, I’ve found the jacket.

In one of my many diversionary flights across the internet, I found iDbyLandau.com.  They not only offer a complete line of really cool chef apparel, but some decent looking company apparel and corporate apparel too.  The one that caught my eye?  The Coed Mid Sleeve Chef’s coat.  Or maybe the Black Gangster Stipe coat.  Both of these would be something I’d happily wear at work in the kitchen, whether I carried a culinary degree in with me or not.

If you are already a professional chef and you have to provide your own uniforms, iDbyLandau.com is someplace you really need to check out.  And if you’re like me and just really want a chef’s coat for Christmas, go check them out anyway.  it’s just a coat, but man is it Cool!

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This year is not only our last year at Sheppard Air Force Base, but very likely the last year for the BMET Christmas party as we have known it.  (For those of you not familiar with the acronym, BMET stands for BioMedical Equipment Technician, and it’s what my wife does for a living when she’s not instructing or writing.) Knowing that it could be the last of these get-togethers was the only reason we needed to attend and I’m glad we did.

My wife was lovely (as usual) in a little black patterned A-Line cocktail number and a set of killer stilettos.  Myself… well, I’m not as pretty as she is.  I also have an aversion to formal attire, so I just plopped in in a  set of khaki’s, black oxfords and a hunter green microfiber shirt.

The party started with the usual poorly made production-line barbecue (with sauce!  Gag!).  Dry brisket, destroyed pork and under smoked sausage were the main course.  Sides were a nasty potato salad, horrible beans and an even more disappointing something-or-other I can’t even remember.  I shouldn’t be surprised that I was not impressed.  I’m particular in my BBQ and these people apparently don’t believe in smoke.

The rest of the evening was dancing to some pretty random club music and a raffle (which we were not fortunate enough to win.) There was much drinking and carousing and several fools were made, but I won’t highlight that here.  In the end, it was a good evening with good friends and people we may never see again.  We made the most of it.

We sat with our friends Erick and Brie and even though I said I wouldn’t be caught incriminating myself, I couldn’t pass up a chance at a group hug with our newest friends. (I told you I’m not as pretty as my wife is! And yes, that’s Erick holding his wife, not me, LOL!)

In all it will be a party I remember.  Not so much for what was scheduled to happen, but for some of the more spontaneous moments that occured along the way.  It’s a good way to say goodbye to the place we’ve called home since 2005.  I can’t say I’ll miss the base, but I will always miss our friends.

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As far as the 12 days of cookies goes, I have to admit my utter failure.  I have been defeated.  Not by the cookies, but by circumstances.  There’s just too much going on right now for me to be able to focus on baking, and almost too much going on for me to focus on cooking.

First, both my wife and son have been fighting with a nasty cold for over a week each.  This thing likes to move from the nose to the chest and hang around.  The little guy is hanging in there, but it’s obvious that he does not feel well.  My wife is a trooper (Well, Airman, but that’s neither here nor there…), she doesn’t complain, but she’s dragging heavily.

The other reason is the news we just received.  My wife has orders to Incirlik Air Force Base, Turkey.  My son and I will not be accompanying her there for several reasons, but it has put added pressure on the family as the whirlwind of meetings and paperwork begin and decisions as to what to do with this, that and the other thing all get hashed out and discussed.  It’s not every day that you have to move a family to two different locations in six months.

In the end, life and circumstances have taken me out of the loop as far as cookie baking is concerned.  I apologize for starting a journey with all of you and not taking it to its logical conclusion.  I vow that by this time next year I’ll have a lineoup of cookies for you that will span 12 days.  for this year, I hear I’ve just gotten an offer of 3k on my car.  I have to go think about that one.

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For the first time in 40 years, I’ve strung the entire front of a house with Christmas lights. it was a bit of work, yes, but I’m just loving the heck out of it! We’re going nuts decorating this year, since it’s the first time we really get to do so since we’ve been married. Lights are up, tomorrow the 7 foot tree in my yard gets decorated, as does the flowerbed fence, with garland, ribbon and its own lights.

As for the inside of the house, a massive 7.5 x 5′ tree goes up, all 400 lights aglow.  Ornaments, wall hangings and the christmas music won’t stop playing until December 25th.  There will eb cookis, candies, cakes and lots of turkey leftovers!

I Friggin’ Love Christmas!

What about you?  Are you feelin’ the spirit yet, or still scroogin’ it up after Turkey day?

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