So what now?

Each day we make choices.  That choice will inevitably lead to an action, or an inaction.  Those actions will lead to results, or consequences.  Unfortunately life moves to quickly for us to stop and analyze every decision we make.  Should I wear the black shoes, or the brown shoes?  Should I change lanes after this light?  What should I have for breakfast?  Did I turn the stove off?

The choices above can obviously have a wide array of results.  The choice of shoes is pretty harmless, as is your decision for breakfast.  Unless you choose between a simple English muffin or a full order of Eggs Benedict.  Aside from the calories, the flavors, textures, and overall satisfaction is in question.  Not that there is anything wrong with a simple English Muffin.  I personally prefer my Eggs Benedict with smoked salmon instead of ham, but that's just me.

Changing Lanes can have a whole different set of consequences.  Especially if it involves the new BATMAN and Nick Fury.  Aside from comic book heroes, there are real consequences.  Sometimes you can get around that big slow truck and be merrily on your way.  Sometimes that truck won't see you and you can end up thinner, flatter, and in more pieces than one.  In short, you should always be aware of your surroundings when driving on the road.

Today I made a choice, which lead to an action.  I'm still not sure what the results are going to be so I am patiently waiting for some type of outcome.  I had a handful of Cheetos for breakfast, with a big glass of ice water.  I would have preferred the Eggs Benedict.  It's been several hours now and I am a little concerned.  Chester has yet to visit my home.  Guess it is time to move on to lunch.  Nothing like taking ones own life into their hands.   (No breakfast items were hurt in the writing of this blog)

Stand Back! It is time for a quick vaca (Part 2 of Standby)

So now that the "Standby flights" are done, and I'm back from that quick vacation, I can tell you all how it went...

Mmmm, a bagel from Boise...

My first experience of flying standby was a little nerve wracking, especially when the terminal was as full as the one I was in. Before I went to the airport, I had to pick up my travel buddy, Isaac.  He had no idea we were taking a trip to see his cousins.  When we finally told him, he was kind of in shock, no real reaction.  When we showed him the packed bags in my car, the squealing began.  Needless to say, he was very excited.  So off to the airport, hoping to get on a 5:30 flight to Seattle.

It turned out that another flight had been cancelled due to weather, so they were re-routing people that had connecting flights.  As a "Standby" flyer, all I could do was stand by and wait.  Turns out we didn't make that flight, then panic ensued.  I stood in line for 15 minutes before getting some help.  Turns out they were in the process of boarding another flight that was also going to Seattle, but it was connecting through Lewiston.  She asked me what my "final" destination was...I first thought eternal life with my Father up in Heaven, but then I knew that wasn't so soon, so I said Oakland.  She then told me that if I made this flight (which I did), they could get me on a connector that night to Oakland.  Please keep in mind I'm running on 3 hours of sleep and a 5 hour energy from 8 hours ago.  I just wanted to get to Seattle, go to the hotel, and get at least 6 hours of sleep.  We got on the 6:20 connecting flight and we're off.

Almost there...

After we left Lewiston, I kept thinking about the connecting flight to Oakland, so I asked Isaac what he would rather do.  Of course he wanted to see Nana and Papa as soon as possible, so I knew once we hit the ground in Seattle, it was going to get complicated.  I quickly put together a mental 'to-do' list.

• contact parents and confirm they can pick up from OAKLAND airport at 11:00
• contact AlaskaAir to make sure we could get on the 8:30 flight to Oakland
• contact hotel in Seattle to confirm that reservation can be cancelled
• contact hotel assuming reservation can be cancelled
• contact Becky to cancel reservation since I could not locate number to Expedia
• contact Becky to contact parents to confirm pickup since they did not answer their phone
• try and find some food before getting on the plane (FAILED)

Aside from the food, all the above tasks were completed within 10 minutes...we got on the plane and relaxed a little.  Turned out we could order some food on the plane, once we took off...we landed in Oakland around 10:40, picked up at the terminal by both my parents, and it was time to relax...sort of.

(Public Service Announcement: If you travel with your child, and he has a tendency to kick in his sleep...make sure he sleeps in some other location not occupied by you.)

The next morning we went to "Nana C's" to see my Aunts, my Nana, and Nanu.  The one thing you can always count on when you go to "Nana C's" is being fed.  It's almost like she's not happy till you're eating some of her delicious food.  In this case, she had some in the oven when we got there.  I don't want to offend, so I had to say yes...to my cousins who may be reading this, you know exactly what I mean, but how could you say no?

I found it very entertaining when my aunts said, no thank you, they didn't want any...at least till the plate hit the table, then it was the in home kitchen version of a feeding frenzy once the Għaġin il-Forn hit the table.  It was good to see the family though.


Finally made it to my brother's house and Isaac couldn't of been more excited to see his cousin Addison.  We ended up having lunch at a bakery called Boudin's in a local shopping plaza.  The food was good and the weather was nice so we ate outside, and it was 'LOUD'.  We managed, we always do.  It wasn't till later that day that Isaac's other two cousins, Olivia and Josh finally made it home...they the fun really started.

Since it's late, I'll finish this up in "Standby, Part 3".  Till then... goodnight, and only 8 months and 18 days till the HOBBIT.

-Brian

What's really going on?

There is actually a lot going on right now.  First and foremost, it's almost Turkey day.  That means it time to start on those tasks you've been putting off for so long...

• Picking out your turkey, size does matter depending on how you cook it.  I'm sure I'll be cooking a turkey in the future, and yes I will blog on it.
• Perfecting your gravy recipe...drippings, fat and flavor, YUM!
• Calculating how much bacon you need to wrap your turkey with, j/k (unless you're gonna do it)
• Potatoes, sweet or regular?  Why not both
• Travel plans?  This way you don't have to cook at all.

Since I never plan too far ahead for my gravy, I'm not that concerned about it, and I have never, nor will I wrap a turkey in bacon, that is a big waste (unless you're gonna deep fry the thing).  You have to have mashed potatoes, and sweet potatoes, it's the yin and the yang of turkey day.  As for travel plans, it looks like we're having turkey with the family
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I try not to get political in my blogs, mostly because I know squat about politics other than to not trust them in general, but this whole "Occupy ______" thing has me asking a lot of questions and not getting many good answers.  So today, Occupy Oakland is calling for a citywide walk off....they want everyone to walk off their jobs, classes, and any other type of job, so they can bring the city to a stand still.  Why?  I keep trying to figure out what the end game is and it keeps coming back to one thing.  But before I go there, I tried to get to the heart of the movement.  First of all, someone came up with the name 'Occupy Wall street'.  I went looking for an actual definition of Occupy and came up with two.

• Engage - This makes sense as generally when people are protesting, they want their voice to be heard.  They want to "engage" in dialog and achieve a set of goals.  The problem is that since this is a leaderless movement, everyone wants something different depending on who you talk to. 
• Take Possession - This sounds a lot like stealing.  Basically, the rich guy has too much money, so he needs to give it to the rest of us, or we take it away and distribute it, thus tax the rich so we can distribute it.

Please correct me if I'm wrong....it's exhausting trying to keep up with it all...  In the mean time, here is a good article
how-do-you-measure-success-for-occupy-wall-street-movement?

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On a seperate note, I'm having a real craving for some snickerdoodles.  Fresh baked is preferred, not that processed packaged junk....

Duck....Two Ways

So as you may have heard, or may not have heard, Becky and I enjoyed an incredible dinner at Barbacoa last week.  The cornerstone of this meal was my main entree, "Duck Two Ways".  This was my first real experience with fine dining, and it impacted me so much I had to write about it.  On the menu, it's described as...

Duck Two Ways

Duck Two Ways: Crispy honey roast duck fanned breast and confit of leg and thigh served with cranberry sherry and sweet potato risotto.

What attracted me to this dish was the risotto; a dish I've never had.  I've had duck twice before. Once when my brother-in-law was successful in his hunt, and second at a little place called Va de Vi, ironically WITH my brother.  Both times it was good, however the Va de Vi experience was better because the dish was called "Duck confit (con-feet)" which is basically a duck poached in duck fat.  (I would like to say, there are several great things in this world when it comes to culinary gold, it's duck fat.)  So seeing 'duck' and 'confit' in the same sentence ignited my salivary glands.  Strangely, the confit wasn't the best part of this dish.

About ducks:  Duck meat is considered to be a "white" meat, like chicken, even though the meat is considerably darker than it's poultry counter-parts.  This is because ducks are more active than chickens who spend more time sitting and walking.  Ducks get up and fly around, avoiding my brother-in-law during hunting season, using up more oxygen.  The extra oxygen in the body of the duck gives their meat a darker red color.  This darker color gives their meat a stronger richer flavor.  This distinct flavor and taste allows the duck meat to be cooked with fruits or other sweet and spicy ingredients to get a delicious and exotic tasting meal.

Risotto, a type of rice dish I see cooks screw up all the time on Hell's Kitchen.  Under-cooked, over-cooked, not enough salt, too much salt, it seems like a really difficult dish to make.  Wikipedia defines it simply as "rice cooked in broth to a creamy consistency".  The risotto in this dish was more firm than creamy.  However, the addition of small cubes of sweet potato added a mild sweetness that made it a delicious foundation for the duck to sit upon.  Additional cubes of sweet potato were scattered on the plate for presentation purposes.


A cranberry sherry was drizzled over the whole plate.  How this was made and what was in it is a big mystery to me, and I don't care because it brought the whole thing together.  Each bite was required to have a little bit of everything on it.  


These flavors all worked together so well that each bite caused your eyes to roll to the back of your head while your body just slumps and all your senses focus on that fantastic collaboration of flavors playing the anvil chorus in your mouth. At a price of $25, I would say each bite is well worth it.  As the flavor matches the presentation, this is a dish I would definitely order again.  I can't wait to go back to Barbacoa and try another creation.


www.barbacoa-boise.com/

-Brian

Note: I'm not a food critic, and I'm not a writer, I just love food

What a Summer

Flourless Belgium Chocolate Cake (I did not make this)

 
Summer is finally just about over and so much has happened in the past few months...it's all so scattered, I don't know where to begin.

We took a trip to Tahoe and stayed in a friend's cabin, I got to play several shows with my band before they decided to move on without me, we're going camping next weekend, Isaac lost his first pair of teeth, we made our annual trek to the fair, I haven't blogged once the entire time...so lets get to it!

Last setup with my cousin Ryan

Last time I blogged it was all about the band, so let's start there.  First of all, bands and band members are a finicky bunch.  Especially you are trying to integrate yourself into a group that has played together for so long, and are roughly 10+ years older than you, it's a different generation all together.  With that in mind, we played a few good shows, I got some good experience, and made a little money.  But in the end, my playing style wasn't exactly what they were looking for, and our personalities didn't mesh the way we hoped.  So once again, I'm drummer without a band.  But that's ok since I was diagnosed with tendinitis in both hands, I can use the rest.  (If by chance you became a fan of the retreads because you knew the drummer, you can (un-like) them now. I did!)

We took a trip to Tahoe with the family.  When I say family, I mean my parents, and my brother's family.  This was our camping alternative, which turned out to be a whole lot more fun than we imagined.  First of all, it only took us around 8 hours to get there.  Coming all the way from Idaho,  it was much nicer, not to mention there was no campsite to setup once we arrived.  Instead it was welcoming hugs from our family whom we haven't seen in a while.

Early morning fishing trip, it was COLD!

So what sets cabin life different than tent life?  It can all be summed up in two words, "Hot Water".  Having the ability to take a hot shower everyday without having to heat up gallons ahead of time, not just for you, but for your family at well is such a blessing.  Yes, there is something to be said about roughing it, but right now, I could not tell you what that is.  We spent a lot of time just sitting around on the deck talking, while the kids played.  Had some awesome meals that my mom made ahead of time.  Can't beat momma's cooking!

We also had a private beach, and a private dock for almost the whole trip.  All but one day at the lake, we were the only ones there, and the 2 minute walk to get there wasn't to shabby either.  I will say the dock was a lot of fun, as we would jump off the end and swim back to shore.  Even Isaac did this several times, despite the frigid temperatures of the water.  It was on the last day that we finally got Becky to take the plunge.  An early morning fishing excursion was a nice though, but not well planned out as it was too cold to stay our very long, even with hot cocoa.   But the sunrise, was beautiful and provided a nice backdrop to fishing from the pier.

The only thing really missing was the campfire.  We hope to make up for that next weekend.  In all, it was a great time!  Maybe we'll do it again.

Speaking of great times, we had a hallmark event this summer.  My wife turned the big 35.  For such an occasion, we celebrated like never before.  OK, it wasn't completely original, but I convinced her to try a 'new' place.  After years of watching shows like Hell's Kitchen, or Next Food Network Star, we've seen all this "fine dining" stuff, but never experienced it.  Living in Idaho, the selection isn't too great, so I picked a place to try, Barbacoa's.  The menu looked very expensive, but I convinced her to go anyways, and OMG!  The food was incredible, far surpassing anything we may have tasted before.  I'm not saying there is no other good food around, it is just that this meal was on a whole new level.  Without going into great detail, here is a brief description of our adventure into fine dining...

• Trio of Ceviche
• Crab Mojito
• coco rum infused crab with sugar cane and mint
• Tuna Tartare
• with avocado, capers, red onion, and mango sorbet
• Ceviche of the day
• Red Snapper ceviche
• Grilled Ceasar Salad
• Grilled Ceasar Salad wedges with smoked polenta croutons
• Sweet Corn & Crab Bisque
• Dungenous crab with jalapeno pancake
• Mixed Seafood Grill
• marinated shrimp, scallops, fin fish, with coconut rice
• Duck Two Ways

• crispy honey roast duck fanned breast and confit of leg and thigh served with cranberry sherry and sweet potato risotto

I won't even get into the deserts, needless to say they were "FABULOUS!"  One of the best things about this place, was the water.  The serve all their water was filtered chilled water, sparkling or plain, in glass bottles.  Their water is not, I repeat, not from tap.

There is so much more to say and talk about, but no sense in putting it all here, right?  Keep an eye open for more blogging from yours truly.  I imagine it will involve food in some way.  I think I may devote a blog specifically for that duck dinner I had...yes, I want more.

Peace out, and God bless

-Brian

My Free Time...

So far it's been a busy day.  8 AM this morning we had a Men's Breakfast meeting at "The Egg Factory".  It was  mostly a chance to hang out with the guys, but also an opportunity to say goodbye to a good friend who's heading off to serve in his families ministry out in the Philippines.  The name of their ministry is "Mercy In Action", and they have been providing free birth centers for poor families in the Philippines since 1992.  It's a very specific, but very cool ministry.  (Here's a very cool story about them, at 37,000 ft)


Anyways, I had the Corned Beef hash Spudsation.  It was basically country style potatoes topped with corned beef hash (which has no corn in it), covered in melted Monterey jack cheese, then two eggs over medium.  It was very delicious.

So after breakfast, it's off to church for rehearsal.  At church we finally got a church drum set.  Since I'm playing all the time now, I needed to get my drums home.  So after a lot of research, we got a really good deal on this kit.  It still needs some tweaking to get it sounding good, but it's not too bad.  It'll take a few weeks to get it right.  At least I don't have to haul my drums back and forth anymore, though I think I'll probably be bringing my drum throne with me as the seat is really lacking in comfort.

Now that everyone is asleep, I have some time to myself, and I've been spending some free time as a beta tester for this cool (at least I think it is) game called "World of Tanks".  It's a relatively mindless game that involves three goals.  1.  Don't get shot.  2.  Shoot the other tanks  3.  Capture the enemy flag.  Depending on what kind of tank you have there are different strategies to use, but teamwork is definitely involved.  This is not a game you want to go rogue in.

My other free time, usually late at night, is what I call a truly love-hate type of thing.  I'm doing a marathon of LOST.  If for some reason you haven't seen lost and are planning on doing what I'm doing now, skip this paragraph.  All six seasons on Netflix.  I'm currently on episode 3 Season 4.  It's a great show, but each episode is like a cliff hanger, so I gotta watch the next one.  Before I know it it's 11:30pm and I'm tired.  I'll be happy when this is done.  I remember how stressful it was watching it the first time, when we had to wait to see what happens next.  Every commercial you get up off the couch and say, "WHAT?!?!? ______?!?!?!?   As I'm watching all these episodes back, they tell you everything that is going to happen, you just don't believe them. Clear as day, "No one survived Oceanic Flight 815"...don't believe the hype.  It's cheap entertainment so what else am I gonna do?  Oh yeah, did I mention, "I'm in a band!"

"The Retreads" has got to be one of the funnest things I've done to date, and we've only had two rehearsals.  Look at it like this.  Yes, I've been playing drums a long time, and I've played lots of different styles with lots of different people.  Just never this loud, and apparently I'm still not loud enough.  I have till May 6th to 'get my rock on' as that's our first show.  I have my drums at home now so I'm hoping to get out there as much as possible.   (There are a few riffs I'm having trouble with.)  Oh and speaking of practice, I think I got roped in to sing the chorus of "Living on a Prayer".  Should be interesting.



with that...good night and good luck.  Maybe it'll snow tomorrow?

Lunch with Isaac

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Turkey Time

So Thanksgiving is upon us and the time to gorge yourself has finally arrived.  Of course I don't intend to gorge, I'm sure no one really does, but it happens and can't be helped.  So deal with it.  Since we got invited to a friend's house this year, I have no need to prepare the normal meal...but I got a turkey anyways.  Since the turkey has been thawing, I keep going back and forth on an important issue.  No, not the brine, the brine is a given.  How to cook the bird.  Normally we stick it in our showtime rotisserie, and it turns out awesome.  But because the bird is always in motion and self basting itself, we don't get as much drippings as normal.  Because of this I feel the gravy suffers, as does the potatoes and stuffing.

So the question is applied, to Rotisserie, or not.  We'll be cooking the bird on Friday or Saturday, so stay tuned for the final results...