So- its been almost 5 months since my last blog. Whew. Sorry about that. I need to do better. Work has been super busy with about 10 Congressional hearings since June. I finally completed my advanced leadership and development program and now have more free time. So - looks like I can cook more and of course, eat!
I have been toying with a lot of different things since July. I find that I'm more inclined to make Italian food than any other. So - after seeing Julie and Julia (am I really the only guy that saw that?), I'm thinking of possibly following Giada's cookbook. Of course there is always Bobby Flay's stuff too, which I enjoy. So - big decisions to make.
On the homefront, Chloe is almost 2 years old. It is so scary how time flies. For halloween tomorrow night, she is either going to be a ladybug (if it isn't 70 degrees), or she will be a JMU cheerleader. Of course, the way the JMU football team has been playing lately, there isn't a whole lot to cheer about (what happened?!?)
Anyway, I plan on cooking sesame chicken tonight; I will post my recipe for that. And for Sunday Funday Football day, I plan to make slow cooked Texas Chile con Carne. Now that is eatin!
Enjoy the fall weather out and Bon Appetit!
Friday, October 30, 2009
Friday, July 17, 2009
It's been a while since I've been on here. Work and travel have really gotten in the way. So - what's new?
I've been in Chicago the past 7 days for a workshop and to visit family. I've eaten well - traditional Chicago Pizza, Steak, and Chicago's fine italian food.
Tonight is our last night here. We are staying with my wife's sister. To say thanks - I thought I whip up my own italian take on roasted chicken, breadless bruschetta, and gazpacho. If the weather holds up, perhaps we can eat it up on the roof looking over Lake Michigan and the Hancock building.
Its been fun to be away, but I am looking forward to getting back into the normal routine. This is my last trip for a while. I've been on the road for most of the spring and early summer.
Favorite Restaurants in Chicago:
1) Bice
2) Giordanos
3) Banderas
4) Wrigley Field :-) (go cubs!)
5) fill in the blank
I've been in Chicago the past 7 days for a workshop and to visit family. I've eaten well - traditional Chicago Pizza, Steak, and Chicago's fine italian food.
Tonight is our last night here. We are staying with my wife's sister. To say thanks - I thought I whip up my own italian take on roasted chicken, breadless bruschetta, and gazpacho. If the weather holds up, perhaps we can eat it up on the roof looking over Lake Michigan and the Hancock building.
Its been fun to be away, but I am looking forward to getting back into the normal routine. This is my last trip for a while. I've been on the road for most of the spring and early summer.
Favorite Restaurants in Chicago:
1) Bice
2) Giordanos
3) Banderas
4) Wrigley Field :-) (go cubs!)
5) fill in the blank
Sunday, June 28, 2009
What a week
It sure has been a busy week. I thought I would have had a lot of downtime with Jen being gone; but it sure hasn't been the case. Went to a great festival yesterday with my boy Mike and his friends. Had a blast. Friday - played poker and won. Thursday - played golf with my boy Dave and Graig at Raspberry Falls. What a great course that is!
Whew - I need to go to work just to recover from all of this fun.
Tuesday Jen and Chloe come home. Looking forward to seeing them - these past 10 days have been very busy and have flown by. But I'm looking forward to huggin em both. We close on our refinanced loan on Wednesday and then my parents come up this weekend. We're headed to the ATT National golf tournament on Friday to see Tiger Woods. I've been a fan of Tiger since he was on a Boy's Life cover in the mid 80s - long before he won his first U.S. Amateur golf tournament.
Tonight - I'm relaxing, listening to some Cold Play and Miles Davis, sipping on some Wild River Red and making Orange-Honey Marinated Salmon with home frits and garlic greens. I'm trying to figure out what to concoct this weekend for my parents. I have some ideas.
Today I spent most of the day cleaning up and taking care of the yard. I am also refinishing some of my granddad's furniture. I have a bedroom set that has to be 60-75 years old. It is a little beat up but once I take the old stain off, it will be awesome. Today I took the stain off of the drawers. I will do the other dresser drawers tomorrow and will get my father to help me lug the dressers into the garage to start doing those. I hope to have this project done by the end of the summer so I can start working on carpentry for the master bedroom and Chloe's eventual "big girl room."
Thanks for reading. I'll drop some more recipes and pictures on here as soon as I can get my camera back from Jen. Drop a comment - let me know what you think!
Whew - I need to go to work just to recover from all of this fun.
Tuesday Jen and Chloe come home. Looking forward to seeing them - these past 10 days have been very busy and have flown by. But I'm looking forward to huggin em both. We close on our refinanced loan on Wednesday and then my parents come up this weekend. We're headed to the ATT National golf tournament on Friday to see Tiger Woods. I've been a fan of Tiger since he was on a Boy's Life cover in the mid 80s - long before he won his first U.S. Amateur golf tournament.
Tonight - I'm relaxing, listening to some Cold Play and Miles Davis, sipping on some Wild River Red and making Orange-Honey Marinated Salmon with home frits and garlic greens. I'm trying to figure out what to concoct this weekend for my parents. I have some ideas.
Today I spent most of the day cleaning up and taking care of the yard. I am also refinishing some of my granddad's furniture. I have a bedroom set that has to be 60-75 years old. It is a little beat up but once I take the old stain off, it will be awesome. Today I took the stain off of the drawers. I will do the other dresser drawers tomorrow and will get my father to help me lug the dressers into the garage to start doing those. I hope to have this project done by the end of the summer so I can start working on carpentry for the master bedroom and Chloe's eventual "big girl room."
Thanks for reading. I'll drop some more recipes and pictures on here as soon as I can get my camera back from Jen. Drop a comment - let me know what you think!
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
So - the Red Snapper Ratatouille was fantastic. I will be making that again and will hopefully get my wife to eat some. She is not a big seafood eater, which is a huge shame. She's missing out.
Here's the recipe:
1 globe eggplant cut into 3/4 inch cubes, 2 zucchini cut into 1/2 inch cubes, 1 red onion halved and sliced 1/4 inch thick, 1 28-ounce can of diced tomatoes drained with 1/3 cup juice reserved, 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil, 5 garlic cloves sliced thin, 1 teaspoon minced thyme, salt and pepper, 6 snapper fillets (6 oz each), 1 1/2 tablespoons red wine vinegar, 1 tablespoon minced fresh basil, lemon wedges (for serving)
Oven to 375. Combine eggplant, zucchini, onion, tomatoes, 1/3 cup reserved tomato juice, oil, garlic, thyme, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon peper in large bowl. Mix well. Spread mixture in a 9x13 inch baking dish. Roast until vegetables have softened are are browned in spots (60-75 minutes) stirring thoroughly once halfway through the cooking time. Pat fish fillets dry with paper towels and season with salt/pepper. Lay fish over vegetables (ratatouille) and nestle it in. Bake until fish flakes, about 7-10 minutes. Sprinkle with red wine vinegar and serve with lemon wedges.
It came out really well for me. I will be trying this again.
Things are quiet here. I have 7 more days until my wife and daughter come home from Sacramento. This is the longest we have been apart. Its lonely in this big house.
That's all for now!
Here's the recipe:
1 globe eggplant cut into 3/4 inch cubes, 2 zucchini cut into 1/2 inch cubes, 1 red onion halved and sliced 1/4 inch thick, 1 28-ounce can of diced tomatoes drained with 1/3 cup juice reserved, 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil, 5 garlic cloves sliced thin, 1 teaspoon minced thyme, salt and pepper, 6 snapper fillets (6 oz each), 1 1/2 tablespoons red wine vinegar, 1 tablespoon minced fresh basil, lemon wedges (for serving)
Oven to 375. Combine eggplant, zucchini, onion, tomatoes, 1/3 cup reserved tomato juice, oil, garlic, thyme, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon peper in large bowl. Mix well. Spread mixture in a 9x13 inch baking dish. Roast until vegetables have softened are are browned in spots (60-75 minutes) stirring thoroughly once halfway through the cooking time. Pat fish fillets dry with paper towels and season with salt/pepper. Lay fish over vegetables (ratatouille) and nestle it in. Bake until fish flakes, about 7-10 minutes. Sprinkle with red wine vinegar and serve with lemon wedges.
It came out really well for me. I will be trying this again.
Things are quiet here. I have 7 more days until my wife and daughter come home from Sacramento. This is the longest we have been apart. Its lonely in this big house.
That's all for now!
Sunday, June 21, 2009
First Blog
So - this is my very first blog. I know I know - I'm 4 years late to the party. I figured I tried Facebook; why not blogging too??
It appears I'm home alone for the next 9 days. My wife and daughter are out in California for our Grandparent's 60th Anniversary. You may be asking - why are you writing this blog and not out there with them? Well - unfortunately I had to do a lot of traveling for work back in the spring and I need to be in the office this week to finish up my temporary assignment.
So - that being said, I have been enjoying myself, though it has been quiet. Today is Father's Day and it is sad not to be able to play with my daughter - but there will be others. I ended up spending a couple hours outside on a bike ride (30 miles). I used to do around 100 miles a week, but since we have moved, I only bike once in a blue moon.
This week my goal is to do something different every day. In addition, I plan on cooking a seafood dish each night. I have been cooking seriously for almost 2 years now. I absolutely love it. My favorite dishes are seafood and meat platters. I make some mean crab cakes and tonight I am trying out Red Snapper Ratatouille. It smells really good right now - hopefully it will turn out ok.
My buddy in Louisville got me hooked on cooking. My wife and I went out to visit them a couple of years ago when we were pregnant with Chloe. We made crab cakes one night with a vegetable medley and homefries. Ever since then, I have been a slave to the cutting board. It is such an escape to come home from work and relax in the kitchen.
My goal with this blog is to just ramble about the things going on in my life and my family's. I also plan to document my cooking hobby and share recipes. Feel free to make comments and try them out; ideally I would love to start a recipe exchange.
Anyway - I need to check on the ratatouille. Thanks for reading my first post; more to follow!
It appears I'm home alone for the next 9 days. My wife and daughter are out in California for our Grandparent's 60th Anniversary. You may be asking - why are you writing this blog and not out there with them? Well - unfortunately I had to do a lot of traveling for work back in the spring and I need to be in the office this week to finish up my temporary assignment.
So - that being said, I have been enjoying myself, though it has been quiet. Today is Father's Day and it is sad not to be able to play with my daughter - but there will be others. I ended up spending a couple hours outside on a bike ride (30 miles). I used to do around 100 miles a week, but since we have moved, I only bike once in a blue moon.
This week my goal is to do something different every day. In addition, I plan on cooking a seafood dish each night. I have been cooking seriously for almost 2 years now. I absolutely love it. My favorite dishes are seafood and meat platters. I make some mean crab cakes and tonight I am trying out Red Snapper Ratatouille. It smells really good right now - hopefully it will turn out ok.
My buddy in Louisville got me hooked on cooking. My wife and I went out to visit them a couple of years ago when we were pregnant with Chloe. We made crab cakes one night with a vegetable medley and homefries. Ever since then, I have been a slave to the cutting board. It is such an escape to come home from work and relax in the kitchen.
My goal with this blog is to just ramble about the things going on in my life and my family's. I also plan to document my cooking hobby and share recipes. Feel free to make comments and try them out; ideally I would love to start a recipe exchange.
Anyway - I need to check on the ratatouille. Thanks for reading my first post; more to follow!
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