Normally, when I experience something (brace yourself for the pun) savory or unsavory, I post about it in my blog… but since this post presented itself at the right place and the right time, I decided to unload and leave a comment.
I don’t want to get too harsh, but the salted caramel was wayyy too salty and gave an “off” flavor. It didn’t taste like Kosher or sea salt to me… more of an iodized tint.
All the way back home, I kept murmuring to myself “I really want to like this, I really, really do.”
That being said, the scoop underneath, vivant coffee, was good… but not good enough to make me forget about the caramel.
I’ll definitely be back, I *need* them to succeed!
Maybe salted caramel just isn’t my thang (even though I so want it to be). Yes, it was kinda harsh, but I made a promise yesterday that I’d be back to support the shop. I really want it to be a place where I can take all of my visitors and say “YOU WILL NEVER GET BETTER ICE CREAM ANYWHERE ELSE IN THE WORLD.” (or at least wherever the heck the person is visiting from.) Hee hee.
We’re going on a trip in a few months to do some things that require… not being out of shape and eating GREASE. LOL. So, in the effort to not gain any more weight, we have cut out a few things in our diets:
Soda, Coke, Pop - whatever you call it
Fries, chips and tater tots (I just wanted to type tater tots lol)
While it’s not a long list and also the fact that we don’t drink / eat these things regularly… when we do (or when *I* do for that matter), I go all out. And we all know how kinda gross and ugly that can be.
This won’t help me get into shape, but not defaulting into a ravenous gastronomic rampage is a good thang. Moderation people…
I made lamb shanks on my day off for Liana, myself and my buddy Don today! EEEEEE. Just so we’re on the same geographical page (skip to the next paragraph if you *luvy wuvy* your petting zoo animals), the shank of an animal is the area below the knee and above the foot. The protein is tough and lean and should be cooked low and slo’ to break down fibers to make the meat oh so succulent. Braising FTW!
I used the same braising techniques and guidelines as I did with the beef shanks I made last year, but I added 2 tbs of tomato paste ’cause the color really wasn’t there 1/2 in the cooking process (it also adds another layer of rich flavor). If you’d like the step by step recipe, let me know. I’d be glad to help!
I served the shanks with some polenta (can I say corn grits without anyone screaming at me?) that I cooked in a 4 to 1 water to grain ratio. I added 1/2 cup of Romano cheese, stirred it together and plated it right away. I then placed the shank on top with a little extra sauce and topped it with a gremolata garnish - finely minced garlic, parsley and lemon zest - to cut through the heavy flavors from the dish.
I wish I made more! I’m going to take the leftover braising sauce and probably pair it with some pasta (or some polenta quickly cut and fried into shapes) and quickly sauteed shiitake mushrooms… can’t let it go to waste! MMmMmMMm!
Youtube link here. It’s late, but I thought I’d share some crazy footage of a new video game that’ll be released for the Xbox360 and the PS3. Apparently (and you can’t get more apparent that a video at the top of your post hee hee), Mirror’s Edge, a game by EA’s DICE division, is all about parkour -just like in the last 007 movie:
an activity with the aim of moving from one point to another as efficiently and quickly as possible, using principally the abilities of the human body.
While this is the first game of this nature, my friends can attest this is how I PLAY VIDEO GAMES. LOL. Back when we were playing Serious Sam (with invincibility and most cheats on), the games from the Halo series, and the many iterations of Tom Clancy’s Rainbow 6, I was ALWAYS in the front… not because I wanted to lead… because I have no patience just wanted to finish the level / game. If bullets only do “so much” damage, one could survive running through the firefights with pure abandon and come out unscathed… right? RIGHT?
So apparently, the world in Mirror’s Edge is scattered with color coded “hints” that can show the player the path towards the goal. Wiki has the deets:
In order to assist the player in creating these chains of moves, the game employs a system called “Runner Vision”, which derives its name from its purpose: to depict the environment the way a runner would see it, instantly recognizing escape routes. It is a highlighting system that emphasises environmental pieces useful for progression—like pipes, ramps, and enterable doors—with the colour red as Faith approaches, though it does not always indicate the best route.
Sounds cool. Now I can decide whether or not to slide under that gate or climb over that fence… something that I TOTALLY do on a daily basis. Or not. LOL.
The Seattle International Film Festival, lovingly shortened to The SIFF, kicks off on May 22nd and runs through June 15. I read a great overview of the festival on Seattle.Metblogs, which is really giving me some sort of a pulse on this city.
One of the movies that I *did* want to check out is Bottle Shock… which tickles every culinary bone in my body in all the right culinary places. LOL. That sounds dirtier than I’d like. Oh well… summary below!
…another based on real life feature, this one about the shockwaves sent around the world in 1978 when the Paris Tastings revealed that Californians could produce wine every bit as good, if not better, than the French.
It’s gon’ be a showdown here tonite fellers! While I’d love to go in depth about how some regions in California have the same longitude (dude, it’s not latitude, I looked it up) as the well respected areas in France thereby creating a similar grape growing eco-system (pushes up glasses in a snobbish way)… I’m sure the film will explain it better than I ever could. Hee hee.
The film was an offical selection for the 2008 Sundance Festival and includes actors and actresses such as - please forgive me for the vague *also in* film references - Steven Spurrier (That bad guy in Harry Potter and the cheating dude in Love Actually), Eliza Dushku (she was in Buffy) and Bill Pullman (ya know, the president in Independence Day).
Bottle Shock will close out the festival, so there’ll be plenty of other movies to see! I hope it’ll be just as fun as the SFIAAFF!
Per Liana’s instructions, I made some Sangria for a get together at Deb’s house yesterday. Good times, good times! Quick recipe below:
Two bottles dry red wine (nothing too tannic, merlot works well - I used a cabernet sauvignon, will write winery later)
2 D’anjou pears
2 Fuji apples
1 16oz. can of lychees (with 3/4 of syrup reserved)
Slices from 2 oranges, lemons and lime
3 cups Orange juice
1 can organic black cherry seltzer
4 splashes of bourbon (traditionally brandy)
As you can see above, I cut the apples and pears into semi-uniform chunks (perfect cubes look kinda… excuse the pun - square) and sliced the citrus in very thin slices. I poured all of the liquid in and reserved the splashes of the bourbon (I believe we used Basil Hayden, smooth smooth bourbon) right before we served it.
I also made beef empanadas as a quick “make & assemble last minute” meal to go with the sangria… but that recipe will come when I run through it a few more times to perfect it. All I can say is that FRIED > BAKED. ALWAYS. Hee hee.
me: Hey, i’m gonna make soup tonite!
with crusty bread Liana: i see..
mmmm….mmm
what kind of soup? me: can you get bread on the way home? Liana: haha yes me: linguica & kale soup
it’ll be good
promise Liana: no it doesn’t sound good
I’ve been a big Death Cab for Cutie fan since Ben Giddard’s foray into electronica with The Postal Service. Their last album, Plans, was actually playing on my iPod nano this morning on the way to work (while I hacked and slashed baddies on my Ninja Gaiden DS demo - more on that later). I truly believe Ben is a lyrical genius… at least for us emo geeks and clever hipsters. Hee hee.
Death Cab for Cutie’s new album, Narrow Stairs, will be released next Tuesday, May 13. According to Pitchfork, the first single will be “I Will Possess Your Heart.”
Hopefully I’ll see them again when they’re on tour. I swear I’ll post better quality video than last time. Hee hee.
Just upgraded to the latest Wordpress stable build (upgraded the Democracy poll plugin too). It wasn’t as bad as I thought! Hee hee. Also, to kick of Spring (late, but it’s still kinda cold in Seattle)…
SPRING CLEANING! If you *HAD* to, which household chore would you choose to do?
Larger view here. Man, what a weekend. Haha. After dropping off the car @ the local car dealership for some repairs, I figured we could eat something tasty in celebration for… the initial victory of Mexican forces led by General Ignacio Zaragoza Seguín over French forces in the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862 (via Wiki) - better known as Cinco de Mayo.
I followed the simple recipe for Shredded Chicken from the New York Times and made myself some pico de gallo - diced onions, tomato, green onion, lime juice, and cilantro along with some guacamole - finely diced onions, ripe avocado, a healthy pinch of Kosher salt, lime juice and cilantro to make some supporting “accoutrements” for the tacos. As for the corn tortillas, I wrapped them in some foil and put them in a 300 degree oven until heated through. I also found some really pretty local radishes for sale and cut those up too. Thanks local Seattle farmer guy!
I also had some flour tortillas so I assembled a taco with that, but… no dice. Corn tortillas are the way to go! I’ve read that you can turn flour tortillas into Chinese chive cakes, but that’s for later in the week. For now, save ‘em for your quesadillas. Hee hee.
Brian (aka Odogg), the brains of the Dogglounge - maker of fine deep house Internet radio - decided the site will have the main header image showcase the djs that spin there. I visited the site yesterday and I found a picture from A Leisurely Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive that I took back in San Francisco and subsequently archived it on Flickr. It brought back a huge rush of memories. LE SIGH. Haha.
On a related note, I created a small Dogglounge widget on my site’s sidebar that allowed me to repost the current track & listener count with two cute lil’ “listen here” icons. I may duplicate the “look” throughout the site, but for now, it looks good without making the sidebar way too crowded (kinda).
I’m hoping that it might introduce you to another world of music - great for office work, studying and the solitary lonely heartache drink (lol)! There’s also a schedule of live shows if you happen to like what you hear during regular programming. There’s been a bit of a expansion of dj’s overseas, so I’d definitely recommend checking them out, kaies? Kaies. Hee hee.
Mario Kart Wii. If you haven’t bought it already, you’re probably playing Grand Theft Auto. Hee hee. The picture above was the result of my foray into racing with the nunchuck / wiimote combo. I really wanted to like the wheel. I REALLY DID. As you can see from the results above, Clint won the race and Liana’s already become a challenge to beat. Haha. Story of my life. I’ve chosen the bike as my vehicle of choice and I’m around 6000 “points” online. YAY. I’m in the process of adding people that I know have the game (there’s a lot of you so plz be patient lol), so maybe I’ll see you soon? Here’s my Wii friend code:
0473-8189-1696
Let me know if you want me to add you too. Here’s a list of all of the unlockables (via Gamespot) on the disc too. And now, a lil’ crusin’ music (I tried Dr. Dre’s Let me Ride, but I wouldn’t give it justice if I posted a clean version lol).
