tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21396698846752866452023-11-16T09:41:14.286-08:00Farsi una PizzaPizza is a drug to be had.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16931626580241524183noreply@blogger.comBlogger41125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2139669884675286645.post-79468526583779105372015-01-10T23:06:00.000-08:002016-04-06T11:16:40.530-07:00Evolution of a Barefoot Runner<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHjMS65-EvEx-C_k2vVc00saxDBo6OQYUg0dEiUsMxZQ35-HLUga2PcaNauY7gxnn_TCW8gIKExWWjI0maZ4xDpLkcOAMY0GtH-6No-yUO2cjy16aODolrd811UYVt_qkOxPs5TjQPR-Q2/s1600/IMG_20130320_225128_092.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHjMS65-EvEx-C_k2vVc00saxDBo6OQYUg0dEiUsMxZQ35-HLUga2PcaNauY7gxnn_TCW8gIKExWWjI0maZ4xDpLkcOAMY0GtH-6No-yUO2cjy16aODolrd811UYVt_qkOxPs5TjQPR-Q2/s320/IMG_20130320_225128_092.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jesus Joggers</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: cambria;"><span style="line-height: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;">In 1997 Tarah and I decided we had had enough of our “freshman 15” (which was actually closer to 30 pounds, and we hadn’t been freshman for long time). We decided to start living more active lives, which included: tennis, day hiking, backpacking in the Cascades (my first go at backpacking since being a boy scout in middle school and Tarah’s first ever), and even running. The running was going very well. We were feeling great. Then one day, in the middle of a run my knee started hurting. I took it easy and walked the rest of the way home. My knee felt fine even later that day but I let it rest a few days just to be sure. The next time I went out I only made it a fraction of a mile before my knee hurt too much to continue. This time I gave it a couple of weeks, just to let it really heal, but to no avail, again I couldn't even make it a mile. I continued trying every few months after that and purchased several new pairs of running shoes hoping that this time my knee would have finally healed and I could again go for a run.
Then in 2009 I read an article and saw a video on the New York Times talking about this new weird barefoot running technique that claimed to be gentler on the joints. The article went on to discuss the mechanics of using your calf as the shock absorber by coming down on the mid-foot instead of on the heel and how this is our natural style of running and how heel striking is only made possible with big thick cushy modern shoes. In the video they even went for a run around central park with no shoes on.
At first it really seemed crazy to me. Not just crazy but kind of annoying, like the dude preaching the thing that you’re not into kind of annoying. But the idea stuck with me, and the mechanics made sense. Finally, given my history of knee pain and inability to even run a mile, I thought what the hell. So I walked out the front door barefoot onto a sidewalk of Seattle's densely populated Capitol Hill feeling like a complete nut job. When I started running I noticed immediately that landing on my bare heels on concrete was not an option. I didn't have to think about changing my style; my body simply was not going to allow me to heel strike without shoes. The first block felt awkward, mostly due to self-consciousness over the bare feet. By the second block I was in pain, however, it wasn't knee pain, it was just the pain of my skin being rubbed off by the sidewalk. I was able to run two thirds of a mile with absolutely no knee pain. This was the farthest I had been able to run in over a decade.
The two days following that first run were painful in yet another way; my calves have never been so sore! This wasn't a normal nice feeling sore this was seriously intense to where I had real trouble getting up the stairs to my bedroom.
A few days later I tried it again and made it a mile, then later two miles, and before I knew it I was running three or four miles with absolutely no knee pain and completely barefoot. The bloody feet had gotten tougher but still hurt, and I was still self-conscious running barefoot on the street, but I was running, and it felt amazing!
I started reading more about barefoot running on the web and discovered that people were making DIY sandals modeled after those made by the Tarahumara of Mexico called huarache. So of course I had to make some of my own. I ended up making three iterations before finally nailing down a comfortable design that would hold up to running. They looked like Jesus sandals so I called them my Jesus Joggers. I ended up logging hundreds of miles on the sandals. And fast. I was running faster than I had ever run in the past. Somewhere in there I read the book "Born to Run" with its stories about ultra marathoners and barefoot running and the Tarahumara and of course Caballo Blanco. At that point I was completely hooked.
Then one cold wet Seattle winter, after trying to keep myself going with wool socks and my sandals, I finally broke down and purchased some minimalist shoes. By that point it wasn’t some weird fringe thing. I regularly saw others running barefoot or in sandals. I even realized that I had been running right past Barefoot Ted’s Luna Sandals office and there was a new store down the street dedicated to minimalist style shoes. Later that same winter, huddled in the house to keep warm from the cold rain with our new baby girl, Mielle, we decided we couldn’t take the cold Seattle rain any longer. I got a job offer in Santa Barbara and we moved right away.
Not long after moving to Santa Barbara I went camping in Joshua Tree National Park with friends from work. Our intention was to rock climb but we ended up on a trail run through the Wonderland of Rocks (a stunningly beautiful and rocky section of the park) and barely did any climbing. It blew me away how fun it was and how alive it made me feel. That was my first real experience with trail running but I couldn’t wait to do more.</span></span><span style="font-family: cambria; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "cambria"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Joshua Tree National Park</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "cambria"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When I got back from Joshua Tree I went to a presentation by Luis Escobar titled Running With the Tarahumara that included a friendly jog before the presentation. On our run Luis told be all about the upcoming Born to Run Ultras festival. I had never signed up for an organized running event but it sounded like too much fun to miss so I signed up. When the day came I packed the family into our Westy for a weekend of camping and music and drinking and running. It was totally AWESOME. The top volume 4 a.m. mariachi music and accompanying shotguns ensured, however, that my family would not be camping with me in the future. The next year they had a blast dancing to Metalachi and then left me to camp with friends.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria"; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’ve lived in or near the Cascades my whole life but somehow I’ve become more connected to these Santa Barbara hills and trails in the few short years that we’ve lived here than I could have imagined. Thanks to everyone that makes the Santa Barbara trail running and the general ultra community so interesting and fun. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoclqwzXlSxhSgl9KdF_rdnls39zBSbGiaEKpZNQH2tQ7Erf44M-4Pu0CgN19jflrn7kKPuTyyO0lzHu8h9GHtV8xwICGQpRPu11ZOkpVsqy8b1KaNaMIvn_pX9xliA6DWbIGxnAL56tfE/s1600/sandal-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="167" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoclqwzXlSxhSgl9KdF_rdnls39zBSbGiaEKpZNQH2tQ7Erf44M-4Pu0CgN19jflrn7kKPuTyyO0lzHu8h9GHtV8xwICGQpRPu11ZOkpVsqy8b1KaNaMIvn_pX9xliA6DWbIGxnAL56tfE/s320/sandal-1.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">First iteration of Jesus Jogger </td></tr>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16931626580241524183noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2139669884675286645.post-52821232326985060362012-04-26T21:58:00.001-07:002012-04-26T21:58:11.874-07:00A big move to Santa Barbara!!!!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEZReQYdG5mCXmyLoEh1PMBfxGXi1TUBG5jR79mtB2mlTrymVOkB5zsIpDsBkhLRrHjQGSGeOE96dNTeiTHRFu6JI97ttyxImtE3gkgsWZ6DSEBmWFmKIUXpMMVqlL7W35PylAC3LP04G3/s1600/IMG_0167.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEZReQYdG5mCXmyLoEh1PMBfxGXi1TUBG5jR79mtB2mlTrymVOkB5zsIpDsBkhLRrHjQGSGeOE96dNTeiTHRFu6JI97ttyxImtE3gkgsWZ6DSEBmWFmKIUXpMMVqlL7W35PylAC3LP04G3/s200/IMG_0167.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
After 8 years in Seattle we finally decided that we had had enough. In December Tarah said "we have to find somewhere else to live" but this time she really meant it. So I started looking for another job. I ended up with options for San Diego or Santa Barbara and from the title of the posting I guess it clear which we chose. We made the choice primarily on location as both jobs seemed like good employment opportunities. Santa Barbara just has a feel that we didn't think San Diego could beat. Plus my job is right in the heart of SB and we found a place just 5 blocks from it. This cuts my 30-60 minute drive down to a few minute walk!!! :) I'm really happy about that!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwdHrvtIEoQB86mkywcDxvaOQnA2ad6NRmqvgdBNQR-HuJlx_X-4xnvDc48ccvvIlN1wSKHzvfiulOHewDYCyTPeVPoaVLMaQ7qIvsfjpKiN-Y2WyeSuqdR0V6AIcjJQAvsrfkx5d13rox/s1600/IMG_0221.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwdHrvtIEoQB86mkywcDxvaOQnA2ad6NRmqvgdBNQR-HuJlx_X-4xnvDc48ccvvIlN1wSKHzvfiulOHewDYCyTPeVPoaVLMaQ7qIvsfjpKiN-Y2WyeSuqdR0V6AIcjJQAvsrfkx5d13rox/s200/IMG_0221.jpg" width="150" /></a></div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16931626580241524183noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2139669884675286645.post-8832906968929172182011-12-05T21:25:00.000-08:002011-12-06T07:10:57.844-08:00Mielle again, sorry<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSUT-f6pou1w9E05wPf6xaikOVJwOe0P1IM10x4Nmvpye68m1Oubj7FeThXX1Pe2E6OpgpapBpdnGpy_26R_hrPNjgUKBmWp5JJ1er_-n5AbmvXMZA4oKuUKQUalI8_zl-6uRgvcwzhoWM/s1600/Mielle_5mo1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="132" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSUT-f6pou1w9E05wPf6xaikOVJwOe0P1IM10x4Nmvpye68m1Oubj7FeThXX1Pe2E6OpgpapBpdnGpy_26R_hrPNjgUKBmWp5JJ1er_-n5AbmvXMZA4oKuUKQUalI8_zl-6uRgvcwzhoWM/s200/Mielle_5mo1.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>I don't want my blog to start focusing only on Mielle but it turns out that a new baby is pretty much all consuming. These pictures are from Thanksgiving.<br />
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We went to the Dr. last week and man oh man she's a big girl. She's weighing in at 20 pounds 4 oz putting her at the 99.9 percentile for weight, 98.5% for head size, and 92% for height. I don't know where she gets it from. Well actually I do. Her sister was the fattest baby I've ever seen. Oh and it turns out that well calibrated cuteometer puts her squarely at the 100% level.<br />
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</div> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd1WhQ5JrIVBbwYFrmgEsc2QNE7NM1ruTRmezBDRpzzU-SiB3AClZxMMjdqKGxG1rafDqrJOt39SJi3BrldhPosSSkvp2tHg7aX2GeFmwmDTZx1U2JekxmqxC9V546s0gY6J1pi2FDZeM8/s1600/Mielle_5mo2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd1WhQ5JrIVBbwYFrmgEsc2QNE7NM1ruTRmezBDRpzzU-SiB3AClZxMMjdqKGxG1rafDqrJOt39SJi3BrldhPosSSkvp2tHg7aX2GeFmwmDTZx1U2JekxmqxC9V546s0gY6J1pi2FDZeM8/s320/Mielle_5mo2.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdQn8IviDqyUerecmFA9Q6x-rwkOuAkrZtTiJRVkjmbhfuVT9H1C8SJvL4Ippu-G2FAyXGyMG6sFJQv-3-hfl4OxSzPu5z2HUXso6Tv8GRrdle-dRWCcGrFxxgErDN2l4ukafdIj9trsNA/s1600/Mielle_5mo3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdQn8IviDqyUerecmFA9Q6x-rwkOuAkrZtTiJRVkjmbhfuVT9H1C8SJvL4Ippu-G2FAyXGyMG6sFJQv-3-hfl4OxSzPu5z2HUXso6Tv8GRrdle-dRWCcGrFxxgErDN2l4ukafdIj9trsNA/s320/Mielle_5mo3.jpg" width="212" /></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16931626580241524183noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2139669884675286645.post-63733443859137832262011-07-20T12:00:00.000-07:002011-12-06T07:15:47.673-08:00Mielle on the road, Westfalia style<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUnTYohqhcsOSquVKWkRtVBBYblsaJs6WwNTdNBeAhcdzl0wvWZ8fOtjp36lQ7dD9uu5IEqDRZxNheCnvLO5AL0cHBCyM32WRyStrU4jyVnRR7YOW3lXDPEEwAPPyyoFcyi00TLmOwVZ-U/s1600/Westy_trp1_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUnTYohqhcsOSquVKWkRtVBBYblsaJs6WwNTdNBeAhcdzl0wvWZ8fOtjp36lQ7dD9uu5IEqDRZxNheCnvLO5AL0cHBCyM32WRyStrU4jyVnRR7YOW3lXDPEEwAPPyyoFcyi00TLmOwVZ-U/s200/Westy_trp1_1.jpg" width="200" /></a></div> Tarah and I both took our full 3 months of FLMA leave and used some of it to go camping in our new (old) Westfalia VW camper. We were (or I should say I was) a little too adventurous I think because on this first trip to Hood River Mielle is only 3 weeks old. Tarah is a real trooper to put up with me; she's awesome. Everything went very very well except for the first day's drive which was just a little too far and we were all feeling the stress of Mielle being in the carseat for too long. My parents went with us and camped in a tent next to the van. As you can see in the second photo, there is a perfect little sleeping nook for little Mielle just next to us. She actually slept incredible well in the van. I made some spectacular crapes in the morning and we topped them with fresh organic blueberries that my parents bought from a very nice french woman near town. When asked if they were organic she was appalled at the idea of some other alternative.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYqFu0AO_hyphenhyphenr7akQr-VzvMwhhB5lLC0Wf_7VJ4o6dz2dw2AK1hdxJIDbLyzFe0NdJMU3fOlSWgEyS-Bs196BPMu_lF4kpjSeH8A0aXhAPjnkHNHxWoVk-TX1y8_pR8IsJYNLoVgOWr9Hw2/s1600/Westy_trp1_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYqFu0AO_hyphenhyphenr7akQr-VzvMwhhB5lLC0Wf_7VJ4o6dz2dw2AK1hdxJIDbLyzFe0NdJMU3fOlSWgEyS-Bs196BPMu_lF4kpjSeH8A0aXhAPjnkHNHxWoVk-TX1y8_pR8IsJYNLoVgOWr9Hw2/s320/Westy_trp1_2.jpg" width="212" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYv1t9HZ0arZpAp6FRYI-H-119RzS90BNgvUnpvZatMc67QmReVTXkaMrFbR9Ummtf9MA6pvPmkhxMeGStHPyJMYNKgHpr4Gq62rN-Ypn-j7VV68Nx9UpJJ7fTBZZ4RBmXCCuvQ2L1hT3P/s1600/Westy_trp1_3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYv1t9HZ0arZpAp6FRYI-H-119RzS90BNgvUnpvZatMc67QmReVTXkaMrFbR9Ummtf9MA6pvPmkhxMeGStHPyJMYNKgHpr4Gq62rN-Ypn-j7VV68Nx9UpJJ7fTBZZ4RBmXCCuvQ2L1hT3P/s320/Westy_trp1_3.jpg" width="212" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgikFhvTgkwElIMpDn7IhlELHO-TOs8bXi6HTV6Z_p6Ra-KTGTGR08qTAT3sMMSs4nYIreKRlBJE0ybhTrqCEu1PorhXXss8z8sPmtEop6Cnoe9Nu834KPYj09ZJ8iVHKjjHhkPcdbszzr6/s1600/Westy_trp1_4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgikFhvTgkwElIMpDn7IhlELHO-TOs8bXi6HTV6Z_p6Ra-KTGTGR08qTAT3sMMSs4nYIreKRlBJE0ybhTrqCEu1PorhXXss8z8sPmtEop6Cnoe9Nu834KPYj09ZJ8iVHKjjHhkPcdbszzr6/s320/Westy_trp1_4.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16931626580241524183noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2139669884675286645.post-71937822289232298722011-06-29T13:00:00.000-07:002011-09-11T06:23:36.650-07:00Mielle is here!!!!!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirUAsdjJrjnM0LQxEIhMpdU2vdfnl0DLwbd8nf6hXrsq-8PCiDd3DkZGIVvvgnpOTh4AvpIEqesHzPUeVd_wtd1ZQvk_N8Rhyphenhyphenyhfa9bMB9AgBDmTZSc_cejJRgiQLWSgPGmNOVrhKJ7r27/s1600/mielle3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirUAsdjJrjnM0LQxEIhMpdU2vdfnl0DLwbd8nf6hXrsq-8PCiDd3DkZGIVvvgnpOTh4AvpIEqesHzPUeVd_wtd1ZQvk_N8Rhyphenhyphenyhfa9bMB9AgBDmTZSc_cejJRgiQLWSgPGmNOVrhKJ7r27/s320/mielle3.jpg" width="251" /></a></div><div>Our beautiful baby Mielle was born on June 29th weighing in at 9 lbs 4 oz! Tarah is such a fricking trooper, and all that baby with no meds. The top of her little head was poking out for about an hour making me ball with excitement like a little school girl.</div><div><br />
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</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16931626580241524183noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2139669884675286645.post-27304966052799114272011-06-07T22:35:00.000-07:002011-06-07T22:35:17.591-07:00Little baby coming soon<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkXr_XK4AdksZmgWDCaDQRK8pFkh3eWTj8BmxLjc8Lp5q2iGANKtnsHHjb7PivaaHoMyfwjKkEA4hT-nUWTwNmZamGrdKvRfyEpZRZN3TJsUBJUHpjhHbx4ixUzymp4S7pewaLxlY3i4u_/s1600/t%252Cp%252Cm.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkXr_XK4AdksZmgWDCaDQRK8pFkh3eWTj8BmxLjc8Lp5q2iGANKtnsHHjb7PivaaHoMyfwjKkEA4hT-nUWTwNmZamGrdKvRfyEpZRZN3TJsUBJUHpjhHbx4ixUzymp4S7pewaLxlY3i4u_/s320/t%252Cp%252Cm.JPG" width="213" /></a></div>We are about to have a beautiful baby girl named Mielle. She's due the 19th but Tarah thinks it will happen in the next couple of days. We are both going to take 3 months off after she's born and hope to do some - not so adventurous - traveling in our new (well new in 1984) Westfalia camper bus. I'll post a little something about the van soon but I need to take a couple of pics first.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16931626580241524183noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2139669884675286645.post-54950907910223702102011-05-21T13:19:00.000-07:002011-05-21T13:38:55.422-07:00Expanding the Urban Garden, cedar beds<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIyIv7DaP7fg1Z42TzX-KGDF5Tw296VVWVYWk5Xe7IMuSMEPzOeE3pcPoHK7_b6AzB31-ag1_KXrbRYMcnQq6mJPJ3TA5Fa0UADoJ66SBXIU9aV6-NgKP_l8k5pgSFPBDhzRTZfdsIUU9y/s1600/stone_steps1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIyIv7DaP7fg1Z42TzX-KGDF5Tw296VVWVYWk5Xe7IMuSMEPzOeE3pcPoHK7_b6AzB31-ag1_KXrbRYMcnQq6mJPJ3TA5Fa0UADoJ66SBXIU9aV6-NgKP_l8k5pgSFPBDhzRTZfdsIUU9y/s200/stone_steps1.JPG" width="133" /></a></div>With two new raised cedar beds our urban garden has been almost doubled. One is 4x8 and the other is 4x6, giving us a total of 121 square feet with the steel beds. For simplicity I decided to go with cedar this time, even though I love the metal ones. <br />
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These beds will get full sun so we filled them with tomatoes and peppers and even an eggplant. Tarah thinks I'm being silly planting an eggplant in Seattle but we'll see.<br />
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A number of years ago when Union Street was torn up, our neighbors collected some of the original cobblestones. They've been saving them for a project that they recently decided was never going to happen, so they offered the stones to me this weekend. I used them to make a cute and very functional little set of stairs between the two new beds. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR9j1keXwT0BNfjtYYl6qvTwRVW9nmsLAe2U2GIH4XY1hOdvter0sD8Ttzf3Dr1waAviAf2Yv2dxWZZft973aoCxHIhki9A8OWS0Y3oZ-rqrAOaoKKt54yZHkesMoaCrOvD1fnW-OFfXvy/s1600/cedar_beds1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR9j1keXwT0BNfjtYYl6qvTwRVW9nmsLAe2U2GIH4XY1hOdvter0sD8Ttzf3Dr1waAviAf2Yv2dxWZZft973aoCxHIhki9A8OWS0Y3oZ-rqrAOaoKKt54yZHkesMoaCrOvD1fnW-OFfXvy/s320/cedar_beds1.JPG" width="213" /></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16931626580241524183noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2139669884675286645.post-52423952812489596712011-01-17T19:48:00.000-08:002011-01-17T20:32:32.029-08:00Reflux Still<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHwIh2XmnpMk0CLy3pmyFG49vA6tp0i4DHSN66ioaAYuCE-xHm28zPgtPp9SG8tk-25MqjR-OQ1RcGjzrdInI3l7oQxUlkoUzhBAigeNHbeW-nuvTP15qs8fnlOU8fTwkACEeA3xIK1cwr/s1600/still2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHwIh2XmnpMk0CLy3pmyFG49vA6tp0i4DHSN66ioaAYuCE-xHm28zPgtPp9SG8tk-25MqjR-OQ1RcGjzrdInI3l7oQxUlkoUzhBAigeNHbeW-nuvTP15qs8fnlOU8fTwkACEeA3xIK1cwr/s200/still2.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>I had such a good time making the grappa with my friends still that I couldn't resist making a still of my own; plus I'm kind of a project junkie. I primarily referenced these two websites: http://homedistiller.org/ http://www.moonshine-still.com/ in designing my sill. I designed the still to reach about 90% pure alcohol but we'll see what it can really do once I have a wash (fermented alcohol of 10-20% alcohol) ready to run through it. The column is filled with stainless steel ribbon (pot scrubbers) to act as virtual plates where layers of like alcohol concentration collect. This allows a temperature gradient to be set up between the kettle and the top of the column. If all goes right, the kettle will be at the boiling temperature of a 15% ethanol/water solution and the top of the column will be at the temperature of a 90% ethanol/water solution. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb0oFnfuawQnbBWBWx02ZuU_cw91ET0odcCmY0MWRQAyU5EohrMx5IcafqBn82dv4Hwt-nozWzeA0HQy7mKIiayiwYrmKtYESMtJxxORsVBId8wxAFFhet95-a5Odt8gnxCDM1716SAKRj/s1600/still1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb0oFnfuawQnbBWBWx02ZuU_cw91ET0odcCmY0MWRQAyU5EohrMx5IcafqBn82dv4Hwt-nozWzeA0HQy7mKIiayiwYrmKtYESMtJxxORsVBId8wxAFFhet95-a5Odt8gnxCDM1716SAKRj/s320/still1.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16931626580241524183noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2139669884675286645.post-63386315232880600072010-11-27T15:02:00.000-08:002010-12-05T18:39:32.767-08:00Moonshine - homemade grappa!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOs4v9SnfypsiZYYxUYtRDdmuKmIYuZim_hYI1LT_0rfEvD2zlO53sIRdqwgc6Fhy7ja63dS_RnIrGsYNEerHzkYrOVck7Pe1D4gZl7S1BmEftB7qjbheKhdyvY0H1jKHMmbpt2dYivu3s/s1600/grappa1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOs4v9SnfypsiZYYxUYtRDdmuKmIYuZim_hYI1LT_0rfEvD2zlO53sIRdqwgc6Fhy7ja63dS_RnIrGsYNEerHzkYrOVck7Pe1D4gZl7S1BmEftB7qjbheKhdyvY0H1jKHMmbpt2dYivu3s/s320/grappa1.JPG" width="163" /></a>I've taken the next obvious step in the evolution of a home-brewer; homemade hooch! A buddy of mine made a still recently and let me use it to make grappa. Grappa is a spirit made by fermenting and distilling the pomace left over form the wine making process. Typically making white wine involves squeezing the juice from the grapes and leaving the pomace behind as a waste product. This pomace has residual sugar that can be fermented. I was able to get 10 gallons of Riesling pomace from a local winery. The fermentation process was ridiculously easy with little to no sanitary precautions taken. I simply watered back the pomace until the skins were fully submerged and added 2.5 lbs of honey. The honey was some cheap crap I had bought at the store but didn't care for the taste of, so as an afterthought I through it in the mash. I then pitched a champagne yeast and let it go. The next morning it was fermenting away like crazy and the skins were rising well above the tops of the containers. For the next couple of days I punched the pomace down as often as I could, sometimes every half hour. The whole downstairs smelled pleasantly like a winery. From this I ended up with 5 gallons of "wine" that I took down to my friends house. From the 5 gallons I ended up with 1L of a 122 proof spirit. Not a lot to show for the effort but I have to say the results are fricking fantastic. It is very soft and fruity with a nose that is both fruity and floral.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUROo72n_HL70xFV2Rw1-4vTGJxxUwcDdTpy5df4pLVs9CO2Pw-ysWPzII3Mm4naCHibPu6pD3ejlV3-m4fAEq0PPRt50OWcpu27wVZV3ZCSEl7Fmyn4_wwWgy_IEOFH3onpmdmgNO_aHt/s1600/grappa2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUROo72n_HL70xFV2Rw1-4vTGJxxUwcDdTpy5df4pLVs9CO2Pw-ysWPzII3Mm4naCHibPu6pD3ejlV3-m4fAEq0PPRt50OWcpu27wVZV3ZCSEl7Fmyn4_wwWgy_IEOFH3onpmdmgNO_aHt/s200/grappa2.jpg" width="133" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ3yPwsWAs3e0uMwKCY2AYo4J5qx7MOu4mzkYiNDlxDTikRCRQjfdCX0xrhLrJWJa0GFaFSLt8-8r-rhllU5lvSDL327Y1p9tBkTDCJJULmzY1Y2QcBzJjpiIhmKWcn1AQQfMMC2VvJsfF/s1600/grappa3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ3yPwsWAs3e0uMwKCY2AYo4J5qx7MOu4mzkYiNDlxDTikRCRQjfdCX0xrhLrJWJa0GFaFSLt8-8r-rhllU5lvSDL327Y1p9tBkTDCJJULmzY1Y2QcBzJjpiIhmKWcn1AQQfMMC2VvJsfF/s200/grappa3.jpg" width="133" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheyJL5m7yFbWfzToIewhXk3nN7u4_1faMG3ewVpUF5tyjOa5OTvj0lqZ5Gbts9JqEwp1cEah-KK3tmBUSrXlnsBb9L99nkLlmYUAGwsyWjM4thzN_onAo3BkleMFAz3C3ANsXDarpHsxER/s1600/grappa4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheyJL5m7yFbWfzToIewhXk3nN7u4_1faMG3ewVpUF5tyjOa5OTvj0lqZ5Gbts9JqEwp1cEah-KK3tmBUSrXlnsBb9L99nkLlmYUAGwsyWjM4thzN_onAo3BkleMFAz3C3ANsXDarpHsxER/s200/grappa4.jpg" width="133" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzUK_ZiaKxKBden_aZd9zN5NjNp-vPrvMok-FTAQ5lgVRMNQx6n5Ef697yXEtcNyjpL8PsMpX3slwS2PY1EkY9hElAlfv5BBDwZJeNcN3dMjboyZ6M8AlzNtz8JqnaeJyXKZ9Y1aNT3Cc2/s1600/grappa5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzUK_ZiaKxKBden_aZd9zN5NjNp-vPrvMok-FTAQ5lgVRMNQx6n5Ef697yXEtcNyjpL8PsMpX3slwS2PY1EkY9hElAlfv5BBDwZJeNcN3dMjboyZ6M8AlzNtz8JqnaeJyXKZ9Y1aNT3Cc2/s200/grappa5.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16931626580241524183noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2139669884675286645.post-75662610996331953612010-09-19T09:59:00.000-07:002010-11-27T07:21:36.555-08:00Drunken Goat 6 - 2010<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHH8q5FS0soakPxlB_jZ5WeqyxfPkROQkgCk2aKhgC6Bx8Lmfu6vowoZ3Qk_ZgsVU-jya9cYgXLFBwM6tIXGZm-mikuNIVMPwd4OB4fu2kbIYG8rz-msiGtuSg_L9MHTEjAVSZYDLdaxRc/s1600/Drunken+Goat+6+-+2010+-+3" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHH8q5FS0soakPxlB_jZ5WeqyxfPkROQkgCk2aKhgC6Bx8Lmfu6vowoZ3Qk_ZgsVU-jya9cYgXLFBwM6tIXGZm-mikuNIVMPwd4OB4fu2kbIYG8rz-msiGtuSg_L9MHTEjAVSZYDLdaxRc/s200/Drunken+Goat+6+-+2010+-+3" width="150" /></a></div>This year's festival was incredibly great again. My mom and dad made a stellar rendition of the famous Piraat ale from Belgium with a whopping 10% alcohol and they had custom shirts made for the occasion (see pic below). Rob A (with some artistic guidance from Jen) made a Kolsch ale spiked with apple cider and lavender. The lavender was used sparingly and the end product was a delicious light and summary ale. Tarah and I made our first rye ale. It was also a good example of a summary ale with some citrus notes. A small volume of three other homebrews brought the total to 6 this year. Daren and Brina (seen above) didn't have time to build an ale so they did the very next best thing, they came as ale. Brina with a grain wreath and Daren with one of hops. In all my dad counted ~60 people and we cooked ~55 pizzas. I'm really thankful to my friend Andrew who allowed me to mix the dough up in the 20 qt. Hobart mixer he keeps next to his bead in his studio apartment (now that's a sign of a real baker). I made 50 doughs and Anna made ~5 gluten free doughs.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgblRJI5a0tWXsXSCeq0DhdwvPdfXnvTNXy2bYfXmYW6F7Mbm-rV0LxgUnX84cytd9gG4n6ljonSgHlOeMtNWCe1rSL0C9W7-W-I2sIpXmhO-VEVdp9DwsuYgAblIXCUYtjfn0JnUlVjBCg/s1600/parents-shirts.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgblRJI5a0tWXsXSCeq0DhdwvPdfXnvTNXy2bYfXmYW6F7Mbm-rV0LxgUnX84cytd9gG4n6ljonSgHlOeMtNWCe1rSL0C9W7-W-I2sIpXmhO-VEVdp9DwsuYgAblIXCUYtjfn0JnUlVjBCg/s320/parents-shirts.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1qT0bRHMpUyDAAmFykQEsOQumiibmopDa9PekUCdWaGnkcBWOZptG2jOlmFB9Rl-TMghasJc4QM2TykqPEvTehqk95MR3Vc4Oz8vs6mHXBYUiytZA_ZhVnZnvq1hot77AidZI6FybF100/s1600/Drunken+Goat+6+-+2010+-+2" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1qT0bRHMpUyDAAmFykQEsOQumiibmopDa9PekUCdWaGnkcBWOZptG2jOlmFB9Rl-TMghasJc4QM2TykqPEvTehqk95MR3Vc4Oz8vs6mHXBYUiytZA_ZhVnZnvq1hot77AidZI6FybF100/s320/Drunken+Goat+6+-+2010+-+2" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBCZwN0uWvIb-Pu_TckZlHq8Zb42oTneqhdJLpSUsPqQkPeGsgIIySTq9KtWiZiQHifLhamQYrEdI85kkynINSqSSSOc0hDxaRNJ8fT8yP5Dq89euDOYtqZ62aavCmyviYDLg_maZpvX9n/s1600/Drunken+Goat+6+-+2010+-+1" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBCZwN0uWvIb-Pu_TckZlHq8Zb42oTneqhdJLpSUsPqQkPeGsgIIySTq9KtWiZiQHifLhamQYrEdI85kkynINSqSSSOc0hDxaRNJ8fT8yP5Dq89euDOYtqZ62aavCmyviYDLg_maZpvX9n/s200/Drunken+Goat+6+-+2010+-+1" width="150" /></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16931626580241524183noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2139669884675286645.post-74630793139911419552010-09-18T18:30:00.000-07:002010-09-20T22:49:33.468-07:00Seattle Urban Garden<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlqJGmGgfXIs3uGw57XQVLEM7KKWjgLczWcHyULhiGwQ_eIx9LPDEvJLmn00TLdEDF7xdjIWdtFv5cBaa601q1ZrbZ1XdBenhcEBSTrwetNFo2MJA0Nk69rSAzXwJ1n3H3nIXB8kUIY8e4/s1600/garden-harvest_2010.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlqJGmGgfXIs3uGw57XQVLEM7KKWjgLczWcHyULhiGwQ_eIx9LPDEvJLmn00TLdEDF7xdjIWdtFv5cBaa601q1ZrbZ1XdBenhcEBSTrwetNFo2MJA0Nk69rSAzXwJ1n3H3nIXB8kUIY8e4/s200/garden-harvest_2010.jpg" width="150" /></a></div>Putting in the planter boxes has been a wonderful addition to our house. The only real drawback is that we aren't going to the farmer's markets at all.<br />
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The neighbor's cat Calie (AKA Peaches as she's known to the owner) loves gardening with us.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixJaHnjSTL6_BEVregCJuh0WntUXByV7AA6fwp2ydIilemd5rI8nv0Zyvrsvg9HF-ctGR_PgSYlsdwRClrqMSJFBAqfyDtW8CLt1m1lBXQEFaBSXtISadUQ6iodBLZV59AMqJ4pAMWgYeM/s1600/garden-tarah-radiccio" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixJaHnjSTL6_BEVregCJuh0WntUXByV7AA6fwp2ydIilemd5rI8nv0Zyvrsvg9HF-ctGR_PgSYlsdwRClrqMSJFBAqfyDtW8CLt1m1lBXQEFaBSXtISadUQ6iodBLZV59AMqJ4pAMWgYeM/s320/garden-tarah-radiccio" /></a></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC80cKBods01DYsRmusJMYObcVkHKE_wXZy32d4KaW-8VA-qShtvonddE_Fu9LfYP3hxq7YNmz2RxQpfJeXyEzPNDC5XkHsoULmaG2G9_QEmjbrTsW7tDKKjeJQRru1YfO0nXntxjw-hOn/s1600/DSC08206" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC80cKBods01DYsRmusJMYObcVkHKE_wXZy32d4KaW-8VA-qShtvonddE_Fu9LfYP3hxq7YNmz2RxQpfJeXyEzPNDC5XkHsoULmaG2G9_QEmjbrTsW7tDKKjeJQRru1YfO0nXntxjw-hOn/s320/DSC08206" width="320" /></a><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQELubVQhX7Bk4aPDITl5MiZ60lxmP4YuftkCYg_ok1nq50uO338h8EmZE3MFWJMzOFcQXV2l6pPOCTFJdIWYyck0IPJdqbOSgx8pZk9TbHfJCTtnBa7g5NKZWn0CwoBNu0xNmGDueq434/s1600/DSC08213" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQELubVQhX7Bk4aPDITl5MiZ60lxmP4YuftkCYg_ok1nq50uO338h8EmZE3MFWJMzOFcQXV2l6pPOCTFJdIWYyck0IPJdqbOSgx8pZk9TbHfJCTtnBa7g5NKZWn0CwoBNu0xNmGDueq434/s200/DSC08213" width="150" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDNXMFoTingbsC3yH3NtxC6Kc2R863ZfIJMi6OANQ57MS0_WpWXGXMHZAuX4TNReCmFnboiXrqtDWDdoPYucRKME_QiaV1u4_-0iwCIe_lbgHUXtX-y8-FFrkHGxvcDTTywpq5eTd8vhYe/s1600/DSC08214" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDNXMFoTingbsC3yH3NtxC6Kc2R863ZfIJMi6OANQ57MS0_WpWXGXMHZAuX4TNReCmFnboiXrqtDWDdoPYucRKME_QiaV1u4_-0iwCIe_lbgHUXtX-y8-FFrkHGxvcDTTywpq5eTd8vhYe/s200/DSC08214" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQuFbnU7zC4f4T3-cKfkZ8LlBclwJvHJ7UJ8FL8AgwFbBTPoZ7Mt7VKtT0JZ11jo5M9ElMO_1rtGFhlMQdJaGIUycYgFqdaao_6Jws716AxgtoGHJh7hrFNh1QkS6mL9jViR7zcqWgUT1j/s1600/DSC08207" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQuFbnU7zC4f4T3-cKfkZ8LlBclwJvHJ7UJ8FL8AgwFbBTPoZ7Mt7VKtT0JZ11jo5M9ElMO_1rtGFhlMQdJaGIUycYgFqdaao_6Jws716AxgtoGHJh7hrFNh1QkS6mL9jViR7zcqWgUT1j/s200/DSC08207" width="150" /></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16931626580241524183noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2139669884675286645.post-23251105953095766142010-03-21T22:23:00.000-07:002010-03-22T08:39:02.964-07:00Steel Planter Boxes; urban garden<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ-pVFT19XgqTZswojWXlTED4dVwNm5wYRhhqwYuzoEEpL_dVpbpxF-f3_bb0R6J0bwDVi9W0rCH9O7iQ819gB4qHvCO_q90kQOhZYQ0boGlbh_GTyB8Tj32RMJVWdwUYwNsWX8mu10vEY/s1600-h/garden-6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ-pVFT19XgqTZswojWXlTED4dVwNm5wYRhhqwYuzoEEpL_dVpbpxF-f3_bb0R6J0bwDVi9W0rCH9O7iQ819gB4qHvCO_q90kQOhZYQ0boGlbh_GTyB8Tj32RMJVWdwUYwNsWX8mu10vEY/s200/garden-6.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>After looking at an untold number of single family houses to buy and getting out bid four times on shit holes that weren't even move in ready, we were worn out and completely discouraged. So we decided to take our landlord's offer and buy the townhouse that we had been renting for the past 2+ years. Buying a townhouse at first seemed like we were settling due to the lack of a garden. So this year (now that we're done with the inside re-model, the sauna, and the pizza oven) we have decided to focus on getting a garden in. The 19th and Union corner of the house was completely overtaken by ornamentals doing us no good. These just had to come out. It has now been 5 weeks of a completely full yard waste bin and one full truck load to the dump and we are finally rid of the corner ornamentals.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiStpSBB7IpG37MizrrTi-ixZKFyE6WFfwlh5t8V6N_GBNGtmTDL4gQz4O6H2J7A49yWCaXVexhFOpWmQLY4wEIZ27Xl7ds3mJKvEb5Hl292SePIq9QMJ4YMtvR9P3SxXy8RNjIV7QM9gpW/s1600-h/garden_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiStpSBB7IpG37MizrrTi-ixZKFyE6WFfwlh5t8V6N_GBNGtmTDL4gQz4O6H2J7A49yWCaXVexhFOpWmQLY4wEIZ27Xl7ds3mJKvEb5Hl292SePIq9QMJ4YMtvR9P3SxXy8RNjIV7QM9gpW/s200/garden_1.jpg" width="200" /></a>Instead of using untreated lumber that breaks down quickly (but is nice and cheap) or cedar that's really expensive we decided to try something a little different with our raised beds. They are made of some 3/16 and some 1/8 inch plate steel. We were able to get most of the metal as scrap at 50 cents per pound and the rest of it was 90 cents a pound. But with it all weighing in at over 400 pounds it wasn't cheap at roughly $300 for the set of three beds. Two of the beds are ~8x3' and one is ~5x3' for a grand total of ~65 square feet of urban gardening fun. We also built a 6' tall trellis for peas and beans. </div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRxuXxSZMvD5FVLRZ30S95EFvGBe25FdsrjcDQoM7G7Y3K1v4ar9tArrM_OPxuyldOPykg00CbOHYOT87L4BIPV4zsVTFMRN3J05rtnoBLSlIPnkP_MdnMbx0ikWwSH77tNVIfn6s_jaJO/s1600-h/garden-5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRxuXxSZMvD5FVLRZ30S95EFvGBe25FdsrjcDQoM7G7Y3K1v4ar9tArrM_OPxuyldOPykg00CbOHYOT87L4BIPV4zsVTFMRN3J05rtnoBLSlIPnkP_MdnMbx0ikWwSH77tNVIfn6s_jaJO/s200/garden-5.jpg" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg709aGdWN05Jd9U2Gg-4JKnUnmqqk50_c7EZiBVmkpMGQvVrvKfXUNZymCcCC8ZIMBJjIodTNWBL5h4vfDoN43or4HLQ1zigmvuzU47rTwnY9pH6mIxwu698MfYAPN8huf_lRzsZhvZJBp/s1600-h/garden_4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg709aGdWN05Jd9U2Gg-4JKnUnmqqk50_c7EZiBVmkpMGQvVrvKfXUNZymCcCC8ZIMBJjIodTNWBL5h4vfDoN43or4HLQ1zigmvuzU47rTwnY9pH6mIxwu698MfYAPN8huf_lRzsZhvZJBp/s200/garden_4.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOq62_spNKMNjy2HtmZt_9XulnaznUbcEJxwcX2AjXxvDF13Is8gLJsT68pg6cn1rRVatvMYQrjca6fO-EHZoL8OUspzpaWUKdvC6yxI5sVVDPbcBeMfcxUJNfKdg2an0TxFEl_awjKWul/s1600-h/garden_3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOq62_spNKMNjy2HtmZt_9XulnaznUbcEJxwcX2AjXxvDF13Is8gLJsT68pg6cn1rRVatvMYQrjca6fO-EHZoL8OUspzpaWUKdvC6yxI5sVVDPbcBeMfcxUJNfKdg2an0TxFEl_awjKWul/s200/garden_3.jpg" width="150" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL46BjQ8CdBKzFOlOG2-KaqTuaf6p4-anGw23wlQeaJE-23EjaAkIquXmUqoH3AOSoTKknqlJOMLyG1Rufs7jtigEe5KFkKXXSWvdoak0H4HmiSXOTshMW8hjuyxxKL5-vxopEIA_1qtMX/s1600-h/garden_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL46BjQ8CdBKzFOlOG2-KaqTuaf6p4-anGw23wlQeaJE-23EjaAkIquXmUqoH3AOSoTKknqlJOMLyG1Rufs7jtigEe5KFkKXXSWvdoak0H4HmiSXOTshMW8hjuyxxKL5-vxopEIA_1qtMX/s200/garden_2.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16931626580241524183noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2139669884675286645.post-29026498554996107482010-02-08T22:03:00.000-08:002010-02-08T22:11:07.021-08:00Hard Cider - Our new tradition<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAxkLAPH1fLMST_HfLyMX8ohxRtj5TCiKvmCJYZHow1P5emhpsWG4FCiQUrInu8Io3LBtCJSvd2Eo4-azi3pzJE9oEwgOQcv883yWYF9A1ppovyIxRn3SS-wJiWeJ-gJYQuw2nhOxeMjEZ/s1600-h/Library+-+7407.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAxkLAPH1fLMST_HfLyMX8ohxRtj5TCiKvmCJYZHow1P5emhpsWG4FCiQUrInu8Io3LBtCJSvd2Eo4-azi3pzJE9oEwgOQcv883yWYF9A1ppovyIxRn3SS-wJiWeJ-gJYQuw2nhOxeMjEZ/s200/Library+-+7407.jpg" width="150" border="0" height="200" /></a>We set out with the idea of grabbing enough apples from the farmers market to make a gallon or so of hard cider. We planned to use our Acme juicer which if you have one of these juicers you know that even a gallon is pushing it. After just a few minutes at the farmers market it was clear that we would have to rent a real press. We ended up with ~60 lbs of random seconds and a press from <a href="http://maps.google.com/maps/place?hl=en&sourceid=navclient-ff&rlz=1B2GGGL_enUS203US203&um=1&ie=UTF-8&q=bob%27s+homebrew&fb=1&gl=us&hq=bob%27s+homebrew&hnear=Seattle,+WA&cid=16942314332359042997">Bob's Homebrew</a>.<br /><br />Pressing the apples was a bunch of fun and Ana, David, Nora and Natalie all helped out. It came out to be a perfect 5 gallons; just right for a carboy. I used some sulfite on it and pitched champaign yeast in the morning. </div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I'm pleasantly surprised just how well it turned out. (I just got around to posting about this but we made it in the fall.)<span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0C68cBfxmi_xBmPMZBBtH-o4wdoC23x0nBjzn7tOGVO8j9iUCT2DkMCdiWlVcTiUZKlo6h0BRfFoTk-miXdFr3_IgBWzGrYEFdy5jc-D9qeVy4bEs8cHg_mWAIO8z4W2Tla9jtIO38ANK/s1600-h/Library+-+7398.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0C68cBfxmi_xBmPMZBBtH-o4wdoC23x0nBjzn7tOGVO8j9iUCT2DkMCdiWlVcTiUZKlo6h0BRfFoTk-miXdFr3_IgBWzGrYEFdy5jc-D9qeVy4bEs8cHg_mWAIO8z4W2Tla9jtIO38ANK/s200/Library+-+7398.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5436121108729695058" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbLUU2eSgkzX5IMLoog1a_VtVqOMF2HwxnZa4Ebp_KRH65ImUdyLnqs7vBqEqMXYsDWbH_bKtMJYKdJ5E4Tmo90SPgM0oX7AlVxwo_8SOjYhA3lLpqCtBAqxWY0_mVPZCbCJu4IfLFFQNT/s1600-h/Library+-+7400.jpg"> <img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbLUU2eSgkzX5IMLoog1a_VtVqOMF2HwxnZa4Ebp_KRH65ImUdyLnqs7vBqEqMXYsDWbH_bKtMJYKdJ5E4Tmo90SPgM0oX7AlVxwo_8SOjYhA3lLpqCtBAqxWY0_mVPZCbCJu4IfLFFQNT/s200/Library+-+7400.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5436121101090911298" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvlEpbOJI9Q6xoxyZ_Te-NfrMa7wtyL8dRRl7QsRGIdCd8ntUEXTUe_VykojP8bepom5uTpsv17MuC6VquCG1dk7fmnQAcSz0thJ0lBESMCUJbGLls8lvsvsAK4AL8TZFUBsXyoDwaD0JX/s1600-h/Library+-+7397.jpg"> <img style="cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvlEpbOJI9Q6xoxyZ_Te-NfrMa7wtyL8dRRl7QsRGIdCd8ntUEXTUe_VykojP8bepom5uTpsv17MuC6VquCG1dk7fmnQAcSz0thJ0lBESMCUJbGLls8lvsvsAK4AL8TZFUBsXyoDwaD0JX/s200/Library+-+7397.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5436121111226973842" border="0" /></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16931626580241524183noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2139669884675286645.post-46048111599179599952010-02-07T00:28:00.000-08:002010-02-09T19:55:34.186-08:00Ridiculous Overkill; Stainless Steel Tamper<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRR7OeUJ4Nk0bkZypk6_rvWaZBghAq1Y0NKuYmmxcMnJUNaGRqDnWCl7MhjlORkdV-CJF5W6ZtARAEzlURTKMxf594difUVsCtIxLSE3J2ZllCibAPG0x-sIUv2pSyl0lV-ZpZ02hLp-k5/s1600-h/Library+-+7500.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRR7OeUJ4Nk0bkZypk6_rvWaZBghAq1Y0NKuYmmxcMnJUNaGRqDnWCl7MhjlORkdV-CJF5W6ZtARAEzlURTKMxf594difUVsCtIxLSE3J2ZllCibAPG0x-sIUv2pSyl0lV-ZpZ02hLp-k5/s200/Library+-+7500.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5436458422883962370" border="0" /></a>My brother-in-law Brandt has gone nuts over coffee. He got himself a crazy fancy home espresso machine and an equally nice burr grinder. For a while he was using sub par beans but recently a roaster opened up just across the street from him. After chatting with the owner/roaster and beginning to buy his beans, Brandt has started pulling some creamy delicious shots.<br /><br />So the other day Brandt was preparing to pull me a show and I noticed that the tamper that came with his fancy machine was far less than fancy. It was totally out of place with all the cool equipment so I decided to machine him a new one. I got a 5" long 2.5" diameter cylinder of solid stainless steel. I've never worked with stainless steel before but I got lots of advise from my machinist friend at work and just started cutting.<br /><br />The final product is ridiculously heavy and a gross overkill but also so fricking cool that you can barely even believe it. I took it to my neighborhood coffee shop, Tougo, and had Dannel my favorite barista make me a shot with it before I gave it to Brandt.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis8fLggdzREjVidXfQuDuWOFqcCwfmcnr1b3rh_OBPNj6byPNVfPRhsXn1lpaR3oSWirRT6W27NNDuvewbUVbbgZGzpvi0Z8MZGyp66xes8g81x7R4WjwTE7gmskxg3VVuSaIAwPrbD0j1/s1600-h/Library+-+7482.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis8fLggdzREjVidXfQuDuWOFqcCwfmcnr1b3rh_OBPNj6byPNVfPRhsXn1lpaR3oSWirRT6W27NNDuvewbUVbbgZGzpvi0Z8MZGyp66xes8g81x7R4WjwTE7gmskxg3VVuSaIAwPrbD0j1/s200/Library+-+7482.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5435424101918793778" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrnOoCOy7YxvYoVCs_lr7vBv8tqg_G-nowzyS3k3kOyhKonntWgs_Y_8UPQyavuWlbYqCeklHT-RMmxPfe69yOO7GYR6dmWmstkSMd1SMxpt3JAzgh74BsyBB-Z505sRdz2Yo3mSHNjzJ4/s1600-h/Library+-+7477.jpg"> <img style="cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrnOoCOy7YxvYoVCs_lr7vBv8tqg_G-nowzyS3k3kOyhKonntWgs_Y_8UPQyavuWlbYqCeklHT-RMmxPfe69yOO7GYR6dmWmstkSMd1SMxpt3JAzgh74BsyBB-Z505sRdz2Yo3mSHNjzJ4/s200/Library+-+7477.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5435424107656759314" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ9X5pqqbfOnD2v4-UtziitvR_XSqIjQBJPUI5D11nA3BDSI64Gfsv3FVJ_8Awqk8PEmucTVKi1KODXd4BaJBlv1WTspz2PdcB2fMWvLtBD0FjPOQ151jPZNTY7eNOfH3uXUlcj_kedV93/s1600-h/Library+-+7494.jpg"> <img style="cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ9X5pqqbfOnD2v4-UtziitvR_XSqIjQBJPUI5D11nA3BDSI64Gfsv3FVJ_8Awqk8PEmucTVKi1KODXd4BaJBlv1WTspz2PdcB2fMWvLtBD0FjPOQ151jPZNTY7eNOfH3uXUlcj_kedV93/s200/Library+-+7494.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5435424115739585554" border="0" /></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16931626580241524183noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2139669884675286645.post-57780801751583983172010-01-15T06:18:00.000-08:002012-10-14T15:53:06.504-07:00El Horno de Union Design<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuJBmUHaF3gNzSgqrWShHRTEgXJrTWRAXwg6JNL9E914_2AGiBeU0x6pgVDTbW-a6Lg8kLWOKg07epj9xsQqjJz7JzjcQxZMQgFO1lkaE1cPAVNgKuvXd3HSiOgF87PZxaF_V7dnphEmHC/s1600/el+horno+de+union.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuJBmUHaF3gNzSgqrWShHRTEgXJrTWRAXwg6JNL9E914_2AGiBeU0x6pgVDTbW-a6Lg8kLWOKg07epj9xsQqjJz7JzjcQxZMQgFO1lkaE1cPAVNgKuvXd3HSiOgF87PZxaF_V7dnphEmHC/s320/el+horno+de+union.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Here are some plans (or sketches) for the wood fired clay oven we made. We were able to finish the entire project, not including the roof, in about three days of work. Since we live in Seattle it's necessary to have a roof over the cob. We had some guys that build bicycle tailors and work down at 20/20 cycle weld us up a roof frame that we then covered with corrugated sheet metal.<br />
<br />
The clay for the oven came from a local gravel quarry. They hate hitting clay veins and happily give it away. I got it from a woman who bought an entire semi load of this clay for only the cost of the driver's time. She used the clay to make an entire cob house (see picture below).<br />
<br />
I tried to use some old fire bricks that I got off Craig's List. It quickly became obvious that used bricks are just too imperfect and would simply not work for the oven floor. So we had to purchase new bricks but ended up using all the old fire bricks to build the attached grill area.<br />
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The only other building component that had to be purchased was the sand. I'm sure that if we had of just tried, we probably could have gotten the sand for cheap or free but instead we just got it from the masonry section at The Home Depot.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi41AmUKrcCluIY78J5_X6dwFCCVaBvXoZyleNDPPgYQ2fzDgY5hwGiV40T5MI09j61J5MTmaiot_f-SFU9V_lGOUhp0VA0_jwVKoxDXDw9vo-ZAYd7qQl6o5YDhgZwvFkXJIPD8naOQpyW/s1600-h/horno_design.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5427183161750869730" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi41AmUKrcCluIY78J5_X6dwFCCVaBvXoZyleNDPPgYQ2fzDgY5hwGiV40T5MI09j61J5MTmaiot_f-SFU9V_lGOUhp0VA0_jwVKoxDXDw9vo-ZAYd7qQl6o5YDhgZwvFkXJIPD8naOQpyW/s200/horno_design.jpg" style="float: left; height: 200px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 154px;" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMz3KFLvDwiO5d9TXO53mRM8nDs0VFN5OiNUqO0s93_w06XRIjP4AV-otZZ8HFrUkf1dRwLvQoRpcgBkYhgeHmoWWpCN5XgqLBQ1KFtQGPMNqQAbfZvweMbmbidIR9gx0ANFVRrteAEOod/s1600-h/horno_design2.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5427181775495823378" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMz3KFLvDwiO5d9TXO53mRM8nDs0VFN5OiNUqO0s93_w06XRIjP4AV-otZZ8HFrUkf1dRwLvQoRpcgBkYhgeHmoWWpCN5XgqLBQ1KFtQGPMNqQAbfZvweMbmbidIR9gx0ANFVRrteAEOod/s200/horno_design2.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; height: 200px; width: 154px;" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLY1CE4GKnBrnvH0fzv-1Beej1v2W92QfO-Jy7s2dpPgytnWBFJRfn1RpYyinje7uKQT00ERrAdwvLU3GQ5OFxTev9KPTOWmV3hrkLTNxhFXdMMGwhf-ikKWXS4cml131-wta83s7jRnub/s1600-h/horno_design3.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5427181769563014434" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLY1CE4GKnBrnvH0fzv-1Beej1v2W92QfO-Jy7s2dpPgytnWBFJRfn1RpYyinje7uKQT00ERrAdwvLU3GQ5OFxTev9KPTOWmV3hrkLTNxhFXdMMGwhf-ikKWXS4cml131-wta83s7jRnub/s200/horno_design3.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; height: 200px; width: 154px;" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp6rWJqlfCthKSHztoVwIL6-eCbLll-i_oZJymn9F-f_n4kOsRL5HPrzWsYpq07ErhJ_6qr6PCHdUNJrFR8o89NSh-QiTRFbuYk5_xQsWa9eRQLdisoK4DCsvo5FxTgFOEpqAczi6f3xry/s1600-h/horno_design4.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5427181761567783346" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp6rWJqlfCthKSHztoVwIL6-eCbLll-i_oZJymn9F-f_n4kOsRL5HPrzWsYpq07ErhJ_6qr6PCHdUNJrFR8o89NSh-QiTRFbuYk5_xQsWa9eRQLdisoK4DCsvo5FxTgFOEpqAczi6f3xry/s200/horno_design4.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; height: 200px; width: 154px;" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjieH65COeJVgFnZdwRKMLCWl5pTIgr62iCLN3__TQUE1_aN2FdzNblxFV7UTZlgU4PvgSuHQJDYsQlDKabs_pE08HvsSgH_yoJ746QwablnM3XWClUTRcLykJ7ExWhbAwPbZDhBMow9DVn/s1600-h/horno_design5.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5427181753720876066" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjieH65COeJVgFnZdwRKMLCWl5pTIgr62iCLN3__TQUE1_aN2FdzNblxFV7UTZlgU4PvgSuHQJDYsQlDKabs_pE08HvsSgH_yoJ746QwablnM3XWClUTRcLykJ7ExWhbAwPbZDhBMow9DVn/s200/horno_design5.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; height: 200px; width: 154px;" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijDm1aw_Rbu7DdRbnXpEZp_2jGw6Iy0q3taoogpNvFAcsdVWFlG6g5sSKUZEX6Ig9X0VV-QwyhDR9DUL5zDlXKttxRQLfI4l0vIl8kRKGHYcd7Me2KykzuaK69Vs4d_yme_LTwAZqodn0C/s1600-h/cob-house.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"> <img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5427215870387829170" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijDm1aw_Rbu7DdRbnXpEZp_2jGw6Iy0q3taoogpNvFAcsdVWFlG6g5sSKUZEX6Ig9X0VV-QwyhDR9DUL5zDlXKttxRQLfI4l0vIl8kRKGHYcd7Me2KykzuaK69Vs4d_yme_LTwAZqodn0C/s200/cob-house.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; height: 200px; width: 150px;" /></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16931626580241524183noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2139669884675286645.post-85042667341147234602009-12-01T21:45:00.000-08:002009-12-03T23:00:14.191-08:00Gourmet Club - November 2009<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjis_o10k_eIOfpyST8Hfiin8srUUyzFfXCplkv3-h1hwlpkyh0ox0-moawvBCZMnYFPxT2uXUrhVk0Tl_ePpN0kqKyB2sUc9vsi8J5NnGywO2dEmJGlrPC_qpTPK1SBph8ZAxi1484xPpW/s1600-h/Library+-+7360.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjis_o10k_eIOfpyST8Hfiin8srUUyzFfXCplkv3-h1hwlpkyh0ox0-moawvBCZMnYFPxT2uXUrhVk0Tl_ePpN0kqKyB2sUc9vsi8J5NnGywO2dEmJGlrPC_qpTPK1SBph8ZAxi1484xPpW/s200/Library+-+7360.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5410514346541905026" border="0" /></a>Well that didn't go so well.<br /><br />Tarah and I are part of a Gourmet Club that meets every few months. It's really just 4 couples of self proclaimed foodies that come up with a theme and have a ball eating great food and getting drunk. The meals usually consist of 5 courses with the host making the appetizer and the main dish. Comfort Food was the theme this time, leaving it basically wide open for interpretation. Tarah and I have been having so much fun with the busiati pasta that we wanted to do that for the club; plus it's standard that a dish is practiced and perfected before the club dinner which we've already done with this dish. "We'll just make a couple of small changes so it's more traditional" we said, "we're good at pasta, what could go wrong" we said. So instead of my normal pasta recipe we used a traditional Sicilian recipe with only semolina flour and water. And instead of the cheater method for making the shape we followed the <a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5p6mz_video-busiati-ok_creation">video</a> that I mentioned in my last posting.<br /><br />The dough felt great and actually the new method of shaping the pasta worked well and was really fun. We learned in the past that the pasta needs to dry out in order to hold its shape during cooking; so we dried the pasta overnight.<br /><br />After a delicious appetizer of polenta stars toped with a tangy chutney, and an exquisite example of what may be the embodied definition of comfort food, french onion soup, came our dish. We planned ahead and had the water heating before we sat down to the soup. After the soup we salted the water and through in the pasta. 2 minutes "no, I think it's basically dry pasta, it'll probably take just a bit longer" 5 minutes "no sorry it's still hard" 10 minutes then 15 minutes "what the fuck." Finally after 20 minutes in boiling water we removed and served the pasta. Everyone was polite as they discretely curled their tongs back to removed hard bits of pasta from their molars. The reality is I don't know if it would have ever fully cooked. The braised meaty main dish was another out of this world example of comfort food and what better way to end the theme but with warm molten chocolate toped with whipped cream. Overall the meal was great and we ended the night by having a cocktail at Boka (the bar on the first floor of their building).<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi90YQw257_6B3snnm8KsWTEWqsPoDzk8HwIt8ZrAhKeedmuwycVPhCSagWuBzJK_TVfdDSBFWjgDEL8cTpqHlzBePUO_vIKVZS8bzwAHNZIXbXFNXmSIWjdtHMh_ODymmKO9uw3EWZQT1P/s1600-h/Library+-+7368.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi90YQw257_6B3snnm8KsWTEWqsPoDzk8HwIt8ZrAhKeedmuwycVPhCSagWuBzJK_TVfdDSBFWjgDEL8cTpqHlzBePUO_vIKVZS8bzwAHNZIXbXFNXmSIWjdtHMh_ODymmKO9uw3EWZQT1P/s200/Library+-+7368.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5411268865289015394" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEXN894Ei4MlnmTm1SCPPauiCSfW9XHJqCQrs5xsoPe_hefYiUIu8STOOL8v9n-PPzfphieWGwd-N_wc_xTwuBuRahp_ZOL9KmV-Pj73al0PTAs9_L0AVdxsVx0IGIgEImN0YHR3AAIe3o/s1600-h/Library+-+7369.jpg"> </a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEXN894Ei4MlnmTm1SCPPauiCSfW9XHJqCQrs5xsoPe_hefYiUIu8STOOL8v9n-PPzfphieWGwd-N_wc_xTwuBuRahp_ZOL9KmV-Pj73al0PTAs9_L0AVdxsVx0IGIgEImN0YHR3AAIe3o/s1600-h/Library+-+7369.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; 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width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFsbFmmmUfzT8vmbSUMHS3aJs0G2zAYj6FABbkuV_WNKXOz3gXewxiXBm4y-u9d2u9sE0hB4qcO_Z_KGT3U8YW9DIId4hTXWKK8GXzySl_tkcgjr5MIF0pBQKnJoDR_9NfGRUf972TSzS0/s200/Library+-+7379.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5411270202320224706" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil_WLsG-zCthN7eb6SLCmnwvFvPvLJa35AcX7ak5gahghaJtjDM_D9EcFcVh7X94GOz5cVsKFkFwOPXxQZHa4AlQiOlaIMCuvcjaSpzAXSRZI_P9RvgFemLAS-w2JPrYOjyUTOVpZEdXCI/s1600-h/Library+-+7387.jpg"> <img style="cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil_WLsG-zCthN7eb6SLCmnwvFvPvLJa35AcX7ak5gahghaJtjDM_D9EcFcVh7X94GOz5cVsKFkFwOPXxQZHa4AlQiOlaIMCuvcjaSpzAXSRZI_P9RvgFemLAS-w2JPrYOjyUTOVpZEdXCI/s200/Library+-+7387.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5411270205987558018" border="0" /></a> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNN-Sl3eBmPlWfw7SZzyjfnEkc2KJ58eHwuw6lqfoDsmiASCsGQNOIwi_-OhWsKAyQcft2dDyI9mtXe5CoNQsxKsEGfAdrZtHbBn8ORJw52c8nV9auqpwE1KMymLjSMYsP2ow6ZYO7WqJf/s1600-h/Library+-+7372.jpg"> </a><br /> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBWY9CpYSeP-jSzjCIXCXJ2r1G8Mt8jEPedarNSPVyUkLtWb-nywGQC7L3wjnTn7ByF9eahKIZ8xmGxKYFpaWX9D-xpvy4Oj0V1tkKlgz18VCk6Jk9l0y4S_tMevwOULYaCPY-iaxvRuNl/s1600-h/Library+-+7389.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBWY9CpYSeP-jSzjCIXCXJ2r1G8Mt8jEPedarNSPVyUkLtWb-nywGQC7L3wjnTn7ByF9eahKIZ8xmGxKYFpaWX9D-xpvy4Oj0V1tkKlgz18VCk6Jk9l0y4S_tMevwOULYaCPY-iaxvRuNl/s200/Library+-+7389.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5411270194525359938" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNN-Sl3eBmPlWfw7SZzyjfnEkc2KJ58eHwuw6lqfoDsmiASCsGQNOIwi_-OhWsKAyQcft2dDyI9mtXe5CoNQsxKsEGfAdrZtHbBn8ORJw52c8nV9auqpwE1KMymLjSMYsP2ow6ZYO7WqJf/s1600-h/Library+-+7372.jpg"> </a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16931626580241524183noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2139669884675286645.post-5081219125400836102009-10-31T22:07:00.000-07:002009-11-02T21:26:24.870-08:00Busiati; Pasta Recipe<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQvrlg9ynZoqMrW673BXYhcOt93mBT3iATFtD0G2bvtcH_Huo1glyWv7Ertiyt3obpgND4PEupGkQkSDgydQKhHt52ni6UkdvitpENGyVPGTVamMjZ8YfiwiijrBSKWyTJ1-GGaQAlkQuN/s1600-h/Library+-+7334.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQvrlg9ynZoqMrW673BXYhcOt93mBT3iATFtD0G2bvtcH_Huo1glyWv7Ertiyt3obpgND4PEupGkQkSDgydQKhHt52ni6UkdvitpENGyVPGTVamMjZ8YfiwiijrBSKWyTJ1-GGaQAlkQuN/s200/Library+-+7334.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5398997622478102562" border="0" /></a>One of our food highlights was eating busiati with trapanese. Busiati (or busiate I can't tell what's correct) is a special pasta shape found only on the west coast of Sicily; originating in the town of Trapani. Trapanese (its name gives it away as also being from Trapani) is an uncooked, hand pounded sauce of tomatoes, roasted almonds, basil, mint, garlic, and olive oil (<a href="http://www.foodbuzz.com/recipes/1241150-busiati-con-pesto-alla-trapanese-perfect-for-summer">link to sauce recipe</a>) that is commonly served with the busiati. We fell in love with the shape for its look and its ability to hold a significant amount of sauce and knew we had to try making it when we got home.<br /><br />We read that busiati is still being made totally by hand in the region but after having made it at home I really can't see how this is possible. Even after gaining some reasonable proficiency, it takes Tarah and me working together like 30 minutes to form this recipe into busiati, and that's only enough for like 2 to 4 people.<br /><br />THIS IS ONLY AN APPROXIMATION<br />There seem to be a number of different ways of making busiate which you can see many examples of and videos of on the web (I especially like these two <a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5p6mz_video-busiati-ok_creation">video 1</a> and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-cciURY5qs">video 2</a>). But instead of rolling "worms" of pasta dough we simply rolled the dough into fettuccine noodles and wrapped those around a skewer. Also, this is my normal pasta dough recipe but actually buciati is traditionally made with a simple flour water dough. Next time I make them I'll try the traditional methods but for now I just wanted to make an approximation. And I have to say they have been really good.<br /><br />Pasta Recipe -<br />- 2 cups unbleached all purpose flour<br />- 2 eggs<br />- Olive oil<br />- healthy pinch of Salt<br /><br />Put the flour and salt in a food processor and pulse to mix. Add the eggs and ~2 Tbs of olive oil. Mix until it looks like homogeneous bread crumbs. while the mixer is running start adding water. This should only take a couple or few tablespoons. When the dough seems like it's starting to come together let it mix for a while longer and see if it will form a ball. If not add a little more water. Kneed the ball for just a little while then let the dough rest for 15 minutes. Divide the dough into quarters. Roll it out to a #5 on the Atlas pasta roller and cut into fettuccine noodles. Cut these noodles in half so you now have two piles of fettuccine noodles that each represent 1/8th the total recipe and are ~6 inches long. We found a wood skewers to work well for wrapping around. It is important for the pasta to dry for several hours or overnight to ensure that they hold their shapes during cooking. We cooked one batch just after rolling and they almost completely unrolled themselves. The finished dish below is from our Italy trip.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr1Tvvli-lfkGmzMjbh3UewffAEJVSWiI9kuerQYbDxLrNmOt8Ay3y99JDeBH7Hrs8vRe_mfcWEpz2W7K4QTCRP1-fnIBlRoIwyl3OGmneHE8Q5pHxvue2CajVCROW8yK3IDwdBpp43gp2/s1600-h/Library+-+7329.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr1Tvvli-lfkGmzMjbh3UewffAEJVSWiI9kuerQYbDxLrNmOt8Ay3y99JDeBH7Hrs8vRe_mfcWEpz2W7K4QTCRP1-fnIBlRoIwyl3OGmneHE8Q5pHxvue2CajVCROW8yK3IDwdBpp43gp2/s200/Library+-+7329.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5398998649963919906" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPmQtvodXKeuZ4mbfuJPOpmo_ASuKcsYlnQ58Uxth7qDLD8vBZs6jNzcZUN-yGoOvHh0r_2xI7mjq0hp5AVbSXDKEudAL-BiDAJibFVcQtzH12Jk5gZ8Pi_aV9lTQ_mp4WncRY9UVXQpkQ/s1600-h/Italy-2009+-+111.jpg"> <img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPmQtvodXKeuZ4mbfuJPOpmo_ASuKcsYlnQ58Uxth7qDLD8vBZs6jNzcZUN-yGoOvHh0r_2xI7mjq0hp5AVbSXDKEudAL-BiDAJibFVcQtzH12Jk5gZ8Pi_aV9lTQ_mp4WncRY9UVXQpkQ/s200/Italy-2009+-+111.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5398998426682989346" border="0" /></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16931626580241524183noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2139669884675286645.post-8663317375199673632009-10-26T21:31:00.000-07:002009-10-26T21:54:09.859-07:00Italy - 2009<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmasthFXFUiCbdqicEc0H6EDZ5uLcC5RGu74Rx_jg84m1SaZQmTh39NB66xPcCqNmHjUCyM_5ElhtR4KipOhqh6gv4ixMJgCG3srXPpuGXxBt3pJVOhPPUZkz0cw56dZZlVHVX7rptcJXA/s1600-h/Italy-2009+-+033.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 77px; height: 109px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmasthFXFUiCbdqicEc0H6EDZ5uLcC5RGu74Rx_jg84m1SaZQmTh39NB66xPcCqNmHjUCyM_5ElhtR4KipOhqh6gv4ixMJgCG3srXPpuGXxBt3pJVOhPPUZkz0cw56dZZlVHVX7rptcJXA/s200/Italy-2009+-+033.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5397133323963443506" border="0" /></a>Tarah and I had a wonderful month in southern Italy. We combined a one week conference in Castellammare de Stabia (just south of Napoles) with three more weeks making our way down the Amalfi Coast and across Sicily. There were many highlights of the trip but the main highlight (aside from the obvious; being the food) I would say was the Path of the Gods on the Amalfi Coast. I'm a little overwhelmed to just jump in with a run down of the entire trip so I think I'll dole out stories in random order as I feel like writing about them. Here's a link though to our web site where you can see many of the photos.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.tarahandpaul.com/photos/Italy-2009.html">http://www.tarahandpaul.com/photos/Italy-2009.html</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16931626580241524183noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2139669884675286645.post-81533425584023041362009-08-23T12:24:00.000-07:002009-08-27T17:36:00.319-07:00Drunken Goat's Celebration of Ale 5<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicxxoNOSF_2SAKpLlUOOjYPig6NlD7yg-xmEanm3YshsyycWHNeThl49B1GiWC-OT7DQzorlClld0qCWJjGj6rdJ5bepk1zCMrTAUQNfUBcnStmP2oTWCGDGyUmiZfad6XjydtaD3M_Qsl/s1600-h/drukin_goat_solo_2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 124px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicxxoNOSF_2SAKpLlUOOjYPig6NlD7yg-xmEanm3YshsyycWHNeThl49B1GiWC-OT7DQzorlClld0qCWJjGj6rdJ5bepk1zCMrTAUQNfUBcnStmP2oTWCGDGyUmiZfad6XjydtaD3M_Qsl/s200/drukin_goat_solo_2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374806323575990322" border="0" /></a><br />The Drunken Goat's Celebration of Ale is a homebrew festival we host once a year. The idea is that people either bring a homebrew to share or food to add to the potluck with Tarah and me making the main dish. In past years the main dish has ranged from making a large pan of paella, to building a cinderblock oven and roasting an entire pig. This year with the completion of El Horno de Union we had pizza. My buddy Andrew (co-founder of the Columbia City Bakery - one of my very favorite bakeries in the city) has a commercial sized dough mixer that he keeps next to his bed in his apartment - there's no room for this thing in his kitchen. I was going to go to his place and use it but I didn't plan far enough ahead and ended up not getting it arranged in time. So in the end I kneaded by hand enough dough for 54 pizzas!<br /><div><br />The beer turnout in the past has ranged from 5-9 beers but this year blew the record away with a whapping 14 beers, 1 hard apple cider, 2 pops, and a peach ice tea.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM4PcpAmJSSdEhdf5x-Z2Jndyda5dV0ltlG0vtlQVhtxd4HswOGBlHg2VjEwGWwFnbsoQwYyz3KCx2-e2SPgfKHOtOG7SriPSrLTAal4p6wo7SAGZbetLYeAanbTF-oso-uN9qDASNR1tq/s1600-h/DSC06738.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM4PcpAmJSSdEhdf5x-Z2Jndyda5dV0ltlG0vtlQVhtxd4HswOGBlHg2VjEwGWwFnbsoQwYyz3KCx2-e2SPgfKHOtOG7SriPSrLTAal4p6wo7SAGZbetLYeAanbTF-oso-uN9qDASNR1tq/s200/DSC06738.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374804453474199778" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWgREEWksZSzHsumvUH7Tr9_xCsbykjsHYRYUkNFOi5k_Ayi9qbaGGeFYVoGejca1sI-TjqibVmG7wwdQcgt0dJKzo-bOQPzep19ZkIUNYCgKuc35YvJXsL-cnS1h0BEYXs7i7jChisChH/s1600-h/DSC06744.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWgREEWksZSzHsumvUH7Tr9_xCsbykjsHYRYUkNFOi5k_Ayi9qbaGGeFYVoGejca1sI-TjqibVmG7wwdQcgt0dJKzo-bOQPzep19ZkIUNYCgKuc35YvJXsL-cnS1h0BEYXs7i7jChisChH/s200/DSC06744.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374805057433972706" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIbf4F5qzWOorH5R2ZDBwqlOZVNyX6QPTk7yYy6WSiH6qEoA8VS34gonVvNAmMaerXijwXFHl3ajPU7K91O0fdIsq8wf6DaSzk6Jpd4iCcMPP7H2h9iUgbFUyzAngvGBiMJAnEJO7uJyb5/s1600-h/DSC06743.jpg"> </a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivjxzV_HfMS1ZI9CBr5ui0I_rjlyhY29qoGrD6xieTFr_bijSUVfbT-M0wSTUKBoUGs2UOYdNiK4T2uDMIZnTLNZLkKSbNdiih5mh1aMfUgRouhYaddeTXgsRH_EypyV3WJvSTV8l2PY6b/s1600-h/DSC06743.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivjxzV_HfMS1ZI9CBr5ui0I_rjlyhY29qoGrD6xieTFr_bijSUVfbT-M0wSTUKBoUGs2UOYdNiK4T2uDMIZnTLNZLkKSbNdiih5mh1aMfUgRouhYaddeTXgsRH_EypyV3WJvSTV8l2PY6b/s200/DSC06743.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374806794018726946" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7oh_BfdoBFyUP3D24puM50o1_btlpogTFNjzUuxlzdUEJ1sHyVJdqJq2UkRjGMo8C8q8IChixNyAwpsj7Ld2mI7-KXd2Gbqfpltk-9qJJKzDVGAkBnOEOi0M5fiO8fZvvYAi7r5H43pXL/s1600-h/DSC06739.jpg"> <img style="cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7oh_BfdoBFyUP3D24puM50o1_btlpogTFNjzUuxlzdUEJ1sHyVJdqJq2UkRjGMo8C8q8IChixNyAwpsj7Ld2mI7-KXd2Gbqfpltk-9qJJKzDVGAkBnOEOi0M5fiO8fZvvYAi7r5H43pXL/s200/DSC06739.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374805071247138322" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIU0XIW9RI91WVZfCm1HsEgM4kVSr-HVeH1tNIHdRgjYfrS3VpIBCyXmbiBfktpZSOQdw0LBxoq3TFsuFf8InnbXbDVUOAQNjtcEVYhWceNKfSva5JGGWAbMgPUWGp-5hJA89jpKmHH9Ah/s1600-h/DSC06736.jpg"> <img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIU0XIW9RI91WVZfCm1HsEgM4kVSr-HVeH1tNIHdRgjYfrS3VpIBCyXmbiBfktpZSOQdw0LBxoq3TFsuFf8InnbXbDVUOAQNjtcEVYhWceNKfSva5JGGWAbMgPUWGp-5hJA89jpKmHH9Ah/s200/DSC06736.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374805078913256146" border="0" /></a><br /><br /></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16931626580241524183noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2139669884675286645.post-1446071275777598902009-08-10T19:12:00.000-07:002014-01-02T10:46:41.770-08:00Paella with Xavi<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYzxDPTb5TQ22k7Z_KLmLIwu0vMoPpSKkVR2wD3HA7Fmr96RVJnpGslZ9UMdKsLsCsVTeC6yr70Iom29QvVDRe0N3g8JmEcvxBH4vRZ-6QefPs-uKGCg-KlIk1pMvu4dx0KcJcrW9PqSms/s1600-h/DSC06685.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368524708528444770" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYzxDPTb5TQ22k7Z_KLmLIwu0vMoPpSKkVR2wD3HA7Fmr96RVJnpGslZ9UMdKsLsCsVTeC6yr70Iom29QvVDRe0N3g8JmEcvxBH4vRZ-6QefPs-uKGCg-KlIk1pMvu4dx0KcJcrW9PqSms/s200/DSC06685.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 200px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 150px;" /></a>Our very good friend Xavi from Spain visited us this weekend and we had an incredible time showing him around Seattle. We went out to see <a href="http://www.eldridgegravy.com/">Eldridge Gravy</a> - which was a kick ass energy packed show - on Friday night. On Saturday we went to <a href="http://www.theochocolate.com/">Theo Chocolate</a> in Fremont and down to the Pike Place Market for groceries and to have lunch at <a href="http://www.ulisfamoussausage.com/">Uli's Sausage</a>. I'll digress for just a minute to give a little plug for Uli's. If you haven't checked out Uli's for a while you may not know that they turned what used to be the sausage factory into a nice little eating area where you can get grilled sausages and have beer from the <a href="http://www.alpine-brewing.com/"><span class="fn org" jsdisplay="m.title" jstcache="58" jsvalues="lkgtitle:m.lkgtitle" lkgtitle="undefined"><span jsdisplay="!features.embed" jstcache="67"><span dir="ltr" jsdisplay="!m.linkback" jstcache="79" jsvalues=".innerHTML:m.title;dir:bidiDir(m.title,true)">Alpine Brewing Co</span></span></span></a>. Uli's is so fricking great; actually the whole market is just amazing. On a different path of digression; I get annoyed when Seattleites dismiss the Market and proclaim it to be for tourists. I love the market. It is touristy, but that's because it's great. It's one of the last of its kind in the US and a true treasure. I try to walk down to the Market at least a couple times a month. OK enough of my digressions. We got what we needed and headed home to cook up one of the gastronomic highlights of the weekend, seafood and chicken paella. It was done with a lot of Spanish intuition so I tried to take notes as Xavi cooked but this is kind of a rough recipe.<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 130%;">Paella Recipe</span><span style="font-size: 78%;"><br />
<br />
</span><span style="font-size: 130%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">ingredients</span><br />
</span><br />
<ul>
<li>Olive oil<br />
</li>
<li>2 dried ancho chilies - with the stem and seeds removed </li>
<li>1 head of garlic</li>
<li>1 red bell pepper</li>
<li>1 chicken - pieced<br />
</li>
<li>~20 shrimp, shells left on<br />
</li>
<li>~20 calamari, cut into rings<br />
</li>
<li>~20 mussels</li>
<li>1 tsp of Chiquilin Food Colourant (optional)<br />
</li>
<li>28 oz can whole tomatoes - lightly puree in blender </li>
<li>1 bag of frozen peas<br />
</li>
<li>~3.5 cups paella rice</li>
<li>~10 cups of 50/50 chicken stock and water<br />
</li>
</ul>
This recipe if for a 22 paella pan. This is the size that conveniently fits on a Weber BBQ. Starting inside on the stove add ~ 1 cup of olive oil to a large frying pan and fry the dried anchos over medium heat until almost burnt. They have done their job and imparted the oil with the necessary flavor so just discard them at this point (keep some that aren't blackened if you want a stronger chili flavor). Next, with the skins still on, fry the garlic cloves until very cooked and starting to blacken. Reserve these. Then fry the bell pepper until it's well cooked and reserve. Now on med-high, fry the chicken with the intention of browning it. It's not necessary to fully cook the chicken since it can finish cooking in the paella pan. The pan is nice and hot now and you can cook the shrimp - with their shells still on - very fast and finally the calamari rings will cook in literally just a flash. Add your canned tomatoes and fry untill reduced and thick. OK now your done inside.<br />
<br />
You will have to work out the timing but meanwhile you will have started a nice hot charcoal fire. I used one full chimney of mesquite charcoal plus a couple extra pieces to fill out the grill. Set your paella pan over the fire and add ~ 1/2 cup olive oil and all of your rice. Stir it making a nice even layer over the pan and cook stiring frequently untill the rice begins to smell nice and sweet, a little popcorney. Make a nice uniform layer with the rice; at this point you will not stirr the rice again. Place on top of the rice your chicken pieces and all of the other fried yummies except for the tomatoes. Carefully, but quickly taking care not to burn your rice, add half the stock water mixture. In the remaining stock mixture stir in the tomatoe sauce and add to the paella. Finally add the muscles to the paella pushing then down into the liquid. Now all you have to do is make sure you have an even fire and rotate the pan if necessary and wait. DO NOT STIR. If you are running out of water and the rice is still not done you may need to add a small amount. You want to run out of water just as the rice is finishing and then leave it on the heat for a little while longer to brown the bottom. This crackly bottom is extra yummy.<br />
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I hope this is clear enough. If you have questions feel free to ask me.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLPylnYGMp1qK-YSVp2p0530DYfeafJa-x59O-Bh84NNBL_VHgM3lDHuZrE-dgFkrgRPjBBoLTPo8SGxT7LNuvpl7vCYkq1ax_WyLfTzKiJkG3dQntMNu68gs77zBhgiiS3M2Pds0Vtw3C/s1600-h/DSC06665.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368524407468155458" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLPylnYGMp1qK-YSVp2p0530DYfeafJa-x59O-Bh84NNBL_VHgM3lDHuZrE-dgFkrgRPjBBoLTPo8SGxT7LNuvpl7vCYkq1ax_WyLfTzKiJkG3dQntMNu68gs77zBhgiiS3M2Pds0Vtw3C/s200/DSC06665.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; height: 200px; width: 150px;" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXpYF0yzF4xEzRrF3CkBV2WBIXFMymraROs6UrasGuKphwKBFCKrJRDgT5caWI_Qaf5kze-n0vK3fFj4g41XWz5_lojsv7hC6RrwZQkc2HAY4EyTteguwtECUFEUNApOZJTw5frDo3Sse1/s1600-h/DSC06668.jpg"> <img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368524405475570258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXpYF0yzF4xEzRrF3CkBV2WBIXFMymraROs6UrasGuKphwKBFCKrJRDgT5caWI_Qaf5kze-n0vK3fFj4g41XWz5_lojsv7hC6RrwZQkc2HAY4EyTteguwtECUFEUNApOZJTw5frDo3Sse1/s200/DSC06668.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; height: 150px; width: 200px;" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZBfx9jCRXteMzxYr7wLYwnTHp8zmAjAxzktXEbD_Dkaw39roacpWA1PEZ_omD4EqbhEAUCv_IalbVDwSBcbvsuc224TxOJFinPXe8IRhm9YYsHy2XM4HsHNUgnlnrneqLPA2DaK8XEWLO/s1600-h/DSC06675.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368524396881450866" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZBfx9jCRXteMzxYr7wLYwnTHp8zmAjAxzktXEbD_Dkaw39roacpWA1PEZ_omD4EqbhEAUCv_IalbVDwSBcbvsuc224TxOJFinPXe8IRhm9YYsHy2XM4HsHNUgnlnrneqLPA2DaK8XEWLO/s200/DSC06675.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; height: 200px; width: 150px;" /> </a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpDfe1Jeo7le4aw3e8WRQISv12p4VtaCtz5m2kHRcwgD7P8C3tsr7UWQJrjlgaUBUCAaQ-nX6DqkafWLr0g5kE0kzemKqrmWZv41GIWVYJDf1Jg1MVOq_viQ6gCyDHyaDxN3-Q0vEvA0kY/s1600-h/DSC06692.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368524388672208594" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpDfe1Jeo7le4aw3e8WRQISv12p4VtaCtz5m2kHRcwgD7P8C3tsr7UWQJrjlgaUBUCAaQ-nX6DqkafWLr0g5kE0kzemKqrmWZv41GIWVYJDf1Jg1MVOq_viQ6gCyDHyaDxN3-Q0vEvA0kY/s200/DSC06692.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; height: 200px; width: 150px;" /></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/1/107320/restaurant/Downtown/Ulis-Famous-Sausage-Seattle"><img alt="Uli's Famous Sausage on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/link/107320/minilink.gif" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; height: 36px; width: 130px;" /></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16931626580241524183noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2139669884675286645.post-31160193231836591372009-08-04T22:00:00.000-07:002009-08-06T21:02:05.770-07:00Wood<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRIFax3QTZN5V_JjnfMvHLQ4YoM0diFuq8TvMfQCyFvkGV6YPBIVh9_wwRoAggqUn6pX5QPiVyvu5f8QdymlBxLo5vwBUPVgfpI0mRRBOEFXNtwJd2DLXEblIQs1fprS-AdjxrHH0RGuue/s1600-h/cherry_wood_2009.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRIFax3QTZN5V_JjnfMvHLQ4YoM0diFuq8TvMfQCyFvkGV6YPBIVh9_wwRoAggqUn6pX5QPiVyvu5f8QdymlBxLo5vwBUPVgfpI0mRRBOEFXNtwJd2DLXEblIQs1fprS-AdjxrHH0RGuue/s200/cherry_wood_2009.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5363874807040677842" border="0" /></a>We had fired up the oven twice with untreated, soft wood, 2x4 scraps. This wood was exceedingly easy to light, burned hot and fast and subsequently heated the oven up quickly. However, there was excessive amounts of smoke any time you put new wood in and once the oven got fairly hot (~600 F) the smoke turned to this nasty black creosote smoke. I talked with Mike from <a href="http://www.rollingfire.com/">Rolling Fire</a> at the University Market - I should mention that he is really making some of the best pizza in Seattle - and he suggested that the soft wood was just burning so fast in the hot oven that it couldn't burn efficiently and recommended using fruit wood instead. So I called up my buddy in Yakima that woks part time in his father-in-law's cherry orchard. He asked if I needed like a truck load to which I responded with a solid "oh crap no, just enough to fill up the back of my little VW Golf." Yeah it turns out getting a hold of fruit wood in Yakima is no problem. We filled the back of our Golf and didn't make a dent in the slash pile we were pulling from.<br /><br />This last week we fired it up using the new wood and the difference was amazing. The cherry is hard to start so I used the 2x4 scraps to get it started. There was very little smoke, the wood formed hot coals, and we never reached a nasty black smoke period. We did have to watch it a little more closely and in fact at one point had to use the 2x4 scraps to restart it.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16931626580241524183noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2139669884675286645.post-74055780907119603792009-07-29T20:48:00.001-07:002009-07-31T06:30:03.827-07:00The hottest and Nudest day ever<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh19HB8YEXcZ824jmcTop8_m74bMJnoLVTJ8HdZKSGNBLqwz4EXFlXUlXMlQmcTiHDXxAMlIE3exu85TkQ17v-gqGW5qQyfjsdjF2Y7HtrqIgkpfuaKFrgAKCapTAvdANAlzqar5WRMFrkP/s1600-h/DSC06645.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 160px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh19HB8YEXcZ824jmcTop8_m74bMJnoLVTJ8HdZKSGNBLqwz4EXFlXUlXMlQmcTiHDXxAMlIE3exu85TkQ17v-gqGW5qQyfjsdjF2Y7HtrqIgkpfuaKFrgAKCapTAvdANAlzqar5WRMFrkP/s200/DSC06645.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5364095923769057602" border="0" /></a>Today was proclaimed to be the hottest day ever in Seattle - with 103 at the airport - and the nudest day ever at Howell Park; these facts were presented by the National Weather Service and a jolly fat naked man respectively. Tarah and I deemed the naked man to be the official park greeter given his excitement to talk about the park, its history, and its police presence to anyone who seemed curious. According to him the police have taken up a very relaxed stance with regards to the beach. "At times they will drive by on the street level and ask people leaving if anyone down there has any complaints; then promptly leave when the answer is no" says our jolly greater. Tarah and I are no experts of the weather or of the nude levels of Howell Park but it sure felt hot today and there were definitely a lot of us nude folks on the beach tonight. I fricking love Seattle!!<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin4oPaGm_vK_C62zq6Sg46-SUrdN2lx70a8hUUS7VqKZyJidQtPSAREdLOAQOMbEQtx9kxV77RaW20sYsitrxUSU0gCn7E99MM8lSkw7bxsreXupQpuPTVdnDrhtB0ifutFUOqJbZDRPR7/s1600-h/DSC06644.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin4oPaGm_vK_C62zq6Sg46-SUrdN2lx70a8hUUS7VqKZyJidQtPSAREdLOAQOMbEQtx9kxV77RaW20sYsitrxUSU0gCn7E99MM8lSkw7bxsreXupQpuPTVdnDrhtB0ifutFUOqJbZDRPR7/s200/DSC06644.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5364109734757045666" border="0" /></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16931626580241524183noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2139669884675286645.post-89684885716837017102009-07-28T21:35:00.000-07:002009-07-28T22:04:59.893-07:00It is sooo nice and HOTThis is such an awesome summer in Seattle. Tarah and I have swam in Lake Washington 4 out of the last 5 days. We live on Union so we just head strait over Madrona to the lake and then a little north to Howell beach. It's my favorite one; very secluded and clothing optional.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16931626580241524183noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2139669884675286645.post-82489857118215788122009-07-04T23:50:00.000-07:002009-11-17T19:28:28.391-08:00Kobe Beef Sliders<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYpoURO6sxNwFLdJQNdxiglf3HJIMAXaGuTRfcrlNPxFDrRi6xoHupOR7vK1lNRfk1waTHwVkv-_aMzojvil2aUONkqjg30V4awixC23knXfkJ-b7eOfg6QHhfiGGzKQsLx9MupfRu74Lx/s1600/food+-+140.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYpoURO6sxNwFLdJQNdxiglf3HJIMAXaGuTRfcrlNPxFDrRi6xoHupOR7vK1lNRfk1waTHwVkv-_aMzojvil2aUONkqjg30V4awixC23knXfkJ-b7eOfg6QHhfiGGzKQsLx9MupfRu74Lx/s200/food+-+140.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5405280280017147570" border="0" /></a>This is the first time that I've grilled up little sliders. For some reason little sliders are just more fun to eat than regular sized burgers. It's like the sandwich that your mom cut into bite sized triangles when you were a kid. After our sliders we headed over to Gasworks Park for the fireworks. This year there was only the show at Gasworks Park so we worried it would be even more crowded than normal but actually I think there were fewer people this year. The show was great and we had a nice 4th of July.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16931626580241524183noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2139669884675286645.post-29212889932170679782009-07-03T23:00:00.000-07:002011-06-07T22:52:45.065-07:00Pizza Party<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSUCTL7rmaDLsavfwG0BlYyS7y-x5a3FoTu1TM_3pe3XLNoOMZbjqAl1cWcHSy5E2V9DPqKHtoLYpM2H9tbe_mMi0wPciLxyYA0Wl5Xa3iAj13T-96RrQ1WjbQMuk398fgWqPGxV08cxBO/s1600/Library+-+6239.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="320" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5405284399083181538" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSUCTL7rmaDLsavfwG0BlYyS7y-x5a3FoTu1TM_3pe3XLNoOMZbjqAl1cWcHSy5E2V9DPqKHtoLYpM2H9tbe_mMi0wPciLxyYA0Wl5Xa3iAj13T-96RrQ1WjbQMuk398fgWqPGxV08cxBO/s320/Library+-+6239.jpg" style="float: left; height: 200px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 150px;" width="240" /></a><br />
We had a successful oven firing and an incredibly good time on the 3rd. The 20 of us made short work of 23 pizzas. After the pizzas I baked 6 baguettes and finally a puffy pancake (Dutch baby) with raspberries.<br />
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You can see plans and other details of the oven at the following.<br />
<a href="http://farsi-una-pizza.blogspot.com/search/label/Horno">http://farsi-una-pizza.blogspot.com/search/label/Horno</a><br />
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