June 2010
2 posts
Dear Self,
You are a sad, helpless, horrid creature. You are an empty shell of organic matter simply waiting to drop dead. Your only modus operandi is to love yourself. Your only care in the world is the satisfaction of your 5 dull senses. I look at your life and I see no love. I look at your heart and I see no good.
You insolent fool. You ponder the depths of human knowledge, but you...
By golly, I seem to have run out of things to say in the past few weeks. This itself is a rather remarkable occurrence - those of you who know me can attest to my usual verbosity.
So I just thought I’d give y’all a simple life update: I have finished Psalms and am currently reading Proverbs, have been awarded funding likely through the end of my Ph.D, have been involved in some...
May 2010
9 posts
WatchThanks for a great birthday outing!
A Duo of Unique...Creations
Whilst mine online presence has taken the backseat burner of late, I have still had the opportunity to experiment in the kitchen. So behold, a duo of my latest creations:
Indian Crepes Gone Wrong
I was given a most generous gift of Indian goodies a short while ago. I thought it would be a good time to cook one of the items in the pile. So I made what was supposed to be some kind of Indian...
“Any generation gaps that exist between teens and adults today is superficial...”
– The American University in a Post-secular Age
April 2010
12 posts
1 tag
Looking for a New Language
I was wondering if any of my readers out there or anyone who reads this on Facebook has a copy of Rosetta Stone in any language. I’m in the mood to learn a new language and was hoping someone would have some dusty copy of the software I can borrow for a little while.
I’m open to any language. Seriously, any language.
1 tag
A Doughy Oops
Today I tried to take my kitchen to Chicago. I made it my goal to create a Chicago-style deep dish pizza.
All homemade pizzas need a custom, homemade crust. But, in a stroke of pure genius and incorrect formatting on Food Network’s website, I ended up with this:
Yes, that is the largest pot we own, filled to the top with a massive, inhuman blob of dough. You see, food network’s...
1 tag
These Mushrooms don't take no Shiitake from You
So I decided to pick up some Shiitake mushrooms for my april ingredient. After looking up many recipes and considering the contents of our kitchen, I thought I’d try to make something a little creative: Shiitake mushroom cream sauce and meatballs over orzo. The orzo turned out great…but for some reason I couldn’t get the cream sauce to thicken. Normally I do pretty well with...
Out'n'about
WatchAn Experiment…
Park-age
Last week my wife and I fell upon a gem of a place in Fairmount park. Everything was a fresh, vibrant green.
The water fountain below, inscribed with “For the good of the public,this will be here forever.” Notice the water fountain no longer exists…
Water still exists elsewhere, however.
1 tag
Politics - Personality or Issues?
In response to my previous post on politics, I received a most intriguing response from my good friend Jeff. It reminded me of our many conversations during our cross-country road trips almost two years ago.
Jeff’s Comments:
[In relation to my suggestion that we should investigate political issues to a deeper extent] “i’m interested in personality. …i suppose you...
1 tag
Everyone's Least Favorite Eight Letter Word
Politics.
Perhaps it is the circles I inhabit, but politics is one of those realms of life that nobody wants to discuss anymore. Sure, Rush Limbaugh, Bill O’Reilly, John Stewart, Steven Colbert and very specific groups of commentators and entertainers are willing to tell us what to think. But where has the dinnertime political discussion gone? Who goes out anymore to the local pub to...
Insights into the Materialism of the Human Psyche...
I just thought I would entitle this post something deep…something ruggedly pensive and wholeheartedly honest. Basically, as I sit back and look into my actions, thoughts and motives of the previous few weeks, there is no escaping my own subliminal materialism.
So in the past month or so I have been enjoying the fun of day-to-day stock investing, pondering home purchases and looking up the...
Now He's 24
24…yes, I am now 24. No longer flying through my early twenties, I find myself mired in the middle twenties, married, working on a Ph.D, wondering where all of the time has gone and what time ahead has in store. I was a young teenager just days ago.
In the past few months, I simply haven’t known where to start. My posts on here have focused on pictures, cooking, and a smattering...
March 2010
6 posts
My lab's work has made the Inquirer... →
The Homemade Cinnabon
A while ago my sister recommended that I browse a collection of bread-like recipes on the blog The Knead for Bread (www.thekneadforbread.com). I stole their recipe for cinnamon buns.
The recipe was somewhat time intensive because I had to soften our brown sugar first. So, if you ever go to make these things, make sure your brown sugar is already soft. Then they’re quite easy.
On...
Rodney and Rachel Rutabaga
At the suggestion of my culinarily gifted friend Dave, I picked up two Rutabagas.
And I wanted to make something that featured the rutabagas themselves, so a simple roasting method was in order. But first, I learned that I had to peel them.
After the peeling process, which was relatively easy, I then cut them into chunks. If you have never worked with rutabagas before, they are...
From Writing to Reading
Writer’s block has been eating into my blog and random writing habits lately. While I could spend time lamenting, I’d rather think of it as a slight paradigm shift in my lingual consumption/production. In other words, I have found myself reading more and writing less.
So what am I reading? This week I read “The American University in a Postsecular Age.” It is a book...
February 2010
6 posts
Food-related Vancouver Olympic Advertisers
Coca-cola
McDonald’s
I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter
Hmm…
Ten Great Things About My Valentine
This is a weekend of posts devoted to my valentine, my wife. We are celebrating the ValentOlympics this weekend.
(The following are in no particular order)
1. She cooks wonderful things. In the past week, we have had a roast, oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, zucchini chocolate chip muffins, and sausage soup to name just a few!
2. She supports me in my work and hobbies.
3. She looks fabulous.
...
Snowmaggedon 1.0: A Small Town in a Big... →
January 2010
10 posts
Question of the Day
(In order to avoid undue partisanship and party-bashing, I must mention here that I object to the previous administration’s movements to create a stronger executive branch, larger military and more security oversight.)
The current White House administration has two big agendas that are in conflict with each other. I’m looking for a little clarity:
First, they are looking to re-tool...
Plumbers, Donkeys, Elephants, iPads and Prayer, oh...
Oh boy, what a day it was!
First, the plumbers tell me that they’re going to actually be ripping down the inside part of one of our walls tomorrow…yikes!
So our shower was suddenly backing up to near over-flow levels. This led to a pre-liminary investigation by a plumber who, my brute force and I’m sure a minor bit of ignorance, broke something. One broken thing led to...
Walter Day
My wife and I had my parents over to celebrate an official family Holiday: Walter Day! The culinary focus? Two types of chicken legs.
Type 1: Bacon grease coated garlic basil
Type 2: “Tandoori” Style
‘Twas a lovely day, including laughs, ice cream, homemade bread, yummy salad, and farm-opoly.
Return to Normalcy
A number of people have asked about my recent two-week hiatus from blogland. The following is not a list of reasons why I made no posts until today:
My wife and I took a second honeymoon to Cambodia.
While in my research lab, I accidentally inhaled highly toxic chemicals. I was then rushed to the hospital, where I spent the next week and a half being de-toxed.
We’re renovating our...
Gelatin George
After hearing of my new year’s commitment to using new ingredients, my sister suggested that I use gelatin and make my own mousse. Once I got past the rather disgusting nature of the origin of gelatin, I thought that a mousse would provide a respectable challenge.
My wonderful wife purchased Gelatin George for me:
Michael Pollan would be proud of the ingredient list:
Now a mousse is...
Charlie the Chayote
As I stated, one of my goals is to cook with new ingredients this year. More specifically, I am attempting to cook with one new ingredient every month.
Allow me to introduce you to Charlie the Chayote:
Charlie is a native of Costa Rica. However, he has many relatives from other tropical areas, such as southeast Asia. My wife brought Charlie home last week, and it was now his turn to grace...
“…today’s white elephant is often tomorrow’s beloved landmark.”
– Blair Kamin, Chicago Tribune
New Year's Revolutions - Status and Update
It is that time of year again - a time for my new year’s revolutions. For me, they are essentially new year’s resolutions, but the word revolution carries more weight in my mind.
In 2009
I made only one new year’s resolution in 2009: to read 52 non-work related books last year. Sadly, I only made it halfway. In retrospect, this goal was a bit ambitious considering my status...
December 2009
16 posts
2009 - A Year in Review - The Jarbees
If my life were to be reduced to the basics of an athletic franchise (a sports team), then what would be in my end-of-year report?
Team Record:
Wins: Getting Married, Honeymooning in Southern California, Visiting my Uncle’s Cabin…
…visiting my sister and brother in law, Getting lots of opportunities to cook!
Losses: Less travel than in previous years. Being a poor...
The Christmas Spirit
A teenage homemaker and older priest inspired the following block of words:
My deepest thoughts uplift Your name
My inner heart breathes the life of my Savior
For You remembered me!
You thought to rectify my pitiful state.
And now I am called a part of Your Kingdom
now I am a part of the nations under Abraham.
By a power only held by the Sovereign
By a perfection only known by the Lord of...
Watch
Culinary Experimentations with JC - Jerk Sausage...
Tonight creation was one of the more strange, unique creations to come across my table. Without my wife around, I took experimentation to another level. I’d call it caribbean fusion, but fission is probably a more accurate descriptor.
My intent was to use some recently acquired allspice to create a Jamaican inspired jerk. It turned into something very different, however. First, I placed...