Reading: Conspiracies
Rolling right along through F. Paul Wilson’s Repairman Jack series. I am currently reading CONSPIRACIES.
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DINNER 108: Tuesday, April 18, 2006
It’s the third Tuesday of the month, and that usually means the WINE DINNER at the IRON HORSE INN. I met up with David & Chie and we enjoyed the following menu, celebrating the Graziano Family Vineyards. Jen from Tramonte & Sons Distributors guided us through…
DINNER 107: Monday, April 17, 2006
I started another culinary class this evening, my first class in several months. It’s very nice to get back in. The class I am taking this term, which meets twice a week for 10 weeks, is Garde Manger, or cold food preparation. The class has a bunch of students in it and it feels like it will be a combination of team- and solo-work. Last night, we boned out a chicken and a duck, keeping the skin whole. I can bone out a chicken in under 10 minutes, but doing it in a way that keeps the skin whole is difficult and took a lot longer.
We put the chicken skin into the freezer to firm up so we could scrape the fat off it before stuffing it with the whole marinated chicken breast, some farce that we made from the rest of the chicken meat, pistachios, and ham. The whole thing was rolled up and wrapped in cheesecloth before poaching in fortified stock until it reached an internal temperature of 160 degrees.
We rendered the fat out of the duck skins, roasted the bones, and began making stock. We’ll use the duck fat to confit the legs.
Dinner was a quick drive through White Castle on the way home for a few cheeseburgers and some water.
DINNER 106: Sunday, April 16, 2006
Happy Easter, everyone! After a lovely brunch with Wendy’s family at IRON HORSE INN (yes, we were just there last night, and I’ll be there again on Tuesday!), we picked Jay up and headed up to Columbus, Ohio to meet up with Robin & Dave to…
DINNER 105: Saturday, April 15, 2006
PICTURES ARE HERE! This evening’s activities were really fun. Wendy & Holly had collaborated to plan a surprise party for Jay, who turns 40 at the end of April. Holly provided all the decorations, Ed delivered them to Wendy, and Wendy & I (with help…
DINNER 104: Friday, April 14, 2006
Since I was home this evening cooking, I laid low food-wise. Dinner was a couple Boca Burgers with cheese, an orange (oranges are so good this time of year! I ate three of them today!), and a big glass of Vitamin D milk. None of that ‘fat free’ milk that Wendy is currently drinking. That stuff is awful, but she’s looking great. Her diet is working, and not really killing her (though she told me she had an “I’m starving” dream last night!). Boca Burgers taste okay, but they smell funny — not like meat at all — and the texture is just …wrong… somehow. They are convenient in my freezer, though, since I bought them for my show but we didn’t actually use them. I’ve got two burgers left; I wonder what I’ll turn to next.
A Haircut — and how!
On the way home from work yesterday, I decided to stop for a haircut. I’d been needing one for a while, though time had been scarce. Here’s how my hair looked on Wednesday: Click the picture for a larger view in a new window. I decided…