Pork and Mud

Oh, warm weather, how I have missed thee! Jen and I took advantage of the warmth today and went for a trek across Lafayette, winding through a park, a cemetery, neat neighborhoods and a bit too much mud. Still, the sun was great and the company was better.

Last night we cooked up some good food. I returned again to the monster pork chops and made a dish last night and a dish today. Last night I put the pork on top of a salad (which was alright, but had too much celery). Today we made sort of a pork fried rice, which was magnificent. I'm pretty proud of the breading I devised for the pork:

Sweet n' Spicy Pork

3 large pork chops

4 T. flour

2 T. brown sugar

scant 1/3 C. ground almonds

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. fresh minced ginger

1 tsp. red pepper flakes

2 T. olive oil

Cut the pork chops off the bones and into 1 inch squares. In a bowl, mix together the remaining ingredients. I ground up the almonds in a food processor and used the microplane Jen got me to do up the ginger. Then put the pork into a sealable plastic bag (or rolled up paper bag if you have it). Add the breading and toss until evenly coated.

Fry the pork in olive oil over medium high heat until the pork is well-browned and a bit crispy.

Now, today for our lunch we did sort of a fried rice. It was so good. However, since we had eaten about a third of the pork already, I dunno what the proportions would be for the full recipe of what we have up above. We probably had a third or quarter of the pork left from before. So with that and some leftover rice (maybe about 1 1/4 cups cooked rice), we made this awesome dish:

2 T. oil

1 1/2 large stalks of celery, sliced into thin cross sections

1/3 sweet onion, coarsely chopped

soy sauce

sweet n' hot pork (maybe a scant 2 C.?)

rice (1 1/4 C. cooked rice?)

Saute the celery and onion in the oil, adding in a couple of generous splashes of soy sauce. Cook until the celery is tender and doesn't taste like celery any more. Add in the pork and cook until warmed through. Add in the rice and stir together. Stir in about three more splashes of soy sauce. Cook till rice is hot. Enjoy!

The Passing of The XBox 360

I finished Batman: Arkham Asylum. It was quite good, and had a satisfying end fight. It was quality throughout. I finished up the main story, and tried my hand at the extra challenges. After running through a few of them, that's when the XBox 360 froze up. After made a few attempts to get going, it displayed the Red Ring of Death, a sad symbol known to far too many XBox 360 owners. I waited a while, and still was greeted by the baleful RROD. Rest in peace, dear XBox 360.

Now the question is what to do? We could get it repaired to the tune of $100 plus shipping (if not more) and get a refurbished model. Or, we could buy a new core system and put my current hard drive onto the new machine, which would cost more, but come with a warranty (and be NEW!). Or, I suppose, we could go without. We do have a backup DVD player. Time to look at options...

UPDATE: While looking at options, I found that my particular problem was covered under a special 3-year warranty. Yay! Free repairs! See you in a week or so, XBox 360!

Cook's Notes

We've been doing a good amount of cooking lately. I've been paying attention to the grocery ads and investigating my cookbook collection, and that helps. The recent theme has been pork. King Sooper's had a two-for-one sale on pork chops, and we bought four packs, each filled with about a week's worth of pork chops, each a massive slab of meat. One night, we had some that turned out really well. For that, I took:

4 Tbsp. flour

1 Tbsp. Montreal Steak Seasoning

1 finely chopped serrano pepper

I mixed that all together and then breaded three giant pork chops (probably about 5 normal size chops) with the mixture. I then fried it with:

2 Tbsp. olive oil

1/2 large onion, coarsley chopped

2 generous splashes of Worcestershire sauce

The onions got a bit burned, since there was no room to stir with the pigzilla chops, but it still tasted great. We served it over jasmine rice accompanied by an orange. Magnafique! My earlier attempt with breading the chops with Montreal Steak Seasoning and ginger was a bit of overkill on the flavor side. More flour, less ginger. At least our sinuses were clean.

Yesterday, Jen helped me make chocolate oatmeal bars (a Thingvall family favorite) which Jen was ecstatic about. I will have to remember that ;). We also made meatloaf, using the traditional Thingvall family recipe. However, I wanted to jazz it up a bit, so I added three minced cloves of smoked garlic (thanks, Jodi and Ross!) and a tablespoon of Montreal Steak Seasoning. I also swapped garlic salt in for the normal salt. The results were fantastic and served with a green salad drizzled with Italian dressing. So the recipe for that ended up being:

Savory Meat Loaf

1 C. milk

1 tsp. savory

1/2 tsp. thyme

2 T. minced parsley

3 C. soft bread cubes

1 T. prepared mustard

2 1/4 tsp. garlic salt

2 eggs

3 cloves minced smoked garlic

1 T. Montreal Steak Seasoning

2 lbs. ground beef

Combine all ingredients, except meat. Add meat and mix well; shape into loaf in shallow pan, or pack into a 8 1/2 x 4 1/2” pan. Bake in moderate oven (350°) for 1 hr. Makes 6–8 servings.

You may notice the prevalence of Montreal Steak Seasoning in these recipes. I was first introduced to it by my friend Gavin, and I don't believe there is a meat that this stuff can't make taste better. It's made by McCormick and is part of their Grill Mates line. It's freaking amazing, though, as an experiment with fried green tomatoes showed, it is possible to overuse.

I also used it when we diced up one of the pork chops, breaded it with flour and Montreal Steak Seasoning, and then fried it before using it to top a salad of romaine hearts dusted with shredded Monterey Jack cheese and lightly adorned with a creamy ranch dressing. Those were some fantastic salads.

King Soopers has had more great meat deals, so the freezer, in addition to the remaining monster chops, has some bacon and Italian sausage. We're stocked for the next couple of months, I think. I've got some cooking to do. :D

Feeling Literate

Yesterday morning, the sunrise was a color I'm only accustomed to seeing under black lights, and possibly fuchsias. It was a bright banner under the layer of clouds, just peeking over the roof of the strip mall next door.

As I went about my sit ups and push ups, I heard the geese again flying north, and I realized a mistake I've made in thinking about them. I now recall the Canadian geese that stick around here year round, coating park paths with their green droppings. So I figure these geese are not migrating the wrong way, but just commuters. They are probably leaving Wanaka Lake where they spend the night to go up to some other park where there is more grass to feed, before commuting back down to Wanaka for the night.

I've really been enjoying the writing in Angle of Repose. It's some good stuff, distracting me from the unease of whatever disaster is lurking just off stage. Here's one passage I liked quite a bit:

I wonder if ever again Americans can have that experience of returning to a home place so intimately known, profoundly felt, deeply love, and absolutely submitted to? It is not quite true that you can't go home again. I have done it, coming back here. But it gets less likely. We have had too many divorces, we have consumed too much transportation, we have lived too shallowly in too many places.

We had a good night with Doug and Kerri, recounting travel memories and eating fondue. Today is a day of errands. Already the laundry is turning in the dryer, Daria's oil has been changed, and groceries have been purchased. We're stocked up on meat for a while after all the 2 for 1 deals at King Sooper's. Hopefully I can continue being productive today and start looking at the church's website with an eye to redesigning it. How long can I hold myself back from accompanying Batman on his fight in Arkham? I wouldn't be placing bets right now on that being a long period of time.

With Renewed Effort

I've picked up Wallace Stegner's Angle of Repose again. I had gotten half way through it, but had to return it to the library, and in the midst of marrying and homebuying, old Wally got pushed to the side. It's not my normal reading. I've been doing a lot of non-fiction and magazines of late, and this book has no elements of the fantastic, making it even more outside my natural literary habitat. It's a handicapped professor retelling the story of his grandparents as they moved about the West in the late 1800s. His grandfather was a mining engineer and his wife was an illustrator for magazines. Currently the characters are living in Leadville, CO, which piques my interest some. It's so far a tale of life in the day, but it is magnificently written. It even won a Pulitzer Prize.

Part of the reason I was a bit slow in picking it up is that it has the air of impending tragedy. At every chapter, I'm expecting someone to lose their legs or inadvertently kill someone dear to them. I'm just waiting for the other shoe to drop. It makes it a little uncomfortable. Still, I'm enjoying it. Other than Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (which felt more like philosophy than narrative at times), I haven't read any fiction for a while. It feels good to relax into a story rather than feeling like I'm studying or building up my intellect.

Bait and Switch

Twice in a row, I have looked up the prices for items online in preparation for shopping. I'll find a cool deal, and then go into the store. The deal is either gone or not the same. For instance, when I replaced my hard drive with one from Best Buy, The price in the store was $10 more than what was listed online. The same happened today when I bought the excellent, new Vampire Weekend album at Target. It was listed online, specifically as an in-store deal only, as selling for $8. When I got to the store, it was $10.

In the case of the hard drive, I asked the sales clerk about the difference, and she said I could print out a copy of the page and bring it back in with the receipt and get refunded the difference. I did just that, and they were good to their word ... well, their second word. With the CD, I'm not sure the $2 is worth the hassle of printing the page, going back in, and standing in the customer service. line.

I hope this is not a trend of doing a bait and switch between online and in store prices. I think that next time I find a good in store deal through an online source, I will go in with print out in hand so I can get the price that was promised to me.

In other news, I have a new nephew! My sister Jodi gave birth to her first child: Nathaniel Lloyd. Both mom and baby are fine and labor was relatively easy. I am so excited for her and Ross. Jen and I will hopefully be making a trip out there in June to see the newest addition to the clan.

Okay, now back to tend to the bear claws that just came out of the oven. We'll see if this recipe fulfills my quest for these delectable pastries.

UPDATE: despite some gross imbalances in the recipe in regards to the amount of glaze and icing, they turned out wonderful. Next time, I'll double the amount of pastry components and keep the glaze, icing, and egg wash the same.

Games People Play

There's been a whole lotta Batman in our house. This weekend Jen and I finished up Lego Batman. It's been great to have a game we can play cooperatively and isn't super involved. It's easy to pick up and do a small chunk when you've got a spare bit of time. The more I talk to couples with a gamer in it, the more I've heard about the Lego games bringing them together to play games. I wonder if Lego originally considered that as an audience for the games.

I've also been playing Batman: Arkham Asylum, which Jen got me for Christmas. It is quite fun and very well done. I'm still getting the hang of the controls, but the general play is easy enough to pick up. I am looking forward to playing more, though I need to also find ways to get other things done in my life.

Sunday night, Jen and I went over for dinner and games with Elizabeth and Nathan and their very happy baby Noah. At Elizabeth's request, I made crostini to take along, and I think I have now found a favorite for appetizers. I couldn't find a recipe that worked quite right with the ingredients I had, so I improvised. I got some Italian bread, cut it into slices, spread on olive oil and then garnished with cracked peppercorns, smashed fennel, and some garlic salt. I also rubbed it down with some garlic. I baked that for about 6 minutes at 375 and then added on some chopped tomato and shredded basil. I then cooked it for another 6 or so minutes. It was easy to make and tasted excellent. I'm also glad to have found a use for the whole peppercorns I've been toting around for a while. This recipe will definitely be making appearances at future get togethers.

Elizabeth made some excellent pot roast, spätzle, and roast carrots. Everything tasted excellent, and was followed with a fantastic layered caramel and chocolate pudding. We also played the game Agricola. I had heard a lot about this game and was quite excited to play it. It is definitely more complex than Settlers, but it has an interesting game play mechanic. I didn't quite grasp the strategy right off, and would love to play it some more to get the hang of it. I even dreamed about it that night, as my brain was furiously trying to process it.

I'm so blessed to have a wife who loves playing games, and to have friends I can play games with as well. Add in some great food, and you have a very lovely weekend. I know I certainly did.

Escape to Roxborough State Park

After a week of snow and cold, Jen and I needed to get out, stretch our legs and shake off a little of the cabin fever that had been developing. The temperatures got up into the 40s on Saturday, so we ventured out of our den and into the wide world. I still have a state park pass, so we drove on down to Roxborough State Park, which is south and west of Littleton and Chatfield State Park.

This was what we needed. It was far enough away to feel like an excursion, and yet required no driving in weekend mountain traffic or a long drive. The surroundings were quiet and beautiful, yet you could see downtown Denver and the Tech Center from parts of it. We walked among the red rocks and stubby oaks. We saw a decently large number of deer grazing on the hillsides, and plenty of tracks in the snow.

The midpoint of our hike was an old homestead, which really is in good repair, considering its age. While we were there, we saw a red fox peek out from behind a low wall. He was looking at us, but bolted when another fox came running down the hillside. This fox must have been defending his territory. He chased off the interloper, and made the circuit around the area, marking his territory and making a strange barking noise; something like a cross between a frog and dog. He seemed utterly unconcerned with us. He came as close as 10-12 feet, but seemed only to be focused on securing his domain.

As we hiked back, we were in a valley and out of the sun's beams. It got cold fast, so we hoofed it back to the car and went for some warm Thai food at Wild Ginger. It wasn't the best I've had there, but I was glad to finally have introduced Jen to my favorite Thai restaurant in the Denver area. It was a good finish to a nice weekend excursion.

And of course, you're welcome to see my pictures from Roxborough.

Home on Pecos

The snow was falling pretty heavily when I headed home tonight. I checked the traffic, and I-25 looked like a jam all the way past 36. However, I noticed that Pecos, which pretty much goes straight from my office to 36 was even green for large stretches. This meant that it should be nice and clear.

So I started up Pecos, heading home. Between my office and 38th St., Pecos is a narrow residential road. I was going between a huge dumpster and a parked car, and another car kept on coming towards me as I entered the gap, even though there was only room for one. When I saw it wasn't stopping, I put on my brakes, but I slid a good ways. Miraculously, when I stopped, I was a few inches from the parked car and the oncoming car somehow passed me without incident. I totally thought that I was going to hit one or both of the cars, yet God spared me that. I am so grateful. Of course, my first reaction was to shout an epithet at the other driver. Then my gratefulness kicked in, along with full body quivering from the adrenaline.

Unfortunately, when I got to 56th and Pecos, the road was closed due to construction, so I had to reroute to Federal, which was slower. Of course, this explains why traffic on Pecos was so light. There was none, because the road was closed. That'll do it.

Jesus Does My IT

It's a big Praise the Lord tonight in my house. I took apart one of my external hard drive cases and plugged in my corroded, sad, little hard drive from my laptop, and without any trouble at all I was able to get my data off of it. It serves up data just fine. It just didn't want to boot. So I thankfully have been spared the recreation of hours of project work and the loss of my Christmas pictures. Thank you, Jesus! This is an answer to prayers! This makes my new hard drive even better, since I have gotten rid of the sizzling one and gotten a quieter, roomier drive.

In other news, there is still still fricking snow on the ground. This is not the normal M.O. for snow in Colorado. Usually it comes and melts away within a few days. However, the snow has been layering up and the cold has been persistent. Even after scraping all but the glacieriest parts of the snowfall off my deck, and a couple days above the 40 degree mark, the snow persists on side streets, rooftops, and my deck. Tonight, as I went out to get the mail, I did an ungainly quarter-pirouette on some ice still straddling the mouth of a nearby side street and mildly tweaked my back. More snow is predicted for Wednesday.

Undressing

Today, Jen and I were in productivity mode. Before noon, we did more today than we did all last week. The main activity today was taking down all the Christmas decorations. It was sad, but it will definitely help us get back into the swing of things. We even used our new ladder (thanks Todd!) to take down our exterior lights. We also took the shortcut of not totally disassembling the tree and just put the pieces in a closet without squishing everything back into the box. The house feels a lot more open now, if less festive.

I also got my car, Daria, washed today, blissfully ignoring the snow still on the ground. Of course, we had one small flurry today. I think the weather was teasing me.

So This Is The New Year

Man, we had an excellent time last night at David's. John, Brandy, and David cooked up a mess of incredible food; too much to name each dish individually. I will just say that the duck with the dipping sauces and the scallops were awesome. Unfortunately the cookie bars I made from one of my new cookbooks were a dud. We had a good time with a small crowd and then played Wii games until late. Good times.

On the way back home, at 287 and Public, we almost hit a bumper that was sitting along with other debris in the right lane. Up ahead, there was a car driving along the shoulder, billowing smoke all the while. It was so smoky, we couldn't see the back of the car. But the driver kept driving and talking on a cell phone. We called the police to let them know about the bumper, and they said they had a report of a hit and run there. Awesome. Thank you, God for protecting us. If we had left earlier, we might have been there at the time.

This morning Jen and I played more Lego Batman, which has become our default relaxation activity this week. I have also been finishing up the reinstalling of programs. My hard drive replacement seems to have been successful, but I am questioning my plan to try to retrieve the data. It might be worth popping the drive into an external case and seeing if I can retrieve anything, maybe with a passing effort to use data retrieval software, but I don't think that I will be paying anyone to retrieve it. I lost my snowshoeing pictures and the bulk of the Christmas pictures, though not the best. I fortunately loaded the best of those up to Picasa. The worst loss is the work I've done on my personal projects. The last time I backed up them was the 6th of November. So we'll see what ends up working, but the prospects for data retrieval are grim. :-(