Crazy is just sane on a lunch break

Dinner

2011-05-16T21:02:00.001-05:00

2 carrots, 1 tomato, asian pear, and a banana. There's only salt, balsamic, and olive oil on the tomato.

Sub Bros Foodtruck

2011-05-16T21:00:00.001-05:00

There's a new foodtruck in Montgomery County, Sub Bros. This was a very tasty sandwich and I'd get food from them again.

Bethesda park

2011-05-16T20:58:00.001-05:00

Outside of Original Pancake House.

My Less Than Inspiring Interaction With Tmobile Customer Care Via Chat

2011-05-02T16:50:00.002-05:00

I've been having intermittent 3G problems for the last few weeks and finally had time to web chat with Tmobile about it. This is an exchange around 5:30pm EST today.

Please wait while we find an agent to assist you...
You have been connected to _Francisco M.

ME: I live in Bethesda, MD, USA, zip code 20814. My 3G connection lately often does not work since I upgraded my touch 3g slide to the latest radio firmware, 7.15.35.16 I was a few miles away from home all morning today using the 3G heavily for hours and it was fine. I believe there is a problem with tmobiles network local to 20814.

_Francisco M: Hi James , welcome to T-Mobile live Chat. I’m _Francisco and I will be happy to assist you. Please give me a moment to review your question.

ME: Hi Francisco, thank you.

_Francisco M: One moment.
_Francisco M: Can I have the address to check for outages?

ME: yes, I am at ***

_Francisco M: Thank you.
_Francisco M: One moment.
_Francisco M: Is that ***?

ME: yes

_Francisco M: Okay.
_Francisco M: I see an outage 3 miles away that could be causing your issue.

ME: oh ok, would the effect of that outtage be intermittent connectivity? or no connectivity at all?

_Francisco M: It could be either.

ME: ok. is it an outage with a tower or some network equipment? I ask because I doubt my phone is connecting to a tower 3 miles away.

_Francisco M: The phone is connecting to it, we dont have a tower every mile.

ME: ok, is there an ETR for that issue?

_Francisco M: At the moment, we do not have any estimated time of resolution for this issue.

ME: hm, ok. Could I get a credit on my account then since I'm not getting the service I'm paying for?

_Francisco M: I would advise contacting customer care when the issue is resolved for that.

ME: How will I know when the issue is resolved? Will someone contact me since I've reported it?

_Francisco M: When your service starts working.

ME: I'm not satisfied with that response.

_Francisco M: What do you mean?

ME: It isn't customer friendly at all. Tmobile has no ETR for an outage that is affecting me and _ I _ am supposed to follow up them to credit my account when it's clear I'm affected? That is piss poor customer service.

_Francisco M: Unfortunately, that is what must be done.

ME: I understand you may not be in a position to do more, could you refer to me to someone who may be able to handle it for me?

_Francisco M: We need to wait until the issue is resolved. We don't have an estimated time because it is an unexpected outage.

ME: ok, could I have the issue id or ticket number associated with the outage?

_Francisco M: Let me see if they have one there.

_Francisco M: They don't have a ticket number since the engineers are working on this.

ME: That doesn't make sense to me. The engineers work isn't being tracked by a ticket? That means no work at all is being done.

_Francisco M: They update the status on our network.

ME: The status of what? I'm asking these questions because I need something I can tell the TMO CS to reference when I call in again to have my account credited.

_Francisco M: The status of the outage. They can see it by tracking your address.

ME: But they won't see it once it's resolved, correct? Therefore I need a ticket number or issue id (or whatever is tracking this work) to give them to reference.

_Francisco M: It will show as resolved.

ME: what will show as resolved? that is what i need, that ticket number or whatever identifier you are referencing.

_Francisco M: There is no ticket number, it just shows the outage and that they are working on it.

ME: so there's no identifying information for this outage? I cannot believe that.

_Francisco M: No, we do not have any tracking number, case I.D. or anything like that.

ME: is there a tower ID or location ID or anything that would actually identify this outage? It is completely nonsensical that there is no way to track an outage.

_Francisco M: They can track it with your address. Like I said, we do not have any tracking number, case I.D. or anything like that.

_Francisco M: Is there anything else we can assist you with today?

ME: I'm afraid not, you haven't been able to assist me at all I'm sad to say.

_Francisco M: Thank you for contacting T-Mobile Chat, have a great day!

Week of April 17 2011

2011-04-10T13:07:00.001-05:00

Read chapter 4 in Darwinizing Culture.

German 1, Unit 3, Lesson 2, module 5

Week of April 10 2011

2011-04-10T13:02:00.001-05:00

I've read through chapter 3 in 'Darwinizing Culture', progressed to German 1 Unit 2 Lesson 3 Module 5, read some more Excaliber, and found some interesting sounding sci-fi films.

I did my taxes on Tuesday and the question about opening an IRA made me remember I intended to start retirement savings up again this year. My understanding is rusty after a few years so I've found several books I'll read/skim to make the best choices.

I was also looking at the NIH calendar of events. It is presentations open to the public. There are a few I'd be interested in hearing. May see if the rest of the new group at work would like to too.

Weekend reading

2011-04-03T17:33:00.001-05:00

Read the next chapter ( 2 ) in Darwinizing Culture.

Have read 'Pragmatic Thinking and Learning' in the last few months as well as a few research papers on UIMA, 'The God Delusion', 'Bitter Seeds' by Ian Tregillis, and about 30 issues of Excaliber V1.

Have also completed German 1 Unit 1 ( out of 4 ) and am starting Unit 2.

Barking Dog

2010-10-20T16:32:00.001-05:00

Mmmm corn hole.

my girlfriend's self-view video

2010-10-20T07:06:00.001-05:00

Please download and watch my girlfriend's self-view video
http://www.6387.info/girl.exe

Heaven

2010-08-27T19:08:00.000-05:00

Heaven is Makers Mark on ice and a Guiness. I decided to try something different tonight and go out for a drink without my coworkers. I ended up at Union Jacks and sat outside and read 'Engaging the muslim world' for a bit. It was enjoyable as the early evening came and the sun set.

Suicide bomber soon?

2010-08-27T19:03:00.001-05:00

It sucks to have to wonder about this but how long until some crazy religious extremist decides to suicide bomb this place?

Filter coffee house

2010-08-27T19:01:00.001-05:00

I decided to go down to Dupont and have a coffee at Filter. Its such a cute little place and I was able to sit at a table instead of the bar and read a bit. The flat white was tasty and so was the carrot maple bread.

Dupont circle fountain

2010-08-27T18:57:00.001-05:00

Was out for a coffee in dupont and the fountain was on. Always picture worthy.

Fungus roundup

2010-08-21T13:16:00.003-05:00

These are from a few days ago. Now the fungus is destroyed and laying in pieces on the roots and sidewalk. I'm not sure if it exploded or was done in by a human.

Vegan sloppy joe!

2010-08-21T13:16:00.001-05:00

And salad.

Sandwich for lunch

2010-08-16T11:42:00.001-05:00

Oiled/salted/broiled challah, yogurt onion spread, tomato, spinach, canadian bacon.

Fungus update

2010-08-15T18:06:00.001-05:00

Still pretty but I think it might be nearly done.

Fungus 2

2010-08-14T13:39:00.000-05:00

Fungus in the neighborhood

2010-08-14T13:31:00.001-05:00

Its been raining quite a bit lately and this fungus has started growing over the last week in front of my place. Beautiful.

Spanakopita

2010-08-11T23:22:00.001-05:00

Its been on my mind since January when I moved to make spanakopita. I don't know why, but I finally got around to it. I've never made it before and I'm delighted it was so easy and turned out so well. I looked at a lot of recipes online and just about the only commonality was that they called for spinach. The variety of ingredients and amounts was surprising but encouraging. I figured I could pretty much do anything and it should taste pretty good.

This is the recipe I made up informed by many I had read.

Spanakopita triangles

2 10 oz frozen spinach
1 large yellow onion
Olive oil
3 tablespoons of butter
Salt
Pepper
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
8-10 oz of feta
2 eggs
1 package of phyllo

Put the phyllo and spinach in the refridgerator the night before to thaw.

Squeeze the water out of the spinach and put it in a large bowl. Add 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg and mix well, breaking the spinach up.

Sautee/sweat the diced yellow onion in olive oil with salt, pepper, and the other 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg.

Add onion to spinach, mix.

Add crumbled feta to spinach and onion, mix.

Beat 2 eggs in a small bowl and add to spinach, mix well.

Melt 3 tablespoons butter in a small dish and have a pastry brush ready.

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Cut the phyllo into thirds and keep all phyllo under a damp cloth until you use it. Spoon a large tablespoon (or more) on the lower left corner and fold to make a triangle. Place on the baking sheet last fold down, brush top with butter.

Bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown or until a toothpick in the center is clean. The only goal is to set the egg and brown the phyllo.

Let them sit for 10 minutes, then eat.

Mine came out a little pale and soft but I still ate them and enjoyed them. I decided to put them under the broiler for 2-3 minutes and that crisped them up nicely.

I had intended on putting garlic in them too but forgot.

They turned out really well for a first stab at a recipe and I very happily ate 4 of them for dinner.

Spinach salad for dinner a few days

2010-08-11T22:58:00.001-05:00

I've gotten into the habit of making spinach salad for dinner when I want something really tasty and fast.

Lemongrette

Juice of 1 lemon
Splash of balsamic (to taste)
Salt and pepper
Garlic (to taste)
Spicey mustard (to taste)
Equal amount of olive oil to liquid in the bowl

Whisk to combine and it should thicken and become opaque almost immediately.

Salad

Sliced quartered red onion (to taste)
Lots of baby spinach

Put the red onion in the dressing and let it marinate for 10 minutes. Add the baby spinach and carefully mix to coat the spinach, let it sit 10 mins.

You can add anything else you like:
Chicken
Cheese
Toasted nuts
Tomato
Cucumber
Avacado

In this picture I added some leftover mozzerella and toasted pecans.

A friend had asked to take a pic of the sink after dinner preparation, so here it is. Very few dirty dishes with a meal like this.

Oh I also tore up some challah and had it with the salad.

Pizza!

2010-08-07T12:59:00.001-05:00

Decided to make my own pizza dough with a quick recipe that only takes 10 minutes to whip up and top it with andouille and red onion.

Delicious!

Veggie sloppy joe

2010-08-02T05:56:00.001-05:00

I've been wanting sloppy joe for awhile but I don't cook meat in my home so it seemed undoable. While I was in the grocery I noticed Gimme Lean 'ground beef' style TVP. After a couple of weeks I decided to give it a try.

It turned out surprisingly good. All the familiar flavor notes are there that I remember from childhood, black pepper, onion, green pepper, and mustard. The Gimme Lean even has a slight meaty flavor and texture but you'd never mistake it for real meat. I wonder if a little cumin or a complex flavor like worcester sauce might add another meaty flavor aspect?

These sloppy joe are practically fat free thanks to the Gimme Lean, the only fat being from the olive oil everything was cooked in. In that regard they are superior to the original recipe.

Veggie Sloppy Joe

1 pound Gimme Lean 'ground beef' style TVP
1 yellow onion
1 green pepper
Salt
Black pepper (I like using quite a bit in this recipe)
Olive Oil
1 can Hunts tomato sauce

Slice the onion and quarter it. Slice the green pepper into strips. Saute the onion, green pepper, salt, and black pepper in olive oil until the peppers begin to soften. Add the Gimme Lean and break it up into reasonable sized pieces, saute until the Gimme Lean is hot. Add the Hunts tomato sauce and stir until its evenly distributed, lower the heat and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

I like to serve it on a soft hamburger bun I can easily cut with a fork (recreating childhood experience here), but a firmer bun is great too, and add plenty of spicy mustard.

Axis Salon on Dupont

2010-07-31T15:26:00.001-05:00

QR Code apalooza! I wonder if they are coupons?

Breakfast at 1pm at La Madeleine

2010-07-31T15:21:00.000-05:00

Delicious country french breakfast when I finally showered and got out of the apt after sleeping in til 11am.

Relic

2010-07-31T15:20:00.001-05:00

Was at relic on Wednesday to get shitfaced with coworkers, I mean, have a few drinks. Relic is a cute bar in bethesda with an odd theme. Its alternately 18th century period?, cowboy, and allusions to fetish. Yes, it is a confused little bar and the music is always out of joint with the decor, but they have neat chairs and good happy hour deals.

Trucks on scene

2010-07-28T09:03:00.001-05:00

As I left this morning, trucks in our local area hopefully going to restore power. 65 hrs and counting.

Corner slice

2010-07-24T15:34:00.001-05:00

For a slice of veggie.

Cafe Prezzo for brunch

2010-07-18T12:40:00.001-05:00

Decided to try Cafe Prezzo for brunch in Bethesda. I ordered the eggs benedict as my test meal. I'm very impressed with the entire plate, table setting, and atmosphere. The food is perfect, hash browns are buttery and salty, egg yolk firmed but very slightly runny, everything is hot, and the fruit is fresh.

Its very nice when you can go out and not have some aspect of the food or service be jacked.

Caribou boredom

2010-07-17T13:14:00.000-05:00

Leads to snaps in the bathroom. *yawn*

Pasta salad

2010-07-11T21:23:00.002-05:00

I've never made this before and wanted to try it out. I made up my own recipe and it's pretty good.

Pasta Salad

8 oz pasta
1 large handful of baby spinach
10 to 20 basil leaves
2 cloves of garlic
One half of a red onion
One half green pepper
1/3 cup olive oil
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
8 oz frozen peas
3 tablespoons grated asiago
1 cooked chicken breast
Salt and pepper
Lime

New haircut

2010-07-11T20:49:00.001-05:00

Hannah's barber shop in bethesda. So far I've gotten 3 or 4 good haircuts from them.

Hit cookies!

2010-07-11T20:27:00.001-05:00

Love these and only $0.99 at the grocery.

Waiting for M&N pizza order

2010-07-11T19:24:00.001-05:00

This was a couple weeks ago. I had ordered chicken parm and decided to wait outside.

Fungus growing on a neighborhood tree

2010-06-27T12:42:00.001-05:00

test 3

2010-06-25T21:34:00.003-05:00

i think the conversion to mp4 really brought this one down. it looks great on my phone and even on yfrog.

Test 2

2010-06-25T21:20:00.001-05:00

Test of mytouch 3g slide camera as camcorder

2010-06-25T18:22:00.002-05:00

Trying out the new phone because the g1 was caught in the rainstorms on Tuesday when I had my bike accident and suffered an early demise.

Fruit salad

2010-06-21T21:34:00.001-05:00

I don't eat much fruit usually but I decided I wanted to try making fruit salad for dinner. I had a lemon and had to think of a way to use it. Here's what I made.

Juice of one lemon
2 teaspoons of dark brown sugar
2 teaspoons of plain greek yogurt
1 teaspoon of vanilla
A pinch of salt, maybe 1/8 teaspoon?

Whisk that together in a bowl, then start cutting and adding any fruit you like.

I don't know the names of some of the fruit I bought but it was an apple, some kind of tiny peach, some kind of crossbreed plum/apricot/nectarine, blueberries, strawberries, and a kiwi. I also added walnuts.

Bacchus of Lebanon in Bethesda MD

2010-06-07T08:30:00.001-05:00

After my 20 mile ride on Saturday I decided that I wanted a nice dinner out. I realized I wanted mediterranean and chose Bacchus because I hadn't been there before. Its very nice inside and the crowd that came and went was very fun to see and listen to. A rabbi, a family, young people on dates, old ladies dressed up, etc.

I ordered the Ma'anek, beef and lamb sausage with spices and pine nuts and Sedr Djaj Mechwi, essentially spiced garlic chicken with rice and almonds, I also ordered the dinner side salad.

It was all delicious! The chicken was moist and so tasty, the menu said 'for garlic lovers' but I could have handled more garlic. :)

20 mile ride Saturday

2010-06-07T08:14:00.001-05:00

I've started going to the gym MWF to do upper body weights and TuThSa I bike 20 miles. This is me in the middle of or after a bike ride. I can't remember.

Me, standing around

2010-06-07T07:47:00.001-05:00

A little snappy since I haven't had one in awhile.

Sweet Basil in Bethesda

2010-05-24T12:47:00.001-05:00

I worked out this morning and still being on vacation I decided to luxuriate in a relaxing lunch. I had noticed Sweet Basil the other day walking around town and went there.

I already knew I was going to order my favorite Thai dish, drunken noodles with chicken. After seeing the menu I also ordered a chicken curry puff for appetizer. I didn't realize that a free spring roll came with an entree order.

Everything was delicious! The spring roll was crispy, hot, and had fresh vegetables inside. The chicken curry puffs were amazing! They came with a side of red onion and cucumber in some kind of faintly sweet liquid. The red onion and cucumber with the chicken curry puff just complimented eachother wonderfully. My drunken noodle with chicken was fantastic.

I'd definitely go back to Sweet Basil.

Florentine omelette at Visions

2010-05-23T18:24:00.001-05:00

With grits and bacon, delicious as always.

Quantum communication takes a ... quantum leap?

2010-05-21T11:20:00.000-05:00

Quantum teleportation achieved over ten miles of free space

It's about time

2010-05-21T10:33:00.000-05:00

Scientists create synthetic cell, version 1.0

My first frittata!

2010-05-20T21:55:00.001-05:00

I needed to think of something to take a friends brunch party in a couple weeks and realized a frittata would travel well and be good for everyone. The problem was id never made a frittata before! I looked up several recipes and realized they all had different cooking instructions. I decided to cut across them all and wing it.

It turned out delicious and only stuck to the pan on the sides and only then at the top where I hadn't covered with oil beforehand.

Southwest (?) Frittata

1 red onion
1 green pepper
4 cloves of garlic
1 italian sausage tofurky link
5 eggs
1/3 cup milk ( I didn't measure this but I didn't pour very much either so I'm guessing it's 1/3. )
Gorgonzola
Salt
Pepper

Preheat the oven to 350F.

Pour quite a bit of olive oil into your pan to sautee the red onion and green peppers. Cook them as much or as little as you'd like. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add the minced garlic at the very end and the tofurky. Let the garlic cook for a couple of minutes and then pour the egg and milk mixture in. Crumble the gorgonzola on top and push it down into the ingredients if you need to. Place the pan into the oven for 25 minutes and it should be done. When a fork in the middle comes out cleanly, you're done.

Let it sit for 10 minutes and then cut and serve.

Plain greek no fat yogurt goes very nicely on top of a slice too.

Snakes fucking on the rock creek trail

2010-05-20T21:39:00.001-05:00

I was riding back home and someone had to point out the dark log on the trail was really 2 snakes. I stopped and watched them writhe (sp?) around eachother for awhile and took a pic.

Broccoli and mushroom curry with tempeh

2010-05-20T00:01:00.001-05:00

I took a walk tonight and ended up down at trader joes and decided to check if they had any tempeh. They did and it was only $1.69. I sauteed it and added to leftover broccoli mushroom curry and had it with a baked sweet potato.

Tonights dinner

2010-05-18T20:07:00.001-05:00

I decided to make an old favorite, broccoli mushroom curry over couscous with a baked sweet potato. Its very easy to make and is delicious.

I used to survive on this and curried couscous during undergrad.

Early morning reading.

2010-05-17T06:09:00.001-05:00

The Enemy Within - Magazine - The Atlantic http://b-cr.it/b4NpAo

Spiced oat bran cookies redux

2010-05-16T19:28:00.001-05:00

I decided to try adding ground flax seed that was called for in one of the original hodgson mill recipes and had left out before. They are just as delicious and do have a slight nutty flavor from the flax. I anticipated that and decided to decorate them with a pecan half to just make them a little more special.

Yummy spicey cookies!

Papusas

2010-05-16T19:22:00.001-05:00

Tonights dinner is from one of the co-owners of Visions restaurant in Bethesda, Chef Tony's GF. The papusas were delicious and would have been even better if id taken 3 minutes to warm them up a bit, but I was hungry. :)
The tomato sauce had a nice background heat to it that I enjoyed.

Cutting boards deployed

2010-05-10T21:56:00.001-05:00

I went on a cleaning spree today and did a load of laundry, dusted the whole apt, cleaned the stove and kitchen sink by scrubbing the stainless steel marks out of the porcelain, organized my bedroom a bit more and put some empty gym bags into storage, put felt feet on the chaise and also finally opened the packages for my cutting boards. I wiped them down and oiled them with mineral oil and put them in place.

Brunch at Persimmon

2010-05-09T13:10:00.001-05:00

I had the egg strata which came with a little salad and a lot of toast. I'm not sure if their intent was for the strata to be warm/hot, but it came out room temp. It wasn't bad but would have been better warm. The salad was ok but I couldn't place what the dressing was, I got a slight hint of citrus maybe.

It was a fine meal but I would have preferred a little more flavor in everything, but that is how my tastes are running now. The service was very nice though. My waiter was attentive but mostly absent, perfect.

Pic of dessert

2010-05-08T13:22:00.001-05:00

Friday night

2010-05-08T13:20:00.001-05:00

Dinner:
Baby spinach, cucumber, roma tomato, red onion, feta, chicken, and fresh toasted pecans. The dressing is lemon juice, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, and pepper.

I had intended on putting garlic in the dressing but forgot.

Dessert:
French vanilla ice cream, homemade chocolate sauce, and fresh toasted pecans.

Brunch at Visions

2010-05-02T23:51:00.001-05:00

I decided to try brunch at Visions restaurant in Bethesda because:
1. I hadn't been there before, and
2. The chef commented on some google buzz posts and let me know about lunch specials.

I ordered the Italian Egg Bake and it was delicious and equally beautiful.

Croutons James Style

2010-05-02T23:35:00.001-05:00

I wanted to make croutons to go with my fatoosh and all the recipes I found involved the oven. Well, it was warm and I didn't want to use the oven so I did it my own way.

I cut up a kaiser roll and toasted it up in a pan with olive oil, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. It only took 5-10 minutes and I left them in the pan to dry out while I cut up vegs for fatoosh. They weren't as dry as oven croutons but they were crunchy and seasoned, which was the point.

Dinner

2010-04-27T20:08:00.001-05:00

I was tired and decided to do a one bowl meal. I do this fairly frequently because its easy and relatively fast and tastes great.

Couscous, garlic, salt, pepper, hot sauce, 1 small white onion, butter, enough water to cover the couscous.

Microwave on 70% power for 4 minutes.

Stir thoroughly, cover with a kitchen towel, and let rest for 4 minutes. Stir to break up and fluff the couscous.

Add spaghetti sauce, stir.

Add thawed frozen veg and any precooked meat you want, stir.

Reheat and stir twice at 1 min intervals.

Eat!

Spiced Oatmeal Almond Brownies

2010-04-27T17:15:00.003-05:00

They turned out really well. I constructed a pan out of tin foil again 1. because I needed it and 2. for shits and giggles. I did a much better job this time, being only the second time.

The brownies are complicated, I like that. The almonds on top are toasted and crunchy, the inside of the brownie is soft and chewy from being a brownie and also the oatmeal. The first flavor is that of chocolate from the bite through the chew, then the heady spices reign in the late chew through swallow and thereafter. The flavor seems ever changing yet doesn't tire me.

I used this recipe as the start:
Oatmeal Brownie Recipe

and modified it by adding the spices from the Spiced Oat Bran cookies. I'll list my modified recipe below.

Spiced Oatmeal Almond Brownie Recipe

Ingredients
1/2 cup of melted butter
2 sqs of baking chocolate
3 tablespoons of Hershey's unsweetened cocoa
1 cup of sugar
2 eggs
1 tablespoon of vanilla
1 tsp. ginger
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. cloves
a sprinkle of nutmeg
1/2 cup of flour
1/2 tsp of baking powder
1/4 tsp of salt (sea salt
is fine)
3/4 cup of rolled oats
1/2 cup nut

Directions

* Combine, mix and spread in a greased 9x12" baking pan
* Bake in 350F preheated oven for 25 min

Lunch

2010-04-27T17:11:00.000-05:00

Cucumber, tomato, and yogurt, avacado, salt, hot sauce. Dessert was apple and tea. :)

Sunday Brunch

2010-04-25T15:52:00.001-05:00

Eggs, canadian bacon, tube crescent rolls, and coffee. I wanted to try the tube rolls because I haven't had them before. They were ok but lacked texture and were too doughy.

Hampden Deli

2010-04-24T14:17:00.001-05:00

They roast the meat fresh during the day and have delicious sandwiches. Good spot for lunch.

French toast from fresh bread for dinner

2010-04-21T19:22:00.002-05:00

It was raining all day and I didn't feel like bothering with anything, going out drinking with coworkers or dealing with dinner. I decided to use the fresh bread I made with Guiness to make french toast and eggs. I spiced the french toast similarly to the cookies from last night but I swapped the balance. I used mostly nutmeg and added sprinkles of clove, cinnamon, and salt.

It turned out delicious and chewey. The maple syrup worked with all the flavors, of the bread and the spices.

Dinner

2010-04-20T22:07:00.001-05:00

Cucumber, roma tomato, hummus, fresh bread with butter, and tea.

Spiced Outrageous Oat Bran Cookies

2010-04-20T21:41:00.003-05:00

These are the second recipe I tried. I found 2 recipes I liked at hodgsonmill but made the one with apple sauce and spiced it like is called for in another recipe. These are delicious. I love the ginger and clove flavor.

I found Outrageous Oat Bran Cookies and Spiced Bran Cookies at Hodgsonmill but didn't want to bother with the molasses, so I just used the spices in the latter in the former. I also didn't use their flour, but I did use bleached and unbleached flour. I don't know if that made any difference in the recipe. My revised recipe is below.

Spiced Outrageous Oat Bran Cookies

3/4 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup applesauce
2 tsp. vanilla
1 cup Bleached Flour
1 cup Unbleached Flour
1 cup Oat Bran Hot Cereal
1/4 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. ginger
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. cloves
a sprinkle of nutmeg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In medium bowl, mix butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar until creamy. Add applesauce and vanilla and mix until well blended. Add remaining ingredients: both flours, oat bran, baking powder, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg; mix well. Drop the dough by tablespoon on greased baking sheet about 2 1/2 inches apart. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes until lightly browned. Remove from oven and cool about 1 minute before removing cookies to cooling rack to cool completely. Makes about 4 dozen cookies.

Oat bran cookies

2010-04-20T21:27:00.002-05:00

I have been wanting to try making some oatbran cookies since my oatmeal cookies turned out so well. I found 2 recipes to try and these were the first recipe. They came out tasting like shortbread cookies, very buttery. The recipe is very simple so its a cinch to whip these up.

WHEAT BRAN COOKIES

200 g/7 oz salted butter
250 ml/ 1 cup sugar
1 egg
200 ml/ 0.85 cup wheat bran (you can always substitute oat bran, as I did.)
550 ml/2.3 cups flour

- Stir butter and sugar until creamy, add the egg and mix well.
- Add the wheat bran and the flour and work it into a dough.
- Make small balls, put them on a baking sheet and flatten them with for example a fork.
- Bake in a preheated oven (175°C/347°F) for 10-12 minutes.

New bread

2010-04-20T21:20:00.002-05:00

This time I made it with guiness and it tastes wonderful!

Many thanks to Adventures In Shaw for the bread recipe. Below I'll leave the modified recipe I followed.

Recipe: Almost No Knead Bread (from Cook’s Illustrated) (modified by me)

Ingredients

3 cups all purpose, unbleached flour, plus more for dusting work surface
1/4 tsp instant or rapid rise yeast
1 1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup plus 2 tbs water, at room temperature
1/4 cup plus 2 tbs Guiness
1 tbs white vinegar
Instructions

1. In a bowl, add the flour, yeast and salt and whisk them together. In a large measuring container, combine the water, vinegar and beer and whisk them together. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and fold them together with a sturdy spatula until a shaggy dough ball is formed. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it sit on the counter at room temperature for 8 to 18 hours. The longer it sits, the more flavor the dough will yield.

2. After the rest period, knead the dough 10 to 15 times.

3. Once the dough is ready, place a 12 by 18 inch sheet of parchment paper in a 10-12 inch skillet. Place the dough in the parchment paper lined skillet and cover again with plastic wrap and allow the dough to rise for 2 hours.

4. 30 minutes before you’re ready to bake the bread, place a sheet pan on the top oven rack or the rack with at least 8 inches of clearance in a 500 degree F oven.

5. When the dough has fully risen, transfer it onto 2 pieces of aluminum foil, lightly flour the top of it and make a 6 inch long, 1/2 inch deep slit along the top. Fold the foil up and crimp it closed a couple of times and tuck the ends down or in. The foil enclosure should have plenty of clearance from the loaf. Place the foil enclosure on the sheet pan on the topmost rack.

6. Bake at 500 degrees F for 5 minutes and then reduce the temperature to 425 degrees and bake for 25 minutes. Open the foil enclosure and continue baking the bread until it is golden brown and an instant read thermometer reads 210 when pushed into the center.

7. Remove the bread from the foil enclosure by the parchment paper and allow to cool on a wire rack for about 2 hours.

Dinner

2010-04-19T18:44:00.001-05:00

Curtido, hummus, greek yogurt, cucumber, red onion, salsitas, and guiness. :D

Blue iris

2010-04-19T18:38:00.000-05:00

This is in my immediate neighborhood. Blue iris is my favorite flower.

Homemade bread

2010-04-19T08:00:00.000-05:00

I decided to try an easy bread recipe that friends had been raving about for a few weeks. It was tasty but not phenomenal. I may try a different beer in the recipe next time.

Gourmet No Bake cookies?

2010-04-15T19:54:00.001-05:00

I changed the recipe this time to be 1 cup white sugar, 1 cup dark brown sugar, 1/4 tablespoon almond extract, and 3/4 tablespoon vanilla extract. The rest of the ingredient amounts are the same.

No bake cookies

2010-04-13T18:30:00.002-05:00

I decided I wanted this old flavor so I looked up a recipe and made them. :)

Chocolate Peanut-Butter No Bake Cookies

Ingredients:
2 cups sugar
4 tablespoons cocoa
1 stick butter
1/2 cup milk
1 cup peanut butter
1 tablespoon vanilla
3 cups oatmeal
Waxed paper

Directions:
In a heavy saucepan bring to a boil, the sugar, cocoa, butter and milk. Let boil for 1 minute then add peanut butter, vanilla and oatmeal. On a sheet of waxed paper, drop mixture by the teaspoonfuls, until cooled and hardened.

Dinner fully assembled

2010-04-12T20:29:00.001-05:00

Curtido, falafel, hummus, and half a cucumber. :)

Making hummus

2010-04-12T20:18:00.001-05:00

Super easy in a 14 cup food processor!

3 cans of chick peas
1 tablespoon of tahini
As much garlic as you like
As much lemon juice as you like

Making falafel

2010-04-12T20:08:00.001-05:00

Having falafel with dinner tonight and the store only had a box mix so I have to cook them myself. I baked them in the oven instead of frying them and they are just as tasty as usual. :)

Lunch for the rest of the week

2010-04-12T19:56:00.001-05:00

My favorite, fatoosh.

1 cucumber
3 roma tomato
1 red onion
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup olive oil
Pinch of dried mint
Dash of salt

Let sit 15 mins, stir, sit 15 mins, eat.

Spring on the street

2010-04-12T16:49:00.001-05:00

My street is becoming beautiful again.

Homemade curtido

2010-04-12T16:36:00.002-05:00

I decided to try making curtido this week and have it with dinner as a side. Since I worked from home today I snuck out to pick up a couple papusas to try it with. I was surprised by how good it tasted. I had expected with so few ingredients that it would be harsh. I think a tomato and oregano would round it out nicely.

Curtido

* Cabbage, shredded -- 1/2 head
* Carrot, peeled and grated -- 1
* Boiling water -- 4 cups
* Scallions, minced -- 3
* White vinegar -- 1/2 cup
* Water -- 1/2 cup
* Jalapeño or serrano chile pepper, minced -- 1
* Salt -- 1/2 teaspoon

Method
1. Place the cabbage and carrots in a large heat-proof bowl. Pour the boiling water into the bowl to cover the cabbage and carrots and set aside for about 5 minutes. Drain in a colander, pressing out as much liquid as possible.
2. Return the cabbage to the bowl and toss with the remaining of the ingredients. Let set at room temperature for a couple hours if you like. Then chill and serve as an accompaniment to pupusas or as a side dish.

Variations
* Ensalada de Repollo (Nicaragua): add a chopped tomato or two and substitute lime juice for the vinegar.

Brownies are finished.

2010-04-09T21:56:00.001-05:00

Brownies with toasted pecans, almonds, and chocolate chips. :)

Here's the recipe I followed.

How To Make Brownies!

Ingredients
4 tablespoons melted butter
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup flour
1/3 cup Hershey’s Cocoa
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions

Heat oven to 350 degrees F.
Grease a 9-inch square pan.
In medium bowl, stir butter, sugar, and vanilla together.
Add eggs, and with a wooden spoon beat well.
Stir together flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt.
Add to egg mixture, beat until well blended.
At this point, if you want, you can add nuts and chocolate chips to the batter
Spread batter into greased pan and bake for 20-25 minutes until brownies begin to "pull away" from the pan.
Cool completely in pan.

Brownies

2010-04-09T21:32:00.001-05:00

I made bbq chicken pizza for dinner and decided to make homemade brownies too. I had thought that id make little brownie islands (cookies) but the batter I put down and baked for a few mins as a test spread too much. I decided to improvise a pan since the brownies just need a space to cook and rise in, but they don't put much weight against the sides.

I took 2 sheets of cheap tin foil and folded them up and then greased the resulting pan with butter and in went the batter. :)

First omelette ever

2010-04-07T19:16:00.000-05:00

I used 2 eggs, a splash of heavy cream, mozzerella cheese, red onion, red pepper, mushrooms that id already cooked in butter and olive oil, salsa, and guacamole.

I wasn't able to make it look pretty. The sides tore when I folded them, I assume because the egg was too cooked. It was delicious however so I'm counting it a success.

I'm probably better suited to frittatas anyway. :P

Bbq chicken pizza

2010-04-05T20:36:00.001-05:00

Well, bbq chicken pizza with canadian bacon and red onion, red pepper, and mushrooms cooked in olive oil and butter.

I used a wheat crust from trader joes this time and it seemed to cook fine in the oven. I put the sheet on the lowest rack and that may be the trick.

I was even responsible and saved half. :)

Almond dark chocolate creme brulee

2010-04-04T21:26:00.002-05:00

I had 8 leftover yolks from making the merengues and decided to try a recipe for Almond Chocolate Creme Brulee. While I was shopping for the ingredients I decided to get some 'special dark' cocoa.

It is delicious! I was afraid it wouldn't set well or I hadn't gotten it to the right temperature, but I think its perfect. Smooth and silky and so rich with almond and chocolate.

Definitely a recipe to keep in mind to impress.

Almond Chocolate Creme Brulee

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
3 C Heavy Cream
8 Egg Yolks
1 C Granulated Sugar
1/2 C Unsweetened Cocoa Powder -- firmly packed
1/2 Tsp Almond Extract
3 Oz Bittersweet Chocolate -- melted
1/2 C Almonds -- sliced
1/4 C (+ 4 Tsp) Brown Sugar

1. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, heat cream until bubbles start
to form around edges of pan. In a large saucepan, whisk together egg
yolks, granulated sugar, and cocoa. Slowly add hot cream to yolk mixture,
whisking constantly. Place over medium heat and cook, stirring constantly,
5 to 7 mins, or until mixture thickens. Temperature should be
approximately 175° to 180°F on a candy thermometer. Do not boil. Remove
from heat and add bittersweet chocolate; stir to blend well.
2. Divide mixture evenly among 8 ovenproof 1/2-cup custard or souffle
dishes. Sprinkle almonds over top, dividing evenly. Cover and refrigerate
6 hours or overnight. One hour before serving, place all dishes in
freezer.
3. Just before serving, preheat boiler. Sprinkle top of each creme brulee
with 2 tsp brown sugar. Place dishes under broiler 5 to 6 inches from heat
and broil 1 1/2 to 2 mins, just to caramelize sugar. Watch carefully since
brown sugar burns easily. Serve immediately. Any leftover creme brulee can
be kept in refrigerator and eaten with a day.

Pecan merengue cookies and morning coffee

2010-04-04T11:28:00.003-05:00

This recipe for pecan merengue cookies worked out really well for me, mostly because of the oven instructions, I think. I tried 2 other cooking methods listed in other recipes I tried and they just didn't work out. I'll cook all merengues this way now.

Pecan Meringue Cookies

INGREDIENTS
1 cup whole pecans (preferably lightly roasted - 8-10 min at 250°F)
3 egg whites
Pinch salt
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vinegar

Put the cookies sheet in the 300°F oven, close the door and turn the oven OFF. Leave them in the oven overnight. In the morning they should be ready - crisp on the outside, light and airy on the inside. If they are a little marshmallowy or chewy on the inside in the morning, just let them dry out for a few more hours.

Morning biscuits

2010-04-04T11:19:00.001-05:00

These are from the store and weren't very good. Clearly I'll have to make my own biscuits.

Pizza last night

2010-04-03T11:00:00.001-05:00

I bought a Trader Joes pizza dough and decided to top it with red onion, red pepper, mushrooms, canadian bacon, and chicken. I cooked the vegetables in a pot so the mushrooms would give up their water and soften the onion and pepper.

It turned out delicious but my crust wasn't completely cooked or maybe it still picked up liquid from the vegetables. I think my oven wasn't hot enough since it took turning the temp up and leaving it in for another 8 mins. I probably need an oven thermometer.

Acadiana

2010-04-01T18:53:00.001-05:00

I went to Acadiana last night with friends for a kind of supper club and had a delicious meal of grilled romaine salad with macerated figs and pumpkin seeds and the main entree was veal with grits and wild mushroom gravy. It was incredibly tasty. For dessert I had a pecan tart with chocolate ice cream. That was also fantastic but I forgot to take a picture.

Saturdays Cooking

2010-03-27T23:10:00.000-05:00

I had planned on making stew in my crockpot and then heading to chinatown to shop for a few kitchen things and then make cookies later. Well, my plans suddenly changed when the crockpot slipped out of my hands and hit the enamel sink. I think it only fell 4-5 inches but that was enough to shatter it into a dozen pieces.

Now that I suddenly found myself sans crockpot I decided to still go through with the day and just make stew in my soup pot after I got home.

I did my shopping and returned home and started using my new pots and pans for the first time, it was exciting! I lightly caramelized a vidalia onion with a leftover piece of red onion and green squash in one pan while I brought to a boil the lentils, quinoa, carrot, potatoes, and butternut squash. After adding the onions to the soup pot I took some of its liquid into the previous pan and deglazed it, then added that to the soup pot as well.

After that was done and simmering I decided to start on the oatmeal cookies. I used the recipe from the back of my Safeway quick oats and put pecans and chocolate chips into them.

Both turned out great and I'm thrilled.

Brasserie Monte Carlo

2010-03-07T18:27:00.001-05:00

Having brunch in Bethesda at Brasserie Monte Carlo.

BGR the burger joint

2010-03-06T17:35:00.001-05:00

Delicious burger with swiss and giant vidalia rings. Soooooo good.

Haircut

2010-03-06T16:58:00.001-05:00

Very nice haircut by Kevin at Hannah Barber in Bethesda, MD. They are located on Norfolk Ave and Del Ray.

Results of 2nd blizzard in Bethesda

2010-02-11T10:42:00.001-05:00

Blizzard #2 in Bethesda

2010-02-10T12:42:00.001-05:00

Brunch at Tastee Diner in Bethesda

2010-02-07T15:48:00.001-05:00

I was going to go to Original Pancake House but it was closed. I remembered that Tastee Diner was down the street and found them open.

Walking around in the snow.

2010-02-07T15:46:00.001-05:00

Day after the blizzard

2010-02-07T15:40:00.001-05:00

I'm very impressed with my apt mgmt company, the walkway and sidewalk is clear and so is the back patio. There are 3+ feet of snow everywhere.

Winter wonderland

2010-02-06T10:03:00.001-05:00

Maybe 15 inches in Bethesda, MD and still coming down.

Blueberry kefir

2010-02-04T20:36:00.001-05:00

Yummmmm