Posted by Tim
Wed, 26 Apr 2006 05:10:00 GMT
We danced tonight. Closely. Last night we learned all about body contact in dance, and we were practicing our dance positions at tonight's open practice session. What a difference such a small distance makes. After going from 8 inches of space to 2 or less between us, we're stepping on toes again. It is better now compared to when we started -- I've learned to step lightly in the last year.
After practice was over we got to talking with Darren, our instructor, about artistry. Kate's mom is a visual artist, and her dad writes, and she mentioned that she thought the creative gene must skip a generation. Darren put for the the idea that everyone has creativity locked away inside of them somewhere, if only they find out how to best express it. His personal example was his talent on the dance floor, and he also mentioned cooking. "When someone beautifully presents a dessert that you just can't get enough of, that's artistry." That example really resonated with me because I love the process from cooking to consumption, and it's even better sharing the experience with friends and family.
Artistry and creativity are not meant to sit on a pedestal for only the creative elite to participate in. Certainly, there are people who exhibit artistry and creativity in all manners of expression that are worthy of examination upon a pedestal, but we all have a right and a duty to participate in the creative process. Find your Muse and create a little bit, or a whole lot, of beauty and joy in the world. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some beautiful code to write... :-)
Posted in Music, Code, Food, Life
Posted by Tim
Fri, 14 Apr 2006 08:11:00 GMT
You can travel 50,000 miles in America without once tasting a piece of good bread. —Henry Miller
My family would disagree with that statement. We all seem to love Grandma’s bread, but it has been a hard recipe to pass on since most people start to shake their head when she starts to list the ingredients. We worry about our ability to stack up with such precise measurements as "this much salt" and "a little bit more sugar."
Two or three years ago I stopped by on the eve of Thanksgiving to learn the art of the Ising bread recipe. I’ll post the recipe as I wrote it now, and if there’s interest I’ll post some photos of the process for those of you who are visual learners.
You’ll want to gather the following ingredients:
- Palm full of salt
- Pinch of sugar
- One yeast packet, or two if you’re in a hurry
- 3 3/4 cups of tepid water
- 1 1/2 handfuls of shortening
- 2 eggs
- Enough flour
I’m going to be using the word mix a lot. In Grandma’s bread method all mixing is done with your bare hand. That’s right, play with your food. Mix the salt, sugar, and water together, and add the yeast. Mix it again. Enjoy the smell of the yeast and sugar. Add the two eggs and shortening, then get to mixing. Squeeze the shortening through your fingers until it’s all broken up into tiny chunks. At this point just start adding flour a cup at a time and keep mixing. Keep mixing and adding flour until the lump of dough is slightly tacky, and at this point cover your bowl and put it some place comfortably warm.
After the dough has doubled in size, knead the air out of it for a few minutes, and put the dough in whatever baking vessel you desire. Cover it and start waiting. Any time that the dough is rising is a great time to clean up the mess you made while mixing. Grandma doesn’t make much of a mess, but, well, I’m not Grandma. :-)
Once the dough has again doubled in size you’re ready to bake it until done in a 350 degree Fahrenheit oven. The rolls or loaves will probably sound hollow when you tap on them.
The Freund addition to this recipe is simple. Slather a whole lot of butter over the resulting hot bread, and enjoy. Margarine is cheating.
Posted in Food
Posted by Tim
Mon, 20 Mar 2006 08:18:00 GMT
Kate and I ate at Green Tea on Saturday night. Delicious. We both left stuffed and satisfied. The calamari was good but not fantastic. It was very heavily breaded and they left out the gangly bits, so in that regard it would be great for people who don’t get excited about eating squid. We both enjoyed the (teriyaki?) dipping sauce that accompanied the calamari. Kate had a wonderfully presented seafood vegetables hot pot, and I had the pan grilled fresh salmon. Both dishes were served with rice, and I’d order them again, although next time I think I’ll give the red snapper special a try. sauteed snapper in garlic sauce with vegetable tempura sounds excellent.
The place felt hip even though we were in the heart of suburbia at 95th and Nall, and we were only left waiting for our table two minutes. It was an all around great experience up to and including our fortunes. Last time we ate Chinese food Kate’s cookie didn’t have a fortune at all, so she was extra pleased by our fun fortunes.
Posted in Food
Posted by Tim
Mon, 20 Feb 2006 05:01:36 GMT
Kate cooked last night. She warned me; she said "don’t get your hopes up, it’s just normal people food." She was wrong, it was delicious. We had seasoned chicken patties with arugula and onion salsa, except that we couldn’t get ground chicken or arugula. I’d like to think that I’ve rubbed off on her a little bit since she did an equally wonderful job improvising with ground turkey and parsley, but she did it all herself.
We also enjoyed a whole tasty bottle of Night Owl chardonnay that was chosen primarily for its dashing good looks. It complimented the meal very nicely with a smooth taste that let the food remain center stage.
"I have lived temperately, eating little animal food. Vegetables
constitute my principal diet. I double, however the doctor’s glass and a
half of wine, and even treble it with a friend."
—Thomas Jefferson
All in all I like this occasional role reversal. Ever since she told me about setting a stove on fire during one of her required cooking classes I always assumed that I’d be the primary cook in the relationship. I’d never want to give up cooking for her, but I’m definitely excited about sharing the task after she put her skill on display last night.
Posted in Food, Wine | no comments | no trackbacks
Posted by Tim
Mon, 19 Dec 2005 10:23:00 GMT
A holiday tradition is now official. Kate and I went on our second annual Christmas carriage ride through the plaza. I remember telling Kate last year that I hoped the ride was the first of many, and now we’re on our way to making that happen. Tania asked yesterday, “so anything you do two years in a row is a tradition?” Well, yes, having known each other not quite two years means that the tradition bar is set low. :-)
While waiting for our ride we sought shelter from the cold, and we ran into my friend Courtney. I was sadly convinced that we had lost track of one another, so I really enjoyed the chance encounter. Hopefully we’ll keep in touch this time. If she happens across this blog post, I’ll take the time to remind her that I can’t make tiramisu if she doesn’t call.
The ride was great fun, and our driver was a very nice guy. Perhaps it was the cold air, but the horse didn’t smell very horse like, either. One thing that I’m curious about is people’s obsession with carriage ride engagements. Last year Kate called her mom because she was convinced that I’d propose during the ride, and she wasn’t the only one—at least four family members and friends asked me the same question. This year a gaggle of girls walking by wanted to know if was going to propose. They were giddy when I told them that we were already engaged.
One further aspect of the tradition: we decided that we will go to a new restaurant each year. Brio was our choice this year, but the wait was terrible, so we headed downtown to Lidia’s. The fireplace at the bar was a great hang out while we waited for our table, and the food was fantastic. I’m sure that it really was fantastic, and the flavor was not at all aided by our late night dinner time. We can vouch for the frito misto, the bocconcini di pollo, and the gnocchi.
Posted in Food, Life | no comments | no trackbacks
Posted by Tim
Wed, 07 Sep 2005 04:52:00 GMT
It’s a rare occasion when Kate and I have 48 hours together with no commitments to our employers. We always take advantage when we have time off together.
During this past weekend we made the short drive to Weston, Missouri. It’s a very cute town, and I’m guessing that it’ll be pretty popular within the next 10 years. They’re already building suburbs… blah. Once we drove past the suburbs we saw a great main street, and right around the corner from main street we stopped into the Pirtle Winery.
At the winery I tasted mead for the first time. I’m sold. That stuff is great, and we’re thinking about serving sparkling mead at our wedding. It’s the original wedding beverage after all. The story goes that people would drink honey mead for the entire month following their wedding, thus the term honeymoon. We walked away with a bottle of mead and apple wine. Mmm…. mead.
Posted in Food, Life
Posted by Tim
Tue, 30 Aug 2005 05:35:00 GMT
I made Penne Carbonara out of Happy Days with the Naked Chef by Jamie Oliver way back on the 19th. Kate had to work from noon until 9:00, and I figured she could probably use some hearty food that didn’t take much prep time. We both really enjoyed it, although chopping the onion was a chore as it was quite strong.
I took Jamie’s recipe and added two cloves of garlic, 1/2 of a red onion, and several green onions. It added quite a bit of nice flavor and color to the dish,
Posted in Food
