Poor Thag. Always picks rock.
January 2nd, 2011 Comments Off
Well, another year with no Heart Attack. I declare that a success.
Fitness wise this was a pretty good year. I was able to press the 70Lbs Kettlebell with one arm, Make 100 snatches in 5 min with the 44 Lb Kettlebell, Hit 17.8% bodyfat on the 31st (that won’t stick, but it’s good anyway), and attended a class with Pavel which rocked (I had wanted to do the HKC training, but I can’t pass the pullups test yet)
I also participated in a six-week pushup contest at work, where I doubled my ability to do continuous pushups (25 to 50). That hurt.
I also took my fist ski lesson and succeeded in actually figuring out how to get down the hill. (Go that way really fast, if something gets in your way – turn.)
For this new year, I am starting with the diet and lifestyle plan from The Primal Blueprint. (primalblueprint.com) This dovetails in nicely with my kettlebell workouts, and seems to be very well thought-out and evidence based.
I finished reading 4-hour Body for fun. it’s a blast of a book with lots of cool body-hacks and thought-provoking ideas. That book led me to read Gary Taubes’ Good Calories – Bad Calories and Why We Get Fat. Both are insanely detailed and go through the whole Fat/Cholesterol hypothesis vs Carb/Insulin hypothesis for fat accumulation. It’s pretty hard to argue with the good research that Gary details, especially when it matches the frustrations that I have had with my workouts and stalled fat loss.
In any case it will be a fun experiment for the new year. That and it is hard to argue with anything that tells you to eat more bacon.
Worst Meal In America – Men’s Health Mag
July 28th, 2009 Comments Off
I’m Just glad it wasn’t In-N-Out.
Quote
#1. WORST MEAL IN AMERICA
Carl’s Jr. Double Six Dollar Burger with Medium Natural Cut Fries and 32-oz Coke
2,618 calories
144 g fat (51.5 g saturated)
2,892 mg sodiumOf all the gut-growing, heart-threatening, life-shortening burgers in the drive-thru world, there is none whose damage to your general well-being is as potentially catastrophic as this. A bit of perspective is in order: This meal has the caloric equivalent of 13 Krispy Kreme Original Glazed doughnuts, the saturated fat equivalent of 52 strips of bacon, and the salt equivalent of 7 ½ large orders of McDonald’s French fries!
Sunday Breakfast
December 15th, 2008 Comments Off
Inherently, I reject the "foodie" label. I don’t see why there needs to be some label to signify those in the world who prefer to enjoy their food and require some minimum level of quality in it. In fact, I have my own label for those who do not seek quality in their food, and eat as nothing more than pigs at the trough. I call them "Americans"
I note this because I made Crepes on Sunday. We have a crepe maker similar to this one here. It takes some getting used to, and it also requires that you get the batter right. The batter is the hard part. I worked through several recipes before landing on a simple one containing only flour, milk, eggs, oil and salt. But the trick to making the batter correct is mixing it well, then straining the batter to remove all lumps. mix that again, then leave covered in the fridge for about an hour for everything to set. This needs to be a smooth, slightly runny batter, much thinner than normal pancake batter.
the twisting action to spread the batter takes time as well. I will probably need to get a better spreader as mine came with the unit and isn’t that great, but it works. But after all this work, and a lot of practice, I have gotten quite good at making true french crepes.
For breakfast, we prefer a crepe, with Ham and shredded Gruyere cheese, folded in half and toasted on each side. when ready, you slide it on a plate, and top with a fried egg, sunny side up. For the kids, either a plain ham crepe, or bananas with Nutella.
It is very slow to cook, as I have to start the batter early, and I can only make one at a time, but nothing compares to the taste.
That’s Breakfast.
NOW who’s a Suffering Bastard
August 26th, 2008 Comments Off
Trader Vic’s in Bellevue closed this weekend. Fuckers. At least I have two of the Bellevue tiki glasses. These are specifically for the suffering Bastard, my favorite drink. That will have to do for the near future.
Suffering Bastard – Trader Vic’s
From The Webtender Wiki
The Trader Vic’s Version of the Suffering Bastard contains Rum, Orange Curacao, Orgeat Syrup, Rock Candy Syrup and Fresh Lime Juice.
[edit]
Recipe
Trader Vic’s Pacific Island Cookbook (1968)
In a Double Old-Fashioned Glass with Shaved Ice.
- 2 oz Dark Rum
- 1 oz Light Rum
- 1 dash Orange Curacao
- 1 dash Orgeat Syrup
- 1 dash Rock Candy Syrup
- Juice of 1 Whole Lime – save 1 shell.
Fill glass with Shaved Ice. Top with Metal Shaker and hand shake drink. Decorate with lime shell and fresh mint. Serve with a malt straw.
Retrieved from "http://wiki.webtender.com/wiki/Suffering_Bastard_-_Trader_Vic%27s"
First commercial trip of CTMV – Wine by Sail
August 25th, 2008 Comments Off
I’ve heard about this for a while, this company is shipping wines by sail, first to the UK, then to Canada next. There are a few things about this I like, it’s clean, it should be better temp controlled and less expensive than container, and it’s just really cool.
Hopefully it is a commercial success.
18 juillet 2008 BREST : CTMV-FairWindWine load 22 pallets of South Of France Wines onboard Kathleen&May Schooner. Destination : Dublin. Unloading for Gilbey’s and Obriens importators the 25th July. 25, 26, 27th July, wine tasting onboard the ship in the center of Dublin.
First commercial trip of CTMV FairWindWine onboard Kathleen&May – Wine by Sail
Absinthe’s Mind-Altering Mystery Solved
April 30th, 2008 § 2 Comments
Yeah, after serving this at a party a while back, I can concur, it’s just really damn strong. And it goes down too smooth (if you like the taste). The other side effect that some say is there is a stimulant, but that may just be the sugar that you add in serving. I
From Yahoo:
An analysis of century-old bottles of absinthe – the kind once quaffed by the likes of van Gogh and Picasso to enhance their creativity – may end the controversy over what ingredient caused the green liqueur’s supposed mind-altering effects .
The culprit seems plain and simple: The century-old absinthe contained about 70 percent alcohol, giving it a 140-proof kick. In comparison, most gins, vodkas and whiskeys are just 80- to 100-proof.
I shall wear my cholesterol at half mast
March 26th, 2008 Comments Off
Sad fucking news. As much as I try to eat healthy and everything. I really like a "eggabuffin un jubbo jaba" if I am out early in the morning. (that’s "Egg McMuffin and Jumbo java" in morning-speak.)
Herb Peterson, who invented the ubiquitous Egg McMuffin as a way to introduce breakfast to McDonald’s restaurants, has died, a Southern California McDonald’s official said Wednesday. He was 89.
Peterson died peacefully Tuesday at his Santa Barbara home, said Monte Fraker, vice president of operations for McDonald’s restaurants in that city.
Herb Patterson, Egg McMuffin Inventor, Dies At 89 – Business on The Huffington Post
A Day at the Salon d’Agriculture
March 4th, 2008 Comments Off
With all the stressful crap in the world today, this is a refreshing short read. I would love to attend a Parisian Food Show. I actually got a chance to go to something similar when I lived in Moscow, since Yulia worked for a french importing company. But this sounds much better.
Quote:
As we made our way towards lunch in the food pavilions, we stopped to see the donkeys. Axelle was in search of soap made from lait d’ânesse (donkey’s milk). Apparently, Cleopatra used to bathe in it. We both walked away with a jar of rich body cream that smelled faintly of honey. I was trying to think of a way to describe the purchase to my friends in the US. "Donkey cream" would probably be a mistake.
Entering the food pavilion, we hit the jackpot right off the escalator. A jury awards prizes to the best products each year, and we fell straight into the arms of Ghislaine and Réne Boutines, the médaille d’or (gold medal) for foie gras. So what if it was 11:30 am — never too early for paté.
The foie gras turned out to be both magnificent and essential, because it’s impossible to drink Armagnac (the next stand over) on an empty stomach. We tasted Daniel Dubos’ 1981 (this year’s médaille d’or), the 1979 (pow, right in the kisser) and a eventually settled on a 1989 (a kick at the beginning and a smooth warm tingle at the end). Their website is here.
There was also the delicate matter of sausages. We were looking for smoked. Au Bon Fume du Pays had a specimen of particularly impressive girth called the Jésu de Morteau (the Jesus of sausages), not to be confused — as foreigners and heretics often do — with the Morteau de Jésu (Jesus’ sausage). Hallelujah.
We plopped down for oysters around 2pm — fresh and sweet as skinny dipping in the ocean. With renewed vigor we moved on to the cushiony prunes of Agen and a taste of golden Sauternes, thick as maple syrup on the tongue.
Elizabeth Bard: Paris Notebook: A Day at the Salon d’Agriculture – Living on The Huffington Post
101 Dumbest Moments in Business
December 17th, 2007 Comments Off
It’s like a union of my hatred for American food, love of Disney, and some other crap that I can’t be bothered with…
From Forbes:
13 – Disneyland
It’s a fat world, after all
Disneyland announces plans to close the "It’s a Small World" attraction to deepen its water channel after the ride’s boats start getting stuck under loads of heavy passengers. Employees ask larger passengers to disembark – and compensate them with coupons for free food.
Family-friendly wineries
November 9th, 2007 § 1 Comment
A neat article on wine tasting with kids. We did this with Sasha in Sonoma, and go with her to Ste. Michelle often. It’s usually a lot of fun, and down in Napa they had the Jelly Belly factory as well. That made for a fun stop.
List from the article:
Kid-friendly Wine Country
Napa Valley Vintners has a list of family-friendly wineries on its Web site (napavintners.com) and Sonoma County Vintners (sonomawine.com) plans to add a similar listing.
NAPA
Copia, 500 First St., Napa; (707) 259-1600, copia.org
Children’s garden, demonstration vineyards, child-appropriate food programs
Clos Pegase, 1060 Dunaweal Lane, Calistoga; (707) 942-4981, clospegase.com
Wine caves, garden and picnic areas
Sterling Vineyards, 1111 Dunaweal Lane, Calistoga; (800) 726-6136, sterlingvineyards.com
Aerial tram ride, and crayons and juice for kids
Tres Sabores, 1620 S. Whitehall Lane, St. Helena; (707) 967-8027, tressabores.com
Wine caves, gardens and picnic areas, farm animals, call ahead – by appointment only
SONOMA
Benziger Family Winery, 1883 London Ranch Road, Glen Ellen; (888) 490-2739, benziger.com
Vineyard tram tour, including cave, playground and peacocks, picnic terrace
Cline Cellars, 24737 Hwy. 121, Sonoma; (707) 940-4000, clinecellars.com
Aviary, train car, fish and turtle-stocked ponds, museum
Francis Ford Coppola Presents Rosso & Bianco, 300 Via Archimedes, Geyersville; (707) 857-1400, rossobianco.com
Coloring and juice, movie memorabilia, cafe open for lunch, plans for a pool and bocce courts in the future
Larson Family Winery, 23355 Millerick Road, Sonoma; (707) 938-3031, larsonfamilywinery.com
Coloring table, juice boxes and snacks, sidewalk chalk, hula hoops, bocce set, farm animals and swing
Quivira Vineyards, 4900 West Dry Creek Road, Healdsburg; (707) 431-8354, quivirawine.com
Coloring books, crayons, scavenger hunt, Popsicles, juice drinks
Viansa, 25200 Arnold Drive Sonoma; (800) 995-4740, viansa.com
Outdoor picnic area, Italian food market and deli
