Life. (or something like it)

Beautiful Bay

2007-10-06T13:36:00.000-07:00

Modern Madrid

2007-09-13T06:59:00.000-07:00

What's behind door #1?

2007-09-12T20:00:00.000-07:00

What do you suppose is behind this door?!?! (as seen at Madrid airport)

(translation: Obligatory use of seatbelt [security belt])

Passing Paris

2007-09-12T19:05:00.000-07:00

thanks for the annotation, Martin!

Tired Train

2007-09-08T10:08:00.001-07:00

Dam

2007-09-08T10:03:00.000-07:00

Time to fly

2007-09-04T17:54:00.000-07:00

Ah, Iberia and a Spanish paper. Life is good ;)

Sailor Son

2007-08-16T16:39:00.000-07:00

Bayou Boatin'

2007-08-16T16:38:00.000-07:00

Boy Boatist

2007-08-16T16:35:00.000-07:00

Piano Prodigy?

2007-08-16T09:14:00.000-07:00

Summersaulting Sister

2007-08-15T10:58:00.001-07:00

Flippin' for Food

2007-08-14T18:10:00.000-07:00

Band of Babies

2007-08-13T21:37:00.001-07:00

Evening Entertainment

2007-08-13T21:34:00.000-07:00

Frequent Flyers

2007-08-13T07:50:00.001-07:00

Miso Missing

2007-08-12T18:39:00.001-07:00

Checkers Champ

2007-08-12T14:34:00.001-07:00

'Spresso Syrup

2007-08-12T14:31:00.000-07:00

Swedish pancakes and homemade espresso syrup

Pretty Park

2007-08-07T08:11:00.000-07:00

Pasta

2007-08-05T19:19:00.001-07:00

S'miles, S'mells and S'mores

2007-07-28T20:46:00.000-07:00

Famished for food!

2007-07-28T18:36:00.000-07:00

Lovely Lay on the Lake

2007-07-28T16:13:00.000-07:00

Lake Siskiyou, Mt. Shasta

Fuse Fusion Fantasy

2007-07-19T21:37:00.001-07:00

Another fantastic dining experience. The restaurant is called Fuse, in Dallas, TX. It's described as Tex-Asian fusion, and it's wild.

Go on then, book a table.

PS - that's desert ;-)

Dallas

2007-07-18T18:09:00.001-07:00

Familiar Flyer

2007-07-18T17:21:00.001-07:00

This DFW place is getting all too familiar!

IHF needs help!

2007-07-16T11:38:00.000-07:00

I posted this on my pro blog… please head over and give it a read.

http://josephlinaschke.blogspot.com/2007/07/ihf-needs-help.html

Water Baby

2007-07-14T18:17:00.000-07:00

// emailed // posted // blogged // shared // tapped \\ iPhone

now blogging from the iPhone!

2007-07-14T11:25:00.001-07:00

OK this took a while to set up but finally figured it out.

The iPhone doesn't have MMS capability yet, so in the meantime to post a photo to this blog I have to email it. That's fine, except that the standard blogger email blogging doesn't accept pictures - only text. So then, all you're supposed to have to do is send an email to go@blogger.com and you'll get a claim token back so you can log in to go.blogger.com and switch the posts to your real blog from the temporary one it sets up for you.

For some reason, you can't post to go.blogger.com from your .Mac account. No idea why, but if you dig on here in the forums it says you can't. Well, crud.

Gmail is supposed to work though. Less than ideal because you have to set a single default email address on the iPhone and all new messages created (which is the only way to email a photo; choose the photo and hit "email this", which composes a new email with your default email address), but hey if it works it works. Unfortunately when I sent a test message, I never got the token back. (It turns out that this token was going to my junk mail; finally figured that out later).

So I tried Yahoo! however while the posting setup worked, for some reason the pictures didn't post. Instead I saw a question mark (missing file) on the blog. Hmm. This has been documented too on the web.

Well once I found the token for Gmail in the junk, that setup worked. So the good news is, I'm finally photoblogging from my iPhone using my Gmail address. Eventually hopefully .Mac will work as well.

(now to post and backdate a few!)

Bouncing Babies

2007-07-13T16:59:00.000-07:00

Ladies in Waiting

2007-07-13T15:28:00.000-07:00

Beach Babies

2007-07-13T13:57:00.000-07:00

Toasty Tootsies

2007-07-13T12:50:00.000-07:00

DFW; four in the air, three on the ground, two on the Eames

2007-07-11T22:49:00.000-07:00

DC

2007-07-09T11:46:00.000-07:00

DC

2007-07-09T00:47:00.000-07:00

California Pizza Kitchen ASAP

2007-07-08T19:13:00.001-07:00

Who knew... The CPK, where you can typically rely on getting a good
funky pizza -- like a Thai Chicken or Sweet Sausage -- even in
airports, now has outlets that don't sell... wait for it... pizza.

So what does the ASAP stand for?

Actual Stock, Absent Pizza
Atypical, Selling A Pizza
Alien Spacecraft Abducted Pizza
Abolished Selling Any Pizza
Alone, Salad, Awaiting Pizza
Another Sucker Anticipating Pizza
Abort Sale, Absent Pizza!
Attorney Sued, Abolished Pizza
Another Shithole Absent Pizza

Tobiko Terminated

2007-06-22T19:00:00.001-07:00

Avocado Appreciated

2007-06-22T18:51:00.001-07:00

Pork Shoulder at Two. Urban Licks, Atlanta

2007-06-19T20:24:00.001-07:00

Oh my.

Toto, we're not in Kalifornia anymore

2007-06-19T06:22:00.001-07:00

the terrorists have won

2007-06-06T04:13:00.001-07:00

Going through security in Newark this morning, I had two unmarked clear bottles confiscated that I use to carry a little bit of sunscreen and liquid soap in... because they might have been over 3 oz. Security couldn't be sure of the size because they were unmarked. Originally the guy said "unlabeled" which really made me laugh - like no one would think of putting something nasty in a Prell bottle. But alas, the lack of an official 3 oz marking meant they were unsafe for flight.

I sure am glad the TSA is working hard to protect me from stupid terrorists. You know, the ones so dumb they wouldn't even think of combining the ingredients of two 2 oz bottles to get 4 oz's of something at once.

I feel safe, do you?

New York summer roof party

2007-06-03T12:46:00.001-07:00

Ace

2007-06-03T11:10:00.001-07:00

Again

2007-06-03T10:26:00.001-07:00

New York City

2007-06-03T09:40:00.001-07:00

Gilligan?

2007-06-03T09:34:00.001-07:00

Two Pooped

2007-05-27T20:16:00.000-07:00

Chihuahua and Child

2007-05-27T16:29:00.001-07:00

High Jumper

2007-05-27T16:26:00.001-07:00

One chopstick kid

2007-05-23T19:30:00.001-07:00

back from Kenya!

2007-05-07T12:18:00.001-07:00

Hi all,

I'm back from Kenya… be sure to check out the extensive blogging on http://josephlinaschke.blogspot.com!

So, this is really it. I'm sitting at SJ

2007-04-22T12:39:00.001-07:00

So, this is really it. I'm sitting at SJC waiting for my flight. I stayed up all night so I could get some sleep on the way. My baggage is borderline ridiculous, and I barely even brought any clothes! The tripod and solar panel took up most of my one suitcase that isn't dedicated to cameras; the rest is other odds and ends. Anyway... I'm glad to be rid of it to the baggage handlers. Now let's just hope it's all there on the other side.

For the rest of the posts on Kenya, travel on over to http://josephlinaschke.blogspot.com

Go figure

2007-04-20T16:02:00.000-07:00

Getting ready for Kenya!

I'm going to Kenya

2007-04-07T22:13:00.000-07:00

In two weeks I leave for Kenya. I've posted a lengthy intro blog entry on my pro blog site, so I'll shut up about it here and point you there. http://josephlinaschke.blogspot.com

Bed in box

2007-03-23T20:21:00.000-07:00

The daughter puts the son to bed... In her toy box

A380

2007-03-19T09:42:00.000-07:00

Just landed in LA, right behind one seriously big puppy

Haleakala sunrise

2007-02-27T09:29:00.000-08:00

Succulent Spam

2007-02-25T10:10:00.000-08:00

Yes, fair readers. Fried. Spam. Musubi. Welcome to Maui.

Frosting face

2007-02-19T19:54:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday, Son

2007-02-19T19:32:00.000-08:00

Yum Drum

2007-02-18T19:17:00.000-08:00

Details to come... Or entry to be erased :)

UPDATE
Oh yeah, that was good *urp*

I had googled for "bbq turkey leg recipe" and one of the top hits was Festival Turkey Legs, and began This is supposed to be the authentic recipe used by turkey leg vendors at fairs and festivals...

Works for me. I love turkey legs at places like the Renaissance Faire. Go on then, click through to the link, and tell me how many times you re-read the second ingredient, "1 (2 liter) bottle lemon-lime flavored carbonated soda". Ok then!

But you know what, it works. It's a great recipe. If anything it was a bit salty, but that could be my fault. It's definitely worth a try if you like this sort of thing!

Cheese!!

2007-02-18T15:56:00.000-08:00

Chateau Talbot

2007-02-14T23:14:00.000-08:00

Leftover wine from class

Cappuccino'd Capillaries

2007-02-13T06:47:00.000-08:00

Mmmm, coffee gooooooood

Recently I've been on a quest to make the perfect cappuccino. Or at least a damn good one. And I've mostly succeeded; I now far prefer to make my own cap than spend $3.50 at Starbucks. (OK there's a lot of things I'd rather do than spend $3.50 at Starbucks).

I cleaned up the old Krups that I think my folks gave me back when I was in college. I've had it a while. I ran it through a decalcification cycle (white vinegar) and took it apart where I could to clean out old (very old!) stuck coffee grounds. Then, I started to experiment. It makes a great espresso, with really nice crema, when the coffee is tamped properly. That took a while to figure out; I finally bought a tamper and realized I hadn't been pressing my grounds nearly hard enough before (they say 20~30 lbs of pressure, but really, how the HELL do you know what that is?!). I also bought a thermometer for the milk, and immediately realized I hadn't been getting my milk hot enough either. Somewhere along the line I'd come to believe that the right temperature for the milk is the temp at which the metal milk steamer pitcher is too hot to hold. Bollocks. It's too hot to hold for my fragile little fingers at about 110º, maybe 120º if I'm not awake yet (but will be then!!). Proper temperature is 150º~160º. Get a thermometer.

My steamer makes a very nice froth without too much effort; in fact it can make too much froth and overflow the pitcher before it's at temp. I've found that 1% milk makes entirely too much froth, so 2% seems to work better. Also I get more of the thick 'creamy' milky stuff to cap the coffee with (before I dump a load of foam on top) with the 2% than the 1%. However I've noticed that I really don't have that much of it, and if I really wanted to venture down the latte-art path, I wouldn't have what I needed.

So the other day at Trader Joe's I noticed a milk I hadn't seen before; the "cream top" milk. It instructs you to shake before using, as the cream naturally rises to the top, and the fine print notes that it's actually a non-homogenized milk. I thought this would be interesting to try.

This morning I used it for the first time. Wow! What a difference. I got a GREAT milky cream out of it and poured the prettiest cappuccino I've ever made out of it. Then the foam on top was thicker and more solid than any I've made before and made for quite the gorgeous drink. I should have gotten a picture, so will try to do that tomorrow. But yummy.

By the way the frothing guide I read a long time ago (and probably should read again) is at http://www.coffeegeek.com/guides/frothingguide

Tattoo Sam

2007-02-12T08:43:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday!

Cat's Cookies

2007-02-11T11:48:00.000-08:00

Ok this is just funny. We've had a mouse in our midst for some time now. We've always known someone lived in the walls, and we occasionally found "evidence" of said someone, but never ever saw the little bugger. Until we put our house on the market, that is... then His Fuzziness decided that it was prime time to make an appearance! We've had little sonic emitters to keep him away, but all they really did was chase him to another part of the house.

Today, I caught him.

We have a little brick 'wine cellar' made of loose bricks, and he ran into that. So I started disassembling the cellar and using the bricks to build a wall around him. When I picked up the last brick, of course he was under there and had nowhere to go. From there it was a simple case of dropping a plastic cup over him to scoop him up.

I had to find something to keep him in, and found a half-empty clear plastic cookie container. Perfect. Out went the cookies, in went a few holes on the lid, and one scared mouse.

Only after the dust settled did I notice the name of the cookies on the cookie box.

"Cat's Cookies"

Now that's funny.

Walls are for Climbing, Lofts are for Drinking

2007-02-09T06:36:00.000-08:00

For the last few years, I've been taking my little girl to a climbing wall in San Jose called Touchstone. It's been great fun; at home, she climbs the walls… couch… me… so she's a natural here. She gains great confidence and incredible pride when she gets to the top. And, it's a nice daddy-daughter bonding experience. When I first started taking her though, my idea was that it was something we could do together. In college I used to climb a lot, (at least until someone dropped me on an inverted ascent and I couldn't walk for 3 months or climb for a year), and I thought this would be a chance to get back into it. Unfortunately that never worked out, since when we go together, it's about HER climbing and not me. There really is no opportunity for me to climb when we're together. But that's fine.

So I decided to go last night on my own for the first time. First time bouldering or climbing in well over 10 years. Wow. But what fun. Of course, I have zero strength left. Where I used to be able to fist lock into a crag and literally hang there indefinitely, last night I realized that muscle failure can and will occur after some pretty simply finger grips. But so what, it was fun. And I'll go back.

So, props to Touchstone. Great place. Great people. Great fun.

Then for dinner I decided to try a place in San Jose I've been wanting to try for a while, called LOFT. The sign on the door is something like LOFTBARANDBISTRO in some clever typographic way. It's a cute, trendy looking place from the outside, and it advertises a martini bar. Cue class for San Jose.

Unfortunately the bartender (on the ground floor bar at least) wasn't that interested in making a good martini. Maybe that's not fair, but you decide. It's not like the place was busy… the three piece jazz band that would start playing in 15 minutes was enjoying a beer at the bar. The only other guy in the place was someone who looked like they just walked off a construction site and was enjoying a cold Corona. I asked if he could make a Vesper martini. He said "hmm, haven't made one of those in years…". I asked if he had Lilet Blanc, he said no. OK then, no Vesper for me.

A Vesper martini, by the way, is my new favorite drink. It's the James Bond original martini, from the book (and movie) Casino Royale. It's fantastic, and goes like this:

• 3 ounces gin
• 1 ounce vodka
• ½ ounce Lillet Blanc
• Shake ingredients with ice in a cocktail shaker and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a slice of lemon peel.

Anyway, so no Vesper. I ask to see a martini menu. He hands one over but shrugs and says "all the best recipes are up here", tapping on his oddly partially shaved head. So I say, "then what would you recomm…". Before I can finish the thought he starts reading from the ceiling a list of all the sweet martini type drinks, and I can't get a word into his ramble… Lemon Drop, Cosmo but I would like something Chocolate, but you know the Vesper isn't sweet so Keylime, Peach, seriously, hello? I don't want a Appletini, Rasberry *sigh*.

So I finally order a dirty martini, made with Level vodka. He proceeds to put so much olive juice in it I could hear the olives screaming for some back. The martini is as sweet as a Lemon Drop. Then the bartender proceeded to get back to his conversation on his Sidekick. Oh, and $10 seems a bit much for a Martini in San Jose. This isn't Manhattan for f'sake.

So much for a Martini Bar. I so wanted to find a good one, too.

I ate there as well. I asked if the salmon was fresh or frozen. They said fresh. Quite sure it was frozen. I asked for grilled veggies instead of steamed. They came steamed. I asked again, the waitress came back and explained that the veggies were partially blanched ahead of time and so all they could do is maybe try to sauté them a bit. Mmmm, partially pre-blanched carrots and beans. I don't think Anthony Bourdain would be impressed. To be fair by the time I got my pre-blanched, lightly sautéed veggies they were decent. At least they were crisp, if not bland. But honestly, not the experience I was expecting from a supposedly trendy hot spot in San Jose.

Come on San Jose… you can do better than that!

Wheels

2007-02-09T06:32:00.000-08:00

It's not a great picture; the weather wasn't ideal. But here we go... the new Audi

Daddy has a new toy

2007-01-31T22:32:00.000-08:00

Oh man.

So a couple of weeks ago my 1997 Acura 2.2 CL died. Again. Late last year the radiator blew, and it appears that it actually cracked a head gasket as well. So, all done. I decided it was time to move on.

And move on I have. After lots, and LOTS of research, I decided on an Audi. I picked up a 2002 Audi A4 1.8T Quattro. Sport package, winter package, and a whole lot more. It is, quite simply, the most solid and most fun car I've ever driven. It sticks to the road like glue. I have stomped on the gas and flipped a 180, and felt the traction control kick in and keep it in line, with minimal tire squeal. I gingerly drove it up a wet Hwy 9 (a nice windy road down my way) at a tender 60 to 80 mph and never heard the tires complain once. I have hit 90 degree turns at a solid 40 mph and the car begs for more. I simply can't wait to get a bit more used to the feel of it and really see what it can do!

Pictures will come soon. I'm heading up the coast a little this weekend just for giggles, and will take some pictures then.

In the meantime, here's a list of the sites I used for all my research.

www.craigslist.org for comparative pricing (although I did buy from a dealership)
www.kbb.com for comparative pricing
www.edmunds.com for comparative pricing and owner opinions
www.epinions.com for owner opinions
www.fueleconomy.gov for mileage estimates, which seem to vary dramatically depending on where you look on their site. Here's what I looked at.
www.carfax.com to make sure it wasn't a wreck
www.consumerreports.com to compare current and older models, assess reliability, etc.

I think that's all of them. Long live the internet.

Bad morning

2007-01-10T07:51:00.001-08:00

Someone on San Francisco muni 6249 had a bad start to their day :(

Tree time

2006-12-16T20:35:00.000-08:00

Holiday horticulture hunt

2006-12-16T17:44:00.000-08:00

LA LA land

2006-12-14T07:22:00.001-08:00

Perfect Port

2006-12-13T21:26:00.001-08:00

best bartender, McSwain, at BOA in LA.
Seppelt Trafford Australian Tawny Port. Very inexpensive, very yummy.

Empty Wii box for Christmas… seriously funny

2006-12-08T14:51:00.000-08:00

There's a guy on eBay selling an empty Wii box so you can punish your bad kids on Christmas. This is just FUNNY.

Jamie's Italy, a good place to be

2006-12-06T06:57:00.000-08:00

Jamie's newest book is great fun so far! I started with the simple spaghetti alla trapanese, p.121 (sorry no picture, was too busy eating!) and the next dish will be pasta e ceci, p.76. The trapenese was a simple pesto with almonds and cherry tomatoes, delicious! The ceci is more of a chickpea (garbanzo) bean soup-pasta dish that just looks lovely in the book.

Happy eating!

Hockey Hero!

2006-12-05T20:00:00.001-08:00

This is on YouTube

2006-12-03T20:05:00.000-08:00

This is on YouTube. Watch. Laugh. Rate!

Furiously fast

2006-11-29T19:58:00.000-08:00

Sliding siblings

2006-11-29T19:04:00.000-08:00

Portabello Burger

2006-11-27T19:50:00.000-08:00

Proof of life

2006-11-25T23:26:00.000-08:00

(See previous post)

Dinner

2006-11-25T23:19:00.000-08:00

Leftover turkey, olive oil, garlic, onion, salt, pepper, fresh basil, balsamico, and fettucini. Dinner is served.

Tonight I ate around 10:30 at night. Late even for the Spanish, methinks. But it was a good meal, made in my kitchen and enjoyed at my table.

Of course the best part of any meal is how it's enjoyed, or who it's enjoyed with. In this case, Anthony Bourdain. No, he wasn't at my house for dinner… but his book was. A few years old I think, "A Cook's Tour", made for a superb dinner companion. I've just started the book and his ramblings of how this adventure began is just brilliant. The mix of life, food, love of food, wine, sex, sheer enjoyment in a meal and the hunt for the perfect meal, is brilliant. Barely a chapter in and laughing out loud already, this man should be a writer.

Oh wait, he is.

Part of the pleasure of course comes from enjoying a glass or three of chianti with my meal and my readings. And mind you, not great chianti. No, the glass cost more than the bottle.

Really.

2006-11-24T00:34:00.000-08:00

So what the HECK was that all about, you ask? Our little darling was apparently jumping on the bed, or doing flying bat-leaps, or whatever it is that 5 year old girls on too much sugar do when they are supposed to be going to sleep! She fell, hit her mouth, and cut a gnarly gash on the inside of her upper lip. It was a jagged cut that was quite deep and ran from just inside her lip, nearly all the way to the gum. Icky.

We got the bleeding to stop pretty quickly, but decided to take her to the ER at Good Samaritan anyway. Doctor pretty quickly determined it needed stitches. Ooh, that was fun.

As you can see from the previous post, she was strapped to a board and tied up like a papoose... like a mummy. Unfortunately you can't tell a 5 year old to hold still while you stick needles in her mouth, so she had to be tied down and held. Let me be the first to say that this is NOT a fun experience. What started as an uncomfortable squirm turned south to blood curdling screams as the Doc, who was really very nice and gentle, proceeded to shoot her lip full of numbing stuff and then stitch her up. The nurse had to hold her head, mom and I held her hands, ankles, whatever we could grab to try to comfort her. She got four stitches on the inside of her lip, and boy was she mad. I mean, MAD. Between the pain, the shock and the general anger at being tied up and stuck with needles and fish hooks, she was really, really pissed. Poor thing.

If anything good comes of this, maybe she wont be jumping on her bed anymore.

Trussed up turkey

2006-11-24T00:30:00.000-08:00

ER, not R&R!

2006-11-23T21:54:00.000-08:00

Because no Thanksgiving would be complete without a trip to the ER, our little darling decided to act out her book "Five Little Monkeys Jumping On The Bed..." and this little monkey fell down and cut her lip something fierce. Probably ok but better safe than sorry.

Ah. So.

2006-11-23T21:48:00.000-08:00

Paraiso Pinot

2006-11-23T18:38:00.000-08:00

Perfect with poultry, under $20

Oh... My... Yum

2006-11-23T16:58:00.000-08:00

Brined bird

2006-11-22T21:29:00.000-08:00

I took it out a bit early, around 6 hours. It's now ready to sit in the fridge overnight and dry!

2006-11-22T15:27:00.000-08:00

Because at least two people out there might be interested in this, here's the process I'm following for this brined bird for Turkey Day Dinner. First and foremost, organic, free range, is a must. Seriously folks, if you aren't getting enough hormones in your milk, beef, and other Safeway products, there's a guy in Mexico who can sort you out. "Just say no to drugs" is more than a nice slogan for the little kiddies.

I got our turkey at Whole ~~Paycheck~~ Foods, which normally is really pricey but always a good source for great food. I was pleasantly surprised to find that this particular organic, free-range, Diestel Turkey Ranch beastie was only about $3 per pound, so $30 for a 10 lb. bird. I'm sure that's a lot more than a butterball, but how often do you do this, really.

So, the brine. You want to do this a day before, because after it's brined you'll want to let it dry out in the fridge. Apparently the brining process make the skin so moist that it won't crisp up on the grill, and I don't know about you, but I think that a turkey without crispy skin is just wrong. And I say apparently because I've never done this before. So come with me on this little adventure!

There are over 1.2 million websites on brining your turkey, (seriously, check google) so I went with the ol' tried and true source of info, Cooks Illustrated. Avoiding any copyright naughtiness, I'll just tell you what I did here. I started with 6 quarts of water, really because that's all my pot would hold. I wanted 8, but figured 6 should do it. Per quart, I mixed 3 Tablespoons of Morton Kosher salt and 2 T of sugar (just C&H, no I didn't buy organic sugar, but I like to think I'm supporting the local economy... the C is for California, in case you were wondering. OK, now someone can tell me I'm wrong). Anyway on the stove it went, hot enough to dissolve the white stuff, a good stir and off the heat to cool. Then I dumped in a bunch of ice to cool it down faster.

First mistake... I used all my ice, which as I quickly discovered was a Bad Idea.

OK so with the solution cool (enough), I dropped the bird in the bag and dumped in the water. I quickly discovered that a bag that is big enough to hold a 20 lb bird means a LOT of empty space to fill when only 10 lbs of meat are present. No matter how I propped, tugged, or otherwise positioned the bag, I could not get the buggering thing submerged. So, back to the stove. Another 4 qts of water, salt, sugar... and no ice to cool it with. Oh well... patience is a virtue but I'm short on it, so after a short cooling session, in the rest of the water went. Pushing and prodding the bird in a bag into the drip pan I'll use later on the BBQ (oh you didn't think I was oven roasting this did you? Shame on you!) I got it sufficiently covered and crammed into the fridge.

I had to take my beer out of the fridge though to get the bird to fit. That's a crime in some states. But fit it did, where it will now sit for the next 8 hours. That's one hour per pound, not to exceed 8 hours, according to Cooks. Seems long, but I'll pull it out and rinse it before I go to bed tonight.

The next step will be drying, where the bird sits uncovered in the fridge overnight so the skin can dry out a bit. Or I suppose you could take it to chinatown and ask some restaurant to hang it in their window next to the ducks.

More later, unless I completely screw it up, in which case you'll hear nothing ;-)

I tawt I taw a putty tat!

2006-11-22T14:56:00.000-08:00

Nice legs, darlin'

Bird to Brine

2006-11-22T14:42:00.000-08:00

The start of a (hopefully) successful turkey dinner. Free range bird, kosher salt and sugar to brine, and naturally a good bottle of wine. For the cook, not the bird.

Restaurant soupinface

2006-11-07T19:46:00.000-08:00

New. French. York. Yum.

2006-11-04T19:38:00.000-08:00

Scott's first time

2006-11-02T07:35:00.000-08:00

Scott does his first Aperture demo at PhotoPlus

A cop on a horse walks into a bar...

2006-11-01T23:32:00.000-08:00

Hi Mick!

2006-11-01T18:55:00.000-08:00

Rolling Stones, New York City