Merry Christmas 2007

I just wanted to take a moment to wish you all a happy and blessed Christmas season. With a little one in the house, the excitement is off the charts here! I've cobbled together a few photos to share some of our joy with you all. Merry Christmas!!!

Elisabeth and Mommy (with baby Greyson tagging along) decorating the Christmas tree (of course it's real).

Elisabeth helping Daddy put snowflake ornaments up on the tree.

"I'm gonna rip the paper off, Daddy!"

Elisabeth loves her Play-Doh! at least, for about 0.3 seconds before saying "I wanna open another one, daddy!" I think of all the presents she got, her favorite was 'the next one.'

And then, of course, there's dinner. Standing rib roast (dry aged at home, using a variation on Alton Brown's method) with rosemary & red wine jus. Notice the deep red coloration on the beef as well as the nice intramuscular fat marbling.

Roasted to medium doneness (warm and pink throughout) - perfect for my holiday guests.

Even Daddy had a good year. I even got a gift from my good friend Paps. What a guy!

It was a beautiful white Christmas. Elisabeth and daddy played outside and made a " 'noh man"

Catching Up

Chalk it up to the madness of the holidays, having a small child, some last minute travel plans, and most recently, a bout with a nasty cold, or what have you... I have been decidedly negligent in my blog owning responsibilities over the past month. So here are a few tidbits to make you say something like, "Oh, I guess he is still writing after all. Thanks for throwing me a bone."

First of all, a belated Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you! With the holiday week off, I had the chance to cook up some tasty bites. I'll put up the technique for one of my favorites, red wine braised shortribs, sometime soon.

Our humble holiday light display.

During the week between Christmas and New Years, my car sat idle in my driveway during which time a mouse decided to make a nest in my glove compartment. Simply shocking.

Last week, I was in Las Vegas for a couple of days. While it was not a pleasure trip, I managed to have some fun in my off time. What happens in Vegas... deserves it's own post. Stay tuned.

It's winter in these parts again, so you know what that means - there's meat hanging in my basement. I'm starting off with some simple cured sausages (they've been up 11 days now). It's a start, but I've got more plans for that cool, dry basement this winter.


01/06 - Freshly hung.


01/13 - After one week of drying.


Up until the past couple of days, when the cold finally rolled in for the season, my broccoli plants were still producing.

That's it for now. Keep your eye on this space for more coming soon.