Puppies Doing Puppy Things

Food

Beth got a new camera and it's way better than her old one so that means, logically, pictures being taken of everything.  To that end, here's our Valentines day dinner (on the actual day, at home)

The apps... HyVee pretzel bread with some cheddar, pretzel bread is amazing and I pretty much can't walk by the HyVee bread aisle without picking some up.

The Beverage... Boulevard Chocolate Ale, I've already written on my love of this beer, so I won't re-invent the wheel here.

The meal... Whiskey Cedar Plank Salmon, sauteed spinach, and pureed cauliflower.  

2/20

Wow... two years of blogging, absolutely NEVER thought I would keep this thing up for two months, let alone two years.  Now I have multiple pages and semi-regular content.  Below is a trip in the way back machine to post #1.  I think the blog is still fairly random, a bit more rant focused but I think that's probably pretty therapeutic in its own way.  

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2009

So it Begins...

Well here it goes (again) I'm going to try my hand at a blog and this time I'm going to try very hard to stick with it.  This will be I believe my 3rd or 4th attempt.  A word of warning, this blog has potential to be pretty random in nature.  I really don't have a "theme."  So with out further a do.  Here we go...

The Problem with Running is...?

I think after two(ish) years of running I've figured out a possible answer to this question... it is frustrating.  Running is probably the most frustrating sport/activity I've ever done.

And I think that it's a problem of scale.  

A mile in a car is not that far at all, generally it's a minute away but in terms of running, a mile is a full 5,280 feet.  This vast difference in perspective is frustrating for a lot of people, myself included.  To add to this basic perception of distance, the frustration of scale impacts everything since everything is, in its simplistic form, based on the mile.  For example, improving from 10 min/mi to 9:30 min/mi... should not be a problem I mean it's 30 seconds, I mean the average person can hold their breath longer than that (yes I broke out the stopwatch for this and hit 30 seconds with ease... I'll wait while you try ... ... ... ...) this seemingly short duration makes running extremely frustrating because improving times by even 1 or 2 seconds is extremely difficult.  

I know, I know, improving time is a function of running faster, which is related to cardio health, muscle, etc.  Again though, the scale comes into play.  1/2 a mph is roughly what it takes to drop from 10 min/mi to 9 min/mi.  One HALF of one mile per hour.  In terms of perception this should not be hard, 1/2 a mph is not that fast.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy running (I'm a glutton for punishment) but the frustration of trying to improve at it is a heavy weight.  All of this is probably nonsensical... but the rant and getting it off my chest makes me feel a little better.

Embarrassing Correction

Was just informed that I'd been butchering the title of my current reading material... It's the Song of Ice & Fire series not Song of Fire & Ice... Sorry George...

Chocolate... in Beer? Pt II

As promised here is the review... I'm going to lack the vocabulary to do this beer full justice, but in a word: amazing.  I was skeptical at first about just how the chocolate flavor would come through in this ale but it there and it is very subtle, yet very noticeable.  I know that is a massive contradiction but it's true.  But at the drink you taste a regular ale crisp and delicious, but then as it travels back you the smooth and rich dark chocolate flavor hits the back of your tongue and then it finishes with a slight hoppy bitterness.  It's very complex and a real thinking beer because there is just so much going on flavor-wise.  Bottom line is that this is a beer that lives up to all the hype and I am thrilled that Boulevard has announced that they will release this again in Feb 2012.  A lot of people are thrilled because the beer sold out in KC VERY quickly, for example a bar tapped a keg of it yesterday at 4:00.  It blew empty in 32 minutes.  So I am thrilled and sad that I bought 2 bottles, one was enjoyed on Valentine's Day and the second... well that is TBD.  The sadness comes from that I need to drink bottle #2 soon, but I know once I do that it is gone till 2012.

V-Day Dinner

For Valentine's Day this year the wife and I ventured out to Michael Smith Restaurant for dinner.  This jewel in KC is owned by Michael Smith who is a James Beard award winner (think cooking version of one of the entertainment  four: EGOT).  This is definitely and upper scale restaurant and I'd put it in the fine dining category.  All those things being said though, the price tag, while higher than your average night out, wasn't really that brutal considering the top tier chef and quality of the meal.  The other thing that was very nice was that even though this is fine dining, the menu was extremely approachable.  And by approachable I mean that it was not pretentious and overly flamboyant with chef speak, I got the distinct impression that the chef was going to let the food wow you and not try to impress you with detailing prep styles and using obscure ingredients that could overwhelm a diner.  The food was prepared and presented in such a way that you knew you were about to eat something special, something that you couldn't even attempt to duplicate at home, but it was all very recognizable and felt very comfortable.

We did the 6 course tasting and as I've said before, at these types of dining establishments the tasting menus are the way to go.  In this case though I would recommend stopping at the 5 course.  The sixth course is a cheese course and it was good, but in my opinion not worth the extra cheddar (pun inserted for wife's amusement).  If you feel better about ordering one entrée, I'd recommend the Eight Hour Pot Roast, I know it's Pot Roast and that sounds so incredibly pedestrian, but it was so very good, the duck was a very close second.  But again... I would highly recommend the tasting - you'll get what the chef thinks is best and who knows you may get something that isn't even on the menu...

All in all I loved this restaurant and it instantly, instantly (it had me at the appetizer course) vaulted into my top 3 dining experiences (1) Topolabambo, 2) Michael Smith, 3) Delmonico).  I would highly recommend this as a great occasion restaurant, one that I will absolutely be visiting again.

Video of the Week

This embed probably won't work for long due to copyright nonsense, but for as long as it does... here's the reason I watched the Grammy's Eminem and Dr. Dre; However.... Skylar Grey was an amazing surprise, the girl can flat out sing - amazing voice.


**UPDATE:  Rumor is that the song being sung by Rihanna and Eminem is Love the Way You Lie Part II which will be on Rihanna's upcoming CD.

Grammy's

So I watched the Grammy's last night after a several year ban on the program due to my disappointment with winners.  I was intrigued this year however because there were several performances that I thought would be very good, and let's face it it's all about the performances now, the occasional award is handed out merely to keep up appearances.  Several observations before I rant....

1. Bob Dylan.  You are a legend.  You were exceptionally great in your day, an inspiration, and an icon; but please stop.  That performance was painful to watch.  It's time to hang up the harmonica collect some lifetime achievement awards, swear at kids on your lawn, take naps, etc. etc. etc.
2. J-Lo and Marc Anthony... I'm really unsure if that was an actual fight or a scripted ruse, but it made me uncomfortable.
3. Dr. Dre is the amazing.  That CD will be pre-ordered on iTunes
4. Eminem... was awesome.

Okay, now that that is done, let me tell you why I hate the Grammy's and may never watch them again.  It's because they are stupid and no I'm not going to hate on Lady Antebellum, I actually kind of dig that song.  Arcade Fire.  Seriously?  Arcade Fire winning Album of the Year?  Now, virtually unheard of people upset folks all the time in the Grammy's so that's not the part that necessarily angers me, well it does, but that's not what angers me most.  Arcade Fire won Album of the Year, THE biggest award of the night for the BEST Album... of the Year.  What I don't understand however is how they can win the Best Album of the year, beating possibly my favorite album of all time Eminem's Recovery, but yet Arcade Fire didn't even win Best Alternative Music Album; that honor went to the Black Keys.  So you don't have to be a genius to see my confusion... Arcade Fire didn't even make the best Alternative Album... but yet they made the Best Overall Album?  I think the guys that run the BCS moonlight as the Grammy People in the off season.  That is the only plausible explanation.  You know who should be really pissed?  the Black Keys.  I mean hell they beat Arcade Fire head to head at their own game, I think they should claim Album of the Year.  Do I think Eminem should have won?  Absolutely.  But I wouldn't have necessarily been as disappointed in the people who run the award show if it would have went another way.  I just really don't see how you can justify a process that turns out results like this, that are so clearly outside the realm of rational.  Congrats... I probably won't watch in 2012, I'll just catch the performances on YouTube or DVR.

Chocolate... in Beer?

I haven't tried this yet... but I am extremely excited to crack open this latest Boulevard collaboration, Chocolate Ale.  Rest assured I will absolutely comment on its taste in a later post.