Over the weekend I had a bit of time to work on my workbench project. I glued up the tops. Needless to say, I had to use a "few" of my clamps.
10/13/2008
Project Update
Over the weekend I had a bit of time to work on my workbench project. I glued up the tops. Needless to say, I had to use a "few" of my clamps.
Bohemian cultural weekend
My distant relatives hail from the Prague area of what is now the Czech Republic. This past weekend, my wife Lou and I visited my parents and ended up having a very Bohemian weekend. In the morning, we took a baking class to learn how to make the traditional kolache pastry. The picture below is of me doing the initial forming.
And my wife with a tray of the results...
And after about 3 hours, the results are pictured below. We also made some traditional dinner rolls with the same dough.
My parents make sauerkraut most years. This year, they turned 150 pounds of cabbage into about 100 pounds of kraut. The deal I have with my brother is he does the input (i.e. the slicing) and I do the output which ends up being the packing. So, after about 2 hours Saturday evening, we ended up with about 75 packages of kraut in the freezer.
Before we left the next day, Lou decided Daisy needed to pose with the pumpkins.
And my wife with a tray of the results...
And after about 3 hours, the results are pictured below. We also made some traditional dinner rolls with the same dough.
My parents make sauerkraut most years. This year, they turned 150 pounds of cabbage into about 100 pounds of kraut. The deal I have with my brother is he does the input (i.e. the slicing) and I do the output which ends up being the packing. So, after about 2 hours Saturday evening, we ended up with about 75 packages of kraut in the freezer.
Before we left the next day, Lou decided Daisy needed to pose with the pumpkins.
10/05/2008
Friends...
The last few weekends I have been helping a college friend named John build a garage. One could say he was cashing in a large stack of IOU's that he had acquired over the years moving me around the country and helping with miscellaneous building projects.
It has been fun constructing something but I have to say, the body doesn't keep up very well. I need to take some stock in the company that makes Ben Gay and Advil.
It has been fun constructing something but I have to say, the body doesn't keep up very well. I need to take some stock in the company that makes Ben Gay and Advil.
Project Update
The other day I got to the point on my workbench project where I could assemble things a little.
9/30/2008
This Weekends Bread
This weekends bread was some old standbys. On the left is a multi-grain and on the right is some challah.
9/23/2008
Prague - Sunday (continued)
After Vysehrad castle, we wandered back toward the city center. On the way Andi took us to a movie theater that had an artwork installation by David Cerny and is a play on the famous statue of St. Wenceslas in the main square.
After wandering around a bit and getting a snack, we walked along the river toward Charles Bridge. Below is a picture of Lou and I looking "coupl'rific" along the river.
And here is the Charles Bridge.
And here is the mass of people on the Charles Bridge.
We walked around a little bit on the other side of the bridge. One thing we noticed is that the leadership of Prague has made the city center very tourist friendly. Below is one of the many signs leading people to the various sights around the city.
After wandering around a little more, we took the Metro (Malostranska station) back to Andi's apartment. When we got to her "hood", we stopped for some produce for dinner. Below, Andi is evaluating the quality of a tomato for the salad.
Andi's apartment is very near Zizkov TV Tower which is a very prominent monument to Communism. During the Communist era, the tower was used to jam western radio and tv broadcasts from Germany. After the liberation, it was finally used to broadcast domestic tv and radio broadcasts. It was also decorated by David Cerny with a bunch of bronze babies crawling up and down the tower.
The following picture is at Andi's appartment. By this time, Andi was getting a little flustered with Lou's picture taking but Lou managed a picture of her urging us in with a smile.
After a dinner with Andi's friends of pesto and pasta ferried from my mother-in-law, we ajourned to the beer garden. There, we had some beer and watched the Olympics on the big screen tv.
After wandering around a bit and getting a snack, we walked along the river toward Charles Bridge. Below is a picture of Lou and I looking "coupl'rific" along the river.
And here is the Charles Bridge.
And here is the mass of people on the Charles Bridge.
We walked around a little bit on the other side of the bridge. One thing we noticed is that the leadership of Prague has made the city center very tourist friendly. Below is one of the many signs leading people to the various sights around the city.
After wandering around a little more, we took the Metro (Malostranska station) back to Andi's apartment. When we got to her "hood", we stopped for some produce for dinner. Below, Andi is evaluating the quality of a tomato for the salad.
Andi's apartment is very near Zizkov TV Tower which is a very prominent monument to Communism. During the Communist era, the tower was used to jam western radio and tv broadcasts from Germany. After the liberation, it was finally used to broadcast domestic tv and radio broadcasts. It was also decorated by David Cerny with a bunch of bronze babies crawling up and down the tower.
The following picture is at Andi's appartment. By this time, Andi was getting a little flustered with Lou's picture taking but Lou managed a picture of her urging us in with a smile.
After a dinner with Andi's friends of pesto and pasta ferried from my mother-in-law, we ajourned to the beer garden. There, we had some beer and watched the Olympics on the big screen tv.
Pressure Cooker Chili
I have tried Alton Brown's Pressure Cooker Chili a couple of times but ended up scorching the bottom every time. Well, tonight I experimented with my own version. Partly because I was hungry for chili and partly because my wife was out of town. Lets just say, she is lukewarm about chili. By cooking in two rounds and adding the tomatoes and corn chips in the second round, the scorching was minimized.
1 1/2 lb beef stew meat (1" cubes)
1 1/2 lb pork roast cut into 1" cubes
2 tbs peanut oil
3/4 cup onion, diced
3/4 cup celery, diced
2 chipotle peppers canned in adobo sauce, chopped
2 tbs adobo sauce (from the chipotle pepper)
1 bottle of beer
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp chili powder
2 tsp dried cilantro
16 oz of diced canned tomatoes
approx 20 corn chips, crushed
In the pot of a 6qt pressure cooker, heat the oil. When hot, brown the beef and pork in small batches, moving the meat to a resting bowl as each batch is done. Once all the meat is browned, deglaze the pot with the beer. Return the meat to the pot with the onion, celery, chipotle peppers, adobo sauce, salt and the spices. Stir and then seal up the pressure cooker. Once the pressure cooker is at pressure, turn the heat down a little so there is just a light rattle and cook for 12 minutes.
After 12 minutes, turn off the heat and vent the pressure following the instructions for your pressure cooker. Once vented, open the pressure cooker and then return it to heat. Add the tomatoes and the crushed corn chips and give it another stir. Seal up the pressure cooker again and once it is at pressure turn the heat down again to the light rattle and cook for another 12 minutes. When done, remove from heat and let cool until pressure reduces (or if you are hungry, vent again following instructions). Serve plain or over rice. Makes about 6 servings. Keeps pretty well when frozen also.
1 1/2 lb beef stew meat (1" cubes)
1 1/2 lb pork roast cut into 1" cubes
2 tbs peanut oil
3/4 cup onion, diced
3/4 cup celery, diced
2 chipotle peppers canned in adobo sauce, chopped
2 tbs adobo sauce (from the chipotle pepper)
1 bottle of beer
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp chili powder
2 tsp dried cilantro
16 oz of diced canned tomatoes
approx 20 corn chips, crushed
In the pot of a 6qt pressure cooker, heat the oil. When hot, brown the beef and pork in small batches, moving the meat to a resting bowl as each batch is done. Once all the meat is browned, deglaze the pot with the beer. Return the meat to the pot with the onion, celery, chipotle peppers, adobo sauce, salt and the spices. Stir and then seal up the pressure cooker. Once the pressure cooker is at pressure, turn the heat down a little so there is just a light rattle and cook for 12 minutes.
After 12 minutes, turn off the heat and vent the pressure following the instructions for your pressure cooker. Once vented, open the pressure cooker and then return it to heat. Add the tomatoes and the crushed corn chips and give it another stir. Seal up the pressure cooker again and once it is at pressure turn the heat down again to the light rattle and cook for another 12 minutes. When done, remove from heat and let cool until pressure reduces (or if you are hungry, vent again following instructions). Serve plain or over rice. Makes about 6 servings. Keeps pretty well when frozen also.
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