Dr Horrible's Sing-Along-Blog - Is This the Future of Entertainment?

 

Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along-Blog is what happens when a bunch of talented people who can't work get together to do something to fill the time (and make a point about the last year's writers' strike). During the the strke Joss Whedon teamed up with a group of people and have put together what I'm guessing is a great 44 minutes of entertainment. I guess because I've only seen the first act (which went live today). Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along-Blog features Neil Patrick Harris, Nathan Fillion, and Felicia Day.

It's also a musical! Joss Whedon generally gets geek points but he's also very musically talented. One of my favorite episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer was the musical episode. Having Neil Patrick Harris and Felicia Day (also a trained singer) doesn't hurt.

Dr. Horrible is so popular that the web site has been down most of the day. I was lucky enough to watch it before beginning a day of writing. I kept going back to the site in hopes of watching it again. There is a scalability issue here but hopefully it will be solved soon. Whedon obviously has relationships/connections that let him pull together the cast/crew for this piece. There is some budget behind it, but I'm guessing the budget is still substantially below that of a standard 44 minute television episode.

So Dr. Horrible is fun, looks great, is full of talent (both on screen and off), why isn't all television this way? I really wonder if the future of entertainment might be this type of production. Each act will be available only until Sunday, released a day apart on Hulu and in iTunes. Felicia Day has been writing and starring in The Guild for the past year and it shows the other end of the web entertainment spectrum. The Guild is entirely fan supported and is distributed on YouTube. I wonder how long it will be before I can get rid of cable. The time is coming soon when services like Hulu, YouTube, Netflix, etc. will eliminate my need for cable/satelite/broadcast television.

Family Reunion Time!

It's technically Sarah's family, but unlike some people I'm going anyway. That's right it's time for the biennial Skelton Family Reunion. The large family reunion is something that I don't quite relate to, but it's a lot of fun. You see I grew up in a family where both of my parents only had one sibling (and we rarely saw aunts/uncles). Sarah on the other hand comes from a big family on both sides. Her mom is one of 10 (that's right, double digits) siblings - she's also one of the youngest, which means Sarah has cousins that have kids almost our age. It's a crowd of people - always an adventure.

A few cycles back the siblings decided they'd trade off coordinating the family reunion in birth order (it's going to be a long time before Sarah's mom is in charge). This year we're headed to Smith Mountain Lake in Virginia. From everything I've read it will be a nice location, although I fear it may be the Branson of Virginia. I'm looking forward to getting some open water swimming practice before the triathlon in a few weeks. I'm also looking forward to my first four day break from work/school related activities since last October.

I am taking several books with me to help pass the time. I'm planning a sermon series for the fall based on Leonard Sweet's 11 (going to read it again). I'm also taking Lois Kelly's Beyond Buzz. I'm also taking The Shack and a couple of magazines. I've got rips of Labyrinth and Across the Universe to keep me entertained on the plane.

The Flip cam is packed and I'm hoping to get some video that's actually editable. We'll see what happens. Regular updates on Twitter.

Rain Rain Go Away

It's been an incredibly rainy day today. It wasn't raining when I first got up this morning, but started soon after. There have only been a couple of lulls, but the ground here certainly can't keep up. Lucy refused to leave the overhang of the door to go outside, but she'd been heading to the door for about 30 minutes, so I took her out with an umbrella. Right now I'm thankful for huge umbrellas and plastic birki shoes. I managed to stay fairly dry, can't say the same for Lucy. While I was up to my ankles in water I thought taking some pictures would be good. The street in front of our house is under a couple of inches of water, and the river that runs around the back of our house and down the side to the front is certainly contributing. 

You can't really see it in the first picture, but the second shows the lake by our upper patio nicely. There's also a great little waterfall pouring into the river that runs from the side of our house to the street. The standing water is about 4" deep much to the dog's dismay. 

 

Indiana Jones - Bleck

I really wasn't expecting much from the latest installment in the Indiana Jones franchise. After reading Hershey's review I was expecting even less. A group of us from licensing school decided to go see the movie last Friday night to end our week together. A couple of people liked it, several of us seriously considered getting up and leaving.

I knew it was going to be cheesy - heck we wanted it to be cheesy. After about five minutes the cheese quota was pretty well covered. The only part of the movie that really felt like an Indiana Jones movie was the classroom scene at the start of the movie. It had the right look, the right type of editing, the right dialogue. The rest of the movie was just off base.

I don't want to spoil it for anyone who hasn't suffered through it yet, but the entire premise is a but too much for my tastes. I'm a SciFi fan, I'm an action/adventure fan, I'm a historical thriller fan, but they can't all go into one movie. It felt as if the plot was composed of a series of brainstorming sessions thrown together. "I wonder if..." and nothing got left out of the plot.

My friend Lisa joked about it sucking until they blew the world up at the end. That probably would have been an improvement. 

Adobe Community Summit 2008

One of the highlights of my year is getting to hang out with a group of Adobe community leaders from around the world in San Jose, CA at the Adobe HQ. It's a fun week of hearing strategy from Adobe, training, and catching up with some great people. The group is about 60% developers and 40% designers from more than 16 countries. The best part is getting exposed to what people are doing creatively and a roadmap for the future from Adobe. It's always a lot of fun and a time of creative renewal.

Random stuff & The Green Room

This spring has been a blur so far. I dont' know that I've ever been busier. I think it's a combination of my classwork, expanding the college ministry, and general life insanity. Most people keep up with what I'm doing on twitter, but I'm going to try shorter, more frequent blog postings as well (how many times have I said that now?).

We had some of the best worship at Schweitzer we've ever done on Easter weekend. There was an outstanding drama, a huge tomb built for people to walk through, and great music. Should have posted pictures and some video from the flip cam, but I never got around to it.

After Easter I got to go with a group of 15 students from our college ministry to Port Arthur, TX. During that week the group leveled and refloored a house and reframed the back of a house with a new door and a covered back porch. It was a great week.

Last weekend we were given the check from the college ministry grant we were awarded. We also had our second worship on the Missouri State campus. We're opening the Green Room as a second site ministry in the fall - worship every Sunday night at 9pm directed at college students and young adults. Our goal as a college ministry is to plant an arm of the church that genuinely builds relationships with students on their turf. It's culturally relevant (secular music, movies, tv, etc), media intensive, there are lights that change colors (ooooh), and so far it's been a lot of fun.

Sunday night I set up a camera in the back of the room to capture the action. I like the way this song came out - there are a few glitches, but overall a great experience. We're doing monthly services this spring on campus, hopefully outdoor services over the summer, then every weekend starting August 24. Here's a video from last Sunday:

 

Mardi Gras in Columbia

I had to come to Columbia for the pitch related to our college ministry grant proposal. I think the presentation went pretty well - it was very brief though. I've got to say I think it's a bit ridiculous to drive six hours round trip for a 10 minute presentation followed by five minutes of questions. Thankfully I was able to schedule some other work doing some tech training and a few other meetings. I'm just wrapping up the last of my business in town and headed back to Springfield for Ash Wednesday services (including our first stab at architectural projection).

I was looking for something to do for Mardi Gras but I was in Columbia by myself which doesn't lend itself to going out. That said, I didn't want to spend the night in my hotel room. One of the people I met with yesterday suggested that I go to Village Wine and Cheese for dinner, they had a special Mardi Gras menu. VWC has been a great Columbia establishment for years. They used to mainly focus on selling high-end cheese and wine (think Brown Derby IWC for you Springfieldians). About a year ago they pulled out the cheese case, put in a bar, and began serving dinner. They always used to have outstanding brunch, sandwiches, and other food that would go with being a purveyor of cheese/meats. Now as a dinner establishment they have great choices with a rotating menu.

The entire menu looked great, but I opted to have the crab stuffed trout. The trout was perfectly cooked and lightly brushed with a spicy butter. It was served on a garlic pilaf that had both white and wild rice and sauteed vegetables. The crab stuffing was a perfect compliment to the spice of the dish. The sweetness of the crab and carmelized onions was delicious. Starting with a salad and closing with a cup of coffee made for a wonderful cajun themed meal. 

Long Weekend

It's been a long weekend. I really wish our staff meetings weren't on Monday mornings. I suppose that it's both good and bad - we get the meeting done early in the week, but we have to be here on Mondays. We took a little getaway the first part of the weekend then came back for the normal Sunday morning dance at Schweitzer and then a super bowl party for the college students at our house made for a long day.

This weekend Sarah and I went to Columbia on Friday night to hang out with her family and go to the Mizzou/K-State game. It was a great weekend of basketball and food favorites from our college days. Friday night we ate a late dinner at Flat Branch. Saturday morning we ate breakfast at Ernie's Cafe & Steakhouse. It's a Columbia establishment having been around since the 1930s. Ernie's is a bit of a hole in the wall though and if you come with less than three people you should expect to be seated with others. We had six in our group and ended up at a table that should seat four - cozy. The MU/KState basketball game was outstanding. Mizzou was down most of the game, but pulled it out in the end handing KState their first Big 12 defeat. There was much screaming and jumping. After the game we went to Shakespeare's Pizza and devoured a Masterpiece. While we were there we ran into several other Cowherds.

Overall a great weekend. Not very healthy, but a lot of fun with family and friends. I've got to be sure to hit the gym this week.

Knitting Hobo

Apparently I'm a knitting hobo. Sarah made me a new scarf (in about two days) and wanted to take a picture this morning. I'm sure this is going to show up on her blog soon too. I just thought it was funny because I'm wearing a sweater she made, a hat because it was only 4° outside (and you have to take knitting pictures in natural light for some crazy reason - even in the freezing cold), and the new scarf. None of it really matches, but it's warm. I really didn't mind not having a coat.

 

 

 

2008 Goals: Learn Guitar

This is probably the least likely of the 2008 goals to actually happen. I've had a guitar for several years, I know about 10 chords, and am completely incapable of switching between them with any semblance of musical ability. I know that the key to solving this problem is practicing. I'm not such a fan of practice though (which is why this goal probably won't be achieved). I'm currently looking for resources online, books, DVDs, software, etc. to make the guitar learning less self-directed.

I took mandolin lessons several years ago and got decent enough that playing in public wasn't a humiliating experience, but like all things if you don't do it you lose it. I can still pick up the mandolin and play, but can't do anything fancy. My hope is that the guitar will be a much more useful instrument to actually play. Not sure why I think that - I have no desire to play in a band, or lead worship, or have sing-a-longs at home, but I still think I'll play the guitar more than I played the mandolin. Am I crazy?

I know a several of the readers of this blog are guitar players. What suggestions would you have? Should I suck it up and actually take lessons or are there any good materials that will help me teach myself?

2008 Goals: Weight Loss & Fitness

Getting in shape is the cliche goal for a lot of people each year. I've never had this as a New Year's goal before, so I'm hoping that I'll actually be able to follow through with it. I don't have a huge amount of weight to lose, but I'd like to be squarely in the healthy range for my height. I'm hoping to lose 25-30 pounds over the next six months or so.  I probably should have joined the Church IT Biggest Loser competition, but I was a slacker. I've got a plan that I think will work and it's fairly simple.

1. No more fast food. I probably end up eating fast food at least twice a week. Usually this is just a matter of convenience, but it's not really necessary. My goal is to either go home (not too likely) or eat at the church for lunch rather than going out. I'll probably still have a lunch out each week, but right now I'm eating out two/three times a week. I'm going to put a stash of Boca products in the freezer so that if I'm in a rush and can't pack lunch I have something quick to eat without a drive-through.

2. Exercise. I did really well biking, running, and swimming while I was training for the triathlon last fall. I need to get back into that habit. I'm going to take a spin class and try to get to the gym at least three other times a week. I'm hoping to add some strength training to the cardio as well.

3. Controlling the snacking. I'm a snacker and nothing is going to change that. What will change is what I eat when I snack. That means minimizing junk food and replacing it with healthier choices - fruit, veggies, popcorn, etc.

2008 Goals: Creative Cooking

Another of my goals for 2008 is to cook more creatively. Officially the grocery shopping and cooking is all my job, but a lot of times Sarah ends up doing things. I haven't felt very culinarily inspired in the frenzy of life this past few months. My goal is that at least once a week I'll cook something creative. My theory is that I'll try to cook more ethnic food. It lends itself to being a bit less mundane. The food blogging would get pretty boring with the couple of dozen things we've been eating on a regular basis.

Part of the lack of food creativity is that I've been very satisfied creatively at work and felt realitively tapped by the time I'd get home of an evening.  I figure if I actually take time to plan a creative meal during my down time I should be able to cook at least one a week. Planning to have one adventurous meal a week may result in more pizza being ordered (a common result when I first started experimenting with food), but my guess is that since I'm a much more proficient cook than I was 10 years ago I should be able to salvage most things.

2008 Goals: More Blogging

It's the start of another year and I figured I'd put together a list of goals for the year. Some of them will hopefully last all year, some of them are shorter term goals. I usually don't make resolutions to start the new year, but this year I felt like the goals were a good idea.

My first goal for the next year is to blog more regularly. Several of the other goals are related to this one in that they'll hopefully result in blog posts. I've decided that keeping to a theme for the blog is too difficult at the moment. That said, most of the previous themes for the blog will still be around they'll pop up as they fit what's going on in my life. I'll be writing about what I'm reading, minsitry ideas, food/restaurants, school, and life in general. My blogging goal is to stop worrying about the theme or focus of the blog and just write more frequently.

Rock Band

We've been playing Rock Band a lot at the church and I decided that I had to have a copy at home. I already had two guitars for Guitar Hero, so it made it pretty affordable to just buy the game. You can sing with an Xbox Live headset, so we're only lacking the drum set.

We played a lot while my family was here for Christmas and we took turns playing all the instruments/singing. Our band is the 100% Natural Family Band Solution. I really struggled with our band quote, we settled on "I've made a huge mistake" but "There's no I in Teamosil" was a close second.

Sarah is thoroughly hooked on the game, which is funny because she's not a video game person. Last night we had to start a second band with our friend's Matt & Meredith - Rock Dachshund. We borrowed the drum set so we could all four play. 

This is probably the most fun video game for a group of people I've ever played. It's got great music, it's fun for people that don't like video games, and it's funny to watch your friends try to sing Sabotage, Enter Sandman, etc.

Conferences Galore: Innovate then MAX

I'm going to be travelling a lot the next two weeks to back to back conferences. One ministry related, one tech related. I'm incredibly excited about both.

Wednesday four of the media team volunteers and four of us from the Schweitzer staff are leaving for Innovate (Aviles is leaving Tuesday, for a preconference workshop). Innovate is hosted by Granger Community Church near South Bend, IN and it looks to be an exceptional event. I love hearing Guy Kawasaki speak and he's one of the main session speakers. I'm going to stick around Michiana for one of the Saturday night services at Granger and catch a train to Chicago that night. I'm going to try to experience a different church on Sunday morning (not sure where yet).

Sunday afternoon kicks off MAX 2007, Adobe's annual developer/designer conference. This is an event I attend every year and this year looks to be off the charts. They've got some great speakers lined up and this year I actually booked every slot in my agenda. In previous years I've gotten jaded after the first day having seen everything of interest - probably the curse of having not missed one of these events in years (since the last Macromedia UCON in San Francisco). Even if the sessions don't turn out to be as good as they look listening to the Inspire presentations will be worth the cost of admission.

If you're going to either of these events shoot me a note. I'll be keeping twitter updated, maybe pownce too. 

Catch Up Ramblings Intro

It's funny how three weeks can go past without any blogging, but not uncommon on this blog. A quick recap of the past few weeks. I've had several posts queued up but never finished. I'm going to do a quick edit and post them as-is.

Great Stoker Smoke

After a weekend with no bbq in KC I tossed a pork butt on the smoker with the Stoker on Sunday evening. It smoked at 215° for 20 hours - completing Monday afternoon then rested wrapped in foil in a cooler for a couple of hours. This is the first time I've had a butt that didn't require any chopping. Usually I can pull most of it, but have to chop portions. The other thing I wanted to test was how long the Stoker and my Weber bullet could hold a temperature using the Minion method. See for yourself:

Sunday 7:00pm - load smoker with 12lbs of charcoal, roughly a dozen pecan chunks spread throughout
Sunday 7:30pm - put  20 lit coals on top of other coals, assemble smoker, fill water pan,put on the meat
Monday 7:00am - turn  the pork, refill the water, stir the coals
Monday 3:30pm - remove pork, stir coals
Monday 7:00pm - stir coals
Monday 10:00pm - decided to shut down the fire

I was blown away that a large load of charcoal held the temperature within 3% variance of 215° for over roughly 27 hours. I had the top vent open 50% and the other vents were closed (except for where the Stoker connects). My guess from the amount of fuel remaining was that there would be another hour or so of heat available.  The computer controlled draft system really does make the smoker like a big oven.

On The Lot - Comedy Shorts

I've been watching On The Lot on Fox. I wasn't sure how well I would like it after the first week, but the show tonight showed that most of the contestants are very good. Now that the focus of the show is the films created by each of the contestants I think it's going to be a lot of fun to watch. My big complaint about the show is the judging and the host.

While I think it's important to have some professional commentary about each of the films on the show I'm not sure that Carrie Fisher and Garry Marshall were the best choices. I'm by no means a trained or experienced film-maker, but I expect the commentary about a film to be more substantive than the "it was really good" type of comments most often provided. Fisher seems to be filling the same role as Paula on American Idol - generally nice about everything unless something just really stinks. Marshall has the type of experience I would hope to provide a critical eye to the judging, but he doesn't seem like he is filling this need.

What disappoints me most about the show is how sexist Marshall is with regard to the women contestants. He repeatedly felt the need to say that he "likes women filmmakers." Almost every woman on the show tonight was told that she should tackle themes that are "different from a man" or to focus on their "passion as a woman" or "women's problems" one was even told that he liked her "sensibility as a woman." The kicker though was when he said he was waiting for "Adrianna to come out and do the phone numbers" because he wanted something sexy. I know it's Fox, but seriously can't they do better than this?

My votes for the night:
Best: Danger Zone (Zach Lipovsky), Soft (Mateen Kemet)
Worst: Wack Alley Cab (Kenny Luby), ...To Screw In A Light Bulb (Jessica Brillhart)

Pzizz

I generally don't fall asleep at night very well. I have a really hard time turning my brain off long enough to relax. It usually takes between 45 minutes to an hour for me to fall asleep when I get into bed, a fact that Sarah very much dislikes (because I bug her while I'm still awake). Last weekend I downloaded the sample file from Pzizz and was out before the 15 minute mp3 finished. I went ahead and bought both the sleep and the energizer modules. It's a great deal if you're a student, only $10 each. This past week I've taken quick naps (15-20 minutes) using files exported from the software and have been amazingly more productive in the late afternoon. I'm also sleeping solidly at night, although Sarah can't stand the voice in the music. She's dealing with it because I'm asleep so much more quickly this way. A good night's sleep, no drugs required - take that Ambien.

Cingular = AT&T Explained

I'm so glad that Stephen Colbert was able to explain how Cingular became AT&T (once again). I've grown to like the orange logo and personally think that the new web 2.0ified AT&T logo is horrible - it took a classic logo and made it trendy. via YouTube

 

The Power Returns, Flu, and WOW 2007

It's great to be home again after having been gone for a week. Our power apparently came on sometime last night. We were without power for 9 days (Friday - Sunday). I've decided I need to get a hobby that is slightly portable and doesn't require electricity. When our power went out I was bored within a couple of hours. Got any suggestions?

The other big news of the day is that I'm officially sick. I fought through WOW all weekend and finally succombed yesterday  afternoon. No unpleasant details, let's just say that the flu - actual influenza - totally sucks. I blame the power outage for my illness - I haven't rested well since we abandoned our house last Sunday.

WOW was a great event. I'll post some details and maybe a short video later this week. We had around 1800 youth from all over Missouri in attendance for Matt Neely, David Glenn, Praiz, and Barlow Girl. We're already starting to talk about next year's event. It's been a long time since I've directed a concert-type video and it was a lot of fun. I know some of you do this kind of directing/switching on a weekly basis. We had some problems with the Folsom switcher/scaler doing keying from the Mac (using ProPresenter) - we'll have to get that figured out for next year. Lyric display over live video is essential. The other thing we'll have to do is increase the number of cameras. But more on WOW later.

Everything is Illuminated

We watched Everything is Illuminated  last night.  It's based on the book by the same title, and tells the story of Jonathan Safran Foer – a young man searching for the family that saved his grandfather during World War II, Alex – a Ukrainian that ends up acting partially as tour guide and translator, and Alex's grandfather – who is really the tour guide.

The film is basically a road trip movie with two main plot lines. Jonathan's search and the more interesting story about the grandfather. One of the things I liked particularly about this movie is that there is relatively limited dialog. It's a great example of telling the story through cinematography. It's one of the better movies I've seen recently with regard to cinematography. It also looked great in HD from HBO - not sure if this is upconverted or not, but it was good either way.

The movie wavers between drama and comedy during the first half. Eugene Hutz portrays Alex perfectly and his broken English makes for many comical scenes. I think the funniest part though is that the grandfather thinks he's blind and has a dog named Sammy Davis Jr. Jr. who for part of the movie wears a shirt that has "official seeing eye bitch" handwritten on it. The shirt makes the dog more official.

If you haven't yet seen this movie you should pick it up. 

The Kirks' Wine Party

Last night was Steve and Tammy Kirks annual wine tasting party. It's a great event and one we very much enjoy. Last night was more laid back than in previous years, but it was still quite fun. The concept is very simple. Each person/couple brings a bottle of wine which gets encased in a paper bag with a letter written on it. Everybody gets a small pour of the wine and ranks it 1-5. After all of the tasting the score sheet is turned in, tabulated, and there is a prize for the best red and the best white. Last night was interesting because there was only one white wine - which won by default. Tammy coordinates with several of the guests to have a nice assortment of food (speaking of which, ask me to bring something next year Tammy). My favorite food was the homemade cheese crackers (I want a recipe for those). Tammy and Steve have a very ecclectic mix of friends which makes for a great party.

Restored from Backup & Future Kerner.net Plans

After a hacking incident I've finally gotten around to restoring the weblog from a backup. Not sure exactly what happened, but I know that I used to have a relatively unsecure webdav configuration in place for the web root of this site - it's gone now. No other security issues found on the machine, and apache logs indicate that the culprit just went wild writing files to the kerner.net site.

I was going to take this as an opportunity to redesign the site both in layout and purpose. I thought I'd make that a bit more of a public process though.

The overall theme of the site won't change much. Currently the tag for the site is: "thoughts on food, technology and ministry, but mostly food." I'm leaning towards keeping it the way it is, but I'm really drawn to using something from scripture.

My scripture of choice is from Ecclesiastes 2:24-25: "A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment?"  I especially like the way these verses are paraphrased in the Message, "The best you can do with your life is have a good time and get by the best you can. The way I see it, that's it—divine fate. Whether we feast or fast, it's up to God." John Wesley says that we should "thankfully take, and freely and chearfully [sic] enjoy the comforts which God gives him" as these comforts are a singular gift of God.

I love that scripture tells us life is to be enjoyed. I think there is some risk in this scripture being perceived as defeatist, but I don't think it is – everything we have is from God, but that shouldn't stop us from working to improve. Mark Batterson reconciles this conflict very well with his statement that we should "work like it depends on us, and pray like it depends on God."

So what are your thoughts? Keep the traditional tag or go with the scripture? I'm going to be migrating from MovableType to WordPress soon so that seems like a good time to update the layout. Does anybody actually visit the site or is everybody in an aggregator these days?

 

Cake Day

Saturday night Sarah and I hung out with Jeni and a bunch of her friends for the second annual Cake Day. What is Cake Day you ask? It's the fourth Saturday in September and it serves as an excuse to bake a cake. This isn't just any cake though, it's an excuse to bake an exceptional cake - decorated to the best of your abilities. Jeni decided that we needed a new holiday in September because there really aren't any holidays that warrant a special cake except for birthdays. Saturday was a lot of fun - there were a lot of people and five different cakes. Jeni even made a butterfly cake. 

Junior League Cookbooks

I'm a huge fan of Junior League cookbooks. I think they contain some of the best recipes available. They also contain great examples of regional food. I try to pick one up anytime I'm travelling someplace new. When we were in Savannah, GA a few years ago we got Southern Style which is the Savannah Junior League cookbook. It kicks things off with a punch recipe that measures ingredients by the gallon - alcoholic ingredients no less. I don't think I'll have occassion to make a spiked punch for 200, but if I need to the ladies of Savannah have given me the recipe.

It's starting to feel like fall here in Springfield and the raininess of Sunday made me think of soup. One of my favorite soups is the Stuffed Spud Soup from The Bess Collection - the Independence, MO JSL cookbook (named for Bess Truman). This soup is amazingly easy it consists of butter, green onion, frozen hashbrowns, cream of chicken soup, milk, and then is served with fresh parsley and cheddar cheese. Matt & Meredith brought a salad to go with the the soup and fresh bread. We enjoyed dinner and the Amazing Race season premier. Good times. 

 

Arrrgh, it be talk like a pirate day

So go about yer business as normal, but throw in lots of Arrrrrghs, Avast, and of course you shouldn't say yes, you should say "Aye", for added fun talk about your food coming from the bung hole.

Take this quiz:
You are The Cap'n!

Some men are born great, some achieve greatness and some slit the throats of any man that stands between them and the mantle of power. You never met a man you couldn't eviscerate. Not that mindless violence is the only avenue open to you - but why take an avenue when you have complete freeway access? You are the definitive Man of Action. You are James Bond in a blousy shirt and drawstring-fly pants. Your swash was buckled long ago and you have never been so sure of anything in your life as in your ability to bend everyone to your will. You will call anyone out and cut off their head if they show any sign of taking you on or backing down. You cannot be saddled with tedious underlings, but if one of your lieutenants shows an overly developed sense of ambition he may find more suitable accommodations in Davy Jones' locker. That is, of course, IF you notice him. You tend to be self absorbed - a weakness that may keep you from seeing enemies where they are and imagining them where they are not.

What's Yer Inner Pirate?
brought to you by The Official Talk Like A Pirate Web Site. Arrrrr!

Simplicity

It's been more than a month since my last post. There's not much excuse for it other than I've been busy. The last month has been an insane sprint to prepare things for this fall at Schweitzer, get our new Saturday night worship service off the ground (it had a great start on the 9th), and help clean up some staffing issues at Educara.

Part of my insanity has been the recent campaign we've been doing at Schweitzer for the fall sermon series about distractions. We've had 10 billboards a month with 4 different images of a guy in a gorilla suit that direct people to AreYouDistracted.com. The other part of the campaign has been the video podcast of the gorilla - schweitzerumc.org/gorilla. We got the idea from the sex campaign that Granger did last spring.

 

This campaign has been a lot of fun and we're still producing gorilla videos for the web site and use in worship. Some of those may get posted to the web site, but most will just be used at our worship services. I haven't done busy video production in a long time and putting together location shots then editing a 60-90 second video each week has been considerably more work than I remembered. Most of them have involved several cameras and the guy in the gorilla suit.

Saturday night went amazingly well. We had 165 people in attendance many of whom are not regular  Schweitzer attendees and several first-time visitors. We're really focusing on making the Saturday night experience something that is comfortable for people without a church family. 

I left yesterday after church for the drive to Assumption Abbey - a monastery about 20 miles SE of Ava, MO. They have a satellite network  connection and it's fairly good so far. I'll be here until Wednesday morning recharging and doing some research/writing for the Bible study I'm leading this fall. The grounds are nice, my room is simple (but everything I need), there is no cell phone coverage, and the network is only available in the library (so I'm connected on my terms). Yesterday was great I got here, took a nap, took a walk, went to a prayer and meditation service, went to dinner, did some reading and went to bed. Today is for Hebrews research and writing. I'm planning on going to the service at 11:45 before lunch and then maybe a walk this afternoon before I write up the morning's reading. I'm feeling much more grounded already.

There is a lot of value to taking a few days for simplicity - reading, relaxation, prayer, and a healthy amount of sleep. 

 

 

Summer Tapas

I would want it to be summer all year if it wasn't so darn hot. We recently made a meal of tapas - little bites, or appetizer size dishes. Two salads and crusty bread with prosciutto. The top salad is fresh tomoatoes from the garden, fresh mozarella and basil. The bottom grape tomatoes, cucumber, and red onion. In the middle of course is the bread with ham. I prefer jamón serrano  to prosciutto, but it's better than nothing.

Mmm Pesto

It's been a couple of weeks, but we made some pesto from the basil in our garden. One of my favorite ways to use pesto is as a very simple pasta sauce. That night we ate rigatoni with fresh cherry tomatoes from our garden, roasted red pepper, and grilled chicken. All combined with a fresh pesto - made with slightly too much cheese - which makes it even better in my book.

Greek food with the Kirks

Sarah and I went to Steve & Tammy Kirks' house for dinner on Saturday night. They put together quite the spread of Greek food. Tammy has a post about the dinner, so I'll just send you to her weblog. All I can really say is YUM.

Shifting focus?

I've been pondering switching the focus of this blog for awhile now. I haven't been posting much in the food arena, mainly because I don't seem to be as passionate about it as I once was. I'm thinking about moving to more of a general focus of my life to the posts - there will still be food posts, in fact I have ideas for two different weekly series for the summer (because that makes me post regularly). I'll also do restaurant reviews, recipes, etc as they happen. It seems that I pretty much eat the same places and don't cook creatively much any more though.

I really noticed this shift starting last fall when I took the job at the church. My passion has really shifted towards ministy and I've thought about shifting the blog focus accordingly. My first thought is that I will change the tagline to read "thoughts on food, technology, and ministry" and include my thoughts on being in full-time ministry. I have a theory that regular posts of any type might spur more food writing as well.

 Comments?

Rock'n Ribs 2006

Rock'n Ribs, Springfield's local bbq competition, is this weekend. Sarah is the head cook for the Rotaract team (young Rotary) and she'll be up all night in the Bass Pro parking lot cooking ribs, pork, brisket, and chicken. We worked last night on the super-secret rub and homemade bbq sauce for the competition. I think it's going to taste great. They asked me to be the head cook, but I have another committment this weekend, so Sarah got stuck with it. I think she'll do a great job, she's been around my smoking long enough to pick a few things up. She also knows what good BBQ tastes like – her dad had her teething on ribs when she was a baby. It's funny how she doesn't like to gnaw things off bones now. If you're in Springfield stop by Bass Pro this weekend, enjoy some BBQ, music, and help out the children's charities.

The Blogging Hiatus Shall End

That's about it. Stay tuned for regular updates. I'm going to write everything I've thought about blogging but haven't for whatever reason. I've got no real excuse for the lack of blogging.

There are several possible reasons for this hiatus:

1. I'm bored with it
2. I'm getting all the creative outlet I need at work
3. I'm just too busy
4. I'm not reading as many blogs
   
5. Very little excitement in cooking anymore

None of these are really true though. I haven't been cooking a lot lately, but I have done enough cooking/eating to warrant a post or two a week. I am really enjoying my new job -- I'm getting to do a lot of old passions again (like video editing), but it's not all creative wonderland (e.g. Mondays are filled mostly with meetings). I am busier than I used to be, but it's really no excuse for not taking 5 minutes to post something. The increased business has decreased my reading time -- reading others does inspire me to post more. Even with tools like Bloglines I find that the feeds I read get out of control quickly. I'm also finding that cooking doesn't hold quite the same thrill it used to have for me. Like I said earlier, none of these are really excuses. We'll see how well the return to blogging goes.

Happy New Year 2006!

Here's hoping that everybody has a happy, healthy 2006 full of good food and good friends. Sarah and I used to have New Year's Eve parties, but we've decided that we'd rather do other things on NYE than host a party, so this year we had a bash the Friday before (possibly a new tradition). Stay tuned for all the tasty details.

Merry Christmas

I'm writing this from my sister's house before Christmas Eve dinner and heading to church at the Church of the Ressurection. Tomorrow we'll be at my mom's house, but she has no internet (and is PROUD of it). Tomorrow morning we'll be doing the standard Christmas morning routine: breakfast, presents, then Christmas dinner.

What are your Christmas plans?

Chex Mix

I really like chex mix. It's so much better when you make it yourself. I'm not sure why we only make it at holiday times and settle for the crap in the bag the rest of the year -- especially given that the stuff you buy doesn't include nuts. I made a double batch last night. I pretty much follow the recipe on the box with a few additions. I left out the bagel chips and added extra corn/rice chex (we couldn't find any bagel chips at our grocery store). I also added a teaspoon of hot sauce and a teaspoon of chile powder (from New Mexico red chiles). Not too spicy, but much better than the standard recipe.

Christmas Cookies & Other Odd thoughs

So I've been feeling a lack of desire to blog lately. Last week I'd decided I was going to start a new series on Christmas cookies. Everybody loves cookies that this time of the year and there are a lot of recipes that could be blogged. I just don't seem to have a passion for it much any more.

A good example is that for my birthday I got a cake cookbook. I read the whole thing in one sitting and planned out what cakes I would make. I even went and bought a bundt pan. Have I made a cake yet? Nope, not in the month I've had the book. And all I really say is, eh.

My new goal is find something food related to post about once a week. It may or may not be my cooking. We'll see how that goes.

Holiday Eating

I hope everybody has had a good Thanksgiving. We're driving back from Tulsa where we celebrated our second overindulgent meal at Sarah's uncle Keith's house. Yesterday we were at the farm in Purdy and are returning there tonight. We'll be back in Springfield on Saturday.

I'm going to be starting a new series of posts between now and Christmas. I have several ideas, but haven't picked one yet. The final determination will happen this weekend with the first post on Monday.

Welcome 417 Readers

A few months ago I was interviewed by Evan Fisk of 417 Magazine for a story about food blogs. I haven't seen the article because for some reason our October issue hasn't shown up yet, but our friend Tammy Kirks let me know it was out.

If you're looking at the main page of the blog you'll notice that it hasn't been about food much lately, but that will resume shortly. I'm finishing up a series of posts from our vacation in Santa Fe last month, and have several new food series that will be starting this fall.

Welcome to Kerner on Food.

Moving On, Sort Of

I've spent the last five years working at Educara. We've put together some great software and worked on some amazing projects. I've had the opportunity to work with some great people (both clients and staff). The past two years Dick and I have been focusing very heavily on building a team that could take over our daily functions. That focus is the reason I'm able to make this change.

I've felt called to ministry for a long time. I spent six years working as a youth director at our church in Columbia (unpaid, but it was worth it). I'm also serving on two teams for the Missouri Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church -- focusing on youth and young adults.

In November I will be joining the staff at Schweitzer United Methodist as the Director of Media Ministry. The main focus on the position is building a team to do this area of ministry. This position is a great opportunity to use my skills in management, media/software development, and ministry. I feel very privileged to be able to use my gifts in service to my church.

So what happens at Educara? Not much changes actually. Since the position at Schweitzer opened up in July I've been quietly delegating my day-to-day responsibilities to the other members of the team. I've still been doing a little production work, but all of that will taper off and any remaining production will be passed on to other people. That said, I'm not completely leaving Educara. I'm going to stay on in an advisory role and as board member focusing on business development and product strategy.

Onward!

Santa Fe Posts Will Resume

I'm not dead, and I'm still going to write up the series of posts about Santa Fe. I've been swamped working on some fairly major changes in my life. Can't say yet, but hopefully Monday I'll have an update that is fit for posting. After that posting about daily life should be much more frequent.

I'm going to try to write up all of the vacation posts this weekend. They'll be filtered into the site over the next couple of weeks to fill in the slow spots in my posting.

Moxie!

If you're sick and tired of the crap movies that get shown at the cineplex there is one easy solution, The Moxie. Sarah and I went to last night and had a great time. I'd wanted to go opening night but with things at church and figuring the theater would be swamped we decided opening weekend was good enough. The Moxie is a theater like Springfield has never seen.

I've always been a fan of lesser-known films. In high school I spent most of my movie budget at the Tivoli. When The Ragtag opened in Columbia I was excited. The Ragtag experience though leaves something to be desired. The more I've learned about The Moxie the more excited I am to support it. Dan and Nicole have built a real theater with the Moxie unlike Ragtag where it seems thrown together and you sit on furniture that feels like it was collected from the curb the Moxie has real (albeit old) movie seats. The Moxie unlike every other theater in town also has leg room -- a welcome, and comfortable feature. When you enter the Moxie you feel like you're going to the movies in the era of big theaters -- you are greeted by a collage of movie images and the hallway is lined with local art.

Theaters die without concession sales and the Moxie has one of the best selections I've seen. They serve popcorn with 10 different flavored toppings, classic movie theater candy, and high quality soda. The Moxie is also the only theater in town where you can get beer or wine to go with your movie. Sarah and I enjoyed the popcorn with white cheddar topping and both drank cream sodas. My only real complaint would be a situation Dan is aware of, the lack of cupholders on the seats.

Currently the Moxie is showing Me and You and Everyone We Know next week they'll open Murderball. I didn't know anything about the movie before we went to see it last night but it's great fun and certainly worthy of the awards it has won. I'm excited to see Murderball, which means that the Moxie will get me in the doors for their first two official films. I know there are plans to show cult classics like Office Space as well that will be a huge hit in the college town. I hope Dan can also be convinced to show some classic films that we don't have the opportunity to see on a big screen in Springfield.

If you haven't been to the Moxie you should certainly go soon and go regularly. Oh, and buy some snacks.

International Talk Like a Pirate Day

Ahoy!! Today be International Talk Like a Pirate Day and in honor o' this great holiday I thought t' followin' poll was good. Learn your pirate name, and make anybody who won't use it walk t' plank.

The Green Room

Tonight is the first installment of The Green Room. The Green Room is a "worship experience" held downtown at the Skinny Improv in Springfield. It's designed to be a backstage experience different from the type of worship that happens on a Sunday morning. It is a place where music, art, imagery, and emotion combine to bring us closer to God. If you're looking for worship that is more intimate, join us at The Green Room.

Vacation Time!

I've been pretty busy with work lately getting ready to take a week off for vacation. Being out of town several weekends to visit family and a few days during the week for work has seriously limited the cooking.

Sarah and I will be going to Santa Fe, NM next week so there will be restaurant updates. If anybody has food suggestions let me know.

Ice Cream of the Week/Moment Update

Making a quart and a half of ice cream every week has finally pushed our ice cream eating over the edge, so the frequency of frozen desserts will slow down until the end of Summer. The title of the series will now be Ice Cream of the Moment. I'm writing up the next post shortly.

Adagio Teas - Highly Recommended

I'm a huge fan of tea -- especially loose teas. One of the reason I like the Mudhouse in Springfield is that they have a selection of loose tea available. Last week I received a package from Adagio Teas containing their ingenuiTEA teapot and four ounces of tea (earl grey, rooibos earl grey, golden monkey, and cherry). I've now had the opportunity to sample all of them and must say I'm hooked on Adagio. It is some of the finest tea I've ever tasted.

The ingenuiTEA teapot is great as well. You put boiling water and tea in from the top (or it's microwave safe for heating the water), allow your tea to steep, then place the pot on a cup and watch your tea strain into your cup. It's great fun. The teapot cleans up quickly under running water and is also dishwasher safe.

Other than the cool teapot and the outstanding tea Adagio wins me over with their packaging. The package they sent to me was gift wraped, a very nice touch. The one ounce samples of tea are shipped in a very stylish, sturdy metal tins. Larger portions come in nice cannisters. I can't tell you how much it angers me to pay $10 for loose tea and have it show up in a ziplock bag. Adagio also labels the canisters with the type of tea, recommended water temperature and time to steep. Perfect if you're new to loose teas.

If you're wanting to get started in loose tea Adagio offers four different $19 starter kits that include four tea samples and an ingenuiTEA teapot.

Switched to MySQL

I've had a few technical problems with the site lately which have prompted switching from PostgreSQL (which I prefer) to MySQL (which MT likes better). This is just a test post to see that all of the importing worked properly.

Is there a good grocery store in Springfield, MO?

So we just got back from the grocery store and I'm mad. We've shopped at several stores over the year we've lived in Springfield. We originally shopped at Price Cutter when we moved, but with the house switched to shopping at Wal-Mart to save a little money. A couple of weeks ago we decided that the quality of products at Wal-Mart didn't justify the cost savings. Today I'm not so sure. I think Wal-Mart may have a better selection than the Price Cutter Plus on Battlefield (near 65). I'm needing dutch process cocoa for an upcoming ice cream entry, but apparently that is not something that can be stocked in the store here. The tomatoes are what pushed me over the edge though.

I know that we should buy produce from local farmers, in fact we usually do shop at the farmers market, but schedules and the weather have made in difficult to stand in line to buy produce. I don't expect to get great produce at the supermarket, but I expect it to be edible. Lettuce, onions, and even cucumbers are usually okay, but I don't understand why it is so hard for a supermarket to have a decent tomato in JULY! I can get a better tomato from a can than I can buy at the Price Cutter. Today, I was unable to find a tomato that didn't have the hardness of a baseball, most of which had been trucked in from Mexico and grown hydroponically. IT'S JULY!!!! When we lived in Columbia we were able to get decent tomatoes (grown in Arkansas mind you) at Schnucks. The best I can tell is that Price Cutter is the equivalent supermarket chain here in Springfield.

This is the sort of thing that makes me want to become a nut job who lives in the middle of nowhere and grows all his own food. Does anybody know where I can buy a decent tomato without standing in a 30 minute line in the 100° sun?

Food Blogs in 417

I just got done being interviewed by Evan Fisk for an article he's writing for 417 Magazine about food blogs in the Springfield area. I'm not sure how many of them there are in SW Missouri, but I was pleased to hear that there were enough for even a brief write up.

One of note that I'll probably start reading is by Noah Dorrance. His most recent post is about Bodegas Borsao "Tres Picos" which is a cheap Spanish wine I think is very good for the cost.

Fresh Toasted Bread

Yesterday I baked bread for the first time since we moved to the new house. I used my standard recipe (which isn't really a recipe): 1.5 cups of water, 2tsp yeast, 1 tsp salt, 1tbsp sugar, and the appropriate amount of flour to make a good dough. I also added a tablespoon of barley malt for some depth to the flavor. I kneaded for 7 minutes in the mixer and moved to a bowl to rise. I usually just punch the dough down once, but I had time to punch it down twice before shaping. I shaped it into a boule and let it bench proof while the oven heated to 550°. Once the oven was up to temperature I tossed in 4-5 ice cubes and let them melt/steam and scored the loaf. I moved the bread onto the baking stone in the oven, tossed in 3 more ice cubes, and dropped the temperature to 425°. Thirty-five minutes later, bread. This technique/new oven gave me the perfect crispy crust. It wasn't too thick or hard, just a nice crackle as you bite through it.

This morning I toasted up two thick slices of the bread. If you've never had toast made with good, fresh bread you're missing out. The warmth of the toast melts butter nicely, the outside is crispy and the inside is still slightly moist. Not much beats toast made from fresh bread.

Crock Pot Piperade

In our continued quest for easy weeknight cooking we still use the crock pot quite a bit. We've been cooking from a book called The Gourmet Slow Cooker by Lynn Alley. Yesterday we made the Piperade which is a traditional Basque pepper sauce that was served with chicken -- traditionally it would be served with eggs, but is often used with meat or poultry.

To accompany the piperade I baked bread for the first time in the new house. More on that later today.

Blackberry pie and other farm goodness

There is nothing quite as tasty as a blackberry pie made from berries picked a few hours earlier. Except perhaps when that pie is served with ice cream (homemade if possible).

Sarah's grandparents live on a farm south of Purdy, MO (about an hour from Springfield). It used to be a dairy farm, but they've retired and now they just have about a hundred stock cattle. That still sounds like quite a bit of work for retirement, but it is a lot easier than dairy. They also have the huge garden which makes for excellent meals in the summer (and from canned items throughout the rest of the year).

We went to visit them this weekend along with her parents, her sister Mary, and Scott (Mary's boyfriend). I always feel like we overindulge when we go to the farm, but how can you not eat when everything is at the peak of freshness. We had three meals of summer farm goodness each one leaving us full and happy. While it's a bit repetitive I think I could eat sweet corn, tomatoes, cucumbers, and green beans fresh from the garden with every meal.

Agenda for the Summer

I've got several series of posts planned for the summer. Posting has been a bit sporadic lately due to settling into the new house, but I expect it will pick up again next week. I'm spending the last half of this week at a youth leadership retreat for the church. Starting next week I'll be doing an ice cream of the week. I've already made the first two so I have a bit of cushion in actually making the frozen goodness.

I've also noticed that the free iPod people now have color iPods available. I'm only short one person completing an offer. I've you've been pondering joining a CD club that is one of the offers available (BMG) and no credit card is required. So click here and help me get a free iPod.

Splenda (now in Diet Coke)

If you're not familiar with Splenda here is a brief introduction. Splenda is a no calorie sweetner. Splenda is actually sucralose which is made by replacing some of the hydrogen in sucrose (table sugar) with chlorine. Sucralose tastes remarkably like normal sugar and I can't detect an aftertaste.

About two years ago I mostly gave up drinking regular soda and started drinking diet. I still can't really say I like diet soda, altough I do tolerate it more than I did initially. There are exceptions to this -- diet Dr. Pepper, most diet creme sodas and root beers, and a few others don't make me long for the full sugar and corn syrup versions. I'm happy to be able to add a cola to that list as well. I honestly cannot tell the difference between Diet Coke with Splenda and the full calorie version. If you haven't tried it you should go pick some up. It's good stuff.

I started making sweet tea with Splenda earlier this spring and have been very happy with the results. I think my next test will be to make ice cream with Splenda.

Blingo

I'm always a fan of free stuff online so when I got an invite for Blingo it seemed like a good idea. It's powered by Google so the search results are the same, they've got a Firefox search box plugin, and they give stuff away. It's hard to argue with it. If you're interested you can click on the logo below.

Great Weekend

We had a great weekend in Eastern Tenn. with the young adult group from our church. We did some white water rafting on the Ocoee River, hung out in Chattanooga (I would have liked to spent more time there), and cooked dinner for the staff at Confrontation Point. All in all a good trip and a much needed break.

Software & Tennessee

Haven't been posting for quite a while because we're right in the middle of a release cycle for our online training tool. This past week wrapped up most of the code for the first beta. This weekend I'm headed to east Tennessee for a weekend of relaxation with our church young adult group. (posted from Clarkville, TN)

My busy busy life

There actually is a good reason that I've not posted much lately. Mainly being that I've been incredibly busy the past three weeks. I spent almost two full weeks in Columbia for work and have been out of town for the last couple of weekends -- in St. Louis for Sarah to run a half-marathon and in Columbia for church meetings.

In addition to all of this Sarah and I put a house under contract last Friday. We'll be doing the inspections this week and I'll post more details if all goes well.

Cake Rolling -- Carrot Cake

In a return to baking I made a carrot cake yesterday -- the recipe came from the Good Eats show "A Taproot Orange" and can be found at food network. This recipe made by far one of the best carrot cakes I've ever had. It's incredibly high in carrot content using 12 ounces of grated carrot. I discovered that a 1lb bag of carrots does not grate into 12 ounces (even though it should).

I didn't want to play with the recipe -- I've never been that proficient at creating quick bread recipes that work (technically carrot cake is a muffin) -- but I did want to try something a bit different so I baked the cake in a half sheet pan. I turned the oven temperature down when I put the cake in and let it bake for 20 minutes.

The goal of the sheet pan was to produce a rolled carrot cake. What it resulted in was a crumbly mass covered in frosting. The cake tasted great, was incredibly moist and didn't look that bad with the outside frosting filling massive fissures.

My theory is that the carrot cake isn't sturdy enough to survive rolling. Either that or I'm no longer able to roll a cake. I started with the warm cake rolled in a towel dusted with powdered sugar. Let it cool, then unrolled it to fill and re-roll. Unfortunately the cake didn't want to release from the towel. This is where the carrot cake theory comes in -- the cake is too moist and thus sticks/cracks easily. So the question of the day is whether it is the carrot cake or my technique.

Once again I realize I've not been posting

It's been over a month since my last posting. I'd say that the posting will increase, but I can't say that conclusively. I've had blog topics in my head for a bit and just not written them, here's a summary of the past month all in one post.

I haven't been cooking much lately. Sarah takes care of most of the daily cooking (I like to make things that are too extravagant).

I think I may start baking again though. We did a cookie bake off with Steve and Tammy Kirks a few weeks ago where I further revised my chocolate chip cookie recipe. I didn't take any notes while I was making them so a recipe won't be too accurate. I think this weekend I'll try to recreate them and keep notes so I can post the recipe.

I spent the weekend of the 22nd in Columbia for WOW -- the Missouri United Methodist Conference Youth's Winter Outreach Weekend. We brought in David Burke as the main speaker, Bean & Bailey as the entertainment, and worship music was lead by Harvest Ministries. It was a great weekend, not much in the way of food though.

We ate dinner last weekend at Fish, James Clary's new restaurant in town. I was very impressed with the quality of the food and the dining experience for the price. Everybody else seemed to love their food although I did have a couple of negative elements in my meal. I started with the raw oysters which were excellent, but there were bits of shell in almost every piece (not the best shucking in the world) and the cocktail sauce left something to be desired (not very spicy). I ordered one of the fresh fish entrees (sorry to say I don't remember what fish exactly) and it was delicious until I hit the raw center (it should have been cooked medium). Our waiter offered to bring me a new piece but I had more food than I should eat on my plate already and was able to eat around the raw portions of the fish easily -- it probably doesn't hurt that I love sushi so I wasn't disgusted with the fish, just a bit surprised. The side dishes were outstanding though I highly recommend their vegetable medley and the twice baked potato. All things said I'll absolutely eat at Fish again.

So that's only three summarized entries, but I really can't type much more right now. I do promise another entry this afternoon.

Jerry Orbach, 1935 - 2004

As many of you may know I'm a huge musical theater fan. Last night Jerry Orbach died of prostate cancer at age 69. Most people recognize him as Lennie Briscoe from TV's "Law and Order" franchise. Orbach however was first an actor in musicals. He was originated the roles of Billy Flynn in "Chicago," El Gallo in "The Fantasticks," and Julian Marsh in "42nd Street." Orbach appeard in numerous television and movie roles, including providing the voice for Lumiere in Disney's "Beauty and the Beast" (one of the last Disney movies I actually like that isn't made by Pixar). He was nominated for Tony awards for "Guys and Dolls", "Chicago", and won one for his performance in "Promises, Promises." I always enjoyed watching/listening to Orbach perform. The lights on Broadway will be dimmed tonight in his honor. He will be missed by many.

Amazon.com has quite a listing of recordings featuring Orbach (link).

Small Electrics Part 3: The Slow Cooker

This may sound odd coming from somebody who likes good food, but I love the Crock Pot. The slow cooker is a great tool when it's cold outside. We actually use ours year round, but generally the foods made in a slow cooker are more suited to winter weather. For quite a while this fall we made something every week in the slow cooker (usually on Monday so there was more time in the week for the leftovers).

The key to the slow cooker is having recipes that are well suited to long, slow, moist cooking methods. There are several of these recipes in this month's Everyday Food. I'm also a huge fan of Lynn Alley's book, The Gourmet Slow Cooker. This book is organized into chapters by country and provides a variety of food styles. We've liked everything we've cooked from this book (and we've used it quite a bit). Just a warning though, these are not easy slow cooker recipes. The preparation can be quite time consuming, this of course usually results in better food. The slow cooker advantage is that you can prep everything Sunday night, put it in the crock in the fridge, and then move the crock to the cooker on Monday morning to cook all day.

Small Electrics Part 2: BroilKing Griddle

The newest addition to our kitchen is a BroilKing Griddle that I got for my birthday. I know it's been over a month since my birthday, but you just don't have gr