Fire by night!

Something international...

So, besides my other international adventure.... I recently made Russian Black Bread and it was Delicious! One thing about it though, I pride myself in being a man of many talents and I strive to take ALL photos that I post on my blog. So, in some regard I guess I get to be a food stylist too :-)

Biting into this dark loaf rushed me over the Atlantic and put me smack dab in the middle of Latvia again. I could almost hear the language and taste the fresh dill and warm soup. I found this particular loaf to be excellent when it was paired with Greek humus. Who-woulda-thought?

The jury is still out on finding the right Kvas recipe.

Making room...

It was high time we cleared out some used (granted, rather poorly) cabinet space in our kitchen.... Recycling anyone?

Out with the "old" and in with the...

... "NEW???" Well, new to me anyway. The double-edge safety razor dates back to 1903 with King Camp Gillette and the concept has changed very little since then. But still, all this time and I've never even seen or held one so it is new to me even though it's been in use for over a century.

All I can say is that this is by far the best shave I've EVER had... period. The quest began after being tired of ingrown hairs and razor burn, or rather "perma-burn" around my neck line. So, I began researching. Apparently the multi-bladed razors that are currently available have more to do with marketing wars than a closer shave and the hefty price tag per cartridge comes with it. My new razor costs a whopping 50¢ per blade on average, AND the blade is made to Japanese surgical, stainless steel precision. We're talking NINJA sharp here.

That shouldn't be scary though. When I was in boy scouts we always used to say, "That a sharp blade is a safe blade" and after all the thing IS called a "safety" razor. The last thing you want is some sort of honed device just skipping along uncontrollably because of a dull edge.

My choice after all the research? A german-manufactured Merkur "Barber Pole" Hefty Long-Handled Classic. Weighing in at 4.4 oz. all I have to do is let the razor do the work. No pressing or nothing! The pleasure of hearing the whiskers fade away like the end of an old vinyl RCA 78 is hard to beat.

Music to my ears... and face! :-)

Whisked away!

So, I've never really owned a decent whisk. Sad but true. As much as I love to cook, as much as I love to fascinate the senses with culinary creations... I have been lacking a good whisk (or known technically as a "whip").

I've always gotten by with a trio of whisks that I purchased from the grocery store [in college no less] a long, long time ago. They have done their fair share of beating eggs to smithereens and incorporating wet goods into dry works; however, (and that's a BIG however) they have done a number on my hands, arms and shoulders when it comes to attempting anything that requires a decent amount of air whipped in - your meringues, whipped cream, or most recently... mayonnaise.

That's right. Mayonnaise. I've made the stuff at home and let me tell you it is by FAR a superior product than what can be purchased in the store (AND w/o the added preservatives). It was a lot of hard work though trying to whip into an obedient emulsion, especially when using such a puny device as the one that I had. After tossing out a couple of batches of ingredients and dirtying an entire kitchen in the process I decided that I needed to put my Sur La Table employee discount to good use and purchase a new one.

So I did.

Let me tell you this - if you know me well at all, you know that I like to research things. I research the bejezus out of them and I am satisfied to have found the "best" one. The pun is not intended. Okay, maybe a little intended.

The manufacturer of this whisk is indeed made by "Best Manufacturing"as you can clearly see on the handle. It has 10 stainles steel tines which are sealed into the handle by an epoxy thus keeping out both moisture and food debris making it more sanitary in the process. My old whisk had already had its fair share of problems with rust.

It was recommended by America's Test Kitchen to the best of my knowledge and Alton Brown spoke highly of it as well in his book Gear for Your Kitchen. "If I could own only one whisk, it would be a stout, wood-handled balloon whisk made by Best." It having a balloon shape means that it can incorporate air at a more rapid rate.

I bought this prior to having read Alton's book. It gives me a sense of pride knowing that I have chosen wisely. Alton is somewhat of a cooking hero to me and it makes me happy knowing that I picked one that he stands fully behind.

All I can say to end this is, "Eggs... watch your back!"

Blog this!

Yes, we have an internet filter. And yes, it works REALLY well. Actually, I highly recommend it if you don't have one... check out www.safeeyes.com. Dave Ramsey recommended too!

So, for the longest time... blogs have been blocked from usage [for me] because there is much out there with objectionable content. Melissa, holds the "keys" to our internet "gun safe" because she knows hows how to appropriately handle a device that can be weilded so dangerously. I on the other hand, have been burned too many times and would rather be safe than hurt again.

Believe me, I am THANKFUL for the barricade. It has protected me from many a wolves; however, it has caused me much grief as well. Due to the blog-blocking, I have been unable to read friends or family's postings. I have also not readily had access to write on my own blog. Of course, it could be done, but not without some hassle involved so I just let it go and felt sad whenever it was brought up.

The great thing about "Safe Eyes" is that it is highly custom-tailored to fit the needs of the individual. I don't know why we didn't talk to Safe Eyes tech support about this sooner, but there can be a bit of a learning curve involved in getting it tweaked just right. Tonight, that conversation happened and I am celebrating by writing.... and reading in the blogosphere.

I feel like I can breathe a bit more deeply now. I have been able to, but only through a straw.

Hopefully, we have the software tweaked into Goldilocks-style now... just right.

Y-Freedom Tri... and some personal fitness recap.

Just a few notes about the adventure before heading off to bed. You can check out my wife's blog and my sister's blog for more info on the adventure :-)

My sister is an inspiration to me and always has been. I attribute her zeal for fitness as to why my whole family is in much better shape than we were 5 years ago. After the 5k that I got to run with Lisa a while back, I didn't plan on being able to compete with her at this triathlon. So, my goal became to finish. I haven't done a triathlon in.... *GULP* 3 years! I was booked to do the 2007 CB&I triathlon, but I came down with a bad sickness and was unable to participate. Last year I had a couple of firsts (albeit, in reverse standard order) running a marathon in the summer and 1/2 marathon in the fall. So, that pretty much took up all of my training time in 2008.

The first triathlon that I "did" was the 2006 CB&I. The bike and swim got rained out so... it became my first 5k ever and was pretty emotional because at that point it was the longest I had EVER run for an extended time period in my life. My first "official" and only triathlon previous to this year was Jeff & Brede's Intergalactic Tri in 2006.

So... back to the present.

Based on my estimations my goal was to finish between 1:30 and 1:45 total race time. Actual time? 1:33:33.0 I couldn't be more pleased. Since my goal was just to finish (and I knew that in order to finish strong I couldn't push myself too hard on the swim and the bike... ) I kept things at a moderate pace throughout. I DID get to have the privilege of beating my sis at the swim portion though - by approximately 11 seconds! However, as she mentioned in her blog (and as I witnessed firsthand) there was a considerable pileup that she had to deal with. Who knows how we'd fair if this had been open water? I had a pileup to deal with too though. And I felt pretty victorious having passed 3 other swimmers during the course :-)

Overall, for me the most valuable time that comes from these sort of things is the time with family. My wife greeting me at the finish line, my parents giving the pre-race cheering, and the photos and encouragement along the way, and the laughter and love over a good breakfast afterwards. It feels good to be healthy. I'm craving more...

I got to catch up with my Dad some today over the phone. There is absolutely nothing that compares with hearing your father tell you how genuinely proud they are of you. I got to hear that today - with zeal and sparkle. My dad even remarked about how he was impressed with how much in shape I was to be able to do something like that. I think I've caught the tri bug because I want to do another.

On a side note - I don't think I'll be able to get the new Garmin 310xt until after we get back from our mission trip to Latvia. Who knows... maybe it will lower in price by then ;-) But I doubt it.