SUCCESS!!!

We have now moved into a new home and the internet was just activated today! I'm actually going to have time now to blog! I'm sitting here watching Kitchen Nightmares on On Demand. This is fantastic! I'm also on my new couch, which can't hurt...

Look forward to new posts!

...

Silence.

Sometimes it's golden, but lately it's just been because of insane busyness. The busyness of the holidays coupled with the fact that we haven't had internet at our place for over 3 months now is definitely to blame. I've been wanting to blog about the MST3K I've been watching and all the great recipes/food we've been making but there has been no time.

Hopefully, some free time will free up along with an internet connection at our new place we're going to move into, whenever we get one. And then of course, there's the baby, which has taken up a huge chunk of my life (lovingly so, I might add). I've also really been wanting to blog about my nursery ideas for the baby, which we found out a couple weeks ago that it's a girl! Yay! So anyway, in the mean time, check out this recipe.

It's a Gordon Ramsay recipe I found on-line and I've been making it for the wife lately. WOO WOO!

Gordon Ramsay's Roasted Tomato Soup

4 tbsp olive oil
1kg plum tomatoes, halved
1 onion, thinly sliced
2 fat garlic cloves, halved
Small handful of thyme sprigs
1 tsp caster sugar
Small handful of basil sprigs
1l chicken stock or Vegetable Nage
3 smoked sun-dried cherry tomatoes in oil, drained (or 2 semi-soft sun-dried tomatoes and 1 tbsp barbecue sauce)
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

To serve:

2 tbsp olive oil
200-300g baby cherry tomatoes on the vine
Small basil leaves

1 Preheat the oven to 220C, Gas 7. Pour the olive oil into a roasting tin and heat in the oven until almost smoking. Carefully tip in the tomatoes, onion rings and garlic, then toss to coat in the oil. Scatter over the thyme sprigs, sprinkle with sugar and season generously with salt and pepper. Roast in the oven for 20-25 minutes until nicely caramelised, stirring once or twice and adding the basil towards the end of cooking.

2 Tip the roasted tomatoes and flavourings into a saucepan, discarding any woody thyme stalks. Bring the stock to the boil in another pan, then pour over the tomatoes. Bring
to the boil, add the smoked tomatoes (or semi-soft sun dried tomatoes plus barbecue sauce) and cook for 5 minutes.

3 Strain the stock, reserving the tomato mixture. Tip the tomatoes into a blender or food processor and whiz, gradually adding the stock back in until smooth and creamy. Pass the soup through a sieve into a clean pan or bowl, rubbing with the back of a ladle. Taste and adjust the seasoning.

4 For the garnish, heat the olive oil in a frying pan. Snip the vine tomatoes into four clusters and fry them on the vine for about a minute.

5 Reheat the soup if necessary, but it’s best served warm rather than piping hot. Pour into warmed bowls and top with the pan-roasted vine tomatoes. Drizzle the pan juices around the tomatoes and scatter with basil leaves.

Losing Weight...

I've been watching the Biggest Loser for the past couple years. What a great show. My wife and I are now going to the gym every weekday. I'm going to update the blog every Tuesday and put up my weight. Yesterday, my weight was:

200 Lbs.

Yikes! In college, I was down to 168 lbs, I think. But I don't think I have seriously 30 lbs of fat. I have been working out on and off though for the past 2 years but I'm hopefully going to start losing bigger numbers in these next few weeks.

I'll keep you posted!

Pottery Barn

Damn you, Pottery Barn.


Damn you for being so expensive and yet so... UNBELIEVEABLY PERFECT!


I don't understand just how they can come up with such amazing designs. Especially when it comes to children's nurseries. Although, I will say that I think they have a better grasp on little girls' nurseries rather than boys'. I think that it must be because Pottery Barn is run by mostly women, at least the room/product design is. But if you look at these rooms, they're like a little girl's dream come true. I mean look at all the little details, the shapes, colors, the perfect amount of distress. The wainscoting, the wooden floors, etc. An antique American organic feel.


I really think that Pottery Barn has their finger on the pulse of what Americans want, the so-called "American Dream" of home design. It's really a mix of old world Americana and European stylings (which definitely formed "old world Americana" in the first place). Pottery Barn definitely knows what Americans want their lives to look like.


And the best example of it are these nurseries. I mean just look at how perfect and amazing they are. Just a dream come true.

Thanksgiving

I think Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday of them all. It's certainly my favorite time of the year. Something about the month of November that just makes you feel...


Content...? I don't know, that seems right. I think it's a feeling close to childhood... Nostalgia, contentedness, warm, hopeful. I don't know if I have a word for the exact feeling. I think that Thanksgiving is also a lot of fun because of food. I know I love reading the October issue of Martha Stewart Living, that's ALWAYS fun. I think it always has the best recipes in it. This issue has a Triple Chocolate Pumpkin Pie and a Butterscotch Pecan Cake. I'm sorry, but the Pecan Cake makes my mouth water just thinking about it!

The Black Swan

What is a black swan? Yes, I am vaguely familiar with Black Swan Theory. I think that what the Black Swan means to me is being something that people think is impossible. It's something or someone that breaks stereotypes. I think Black Swans are important. They make sense. They're the .001% chance that keeps our universe from being absolute. And I think that's beautiful. It's also a lot of fun. It's fun to be yourself.

Being Successful

I think being successful is really hard. You really have to motivate yourself to work extremely hard and get out of your comfort zone on a day to day basis. As a young man who's going to be a father, I must admit I'm really scared of getting out there and getting my hands dirty.

I own my own business and I must say, if you're going to make it work, you really have to be persistent. It's sad that I've lacked the strength to really get in there and bust my ass for almost two years now. Sure, I've had my days where I've worked hard, but it's all been under the cover of a dark storm cloud about really getting out there and being successful.

In college, everyone almost prides themselves on "just getting by". It's somewhat of an infectious disease, along with laziness and embitterment. It's tough to shake it off and grow up. I've had to grow up a lot in the past few months. Getting married and having a baby will do that to you, I guess.

In school, you're so self-absorbed; absorbed in your own daily drama, absorbed in the lives of your friends and their personal drama, absorbed in your own thoughts about faith, politics, fashion, religion, independence... the list goes on and on! But when you take on raising another life in the responsibility of marriage, things become much harder and much heavier. But I have to get out there and become successful for myself, my wife, and my child. That's the thing, pushing yourself out into the open and becoming vulnerable. That's a hard challenge to face and a hard hill to climb, but some one has to do it!