Behold!

Un toe-mah-toe!

This is the first tomato I've ever grown. It's a brandywine heirloom which is supposed to be very flavorful. I plan to guard this little guy against vicious bugs and plant diseases, but most of all from whatever critter was stealing my peaches.

Wish me luck.

Scallops and Chicken

After eating so much red meat lately, I decided to switch things up a bit.

On Monday, I made scallops with polenta and spinach. Very simple and tasty. The spinach and scallops were both separately sauteed in olive oil, butter, and plenty of garlic. The polenta I bought pre-made. Everything was topped with a healthy helping of lemon juice. Yum! For dessert, I made a peach and blueberry cobbler. Sadly, there was no ice cream on hand but it still satisfied our sweet tooth.

On Tues, I roasted halibut filets in olive oil with parsley and lemon slices. Paired with leftover polenta and sauteed zucchini, this was another light summer meal.

Tonight, I made a curried chicken salad that Tom and Christina recommended from Cooks Illustrated. Wow so good! This recipe was extremely easy to make. Pop the chicken in the oven, shred it, and mix with the rest of the ingredients. Tastes great and I'm sure it'll be even better tomorrow.


Curried Chicken Salad
Courtesy of Cooks Illustrated

2 whole bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts (large, at least 1 1/2 pounds each)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
Table salt

For Salad
2 medium ribs celery , cut into small dice
2 medium scallions , white and green parts, minced
2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro leaves or parsley leaves
3/4 - 1 cup mayonnaise
1 1/2 - 2 tablespoons lemon juice from 1 small lemon
6 tablespoons golden raisins
2 teaspoons curry powder
1 tablespoon honey

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 400 degrees. Set breasts on small, foil-lined jelly roll pan. Brush with oil and sprinkle generously with salt. Roast until meat thermometer inserted into thickest part of breast registers 160 degrees, 35 to 40 minutes. Cool to room temperature, remove skin and bones, and shread meat into bite-sized pieces (about 5 cups). (Can be wrapped in plastic and refrigerated for 2 days.)

2. Mix all salad ingredients (including chicken) together in large bowl, including salt and pepper to taste. Serve. (Can be covered and refrigerated overnight.)

Austin

I am waaaay behind on this post.

But you can't blame me. Work has been crazy. I mean, drive-me-crazy crazy.

Thankfully, this weekend provided a nice reprieve so I am ready to blog once more. Here's what I can remember:

We left SD Thursday afternoon and arrived at 8pm. Tom picked us up and took us to a festive Tex-mex restaurant for fajitas and margaritas. Yum!



The next morning, Christina introduced us to their precious baby Elowyn. Such a little cherub!


Too cute.


We also met their sweet but fierce-clawed cat Tiko.


After some hanging out, we went out for coffee and then bbq. I had moist brisket, pork ribs, and coleslaw. The ribs were a bit dry but the brisket was moist as promised, and oh so good wrapped in bread and drenched in tangy bbq sauce.


Stuffed, we walked around trying to work off our food coma. Given the hot humid weather, we couldn't resist having a cool refreshing treat. I really wish I had one of each but I settled for hibiscus tea. Good move.


Here's Badge being a dork.


Pretty butterfly in the park where we strolled.


That night, we went to an Italian grocery store/restaurant for dinner followed by delicious gelato.


They appeared to be selling the world's largest tub of nutella.


We even had took some cookies to go. The pignoli cookie was very memorable. It was chewy and packed full of almond and pine nut goodness. It also made a great breakfast.


The next morning, we took a tour of their incredibly bountiful garden.



Look at this ridiculous harvest!


Afterwards, we put on sun screen (Badge with Badger sun screen below) and went to Barton Springs for a dip in the freezing water, which actually was nice in the summer heat. It was fun sitting on the grass, watching the weirdos that gathered. Of note were the swashbuckler pirate wanna-be, the old man doing yoga in a speedo, the hippy dippy drummer and scarf dancer, and the woman with the hoola hoop (though we didn't get to see her do anything with it).


For lunch, we went to Tacodeli where I had mole chicken and pork verde tacos. The pork verde was good but the mole was incredible. I can't even attempt to describe the flavor. All I know is I wish someone could send me a mole taco every day for the rest of my life.


Once home, we decided to be nerds and play an intense game of Settlers. At one point, Tom tried to talk Badge into giving him all his cards in order to prevent me from winning. He actually considered it!


That night, we went out to a cool restaurant called East Side Showroom. The place was decorated in a very cool French burlesque style. We ordered a cheese and pate dish, venison skewers, and fried okra to start. For my entree, I had a steak with chimichurri sauce and fries. For dessert, we shared a peach cobbler. All in all, a great meal, despite all the mosquito bites I acquired.


The next morning, Tom made us a tasty breakfast of migas (eggs with tortilla chip).



For the rest of the afternoon, we hung out (I practiced by baby skillz on Elowyn). Then it was of to the airport where we watched the World Cup finals and waited for our flight.


To summarize, it was a great weekend with friends, food, relaxation, and fun. Can't wait to visit again!

Many more pics to be found HERE.

Curses

What the hell.

A mysterious creature has stolen 90% of my peaches.

And no, that creature is not a Badger.

What the hell.

Tea And Crumpets

My adventures in the UK have come to an end. Though severely jet lagged for most of the trip, I had a great time. Our meetings were productive; the countryside was beautiful; the food was much better than expected; and I got to see do some sight-seeing. Not bad for a quick 1 week trip!


Here are the cliff notes.

Sunday
- Met everyone at 7am at Illumina to take car service to LAX.
- Slept all of 1.5 hours on 10 hour flight.

Monday
- Arrived at 7am in Heathrow.
- Took car service to Great Chesterford and checked into hotel.


- Hiked 2.5 miles through country side to Little Chesterford where our office is located (much hiking would be had on this trip).


- Somehow managed to stay awake through meetings, took shuttle back.
- Dinner at The Crowne and Thistle pub.
- Went back to hotel and passed out despite sweltering humidity (no a/c).

Tuesday
- Ran 2 miles at 6:30am.
- Breakfast and hiked to work for another full day of meetings.
- Lunch with big group in Saffron Walden, a neighboring town.


- More meetings in afternoon, hiked back to hotel.
- Dinner at The Plough pub.





Wednesday
- Ran 2 miles again.
- Breakfast and hiked to work again.
- Drove to Cambridge.
- Dinner at The Eagle pub, then walked around and hung out at another pub.




Thursday
- Breakfast and hiked to work.


- Went to gym at lunch (they have a personal trainer there, not fair...).
- Took train into London after work, checked into hotel in Paddington.


- Dinner at Italian restaurant, then walked around and saw Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, the Eye of London, and the Tower of London. Also walked along river and saw several famous bridges.



Friday
- Took shuttle to Heathrow and flew out on 10am flight.

Many more pics available HERE