Beginner sushi

Like a lot of things I do I tend to mentally prepare for an inordinate amount of time before actually attempting some new things. some call it procrastinating, I call it planning or planasticating. anyhoo I've been talking about rolling sushi for say two maybe three years and the other evening as i cruised through the kitchen trying to think of something creative to fix for a snack the pantry list in my head told me I had some vegetarian sushi in there I just needed to assemble it. So i did, and two years of watching reading and planasticating paid off. It was good, not great but for a first attempt it was good. The secret is in the rice (as I learned from Morimoto) most of your seasoning and a good bit of your texture is in the rice. I have a lot to learn but I plan to cut, roll and eat my way to great sushi. It's a sacrifice I am willing to make.

Dig Me has arrived

The first box of Dig Me CD's are here and
already on the shelves at CD baby. I will be sending some
out for review and to some college and Internet radio
stations so they can use them as coasters. But you never
know, Rick Rubin or some other Industry type might use
that coaster and before you know it I'm going to new york
or L.A. for a lunch. You can listen to it at
http://cdbaby.com/cd/TomPost1

snow-shoe buddies

We had lots of fun spending the day with Mark & Joanna Rosenblum. We seemed oddly coordinated: Joanna and I with the color schemes, and Tom & Mark with the goatees...

crazy-beautiful days

We've been having some AWESOME weather. We had snow several days ago (mostly while we were in FL -- good timing!) and now it's been clear & beautiful. Yesterday we went snow-shoeing up at Caribou Ranch. We've hiked there several times, but never snow-shoed there before. It was a perfect day.

the most labor intensive cake EVER

Tom decided to be ambitious for a dessert for Valentine's Day. He chose a Triple Chocolate Mousse cake from Baking Illustrated -- a sure fire win, yes? Unbelievably, no. We both worked on this cake for quite a while. Tom made the bottom layer -- a chocolate cake. I created the next two layers -- a milk chocolate and then a white chocolate mousse. Among other things, this recipe required an ungodly number of bowls to be used/washed/used again.
We figured when we tasted our creation, it would all be worthwhile... but alas, this is the first time I'm giving a Thumbs Down to the Baking Illustrated. Then entire recipe only had maybe a quarter cup of brown sugar and one tablespoon of white sugar -- so the cake is not sweet. At all. So although it is texturally pleasing, it does NOT ring "chocolate mousse cake" bells in one's brain.
Oh well.

partying with Luigi

Of course, we returned to the sushi bar (since that's where Luigi was bartending) after our wonderful dinner at the Grille. As the night before, Luigi was more than kind to us.... and we had a great time. I'm happy to say that the second night I did not overindulge in quite the same manner as the first! Also pictured here with me, Luigi & Tom is Dave Haukeness, one of my partners.

The best course: appetizers

Coincidentally, the best course of our dinner also produced the best photographs. Tom ordered the Black Truffle Risotto, and I had the Crab Cake, Remoulade Slaw & Old Bay Aioli. It was hard to pick a favorite between the two! Actually, Tom and I had quite a bit of seafood at the Ritz -- and happily -- every form of crab was outstanding.
For our entrees: yes, I travelled over 2,000 miles to have the Colorado Rack of Lamb. It was perfectly done, and quite delicious. Tom had the Filet Mignon, which he was extremely happy with. Since the dinners were better than the photos, I'm content to just tell you that we both ended up very satisfied customers that evening....

Night #2: Dinner at the Grille

My favorite part of the dinner the following night was the wine. It was an excellent, smoky cabernet (see the label & details below). I'm loving smokier and smokier cabs these days.
There were two reds available for dinner that night (we were buying as a group). I asked the waiter to describe the difference between the wines. He told me the Pininfarina was more "masculine." Not knowing what the hell that meant, I told him I like smoky cabs... so he suggested to go with the Pininfarina. I still don't know what a "masculine" wine is, but I loved it!

One of our administrators worked with the restaurant to come up with a pre-fixe menu of sorts. The appetizers were outstanding! The soup was good (although it did not photograph well). The entres were also excellent.... and the dessert was wonderful.

OK, back to the wine: it's a blend (60% cabernet, 29% cabernet franc, 6% sangiovese and 5% petit verdot). I have never even heard of two of these grapes, but I sure liked the outcome.
You'll notice the script for the "Pininfarina" is the same font as various advertising for Ferrari. Evidently, the car and the winery are owned by the same company. Hmm.

Livin' it up at the Ritz

This was the view from our room. Not bad for "merely" being on the 4th floor (out of 14).

Our first restaurant to visit at the Ritz turned out to be where we had a friend: Henry's brother, Luigi (Cancellaro). We enjoyed drinks and sushi. This was our sushi sampler, which was extremely tasty. It had a combination of sushi, sashimi, roll & salads.

I did not photograph our first dinner at the Ritz (downstairs in the Italian restaurant) but this was the dessert. The Ritz monogram was done in gold. It was a triple-chocolate layered mousse, in a tiny cup (shot-glass sized). Yum!

Tom's record player

Two summers ago, Tom drove out to Crawford, W. Virginia, for a visit. His father was born there; his family has owned a home there for 150+ years. One of the things he brought back was his grandmother's record player. (As we move along with "decorating" the basement, we now have the record player on display -- on the new hutch.)
I'm convinced that the record player must have actually belonged to one of Tom's great-grandparents, as it is an Edison Cylinder Phonograph. From the information that Tom found (on the internet, of course) it appears to have been manufactured around the year 1900. Apparently, the early editions sold for around $150, but this appears to be a slightly later Standard Model, sold for around $20. What a bargain!
Edison filed for a patent on his machine in 1877, and in 1878 he published the possible "future uses" for the phonograpah, in the North American Review:
1. Letter writing and all kinds of dictation without the aid of a stenographer.
2. Phonographic books, which will speak to blind people without effort on their part.
3. The teaching of education.
4. Reproduction of music.
5. The "Family Record" -- a registry of sayings, reminiscences, etc., by members of a family in their own voices, and of the last words of dying persons.
6. Music-boxes and toys.
7. Clocks that should announce in articulate speech the time for going home, going to meals, etc.
8. The preservation of languages by exact reproduction of the manner of pronouncing.
9. Education purposes; such as preserving the explanations made by a teacher, so that the pupil can refer to them at any moment, and spelling or other lessons placed upon the phonograph for convenience in committing to memory.
10. Connection with the telephone, so as to make that instrument an auxiliary in the transmission of permanent and invaluable records, instead of being the recipient of momentary and fleeting communication.

Truly a genious ahead of his time.