Snow Day Part I
We went out to get some lunch, and enjoy the snow. Turns out the bike path had become a ski path.
I had some US Olympic hockey on the dvr, so I thought, America:
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Chicken and Waffles
I went into DC for a meeting the other day. On the way back, I walked though Farragut Square, and saw some food trucks. I don’t usually work near food trucks, so I don’t get to enjoy many. As luck would have it, I came across the truck I’ve most been looking forward to trying.
I went with the classic combo.
A sweet and savory delight. If you’re ever in DC, and come across the capital chicken and waffle truck, go for the classic combo. Or better yet, don’t leave it to fate:
@CapitalCW
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Experiential Learning
I posted the other day about starting Bacardi and the Long Fight for Cuba on my kindle. I made good on my promise of a Cuban themed evening:
I picked out my last Monte #2. This stick has been in my humidor for a good while, so it needed to be smoked. I figured this was as good a time as any. And because you can’t have a Monte without rum (though I’m sure I’ve broken that rule a time or two)…:
I paired it with some HC7. I lit up the pyramid took a sip of rum, and got into the book.
All three were amazing. On the first puff, you get that unmistakable flavor. Then a sip of the rum gives you a fairly light body, but rich dark molasses, smoke, and spices. The book kept me turning the pages.
When the cigar got down to about the size of a Fuente WOA, it really hit the sweet spot. The book got into the 1920s, and I went to find some coke. I mixed myself a cuba libre (relax, why not) and finished the chapter and cigar. A great cigar, great rum, and great book made for an amazing evening.
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Weekend Cooking
This weekend I got a wild hair to do some cooking. I started with Salmon steak and a simple salad with balsamic and olive oil. Nothing fancy, just quality ingredients and not overcooking the salmon.
Then Sunday evening I had dinner with the family. I got my dad a pizza stone recently we hadn’t broken in, so I decided to make some fig and goat cheese pizza with prosciutto. I had the wife make some dough beforehand, and grab the groceries. I looked a few receipes for inspiration, but I’m not really one for directions. I made four pizzas, each different. For two, I marinated the figs (two kinds) in red wine, shallots, garlic, and rosemary. For the other two, I just put the figs on. I forgot to put prosciutto on one. I put soft goat cheese on two, and crumbled goat cheese on the others. I intended to put arugula on all of them, but it looks like I remembered it on two.
We also got to break in my mom’s new pots and pans.
My sister’s dog was up to no good, as usual.
After getting the dough into shape, I’d brush with olive oil, and cook one side on the grill. Then I’d bring it back in to load it up with toppings. This gives it a better chance to cook the crust evenly.
I tried to stay warm with two heaters going. The finished product:
As you can tell, I’m more from the Chicago school (pizza not econ in this instance) when it comes to toppings. Everything was awesome. If you have a grill, get a pizza stone and give it a try. I don’t recall what recipes I looked at, but this pizza looks pretty good. It reminds me that I also caramelized some vidalias on the pizzas I made.
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Smoking Parlor
I’d been thinking about having a smoking room in my house for years. A search on the internet would have you believe you need a fancy hepa filtration system, strong exhaust fan, or some other complex system that bipasses air ducts and reheats or cools your home. Intimidated by others’ smoking rooms, I put my idea on the back burner, thinking I’d wait until I could afford to have a high CFM exhaust fan installed. Then one day I decided to just try smoking in my office, and seeing how bad it was. As it turns out, it was fairly bad. I removed all textiles (that would hold the smell of smoke), but even so, the smoke smell lingered and even went beyond the room. As bad as it was, the smell went away in about a week, and I thought it was a problem I could solve. My current solution contains smoke to my office pretty well, and the smell only lasts a day or so. If for some reason I need the smell gone immediately, I have a backup plan for that too.
I started with Fans. I have two windows in my office, so I got a small air circulator fan for the intake, and a larger vornado for the exhaust. I didn’t buy fancy fans, or even window fans, just small cheap fans to handle a room of about 10×20. Since its winter, I bought a small ceramic heater on amazon. Its very small, very quiet, and often gets the job done on low. This was very surprising, but its really all I need to be comfortable in a tee shirt when its less than 30 degrees outside. With both fans and the heater running, its whisper quiet.
I was worried about my door so I bought weatherstripping, and went all the way around the frame. Then I bought a piece of foam to block the bottom of the door, but honestly I don’t always use it. Since I don’t have any air ducts in my office, and I’m exhausting most air out than I’m drawing in, I don’t expect much smoke to escape until I turn the fans off.
When I leave the fans running for about an hour after I’m finished, most smell is gone. If I just shut the windows and leave the room, a small amount of smell remains. If I’m having company over soon after smoking, I’ll leave the fans going, and run a small air purifier. This type of air purifier has its drawbacks, but it completely eliminates the smoke odor. For just over $100, I have a very functional smoke management system.
Despite very cold temperatures this weekend, I was able to enjoy a cigar. My wife went to brunch with some friends, so I grabbed my kindle, some bourbon, and a nice stick.
I’ll do a full review of the bourbon later. The Cabaiguan was great as always, though I did experience a slight run problem. It came out of my travel humidor, so it was probably my fault. The book I’ reading is excellent, but not well paired to Tennessee bourbon and a cigar from Ecuador and Nicaragua. I’ll try to enjoy a more authentic Cuban experience, and write it up soon.
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Me Day
I had a pretty stressful week the week before last. I decided to take a me day. I reaggravated an old rowing injury, and had a sore back, so I decided to pop a few muscle relaxers and advil, and start my day at NMTI right down the road from me in Falls Church City. NMTI is a massage school that offers massages from current students for $35 an hour. Its a great deal, and the worst massage I’ve ever had there was still good. More often than not, the massage is excellent. Its very easy to schedule your massage online.
After the massage, I stopped in palm beach tan to get some color.
After tanning, I swung by my parents house for a soak. I poured a little Talisker Storm, and put some jazz on my portable speakers.
After the hot tub, I quickly got into the sauna to dry off and stay warm (notice the snow on the ground).
In the evening, I took the metro in DC to meet a friend at Old Ebbit Grill for the orca platter (half off during happy hour). We also got a bottle of rose bubbly. A couple at the next table asked what we were celebrating (assuming we were together).
We ended the evening at Shelly’s Back Room. Had some nice cigars, and a few glasses of Blanton’s (only 9 bucks a glass, about the cheapest place to have Blantons out).
What a great day. I’m not sure how I’ll be able to top it.
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Fire in the hole
I just finished Fire in the hole on my new kindle paperwhite (with the blacklit screen, awesome). If you don’t know, Elmore Leonard wrote the books that inspired the TV show Justified (also highly recommended). Fire in the hole is a collection of some of his short stories. I like this book because it gives you a taste of each of Leonard’s genres and styles. I liked the title story, but I think I liked the western short stories the best. I already purchased his complete collection of westerns on my kindle, but next up on my queue is a book about the Bacardi family and the history of Cuba, which I want to get read before an upcoming trip…
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Interior Design, VA (&WV) Getaways
Two of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been are right here in the VA, WV area, The Homestead, and The Greenbrier. Since its the week of VDAY, and this isn’t intended to be a full blown review or comparison, I’ll keep mostly to the aesthetics.
(Credit, this interior design blog, how apropos (more beautiful pics after the jump))
(photo credit, and more great style) Next, how do you even pick just one photo of The Greenbrier?
For more information on The Greenbrier’s original interior designer, Dorothy Draper, check out the Greenbrier’s take, and grab the coffee table book we have (authored by the The Greenbrier’s current designer).
So how much do my wife and I love America’s great resorts? We got married at The Homestead, and The Greenbrier inspired the design of our own home.
My wife picked the colors, and chose wallpaper made by Carleton Varney. Shes also responsible for the built-ins, dental, chair rails, decorations, plants, and all the Mackenzie-Childs. However, I will admit that the smaller flower arrangements were done by yours truly. The best part? I spray painted the mason jars, bought the flowers, and added the quail and pheasant feathers my buddies and I brought back from a hunting trip, and gave each of my fellow hunters their own arrangement for VDay last year. They were as embarrassed as I was, so it was a great success.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/travel/graphics/resortschart.pdf
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Valentine’s Day
VDay is only a week away. If you haven’t already, its time to make some reservations, and buy a gift. I recommend an etsy shop with Appalachian inspired jewelry, run by a Virginia Tech grad:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/12POLE
I’d imagine the ladies already have things handled, but just in case, for a last minute gift hit the ABC store and grab a bottle of Elmer T Lee (bourbon), or Laphroaig (scotch). I, personally, always like more brown sauce, ammo, cigars, etc. If you hit the cigar store, but don’t know what to buy, my first recommendation is to ask his buddies what he likes, but my second is something by Arturo Fuente. If the shopkeeper has anything in the Hemingway line, you’re golden.
Y’all have a good one.
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Golf trip
I just signed up for an annual golf trip one of my Dad’s grade school buddies organizes (talk about an old friend). I’m quite excited to get out to Myrtle with some of my friends, and a bunch of my Dad’s. I also saw an interesting article about golf today. First link is for credit to the article, second is the actual article. Looks like the same author wrote both.
http://www.ivy-style.com/are-we-having-fun-yet-chens-on-golf-for-wsj.html
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304632204579339231167199684
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