FresYes

The rumor is out...I'll be in Fresno the first weekend of October. Of course the main reason is mom's birthday, cause I'm a momma's boy. Still, I can't come to Fresno without hanging out with the Dice Riff Raff.

I'll fly in on Friday morning, spend the day with whoever will entertain me, then a quick ride up the to family compound to pick up a car, and back to Fresno for the night. As usual I would appreciate any couch that will accept me.

Mid-day Saturday it's back up the hill to spend the rest of the weekend with the family, and out again on the first flight Monday morning.

It's not a lot of time in town, but it's been a while and I miss the crew so anythings better than nothing.

Weekend

Before I start, I have to say that I'm looking forward to the Henry T. Perea interview on TVLGFHF. It will be a hard act to follow, but I plan to get on there someday. I'll know I made it when...

On to the weekend. My friend Shawna was in town for work, so we were able to hang out for the weekend. We took a road trip to Ellensburg to see Roz, who we both know from different areas. It was nice to get out of town and see another part of the state.

On Saturday we did a bit of pickling. I bought a pressure cooker/canner and rummaged through the fridge and garden for things to pickle. We settled on green beans, cherry tomatoes, cauliflower, and baby corn. Since it was all a big experiment, I mixed it up and did some with apple cider vinegar and some with rice wine vinegar, mixing up the seasonings (garlic, ginger, onion, dill, etc.) All the jars sealed properly, so now I'll give them a month to get their pickle on, then I'll crack them open.

When the pickling was finished we hopped on the bikes and rode out to the Red Hook brewery in Woodinville with some friends. Matt and Carly came, and I'm proud of Carly for making the ride. I didn't tell her that it was a 40+ mile round trip, so she wasn't really prepared. But she did great. Katie brought her friend Cat, who I made fun of for riding a fixie. We had a good time, ate a bunch of food at the brewery restaraunt, and had a nice ride home in the dark.
(Random photo of the food.)

(Carly and Katie on the deck at Redhook)
(Cat takes over the camera. I like the beer! By the way I bleached my hair a couple months ago.)

Cat and I took the plunge and shared a Blackhook Porter Float. It sounded interesting, but we were a bit afraid. The trick is to fight the urge to eat the foam on top, just keep stirring until the ice cream is completely mixed in. At that point it becomes a yummy boozy ice cream treat.

Busy Week

I had high hopes for keeping up with the posts, so forgive the delay.

It's been a busy couple of weeks. There are lost of changes in the Haus of Dude. One of the roommates (Brent) got married this weekend. I helped out by catering the rehearsal dinner.

Menu:

Rosemary Lemonade
Green Salad w baked goat cheese
Orzo salad
Potato Salad
Grilled Vegetables
Flank Steak
Pesto, Red Pepper Romesco, Chimichuri sauces
Lemon Bars

It wasn't too crazy technique-wise, but it was for 40 people. I've never cooked for that many on my own. Fortunately some of Brent's family chipped in. It made life a lot easier.


Apart from the food, the wedding means Brent is moving out. My friend Jeff just moved in last night to take his place, although Brent hasn't actually moved his stuff out yet.

We are also losing Ted soon, since his girlfriend Liila is moving back to Seattle. (Liila is the original inhabitant of the house.) We put an add up on Craigslist for a roommate, as well as a sublet since Brendan is going to Iceland for the next 6 months. After meeting several people, we chose two girls. We liked the idea of gender balance. I'll write more about the girls when they move in and I learn more about them. The short of it is that Teddy is replacing Ted, and Clare will be staying in the house for 6 months. What I know so far:

Teddy works in a biology lab at UW
Clare is in a theater company, and works at my favorite donut shop, Mighty-O.

Sorry there aren't any pictures. Hope I didn't bore you with words.