Sorry For The Delay...

Well, as suspected, returning to the working force has meant a dearth of posts - you know, commuting, working, commuting, making dinner, checking social network sites banned at work, catching up on emails banned at work, playing with child, playing with spouse, getting in a few tabletop baseball games from different eras, listening to my favorite baseball team play at home (i.e., 10:15 pm EDT start times), and finally, getting to sleep, blah, blah, blah...

(I know, I know...NO EXCUSES)

But, as I feel that a "routine" may be falling into place, I hope that will mean a little more time spent on letting my thoughts flow, and sharing it with an adoring public (or, at least, my family - thanks guys!)

*Since last we met, I've turned the page on another year; the "44" part of the title of this blog refers to my age; I did want to name it spf45, but, surprise, that name is ALREADY TAKEN! (Very nice pics, though...)

*Also, since last we met, we've crowned one Top Chef Master (go Marcus!),

*The regular Top Chef has started, with the cheftestants applying their expertise (or lack thereof) in the nations' capitol. And, for the first time, a former classmate of mine from the CCA (California Culinary Academy, or Can't Cook Anything) is one of the cheftestants (don't ask me about any anecdotes/potential blackmail stuff, because that was 15 years ago, and I honestly don't remember...).

*For a great recap of each Top Chef episode, my favorite blogger has started doing a weekly recap - check it out here.

*With the temperatures rising, I'm seeing more fruit at the market (a lot coming from Cali, BTW), and lobsters are all over the place ($4.99 a pound! Lobster roll, here we come!).

*In a couple of weeks, I'll be making my first foray down the shore in a couple of years, and it'll be so nice to get sun, sand, surf, pizza, GTL...

*Father's Day upcoming - think I'll save my thoughts for a stand-alone post...

So, what's the house like?

As I make my way back to the working world this week (woo freakin' hoo!), I began to realize that I'll be back in an office setting a good portion of the day, and not in our new digs. Thus, for the curious, I give you several places that I won't be spending much time in during the day...

Here in the living room, where, due to size restraints, the bridge that usually connects our shelving has been put to the side. The built-ins have taken all our books, and the shelving that was used for tapes and dvd's is now pretty much a culinary library...

Or the kitchen, with a nice little breakfast nook, though the table is used more for updating this here blog, and for playing Ball Park Baseball (replaying the 1905 season), and Skeetersoft NP3 baseball (replaying the 1930 season). BTW, if any of you are ever stuck on what to give me for a present, season card sets from these two companies would do just fine...

This is probably my favorite spot of the house - the three season screened porch, where one can relax, sip a cool libation, watch the grass/shrubbery grow, and scurry away the occasional chipmunk that sneaks in (cute, but I hear they bite)...the porch leads to the...

Backyard! (freshly mowed!) Great spot for the little boy, since he's really into running around, wearing his 49er helmet, or playing baseball, soccer, frisbee, and, as long as your well protected from the MANY BUGS that swarm around, perfect for just chillaxing. And, now that we have a full tank attached to the grill, let the summer barbeque season begin.

This is our cat's favorite place of the house, the bay window where she can watch joggers, cars, bikers, chipmunks, squirrels, foxes, birds, and the occasional letter carrier pass by...all while getting a nice sun tan...

So, that's a brief rundown of our new living quarters. Let us know when y'all want to visit!

OMG! It's been a month! Start Cooking!

Sooooooooooooooooo...one month in.................

(No, I haven't gone loco yet...)

As with any move, there are adjustments to be made; with a move like this (cross country), well, several additional adjustments have been made, like the internal clock is now pretty much running on East Coast Time, with the only hiccups coming when I want to listen to a Giants baseball game from the west coast that starts at 10:15 here...

Keep it up, Buster; keep it up!

Now that the house is in order, the cooking has picked up, some; typical stuff (stir fries, pasta marinara), some great buys from Trader Joe's (the chicken burgers? yum!), and, as always, Zach friendly stuff (Easy Mac, chix nuggets, Spaghetti-o's)

One bit I had forgetten was the same product/different name thing here; to wit:

west coast - oroweat/east coast - arnold
west coast - Dreyer's/east coast - Edy's
west coast - Best Foods/east coast - Hellman's

I'm sure there are others, but my mind escapes me...

I have found a couple of asian markets, quite a number of european markets, and, when I feel very adventurous, I'll make treks out to Hartford to check out the Jamaican/Caribbean stores to get my fill of delicious patties, jerk chicken, etc, and hopefully the resources to make them at home.

Besides some of the obvious food items that I miss from San Francisco (Graffeo Coffee, Boudin Sourdough, dungeness crab), the biggest two items not here that would make me feel so at home right now would have to be the chicken katsu lunch plate, and the mega-stuffed burrito:















That sound you hear? Everyone in my family on the west coast calling in their order to either L&L Hawaiian Barbecue, or their favorite burrito place.

I know a lot of you are thinking "Robert, you are a trained effin chef after all - make it yourself!", and to that I reply "true, but, still..."

Once the work situation rights itself (and it looks to be happening very soon!), then I'll be able to work tortillas, panko, short grain japanese rice, carne asada, avocados, etc., into the budget, and try to replicate the tastes that I'm missing.

Oh, and a quick note regarding cheap chinese food here - just not the same...

So, having taken out all the cookbooks, as well as all my culinary school binders, there should be no excuses about missing any of the above foods, since I have a pretty spacious kitchen from which I can turn out all kinds of yummy good things; I recently introduced the east coast relatives to my favorite brownies of all time, and, with some birthdays coming up, there will be ample opportunities to showcase my favorite brunch items, dinner items, and baked goods.

Till next time...