Happy Halloween!

Danny Update

I know we've been slackers recently about posting. Here are some pictures of Danny so far this fall. He loves being outside and luckily the weather has been nice this fall.

Favorite way up the slide

Playing with our toys. Check out the elevator on the garage.

At the zoo with grandpa

Walking on the wall in the backyard

Bike riding with Daddy

Loves pushing the stroller, not so sure about riding in it anymore.

More posts to come soon. Still need to do Hawaii, pumpkin patch and after this weekend Halloween.

Kauai

More pictures to come, but for now...

Tour de France

After watching the stage this morning on TV, thought I'd post some pics from the 2007 prologue in London. It was a time trial and we had pretty nice spot to watch the riders. Aaron got to ride in the Milram team car the next day on the London to Canterbury stage.

Riders warming up, Buckingham Palace in top left corner

Time trial

Big Ben from the team car

Feed zone

Words

Danny's been coming up with more and more words lately. Most of them we can't understand, but a few have come through. By far the best has been when I was leaving for work this morning he said "I love you". Yeah, tough to leave after that one. Some of the others we've managed to decipher so far have been shower, door, and duck. Snacks or drinks get combined into na-na-na-na so far. Ma-ma and Da-da are coming more frequently form the crib in the morning when he's ready to get up. Still waiting for the first Rock Chalk chant :)

Happy 4th of July (a little late)!

We went to Downs for 4th of July weekend. Danny had a great time eating ice cream and playing in the pool. He slept through the fireworks, again this year.

A Semi-Momentous Event

Danny just placed his first phone call. Luckily it was to Daddy and not Abu Dhabi.

DC Pictures

Some pictures of our trip to Washington DC...

If you read Aaron's previous post, the infamous fire truck

Danny cruising the Mall

World War II Monument

Washington Monument from Lincoln Memorial

Aaron and Danny at Mount Vernon

Megan and Danny in front of the Wright brothers plane at the Air and Space Museum. I got a little sunburn on the trip.

We take the path well worn...

I think you'd have to call any interstate highway well worn. Given the condition some portions were in they're far beyond "well". But I digress, if that's possible within the first few sentences of writing.

Last week was the big trip to Washington, D.C. to visit Molly and Lorenzo. Sunday morning before Memorial Day we loaded up the car, told Danny the next couple of days would be fun (sorry for stretching reality on that one, son), and headed east. Within an hour and a half we'd stopped. Danny had figured out how to get the water out of his leak-resistant sippy cup and ended up with soaked shorts and a very wet car seat. Awesome start to the trip!

Once we took a short break things smoothed out a bit, at least as far as Danny was concerned. Megan may or may not have a vendetta out on all drivers who fail to understand that cruise control is a good thing. Let's just say I'm driving through Missouri and St. Louis on any future trips and leave it at that.

Getting through St. Louis we entered Illinois and were immediately annoyed. Sixty-five, Illinois? In the middle of the prairie? Seriously? Luckily I-64 is only in the home of the Cubbies for a short time. Although, we did have an eventful stop for lunch before we moved on to Indiana.

We had packed some food for lunches on the way out so we wouldn't have to do fast food all the way. This was working great until Danny had a bite of apple that had a piece of skin that was a bit too large and gagged the poor kid. Vomit, meet foot. Foot, try not to get anything on the floor of the rest stop before I can wash you off.

Side note: Really big realization hit me at this point about how much being a parent has changed me. I was eating an apple at the time and didn't have a good place to set it down so I finished it off while wiping off my foot with a paper towel. Not really phased at all. No way that happens pre-parenthood.

Back to the narrative. After St. Louis drivers and annoying speed limits I took over the driving for the rest of the uneventful trek to Lexington. Upside: first hotel we tried had a room at a rate we were happy with. Downside: it was an Embassy Suites and we had just missed their complimentary happy hour. The best part of the hotel though was a surprisingly good hotel restaurant. This was the first time I'd had a good experience with a chain hotel's restaurant in the US. I was able to have a bourbon flight to try some different bourbons (Lexington is on the bourbon trail) and both of the dishes we ordered were really good.

Enough about food. Back to the driving. From Lexington we continued on I-64 to I-68 through West Virginia and then into Maryland. Word to the wise: don't go this way the afternoon of the last day of a holiday weekend. Where I-68 joins up with I-70 is a mess if more than 10 cars have to pass through it in an hour. Worst traffic of the trip by far. This is where I felt bad for Danny. Poor kid is stuck in his car seat when there's really no chance of us going more than 3 mph for the next 3 miles. This is why road trips were easier when we were kids. We could crawl around in the back seat and nobody thought twice about it.

Even with the delay we managed to get to Alexandria in pretty good time. Danny had some time to run around and adjust to his surroundings before bed and I had time to help Lorenzo fiddle with the thermostat to get the heat pump to start cooling the house (85 degrees at the time of our arrival. Temperature at departure: a pleasant 73. Sorry about the electric bill, Molly and Lorenzo).

Our first day walking around was definitely the most eventful. Molly was able to take the day off so the three of us and Danny headed to the Mall to wander. I hadn't been to the World War II Memorial since they finished it off so we got off the Metro at the Smithsonian and headed that way. On the way we got some pictures of Danny in front of the Washington Monument and snickered quietly that the PETA protester wanted to hand me some pamphlets about becoming a vegetarian. The war memorial was very impressive. I didn't get the somber vibe from it that I got previously at the Vietnam Monument. That might have been because that last time I was at the Vietnam wall it was night or it could be that the fountains at the WWII memorial give it a sense of life. Either way, it's an impressive monument to the sacrifice so many made for that war. I highly recommend a visit. After dodging a large number of tour groups we moved on toward the Lincoln Monument. Danny thoroughly enjoyed walking on the path by the reflecting pool and he was a real trooper when dad got side tracked reading the inscriptions at the Lincoln Monument.

Lunch was an adventure by itself. We headed for the FAA building to meet Lorenzo and go to a sandwich shop near his building called Potbelly. By this point Danny was getting kind of cranky and it was the lunch rush so the place was packed. Megan took Danny to wrangle him and try to keep him somewhat calm until I could get food for us. During the wrangling Megan wandered over toward the front door while holding Danny. What just happened to be sitting at eye level with Danny by the door? A red handle shaped like an inverted tear drop connected to a box with a white background. Well, what does any inquisitive 15 month old do when confronted with such an object do? He grabs it of course. Only, this object set off blinking lights, ringing bells, and caused a bunch of people from the offices in the upper floors of the building to come out on the street. That's right, our not-intentionally-delinquent son pulled the fire alarm (future blog post coming with a picture of the fire engine). Megan was mortified; I was clueless he had anything to do with the alarm because I was locked in on making sure our order was right so Danny had something to eat. Now I'm almost sad we didn't ask the firemen that came in the truck for a picture with Danny, but there was no way I was trying it at the time. They didn't look too happy.

After such an exciting first day we kept it pretty simple the rest of the trip. Danny got into a rhythm of taking a long morning nap and a short afternoon one so we were a little limited in how many sites we could get to. In the end this was good for Megan and I because we had some good downtime. We did get to see the National Archives (for me), the Air and Space Museum (for Danny and me) and visited Ikea for Megan (though I enjoyed the Swedish meatballs).

The drive back was long, but nothing too interesting. I-70 isn't nearly as picturesque, but it's easier to drive because of less curves and mountains. But I say booo to you Ohio and your 65 speed limit as well.

I think that covers probably more than the highlights. Overall we had a really good time and it was great hanging out with Molly and Lorenzo for an extended period. Most of the time we get to see them only in short bursts or in the whirlwind of family gatherings. It was a good chance for me to get to know both of them better and I really enjoyed it.

Megan's already got both of us thinking about the next trip. Maybe we'll try to keep this one under 2,000 miles total though.

Where Megan Roles Her Eyes Uncountable Times

Anyone who follows my Reader shares has seen multiple items related to sous vide cooking lately. I've known about using a water bath at a low temperature to cook and hold food at an exact temperature for a long time, but the closest I thing I had tried to it was poaching chicken in our electric skillet.

Several posts on Serious Eats about sous vide (which is actually the vacuum sealing bit rather than the water bath bit) techniques got piqued my interest, especially when they investigated using coolers and Ziploc bags instead of the $450 Sous Vide Supreme. It worked for them so I figured I'd give it a shot (this is where the eye rolling begins).

My first target food was chicken. I really like grilled chicken, but it seems like I have the easiest time messing it up. I normally end up with charred skin by the time the meat is cooked even when I use indirect heat. If the chicken is already cooked before it goes on the grill it should just be a matter of browning the skin.

For this experiment I placed four seasoned chicken thighs in individual zip top sandwich bags along with a little olive oil, rosemary, thyme and garlic. Using the electric kettle and my invaluable probe thermometer I filled a cooler with water that was slightly above 140 degrees

Yes, yes, I know, salmonella. There's a chart somewhere from the USDA that shows the safe level of harmful bacteria left after a certain amount of time at different temperatures. Chicken is safe if held at 140 for 30 minutes or more. My target was 40 minutes so we were good.

Back to the action. Leaving each bag partially open I lowered them slowly into the cooler. This pushed the air out and was a good enough replacement for the vacuum seal.

After 40 minutes I took the chicken out and headed to the grill. Here are the results:

Unfortunately I got worried about flare ups charring the skin instead of browning it so I pulled the chicken a little early. I was looking for a better browning, but the chicken overall was great. Extremely juicy and tender.

Attempt number two involved rib eye steaks. Rib eyes are my favorite steak, especially the bit around the side that is really marbled and incredibly flavorful. For the steaks my target temperature was 130 (medium-rare, the only real way to eat steak). Given the mass of the steaks (three this time) I employed a second cooler for one of the hunks o' meat. Starting the water at about 135 to allow for a slight drop I seasoned the steaks with salt and pepper (nothing else needed) and put them in the bags.

After about an hour they were ready to go on a rocket hot griddle for a quick browning. The fat had just started to render and the proteins were starting to set. I rubbed the steaks with a little canola oil and put them on the griddle. Instant sizzle was music to my ears. What wasn't so pleasant was when I flipped the first one after a minute some fat splashed back on my hand. The fat rendered so fast since it was already warm that there was quite a bit on the griddle by the time it came to flip. The scars are forming nicely as I type this.

Once the steaks had gotten browned on the second side (took about a minute each side) I pulled them off and we were ready to go. No resting necessary since the steaks hadn't been assaulted by high heat for more than a minute or two. The results were about as good as I could have wanted:

In the end I definitely would use this technique again, especially if I'm planning a multi-course dinner where timing gets tricky. Being able to start the main course protein ahead and then quickly finish it would eliminate a lot of obstacles to more complex preparations. This probably isn't an everyday thing, but definitely worth having in my culinary bag of tricks.

San Antonio

A non Danny post!!

Aaron and I went to San Antonio for our anniversary trip this year. Very relaxing, caught up on some much need sleep and ate way too much tex-mex food.

Market Square during Fiesta - bands, beer and food

Cool building, designed to look flat when looking up at it

Riverwalk

Officially a Toddler

Birthday Party

Pictures from Danny's first birthday party - a little late! Pizza, cupcakes and presents!

I love cupcakes!!

The Aftermath

Presents are great, but the wrapping paper is better.

Danny and Abby playing.

Emily trying to give Danny a birthday hug.

Happy St. Patty's Day!!!

Happy Birthday Danny!

Danny turned one year old today. Dad's excited. Mom can't believe how fast Danny's growing up. The birthday was cut a little short because someone thought birthday boys don't need afternoon naps.

Mmmmm, cheeseburgers.

Mommy makes a mean birthday cake.

Not pictured: sugar twitching and the inevitable crash.

Update

Lots of new pictures...

I love the snow!

Our little adrenaline junkie, loves sledding.

Snack time!

Playing with Emily at the Super Bowl Party.

Just chillin'

He Walked!

At 8:33 this morning Danny took his first unassisted step! Mommy and Daddy are extremely proud. Danny has no clue why.

Dancing Fool

Andy and Hye Jung's wedding was this weekend. Danny loved the lights from the disco ball.

Let it snow!

Had to get a picture up of Danny's first time playing in the snow. Not sure if he knew what to make of it, but he face planted in it at one point and handled it well. Looks like I may have a skiing partner for future trips!

Christmas!

Wow! Talk about a whirlwind holiday. Christmas flew by with so many activities I think we're just now recovering. Danny had a really good Christmas, got appropriately spoiled by grandparents, aunts and uncles, and got to try his first cookie (that went over well). We had a good Christmas as well, but talk about being worn out!

Danny lucked into a white Christmas on his very first one!

The best part of course is the wrapping paper. Who needs toys when you can make so much noise with this stuff?

The first truck (insert manly grunting sounds here).