Out and About

The next two weeks are going to be busy, but a good busy. First, Memorial Day is nearly upon us and I'm stoked. As usual, we're headed up to Nickbot's where good times, and I mean GOOD times, will be had by all. Right after that, we're headed out to San Francisco to hang with the family and I anticipate more good times, and I mean more GOOD times.

Anyway, that means there will be a dearth of posts/updates around here for a couple of weeks. Have a good Memorial Day and get some relaxation in...like this guy:


Q passed out on his girly chew toy. I'm gonna miss him and Kya, but someone has got to stay here to hold down the fort (along with Eddie and Alice).

Bloody Mary

I generally don't drink cocktails but I have to say that the Bloody Mary is one fine drink and I've spent a good amount of time scouring the city for a great version of it. Having told this to someone, I was asked what my personal favorite was and realized that I had no answer.

During the next sunny afternoon, I decided to find my answer. I went to the store to procure critical research materials for my experimentation, such as booze and tomato juice. For whatever reason, I started "gourmet" and was using crap like roasted garlic, cilantro, beer, cumin, and balsamic vinegar. After lots of hard work and a couple of naps, I decided that there was nothing better than sticking to tradition:


- pour Worcestshire sauce to just cover the bottom of a small tumbler
- fill with 6-7 oz chilled low sodium tomato juice
- pinch of fresh finely ground black pepper
- large pinch of celery salt
- 1 to 3 dashes of Tabasco sauce
- 2 or 3 dashes of lime juice, preferably fresh
- 1.5 to 2 oz of chilled vodka
- stir slowly, stir well

It's a small but strong serving, there's no ice involved, and horseradish is optional. I think the best place to get creative is with the garnish, from celery, carrots, asparagus, pickles, peppers, cheese, salami, shrimp, to whatever.

This is important stuff people.

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Ivy

Fish Cake?

Cathy made a quick little cake for Jillian's birthday the other week (which she's done once before for her sister Leah). It made me smile:


Fish cake. Those fish look very pleased with themselves...

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Liberals

"A Wonderful, Magical Animal"

Sorry to any of you vegetarians out there, but I'd just like to give a shout out to pig. Its belly in particular. Most of you know it via bacon, which is a fantastical cured meat that pretty much has the capacity to improve any dish. Some of you, however, may not know that pork belly is delicious uncured as well, whether it's braised, roasted, grilled, or even just plain boiled in slices or chunks - a fact which Asians exploit regularly. I've also noticed that in the past couple of years, "nice" restaurants have been serving uncured pork belly in various forms but honestly, it's not difficult at all to prepare or acquire. So quick, get on the belly boat and rock out.


Some animals are more equal than others.

Nordhouse Dunes, Part 2

Ok, continuing and finishing the summary:


Me sitting in one of the many dunal moraines. This barren little spot was actually right by my campsite, although my tent was tucked into a small group of trees to help protect me from the wind.


Except for a mutually confusing encounter with a porcupine, the rest of my evening was pretty uneventful. I spent some time gathering dead wood, eating, wandering around the dunes, and enjoying some fair weather. However, the night brought in some good rain and wind. Knowing this would probably happen, I had attached more guylines than usual and anchored my tent stakes. However, there was no thunder, so I pretty much slept through it all - and this was unfortunate since I was unaware that my vestibule buckled a bit, causing my boots to get filled with rain. Weeee.


Because of the predicted rain and increasing fire risk, the rangers decided to do a prescribed burn in a couple areas to clear out the combustible underbrush. Although this shot was post-burn and post-rain, there was still some smoldering wood in the back. Controlled burns like this are usually for hazard reduction purposes and it might seem destructive, but they can actually benefit the forest's ecosystem (e.g., recycling the detritus, releasing nutrients, even encouraging fruiting in some plant species).


One of Porter Creek's outlets emptying into Lake Michigan. Before it was just a minor trickle running through a shallow channel. The night's rain, however, significantly increased the output of the creek and caused it to gouge out quite a bit of sand.


And that was about it. Just a quick little trip but it was perfect for checking on some of my aging gear (some of which I've decided is done for), testing out a new camera harness, and getting a little bit of wilderness solitude in. Good times.