Ultimate Recipe Showdown

My new favorite show is Ultimate Recipe Showdown, even though Guy Fieri is really annoying. Contestants send in their recipes, and then are invited to compete on the show; they are given 1 hour to make the first recipe, and then a "speed round" of 1/2 hour to complete a second.

So far I have been inspired to make 2 dishes from the show; actually Dahlia mostly made the first one, which was Pumpernickel Pastrami with Rosemary Ale-Jus.

Then yesterday I had the day off and put together some Vietnamese Bistro Burgers.

I totally dig pickling things, it turns out.

The Food Network is on virtually all the time at our house now, between URS, Iron Chef America, Throwdown with Bobby Flay, Ace of Cakes, and the various "Challenge" spinoffs... I like URS the best though, the contestants are less polished, more interesting.

Test photo from my cell

Test photo from my cell, originally uploaded by dahl.

I finally looked up instructions on posting from my cell. Since the rest of my photos are still on my camera, enjoy the test.

Happy New Year!

Sam kicked off the new year by going for a dip in the Atlantic Ocean at the annual Coney Island Polar Bear Swim. I can't believe he found it so invigorating while I was freezing just watching! A good start to a new year.

Here's my rundown of the numbers from the past year.

My Year in Cities
Brooklyn, NY*
Alford, MA*
Boston, MA
Somerville, MA
Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia*
South Gobi, Mongolia
Khongor, Mongolia
Bayanzag, Mongolia
Ongi, Temple, Mongolia
Karakorum, Mongolia
Arkhangi, Mongolia
Tsagaan Lake, Mongolia
Jargal Jiguur, Mongolia
Huvsgul Lake, Mongolia
Beijing, China
St Paul, MN

One or more nights spent in each place. Those cities marked with an * were visited multiple times on non-consecutive days. Our only big trip was Mongolia, but what a trip. (2007, 2006 and 2005)

As for the local scene, I kept track of all the places I went to in NYC. Cut down on the number of visits to Cafe Charlie - only 21 - branching out.

And on the arts scene, I saw 44 movies in the theater and read 21 books, and 16 theater performances. More movies and theater than last year, but a lot of those movies were shorts from Sundance at BAM. And fewer books than last year, but partially because Infinite Jest was so huge.

All in all, a great year.

+More photos from Coney Island on Flickr