Foodtopia Moments

In my first Foodtopia Moment of the summer, I managed to make a veal osso buco. I started by searing bone-in veal chops before putting them to the side. Then I sauteed some diced carrots, onions, garlic, and celery. Once the onions were sweating, I added chicken stock and a little can of whole small tomatoes. I let that cook for about five minutes, then I smashed the tomatoes with a wooden spoon, added the white wine, sprinkled in the seasoning and let it cook for another minute or two stirring all of the ingredients together. After that, I added the seared veal and put the whole pan in the oven at 300 for an hour to braise, turning the meat halfway through. While the veal was braising, I sauteed some spinach with whole garlic cloves. The meal was delicious, and the meat was very tender

68 Days of Summer - Days 3 & 4 - The First Weekend

The first weekend of summer is in the books, and I managed not to do any schoolwork. spent most of the weekend either cooking, hanging out with friends and watching soccer, or watching movies. I saw the "Secret Life of Walter Mitty" and "Dallas Buyers Club." The latter was a great film. Mitty, was visually pretty cool, but not that great of a movie. It was kind of like the anti-Gump, because Forrest did everything while Mitty just dreamed about doing things.

Today I went up to Raritan to watch the World Cup and have dinner with Steve. We also worked on plans for our trip west later in the summer. Looks like Portland and Eugene, Oregon, and Seattle. We'll see Rutgers vs. Washington St. in Seattle on August 28, the Mariners game on August 29, then head back to Eugene to see Oregon host South Dakota on August 30. We'll have a day and a half to see the sights in Seattle, and a whole day to rummage around Portland. Hope to have tickets in hand soon.

68 Day of Summer - Day 2

Today was jam packed. After getting to bed late following a second-place showing at quizzo, I still managed to wake up at 6:30 without my alarm clock. I'm looking forward to the day when I can sleep past 8 am.

I decided it was time to go on a bike ride for the first time in a month. Thankfully, I managed to keep a pace of close to 12 mph for 40 minutes or so, knocking out more than eight miles. The MS Bike ride to the shore is only three months away. Then I went shopping.

Single handedly, I stimulated the economy getting little needs for the summer. Most of my biggest purchase, clothes, was done with gift cards so my buyer's remorse was minimal. I tried to buy and install a wifi light system so I could control my houselights from Italy, but the system sold at Home Depot is junk, and the app doesn't work right. So it's return it to the store tomorrow.

Now the task is searching for tickets for mom to come over to Italy. Unless she heads to JFK, which would be extremely difficult for her with a walker and a motorized rascal scooter, she's looking at about $1,700. Flying JFK would cost less than $1,100.

68 Days of Summer - Day 1

Day one of my summer break, and I am luckily back to exercising. Walked a little more than a 5K this morning for the first time in more than a month. I am starting this summer about 35 pounds lighter than last summer, and still dropping. My summer is shaping up to be a busy one, starting today with a trip to a bar in the afternoon for the USA/Germany World Cup Game and later on I'm playing team trivia for the first time in seven weeks. 

Earlier this week, I began to organize my carry-on bag for my trip to Italy. Is there ever such a thing as too many electronics? I am flying Emirates Air out of JFK into Milan. It's my first time with the airline, and my first trip to Milan where I may see more than an airport terminal (stopped there for connections in 1994 and 2005). At least the airline gives complimentary drinks and allows two bags up to 50 pounds each.

Aside from the vacation to Italy, where hopefully I'll wrap up two full-length feature scripts, this summer also includes my sister's wedding and a sports-themed trip to Seattle. So stay tuned to my blog as I plan to make posts for the next 68 days with updates about summer.