Sommz

...it's Thursday...sunny...and a bit chilly

Bad Steve for not blogging sooner.  I'm sure i had a bunch of things to say that one person in the world might of found useful, ha.

So here i sit, about 2 hours before the Bills make their first selection under the current brain trust.  I have this fear it's going to be an OLB or someone from Georgia Tech or Coe College.  I want a fat offensive lineman...that's good.  I can even understand taking Spiller.  Just don't go Raiders on me and pick some 4.3 WR from Oklahoma Beauty Tech.

As for the Sabres.  Ug...another Buffalo sports team that breaks your heart.  They just aren't good enough with the best goalie in the world.  Please spend some money in the offseason and get a goal scorer or two.

Sheesh, i've cooked the last two weeks. Need to write about it soon!

Stuffed Peppers

Well today i took a few pages from the Soprano's cookbook, and made Stuffed Peppers and a rather weak version of a marinara sauce.

The stuffed peppers were awesome!  They were made with eggplant, capers, anchovies, black olives and tomatoes.  It's the first time I've ever had them, so i don't know any different filling.  But a few people have told me rice is typical.  I will definitely make them again.  I put a few pics up on my Facebook page. 

The marinara was weak.  I apparently do not know the difference between crushed tomatoes, and Italian peeled tomatoes.  I bought the crushed, followed the directions, and it was eh...crushy.

I know how to make proper Sunday sauce...i will do that one day where i have 6 hours to make it.

Jets lost, i am so happy!  My idiot neighbors were grunting everytime they did something good, and it was nice to shut them up.

No beer this weekend.  I wasn't in the mood.  I did go for a walk around Delaware Park on Saturday.  It was packed, and the day was perfect.

Today is the first day in 6 days i didn't reach 10,000 steps.  It's 8:15 now, and I'm stuck at 3,300.  I should go for a 30 minute walk at least on the treadmill before i goto bed.

I'm sure there's more i should be writing, but i've now talked myself into hopping on the treadmill for a few minutes...at least get my number over 5,000 ha.

By the time i get to Arizona

Well today is MLK day...no work for me, and no classes.  Whenever i think of MLK, i think of the Public Enemy video for "By the time i get to Arizona".  I'd post it on the blog, but you can search for it yourself.

I've reinstated my Twitter and Facebook sites.  I don't know why, i just did.

Loved last night's 24.  I can't wait for tonight.  I also watched last week's Biggest Loser, which motivated me to get on the treadmill and do 70 minutes, speed 3, incline 2.  I started watching Chuck, but fell asleep...and i still have 4 movies to watch from Netflix.  I didn't watch any of them this weekend.

My back is out again.  I wonder if the chiro and the massage had something to do with it...or perhaps the amount of time i spent sleeping or watching tv this weekend.  I'm sure it was a combination of the two.

Had a couple Lagunitas over the weekend.  The Pils is amazing, one of my favorites, and the 2009 was a double IPA which I'm not a fan of.  At least it was only 6.8%, and not a 10+.

Another coaching retread headed to the Jills to coach.  Chan Gailey.  Yawn.  I"m sure he'll be fine, and have the boys ready for another 7-9 season next year.  I'm so close to becoming a Browns fan right now.  I hate what the Bills are doing.  Not that the Clowns are much better with Mangina, but at least they have Holmgren, and he should steer the ship in the right direction.

Sabres in Phoenix tonight...sort of fitting given the title of this post.

Shepherd's Pie yesterday was amazing.  I've never had it before, and it was so fun and easy to make, to go along with tasty.  I'll definitely make it again, and share with others.  I made mine with some minor additions and deletions from the original recipe. I  used Morningstar crumbles instead of ground beef...peas instead of zucchini, and i actually used my mixer and grater for the first time in years.  In addition, i didn't make the mushroom-onion gravy because i didn't have any red wine.  Next time!  There will be booze in the gravy :)

Sleeping a lot lately...it's time to wake up.  It's my birthday in two weeks.  Next to get off the shelf...been there for too long.

...Sunday in January Ramblings

Well, let's see...I've canceled my Facebook and Twitter accounts this past week.  I felt like i was talking to myself.  Classes resumed last Monday, and I've already skipped one.  I gave a resume writing seminar, and i have another session schedule on Tuesday.  Lagunitas was the Saturday beer of choice, and it was excellent.  I hate the Jets, i hope they lose badly today.  I spent last week being extremely tired every single day.  I don't know why, I'm getting enough sleep.  Listening to Sirius/XM U has totally changed my musical preferences.  No way would i be listening to Girls, or Vampire Weekend if i wasn't.  This is a good thing.  I need a vacation...really really bad.

And today I'll be cooking Shepherd's Pie with a Mushroom Onion Gravy.  I've never tried Shepherd's...at least i don't think i have.  I've always wanted to.  In today's recipe I'm going to replace the ground beef with Morningstar crumbles...no beef for me.

To the 0-1 person's reading this blog, i'll write more later on how it turned out.  It'll be ready by halftime of the Chargers Jets game.

Vampire Weekend - Contra

I bought the new Vampire Weekend CD, Contra today.  This is not a normal CD purchase for me.  Vampire Weekend are 00's indie darlings, and the music isn't guitar-oriented, but instead is derivative of Paul Simon's Graceland...but in a good way.

I've just started listening, and so far...i really like it.  If you've never heard Vampire Weekend, you need to listen to the album with headphones, or a good pair of ear buds.  I'm listening on my Zune with a pair of Jbuds...this definitely helps hear the music as it's meant to be heard.  I don't think I'd like this as much listening in my car, or even on the stereo/computer.

I'll wait till i listen a few times before i give a proper review, or even a grade.  If you want to read a good review, check out the Pitchfork review.  But after a listen, i really like this...it's something i'll listen to quite a few times in the future.

Cooking with Booze

Chalk this one up to "It was a good idea at the time".  I seem to have a lot of those moments.  Who knew that cooking with booze would give me a buzz, and make me take a nap immediately after! :)

First off, Hello Hoboken!  It's been over a year since I've decided to write a blog post.  I've been using twitter and facebook to write my ramblings.  It's a lot easier to control who sees what when you use those two programs.  When i write here, it's open to every person who googles "santesarios" or "waldfest".

While i did mention that i was going to blog on twitter and facebook, i sure as heck couldn't type out a blog post 140 characters at a time.  As i type this up, I'm listening to the Girls CD, "Album".  You'll see a video for the single below this post.  I LOVE this album.  I cannot stop playing it.  "Hellhole Ratrace" and "Laura" are some of the best pop singles I've heard in years. 

But back to the booze...When i was single(like i am now), a few years ago (like 5), i made Sunday's new cooking day.  I would pick a recipe that I've never made, and then proceed to attempt to make it.  If it turned out good, i would keep making it.  If it sucked, i would toss it, and order take out.  I have some memories of Monday call ins to work with stomach flu, ha.

Today i decided i would revisit those years of lore, and make something new.  In my infinite wisdom i looked at my bar, noticed that i had a lot of tequila and bourbon on the top shelf (where mama hides the cookies), and declared...I'm cooking with tequila and bourbon!  This was my first mistake, but you don't learn anything in this life without making mistakes.

I went to the Food Network website, typed in Tequila and Bourbon and picked two recipes to make.  It didn't matter if they went together, this was the plan. 

For tequila i picked, tequila ceviche with shrimp and scallops.  I have a big thing of Arborio rice next to the stove, so i figured, let's make some of that since the first attempt at making it turned out great!  For bourbon, there were a lot of good recipes, but i needed a desert, and the bourbon pecan pie stood out.  I was going to make homemade whipped cream, but i forgot the cream, and got crocked making the pie...so maybe next time. 

The pie went first.  It was awesome!  A definite winner. I used my bottle of 15yo Rip Van Winkle for the booze part...i think i used just a shot (or two) too much.  Next time, 2 shots maximum.  When the pie was cooling, all i could smell was yummy bourbon...and when i tasted it...heaven!   I took a pic on my Facebook site.  I would put them up here, but that would require ambition, and I'm hungover so ambition isn't part of the plan. 

Now we come to the Steve learns a lesson part.  The tequila ceviche is basically a marinade using 1/2 cup of my Patron tequila, cilantro and lime juice.  You cook the shrimp and scallops, then marinade them for an hour, and then serve it in a coconut shell with red onion as garnish.  At least that's what the picture looked like.  First, 1/2 cup of tequila is a lot of booze for a lightweight like me.  I figured i would replace the coconut with the Arborio rice....cuz who wouldn't put shrimp and scallops over rice.  That's un...Asian cooking!

Long story short, the dish had a few issues.  First, since it's a cold dish, and the temperature barely got above 20 degrees in the tundra le buffaloo...you don't make it now!  You make this in July when it's 85 and muggy...and use the damn coconut!  It tastes really good, like a margarita with fish...and that's not what i was going for today.  Also, my Arborio rice needed some chopped onion and garlic.  It was cooked plain...

All in all, everything was great, just not together....and not during winter.  And probably not mixing bourbon and tequila...as i have a nasty headache right now, ha.

Ratings:Bourbon Pecan Pie - A (loses the + due to a lil extra Bourbon that makes the bourbon smell and taste overwhelm the basic pecan pie smell...not that it's a bad thing, just something to make it better.

Tequila Ceviche w/Shrimp & Scallops - C+.  It was okay...tasty.  But not now.  Wait till July and make this again, and the grade goes way up.

Arborio rice:  B.  Needs some onion and garlic mixed in while cooking...maybe some Vegetable stock instead of Lake Erie water.

No clue what's on tap for next week, but i can safely assume it won't contain booze.

"I wish i had a pizza and a bottle of wine"

The Girls - Lust for Life

I love this song, and this album.  Some of the best new music I've heard in years.  Now let's hope they don't flame out and fade away...

I don't blog anymore, i twitter

I've noticed i don't blog anymore.  For most of my random comments i use twitter.

Ch-Ch-Changes

I will be changing the layout of this blog soon.  Not quite sure how i want it to look, and what exactly i want on it.