week in review & friday

so the iron chef II austin event was quite amazing. first of all, hurray for the charity; secondly, damn good job by the staff to be able to serve 10 half course meals plus wine flights; finally, great movie.

so Black Orpheus: see it. its a beautiful movie with great culture and a good story.

highlights of the food:
black drum cake with chayote slaw kissed with black bean sauce and pepper confetti.
sugar cane skewered watermelon pork with mashed plantains and watermelon salsa
guava smoked goat with four onion marmalade
and tropical fruit surprise

and yesterday was the full day resumption of work and a corporate happy hour reception downtown. our company is having a conference for all the higher corporate people here in austin and we local peons were allowed to visit and socialize in order to make everyone feel comfortable. so i was able to partake in better than average happy hour food of sushi, sashimi, crab cakes, smoked salmon, roasted veggies, etc. plus the requisite open bar.

but it ends up being just another friday no matter how thursday goes; so with the winteriness about i must toil on and be productive here at work.

merry weekending all!

winter wonderment

it is winter here in texas. there's something i miss about northern winters: the freezing cold, pristineness of a still winter day, the innocence of snow covered landscapes...

so its nice to have a couple of days of that here in austin. plus there's nothing wrong with ice/snow days off from work. that and seeing texans try to drive on ice - good times.

so cabin fever is conquered and the city is still shut down. i'm the only one in my group at work; and i would venture to guess, one of probably 10 in the whole office. but that's what a jaded sense of work and a certain feeling of restlessness will get you.

and tonight - Alamo Drafthouse's version of iron chef along with Black Orpheus the movie. I am extremely excited about this for two reasons: i love actual cooking competitions - and I get to judge! and the movie is a brazilian classic film - so combine my love of the culture and food and it should be pure greatness. i'll make sure and fill you in.

oh, and i've begun to start writing some of my relative in an effort to start to keep up / start solidifying relationships. i'm quite bad at not keeping up attachments with those i don't often see; and i realize that family connections do mean things - there has to be some inherent connection to those related by blood that people have an obligation to uphold. otherwise - what are we? that's something that foreign cultures seem to value and realize more that our current individuality centered existences.

well, on to a productive afternoon of work.

much love -

jeff