Happy Friday

Since I haven't really done any posting lately, I thought that maybe I would try a weekly installment called Happy Friday where I talk about something happy. Cause you know, for all of us working folk, Friday is usually when you let out that sigh of relief that says, "I made it."

So for my first Happy Friday piece, I thought I would talk about chocolate. My mom's side of the family has a thing for fancy (and expensive) chocolate, mostly because my Aunt Stacey is a bona fide professional chocolatier that makes these a-ma-zing truffles and wedding cakes. She's essentially a legend. Each year, Stacey buys oodles and oodles of this especially fancy chocolate made by a company called Callebaut and then all my aunts buy it from her by the pound.
We pull it out when there is a special occasion or when we need a fix. I happen to have a couple pounds of it myself and lie in bed at night dreaming about what to do with it. Luckily, last weekend Brandon and I went home to Tucson for a few days and it was considered a special enough occasion to pull out the Callebaut and have ourselves some fun. My mom happens to have this fancy machine called a chocolate-temperer that melts the chocolate just right and then keeps it at the perfect temperature so that you can dip whatever you want and to your heart's delight without the chocolate getting hard, lumpy, or changing color after it dries.

In other words, my mom had all the right equipment and had ourselves a fun sexy time dipping candy, fruit, nuts, and pretzels into chocolate and then gorging ourselves silly on it. See for yourself:

This is Mom, the mastermind of it all....

Brandon's getting a little giddy (click on the photo for more proof). Leslie and Clay (sis and bro-in-law) are barely managing to contain themselves.
Scraping the bowl...
Some of the finished product (sorry for the blur)

Happy Friday everyone! Go have yourself a treat. You deserve it.

23 Hours in Reno

I recently had the pleasure of visiting the "Biggest Little City in the World" for a job interview. My visit did not abound in time as it is measured unto men, but it was nonetheless rich.

After the interview I had the occasion to gaze upon the largest alpine lake in North America. Lake Tahoe was originally inhabited by the Washoe tribe who called it "dá’aw" which means "lake". John C Fremont was the first paleface to gaze upon the rugged beauty of this natural gem. A cursed Native American treasure exists underneath Lake Tahoe which will be discovered by either Nick Cage or Jack Sparrow in the forthcoming film: "National Treasure vs. Pirates of the Caribbean."

One of Reno's finest young men recommended that I take supper at the Nugget Diner to partake of this culinary delight known as "The Awful Awful" (awful big and awful good):

The Awful Awful lived up to its name. Also, the fries came with it and there were so many of them that my arm got tired in the middle of eating them (I was eating rightie) and I had to switch arms. The change was fluid and imperceptible to those around me because I'm a switch-eater. Not too many people know this, but switch-eating or "ambi-eating" is something that I've been dabbling in for quite some time.

The company at the Nugget Diner was just as delightsome as the cuisine. One young employee whose pregnancy was masked by her adiposity decided to partake of an alcoholic beverage while working because, as she remarked, "the baby has to get drunk somehow."

This inebriated derelict was practicing an ancient star-worshipping ritual (he really was worshipping that star or planet). He invited me to join with him, but I respectfully declined. I was sad that I couldn't be with him and bask in the warmth of the street culture. The hobo culture has never really been accepted and has often been portrayed negatively. Hobos live very economically and have a lot of good ideas, but they just aren't listened to. I don't think that I'll ever see the day when we as a nation will be open-minded enough to elect a hobo president.

Alieslonie

These four pictures of Alison and Leslie (her sister) were taken consecutively before the wedding of Sam Rogers. There was no communication at all regarding how they should pose their faces.

I think they were going for "blue steel", but it could have been "le tigre".

Either way, they've got the look.

Euro Sportsmanship: Red + Blue = Purple

Nadal: "I'm sorry I beat you in the Australian Open. Let me make it up to you."

Federer: "What did you have in mind?"

Nadal: "First we get dinner, and then a long walk in the park, and then (whispers)"

Federer: "I like the sound of that" (see grin)

Those Euros are so harmonious.