WhittersCO: January 2008

Baking Soda to the Rescue!

Hate that sticky gunk leftover from a piece of tape? Are your tools rusting? Just add baking soda!
I hope my study avoidance methods aren't glaringly apparent to everyone :)

More cool tech stuff

I was led to this article today by a friend...
It talks about a man who had a spinal cord injury and had his brain hooked up to a microelectrode to help him control a his environment (tv, computer, etc). The article is from 2005, trying to see if there have been any updates since then...

Technology: the right way to use it

A double amputee is using bluetooth technology to walk again... amazing! Check out the video here

Nerd Alert

This is probably just a pile of rocks, but this picture of a 'man' on Mars is pretty exciting...

Back to School.. so here are a boatload of pictures

I started my last semester of classes yesterday. I'm not going to lie - having over 5 weeks off was wonderful and I could really get used to being on vacation! What am I going to do when I have to get a JOB?!?! scary.
Ok here is the summary of those five weeks....

This dessert is from Sushi Tora, where we ate several times over break. Their sushi is great and this coconut dessert is the perfect finish to a fresh meal.

This picture is at the Broker Restaurant. It is underneath a bank and this used to be the vault. We went there with my mom, Dave, Seth, David and Alan Sobel before the Red Wings/Av's game.

Matt and I being friendly at the annual game.

The final score! YA WINGS!

New Years Eve at Aaron and Andy's - They have several photos of spam in their kitchen. What men... their garage is almost as big as their house too.

Happy New Year!

I went up to Fort Collins one day to check the mail and go for a hike with some OT girls.

Next was my "day of culture". First I went to the Denver Art Museum to see an exhibit with my mom and Emma. We stopped at Ted's Montana Grill and were really impressed. They make as much as they can at the restaurant - fries from fresh potatoes and use paper straws instead of plastic. Not bad for a chain.
Plus we liked that they gave us a bowl of cucumbers instead of bread as a starter.

Next, we went to the Denver Botanic Gardens and looked at the Chapungu exhibit.

After the Gardens, my mom dropped me off at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science so I could meet Matt to see the Titanic Exhibit. It was really interesting.. they had bottles of wine that hadn't broken when the ship sank and there was still wine in them! Also as we entered the exhibit we were each given a 'ticket' of an actual passenger who was on the ship and at the end we found out if we lived or died. I lived (I was a woman) and Matt died (he was the only black passenger on the ship).

Matt wore these awesome sunglasses that I got from the eye doctor. How futuristic he looks!

What a strange cloud formation...

I think Matt did a pretty good job taking the picture while I was driving...

Emma and I went up to Winter Park one day. Here she is all bundled up.

Emma getting ready to go down from the top of the mountain.

Emma headed down....

We used a gift certificate to go to the Melting Pot one night for dinner. We gorged ourselves... after all we couldn't let the chocolate go to waste...

Dave in front of an International RV at the RV show we went to at the Denver Convention Center. We were by far the classiest people there. Scary.
We went playing the game "if we win the lottery..."

We went up to Steamboat Springs to visit with Matt's sister and family (Sally, Matt and Cade).
Here we are going up the gondola before a day of skiing/snowboarding.. it was -8F at the top of the mountain. At least it was sunny the first day :)

Action shot of Matt snowboarding

Matt part way down a black run we accidentally took our first morning on the mountain... We weren't expecting the moguls.

Sally met up with us to ski in the afternoon.

Matt and Sally at the top of the run, ready to head in for the evening...

Our second day was even colder and my mask froze to my face in the -25 wind chill weather. brrrrr.

Matt bonding with his godson.

The cutest nephew in the world!

Winter Break: The Food Edition

Although I did a fair amount of cooking over winter break, much of it were old standbys or something that I have posted here before. One of the highlights was the Greek Deliciousness that I posted a few weeks back (as I forgot to take pictures, I felt I could post it after consuming waaay too much).
Here are a few other good ones from break:

First, salad for Christmas dinner. Emma and I tasted an Irish cheddar at Wild Oats and decided it had to be incorporated into dinner, so we added it to the salad.
Lettuce
1 pear, sliced finely
1 cucumber finely sliced
1 handful of dried cherries (add more if you wish)
Kerrygold brand Ivernia cheese, shred it, add as much as you would like. it was delicious
Raspberry salad dressing:
2/3 small container of fresh raspberries
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
a few tablespoons EVOO
pulse in food processor and serve on side of above salad.

The other wonderful dish we had with Christmas dinner was Roast Lamb with Lamb Sausage Crust and Fresh Grape Pan Sauce.
This sauce was perfect and you don't have to serve it with lamb if you would rather have pork or chicken.
Adapted from Bon Appetit:
2 cups halved seeedless red grapes
2 cups tawny port (I used the brand Cockburn)
2 1/2 cups low-salt chicken broth
2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary

boil everything except 1/2 cup of the chicken broth in large saucepan until reduced to ~ 2 1/2 cups (about 20 minutes). Let cool and then puree in blender. restrain yourself from drinking the sauce at this point. Cover and refrigerate. You can do this up to 5 days ahead of time (I did it the day before).
When you cook your meat of choice (lamb, pork, etc) first brown it in a pan on the stove before putting it in the oven. When you switch the meat from the pan to the oven, use the 1/2 cup of chicken broth and glaze - scrapping the pan drippings into the sauce. Cover and return to fridge.
After the meat is done cooking, take out of pan and let sit for 10 minutes or so - pour the juices from the baking vessel into the sauce and simmer until about 1 1/3 cups (about 10 minutes).
Then it is ready! It's totally worth the work. The sweetness and the rosemary is a great combination.

For Christmas Eve, we went over to the Sobel's and I made (again from Bon Appetit) a Dark Chocolate Tart with Gingersnap Crust:
Crust:
8 ounces gingersnap cookies (about 32 cookies) coarsely broken
1/2 stick unsalted butter, melted
pinch of salt
Filling:
12 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 cup heavy whipping cream
2 large eggs yolks
1 large egg
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon all purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
pinch of salt
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped crystallized ginger.

Crust:
Preheat the over to 325 F. Finely grind the gingersnap cookies in processor, add butter and salt and continue to process until moistened. Press crumb mixture firmly onto bottom and up sides of a 9 inch-diameter tart pan with removable bottom, place pan on rimmed baking sheet.
Filling:
Combine chocolate and whipping cream in heavy medium saucepan. Whisk over low heat until chocolate is melted and smooth.

In a medium bowl whisk together eggs, yolks, sugar, flour, pepper and salt until blended. Gradually, whisk in chocolate mixture (not too fast or the eggs will cook). Mix until well blended, then pour into crust.

cook until filling puffs slightly at the edges and center is softly set (about 30 minutes). Transfer to rack to cool and spring crystallized ginger over top. Cook in tart pan for ~ 20 minutes then remove sides to cool completely.
Ours was still warm and gooey Christmas Eve. The leftovers on Christmas day were firmer as they had been in the fridge all night - you could make this the night before if you could resist digging in a little early :)