a little off the top....

One of the more stressful things about moving to a new city is the issue of a barber. It's reassuring to have a regular barber. After years of visiting the same barber, he or she goes "the usual?" No fuss. No muss. The haircut always looks the same. When finding a new barber, it is totally a shot in the dark. When they ask how you would like your hair cut, you try to explain something that you've never had to explain before and hope for the best. Today was my day.

I discovered that barber shops don't have websites. I went by name and location out of the phone book. Bo's Barbershop across the street from Fort Campbell sounded like an old school shop so off I went. I walked in and there were a total of 12 chairs - 6 on each side. I took my number (#54) and I noticed that they were on #40. Yikes. I hunkered down for a long wait but the assembly line was pretty efficient. I asked my barber not to cut it too short - just clean me up and it came out perfect. $11 and a $4 tip. Cool. One less worry associated with the relocation!

here's mud in your eye....

My job is kind of fun because I get to spend a few hours of each day walking around the construction site. However, there are some challenges. It's a huge construction site so it involves a lot of walking. It's been cold and wet since I got here and my blood has thinned out after years in Texas. I can only attest for this part of Tennessee but the topsoil is a thick, sticky, red clay. By the time I get done each day, my boots are big blocks of red muck. It's tons of fun - no pun intended.

i'm dreaming of a white christmas...

Merry Christmas! It started to snow last night so this is what I woke up to on this Christmas morning. The temperature is expected to stay around 30 degrees all day and the snow is supposed to continue throughout the day. I went for a run and with the exception of a few ice patches, the footing was good. The sad news is that I don't think that there is enough snow for a snow angel. nuts...

The safety department at work handed out ice scrapers for our cars. It's been a long time since I had one of those. I hope I remember how to use it.

My plan for today is to see True Grit. I read the book a couple of weeks ago so I'm looking forward to seeing the movie.

650 on your am dial....

It's been a week since I left Austin but it feels longer. I think I have finally recovered from the drive. It took awhile to straighten out those old joints that were in a sitting position for 17 hours. I was successful yesterday in finding the Amish bakery that is just over the border in Kentucky. It was about 15 minutes from work so I plan on going there frequently. Work is good. It's good to be back on a normal schedule again and wearing a badge. giggle.

I have a co-worker that started the same day as I did that has been in Clarksville for 20 years. He's been a great source for all things local. He'll be a great source for finding the cool parts of Clarksville.

I had heard about The Nashville radio station WSM recently from a story on Bob Edward's public radio show. It's been around since the 1920's and it is designated as a clear channel radio station which means that its frequency is guarded from interference. Legend has it that most of the country can pick up the signal late at night. I tuned it in while I was driving through Arkansas and I listened to it the rest of the way through Tennessee. It's the only AM station that I have preset on my Bose Wave. Yahoo.

the area.....

Clarksville is northwest of Nashville and it is very close to the Kentucky border. I have already been warned to ignore barns with smoke pouring out of them - it's just tobacco being smoked and cured after it's been harvested. Apparently it is common for non-natives to drive up in a panic and call 911. The plant that I work at is actually north of the city so we drive into Kentucky for lunch. I have already had some Tennessee / Kentucky BBQ and I give it high marks.

The southwestern part of Kentucky has a large Amish population. My goal this Thursday is to take a road trip in search of an Amish bakery. We have a half day of work on Thursday. Rumor has it that there is one just over the border. Lucky me.

oops.....

Day 1 was an all day safety training class. The class was for construction workers, contractors and company folks like me. The ratio of construction workers to regular employees is about 20:1 at this point. On Monday, my first day or work, I wore a pair of khakis and a long sleeved oxford shirt with a button down collar. I topped it off with a pair of topsiders. There were 80 people in the class and obviously the majority of the attendees were construction workers. The majority of the class didn't dress like I did. I don't think anyone mistook me for a skilled laborer. I wonder if Polo makes overalls?

arrived....

I loaded up the family car yesterday and made my trek to Clarksville. I left Austin around 9:30am. The original plan was to drive half way, find a hotel, spend the night and finish the trip on Saturday. After 30 minutes on the road, I decided to drive straight through. I stopped a few times for gas. Between gas stops, I would drive for awhile and then stop for food. It doubled the number of stops but I haven't been on a long road since the Carter administration. I needed the breaks. 850 miles later, I pulled into Clarksville. I arrived at 3:00am which was later than I thought it would be. I unloaded the car, set up my computer and passed out around 4:00am

take the last train to clarksville...

I can no longer say that I'm between jobs. If it had been a few more weeks, I would have been able to say that I've been out of work for years (plural). yikes. I leave the dust bowl of Texas on Friday and head to the promised land of Tennessee. I'm a modern day Tom Joad. I hope my car performs better than the Joad truck.

Here are some statistics to illustrate how great this great recession has been... I estimate that I applied for 600 jobs over the 23 months. I had about 15 phone screens. I had 8 face to face interviews and I got one job offer. The job is in Clarksville, TN which is about 50 miles northwest of Nashville. It's right on the Kentucky border.

The time off hasn't been all bad. I went to pastry school while I was looking for a job. I got a lot of chores done. However.... I'm looking forward to working again.

easy rider.....

In kind of a reverse middle age crisis, I'm selling my motorcycle. sniff. This was my 3rd bike and I have owned this particular bike for over 8 years. It's actually going to my dental work monetary fund. I still don't have anything cosmetic to show for my efforts. All of the prep work is expensive.

Note to self... close the garage door when posing the motorcycle for a picture. No one wants to see my washer and dryer.

as american as apple pie...

I've been in a pie mood since Thanksgiving. A pumpkin pie is baking as I write this. I actually got the apple pie recipe from a running buddy. The fun part is that the apples are mixed with sugar and cinnamon and then soaked in Amaretto. Rather than using an upper crust, the pie is covered in a thick streusel. For the picture of the pie slice, I kept the big glob of whipped cream off. I didn't want to make anyone hungry.

By the way...the crust is made fresh and not from a box. In case you were wondering...

trick or treat...

It was a slow halloween at 1702 Norris Dr this year. I had a huge bowl of candy but we got about 20 visitors during the night. I was giving the candy away by the handful but I only managed to give away half of the bowl.

Halloween trips the alarm which alerts me to start stocking up on canned pumpkin. Pumpkin bread is just around the corner. This is indeed my favorite time of the year.

mini me....

A couple of months, I satisfied a chocolate craving by making a 9" devil's food cake with chocolate ganache and chocolate glaze. I almost hurt myself eating the whole thing.

This weekend, I made the same batter but I made 2 6" cakes. One went straight into the freezer. The other one was split into 2 layers, masked with ganache and glazed (pictured). The 6" version is just as thick as the 9" cake but I'll have an easier time maintaining my girlish figure with the 6" cake.

The happy thought is that I'll be able to thaw the other cake in a few weeks. Whip up a little ganache, glaze it, enjoy. Just like that. Easy. Piece of cake....

it's all in the feet.....

I went to Gatesvillle to see one of Caleb's soccer games a couple of weekends ago. Mooney Plumbers is the corporate sponsor. I think the best part of a soccer match is the post game blueberry flavored ice cone. Yum

There were only 4 players that showed up on Caleb's team so they were outnumbered. This is the lowest age group . The coaches get to run up and down the field to tell instructions. It's fun to watch youth soccer because all of the players group around the ball and chase it.

Even though they were outnumbered two to one, Moody's Plumbing was victorious. We celebrated with a burger and shakes from Burger Boy in downtown Gatesville.

half a decade in the books....

Carrie came to town for Caleb's birthday this past weekend. Wow - 5 years old already. I figured it was high time for him to learn how to ride a bike so that was my present to him. We had a pizza party at a local arcade and then came back for a treasure hunt and cake. He has learned to put his foot up on the bar when posing for a picture. I figure I'll give him a few weeks of riding around with the training wheels and then I'll see how he does without them. I'm scheduled to see a soccer game that he's playing in next weekend. That should be fun.

you don't need that thing anyway....

I picked up Emily from school at 5:00pm on 9/14 and she had a bit of a stomach ache. By 7:00pm she was doubled over in pain. I suspected food poisoning but her doctor suggested we take her to the Emergency Room. After an hour of "take a number and wait", they slipped her into a CAT scan machine and announced that she had appendicitis. Then the pain medication kicked in and off she went into a dopey haze. At 9:00am the next morning, she had surgery and within 30 minutes she was in the recovery room. This picture is around noon and it's her post operative popsicle. All she had were 3 small laparoscopic incisions that were sealed with super glue. She went back to school the following week sans appendix. Pretty amazing.

We are collecting the bills and we are playing The Price is Right on the total amount. My favorite one so far is $859 for "emergency evaluation and management services". Giggle

happiness is a brown banana....

I got a little carried away with my banana purchases this week. This picture is the pre-production for Day 2 of some banana bread loaves. Check out those nice mushy bananas. How that stuff in the bowls transforms into loaves of bread boggles my mind. It must be my magic mixer.

I made 6 loaves yesterday and 6 loaves today. I think Kevin was going to celebrate by buying tub of butter in anticipation of his bounty.

glimmerglass....

I did a "drive by" of Cooperstown on Friday (8/27). I took Ruth out to dinner at Pizza Hut, paid too much for a room at the Lake and Pines Motel and ate breakfast at the Cooperstown Diner. The weather in central New York was great. It was cold at night (50's) and warm during the day (70's). It made for foggy mornings. I had breakfast around 6:00am and then stopped by the lake front park before heading out of town. It was so foggy on the lake, I couldn't see the end of the boat docks.

progress report....

I'm halfway through the cake. Eight more slices to go. giggle.

I forgot to mention that I used a mix of regular cocoa and a dark chocolate version of bakers cocoa in this recipe. I haven't quite figured out what dark chocolate cocoa is but I'm researching it.

Chocolate cake, ganache and glaze produces some interesting dreams at night. Last night in my dream, I had an aquarium with little kittens that could breathe underwater. Their fur stayed dry and they just walked along the bottom looking cute. They never showed an interest in swimming. How do you interpret that?

This cake screams to be eaten while I drink a cup of black coffee. So far I have resisted the urge. That might over stimulate my little pea brain.

withdrawal....

It's been over a month since my dental fun started. I've been sensitive to cold and sweet foods. This has led to a huge chocolate craving that I decided to do something about this weekend. I started with a 9" Devil's Food Cake that I baked on Saturday and stuck in the refrigerator. I pulled it out on Sunday, sliced off the top and sliced the remainder in half for a two layer cake.

I then whipped up some ganache using heavy cream and dark chocolate

Here it is after assembly (filling) and smoothing (masking). I never claimed to be a cake decorator so don't be critical of my edges. The cake is on a cooling rack for chocolate glazing.

Glaze is more dark chocolate, heavy cream and butter. It's poured on hot and allowed to coat the sides.

The scariest part is transferring the cake to the cake container without dropping it. This was the first time that I glazed a cake at home and it wasn't too bad. The bad news is that it is a 9" cake and there aren't enough people in this house to eat it all. My future versions will be 6" cakes. That is almost individual sized!

that's just peachy...

I'm going through a peach phase. Central Texas has some good peach orchards and I can't seem to get enough of them. This is peach crisp and I'm making a batch every other day. It also means I'm making a bottomless batch of whipped cream. For breakfast, I've been having buttermilk pancakes with peaches and I have peach ice cream planned for this weekend.

I don't know what brought this on but I'm going to hate it when peaches go out of season.

implants....

I figured if I said "dental implants" in the title, no one would read this. giggle

Over the years, I have had my share of tooth extractions. Back in May, part of a tooth broke off. I've never considered myself remotely vain but I felt if I didn't do something, I would start to look like a hillbilly. I went to see a dentist and a discussion to cap the broken tooth led to a discussion about dental implants. I had no idea.

The first order of business was to deal with some gum disease and do some bone augmentation where the implants are going to go. I had this done about two weeks ago (June 30) and I'm just now getting back to normal. The worse part is the resulting cold sensitivity. I may not be able to have a beer for another month or two. Yikes.

Eating hard food is still impossible so I'm losing a little weight. The implants will go in when everything is healed - possibly in September or October. I hope they look more natural than those implants in the picture!

baseball fever....

The Austin American Statesman ran a front page story this morning on a 91 year old fan of the University of Texas that has been keeping score of every baseball game for the past 26 years. She does it in person or listens to the game on the radio. They included this picture of her in action at the game that was held on Friday afternoon. The real story, however, is that true baseball fan that is seated a few seats down from her.

It's playoff time for college baseball. Texas is playing TCU in the best of 3 series in Austin. Because of television, they are playing each game in the afternoon. A good friend of mine thought it was more important to celebrate his 20th wedding anniversary in Napa Valley so he gave me the tickets. He's getting drunk and I'm on the front page of the paper.

My SPF 100 sunscreen isn't working. I'm a tad red after 2 afternoons in the sun. The series final is tomorrow afternoon. I hope I survive. I need to get one of those burnt orange shirts. I stick out in the crowd.

a souffle by any other name...

I had a few lemons in the cooler so I went searching for a dessert. I came up with a frozen souffle. I've never been a big fan of a regular souffle. I don't think that they're much of a dessert and making them seems like more trouble then they're worth. The frozen version was much simpler.

A frozen souffle is basically a mousse (meringue, flavoring and whipped cream) that is frozen. You get the souffle, or risen, effect by wrapping something firm around the souffle cup and filling it with mousse. I used a strip of cellophane that extended above the top of the cup. After freezing, the wrapping is removed and the frozen souffle appears to have risen. The happy thought is that it isn't as likely to fall as a regular souffle!

The consistency isn't as smooth as good ice cream but it is still a nice summer dessert. I think I'll flavor the next ones with liqueurs. That should put me in the party spirit.

running out of freezer space...

The fruit flies were getting thick around my batch of bananas which is a good sign of ripeness. I went for a run this morning, came home and knocked out these 7 loaves of banana pecan bread. Kevin has been known to polish off a loaf in a single sitting. He says that Brooke helps him but I can't be sure. Giggle

The environmental question of the day - is it better to use the metal loaf pans and wash them after every use or is it better to bake them in paper loaf pans and throw them away (sort of like cupcake liners)? I know which would be more time efficient....

the exploded view....

Have you ever noticed the "exploded view" term that is used in manuals? It is supposed to mean "enlarged" view but in my case it was the view after things exploded.

Here's the bike after the exhaust line has been removed, the engine guard has been shifted, the oil cooler lines disconnected, the filter housing cover taken off and the filter extracted. They sure make it an adventure.

Everything went back together well and there weren't any leaks when I cranked it up. There was one problem, however. BMW sells an oil change kit that comes with a filter and all of the necessary o-rings and gaskets. There were 2 small metal gaskets that were extra, in my opinion. It's going to drive me crazy not knowing what they are or if they belonged somewhere. Giggle

motorcycle maintenance...

I'm ashamed to say when the last time was that I rode my motorcycle so I'm not going to say it. I'm further ashamed to say when the last time was that I did an oil and filter change on it. This will be my weekend project.

This task forced me to clean out the garage. I had some tools that I needed to find and cleaning the garage was necessary to find them. With that done, I ran the bike for about 5 minutes (I'm so glad it started), removed the oil plug and drained the oil. Can you see it dribbling out? Kevin's Auto Supply lent me a collection pan for the oil. Thanks

That's enough for one day. I need to pace myself. Tomorrow is when the fun begins. I've got to take off an exhaust pipe and engine guard to get to the filter. It also has an oil cooler that needs to be worked around. Yikes

pucker up...

Loaves of lemon poppyseed bread. Yum.

Unfortunately they went straight to the freezer since I already had some other loaves that I've been working on (eating). They smelled great so I'm looking forward to chomping on them in the near future.

One downside to this bread is that you brush a sugar / lemon juice mixture on all sides of the loaf right when it comes out of the oven. I should have put down a drop cloth and worn a rain coat. What a sticky mess. Lemony sugar water went everywhere.

Spiced Pear loaves are next.

muffins in loaves clothing....

This wasn't in the plans but I woke up Wednesday with a craving for blueberry muffins. The mini loaf pans were still on the counter after being washed so instead of a dozen muffins, I ended up with 3 loaves of blueberry bread (that's what I'm calling them). I was a little slow with the camera so the one loaf that was devoured didn't make the family portrait.

The banana bread is still the leader of the pack. Beth sent me a recipe for a Spiced Pear bread. I'm going to try a few varieties of pears so that should be fun. Plus I still need to know out the Lemon Poppyseed bread.

mini loaves...

My new thing are mini loaves of tea breads. Full sized loaves are just too big so they tend to get mushy before they are finished. I went out and bought a pack of 4 mini loaf pans that measure about 6"x3". I had a large bunch of over-ripe bananas so I gave banana pecan bread a shot. You can see the lone surviving banana from the bunch in the background. The other thing I like about the mini loaves is that they bake much more evenly in my oven. Plus they freeze and thaw so well without any impact on quality.

Tomorrow, I'm going to make a batch of small pumpkin bread loaves. That will be followed with lemon poppy seed bread. I'm taking suggestions for the fourth loaf. Cranberry walnut? Apple raisin? If I can get 4 varieties and about 20 loaves, maybe I'll visit the farmers market and see if there is a market for tea bread in Austin.

the path more traveled....

I wouldn't say the project turned into a nightmare but it was more work than I expected. I borrowed a truck from a local trucking company yesterday (thanks, Kevin) and hauled some bags of sand to my house. I laid the pavers last night and filled in the edges and the cracks this morning. Now I've got to find a home for all of the rocks that I excavated and do some landscaping along the path.

I was talking big last week when I said Phase 2 was going to continue the path from the gate to the patio. Next week is the start of May which means that summer isn't far away. We'll have to see about the path extension.

Done

Halfway there

A bed of sand is spread

and then the rains came....

We had some pretty heavy rains during the last part of last week and into the weekend. Things weren't completely dry but I resumed digging today. I have made it to the gate and my pile of rocks has grown considerably. I'll do some smoothing and grading and prepping for the pavers. Phase 2 will be from the gate to the patio in the backyard. I may need some more pavers.

On the baking front, I've been experimenting with various recipes in an attempt to make the perfect macaron. This bakery in Columbus Ohio has a nice selection. They look simple but they are very difficult to make. It's a rough experiment because almond flour is expensive and each batch consumes about a dozen egg whites. There are two possible methods - one with French meringue and one with Italian meringue. Both are difficult in small batches. What I wouldn't give for an industrial oven in my kitchen!

baby steps....

Here's the progress after Day 3 of Operation Pavers. I hope to reach the gate by Friday and lay pavers during the weekend. It continues to be slow going.

I've been tossing the rocks that I dig up along the side of the house. I had put out the nice, round, multi colored river stone last year. The light brown, irregular rocks are what I have excavated. It's amazing how much rock there is just below the surface. I'm sure there's a metaphor in there somewhere.

The happy thought is that I haven't encountered any unmovable boulders yet.

project du jour.....

In my spare time, I'm going to work on this little project. I'm digging a path through my side yard and laying down pavers. I can only handle about 2 hours a day of digging through the rocks and tree roots. I only have to dig a path about 4 inches deep and 2 feet wide but it is slow going. The ultimate goal is to take the path all the way through the backyard to the deck. My initial goal is to just get to the gate in the chain link fence. I'll worry about the backyard later. I wish I had started this project when I was in my mid 20's. My back was probably better suited for this activity back then.

The happy thought is that the high temperatures are only in the 70's. Each day, I strap on my work boots, plug in my iPod headphones, turn on the music and start digging. This should build character. If I could figure out how to do it, I would do a time lapse photo essay. I'll just settle for single picture updates every other day.

one more for the record books....

The Cap10 was this morning. This is the 10K that was my first race in 1990 and I've run it every year since. The weather was a little cool (65 degrees) and it was misty. This may have kept the crowds down a little bit but there were probably over 15,000 runners. It's the biggest 10K race in Texas. I ran with a long time running buddy and we had a grand time.

This picture is at the 1 mile mark. The start is on the south end of Congress Ave and heads up toward the capitol. The capitol is right behind the guy showing his Texas pride. Credit to the Austin American Statesman for this fine photo

here comes peter cottontail...

We had quite the extravaganza this Easter. Carrie and Caleb made it an adventure by taking the train down to Austin on Saturday and they took it back home today. Carrie also coordinated a potluck dinner on Easter Sunday. I think we had a total of 12 people here. We had ham, salad, mac & cheese, bazillion deviled eggs, veggies and cupcakes. Caleb had to get a second basket for the egg hunt. We've got a dozen hard boiled eggs that were colored. The smell of vinegar and sulphur still lingers. I see a lot of egg salad sandwiches as well as ham leftovers in my future.

Apparently the easter bunny didn't see his shadow while he was putting out the eggs on Sunday. I can't remember if that means the cows will produce more milk or if the caterpillars will be longer than normal. I guess we'll see.

here comes peter cottontail...

not a total waste....

Today was my last day at The Driskill. It was a wonderful experience. I learned a lot and mastered some skills. The atmosphere was fun and the people that worked there were great to work with. I must admit that after 12 weeks of getting up at 4:00am, I'm looking forward to sleeping in for a few days. I had a good conversation with the Executive Pastry Chef today. We agreed to keep in touch. The good news for him (the bad news for me) is that he didn't have any turnover. I expressed an interest to coming back either full time or part time and he was receptive to that.

In the meantime, I continue to look for work. I'm looking for bakery jobs in Austin as well as engineering and management jobs throughout the US. The north side of my house needs painting, a section of my yard needs to be resodded, the backyard needs to be landscaped, my motorcycle needs an oil change and the cats need petting. Money is not an issue so all is good.

The bakery was a high volume operation. There was a daily delivery of bread flour, all purpose flour, cake flour, whole wheat flour, sugar, brown sugar and powdered sugar. Everything was in 50 pound bags which had to be lugged to the appropriate bin and poured in. Boxes of butter, crates of eggs, gallons and gallons of milk. In addition to that, I was always carrying sheet pans full of pastries to the cooler. You should see my muscles. Giggle

kahlua....

Andre picked Kahlua out from all of the dogs at the Round Rock Animal Shelter back in the spring of 1995. She was a border collie mix and as a puppy she was funny looking, to say the least. Several of her friends tried to talk her out of picking this puppy but Andre could not be deterred.

She's been a part of our life for the past 15 years. For a good part of those 15 years, she resided at 1702 Norris Dr but she never forgot who her master was. Weeks or months could pass between visits but when Andre walked in, Kahlua would get especially excited.

She was not an aggressive dog unless she was chasing a possum away from the cats food outside. She had a great relationship with the various cats that we've had. She became the companion of the builders and remodelers that walked through the doors and worked on our house. They rewarded her with lunch from Taco Cabana. She was the only dog I ever saw do the downward dog Yoga pose when meeting someone new or getting ready for a walk. When we walked to the corner store, she would sit patiently outside waiting for the trip back home.

Dogs don't mark time with life events, emotional drama, successes or failures. They are like the reliable grandfather clock that keeps on ticking while the household around them goes through storms and changes. You really get lulled into a belief that they will be there forever.

A few weeks ago, Kahlua started wheezing, stumbling and she lost her appetite. Mary took her to the vet last Thursday and she was diagnosed with a cancerous tumor in her throat. It was decided that she needed to be put to sleep.

Rather than putting her through another visit to the vet, we decided to euthanize her at home. We found a really nice mobile vet that came over this afternoon and took us through the process. Andre came over with her boyfriend and Mary and Emily were here. The normal way of saying goodbye in a vets examining room and then having her led away wasn't appealing at all. It was a little troubling to actually see the procedure but it was the right thing to do.

angel flying too close to the ground....

I had 2 dozen eggs in my refrigerator with a dozen approaching the expiration date. I didn't feel like making a dozen deviled eggs. 15 egg whites later, with a little sugar and cake flour, I had an angel food cake. The picture was taken a few hours after it was made. It's being eaten so quickly, I won't have time to make a strawberry glaze.

Producing 15 egg whites left me with 15 yolks. I keep some heavy cream on hand for such an occasion. Having all those yolks forced me to make some ice cream. I got a quart of rich vanilla ice cream out of it. Yummy

major award....

Emily likes to eat the occasional meal at Whole Foods Market. She walked into the store on Sunday afternoon and a worker asked her if she wanted to enter a no-cost raffle. She filled out the ticket, ate, bought some hummus, came home and thought nothing of the raffle. The barrel of entries was full so she thought there wasn't much of a chance.

During a nap that day, her cellphone rang with the happy news. She was one of 7 winners with each winner getting a different bag of goodies. Her prize was a sampler of fish. Among her bounty was some marinated salmon and crab cakes. She's a huge salmon fan.

Congrats Em on your first raffle prize ever.