Stuff
So after taking a couple weeks to wind down from a hectic couple of months, I'm back at it again.
I spent the weekend at Bert's camp, and went tubing at the Camden Snow Bowl on Saturday, partied and danced on Saturday night with a keg of homebrew, and spent Sunday recovering from the fatigue.
I was invited to go ice skating yesterday but I had to work. Oh well.
Last night I had Craig and Dan over. Craig and I were due for one of our "man dates" but we decided to start including Dan. I made a big crock of chili with ground venison and pulled pork, which we washed down with beer while watching Kill Bill parts 1 and 2. Good times!
Tonight I'm hosting an organizational meeting for Veritas, the greater Portland Catholic young (~21-39) adults group I'm a part of. There's a new priest in the area, Fr. Bob Valaincourt, who wants to see what we're about and offer his help any way he can, so we're doing that over dinner at my place with Lisa, Becky, Craig, and possibly Fr. Kevin. On the menu will be butterflied pork tenderloin with apple and fennel stuffing, with mushroom risotto on the side. Not horribly complicated or time consuming, and really, really good.
Tomorrow, Joe and Schara Maillot are coming over to practice music for Wednesday benediction, followed by going to benediction and doing the music, albeit very roughly rehearsed.
Thursday I have no outside plans, which is good because I need to do the lion's share of the work making Venison Bourguignon for a dinner I'm hosting on Friday evening. Doing it a day in advance provides two distinct advantages:
1. One of the crucial steps, skimming the layer of fat off the top, is easier to do when it's cooled and congealed, as it will be on Friday after work. This makes it easier to do.
2. More importantly, we'll get to eat dinner prior to midnight, as it would be absurd to *start* boeuf bourgignon at 5pm on the day you intend to eat it. It takes a terribly long time to make, between the prep, browning all of that meat, and the 3+ hour oven braise...
All I'll have to do on Friday is re-heat the braised meat, do the finishing touches, and make the caramelized pearl onion, bacon, and mushroom garniture. I still haven't decided what to serve this over. The classic "side" is a helping of baked potatoes, but that sounds so bland to me. Then again, I'm just not a big fan of baked potatoes. I'll figure something out.
On Saturday, I'm going to Portsmouth to have lunch with an old friend, Carla, and her husband Brent. She was one of my friends when I was living in France 10 years ago, and the old crew tries to get together on occasion, either in whole or in part. The last time all 4 of us were together was on my 30th birthday about a year ago.
On Sunday? Maybe a hike, but I should probably follow-up on that. I talked to one person about it, but that was a few days ago. Hmm...
Well, back to work!
I spent the weekend at Bert's camp, and went tubing at the Camden Snow Bowl on Saturday, partied and danced on Saturday night with a keg of homebrew, and spent Sunday recovering from the fatigue.
I was invited to go ice skating yesterday but I had to work. Oh well.
Last night I had Craig and Dan over. Craig and I were due for one of our "man dates" but we decided to start including Dan. I made a big crock of chili with ground venison and pulled pork, which we washed down with beer while watching Kill Bill parts 1 and 2. Good times!
Tonight I'm hosting an organizational meeting for Veritas, the greater Portland Catholic young (~21-39) adults group I'm a part of. There's a new priest in the area, Fr. Bob Valaincourt, who wants to see what we're about and offer his help any way he can, so we're doing that over dinner at my place with Lisa, Becky, Craig, and possibly Fr. Kevin. On the menu will be butterflied pork tenderloin with apple and fennel stuffing, with mushroom risotto on the side. Not horribly complicated or time consuming, and really, really good.
Tomorrow, Joe and Schara Maillot are coming over to practice music for Wednesday benediction, followed by going to benediction and doing the music, albeit very roughly rehearsed.
Thursday I have no outside plans, which is good because I need to do the lion's share of the work making Venison Bourguignon for a dinner I'm hosting on Friday evening. Doing it a day in advance provides two distinct advantages:
1. One of the crucial steps, skimming the layer of fat off the top, is easier to do when it's cooled and congealed, as it will be on Friday after work. This makes it easier to do.
2. More importantly, we'll get to eat dinner prior to midnight, as it would be absurd to *start* boeuf bourgignon at 5pm on the day you intend to eat it. It takes a terribly long time to make, between the prep, browning all of that meat, and the 3+ hour oven braise...
All I'll have to do on Friday is re-heat the braised meat, do the finishing touches, and make the caramelized pearl onion, bacon, and mushroom garniture. I still haven't decided what to serve this over. The classic "side" is a helping of baked potatoes, but that sounds so bland to me. Then again, I'm just not a big fan of baked potatoes. I'll figure something out.
On Saturday, I'm going to Portsmouth to have lunch with an old friend, Carla, and her husband Brent. She was one of my friends when I was living in France 10 years ago, and the old crew tries to get together on occasion, either in whole or in part. The last time all 4 of us were together was on my 30th birthday about a year ago.
On Sunday? Maybe a hike, but I should probably follow-up on that. I talked to one person about it, but that was a few days ago. Hmm...
Well, back to work!