09 Mar 10 Independence Hall 4A Reunion
This weekend I was host to my residence hall’s reunion. Nearly all of the group made it and it was an amazing splendiforous feast. I made a huge batch of appetizers with help from friends, and then a gigantic setup of spaghetti. Combined with wine, Flat Tire beer, some cupcakes and pie, it was a total success! Unfortunately, I have a *ton* of leftovers and I think I made way too much food. I have a gigantic container of spaghetti to eat.
Many thanks to Mac Wilson, Megan Wilson, Katie Clark, John Ward, Andy Korth, Beth Kahl, Bill Leuthner, Erica Belkholm, Kenny Blake, and Ralph the Deinonychus. He is now safely in my possession…
Appetizers
Rumaki – A recipe suggested by my boss, you marinade water chestnuts in brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, and soy sauce. Then you wrap them in bacon, broil them, and serve nice and hot. Delicious!
Deviled Eggs
Cheese and Sausage Plate – Gouda, blue cheese, summer sausage, gruyere, sharp cheddar, all on Club crackers. Nom nom nom!
Billo Dip – Despite its ominous and slightly odious name, Billo Dip is nothing more than Campbell’s Fiesta Nacho Cheese soup with Hormel Chili No-Beans. It’s delicious and is a cheap, tasty con queso!
Korth Salsa – Homemade Korth family salsa, made with heirloom tomatoes! Delicious!
Li’l Smokies
Shrimp and Cocktail Sauce – My first time making shrimp. Good quote: “Holy crap, they’re turning pink!”
Main Dish
Spaghetti a la Billo – Spaghetti for me was one of my favorite foods growing up. My Dad once remarked to my Mom that her spaghetti was nowhere near as good as his own mother’s recipe, so she stopped making it for him. She only made it when he went away for work or travel. Spaghetti consists of Plantenberg’s ground hamburger, a little Marsala wine, oregano, pepper, Italian seasonings, basil, and a little of herbes de provence. While this is cooking in a saucepan, I already have boiling, over-salted water ready for Barilla spaghetti noodles. If I can get it, I add homemade tomato sauce from the Magedanz Century Farm, otherwise, I settle for Prego Traditional sauce. The final taste is excellent, and very hearty.
Dessert
Wilson Cupcakes – Mmm, make your own chocolate cupcakes. Delicious!
Blake-Belkholm Shoo-Fly Pie – It was the Avatar of the Molasses God. A lusty, dark molasses pie. Excellent!
Tags: college, dinner, food, Indy Hall, Ralph, recipes, reunion
28 Nov 09 My Thanksgiving
Rather than heading back to Eden Valley this weekend for Thanksgiving, I stayed here in Minneapolis and helped my roommates make a gigantic feast for ourselves, our neighbors, and my sister Catie (who had to work a few hours after the meal).
Before I go into great detail about all the other awesome, delicious (and really easy to make) foods, let me just show you the turkey. This was the centerpiece, the crown jewel, of our entire meal.
Amazing turkey, cooked with fresh vegetables and liver and heart broth, and stuffing, by Cody Heinold.
Even though we put the turkey into the oven fairly late, and had to call Mom to ask for tips, it came out great, and we have some 18lbs of leftovers remaining (turkey sandwiches, anyone?). We also saved the broth (for gravy, which was perhaps the most perfect gravy ever) and the stuffing, which was excellent.
Beyond the fabulous turkey, though, we had a ton of other dishes that really contributed to the meal. When I sat down at the table, I was literally excited to begin eating, we had so much variety and diversity.
Ham: Slow-cooked with pineapple and glaze, and served with Grey Poupon and organic honey. I actually didn’t have any ham, as it seemed to mysteriously miss me when being passed around the table…but word across the table was that it was excellent.
Green Bean Casserole: I made this! Very simple, too–cream of mushroom soup, green beans, and then topped with dried fried onions. It came out very creamy and was a great vegetable side.
Jellied Cranberry: The usual, American-style jellied cranberry from a can. Served in slices.
Corn Bread Casserole: Made by Cody, this was a mixture of corn, sour cream, and corn bread all cooked together and topped with melted cheddar cheese. Tasting bread-y and corn-y at the same time, it had a perfect texture and structure that made it less of a casserole and more of an improved cornbread. Was a great vegetable side dish!
Our Thanksgiving meal was supplemented by some choice red wines, mostly Chilean (Carmenere and Malbec).
Cranberry Relish: This was a new dish, made by Cody. Finely chopping cranberry, honeycrisp apples and oranges, he made a relish of cranberry that served as a sweet & tart side to the meats on the table. Just a couple of spoonfuls made my mouth tingle.
Mashed Potatoes and Gravy: Mike made the mashed potatoes, and was very feral in his work–but he did a great job. With flavors of garlic and salt, the mash potatoes were nice and creamy. But even better was the gravy that Cody made to go with it. It was perfect–literally perfect. A nice light brown color, with clear vegetable and turkey flavoring, it was not too dark or too soupy. Arguably the best gravy man has made.
Relish Dish: Green and black olives, served with sweet gherkin pickles. An excellent appetizer to the meal–I love olives.
Pumpkin & Apple Pie: This was a weird combo that I had grave misgivings about. Mix two different types of pie!? With a bottom layer of apple and a top layer of pumpkin, this pie was delicious–smooth and sweet on top, tart and jellied on the bottom. Excellent!
Beverages: Since Catie had to work, she sipped some sparkling grape juice; but the rest of us had red wines that I picked out to go with dinner. A couple of our neighbors also brought over a few bottles: Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, Carmenere, and Merlot were all on the table at one point. We also broke out the last bottles of Pumpkin Beer to show (and push off on) our neighbors–they liked it!
All in all, this ranks as one of the best Thanksgivings I have had. With so many awesome new foods to try–many of which were incredibly easy to make–I was literally in food heaven. Everything was so delicious I only had one plate–and was very very full. Now, does anyone seriously want to come over for turkey sandwiches?
All in all, this ranks as one of the best Thanksgivings I have had.
Tags: deliciousness, food, recipes, Thanksgiving, turkey, turkey day
21 Nov 09 Positivisms of being an adult, volume 1: food
As I was cooking my meal tonight, I thought I’d have to blog about how awesome it is to cook food that way you love it to be prepared. No offense, Mom, your food is awesome; mine is just more awesome.
Tonight’s meal was pan-seared Tuscan T-Bone steak (cooked in sea salt, fresh cracked pepper, chopped garlic, basil and italian herbs and seasonings), eaten with shredded Asiago and Gruyere cheese, with a small amount of Worcestershire sauce for dipping. Beverage was more Kennebunkport Pumpkin Ale, and entertainment was the chapter “Minas Tirith” from Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. Awesome!
P.S. Another positivism: no family around to gripe about how I cook my steak well-done.
Tags: cooking, cornucopia of deliciousness, dinner, feasts, food, recipes
15 Nov 09 New branch of science: Facebook friend mathematics
I’m starting to have a problem on Facebook. My goal, to reach 1,000 friends by the end of the year, is becoming increasingly difficult. No matter how many new friends I add from various sources (parties, events, photography, jobs) I face constant attrition from other friends who un-friend me, remove their account on Facebook, or get their accounts locked. As it stands, I’ve been in the high 800’s for a couple months now.
Another problem I’ve recently hit my head against is trying to locate old friends–specifically, my exes–who have fallen off the map. There are still a bunch of people who went to Saints Peter & Paul Academy in Loretto that I cannot find, and there are many exes who I cannot find, either. While the problem with old, out-of-touch friends is that they are likely not on Facebook, the problem with exes is that information may be being directly blocked from my view.
Maybe in the future, when we can directly experience the information flow of the Internet, blocking someone will have a unique numbing sensation? I think that the act of blocking someone doesn’t bother me so much as the lack of information. I’m really not one to hold grudges–so eventually, after the dust settles from a breakup, I am keen to become friends again and carry on with life. Man is a social creature, and I don’t understand how some people need to excise individuals from their lives. Isn’t that painful? Isn’t it lamentable? I’ve really never done that and can’t fathom how I would go about removing someone completely from my life.
In the mean time, my goal of making 1,000 friends by the end of the year is becoming increasingly unlikely. But, maybe with starting a new job and all the holiday parties I hope to be attending, I’ll get very lucky and get those 139 people I need to hit 1,000 friends.
Tags: dating, Facebook mathematics, friends, searching
25 Oct 09 Weekend Recap: Puzzles, Muggles, Costumes, Cars, Boyfriend (not in that order)
Friday
On Friday, Catie and I decided to head out of the apartment to look for beds and stop at Target. Our venture was cut short by a car accident on West Lake; we rear-ended someone. While the damage was minor and no-one was injured, the airbags deployed and somehow, managed to strike a sensitive area upon my person. I was pretty sore, and still am a bit…ouch.
We went back home, shaken but alive, and I continued to work on Bryan and my Halloween costumes. In the end, I finished with an awesome Grim Reaper costume for Bryan and completed the light-up sword for my own. Friday was rounded off by being given an invitation for an interview on Monday for a new web project manager position.
Saturday
Knowledageable Ravenclaws on the way to their next objective in MN Puzzle Quest 7: Muggle Quest.
Saturday was going to be a busy day. At noon, I had Minnesota Puzzle Quest 7: Muggle Quest, an event being put on by my friend Claire. A Harry Potter-themed puzzle quest, participants were running around the University of Minnesota campus, solving some pretty advanced puzzles. I was the official photographer for the event. There was a logic puzzle to start off, a rock-paper-scissors 7-way variant puzzle, a grid puzzle, and some CSI-like investigations of props and codes. All in all, I was really impressed with what some of the participants brought to the game–it required a good set of legs, a good brain and some excellent critical thinking skills.
Later that night, I was an actual participant in my friend Nathan’s Annual Halloween Party. His Halloween parties are of great renown–he typically spends and entire year preparing, setting up, writing, and creating props and decorations. His house was transformed into an 80’s horror/thriller/slasher movie mayhem theme! The quiz was to try and find Jack the Pumpkin, who had been abducted by one of the horror movie creatures. Bryan and I did a good job–and were on track to finishing it–but we got way too tired. Once we hit a couple impasses we lost our energy and instead, spent our time with the Endless (Dave, Kameron, Jeremy et al) upstairs, making campy comments on The Fog.
Sunday
Bryan and I woke up early and made some good breakfast (eggs, toast, bacon) and then I made him sit through Trauma: Life in the ER. This was a burn episode too, and included debriding, and injured kids, and huge scalp wounds. Bryan was a trooper and watched every minute…well, almost every minute. I spent the rest of the day editing the photos from the Muggle Quest, getting those ready for submission and publication later this week. I hear that the group that runs this might be moving towards non-profit status, and if that’s the case, then I’ve just done my first official photography work!
Catie is moving out tomorrow to her new place in Maplewood and slowly has been packing. I’m taking over her room once she leaves and haven’t even begun organizing for the move into the other room. It’s only eight feet…but I am thinking I can make this very easy or very hard on myself.
All in all…a good weekend. And if you haven’t guessed it, Bryan and I are now officially dating. After two and a half years…finally in a relationship.
Tags: car accident, costume, halloween, Muggle Quest, photography, weekendery
04 Sep 09 Grudges.
What sort of grudges do you bear? Against what or whom? I’m interested to know, because I’m not really one to hold grudges. Granted nobody has really done me a serious wrong.
23 Jul 09 Madeline Island – Photo Recap
This past week and weekend I took a trip up to Madeline Island on Lake Superior. I had an amazing time and enjoyed every moment of it–from hiking in the woods to playing board games to kayaking on the lake. Enjoy the photo tour below!
Unfortunately, with 5 people going, someone had to sit in the trunk. Good thing I am hobbit-sized.
Bayfield, WI, the port of departure for people heading to the island.
Our cabin was beautiful and awesome–but out beach was lacking, unfortunately. The rocky shores and chilly water were not conducive to swimming activities…though we did have fun down there.
Some absolutely beautiful views and vistas on the island. Here we see one of the other islands in the 21-island chain.
Later that first night, drunk on sangria, Claire showed us her poi and her mad skills.
Our first major game was Twilight Imperium, which took almost 8 hours (with an extensive 3-hour break inbetween). In the end, Nate won by conquering the galaxy and killing off most of our forces.
Big Bay State Park, looking at the beautiful lagoon.
I went kayaking by myself on Saturday, and enjoyed some incredible views of the cliffs and caves on the hidden side of the island.
The whole crew, organized by Mr. Kameron Alexander. I’m behind the camera.
It was an absolutely beautiful time, and I hope to go again next year. There are moments in the trip where you get some time to yourself and you can just listen to nature–the waves crashing on the rocky shore, the cacaphony of hundreds of birds in the trees, the quiet rustle of something furry in the bushes. At night it was pitch-black dark there, and all you could hear was the sound of distant waves.
28 May 09 My 24th Birthday
Today is my 24th birthday. I have no significant plans–today is a meeting-free day so I hope to get out of the bedroom/office and go to the coffee shop to work. Pretty relaxing, quiet day (though I wish it was overcast and gray like yesterday, but the cool weather is fine by me).
My birthday party on Friday was a blast–I invited some 15 friends to go out to Gasthof’s in Nordeast and then came back to the apartment for fun, games, drinks and snacks (though the snacks were left alone–we ate so much at Gasthof’s!). It was nice seeing so many people who cared about me and who wanted to have fun.
I can’t think of any image more fitting on my birthday than this: how I consistently feel as an adult.
17 May 09 Picking Up Where You Left Off – Aaron’s Bachelor Party
Whenever I see my friends from Eden Valley–many of whom I go long months without talking to, or years without seeing–I feel like I am picking up exactly where I left off with so many of them. Part of me feels like we’re about to go take a seat on the senior bench or go to the Paynesville movie theater.
In truth, though, even though we’re spending a night of celebration and fun together, these are no longer “my” boys. All of my best friends from high school, and many from college, are getting married and moving on with their lives. Granted, my petty disenchantment with my friends growing up doesn’t compare to the anguish of their parents or their siblings–but I still feel the loss, acutely.
It’s hard to think about these things, though, with a cold beer in your hand and the sun setting on the lake. Or when you’re staring into a face that’s so oddly familiar, but seems to have been painted over with lines of care, wisdom, knowledge. So many of my friends are grown up–I miss those days–and even though they’re not mine anymore, I still care deeply for them.
I can’t say what the future will bring. We are still very much in the springtime of our lives. The lessons of love and loss are just beginning. And while I can’t say that these friends are mine for the keeping anymore–I will always be theirs, for as long as I can be.
Tags: bachelor, bachelor party, Cold Spring, Eden Valley, Kimball, Richmond, Watkins
26 Feb 09 The Commission on Reconciliation is out-of-office…
I recently fixed my contact list and saw that my ex-boyfriend was online. Despite the fact that we had a messy breakup and a fallout afterwards, I had thought we had kinda made up in late spring and things were cordial, if not exactly friendly. I was rather mistaken.
Me: How are you doing, what’s news with you?
Ex: same job, moved in july. what do you want, tom
Me: Just to say “Hi”…haven’t chatted in a while…
Ex: sometimes it’s best to leave sleeping bears lie
there’s probably a reason we haven’t chatted
Did this reason just have it’s one-year birthday? Seriously? While earlier in the conversation I had felt something was very wrong, this was the point where I /facepalm.
Ex: grudge or no grudge
I have absolutely no greater interest in talking to you today than I did a year ago
I’m sure I’ll see you around too
bye
This last jab, while probably meant to seem insidious, only made me yawn. I am not entirely sure how to feel on this. How psychologically unhealthy is it to harbor such a grudge for so long? Even beyond that, how much is it limiting or disabling this particular person to move on and be happy, even if they decide not to relate or communicate with me?
Tags: dating, ex-boyfriend, relationship
