Roy's Town

The Fattest Week!

noreply@blogger.com (J.R.) — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 06:09:00 +0000

This is not going to be a good week for my waistline. I have to work on Thursday but they are providing a huge free Thanksgiving feast at work for FREE! I will be bringing a pecan pie (my new favorite!) and a lemon meringue pie. Then on Friday we are having our own Thanksgiving at the Fillmore house. At least 3 more pies. Then Saturday is the BYU Utah game. I'm the only guy I know who has DirecTV so lots of people will be coming over. I bought 3 racks of ribs, 3 bags of chips with cheese dip and salsa as well as 4 six packs of IBS Rootbeer. I'm also encouraging everyone to bring some food as well. If I don't gain 5 pounds this week it will be because I've died of a heart attack.

BTW go to The Holy War Blog to weigh in on this week's game!

Halloween, The Musical!

noreply@blogger.com (J.R.) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 04:17:00 +0000

Hurray! The 2009 Halloween album is finally complete! Well, almost anyway. Still working on the cd booklet. Hope you enjoy the above cd cover and the pic at the very bottom which is going to be our back with the play list. Haven't added that yet. But the music is done and here for your pleasure. Click to listen or right click to download. Enjoy your very own Halloween 2009 cd (curses! It makes you sign up for an Adrive account. Well it is free. I'll do my best to find another option)! Hats off to Jon for fine song selection and what will certainly be a quality cd booklet!

1. Heads Will Roll - The Yeah Yeah Yeahs
2. Mr Smiley - Mustard Plug
3. Eaten bu the Monster of Love - Sparks
4. Thirteen - Johnny Cash
5. Of Wolf and Man - Metallica
6. Werewolf Vs. Zombie - Oingo Boingo and Nellie McKay Feat Jon Madsen
7. Monster in the Parasol - Queens of the Stoneage
8. Shanty for Arethusa - The Decemberists
9. Burying the Bunny - Shriekback
10. The Twilight Zone - Golden Earing
11. Storm Coming - Gnarls Barkley
12. Satin in a Coffin - Modest Mouse
13. Rocking Horse - The Dead Weather
14. Sickness Taking Over - Pankow
15. Shadows on Your Side - Duran Duran
16. Every Last Breath You Take - The Police Feat NosfeRoytu
17. Les Velos Pour Deux
18. Re: Your Brains - Jonathan Coulton
19. Complainted d'VN Mate - The Avett Brothers

As you can tell we went with the zombie theme. We were afraid that by next year zombies would be so last year.
Happy Halloween!

I Lost!

noreply@blogger.com (J.R.) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 19:25:00 +0000

I feel just like this kid. In fact, no only did I lose, I only got 1 3rd place vote! What happened? It was delicious! Seriously! I'm not just saying that! It was much better than my winning chili last year. Here are some possibilities:

1: Not sweet enough. My chili last year used a bottle of bbq sauce as stock. The winner this year tasted really really sweet. Baked beans level of sweetness.

2: Mine was too spicy. There were a lot of peppers in this chili. In fact it was difficult to tough it out in the kitchen whil chopping up the peppers. Lots of coughing and eye watering. I thought it was mild enough. You know? Just tingly lips spicy! Never underestimate the wussiness of the female judges!

3: I used no beans. At the last second I decided to keep them out. I didn't want to alter the already winning taste I already had going (I discovered in an earlier chili that one can of black beans has a VERY strong flavor influence). Plus this year I learned that real chili has NO BEANS! I'm serious! I was shocked to learn it myself but check it out here at the ICS (International Chili Society) official website! So my chili was the only real chili there! Sigh. I think I may have lost some serious points because my chili didn't look "chili" enough.

2 more quick possibilities. There was a big table of chili for the judges and a small one off to the side because there were too many chilis. Mine was on the side table. My bowl didn't look like it was well sampled. Maybe poor placement? Maybe, but the 2nd place chili was on my table. Also, mine was the only chili that didn't use ground beef. Instead I used cubes of chuck which, after cooking for 3+ hours just dissolved in your mouth! That should have HELPED, right?

Anyway, if you can offer any words of solace and none of gloatiness or criticism it would be appreciated.

Also, try this recipe and Judge for yourself if it rocks or not. Trust me, it rocks, hard!

Texas Style Chili

Prep Time:
25 min
Inactive Prep Time:
hr min
Cook Time:
2 hr 30 min
Level:
Intermediate
Serves:
6 to 8 servings

Ingredients
• 1/4 cup rendered bacon grease or vegetable oil
• 3 pound tri-tip or boneless sirloin or chuck roast, cubed
• 1 large white onion, chopped
• 3 large jalapeno or serrano peppers, stemmed, seeded and chopped
• 5 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
• 5 New Mexican green or red chiles, roasted, stemmed, seeded and chopped
• 6 tablespoons chili powder
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons Mexican oregano
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 large tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and chopped
• 1 (12-ounce) bottle Lone Star or Shiner Bock beer (I used O'douls, a non-alcoholic brew but there are other substitutes)
• 2 ounces tequila (I omitted this. Didn't feel comfy buying tequila!)
• 3 chipotle chiles in adobo, chopped (hard to find. I used a pailla pepper and chipotle chili powder)
• 4 to 5 cups beef stock
• 1/4 cup to 6 tablespooons masa harina
• Chopped fresh cilantro leaves, garnish (omitted. I hate cilantro)
• Finely chopped white onions, garnish (omitted. Trust me, there is enough onion in this recipe already)
• Sour cream, garnish
I also added pure maple syrup to taste for a sweetener.

Directions
*NOTE: When working with chile peppers, always wear rubber gloves and be careful not to touch your eyes or skin. Wash all utensils and cutting surfaces well with hot, soapy water before proceeding.
In a large heavy pot (such as a cast iron Dutch oven), heat the fat or oil over high heat. Add the meat and sear, stirring, until no longer pink. Lower the heat to medium-high. Add the onions, jalapenos, garlic, chiles, and chili powder, and cook, stirring constantly, until the onions are wilted and start to color, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the cumin, oregano, salt, and pepper, and cook until fragrant, about 20 seconds. Add the tomatoes and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the beer and tequila and cook, stirring, to deglaze the pan. Add the chipotles and adobo sauce and 4 cups of the stock, stir well, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer partially covered, stirring occasionally, until the meat is very tender, 2 to 3 hours, adding the remaining cup of stock as needed if the chili becomes too dry or thick. When the meat is tender and the chili is ready, add the masa harina 1 teaspoon at a time to thicken to desired consistency, stirring well and cooking after the addition of each before adding more.
Remove from the heat and correct the seasoning, to taste. Skim any fat from the surface.
Ladle into bowls and garnish each with cilantro, chopped onions, and a dollop of sour cream. Serve with hot cornbread.

Chili Time

noreply@blogger.com (J.R.) — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 07:38:00 +0000

It's Chili Cookoff time at the Halawa Ward here in Hawaii! Last year I whined and whined until we held the First Annual Chili Cookoff. Well it was a smashing hit so we are doing it again. Also, I won! Read about it here! So it's time to defend the title. Now as I've been looking around for a good recipe I discovered that real chili (according to Texas rules) has no beans, tomatoes or onions. So I found a recipe and made it and it was kind of glorified sloppy joe topping except not as sweet. It had a good bold flavor but I missed the texture. So I decided to see what my friend Bobby Flay has to say about Chili. I tried his Black Bean Chili. There was a snag when one of his big ingredients was beer. Thank heaven's for O'Douls! Anyway, it was much better than the Texas chili I tried out. I've got about 4 or 5 more recipes I want to try out. Either way, on Oct 23rd it's going to be a delicious night to remember!

Farewell Truman

noreply@blogger.com (J.R.) — Fri, 29 May 2009 18:58:00 +0000

Truman Madsen, my favorite employer and family friend, has passed away. You can read his obituary here. When I returned from my mission I took my turn as one of the Fillmore boys who had the immeasurable honor of working for Truman as a secretary, transcribing his correspondence and some writings. In this brief time I learned an enormous amount from his wit and wisdom.He once made a comment in a letter to a friend that I will remember forever. He said "Faith is trusting what your spirit already knows."

When I was engaged to be married he spoke with me and my wife and shared with us knowledge that he had uncovered regarding my personal relationship with Joseph Smith. Indeed it is from Truman that my love and admiration of the Prophet Joseph first began to grow. I believe that Truman must be in the Prophet's company right now. Where else would he be? Thank you Truman and God be with your family.

Food Storage Rocks!

noreply@blogger.com (J.R.) — Sun, 24 May 2009 16:16:00 +0000

So my younger brother Jake is currently working for a company that sells high quality food storage. It's good stuff and it has an amazing shelf lfe. Right now val and I have been just rotating groceries which means every few months or so we find expired food that we have to throw away. It's like throwing away money except it smells worse. Click here for the readypak website. Anyway, here's the info on the stuff and also some infoif you'd be interested in selling it yourself.

If you know of anyone who is interested in food storage, please email readypaksales@gmail.com for a free sample. Easy, affordable, nutritious gourmet meals. See for yourself, the quality, taste, and shelf life are the difference. For every 5 people that your refer who buy a year supply, we will give you personally a 6 month supply of food storage absolutely FREE!!!!Readypak Emergency Preparedness Food Storage♦30-Year Shelf-Life♦Quick + Easy Preparation♦Group Discount♦Retains Nutritional Value♦Vitamin + Mineral Fortified♦Great Tasting Menu♦Truly Affordable♦Convenient Mylar PouchesReadypak is expanding and currently hiring across the U.S. If you refer a sales employee to us, after they make their first year supply sale, you will personally receive $100! If you are interested in applying full or part-time, please email readypaksales@gmail.com. Spread the word and contact Jake 801-602-3708 for more info on this limited time offer.

At Least My Dad Likes Me

noreply@blogger.com (J.R.) — Mon, 18 May 2009 19:23:00 +0000

My dad came to visit me here in Monterey last weekend. We had a super good time and now I'm going to chronicle it for you in pictures and in words. Because I'm not afraid of words. On Friday I picked him up at the Monterey airport. He almost missed his flight from SF. It's a long story but suffice it to say it was expected. I'm pretty sure getting on a plane as late as possible is a favorite game of Bill's. Like playing chicken with the departure gate.

Anyway, we first went and ate ginormous burgers at R.G. Burgers. I got the Black and Bleu and he got the Bleu Cheese Burger. We also each got a shake. It was enough fuel for the whole weekend. We immediately dragged our burger filled bodies over to the Bayonet Golf Course. It was cold and foggy. Very interesting playing in fog. It was a very beautiful but very challenging course.

Afterward we went to Lugano's Swiss Bistro in Carmel and got the fondue, which was mediocre. I shoulda gone with the giant plate of sausages.

The next day we went whale watching. While taking a picture of my thumb a few dolphins rudely entered the frame. There were hundreds of dolphins! Here are a few more. How do they move so fast without moving? Also, did you know that identical twins DO NOT have identical DNA? I didn't know that. Now, we never saw a whale. They tried so hard that we missed our Black Horse tee time. But I did get a rain check so I can go try and see a whale again. Note to self: Dramamine!

So we played Bayonet again and the weather was beautiful! This hole was memorable for me. Look real hard and you can see the tee box. I am taking this picture from where my drive landed. I was very proud. It went pretty far (I outdrove Bill on this one) and right in the middle of the fairway!
This was my best shot of the day. I am taking the pic from in front of the tee box. You are looking at the green in the distance. On my drive I hit the freaking pin! The ball did not go in but rolled a few feet away. I flubbed the birdie and settled for a par. But I HIT THE PIN!
That night we ate ate the Monterey Fish House with some friends of my Dad's, the Cummings. I got Chipino and Bill got the Swordfish pasta. We expressed that we were going to try each other's dishes so they brought each of us a plate/bowl of each. It was a lot of food and very tasty. Then I made the mistake of ordering the creme brulee. Very bland and the top was actually a wee bit burnt. Harumph!
We then went to Angels and Demons. It was better than The DaVinci Code (just like the books!). I don't know what else I can say.

The next day we got all religious and went to church. Afterward we went to Compagno's for sandwiches. They were enormous. We also asked for a slice of cake and I swear we got a 1/4 of the cake. It was all very tasty and healthy.

Anyway, thanks for coming to visit dad. Can't wait to see you in Hawaii!

My (Temporary) Homecoming

noreply@blogger.com (J.R.) — Mon, 11 May 2009 19:28:00 +0000

On May 1st I decided to go home to Hawaii and surprise Val and the kids. So when I got to the door I called Val to make sure she was home. She was. Then I told her I was going to send her a picture. So I took a picture of our front door and sent it to her. Here's the picture.

So I got all excited and I sat on the bench waiting for Val to run to the door. Nothing happened. SoI waited for a few minutes and still nothing. So I knocked on the door and Jon answered. He just said "Oh hello," like I'd just come back from the store. I told him to be quiet and I snuck in the kitchen and surprised my wife. Lots of screaming ensued. Anyway, she said she was washing dishes so didn't plan on looking at the picture till she was done. Oh well. It was a good idea.

Anyway, we promptly went to Stone Cold and got some Cookie Mintster all around. The next day we spent hours just hnitting up our favorite spots on the island (but not until after Val participated in a Primary activity. There's dedication for ya!), Matsumotos, Sharks Cove for snrokeling, Ted's Bakery and then we had dinner at Teddy's Bigger Burgers where I enjoyed the Jala burger (a 7 oz burger with jalapeno poppers on top!). So we went home and watched Twilight together (my kid's new favorite movie, go figure). It was a wonderful weekend and hopefully it was a very productive weekend (maybe more on that later). Now I'm back in California and all I have to console myself with is lots of good food.

Can't Pronounce it but it Eats Well! Dining at Aubergine

noreply@blogger.com (J.R.) — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 16:04:00 +0000

This week was amazing for eating out. I was nervous because this place is pricey and it suggested that I wear a jacket. Well all I had was a suit and I found at Sardine Factory I was the only one in a suit. Happily most men at Aubergine wore at least blazers and many wore suits. This is the outside of the hotel. Very nice.

So I was the first one patron to arrive for the night. This room is the entire restaurant. Very cozy. What was cool is the Maitre'd knew my name before I said anything. I guess I was the only one that night with a 1 person reservation. Anyway, I thought it was cool. Before long plenty of diners filled the room. Then in walked the Chef.
Cristophe Grosjean is the Executive Chef here. It is always comforting to see the Chef actually there. So I was inspired to get the 8-course Chef's Tasting Menu which means: 1-The Chef had carte blanche to pick my courses as he saw fit and 2-all my courses were not just overseen but cooked personally by Chef Grosjean. That's a serious bonus. Before we get to the food let me say that the service was amazing. I had a server for my water, a server that made sure I never ran out of bread and my main server who wore white gloves. That was kinda neat. Now none of the help was in tux but they all dressed very fine. I think it really enhanced the atmosphere. Also, the help seemed to know a lot of the patrons personally. I don't know who can afford to eat at a place like this on a regular enough basis to ask about the Maitre'd's children but I'd like to be that person. On to the food!

This was my veggie plate. Dipping sauce was good. Not my favorite veggies. I don't even know what most of the vegetables were but they were radishy.

This was my Amuse Bouche. I think that translates to "yummy corn mush." OK so it's meant to jump start your taste buds before your first course arrives. Mission accomplished!

I know what you're thinking. Roy once again has no idea what his dishes are called. Wrong! I got them to print me my menu! So you're about to get all the details! So the above 1st course is Watercress and Sweetneck Oyster with la ratte potato, creme fraiche, and California osetra caviar on seaweed butter brioche. That's a lot of fancy words. Anyway, I'm not the biggest fan of oysters and caviar is too salty/fishy for me. When i slapped it on the bread it was pretty OK. I'm sure for oyster fans it was pretty good. Anyway, it looked pretty!

2nd Course was the Fennel & Crab with rouille, tarragon and dungeness crab bisque. I've been dying for crab so this was perfect. This was the most delicious thing I put in my mouth that night! The crab dissolved in my mouth but I could have drunk a gallon of the broth. Thank you Cristophe!

It's like the Chef was reading my mind. 3rd Course was the Artichoke and Halibut with "pata negra" ham (the thin slice you see that could be used for a water filter!), manilla clam, and paprika. So halibut is my favorite fish. It has such a great flavor. Even the artichoke was good (read: I don't like artichoke). It was very tender. It just melted on my tongue.

Course the 4th! This is my Potato and Duck with a potato and truffle ravioli, wild spring onions, "vinaigrette d'abat," and foie gras. This duck was much better than the duck I had at Pacific's Edge (which was also good). Delicious sauce, delicious ravioli. The potato slices on top: I can't tell if they were really sliced and fired or just potato chips. Either way it worked.

5th Course and the 2nd best of the night. This was the Mustard and Veal with morel, crushed potato, and shallots. Those morels (I think they are a type of mushroom) were amazing and the veal was so darn good! Very tender and the sauce was radical. By the way, I don't know why my red meat pictures always turn out so dark.

OK so 6th Course was my cheese plate with a raisin bread. I was told to eat from left to right. I had four cheese with respectively pistachios, macadamias, grape slices and goo. Pretty darn good. I now love grapes and cheese. Who knew?

This is my 7th Course and my first dessert course. It is a Citrus and Yogurt with blood orange coulis, meringue, tangerine sorbet and yogurt panna cotta. Mmm. I call it a parfait! It was really good and the panna cotta was like finding a little cookie treasure in my dessert! Mmm mmm!

Final Course was Raspberry and Chocolate with a dark chocolate tart, raspberries and white chocolate ice cream. This was also very good. Not as good as the dessert I had a Pacific's Edge (read below! Now!) but it was darn good. I appreciate my chocolate a little bitter especially with fruit and it was just right.

And here is my "while you pay for a meal that cost the same as a cheap roundtrip ticket" treat. Cookies, chocolate and marshmallows. All were good but I was leary of the marshmallows. I thought it would be like popping a staypuft in my mouth but they were really soft and coated in some sort of lemon powdered sugar. It was really good. have I said that before? Well it's always really true. Now let's talk about the overall experience. This was the second best meal of my life. The food I ate at Chef Mavro's last year in Hawaii was just a little better. The filet and scallops I ate at Mavro's are the 2 best pieces of food ever to enter my mouth. But this meal was very comparable. What set this place apart is how it felt so refined and yet not uptight. It was absolutely delightful. This could set it apart as the best dining experience of my life. Thank you Chef Grosjean! I wish I could afford to come back!

Oh! This is when I went to Willy's Smokehouse and pigged out on appetizers during $4 appetizer night. I was stuffed and it only put me out $15. Fine choice.

Eating on the Edge of a Loose Noodle!

noreply@blogger.com (J.R.) — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 21:25:00 +0000

This very weekend I ate at Pacific's Edge at the Highlands Inn in Carmel. I have been looking forward to this for a while. Chef Ayer's restaurant is the recipient of a 15 toque review from Gayot (my restaurant guide of choice) and consistently is in the top 10 U.S. Restaurants with a View list every year. I wasn't against the window but the view was spectacular. Now on to the food.
Let me start out by saying that as the sun faded my poor phone camera was inadequate. Sorry. However, I had plenty of light for my grilled prawns! This was the start of my 4-course (I eventually turned it into 5) meal. The grilling brought out a really nice unexpected flavor. And the presentation was nice. Look! They're friends! Hey! No spooning!
OK so the second course was a grilled duck breast on top of a rutabaga puree. Look at the cute little quail egg on top! The flavor was good, not amazing and one of my slices of duck wasn't as tender as I had hoped but the rest was pretty darn good.

Stupid candle light! Anyway, the dark glob above was my lamb on an I have no idea what kind of sauce (I guess I should take notes). But it was very tender and very tasty. I love lamb! A lot!

This was my dessert course. A Strawberry and Rhubarb Crisp with Mascarpone and some sorbet. Oh my freaking gadget that was one of the tastiest things I've ever consumed. It kinda looked like a graham cracker sandwich but it was very light and super tasty.

However I was still a bit hungry (I wish they offered a 5 course meal).

So I added the creme brulee. Creme brulee is always good and especially with fresh fruit. So Pacific's Edge was a very enjoyable experience. The view was fantastic and the food pretty good. It was a bit noisy but it's a lot of people in a small place so what can you do. Plus they have a live singer doing Rat Pack-ish music and that's always good.

Now as for Saturday I went to the Loose Noodle. OK I had soup, Spaghetti and Meatballs and Dessert for $23. And the spaghetti was freaking awesome. I could be talked into going back in a heartbeat. Plus it looks so pretty! No I did not lick the carrot garnish off.

Instead I got some carrot cake. Probably my favorite kind of cake and they did a good job. What else can I say? I continue to enjoy eating well in one of the best dining areas of the country. Next week I'm looking forward to a little place called Aubergine. So stay tuned!

The Extremely Haunted Winchester Mystery House

noreply@blogger.com (J.R.) — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 21:09:00 +0000

This weekend I went with John Snow (Val's brother) to the Winchester Mystery House! I've wanted to do this for a long time. Some say it's the most haunted place on earth except really that's just me. But some people swear it's haunted. Our guide said he'd never seen anything but maybe he just only believes in science.

This is the extremely huanted Gingerbread representation of the Winchester Mystery House. In fact it is so haunted it would be deadly to eat it (or because it's 19 years old).

This is the extremely haunted staircase that leads to nowhere. Pretty weird.

This is the extremely haunted bedroom where Mrs. Winchester died. Probably while being haunted.

This is the extremely haunted front door where President Teddy Roosevelt was told to go away. He probably haunts it.

This is the extremely huanted front staircase where I hope someone once got murdered. They didn't say as much but it's just perfect for it. I mean look at it! And I love the lamp.

The extremely haunted organ where ghosts may or may not play scary music.

The extremely haunted door that leads to nowhere. Mrs. Winchester killed scores of unwanted visitors by asking them to see themselves out late at night through this door. Except not really.

Shot of the house from the extremely haunted (but gorgeous) gardens. OK so I didn't see any ghosts but only because they hurried us through this toor so fast you would think the guides had laxatives for lunch. The place is really cool both inside and out. So go, right now! If you dare...

I Know What Roys Like...Roys Like Food!

noreply@blogger.com (J.R.) — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 20:52:00 +0000

Two weeks ago (I'm sorry I'm behind!), I ate with my brother-in-law John Snow at the Montrio Bistro in Monterey. It has been voted the favorite restaurant in the city by readers of the local paper for several years in a row so we had to check it out. Above you see the interior. Rather groovy I thought but if you look at the ceiling you'll notice that it has what I think are supposed to be clouds but they really look like pealed potatoes. Well what can you do?

We started with Sunchoke Soup and some calamari. I had no idea what sunchoke was. I thought it was pretty good but sunchoke turned out not to be my choke of choice.

I love halibut! This was pretty good. I liked it better than the sturgeon I had a few weeks ago at Passionfish but maybe just because I like halibut so much. It was very fresh and the honey mustard was a good sauce choice.

We decided for dessert to get their "dessert bites," kind of a sampler platter of everything. Starting at the top left and moving clockwise we have the Lemon Raspberry Tart (John's favorite), the Salted Caramel Cheesecake, Carrot Cake with Ice Cream and Creme Brulee. I loved all of them. I think my favorite might have been the salted caramel cheesecake! I would go back just for the desserts.

The next day I was in Socal visiting my family so we had to go to the Saugus Cafe where James Dean had his last meal. I hope his Biscuits and Gravy weren't luke cold like mine. They would have been so yummy warm! Anyway, it didn't warrant a picture.

But the Cherry Pie did! Everytime I go to a dinner I think of Agent Cooper and I feel obligated to get some cherry pie. It was a good choice. This was a good weekend of dinning highlighted by desserts galore!

More Monterey Eats!

noreply@blogger.com (J.R.) — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 19:57:00 +0000

OK so last Friday I ate at Passionfish. Pretty tasty and reasonably priced too! So I got for my appetizer a spicy Mango Calamari salad with red peppers and other stuff. Mmm. Yeally yummy. The mango...I can't make up my mind on how well that worked with the rest of the salad esp the spicyness and squid. It would have been a great salad with or without the mango.

OK so I went here based on rave reviews on Yelp. And most of the people loved the above fish. It's a sturgeon with some kind of crazy sauce that was really good. Sturgeon isn't the strongest fish but the flavor in the sauce and the tenderness of the fish was wonderful.

On Saturday I ate at the India Ambrosia Bistro. OK I love indian food. Way. I told myself I wasn't going to repeat any restaurants while I'm here. I may have to break that rule because of this place. This chicken Samosa was very good. And look at the presentation! Beautiful and yummy!

Couldn't decide what I wanted so I got the Feast. I LOVE lamb and it came with some yummy lamb. My favorite stuff was the two dishes at the top. The sauces were freaking fantastic. Great food, great presentation great restaurant. Gonna try and talk my brother in law into going there with me tomorrow. Anyway, can't wait to post again after I eat more free food!

Eating Out!

noreply@blogger.com (J.R.) — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 20:02:00 +0000

OK so this is going to be part 1 of a series. I am here in Monterey right now and the government is giving me plenty of dough to eat so I'm exploring the fantastic Monterey Restaurant Scene.

I got this appetizer at the old Fisherman's Grotto on the wharf. Their Chowder was fantastic! Also, I loved their presentation. So above is my crab cakes with a honey mustard garnish. It was pretty yummy.

This is the Chocolate Creme Brulee the waiter recommended. Good Choice! Notice there is no picture of my main course. This is an unfortunate trend. It comes to my table and it's so yummy I just dig in! Sorry! It was a lobster stuffed with scallops and shrimp! Yeah!
This is at the Chart House. A little swankier than the Fisherman's Grotto but the chowder wasn't as good. This appetizer is the coconut shrimp. I love this stuff.

Here's my lava cake. The chef was from Hawaii! Anyway they are famous for this desert and it's pretty darn good. Again no pic of my main course. It was a prime rib. It was very tender and it came with a dipping sauce that was fantastic.

This is a friend of mine at the Sardine Factory. We ate here for my birthday. This place is pretty famous and the waiters were decked out. This room is called The Conservatory and I was hopping we'd be able to eat here. We all got the Abalone Bisque (they are famous for it ever since serving it at President Reagan's Inaguration). It was very good.

This was my pallet cleanser. You can't see but between the wings it a cup of mango sorbet. The waiter told me not to lick the ice sionce it is lightly irradiated (hence the glow). Wow! An atomic dish!

Here's my free Birthday desert. It was pretty good (and free!). For dinner I got the Steinbeck Duo (Prawns and a VERY tender Filet Mignion). It was a lot of fun to dress up fancy and eat there. This weekend I am eating at Passionfish and Ambrosia Indian Bistro. I'll take pics of my main courses this time, I promise!

So Wrong but so right.

noreply@blogger.com (J.R.) — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 19:17:00 +0000

Here's the video for the new Depeche Mode video wrong. I like it. Let me know what you think.

Depeche Mode - Wrong Video Clip
Uploaded by Mightybaut

Happy Valentine's Darling

noreply@blogger.com (J.R.) — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 21:27:00 +0000

Dearest Valerie,

Happy Valentines! On this day that we set aside to celebrate love I want to say that you are the one person who occupies my whole heart. The best thing that has ever happened to me was meeting you. You are the best person I know. If everyone were like you this world would be full of people who try only to make every one else happy with no thought on how those actions would be repaid. You are my best friend. You know me and not just how to make me happy but how to make me look at myself and confront the faults that cripple my growth. But even as I try to make difficult changes you are right there holding my hand. You love me without reserve or second thought and that kind of support makes it possible for me to do even the most difficult things. In return I love you with everything that I have. I am yours and will be forever.

In short, I love you Valerie.

Starsky and Hutch...Finally

noreply@blogger.com (J.R.) — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 22:07:00 +0000

I'm sorry. I know I should have posted this a long time ago but I didn't. It's been a busy month.

So I know that there are a few adultish scenes in this film. Sorry to anyone who was offended. I had an edited copy, so I guess I skipped that stuff and NO it did NOT become a 5 minute movie. It was at least 45 minutes long! So anyway here it goes.

This is of course an adaptation of the 70s television show, which I've never seen ever. But I'm sure it was real fine and good. I would say my closest brush with Starsky and Hutch is the music video for Sabotage by the Beastie Boys (click here to watch it now!).

So the movie starts with Barry Manilow's "Can't Smile Without You." You may notice that song is the first track on my V-Day CD this year? So we find Reese Feldman who kills a man for losing one of his 3 planes transporting cocaine. The body is dumped into the ocean and later the body is found and leads to the our friends linking the crime to Feldman.

Anyway, cut to our intor of Starsky and Hutch. Starsky is a by-the-book cop. Hutch is laid back and irresponsible. Because Starsky fired a gun in a crowded street and Hutch got caught "undercover" robbing a bookie they are paired together, supposedly as punishment.

Their differences come out immediately. Their only common link is Starsky's car which Hutch absolutely loves. They discover the body in the water and they trace it back to Feldman who says that Terrance (the body) was an ex-con that works for him under a fresh start program that helps paroled convicts get a job. During their meeting it is apparent that Feldman is obsessed with his Yacht. Starsky and Hutch then decide to track down the maker of Terrance's denim jacket, a man by the name of Big Earl. Big Earl is in prison and they visit him to get some information. This is the funniest part of the whole film. Big earl gives them a bag of coke in exchange for Hutch first showing his bellybutton and then imitating a dragon. Big Earl is obsessed with dragons. Big Earl finally coughs up the coke but not until Starsky and Hutch do "2 dragons." This is one of those rare movie moments where I laugh out loud really hard.

In the mean time we learn Feldman is selling a huge amount of Coke that has no odor so it can't be detected by dogs or superficial drug tests. In fact the drugs that Starsky and Hutch get comes up as plain old sugar. So Stasky uses it in his coffee during a date. He gets wasted and nearly shoots some people at a disco, after losing a fixed dance of to Dancing Rick!

The next day Starsky and Hutch are shot at by a Korean man. After they capture him they learn he was hired by a man with a yacht. Putting two and two together, Starsky and Hutch go to Feldman's daughter's Bah Mitzvah, where they promptly shoot the girl's new pony. They are kicked from the force, and break up when it is learned that Starsky tried to get a transfer because he dislike Hutch. They make up and figure out that Feldman is giving out his coke in cars he is giving away at a benefit party. In the end they capture Feldman ala Key Largo with Huggie Bear knocking Feldman out with a golf club. In the chase however, Starsky's car is lost. At the end of the film we learn that Huggie Bear has bought Starsky a new car (exactly like the old one) from two white dudes, who turn out to be the actors who played the original Starsky and Hutch.

There is some really funny stuff in this movie. I love the mic that they wire Huggy Bear with. It has a huge antenna that extends from his waist to his armpit and the mic itself looks like it came right off a mic stand. I love Starsky's character that he plays at the benefit. "Do it! Do it!"

I also love the scene at the police station locker room where Starsky has a fight with another cop who points out that the big towels are on the top shelf. Starsky and Hutch hav hand towels wrapped around their waists. Pretty sure that's a jab at Starsky's height. Anyway, pretty darn funny movie. Sorry about the less kid friendly parts.

Now we are going to do a Valentine's movie but we are low on time so I am simply going to post a poll of movies that I chose. And then for the March movie I'll let whoever picked Starsky and Hutch pick the category. So check out the poll and Happy Valentine's day!

The V-Day (not VD) CD is Done!

noreply@blogger.com (J.R.) — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 02:59:00 +0000

The Valentine's CD is finally done! As many of you know, this is Valerie's answer to the Halloween CD that Jon.R. produces every year. This is the 9th V-day CD and a very exciting one. Once again I picked half of the songs and Val picked the other half and we alternate. Try to guess which half is mine - the odds or the evens.

1. Can't Smile Without You - Barry Manilow

2. Stand By Me - Ben E. King

3. I've Just Seen a Face - The Beatles

4. Eyes - Rogue Wave

5. Head Over Heels - Tears For Fears

6. Little Luck - E.G. Daley

7. I Have But One Heart - Nino Rota

8. Sleeping With the Lights On - Teitur

9. I Go Crazy - Flesh For Lulu

10. Come On Home - Franz Ferdinand

11. I've Got to See You Again - Norah Jones

12. I'll Stand By You - The Pretenders

13. Anything You Want - Spoon

14. Hey There Delilah - Plain White T's

15. I Melt With You - Modern English

16. Missing You - Jem

17. Friday I'm in Love - The Cure

18. Unchained Melody - The Righteous Brothers

19. Oh Sherrie - Steve Perry

20. Unforgettable - Nat King Cole

We cut in quotes from the last 2 minutes of Joe Versus the Volcano. I love that film, btw. You can now click on the songs above and listen to them or download them or whatever.

Happy Valentine's Day everybody!

Goodbye, Hello!

noreply@blogger.com (J.R.) — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 06:32:00 +0000

So as many of you know I recently lost my cell phone. I left it in my pants on the floor of my room and it followed the rest of the dirty clothes into the washing machine. I owned the above phone. Yes the infamous (murderous or just more than famous?) Motorola Razr. I know I bought it about 5 years after it was really cool but it was the first cell phone I owned that wasn't simply the cheapest phone Verizon offered me. It made me feel cool. I loved the crisp snap that occurred when I flipped it open and closed. In fact, flipping it closed to end a call was one of my favorite things. I can't explain it. It also helped that all the cool fashion people on Ugly Betty (they must have had a contract with Motorola) also used the Razr. So I figured I would just get another one. But Verizon didn't offer it anymore. So I had to find a new phone. Enter the LG enV2.

It's a good thing my contract was ripe for extension because I definitely couldn't afford to pay much and I also didn't want a refurbished phone that had an antennae bigger than the phone itself. I ended up paying $50 for this. Good thing I got the deal. I had no idea how much it was till I tried to upgrade my wife's phone at full price. It costs more than my Wii. Anyway, I have fallen absolutely in love with it. On the outside it's a good solid phone. It is sturdy with a reassuring weight to it. That amount of heft told me that it had to have lots of good stuff inside. It MUST be chock full of cell phone goodness. Plus it looks pretty cool. Then I opened it and my cell phone life changed forever.

Hurray! The full keyboard! Where have you been?!? I can type a term paper on this baby faster than it used to take me to respond to "Are you at home?" So if you get a text message from me that is overly long, please forgive me. I'm just still excited. Next cool feature. As soon as I brought it near my computer the bluetooth mechanism on both devices synched. I didn't even know my Mac had bluetooth! Anyway, my phone now has a Harvey Unga wallpaper and the song "My Love is Like a Nectar." I must admit though that I don't plan on using this as my portable music player (there's a memory card slot if you are serious about doing so). Someone already invented something called the Ipod.

Now the more I explored this phone the more I realized that it could do really cool stuff: Tell me when I get emails and let me access my gmail and yahoo email accounts, give me step by step spoken driving directions like a car navigation system, help me find a good restaurant or where a movie I want to see is being played or just map my current location and follow me around, watch video content from ESPN to Cartoon Network and everywhere in-between as well as browsing web based content from sports to news (not the full internet mind you). The catch with all of these really cool things was that I am on the most basic cheap plan the world has ever seen. Good thing I got a raise this year because I am no longer on that plan. I couldn't not do it. It was like having a Ferrari and using it just to cross the street. You can see below how happy my enV2 has made me.

We haven't been apart yet. We'll never break up! I can feel it! Anyway, if anyone is looking for a new phone and you want to become one of the cool kids, you can't go wrong with the enV2. Buy one and maybe we can hang out again.

Wii UnFit

noreply@blogger.com (J.R.) — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 02:43:00 +0000

I feel like I just won the Wii lottery! I went to the local Gamestop to pick up Super Mario Bros galaxy for my kids when there it was. The employees had just unpacked 6 Wii Fits. They said that the shipment had come 30 minutes ago and had already moved half of their order. Since the salesman was answering the phone with "Thank you for calling Gamestop. We have the Wii Fit in stock," I imagine the rest would only be there for another 30 minutes.

So I ran home and hooked it up. The results are in. I am healthy, but just barely. I am right on the line of overweight. I need to lose 19 pounds to have my optimal BMI (thanks a lot, stupid delicious holidays!). That's pretty close to what I thought (I'm 181 and I want to be 160-165ish ) so we're on the same page. My Wii Fit age is 44. Well that's only 12 years older than I am I guess. Anyway, the good news is I have good posture and sense of balance. I have to go to work or I would have started sweating off my gut immediately but I'm excited to give it a try. Val is also excited since she can use it to work out while I'm in Monterey for the next 4 months. Hurray! Everybody wins!

Oh yeah. Super Mario Galaxy looks pretty fun too.

Important Enough For this Blog.

noreply@blogger.com (J.R.) — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 23:42:00 +0000

There is right and there is wrong. And what's right is the University of Utah's football team getting voted #1 in the AP poll. It is hard for me to blog about this since I hate the Utes with all of my heart. But let's look at this.

1. Utah is the only unbeaten team in College Football.

2. Utah beat 4 top 25 teams including two teams that will end the season in the top 10.

3. Utah pounded Alabama. This is the same Alabama that was #1 for 5 of the last 6 weeks of the season. This is the same Alabama that almost beat Florida who is going to the championship game. This is the same Alabama that only lost one game in the SEC. Utah didn't just beat Alabama, they BEAT UP Alabama.

So the way I see it, if Florida beats OK on thursday then how can the AP give the #1 spot to anyone other than Utah? Now if OK destroys Florida then that's that. But Florida is good enough (I think they are the best team in College Football) that it should be a close game.

What a wonderful world we'd live in if we woke up Friday morning and the Utes were #1 in the AP poll. What a fantastic argument for a legitimate playoff. So just this once, I'm pulling for you guys. You deserve it.

Christmas Vacation

noreply@blogger.com (J.R.) — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 23:06:00 +0000

The December movie of the month, as chosen by a horde of Sticht family voters, is National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation! This is a favorite of mine and I watched it a week before the poll went up. So I'm ready to go!

This is the story of the Griswold Family and the attempt of Clark to pull off the perfect family Christmas. This sets the film up for lots of disasters of course. The crux of the story is that the Griswolds are hosting Christmas at their house to include both sets of grandparents. Clark has a big surprise for everyone. For the big Christmas gift he plans to use his annual Christmas bonus to pay for a swimming pool. However, in order to get the work order submitted in time he had to write a check that would have no funds to back it up until the Christmas bonus is deposited. The whole world comes crashing down when on Christmas eve he receives a letter from his boss which for the first time in 16 years has no bonus but a membership to the Jelly of the Month club. As cousin Eddie puts it, "that's the gift that keeps on giving." Clark goes crazy and upsets the family. He says that he wishes his boss was right there right now so he could tell him what he thinks of him. Eddie obliges, kidnapping his boss. When confronted not only does his boss not fire him, press charges etc. he reinstates his bonus and adds 20%. All's well that ends well.

What I love about this film is that everything that goes wrong has happened to each of us on a much smaller scale. But it's all relatable. Visiting family that we have difficulty getting along with, enormous effort put into Christmas displays that don't work (check every light again), having your Christmas tree dry out (we had a tree one year where the lady didn't know what a fresh cut was. After one week we were afraid to even be angry in the same room as the tree in fear it would burst into flames), and the big one: spending money you don't yet have for that one great gift. Most years we manage to have our tax return mostly spent before December is over. So it's all relatable and you just feel so bad watching Clark try so hard to just make the best Christmas ever. Sometimes when we try that hard it is inevitable that there'll be disappointment. Some of the best Christmas memories are the ones that just happen and were not the result of planning at all (I learned that from "Deck the Halls," one of the worst Christmas movies I've ever seen).

Favorite line : Clarke - Hey, kids, I heard on the news that an airline pilot spotted Santa's sleigh on its way in from New York City!

Eddie: You serious, Clark?

Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed it. Please tell me what you thought.

The category for the January movie of the month is Buddy Cop Films. It is too bad that so many good buddy cop films are Rated R. My favorites are Lethal Weapon and 48 Hours. Sigh. I thought I was going to go with Starsky and Hutch but I think I'll pick a real american Classic and submit In the Heat of the Night with Sidney Poitier and Rod Steiger. Even if this film loses (I'm sure it will) you should watch it anyway. Great movie.

How to Stuff a Wild Bikini!

noreply@blogger.com (J.R.) — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 22:14:00 +0000

Hey hey hey! Jon was fortunate enough to be able to see the winner of the November Movie of the Month! Here's his wonderful review!

Don't let the name fool you. "How to Stuff a Wild Bikini" is not what it sounds. Sure, it has has lots of girls in bikinis and it's plenty offensive, but the actual stuffing of the wild bikini is just one minor mindless song out of seemingly hundreds of mindless songs in the movie.

The action starts with Frankie (who isn't even in the opening credits) on military assignment in an island somewhere in the South Pacific. His duties are to think about his girl at home -- Dee Dee (Annette) and make whoopee with the native girls. One of these girls plants the idea in him that Dee Dee may be just as unfaithful as he is. Initially he blows this idea off, explaining the sexual double-standard of men and women, but then he gets worried. He goes to the island witch doctor (played stereotypically by Buster freaking Keaton!) who is able to see what Dee Dee is up to. Dee Dee proves to be faithful -- for the time being. Just to be sure, Frankie and the witch doctor concoct some kind of black magic woman to teleport back home. In the witch doctor's words: "she's a creature so beautiful -- no boy will look at your girl."

So the temptress appears at home beach, initially as a floating bikini. Then the beach gang sings a song about filling said bikini, which i guess is where the title comes from. Part of the song is explaining that the perfect "filler" should be 36-22-36. Eventually, the bikini is filled by Cassandra (Beverly Adams). Cassandra is pretty cute. She's got a red color of hair that I'm pretty sure only existed in the 60s. She isn't, however, far and away cuter than all the other girls on the beach. Nevertheless, every single guy on the beach gives full attention to Cassandra. These guys obviously have never seen "A Beautiful Mind."

In the meantime, Dee Dee is just sitting on the beach reading and throwing smiling glances to her debauched friends. Not only is Dee Dee fully clothed on the beach, but she appears to be wearing a business suit. Good thing, because two ad-execs show up. They're looking for the perfect girl to model for something and also go on some cross-country bike race or something. One of the execs is played by Mickey Rooney and he decides on Cassandra. The other exec, the one who will actually go on the bike trip, is smitten with Dee Dee. His name is Ricky and he's played by Dwayne Hickman. Dee Dee, of course rebuffs Ricky and asks him why he just doesn't go for other girls like Cassandra or any other girl at the beach who will give it up all at once. Ricky explains that it's a lot funner to work for it.

In the meantime, all the girls are trying to get cozy with Mickey Rooney because they want the gig over Cassandra. They even sing a song saying they're "chicks who know all the tricks" and that they're "ready and willing."

Eventually Dee Dee discovers Frankie's infidelity and consents to wholesome dating with Ricky.

Oh yeah! There's also this motorcycle gang and the lead biker wants to win the advertising biking spot. The lead biker is the goofiest, dopiest, oafiest, nerdiest, oldest character in the movie. It was as if Jerry Lewis was the leader of a motorcycle gang.

Near the end, Ricky and Dee Dee enter the big race, along with the biker leader (I think his name is Zipper) and Cassandra and a bunch of other bikers. It's wicked important. It's also fixed. Mickey Rooney and the bike gang have set up traps for Ricky and Dee Dee to fall into, including a tiger in a pit that only eats men. Ricky and Dee Dee totally win, but Dee Dee breaks up with him afterwards. She explains that the moral of this story is that you should be a doormat to your cheating boyfriend instead of fall for someone who's willing to work toward a relationship. Poor Ricky then solicits Cassandra just before she evaporates away.

There are some other random elements that I need to throw in. There's a subplot about Cassandra's clumsiness explained by male-o-phobia. Dee Dee also wears Dr. Evil's uniform in a club scene. There were SO many songs in this movie and it seemed more than anything else that these songs were in because the movie was contractually obligated to have 30 songs in it. The singing was consistently whiny. This movie came out two years before the Summer of Love, but there was a lot of sex in it. I'm also amazed that the movie didn't set the feminist movement back 30 years. Also, sometimes Ricky and Dee Dee would take walks on the beach and it was VERY OBVIOUS that they're WALKING IN PLACE with stock beach footage behind them.

On the plus side, I couldn't take my eyes off this film. I had to respect it because it's not like it was so bad it's good -- it's more like they tried as HARD AS THEY COULD to make it bad. Maybe bad is a strong word. They tried as hard as they could to make it annoying. None of the actors had any shame. I guess this was a very spazmatic period of our nation.

Christmas Time!

noreply@blogger.com (J.R.) — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 19:34:00 +0000

OK just thought I'd show you how our tree and village shaped up this year. Tree first.

OK so I'm kinda a minimalist (like Yoshi!) for my tree. This is a really pretty, fragrant and very full Grand Fir. In fact I bought it tied up and when I cut the final cord it kinda went poof all over our living room. Anyway when it's lit up it looks real darn pretty. We stuffed the bronze star on top with white lights. That was a really pretty effect. Then the lights "step on." It's kinda like fade in and out but in steps. It's pretty. Trust me. Maybe I should do a video of it at night and post it. We'll see.

Anyway, here's my Department 56 Alpine Village. I decided against showing a picture of the full village. It doesn't work. So here's my two favorite detailed photos.

I decided to go for a mountainous look. It is an Alpine village after all. So here in the hills we have (top to bottom left to right) the Quilt-maker, the Nutcracker Shop, the Wheat Mill, the Game-maker and The Cuckoo Clock shop. Fun stuff!

Here's a shot of the town center. From left to right we see a corner of the Rathouse, the Alpine church in the background, the Alpine Schoolhouse and lastly the Music Academy. If you look up in the background you can see Santa's house and Santa and his sleigh taking off. That cheesemaker had better get his kids to bed cause Santa is on his way!

Anyway, Merry Christmas everyone!

Back to the Beach and let's Finally Move On

noreply@blogger.com (J.R.) — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 01:05:00 +0000

So the winner of last month's Frankie and Annette movies poll was "How to Stuff a Wild Bikini." Unfortunately, HTSAWB was unable to perform her duties as winner (unrentable). Therefore The Vice-Winner "Back to the Beach" was asked to step in as acting winner. It has also proven difficult to rent. Fortunately I saw this film about a million times as a kid. So here goes my review based on having watched it with my mom about 15 years ago.

This is the story of real life Annette Funicello and Frankie Avalon who play themselves. They have a black leather wearing rebellious child named Bobbie and a daughter who lives on the beach in Southern California. Frankie, who used to be a surfing legend called "The Big Kahuna" has not been back to the beach since a monster wave dubbed "The Humunga Cowabunga From Down Unda" nearly killed him many years ago. On their way to Hawaii they a layover in Socal where the decide to drop in on their daughter, Sandi. Unbeknownst to them she is living with her fiance Michael. Frankie is determined to have a terrible time in Socal until he meets an old flame named Connie at her bar. She has erected a shrine to The Big Kahuna which includes his own board. Annette becomes upset at the flirting and they have a fight. Needless to say, the end up missing their flight to Hawaii and the time is spent Frankie trying to win back Annette and Michael trying to salvage his relationship with Sandi. Throughout all this their son is trying to find his own identity and falls in with a group of surfer punks. To win back the respect of his son, Frankie has a surf off with the gang's leader. After a few poor attempts he finds himself yet again confronted with the Humunga Cowabunga from Down Unda. This time he surfs it like a pro. He gets his wife back and his son learns to respect him - going so far as to get an identical Frankie Avalon hair helmet.

Writing this up makes me actually want to see it again. Cursed very long wait! This was a fun film with a lot of good musical pieces by a ska band, music by Dick Dale and Stevie ray Vaughn and a stud named Troy. My favorite line of the whole film is "I dig chicks. Chicks dig me digging them. Dig?" Who WOULDN'T fall for that?

Here's a quick clip of Troy:

Awesome.

It's hard to criticize this film when it makes no attempt at being anything resembling a film that should be taken seriously. So watch it. It's good fun. Jon, feel free to review HTSAWB as soon as you get it in the mail.

As for December, well the category is Christmas movies of course! I'm suggesting Fred Claus. Santa should be the most stressed out guy in the world and Paul Giamati does a good stressed out Santa.

Let me know what movie to put in the poll and quick. I want the poll up by the start of next week. Stay cool everybody and Merry Christmas!