Fresh Pasta in the Summer

Jenn and Martyn (Sister and Brother-in-law) had me over for dinner on Friday.  Martyn made fresh pasta that was light, decadent, and filled with thyme (perhaps my favorite herb).  I was prep monkey and diced up squash and cherry tomatoes for the sauce that included a great pesto, even though pesto isn't my favorite.  I also prepared a simple salad of heirloom tomatoes and fennel over arugula.  A great, simple, and perfect summer meal.

Enjoy the fresh pasta photos.

Linguine with thymes (freshly cut)

Close up on a small bundle of joy

All the Pasta (and my Gin and Tonic)

A better shot of the bounty

Celebrating with Dessert

My sister is becoming quite the baker. I mean she is fearless to try a new recipe so for the Easter weekend (or Yeah, Jesus rose from the dead Day!) she set out to make two difficult, from scratch recipes. I was, of course, along for the ride and more than willing to help. The one recipe was the cold water biscuits, passed down from Martyn's grandmother. They are good folks. Not easy or quick, but delicious. It's a lot of proofing and the 2 extra hours in the car of final proofing really expanded they're sizes. The rolls were epic big, in a good way of course. We also set out to make a coconut cake. It was quite the process. Note to all readers, egg whites in the carton do NOT whip into meringue. Also, delicate cakes can sometimes spontaneously fissure over night. Also, an egg white icing does not like fluctuating temperatures. But this Cake was good, it was all from scratch and good looking.

The age old, tried and true, rice krispie treat also made an appearance with the addition of a popsicle stick and a little caramel. We also had a store bought, Key Lime Pie.

Jenn sent this picture along of her wonderful biscuits!

Spring Training 2010

Some highlights from Florida 2010 Spring Training. The first is that I got my first foul ball on the last day. The lowlight was the temperatures, they were low, too low for my liking.

The Phanatic

Jayson Werth Sporting the beard

Jimmy Rollins in St. Patty's Green

Ryan Howard up to bat.

Tailgating on St. Patrick's Day.

Breakfast at Lenny's. So I had the sampler with 2 eggs, homefries, one bacon, one sausage link, one sausage patty, and one Canadian bacon slice, all with Rye toast.

Yes he's admiring a good golf shot.

Freezing in the seats.

Slice, Hook, or straight? Your guess is as good as mine.

Capitals beat the Lightning at the St. Pete Times Forum. A little non-baseball fun.

High Altitude 3-Bean Chili and Lentil with Flowering Kale Soup

So it turns out that feeding 17 people can be quite a challenge and for an additional test of skill, do it at altitude (10,000 ft) in a rental house kitchen with dull knives. Well we pulled it off. With my two friends, Megan and Jenn (Jenn doubles as my sister), we cooked up quite the feast. On a few scraped knuckles later, we had a triumphant meal for 17 with Grilled cheese with Fontina, White Cheddar and spinach, 3-Bean Citrus Chili and Green Lentils with Flowering Kale Soup.

It became quite hard to predict the amount of ingredients needed to pull of this feet. But sticking to the basics of creating a good foundation with the Onions, Celery, Peppers (the trinity) for the chili and a mirepoix (carrots, celery, and onion) for the lentils, we pulled it off. I added jalapeño to both as well as garlic and diced tomatoes.

The hightlights were definitely the flowering purple kale in the lentils, the zest and juice of 2 oranges in the chili, and the perfect grilled cheese with spinach. And of course my two cooking companions, Jenn and Megan.

Megan and Jenn

Another highlight was mushing this team of dogs!

Big Sister

I wanted to say thank you. Thank you to my sister. Jennifer is much more than just by big sister. She's a friend. A best friend. And it's obvious from these old pictures that she's loved me from the start. How you could you not?

I think this is the first time she held me circa December 1979. See, I made her happy back then too.

Here's my dad reading a little Dr. Seuss to us. Would you believe I still remember my dad telling me stories and even singing to me as a child. "I've Been Working on the Railroad" really sticks in my head.

I'm pretty sure this was a thank you kiss for the book she just gave me.

I'm not sure why I'm all dressed up in a bow tie and velvet jacket and Jenn's sporting the pink and purple sweatsuit.

And she certainly is cool!

Father's Day Weekend

So once again I was traveling this past weekend. And saw my godson Ethan and we celebrated his little brother's (Grayson) 1st birthday on Saturday.

Ethan is eating breakfast (and stretching?).



Grayson is giving me a big laugh.



And then I got to spend some time with my dad and the family. We went to two different Brewery's in two days. I'm pretty sure that was up my dad's alley. But at both places, my sister ordered the sampler of beers. What a good idea and a ton of beer for a reasonable price.



So it was another fun weekend, with little rest, but lots of fun (and beer).

Recent Reading

Saturday night I watched as 2 am became 3am, in the blink of an eye. Well in my case it was a quick recheck of my cell phone clock as I made my way home on the hour EST became EDT. Nevermind what I was doing at that hour (hanging out with a friend if you must know and not even at the bars). Anyway, I've decided recently to read more at night in order to get to sleep faster and to also enjoy the silence and inner reflection before I go to sleep. Saturday night at about 3:15 am, after the removal of contacts and brushing of teeth, I picked up a small book my Mom gave me called The Last Lecture. I began to read and before I knew it, it was 4:15. So I finally put the book down and drifted off to sleep.

I awoke the next morning and finished reading the book before ever getting out of bed. Don't get me wrong the book is short and quite quick to read. It was pretty moving for me. I think there are some good lessons about living your life and finding your own way. I was deeply saddened at some points, especially when Dr. Randy Pausch spoke of his children's future. I guess I thought of my friend who had lost her mother too early. I thought of another friend who's mother is battling similar cancer to the Pausch. I thought of all those people who left their children too early. I thought a lot. I hope for my friend who has to continue to grieve the loss of her mother. I hope for my friend who has to support her mother's battle. I hope for a humanity that cherishes both their parents and their children. I hope for my mother. Because she is doing well now, I hope that endures. I hope.

So I hope to read more. To experience other people's words through their words. To experience other worlds through the creativity of others. To experience the joys of life and the crushing lows as well.

Now I'm reading a much lighter book about golf stories. I picked it up for 50 cents at a work fundraiser. It has kept me up a lot longer the last 2 nights than I wanted or anticipated. That is the joy of reading though. You never know what you'll pick up next and what experience your mind will be thrust into.

Wedding Part I

Just a little taste from the wedding weekend.

A weekend of Celebration

Twas a weekend of fun and festivities,  celebration and friendship, and of course, champagne.  The Philadelphia Phillies are in the National League Championship Series (with the LA Dodgers).  After a stumble on Saturday night, they pulled through Sunday afternoon, courtsey of the Home Run. All 6 runs were results of home runs.   

More importantly, I threw a party for Jenn and Martyn.  A wedding shower, jack and jill style, for the couple celebrating their nuptials in 33 days.  We had the local DC guests (and some non-locals) in for a gathering.  I created the obligatory shower game of word scramble and trivia, which turned out better than I suspected.  Here's an example:

Unscramble this famous couple (answer will be at the bottom of the post):

lfrl hi daka & or give eirda

Then we showed the slide show of pictures of "Jenn and Martyn: Past and Present."  I worked diligently on this project for way too many hours, but it all paid off in the end.  It was about 200 slides of Jenn and Martyn from baby to present, set to music.  It was great and I personally loved the reaction of everybody.  It turns out my hard work paid off. I think we'll show it again at the rehearsal dinner.

Jenn at 12 Weeks

Martyn: a few months old

Jenn and Me

Jenn and Martyn Now

I stopped at Total Wine for some tasty beverages and thanks to a suggestion from my friend Jessica, I found some tasty mediterranean treats at the Mediterranean Bakery in Virginia.  The Hommous, Tabouli, Baba, and Tzaziki were great.  I bought a ton of super fresh pita as well.  It was such a great addition.  I can't recommend this place enough.   I also had vegetables and cheeses and chips and salsa (jenn's favorite food).  

The party was fun and we stayed late.  There were some minor problems (a few broken wine glasses and slight scrapes).  The Theme: Jenn and Martyn '08, it could have been worse.  In reality it was fun but I am glad that pressure is off.  

Stats for you.

13 Days until Jenn's B-Day

29 Days until the election (hopefully of Obama)

33 Days until the wedding

105 Days left of W. 

2028 Days since the beginning of the Invasion of Iraq

Answer to scramble: Frida Kahlo & Diego Rivera

Celebrating Bachelorhood

This weekend marked marked 8 weeks until Jenn and Martyn tie the knot.  The boys and girls had their respective bachelor parties this weekend.  All I know is the boys had fun.  Despite a rained out baseball game and sweltering temperatures, we had a good deal of fun.  

9 out 10 of us.

We had dinner at Central in DC. It was a great meal and we all certainly stuffed ourselves.  The charcuterie plate was really amazing and the faux gras (chicken liver instead of duck) was really extraodinary.  For my meal I also had the filet mignon tartare (seen below).  It had a nice kick of Tabasco.  For dinner I had braised beef cheeks, which were really good.  they came with a carrot puree and fettuccini.  I think the boys enjoyed the meal in the private room in the kitchen.

Martyn made it until 4:20 am on Saturday (well sunday i guess).

Happy Birthday Dad!

So my dad, David S. Rogers turns 60 today. Umm...that's old. He knows it and I love him. I also sent him this ecard from Someecards.com. They are funny.



HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD.

I've just come up with a new nickname for my dad, "Twenty Questions." Anyone who's been interrogated by him, will know this works. Maybe I'll call him 20Q for short.

Why are we not there yet?

My life has been surrounded by a multitude of strong, brilliant women. I am most fortunate to learn from these women and so often in awe. The last two nights I have watched Michelle Obama and Hillary Clinton address the Democratic National Convention. And while they are markedly different in their background, approach, and goals, it is clear that they are special. Am I shocked? Absolutely not.

The reason I am not at all surprised by the remarkable success and strength of Michelle and Hillary, is the remarkableness of the women in my life. My mother is such a kind soul and makes me laugh. It is really simple, making me laugh is so important to me. My mom has endured and is so courageous. I know I am super biased, but she is amazing. She's been a wonderful mother and a pillar of the feminine in my life. My friend, Ali, challenges me to think in different ways. She has opened my eyes to new perspectives and new avenues of thought. And, most importantly, she has a great smile and uses it often. Smiling is inviting and again so important to me. Emily, my friend, really understands. She knows how to listen. Em has always been really honest with me, and isn't that so important?

Then there is Jenn, my sister. I don't know if there is anyone in this world who believes in me more. She is brilliant, strong, sweet, vulnerable, affectionate, and beautiful. She has challenged me to be better and praised me for my accomplishments, however small. I am astounded by her. How am I so lucky to have a sister and a best friend, all in one? But it is not just the emotional that Jenn encompasses. She is a leader. She is accomplished. She has an abiding belief in herself and those people and things that are a part of her realm.

So this brings me to my question. Why are we not there yet? Why is it not a women taking the podium on Thursday to accept the Democratic nomination? Why is it not a women being sworn in as President in January? Why has the patriarchy prevailed? Well that will have to remain my question. But know this, when society as a whole realizes what I know, women and men will truly be equals.

I thank all the women in my life. I thank them for teaching me to think from a new perspective. I thank them for being such pillars. I thank them for them. I am so honored to have grown with the inspiration of such wonderful women.

Fam

Me and Jenn

Left to right, Martyn (future Brother), Jenn (sister), Ali (practically my sister).

Joan (mom)

Dave (Dad)

Emily (friend for as long as my memory serves me)

So this is the family. I love them all.