While the reviews were pretty much exclusively positive, it wasn't really what I intended to do. I used far too much cinnamon for the flavor profile that I was looking for. Though it was stated that the heavy chocolate taste from the brownies and the heavy cinnamon from the cookies kind of acted as a sort of dual palate cleanser. So it was a burst of chocolate, followed by a burst of cinnamon, or the other way around. And while this is a good thing, I suppose, I think it would've been better if I would've added more semi-frozen brownies bits, since 2 cups per batter recipe wasn't quite enough. Or if I would've just highlighted the brownies, by moving back the cinnamon. I'll have to try again with smaller batches this time.

Also, I need to get the timing right...the first 6 cookies out of the oven ended up being a bit raw in the middle, thought I did adjust the time up to around 19 minutes per batch, which seemed to get it to about the right consistency from my oven. though I suspect if I add more brownies, it'll change that time too.

I also think I mixed the cookie batter for too long, since they didn't rise as much as they have in the past with other of the multi-chocoalte chip cookies.

Also as an adjustment to speed up the time to make the Nuclear Brownies, by tempering the egg and sugar mixture, I was able to add the warm chocolate and butter in much sooner, which allowed me to finished the brownies in one segment, rather then start, wait for chocolate and butter mixture to cool, then finish.

Anyways, this may end up being two separate recipes...one with the cinnamon drawn back just a little with the brownies cranked up just a bit. And then another where the brownies are the stars, and the cookies are a backdrop.

BakeWise: The Hows and Whys of Successful Baking with Over 200 Magnificent Recipes by Shirley O. Corriher

And decided to amend my christmas wish list.

So pretty much our whole work group headed over to proof restaurant for lunch. It was busy when we went.

We ordered our meals, put some tables together and chatted about work things.

The owner/chef stopped by and actually thanked me for my post before. It was both nice to hear that someone related to one of the places I've written about actually had read it, and yet a little weird for me too...often times I have to think for a while to come up with the right things to say...so I'm not so necessarily so eloquent in person. Plus I guess I was a bit embarrassed, too...I suppose. I was also interested to find out that she comes from the family that is responsible for Jasper Winery...which produces the Chancellor which I think I've said before was one of my favorites...probably my favorite in the state, excluding the Port from Cedar Ridge Winery.

Anyways on to it.

I had Moroccan Chicken Flatbread and Curried Carrot Soup with a soda. It was kind of funny because Andrea and I ordered the exact same thing and Michelle ordered the same main with a salad side... Brandon had the Roast Pork flatbread, Keith had the braised lamb flatbread and Proctor had vegetable falafel.

The the chicken was tasty, spicy and and fragrant. I was nicely cooked, tender and just yummy. The soup was quite tasty...maybe made a bit extra so being so warming on such a cold day (first snow + me with no coat). What is it about soup that is so good? I also tried a bit of the braised lamb (delious) and the falafel, which was really quite good...yes...me...and vegges...I know, I know.

Anyways for $9 + drink and tip...how can you not go?

Also, I did promise Shannon that when she wanted to go to lunch, we could go...so I guess I won't get in too much trouble...

First we bought a clock for the family room...since the only real one visible at all times is the VCR and the time it keeps is...terrible at best (it gained 10 minutes in 6 months). And the fact that I think it's been over a year since I've last used the VCR....

Second, we got two small bamboo trays to hold our personal effects (wallet, keys, etc), which allows us to organize a bit. Plus, we also got a bigger one to hold my unread magazines (mostly cooking plus a couple of others) and new mail. Also moved the small table that it's on to the back of the room, so that it'll be close to an outlet, so Shannon will be able to charge her phone easily. It also has the hand sewn...table runner I guess? that my Great-Grandmother (I believe) made.

Above it (kitchen wall) we put the Tudzarov that we bought at the last Des Moines Art Festival (why does it always take so long to get new art hung). On each side of that we put the big wooden spoon and fork that was above my grandparent's (father's side) table.

On the Stair side wall of the dining room, we put the book cases and alternated between my cookbooks and Shannon's nick-knacks and some photos, plus on top we put the Irish table runner that we got as a wedding present.

We rotated the table 90 degrees, since the dining room is basically square.

The living room got the cupboard that was in the dining room...but now it's less covered with all my crap, and now holds our wedding photo and some other wedding stuff.

So the dining room is more utilized, and the living room is opened up a bit. We also talked about, unless we need them, putting away the folding chairs out of the dining room...which I like generally...but I don't really know where we'd put them.

I like it and it feels like we'll be more organized and we'll have a place for every day things and I like that...

We are at a turning point in history, and what happens over the next few years will be very telling about the future of the country. I will not deny that I was moved to action and actually donated money (not a ton) to help Obama achieve victory last night, but when it comes to it, it's time to face facts.

We are in a crisis. Not just a perceived crisis, but a real one. The wars, the economy, and the future hang in the balance of what is going to happen. The groundwork laid here (revamping, economic regulations, changing the focus of social issues, and perhaps new supreme court justices), can have a huge impact on the future.

Anytime when any one group has amassed such an amount of power, it can cause a lot of problems. As is very evident by 6 of the past 8 years.

Remember that power is fleeting in this country, and even if we are unable to get all the action items of the Plan done, unless significant progress will be made, people will remember.

I have wonderful hopes for the future, but know that power can corrupt and if it does, I'll be voting people out of office, just like I helped vote them in.

Now as to people and their opinions, scanning through comments on both a local news site and a national "news" site, and it still shocks me as to how misinformed people are. I can understand challenges to the ideas and what will be best for the country, but using name, race, supposed religion, and just outright lies and restating them as fact is just not the way to do things. If you read something, even if it sent to you by a friend, you need to check it for facts.

One of my new favorite sites over the last while here has been FactCheck.org. It cites where it gets information from and doesn't take facts for granted.

Anyways, it is time to bring a bitter time to a close and work toward the future. Celebrate a bit, then take the signs down...all of them. There is a lot of hard work ahead.

Let us once again become Americans to move our country forward into the future.

Shannon
Old Navy Gift cards
Memory Foam neck pillow
Sleeping Beauty Blu-ray
Jillian Michaels Fitness Ultimatum 2009 (Wii)
Yoga Mat

Sam
Final Fantasy Versus XIII (PS3)
Boom Blox (wii)
Batman: The Killing Joke
Feasting on Asphalt: The River Run - Alton Brown
Valkyria Chronicles (ps3)
Monopoly (Wii)

This, being not the first second or 3rd time I've dropped this iPod from this height, looked like it was still fine. I was able to scroll around, see the podcasts, music and etc, so I pack up and head out to my car.

In the car, I plug it in, start my podcasts and it immediately goes through each one, just blip blip blip, not actually playing anything. so I try music, and it does the same thing.

So I head back in the house, and hook it up to power and reset it...on the reboot, it came up with the folder with the exclamation point, as if it couldn't reach the mini hard drive.

Doing some research, I find that it's probably the case...so I update the iPod that Shannon got from work and head off to my job.

So I replaced the battery in the iPod once....so it lived a long life.

I listened to it at work, home, making food, playing video games, cleaning, walking, driving and etc. If I assume that I used it 40 hours a week for 5 years, it'd be a life or 10,400 hours or 433.3 days of use.

It is kind of funny that I'm now using an iPod nano 3rd generation (Shannon's) now...

So now comes the big decision, do I wait to see if I can get one for Christmas, or do I just go out and get one...considering I use it so much. Plus I think that Apple would give me a 10% discount if I went in and bought a new iPod.

Wow...just wow.

From the simple menu listing of:

first/5
nacho chips/dip
second/10
duck pizza
third/15
hot dogs/apple fries
fourth/7
snickers/ice cream

Comes one of the best dinners of my life.

Nacho Chips and Dip was really these fried wheat chips and a goat cheese sauce. With these thinly sliced slightly salted tiny red potatoes (I think). The sauce was spicy, but not so much so that it turned away...but still spicy enough to keep me happy. It was smooth, slightly salty and wonderful.

The duck pizza had a small, slightly oiled salad that was good, and the pizza itself was fantastic. Duck, lots of cheese on and a white sauce that just topped everything off. How could it get anything better?

And then it does.

The hot dogs/apple fries...how could something that I normally avoid like the plague (hot dogs, most are awful) be good? You take a freshly baked roll, make your own catchup, mustard, and put those around a pureed scallop formed into a hot dog. It was astoundingly good. I don't say that lightly either. That was the only course I was really worried. That combined with the granny smith apple fries (which were just small perfectly cut apples) just came out as probably one of the favorite food items. I was thinking of food shows that I've seen and how this would be something they would do on a show like that, and then Shannon mentioned the same thing.

The snickers/ice cream was a peanut butter ice cream, beside nougat enrobed in chocolate. Combined together it tasted like a snickers bar. It was a great finish to a fantastic dinner.

Service was quick and attentive but not over bearing.

I'm quite impressed. My boss knows the owner/chef in a round about sense (I think he said her mother and his mother were friends), but they're both from the same hometown.

Anyways... I'm looking forward to eating lunch there (hopefully soon) and I'm gonna have to keep an eye on their site to find out what their themed Friday night dinner is.

So dinner for both of us, with a glass of wine and some port with dessert for me came out to be just over $90, excluding tip.

The only drawback I had, was the music...but that just me...boring and bland smooth jazz never seems to be ok for me...

A very blustery day and my car not going anywhere led to the piles...even though there are no large trees in my yard...

Congrats to Ryan and my sister Alissa.

(Updated with better picture and middle name.)

Planet Money: Answers questions, covers issues, explains ideas and concepts that are often very complicated. Generally posted weekdays, special for this financial crisis.

Marketplace: Weekdays after the markets close. General market news, in depth stories on various financial topics. I generally listen to this when I make dinner.

Marketplace Money: Weekly show, many topics, lots of good coverage. Updated Weekly.

Marketplace Morning Report: News in the morning, before the markets open, general updates on overnight happenings, quick reports on other financial markets. Usually listened to on the way into work.

Over time, I've learned quite a bit more about whats going on...and even though I can't change anything, it does feel comforting to at least know whats going on.

I've been reading a bit more and have been enjoying reading most of the graphic novels listed (I've gone off of quite a few best graphic novel lists to go from there). I must say that it really has made me feel like a kid again and I've been staying up later and later reading a few of these. Some of them were not the best. I was reminded why I'm not a huge fan Superman (might over intelligence) or Justice League (problems have to be so ridiculous that they seem silly). The exception has been Kingdom Come, where the artwork was stunning and the story was really good.

I also have apparently forgotten that I've read High Fidelity, which I think I even own. Though in reading it I find myself more identifying with what I remember from the movie, then what I had read before.

I remember the book The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper from my childhood...considering how much I read as a youngster, to have a book stand out in my memory is pretty shocking. I finally watched the movie that was based on the book...The movie was terrible. I'm glad that Scott told me not to go to it in the theater.

If you are black and do endorse Obama, even if you have reasons, it must be racial.

If you make the following adjustments:

If you are not black and do not endorse Obama, even if you have reasons, it must be racial.

Does that also apply?

Why is this even a factor?

I find it upsetting that people cannot even make a decision in their own mind, where before they would be trusted to be based upon the evidence and issues, but now that it's against what they're supposed to be saying, it obviously can't be that...it has to be something else.

Now all we have to do is paint it red again.

We decided that we'd have someone else paint the ceilings, front hall, staircase and landing, because...well...painting ceilings sucks.

Monday I went to Cedar Rapids, on the invite of my youngest brother Isaac, to recreate, to some extent, the senior picture that I had taken. In that picture I was laying to my side and baby Isaac was sitting in front with lederhosen. While we weren't able to find lederhosen (well we didn't try too hard), we did take pictures. Shannon came along too, since she had the afternoon off. We were fed white chili, cornbread, melon and apple crisp and played some hearts before dinner.

On the way there, a magic bug went splat against my windshield and even though I used wiper fluid several times (4 or 5), it had little affect against the smear of it. However on the way back, it rained...quite a bit. While driving, we semi-hydroplaned a few times and had the wipers on high, to no noticeable results. After slowing down to well under the limit, it finally got viewable again.

Tomorrow we're going to go see Religulous. I'm looking forward to it.