Journal

Early Fall Trip 2018 - Dana Thomas House

So the Dana Thomas House is another check in our long list of visiting public Frank Lloyd Wright places. As with many places, the photographs of the inside was forbidden, and I can understand it to some extent (sales of photos, time on tours, etc), but there was the lamp, and butterfly chandelier (OMG) that I really really wanted to spend time with. So it made me a bit sad, but it was a wonderful double visit (we arrived to one of the last tours of the day, so we came back the next day to take pictures in the garden).

Early Fall Trip 2018 - Abe Lincoln Binge and Springfield, IL

(alt title: Whole lotta Lincoln Going On)

We visited The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library, Union Station, Lincoln Home, Old state Capital, Lincoln’s Tomb, The Lincoln - Herndon Law offices, Lincoln Depot, New Salem and the Lincoln Memorial Garden and Nature Center. We walked around quite a bit in the downtown area, so we took some shots from around there too. I really liked the red door of the First Presbyterian Church just down the street from the Lincoln Home. I may have scared a UPS person that was close by as I expressed how pretty I thought it was.

Early Fall Trip 2018 - Airbnb - Virginia, IL

This was our first Airbnb, we have been thinking about it for a while, there is always a bit of trepidation there, because it is a new thing. That being said, this was quite a delightful experience. It felt like staying at a friends house (without the feeling that you may be a burden on your friend). It was cozy and nice, and unlike some places, I didn’t have that much problem falling asleep (I did have a hard time finding the right position so my CPAP machine would work right). There was enough space to allow me to stay up a bit later (as is usually the case), unlike a hotel room. We were located right on the town square, with the courthouse across the street. While we were hoping that this place that was just a couple doors down would be open (it had permanently closed the week before we got there). There was a lot of noise related to harvest season (semis going back and forth), but for the most part it was pretty quiet.

Early Fall Trip 2018 - To Springfield, Illinois

I am easily bored while driving, so while we trip, we try to schedule breaks, and avoid roads we’ve driven many times before. I have lived in Iowa all of my life (Shannon most) and I’ve never been here. A bit out of the way, sure, but a nice stop off.

American Gothic House

Maharishi University

I’ll not lie, this is partially because of my interest of the obscure, plus the mention of a golden dome was interesting (yellow is more accurate)

Villa Kathrine

Just across the river in Quincy. This is an indicator of an odd fellow liking a concept and making it happen. A wonderful view, the house still looks out of place, even decades upon decades after being there.

2018 - Week 37 Cooking Results

After getting the impression that fall was actually here, because there was a general cooling, we are back to warmish, but not as humid weather. My thoughts of food have started to turn towards fall, and winter squashes and the dishes that contain them, however earlier this week as it had heated back up (but we hadn’t turned the air back on yet), so I skipped a dish because of that, but I’m still thinking about them, since spaghetti and acorn squash are here. I’m looking at the weather prediction this week and getting frustrated as they are mostly in the upper 80s which really isn’t conducive for winter squash based recipes, at least for me.

We had a strange thing happen this past week. We’re planning a little weekend trip to Springfield, Illinois (Lincoln, FLW house, etc). We are trying airbnb for the first time and we booked well in advance. So from what I gather from multiple sources, the place we are staying changed ownership, airbnb was supposed to basically give you the option to re-book under the new owner’s schedule. They did not. Now if this was a misinterpretation between the host, owner and airbnb, I am unsure, however, it was easily resolved after the initial confusion, other then the refund coming back and the money going in.

Yesterday, our shower head started to leak out the top, so I ran out to pick up a new shower head to replace it. The shower seems kind of big for the place, but we now have a detachable head that I’ve wanted for a while, and it’s really quite easy to do.

Tuna & Noodles with Kimchi

I think this would’ve been fine without my modifications, but Serving a noodle dish without some cheese? To my wife? Yeah that probably won’t fly well. I added some Holey Cow (Central Coast Creamery) and mixed it in which raised the amount of fat and definitely added quite a bit of flavor.

Seared Garlic Sausage (Red Table) on buns with Kraut

These are so good sausages, in dishes, on their own, on bread. I really love these things. I made little sausage medallions and seared them on both sides, so you could pile them up on the buns and top with kraut. Good things.

Braunschweiger (Lucky George) on Rye (Tuesday)

Shannon has an art class, I have Tuesday night ritual, this leaves me to my own devices on Tuesday night. So I get to play with things I’m pretty sure (braunschweiger) or know (rye) she won’t like. I had lunch with Proctor that day, and he suggested the Salted Rye at the downtown Hy-Vee, so I headed down there (I was going to go to the Kosher deli, but part of me feels vaguely disrespectful of their beliefs by taking it and putting pork on it, not that I wouldn’t, but you know another option showed up). Anyways, mildly drunk I made myself a sandwich and it was good. Thus all was good in the world. I then took a nap.

Stuffed Delicata Squash, based on This

Used the Italian sausage to make little patties to put on pretzel buns. Made for a good alternate meal as the temp was rising again.

Thai Pumpkin and Chicken Curry

With the leftover pumpkin from making the first pumpkin bread of the season, I pulled this together. I had to make a couple of modifications (green curry paste instead of red, on hand plus red was out in the store). As another change, I served it over quinoa instead of rice (I thought I had rice, but didn’t). The taste was pretty good.

2018 - Week 14 Cooking Results

I took a short trip (less then 24 hours there) to Madison for a bit of training.  So I met up with most of my team and we had a very nice dinner at Graft.  Quite a good meal, nice time with my team mates.  Fun time.  Although it's not a lot of time for 9-10 hours of driving.

Spicy Larb with Cabbage Cup

So apparently the spiciness of larb is not on the Ok side for Shannon.  So I will have to reconsider how I make this in the future and reduce the heat.  That being stated, I went to pork burgers and put kimchi on it.  Good stuffs.

Scrambled Eggs and N'djua

Skipped

Fried Egg Tacos with Spicy Chile Jam

Quickly came togheter, Tasted pretty good. 

Pork Burgers

There was not enough pork in the freezer, so I pulled out some mutton instead.  Good stuffs.

10th Wedding Anniversary trip to Mason City (Fall 2016)

The Hotel is really cool in the sense of design.  It was a wonderful weekend.  A Frank Lloyd Wright fan must.

Late Summer 2016 Road Trip - Around Denver

I cannot express how much I enjoyed being in the forest in the mountains around Denver.  Partially cause it reminded me, sort of, of the cabin of my Great Grandma Mimi around SLC.  And part of it was probably the general recovery of lack of oxygen from coming down the mountain.  I kind of like Denver, pretty expensive though.

Late Summer 2016 Road Trip - Wyoming