March Madness & Rotten Apples

My March Madness continues. Sorry not a cooking entry, but an experience I felt like posting...
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The 2010 Women's National Hockey Tournament is in Green Bay, WI. For various reasons, most of our region's teams have pulled out from participating this year.
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At most levels, the team(s) remaining were automatically given our region's National bids...well all levels, but one.
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The national spot still up for grabs was the Women's C level - [a rough definition for this level is a competative recreational player with no college hockey experience].
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Since the two teams remaining were 2-5 hours south of our neck of the woods, the state board decided to forgo hosting rights/accommodate and move it south. As it so happens, this move also caused the duty of organizing/directing to default to me.
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A best of 3, Game 1 was Friday Night. I left work mid-afternoon and made the 2.5 hour drive to the new arena. Being a player on our state's Women's B team, I've not been on the otherside of the glass much for women's hockey. In fact, other then lending a helping hand, I've never actually organized a tournament myself...or better yet a season end's Regional Tournament!
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With no clue on the USA H rules for regional tournament playoffs, I had to rely on the trusty cell phone to speed dial our region's director and my copy of the 2009-10 USA Hockey Annual Guide.
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FRIDAY, March 5th @ 7pm
Game 1: Butterflies vs. Large Cats
*Not the acutal team names....but close.
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>>>Regulation time ends (3 x 15 minute periods) with a 1 to 1 tie...oh crap, what happens now?!?!
>>>Sudden Death Overtime for 5 minutes. No one scores, there is a 6 player fight on the ice (yes, these are grown women), penelties were thrown out...great, so next is???
>>>Shoot out, which goes through the full 5 shooters per team.
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Final Score 2-3; WINNER is the Large Cats
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SATURDAY, March 6th @ 11am
Game 2: Large Cats vs Butterflies
>>Entire game goes rather smoothly and overall play was great (refs let a lot go). In the end it was a goal in the last minutes that won the game.
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Final Score 2-3; WINNER is the Butterflies
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SATURDAY, March 6th @ 1pm
I need a drink...
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So I had one of these...
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I should have had another one of these (but restrained myself)...
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a little Ceasar Salad
(cause you shouldn't drink on an empty stomach)...
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a Buffalo Chicken Deep Dish Pizza...

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and dessert to go - White Chocolate Macadamia Cookie.

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SATURDAY, March 6th @ 5pm

Game 3 Championship: Butterflies vs Large Cats
>The game was close, VERY close...so close in fact that I had to call to ask what happens in overtime for the Championship Game! [fyi, it is a series of 10 min sudden death periods until a winner is decided]

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Toward the end, the claws really came out on some of the Large Cats and the Butterflies were no angels themselves. There was plenty of smack talking, backlashing and just plain nastiness to go around. My Dad actually came to help out, so while I ran the clock, he was responsible for the Large Cats' penalty box. With as many as 3 players in the box at a time, he was a busy man haha!

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Ultimately the Large Cats took themselves right out the running with their actions.

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Final Score 3 to 1; REGIONAL CHAMPS - The Butterflies

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Well Large Cats, all I have to say is - that's the way the cookie crumbles.

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And another cliche that fits is that a rotten apple spoils the barrel

(in this team's case it was a couple of real mushy brown ones).

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Thanks for the help Dad!!

It's more than just a meal

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It begins and ends with tea...and includes the great company of family and friends.
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What goes on during such a meal, I cannot tell you. It is just one of those things you need to experience to understand. The best I can do for now is share with you the food.
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Soon after the first pot of tea is brought out...

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...come the Kimchis and pickled diakon/onion with black bean paste!

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We begin picking at the delicious options having to try everything, then each slowly moving our favorite kinds closer to us. For me this is the cubed diakon radish Kimchi...yum! Mom likes the one made with American cabbage and Dad is all about the julienned diakon and cucumber.

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As we dig in, Mom always grabs the vinegar and pours on the diakon/onion combo, which is then dipped in the delicious bean paste.

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Then comes the soup.

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This has got to be the clearest and most pure broth I have ever seen! It is pretty much an egg drop soup...Korean style.

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Now for the BEST Kimchi Pancakes you've ever had!

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I really am inspired to figure out just how they do these. So deliciously spicy with an unbelievable crusty outside!!!!
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Still munching on the mini Kimchi buffet...

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Ah, now for the main course!

For me it's the noodles with black bean paste!!

I think the proper name is Jajangmyun (or Ja Jang Myun), but know that varies depending on the vegetables and presence of meat.

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Dad's favorite Ohm Rice!

A fried rice type dish in a super thin egg bowl with a dollop of ketchup.

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I love that he still loves this dish. Whenever we go, this is what he will most often get. This is also one of those dishes my mother makes just for him at home (her own version of course).

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But why do I love his love for it? For the fact this was one of the dishes she would serve him early on in their relationship.

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My memory of the story may be a bit off, but here is what I imagine every time he digs into it -

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I try to imagine them back in Korea as a young international pair soo in love. Dad was a Marine stationed in Okinawa and Mom a cosmetologist in Korea. Being the true cliche of love at first sight, my father was smitten when he saw her in a store and soon enough my mother was too. He would take every opportunity to hop the next flight from his base in Japan to visit my Mother in Korea.

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The way Korean women care for their men is amazing (I still have a lot to learn...just ask Hubs). I imagine her cooking this up for him in her tiny apartment on the days he was visiting. They would have dinner, enjoy each other's company and she would wash his socks and hang them to dry (a gesture most likely lost in translation here).

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Almost 29 years later, they are still just as much in love...if not more so. They have built a wonderful life and family together. What I admire the most is that they have always remained best friends, companions, and devoted life-long loves.

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The love in this dish is timeless.
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Mom usually switches things up when she goes. On this particular afternoon she went with Chop Che. We most often reserve this for summertime in our family, but she was craving it.
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It consists of clear Korean noodles, perfectly sliced carrots, onions, scallions and beef (bulgogi).
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We also had one my mother's Korean friends with us this trip. She went for the Bim Bim Bop.
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This is one of those more commonly known Korean dishes and is made up with whatever is handy for veggies, hot pepper/bean paste mixture, and topped with a fried egg.
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The portions are HUGE here.
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This was I had left over...which of course I HAD to bring home with me :O)
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A true sign the meal is over...empty kimchi bowls!
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We end with just one last cup of tea.
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Korean food...it's more than just a meal!

How High (aka Hot)?

One of my best friends K-T and her fiance came to visit last weekend.

We went out for Thai to end our long day of fighting crowds, a strange encounter with a power tripping crossing guard and the flat out stresses associated with holiday shopping!


Side note - BYOB is perhaps one of the best inventions.

The reason for our trip out...a fiery bowl of Thai Curry!

When we ordered we each requested our curry be hotter than normal. Usually you can say extra x 10 at most restaurants, only to be disappointed with something that barely tickles the tongue.

The waitress asked each of us on a scale of 1 to 5, how hot?

A 5 for me of course, K-T went with a 3

and her fiance a bold 4.

We drank, slurped our soups, munched on the apps...

and then came the curry...

the fire breathing Thai curry!

So delicious and WICKED HOT!!

We became giggly...it was like a drug!

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Our faces were flushed, tongues burning

and laughter filled the air!


To explain how hot...
we were high off this stuff, that was how hot!!

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We ended the night rockin' out our high on guitar hero!

What a fabulous time!!

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[P.S. I know there is not much cooking lately...but no worries, it's on the way!]

The drinks are on 'them'...

The annual company holiday party...

Always on a Friday in VT, which means I, along with the other VT folks, get to work all day...and the ME/BOS offices get a freebie to travel. They also incidentally get a free weekend at the nice downtown Marriott for coming...I guess that is the trade off for living in VT.

For the last two years we have rented out an Italian Restaurant downtown. The menu is fantastic, wine fabulous and attitudes merry (for the most part)!

My husband hates this event. Ever since I've been in the post-college working world, we've had the same annoying conversation every year...'Let's skip the party' suggests my husband...'we can't, part of my job is internal marketing and the Partners expect me to be there' is my reply. We then dance around the issue for the weeks and days leading up and I remind him that this is the ONE TIME A YEAR he has to do something like this. Kicking and screaming he eventually gives in to being my date and fulfilling his role as the husband of this BD Homemaker.

This year, I did compromise a bit. Usually I have some involvement with the actual planning, which requires me to attend at the very start, but this time my contributions were taken care of that afternoon. After my husband's plea of 'can we please not be the first people there?' I decided we could shoot for fashionably late...and fashionably late we were!

6:30-7:15pm - Cocktails. I have now made it a custom to have my husband drink a glass of red wine immediately upon arrival...mind you he is not a big drinker, so this is wife prescribed medication. It calms his nerves, making him my own little social butterfly sidekick!

7:15pm - We sit for dinner. This year we sit with my dear friend JC and her wonderful husband. At the other end is our firm's newer Director of Interiors and her husband, who are a great couple as well...we've lucked out once again!!

The meal begins with bread,

roasted garlic spread and a pate spread of sorts.

No one at our table seemed very into the savory animal spread,

so that left it all to me, yum!

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I was not able to get great pictures of the meal, but mine began with a Grilled Calamari and Grilled Radicchio Salad with Balsamic. The grilled flavors combined with the natural bite of the radicchio is delicious! So good in fact that this, along with the rest of my meal selections were a repeat of what I had last year!

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Now for the main course...Sea Bass. The most delicious piece of fish I have ever had in Vermont! The texture of the fish, a potato crust, spinach and THE SAUCE are so beautiful to the eye and FABULOUS to eat!!

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I wish I could make fish like this!!

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I didn't get a picture of dessert (too much to drink by then), but it was the most delicious combination...Basil Ice Cream with Strawberries and a Balsamic Reduction.

Freakin' f-a-n-t-a-s-t-i-c!!

Eat, drink and be merry...

cause the drinks are on them!

I'm a flaky expressive that LOVES the double dough whole wheat

Last week I was a warrior of the road...while on my quest to dig up some business I had the privilege of attending/sponsoring an educational meeting for an association of prospective clients.

It was not a motivational session, but rather a supposed inspirational course. The topic -

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Professional Renewal...

...Both In & Out of the Office

It was promoted to deliver information on "...how you can embark on “new beginnings” in your career, taking control of its direction and your contentment on the journey."

Did it work? Um, not sure yet, but it did have some impact.

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What I have managed to take away are the results from my rigorous personal nature evaluation...I'm a professionally diagnosed EXPRESSIVE:

Expressives get involved with people in active, rapidly changing situations. These people are seen as socially outgoing and friendly, imaginative and vigorous. Because people react to behaviors as a result of their own value biases, some see the expressive style as dynamic and energetic while others perceive the same behavior as egotistical. Expressives can get things going, but may sometimes settle for less than the best in order to get on to something else. They lack tolerance for details, are highly competitive, and may need to learn to work with others in a collaborative manner.

Now don't get me wrong, I like the description for the most part and would like to consider a good deal of it true...but when she referred to these folks on occasion as flaky, I was kind of insulted!!

She later went on to emphasize we are social butterflies, which is quite fitting for my profession. OK, so maybe she made up for the flaky accusation in the end.

Now on the road I do not always eat well,

but I do often make an effort to eat the best...

Not the Ritz, but it's got an ironing board that works great as a kitchen table!

Can you guess what I had for dinner??

Well let me tell you, I had an amazing pizza

all to my flaky expressive self!

This trip took me back to my college town, which meant it was an absolute necessity to 1) have a Shipyard Pumpkin Head on tap; 2) enjoy a delicious Pat's Pizza and 3) bring some fine Gritty's Christmas Ale across the boarder.

Chicken Portabello w/Pesto on a
Double Dough Whole Wheat

Pat's pizza is really good but what makes this particular combination so freakin' great is the crust!

The texture and flavor are superfabulous!








This beautiful pizza is a hybrid of two Pat's Menu options. My husband and I came up with the idea to combine on one of his many visits to see me during my college days...

I was sure to bring him home the leftovers :O)