Tuesday, July 20, 2010

My Final Post

Dear Readers,

It is apparently clear that I cannot maintain a blog. Other priorities have superseded this blog. Therefore, this is my last entry. I know this will be hard for many of you! However, I know, that in time, the wound I have dealt you will heal.

I leave you with one final image.

St. Louis Style Spare Ribs and Corn Bread:

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Golfing...Poorly

It was Friday afternoon and I was trying to finish up some computer modeling when the HR director sat down in my office. "Adam, do you play golf?" I respond, "No." He responds, "Good, I will sign you up for the contract's tournament this weekend." And that is how the weekend started.

After work, I followed my boss home and he let me borrow a set of his clubs. I would be taking his spot in the tournament. He had decided to spend the weekend playing with his 6 month old son who, on a side note, is adorable. After picking up the clubs, I immediately drove to Big 5 and purchased a pair of golfing shoes. I then drove directly to the driving range where I burned through 100 balls. Not a single one flew straight. FYI: It is impossible to teach yourself to play golf in one night.

Today, I played a 18 hole scramble tournament. Our team actually came in 1 under par. We even got to use 2 of my drives as playable balls. I ended up having a lot of fun! I will not lie, it was embarrassing to lose 3 balls to the same pond, but hey....it was my first time playing golf! The tournament was followed by a tasty dinner and a raffle. I didn't win anything. :( The momment I left dinner, I drove straight to the local golf course and got the card of the local pro. I will give him a call Monday and set up golf lessons ASAP. Next time, I will be prepared!

I am still cooking and eating well. However, none of the pictures are coming out well. But do check out my version of an egg mcmuffin:

Monday, June 21, 2010

Poison Oak...

Hi Followers!

I apologize for this post's tardiness. I have been dealing with an severe poison oak encounter. In fact, the rash is on my hands. It is quite difficult to even type. Here is the story so far:

Last weekend my parents visited me. We decided to spend the weekend in Sonoma. We did a little biking and wine tasting. It was an excellent weekend. I got a 40 mile ride in and my parents got to enjoy themselves at the wineries. Sonoma is a beautiful place. It reminded me of Tuscany which I visited at age ten. Sonoma brought back the memories of my brother and I running through the Italian vineyards at night trying to catch fireflies. While we were biking we took a quick break at a river. It took a little bush whacking to approach the river. I believe this is where I encountered the poison oak. The rash started as 2 small red bumps on my arm. They appeared on Wednesday. I didn't think much of them at first. On Friday the 2 bumps had become a giant red rash that is smeared all over my left arm. Today, I have a blisters on almost every part of my body. If you have the stomach for it, google poison oak rash. Yep, that is what it looks like! I spent Saturday volunteering my time to rebuild a fence. The hard labor only exasperated the problem. For the most part, I spent Sunday cleaning, washing clothes, and taking oatmeal baths (A known remedy.) . However, nothing seems to take the edge off the itch. I am seeing a doctor today. I am going to try and get a script for steroids to help clear it up.

Even with this disaster, work has been great. I will not talk about last week at the refinery too much. In summary, it was very exciting! Interesting and unexpected things are always happening. Furthermore, I have already managed to complete one of my projects and made a lot of headway on 2 others. I am already asking for more work.

Keep your fingers crossed for me! I want my skin back!

Sunday, June 6, 2010

First Week of Work

Time for another blog post. I know you guys are upset that it has taken so long (Dave in particular). A lot has happen since my last post. My first week of work is behind me, my Dad came to visit me this weekend, and I made some incredible burgers last week.

Work is great! I am looking forward to everyday. The refinery is a really interesting place to work. There is always a lot of activity. My first week consisted mostly of safety training and Valero training videos. They were actually all very interesting. One of the videos even informed me that I am "not allowed to setup of an oil monopoly". As if I have the reasources to start a monoply. My boss is really great and my mentor has been very helpful. My boss gave me a book entitled "The Unwritten Laws of Engineering". I am diligently reading through it. It has a lot of helpful pointers!

The weekend was fun. It was great seeing my dad. I picked him up from Oakland International Airport at noon on Saturday. We headed over to Berkeley for lunch. We had a couple of tasty burgers at a diner in Downtown Berkeley (They did not compare to my burgers.) After that we did a hike in Tilden Regional Park which overlooks Berkeley. We were attempting to summit a small peak. We ended up off the trail and we had to bush whack through the majority of the hike up. However, we were rewarded with great views. We also managed to find an easier way back down. After the hike we went to the Athletics and Twins game curteosy of Valero. However, we got really bored and left earlier. This was a "father like son" moment. Both of us were just bored out of our minds and wanted to get the hell out of the stadium. It was interesting because I feel like my Dad and I have a lot in common but we often don't expess it. In this case we were both able to express how bored we get at baseball games. We headed over to SFO were he had booked a hotel room for the night. Before hitting the sack we ate at "Il Fornaio" in Burlingame. My Dad had been there before and recommended it. He was right, it was awesome. The atmosphere was wonderful. The dining area was in a large wooden room with massive windows that looked out at the street. I had ravioli stuffed with sausage and an pint of Anchor Steam(My new favorite beer). If you find yourself in Burlingame, I highly recommend Il Fornaio.

I made two burgers last week. I had lots of ground beef! The first patties were wrapped in bacon. I highly recommend cooking burgers this way. The bacon grease keeps the patties extremely moist. The second patties had jalapeno cream cheese in the middle of them. TRY THIS!!!! IT IS AWESOME!!!! Some pictures below. AR out...

Monday, May 31, 2010

The Golden Gate Bridge

I am specifically living in Benicia this summer. Benicia is in the East Bay (North-East Bay). It's a bed a breakfast sort of town. About 10 miles north is Vallejo. Vallejo is a working town. It is not a nice place to visit. However, it has one redeeming quality. There is a Ferry that leaves downtown Vallejo and drops you off an Fisherman's Wharf in downtown San Fransisco. My biking goal of the day was to bike across the Golden Gate Bridge. Which is only about 6 miles from Fisherman's Wharf.

I did not started biking until around 12:30 due to morning errands. I biked from Benicia to Vallejo without incident. The 1 hour ferry ride from Vallejo to Fisherman's Wharf was spectacular. I especially enjoyed the approach on the city. The city was blanketed in fog which I would later discover was the norm. As we approached Fisherman's Wharf half of the Golden Gate Bridge was clearly visible and the other half was drown in fog.

I got off the ferry and I was cold! The temperature difference between Vallejo and San Fransisco must have been 20 degrees. I was wearing warm weather riding clothes. This outfit was inadequate for the conditions. Not only was I cold, I felt overwhelmed in a strange place. The wharf was loud and busy. I couldn't see anyone else on a bike. I felt completely out of place and contemplated getting back on the ferry. But my mission was set, I would cross the bridge!

About five blocks west of Fisherman's Wharf I escaped the hustle and bustle. I felt better. I even saw a guy on a road bike with similar attire. Although most other bikers were wearing jackets.

I reached the bridge.

The Golden Gate Bridge is truly spectacular. I visited it once when I was younger. I didn't appreciate the significance of it at that age. It is a masterpiece of Engineering. And, it is an incredible example of man-made beauty. While man is destroying oceans (The Gulf), it is very refreshing to come across engineering which is simply gorgeous.

About half was across the bridge the fog cleared as the view from the ferry had suggested it would. I also discovered in a later conversation that, in the summer, the downtown side of the bridge is always covered in fog and the north shore of the bridge is always crystal clear. The sun energized me and I pushed on 10 more miles up through Golden Gate National Recreation Area. I was really enjoying myself and turning around was difficult. But...I had a ferry to catch.

I made it back across the bridge and caught the 5:40 ferry back to Vallejo. On the ferry ride home I met two Italians. One of them lived in Napa and worked as a CPA. The other lived in Milan and worked as Managing Editor (For the Catholic Church, believe it or not!). The pair had grown up together in Italy and had stayed in touch. They were very interested in my ride and bought me a beer (The ferry had a bar.). The conversation was a good one and it eventually drifted into concepts the Vinny (Don Vinecnzo, the Italian) was incapable of explaining in English. However, I believe Vinny wanted to completely restructure society or he might have just wanted new socks. Anyway, he invited me to visit him in Milan and left me his card. I plan to take him up on the offer.

Enough about the day...On to the food! Last night's dinner:

-Chicken 'chunks' marinated in Italian dressing (left over from last night), Cajun spice (left over from last night), and Soy sauce.
-The chicken was then baked from in the oven.
-After baking, it was covered in a butter and cayenne pepper hot sauce.
-The salad was dressed with the remaining Italian dressing.

This was delicious. Imagine bite sized Buffalo wings.

I already made tonight's dinner. But, I am going to share that one with you later in the week. I start work tomorrow and I am scared I might not have time in the week for culinary exploits. Therefore, I will keep you held over until next weekend I will share tonight's dinner in the middle of the coming week.

Wish me luck at work tomorrow and stay tuned!

Sunday, May 30, 2010

First Entry

I just moved out to Bay Area for a summer internship in engineering. It is the summer before my senior year at the University of Arizona in Tucson, AZ. The Bay has already had its 'esoteric' effect on me. I feel healthier, I am eating better, and I am starting a blog. Enough said, right? I hope that this blog will document my journey this summer and hopefully share some personal insight about myself and my thoughts on the world.

Why did i choose 'Biking and Bites'? Well first of all, I have always been obsessed with alliterations. 90% of my academic essays have utilized alliterations in their titles. I wonder if any of my professors noticed that? Probably not, considering they never read student's papers.

As for 'Biking', when I moved out here I made a promise to myself that I would buy a road bike. And, I did! Check out the photo. Sweet right? I got a good deal on it, if there is such a thing in the biking world. Parts cost 8x as much in the US as they cost to make in Taiwan. But well, that is the way the world works, for now at least.

I have clocked about 100 miles in only 3 days of ownership. I am simply obsessed. I have always enjoyed traveling for the sake of traveling. Departure locations and destinations are never my concern. I solely enjoy being in motion. Biking seems to be the perfect fit for my soul's needs.

'Bites'? Well, I am a chemical engineering student. A long time ago, I realized that cooking is really just chemistry. I am a good chemist and for that reason believe my cooking should parallel my other talents. However, I have never tried to cook well thoughtout and well prepared meals. I have vowed that my lax performance in the culinary world will change this summer. So far I have been very successful. Check out last night's dinner! I want all you fellow college kids out there to know that all my cooking will be done with 1 fork, 1 spoon, 1 knife, 1 zip-lock bag, 1 pot, 1 sauce pan, 1 small bowl, 1 plate, and 1 cookie sheet. I own no other 'glassware' and since I am only here for the summer I have no plans on buying any.

Cajun Club:
-Chicken breast sauteed in Cajun spices with melted swiz cheese.
-Sauteed bacon
-Chicken/swiss placed on artisan garlic bread, covered with bacon, covered with fresh tomato slices, topped with Parmesan dressing.

Note the bacon grease dripped onto the table. That's how you know it is going to taste delicious!