I love my town. I put camera and tripod over my shoulder and walked around taking photos. Old Town does look great over the holidays.
Via iPad
Monday, December 26, 2011
The Cooked Goose: Christmas 2011. If you have not tried goose, you are missing a mouth watering meal.
For Christmas this year we somehow decided it would be good to try goose. I have cooked duck, and love it, but had not tried a goose. 
I inquired with Wagshal's Market in DC (the best butcher by far that I have found in metro DC) and Pam assured me she could get me a goose and I would not have to club one at the park. Pam said for eleven people we would need two geese. We ended up cooking one, and saving one to smoke, but she was largely correct (more later).
As usual when I am cooking something new, I read a variety of recipes and looked for common elements. Most recipes called for steaming or scalding the goose before roasting to start the process of rendering the fat. I ended up using many of the technique elements in this recipe from December 2011 Saveur http://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Red-Lion-Christmas-Goose-with-Stuffing but modified it heavily.
Geese and ducks swim in cold water, so they have a think layer of fat to protect themselves from the cold. This fat needs to be rendered during cooking so the meat is not greasy. The process of steaming the goose for an hour, then slow roasting it worked very well. I collected almost 2 lbs of rendered goose fat. The good news is that goose fat is an awesome cooking ingredient. I will be making a variety of roast potatoes and vegetables cooked in the leftover fat.
Due to nut allergies, I made totally different stuffing than the one in the Saveur article. I modified the recipe I use for turkey, and it worked well.
4 cups cornbread
4 cups rustic bread
The bread should be stale, cubed and any tough crusts removed.
1/2 lb loose bfast sausage
2 C minced celery
1 C minced leek
8 T butter (1 stick)
1 C Chicken Broth
1/4 lb dried cherries
1 1/2 t dried thyme
1/2 t dried sage
1 large tart apple, peeled and diced
All the stuffing recipes I saw made about 8-9 cups, but this is way more than required to stuff the goose. We cooked half of it in a pan and it was good, but if you only want enough to stuff the goose, cut the recipe in half. I considered adding the goose liver to the stuffing, and decided against it but I think it would be worth trying.
I generally followed the Saveur recipe for gravy and it was great. It would have been better if I had waited until the very end and deglazed the pan, but it was still delicious using reduced broth from simmering the neck.
The meat and stuffing from the goose were excellent. In my opinion better than turkey. The meat is rich, but seemed to go with other food (and wine) more naturally.
We had eleven people for dinner, six adults and five children, including my 13 year old son who eats more than most adults. Everyone got some goose and with all the sides no one went hungry. However, this group probably could have eaten half the second goose. Next time I would probably cook both geese - though I am looking forward to trying one smoked.
The Finished Product
Via iPad
Sunday, December 25, 2011
After some scooter lessons from Eva, Lyra's getting it!
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Lyra (5) in mid WOD Showing Off Her XFit Form
Thankfully my kids follow my wife's lead on fitness, not mine. 
Via iPad
Adding to my tunnel photo collection, this is Ted Williams in Boston
Heading from Logan to downtown Boston. 
Sent from Bill Phelps' iPhone
Sunday, December 18, 2011
From Saveur 64 - Raised Waffles. Best Ever
These are always greeted with raves and requests for the recipe. They smell great and taste great. --
Sent with Genius Scan for iPhone. 
Sent with Genius Scan for iPhone.
Sent from Bill Phelps' iPhone
Thursday, December 08, 2011
How long has Lyra's stool sat here unpainted??
Almost FOUR YEARS. How embarrassing! I was too scared to start lest I mess it up. It's not perfect but it will do! Lyra is going to mad I didn't let her paint it. Now to find that shellac stuff..., 
Cathleen
www.thephelpsfamily.blogspog.com
www.givingfullcircle.org
Sent from my iPhone
Sunday, December 04, 2011
Friday, November 25, 2011
Gandhi Bazaar Bangalore
After spending so much time in the IT high rises on the outer ring road of Bangalore, it was a wonderful treat to see the Bull Temple and other older sections of the city. As far as I could figure out, Bangalore does not have a central market on a large scale (e.g. like Victoria Market in Melbourne), but is does have Gandhi Bazaar. The Bazaar is in an older neighborhood and includes street vendors and permanent shops. From flowers to betel leaves to tamarind and coconut, the colors were vibrant and evoked the wonderful food I had later in the day at MTR.
Via iPad
Bangalore Night Lights
These are from a short walk near my hotel these weekend. The white car (last photo) is the best shot.
Via iPad
Saturday, November 19, 2011
Bangalore Lunch - Mavalli Tiffin Rooms
My friend Hardika took me to Mavalli Tiffin Rooms (MTR) for lunch today, and the food rocked. This is one of those place like Union Oyster House in Boston that is just built into the fabric of its city. (This review is dated but pretty accurate, and better on the food names and context than my memory http://www.rediff.com/travel/1999/aug/12mtr.htm)
What was memorable for me was the system for service, and the quality of the food. You show up and pay. Then you go to the waiting room. When a table is available - and this happens in shifts - you are seated. When you are seated there is already a metal plate, and waiters begin filling it, they come around and dish food out of large jugs. (Did I mention a menu? No. You get what they serve.). When you are done eating you leave. No waiting for a check or offers of coffee. Very simple and efficient. In what I understand is just part of Indian cuisine, there is no concept of starters vs mains or dessert. Different styles are served together, so you can have sweet Cardamon rice porridge with your blistering hot curry. It works well. The food was really good. If a restaurant in DC served it on china plates with a glass of wine they would get four stars from Washingtonian. Hardika paid, but I think we were in the single digit zone in dollar terms. In the unlikely event I decided to become a vegetarian, this is the food I would want to eat. It was delicious, diverse and after numerous helpings I was totally full. As you can see in the first photo, there is construction underway in front of MTR. There is construction everywhere in Bangalore. I would like to be a cement merchant here.
Via iPad
Visit to Bull Temple, Bangalore
I am in Bangalore for the weekend and I asked various people for suggestions on places in the city to visit. One of them was the Bull Temple, a very old Hindu temple honoring one of the many Hindu deities. Seeing the stone bull itself was very spiritual. After making a small donation I was invited to run my hand over a ceremonial flame, then had my forehead marked with something I think was ground rose petals. Other visitors rubbed their hands over the bull, then ran their hands over their forehead. There was also a pitcher of water beside the bull you could drink from or sprinkle on your head, but I skipped that. The bull is at the center of a big complex, with a smaller temple, some smaller places of worship and a nice forest grove. Today was the beginning of a festival honoring the bull god, so there were a lot of people. One interesting sight was was the real live bull and it's keeper wondering around seeking contributions. If you look at the photo, the bull has a birth defect giving it a partial fifth leg. I suspect this is a valuable animal.
Via iPad
Friday, November 11, 2011
A Great Wine (and food) Evening : Williams-Selyem Zin and Elderton Shiraz #wine
Sunday evening we visited our friends Eric and Leigh. The food was great, but in my view the star of the dinner was the wine. 2005 Williams-Selyem Feeney Zinfandel was delicious, a little age tempering the fruit into more spice. I would give it 4/5 on my scale. The 2000 Elderton Command Shiraz was in another league. There was still a solid platform of delicious Shiraz fruit, with fantastic layers of perfume and a little oak riding on top. Definitely a benchmark wine. 5/5 on my scale, really a drinking experience.
Via iPad
Before/During/After
Annette at Bazzak works her usual magic.
Cathleen
www.phelpslore.wordpress.com
www.givingfullcircle.org
www.arlingtonchildrenschorus.org
Sent from my iPhone
Tuesday, November 08, 2011
Tuesday, November 01, 2011
Halloween Chez Phelps
It was a mad scramble to get organized and out for trick or treat so somehow we did not get a proper photo of everyone. After much mind-changing, Lyra finally decided she wanted to be a scary witch and she IS! Will did her make up for her. Tehan and I were Queen Elizabeth and Queen Bee. Eva was Katniss from the Hunger Games and actually was recognized out on the street by girls in her general age group. Will was a Shrunken Head Seller/Witch Doctor. He was indignant that a couple of people told him he was too old to be out trick-or-treating. There were girls as old as or older than he out there and no one was complaining, but I think if you're a boy that it just plain scary for someone to see you at the door. Poor Will!
We went to Lee Street as usual. People ran out of candy very quickly. One family I know had 25 pounds of candy and it was all gone by 8:15. There was much discussion and planning on the neighborhood listservs and I think there were more people out earlier than in previous years. Can't say I am complaining though....I hate when the kids come back with a ton of candy; Eva and Lyra can't have half of it anyway. They all had a very manageable load and it will be gone soon. In fact, Lyra pretty much ate all of her last night.
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Eva's #ABS Bouldering Comp - 2nd Place Female Youth C
Eva moved up an age level in her bouldering competitions this year from Youth D to Youth C. She was very worried that being on the young end of a new group would make her non competitive. Today at least this concern was unfounded. She climbed stronger than ever, and had her personal best point total. She made several very difficult climbs that I know she could not have made at the end of last season. She has been doing a lot of strength training with her climbing team, and her increased power was really evident on several climbs today. The comp today was at the Philadelphia Rock Gym (#PRG) in Oaks, Pennsylvania. We prefer the other PRG gym, but I thought the routes today were very good. There were a lot of routes in Eva's skill zone, and they played to different strengths. I thought the judging was good, and the scoring at the end of the meet was quick.
Via iPad
I am a dedicated mom for taking Lyra to run the Marine Corps fun run in the rain today.
Her CrossFit class ran the mile fun run together and it really was fun! It was seriously cold and wet but I cannot complain because there were lots of marines out there all morning cheering the kids on and I am sure they were colder and wetter.
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Doncha just love Halloween?
These shrunken apple heads are part of Will's costume. He's a "shrunken head seller" and I am sure I will have pictures to post later. These heads are disgusting and I will be glad to throw them away although I do believe they will ensure that Will does not pair off at the class Halloween party. 
Cathleen
www.phelpslore.wordpress.com
www.givingfullcircle.org
www.arlingtonchildrenschorus.org
Sent from my iPhone
Monday, October 24, 2011
5 MInute Tough Mudder
Found this video of our event; this is pretty much it except there were a lot more hills than you see here!
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Thursday, October 20, 2011
What does a cat do with five cases of Williams Selyem? #wine
Our cat Noelle has made this her favorite spot since the wine arrived yesterday. She has good taste. 
Sent from Bill Phelps' iPhone
Sunday, October 09, 2011
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