I LOVE IT LOUD...

Finally, a most disgusting heat wave has moved up and out of Cinci. For the past few days, the heat has been well over 90 degrees with such insane humidity that it's been registering up over 105F for almost a week.

Therefore, grilling and exercising have sucked and I've had the AC pumping a constant 75 degrees - 24/7. And to top it all off, I haven't had any coffee since Sunday. Too fuggin' HOT! Thankfully it's only about 70 degrees outside, it's overcast and there is a little rain "thing" happening right now.

So now I can have some coffee, today I'm digging on Chock Full of Nuts (A lil Escape from NY tribute) and thinking about the meals for the next week.

And speaking of meals, I wanted to make a Confit out of the ducks wings I bought last week. I WANTED to... I could not find duck fat anywhere at Jungle Jims and was later told they didn't carry it. I found Beef Bile but no duck fat. Yeah, real nice.

Kerrie's Sister, Bro-in-law, and niece came through this weekend for a nice little visit. While I did no specific cooking, there was some good dessert action that took place. I was asked by Sue, Kerrie's sister, if I intended to learn about confections during my impending pastry studies so I busted out my Caramel Truffles with Sea Salt. There was a sense of amazement when everyone ate them. Kind of a wonderful amusement with trying something new and liking it.

Apparently, though, the big hit was my Orange Rose Ice Cream. One of the less assuming desserts, but certainly one of the best I've ever concocted. Sue even left me a haiku:

The taste of happy
Blossoms in frozen splendor
Oranges and roses.

This week Kerrie's parents will be coming in to stay with us. I'm going to do up a roasted chicken with all the fixins on Friday. Tonight though I'm going to make up some Portuguese style pork chops. I'm not entirely sure about tomorrow though. I still have some Top Blade Steaks to kill off, plus I'd like to have some linguini with sauce.

Next week though, Duck confit with roasted shallots, Caesar salad with Parmesan custard, "something" (TBA) with carmelized onions, and Pork Cutlets with Rosemary Raspberry sauce. (A classic!)


Today's Groove Provided by:
KISS\Phunk Junkeez - I Love it Loud
KISS\Anthrax - SHE
Huevos Rancheros - Beach Blanket Blackout
Wu Tang Clan - In The Hood
ODB - Baby I Got Yo Money
Some Velvet Sidewalk - Mousetrap (Live version)
Peter McConnell - Imperial March (from Force Commander)