I’m currently sitting in a lay-over in OAK (Oakland Airport) in the Bay Area. I love it here – wouldn’t want to live here, but I love visiting. The Wife and I were engaged at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco almost 4 years ago now. As I’m sitting here in the newly redesigned airport, I’m looking out on the bay, remembering a time when this wing didn’t exist and OAK was more of a bus terminal than an airport. I’m gazing into the distance, wishing I could go and hit all of the hot spots we know and love in The City: Sears Kitchen (Favorite Breakfast place), The Gallery Cafe (Great coffee shop next to the Cable Car Museum!), The Sugar Cafe (hip lounge off Union Square) and so much more!  We really need to get over the The City and visit.

Sears Fine Fo0d

I’m on my way to Las Vegas to visit my clients and spend some quality time with Mike of Mike and Jersey Jen (From Michigan). I have some time, so I decided pull out the old MacBook Pro and log in.  I just noticed that Spokane is expecting snow, of course because I’m out of town.  I have this ongoing battle with snow, it seams.  Ever since we moved away from Las Vegas, the snow has really messed with me.  When we first moved to Spokane, last December, we were moved in for about 6 days and then it snowed.  5 Feet over 30 days.  I was so sore from shoveling, that I decided to bite the bullet (not advisable) and purchase a snowblower.  If you read my previous post, You’re Welcome, Inland Northwest, you’ll recall that just before the snowblower arrived at the house, it stopped snowing in Spokane.

I’m back on the plane, headed to Las Vegas now.  I’m sitting next to a girl that The Dragen would dub a SMHH (Smokin’ Molten Hot Hottie).  The Dragen is a little bit of a troublemaker – I recommend you watch your ladies as he tends to unknowingly pop up in pictures around the world.  This girl is perfect for him.  We struck up a conversation about iPhones because her screen was smashed and mine is perfect.  I sort of hazed her about it and told her how I baby mine. She told me she is from Seattle and visiting friends in Las Vegas.  The Jury’s out on whether she’s really a stripper or not.  I snapped this little covert photo with the iPhone while I was grabbing the MacBook Pro back out of my coveted Johnston and Murphy computer bag.  You be the judge…

The Dragen's SMHH

…I’m rambling.

That’s right folks, 30 days, 5 feet of snow and then a few days before the beast arrives?  Nothing.  Well, that’s not exactly true.  It did snow one day in March or April.  I was so excited that I waited all day to let the snow accumulate on the driveway.  At about 2PM, I walked out to a delightful inch of snow on the driveway.  Excited like a kid in a candy shop, I fired that sucker up and blew that inch of snow to Alaska.  Well, that’s not entirely true either.  You see, the problem with a spring snow is that the air temperature is warm enough that it is a heavy, wet snow.  If you’ve ever shoveled wet snow before, you know why this is a Frerking pain (big ups to The Greatest Vet of All Time, Dr. Thad Frerking) in the butt.  It’s bad enough shoveling 5 feet of light powder.  But an inch of wet snow is like shoveling mud.

This guy sitting next to me just pointed his head toward The Dragen’s Southwest SMHH, smiled and winked. He apparently approves as well.  He looks like an Italian mobster.  I’m rambling again.

I decided I would document my snowblower’s first use.  I took my Olympus Waterproof Camera (this is camera # 2 – that’s a story for another time) because waterproof camera’s are essential when documenting the first use of my Troybilt Snowblower.  I managed to record several shots of me firing it up, idling it and then running this 6 speed piece of art.  One problem.  The snow is supposed to fly out of the blower hood like a Christmas Snowstorm.  However, apparently when snowblower in the springtime with wet snow, it basically falls out of the blower hood and clumps up on the top of the auger lid.  Not very impressive.

I was a skateboarder back in the day, currently snowboard and aspire to learn to surf.  One of my favorite things about these sports are the various videos that are created of these guys putting it all on the line to get that one trick.  I love the snowmobiling ones too.  These guys make snowmobiling look so easy.  I’ve always wanted to make a video like that, and with all of the snowblower first use clips I had, I called in a favor to my good buddy, Matt Struck over at Crosspoint in Denver, Colorado.  Matt’s a really talented video editor.  I’ve seen tons of his work – it’s absolutely incredible.  I sent the clips over to him as well as a Beastie Boy’s  song from the Paul’s Boutique album – The Sounds of Silence.  You have to understand Matt’s talent here.  These 8 video clips are taken from either the bumper of my FJ Cruiser or The gUrt-Cam.  Lets say that it’s pretty boring footage.  Then, to top it off, it’s not like I’m jumping a snowmobile over the Grand Canyon, right?  I’m just blowing an inch of snow off the driveway.  Even then, it’s not shooting out like a snowstorm, rather dropping out of the top like an upside down soft-serve ice cream machine.

I’ll tell you what – the man’s got skills!  He managed to take some seriously crappy, boring footage and turn it into a snowblowing frenzy.  It’s crazy! Enjoy…

Many, Many, MANY thanks to Matt Struck at Crosspoint in Denver, Colorado.

Crosspoint, Denver, CO

Part of the joy of being a SAHDiNK is that I get to work from home.  That’s right, I work at my high top desk in the front office of our beautiful home nestled in on the south side of the South Hill in Spokane.  I was eating lunch a month ago and looked out the window and saw a Moose eating snow by the house.  Not something you see every day.  I’d show you a picture, but as I pulled out the iPhone and loaded up the camera, the Moose ran along the side of the house to the front.  At that point, The gUrt went crazy barking up a storm at the GINORMOUS (his words, not mine) dog outside.  All that racket plus Mark and Mary’s minivan chasing it up the street caused so much commotion for the poor cow that she rolled up the neighbors driveway and ran back behind their house into the forest.  There’s a lake below our neighborhood and the forest is above us, so I think she uses our neighborhood to access the lake for a drink.  She’s really tidy – doesn’t poop on the street or our driveways, so I appreciate that.  I was cleaning up the yard and noticed that she did however poop on the grass by the dining room window.  I’m rambling.

So, working from home has it’s benefits.  Like for instance, on Wednesday, I was able to cut out a little early (4:30) from the office and make my way to the kitchen and start dinner – it was our turn at Wednesday Soup Night.  It was awesome.  The Wife decided that Matrimonio I-Taliano Soupa was the way to go.  Now, a couple weeks ago, I mastered Mamma J’s Soupe à l’oignon gratinée so I thought I would give this one a shot.  It was an interesting recipe.  You have to make these crazy little meatballs and then you throw them into a chicken broth based soup and cook it for about 10 – 20 minutes.  It was awesome.  So I hear.  The attendee’s said it was really good.

One of the joys of working at home is that you can easily service your clientele because everything you need is there.  One of my clients, R+W Advertising was re-launching their website the next morning and needed some last minute assistance.  As this is pretty typical on the eve of any website launch, I was on it ASAP to do what I do best!  This new site is an interesting concept.  There’s this idea called Web 2.0 that is this perceived second generation of the web.  It’s centered around mass communication and utilizes Social Networking on the Internet to facilitate it.  So, being the innovative guy that Scott Robertson is, he and his team re-designed their site around this Web 2.0 concept.  Check out the new Web 2.0 RW-Live.com website to see more about it!  Now, what does this have to do with Matrimonio I-Taliano Soupa?  Nothing, but it was a great lead in to plug my friend’s website and make you more interested!  As for the soup, I was busy assisting with the launch of the RW-Live.com website, so I didn’t taste it until later.  Let me tell you – it was Frerking Amazing! (big ups to The Greatest Vet of All Time, Dr. Thad Frerking) And, I’m not a fan of reheated food, but it was really good reheated the next day, unlike the  Mamma J’s Soupe à l’oignon gratinée which doesn’t seem to reheat very well.  I can’t post the Mamma J’s Soupe à l’oignon gratinée because it is some crazy family historical recipe that goes back to the old days in Orofino, ID, but I’ve added the recipe for the Matrimonio I-Taliano Soupa below, so ENJOY!

Oh, and for the various readers that feel they’re perverted because the two apples make them think of a pair of Great Big Old…you are correct, that’s why I went with them.

My Girl, Giada’s, Matrimonio I-Taliano Soupa Recipe (Thanks Babe!)

Giada Delaurentiis - Food Hottie

(see it on the Food Network)

Ingredients

Meatballs:

• 1 small onion, grated
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 slice fresh white bread¹, crust trimmed, bread torn into small pieces
• ½ cup grated Parmesan
• 8 ounces ground beef
• 8 ounces ground pork
• Freshly ground black pepper

Soup:

• 12 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 pound curly endive, coarsely chopped (1 pound of escarole² would be a good substitution)
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tablespoon freshly grated Parmesan, plus extra for garnish
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

To make the meatballs: Stir the first 6 ingredients in a large bowl to blend. Stir in the cheese, beef and pork. Using 1 ½ teaspoons for each, shape the meat mixture into 1-inch-diameter meatballs. Place on a baking sheet³.

To make the soup: Bring the broth to a boil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the meatballs and curly endive and simmer until the meatballs are cooked through and the curly endive is tender, about 8 minutes. Whisk the eggs and cheese in a medium bowl to blend. Stir the soup in a circular motion. Gradually drizzle the egg mixture into the moving broth, stirring gently with a fork to form thin stands of egg, about 1 minute. Season the soup to taste with salt and pepper.

Ladle the soup into bowls and serve. Finish soup with parmesan cheese if desired.

Now, Giada missed the Pasta part – but use orzo or what was next to orzo at Alberton’s – looks like little balls.  I used the whole box – way too much.  I’d use half, but use as much ash you’d like!

¹I didn’t have White Bread because Babs never allowed it in the house. I did have Texas Toast from breakfast The Wife made for Liberty Wright (She’s Single Boys!) on her birthday, so I used that instead of the Wheat Bread that Babs still makes me eat.

²Albertsons, like my favorite Blackberry Apple Clear Excellence Water, didn’t have Endive either, so we went with Escarole – whatever, I don’t think it matters. It’s all basically lettuce, I think.

³I’m just warning you – it helps to have a sous chef like The gUrt because this is the messy part!

My friend Mike doesn’t think I really work.  When we first met, I jokingly answered his “what do you do for a living” with my typical cynical response to the question, “I’m a SAHDiNK” – that’s pronounced SAH – DINK.  Then the next typical question is, “What?”.  Then I explain the acronym is for Stay At Home Dad, No Kids.  I came up with that saying to make fun of the acronym DINK.  Babs (My mom) called me that one day to make fun of me and The Wife.  So my response was, “What if I quit my job?  Then I’d be a SAHDiNK!”  She gave me the evil eye and I quickly dropped it.  Babs is a single liberal woman.  You don’t want to make any comments that suggest you’re being rude to a lady.  “You treat a lady with RESPECT!” Maybe that’s why she made me take Cotillion when I was a young chap? I’m rambling.

Anyway, so the first time he and I met, we had this conversation.  He thought my response was funny.  I think.  I can’t really tell sometimes with Mike because he has this blank start response and you don’t know if he’s going to burst out laughing or put you in a choke-hold.  So fast forward to a few months later.  We’re at a nice Las Vegas restaurant, Carluccios Tivoli Gardens (I highly recommend – right next to the Liberace Museum), sitting in the atrium, eating the bread that was just delivered, when Mike looks straight at me and says, “What do you think of Drew Carey replacing Bob Barker on the Price Is Right?” He doesn’t even crack a smile.  He just said straight to me like he’d been pondering his feelings on this whole CBS decision to replace Bob Barker with Drew Carey.  I thought to myself, “How should I Frerking (big ups to The Greatest Vet of All Time, Dr. Thad Frerking) know?”  I mean, really, when did I become an expert on the Price Is Right? Then, in his Mike way, he looks straight at me again and with a delivery only Mike can pull off, he says, “That’s what you do all day, right?  Just watch TV?”  Defeated as can be, I watched as The Wife and Jen laughed their butts off at my expense.

I work.  I know no one thinks I do.  Donnie Boom Boom (my Dad) definitely doesn’t think I work. He told my sister that.  But I do work!  In fact, just yesterday, I had a local Spokane company ask me to talk to them about the Web Business.  I put on my best Seven Jeans, my Express blue and white striped shirt and my Wood Grain Aldo shoes with matching belt  – Yes Boys – You MUST match your belt with your shoes – we’ll have a fashion discussion later.  And the Pièce de résistance – my brand new Ted Baker Chesterfield Coat.  See, a long time ago, a colleague of mine looked at my bad outfit at work one day and said, “Ash, don’t dress for the job you have, dress for the job you want to have.  And, I’m not necessarily talking about your clothes.”   It was obviously about selling your self.  So, I learned that if you want to impress someone in business, you have to own the meeting.

Now, that mentality can get you into trouble, but it works a majority of the time.  Especially in my industry where it is a lot of introverted people who don’t interact well in meeting situations.  So I bring to the table the opposite.  I own the meeting.  So, I’m meeting with these two guys yesterday and I have this thought as one of them is speaking.

I wonder…Here I am, a business owner- it says CEO on my business card.  I’m an expert in my industry.  THE GUY that they want to be talking to.  They must think I’m a powerhouse.  A bad a$$ business man – all knowing.  They must think “I’ll bet he eats people for breakfast all day long.”

So, later last night, I’m driving with The Wife and I confess this thought to her.  She laughed at me, put her hand on my shoulder and said, “Oh Ash, you are a funny man!”  I think she was mocking me.  So then I told her that I had a thought after that thought.

What they don’t know is that I actually eat Lucky Charms for breakfast.  Then I usually change out of my PJ’s at about 11:30, make the bed and then shower.