No Photo Enclosed

I’m pleased to say that my corned beef and cabbage meal was wonderful! I’m disappointed to say that I didn’t take any photos of it (not that Irish food is the most photogenic food in the world).

Finally, An Oil Change
My relationship with the Jackmobile changed when the transmission died in Boulder back in September 2010. Since that trip the Jackmobile has been burning some oil as well, and I’ve essentially been “changing” the oil by refilling the reservoir when it’s been necessary. What hasn’t been changed is the oil filter, so today the Jackmobile is in for an oil and oil filter change. Let’s all hope that this dropoff doesn’t lead to a lot more problems which need to be fixed.

ITP Flickr Pic
See title.

It’s Time For Responsibility
I’ve been rather lax on the food which has entered my piehole since the accident, even more lax that I have been in recent years. As I looked at myself last night I saw that it’s (past) time for me to start cutting back in order to stem the weight gain which has happened recently. This is not going to please me, but it’s a necessary step at this point in my recovery.

RealiTV Update: Top Chef – There Goes My eBay Auction
ITP-Reader Betsy and I have gotten together for nearly every episode of Top Chef this season, except when I’ve had the gall to do things like travel for work. There is but one episode remaining in this season.

Let me say that from the commercials I see while watching Top Chef when Bravo decides to cancel the Top Chef family of shows (Top Chef, Top Chef Masters, Top Chef Just Desserts) I will no longer be a Bravo views. Holy crap the other shows on Bravo (Real Housewives, Bethenny Whatever, anything with “Millionaire” in the title) look abysmal.

Last night we found out that Top Chef would be returning to eliminating all but two cheftestants for the finale. Last night’s useless QuickFire filler had the cheftestants revisiting hurdles from past competitions.

• Richard Blais: Had to cook using hot dogs (which I thought he’d kill given that he’s supposedly opening up a hot dog shop in Atlanta), and then later get limited to only using one hand.
• Mike Isabella: Had to cook using only one pot, and then later had all utensils/tools taken away from him.
• Antonia Lofaso: Had to cook using only canned goods, and then later had to cook literally tied to Carla’s (Carla? Why not Tiffany?) hip.

Mike won again! He’s certainly hit his stride.

For the Elimination Challenge the cheftestants had to prepare the “last supper” for three well-known chefs:

• Richard Blais: Had to cook Wolfgang Puck’s request for goulash, spaetzle, and streusel.
• Mike Isabella: Had to cook Michelle Bernstein’s request for fried chicken and biscuits.
• Antonia Lofaso: Had to cook Masaharu Morimoto’s request for miso soup and a bento box. Oh, way to throw someone under the bus Top Chef producers.

It must have been clear that Blais was the winner of this challenge as he was quickly congratulated and told that he’d be moving onto the final.

As for Mike and Antonia they still had work to do. To determine which one of the cheftestants would be joining Blais these two had to return to the kitchen and prepare seven one-bite portions for the judges. Talk about your pressure. In the end it was a 4-3 decision in favor of Mike, thus turning my chef’s apron signed by Antonia back into a personal collectable instead of something that I’ll be putting on eBay.

As an aside, the “last supper” challenge was inspired by Melanie Dunea’s book My Last Supper: 50 Great Chefs and Their Final Meals / Portraits, Interviews, and Recipes which I will buy if it ever comes out in a digital (Kindle/Nook/Apple) format. Until then it’ll remain on my long “want to read” list.

So it’s Richard and Mike, next week, for all the marbles, and more importantly $200,000. Last night I realized that at the beginning of the season I wondered if Richard Blais would be eliminated early — I guess that I was wrong. Also, people have parsed some Top Chef interviews and some things happening around the Atlanta area and concluded that Blais wins it all — I guess we’ll all find out next week.

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – meh
Current Music – silence at the moment
Website Of The Day – While Windsor Neckwear loses points for having a website that immediately plays music upon loading it appears to be a good place to go if you want reasonably-priced ties.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – nothing
Morning Weigh-In – not checking

Monthly
Foot Mileage – 0.0 miles
Wheel Mileage – 0.0 miles
Pushups – 0
Situps – 0
Stairs – 0 flights

Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 0 (0)

Vegetarian Days – 1
Carnivorous Days – 22

Marta Rides To Work – 0
Bike Rides To Work – 0

March Goals
– Recover from the bike crash
– Not to get sick for the entire month
– Not get fired from my job
– Run
– Lose two pounds
– Go out on a date with someone else
– Read an entire book, specifically Chef’s Story

2011 Goals [will be a little more fluid than in past years]
– Reduce my weight by 25 pounds based on the my weight as measured on February 1st
– Completely read the book Daily Negations which I received as a Christmas gift.
– Run Sharpened Stone as a real business — one which does not get penalized.
– Save $500 for the sole purpose of donating to charitable organizations of my choice
– Attend at least one professional photography workshop
– Enter no fewer than three photographic competitions / gallery showings
– Ride in no fewer than five 50 mile or 50K bike rides
– Run in no fewer than two one half-marathon
– Submit at least one application under the name “Sharpened Stone” to Apple’s iOS store

The Unmeasurable
– Continue backing up all data, including the off-site storage
– Become a proficient programmer in Objective-C
– Do not create a solution for something which is not a problem
– Eat smaller portions

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]