A Badger, Badger, Badger...

My Uncle Greg has been a fantastic and innovative chef as long I can remember. He married my Mom's youngest sister 15 years ago this month and it has been quite literally a tasty treat to have him in the family.

He prepared a fine meal for us starting with the above sautéed mushrooms.

He let me get my hands into the meal as Sous Chef. (a.k.a. "watch and learn and mix these together")

I loved it.

Marlowe was hoping for a few more crumbs.

The red onion would add the perfect zip to the mushrooms before we threw them in the pan.

This dining experience was monumental due to the fact that I enjoyed my first parsnip, initially roasted and finally pureed.

The sauce for the mushrooms is a secret but I do know that it involved some of this goodness.

As Sous Chef I got to mince the onions for the main course: meat-loaf.

This turkey meat-loaf was packed with goodies.

I got a little hungry during prep and snuck some kimchi out of the fridge.

After a pre-bake we brushed the meat-loaf with a rich tomato glaze.

Unfortunately this recipe is undisclosed as well.

We were careful not drop any water on these gremlins. We did however give them a snack or two.

Yum. I never knew turkey could taste so good.

Dinner was delish and washed down with a fresh glass of Pellegrino Lemonata.

After dinner I returned to the Schultz home to prep for the next night in which I would prepare a send off dinner for them.

I then proceeded to catch some Z's

Easter weekend and a whole lot more

Once again I have returned after being MIA for a week or so. Along with large quantities of homework to do as the school year concludes, the weekends have been filled with many interesting events around town AND interesting weather.

Let's take my Delorean back to 2 weekends ago.

Of course it rained the saturday after I got all of my grilling gear together. So I sufficed for indoor burgers.

You can't go wrong with bacon, beef, scallions, mozzarella and homemade jalapeno ranch.

I think I've decided not to post food pictures on day's that I haven't had lunch.

My stomach growls in concurrence.

All in all these burgers made a weekend of mass homework much more enjoyable.

The following weekend my folks were in town.

We're all pretty big fans of the bacon wrapped jalepeno popper. Here are a few uncooked.

Sizzling fresh out of the oven is the best way to consume but I'd eat them cold too. (They've never lasted long enough for me to find out what they taste like cold)

I also had a little Thai curry, chicken and rice noodles with Abby and Eliza. It turned out pretty tasty.

It tasted even better on Abby's blue and gold plate.

Real silverware = another bonus.

That friday night I had a little potluck with my friends Abby, William, Willy and Elise.

These apples would become part of my asparagus dish.

We watched this movie to conclude the night.

Toasted apples and walnuts in olive oil is one of my favorite simple flavor combos.

It was nice that we actually had some sunlight that day too!

Adding a little bacon on top of the asparagus really completes the composition.

And tastes delicious.

Because everything was so good I really only got photos of the aftermath. This was a robust salad supplied by Abby. Delectable dressing complements of this place.

Here's the ham I baked with a mixture of this, this, and this, for the glaze.

Sunday morning I had a couple more buddies over. My friends Matt and Amy, my neighbors Josh and Dylan, and my Mom and Dad. It was another potluck style dining session. The quiche went so fast I only thought to take a picture after everyone but me had finished their piece, and I was already to the crust.

Amy brought a fantastic raspberry tart!

walnuts and...

bananas and...

strawberries go great on...

vegan waffles made with rice milk.

Josh and Dylan brought some watermelon.

Yum.

Taylor is Graduating!

My cousin Taylor is graduating from high school!

WOOHOO!

She was kind enough to ask me to design some announcements for her. Here's a little glimpse.

These cards were screen printed with a gorgeous red infused purple, one of Taylor's favorite shades of purple...and mine too.

I love the texture that is created by the dried paint.

The handmade aspect gives it a nice personal touch.

I really enjoy the play between the typographical forces in this print. The type allows for variety in a solo color print.

The prints came in droves.

Printed quick and painless.

One of my favorite things about printing is mixing my own colors to print with.

Speaking of color, here is my next clue.

clue #3

These lovely swatches are used as a formula guide for mixing PANTONE specific colors.

The swatches work exceptionally well with Von Son rubber based inks.

Samson is a little anxious to use them.

Worse comes to worse, I can use them to cool myself off in the summer.