To The Beach House One And All!

We returned to my folks beach house this weekend, a day earlier than expected. I had a dep to cover in nearby Baldwin, which meant we had to come up Thursday in a scramble instead of Friday at a leisurely pace.
Stuart had fun looking at all the different things at my folks house.
Stuart was not a big fan of being cut off from the stairs, it seems he's much interested in going up and down them.
Stuart also found Zoe's toys. I really don't care that he plays with her toys, I figure he plays with our dogs toys and they lick him, a third dogs mouth can't be that bad.
Stuart especially enjoyed looking out at the lake in the living room. So much fun he had. And here he is trying to climb up the steps. This is going to be a battle. :)
On Saturday we prepared a turkey for dinner. I am a huge turkey fan. We didn't make our world famous brined turkey, instead we made a simple roast turkey. As you can see, Janna is massaging herb butter all over the breasts.
And here she is cooked, not really that good looking if you ask me. But it tasted good, along with a sage gravy.
Stuart really enjoyed looking out at the lake, when he gets a little older he'll love swimming in it I'm sure.
The weekend wouldn't be complete without Seamus and Deirbhile. The two of them had a grand time running around the place. On the way up, Deirbhile decided to plant herself in Stuart's lap and he couldn't have been happier to have her there. Stuart loves his dogs.
The lake has more or less melted, though snow and ice remain on the beach. So that meant unless we were going to polar bear it, there was no swimming.
As always we saw a few deer. Needless to say, Seamus and Deirbhile went bananas when these big dogs showed up.
Not much of a sunset but I thought this shot was nice enough.
And thus ends another weekend up north. We are blessed to be able to go somewhere so nice. It was a great, relaxing weekend after a long and busy week. God has blessed us greatly with His beautiful creation.

Stuart Climbs Stairs

Stuart has learned to climb the stairs. On one hand I'm glad that he's getting mobile, on the other hand the stairs aren't exactly the place for a 10 month old to play.
This picture is terrible. In any event, last week Janna ran upstairs to put a load of laundry in our room. As soon as she put it in our room she came back out to discover that Stuart had already climbed up three stairs. Fun times, fun times.

Of First Words And Big Birds

Stuart will turn ten months tomorrow. Lately we've been trying to teach him to say 'daddy.' He's said it two times so far, though I'm not sure it was intentional and I'm fairly certain he has no idea what it means. Did he say his first word? I don't know, you be the judge.
I don't know if Stuart has said a word yet but he appears to be quite interested in reading. Here he is attempting to read something or other. We make sure to read to him everyday, Janna has a whole bedtime routine with him that involves some sort of bedtime book. Of course, we always make sure to read scripture to young Stuart.
Seamus is so proud of Mr. Stuart, what with his almost speaking and attempts at reading. Seamus is so excited that his little friend is growing up.
Here the whole family sits to watch the Wings game. Hockey is a favorite sport in the family, as you can see. I've turned Janna into a football fan and yes I've also turned her into a hockey fan. If there's a fight, she's very excited. You can see here that Stuart is also watching the game, he especially enjoys going to Griffins games. Seamus is also watching, though football is his favorite sport to watch on TV.
What family post wouldn't be complete without our Deirbhile? Mistress Deirbhile is very excited about the warmer weather. But what does she looks very nervous in this picture. I wonder what she sees or hears?
She sees or hears this bird sitting in the neighbors tree just a few feet from our house. I don't have the slightest idea what kind of bird this is, though it isn't the run of the mill sparrow that we're accustomed to seeing at the house.
I don't think this bird is big enough to take out Deirbhile but it's enough to get her all excited. Does anyone have the slightest idea what kind of bird this is? I sure don't.

Phone Calls, Toys and Flowers! Oh My!

I came home this afternoon to discover that my wife was yammering away on the phone. I'll tell ya, prying a woman away from a phone is like trying to a brownie out of their hands. I have the scratch marks to prove it. At least Stuart looks excited to see me.
But Stuart is very upset because Mommy's been on the phone all day long. He told me she's been on the phone at least six hours today. For shame!
Deirbhile and Seamus confirm the story, though they're much more interested in coming inside for a visit. Of course, I have to let my little guys in to play with Stuart.
Stuart of course loves the dogs and is thrilled to see them. Seamus is off in the background, I can assure you that Deirbhile is doing something very interesting off camera.
And here the little mischief maker is, no doubt she's been up to no good. She's in desperate need of a grooming. We've been waiting for it to warm up a little more before we take her to the groomers for the first time. I'm thinking end of the month.
The battle for toys is well on it's way to being an epic struggle this summer. Seamus seems to enjoy taking Stuart's stuffed animals and puzzles, Deirbhile likes to take anything of Stuart's she can chew on. In retaliation you can see Stuart likes to grab the dogs bones.
Stuart is very proud of himself, taking the bone and all. He's a very smart little boy, he knows just what will drive the puppies crazy.
In other news, Janna got herself some flowers the other day. I wonder who could have gotten them for her? Maybe she has a secret admirer that I don't know about.

Psalm 23

¹The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.

²He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

³He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

⁴Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

⁵Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

⁶Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.

Stuart's New Playpen

Stuart got a new playpen the other day. Janna informs me it's called a 'pack and play.' I'm here to tell you when I was a kid this was called a playpen and I will continue to call it as such.
Stuart enjoys his playpen quite a bit. It affords him an opportunity to play with his toys without the dogs attempting to steal everything and it gives us the ability to confine him when we need to do something else. All in all, it works out for everyone's benefit.
We don't really let Stuart watch television but if there's one show he's allowed to watch it's Barefoot Contessa. He's always excited to hear Ina's theme music and he turns around to see what she's making. Today she's making chocolate truffles, which I must say are very good as Janna has made them before.
Stuart enjoys the instruction Ina gives us, he has vowed that one day he'll live an elegant life with food, flowers and a well set table.

Stuart Stands

Stuart has decided it might be a good idea to start standing. Unfortunately for him, he thinks trying to stand over Deirbhile is a good idea.
He finally gets himself up and hangs onto the chair for dear life.
Later he decides to move over to the couch, which is just as good a place to stand as the chair. Perhaps more so as his old man and old lady are often there.
Balancing between the coffee table and couch makes standing even easier, so Stuart seems to think.
We're glad that Stuart is beginning to stand as it puts him one step closer to walking. The sooner he's independent the better. The last thing we need is for him to be completely dependent on Janna when his brother or sister arrives in August. We want Stuart to be an independent little child, independent enough to be able to walk on his own without one of us carrying him everywhere. And so we're on our way to this goal, by August it will be reached.

Review: TRU

Last weekend when in Chicago we had the opportunity to dine at TRU. You will recall that last time we went to Chicago we went to TRU to enjoy pastry chef Gale Gand's desert's. This time we went to enjoy Rick Tramonto's cuisine. I called to make reservations back in September and was able to secure TRU's Kitchen Table. We more or less got to eat in a small room just off their kitchen, we got to see the inner workings of the restaurant. At the Kitchen Table they prepare a 10 course collection that is presented and explained by the chef.

Upon arrival we were whisked back to the Kitchen Table where upon we met our waiter for the evening, Carlos. Carlos would take good care of us throughout our nearly four hours of dining. We started with a pair of amuse bouches, the first being fennel on a spoon. The second being some sort of squash that was supposed to resemble an egg. I frankly didn't care for either one and Janna for the most part agreed, though she liked the second better than the first.

Our first course was a Selection of Sashimi Grade Fish with two sauces, one of which being a organic soy sauce shipped from Japan. The fish was top quality, raw of course. One was a smoked salmon that had been marinated in Earl Grey, the other two I didn't catch. Accompanying the fish were these red threads that chef was very excited about. They weren't hot but they were warm in the mouth. The fish melted in my mouth and the soy sauce was excellent. I'm here to tell you, I absolutely loved this course and Janna was in complete agreement.

Our second course was Alpine Bay Oyster, Tempura Uni and Sorrel. I'm here to tell you I hated this course and it has nothing to do with the quality of the food, I simply don't like oysters. This was meant to be a somewhat deconstructed oyster chowder. Janna enjoyed it more than I did, I frankly couldn't bring myself to take more than a bite of the oyster.

Our third course was Duck Consommé, Duck Confit, Chestnut, Black Trumpet. This was hands down the best course of the meal, it was absolutely perfect. It was a cold day and this soup was the kind that you would just love to have curled up next to the fireplace. The Consommé had a background of sage that hit you right in the nose, it was wonderful. The chestnut whipped cream was excellent and the black trumpet mushrooms added real depth of flavor. And how can I forget the duck confit, perfectly sweet and succulent. This dish was worth every penny we paid for dinner.

Our fourth course was by far the most out there of the meal. Liquid Parmesan Gnocchi, Hedgehog, Serrano Ham. The chef explained that this was like a Parmesan gusher, he used some sort of solution to create a skin which contained the liquid inside. They were quite interesting, molecular gastronomy lives at TRU. I thought this was a fascinating dish, the hedgehog in particular. The Serrano Ham added the perfect touch of saltiness. Janna and I both enjoyed this dish.

Our fifth course was Nantucket Bay Scallops, Cauliflower, Chickpea, Meyer Lemon. I had told Janna earlier in the day that I hoped we would get scallops and we did. They were absolutely wonderful, perfectly sweet. The chickpea was fried and tasty, the cauliflower came in both puree and fried form, I thought was a little to much. The Meyer Lemon added a perfect kick of acid. All in all, a very good dish that we both enjoyed.

Our sixth course was Scottish King Salmon, Granny Smith Apples, Coconut, Thai Long Peppercorn. The salmon was poached in olive oil, it was perfectly moist. I thought the apples were a somewhat odd pairing but what are you going to do. I thought it was a decent dish, Janna didn't like it so much.

Our seventh course was Roasted California Squab, Butternut Squash, Hazelnut, Farro. This was absolutely fabulous. Squab, for those of you who don't know is pigeon. It's dark meat was cooked medium rare and it was out of this world excellent. This dish was probably my third favorite, Janna enjoyed it to. I will be getting squab wherever it's offered.

At this point we took a break, we were given a tour of the kitchen and restaurant. The main dining room has a number of interesting modern works of art, which if you're into that you would be in hog heaven. Carlos ran through the list of awards Tru has received, it's one of the top restaurants in Chicago, consistently getting the highest rating by reviewers. Once our tour was finished it was on to the eighth course a selection of Cow, Goat & Sheeps' Milk Cheeses. We each had a number of different cheeses that were all quite good.

Now it's time for our final two courses, both deserts from Chef Gand's kitchen. We both got a desert amuse bouche of devon cream with polmagrante sauce and pop rocks. It was fabulous. We were each given different deserts, Janna started with Lemon Chiffon, Vanilla Pot de Crème, Lemon Curd Ice Cream, Citrus Suprêmes and I started off with Roasted Pineapple, Coconut Sorbet, Cashew Frangipane, Sourwood Honey. We tried a bit of each others, I can tell you that Janna's lemon chiffon was excellent. I'm not usually a big fan of pineapple or coconut but this desert was excellent.

For our final course Janna had Dense Chocolate, Hazelnut Ice Cream, Coffee Fluff, Vanilla Salt, Hazelnut Crunch and I had Chocolate-Port Semifreddo, Spiced Chocolate Bisque, Orange-Cinnamon Truffle. Janna's was excellent I must say. Mine was also quite good, the spiced chocolate bisque was a bit much in that there was way to much of it. Other than that, the semifreddo was excellent.

Once desert was over we got a selection of Mignardises & Lollipops. At this point, I was to stuffed to continue eating, though I did have a nibble or two. We each got a lollipop to take home, what Janna did with them is beyond me. In any event, our meal was fabulous and I must say that TRU lived up to its reputation. This isn't the sort of place you pop into every Friday for dinner but my goodness would I like to. The experience was excellent, a real blessing to see God's creations cooked up in such imaginative ways. We both highly recommend TRU, it deserves the 5 stars it consistently gets.

First Half of January

It's been awhile since our last post, so we'll have to update on our first half of the month. We ended 2007 with our 4th annual New Years Party. We had quite a few guests and some great food. It seems our mini burgers and lemon tarts were the biggest hits. Ray seemed to love the BLT Salad.
Evie of course was the first to grab at the food. And who could blame her? After six months of preparing a menu and a week of food prep, the food was excellent. Who wouldn't want to be first in line?
Janna is amused that Evie went first. I don't know why this would amuse my wife so much, it's really not that funny. It must be the pregnancy laughing.
And what Birn party wouldn't be complete without our resident thief B. Yes, we know you took Quackers. We will continue to invite this criminal element to our parties, we must reform this thief.
Here is a selection of our guests. We welcomed Shawn and Tammy Anderson to our home for the first time, it seems they just moved to Grand Rapids. Linda, wearing man pants, is always a welcome guest as is Nate who seems to be stuffing himself in the background. Good times, good times.
Ray parked himself in front of the television, intent on watching football. You can see the remains of his BLT Salad.
On New Years Day, we watched a few football games and the Buffalo-Pittsburgh outdoor hockey game. Stuart and Deirbhile especially enjoyed the hockey.
January 4th was my birthday and Janna decided to make me dinner. We had Coq au Vin and roasted potatoes. This picture makes the Coq au Vin look like bloody intestines on a plate but I assure you it tasted much better than it looks here.
This past weekend Janna and I went to Chicago. Stuart was not welcome on this little trip and so he went and visited with my parents in Lansing. Thursday we had dinner at TRU, we reserved the Kitchen Table and the above picture is of us in the kitchen. More on that meal and others in another post to come this week.
Friday night we took the bus out to the United Center to take in a Hawks game. Janna informed me during dinner on Thursday that she was looking forward to the hockey game. Oh how the mighty have fallen. We had a good time, the Hawks are total garbage but we got to see some great hits and a fight.

Happy *30th* Steve!!!!!!!

Psalm 30

1: I will extol thee, O LORD; for thou hast lifted me up, and hast not made my foes to rejoice over me.
2: O LORD my God, I cried unto thee, and thou hast healed me.
3: O LORD, thou hast brought up my soul from the grave: thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit.
4: Sing unto the LORD, O ye saints of his, and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness.
5: For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.
6: And in my prosperity I said, I shall never be moved.
7: LORD, by thy favour thou hast made my mountain to stand strong: thou didst hide thy face, and I was troubled.
8: I cried to thee, O LORD; and unto the LORD I made supplication.
9: What profit is there in my blood, when I go down to the pit? Shall the dust praise thee? shall it declare thy truth?
10: Hear, O LORD, and have mercy upon me: LORD, be thou my helper.
11: Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing: thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness;
12: To the end that my glory may sing praise to thee, and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks unto thee for ever.

What Happens When We're Away?

Often I find myself wondering what the dogs do when we are away from home. I have now discovered what our little precious animals are up to. Seamus seems to enjoy jumping up on our bed. It seems he especially enjoys mommy's side of the bed. No doubt he snuggles up against her pillow.
Deirbhile on the other hand seems to enjoy being near Stuart and thus it is no surprise that she jumps into her puppy's crib. Such naughty puppies we have, I'll have to have a talk with both of them.
Now that Mom and Dad have figured out about the dogs antics while we're away, Seamus is keeping a close watch on our comings and goings. He doesn't want to be caught again.
Seamus and Deirbhile disagree as to who is to blame for this discovery. Deirbhile is giving Seamus a good piece of her mind, she apparently believes he is to blame.
In other news, Agnus bothered to come up to Michigan. As you know she and her husband, (what's his name again?) moved down to hillbilly country in Virginia. As you can see, she's holding Stuart, who was only mildly thrilled to see her. Janna on the other hand was much more excited.
Agnus is in an extreme state of pregnancy and thus is craving various foodstuffs. One such foodstuff is turkey and so we made her our world famous brined turkey with port wine gravy. It was cooked perfectly (breast side up) and was throughly delicious. After dinner we moved into the living room to watch several episodes of Barefoot Contessa, which appears to be a favorite of Agnus'.

Restaurant Bloom

Last Friday Janna and I had dinner with my folks, my brother and his wife at Restaurant Bloom at 40 Monroe Center NW. (There is a current menu on their My Space blog) My brother was in town for an interview of one kind or another which allowed for this little get together. He lives in Cincinnati so we rarely get to visit with him.

In any event, Bloom is a relatively new restaurant with a husband and wife team operating the kitchen. I would say the style is modern, though not quite the avant garde modern of TRU, Charlie Trotter's in Chicago or French Laundry in San Francisco. Nevertheless, for Grand Rapids this is about as close as we're going to get and we will all smile and enjoy it.

Our dinner started off with an amuse bouche of salmon belly in a maple sauce. I love the concept of providing guests with an amuse bouche and I loved the salmon belly but the maple sauce was over powering and way to sweet. I am not a fan of sweet dishes not called desert and even in desert I'm not a fan of to much sweet so perhaps my aversion to the maple sauce is rooted in that. But Janna, who has a sweet tooth, also thought the sauce was to sweet. Good concept, maybe they need to try something else.

For an appetizer I ordered the tuna tartar, roasted peanut, hot sauce sorbet and parsley. The tuna was absolutely perfect and the roasted peanut and hot sauce sorbet perfectly complimented the delicate tuna. The sorbet, while different, added a nice coolness to the dish while at the same time providing a hot zing. This dish alone made the evening worthwhile. Janna started off with a baby spinach salad with crispy ham, aged cheddar and cider dressing. She will attest that the salad was very good, presented beautifully.

My main course was a roasted duck, swiss chard, rutabaga and roasted concord grape juice. The duck was perfectly cooked medium rare and the grape juice provided just the slightest hint of sweetness to this otherwise savory dish. Janna got lamb sirloin, chanterelle mushrooms, red cabbage and hazelnut. She's been raving about the lamb ever since Friday. It was perfectly cooked and perfectly seasoned. Other dishes enjoyed included salmon and ribeye, I'm told both were quite good.

Desert alone is worth going to Bloom for and I understand they have a desert lounge which we will no doubt be frequenting. I got pumpkin cake, coffee ice cream and dates. I'm here to tell you that on its own the pumpkin cake wasn't very good but put together with the ice cream and dates and the pumpkin danced in my mouth. Janna got chocolate goodness, ginger sorbet, hazelnut and sea salt. The chocolate tasted much like a dull Nutella if a bite was taken without the sea salt, with the sea salt the flavors were enhanced and it turns into a wonderful desert. My mother got the most interesting desert of the evening, peanut butter mousse, bacon, bananas and chocolate sorbet. I tried a bit of hers and the bacon went perfectly with the peanut butter mousse, it gave the flavor a certain smokey saltiness that was absolutely wonderful.

Bloom is a great new restaurant downtown and I highly recommend it. The only drawback is that the wait staff wasn't up to par for the quality of restaurant Bloom is. Our waiter when asked simply told me that everything on the menu is good. Well, no kidding, care to provide me with a dish that is particularly good? The woman who brought out all of our dishes felt the need to announce herself by declaring 'look what I found.' One wonders where exactly she found it. In time, I'm sure the chefs will have their wait staff better trained. The food is good enough though to shine despite the waitstaff. Out of a possible 5 stars, Bloom earns 3 stars.