Surviving an excellent weekend, by combing some wonderful simple time with some fun with friends and getting a chance to bake and cook is simple as good as it gets sometimes.
Friday night I was able to get the sourdough mixed and after it rested in the fridge overnight, I added the remaining dough and let it rise for about five hours and then shaped the dough into two loaves, letting rise for about three hours and a quick hot bake 30 minutes later I took it out of the oven, just in time so I could get ready for hanging out with friends that night. Who knew one had to plan several days around making bread? People that like extra sour sourdough bread do! Darn it anyway it was good.
So, we went out to Saint Paul to meet friends for dinner and to take in the Minnesota Wild hockey. This happens to be the weekend of the Saint Paul Winter Carnival, an excuse for people to party and enjoy winter in Minnesota. Actually, for me the Winter Carnival hits a soft spot for me. The story of the battle for winter between King Boreas and the Vulcan crews is cute and sort of fun. The traditional activities still take place, though they have had to tone down some of the fun as we mature as a society, to the pain of some the locals that love the tradition of the grease paint kisses and the like.
This of course has everything to do with us not being able to get into the Bulldog for dinner, not that we thought we would need reservations. We were told it would be a two hour wait or not. I left my cell phone number and they never called us, but ended up going to Fabulous Ferns for a mediocre dinner. The men of the bunch were all intrigued by the Cajun Meatloaf Sandwich, which had a peculiar taste with a sort of sweet sauce, yet very dry and mealy. Oh well, score one for disappointment.
We headed out to the game where we were lucky enough to have a friend that was entertaining clients and had extra tickets to a suite. Not being much of a hockey fan, I was happy to meet some new people and chat a little. I did try and watch some of the game and saw most of the last period. What amazes me about watching professional sports is the A.D.D noise added to every second that the game stops. It was strange that if the whistle blew and they had to drop the puck, the nine seconds in between was filled with a short blast of music. Every second was completely filled. It just seems over the top for me. Are we that in need of being bombarded with some sort of entertainment? What do I know, the place is always packed so they must be doing something right.
Sunday came and I invited some school buddies over for some grilled food. I started the grill around 10 in the morning to smoke the wings that I had been marinating from the day before. I used a dry rub of cayenne, oregano, salt, pepper and a little garlic. I took the wings off at about noon and they were wonderful. I had some pork shoulder leftover from the New Year's feat (kept in the freezer until the day before) and some sausages that I had made for the fest. We enjoy the meats and beers and watched a little of the AFC championship game and then they all huddled off to watch the NFC Championship away from me the non-Viking fan. Being of mixed emotions of sort of wanting Favre to fail and wanting the Viking fans to finally get some good news for once. I really got neither. Favre did a decent job and Vikings choked away a game in classic Viking fashion.
Today I frustratedly tried to find a doctor that was in network and not having a six month waiting list. I expect tomorrow to be better. I did have a nice work out on the elliptical again for 30 minutes though, I am not really losing any weight. I am going to try and get another workout again tomorrow, so there!
Tonight the music is fueling the ramblings is Echo and the Bunnymen.
