After being in the audience unique cooking contest, I decided going into the weekend that I was going to make pasta and decided on ravioli.  This is probably not a feat for most, but a different story for me.

Flour and egg, I saw a recommendation that said 3 eggs, 2 cups flour, so I started from there and worked it til I thought I had the right consistency.

      

I rolled it and cut it.

      

Filled’em with ricotta and boiled’em for a few minutes

      

I had some extra cooled Israeli Cous Cous cooked in the fridge, so I added some onion, olives, tomato and Italian dressing for a quick side dish.

      

I heated up some pasta sauce and the kids added some grated parmesan.

And there we go, 2.5 hours later it was OK.  I felt the pasta was a little heavy, maybe rolled too thick, maybe the flour.  Either way, I am glad I did it.

1 Slow Cooker

1 Package Brats

1 Bottle Beer

Thank You 2011, Hello 2012.

Thanksgiving this year could not have been better, a visit to the parents, Packer football, shark fishing and the warmest weather we have seen since heading south for the holiday weekend.

The traditional day after we were in Sanibel Island shark fishing.  We were actually just “fishing”, but since we caught more Hammerhead shark than any other creature, we will call it shark fishing.

Hammerhead shark can grow to 20ft long, here are the monsters we caught.

We also caught redfish, hardhead catfish (aka tourist trout), and one of these, yeesh …..

I also had a bit of a mishap with a sandwich tern so if you are an animal lover and want to spread the love this holiday season, spread some here http://www.crowclinic.org/ The bird was safely released, in good health, 2 days later.

I couldn’t help myself Saturday morning, the sun came up and the pond behind Chuck’s condo looked to good to pass up.  Every cast the fake worm was getting hammered.  (note to self: more fishing in golf course ponds next year)

I caught you a delicious bass (or 2)

Even Chuck got into the action

I say it every year, but next year, more fishing

I went to NYC for a day (actually 22 hrs) this past week to see The Big 4 at Yankee Stadium, more about that later.  So, what to do in NYC? (besides planking)

How about a little Reuben samich at Carnegie’s Deli?

 

 

 

 

We had to go see The Carter, one of the top five dirtiest hotels in the U.S. (no, we did not stay there)

     

 

 

 

We rode the subway and relaxed on city benches…..

 

 

 

 

…..inspected the public works and always watched our step…..

 

 

 

 

Finally we went to the concert of a lifetime (I think I have said that before, but can never say that again) and they must have heard we were coming

     

 

 

 

It was a great show, basically adding Metallica to the last GREAT show I attended.

Four of the best (and my favorite) metal bands of all times.  They were all solid, but Metallica blew everyone away.  Opening with Creeping Death and For Whom The Bell Tolls, closing with Seek and Destroy after Battery.  Knocking out all the classics, Master of Puppets, Fade to Black and Sad But True.  But, pulling out Overkill and the spirit of Lemmy with the rest of The Big 4 bands could have been the highlight.  Amazing stuff by all 4 bands.

And I am still debating the oddest thing I saw …..

A man with a satchel (European handbag) or a man wearing Capri’s ….. at a Slayer concert …..

     

Went to a luncheon today with the folks from #prsaclt, got to hear Geno Church talk about the good stuff he is doing with the Brains on Fire folks down in Greenville.

A year ago my sister expanded her business and we decided to give her a bigger footprint on the ole WWW.  One of the social networks that I built was a Twitter feed.  It was being fed from the information she put on her Facebook page.    The idea was for a very basic feed to help push out her free information about organizing.

11,307 ft above sea level (summit at Brian Head, UT).  The air is thin hiking at that elevation.

3305 miles by airplane

2888 miles by car

205 ft  below sea level (Death Valley, Salt Creek)

125 degrees F (Death Valley).  HOT and windy.

47 degrees F (morning near Brian Head, UT)

12 states visited (SC, NC, TN, KY, IN, IL, WI, MN, NV, CA, AZ, UT)

10 different roadside animal warning signs (rattlesnake, desert tortoise, bighorn, deer, cattle, donkey, wild horse, domestic horse, prairie dog, elk)

9 National Parks/Monuments/Lands (Bryce Canyon, Dixie Forest/Red Canyon, Zion, Cedar Breaks, Vermillion Cliffs, Pipe Spring, Death Valley, Lake Meade, Kaibab)

4 time zones, and at least one night spent in each.

3 great childhood friends visited.

2 very cool state properties (Coral Pink Sand Dunes, Parowan Wildlife Area)

1 ghost town (Rhyolite)

1 road impassable due to snow

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1 video of me cruizing down a massive sand dune

Now that all the Pro’s are done or nearly done blogging about the best B2B Conference of this year, I will give it a shot.

For the past 4 years, I have had the pleasure of attending the BMA (Business Marketing Association) National Conference.  This year, it was in one of my favorite cities, Chicago.

Since it’s going to be near 100 here tomorrow on the first day of summer, maybe this video will cool you off.