Spinach Pasta

So homemade spinach pasta is delicious, and fairly simple. Especially when you add a little Blood Orange Olive Oil to the dough. Its a very fresh tasting pasta, and that citrusy zing from the Blood Orange Olive Oil really carried through the cooking. I will say that the pasta plumps quite a bit when cooking, so be sure to roll it out a little thinner than what you would hope to have for eating.

I would love to claim complete credit for the recipe, but I can't. I found it on AllRecipes.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Spinach-Noodles/Detail.aspx

Although the idea of putting the olive oil in there was all mine.

So good and so fresh!

Cool New Gadget

So I saw this new app for the iPhone, and was a little disappointed that I couldn't use it since I don't have an iPhone. Its the UrbanSpoon Restaurant Selector. It gets your location using the iPhone's GPS, and then you give it a shake and it will pick a random restaurant for you. The areas are location, type, and price. You can choose to lock in the selections, such as you are only interested in the University District, or maybe you are in the mood for Greek cuisine. You can then get more info about the restaurant it selected. Pretty cool.

As I was saying, I was kind of bummed I couldn't use this handy little app, but then I was on the UrbanSpoon website, and they made an app for us computer users too. Woohoo! So, I am now going to try and get it put onto the side of the blog, and hopefully visitors can then pick somewhere new to eat! Bon appetit!

Where does the time go?

Its already the end of July! It seems like just yesterday it was the beginning of July, and J and I were headed down to Longview to hang out with Scooter and his family. That was a great trip. That bunch of people are some of my absolute favorites, and they are like family. We went out to Long Beach through Astoria, and it was gorgeous. A lot of driving that day, but oh so worth. As a side note, J and I will be going to visit Scooter and his fam for Thanksgiving this year. We can't wait.

On the food side of things, J and I made Pavlova for her recent church activity. Although I only got a few bites of the last bit, it was super good. I accidentally made the custard for it a bit too runny, but at least it tasted good. There was only about three bites (small ones) left, so it must have been good. I think we will try it again, but we need a reason for it. Anyone up for a party?

Good restaurant

I thought this deserved its own post, but J and I have a new restaurant that we really enjoy. Its Robb's 125th Street Grill. Strangely enough, its located on the corner of 125th and Aurora. We went there for dinner the other night, and it was great. A nice low key atmosphere, seemed kid-friendly, as in if you brought your kid they would be fine, but not as fun as other restaurants like Red Robin or something.

The price you say? Decent. Most main courses ranged in the $10-15 range. I had the prime rib, which was fabulous for about $18. J had the halibut fish and chips which was amazing. Light, flaky and very crispy. The french fries she had were also really crispy.

So, my recommendation is that you should go, but save it for a slightly special occasion, not just an "I'm hungry and don't want to cook" night. Although, the burgers were right around $10 bucks, so it might not be bad. I'll try to keep tabs on other restaurants we go to.

He is alive!

So... after a very extended break from the blog, or as a friend say, I should post things on my neglected blog... I am going to try to post more often. The past year and then some has been filled with lots of good times, and some not as fun. Overall, its been good though.

School is still going well, I am plugging along working on my degree. I am done with classes, which is great and right now I am working on a paper about the memory of fluorescence intermittency. I know, fascinating. Soon I will try to talk a bit more about it.

Other than that, I have also been cooking as much as I can. I have some great ideas, and some recent successes too! My filet mignon served on a bed of sauteed spinach with a balsamic reduction was to die for.

So stay tuned, and hopefully we will have lots of nifty info here for you all!

-- CIB

Cooking Fun

So... its about that time again... school keeps moving, and the days are long... but you know what makes me happy? Cooking. I love trying new recipes. Also, the Food Network is a great channel. Lots of good recipes to try.

So recently I have been trying experiment. I made some french bread (very tasty), some chicken lettuce wraps (also very tasty), and bagels (tasty, but need to work on it some more). I have some classics I always like, such as my teriyaki chicken... yumm... so good. Also, I make a mean chicken enchilada, making everything from scratch, except the tortillas. They are very fabulous, but I think the next step is to make the tortillas. Recipes online seem very simple, so we shall see how they turn out. Cross you fingers, and I will let you know later how they are. Wish me luck! Until next time, keep the tasty food coming...

-- CIB

The Power of Procrastination

The author of PhD Comics, Jorge Cham, is coming to UW! I am so excited. As I have said before, PHD Comics pretty much sums up my life, so its great. The Power of Procrastination is the name of the talk, and I am excited to be able to go. Good times. You should all be jealous.

The New Year... The Same Old Stuff

So I came to a realization the other day, and that is that I have been in school for the better part of 20 1/2 years. And what is worse? I still have about 4 1/2 years to go. Although, I will be finishing classes at the end of this school year, which does make me very happy. So, as 2008 dawns in our lives, I realize that while the new year is here, it really hasn't changed much, and who knows how much it will change this year. (Hopefully, something big will happen) Other than that, life progresses onward, J and I are doing well, although we both miss O-town and our friends and family down there.

This past week, I had the opportunity to go to my niece's 4th birthday party, and it is always a little hard to believe that my family is getting so big. This past year we had two new additions (both are nephews), and one will be 1 next month. Where does the time go, it still seems like he was just born. But, with those two additions, family gatherings now need to seat 12. My goodness, and I know that it will continue to get bigger. While at times it does seem strange for all the changes, it is still the same, as family gatherings are full of good times, and occasionally great oldies (Mostly in story/reminscing form).

So, here I leave you all, I hope that you have bigs plans for the New Year, and that you remember to write 08, and not 07 when writing the date.

Procrastination and Season's Greetings.

So, as time progresses, we find that it gets harder and harder to want to do stuff, especially when it gets closer to the end of a quarter. You can almost taste the freedom, and you find yourself wanting to not do anything. Well, here is a website that can help you procrastinate even more! Go to www.phdcomics.com. Its great. Also, it pretty much describes my life right now. Freaky.

Also, as we draw closer to the Holiday Season, we should take a moment to reflect on our lives, and things that matter in them. Health, safety, family and friends, and quite possibly one of the most important of all at this time of the year, hot chocolate. Oh boy do I love hot chocolate. So, to all of my family and friends, Merry Christmas. Don't worry KO, I haven't forgotten you, Happy Hannukah.

P.S. - Don't procrastinate getting presents. It only makes things stressful and difficult. That's my holiday tip for you.

Technology Hound? Possible...

So I was thinking the other day... it tends to happen a lot around here...

I read a lot. I enjoy reading books, but I also need to read other stuff, homework problems, journal articles, answer keys, book chapters for class... you name it. I also have a lot of transportation time to deal with, wherein I can actually read. ( I ride the bus people, possibly a short one at that) So, what am I to do? That's my question.

I was thinking that I can just use my nifty laptop, but thats a pain to drag out on the bus, plus its bulky for a full bus, and then I have to dig around in my bag. The same goes for paper copies, plus it takes up valuable space and weight limits of my backpack. So what am I to do?

Here is what I was thinking. I could get myself one of those nifty e-book readers, like the Sony Reader, where I could load books onto it, or my journal articles, or pretty much anything that I need to read. The only problem is that they can be expensive. The Sony Reader goes for about $299.00 Should I get one? Or am I merely a tech hound, trying to get the latest "gadget"? What do you think?

--CIB

Happy Mole Day!

Hi everyone!

(This is where you say, "Hi Dr. CIB!")

Happy Mole Day!

No, we are not celebrating the fuzzy little guy that makes holes in your yard. Today is the day that we celebrate our friend, the mole, who makes Chemistry possible, and so much easier than the alternative. If you need more info, let me know.

So, wish all of your friends a Happy mole day, and have fun!

Keep it "theoretical"

Why a box?

So, here we are.

But where is here? Why in my blog, of course. But why ChrisInABox, you ask? Well, I'll tell you.

As many who read this will know, or should at least, know of my current adventures in PhDLand, a land filled with joy and happiness, and happiness and joyness... and the fact that it is also filled with P-Chem. But more importantly, Quantum. The basic question of most quantum classes, that most problems usually come back to is the Particle In a Box, or PIB. This is one of the first things you learn, and is very basic, but yet so deep it hurts the mind. So, going along with that, I figured ChrisInABox was good, as it explains quite abit about who I am, and CIB just works to describe me on so many levels. I hope you enjoy my discrete postings, will hopefully occur at regular intervals, but much like Quantum Chemistry, things rarely happen the "theoretical" way.

Until next time, keep it "theoretical".

-- CIB