A day of ...

...culinary adventures.

I realized I hadn't posted much on this topic lately, and yet there are days when it seems most of my time is spent on stuff I plan to eat or drink.  August 19th was such a day.

Time to make Kimchi.  Once I have some Napa cabbage, I then look around for what I can add.


















Garden peppers (the purple and tiny red thai peppers), some cilantro, onions (red and yellow),  and garlic (of course).

Everything chopped/grated, and seasoning ready to go.  Don't forget the fish sauce!


Time to get my hands dirty mixing it all together.  Wash hands immediately after because those thai peppers are hot!



Let sit for an hour and then pack into a jar.



It could have used my fermentation crock, but it all fit in here, and the ceramic pie beads did the trick of holding all down.  I will taste tomorrow on my afternoon omelet, but it won't really hit its stride for a week.

Need to subculture my English Ale yeast and get a starter for next day brewing session.


Then time to check the pork I have curing in the curing chamber.


Not dry enough yet.  It has only been two weeks, probably 1-2 weeks more should do it.  The Penicillium nalgiovense is getting started which is good.  All three pieces came from a ham that I butchered.  The pork is of from a free range Berkshire pig.

Time to transfer that Belgian from two weeks ago.  I take my quality control very seriously and monitor the beer at each stage of its development.


My turn to make dinner.  T-bone steaks from a free range Dexter cow.


Normally I would dry age a couple of days, but I had to rush this one a bit.  Still the hickory chips and seasoning did it justice.  Sides were garlic mash potatoes with a cheddar-sour cream mix, and broccoli for the veg.

Ramses goes after the Hatti

Somewhat recently I purchased a new rules set for Ancient historical miniatures battles called "To the Strongest" - affectionately referred to in the hobby as TtS.  You can learn about it here.

This is a grid based system, so first I needed a playing field with a grid.  I bought a 2x3 yard cloth of the tannish variety and sprayed versus shades upon it after I marked it up.  Here it is with some troops arrayed upon it.


I'm about 3/4 of the way done rebasing my collection of Hittites and New Kingdom Egyptians - plenty for a battle.

I gave the rules a test drive.  The Egyptians have a camp, none for the Hatti...yet.  Ramses wants to invite the Hatti back to his tent.  Preferably in chains.  Nice tents!

 The Egyptians advance aggressively:




















Hittite chariots charging some bald Egyptian bowmen.




The Hittite high command (Muwattalli?) kills an Egyptian Prince.


Rules seem to be working.  Time to take this show on the road to the house of my long time friends Richard and Cheryl.

Peeking through the palm trees.



Guard spearmen gearing up for battle.



And Hittite chariots.



Egyptian bow and spearmen on a hill prepare to receive the charge.


A clash of spearmen about to happen.



All types of flanking as a Hittite chariot unit tries to sneak in on the backside.



On the other side of the battlefield, Hittite spearmen flank Egyptian spearmen.


Ramses is not concerned.



These are "Super" bowmen as they vanquished Hatti spearmen.



These Hittite troops - chariots and spearmen have charged across the Egyptian backside and are about to attack these Nubian bowmen.



A prince of Egypt goes down in this game also.



All for naught as the Hittites hand over their last victory medal.  The Egyptians had one left.  I forgot a couple of rules, but we had time for a second game (a first in our decades of miniature gaming together.)  The Egyptians narrowly won that one also, and I believe no rules were missed.

I like the command and control system of these rules.  The combat feels a little shallow, and I'm not a big fan of the ammunition rules.  Definitely a fun game and robust enough to add your own little tweaks to add your own flavor.  I plan on definitely playing this one some more.  I'm particularly eager to try it with my Romans and Carthaginians...as soon as I'm done rebasing them also.

The Egyptian List

Cmd 1	#	Save	Pts	Tot Pts	VP	Total VP
Chariots Vets	2	7	13	26	2	4
Spearmen	1	7	8	8	2	2
Bowmen	2	8	6	12	2	4
Sardana Guards	1	6	10	10	2	2
Ramses Heroic & Senior	1	3	6	6	2	2
Camp	1		1	1	3	3
VPs						17
Cmd 2				0		0
Chariots	1	8	11	11	2	2
Spearmen	2	7	8	16	2	4
Bowmen	2	8	6	12	2	4
General Attached	1	2	5	5	2	2
				0		12
Cmd 3				0		0
Chariots	1	8	11	11	2	2
Spearmen	2	7	8	16	2	4
Bowmen	2	8	6	12	2	4
General Attached	1	2	5	5	2	2
				0		12
Heroes	4		1	4		0
						0
				0
Total Points				155		41
				Victory Medals		14

The Hittite List

Cmd 1	#	Save	Pts	Tot pts	VP	Tot VP
Veteran Chariot	1	6	13	13	2	2
Chariot	1	7	11	11	2	2
Guard Spear	2	7	8	16	2	4
Javelinmen	2	8	6	12	2	4
General Senior	1	2	6	6	2	2
				0		0
Cmd2				0		0
Chariots	2	7	11	22	2	4
Spearmen (Raw)	2	7	6	12	2	4
Slingers	2	8	6	12	2	4
General	1	2	5	5	2	2
				0		0
Cmd3				0		0
Chariots	1	7	11	11	2	2
Spearmen (Raw)	2	7	6	12	2	4
Bows (Veteran)	2	7	8	16	2	4
General	1	2	5	5	2	2
	20			0
Heroes	2		1	2
				155		40
				Medals		13

Unexpected

The heat of summer is fully on here in the central valley.

This morning at 6:30 it was already 78 degrees Fahrenheit.

Ugghh, too hot for running, and yet my training regimen called for a 3 mile tempo run.

With warm-up and cool-down, a total of 7 miles.  I was already plenty warm, and there would be no cooling down before returning to my air conditioned house.

The first 2 miles were nice and easy, too warm, but easy.  I got my active stretching in - butt kicks, and knee highs.

I took a couple of swigs of water and then the tempo run began.

The first mile my pace felt awkward and off.  I figured I would be lucky to maintain an 8:30 minute per mile pace.  Sprinklers were on in the park.  Nice and cool, but they are about head level on me and hit with some force.  It felt like it was mucking up my stride.

Finally my Garmin watch vibrated indicating that I had finished the first tempo mile.  I look down:

7:57

Crazy!  I kept going, not pushing too hard.  At that pace, I was 27 seconds faster than what my training plan called for.  So I figured I could slow down.

Garmin vibrates for end of second mile.

8:15

Still 8 seconds faster than I need, but really not feeling like I was pushing too hard.

The last mile, I always bring up my tempo mantra - "It doesn't hurt, its just uncomfortable and I'm breathing hard."  So I kept breathing hard.

Garmin vibrates for third mile.

8:08

Nice, and totally unexpected.


As you can see, I take my easy running very seriously and slowwwww.  A best pace of 6:21 also unexpected and very brief as I dashed across a highway.