See Ingredients after the cut…

Ingredients

• Garlic (minced)
• Thai Chili Pepper (chopped)
• Pork (1 lbs, ground)
• Soy Sauce (1 tbs)
• Fish Sauce (1-2 tbs)
• Sugar (2 tsp)
• Onion (1/2, cut into strips)
• Bell Pepper (1, orange/red, cut into strips)
• Shallot (1, sliced)
• Basil (hand full of leaves)
• Chili Fish Sauce (see below)

Chili Fish Sauce

Combine the following in a jar or bowl, and let sit:

• Thai chili peppers (1-2, chopped)
• Shallot (1, chopped)
• Garlic (1-3 cloves, chopped)
• Fish Sauce (2 tbs)
• Lime (1/4th, juice)

Directions

• Heat up a wok.
• Throw in the (vegetable oil), and heat it up.
• Throw in the (garlic) and (chilies), cook till fragrant, garlic starts to brown.
• Throw in (ground pork), cook until no more pink, boil off water.
• Combine (Fish Sauce), (Soy Sauce), (Sugar), then toss in.
• Stir/Fold.
• Throw in (onion) and (bell pepper).
• Stir/Fold.
• Take off Heat.
• Throw in (basil).
• Fold everything together.
• Serve over rice.
• Serve Chili Fish Sauce to taste.
• (optional) Fry up an egg with soft yolk in oil, and put over an individual serving.

You can find my twitter feed here http://twitter.com/binarynomad

In other news, I’ve been trying to cook more at home, tonight I experimented with a can of beans and ended up with this:

Ingredients

• black beans (1 can, 1/2 juice replaced with water)
• sausage (1-2, chopped)
• onion (1/2, red, chopped)
• garlic (4-5 cloves, chopped)
• jalapeno (1, deseeded, sliced)
• olive oil (a few tbs)
• butter (1 pad, chopped)
• salt and spices
• red wine
• rice (2 cups, cooked)

Steps

1. Heat the (oil) over (medium) in a pot.
2. Toss in the (sausage), brown it a bit (5 min).
3. Toss in the (onion), (garlic), and 1/2 the (jalapeno), cook till translucent.
4. Pour in a splash of (red wine), cook for a few more min.
5. Toss in the (beans), (jalapeno), and (butter), add water if needed.
6. Simmer for (2 hours), add (salt) and (spices) to taste, maybe another splash of (wine).
7. Serve over rice.

It really turned out great, warms the insides and has that home comfort food feeling.

I’m heading off to breakfast tomorrow with Si, may check up on Morgan (she caught the cold that has been going around) and then Bob in the afternoon (who just got over the cold).

We met up with Jeff, who was dressed up as Pope Innocent X for Halloween and then drove up to St Helena. We decided to grab some lunch while waiting for Eden to meet up with us. She’s currenly taking ground school to learn how to fly ultralights. (Which reminds me, I need to call the hang-gliding instructor )

Prager Port Works is a family run winery just off of 29 on Lewelling Ln. Just outside were two visitors that had either a busy day or too much wine tasting.

The tasting room was a small area just past a storage room containing the main casks. It seemed a tradition akin to “Joe was here” seems to have started a while ago, all of the walls were adorn with bank notes that had signatures, jokes, etc from past visitors.

Our timing was great because I was lucky enough to grab a shot of three generations of the Prager family in one photo. The oldest is 97 years old and still going strong. wow

Afterwards, we had a group shot came out great! (ph33r the pope!)

When we were done with the tasting, we decided to go for a walk in the fields outside. I grabbed a number of shots, some macros, that I think came out great. I especially like the leaves, barbed wire and orange flower.

On the way home, Edens car unfortunately got a flat tire. Gen fixed it, as we all offered moral support. Gen rocks

Last night we all went out to La Fondue in Saratoga, Ca for Marlyn’s birthday. I think this was my fifth time there, but I got to try a number of new dishes.

With 6 people we had quite a variety: * SALAD: Choice salads with some great dressings. (I personaly suggest the “Sweet & Sour with Blue Cheese Crumbles) * CHEESE FONDUE: Pesto and Cognac & Stinking Rose (both were excellent, though we finished off the Stinking Rose) * ENTREE FONDUE: Punsch & Grilling (with assorted meats, I really enjoyed the grilling, especially with the garlic butter. Punsch is a wine broth fondue) * DESSERT FONDUE: White Chocolate & “The Decadent One” (BEWARE!)

By the end of the night we barely could move. You’ll notice in the two group photos, we are all either leaning or sitting, I’m surprised we made it home safe

This is a GREAT place to go once in a while, your wallet may not like you very much, give or take about $40 per person, but your palette will worship you.

You can find the La Fondue web site at:

http://www.lafondue.com