Storm of the century for our area. We broke every record on the books. My burb endedn up with 21 inches of snow. 15-20 through out the metro and NEOK up into MO. Our schools were closed all week here. They haven't made a call for tomorrow yet. They don't plow the neighborhood streets down here and they are terrible. They did/are using the fire trucks and other city trucks to drive through and knock down drifts and compact the snow so people can get out. Went to the store yesterday and there was lots of empty shelves. No eggs at all and most dairy was gone too. They did just get a truck of milk in earlier before I got there. Fresh produce was hit and miss. No salad and some fruits were unavailable the bread isle was completely empty. Sally, I know you in Dallas have had your fair share too. I know it really has messed up SB week....so much lost revenue and some fans having a hard time just getting there. I saw the mess in HOuston too May. The rolling blackouts are crazy and kind of scary too when you think about it....not enough power sources to keep things going. Cathy, the lake area got slammed too. There are many docks both commercial and private that collapsed or sunk do to the weight of the snow. Early estimates are 40 plus million in damages on Grand Lake alone. Funny thing is the big boat show is going on this weekend. I'm tired and sore from digging myself, family, and friends out the last few days. Other than that I'm fine. The bad thing is we are in for another storm on Tuesday/Wednesday. They are saying 6-10 inches this go around but not as much wind. Think Dallas will be in on this one too. To think it was 76 degrees here last weekend and I was trimming shrubs and cleaning out flower beds. LOL!! Here are a few pics. They say will be in the 60's next weekend. I can't wait...bring on spring and summer!! David

Dlynn, I just heard about the Loveland area fire from Max a little bit ago. I've been unpacking and starting to catch up on house things and haven't had the TV on. I'll be watching the 9:00 news though. We went to the dog park tonight and there was a line up of small buses and small fire trucks, all with the same name and logo, that were from New Mexico at a gas station near our house. As they filled up and were leaving the station, they all turned north and when I commented how strange that was since NM is south, Max said he had heard about a fire that started near Loveland and that they were probably going there to help. I can't believe how hard our part of the state is being hit this year. Thankfully there are a lot firefighters and tanker planes that are already in the area that can help and that the reservoirs and Carter Lake can provide water. I just heard that 2 homes have burned. I know that you are far enough away to probably not be in danger but my heart goes out to everyone in the area. We came home from our son's home, about an hour south and east of Boulder, yesterday afternoon. Max and Ollie came home before I did and called me to let me know that there was only a faint smell of smoke in our house and the air was clear outside. When I got home, my eyes burned a little but I didn't have any breathing problems so we just turned up the AC to filter the air a little more. It's OK today. I certainly never dreamed our San Francisco vacation would be extended by nearly a week in Parker and I'm glad to be home. Tomorrow I start back to cardiac fitness and know that will be a struggle since I've been away so long at sea level. Lee

Yes, Lee and I met in Denver with dlynn about 2? 3? years ago. Dick has not had a business trip out there since tho he's been close. As I told Lee, I have done less cooking since retiring, and have tried doing lots of other things e.g. the blog and teaching myself some new computer tricks. I've also tried to exercise more. TRIED. But for those of you who didn't see us above... and then with Charlotte I have many more pics to add to both flickr and the blog, so hang in there if you're interested. Gosh uploading and writing takes time!!

FOAS,I have pretty much stayed out of the sous vide discussions but I'll jump in this time. I tried half a dozen or so stove top sous vide experiments last winter and this spring with success in all but one attempt (although bemoaning having to listen for the alert beep of the probe thermometer when the temperature fluctuated). The one failure was with lamb shanks which came out tasting so gamey that they became dogfood. They were large shanks and maybe from an older animal. They were seasoned with a little salt, pepper, garlic and bits of preserved lemon and should have been great. I think the fault was with the meat and not the method. This spring Max got me a Sous Vide Magic temp. controller and a Fresh Meals Magic bubbler/heater that came with an 18 liter Cambro type vertical container and lid. I would say that on average I use the entire setup about once every ten days. I like that you can cook more than one kind of meat at time, as long as they cook at the same temperature and as long as you write down and set timers for the amount of time each meat requires. I use the heater with my ten cup (probably six quart water capacity) rice cooker for cooking smaller amounts of meat and bringing previously sous vide cooked and frozen meats up to a serving temp. I would say I use the rice cooker setup at least 5 times a month. I have a two and a half pound chuck roast reheating now, and what I have learned about chuck roast is that I should cut and seal it in smaller amounts, more like a pound, because while it reheats and sears beautifully ONCE, it is not so great if you have leftovers at that point. Although Oliver, the 76 pound poodle in the house, thinks they are wonderful so nothing is wasted. As with anything there is a learning curve and I have kept notes on what I've cooked, the time and temperature, and whether any adjustments needed to be made in the future. I'm not sure how or if altitude affects the whole process. I have Doug Baldwins book and since he is at the University of Colorado here in Boulder I can only assume that since his book does not address altitude there are no modifications needed. My questions, earlier this year, about seasoning cast iron pans were in order to have more successful post sous vide searing and I do now have a number of well seasoned pans that I'm happy with and use them and my cast iron grill pan to do most of the finishing. We are only a two person household and don't eat dinner at the same time every day (basically we eat late, and later) so it is a great convenience to just be able pull something out of the freezer and thaw and heat in 45 to 60 minutes. Of course there are many other ways of achieving a good and quick dinner and I use them too. The meats that I have cooked repeatedly and like are: eye of round, cooked to just below med rare with one dinner using the hot roast and the rest chilled, sliced thinly, frozen and used for sandwich meat (beefy red-pink all the way through and tender); pork loin done the same way as a roast and sandwich meat and also with one inch thick boneless slices to finish as pork chops (pork cooked to 138�), boneless, skinless chicken breasts to use in many ways, chicken hindquarters bone in skin on cooked in a confit style; short ribs; chuck roast, lamb shoulder chops (very successful unlike my one attempt with shanks), ribeye steaks and prime grade sirloin steak. Only once did I cook pork too long and noticed that it was harder to slice neatly and had a slightly softer texture than I would have liked. So I'm glad I have it, I wouldn't want it to be only cooking method for these meats but we have been pleased with the results. I haven't tried fish in it because fish is so quick to cook in other ways but I'm sure I'll get around to trying salmon since one of our favorite ways with that is low/slow roasted at 225�. I haven't tried eggs, or vegetables, but I am intrigued with using it for yogurt and dulce de leche. Lee P.S. You are probably right about the sub $100. version, but wait we'll send you two, on a late nite infomercial - someone is already marketing a modified deepfryer/sous vide unit.