The Manhattan Transfer

Last night, Kelly and I went to see The Manhattan Transfer give a fantastic Holiday show at The Blanche M. Touhill Performing Arts Center. They were absolutely amazing. I've been listening to them and admiring them since high school (yeah, that long ago; the current line-up started in 1972), so it was a real treat for me to finally see them live in concert. In the parlance of Mason and Emily, they were "tight." I just love to see (and hear) that kind of fierce talent. Go see them when you get a chance, or go to iTunes and check them out.

Yes, Virginia, There Is a Samurai

I enjoyed a great karate seminar last weekend. Sensei Toru Shimoji was hosted by Sensei Karl Burgart of the Tradition Karate Association of Wildwood, MO. Sensei Shimoji is 5th Dan. The seminar was phenomenal. He is a tremendous athlete and his karate is spectacular to behold. One of the things that impressed me most was how learned he is. As he was talking to us about ways to improve our karate, he easily used examples from physics, anatomy, and even some molecular biology. I know he's a sculptor. To me, he seemed just like the samurai warrior-poets that you read about. We need more people like him in the world, I think.

Delicious Seafood Pasta Fra Diavolo

Tonight I made some delicious Seafood Pasta Fra Diavolo in my cool new Le Creuset Enameled Cast-Iron Round French Oven with Cover (more on this below). I had some pasta fra diavolo from Brio Tuscan Grille earlier in the week, and I decided to make some myself this weekend. I suspect the stuff Brio made had some cream in it, but the stuff I made was pretty good, and it had seafood (shrimp, calamari, and scallops) instead of chicken which is always a plus in my cookbook.

If you decide to make some yourself (it's so easy), here are a couple of pointers. First, I used half as much crushed red pepper as was called for in the recipe, and it was still too spicy for my family (for me, it was just pleasantly warm).

Second, instead of basil I used Penzey's Tuscan Sunset, and I think that was a good substitution. More complicated, but really tasty.

Third, I used mini penne instead of linguine.

Finally, I added a bit more shrimp than was called for. There was plenty of room for it. The scallops were terrific, though; I should've splurged on those instead.

My new Dutch oven is my first ever. It's made of enameled cast iron, and it's a spectacular vessel. I highly recommend it. The color of mine is Dune ("... Arrakis... desert planet..."), if you would like to cleave to my ways as closely as possible. ;-)

Bon appetit!

Churrascaria!

Today my group and I went out to lunch at Bacana Brasil, a really nice churrascaria in Chesterfield. Places such as these serve churrasco-style grilled meats, and lots of them. They have to place a special sign at your table so you can turn off the flow of grilled meat when you can't take it any more. So much meat is served, in fact, that I began to fret about various meat-related disaster scenarios, like "meat exhaustion," or the "meat death of the universe." Anyway, even though you really have to be a good carnivore to enjoy them, churrascarias are great. If you've never been, you should find one and try it out.

Special thanks to Scott Patterson for taking me to my first churrascaria feast, not so long ago in Seattle.