Father's Day 2008

So, spend the day grilling? Nope! Not today...

Wife called me at work on Wednesday afternoon, saying that there was a loud crash in the house:

My 36x36 bathroom mirror decided 10 years was enough. I'm not terribly handy, but i like to think I am. So a short trip to Home Depot got me a quick and easy replacement.

 

And earlier in the week, we had a really forceful windstorm that knocked one of our patio chairs into the table, knocking off a few of the granite tiles - two on the top and the two side corner pieces. Lowes may be cleaner, but I like the help at Depot better. Bob told me exactly what I'd need, and tomorrow hopefully I'll be able to touch up the epoxy and make it blend in again.

 

 

Well, at least today I get to watch the final of the US Open in relative peace while wife packs for a week in Miami, so I've got a few nights to myself, but I do have to work all weekend, as well as pick up wife and son from the airport Sunday afternoon. Not much time for grilling while they're gone unfortunately, but at least for Father's Day I've got two last 8-oz filets from Costco.

Now that's a knife!

Fortunately, after years of buying me stuff I don't need, or want really, my new more-than-moderate passion for cooking and grilling has given my dad good opportunities to buy me gifts. So for Father's Day this year, blessed with reverse gift-giving, I got an incredible Japanese chef's knife from my dad.

He got me a Ming Tsai ceramic knife by Kyocera a few year's back, which is great for slicing, but pretty fragile. They've come down in price considerably over the years, and my wife picked up one for maybe $50 about two years ago that she uses for almost everything. I sent mine in for sharpening a few months ago, and got back a different knife - I wasn't thrilled with getting a replacement, but it was sharpened nicely. Then, after two or three uses, the tip chipped off, which is somewhat common with ceramics.

Then, my dad watched a Discovery show on Japanese knife and sword makers, and what a craft and art that really is. So...

 

It's got a full tang, and is simply beautiful to look at, and even better to hold. Getting my Henckel and Global knives sharpened was well worth it, but I'm not sure I'll ever go back to them. This knife feels like it weighs a pound or two, so there's a lot of heft to it, and it just goes through onions like a laser (that's all I've tried with it so far). So this is what it feels like when you watch the cooking shows and see those chefs slice through food like it's made of jello!

It really is a piece of art:

Thanks Dad!

Weekend wrap-up

Did two beer-can chickens, an Allegro flank steak, and an Asian-style flank steak (compliments of Weber), grilled corn and Texas toast, and more of wife's baked beans and KFC-like coleslaw. Yummers.

And all that's left to show for it is this - burn off!