Apologies for the delay...

Dear Family and Friends,

We have no excuse for not updating this blog more often. We have not disappeared from the face of the earth. In February, Sunny went to Savannah while Matthew stayed home to infuse vodkas, but a lot of other things have been happening, too.

It's been a busy spring season with Matthew's finishing his last class for his Master's degree and Sunny's starting of her personal training business. March feels like a blur and frenzy of activity, and now it's almost Easter. Where has the month gone?

If you click over to the Flickr photos, you can see some our other recent distractions and enjoyments. To name a few recent Flickr sets:

• 3/5 "date night" to celebrate our new Domestic Partnership status
  
• 3/6-3/7 Sunny's Mt. Cardigan snowshoe/hut stay/X-C ski trip
  
  
• 3/17-3/22 Matt visits his dad, Moses, in Arizona for family time with Sunny, Dinah, and the kids -- they even had llamas for us to see at the zoo and waterfalls to hike.
  
  
• 
• 4/3 - Matthew's birthday had to be celebrated with friends coming over
  
• 4/4-4/11 Matt visit's his brother Amos in Park City, Utah, with Sunny, Mom, dad, and Nate all joining in for some killer scrabble games and spring skiing
• 

  

So yeah, we've been a bit off-line and bit busier than usual. We hope you'll enjoy the photos, call or e-mail for more about what we've been up to, and keep in touch through the rest of spring.

Happy Easter all...Love, -Sunessa

A weekend of infused vodkas (and the recipes thereof)

Sunny's visiting Savannah, GA, this weekend to get away from snowy, snowy Boston. I'm using this quality time to try out various homebrew concoctions, including two different kinds of infused vodkas. Over the last ten years, many bars and distilleries realized the truth: vodka doesn't really taste like anything. Many people already used it for cocktails, something I do myself, but you can add real zest to the drink itself by going the extra mile and giving it an innate flavor.

"Infusing" typically means soaking something in the vodka for a long time, even a month or two, and adding some sugar or simple syrup for sweetness. You then strain out whatever you flavored it with and transfer the final product to a bottle for later consumption.

I've been sitting on the infused vodka idea for quite a while, but it really doesn't take long to make a reality. You only need six things for the task.

1. 750ml of vodka

2. Thing to infuse

3. Cup of sugar (if creating a syrup)

4. Pan

5. Airtight container, such as a pitcher, a to store the vodka in for the "soak" stage

6. A good strainer, such as cheesecloth.

I made two flavoring syrups, one with cranberries and one with blueberries. Fresh berries would be ideal, but I used bags from the store freezer case. Simply cook them in the pan with sugar over medium heat until both combine and get gooey. (The cranberries looked like the picture above.) You might be tempted to make pancakes and pour the contents of your pan on it. Resist this temptation! Your vodka is all about patience, a virtue even nobler than quality breakfast foods.

Once complete, pour the sticky mess into the container and add the vodka. Seal the top and store it somewhere that'll stay warm, at least at room temperature. (I've been told sunlight is good for the process, so perhaps a window sill?) Wait anywhere from a week to a month for everything to settle and combine. Once you can't wait anymore, open the container and check the flavor. If it's too sharp or sour, add simple syrup to taste. I go for something pleasant that could stand alone in a glass. Otherwise, why do all the work? Finally, pour the sweet ensemble through the strainer back into the bottle so you have nothing but the re-purposed vodka. (This might take several filterings.) Some people switch to a decorative jar and give away the end result. I would totally accept that kind of gift.

Our Flickr account includes a slideshow of the cooking process with some commentary.

More January time to ski!

HPIM2829
Originally uploaded by matthewsunessa

Many local schools and businesses closed today. They anticipated a wintry mix with possibly 4-8" new snow starting this morning. This made for nearly clear roads and many snowy sidewalks as everyone stayed home...well everyone except Sunny.

Both Terry and Matthew worked remotely today, but I couldn't teach a group training class from my living room, so I skied down Mass Ave to the gym. I was easy-going about my pace and got there in about 15 minutes. Naturally, no one showed up for the group training, so I did a little computer work for next month's classes/groups and then skied home. This time in the sleet! Yucky, but slippery and still good conditions for skiing.

On both the "aller et retour" I enjoyed the ski wear given to me by Matthew's Mom, Judy, who somehow knew that the blue-greens would match my skis and my eyes! Is she psychic or what?

Taking on the Ben and Jerry's "Vermonster"

Friday night, one of our friends ran an "ice cream crawl" for his birthday. We started at a specialty dessert restaurant called Finale in Harvard Square, moved on to local chain J.P. Lick's, and finished with the massive Ben & Jerry's "Vermonster," a mega-sundae that you need lots of help to consume. (This also spreads the obligation around a little, given the dish's amazing $35 cost!)

We got five different flavors in the big plastic tub, more than a dozen scoops of ice cream, and heaped on five toppings above and beyond the automatic hot fudge, nuts, and whipped cream. Our best topping choice was bananas (tastes great with vanilla or chocolate) and our worst was gummy bears, which freeze up and become crunchy gum, a poor texture match for the ice cream.

The picture shows me contributing my stomach to the task. It took about 40 minutes to reach the final step, a cup of syrupy soup. Fortunately, the birthday boy knocked it back without a second thought, saving us the less-than-appetizing task. The store keeper took our picture for the wall of those who'd consumed the whole thing, which always took a handful of folks, and sometimes several. (One amusing photo does show a team that failed, sad faces on display.)

Tales from the Bread Machine: Hearty Flaxseed

Matthew turned out this loaf last night between two pleasurable tasks. First, this Christmas yielded a new Nintendo DS cartridge called "Personal Trainer: Cooking." It guides you through a large number of recipes from a dozen cuisines. Last night, he made blueberry / cranberry / raisin coulis, which the program classified as a German dessert. (Sunny thinks of it more as a topping.) We then re-watched the documentary "Bigger, Stronger, Faster," a highly recommended and wide-ranging examination of the social impact of performance-enhancing drugs. Totally worth the two hours of your time.

Anyway, this bread resembles a flaxseed loaf we did in the past, but allows for raisins as a mid-point addition. (Bread machines with "fruit & nut" cycle allow you to mix in more stuff just before baking.) I kept waiting for it to beep and alert me to the "add stuff now" moment. Turns out you put the fruit in a side compartment and it does the work automatically. Oh well, next time.

We used the FRUIT & NUT setting with MEDIUM crust.

Look: Bubbly top that looks a little underdone, but inside definitely baked
Cut: Crispy crust, dense interior
Taste: Not as flavorful as expected, probably from lack of raisins (the recipe says to adds cinnamon when you leave out fruit, which we did accidentally)

Brrr...live from Boston, it's New Year's Eve!

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Originally uploaded by matthewsunessa

We met up, went out, and then promptly went back in. Inside is where the warmth and love was on the last night of 2008. The ice sculptures and howling winds were only made better by the warm, free T ride back to Cambridge.

Once there, Patti made hot chocolate (Gharadelli's with Hood whipped cream, yum!) and Matthew made a few good/evil cocktails. We played boggle (woohoo?) and then watched Dick Clark and Ryan Seacrest do the "Live from New York's Times Square" thing on the TV. Boo hoo to NBC because Mr. Clark is so old now and Mr. Seacrest seems to be already washed up, too.

At least we had champagne to drink, which I popped and poured just seconds before the Final Countdown (and check out Freezepop's cover of the pop masterpiece). Anyway, Cheers!

Ramp up to Christmas

We managed several Christmas milestones in the last seven days, including at least these.

1. First big snow (a foot last night, which doesn't stop runners or bikers)
2. First Yankee swap (aka White elephant) party with friends last night
3. First Christmas card received (grandma and grandpa Prudhon from Janesville, WI)
4. First desserts made (bread pudding using homemade corn bread)
5. First church party (a charity donation gathering on Wednesday with our fellow First Church Cambridge youth)
6. First seasonal decorations (Advent calendar and Menorah party last weekend)
7. Finished shopping, save stuff for local friends
8. Watched a movie planned for Christmas release (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, shh, sneak preview)

The snow's still coming down and we're ready to enjoy breakfast while the dulcet tones of snowblowers rumble from the street. We hope everything's equally festive where you are and that all your stockings get filled with fresh fruit!