Off to Florida

So the Kunkers are off to Florida on Saturday. We are all looking forward to a week of having no real responsibilities for a week. Everyone is hoping we can further develop Oliver's favorite Kunker habits of drinking and eating!

One Cute Kid and his Faux Hawk

Cheese on Seafood???

On the Baker family trip to Italy in 1998, we had dinner in a small restaurant in the countryside. One of the Bakers ordered a seafood pasta, and then had the audacity to ask for fresh parmesan. From the reaction of the restaurant owner, you would have thought we had just shot the pope. Lesson learned - no cheese on seafood, at least in Italy. For a little more on the topic....http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/the-cheesemonger/the-fish-and-cheese-debate-the-cheesemonger-076178

Canada - It may take 6 months to get an MRI....

But they do seem to have a number of things figured out that put Canada in a pretty strong financial position going forward.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/183670

Remember Why America is Great

Thomas Friedman's suggestion to open our borders to the smartest of the smart, certainly has some logic to it.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/11/opinion/11friedman.html?_r=1&ref=opinion

Caramel Shrimp (Tom Rim)

I haven't made this yet, but it sure seems like something we need to try soon. Apparently simmering or braising in nuoc mau (Vietnamese caramel sauce) is fairly common in Vietnamese cuisine. Who knew??

Ingredients:2 tablespoons sugar, 1/4 cup water, 1/4 cup water1 tablespoon oil, 1 shallot (chopped), 2 cloves garlic (chopped), 1 teaspoon ginger (grated), 1 small chili (chopped), 1 pound shrimp (peeled and deveined), 2 tablespoons fish sauce, pepper to taste, 1 teaspoon sesame oil, 1 tablespoon cilantro (chopped), 1 lime

Directions:1. Heat the sugar and water in a pan on medium-high heat until it caramelized and turns a dark brown. 2. Add the water and heat until the caramel dissolves. 3. Remove from heat and set aside. 4. Heat the oil in a pan.5. Add the shallot, garlic, ginger and chili and saute for 3-5 minutes. 6. Add the shrimp, 2 tablespoons of the caramel sauce, fish sauce and pepper and simmer until the shrimp is pink all over, about 2-4 minutes. 7. Remove from heat and stir in the sesame oil, cilantro, and a squeeze or two of lime juice. 8. Serve over jasmine rice.

Thanks to http://closetcooking.blogspot.com/ for the recipe.

Valentine's Day - Praise the Lard

In case anyone is curious what the man in their life would like for Valentine's Day - fret no more - the "Praise the Lard Gift Box" is available now at http://www.zingermans.com/Product.aspx?ProductID=G-PTL. The box includes - A pound of Benton's Bacon, Broadbent Kentucky Sausage, Sam Edward's Virginia Breakfast Sausage, Spanish Chorizo, Zingerman's Peppered Bacon Farm Bread, Mo's Bacon Bar (Bacon+Chocolate=A sweet kind of serious Valentine's deliciousness).

Vacation

This is the view from the balcony of one of the rooms at the tiny hotel in Mexico (Villa Amor) that was in the running for a brief winter getaway. I imagine it would have been wonderful....However, I am "equally thrilled" to be going to Florida instead. While Florida certainly does not have the same panache, we certainly will not be bored. Three couples, five kids, one house, one pool, lots of alcohol - should be interesting.

Maternal Instincts

This picture is a helpful reminder of what a beatiful wonderful child we have. Sometimes, at 1am, 2am, 3am and 4am, it is a little tougher to remember how great he is.

We are starting down the path of trying to convince Oliver that sleeping can take place in the crib, not just on grandpa's lap. Needless to say, this is a less than smooth process. What I learned last night, is that it only takes Oliver around 2.5 hours to "self-soothe" and fall back asleep. During this time, two of us did not sleep. Amazingly, Cristina slept through a good portion of the crying, flipping, turning in circles, grunting, and pacifier rattling against the crib like he had a tin cup and prison bars. Apparently, the motherly hormones that kick in when a child cries were on vacation last night. Lucky her!

We are very proud of our son

We aren't sure where he got his political acumen at such a young age, but we are very excited that he is starting down the right path.

Oliver Being Oliver

Welcome

The Kunkers come to the web - there will be some photos, some opinions and some just plain random stuff. Enjoy...