Down with that Tree...

Arrived at Kent & Jessica's house in Santa Cruz at quarter to seven, or just in time to get my hands on a Gin-Tonic and help with the final preparations for dinner. Like making the aioli sauce to dip the artichokes in. Kent made a carrot, toasted cashew, jam soup that Jessica was blending to a smooth condition, then fresh cooked red beets topped with goat-cheese and roasted walnuts and more Gin-Tonic to help digest all that food... I haven't seen Kent & Jessica since January first after spending New Years Eve with them, so we had a lot to catch-up on, and the goal for this weekend is to make a plan to meet in NYC in May or June, will see if that is gonna happen.

Here is the dinner-panorama, Jessica, Kent & food...


Before I retired to bed I had to write yesterdays post on this blog and then I started a new book Kent is lending me... " Kitchen Confidential" by Anthony Bourdain. This book is on my list for a long time now and I got into it right away... lets learn about the "dirty" business of a restaurant kitchen and what is going on behind that scene!
In the morning was digging through the SF Chronicle and the NY Times newspaper and more discussions about todays economy and where we're all heading. When I'm here with these two I always get a kind of a reality-check, not in a depressing way, and start wondering how am I have to deal with house and all once I'm off and gone. In less than one year I am back in Switzerland and have to figure out a whole new ball-game!

Now some serious planing, with 3 computers, phones and lots of enthusiasm we' tried to figure out a plan on how to meet in New York City during my galavanting around on the east coast, no final results by the time I wrote this blog, but it has to happen, that's how I see it. 
Back to cooking once more, this time Kent made a chilaquilas with fresh tortillas, refried beans, onions and some soyrizo, yes you guessed right, a vegetarian sausage or chorizo made out of soy-beans, all this with whipped eggs and salsa for 45 minutes in the oven... bingo another feast for the hungry me. I had to earn this one though because after that we went to work in the front-yard and chopped down a tree that has been invested with bugs and needed to go. A unusual activity for me to do on a 3 o'clock program... I was more thinking of a nap because the weather was kind of iffy-rainy-cloudy-not-knowing-what-to-do...

Here is the evidence of a dead tree...


And here you can watch it go away...

My first youtube video... yes go ahead amuse yourself!!!!