Ark Encounter and Louisville Slugger

 

 

My wife and I went to visit the Ark Encounter in Williamsburg, KY over the weekend.  Wow... the Ark is huge!

For 40 days and 40 nights since its opening, the exhibit will open its doors until midnight.  We went early in the morning and then went to the Creation Museum in Petersburg, KY and then went back to the Ark for the evening to see the Ark during the sunset.

The next day, we decided to drive to Louisville, KY to visit Hillerich & Bradsby where the famed "Louisville Slugger" bats are made!  That was a lot of fun too, but you can't take any photos of the factory.

I encourage everyone to take a trip to see the Ark.  You can do the Ark and the Creation Museum in a single day if you start early.  From the Chicago area, I suggest 3 days... it takes 5 hours to travel there from the Northwest Suburbs of Chicago.  Travel the first day and go to Louisville KY and see the baseball bats and then relax.  Do the Ark Encounter and Creation Museum exhibits on the second day, and then travel back home on the third day.

Click here to see a YouTube video that has several news reports on the controversy surrounding the building of this Ark.

2016 Wisconsin State Fair

I attended the Wisconsin State Fair this morning in West Allis, Wisconsin.  This was the first state fair I have attended since going to one in California when I lived in San Diego in the late 1980's and early 1990's.  The Wisconsin State Fair had everything from animals to rides to food!

I got to see the cows, pigs, donkeys, sheep and even a pig race!  The pigs run through the course with oatmeal cookies as a treat when they complete the race.  They ran fast, but the potbelly pigs took their time getting through the race.

I got to see (and smell) the animals that were waiting in buildings for judging to begin.  It was pretty much what I expected of a state fair.

There were LOTS of food vendors at the fair!  I didn't eat much there, but I did have a Crabby Lobster Melt sandwich which was really good.

I think it's pretty much a tradition to have a Cream Puff if you go to the fair.  They make them there and you can see all the workers putting them together while you wait in line to purchase them.  While I am lactose intolerant, that didn't stop me from having one!  I just took two Lactaid pills to counteract the effects of the cream!  Worked great!

Overall it was a good state fair and I encourage you to go to one if you can!

Images taken with a Nikon D750 and Nikon 24-70mm f2.8 and an Apple iPhone 6s+.

First Time Cooking Basmati Rice

Years of cooking rice, but this is the first time I've ever cooked my own Basmati Rice!  It's a long grain rice that seems to have an aroma similar to Jasmine rice, but not quite as strong.  Being a longer grain rice, it is less sticky than regular long grain rice.  Short grain rice really tends to stick more, which I do not really like.  Costco had this 20 lb bag for $15.49.  You can see a photo of this kind of rice here.

I like how the bag has a zipper too!  There is an inner plastic bag that keeps the rice from coming in contact with the burlap bag.  Just use a metal paper binder clip to re-seal the plastic bag and then zip up the burlap bag!  Cool!

Today, I made Japanese Curry Chicken with potatoes and peas!  Any kind of curry tastes good with basmati rice!  I have eaten basmati rice for years since I go to Indian restaurants, but this is the first time I made my own.  I wonder how this will work out if I use it to make fried rice?

I found that using the same amount of water that I usually do for standard long grain rice is a bit too much for basmati rice.  I need to back off the water just a bit.  I recall most of the basmati rice I've had at restaurants tended to be less soft than mine.  Still, it wasn't a bad attempt on my first time out!

Next up... I have to learn to make my own Indian Butter Chicken and also Mutter Paneer!  Time to hit up YouTube for some recipes!

Butter Chicken Lunch Special From Indian Bistro - Palatine

A quick review of a hidden gem restaurant found in Palatine, IL... Indian Bistro!

I've been here a several times and usually order the Butter Chicken.  I like Butter Chicken and have had it at several Indian Restaurants in the past.  The ones I like the best are at the lunch buffet at Himalayan Restaurant in Niles (across the street from Golf Mill Shopping Center) and the lunch specials here at Indian Bistro.

Indian Bistro offers Butter Chicken as one of its many lunch specials for $5.99 which includes Butter Chicken, Basmati Rice and some cucumbers.  Overall, the taste is very good, although I'd like a little more portions if possible!  I usually order the "spicy" version which really isn't all that spicy.  Not sure why three different times the color seemed to change on the dish though!  Perhaps one is more spicy than the other?  Less food coloring on one of them?  Either way, all tasted great!

The restaurant is set up more like a fast food establishment.  You'll see the guys behind the counter taking orders and cooking up your food.  Seating here is the typical fast food tables and chairs.  You order your food, pay, sit and wait to pick it up at the counter.  The nice thing about this is... no tip needed!  But if you are looking for atmosphere... it's not here!

Good Indian food quick and easy!  Check them out if you get the chance!

My daughter likes Mutter Paneer (also known as Mater Paneer)... she likes anything with peas in it!

Lake Zurich Fishing - Two for Four

Went fishing this morning from 6 AM to 11 AM with my friend Jim at Lake Zurich.  I got four hits, but only landed the last two.

The first two came off the hook after a short fight.  The first one, I believe I did not set the hook properly to hook the fish.  We saw that it as a large mouth bass (as were all the others) when it broke through the surface of the water.  Same thing happened with the second fish.

By the time the third one was on the line, I made sure the hook set was good and we landed it.  13" Large Mouth Bass... which broke my dry spell of last year.  All last year, I didn't get any fish!  The fourth fish was a 14" large mouth bass.  All fish were caught with Gary Yamamoto's Senko plastic worms (6") that were Texas rigged. (photo courtesy of the internet):

Both fish were released back to the water.  Felt good to get something finally!  Jim wasn't as fortunate and didn't even get a nibble.

Brookfield Zoo - Field Trip with Balanced Exposure Students

Another fun field trip with my students from Balanced Exposure!  We had a very nice day today with temperatures in the low 70's.

Students learned to shoot and compose their shots, deal with color balancing and even how to take a photo of a waterfall properly (you can see two versions of a waterfall above... which do you prefer?)

Click on the photos to see a larger version.

ThermoWorks RT-600C Super Fast Pocket Thermometer

Several weeks ago, I purchased the ThermoWorks RT-600C Super Fast Pocket Thermometer on sale directly from Thermoworks, but did not get to try it until yesterday when I barbecued chicken breast and chicken legs on my new Weber Spirit E-310 gas grill.

In the past, I'd cook up food on grills and judged its doneness by the way it looked.  However, I always felt that the best way to do it would be to measure the internal temperature of the food, but I never had a thermometer to do it with.  With this inexpensive thermometer (approx $19 on sale), I finally had the chance to see if I would improve on my grilling skills.

I checked the internal temperature of the chicken and stopped cooking when the chicken's internal temperature reached 165 degrees Fahrenheit (the recommended doneness temperature).  To me, the chicken looked a little under done as I'm used to grilling chicken until it was a lot darker (which also meant much more dried out!)  But going to an internal temperature of 165 degrees actually made the chicken juicier and it was cooked enough!

Going forward, this little device will be the way I judge whether the things being cooked on the grill is done or not.  Well worth the money!

Lodge 10.5 Inch Cast Iron Grill Pan Set

Always wanted one of these, so I picked up this Lodge 10.5 inch Cast Iron Grill Pan set from Costco for $19.99.  It comes with a silicone handle holder and a black grill pan scraper.  Not a bad deal!  I hope to use it on my new Weber grill for times when I don't want to grill directly on the grill grate.  Obviously, the silicone handle holder must be removed before putting on the grill!

Here are the first burgers using the grill pan.  Nice grill marks!

One side note... I'm not thrilled with the silicone handle holder.  When the handle is hot and you use it to lift the pan, it tends to want to slide off the handle due to the weight of the pan.  That's not good when you have a hot pan and can't grab the pan to prevent it falling without an accidental burn!  I much prefer the standard cloth handle holders to the silicone!  Be sure to use a cloth handle holder and wear an oven mitt on the other hand when transporting a hot grill pan!  Using the silicone handle holder is only good if you are not going to lift the pan while it is hot.

Weber Spirit E-310 Gas Grill

After owning a mediocre grill for many years, I finally purchased a good one... the Weber Spirit E-310 gas grill.

Recommended by America's Test Kitchen as the best gas grill for under $500 (check out the video here: https://youtu.be/mUPX-9zkMeA) I decided that larger wasn't necessarily better for the money.  I wanted a grill that could cook evenly throughout its grilling surface.  America's Test Kitchen's video convinced me that this grill would be the best.

Apparently Weber grills aren't discounted below a certain price from retailer to retailer, so my family and I decided to purchase the grill at Ace Hardware since they offered free assembly and delivery.  We went last Friday but found they did not deliver on the weekends.  Monday was Memorial Day, so we asked if they could deliver at 9 AM on Monday since we had a huge family party happening for lunch that day.  They said they could do it.

Sure enough,  precisely at 9 AM, the guys delivered the assembled grill!  I fired it up and grilled lots of burgers, hot dogs, brats, and kebobs for the party.  And just like the video said it would do, the grill performed perfectly!  I had the entire surface area of the grill covered with each type of entree and every time... no hot spots on the grill!  Each burger came out exactly the same as the other regardless of where that patty was located on the grill.  On my old grill, if I had the patties in the "sweet spot" where the heat was best, the other areas would not even cook at all!  You could expect the meat to be raw!  Not the case here.  Perfect grill marks on everything and nothing burnt!

After the burgers, I put on Hot Dogs, Brats and Kebobs and they all did the same thing.  Nothing burned and everything was evenly cooked with nice grill marks.  The grill grates are made with porcelain enameled cast iron so heat retention is very good.

High praises for this grill!  If you are in the market for a grill, consider the Weber Spirit E-310 grill.  While it is more expensive than most grills its size at $499 on sale, in my opinion, it's well worth it.

Rode VideoMicro - Microphone for DSLR Cameras

The Rode VideoMicro microphone is an inexpensive microphone solution for DSLR video shooting. It is powered by your camera (be sure your camera has this ability) so it does not need an external battery source.  It's small and lightweight and also includes a "dead cat" wind screen too!  While not as full sounding as their more expensive versions, Rode offers a nice solution for those who want a very small and lightweight mono microphone to improve their audio quality.  Priced around $59.

(Images borrowed from the internet)

First Field Trip of the 2016 At Chicago Botanic Garden

It was a chilly day today for our first field trip of 2016 for Balanced Exposure students... but the consensus was that feeling a little cold is better than sweating in the sun! The Chicago Botanic Garden looked beautiful as always!

Images taken with a Nikon D750 and Nikon 24-70mm f2.8. HDR image processed with Lightroom CC.

Steadicam Merlin 2 - Video Stabilizer For Handheld Shooting

For an upcoming class at Balanced Exposure, I purchased the Steadicam Merlin 2 for handheld motion shooting of videos.

It takes FOREVER to get this thing set up properly, but once it is, the shots are amazingly stable!  Fluid shots are possible when using a stabilizer rather than jerky shots while moving.  I'm looking forward to letting my students try this device!

At one time, the Steadicam Merlin 2 cost around $595, but checking the sales price on B&H, it's currently selling for $295.  Still costs more than some may want to spend, but it's at least it's within a reasonable range.

My upcoming class description can be found on YouTube by clicking here.

May 3, 2016 Two Sunfish - No Salmon

I went to Racine Harbor to try my luck fishing today. Nothing. Not even a nibble.  So, my friend Jim and I decided to try Lake Zurich in Illinois.

Ended up only getting two small Sunfish.  One of them is pictured here.

The sunrise was taken at Racine Harbor.  At least we got to see nice scenery!