Quick takes

A few quick notes as I study frantically for the first day of Asia tomorrow:

I installed a new thermostat for our townhouse this weekend. This is easily the most handyman sort of thing I've ever done and I'm quite proud of myself. Better yet, the thing actually works. There was wiring and drilling involved, so yeah, I practically built a new house from scratch.

As mentioned above, Cuisines of Asia starts tomorrow. We begin with three days of China, then move on through Japan, Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, and India. If you've read Making of a Chef, you'll be pleased to hear that my chef for this block is none other than Chef Pardus. My class met with him last week, and to say he was quite intense would be an understatement.

I've got a pot roast in the oven right now. With fall here and winter just around the corner, let the weather tell you what to cook -- 'tis the season for braising and stewing! The nearly five-pound hunk of meat, which I first seared in a smoking hot pan, has been in a 325* oven for five hours now, slowly cooking in a mix of red wine and chicken stock. Potatoes are already peeled and sitting in a pot of water; I'll crank those up in about 45 minutes or so for mashed potatoes.

We must be getting some sort of fallout from Hurricane Wilma, because we're in the middle of a huge rainy system that's moving its way up the coast; right now, the rain pretty much stretches all the way from Washington DC to Boston.