Sous vide cooking is by no means a new cooking technique but it has been popularized by the trend in molecular gastronomy. It has become a common technique in cooking television and is used in some really interesting restaurants. On a side note, dining at Alinea in Chicago is on my bucket list. If I ever get there I'm photo documenting the entire meal. Cooking at a consistent temperature in a water bath ensures even cooking throughout the entire item, lowering the risk of overcooking the food.

A few years ago my parents decided to start raising backyard chickens. Not ones to do anything halfway, my parents started out with 25 egg-laying chickens and 25 meat chickens. If you're going to raise chickens, you might as well make it worth while! Now more than two years into their chicken venture, they've found a nice pace; a freezer full of naturally raised and vegetarian fed broiler chickens, and a backyard of inquisitive and always hilarious egg-layers. Seriously just watching the chaos that is the life of a chicken is pretty amusing. I have to think life as a chicken is a world of two extremes; fear and single-focused interest in the moment at hand. It's wildly amusing to see their reaction to a cabbage or corn cob tossed into their enclosure, first fear then absolute delight at this new food treat.

The Pacific Northwest has amazing seafood. I hate to brag, and although I could get some pretty decent fish in Michigan, nothing compares to the fresh seafood we've been eating in Seattle. Pike Place market is so much fun and truly a tourist destination. The original Starbucks, the guys who throw fish, the varied and talented buskers, it's really a lot of fun. Now that Seattle is my home, Pike Place is becoming a weekly errand, either early morning or late afternoon when the tourist rush has slowed down and I can take my time and speak with the vendors; great produce and really fantastic seafood.