Help Me Pick A Fight Against Cancer

Cancer is a word, not a sentence.  

The Lance Armstrong Foundation inspires and empowers people affected by cancer. The LAF believes that unity is strength, knowledge is power, and attitude is everything.  This year my wife, Nicole, and I will participate in the LIVESTRONG Challenge in Philadelphia on August 24th.  I will be attempting to do a 45 mile ride through the beautiful hills of south Philadelphia and Nicole will be walking a 10k. 

This year has been a little bit of a struggle as of late because on Father's Day I severally fractured my right wrist.  Since then I have had surgery and currently rehabilitating quite well.  The pain of a broken wrist is nothing compared to the 28 million people who will be faced with hearing they have cancer.  My wrist will heal, but for a cancer patient nothing is guaranteed, progress has been made in the fight against cancer but a lot still needs to be done. 

This is where you come in; help us fight cancer with a donation to our LIVESTRONG team the Marlene Misfits.  Marlene's Misfits is in honor of Marlene Halstead who died from bladder cancer July 30, 2007. She was an amazing mother, grandmother, wife, and friend.  I am sure all of you know someone who has been affected by cancer, yourself, a loved one, or a friend.  Please join us to fight back against cancer. 

With your help, we are hoping to raise $1,000 and the team is hoping to raise more than $2,500.  To make things easier we have established one donation page.    Please click to link to join our fight against cancer, My Donation Page

Thank you in advance for your time and generosity. We look forward to hearing from you and will be sure to keep you updated on our fundraising and training progress as we prepare for the event. 

**Please feel free to forward this email to anyone who might be interested in donating.  We appreciate and thank each and every one of you.

Sincerely,

Ken and Nicole Durbin

Learning To Fall

So I have been watching the Tour de France and well I have learned in cycling you fall and you get hurt.  In today's stage several riders took tumbles on a descent and ending up with some nasty road rash including Lance Armstrong.  One thing I noticed is these guys know how to crash.  I am thinking I need to learn how to crash.  Never really considered it before but when you are sitting around on the couch with a fractured wrist you think about these things.  So I am taping the Tour and I intend to study it so I can be a little more eloquent the next time I tumble.

Update on me is this week stitches come out on Wednesday and I am hopeful that I can be back on the bike by the end of the month.  I haven't discussed this with the surgeon yet but that is my plan. 

To donate for my Livestrong Challenge ride please click the link to the left.

Detached!

Hi, well I had an accident on my bicycle.

Yes it freaking hurts! 

C'mon Dude Learn How To Cook

So with one year of Culinary School under my belt I can tell you with most certainty that it is not hard to cook for yourself.  I may have had to learn some fancy knife skills and some French techniques I may never need to use.  For you it basically breaks down to some easy things to know... I mean easy and stop rolling your eyes, yes I can see you... I have cameras in your house, office, etc...

1.  Buy a good knife... when I say good it doesn't necessary has to be a gazillion dollars.  Make sure you keep it sharp, very sharp.  A very sharp knife is the safest knife you can own.  Ask me how to sharpen a knife, I can help you.  Learning how to use a knife will open up a lot of options to you in regards to using fresh vegetables and fruits.  The best way to learn about knife skills is watch videos and buy a sack of potatoes or other vegetables/fruits.  For some awesome videos I would recommend:

Chef Tom videos on YouTube.

2.  Buy a cookbook,  yes I know for you guys it may seem kind of weird, but come on you will go in to a Borders and buy other things without shame, you can buy a cookbook.  So what kind of cookbook should you buy? Make sure it deals with a certain cuisine that you enjoy.  Don't just look at how long the recipes are, this will freak you out and I can always help you break it down appropriately.  Cookbooks work because you can always substitute items and techniques to make it as easy as need be.  As for the above picture, ummm no offense but you can cook 90% without a microwave.

3.  Make time to cook, I know your busy but you can make time to watch 8 hours of reality TV each week you can block off time to cook.  This means being proactive.  For those who made need some clarification being proactive means to plan ahead... yes ahead.  This may be a new concept but it works when cooking for one and also it can help you at the grocery store.  Yes, you will need to learn more about the grocery store other than where the frozen pizza isle is located. 

There are more than just three step to learning how to cook well but these are the baby steps you will need to move in the right direction.  I know a lot of my readers are women but this is more directed towards guys but ladies maybe forward this to your husbands or boyfriends.  Tell them cook me dinner and I will just wear an apron to bed tonight.

Fourth Term Done, So What Have I Learned?

I can't believe it but I have completed my four term at The Midwest Culinary Institute.  I can remember it was just a year ago when I made the decision to attend culinary school and become a wanna be Chef.  So nervous and wondering if I will even make it through the first term more less one year.  It was not what I expected, and exactly what I expected to be honest.  I can still remember my first class when the instructor asked what every ones culinary aspirations.  Almost half of the people said they wanted to be a celebrity chef of some sort on the Food Network.  To be honest I don't think most of them even made it through Cooking 1.  Myself I believe I said,  "That I hoped one day long time from now I hope I can feel confident in  calling myself a Chef."   That is still a long way away, don't let the chef hat fool you, because I think it will be years before I will ever feel ok with calling myself a Chef.

So what have I learned in one year?  Well I  have learned how to make homemade mayo, how to make a perfect Bearnaise sauce, and how to roast a chicken.  I have also learned how to accept the fact that you will cut yourself and it will hurt and you will burn yourself and that will also hurt.  This is a reality when you surround yourself by fire and knives. But it was fire and knives that attracted me to cooking as a kid, it made me feel grown up and it made me feel powerful.  I would have to say I still feel that power when I hone my knifes or flambe so high I don't have eyebrows for a week.  

It has certainly been a journey so far but I am making sure to enjoy the ride.

Now go cook something.