Back my Friend!

http://www.krhfilm.com/

My housemate Kevin Hallagan is doing an awesome documentary about our local Binghamton, the effect of the changing global market scene on similiar post-industrial small cities across the nation, and the hopeful face of the future as our hometown cities learn to stay relevant.
          If you grew up in a small town whose prime growth was during the post war boom, this documentary directly affects you.

Visit his site, which is linked above to learn more about his project, and visit his kickstarter page if you'd like to help him by donating. I'm definitely a little late in saying this, but he has just under a day of fundraising left and he only needs $400 dollars!
 He has raised over 14,000 dollars for the documentary in 29 days, but if he doesn't raise the full 15k by tomorrow night, the money is returned to the donors. All 160+ of them!
There are some awesome incentives to go along with donating, and this is one of those rare times where a person gets to make a legitimate difference and be a part of something really really cool.
Be sure to check out his site throughout the upcoming year to see updates on his progress. If you don't, his tortoise Onyx will cry.

You don't want to make a tortoise cry do you?

Awwwww Yeaaa

'Walked' for 30 seconds today WITHOUT MY CAST. Also, got the original episodes of

this

and this

Life is good

Chocolate Guiness Icecream

Made a few other concoctions from the Ice Cream Happy Hour by Valerie Lum and Jenise Addison, but never got around to posting them. This was from the middle of June, Guiness Chocolate ice cream. This one is very good. It's like bittersweet dark chocolate icecream bathed in that distinctive Guiness taste. I would definitely recommend it, recipe thanks to the authors Lum and Addison after the jump:
I want to eat this picture. I'm so proud of it.

Ingredients

1/4 cup milk
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
pinch of salt
4 egg yolks
7 ounces dark chocolate, chopped
12 ounces cold Guiness
1 tablespoon gelatin

1. Scald the milk, cream, sugar, salt, and vanilla by heating on medium low heat until the mixture sizzles upon movement and has a steamy atmosphere.

2. Whisk the egg yolks, and slowly pour 1/3 of the hot cream mixture from step one into the eggs while stirring continuously, called tempering.

 3. Pour everything back into saucepan and stir constantly on low heat until the custard is thick enough to hold its shape.

 
4. Pour the custard mixture through a strainer over the chocolate pieces and stir until completely melted.
5. Chill the custard for at least 8 hours, and cover so the plastic wrap is directly touching the custard surface to prevent skin formation.
6. Prepare the gelatin. Pour 1/3 cup Guiness into a small saucepan and sprinkle gelatin evely on top. Allow to bloom for two minutes until the gelatin has absorbed as much as possible.
7. Warm on low heat until gelatin completely dissolves.
8. Whisk together the gelatin mixture with the remaining Guiness, and add to custard.
9. Churn the icecream.

For an added layer of awesome, use the extra Guiness and make a float. Its as amazing as it sounds.

Awesome Thing of the Day: Gumby Condoms

If these ever do turn out to be a real thing someone let me know.

Montreal (Dec 2011)

Yesterday was July 4th, and my sister and I spent it in Old Forge. Minus the part about me currently having a broken leg it reminded me of our trip to Montreal over last winter break. So I decided to break out the time machine again

We went the first few days of my Christmas break, which was a really neat time to be in Montreal because everything is decked out.
 This is the clearest picture of the US-Canada border I got because I was literally shaking with excitement.

 And this is an equally shaky picture of the first CANADIAN house we saw, where we turned around because we started going the wrong way the second we got past immigration.

We got to the first hotel of the night in time for dinner. I should mention how dangerous the actual drive up was, there was freezing rain for most of the trip that made driving a disaster.

We went to the Juliette et Chocolat for dinner. I wished we had known more of the menu, because there was some amazing stuff coming out of the kitchen. I mean really, this place is famous for having everything include rich chocolate. We ended up getting crepes and some ridiculous hot chocolate that was basically molten pure chocolate.
Its definitely one of those places where reading reviews would serve you right. Most reviews I have heard have gushed about the ridiculously tasty food and desserts, but complained that the service was cold or nonexistant. Something I definitely agree with, they pretty much ignore ALL the patrons in the store unless you make a concerted effort to force them to come over.

Here's the leftovers of the ham and potato crepe I had.

We spent the rest of the night walking around the area where we were, trying to stay warm for the most part. 
I took this picture when we got home, outside our hotel to illustrate what we had been driving in all day.

The next day marked the start of the real visit to Montreal, its strange how different of a city it is during the day. It was about a twenty minute commute from the hotel to get the the heart of Montreal, with some interesting sights along the way.

Somewhere around this plaza we exchanged our currency in some tiny little glass booth that seemed less of an office and more like a telephone booth.

Not even gonna bother with what I was originally gonna say

Most of these pictures above and below are either in Old Montreal or Downtown Montreal, or the surrounding areas. Its weird how most of the stuff you see and do on trips isn't the kind of stuff to be put in a picture.

This is the only shot I got of Rue..Crescent? I believe. Its one of the bigger 'bar/danceclub' streets. We went through it when we first came back downtown at night.

Downtown Montreal at night

 Old Montreal had a maple syrup museum.

 This is in the park at the Old Port. I really liked this area, theres a lot around to do and see. Its especially cool at Christmas.

 Quote from my sister "Wow, that Mr. Louer must be really influential in Montreal, he owns every other building it seems like."
...
"That's the french equivalent of a for lease sign"

 Coming back home we were being followed by a snowstorm, which made for some cool landscapes as we went back down south.