Rio Bistro

If any of you ever have the opportunity to visit Pueblo, Colorado, I recommend eating dinner at the Rio Bistro. I was so impressed with the owner, the staff, the food, EVERYTHING! You can read my blog for more details: http://totallytaggarts.blogspot.com/ .

Blaine's Wedding

Oregon Coast

Donnell and I travelled to the Oregon Coast with our friends Bob & Connie Price April 25-28. We stayed in Netarts, about 8 miles from Tillamook, Oregon. Tillamook: The land of Cheese, Trees and Ocean Breeze (and Cow Manure). I've never seen so many bovine. The smell was so strong you could taste it. They have great cheese though. I've been eating a lot of cheese lately. I can't seen to get enough. But I digress.

The four days we spent by the sea were relaxing and allowed my back to recover from the move. We went to Church in the Tillmook Ward on Sunday and heard three wonderful talks on forgiveness. We hiked down Cape Lookout and walked the beaches looking for agates. It was hard to come back to a house full of boxes and of course work.

Star Wars - an a capella tribute to John Williams

This is pretty incredible. Whether you like John Williams, Star Wars, or music this is fun to watch. I hope you all enjoy it.

Portraits

By Jon Marrelli

In an attempt to learn a bit more about how the software I recently purchased actually works, I have spent the last few days playing around with some photos in my library. I was able to punch up a few landscapes, and show some details in some architecture.

However, I've never been that great at taking photos of people. I like landscapes and architecture, and as a result I take a lot of photos of them. I am always worried about what people will think of photos I take of them, and as a result, I don't take that many. This is something I really want to fix.

So with that in mind, I have worked on the two portraits below, both to attempt to boost my technical knowledge of my new software and to start learning about taking photos of people. Please leave me some feedback about what you like or don't like about them.

The Greasy Spoon

I've added another family blog to the "Finer Links" located to your right. This is for "The Greasy Spoon" a blog created by our own Chef Chris. According to the blog description, this is the place for greasy gears and recipes, and a place to share frustrations of Ford trucks and delicious recipes. So enjoy the gift of grease, gears, and gustatory goodies.

My Hobby - Photography.

By Jon Marrelli

Today I received my copy of Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2, which is a photo organizing and editing software.

I am very excited about this. As most of you know, photography has become a big hobby of mine recently. I have been having a lot of fun taking pictures, which I generally upload to my Flickr account. (see top right corner of the blog for a sample from it.) Moving forward, Lightroom will let me organize much better, and my Flickr feed will be more of a showcase for my best efforts. Right now it is kind of a catch all for my photos. 

Tonight I was able to use Lightroom to take two "okay" photos and turn them into something a bit better. I just wanted to share these, as I'm really excited about getting a little bit better at photography.

This has gotten me wondering what everyone likes to do for a hobby or for fun. Please post about what you have a passion for, and interest in, or just have fun doing. 

In loving Memoriam

On Sunday January 11th around 8pm Dream Marrelli was found dead in his backyard. There is now way to tell why or how he died. He has gone to join his "Mommy" and will forever be in my heart. Dream will be cremated and his ashes buried after the snow melts. He is of course, "survived" by his family and was best described as Truly mans best friend. He was never judgemental and loved all members of his family. His mortal enemies were the deer that ate his familys flowers and other various edibles in their yard. He loved milkbones and rawhide chew sticks.

He will be missed.

Peter Marrelli

A Christmas Post

By Jonathan Marrelli

So my favorite Christmas music is from A Charlie Brown Christmas. I've been listening to this for a few days now at work, and it has really helped me get into the season. 

This album is available right now for $4.99 on the amazon music store. 

The files are high bit rate and DRM free MP3's. That means you can put it on anything, copy it anywhere, and not worry about it not playing. It works on iPods.

This is one of my favorite Christmas movies, and I love when Charlie Brown buys the scraggly little tree. Its a great childhood memory, with some serious messages for adults too. I'd recommend anybody feeling Scrooge-y watch this movie. Or listen to it while your driving, like I do, and avoid holiday related road rage.

Turkey Fry!

By Jonathan Marrelli

Okay, so between one thing and another, I haven't posed after Halloween. In my defence, the mess from Halloween was *huge* and really did take a while to clean up. 

As it is still about 27 hours until Christmas, I think I can get away with a more Thanksgiving themed post. Although turkey is good food for Christmas too.

This year, I fried a turkey. It was glorious and golden brown. My group at work got together the week before Thanksgiving and did a pot luck lunch. For the main course, we had a turkey cook off, between myself and Tim. The rules were simple: two turkey enter, one turkey leave. Or rather, two turkeys are fried, and one is declared a winner by the ever popular drool-O-meter. Tim provided the fryer, and the experience.

Before I talk anymore about this, let me be perfectly clear: 

you can blow up your house if you do this wrong. 

The turkey must to completely thawed (no no no ice!) and the oil must not splash over the top of the pot. Oil, air, and an open flame are a recipe for disaster, not deliciousness. Thank you, now back to the regularly scheduled posting.

My strategy was a simple one. Based on the idea that the 12 pound turkey would cook in only 42 minuets, I had to get any flavor in before the turkey hit the heat. Frying is also able to produce a very moist turkey, and crispy skin. These elements made it clear to me that the best solution was a brine. I soaked the turkey overnight (which also made sure it was completely thawed out) in the brine.

Tim opted for the creole-butter marinade injection, operating on the same theory as I was about pre-heat flavor.

The oil was heated, the bird prepared. My turkey was selected to go first. It hit the oil, and immediately my co-workers began salivating. The smell was incredibly good.

42 minuets later my bird came out of the oil. It was incredibly golden brown. The smell was fantastic. Everything was in place. Mashed potatoes, stuffing (on the side, do not put in the fryer), green bean casserole, cranberry sauce, rolls...and now The Turkey.

The brine made the meat tender, juicy and delicious. The hot oil made the skin crispy and delectable. The contest was a tie.

What? a tie! Yes, both turkeys were declared amazingly delicious, in different ways. I guess I believed everybody when 10 people, most of them skinny, ate two 12 pound turkeys at lunch. And almost all the fixings. 

I do feel vindicated however, that three people on my team asked for my brine recipe after eating the turkey, and six people who were *not* on my team asked my for it, based on the recommendation of my team, or maybe just the smell of the cooking birds.

In case anyone wants it, this is my easy-brine procedure:

1 cup of kosher salt (or regular salt if you want)

1/2 cup of brown sugar

1/2 a container of frozen o.j. concentrate (about 6 oz)

1 gallon of water

8 pounds of ice

Combine all these in a cooler, or a 5 gallon bucket with a lid, with the turkey and soak 6-8 hours. I like overnight, cause its easy. This works great for turkey in the oven as well. 

As evidence of the deliciousness, juiciness, and goodness of these turkeys, I will submit one last piece of information:

We forgot to make the gravy

and nobody noticed until that afternoon, when we found the un-made gravy in the clean up.

Wise Men Came From The East

East Bountiful

Babes In Toyland

Who are these adorable children?

Can you identify all nine Jaydines?

What is the first rule of Christmas Morning?

How many toys are pictured?

THERE ARE THREE STAGES OF MAN:

He believes in Santa











He does not believe in Santa


He is Santa

ANSWER TO QUIZ

{Someone who fears Santa Claus is CLAUSTROPHOBIC}

Bonnie's inventive answer SANTAPHOBIA earned her Jaydine Bucks because she was the only respondant. (View Comments)


Connor (via Bonnie) answered HAGIOPHOBIC [fear of holy things] which is often confused with Claustrophobia.

Scott and Jim developed into hagiophobes after repeatedly getting their heads
caught in decorative metal circles.

A Christmas Quiz

What do you call people who are afraid of Santa Claus?

Live Fire Exercise, 640th Regiment (RTI) - Updated

On Saturday November 15th, Colonel Ed Willis, Commander, 640th Regiment, Regional Training Institute (RTI), located at Camp Williams, Utah hosted a VIP Visit at the RTI. One of the courses being taught was the 13B10, Cannon Crewmember, a basic Field Artillery course. Among the VIPs in attendance were school administrators from the Jordan School District. I was able to invite Jim to attend. After an in brief and visit to the Battle Staff Course we drew field gear (Kevlar helmets and hearing protection) and headed to the Range. The primary field artillery weapon system used by the Army is the Paladin 155MM self propelled howitzer. The Paladin has a crew of four; commander, driver, gunner and loader and can operate independently on the battlefield with no external technical assistance. The Paladin fires a 100 pound projectile using a 40 pound charge. The firing range of the cannon is 24KM with an unassisted round. The range used Saturday was 11-15 KM. The commander of each of two Paladins dismounted and allowed each of the VIPs, one at a time, to enter the howitzer and fire the cannon by pulling the lanyard. Also in attendance in the field on Saturday was Horace Xochihua, Angie's Dad. Mr. Xochihua, is a retired ARNG NCO and a contract instructor for the 13S, Field Artillery Survey Course. The Cadre of the Field Artillery Battalion call him "Mr. X" or Mr. X-Ray" because they can pronounce his last name. When we finished the visit Jim and I posed for this photo at the the Regimental HQ Building.
Hi, this is Jim adding my two cents to this posting. First, if you want to see pictures posted here and other pictures enlarged, go to http://www.flickr.com/photos/32522382@N05/. Second, I really enjoyed my time at Camp Williams. I really didn't know what to expect. While Bryce would never say this, paraphrasing the words of Anchorman Ron Burgundy, "He's kind of a big deal around there." As you can see from the picture above, Bryce is the commander of the 2nd Battalion of the 640th Regiment. For reference, the Army chain of command from smallest to largest is: squad, platoon, company, batallion, brigade/regiment, division, corps, army. A battalion, which Bryce commands, has 300 to 1,000 soldiers.

The 640th Regiment Regional Training Institute at Camp Williams has a throughput of over 5,600 soldiers per year. That's the number of students that complete training in one of over 40 areas. These are soldiers from all over the country.

To give that some perspective, last year (2007-2008) there were 3,745 students enrolled at Snow College. There were 2,078 students enrolled at the College of Eastern Utah. There were 5,944 enrolled at Dixie State College. While the training may not be as long, the 640th provides instruction to more students than many of the State's higher ed. institutions. For the record, the Ogden-Weber Applied Technology College (the largest and most awesome technical college in the western United States) provided instruction to 12,113 students last year.

Unlike traditional higher education where all students start at the beginning of predefined semesters and everyone ends at the same time, the 640th successfully manages the herculean task of maintaining a very robust and demanding training schedule. The logistics alone is incredible.

I was impressed with the instructional technology and great learning theory being employed by the instructors. The 640th has a new HQ and training building that is just about completed that would rival any ed. building on a traditional college campus.

The live fire exercise was great, and yes, what man/child wouldn't want to fire a 100 pound explosive projectile 12 kilometers. Serious, I couldn't stop grinning for 20 minutes. It was great to meet Scott's father-in-law. I was able to see that Camp Williams is a real gem that goes far beyond semi-annual live fire exercises. Bryce is clearly a major player in that success. I'm very proud of him.

Taggart Sighting in Ireland

Baron's mom and dad, Laur and Paula Barker, are travelling in the British Isles. They took this photo of a sticker in a car window in Remelton, Ireland and sent it to Donette.

Happy Halloween

By Jon Marrelli

Happy Halloween everybody. I am posting this quickly as I get ready to leave work.  My place of business (Datamark) goes all out for Halloween. I have posted a number of photos to my flikr account.

I really enjoy Halloween. It is a chance to dress up, assume a persona and be a hero, a villain, a clown or a king for a day. Most of us don't get a chance to be a lot of different things in our lives, and Halloween is a great chance to vicariously be another person.

For example, today I got to steal a golden idol and out run a giant boulder.

So my question to everyone is: who do you want to be today? (Great, now I'm going to have Oingo Boingo stuck in my head all day.)

But seriously, I have always wanted to be a hero, and defeat the bad guy and rescue the damsel in distress. And capes. I like to wear capes. Halloween is a day where that is not considered an "employment liability."

I hope everyone has a safe and happy Halloween.

Roses in October?

I took this pictures this morning of the "New Dawn" roses growing on my arbor. Thanks to Abby for giving me the idea to take pictures of flowers. Now I can enjoy these babies all winter long.

This picture was taken last month after that early snow storm that wiped out the remainder of my vegetable garden. You can see the "Chicago Peace" peeking out from under her white blanket.

This one was taken this morning of the same "Chicago Peace". Pretty resilient for a finicky hybrid tea rose.

Don't you just love this crazy Utah weather?

JUST IN TIME FOR HALLOWEEN

I have not contributed much to "Jaydine's Finer Things" because it seems too much like a homework assignment. Writing is hard for me (whine). But I'm going to try to overcome my fear of revealing my poor spelling and grammar to share with you a couple of really good books.

The first is "Stiff: The Curious lives of Human Cadavers", by Mary Roach. I actually read this book a couple of years ago but I'm planning on attending the Bodyworlds exhibit soon and my anticipation of this event reminded me that this book refers to the plastination process that they use to preserve the bodies. So I pulled it out again and reread some of my favorite chapters: A head is a terrible thing to waste, Crimes of anatomy, How to know if you're dead and Out of the fire, and into the compost bin. Entertainment Weekly described this book as "One of the funniest and most unusual books...Gross, educational, and unexpectedly sidesplitting". At this point you are probably wondering at my morbid choice of reading material. But it's not that different from the humorous travel log of presidential assassinations. Despite the irreverent macabre title, Roach somehow pulls off a respectful, (but hilarious), maticulously researched account of what happens to cadavers, past and present.

The second book is an entertaining piece of new fiction entitled The Good Thief, by Hannah Tinti. This book tells the story of Ren, an orphan, abandoned as a baby at St. Anthony's orphanage for boys. He is also missing his left hand. This introduces the mystery. Who is this boy? Where did he come from? What happened to his hand? The characters are vivid and the plot is a non-stop adventure. It reminded me of Huckleberry Finn (yes Donette, I read it) or Oliver Twist. This is a story full of interesting characters; scam artists, grave robbers, a resurrected giant and a dwarf that lives in the chimney. A good spooky October read!

There, I did it and it only took me 2 hours! I was unable to download the picture of The Good Thief book jacket (due to a pesky internal error).