Bill Gates retires as CEO from Microsoft

Here's a hilarious video on Bill Gates' last day at Microsoft:

Early Candidate for 2008 Darwin Award

I couldn't believe it when I saw this picture. If it's not a fake, then these folks are definitely candidates for 2008 Darwin award:

Yet another "We didn't start the fire" spoof

Here's yet another spoof based on the "We didn't start the fire" song by Billy Joel. This one seemed appropriate since it's a comedic review of year 2007.

Ooey Gooey Pumpkin Butter Cakes

October through December is great time for enjoying food. The holiday spirit kicks in and there's always someone making something special and sharing it with everyone. Jason, my good friend, and his wife recently made a dessert they refer to as "Ooey Gooey Pumpkin Butter Cakes" - apparently they make this every year during the holidays. I've never had it before since I'm not a fan of anything with pumpkins in it, but Jason's description of this dessert made me check my disdain of pumpkins. I gave it a try and all I can say is, "Thank you Jason! Can I have seconds, thirds, and fourths please?"

So I had to ask for the recipe thinking it was some super-secret family recipe. Well, it wasn't - he just sent me a link to the recipe at Food Network. God, writing about this dessert really makes me hungry...

Wife, I'm itching for something good. I busy blogging and I demand that you make me some Ooey Gooey Pumpkin Butter Cakes.

Umm, let me re-phrase that...

Honey, my friend's wife just gave me this great recipe for Ooey Gooey Pumpkin Butter Cakes. Maybe we can spend some quality time together making it this weekend? Here's the url to the recipe:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_20677,00.html

Our 24 Hour Christmas Special

My wife and I didn't have much planned for ourselves this Christmas. We were following whatever plans our relatives had. Once we got that out of the way we realized we didn't have all that much to do. It's Christmas Eve so we though maybe we can do some special. Maybe go Salsa dancing or catch a movie, but none of that felt right so we decided to keep it simple and stay home.

We went to our neighborhood Blockbuster to rent the first 3 discs of 24's season 6 and picked up a late-night snack at Jack In The Box. After we got home, my wife warmed up some chicken soup and I opened up a couple of boxes of chocolate truffles for the 24 marathon that we were about to embark on.

So there we were, just the 2 of us, at home on Christmas Eve huddled together on our couch watching 24. Accompanying us are a steak and egg breakfast burrito combo from Jack In The Box, some homemade chicken soup, and a good amount of Lindt and Godiva chocolate truffles. As it turns out, season 6 was extremely captivating. We ended up staying up all night watching all the DVDs we rented and finishing up all the food except for the truffles. We didn't go to bed until pretty close to sunrise on Christmas morning. We slept just enough to give ourselves enough energy to rent the last set of DVDs for season 6 and finish watching them before Christmas day was over.

Sometimes the special moments are the simplest. My wife and I (appropriately enough) for 24 hours felt like teenagers - free from any of our regularly responsibilities completely captivated by the moment. This sounds cheesy, but true - Saint Nick was real for us this Christmas. He gave us a very special Christmas that both of us will cherish for years to come.

Shiraz Restaurant

Shiraz is a Persian food restaurant that I regularly have lunch with my friends. This place makes the best Beef Koobideh I've ever had. Koobideh is a Persian kabab of minced lamb or beef. It is usually served with rice and some grill tomatoes. Ordering the same thing over and over again is not my M.O., but the Koobideh at Shiraz is so damn good that I don't bother with anything else.

My friends and I went to Shiraz yesterday. The waitress recognized us and said, "You don't need the menu, right?" We all nodded in agreement until I changed my mind and said, "Not unless you have something new on the menu." Good thing I asked because she had some recommendations for us: Ash Reshteh and Fesenjoon

Ash Reshteh, I'm told by the waitress, means noodle soup in Farsi. The noodles and soup are complemented with lentils, dill, and few different types of beans. It is vegetarian dish, but the way Shiraz makes it I can taste lamb in it - that's a good thing in my book. This dish is so beautiful I don't even know where to begin. I'm so glad the waitress recommended this dish to us. I think this is my new "go-to" dish at Shiraz.

Fesenjoon is a dish that comprises of chicken chunks smothered in a dark brown sauce made from primarily pomegranate concentrate and walnuts. It is served with a side of rice. It looks very similar to the Mexican Chicken Mole Poblano, but it couldn't taste anymore different. The walnut in the sauce gives it a very rich texture similar to seasame paste or peanut butter and the pomegranate concentrate brings an unexpected, but welcomed tartness to the sauce. A very interesting dish. I thoroughly enjoyed it and would recommend it to the adventurous foodie in everyone.

Whether it's the Koobideh, the Fesenjoon, the Ash Reshteh, or anything else on their menu they never disappoint. Shiraz has proven to be an outstanding restaurant. It is my favorite in the Tri-Valley area. I only wish there's one closer to where I live. If you're ever in the Pleasanton/San Ramon/Danville area, make sure to stop by Shiraz for a meal. You can thank me later.

Address and Contact Information:
Shiraz Restaurant
21314 San Ramon Valley Blvd
San Ramon, CA 94583
925.829.5558
www.shirazr.com

Yetnal Jajang - Noodles! Noodles! Noodles!

My love affair with noodles began when I was able to eat solid foods. I enjoy noodles in all shape, size, and form. Wheat, rice, vermicelli, pasta, in soup, in sauce, stir fried, baked - it doesn't matter, I'll try it at least once so I'm always on the lookout for a good noodle shops.

I recently found one near the Berkeley/Oakland border. It's called Yetnal Jajang. It's a Korean noodle shops. There are no frills at this place. Their menu isn't awfully complex and that's a good thing. They stick with what they're good at - noodles. It's comfort food. The experience is just beautiful.

I highly recommend the Ja Jang Myun from Yetnal Jajang. Most Asian food has it's own version of this famous dish which I believe is all based on the Chinese Zha Jiang Mian. In a nutshell, this dish is basically noodles served with fermented soybean sauce. Though the sauce can vary significantly in look and flavor, the key similarity is the sauce is always soybean based. The Korean version (Ja Jang Myun) of this dish is very distinctive because of it's dark brown, almost black, soybean sauce. It's one of my favorites because of its elegant simplicity. The smoothness of the sauce and well-balanced flavor just blends so well with the noodles that it's hard not to order it every time I see it on any menu. The soybean sauce and the noodles are typically served separately so that patrons can decide how much sauce they want with their noodles. There are a couple other choices for noodles at Yetnal Jajang, but I believe it is an absolute mistake to go there for the first time without ordering their Ja Jang Myun.


Address and Contact Information:
Yetnal Jajang Korean Noodles
4390 Telegraph Ave
Oakland, CA 94620 (510) 652-3900