Capitals Hockey Game and Meal of the Week

Capitals Hockey Game
On Sunday, December 15th, I attended a Capitals Hockey game with the Capital Area Iowa Club (CAIC).  This was the first Caps game and NHL game.  The game started at 3:00 PM.  The opponent was the Philadelphia Flyers.  Our seats were in the upper deck in the last row on the end of the ice where the Capitals shot once.  Along with our tickets we received $15 worth of credit to use at the concession stands.  The Caps won in a shootout after coming back from a 4-1 deficit in the 3rd period.  The game was fun and I was glad I went.  I was able to meet some people who are apart of the CAIC.  Also evidently a fan got hit the head with a puck opening a gash in her head.  She did not seek medical attention until after the game.  You can read about it here.

My View at the Caps Game

Meal of the Week
This week I made French Dip sandwiches for the meal of the week.  Jon had one.  He thought the meal was was the best meal he has had that was made by me.  It was probably the simplest meal I have made.  A whole chopped onion was put in a crock pot with a beef roast.  Then a mixture of water and a seasoning packet was poured over the roast and onion.  After cooking for 8 hours on low the meat was ready to be cut and put on hoagie rolls.  Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures.

Government Closed

Government Closed
The government closed on Tuesday, December 10th due to inclement weather (i.e. snow and rain).  I was disappointed I was not able to go into work on today.  There were two events at work I was looking forward to at work on December 10th: 1) Technology Center (TC) 1700 Holiday Party 2) Helping new examiners (about 1 month of experience) with a few of their applications.  The TC 1700 Holiday party is a party right after the workday with catered food from Qdoba.  I had to pay $20 for a ticket to the TC 1700 Holiday Party.  The TC 1700 Holiday Party also allows an opportunity for me to meet and mingle with people I know and don't know in TC 1700.  On Monday, December 10th, my SPE (i.e. my direct boss) asked me and another examiner if we would be willing to help two new examiners with a few of their applications.   I felt honored that my SPE asked me to carry out the assignment.  I accepted.  We would look at claims in the applications and develop a search strategy with the new examiners for each application. Hopefully both the TC 1700 Holiday Party and helping new examiner with a few of their cases are rescheduled at times I am able to participate.

Philadelphia

Philadelphia
On Friday, December 6th I trudged along to an Amtrak station close to my house.  At the Amtrak station would be a train that would take me to the city of Brotherly Love, Philadelphia.  I have never riden an Amtrak train before.  It was enjoyable.  As passenger, I could look at the country and cities of Baltimore and Wilmington, DE.  The train took about 3 hours to get to Philadelphia.  I did not too to much the first day other than checking into the hotel and get a Philly Cheesesteak with cheese whiz.

Saturday was the big travel day.  First I went on a tour of Independence Hall at 9 AM with about 6 other tourists.  I saw the place where the Declaration of Independence and Constitution were drafted.  Next I saw the Liberty Bell with the crack.  Awe and excitement came over me at both of the cities when I thought about where I was standing were the same places as some the greatest men in American history.  The last stop in that area of Philadelphia was the Benjamin Franklin Museum.

By this point, I was starting to get hungry.  So of course I go to Reading Terminal Market.  The Reading Terminal Market is an enclosed market.  Over one hundred merchants offer fresh produce, meats, fish, groceries, ice cream, flowers, baked goods, crafts, books, clothing, and specialty and ethnic foods.  The Pennsylvania Dutch have a fair number of stores in the market.  The Reading Terminal Market has been a filming location for Trading Places and National Treasure.  I ate at DiNic's Beef and Pork, which was featured on Travel Channel shows Man v. Food and Adam Richman's Best Sandwich in America.  I also had a dessert of ice cream from Bassett's.  Bassett's is America's oldest ice cream company.

Now that I was full, I was ready to embark on the next leg of my journey.  I made my way to the Philadelphia Art Museum via the Benjamin Franklin Parkway.  Before I arrived at the Philadelphia Art Museum, I noticed a peculiar attraction that I did not know was present in Philadelphia.  The peculiar attraction was a Rodin Museum.  The Rodin Museum was beautiful.  My favorite sculpture present made by the father of modern sculpting was "The Thinker".  The only reason I know about Rodin is the movie "Midnight in Paris".  Eventually I made it the Philadelphia Art Museum.  No, I did not go to see the art.  I went to see the Rocky Statue.  When I was there there were people playing Rocky music on a loud speaker.  Evidently people were running from Rocky's row house to the top of the steps at the Philadelphia Art Museum like in a Rocky movie.  These runners ran about 31 miles.  An article about the run can be found here.  Most of the rest of the time I watched college football at a bar and in my room.  I did not want to be out late at night in an unfamiliar, dangerous city with nobody I know within a reasonable distance.  On Sunday morning, I got on my Amtrak train.  I was able to make it back to DC before the big ice storm hit the east coast.

Alexandria Amtrak Station

Amtrak Train

Amtrak Train

Philadelphia

Philadelphia 30th Street Station

Philadelphia Subway

View from my Hotel Room

Philly Cheesesteak

Jim's on 4th and South

Philadelphia City Hall

Foundation of a House where 2 Presidents Stayed 

Independence Hall

Building by Independence Hall

Independence Hall

Independence Hall

Independence Hall

Liberty Bell

Liberty Bell

Liberty Bell

Inscription on the Liberty Bell

Christ Church Cemetery

Benjamin Franklin's Grave

Constitution Hall

Independence Hall

DiNic's Sandwich

Rodin's The Thinker

Philadelphia from Steps of the Philadelphia Art Museum Along Benjamin Franklin Parkway

People Completing a Tribute Run to Rocky

Me at the Rocky Statue 

Me and the Rocky Statue

Thanksgiving, Iowa vs. Nebraska Game Watch, and Meals of the Week

Thanksgiving
I spent Thanksgiving with a family from Bethany Lutheran Church.  In order for me to not come empty handed, I brought a few bottles Sauvignon Blanc wine and chocolate pudding.  The food was delicious!  There was turkey stuffing, corn casserole, kale, butter beans, green beans, homemade cranberries, and garlic mashed potatoes.  This is the first time I can remember having turkey on Thanksgiving.  Growing up I would go with my family to Bishops where I would not get the turkey for some reason.  Then for dinner we would have ham.  When the turkey was covered in gravy it tasted pretty good to me!  The butter beans were good too!  I think it helped that the butter bean were cooked in bacon grease and covered with big pieces of bacon.  While the group was not eating we were working getting the food ready, cleaning up, talking with one another, and watching football.

Iowa vs. Nebraska Game Watch
On Friday, November 29th, I went to the Capital Area Iowa Club to watch the Iowa vs. Nebraska game at Crystal City Sports Pub.  It was a lot of fun watching the Hawks win and meeting fellow friends of the University of Iowa in DC!  Chances are good for Iowa to be the 4th best team in the Big Ten and go to the Outback Bowl against an SEC school.  It will be sweet to put the people in the SEC down a peg or two.

Meals of the Week (Chicken Cordon Blue, Chocolate Fudge, and Rocky Mountain Fondue)
With the extra time I have available, I was able to make a few dishes.  First I made Chicken Cordon Blue.  I flattened chicken breast with a soup ladle.  We do not have a meat mallet.  The chicken was probably not as flat as it should be for cooking.  The flattened chicken breast was folded with ham and mozzarella cheese inside.  The folded flattened chicken breast was held together with tooth picks.  The folded flattened chicken breast was covered in a cream of chicken soup and milk mixture in a crock pot.  Finally bread crumbs covered everything in the crock pot.  It was delicious!

Chicken Cordon Blue

Cooked Chicken Cordon Blue

Next I mad chocolate fudge with sugar, cocoa, corn syrup, butter, and evaporated milk.  My only concern was that I did not cook the mixture long enough.  A cooking direction telling when the fudge mixture was completely was new to me.  The cooking direction said something along the line of the fudge mixture forming a small ball in cold water.  Either way there is enough sweetness that is doesn't matter.  The fudge was under cooked.  When a piece of fudge was cut from the glassware, the fudge would flow into the hole like a liquid.  It still tasted very sweet!

Fudge Before Cooking

Completed Fudge

Finally I made Rocky Road Fondue.  Marshmellows, chocolate with almonds, butter, and heavy whipping cream were mixed together and cooked in a crock pot.  It was delicious and was great over ice cream!  Unfortunately my picture of the Rocky Road Fondue did not take.

Lay Liturgist, Top Golf, Iowa Football Chili Bowl, Bethany Voters Meeting

Lay Liturgist
On Sunday, November 17th, I served as the lay liturgist for the second consecutive Sunday.  On November 17th, I had an expanded role.  I chanted quite a bit, along with reading a lengthy gospel reading.  During communion, I served distributed the wine and gave the dismissal.  I am not sure the next time I will be lay liturgist because I am not currently scheduled on the schedule through December 1st and there currently is no other schedule.

Top Golf
On Thursday, November 21st, a Lutheran Young Adult Group and I played Top Golf in Alexandria. Top Golf is a point scoring golf game where players attempt to hit a golf ball with an embedded microchip as close as possible to a target from a driving range type structure.  The pin has concentric rings   The closer the ball was to pin in the concentric rings, the more points a player received. We could order food and drinks from tee box.

Iowa Football Chili Bowl
On Saturday, November 23rd, I went to the Capital Area Iowa Club to watch the Iowa vs. Michigan game at Crystal City Sports Pub.  There was all you could chili.  The chili tasted great!  It was a lot of fun watching the Hawks win and meeting fellow friends of the University of Iowa in DC!

Iowa Game Watch

Iowa Game Watch 

Bethany Voters Meeting
On Saturday, November 23rd, there was a Voters Meeting at Bethany Lutheran Church.  The Voter Meeting was held to discuss Bethany's mission and ministry for 2014 with respect to the budget.  The Voters Meeting went well and it appears 2014 will have a surplus.  The Voters Meeting was held in conjunction with a Soup and Pie Night.  I brought a chocolate pie.  I made the pie using a family recipe from my Grandma.  People seemed to really enjoy it!  Below are some pictures of the chocolate pie.

Pudding in Crust

Chocolate Shavings

Chocolate Pie

Chocolate Pie

Lay Liturgist and U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum

Lay Liturgist
On Sunday, November 10th, I was the Lay Liturgist for Bethany Lutheran Church in Groveton, VA.  I performed the prayer section of the service including the Kyrie, Collects, Benedicamus, and Benediction.  The Benedicamus and Benediction were chanted.  Many people told me I did well for the first time.  There was a wardrobe malfunction before my part in service where my microphone box on my hip fell off.  I had to put the microphone box in its place before going out in front of the congregation.  I had some nervousness because I was doing something new in front of an audience, but the nervousness was small because of my training and preparation.  I was actually a little more nervous at the second service because I knew more people in the pews because the second service is the service I normally attend.

U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum
On Veteran's Day (Nov 11th), I went to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum right next to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing.  This is one of the places if not the last place on my list of things to see or do in Washington D.C.  When I arrived 15 minutes before the doors opened at 10 AM, there was no line to get into the museum.  Part of the reason is this is now the off season for tourism.  I really enjoyed this museum!  The size of the museum was just right, not too big and not too small.    I also enjoyed the history presented and how it was presented.  There were a few places for video watching.  There was a theater that showed recounts of Holocaust stories by Holocaust survivors.  There were also many artifact or pieces of history throughout the museum from Europe that had significance for the Holocaust such as shoes and clothing from concentration camps, pictures, typewriters, fence posts of concentration camps, Torahs, and the like.  There were also plenty of pictures and words for people to read to get a sense of how the Holocaust came to occur, what happened during the Holocaust, and what are the take aways from it.

Trip Home to Iowa, Georgia BBQ, and Meal of the Week

Trip Home to Iowa
I went home to Iowa to see my family.  On Friday, October 25th I saw Jake and Gabe play football in Eldridge against North Scott.  Both teams lost.  However I was excited to see Jake and Gabe play well.  On Saturday, I went to see Josh and Zach with the rest of my immediate family.  We all had breakfast at the engineering building for Parent's Weekend at the University of Iowa.  After eating, we played bags/cornhole and life sized jenga in the engineering building.  Zach is the worst jenga player who played.  He lost at least 2 times in the limited amount jenga games played.  While in Iowa City, I bought a new cell phone, i.e. Samsung Galaxy S4 to help Zach who broke his phone the night before I arrived.  On Saturday evening, I went to a benefit for Dave Casad who has stage IV cancer at Trinity Lutheran Church.  Sunday was travel day except for church for my Dad and me.  My Dad and I visited law schools at the University of Michigan, University of Chicago, and Northwestern.  On Wednesday, October 30th I traveled back to DC.

Georgia BBQ
One of my coworkers at the Patent Office attended the University of Georgia and is a big Georgia Football supporter.  She invited me over to her and her husband's new house for a Georgia BBQ for the Georgia vs. Florida football game.  There were about 15 people and 2 dogs at the house for the Georgia BBQ.  Last year, my Dad and I went to this person's Georgia BBQ last year for the Georgia vs. South Carolina game.  We had a great time and the food was delicious!  Before the game, some of the people at the party were breaking up a concrete slab and removing rebar from the ground in the backyard of the house.  This year there was chicken wings, beans, and pork butt.  The pork butt was some of the best pork butt I have ever eaten.  The hosts also make their own beer.  It was a fun to place to enjoy a college football game.

Meal of the Week
This week I made pudding made from scratch.  I needed to practice making the pudding for when I make chocolate pie for other people.  Sugar, cocoa mix, and cornstarch were mixed together dry in a bowl.  Milk was added to the dry mixture.  The solution was stirred continuously over heat from a stove until the solution thickened and boiled.  After removing the boiling solution from the heat, vanilla was added to the boiling solution.  After cooling the pudding for some time, the pudding was ready to eat.  It was delectable!

Pudding in a Container

Pudding in a Bowl

Redskins vs. Bears, Lay Liturgist Viewing, and Meals of the Week

Redskins vs. Bears
On Sunday, October 20th, my friend Andy and I went to the Redskins vs. Bears 1:00 ET game at FedEx Field.  This is the first NFL game I have ever attended.  The closest metro stop to FedEx Field is about a mile away from FedEx Field.  While walking around the stadium before the game, we saw the owner of the Redskins, Dan Snyder when he taking a picture with the ZTA sorority.  I got a picture of him below.  Our seats were in section 215, obstructed view.  Part of one of the end zones was blocked by a cement pillar.  However there were 2 TVs within our view.  One TV showed the game being broadcast on Fox and the other TV showed what was on the jumbotrons.  There were many Bear fans in our section.  The game was exciting!  The score was 45-41 Redskins.  There was a pick six by Brian Orakpo and a punt return touchdown by Devin Hester.  Every time the Redskins scored, which was often, the fans sang Hail to the Redskins.  I am glad I was able to go with my friend.

Andy and Me

Andy and Me

FedEx Field

Dan Snyder

View of the field near our seats

View of the field near our seats

Lay Liturgist Viewing
If you would like to see be Lay Liturgist on November 10th and/or November 17th at 8:00 AM and 11:00 AM ET, click the next link.  You should be taken to a site that will show the Bethany Lutheran Service.  It may take a little time to load.
http://24.249.248.178/view/index.shtml

An alternative is to go to the following link and then click "Click here for Video (will open in a new window)."

http://www.bethany-lcms.org/video.htm

Meal of the Week
This week I made a savory pot roast.  I made the pot roast in a slow cooker.  First I put the boneless chuck in the slow cooker.  Then I added chopped potato, carrot, celery, and onion to the slow cooker.  Next I added a mixture of water and seasonings to the slow cooker.  After 8 hours on low heat, the pot roast was done.  It was delicious!  You can tell from the pictures.

I am made chicken wings with sauce made from butter and hot sauce.  They were great!

Pot Roast in the Crock pot

Pot Roast

Chicken Wings 

Chicken Wings in Sauce