Margherita Pizza Night!

After recently enjoying what we believe to be the best pizza in Wisconsin See:Larducci's Pizza Steph and I were inspired to make our own margherita pizza. The mix of fresh basil, thin crust, home-made sauce, and olive oil turned out very well.

With the thin crust and wonderful taste, we polished off the whole thing. Maybe we should make two next time...

Daisy in Warhol

Gotta love Photobucket.

Searing Scallops...

Tonight in the Powell household we enjoyed seared scallops (unfortunately, we forgot to take a picture before eating). There are, however, a few tips we would like to pass on to those of you that have not perfected the art of making superb scallops.

Firstly, the pan in which you are making your scallops must be HOT. We put ours at the highest setting.

Next, make sure that your scallops have been thoroughly rinsed and dried. Lightly sprinkle them with salt just before searing.

The scallops need to be fried in clarified butter. This is an absolute must. If you try to use regular butter, the fat solids will burn and taint the wonderful scallop flavor (and choke your kitchen with smoke). For an easily followed process for clarified butter, see: http://valerianalexander.blogspot.com/2009/10/ambrosia-wisconsin-style.html .

Drop scallops onto the pan and leave ample space. If placing too many scallops at once, the pan will cool and you will steam them rather than sear them. Allow the scallops to sit for two minutes. During the first two minutes, do NOT move the scallops.

Check to make sure the scallops have developed the crusty, golden finish on the bottom, then flip and cook for one minute more. The middle should be undercooked when removed from the pan (watch the side of the scallops; they should be opaque in at the center when you pull them). The scallops will finish cooking after being pulled from the pan. It is remarkably easy to overcook a scallop!

Plate the scallops with some butter mixed with fresh lemon juice and enjoy!

Meet Charlotte...

Here is our 2000 Honda Valkyrie Standard: "Charlotte." We purchased this bike January 2008 and have put over 14,000 miles on her since. This has included touring the local countryside, trips to various Wisconsin locals, and, last summer, a 3,000 mile trip to West Virginia. The Valkyrie is known for its massive six cylinder (flat-six) engine that makes nearly 100 HP and 100 ft. lbs torque. As a touring machine, we've done over 400 mile days riding two-up on multiple occasions and enjoyed every minute of it.

Since purchasing the bike, we have added touring necessities such as the Hondaline saddlebags, BakeBuilt airwings, passenger grab bars, passenger floor boards and other useful items. In the near future, we're hoping to add some Alaska Leather gel buttpads (http://www.alaskaleatheronline.com/servlet/StoreFront) to make long rides even more comfortable.

Since purchasing Charlotte two years ago, we have enjoyed many beautiful rides, great scenery, and met some incredibly nice people. We highly recommend everyone get out on two wheels and enjoy themselves-- especially two-up.

Who knew Danes need to be groomed?

This is what happens when you have a white dog (who happens to be shedding profusely in this picture) and a black dog (that likes to put her head by her sister's butt while she is brushed). Yikes.

Here we go!

Our very first post and nothing to report-- what a way to start off. We'll just default to pictures of our DOUS (Danes of Unusual Size) whenever this happens.

Anyway, here are our girls!