El Bambi Cafe

This weekend I was driving with Naomi to Provo to watch the BYU vs NMSU game. In Beaver we were hungry and decided to stop and get some food. As we were driving down the main road, I saw the El Bambi Cafe sign

After seeing the sign I remembered my Mom saying something about my Grandpa frequenting the place. He used to drive truck between St. George and Salt Lake City. Every Monday he was there at El Bambi Cafe as he passed through Beaver on the old Highway. He loved to eat there.

Opened in 1945, El Bambi sat right on the old highway that passed through Beaver, UT. Truck drivers congregated there as did locals and many a passerby. The food was always excellent. The original owners took pictures of the regular truck drivers that went through and hung them on the wall. The photos are in a storage unit now. I would be interested to see if my grandpa was one of them.

We had left St. George early in the morning and it was only about 9 AM when we got to Beaver. When we entered El Bambi I could tell it was still popular with the locals. The few that were there all knew the owner and were having a conversation with her. She knew them all by name and offered them all hot coffee to warm them from the 29 degree air outside.

The cafe looked like it hadn't been remodeled since the 1960's or 70's. The old look and feel added to the small town charm and overall experience I had there. The menu was large and varied. I was tempted by every option before me. When the time came to order, I ordered the cinnamon roll french toast and cottage fried potatoes for breakfast. The french toast really hit the pleasure-spot. It had a slightly crispy outer layer that protected the smooth cinnamon roll on the inside. The cottage fried potatoes were buttery and crispy like a good hashbrown. The food was great! It is a must when passing through Beaver.

Cheap Meals

Me and Naomi recently bought a house. Now we have to eat at home every meal every day and try to find cheap meals. We are going to try and keep track of them and how much we spend on them here.



My lunch yesterday:
Peanut butter and honey sandwich with tortilla chips, raw almonds, fuji apple and a coke (proper libation for any meal)

For Dinner we had Don Miguels burritos with black beans and corn over rice. Yummy.

BDay Trip To Vegas

For my birthday Jim offered to take to me to Las Vegas for dinner at Delmonico Steakhouse at The Venetian Resort. It is our favorite place to eat IN THE WORLD. More on that later. We turned it into a weekend. We got a room at the JW Marriott Las Vegas Resort. The hotel is pictured above with the pool. The resort was beautiful. One of the nicest I have stayed at. The room was large, especially considering it was a standard resort room. There was a large tile entry way, a walkin closet, a HUGE bathroom with a jetted soaking tub and a separate shower with a rain head as well as the usual wall mounted shower head. The beds were extremely comfortable, and we had a balcony.

The spa at the hotel was great. We payed the $25 dollar fee and used the steam room for about an hour and a half. There was only one other man in there so we pretty much had the place to ourselves. He came in with shaving cream on his face. He was using the steam to prep for his daily shave. What a good idea. After using the steam room and the cool plunge pools, we went outside to the main pools. They were beautiful! We swam there for a while and then went back to our room to prepare to leave. We were planning on leaving Saturday but we were having such a great time at the resort that we decided to stay another night. Best decision of the year!

That night we saw the Lion King at Mandalay Bay. The show was great. For lunch we went to The Palm. I had a free lobster dinner waiting there for me and me and Jim decided to split it.

Now on to Delmonico. It is without a doubt the best place to eat in the world. It is the Las Vegas steakhouse of Emeril Lagasse. We always order the Chateaubriand carved table side for two. It is served with garlic smashed potatoes, asparagus, and we always order garlic sauteed mushrooms. The meal is served with the best hot rolls. I ordered an iceberg wedge. The meal was incredible in every way.

Happy Birthday

It was my birthday once

BNP Paribas Open 2011

Every March, me and my mom make a pilgrimage to Indian Wells, CA to the BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament. The trip has been a fun tradition for us for about seven years. We have the same love for tennis, good food, and traveling, and during this trip we are able to put them together into one.

The BNP Paribas Open is the largest and most important tennis tournament after the big four (US Open, Wimbledon, The French Open, and the Australian Open). The Indian Wells Tennis Garden is the second largest facility in the world that is dedicated to tennis. It seats about 16,000 tennis fans, has 3 stadiums, and a total of 8 tournament courts. Over the course of the tournament, more than 350,000 tickets are sold to 21 sessions of tennis. I was lucky enough to attend every session. I witnessed amazing tennis matches!

As I said before, food is a huge part of this trip. We watch tennis all day and enjoy fine meals every evening. The Palm Springs area of California has a very high concentration of amazing restaurants. Some of our favorites include:

• The Nest
• Pacifica
• Hog's Breath Inn
• Piero's Aqua Pazza
• Ruth's Chris
• Mikado

Thanks to someone special for introducing me to Almond Roca. It is the best! Also, it is 100% natural. It has a creamy, buttery, nutty flavor that all blends together well on the tongue.

Movie Night

I went to the movies last night. Seeing this was better than seeing "Unknown"

Fried Rice

Have I ever told you I love fried rice? I get the best fried rice at Benja's Thai Garden at Ancestor Square. Mmmmmmmm

1,000 Mile Boot

I was in Salt Lake City this weekend and had a chance to swing by D. Grant, Ltd. at The Gateway shopping center downtown. I have been following the Wolverine 1,000 Mile Boot since they started making them again in 2008. I have wanted to try them on and someday own a pair, so when I saw that D. Grant, Ltd. had them I couldn't resist.

The boots are made in Michigan using welt construction. The have a leather sole, rubber heel, and waxed canvas laces. They were originally made in the early 1900's and were called the 1,000 Mile Boot because of their durability and quality construction. The exact same design, molds, and construction techniques have been used again to re-create this classic American boot. It is quality you can feel!

http://www.wolverine.com/us/1000mile/

Last night I looked closely at my boots again. Although the moisture from the Mink Oil was still there, they looked pretty haggard again. I decided it was time to shine them again. Shoe shining is a manly ritual that is also therapeutic.

The process starts with having the proper tools: two horsehair brushes (a "clean" one for polishing and dusting and a "dirty" one for applying the shoe polish) and some Kiwi Shoe Polish. You use the "clean" brush to remove dust and clean the leather. Next, you use the "dirty" brush to apply a nice even coat of the Kiwi Shoe Polish. Let that dry for about 30 min and then buff it with the "clean" brush". This develops the shine by removing excess polish and only leaving a thin layer over the leather.

The before picture is above. The after picture is below. The after picture doesn't do my shine job justice. It looks much better on my foot right now!

The Chive Always Delivers

A day in the life of radio components

Saw this today in Denny's

I think they are on to something. . .

So last night I ended up at Five Guys Burgers and Fries. Some say they make the best burger in town. They are known for having a large selection of toppings and fresh cut fries fried in peanut oil. I ordered a half pound burger with bacon (makes everything better), mushrooms, grilled onions, and mustard. The result is pictured above.

The burger was well built. It didn't fall apart in my hands even though it was such a large burger. I was impressed by that. The earthy note from the mushrooms complemented the savory bacon and onions but none of the toppings overpowered the flavor of the hamburger meat. The texture was consistent throughout. I ate a little too fast and burned my tongue when I got to the center. I give this burger 4.5 out of 5. I will eat here again.

Visitor

Drex decided to come visit me in my office this afternoon.

New Car!

So. . . I got a new car! The whole process started when my 2003 Dodge Durango R/T turned 70,000 miles. I have heard about transmission and engine trouble on those cars between 80,000 and 120,000 miles and I started to worry about it. I didn't want to have to put thousands of dollars into a car that wasn't hardly worth thousands anymore. So I decided to look for a more fuel efficient new car.

My search started with the 2011 Ford Fiesta. They are cool little cars, but they are REALLY little! The search ended when I bought the car pictured above, 2011 Mazda 3 hatchback. It has a lot of great features for a car in the $20,000 price range. My favorite feature on the interior is the bluetooth. Not only can you make handsfree calls in the car but my iPhone can also play music over bluetooth and the audio quality is actually really good!

Standby for more pictures of it later today. . . . .

Las Vegas is a magical place. I am lucky that I live so close to it. I am able to go there a lot. On Saturday afternoon I went there with the Nielsen clan for dinner and to buy some shaving cream at The Art of Shaving. It is always an impossible debate and game of give and take when debating where to eat dinner with the Nielsen clan, but we were finally able to settle on a Chinese place called Red 8 at The Wynn. The red 8 on the outside of the menu is pictured above.

Some might say I have strange taste in food. Occasionally I enjoy the exotic and forbidden. Las Vegas Chinese restaurants are often able to provide the exotic and forbidden with creative dishes that can cost up to $200. I don't splurge and drop hundreds on Shark Fin Soup, but when I see a $20 dish of Oxtail Stew (pictured above), I just can't resist!

My first exposure to oxtail was in Zimbabwe. It wasn't a very exotic thing really, we had little soup packets we would mix into sauces to give them flavor. The best tasting packet was oxtail flavored. Later on mission I had a chance to try oxtail soup at a members house. This oxtail soup had real chunks of bone and meat in it. It was savory and delicious.

The flavor of oxtail soup is a little tangy at first. The afternote is savory and long lasting. This differs greatly from normal beef stew which is savory upfront and then fades away quickly. Oxtail soup is a dish that many people my age would never try. They are missing out on real great food when all they will order is a dish of stir-fried noodles.

Bay Rum Cologne

I follow a website called The Art of Manliness (artofmanliness.com). The website is dedicated to helping men be more manly and "Reviving the Lost Art of Manliness". They had a post about manly smells not long ago. The list included leather, barbicide, Old Spice Classic, and Bay Rum.

Bay Rum goes back to the early days of the European settlers in the Caribbean. The sailors smelled like sailors, having been at sea for months with no proper bath, so when they docked in the Caribbean they would rub bay leaves on their bodies to mask their stench. Rum was invented in the Caribbean at about the same time. The sailors started to steep the Indian Bay Leaves in the rum because the alcohol in the rum would extract the oils in the bay leaves and make application of the scent more convenient. This is how Bay Rum started. Over time different spices including cloves and cinnamon were added. Bay Rum has been worn by men for hundreds of years, and now it will be worn by me!

I ordered some Bay Rum cologne from Ogallala Bay Rum (http://www.ogallalabayrum.com). It is made in small batches in Ogallala, Nebraska. Made of all natural oils and extracts, it smells strongly of cloves and witch hazle and tingles for a couple of hours after being applied to the skin. The bottle is real blue glass, not some cheap plastic container. I love the label. It says: "Shake Well and Apply Generously". It is a manly scent with a manly tradition.

Boots

These boots are GREAT! When I was on my mission in Zimbabwe, I had a companion who had a pair of brown Dr Martens brown boots. I lusted after those boots. That was when my love of boots began. One of the first things I bought when I came home from mission was a pair of those boots (pictured above after almost three years of use).

I wear these boots almost every day to school, work, and out to eat. I am actually wearing them right now and they feel great! They have gone through two pairs of laces but the boots are still going strong.

I have traveled with these boots all over the world. I have worn them in Alaska zip-lining in the canopy just outside of Juneau, in San Francisco, Seattle, Las Vegas and other American cities, in Victoria, B.C. Canada, in Mexico, Hawaii, Rome, Naples, Athens, Mykonos, Ephesus, and in the desert just outside of Alexandria, Egypt. I hope to be able to travel with them back to Zimbabwe some day soon.

After all of these travels, they show little signs of wearing. However, the leather had become dry and light in color and there was a buildup of dust and years of Kiwi Dark Brown Shoe Polish. The leather actually looked pretty bad. I did some research on leather care and went to Hurst's Ace Hardware to buy some Saddle Soap and Mink Oil. I used the Saddle Soap to clean the leather and strip the old polish away. The Mink Oil moisturizes and waterproofs leather. I massaged the Mink Oil into the leather with my hands. The directions say to use a cloth but it felt more effective to use my hands on it. The Mink Oil is natural and won't hurt your skin. After sitting overnight, the leather had absorbed all of the excess Mink Oil and the leather looked, felt, and smelled brand new!

The picture above is a shot of the boots last night after I had let the Mink Oil sit for a few hours. I failed to take a picture of the boots before I started.