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June 03 Windows Search 4.0 is Released to the PublicI'm excited to say that Windows Search 4.0 (WS4) has been released today! It was a lot of work and a great experience to be a part of. Windows Search 4.0 includes the following new features and improvements:
It was really great to work on a small team with a short release cycle. Each member of the team was able to make a difference and we all worked hard to produce a solid, fast product that should really be great for consumers and enterprises alike. We received great feedback during our Beta and have stabilized and improved it even more. You can install WS4 is supported on Vista and XP. You can install it here: http://support.microsoft.com/Default.aspx?kbid=940157 Smaller Patches for Smaller FacesOur small online business, Eye Mateys, which sells eye patches for children with Amblyopia and Strabismus, has recently released a new product line called: "Smaller Patches for Smaller Faces". These patches are specially sized for infants and toddlers. We are excited about the line since as far as we can tell, we are the first to offer anything like this. Before we started the business, when we were searching for suitable eye patches for our son to wear, one of the things that bothered us was how huge the eye patches were. They would cover the majority of a small child's face. Since wearing a patch is already often a painful or embarrassing thing, having a patch that obstructed most of our sweet son's face really upset us. It made a hard situation harder. We had other issues with the available patches, such as durability, comfort, quality, and aesthetic appeal. We had two interesting experiences that motivated us into starting this business. The first was while our son was still wearing a different patch that we had purchased from our Ophthalmologist's office. Frankly, it looked like a big Band-Aid and every time we had to remove it, it would pull at our son's skin, causing pain and a lot of tears. One day Holly was at the store and a little boy asked his father what was wrong with our son, the father responded that "that's what happens when you poke your eye out". You can imagine how upset Holly felt. Later, after our son started wearing the patches that Holly made, we would get excited and interested comments where ever we went. People instantly seemed to know what the patch was for, and it seemed "cool" to other children due to the graphics. We'd get comments like, "I want to wear a soccer ball like that!" from children when our son would be wearing a patch with a soccer ball on it. Our son also didn't seem to mind anymore when it was time to wear his patch, especially since he had several to choose from. After that we decided that we wanted to make these high quality, fun to wear patches available to the public. We realize this will most likely stay a small business, filling a niche need with little profit. But we get excited when we receive feedback and pictures from children, whose lives are made a little better by wearing our patches. In that way, we are able to make a difference. May 01 We Catered a 10 Course Dinner - Whew!This past week Holly and I catered a 10 course dinner for a co-worker of mine and his friends (a party of 10). We had planned on doing eight courses but as time went on and the menu became more complete, it ended up being 10. We had also planned on having someone to help us with dishes and serving and at the last minute that fell through. This meant that we were running between dishes, serving, cooking, plating, etc. It was hectic to say the least (and exhausting) and a good learning experience. We started cooking Friday night, cooked all day Saturday, and though we had planned on arriving several hours early, we ended up arriving a few minutes before we were supposed to start! Even with that short of time, we had prepared well and actually started only a few minutes late (about 7:20 instead of 7:00). Here are some of the pics. We didn't bring our camera but luckily one of the guests was nice enough to take some pictures. We are missing a few of the courses but we plan on doing this same menu on Mother's day. Brian will be there so we will have him take pics (so come back and check them out!).
This is the "Are we going to have to pack our knives and go home?" look
Amuse Bouche Trio For the amuse we did a trio. First was a Cauliflower Panna Cotta with a Oyster Nectar Gelee topped with Lumpfish Caviar. Second was Red Cabbage Gazpacho with Mustard Ice Cream. Third was a Red Snapper Ceviche with a Rutabaga Chip and Guacamole.
Seafood This was one of the hits of the night, Seared Scallops with Butter Poached Lobster and Fresh Morels in a Tarragon Lime Emulsion topped tableside with Parmesan Foam. We had made this recipe the first time a few days before and we were licking our plates, so we knew it would be good.
Foie Gras This course ended up being the most troubled course of the night. We had bought grade A frozen foie gras and made it in the Thomas Keller style. The problem is that I don't think I pressed it tight enough. Also, when it came time to serve, it hadn't been returned to the refrigerator so when I cut it, it was soft and gooey. I worried and decided to try and save the dish by searing it. It shrunk a ton as the fat rendered out so I pulled it and put the bits on the plate. I think it was still ok, just because foie gras is so good it's hard to make it bad, but it was a horrible waste of an expensive ingredient. The course was Seared Foie Gras with Sour Cherry Compote and Toasted Homemade Brioche.
Pasta The next course was fun. We made a Corned Beef and Chicken Tortellini made with homemade Ricotta and Mascarpone Cheese. It was served with a Roasted Red Pepper Cream Sauce and a Sauteed Sage Leaf. Pork Sadly, the next course, which was the favorite of the night, didn't get a picture. It was Mangalitsa Pork Belly slow braised in Guiness and topped with Bourbon BBQ Sauce and Shaved Black Truffles. It was served with Cheesy (9 year aged cheddar) Grits and Molasses Sauteed Collard Greens. The only criticism we received was that they didn't get enough.
Palate Cleanser After the pork belly, a palate cleanser was served, Meyer Lemon Oregano Sorbet. Soup The next course also didn't get a pic. We served a bowl with Julienned Sugar Peas, Greek Yogurt, and Homemade Eucalyptus Marshmallows. I then served a Green Pea Veloute tableside. Salad This Caesar Salad sat on a Mascarpone filled Brioche Crouton and was wrapped in a Bocarone (pickled anchovy). It was fun and yummy, with homemade dressing.
Main Course The main course was also a hit. We served a Braised Lamb Osso Buco topped with Gremolata and Rack of Lamb. We served it with Black Quinoa tossed with Gremolata, Golden Raisins, Slivered Almonds, and Braised Carrots.
Dessert Trio The dessert trio was the finale and also was meant to mirror the amuse bouche. We served Cocao Nib Panna Cotta with Fresh Raspberries and Syrup. Next we served Milkless Mousse from Peruvian Single bean Chocolate in a Chocolate Ring. Lastly we served a Black Bottomed Praline Bar with Chocolate Ganache. Whew, were we dead when we finished! I imagine (and hope) it will be a much lighter experience when we do this again on Mother's day for our friends. March 28 Microsoft Releases Beta for Windows Search 4.0As many of you know, I've been working for the last year on the Windows Search 4.0 release. We released the beta yesterday, much to the excitement of a growing crowd. The official release posts can be seen here: Vista Team Blog - Announcing the Windows Search 4.0 Preview KB Article describing Windows Search 4.0 (with download links) This release was focused primarily on performance and reliability, which means that it's fast and stable! Normally, I am a bit wary of installing betas on my main work machine but I've been running a pre-beta build for months now without any complaints. Windows Search 4.0 includes the following new features and improvements:
As owner of email indexing, I feel that we've improved it's stability and performance during this release. Online mode is primarily used by enterprises and I hope that we get some great feedback and usage during the beta so that if there are any bugs left in it, I can squash them before we release. Due to some design issues, the performance of indexing online exchange stores used to be very expensive. Some enterprise customers using online mode for email were even told to disable email indexing. With this release we've improved the performance of that scenario by orders of magnitude (our initial performance numbers are amazing but we won't have official results until after we've been able to run the beta on a larger number of corporate environments). Which brings up an unsung hero in this whole process, my tester Saurabh. Saurabh and I have dug deep into some really crazy scenarios over the past year, trying to fix every last bug we could. It's amazing how many Outlook/Exchange configurations you can have! Saurabh has been a trooper throughout, long nights included, finding and testing very thoroughly. It's been a great experience and I hope it brings added stability to you! So go out and install today, and remember to send feedback and error reports! March 14 Happy Pi DayToday is Pi Day so in honor of the day, I think I'll make some homemade Pizza Pies! So remember to take a moment for that crazy radical number of pi today at 1:59:26 (3/14:1:59:26
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Here is Good 'ol Eli with a Homemade Pizza I'm actually beginning my plans for a wood burning oven in my backyard. I've been thinking about it for a long time and have the spot picked out and everything. I recently found a great site that sales a plan for a gorgeous oven!
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