Sue Irvine - February - AOM
What brought you to CFP?
To get fit! I did martial arts for about 16 years and was plagued by pain/injuries in my back and knees. Much to my surprise things didn’t get better when I stopped practicing. I want to build strength and do it the right way so I can prevent injury and then keep that level of fitness as I get older.
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What type of software?
Web-based data portals for students and faculty, and the back-end systems that staff use to support them. Until recently I developed in ASP.NET but I recently have branched out into CRM (customer relationship management) software in the Cloud.
Do you like to play video games?
Not too long ago I was pretty addicted to World of Warcraft but gave that up when I realized it was taking up most of my spare time.
What do you like to do in your spare time?
I like to garden (vegetables), cook (especially BBQ – I own 3 smokers!), and hike the Finger Lakes Trail.
OH!! Tell me more about the 3 smokers! How'd you get into it? What's your favorite thing to cook on your smoker?
My father loved to grill and taught me about fire management and cooking outside. I got interested in smoking after eating at Dinosaur BBQ and watching TV shows like BBQ Pitmasters. There's a place that sells smokers in Marathon, not far from my house, and they had a cooking class one weekend by a Pitmaster who had designed a series of smokers. After taking that class I was totally hooked! My favorite thing to cook on my smoker is brisket. Tri-tip is a close second.
Other than your own, where was the best BBQ that you had?
The BBQ I ate at the class I mentioned above was probably some of the best I've had. Dinosaur BBQ also has some good q! I'm partial to Texas style.
Do you have a favorite veggie recipe you'd like to share? A lot of members at CFP have gardens!
I grow a lot of tomatoes and always end-up with way too many. So I love to make a basic marinara sauce, which I can in a pressure cooker, and give out as Christmas gifts. It's a really basic sauce that can be customized for a variety of uses. It consists of:
1 sweet onion, diced
3-4 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tsp of fresh thyme
Peeled, seeded, crushed fresh tomatoes - I try to picture how many would fit into about 3-4 large cans.
Sweat the onions in some olive oil, add the garlic and thyme until fragrant then stir in the tomatoes. Let simmer for about 30 minutes or so. (will take longer if you're not using sauce tomatoes as there will be more water). Use an immersion blender to smooth it out and add salt & pepper to taste.
What keeps you at CFP?
What I’m enjoying most is the weight lifting. As a kid I used to watch the weightlifting in the summer Olympics and wish I could try it – now I finally can!
If you could write a WOD or a weightlifting day, what would it look like?
This is hard since I'm so new! I guess I would like to combine cleans and jerks together (I've only done them separately), and if I was going to throw in some non-weight lifting moves for variety, it would have to be wall balls.
Do you have a favorite place to visit or a favorite vacation?
I would love to do a BBQ crawl through central Texas, although I also suspect that could get old pretty quickly.
Do you have any animals?
I have two rescue cats that I try very hard to spoil - Ember and Izzy.
What would you tell someone that's on the fence about trying CF?
I guess I would say "Go for it! It will be really challenging but also a lot of fun. And CFP has a great group of coaches and fellow students who are so nice and supportive and will help you every step of the way".Anything else you'd like to add?
I would like to add a shout-out to my co-workers and fellow CFPers Shawna, Shawna and Torrey. It was their enthusiasm and encouragement that convinced me to give CFP a try. Thanks!!