Home again, home again, jiggity jog

It was lovely visiting the extended Guerrero clan in San Antonio, and now it's lovely being home. We probably had the least tension ever, including packing, driving, shopping, wrapping, preparing the meal, and loading out. Which was very nice. G-Man's flexibility is rubbing off on me in a good way.

We were even enough ahead of the game to make it to a lovely Christmas Eve candlelight service of carols and the Christmas story at a small church just outside of S.A. It was a family affair, with maybe 40 people, including lots of kids and babies; the minister is someone Gil met during a Franciscan modeled retreat he attended this summer. Really beautiful!

Before heading back to Dallas this weekend, we got to visit Seaworld--first time for me and Juj--with the W tribe. Pretty cool, although the Shamu Christmas show was definitely not multicultural. ;-) And I got to find out that my boy has a cool head; the kids were playing in a big open play area, couldn't find us, and one got worried. Juj found an adult with a cell phone and remembered my number to call so we could all be reunited.

We came home last night to a clean house, which we only somewhat trashed by hauling in all the luggage and Santa loot. But I have four days off this week, thanks to the enlightened management at my corporation (hmm...wonder if cost-cutting will get rid of that perk one day?), so Juj and I will be sorting laundry, watching TV, putting things away, playing video games, grocery shopping, shopping with holiday gift cards, cooking, taking care of Tamagotchi, paying bills, etc. Can you guess who will be doing what?

But I think I have to go build a giant Star Wars Lego ship now, as the box of 1,034 Lego pieces that Santa brought J just got cracked open again. (However, we'll need the Blu-ray of Mamma Mia with sing-along option that I received on in the background; G-man checked it out last night--while I was devouring the last of the Twilight series books--and said it looks goooooddd!) If I say this enough times here, will it make up for the fact that our holiday cards won't arrive until after December, if at all?

Hope y'all had great holiday cheer; and Best Wishes for Happy New Year!

Christmas Dinner

Well, it only 16 extended family members (including our little trio) for dinner at the Tias' house yesterday, but it was a lovely meal, if I do say so myself. Most of the recipes were from Martha Stewart holiday magazine, unless noted, and should be on her web site, if one was interested.

• Pre-dinner Nibbles with Cocktails (mostly Gin & Tonic or Jack & 7, depending on how much time the drinker had spent above the Mason-Dixon line): Spicy Pecans, Honey-Roasted Salted Figs, with fresh flame grapes and cheese & crackers
• Roasted Pear & Shallot Salad with Sherry-Dijon Vinaigrette
• Roast Beef Tenderloin with Caramelized Onion & Mushroom Stuffing (from CooksIllustrated.com, and used their tip of "buy tenderloin from Costco and trim it yourself")
• Leek & Gruyere Bread Pudding (but I would make it with a more toothsome bread next time; crustless brioche has NO texture!)
  
• Carrot "Souffle" (Gil said it was better than the one from Luby's that inspired my internet search for the recipe; certainly less sugar and finer texture)
• Tarragon Green Beans (with pre-stemmed haricots verts from Costco)
• Almond Cake (from Amanda Hesser's Cooking for Mr. Latte) with a black cherry sauce, a hot chocolate sauce, and freshly whipped cream
  

The Meme Old Thing

G-man and I each got a different "getting to know you" email chain today. His had a holiday theme, and I'm posting it here, with the original answers from G plus my own editorial comments where warranted.

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper. Always. Gift bags are for the weak-minded or those who have lost limbs. I give only partial credit for gift bags if it is an unusual shape, like a live aardvark... [Hmmm... is this direct shot at his dear wife? I am NOT known for my wrapping skills (or patience), and generally opt for the bag.]
2. Real tree or Artificial? Artificial Tree. Mostly always. I can add my own pine scent and don't have to worry that my house will incinerate OR pick up the dessicated needles. [A major source of friction the first few years of domicile sharing at holiday time, but I've come 'round on the whole "less mess, less safety stress" thing.]
   
3. When do you put up the tree? Last year I was the goat, and it happened VERY late. Usually we try to have it up around about the first or second week after Thanksgiving. [Ahem; the big tree did not make it up at all last year, but in December, Juj & I traveled to San Francisco and then we all went San Antonio, so the tree was not really needed. And he did put up a little one in the Juj's room.]
   
4. When do you take the tree down? After Epiphany. Gotta give those three knuckleheads time to find the baby. If they were such great astrologers what took them so long? (12 Tribes, 12 Apostles, 12 gates, 12 pearls, etc. aside...)
5. Do you like eggnog? Yes, and I prefer bourbon or a certain infamous Tennessee whiskey over rum. What do they know about eggnog in the Caribbean?
6. Favorite gift received as a child? I've pondered this, and can't recollect that many of the toys - no doubt because of my mundane TV-influenced requests. Probably the most memorable in my mind was a battery powered tin train that would blow smoke, whistle, and back up and turn when it hit the wall. I've since discovered that those are collectible (originally from a Japanese manufacturer called Modern Toys) and I managed to find a duplicate of one of the two I had as a kid, for my shelf here at the house. Simpler times... [Easy! The year my grandfather built me a real puppet theatre. Although my stuffed plush alligator was a close friend for many more years.]
7. Hardest person to buy for? Definitely my father. "I don't want anything!" [Everyone (well, except Juj); I have major gift-giving anxiety!]
   
8. Easiest person to buy for? Generally Mother. A degenerate gadget hound. Or son, a degenerate Star Wars hound.
9. Do you have a nativity scene? Oddly, no. I think we have a cardboard foldout one, like a tiny camper that pops up into a nativity. As I considered rectifying this, I searched the intarweb and shuddered at what a nativity costs in 21st century dollars..... [Um, he didn't ask me; I have at least one miniature one from Grammy, and and maybe a second as well. Guess I'd better dig 'em up.]
   
10. Mail or email Christmas cards? A painful topic. "Christmas Card" are words best left unspoken...
11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Don't recollect any memorable stinkers, other than the usual kid crankiness at getting clothes or underwear.
12. Favorite Christmas Movie? No question: A Christmas Story. The moment when they are all sitting on the couch reflecting on the carnage and Ralphie realizes he has not received THE present he dreamed of, and Darren McGavin says "Hey, what's that over there behind the desk?" gets me every time. What a wuss I am!
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? For a few with particularly exotic tastes, I keep my eye out throughout the year. This year my big score is for a dear friend who loves the film "Joe Versus The Volcano." I managed to find him an actual mint condition crew jacket (in his size no less) from the filming of the thing. [All I can say is - thank God for a husband who not only knows how to shop, but actually seems to enjoy it. And can wrap too!]
    
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Well, I'll confess to regifting duplicate books, particularly those directed at my son. The Guerreros have one dark regifting episode buried in our past: an uncle who seldom showed up for the Xmas festivities who finally DID show up one year. A gift was quickly wrapped from a stash of cologne a different uncle (who didn't wear cologne) had high up in his closet. When the gift was unwrapped, it was discovered that the bottle was so old that apparently all the cologne had leaked or dried out some time before. Hilarious!
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Roast Beast (bovine), preferably rubbed with K-Pauls rub, served with horseradish, and Yorkshire pudding. [And candy, preferably chocolate from Godiva or See's, and cookies, preferably homemade, and G's cousin's husband's fruitcake, and, and, and...]
    
16. Lights on the tree? Used to be monochromatic, but I have compromised with my hippie wife by allowing use of monochromatic full strings in different colors. I don't know what it is, the multi-color strings look like a Reggae bar to me. [I'll loosen him up yet; my family's trees were always more of a crazy quilt thing than anything Martha Stewart would own up to.]
17. What theme or color are you using? The wife had some kind of Texas paroxysm this year. Chile peppers, tin stars, cowboy stuff. Lots of red/blue/white lights. . . [It's true; don't know what came over me!]
    
18. Favorite Christmas song? Perhaps the old Catholic in me, Adeste Fideles/O Come, All Ye Faithful with Hark the Herald Angels a close second, particularly with my main man Nat King Cole singing. The hairs on my neck prick up when Nat sings "Joyful, all ye nations rise / Join the triumph of the skies / With the angelic host proclaim: / "Christ is born in Bethlehem"" [Not much of an old Catholic myself, but I really go for the non-secular stuff myself this time of year. Oh, and Nat or the Velvet Fog singing "The Christmas Song."]
19. Travel at Christmas or stay at home? Travel. Generally one family or the other. [Yup.]
    
20. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? I can name them all, though I'm often confused about whether it is Donner or Donder.
21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Christmas morning with immediate family and the bigger family group opens later in the day. [Well, with a German immigrant background in my family, we generally did open at least one present from each other on the Eve, and then the ones Santa brought were opened in the morning - first thing!]
    
22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? Currently it's Bill O'Reilly. I'm not offended by being told Happy Holidays (or Merry Christmas), but it seems only COMMON COURTESY in this great plurality we live in to not assume another person's religious persuasion. What a knucklehead... Jesus: please open Bill's heart or have Santa deliver coal. Bill: Jesus doesn't need your protection.
23. What do you want for Christmas this year? The family got a big screen LCD television in November, so that was pretty swell. On a pensive note, more quiet family time and not so much harried running around. I now understand why my Dad was such a cranky puss, his genetic predisposition to it notwithstanding...
24. Who is most likely to respond to this? It's a mystery. Presumably the ladies on the distribution. [A bit sexist, but probably true, like the next one...]
    
25. Who is least likely to respond to this? Given the frighteningly chain letter-like characteristics, hard to say whether it will get past anyone. I bet the men on the list will pass...

A study in contrasts

It's currently 71° at 8:15 this evening.  By eight o'clock tomorrow morning, it will be 34° and stay in the 30's through Tuesday night! Texas definitely has the craziest weather of anywhere I have lived.

Tonight, the three of us and Ron for dinner:

• Rosemary marinated lamb shoulder steaks
• Leftovers from last night, including spaghetti for Juj (not a big red meat eater) & pie for dessert

Last night, six adults and three kids at dinner:

• Gin & tonic
  
• Three Little Pigs pate au poivre, dry chorizo, blue cheese, chive cheddar, and cranberry Wesleyan with multi-seed crackers
• 3 bottles of wine (well, 3 different ones opened and tasted; we did have leftovers)
• Spaghetti with pork & beef meatballs and a bit of short rib for silky, fatty depth
• Broccoli
  
• Red leaf lettuce with shaved fennel and avocado salad
• Batali's red wine & thyme garlic bread
• Cookies & Creme Cake
• Cranberry Apple Pie

Mr. Weintribe brought the wine and dessert (thanks & yum!), the meatballs were premixed from Whole Foods, and the sauce was 'doctored' from a jar, but the company was very fun, and the evening was quite lively!

Last week: my employer's stock is threatened with de-listing from the NYSE since it's been under a buck for more than 30 days (upside - we have six months to correct it), and generally a high stress level as layoffs and bad news continues.

Next week: last week of work and school before two weeks vacation (well, have to work Friday the 2nd *eyeroll*) -- oh, and I actually closed my first Lean Six Sigma project (nearly 20 months long) with flying colors on Friday!

As I always say, never a dull moment...  ;-)

Minimalist (post & dinner)

Sunday supper, with Ron & Elsa:

• Herb roasted chicken with 4 leg quarters (we love our dark meat at casa G)
• Arugula dressed with olive oil, lemon juice, salt & pepper, under a rainbow of warm roasted sliced winter vegetables: Cauliflower with capers, Fennel bulb, yellow Beets, Carrots with thyme, and red Beets (salad and side in one delicious dish)
• Topped off with Port, and delicious no-sugar egg white dark chocolate-rye & wheat-anise Pizellis (sp?) from Ron
  

Sunday supper...

...was low key: turkey and cornmeal dumplings (made with leftover turkey), leftover cranberry-apple gelatin, leftover salad, and some freshly cooked broccoli.

It was a lovely holiday: I can't really remember Friday, but the tree is up and decorated, and we had a great trip to Ikea Sunday.

Assuming that the next few weeks to pass in a whirlwind, so Merry Christmas and Happy New Year (just in case)!  ;-)

A: Improvisation

Q: What do jazz and Thanksgiving have in common?

I didn't grow up with jazz; bluegrass, folk, rock and/or roll, even classical, but not jazz. I came to it late in life, during grad school and beyond, mostly thanks to my lighting design mentor at CalArts, my then-not-so-soon-to-be husband (we met in 1987, moved beyond "just friends" shortly thereafter, and married in 1999: you do the math), and my work with the Jazz Tap Ensemble (right up to the time of starting my second career).

Now I know that there's plenty of improv in rock, bluegrass and the like, but somehow improvisational cooking reminds me most of jazz. Maybe because I learned more about forms and rules in relation to jazz improv, whereas I'm relatively less "schooled" in other types of music, and improv cooking works as long as you know the forms and rules.

Anyway, this year's Thanksgiving meal was the kind of cooking I like to do best; guided by recipes, but on familiar enough ground that I can feel free to do my thing. And it was especially good that I was feeling adaptable on this one, because although I delivered what I had planned, there was a miscommunication between G-man and I on what time the meal was to start. We had talked about anything from 2 to 6 PM, and I left it up to him to finalize with Bill and Ron.

I'd heard DH say "afternoon" when I asked, and I assumed it was the 4 or 4:30 time we'd talked about. At 10:30 this morning, with the marble pumpkin cheesecake in the oven, I was feeling all relaxed when I checked in on that start time -- oops, 2:30 NOT 4:30. We hustled together and got the bird (parts) in the oven, and I think we served a bit after three o'clock. Not bad. Of course, when the compliments came in on the food -- "That's why we make you wait; so you'll like it no matter what 'cuz you'll be starving."

But back to the menu; most of the items were inspired by one or more "real" recipes, as noted...

• Gingered Carrot Soup (from the Williams-Sonoma Mayo Clinic Cookbook, except I added a pinch of curry powder, and we went for "half-n-half" instead of non-fat evaporated milk)
• Spinach & Granny Smith Salad, with green onions, toasted pecans & a little raw grated ginger
  
• Carrots & Celery Sticks with ranch AND blue cheese dressings, for my son with the incredibly narrow sense of what constitutes an edible vegetable these days
• Slow Roasted Herbed Turkey Breast & Thighs with Gravy (a "mash-up" of the Cook's Illustrated slow roast turkey in pieces and a Barefoot Contessa recipe)
  
• Roasted Delicata Squash with Hot Jelly Glaze (Martha Stewart Living) - and I threw in a few fingerling potatoes I had sitting around as well, which were surprisingly good
• Fennel, Italian Sausage & Cranberry Multi-Grain Dressing (improv: I've been making it for a few years, and this one featured brown & wild rice with wheat berries & rye - not bad!)
  
• Cranberry & Apple Gelatin Salad (from the good old Joy of Cooking, although I used to call my MIL every year for the recipe until she took pity & hipped me to its origin; made sugar free thanks to Splenda and the folks at Jello)
• Sugar Free Pumpkin Marble Cheesecake with Praline Crust and real sweetened whipped cream (this was a keeper, at least three recipes used as inspiration, with a low-carb crust of ground pecans, butter, a hint of cinnamon, and Splenda -- delicious, so I'm glad I did write down what I ended up doing as it might be repeatable!)
  

Duel of the Fates

This one is for Juj -- although I think someone else may appreciate it too:

Better, or worse than this, apparently the real lyrics are a Sanskrit translation of a Celtic poem - scroll down to Cie Sharp's additional lengthy comment on 5/12/03.  Apparently some people have too much time on their hands (including my husband, for finding this, and myself, for posting it here!)

Another year, another blog post... and no Sunday supper

I have made another circle around the sun, and I'm thankful. My family members serenaded me appropriately, and so we move on.

This evening, I had to confront my fatness in photographic splendor, as we had our sitting for the church directory. It's so much easier to retouch in your mind what you see in the mirror than what the camera captures, but I'm not sure it will motivate me to lose the weight. Though it should, as I'd be healthier AND happier (at least when I have to look at myself).

This weekend, I made it to one 'big girls' party (for the Weintribe's new addition), and one 'kiddos' skating party (for siblings who go to school with J, who ice-skated FAR longer than I did!) Luckily, this left me without time to make Sunday supper, but with time to make the rounds and check out the blogs of my virtual and face-to-face friends; I've kept the circle small, but still rarely catch up these days.

This week, I'll cook a small T-day feast, hopefully somewhat healthful and low-sugar without being boring or too nontraditional. Then I'll thank my lucky stars that I can ask G-man to put up the tree and be in charge of making sure the decor looks good.

So, my life moves in small circles, sometimes the same, and sometimes slightly off-kilter, but overall I am one lucky middle-aged woman, wife, mother, daughter, etc.

For the record...

I did get up, shower decently early, and make it to church with Julian. However, it was overly hot in the sanctuary, and so all both of us wanted to do afterwards was head straight home. I basically spent the next six hours mostly passed out napping, so the guys went out to dinner with Ron and brought me back a little something.

So no Sunday supper from me. Am I coming down with something? Can't tell, especially since I seem to feel better now. Ah, well.

Whoa - 101 posts...

Didn't notice that that last post from the G-man was #100, so I am claiming the distinction of #101 since starting this blog last summer (2007).  Not a great record, but not bad.  Of course, this post is going to be a bit random, but que sera, sera!

Due to the cosmic chaos that they call weather in North Texas, I now have three green tomatoes sitting on my windowsill, and they may ripen.  We received some plants from a homegrown-tomato-obsessed friend last spring, and planted them far too late and gave them too little water and attention.  But somehow two of them survived the summer heat, giving me one miniature plum tomato to taste, and then started to thrive in the very warm (but no longer brutal) heat of September.  They even started flowering, and set some fruit.  However, a small cold front has finally arrived (and about damn time, too; mid-November is not the season for short sleeves, IMHO), and tonight, as I drove home from a 10:00 PM grocery run, I saw the bank sign say it was 37 (or maybe it was 39?) degrees.  So, after I put the groceries away, I went out and plucked the three biggest tomatoes.  If the plants aren't dead in the morning, there are still a few small green orbs that might grow a bit more but for now -- let's see if at least ONE of the ones I picked will ripen.

In other news--

Last Sunday's supper was a homey feast more fitting for this weekend's weather (I think we had to turn on the stupid AC last weekend!)  Elsa and Ron joined us for

• Hungarian Beef Stew from Cook's Illustrated (a.k.a. paprikash), with wide egg noodles, of course - very good, but despite CI's dire warnings, G-man and I agreed to try it with some smoked paprika next time
  
• Green beans & cauliflower, pan sauteed with red bell peppers
• Green salad with fennel and mushrooms
• Broiled fresh pineapple and Halloween candy for dessert

Tomorrow, my plan is

• Wedge Salad with blue cheese dressing
• Shepard's Pie - my ground beef version with mashed cauliflower instead of mashed potatoes on top
• Roasted squash with ginger, paprika, etc.
• Fro-yo & sugar-free ice cream for dessert

And for the two Thanksgiving potlucks at work this week -- at least one will be graced with my favorite pumpkin bread pudding.

And now, I'd better contemplate our Thanksgiving menu...turducken? barbecued turkey in the Weber? tofurkey? (just kidding on that last one; I love turkey too much for that!)

Which Jesus do you want?

This was an interesting reflection on our political and theological ideas, out at HuffPost.com. I think it points to serious differences in American conceptions of the Christian life. Enjoy!

Which Jesus Won?

G-man

How did it get to be November already?

September and October are gone in flash, filled with stressors both fun -- Horizon Women's Retreat, birthdays, anniversary, autumnal and All Hallow's E'en festivities, early voting -- and more mundane -- worrying about our parents' health (as well as my own; however, nothing a little exercise and meditation wouldn't cure), uncertain economy, corporate restructuring, hyper intelligent six-year-old who ranges from tyrannical to heartbreakingly sweet in a blink of an eye. Anyone want to take bets on how few posts I manage between now and the New Year?

All I can say is thank goodness that we "fall back" tonight and Daylight Savings Time finally ends; I need that extra hour of sleep (although I am already wasting here at the computer). That whole right-wing government plot to extend DST that held off until AFTER Halloween was really stupid.

But November holds my two favorite holidays: Thanksgiving -- all the food and family of Christmas without the gift-related anxiety, and my birthday -- just for the cake. And this year, I might just get an early birthday present of an American President I can feel optimistically cautious about. If the weather would just cool down and behave like fall (sweaters, please!), I'd be thrilled.

Tomorrow, I will tackle a vegan meal for the wonderful young ministerial intern at our church and his wife, along with the three of us and uncle Ron. Part of me wanted to stay "pure" all the way, but G-man wanted a little turkey sausage on the side to stir into his stew -- besides, he said, she's not even a vegetarian! So I am going to adapt a couple of recipes slightly to make them vegan (yes, I picked up special margarine as well as soy milk), and serve:

• Lentil Pate from MSL (have done this before and enjoyed it - will forgo the egg whites this time)
• Homemade Country Bread with Oat Flour from Mollie Katzen's Still Life with Menu (somehow, the thought of home baked bread seemed to anchor the meal for me)
• Green Salad with Fresh Fennel
  
• White Bean and Sausage Stew in Pumpkin Bowls from MSL (with a few adjustments, including sausage on the side)
• High Heat Roasted Green Beans
• Aztec Chocolate Pudding Cake from dear Nigella (with a soymilk substitution), and a variety of ice creams: one delicious non-dairy option for the vegan (and me!), one local sugar free for the diabetic (and me!), one basic standby everyone else (and me!)

To all my friends and loved ones that I am so bad about staying in touch with: I think of you often, and my early New Year's resolution is to take more time to make sure that you know that. November might seem a trifle premature, but given that we didn't get out any holiday cards last year, this gives me a chance to work on that in pursuit of my resolve. (Is dat English? Never mind, T-Rob, don't answer that!)

The faster I go, the behinder I get...

So many things I want to write about, but it's too long for Twitter and too ephemeral to get it in here. 'Cuz I never seem to have time to write; heck, the only reason I get to read what my tweet peeps are doing is because a girl's got to take a potty break once in a while. And sit around in the dark while waiting for my giant six-year-old (now on track to be 5'11" or 6'! don't know where he gets it...) to fall asleep. Oops - guess I should be cutting THAT umbilical cord, before he's suddenly in college and I have to go live in the dorms.

Anyway, I'm here, I'm holding on, and I'm thinking of all (few) of you who read this. See in you in January. Not really. Hopefully I'll write about the Horizon Women's Retreat, and the election results (when they happen), and the holidays, and actually cleaning up the guest room. But for now, gotta run -- the in-laws are here and we're all off to dinner!

Happy Birthday to You, HBTY, HB dear Juj, HBTY...

We celebrated quietly for now, but plan to drag it out over several weeks, culminating in a real birthday party with other kids when his grandparents in town. Started and ended the day with a candle -- in the morning waffle, and the evening sundae. In between, there was a day off school (teacher training day - how convenient!), morning with dad, and an afternoon playing Wii Lego Indiana Jones (mom & dad's present).

Gotta pull together some pictures for Montessori Celebration of Life next week -- is the A.A. Milne poem too much of a cliche?

When I was One,
I had just begun.

When I was Two,
I was nearly new.

When I was Three,
I was hardly Me.

When I was Four,
I was not much more.

When I was Five,
I was just alive.

But now I am Six, I'm as clever as clever.
So I think I'll be six now for ever and ever.

Obliged to post, nuthin' to say

I always feel like I should be posting at least once a week.  Not that I have so many readers out there (that's probably the understatement of the century), but mostly because somehow, I like the discipline of recording those weekly Sunday dinners, at the least.

Last Sunday, I wasn't in the mood to clean off the table and serve dinner, so we went out with Ron and frankly I don't even remember what we had (Cafe Express?)  But I had made Cook's Illustrated Italian Pot Roast in the slow cooker (as well as a chocolate chip cookie cake with the Juj) on Sunday, so we had Ron come back Monday night, and we ate it with polenta and quick-braised kale.  Julian's been on a mac & cheese kick (Annie's Organic - just like Kraft, and available by the case at Costco), having it in the evening couple of times this week as well as in his lunch box four days out of five, since that's what he wants tomorrow.

Just checkin' in

It is Sunday, but we didn't cook this evening because yesterday was Pride Day at the church, which did not involve rainbow banners in this case, but did include the most dedicated (or foolish, as in my case) of the UU'ers showing up to spread 10 yards of mulch, shovel a few yards of sand, wash dozens of windows inside and out, sort classroom supplies, vacuum acres of carpet, and the like. I came by to bring Gil some lunch around one, and spent two hours vacuuming. Needless to say, there was no grocery shopping done yesterday.

Today, we got up slowly, and went to visit a different church, 'cuz we like to mix it up every once in a while. That's what happens when an agnostic humanist marries a former Catholic who aspires to live a truly Christian life -- that's the kind that's about helping and loving others, not the kind that's about excluding and hating others. Which is why UU works for us, but sometimes we need to stir the pot. UCC is the church home of our next President (Higher Spirit willing and the creek don't rise), and it was an "open and affirming" congregation, which is the euphemism for welcoming all, regardless of race, sexual orientation, and the like. Seemed fine to me.

That, however was followed by lunch, which was preceded by margaritas, which was followed by wandering around Le Costco and Super-Tarzhay, which have more and more organic food at prices that beat the competition (although there are definitely still things that can only be found at Whole Foods and Central Market!) And after all that, and the Saturday work day, the adults opted for late afternoon napping while J read the Illustrated Encyclopedia of all things Star Wars, mostly to himself, but occasionally waking me with a bit of S.W. trivia.

So out to dinner with Ron & Elsa, followed by bath- & bedtime, laundry time, update Quicken time, and blog time (to catch up with P.W. and the like). And now, once I hang up my 'delicates' to dry, I'm hoping sleep time is next. Although I fear for the G-man, who passed out on the couch really early this evening, which usually means he wakes up too darn early, too.

And that's just two days -- I feel the September through December whirlwind of weekends activities is just beginning to rear its ugly head. September already includes a birthday party to attend, a birthday party to host, a weekend of out-of-town training for G-man, a three-day Peace Festival at the church, a hair appointment (to be rescheduled!) for me, and who knows what else.

October is Horizon's Women's Retreat, which I really want to try to force myself to attend this year, the PASTA service auction, our anniversary (9 years married = 20 years together; oh, lawdy!), maybe another weekend out of town for G, Halloween and the Halloween party at Horizon.

Then it's November, with birthday, travel / Thanksgiving, and working oneself up for December and all its attendant madness.

I love the fall, for so many reasons -- signals start of a new year after all those years in school and then teaching, cooler weather, boots, my birthday, my favorite holiday (T-day) -- but I think I have more of a love/hate thing about the whirlwind of activity. Guess that's why winter is probably my next favorite season -- still cold (if we're lucky; hate global warming), boots, and not quite so crazy.

And lists...I love lists. But perhaps you've noticed. ;-)

At Juj's request

So, in that way things have of snowballing--
I check Twitter...
...Mrs. F5 has an intriguing tiny url link...
...which turns out to be to my favorite Schoolhouse Rock song -- on YouTube...
...J hears me watching it...
...asks to watch a few...
...finds HIS favorite...
...and asks me to post it to the blog for him.

Is it any wonder I never get him to bed on time?

A simple supper

We had a most delightful, and uneventful, Sunday.  G-man preached today at church; best one yet, IMHO.  (Although my dad is likely to always prefer the Gospel of the Grateful Dead.)  And I was doubly blessed; Juj went without much of a fight -- OK, a Target Star Wars toy purchase was involved as a bribe, but he was good the whole time and at lunch too -- and little Ben, who was a cat today, curled up in my lap fairly quietly for much of the service as well.

Because we had done most of the grocery shopping and some house- and yard work yesterday, and since we knew we had another day off tomorrow, the rest of the day was also wonderfully low-key.  Uncle Ron was the only dinner guest, and Juj entertained himself (and then Dad and Ron) with his Legos, including the bribe item from earlier in the day.  But we might be hitting a honeymoon period because he's been really good all day, even at dinner, which has become a struggle I dread most of the time these days.  We haven't gotten ready for bed yet, so I may be counting my chickens before they're hatched, but overall exceedingly pleasant.

And I even made a bucolic riff on TV dinners to round things out:

• Iceberg wedges with homemade Russian dressing
• 30 Minute Meatloaves
• Pureed cauliflower with fines herbes mousse & Boursin
• Buttered peas
• Yoda Sodas for dessert, from J's Star Wars Cookbook

Why I'm a yellow dog Dem...

At lunch one day a year or so ago, with my boss, and his boss, the VP of my division, we got off onto politics briefly.  At the time, I was too tongue-tied to succinctly explain why I am a dyed-in-the-wool Democrat.  

But I've thought about it a lot since then, and it is succinct:  The Democrats are the party of inclusion.  It's not about scrambling up the ladder, so that you can pull it up behind you; it's about putting out a hand to help another up with you.

I'm sitting here watching the CNN.com re-run of highlights from last night's DNC, and it's so easy to see, as they move from Tim Kaine to Bill Richardson to Barack Obama.  How's that for a study in contrast?  It's a core value that they have in common -- a belief in social justice and responsibility. We don't assume that a rising tide raises all boats, we make sure that those with leaky boats or no boat at all are not drowned.  And that contract includes making sure that there is a healthy Earth in place for our children's children's children.  (OK, so shoot me for mixing metaphors.)

And that's why, I hope no one is fooled by McCain's choice of Palin.  Just because someone is not a privileged white man does not mean that that someone represents inclusion and social justice (C. Rice, anyone?)  Barracuda Sarah is from the party who drinks all the juice and doesn't leave any for anyone else.  

And while I was rooting for a woman in the White House that wasn't a First Lady (well, OK -- if it was on her past resume, I'd forgive that!), I'm willing to wait until that woman can represent the values I hold dear.  That is part of the change that I hope the Democratic ticket this year can help open the door for in the future. 

OK, off the soapbox now.  Good to get that off my chest!

Wein-rerro Dinner

We polished off the last of our HUUC service auction offerings Saturday, with a wine & dine extravaganza co-hosted by the W's (although with Ms. W under the weather, it was just not as fun!)

• Alsatian Flammekueche (puff pastry tart with soft cheese, bacon & onion) - LUCIEN ALBRECHT WINERY, RIESLING, 'CUVEE HENRI' , 2004
• Chilled Green Pea Soup aux Fines Herbes Mousse - GROTTE DEL SOLE GRECO DI TUFO, VE NATO, 2006
• Poached Beef Tenderloin with Savory Sabayon & Wild Mushroom Saute, accompanied by Herb Potato Maxims and Julienned Vegetables - GROTH WINERY 2005 OAKVILLE CABERNET & RESONANCE WINERY WILLAMETTE VALLEY PINOT NOIR 2006
• Chocolate Dome - QUINTA DO VESUVIO 2001 PORT, PORTO, PORTUGAL

Mr. W outdid himself on the pairings (as always); I'm not sure I could pick a favorite if I had to! All the recipes except the beef & soup can be found in Julia Child: Cooking with Master Chefs, and the beef is from the 1996 edition of Cooking at the Academy, from the California Culinary Academy & KQED. (The soup was made up on a riff from How To Eat -- just frozen peas cooked with chicken stock, fresh basil and a pinch of curry, pureed, and chilled; whip some creme fraiche to stiff peaks, fold in some finely chopped herbs, and dollop on top.) We used the 120+ year old Limoges china, the silver plate, and four "stems" per person, all of which are lovely, but have to be hand washed. (In fact, 36+ pieces of glassware are still waiting for some tender loving care, although we did rinse out the red wines and port...)

Did manage to take a picture of the cake, but nothing else!

So Sunday night family dinner with Unca' Ron & Tia Elsa was take-out from First Chinese BBQ (hey, T-Rob -- I see there's a location in Austin!):

• barbecue roast pork
• young chow fried rice
• stir-fried rice noodle with curry
• crispy shrimp
• beef with snow peas
• broccoli chicken

We switched up and had frozen pasta tonight, but tomorrow will be leftovers by the yard -- have everything but the shrimp to eat a second time.

Beach Trip Saga: Allons-y a la Lafayette, then Home Sweet Home

Well, Juj didn't get his early morning beach walk before we left, as the weather didn't cooperate. (Just as well, because Sam met us at the front door at 6:30 AM and wanted to go, too. Then Ben. So we all sat on the porch, watched the rain, and talked about baby girl names instead.) Both cars were packed up and on the road before 9:30.

Lunch was in Mobile - Ed's Shed, with good shellfish all around. Gotta love the Google! On the way home, I found another, more quaint B&B (dating from the 1880s) in Lafayette, Louisiana, for our last night. The family who ran it were very nice, and made smiley-face pancakes for the kids in the morning as part of their "Ooh La La Breakfast." Plus there were cocktails and hors d'oeuvres on arrival, and kittens and a friendly dog to amuse the kids. However, Julian seems somewhat immune to the charms of B&Bs -- he said "On our next trip, let's stay in a hotel, not mansions, OK?"

We also hit one of our (mine and Gil's) favorite haunts for dinner and dancing to live Zydeco band. Gil's granddad "Pop" who passed away the year after Julian was born, lived in Lafayette for many years, and Gil and I spent several Thanksgivings here. Including the year Julian was born -- his first trip, at six weeks old or so, and we have a picture of the four generations of men together -- Juj, G-man, his uncle Al, and Pop.

In the morning, the families split up for the last leg -- the G's in search of boudin, W's in search of the quickest route home. We picked up some crawfish, pork, and seafood sausages at the converted gas station outpost of Comeaux's, stopped for lunch in Shreveport at Country Tavern BBQ, and then home via quick stops at W's for our second car seat (and car!), and Whole Foods for milk & dinner. Overall, a very successful trip, even if my "boys" did come back with colds (which they mostly seem to have shaken pretty quick). Wonder what next year will bring? G-man says it's up to the "guys" to pick, since the "girls" picked the last two trips, but he'll come to his senses when he remembers that "when mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy!" ;-)

Beach Trip Saga: Beachy Keen

We got the top floor master suite at Sea Prize at the Beach (who names these houses anyway?), where there was plenty of room with four bedrooms (two masters!), 4-1/2 baths, 2 car garage, and two porches with a view of the gulf. It seemed like we'd really made out as we stumbled into bed that first night. And then morning came. With a sunrise along the Gulf. And no shades or curtains or anything on that wall of French doors from our room to the little porch. Ah, the price of luxury! ;-) The little subdivision (not sure how else to describe it) was just being built, with maybe about a half dozen houses so far, and had a lovely community pool (actually two together), and was basically across the street from the beach. We spent five nights there: pool time, sand castles and surf, a pirate cruise around the bay complete with sword fights and real live dolphin sightings, miniature golf, and dinner and watching the Olympics as one big family every night.

Friday morning, we had a late breakfast en famille (a deux familles? my college French is long gone) at the Great Southern Cafe on a side porch, which we had all to ourselves, thankfully, as it allowed the kids to indulge in wind sprints while the adults enjoyed the sea breeze. And the food: beignets, best cheese grits ever, fritatta, various eggs Benedict variations (Jen's Sardou with artichokes and greens was especially delicious), Julian had yummy French toast and a lot of MY fruit, Mickey Mouse pancakes for the other urchins, even the granola and yogurt was good! This was followed by a major grocery, and yes, we can admit it, liquor, run. (Drink of choice for the week? Gin and tonic!) Then Chuck & I took the kids to the pool, and when we got bored with that, to the beach, and then I headed back to the house to try out those Viking appliances in the marble-counter-topped kitchen. Whipped up a little meal of rice, mushroom and Italian sausage dressing topped with a whole bone-in turkey breast, which I roasted in the combo convection & conventional oven. But it fooled me; looked incredible outside while still a bit raw on the inside - dinner ran late, needless to say! The broccoli was great, though. We topped off the evening with the Olympic opening ceremonies. (The house featured 5 flat screen TVs, although thankfully, I don't think we watched more than 2 or maybe 3 at any one time.)

Saturday, the W's had made us all reservations for a highly recommended pirate cruise.

This was one time the GPS failed us -- by sending us on the beachfront road, full of stoplights, stop signs, and pedestrian right-of-ways. Yes, it was probably shorter than the other route, but rather slow, and they were almost pulling up the gangplank when we got there. (Thank goodness for mobile phone technology; we did call to say we were really on the way!)

It was great fun -- we saw jellyfish, and dolphins (including a family with a young one). For the kids, there were sword & water guns fights, deck swabbing, face painting, a treasure hunt, limbo, a congo line, and the chicken dance, a bit o' candy, loot and tattoos. (Must admit some of the big 'uns indulged in temporary skull and cross bones as well).

For those of age and with appropriately cast iron stomachs, there was rum punch, great watery vistas, and plenty of sun. Afterwards, we had a delicious seafood lunch at J. Michael's in Panama City Beach, where the waitress called us "Hon" and kept the sweet tea a'flowing. Drive home, naps, a little killer Shrimp and some crudites for dinner, followed by a sunset beach walk altogether.


Sunday, I was feeling not at my best (darn that Aunt Flo!), so while Dads took the kids to Goofy Golf,

Jen and I had the place to ourselves -- and quiet! I even did a little work since we had all the comforts of home, including wi-fi, and started reading the Julia Child autobiography of her time in France that Chuck loaned me. My favorite finding? That she and Paul Child could never get Christmas cards out on time (phew - we're not the only ones!), so they had a tradition of making and sending special Valentines to all their family and firends each year. (And yes, Jen, I am going to read the Twilight series next!). There was afternoon beach & pool, sans me, and the 'Tribe adults cooked a great meal of mushroom crostini, grilled tandoori chicken, grilled sweet corn, and a delicious salad with apples, almonds & dried cherries. And topped it off with the best homemade Sundaes ever! (Well, we might have had them the night before as well. And the night after, too!)

Monday, I was still out of it, but I think everyone else hit the beach & pool in morning. It was a Florida monsoon by lunch -- G's stayed in for quesadillas, W's braved the weather to hit Great Southern Cafe again. In the afternoon, Julian and I hit the beach briefly, then I had to lure him away with a promise of one last "Mom & Juj time" walk on the beach at sunrise, so I could make dinner: Roasted chicken & fingerling potatoes with mushroom pan sauce and a simple salad. (All that Julia Child reading inspired me!) This time, I have to say I mastered the oven a bit better, although we did still spend some time standing around smelling food but having to wait.

Beach Trip Saga: Vicksburg to Florida

In the morning, we had breakfast (nothing to write home about, but the setting was terrific - I especially liked the giant pink chandelier), and the kids and I played croquet and fought off fire ants while the rest of the grown-ups got us packed into the cars.

We tried to go to the Toy Museum but it was closed (too early, I think), so we tootled off through Vicksburg to tour the Civil War battlefields national park in our cars. They had an audio-visual device that you carried with you in the park with GPS so it knew where you were and showed you short videos and told you about what you were driving past or walking up to.

The highlight was the stop at the USS Cairo museum (for us Yankees, that's "kay-row" not like the city in Egypt). They had pulled up and reconstructed this steam-battleship that had been sunk by a mine in the Mississippi during the Civil War. It sank in 12 minutes, but not a soul was lost. It was a great archaeological find because the silt had preserved everything so well. 

We all agreed that we'd like to come back and explore more another time -- Vicksburg looks to be full of interesting museums and things to see and do! Then we scuttled on down the road - barbecue lunch and desserts to die for in Jackson, and a rainy dinner in Pensacola, where we got rained out of our restaurant of choice, but had a good dose of pasta to get us down the road instead.  (And that was the only chain meal of the entire journey, so there!)

Three states in one day; that's something compared to "the sun is riz, the sun is set, and we is still in Texas yet!"  The GPS attachment that G-man got for his laptop was both a godsend and a curse -- we had some moments of high tension while homing in on restaurants we'd found by Googling for "best (insert meal or type of food) in (insert next city)" especially when the directions said "take Exit 1ABC" -- well, which is it, you stupid machine: A, B, or C?!  I'm hungry, lost, and a storm is about to hit us! 

But through storm and dark and via GPS, we got to our house in Seagrove (between Destin and Panama City Beach on the Florida Panhandle) pretty late, maybe 9:30 or so, and got settled in across the street from the beach.

Beach Trip Saga: Dallas to Vicksburg

The start of our second annual road trip with the Weintribe. We drove across East Texas, through Louisiana, and across the mighty Mississippi to Vicksburg the first night, stopping at the Bonnie & Clyde Ambush "Museum" in some little town in Louisiana on the way. The dads toured the one-room museum since the content was not exactly child-friendly, and Jen and I took the kids to the town square and watched a train roll by -- much to little Ben's delight (he is a BIG fan of trains!) Then we drove out to the site of the final stand-off (thank you, GPS!)

We had not made any hotel reservations before leaving (other than the rental beach house we were heading for), so at our lunch stop in Canton, TX, I was calling various hotels in Vicksburg. I called a wrong number that turned out to be a great find -- the Cedar Grove Inn, a bed and breakfast in a mansion from the 1840s, including some additional cottages and a carriage house converted to two-room suites. So we each had a suite with a room for the parents connected to a second room with a daybed and trundle. Sam stayed with us for a sleepover (although I ended up sleeping with her and Julian, since he is still not so good about sleeping alone). And the price was right!

Dinner was at a restaurant recommended by a friend with the first-hand knowledge and the right connections. It was "round table dining" where they brought us a BUNCH of Southern home cookin' dishes served family style: coleslaw, stewed greens, candied beets, squash casserole, chicken-n-dumplings, fried chicken, chicken fried steak, pork chops, smothered chicken, some kind of spaghetti casserole, spiced peach cobbler, and I can't remember what else... Needless to say, we did not go to bed hungry!

Tempus Fugit

Oh, crikey -- two weeks since I've blogged. Although I did manage to make the rounds, to check on those who report on life in more than 140-character chunks. (Twitter is great, but it's just another excuse not to blog, at least in my case.)

I do have a whole series of Wein-rerro road trip outlines, mostly centered on what we ate (of course), but want to add links and narrative and maybe even some pictures, so I guess I'll be putting that off a bit longer. 'Til it's really stale. Of course.

Anyway, we've been home a few days, and the big news is:

Julian finally lost his first tooth, a cute little bottom one!

He had mentioned that he might be the only kid in the Ocean class to start school next week with all his baby teeth intact. (The new Montessori where he started in with summer camp this year, names the class groups by room - Ocean is the lower elementary room if 6-9 year-olds he will be in.)

After he lost that wiggly bottom one Friday, he told G-man that he didn't believe in the tooth fairy (where does he get that contrarian streak?) Dad convinced him to leave it under his pillow anyway, and this morning (after a groggy, mostly sleepless night of coughing & fever - but that's another story), DH reminded me to remind J to check, and shure 'nuff, there was a dollar bill! He was pretty excited, in a groggy feverish way, and I was thankful the tooth fairy was so on top of it.

So, off to "first grade" on Monday as a real big boy. I don't feel like he's growing up too fast, but I do feel like time passes in a tremendous rush, and now through the end of December - school starting, September birthdays and work activities, October Horizon events, and then the holiday season - will be no exception. Although I'm looking forward to fall. Which should arrive in the big D sometime around October or November, if we're lucky. ;-)

P.S. Speaking of time flying by...
Happy 45th anniversary to my parents; what an inspiration! (I'm pretty sure that's the right number; guess I'd better start planning a big shindig or cruise or something for five years hence, eh?!)

Not giving up Sunday dinners or blogging; just been incredibly busy trying to get my current work project phase completed so I can go on the second annual Griswold family road trip.  (Oh, did I say Griswold?  I meant Guerrero-Weintribe, or is that Weintribe-Guerrero?)  This year, the beach -- no more acute mountain sickness for me.

Did take a brief time-out this afternoon to check Momma Mia (the movie) at Juj's request.  The boy is so familiar with the Broadway score CD that during the credits, he told me which songs had been cut out of the movie!  I love that he wanted to go with me, plus I'll have an embarrassing tale to tell on him when he starts dating in ten years.  (It will be ten years and not sooner right? Going into junior year of high school??? Please...)  Not that anyone will know who ABBA was by that time.

Anyway more later, but I felt the need to jump on here.  Plus I finally went around and visited all my (mostly virtual) friends this evening.  Eww - virtual friends and I took an almost-six-year-old to a movie based on ABBA songs?!  I need to get a life!

A Civilized Cocktail Hour

We hosted another one of our Horizon service auction offerings last night -- something about Summer Night Cocktails -- I'll have to find G-man's flowery description. It included:

• Maytag Blue Cheese & Crackers
• Crispy Green Beans & Carrot Chips
• Cantaloupe Slivers with Lime & Black Pepper
• Fig, Thyme & Gorgonzola Tartlets
• Warm Marinated Olives
• Crab Gazpacho Shots (from Central Market)
  
• Dry Jack Crisps
• Elderflower Sours
  
• Classic Gin & Tonics
• Martinis
  
• Cuba Libres
• Dark & Stormys
• Chocolate Stout Mini-Floats (yes, beer with ice cream - try it, you'll like it!)
  

It was a smallish (5 plus us) older crowd, but lively. J played his Lego Star Wars video game in our room; when I asked him if he was having fun, he said "Yes! Are you having fun talking?" What more can I say?

I'm baaack...

Forgive me Blogger, for I have sinned. It's been four weeks since my last post...

Seriously -- this summer is whizzing by, and I am not keeping up (in fact, I planned to include some links in this but I wanted to get it posted; maybe I'll update later, LOL).

Been to my last week of Lean Six Sigma training (all Lean all the time for this one - ask me about 5S sometime!)... been to San Antonio by train (where I spent most of a week napping or splashing in the pool with J)... been to see some movies in the theatre (Wall-E, and Indiana Jones rides again)... been working on coming out of my self-absorbed depression wallow (which seems to be finally ending)... been trying to get caught up at work and at home (see previous items -- did take a whole carload of stuff to Goodwill already 'though we're still got a ways to go)... been trying to stay cool (the usual Texas summer challenge).

I have even been cooking a bit. Sunday supper last week was a nice Thai beef salad, 'cuz I love flap steak, and leftover cheese with dried fruit, nut and chocolate nibbles for dessert because we'd been to a fabulous wine tasting / potluck the night before. And Julian stayed with an honest-to-goodness babysitter, said he liked her, and fell asleep before we got home! No doubt, we've cooked one or two other meals, but I'm not sure what they were.

Tonight we had over a couple we met through Horizon, and had a delicious dinner:

• Elderflower Sours
• Killer Shrimp
• Wolfgang Puck's Chino Salad
• Martha Stewart's Peach, Cornmeal and Lavender Upside-Down Cake with vanilla ice cream

Wine with dinner, and Averno afterwards -- a good time was had by all, especially because Unca' Ron was kind enough to take the Juj to the movies for part of the time. (J gave Space Chimps a thumbs up; haven't got Ron's review yet.)

However, I think Sunday supper may be take-out. We did a a pretty good job cleaning house today -- Gil even spot-shampooed the carpet -- and we were both showered and relaxed with all the dinner prep work done before our guests got here. And anyone who's been to dinner at house knows what a rarity that is. ;-)

So a happy weekend to all, and to all a good night!

A Conversation: "Dad?"

Another in a series of Conversations between the J-man & his father, the G-man...

J-man: Dad?

G-man: Yes, sir?

J: I think Miss Jones wants to talk to you...

G: Who's Miss Jones?

J: She's a teacher at school.

G: Does she teach in your class?

J: No, she teaches the other class.

G: Hmmm. Did she say what she wanted?

J: She said she really wanted to meet you.

G: She did? Did she ask to talk to Mom and me?

J: No, I was sitting quietly but when the teachers talk I can hear everything that they say. She said it to Mr. C (J's homeroom teacher.)

G: Hmmmmm. Did she talk to you? 

J: Uh huh. She asked me how old I was, and I told her I was five. 

G: Okay... What were you doing?

J: Well, I was telling Mr. C that you had preached the Gospel of the Grateful Dead at church this weekend. 

G: Aaaaahhhhh... Yes... I think I understand now...

J: And she told Mr. C. that she really wanted to meet my parents.

G: That's cool, J. Is she there in the morning? You just point her out to me, next time we're up at school, and I'll say hi...

J: Okay, Dad.

La Vida Cubana

We hosted one of our Horizon service auction dinners this evening.  Here's Gil's description from the auction catalog:

A Cuban feast!  Start off with a refreshing Mojito or a Cuba Libre.  The meal will feature our infamous 3-day Roast Pork!  We massage and pamper this pork roast for three days to make it extra succulent!  And no Cuban meal would be complete without buttery arroz (rice), frijoles negros (black beans), and platano (fried plantain).  How about a cool sweet-onion and vinegar salad to add a little crunch and counterpoint this rich meal.  And to ensure a foodgasm, we'll finish the meal off with a Pastel de Tres (maybe even Quatro) Leches (moist cake soaked in three different milks).  And of course, musica Latina!  Ciao!

My normal "menu" version with recipe links:

• Cuba Libres & Mojitos ('cept Gil makes 'em with simple syrup - mixes better than sugar)
• Avocado & Sweet Onion "Salad" (just slice them thinly and douse with white vinegar, fresh cracked pepper, and a dash of olive oil and salt -- makes us long for Versailles)
• Cuban-Style Grill Roasted Pork (still couldn't find skin-on shoulder roast, but this is the second time we've made it, and works out fine -- although I'm always too tired at the end to do anything about the Mojo Sauce and bought out the Goya Mojo Criollo again, garnished with some fresh slices of orange)
• Black Beans with Ham Hocks, Cilantro, and Lime
• Fluffy White Rice
• Fried Plantains (slice on the diagonal and fry in a few tablespoons of oil until well caramelized -- the black ones are ripest and my favorite, the less ripe ones are harder to peel and more starchy)
• Tres Leches Cake (we've made several of these over the years, and agreed that this was the best, most balanced recipe ever -- although we topped it with softly whipped cream with a touch of vanilla, run, and brown sugar rather than meringue and fruit)

*phew*  It was an eight-pound roast, and one of the three couples who won the bid couldn't make it, so needless to say, tomorrow's Sunday supper en famille is going to consist of a lot of delicious leftovers!

Father's Day Dinner

Juj enjoyed his first week at summer camp.  It included a swimming outing (to be a weekly occurrence), another viewing of Kung Fu Panda, and a visit from the Critter Man, complete with lemur, tarantula, shedding snake, and recycling parrot.  Future weeks include Lunar Golf, the Dallas World Aquarium, and so much more.  Apparently, they make good use of their school bus.  ;-)  As my friend at work said -- "I wanna go there!"

Anyway, I grilled for Dad's Day --

• Jack & 7 (not for me, though; not my cup of tea)
• Wedge salad with apples, blue cheese, and homemade bacon bits
• T-bones a la Cook's Illustrated
• Green beans a la PW
• Watermelon -- plain, and with basil & mint, for the adventurous

Ron & Elsa joined us, and the (grand-)dads were called and wished "happy day" too.  And, have I mentioned, the sweltering summer heat has arrived?  I was sweating just standing outside to grill today.  Ah, Texas!

Should I or shouldn't I?

I've been thinking a lot about blog content lately. I'm bored reading our weekly menu, and trying to decide whether I'm ready to open up and start down a more personal path here.

And then I see a PSA on television aimed at teens, reminding them that anything you put on the internet can be read by anyone.

So, while I hope to take the time to pick up F5's meme soon -- to highlight how fast trends change (my frosh year was earlier than hers) and because J asked me when I was "going to write about the music of my youth" (we've been listening to a lot of 70's pop and classic rock lately) -- I'm not sure I'm ready to bare my soul too deeply yet... sex? depression? politics? hot flashes? Even if it would possibly make for a more interesting, or perhaps less dull, blog.

So... Sunday dinner with tia Elsa & uncle Ron, anyone?

• Elderflower sours with fresh mint (loove St. Germaine!)
• Cornbread mini-muffins with cheese, bacon, red pepper and green onion (yum-o! yes, it was a riff on a Rachel Ray recipe)
• Pan-seared flap steak with a chile rub over a mixed salad with celery, carrots, red cabbage, daikon, red onion, and avocado
• Homemade gingerbread cookies (from Williams & Sonoma Kids Baking - deelish!)
• Fresh strawberries with softly whipped cream
  

But maybe I can manage some occasional pix to spice up the ol' blog. (At least, I find 'em fun on your blogs.) So here are some from J's kindergarten graduation last month. (Now if I can figure out how to suck over the photos from my phone, I'll really be set.)





By the way -- Kung Fu Panda? Totally rocks, dude! (Been a long time since I got to hit a movie on opening day!)

Saveur-y dinner

Mmmm... another tempting recipe from Saveur drove the family dinner night menu, but on Saturday this week, as G-man and I are taking advantage of the doting grandparents' visit to have a date night tonight.

• Lt. Blender's Frozen Sangria (not as successful as the Margarita version -- freezes pretty hard -- but I drank too much anyway 'cuz it tastes like Kool-Aid)
• Slow-Roasted King Salmon with Creamy Leeks & Red Wine Butter (recipe link not available yet, but it's in the current issue)
• Roasted Asparagus
• Quinoa with shallots & homemade chicken stock

And it was so rich, we didn't even eat any dessert!

Two-fer...

My folks arrived Saturday evening from the West Coast, so we had Sunday supper plus a Memorial Day meal with them and Ron, plus Bill on Monday. Full disclosure -- I was very cranky on Sunday, probably because I didn't drink enough water while sweating it out in Waxahachie the day before, but I was much more pleasant today. And both meals were quite delicious.

Sunday (inspired by watching FoodTV while working out in the hotel exercise room in Raleigh the weekend before):

• Margaritas in a bag
  
• Chicken Kebab Salad (a big ol' Caesar with grilled chicken, sausages, and bread -- and I used boneless skinless thighs as well as the recommended breasts, and turkey as well as pork sausage, and basil leaves rather than bay)
• Lemon Sabayon with Fresh Strawberries & Raspberries

Memorial Day (this one was pretty improv'd, so no recipe links)

• Elderflower Sours
• Barbecued Turkey Breast, brined and tied and with a nice BBQ rub
• Grilled Vegies -- Corn, Baby Artichokes, Zucchinis, and Leeks
• Green Bean and Red Onion Salad with Creme Fraiche
• Watermelon

Hope everyone else had a lovely long weekend, too. Now, back to the coal mines...

P.S.  There was no Sunday supper club last week; I spent the day wallowing in Powerpoint presentation preparation and fast food.  Looking forward to coming up with a great menu this weekend!

Gee, it's good to be back home again...

Even if it involved joining unintelligible conference calls before eight AM and not getting a shower until after I picked up the Juj from his second-to-last day of kindergarten.  (Uh, yes, I worked from home and did not inflict my showerlessness on anyone at the office -- and only ever-so-briefly on those at the school.)  But we got one car washed, made it to the K-garten graduation ceremony clean and on time this evening, and I only shed a small tear or two. (Pictures soon.) 

Plus I'll get the other car spotless tomorrow after I pick up the house so the housekeeping service can do the rest, and doting grandparents arrive Saturday evening for an extended visit, so I foresee a date night or two in my near future.

Life. Is. Good.

(Oh, and on the pictures front -- I am now the proud owner of my very own Renaissance Faire wench costume, so if you all promise not too laugh too much, I might deign to share a shot of that as well.)

Another post from N.C.

My sojourn in the Raleigh area continues. The good news is that I have been able to change my plans to fly home on Wednesday afternoon instead of Friday, as it turns out J's kindergarten graduation is Thursday evening. And that I actually spent 30 minutes on the elliptical trainer in the hotel exercise room this morning! The bad news, especially for J and G-man who may be driving each other crazy, is that I'm still here over the weekend, since my meetings continue next week.

One thing (actually two; well, three) about RTP: the weather is even more changeable than Dallas, and the seasonal allergens are even worse! But there's a heck of a lot less traffic.

I did hear something cool on NPR this morning that I wanted to share. They interviewed Lorraine Feather and played some bits of her new CD "Language." Fun jazz voice, very funny lyrics, and one-time a Bay Area denizen -- check it out (play the songs in the box). (And Ms. F5 might be especially amused by the Miss English link on Lorraine's web site.)

A Conversation...

"Oh, maaan!"

What's wrong?

"I just forgot how to draw a pig!"

You mean like a pig's snout and ears and curly tail?

"No. We just draw a pig's mouth. Everyone at school is drawing pigs. I don't know what it is, everybody is just obsessed with pigs!"

*sniffle*

Well, here I am back in Raleigh, leaving both my men at home alone for nearly TWO WEEKS (well, not alone -- they have each other!) while I wallow in a tiny bit of self pity about having my Mother's Day cut short. And T-Rob and Ms. McQ dinna make it any easier with their posts.

I will admit that it's hard to be too pitiful when I will have the bed all to myself for more than ten nights. Juj has been pretty good about staying in his new big boy captain's bed, but apparently cracked under the strain of knowing I was leaving and crawled into our bed at one or two o'clock this morning. Which, compounded by my incipient cold (or maybe just bad allergies) meant that it was not the most restful night for me. But I will MISS them both!

So, let me catch up by sharing last Sunday's menu, which we enjoyed with Tia Elsa and Uncle Ron...

• big salad of red lettuce, radishes, avocado and celery
• chicken and brown rice with chorizo from the current issue of Saveur (thanks, Weintribe!)
• fresh strawberries with saba and black pepper (well, J had his with milk)

And this Sunday?

Suffice it to say that I had a lovely meal alone this evening. Mez has good food, a nice bar, is within walking distance of the hotel, and although normally closed Sundays, they happened to be open in honor of Mother's Day. I ate there twice on the last trip, and my hotel wasn't as close (plus I had a car that time, which expanded my options); I'm sure I'll be back for more...

Byline: Raleigh NC

Hmmm... I know I'm not the only one getting a bit inconsistent with the blogging recently. But since I am in a hotel (motel?) room alone this week, I thought I'd give it a try.

And find I still have nothing to say, except I miss my husband, son, and the far flung friends that I hadn't been seeing enough of anyway before I left. Although I'll admit it -- having a whole bed to myself is good (who am I kidding -- it's great!)

Three Little Words.

Taxes. Are. Done.

I do it for me...

No, not my hair color. (Didn't Clairol or L'Oreal or one of those have some slogan about "because I deserve it"?)

This blog. And really just because I was keeping track of the dinner menus in Soho Notes already.

Am I being defensive? No. Do I feel guilty because I know some of the blogs I read are more compelling than others -- and mine is one of the less compelling? Maybe a tiny bit. And this didn't help.

I know that opening up (and being willing to actually edit) are what makes a blog compelling, but I don't quite have the stomach for one (after all, needing to keep it to myself why i was a techie/designer, not an actor, back in those days --and yikes! anyone can read it, like your employers or prospective employers) and no patience for the other. (Besides, if I actually edited my work, wouldn't I have to get rid of my many parenthetical thoughts? Bad writing!)

So, one day, I may post something personal, or have more pictures (that's more of a Luddite problem, actually -- I do like pictures -- well, Luddite and I don't take many pics any more -- well, not since high school), or stop it with the damn (((()))) but for now...

Sunday supper was lovely and low-key this weekend. We (ahem, mostly Gil!) are working getting on the yard in shape -- filling in plants from the plan the landscape architect made for us back when I was pregnant with Juj. We picked up some on Saturday, and more today, and Gil got a lot of them in the ground. (See -- another photo op I'm missing -- before, during and after shots!) Also managed to do a bunch of church stuff, grocery shopping, balance the books (but didn't start the taxes - gulp!), and then had Ron & Elsa over for...

• Wedge salads with blue cheese dressing, homemade bacon bits, and thinly sliced green apple (Julian has very recently become "crunchy lettuce with blue cheese" fan)
• Chicken (high roast, barbecue & cajun rub)
• Green beans with almonds

And then a nice chat with my bro' -- great weekend! So there.