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!